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diff --git a/old/10114-0.txt b/old/10114-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8ac48d3 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10114-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16572 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Great Events by Famous Historians, Vol. 2 + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: The Great Events by Famous Historians, Vol. 2 + +Author: Various + +Editor: Rossiter Johnson + +Release Date: November 17, 2003 [eBook #10114] +[Most recently updated: March 25, 2023] + +Language: English + +Produced by: Juliet Sutherland, David King, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GREAT EVENTS BY FAMOUS HISTORIANS, VOL. 2 *** + + + + +THE GREAT EVENTS BY FAMOUS HISTORIANS + +VOLUME II + +A COMPREHENSIVE AND READABLE ACCOUNT OF THE WORLD'S HISTORY. EMPHASIZING +THE MORE IMPORTANT EVENTS, AND PRESENTING THESE AS COMPLETE NARRATIVES +IN THE MASTER-WORDS OF THE MOST EMINENT HISTORIANS + + NON-SECTARIAN NON-PARTISAN NON-SECTIONAL + +ON THE PLAN EVOLVED FROM A CONSENSUS OF OPINIONS GATHERED FROM THE MOST +DISTINGUISHED SCHOLARS OF AMERICA AND EUROPE, INCLUDING BRIEF +INTRODUCTIONS BY SPECIALISTS TO CONNECT AND EXPLAIN THE CELEBRATED +NARRATIVES, ARRANGED CHRONOLOGICALLY, WITH THOROUGH INDICES, +BIBLIOGRAPHIES, CHRONOLOGIES, AND COURSES OF READING + +EDITOR-IN-CHIEF + +ROSSITER JOHNSON, LL.D. + +ASSOCIATE EDITORS + +CHARLES F. HORNE, Ph.D. +JOHN RUDD, LL.D. + +1905 + + + + + + + +BINDING + +Vol. II + +The binding of this volume is a facsimile of the original on exhibition +in the Bibliothèque Nationale. + +It was executed by the Royal Binder, Clovis Eve, for Marie de' Médicis, +Queen Consort of Henry IV of France. She was a great lover of fine arts, +and especially of rich bindings. The one here shown was her special +pride. It shows her arms--the arms of France and Tuscany--surrounded +with the cordelière, the sign of her widowhood, accompanied by the +monogram M.M. (Marie Médicis). She was exiled by Cardinal Richelieu in +1631. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +VOLUME II + +An Outline Narrative of the Great Events, + CHARLES F. HORNE + +Institution and Fall of the Decemvirate in Rome (B.C. 450), + HENRY G. LIDDELL + +Pericles Rules in Athens (B.C. 444), + PLUTARCH + +Great Plague at Athens (B.C. 430), + GEORGE GROTE + +Defeat of the Athenians at Syracuse (B.C. 413), + SIR EDWARD S. CREASY + +Retreat of the Ten Thousand Greeks (B.C. 401-399), + XENOPHON + +Condemnation and Death of Socrates (B.C. 399), + PLATO + +Brennus Burns Rome (B.C. 388), + BARTHOLD GEORG NIEBUHR + +Tartar Invasion of China by Meha (B.C. 341), + DEMETRIUS CHARLES BOULGER + +Alexander Reduces Tyre, Later Founds Alexandria (B.C. 332), + OLIVER GOLDSMITH + +The Battle of Arbela (B.C. 331), + SIR EDWARD S. CREASY + +First Battle Between Greeks and Romans (B.C. 280-279), + PLUTARCH + +The Punic Wars (B.C. 264-219-149), + FLORUS + +Battle of the Metaurus (B.C. 2O7), + SIR EDWARD S. CREASY + +Scipio Africanus Crushes Hannibal at Zama and Subjugates Carthage (B.C. +202), + LIVY + +Judas Maccabaeus Liberates Judea (B.C. 165-141), + JOSEPHUS + +The Gracchi and Their Reforms (B.C. 133), + THEODOR MOMMSEN + +Caesar Conquers Gaul (B.C. 58-50), + NAPOLEON III + +Roman Invasion and Conquest of Britain (B.C. 55-A.D. 79), + OLIVER GOLDSMITH + +Cleopatra's Conquest of Caesar and Antony (B.C. 51-30), + JOHN P. MAHAFFY + +Assassination of Caesar (B.C. 44), + NIEBUHR + PLUTARCH + +Rome Becomes a Monarchy +Death of Antony and Cleopatra (B.C. 44-30), + HENRY GEORGE LIDDELL + +Germans under Arminius Revolt Against Rome (A.D. 9), + SIR EDWARD S. CREASY + +Universal Chronology (B.C. 450-A.D. 12), + JOHN RUDD + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + +VOLUME II + +Blind Appius Claudius led into the Roman Senate Chamber to vote on the +proposition of peace or war with Pyrrhus (page 174), + +Painting by Prof, A. Maccari. + + +Oracle of Delphi, + +Painting by Claudius Harper. + + +Death of Alexander the Great after a prolonged debauch, + +Painting by Carl von Piloty. + + + + +AN OUTLINE NARRATIVE + + +TRACING BRIEFLY THE CAUSES, CONNECTIONS, AND CONSEQUENCES OF + +THE GREAT EVENTS + +(FROM THE RISE OF GREECE TO THE CHRISTIAN ERA) + +CHARLES F. HORNE, Ph.D. + + +Earth's upward struggle has been baffled by so many stumbles that +critics have not been lacking to suggest that we do not advance at all, +but only swing in circles, like a squirrel in its cage. Certain it is +that each ancient civilization seemed to bear in itself the seeds of its +own destruction. Yet it may be held with equal truth that each new +power, rising above the ruins of the last, held something nobler, was +borne upward by some truth its rival could not reach. + +At no period is this more evident than in the five centuries immediately +preceding the Christian era. Persia, Greece, Carthage, Rome, each in +turn was with some justice proclaimed lord of the world; each in turn +felt the impulse of her glory and advanced rapidly in culture and +knowledge of the arts; and each in turn succumbed to the temptations +that beset unlimited success. They degenerated not only in physical +strength, but in moral honesty. + +Let us recognize, however, that the term "world-ruler" as applied to +even the greatest of these nations has but a restricted sense. When the +Persian monarch called himself lord of the sun and moon, he only meant +in a figurative way that he was acquainted with no other king so +powerful as himself; that beyond his own dominions he heard only of +feeble colonies, and beyond those the wilderness. Alexander, when he +sighed for more worlds to conquer, had in reality made himself lord of +less than a quarter of Asia and of about one-sixtieth part of Europe. + +No man and no nation has ever yet been intrusted with the government of +the entire globe. None has proved sufficiently fitted for the giant +task. Each empire has been, as it were, but an experiment; and beyond +the border line of seas and deserts which ringed each boastful +conqueror, there were always other races developing along slower, and it +may be surer, lines. + +In those old days our world was in truth too big for conquest. Armies +marched on foot. Provisions could not be carried in any quantity, unless +a general clung to the sea-shore and depended on his ships. What +Alexander might with more truth have sighed for, was some modern means +of swift transportation, possessed of which he might still have enjoyed +many interesting, bloody battles in more distant lands. + +THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GREEKS + +Taking the idea "world power" in the restricted sense suggested, Persia +lost it to Greece at Salamis. As the Asiatic hordes fled behind their +panic-stricken king, the Greeks, looking round their limited horizon, +could see no power that might vie with them. The idea of pressing home +their success and overthrowing the entire unwieldy Persian empire was at +once conceived. + +But the Greeks were of all races least like to weld earth into one +dominion. They could not even unite among themselves. In short it cannot +be too emphatically pointed out that the work of Greece was not to +consolidate, but to separate, to teach the value of each individual man. +Asia had made monarchies in plenty. King after king had passed in +splendid, glittering pomp across her plains, circled by a crowd of +obsequious courtiers, trampling on a nameless multitude of slaves. +Europe was to make democracies, or at least to try her hand at them. + +It has been well said that a democracy is the strongest government for +defence, the weakest for attack. Every little Greek city clung jealously +to its own freedom, and to its equally obvious right to dominate its +neighbors. The supreme danger of the Persian invasion united them for a +moment; but as soon as safety was assured, they recommenced their +bickering. Sparta with her record of ancient leadership, Athens with her +new-won glory against the common foe, each tried to draw the other +cities in her train. There was no one man who could dominate them all +and concentrate their strength against the enemy. So for a time Persia +continued to exist; she even by degrees regained something of her former +influence over the divided cities. + +Among these Athens held the foremost rank. She was, as we have +previously seen, far more truly representative of the Greek spirit than +her rival. Sparta was aristocratic and conservative; Athens democratic +and progressive. The genius of her leaders gathered the lesser towns +into a great naval league, in which she grew ever more powerful. Her +allies sank to be dependent and unwilling vassals, forced to contribute +large sums to the treasury of their overlord. + +This was the age of Pericles.[1] As Athens became wealthy, her citizens +became cultured. Statues, temples, theatres made the city beautiful. +Dramatists, orators, and poets made her intellectually renowned. A +marvellous outburst, this of Athens! Displaying for the first time in +history the full capacity of the human mind! Had there been similar +flowerings of genius amid forgotten Asiatic times? One doubts it; doubts +if such brilliancy could ever anywhere have passed, and left no clearer +record of its triumphs. + +[Footnote 1: See _Pericles Rules in Athens_, page 12.] + +Amid such splendor it seems captious to point out the flaw. Yet Athenian +and all Greek civilization did ultimately decline. It represented +intellectual, but not moral culture. The Greeks delighted intensely in +the purely physical life about them; they had small conception of +anything beyond. To enjoy, to be successful, that was all their goal; +the means scarce counted. The Athenians called Aristides the Just; but +so little did they honor his high rectitude that they banished him for a +decade. His title, or it may have been his insistence on the subject, +bored them. + +His rival, Themistocles, was more suited to their taste, a clever scamp, +who must always be dealing with both sides in every quarrel, and +outwitting both. Athens was driven to banish him also at last, at his +too flagrant treachery. But he was not dismissed with the scathing scorn +our modern age would heap upon a traitor. He was sent regretfully, as +one turns from a charming but too persistently lawless friend. The +banishment was only for ten years, and he had his nest already prepared +with the Persian King. If you would understand the Greek spirit in its +fullest perfection, study Themistocles. Rampant individualism, seeking +personal pleasure, clamorous for the admiration of its fellows, but not +restrained from secret falsity by any strong moral sense--that was what +the Greeks developed in the end. + +Neither must Athens be regarded as a democracy in the modern sense. She +was only so by contrast with Persia or with Sparta. Not every man in the +beautiful city voted, or enjoyed the riches that flowed into her +coffers, and could thus afford, free from pecuniary care, to devote +himself to art. Athens probably had never more than thirty thousand +"citizens." The rest of the adult male population, vastly outnumbering +these, were slaves, or foreigners attracted by the city's splendor. + +But those thirty thousand were certainly men. "There were giants in +those days." One sometimes stands in wonder at their boldness. What all +Greece could not do, what Persia had completely failed in, they +undertook. Athens alone should conquer the world. By force of arms they +would found an empire of intellect. They fought Persia and Sparta, both +at once. Plague swept their city, yet they would not yield.[2] Their own +subject allies turned against them; and they fought those too. They sent +fleets and armies against Syracuse, the mightiest power of the West. It +was Athens against all mankind! + +[Footnote 2: See _Great Plague at Athens_, page 34.] + +She was unequal to the task, superbly unequal to it. The destruction of +her army at Syracuse[3] was only the foremost of a series of inevitable +disasters, which left her helpless. After that, Sparta, and then Thebes, +became the leading city of Greece. Athens slowly regained her fighting +strength; her intellectual supremacy she had not lost. Socrates,[4] +greatest of her sons, endeavored to teach a morality higher than earth +had yet received, higher than his contemporaries could grasp. Plato gave +to thought a scientific basis. + +[Footnote 3: See _Defeat of the Athenians at Syracuse_, page 48.] + +[Footnote 4: See _Condemnation and Death of Socrates_, page 87.] + +Then Macedonia, a border kingdom of ancient kinship to the Greeks, but +not recognized as belonging among them, began to obtrude herself in +their affairs, and at length won that leadership for which they had all +contended. A hundred and fifty years had elapsed since the Greeks had +stood united against Persia. During all that time their strength had +been turned against themselves. Now at last the internecine wars were +checked, and all the power of the sturdy race was directed by one man, +Alexander, King of Macedon. Democracy had made the Greeks intellectually +glorious, but politically weak. Monarchy rose from the ruin they had +wrought. + +As though that ancient invasion of Xerxes had been a crime of yesterday, +Alexander proclaimed his intention of avenging it; and the Greeks +applauded. They understood Persia now far better than in the elder days; +they saw what a feeble mass the huge heterogeneous empire had become. +Its people were slaves, its soldiers mercenaries. The Greeks themselves +had been hired to suppress more than one Persian rebellion,[5] and to +foment these also. They had learned the enormous advantage their +stronger personality gave them against the masses of sheeplike Asiatics. + +[Footnote 5: See _Retreat of the Ten Thousand Greeks_, page 68.] + +So it was in holiday mood that they followed Alexander, and in schoolboy +roughness that they trampled on the civilization of the East. In fact, +it is worth noting that the most vigorous resistance they encountered +was not from the Persians, but from a remnant of the Semites, the +merchants of the Phoenician city of Tyre.[6] In less than eight years, +B.C. 331-323, Alexander overran the whole known world of the East,[7] +only stopping when, on the border of India, his soldiers broke into open +revolt, not against fighting, but against further wandering. + +[Footnote 6: See _Alexander Reduces Tyre_, page 133.] + +[Footnote 7: See _The Battle of Arbela_, page 141.] + +If this invasion had been the mere outcome of one man's ambition, it +might scarce be worth recording. But Alexander was only the topmost wave +in the surging of a long imminent, inevitable racial movement. Its +effect upon civilization, upon the world, was incalculably vast. +Alexander and his successors were city-builders, administrators. As such +they spread Greek culture, the Greek idea of individualism, over all +their world. + +How deep was the change, made upon the imbruted Asiatics, we may perhaps +question. Our own age has seen how much of education may be lavished on +an inferior race without materially altering the brute instincts within. +The building-up of the soul in man is not a matter of individuals, but +of centuries. Yet in at least a superficial way Greek thought became the +thought of all mankind. We may dismiss Alexander's savage conquests with +a sigh of pity; but we cannot deny him recognition as a most potent +teacher of the world. + +His empire did not last. It was in too obvious opposition to all that we +have recognized as the Grecian spirit. At his death the same impulse +seems to have stirred each one of his subordinates, to snatch for +himself a kingdom from the confusion. Instead of one there were soon +three, four, and then a dozen semi-Grecian states in Asia. The Greek +element in each grew very faint. + +From this time onward Asia takes a less prominent place in world +affairs. Her ancient leadership in the march of civilization had long +been yielded to the Greeks. Now her semblance of military power +disappeared as well. Only two further happenings in all Asia seem worth +noting, down to the birth of Christ. One of these was the Tartar +conquest of China, an event which coalesced the Tartars, helped make +them a nation.[8] It was thus fraught with most disastrous consequences +for the Europe of the future. The other was the revolt of the Hebrews +under Judas Maccabaeus, against their Grecian rulers. This was a +religious revolt, a religious war. Here for the first time we find a +people who will believe, who can believe, in no god but their own, who +will die sooner than give worship to another. We approach the borders of +an age where the spirit is more valued than the body, where the mental +is stronger than the physical, where facts are dominated by ideas.[9] + +[Footnote 8: See _Tartar Invasion of China_, page 126.] + +[Footnote 9: See _Judas Maccabaeus Liberates Judea_, page 245.] + +Had Alexander even at the moment of his greatest strength directed his +forces westward instead of east, he would have found a different world +and encountered a sturdier resistance. He himself recognized this, and +during his last years was gathering all the resources of his unwieldy +empire, to hurl them against Carthage and against Italy. What the issue +might have been no man can say. Alexander's death ended forever the +impossible attempt to unite his race. Once more and until the end, +Grecian strength was wasted against itself. + +This gave opportunity to the growing powers of the West. Alexander is +scarce gone ere we hear Carthage boasting that the Mediterranean is but +a private lake in her possession. She rules all Western Africa and +Spain, Sardinia and Corsica. She masters the Greeks of Sicily, against +whom Athens failed. Rome is compelled to sign treaties with her as an +inferior. + +THE GROWTH OF ROME + +Rome was only husbanding her strength; the little republic of B.C. 510 +had grown much during the two centuries of Grecian splendor. Her people +had become far better fitted for conquest than their eastern kinsmen. It +is presumable that here too it was the difference of surroundings which +had differentiated the race. The ancient Etrurian (non-Aryan) +civilization on which the Latins intruded, was apparently more advanced +than their own. For centuries their utmost prowess scarce sufficed to +maintain their independence. Thus it was not possible for them to become +too self-satisfied, to stand afar off and look down on their neighbors +with Grecian scorn. The _ego_ was less prominently developed; the +necessity of mutual dependence and united action was more deeply taught. +Their records display less of brilliancy, but more of patient +persistency, than those of Greece, less of spectacular individualism, +more of truly patriotic self-suppression. In Rome, even more than in +Sparta, the "State" was everything. During the early days men found +their highest glory in making their city glorious; their proudest boast +was to be "citizens of Rome." + +To trace the slow steps by which the tiny republic grew to be mistress +of all Italy would take too long. She settled her internal difficulties +as all such difficulties must be settled, if the race is to progress; +that is, she became more democratic.[10] As the lower classes advanced +in knowledge and intelligence they insisted on a share of the +government. They fought their way to it. They united Rome, mastered the +other Latin cities, and admitted them to partnership in her power. She +conquered the Etruscans and the Samnites. For a moment we find her +almost overwhelmed by an inroad of the wild Celtic tribes from the +forests of Central Europe;[11] but, fortunately for her, the other +Italian states were equally crushed. It was weakness against weakness, +and the Romans retained their foremost place. + +[Footnote 10: See _Institution and Fall of the Decemvirate in Rome_, +page 1.] + +[Footnote 11: See _Brennus Burns Rome_, page 110.] + +Not till more than a century later were they brought into serious +conflict with the Greeks. In the year B.C. 280, Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, +who had won a temporary leadership over a portion of the Grecian land, +undertook the conquest of the West.[12] Fifty years before, Alexander +with far greater power might have been victorious over a feebler Rome. +Pyrrhus failed completely. If the Romans had less dash and a less wide +experience of varied warfare than his followers, they had far more of +true, heroic endurance. The Greeks had reached that stage of individual +culture where they were much too selfishly intelligent to be willing to +die in battle. Pyrrhus withdrew from Italy. Grecian brilliancy was +helpless against Roman strength of union. + +[Footnote 12: See _First Battle between Greeks and Romans_, page 166.] + +Then came the far more serious contest between Rome and Carthage.[13] +Carthage was a Phoenician, a Semite state; and hers was the last, the +most gigantic struggle made by Semitism to recover its waning +superiority, to dominate the ancient world. Three times in three +tremendous wars did she and Rome put forth their utmost strength against +each other. Hannibal, perhaps the greatest military genius who ever +lived, fought upon the side of Carthage. At one time Rome seemed +crushed, helpless before him.[14] Yet in the end Rome won.[15] It was +not by the brilliancy of her commanders, not by the superiority of her +resources. It was the grim, cool courage of the Aryan mind, showing +strongest and calmest when face to face with ruin. + +[Footnote 13: See _The Punic Wars_, page 179.] + +[Footnote 14: See _Battle of the Metaurus_, page 195.] + +[Footnote 15: See _Scipio Africanus Crushes Hannibal at Zama and +Subjugates Carthage_, page 224.] + +Our modern philosophers, being Aryan, assure us that the victory of +Carthage would have been an irretrievable disaster to mankind; that her +falsity, her narrow selfishness, her bloody inhumanity, would have +stifled all progress; that her dominion would have been the tyranny of a +few heartless masters over a world of tortured slaves. On the other +hand, Rome up to this point had certainly been a generous mistress to +her subjects. She had left them peace and prosperity among themselves; +she had given them as much political freedom as was consistent with her +sovereignty; she had wellnigh succeeded in welding all Italy into a +Roman nation. It is noteworthy that the large majority of the Italian +cities clung to her, even in the darkest straits to which she was +reduced by Hannibal. + +Yet when the fall of her last great rival left Rome irresistible abroad, +her methods changed. It is hard to see how even Carthaginians could have +been more cruel, more grasping, more corrupt than the Roman rulers of +the provinces. Having conquered the governments of the world, Rome had +to face outbreak after outbreak from the unarmed, unsheltered masses of +the people. Her barbarity drove them to mad despair. "Servile" wars, +slave outbreaks are dotted over all the last century of the Roman +Republic. + +The good, if there was any good, that Roman dominion brought the world +at that period was the spreading of Greek culture across the western +half of the world. As Rome mastered the Greek states one by one, their +genius won a subtler triumph over the conqueror. Her generals recognized +and admired a culture superior to their own. They carried off the +statues of Greece for the adornment of their villas, and with equal +eagerness they appropriated her manners and her thought, her literature +and her gods. + +But this superficial culture could not save the Roman Republic from the +dry-rot that sapped her vitals from within. As a mere matter of numbers, +the actual citizens of Rome or even of the semi-Roman districts close +around her were too few to continue fighting over all the vast empire +they controlled. The sturdy peasant population of Italy slowly +disappeared. The actual inhabitants of the capital came to consist of a +few thousand vastly wealthy families, who held all the power, a few +thousand more of poorer citizens dependent on the rich, and then a vast +swarm of slaves and foreigners, feeders on the crumbs of the Roman +table. + +In the battles against Carthage, the mass of Rome's armies had consisted +of her own citizens or of allies closely united to them in blood and +fortune. Her later victories were won by hired troops, men gathered from +every clime and every race. Roman generals still might lead them, Roman +laws environ them, Roman gold employ them. Yet the fact remained, that +in these armies lay the strength of the Republic, no longer within her +own walls, no longer in the stout hearts of her citizens. + +Perhaps the world itself was slow in seeing this degeneration. The +Gracchi brothers tried to stem the tide, and they were slain, sacrificed +by the nation they sought to save.[16] Cornelius Sulla was the man who +completed, and at the same time made plain to all, the change that had +been growing up. Having bitter grievances against his enemies in the +capital, he appealed for redress, not to the Roman senate, not to the +votes of the populace, but to the swords of the legions he commanded. +Twice he marched his soldiers against Rome. He brushed aside the feeble +resistance that was offered, and entered the city like a conqueror. The +blood of those who had opposed his wishes flowed in streams. Three +thousand senators and knights, the flower of the Roman aristocracy, were +slain at his nod. Of the common folk and of the Italians throughout the +peninsula, the slaughter was immeasurable. And when his bloody vengeance +was at last glutted, Sulla ruled as an extravagant, conscienceless, +licentious dictator. Rome had found a fitting master. + +[Footnote 16: See _The Gracchi and Their Reforms_, page 259.] + +THE STRUGGLE OF INDIVIDUALS FOR SUPREMACY + +The Roman people, the mighty race who had defied a Hannibal at their +gates, were clearly come to an end. Sulla had proved the power of the +Republic to be an empty shell. After his death, men used the empty forms +awhile; but the surviving aristocrats had learned their awful lesson. +They put no further faith in the strength of the city; they watched the +armies and the generals; they intrigued for the various commands. It was +an exciting game. Life and fortune were the stakes they risked; the +prize--the mastery of a helpless world, waiting to be plundered. + +Pompey and Caesar proved the ablest players. Pompey overthrew what was +left of the Greek Asiatic kingdoms and returned to Rome the idol of his +troops, wellnigh as powerful as had been Sulla. Caesar, looking in his +turn for a place to build up an army devoted to himself, selected Gaul +and spent eight years in subduing and civilizing what was in a way the +most important of all Rome's conquests. In Gaul he came in contact with +another, fresher Aryan race.[17] Rome received new soldiers for her +legions, new brains fitted to understand and carry on the work of +civilizing the world. + +[Footnote 17: See _Caesar Conquers Gaul_, page 267.] + +When Caesar, turning away from Britain,[18] marched these new-formed +legions back against Rome, even as Sulla had done, it was almost like +another Gallic invasion of the South. Pompey fled. He gathered his +legions from Asia; and the world resounded once more to the clash of +arms. + +[Footnote 18: See _Roman Invasion and Conquest of Britain_, page 285.] + +This, then, was the third and final stage of the huge struggle for +empire. War was still the business of the world. Rome had first defeated +foreign nations; then she had to defeat the uprisings of the subject +peoples; now her chiefs, finding her exhausted, fought among themselves +for the supreme power. Armies of Asiatics, armies of Gauls, each +claiming to represent Rome, battled over her helpless body. + +Caesar was victorious. But when the conquering power which had once +belonged to the united nation became embodied in a single man, there was +a new way by which it might be checked. The government of Rome, like +that of the Greek and Asiatic tyrannies, became a "despotism tempered by +assassination"; and Caesar was its foremost victim.[19] + +[Footnote 19: See _Assassination of Caesar_, page 313.] + +His death did not stop the fascinating gamble for empire. It only added +one more move to the possible complexities of the game. The lesser +players had their chance. They intrigued and they fought. Egypt, the +last remaining civilized state outside of Rome, was drawn into the +whirlpool also.[20] Cleopatra and Antony acted their reckless parts, and +at length out of the world-wide tumult emerged "young Octavius," to +assume his _rôle_ as "Augustus Caesar," acknowledged emperor of the +world.[21] + +[Footnote 20: See _Cleopatra's Conquest of Caesar and Antony_, page +295.] + +[Footnote 21: See _Rome Becomes a Monarchy_, page 333.] + +Note, however, that the term "world" is still one of boast, not truth. +Emperor over many men, Augustus was; but the powers of nature still shut +many races safe beyond his mastery. The ocean bounded his dominion on +the west; the deserts to the south and east; the German forests to the +north. These last he did essay to conquer, but they proved beyond him. +The wild German tribes having no cities, which they must defend at any +cost, could afford to flee or hide. Choosing their own time and place +they rose suddenly, smote the legions of Augustus, and melted into the +wilderness again.[22] + +[Footnote 22: See _Germans Under Arminius Revolt against Rome_, page +362.] + +Rome was checked at last. No civilized nation had been able to stand +against her; but the wild tribes of the Germans and the Parthians did. +Barbarism had still by far the larger portion of the world wherein to +live and develop, and gather brain and brawn. Rome could not conquer the +wilderness. + +(For the next section of this general survey see Volume III.) + + + + +INSTITUTION AND FALL OF THE DECEMVIRATE IN ROME + +B.C. 450 + +HENRY G. LIDDELL + + +(When wars and pestilence had laid a heavy burden upon the Roman people, +there appears to have been a period in which internal commotions and +civil strife were stilled, and the quarrels of patricians and plebeians +gave way to temporary truce. On the inevitable renewal of the old +struggle the college of tribunes adopted a measure favorable to the +plebeians in so far as it provided means for checking the abuse of power +on the part of consuls in punishing members of that class in connection +with the prosecution of suits against them. + +The passage of this measure had the effect of reopening former +conflicts, the patrician elements becoming greatly alarmed at what they +regarded as a fresh encroachment upon their hereditary rights. The +contest was long and bitter, each side either bringing forward or +rejecting again and again the same measures or the same representatives. + +Finally, compromises were made, and in the year B.C. 452 a commission of +ten men, called _decemvirs_, constituting the _Decemvirate_, was chosen, +consisting wholly of patricians, who entered with great efficiency upon +the discharge of legislative duties which resulted in the production of +a new code. This was approved by the senate and by the popular +representatives, and was published in the form of ten copper plates or +tables, which were affixed to the speaker's pulpit in the Forum. Among +the new decemvirs appointed in the year B.C. 450 were several plebeians, +the first official representatives of the entire people who were chosen +from that class.) + + +The patrician burgesses endeavored to wrest independence from the +"plebs" after the battle of Lake Regillus; and the latter, ruined by +constant wars with the neighboring nations, being compelled to make good +their losses by borrowing money from patrician creditors, and liable to +become bondsmen in default of payment, at length deserted the city, and +only returned on condition of being protected by tribunes of their own; +they then, by the firmness of Publilius Volero and Lætorius, obtained +the right of electing these tribunes at their own assembly, the "Comitia +of the Tribes." Finally the great consul Spurius Cassius endeavored to +relieve the commonalty by an agrarian law, so as to better their +condition permanently. + +The execution of the Agrarian law was constantly evaded. But on the +conquest of Antium from the Volscians, in the year B.C. 468, a colony +was sent thither, and this was one of the first examples of a +distribution of public land to poorer citizens; which answered two +purposes--the improvement of their condition, and the defence of the +place against the enemy. + +Nor did the tribunes, now made altogether independent of the patricians, +fail to assert their power. One of the first persons who felt the force +of their arm was the second Appius Claudius. This Sabine noble, +following his father's example, had, after the departure of the Fabii, +led the opposition to the Publilian law. When he took the field against +the Volscians, his soldiers would not fight, and the stern commander put +to death every tenth man in his legions. For the acts of his consulship +he was brought to trial by the tribunes M. Duillius and C. Sicinius. +Seeing that conviction was certain, the proud patrician avoided +humiliation by suicide. + +Nevertheless the border wars still continued, and the plebeians suffered +much. To the evils of debt and want were added about this time the +horrors of pestilential disease, which visited the Roman territory +several times at that period. In one year (B.C. 464) the two consuls, +two of the four augurs, and the curio Maximus, who was the head of all +the patricians, were swept off--a fact which implies the death of a vast +number of less distinguished persons. The government was administered by +the plebeian aediles, under the control of senatorial interreges. The +Volscians and Aequians ravaged the country up to the walls of Rome; and +the safety of the city must be attributed to the Latins and Hernici, not +to the men of Rome. + +Meantime the tribunes had in vain demanded a full execution of the +Agrarian law. But in the year B.C. 462, one of the Sacred College, by +name C. Terentilius Harsa, came forward with a bill, the object of which +was to give the plebeians a surer footing in the state. This man +perceived that as long as the consuls retained their almost despotic +power, and were elected by the influence of the patricians, this order +had it in its power to thwart all measures, even after they were passed, +which tended to advance the interests of the plebeians. He therefore no +longer demanded the execution of the Agrarian law, but proposed that a +commission of ten men (_decemviri_) should be appointed to draw up +constitutional laws for regulating the future relations of the +patricians and plebeians. + +The Reform Bill of Terentilius was, as might be supposed, vehemently +resisted by the patrician burgesses. But the plebeians supported their +champion no less warmly. For five consecutive years the same tribunes +were reelected and in vain endeavored to carry the bill. This was the +time which least fulfils the character which we have claimed for the +Roman people--patience and temperance, combined with firmness in their +demands. To prevent the tribunes from carrying their law, the younger +patricians thronged to the assemblies and interfered with all +proceedings; Terentilius, they said, was endeavoring to confound all +distinction between the orders. Some scenes occurred which seem to show +that both sides were prepared for civil war. + +In the year B.C. 460 the city was alarmed by hearing that the Capitol +had been seized by a band of Sabines and exiled Romans, under the +command of one Herdonius. Who these exiles were is uncertain. But we +know, by the legend of Cincinnatus, that Cæso Quinctius, the son of that +old hero, was an exile. It has been inferred, therefore, that he was +among them, that the tribunes had succeeded in banishing from the city +the most violent of their opponents, and that these persons had not +scrupled to associate themselves with Sabines to recover their homes. +The consul Valerius, aided by the Latins of Tusculum, levied an army to +attack the insurgents, on condition that after success the law should be +fully considered. The exiles were driven out and Herdonius was killed. +But the consul fell in the assault, and the patricians, led by old +Cincinnatus, refused to fulfil his promises. + +Then followed the danger of the Æquian invasion, to which the legend of +Cincinnatus, as given above, refers. The stern old man used his +dictatorial power quite as much to crush the tribunes at home as to +conquer the enemies abroad. + +One of the historians tells us that in this period of seditious violence +many of the leading plebeians were assassinated (as the tribune Genucius +had been), and to this time only can be attributed the horrible story, +mentioned by more than one writer, that nine tribunes were burned alive +at the instance of their colleague Mucius. Society was utterly +disorganized. The two orders were on the brink of civil war. It seemed +as if Rome was to become the city of discord, not of law. Happily, there +were moderate men in both orders. Now, as at the time of the secession, +their voices prevailed, and a compromise was arranged. + +In the eighth year after the first promulgation of the Terentilian law, +this compromise was made (B.C. 454). The law itself was no longer +pressed by the tribunes. The patricians, on the other hand, so far gave +way as to allow three men (_triumviri_) to be appointed, who were to +travel into Greece, and bring back a copy of the laws of Solon, as well +as the laws and institutes of any other Greek states which they might +deem good and useful. These were to be the groundwork of a new code of +laws, such as should give fair and equal rights to both orders and +restrain the arbitrary power of the patrician magistrates. + +Another concession made by the patrician lords was a small installment of +the Agrarian law. L. Icilius, tribune of the plebs, proposed that all +the Aventine hill, being public land, should be made over to the plebs, +to be their quarter forever, as the other hills were occupied by the +patricians and their clients. This hill, it will be remembered, was +consecrated to the goddess Diana (Jana), and though included in the +walls of Servius, was yet not within the sacred limits (_pomoerium_) of +the patrician city. After some opposition the patricians suffered this +Icilian law to pass, in hopes of soothing the anger of the plebeians. +The land was parcelled out into building-sites. But as there was not +enough to give a separate plot to every plebeian householder that wished +to live in the city, one allotment was assigned to several persons, who +built a joint house _flats_ or stories, each of which was inhabited--as +in Edinburgh and in most foreign towns--by a separate family. + +The three men who had been sent into Greece returned in the third year +(B.C. 452). They found the city free from domestic strife, partly from +the concessions already made, partly from expectation of what was now to +follow, and partly from the effect of a pestilence which had broken out +anew. + +So far did moderate counsels now prevail among the patricians, that +after some little delay they agreed to suspend the ordinary government +by the consuls and other officers, and in their stead to appoint a +council of ten, who were, during their existence, to be intrusted with +all the functions of government. But they were to have a double duty: +they were not only an administrative, but also a legislative council. On +the one hand, they were to conduct the government, administer justice, +and command the armies. On the other, they were to draw up a code of +laws by which equal justice was to be dealt out to the whole Roman +people, to patricians and plebeians alike, and by which especially the +authority to be exercised by the consuls, or chief magistrates, was to +be clearly determined and settled. + +This supreme council of ten, or decemvirs, was first appointed in the +year B.C. 450. They were all patricians. At their head stood Appius +Claudius and T. Genucius, who had already been chosen consuls for this +memorable year. This Appius Claudius (the third of his name) was son and +grandson of those two patrician chiefs who had opposed the leaders of +the plebeians so vehemently in the matter of the tribunate. But he +affected a different conduct from his sires. He was the most popular man +of the whole council, and became in fact the sovereign of Rome. At first +he used his great power well, and the first year's government of the +decemvirs was famed for justice and moderation. + +They also applied themselves diligently to their great work of +law-making, and before the end of the year had drawn up a code of ten +tables, which were posted in the Forum, that all citizens might examine +them and suggest amendments to the decemvirs. After due time thus spent, +the ten tables were confirmed and made law at the Comitia of the +Centuries. By this code equal justice was to be administered to both +orders without distinction of persons. + +At the close of the year the first decemvirs laid down their office, +just as the consuls and other officers of state had been accustomed to +do before. They were succeeded by a second set of ten, who, for the next +year at least, were to conduct the government like their predecessors. +The only one of the old decemvirs reelected was Appius Claudius. The +patricians, indeed, endeavored to prevent even this, and to this end he +was himself appointed to preside at the new elections; for it was held +impossible for a chief magistrate to return his own name, when he was +himself presiding. But Appius scorned precedents. He returned himself as +elected, together with nine others, men of no name, while two of the +great Quinctian gens, who offered themselves, were rejected. + +Of the new decemvirs, it is certain that three--and it is probable that +five--were plebeians. Appius, with the plebeian Oppius, held the +judicial office, and remained in the city; and these two seem to have +been regarded as the chiefs. The other six commanded the armies and +discharged the duties previously assigned to the quæstors and ædiles. + +The first decemvirs had earned the respect and esteem of their +fellow-citizens. The new Council of Ten deserved the hatred which has +ever since cloven to their name. Appius now threw off the mask which he +had so long worn, and assumed his natural character--the same as had +distinguished his sire and grandsire, of unhappy memory. He became an +absolute despot. His brethren in the council offered no hinderance to +his will; even the plebeian decemvirs, bribed by power, fell into his +way of action and supported his tyranny. They each had twelve lictors, +who carried fasces with the axes in them the symbol of absolute power, +as in the times of the kings; so that it was said, "Rome had now twelve +Tarquins instead of one, and one hundred and twenty armed lictors +instead of twelve!" All freedom of speech ceased. The senate was seldom +called together. The leading men, patricians and plebeians, left the +city. The outward aspect of things was that of perfect calm and peace, +but an opportunity only was wanting for the discontent which was +smouldering in all men's hearts to break out and show itself. + +By the end of the year the decemvirs had added two more tables to the +code, so that there were now twelve tables. But these two last were of a +most oppressive and arbitrary kind, devoted chiefly to restore the +ancient privileges of the patrician caste. Of these tables, it should be +observed that they were made laws not by the vote of the people, but by +the simple edict of the decemvirs. + +It was, no doubt, expected that the second decemvirs also would have +held _comitia_ for the election of successors. But Appius and his +colleagues showed no such intention, and when the year came to a close +they continued to hold office as if they had been reelected. So firmly +did their power seem to be established that we hear of no endeavor being +made to induce them to resign. + +In the course of this next year (B.C. 449), the border wars were +renewed. On the north the Sabines, and the Æquians on the northeast, +invaded the Roman country at the same time. The latter penetrated as far +as Mount Algidus, as in B.C. 458, when they were routed by old +Cincinnatus. The decemvirs probably, like the patrician burgesses in +former times, regarded these inroads not without satisfaction; for they +turned away the mind of the people from their sufferings at home. Yet +from these very wars sprung the events which overturned their power and +destroyed themselves. + +Two armies were levied, one to check the Sabines, the other to oppose +the Æquians, and these were commanded by the six military decemvirs. +Appius and Oppius remained to administer affairs at home. But there was +no spirit in the armies. Both were defeated; and that which was opposed +to the Æquians was compelled to take refuge within the walls of +Tusculum. + +Then followed two events which were preserved in well-known legends, and +which give the popular narrative of the manner in which the power of the +decemvirs was at last overthrown. + +LEGEND OF SICCIUS DENTATUS + +In the army sent against the Sabines, Siccius Dentatus was known as the +bravest man. He was then serving as a centurion; he had fought in one +hundred and twenty battles; he had slain eight champions in single +combat; had saved the lives of fourteen citizens; had received forty +wounds, all in front; had followed in nine triumphal processions, and +had won crowns and decorations without number. This gallant veteran had +taken an active part in the civil contests between the two orders, and +was now suspected, by the decemvirs commanding the Sabine army, of +plotting against them. Accordingly they determined to get rid of him; +and for this end they sent him out as if to reconnoitre, with a party of +soldiers, who were secretly instructed to murder him. Having discovered +their design, he set his back against a rock and resolved to sell his +life dearly. More than one of his assailants fell and the rest stood at +bay around him, not venturing to come within sword's length, when one +wretch climbed up the rock behind and crushed the brave old man with a +massive stone. But the manner of his death could not be hidden from the +army, and the generals only prevented an outbreak by honoring him with a +magnificent funeral. + +Such was the state of things in the Sabine army. + +LEGEND OF VIRGINIA[23] + +[Footnote 23: Dionysius is the authority for this legend.] + +The other army had a still grosser outrage to complain of. In this there +was a notable centurion, Virginius by name. His daughter Virginia, just +ripening into womanhood, beautiful as the day, was betrothed to L. +Icilius, the tribune who had carried the law for allotting the Aventine +hill to the plebeians. Appius Claudius, the decemvir, saw her and lusted +to make her his own. And with this intent he ordered one of his clients, +M. Claudius by name, to lay hands upon her as she was going to her +school in the Forum, and to claim her as his slave. The man did so; and +when the cries of her nurse brought a crowd round them, M. Claudius +insisted on taking her before the decemvir, in order, as he said, to +have the case fairly tried. Her friends consented; and no sooner had +Appius heard the matter than he gave judgment that the maiden should be +delivered up to the claimant, who should be bound to produce her in case +her alleged father appeared to gainsay the claim. Now this judgment was +directly against one of the laws of the twelve tables, which Appius +himself had framed; for therein it was provided that any person being at +freedom should continue free till it was proved that such person was a +slave. Icilius, therefore, with Numitorius, the uncle of the maiden, +boldly argued against the legality of the judgment, and at length +Appius, fearing a tumult, agreed to leave the girl in their hands on +condition of their giving bail to bring her before him next morning; and +then, if Virginius did not appear, he would at once, he said, give her +up to her pretended master. To this Icilius consented, but he delayed +giving bail, pretending that he could not procure it readily; and in the +mean time he sent off a secret message to the camp on Algidus, to inform +Virginius of what had happened. As soon as the bail was given, Appius +also sent a message to the decemvirs in command of that army, ordering +them to refuse leave of absence to Virginius. But when this last message +arrived, Virginius was already halfway on his road to Rome; for the +distance was not more than twenty miles, and he had started at +nightfall. + +Next morning, early, Virginius entered the Forum, leading his daughter +by the hand, both clad in mean attire. A great number of friends and +matrons attended him, and he went about among the people entreating them +to support him against the tyranny of Appius. So when Appius came to +take his place on the judgment seat he found the Forum full of people, +all friendly to Virginius and his cause. But he inherited the boldness +as well as the vices of his sires, and though he saw Virginius standing +there ready to prove that he was the maiden's father, he at once gave +judgment, against his own law, that Virginia should be given up to M. +Claudius till it should be proved that she was free. The wretch came up +to seize her, and the lictors kept the people from him. Virginius, now +despairing of deliverance, begged Appius to allow him to ask the maiden +whether she were indeed his daughter or not. "If," said he, "I find I am +not her father, I shall bear her loss the lighter." Under this pretence +he drew her aside to a spot upon the northern side of the Forum, +afterward called the "_Nova Tabernce_" and here, snatching up a knife +from a butcher's stall, he cried: "In this way only can I keep thee +free!"--and so saying, stabbed her to the heart. Then he turned to the +tribunal and said, "On thee, Appius, and on thy head be this blood!" +Appius cried out to seize "the murderer," but the crowd made way for +Virginius, and he passed through them holding up the bloody knife, and +went out at the gate and made straight for the army. There, when the +soldiers had heard his tale, they at once abandoned their decemviral +generals and marched to Rome. They were soon followed by the other army +from the Sabine frontier; for to them Icilius had gone, and Numitorius; +and they found willing ears among men who were already enraged by the +murder of old Siccius Dentatus. So the two armies joined their banners, +elected new generals, and encamped upon the Aventine hill, the quarter +of the plebeians. + +Meantime the people at home had risen against Appius, and after driving +him from the Forum they joined their armed fellow-citizens upon the +Aventine. There the whole body of the commons, armed and unarmed, hung +like a dark cloud ready to burst upon the city. + +Whatever may be the truth of the legends of Siccius and Virginia, there +can be no doubt that the conduct of the decemvirs had brought matters to +the verge of civil war. At this juncture the senate met, and the +moderate party so far prevailed as to send their own leaders, M. +Horatius Barbatus and L. Valerius Potitus, to negotiate with the +insurgents. The plebeians were ready to listen to the voices of these +men; for they remembered that the consuls of the first year of the +Republic, when the patrician burgesses were friends to the plebeians, +were named Valerius and Horatius; and so they appointed M. Duillius, a +former tribune, to be their spokesman. But no good came of it; and +Duillius persuaded the plebeians to leave the city, and once more to +occupy the Sacred Mount. + +Then remembrances of the great secession came back upon the minds of the +patricians, and the senate, observing the calm and resolute bearing of +the plebeian leaders, compelled the decemvirs to resign, and sent back +Valerius and Horatius to negotiate anew. + +The leaders of the plebeians demanded: First, that the tribuneship +should be restored, and the _Comitia Tributa_ recognized; secondly, that +a right of appeal to the people against the power of the supreme +magistrate should be secured; thirdly, that full indemnity should be +granted to the movers and promoters of the late secession; fourthly, +that the decemvirs should be burnt alive. + +Of these demands the deputies of the senate agreed to the three first; +but the fourth, they said, was unworthy of a free people; it was a piece +of tyranny, as bad as any of the worst acts of the late government; and +it was needless, because anyone who had reason of complaint against the +late decemvirs might proceed against them according to law. The +plebeians listened to these words of wisdom, and withdrew their savage +demand. The other three were confirmed by the fathers, and the plebeians +returned to their quarters on the Aventine. Here they held an assembly +according to their tribes, in which the pontifex Maximus presided; and +they now, for the first time, elected ten tribunes--first Virginius, +Numitorius, and Icilius, then Duillius and six others: so full were +their minds of the wrong done to the daughter of Virginius; so entirely +was it the blood of young Virginia that overthrew the decemvirs, even as +that of Lucretia had driven out the Tarquins. + +The plebeians had now returned to the city, headed by their ten +tribunes, a number which was never again altered so long as the +tribunate continued in existence. It remained for the patricians to +redeem the pledges given by their agents Valerius and Horatius on the +other demands of the plebeian leaders. + +The first thing to settle was the election of the supreme magistrates. +The decemvirs had fallen, and the state was without any executive +government. + +It has been supposed, as we have said above, that the government of the +decemvirs was intended to be perpetual. The patricians gave up their +consuls, and the plebeians their tribunes, on condition that each order +was to be admitted to an equal share in the new decemviral college. But +the tribunes were now restored in augmented number, and it was but +natural that the patricians should insist on again occupying all places +in the supreme magistracy. By common consent, as it would seem, the +Comitia of the Centuries met and elected to the consulate the two +patricians who had shown themselves the friends of both orders: L. +Valerius Potitus and M. Horatius Barbatus. Thus ended the government of +the decemvirate. + + + + +PERICLES RULES IN ATHENS + +B.C. 444 + +PLUTARCH + + +(Under the sway of Pericles many changes occurred in the civil affairs +of Athens affecting the constitution of the state and the character and +administration of its laws. Events of magnitude marked the struggles of +the Athenians with other powers. The development of art and learning was +carried to an unprecedented height, and the Age of Pericles is the most +illustrious in ancient history. + +Pericles began his career by opposing the aristocratic party of Athens, +led by Cimon. In this policy he was aided by complications arising with +Sparta and Argos. Directing his attack particularly against the +Areopagus, he succeeded in greatly modifying the composition of that +body and diminishing its powers. The exile of Cimon, the strengthening +of Athens by new alliances, and the vigorous prosecution of wars against +Persia and Corinth combined to establish his supremacy, which was still +further confirmed by the building of the long walls connecting Athens +with the sea, and by the acquisition of neighboring territory. + +A favorable convention was concluded with Persia, Athens resumed a state +of general peace, and Pericles found himself at the head of a powerful +empire formed out of a confederacy previously existing. The strength of +this empire was indeed soon impaired by ill-judged military movements, +against the advice of Pericles himself, but during six years of peace +which followed he succeeded in perfecting a state whose preeminence in +intellectual, political, and artistic development has had no rival. + +In the later wars of Athens the renown of Pericles was still further +enhanced; but his chief glory arose from the architectural adornment of +the city, and especially from the building of the Parthenon and the +splendid decoration of the Acropolis; while his work of judicial reform +remains an added monument to his fame, and among the masters of +eloquence his orations preserve for him a foremost place.) + + +Pericles was of the tribe Acamantis, and of the township of Cholargos, +and was descended from the noblest families in Athens, on both his +father's and mother's side. His father, Xanthippus, defeated the Persian +generals at Mycale, while his mother, Agariste, was a descendant of +Clisthenes, who drove the sons of Pisistratus out of Athens, put an end +to their despotic rule, and established a new constitution admirably +calculated to reconcile all parties and save the country. She dreamed +that she had brought forth a lion, and a few days afterward was +delivered of Pericles. His body was symmetrical, but his head was long, +out of all proportion; for which reason, in nearly all his statues he is +represented wearing a helmet, as the sculptors did not wish, I suppose, +to reproach him with this blemish. The Attic poets called him +squill-head, and the comic poet Cratinus, in his play _Chirones_, says; + + "From Chronos old and faction + Is sprung a tyrant dread, + And all Olympus calls him + The man-compelling head." + +And again in the play of _Nemesis_: + + "Come, hospitable Zeus, with lofty head." + +Teleclides, too, speaks of him as sitting + + "Bowed down + With a dreadful frown, + Because matters of state have gone wrong, + Until at last, + From his head so vast, + His ideas burst forth in a throng." + +And Eupolis, in his play of _Demoi_, asking questions about each of the +great orators as they come up from the other world one after the other, +when at last Pericles ascends, says: + + "The great headpiece of those below." + +Most writers tell us that his tutor in music was Damon, whose name they +say should be pronounced with the first syllable short. Aristotle, +however, says that he studied under Pythoclides. This Damon, it seems, +was a sophist of the highest order, who used the name of music to +conceal this accomplishment from the world, but who really trained +Pericles for his political contests just as a trainer prepares an +athlete for the games. However, Damon's use of music as a pretext did +not impose upon the Athenians, who banished him by ostracism, as a +busybody and lover of despotism. + +Pericles greatly admired Anaxagoras, and became deeply interested in +grand speculations, which gave him a haughty spirit and a lofty style of +oratory far removed from vulgarity and low buffoonery, and also an +imperturbable gravity of countenance and a calmness of demeanor and +appearance which no incident could disturb as he was speaking, while the +tone of his voice never showed that he heeded any interruption. These +advantages greatly impressed the people. The poet Ion, however, says +that Pericles was overbearing and insolent in conversation, and that his +pride had in it a great deal of contempt for others, while he praises +Cimon's civil, sensible, and polished address. But we may disregard Ion +as a mere dramatic poet who always sees in great men something upon +which to exercise his satiric vein; whereas Zeno used to invite those +who called the haughtiness of Pericles a mere courting of popularity and +affectation of grandeur, to court popularity themselves in the same +fashion, since the acting of such a part might insensibly mould their +dispositions until they resembled that of their model. + +Pericles when young greatly feared the people. He had a certain personal +likeness to the despot Pisistratus; and as his own voice was sweet, and +he was ready and fluent in speech, old men who had known Pisistratus +were struck by his resemblance to him. He was also rich, of noble birth, +and had powerful friends, so that he feared he might be banished by +ostracism, and consequently held aloof from politics, but proved himself +a brave and daring soldier in the wars. But when Aristides was dead, +Themistocles banished, and Cimon generally absent on distant campaigns, +Pericles engaged in public affairs, taking the popular side, that of the +poor and many, against that of the rich and few; quite contrary to his +own feelings, which were entirely aristocratic. He feared, it seems, +that he might be suspected of a design to make himself despot, and +seeing that Cimon took the side of the nobility, and was much beloved by +them, he betook himself to the people, as a means of obtaining safety +for himself, and a strong party to combat that of Cimon. He immediately +altered his mode of life; was never seen in any street except that which +led to the market-place and the national assembly, and declined all +invitations to dinner and such like social gatherings. But Pericles +feared to make himself too common even with the people, and only +addressed them after long intervals; not speaking upon every subject, +and not constantly addressing them, but, as Critolaus says, keeping +himself like the Salaminian trireme for great crises, and allowing his +friends and the other orators to manage matters of less moment. + +Wishing to adopt a style of speaking consonant with his haughty manner +and lofty spirit, Pericles made free use of the instrument which +Anaxagoras, as it were, put into his hand, and often tinged his oratory +with natural philosophy. He far surpassed all others by using this +"lofty intelligence and power of universal consummation," as the divine +Plato calls it; in addition to his natural advantages, adorning his +oratory with apt illustrations drawn from physical science. For this +reason some think that he was nicknamed the Olympian; though some refer +this to his improvement of the city by new and beautiful buildings, and +others from his power both as a politician and a general. It is not by +any means unlikely that these causes all combined to produce the name. + +Pericles was very cautious about his words, and, whenever he ascended +the tribune to speak, used first to pray to the gods that nothing +unfitted for the present occasion might fall from his lips. He left no +writings, except the measures which he brought forward, and very few of +his sayings are recorded. + +Thucydides represents the constitution under Pericles as a democracy in +name, but really an aristocracy, because the government was all in the +hands of one leading citizen. But as many other writers tell us that, +during his administration, the people received grants of land abroad, +and were indulged with dramatic entertainments, and payments for their +services, in consequence of which they fell into bad habits, and became +extravagant and licentious, instead of sober hard-working people as they +had been before, let us consider the history of this change, viewing it +by the light of the facts themselves. First of all, Pericles had to +measure himself with Cimon, and to transfer the affections of the people +from Cimon to himself. As he was not so rich a man as Cimon, who used +from his own ample means to give a dinner daily to any poor Athenian who +required it, clothe aged persons, and take away the fences round his +property, so that anyone might gather the fruit, Pericles, unable to vie +with him in this, turned his attention to a distribution of the public +funds among the people, at the suggestion, we are told by Aristotle, of +Damonides of Oia. By the money paid for public spectacles, for citizens +acting as jurymen, and other paid offices, and largesses, he soon won +over the people to his side, so that he was able to use them in his +attack upon the senate of the Areopagus, of which he himself was not a +member, never having been chosen _archon_, or _thesmothete_, or _king +archon_, or _polemarch_. These offices had from ancient times been +obtained by lot, and it was only through them that those who had +approved themselves in the discharge of them were advanced to the +Areopagus. For this reason it was that Pericles, when he gained strength +with the populace, destroyed this senate, making Ephialtes bring forward +a bill which restricted its judicial powers, while he himself succeeded +in getting Cimon banished by ostracism, as a friend of Sparta and a +hater of the people, although he was second to no Athenian in birth or +fortune, and won most brilliant victories over the Persians, and had +filled Athens with plunder and spoils of war. So great was the power of +Pericles with the common people. + +One of the provisions of ostracism was that the person banished should +remain in exile for ten years. But during this period the Lacedæmonians +with a great force invaded the territory of Tanagra, and, as the +Athenians at once marched out to attack them, Cimon came back from +exile, took his place in full armor among the ranks of his own tribe, +and hoped by distinguishing himself in the battle among his +fellow-citizens to prove the falsehood of the Laconian sympathies with +which he had been charged. However, the friends of Pericles drove him +away, as an exile. On the other hand, Pericles fought more bravely in +that battle than he had ever fought before, and surpassed everyone in +reckless daring. The friends of Cimon also, whom Pericles had accused of +Laconian leanings, fell, all together, in their ranks; and the Athenians +felt great sorrow for their treatment of Cimon, and a great longing for +his restoration, now that they had lost a great battle on the frontier, +and expected to be hard pressed during the summer by the Lacedaemonians. +Pericles, perceiving this, lost no time in gratifying the popular wish, +but himself proposed the decree for his recall; and Cimon on his return +reconciled the two states, for he was on familiar terms with the +Spartans, who were hated by Pericles and the other leaders of the common +people. Some say that, before Cimon's recall by Pericles, a secret +compact was made with him by Elpinice, Cimon's sister, that Cimon was to +proceed on foreign service against the Persians with a fleet of two +hundred ships, while Pericles was to retain his power in the city. It is +also said that, when Cimon was being tried for his life, Elpinice +softened the resentment of Pericles, who was one of those appointed to +impeach him. When Elpinice came to beg her brother's life of him, he +answered with a smile, "Elpinice, you are too old to meddle in affairs +of this sort." But, for all that, he spoke only once, for form's sake, +and pressed Cimon less than any of his other prosecutors. How, then, can +one put any faith in Idomeneus, when he accuses Pericles of procuring +the assassination of his friend and colleague Ephialtes, because he was +jealous of his reputation? This seems an ignoble calumny which Idomeneus +has drawn from some obscure source to fling at a man who, no doubt, was +not faultless, but of a generous spirit and noble mind, incapable of +entertaining so savage and brutal a design. Ephialtes was disliked and +feared by the nobles, and was inexorable in punishing those who wronged +the people; wherefore his enemies had him assassinated by means of +Aristodicus of Tanagra. This we are told by Aristotle. Cimon died in +Cyprus while in command of the Athenian forces. + +The nobles now perceived that Pericles was the most important man in the +state, and far more powerful than any other citizen; wherefore, as they +still hoped to check his authority, and not allow him to be omnipotent, +they set up Thucydides, of the township of Alopecae, as his rival, a man +of good sense and a relative of Cimon, but less of a warrior and more of +a politician, who, by watching his opportunities, and opposing Pericles +in debate, soon brought about a balance of power. He did not allow the +nobles to mix themselves up with the people in the public assembly as +they had been wont to do, so that their dignity was lost among the +masses; but he collected them into a separate body, and by thus +concentrating their strength was able to use it to counterbalance that +of the other party. From the beginning these two factions had been but +imperfectly welded together, because their tendencies were different; +but now the struggle for power between Pericles and Thucydides drew a +sharp line of demarcation between them, and one was called the party of +the Many, the other that of the Few. Pericles now courted the people in +every way, constantly arranging public spectacles, festivals, and +processions in the city, by which he educated the Athenians to take +pleasure in refined amusements; and also he sent out sixty triremes to +cruise every year, in which many of the people served for hire for eight +months, learning and practising seamanship. Besides this he sent a +thousand settlers to the Chersonese, five hundred to Naxos, half as many +to Andros, a thousand to dwell among the Thracian tribe of the Bisaltae, +and others to the new colony in Italy founded by the city of Sybaris, +which was named Thurii. By this means he relieved the state of numerous +idle agitators, assisted the necessitous, and overawed the allies of +Athens by placing his colonists near them to watch their behavior. + +The building of the temples, by which Athens was adorned, the people +delighted, and the rest of the world astonished, and which now alone +prove that the tales of the ancient power and glory of Greece are no +fables, was what particularly excited the spleen of the opposite +faction, who inveighed against him in the public assembly, declaring +that the Athenians had disgraced themselves by transferring the common +treasury of the Greeks from the island of Delos to their own custody. +"Pericles himself," they urged, "has taken away the only possible excuse +for such an act--the fear that it might be exposed to the attacks of the +Persians when at Delos, whereas it would be safe at Athens. Greece has +been outraged, and feels itself openly tyrannized over, when it sees us +using the funds--which we extorted from it for the war against the +Persians--for gilding and beautifying our city as if it were a vain +woman, and adorning it with precious marbles and statues and temples +worth a thousand talents." To this Pericles replied that the allies had +no right to consider how their money was spent, so long as Athens +defended them from the Persians; while they supplied neither horses, +ships, nor men, but merely money, which the Athenians had a right to +spend as they pleased, provided they afforded them that security which +it purchased. It was right, he argued, that after the city had provided +all that was necessary for war, it should devote its surplus money to +the erection of buildings which would be a glory to it for all ages, +while these works would create plenty by leaving no man unemployed, and +encouraging all sorts of handicraft, so that nearly the whole city would +earn wages, and thus derive both its beauty and its profit from itself. +For those who were in the flower of their age, military service offered +a means of earning money from the common stock; while, as he did not +wish the mechanics and lower classes to be without their share, nor yet +to see them receive it without doing work for it, he had laid the +foundations of great edifices which would require industries of every +kind to complete them; and he had done this in the interests of the +lower classes, who thus, although they remained at home, would have just +as good a claim to their share of the public funds as those who were +serving at sea, in garrison, or in the field. The different materials +used, such as stone, brass, ivory, gold, ebony, cypress-wood, and so +forth, would require special artisans for each, such as carpenters, +modelers, smiths, stone-masons, dyers, melters and moulders of gold, +and ivory painters, embroiderers, workers in relief; and also men to +bring them to the city, such as sailors and captains of ships and pilots +for such as came by sea; and, for those who came by land, carriage +builders, horse breeders, drivers, ropemakers, linen manufacturers, +shoemakers, road menders, and miners. Each trade, moreover, employed a +number of unskilled laborers, so that, in a word, there would be work +for persons of every age and every class, and general prosperity would +be the result. + +These buildings were of immense size, and unequalled in beauty and +grace, as the workmen endeavored to make the execution surpass the +design in beauty; but what was most remarkable was the speed with which +they were built. All these edifices, each of which one would have +thought it would have taken many generations to complete, were all +finished during the most brilliant period of one man's administration. +In beauty each of them at once appeared venerable as soon as it was +built; but even at the present day the work looks as fresh as ever, for +they bloom with an eternal freshness which defies time, and seems to +make the work instinct with an unfading spirit of youth. + +The overseer and manager of the whole was Phidias, although there were +other excellent architects and workmen, such as Callicrates and Ictinus, +who built the Parthenon on the site of the old Hecatompedon, which had +been destroyed by the Persians, and Coroebus, who began to build the +Temple of Initiation at Eleusis, but who only lived to see the columns +erected and the architraves placed upon them. On his death, Metagenes, +of Xypete, added the frieze and the upper row of columns, and Xenocles, +of Cholargos, crowned it with the domed roof over the shrine. As to the +long wall, about which Socrates says that he heard Pericles bring +forward a motion, Callicrates undertook to build it. The Odeum, which +internally consisted of many rows of seats and many columns, and +externally of a roof sloping on all sides from a central point, was said +to have been built in imitation of the king of Persia's tent, and was +built under Pericles' direction. + +The Propylaea, before the Acropolis, were finished in five years by +Mnesicles the architect; and a miraculous incident during the work +seemed to show that the goddess did not disapprove, but rather +encouraged and assisted the building. The most energetic and active of +the workmen fell from a great height, and lay in a dangerous condition, +given over by his doctors. Pericles grieved much for him; but the +goddess appeared to him in a dream, and suggested a course of treatment +by which Pericles quickly healed the workman. In consequence of this, he +set up the brazen statue of Athene the Healer, near the old altar in the +Acropolis. The golden statue of the goddess was made by Phidias, and his +name appears upon the basement in the inscription. Almost everything was +in his hands, and he gave his orders to all the workmen--as has been +said before--because of his friendship with Pericles. + +When the speakers of Thucydides' party complained that Pericles had +wasted the public money, and destroyed the revenue, he asked the people +in the assembly whether they thought he had spent much. When they +answered, "Very much indeed," he said in reply; "Do not, then, put it +down to the public account, but to mine; and I will inscribe my name +upon all the public buildings." When Pericles said this, the people, +either in admiration of his magnificence of manner, or being eager to +bear their share in the glory of the new buildings, shouted to him with +one accord to take what money he pleased from the treasury, and spend it +as he pleased, without stint. And finally, he underwent the trial of +ostracism with Thucydides, and not only succeeded in driving him into +exile, but broke up his party. + +As now there was no opposition to encounter in the city, and all parties +had been blended into one, Pericles undertook the sole administration of +the home and foreign affairs of Athens, dealing with the public revenue, +the army, the navy, the islands and maritime affairs, and the great +sources of strength which Athens derived from her alliances, as well +with Greek as with foreign princes and states. Henceforth he became +quite a different man: he no longer gave way to the people, and ceased +to watch the breath of popular favor; but he changed the loose and +licentious democracy which had hitherto existed, into a stricter +aristocratic, or rather monarchical, form of government. This he used +honorably and unswervingly for the public benefit, finding the people, +as a rule, willing to second the measures which he explained to them to +be necessary and to which he asked their consent, but occasionally +having to use violence, and to force them, much against their will, to +do what was expedient; like a physician dealing with some complicated +disorder, who at one time allows his patient innocent recreation, and at +another inflicts upon him sharp pains and bitter though salutary +draughts. Every possible kind of disorder was to be found among a people +possessing so great an empire as the Athenians, and he alone was able to +bring them into harmony by playing alternately upon their hopes and +fears, checking them when overconfident, and raising their spirits when +they were cast down and disheartened. Thus, as Plato says, he was able +to prove that oratory is the art of influencing men's minds, and to use +it in its highest application, when it deals with men's passions and +characters, which, like certain strings of a musical instrument, require +a skilful and delicate touch. The secret of his power is to be found, +however, as Thucydides says, not so much in his mere oratory as in his +pure and blameless life, because he was so well known to be +incorruptible, and indifferent to money; for though he made the city, +which was a great one, into the greatest and richest city of Greece, and +though he himself became more powerful than many independent sovereigns, +who were able to leave their kingdoms to their sons, yet Pericles did +not increase by one single drachma the estate which he received from his +father. For forty years he held the first place among such men as +Ephialtes, Leocrates, Myronides, Cimon, Tolmides, and Thucydides; and, +after the fall and banishment of Thucydides by ostracism, he united in +himself for five-and-twenty years all the various offices of state, +which were supposed to last only for one year; and yet during the whole +of that period proved himself incorruptible by bribes. + +As the Lacedaemonians began to be jealous of the prosperity of the +Athenians, Pericles, wishing to raise the spirit of the people and to +make them feel capable of immense operations, passed a decree, inviting +all the Greeks, whether inhabiting Europe or Asia, whether living in +large cities or small ones, to send representatives to a meeting at +Athens to deliberate about the restoration of the Greek temples which +had been burned by the barbarians, about the sacrifices which were due +in consequence of the vows which they had made to the gods on behalf of +Greece before joining battle, and about the sea, that all men might be +able to sail upon it in peace and without fear. To carry out this decree +twenty men, selected from the citizens over fifty years of age, were +sent out, five of whom invited the Ionian and Dorian Greeks in Asia and +the islands as far as Lesbos and Rhodes, five went to the inhabitants of +the Hellespont and Thrace as far as Byzantium, and five more proceeded +to Boeotia, Phocis, and Peloponnesus, passing from thence through Locris +to the neighboring continent as far as Acarnania and Ambracia; while the +remainder journeyed through Euboea to the Oetaeans and the Malian Gulf, +and to the Achaeans of Phthia and the Thessalians, urging them to join +the assembly and take part in the deliberations concerning the peace and +well-being of Greece. However, nothing was effected, and the cities +never assembled, in consequence it is said of the covert hostility of +the Lacedaemonians, and because the attempt was first made in +Peloponnesus and failed there: yet I have inserted an account of it in +order to show the lofty spirit and the magnificent designs of Pericles. + +In his campaigns he was chiefly remarkable for caution, for he would +not, if he could help it, begin a battle of which the issue was +doubtful; nor did he wish to emulate those generals who have won +themselves a great reputation by running risks and trusting to good +luck. But he ever used to say to his countrymen, that none of them +should come by their deaths through any act of his. Observing that +Tolmides, the son of Tolmaeus, elated by previous successes and by the +credit which he had gained as a general, was about to invade Boeotia in +a reckless manner, and had persuaded a thousand young men to follow him +without any support whatever, he endeavored to stop him, and made that +memorable saying in the public assembly, that if Tolmides would not take +the advice of Pericles, he would at any rate do well to consult that +best of advisers, Time. This speech had but little success at the time; +but when, a few days afterward, the news came that Tolmides had fallen +in action at Coronea, and many noble citizens with him, Pericles was +greatly respected and admired as a wise and patriotic man. + +His most successful campaign was that in the Chersonesus, which proved +the salvation of the Greeks residing there: for he not only settled a +thousand colonists there, and thus increased the available force of the +cities, but built a continuous line of fortifications reaching across +the isthmus from one sea to the other, by which he shut off the +Thracians, who had previously ravaged the peninsula, and put an end to a +constant and harassing border warfare to which the settlers were +exposed, as they had for neighbors tribes of wild plundering barbarians. + +But that by which he obtained most glory and renown was when he started +from Pegae, in the Megarian territory, and sailed round the Peloponnesus +with a fleet of a hundred triremes; for he not only laid waste much of +the country near the coast, as Tolmides had previously done, but he +proceeded far inland, away from his ships, leading the troops who were +on board, and terrified the inhabitants so much that they shut +themselves up in their strongholds. The men of Sicyon alone ventured to +meet him at Nemea, and them he overthrew in a pitched battle, and +erected a trophy. Next he took on board troops from the friendly +district of Achaia, and, crossing over to the opposite side of the +Corinthian Gulf, coasted along past the mouth of the river Achelous, +overran Acarnania, drove the people of Oeneadae to the shelter of their +city walls, and after ravaging the country returned home, having made +himself a terror to his enemies, and done good service to Athens; for +not the least casualty, even by accident, befell the troops under his +command. + +When he sailed into the Black Sea with a great and splendidly equipped +fleet, he assisted the Greek cities there, and treated them with +consideration, and showed the neighboring savage tribes and their chiefs +the greatness of his force, and his confidence in his power, by sailing +where he pleased, and taking complete control over that sea. He left at +Sinope thirteen ships, and a land force under the command of Lamachus, +to act against Timesileon, who had made himself despot of that city. +When he and his party were driven out, Pericles passed a decree that six +hundred Athenian volunteers should sail to Sinope, and become citizens +there, receiving the houses and lands which had formerly been in the +possession of the despot and his party. But in other cases he would not +agree to the impulsive proposals of the Athenians, and he opposed them +when, elated by their power and good fortune, they talked of recovering +Egypt and attacking the seaboard of the Persian empire. Many, too, were +inflamed with that ill-starred notion of an attempt on Sicily, which was +afterward blown into a flame by Alcibiades and other orators. Some even +dreamed of the conquest of Etruria and Carthage, in consequence of the +greatness which the Athenian empire had already reached, and the full +tide of success which seemed to attend it. + +Pericles, however, restrained these outbursts, and would not allow the +people to meddle with foreign states, but used the power of Athens +chiefly to preserve and guard her already existing empire, thinking it +to be of paramount importance to oppose the Lacedaemonians, a task to +which he bent all his energies, as is proved by many of his acts, +especially in connection with the Sacred War. In this war the +Lacedaemonians sent a force to Delphi, and made the Phocians, who held +it, give it up to the people of Delphi: but as soon as they were gone +Pericles made an expedition into the country, and restored the temple to +the Phocians; and as the Lacedaemonians had scratched the oracle which +the Delphians had given them, on the forehead of the brazen wolf there, +Pericles got a response from the oracle for the Athenians, and carved it +on the right side of the same wolf. + +Events proved that Pericles was right in confining the Athenian empire +to Greece. First of all Euboea revolted, and he was obliged to lead an +army to subdue that island. Shortly after this, news came that the +Megarians had become hostile, and that an army, under the command of +Plistoanax, king of the Lacedaemonians, was menacing the frontier of +Attica. Pericles now in all haste withdrew his troops from Euboea, to +meet the invader. He did not venture on an engagement with the numerous +and warlike forces of the enemy, although repeatedly invited by them to +fight: but, observing that Plistoanax was a very young man, and entirely +under the influence of Cleandrides, whom the _ephors_ had sent to act as +his tutor and counsellor because of his tender years, he opened secret +negotiations with the latter, who at once, for a bribe, agreed to +withdraw the Peloponnesians from Attica. When their army returned and +dispersed, the Lacedaemonians were so incensed that they imposed a fine +on their king, and condemned Cleandrides, who fled the country, to be +put to death. This Cleandrides was the father of Gylippus, who caused +the ruin of the Athenian expedition in Sicily. Avarice seems to have +been hereditary in the family, for Gylippus himself, after brilliant +exploits in war, was convicted of taking bribes, and banished from +Sparta in disgrace. + +When Pericles submitted the accounts of the campaign to the people, +there was an item of ten talents, "for a necessary purpose," which the +people passed without any questioning, or any curiosity to learn the +secret. Some historians, among whom is Theophrastus the philosopher, say +that Pericles sent ten talents annually to Sparta, by means of which he +bribed the chief magistrates to defer the war, thus not buying peace, +but time to make preparations for a better defence. He immediately +turned his attention to the insurgents in Euboea, and proceeding thither +with a fleet of fifty sail, and five thousand heavy armed troops, he +reduced their cities to submission. He banished from Chalcis the +"equestrian order," as it was called, consisting of men of wealth and +station; and he drove all the inhabitants of Hestiaea out of their +country, replacing them by Athenian settlers. He treated these people +with this pitiless severity, because they had captured an Athenian ship, +and put its crew to the sword. After this, as the Athenians and +Lacedaemonians made a truce for thirty years, Pericles decreed the +expedition against Samos, on the pretext that they had disregarded the +commands of the Athenians to cease from their war with the Milesians. + +Pericles is accused of going to war with Samos to save the Milesians. +These states were at war about the possession of the city of Priene, and +the Samians, who were victorious, would not lay down their arms and +allow the Athenians to settle the matter by arbitration, as they ordered +them to do. For this reason Pericles proceeded to Samos, put an end to +the oligarchical form of government there, and sent fifty hostages and +as many children to Lemnos, to insure the good behavior of the leading +men. It is said that each of these hostages offered him a talent for his +own freedom, and that much more was offered by that party which was +loath to see a democracy established in the city. Besides all this, +Pissuthnes the Persian, who had a liking for the Samians, sent and +offered him ten thousand pieces of gold if he would spare the city. +Pericles, however, took none of these bribes, but dealt with Samos as he +had previously determined, and returned to Athens. The Samians now at +once revolted, as Pissuthnes managed to get them back their hostages, +and furnished them with the means of carrying on the war. Pericles now +made a second expedition against them, and found them in no mind to +submit quietly, but determined to dispute the empire of the seas with +the Athenians. Pericles gained a signal victory over them in a sea-fight +off the Goats' Island, beating a fleet of seventy ships with only +forty-four, twenty of which were transports. + +Simultaneously with his victory and the flight of the enemy he obtained +command of the harbor of Samos, and besieged the Samians in their city. +They, in spite of their defeat, still possessed courage enough to sally +out and fight a battle under the walls; but soon a larger force arrived +from Athens, and the Samians were completely blockaded. + +Pericles now with sixty ships sailed out of the Archipelago into the +Mediterranean, according to the most current report intending to meet +the Phoenician fleet which was coming to help the Samians, but, +according to Stesimbrotus, with the intention of attacking Cyprus, which +seems improbable. Whatever his intention may have been, his expedition +was a failure, for Melissus, the son of Ithagenes, a man of culture, who +was then in command of the Samian forces, conceiving a contempt for the +small force of the Athenians and the want of experience of their leaders +after Pericles' departure, persuaded his countrymen to attack them. In +the battle the Samians proved victorious, taking many Athenians +prisoners, and destroying many of their ships. By this victory they +obtained command of the sea, and were able to supply themselves with +more warlike stores than they had possessed before. Aristotle even says +that Pericles himself was before this beaten by Melissus in a sea-fight. +The Samians branded the figure of an owl on the foreheads of their +Athenian prisoners, to revenge themselves for the branding of their own +prisoners by the Athenians with the figure of a _samaina_. This is a +ship having a beak turned up like a swine's snout, but with a roomy +hull, so as both to carry a large cargo and sail fast. This class of +vessel is called _samaina_ because it was first built at Samos by +Polycrates, the despot of that island. + +When Pericles heard of the disaster which had befallen his army, he +returned in all haste to assist them. He beat Melissus, who came out to +meet him, and, after putting the enemy to rout, at once built a wall +round their city, preferring to reduce it by blockade to risking the +lives of his countrymen in an assault. In the ninth month of the siege +the Samians surrendered. Pericles demolished their walls, confiscated +their fleet, and imposed a heavy fine upon them, some part of which was +paid at once by the Samians, who gave hostages for the payment of the +remainder at fixed periods. + +Pericles, after the reduction of Samos, returned to Athens, where he +buried those who had fallen in the war in a magnificent manner, and was +much admired for the funeral oration which, as is customary, was spoken +by him over the graves of his countrymen. Ion says that his victory over +the Samians wonderfully flattered his vanity. Agamemnon, he was wont to +say, took ten years to take a barbarian city, but he in nine months had +made himself master of the first and most powerful city in Ionia. And +the comparison was not an unjust one, for truly the war was a very great +undertaking, and its issue quite uncertain, since, as Thucydides tells +us, the Samians came very near to wresting the empire of the sea from +the Athenians. + +After these events, as the clouds were gathering for the Peloponnesian +war, Pericles persuaded the Athenians to send assistance to the people +of Corcyra, who were at war with the Corinthians, and thus to attach to +their own side an island with a powerful naval force, at a moment when +the Peloponnesians had all but declared war against them. + +When the people passed this decree, Pericles sent only ten ships under +the command of Lacedaemonius, the son of Cimon, as if he designed a +deliberate insult; for the house of Cimon was on peculiarly friendly +terms with the Lacedaemonians. His design in sending Lacedaemonius out, +against his will, and with so few ships, was that if he performed +nothing brilliant he might be accused, even more than he was already, of +leaning to the side of the Spartans. Indeed, by all means in his power, +he always threw obstacles in the way of the advancement of Cimon's +family, representing that by their very names they were aliens, one son +being named Lacedaemonius, another Thessalus, another Elius. Moreover, +the mother of all three was an Arcadian. + +Now Pericles was much reproached for sending these ten ships, which were +of little value to the Corcyreans, and gave a great handle to his +enemies to use against him, and in consequence sent a larger force after +them to Corcyra, which arrived there after the battle. The Corinthians, +enraged at this, complained in the congress of Sparta of the conduct of +the Athenians, as did also the Megarians, who said that they were +excluded from every market and every harbor which was in Athenian hands, +contrary to the ancient rights and common privileges of the Hellenic +race. The people of Aegina also considered themselves to be oppressed +and ill-treated, and secretly bemoaned their grievances in the ears of +the Spartans, for they dared not openly bring any charges against the +Athenians. At this time, too, Potidaea, a city subject to Athens, but a +colony of Corinth, revolted, and its siege materially hastened the +outbreak of the war. Archidamus, indeed, the king of the Lacedaemonians, +sent ambassadors to Athens, was willing to submit all disputed points to +arbitration, and endeavored to moderate the excitement of his allies, so +that war probably would not have broken out if the Athenians could have +been persuaded to rescind their decree of exclusion against the +Megarians, and to come to terms with them. And, for this reason, +Pericles, who was particularly opposed to this, and urged the people not +to give way to the Megarians, alone bore the blame of having begun the +war. + +Pericles passed a decree for a herald to be sent to the Megarians, and +then to go on to the Lacedaemonians to complain of their conduct. This +decree of Pericles is worded in a candid and reasonable manner; but the +herald, Anthemocritus, was thought to have met his death at the hands of +the Megarians, and Charinus passed a decree to the effect that Athens +should wage war against them to the death, without truce or armistice; +that any Megarian found in Attica should be punished with death, and +that the generals, when taking the usual oath for each year, should +swear in addition that they would invade the Megarian territory twice +every year; and that Anthemocritus should be buried near the city gate +leading into the Thriasian plain, which is now called the Double Gate. +How the dispute originated it is hard to say, but all writers agree in +throwing on Pericles the blame of refusing to reverse the decree. + +Now, as the Lacedaemonians knew that if he could be removed from power +they would find the Athenians much more easy to deal with, they bade +them "drive forth the accursed thing," alluding to Pericles' descent +from the Alcmaeonidae by his mother's side, as we are told by Thucydides +the historian. But this attempt had just the contrary effect to that +which they intended; for, instead of suspicion and dislike, Pericles met +with much greater honor and respect from his countrymen than before, +because they saw that he was an object of especial dislike to the enemy. +For this reason, before the Peloponnesians, under Archidamus, invaded +Attica, he warned the Athenians that if Archidamus, when he laid waste +everything else, spared his own private estate because of the friendly +private relations existing between them, or in order to give his +personal enemies a ground for impeaching him, he should give both the +land and the farm buildings upon it to the state. + +The Lacedaemonians invaded Attica with a great host of their own troops +and those of their allies, led by Archidamus, their king. They +proceeded, ravaging the country as they went, as far as Acharnae (close +to Athens), where they encamped, imagining that the Athenians would +never endure to see them there, but would be driven by pride and shame +to come out and fight them. However, Pericles thought that it would be a +very serious matter to fight for the very existence of Athens against +sixty thousand Peloponnesian and Boeotian heavy-armed troops, and so he +pacified those who were dissatisfied at his inactivity by pointing out +that trees when cut down quickly grow again, but that when the men of a +state are lost, it is hard to raise up others to take their place. He +would not call an assembly of the people, because he feared that they +would force him to act against his better judgment, but, just as the +captain of a ship, when a storm comes on at sea, places everything in +the best trim to meet it, and trusting to his own skill and seamanship, +disregarding the tears and entreaties of the seasick and terrified +passengers, so did Pericles shut the gates of Athens, place sufficient +forces to insure the safety of the city at all points, and calmly carry +out his own policy, taking little heed of the noisy grumblings of the +discontented. Many of his friends besought him to attack, many of his +enemies threatened him and abused him, and many songs and offensive +jests were written about him, speaking of him as a coward, and one who +was betraying the city to its enemies. Cleon too attacked him, using the +anger which the citizens felt against him to advance his own personal +popularity. + +Pericles was unmoved by any of these attacks, but quietly endured all +this storm of obloquy. He sent a fleet of a hundred ships to attack +Peloponnesus, but did not sail with it himself, remaining at home to +keep a tight hand over Athens until the Peloponnesians drew off their +forces. He regained his popularity with the common people, who suffered +much from the war, by giving them allowances of money from the public +revenue, and grants of land; for he drove out the entire population of +the island of Aegina, and divided the land by lot among the Athenians. A +certain amount of relief also was experienced by reflecting upon the +injuries which they were inflicting on the enemy; for the fleet as it +sailed round Peloponnesus destroyed many small villages and cities, and +ravaged a great extent of country, while Pericles himself led an +expedition into the territory of Megara and laid it all waste. By this +it is clear that the allies, although they did much damage to the +Athenians, yet suffered equally themselves, and never could have +protracted the war for such a length of time as it really lasted, but, +as Pericles foretold, must soon have desisted had not Providence +interfered and confounded human counsels. For now the pestilence fell +among the Athenians, and cut off the flower of their youth. Suffering +both in body and mind they raved against Pericles, just as people when +delirious with disease attack their fathers or their physicians. They +endeavored to ruin him, urged on by his personal enemies, who assured +them that he was the author of the plague, because he had brought all +the country people into the city, where they were compelled to live +during the heat of summer, crowded together in small rooms and stifling +tents, living an idle life too, and breathing foul air instead of the +pure country breeze to which they were accustomed. The cause of this, +they said, was the man who, when the war began, admitted the masses of +the country people into the city, and then made no use of them, but +allowed them to be penned up together like cattle, and transmit the +contagion from one to another, without devising any remedy or +alleviation of their sufferings. + +Hoping to relieve them somewhat, and also to annoy the enemy, Pericles +manned a hundred and fifty ships, placed on board, besides the sailors, +many brave infantry and cavalry soldiers, and was about to put to sea. +The Athenians conceived great hopes, and the enemy no less terror from +so large an armament. When all was ready, and Pericles himself had just +embarked in his own trireme, an eclipse of the sun took place, producing +total darkness, and all men were terrified at so great a portent. +Pericles sailed with the fleet, but did nothing worthy of so great a +force. He besieged the sacred city of Epidaurus, but, although he had +great hopes of taking it, he failed on account of the plague, which +destroyed not only his own men, but every one who came in contact with +them. After this he again endeavored to encourage the Athenians, to whom +he had become an object of dislike. However, he did not succeed in +pacifying them, but they condemned him by a public vote to be general no +more, and to pay a fine which is stated at the lowest estimate to have +been fifteen talents, and at the highest fifty. This was carried, +according to Idomeneus, by Cleon, but, according to Theophrastus, by +Simmias; while Heraclides of Pontus says that it was effected by +Lacratides. + +He soon regained his public position, for the people's outburst of anger +was quenched by the blow they had dealt him, just as a bee leaves its +sting in the wound; but his private affairs were in great distress and +disorder, as he had lost many of his relatives during the plague, while +others were estranged from him on political grounds. Yet he would not +yield, nor abate his firmness and constancy of spirit because of these +afflictions, but was not observed to weep or mourn, or attend the +funeral of any of his relations, until he lost Paralus, the last of his +legitimate offspring. Crushed by this blow, he tried in vain to keep up +his grand air of indifference, and when carrying a garland to lay upon +the corpse he was overpowered by his feelings, so as to burst into a +passion of tears and sobs, which he had never done before in his whole +life. + +Athens made trial of her other generals and public men to conduct her +affairs, but none appeared to be of sufficient weight or reputation to +have such a charge intrusted to him. The city longed for Pericles, and +invited him again to lead its counsels and direct its armies; and he, +although dejected in spirits and living in seclusion in his own house, +was yet persuaded by Alcibiades and his other friends to resume the +direction of affairs. + +After this it appears that Pericles was attacked by the plague, not +acutely or continuously, as in most cases, but in a slow wasting +fashion, exhibiting many varieties of symptoms, and gradually +undermining his strength. As he was now on his death-bed, the most +distinguished of the citizens and his surviving friends collected round +him and spoke admiringly of his nobleness and immense power, enumerating +also the number of his exploits, and the trophies which he had set up +for victories gained; for while in chief command he had won no less than +nine victories for Athens. + +Events soon made the loss of Pericles felt and regretted by the +Athenians. Those who during his lifetime had complained that his power +completely threw them into the shade, when after his death they had made +trial of other orators and statesmen, were obliged to confess that with +all his arrogance no man ever was really more moderate, and that his +real mildness in dealing with men was as remarkable as his apparent +pride and assumption. His power, which had been so grudged and envied, +and called monarchy and despotism, now was proved to have been the +saving of the State; such an amount of corrupt dealing and wickedness +suddenly broke out in public affairs, which he before had crushed and +forced to hide itself, and so prevented its becoming incurable through +impunity and license. + + + + +GREAT PLAGUE AT ATHENS + +B.C. 430 + +GEORGE GROTE + + +(Almost at the beginning of the Peloponnesian war, when the prosperity +of Athens had placed her at the height of her power and given her +unquestioned supremacy among the Grecian states, her strength was +greatly impaired by a visitation against which there was nothing in +military prowess or patriotic pride and devotion that could prevail. + +It is one of the tragic contrasts of history--the picture of Athens, in +her full triumph and glory, smitten, at a moment when she needed to put +forth her full strength, by a deadly foe against whose might mortal arms +were vain. Her citizens were rejoicing in her social no less than her +military preëminence, and they had already been trained in the hardships +necessary to be endured in defence of an invaded country. Again they +were prepared to undergo whatever service might be laid upon them in her +behalf. They could foresee the arduous tasks and inevitable sufferings +of a great war, but had no warning of an impending calamity far worse +than those which even war, though always attended with horrors, usually +entails. Pericles had lately delivered his great funeral oration at the +public interment of soldiers who had fallen for Athens. "The bright +colors and tone of cheerful confidence," says Grote, whose account of +the plague follows, "which pervaded the discourse of Pericles, appear +the more striking from being in immediate antecedence to the awful +description of this distemper." + +The death of Pericles himself, who directly or indirectly fell a victim +to the prevailing pestilence, marked a grievous crisis for Athens in +what was already become a measureless public woe. During the autumn of +the year B.C. 427 the epidemic again broke out, after a considerable +intermission, and for one year continued, "to the sad ruin both of the +strength and the comfort of the city.") + + +At the close of one year after the attempted surprise of Plataea by the +Thebans, the belligerent parties in Greece remained in an unaltered +position as to relative strength. Nothing decisive had been accomplished +on either side, either by the invasion of Attica or by the flying +descents round the coast of Peloponnesus. In spite of mutual damage +inflicted--doubtless in the greatest measure upon Attica--no progress +was yet made toward the fulfilment of those objects which had induced +the Peloponnesians to go to war. Especially the most pressing among all +their wishes--the relief of Potidaea--was in no way advanced; for the +Athenians had not found it necessary to relax the blockade of that city, +The result of the first year's operations had thus been to disappoint +the hopes of the Corinthians and the other ardent instigators of war, +while it justified the anticipations both of Pericles and of Archidamus. + +A second devastation of Attica was resolved upon for the commencement of +spring; and measures were taken for carrying it all over that territory, +since the settled policy of Athens, not to hazard a battle with the +invaders, was now ascertained. About the end of March or beginning of +April the entire Peloponnesian force--two-thirds from each confederate +city as before--was assembled under the command of Archidamus and +marched into Attica. This time they carried the work of systematic +destruction not merely over the Thriasian plain and the plain +immediately near to Athens, as before; but also to the more southerly +portions of Attica, down even as far as the mines of Laurium. They +traversed and ravaged both the eastern and the western coast, remaining +not less than forty days in the country. They found the territory +deserted as before, all the population having retired within the walls. + +In regard to this second invasion, Pericles recommended the same +defensive policy as he had applied to the first; and apparently the +citizens had now come to acquiesce in it, if not willingly, at least +with a full conviction of its necessity. But a new visitation had now +occurred, diverting their attention from the invader, though enormously +aggravating their sufferings. A few days after Archidamus entered +Attica, a pestilence or epidemic sickness broke out unexpectedly at +Athens. + +It appears that this terrific disorder had been raging for some time +throughout the regions round the Mediterranean; having begun, as was +believed, in Ethiopia--thence passing into Egypt and Libya, and +overrunning a considerable portion of Asia under the Persian government. +About sixteen years before, there had been a similar calamity in Rome +and in various parts of Italy. Recently it had been felt in Lemnos and +some other islands of the Aegean, yet seemingly not with such intensity +as to excite much notice generally in the Grecian world: at length it +passed to Athens, and first showed itself in the Piraeus. The progress +of the disease was as rapid and destructive as its appearance had been +sudden; while the extraordinary accumulation of people within the city +and long walls, in consequence of the presence of the invaders in the +country, was but too favorable to every form of contagion. Families +crowded together in close cabins and places of temporary +shelter--throughout a city constructed, like most of those in Greece, +with little regard to the conditions of salubrity and in a state of +mental chagrin from the forced abandonment and sacrifice of their +properties in the country, transmitted the disorder with fatal facility +from one to the other. Beginning as it did about the middle of April, +the increasing heat of summer further aided the disorder, the symptoms +of which, alike violent and sudden, made themselves the more remarked +because the year was particularly exempt from maladies of every other +description. + +Of this plague--or, more properly, eruptive typhoid fever, distinct +from, yet analogous to, the smallpox--a description no less clear than +impressive has been left by the historian Thucydides, himself not only a +spectator but a sufferer. It is not one of the least of his merits, that +his notice of the symptoms, given at so early a stage of medical science +and observation, is such as to instruct the medical reader of the +present age, and to enable the malady to be understood and identified. +The observations with which that notice is ushered in deserve particular +attention. "In respect to this distemper (he says), let every man, +physician or not, say what he thinks respecting the source from whence +it may probably have arisen, and respecting the causes which he deems +sufficiently powerful to have produced so great a revolution. But I, +having myself had the distemper, and having seen others suffering under +it, will state _what it actually was_, and will indicate in addition +such other matters as will furnish any man, who lays them to heart, with +knowledge and the means of calculation beforehand, in case the same +misfortune should ever occur again." + +To record past facts, as a basis for rational prevision in regard to the +future--the same sentiment which Thucydides mentions in his preface, as +having animated him to the composition of his history--was at that time +a duty so little understood that we have reason to admire not less the +manner in which he performs it in practice than the distinctness with +which he conceives it in theory. We infer from his language that +speculation in his day was active respecting the causes of this plague, +according to the vague and fanciful physics, and scanty stock of +ascertained facts, which was all that could then be consulted. By +resisting the itch of theorizing from one of those loose hypotheses +which then appeared plausibly to explain everything, he probably +renounced the point of view from which most credit and interest would be +derivable at the time. But his simple and precise summary of observed +facts carries with it an imperishable value, and even affords grounds +for imagining that he was no stranger to the habits and training of his +contemporary Hippocrates, and the other Asclepiads of Cos. + +It is hardly within the province of a historian of Greece to repeat +after Thucydides the painful enumeration of symptoms, violent in the +extreme and pervading every portion of the bodily system, which marked +this fearful disorder. Beginning in Piraeus, it quickly passed into the +city, and both the one and the other was speedily filled with sickness +and suffering, the like of which had never before been known. The +seizures were sudden, and a large proportion of the sufferers perished +after deplorable agonies on the seventh or on the ninth day. Others, +whose strength of constitution carried them over this period, found +themselves the victims of exhausting and incurable diarrhoea afterward; +with others again, after traversing both these stages, the distemper +fixed itself in some particular member, the eyes, the genitals, the +hands, or the feet, which were rendered permanently useless, or in some +cases amputated, even where the patient himself recovered. + +There were also some whose recovery was attended with a total loss of +memory, so that they no more knew themselves or recognized their +friends. No treatment or remedy appearing, except in accidental cases, +to produce any beneficial effect, the physicians or surgeons whose aid +was invoked became completely at fault. While trying their accustomed +means without avail, they soon ended by catching the malady themselves +and perishing. The charms and incantations, to which the unhappy patient +resorted, were not likely to be more efficacious. While some asserted +that the Peloponnesians had poisoned the cisterns of water, others +referred the visitation to the wrath of the gods, and especially to +Apollo, known by hearers of the _Iliad_ as author of pestilence in the +Greek host before Troy. It was remembered that this Delphian god had +promised the Lacedaemonians, in reply to their application immediately +before the war, that he would assist them whether invoked or uninvoked; +and the disorder now raging was ascribed to the intervention of their +irresistible ally; while the elderly men further called to mind an +oracular verse sung in the time of their youth: "The Dorian war will +come, and pestilence along with it." Under the distress which suggested, +and was reciprocally aggravated by these gloomy ideas, prophets were +consulted, and supplications with solemn procession were held at the +temples, to appease the divine wrath. + +When it was found that neither the priest nor the physician could retard +the spread or mitigate the intensity of the disorder, the Athenians +abandoned themselves to despair, and the space within the walls became a +scene of desolating misery. Every man attacked with the malady at once +lost his courage--a state of depression itself among the worst features +of the case, which made him lie down and die, without any attempt to +seek for preservatives. And although at first friends and relatives lent +their aid to tend the sick with the usual family sympathies, yet so +terrible was the number of these attendants who perished, "like sheep," +from such contact, that at length no man would thus expose himself; +while the most generous spirits, who persisted longest in the discharge +of their duty, were carried off in the greatest numbers. The patient was +thus left to die alone and unheeded. Sometimes all the inmates of a +house were swept away one after the other, no man being willing to go +near it: desertion on the one hand, attendance on the other, both tended +to aggravate the calamity. There remained only those who, having had the +disorder and recovered, were willing to tend the sufferers. + +These men formed the single exception to the all-pervading misery of the +time--for the disorder seldom attacked anyone twice, and when it did the +second attack was never fatal. Elate with their own escape, they deemed +themselves out of the reach of all disease, and were full of +compassionate kindness for others whose sufferings were just beginning. +It was from them too that the principal attention to the bodies of +deceased victims proceeded: for such was the state of dismay and sorrow +that even the nearest relatives neglected the sepulchral duties, sacred +beyond all others in the eyes of a Greek. Nor is there any circumstance +which conveys to us so vivid an idea of the prevalent agony and despair +as when we read, in the words of an eyewitness, that the deaths took +place among this close-packed crowd without the smallest decencies of +attention--that the dead and the dying lay piled one upon another not +merely in the public roads, but even in the temples, in spite of the +understood defilement of the sacred building--that half-dead sufferers +were seen lying round all the springs, from insupportable thirst--that +the numerous corpses thus unburied and exposed were in such a condition +that the dogs which meddled with them died in consequence, while no +vultures or other birds of the like habits ever came near. + +Those bodies which escaped entire neglect were burnt or buried without +the customary mourning, and with unseemly carelessness. In some cases +the bearers of a body, passing by a funeral pile on which another body +was burning, would put their own there to be burnt also; or perhaps, if +the pile was prepared ready for a body not yet arrived, would deposit +their own upon it, set fire to the pile, and then depart. Such indecent +confusion would have been intolerable to the feelings of the Athenians +in any ordinary times. + +To all these scenes of physical suffering, death, and reckless despair +was superadded another evil, which affected those who were fortunate +enough to escape the rest. The bonds both of law and morality became +relaxed, amid such total uncertainty of every man both for his own life +and that of others. Men cared not to abstain from wrong, under +circumstances in which punishment was not likely to overtake them, nor +to put a check upon their passions, and endure privations, in obedience +even to their strongest conviction, when the chance was so small of +their living to reap reward or enjoy any future esteem. An interval, +short and sweet, before their doom was realized--before they became +plunged in the widespread misery which they witnessed around, and which +affected indiscriminately the virtuous and the profligate--was all that +they looked to enjoy; embracing with avidity the immediate pleasures of +sense, as well as such positive gains, however ill-gotten, as could be +made the means of procuring them, and throwing aside all thought both of +honor and of long-sighted advantage. Life and property being alike +ephemeral, there was no hope left but to snatch a moment of enjoyment, +before the outstretched hand of destiny should fall upon its victims. + +The picture of society under the pressure of a murderous epidemic, with +its train of physical torments, wretchedness, and demoralization, has +been drawn by more than one eminent author, but by none with more +impressive fidelity and conciseness than by Thucydides, who had no +predecessor, nor anything but the reality, to copy from. We may remark +that amid all the melancholy accompaniments of the time there are no +human sacrifices, such as those offered up at Carthage during pestilence +to appease the anger of the gods--there are no cruel persecutions +against imaginary authors of the disease, such as those against the +Untori (anointers of doors) in the plague of Milan in 1630. + +Three years altogether did this calamity desolate Athens: continuously, +during the entire second and third years of the war--after which +followed a period of marked abatement for a year and a half; but it then +revived again, and lasted for another year, with the same fury as at +first. The public loss, over and above the private misery, which this +unexpected enemy inflicted upon Athens, was incalculable. Out of twelve +hundred horsemen, all among the rich men of the state, three hundred +died of the epidemic; besides forty-four hundred _hoplites_ out of the +roll formally kept, and a number of the poorer population so great as to +defy computation. No efforts of the Peloponnesians could have done so +much to ruin Athens, or to bring the war to a termination such as they +desired: and the distemper told the more in their favor, as it never +spread at all into Peloponnesus, though it passed from Athens to some of +the more populous islands. The Lacedaemonian army was withdrawn from +Attica somewhat earlier than it would otherwise have been, for fear of +taking the contagion. + +But it was while the Lacedaemonians were yet in Attica, and during the +first freshness of the terrible malady, that Pericles equipped and +conducted from Piraeus an armament of one hundred triremes and four +thousand hoplites to attack the coasts of Peloponnesus; three hundred +horsemen were also carried in some horse-transports, prepared for the +occasion out of old triremes. To diminish the crowd accumulated in the +city was doubtless of beneficial tendency, and perhaps those who went +aboard might consider it as a chance of escape to quit an infected home. +But unhappily they carried the infection along with them, which +desolated the fleet not less than the city, and crippled all its +efforts. Reenforced by fifty ships of war from Chios and Lesbos, the +Athenians first landed near Epidaurus in Peloponnesus, ravaging the +territory and making an unavailing attempt upon the city; next they made +like incursions on the most southerly portions of the Argolic +peninsula--Troezen, Halieis, and Hermione--and lastly attacked and +captured Prasiae, on the eastern coast of Laconia. On returning to +Athens, the same armament was immediately conducted under Agnon and +Cleopompus, to press the siege of Potidaea, the blockade of which still +continued without any visible progress. On arriving there an attack was +made on the walls by battering engines and by the other aggressive +methods then practised; but nothing whatever was achieved. In fact, the +armament became incompetent for all serious effort, from the aggravated +character which the distemper here assumed, communicated by the soldiers +fresh from Athens even to those who had before been free from it at +Potidaea. So frightful was the mortality that out of the four thousand +hoplites under Agnon no fewer than one thousand and fifty died in the +short space of forty days. The armament was brought back in this +distressed condition to Athens, while the reduction of Potidaea was left +as before, to the slow course of blockade. + +On returning from the expedition against Peloponnesus, Pericles found +his countrymen almost distracted with their manifold sufferings. Over +and above the raging epidemic they had just gone over Attica and +ascertained the devastations committed by the invaders throughout all +the territory--except the Marathonian Tetrapolis and Deceleia, districts +spared, as we are told, through indulgence founded on an ancient +legendary sympathy--during their long stay of forty days. The rich had +found their comfortable mansions and farms, the poor their modest +cottages, in the various _demes_, torn down and ruined. Death, sickness, +loss of property, and despair of the future now rendered the Athenians +angry and intractable to the last degree. They vented their feelings +against Pericles as the cause not merely of the war, but also of all +that they were now enduring. Either with or without his consent, they +sent envoys to Sparta to open negotiations for peace, but the Spartans +turned a deaf ear to the proposition. This new disappointment rendered +them still more furious against Pericles, whose long-standing political +enemies now doubtless found strong sympathy in their denunciations of +his character and policy. That unshaken and majestic firmness, which +ranked first among his many eminent qualities, was never more +imperiously required and never more effectively manifested. + +In his capacity of _strategus_, or general, Pericles convoked a formal +assembly of the people, for the purpose of vindicating himself publicly +against the prevailing sentiment, and recommending perseverance in his +line of policy. The speeches made by his opponents, assuredly very +bitter, are not given by Thucydides; but that of Pericles himself is set +down at considerable length, and a memorable discourse it is. It +strikingly brings into relief both the character of the man and the +impress of actual circumstances--an impregnable mind conscious not only +of right purposes, but of just and reasonable anticipations, and bearing +up with manliness, or even defiance, against the natural difficulty of +the case, heightened by an extreme of incalculable misfortune. He had +foreseen, while advising the war originally, the probable impatience of +his countrymen under its first hardships, but he could not foresee the +epidemic by which that impatience had been exasperated into madness: and +he now addressed them not merely with unabated adherence to his own +deliberate convictions, but also in a tone of reproachful remonstrance +against their unmerited change of sentiment toward him--seeking at the +same time to combat that uncontrolled despair which for the moment +overlaid both their pride and their patriotism. Far from humbling +himself before the present sentiment, it is at this time that he sets +forth his titles to their esteem in the most direct and unqualified +manner, and claims the continuance of that which they had so long +accorded, as something belonging to him by acquired right. + +His main object, through this discourse, is to fill the minds of his +audience with patriotic sympathy for the weal of the entire city, so as +to counterbalance the absorbing sense of private woe. If the collective +city flourishes, he argues, private misfortunes may at least be borne; +but no amount of private prosperity will avail if the collective city +falls--a proposition literally true in ancient times and under the +circumstances of ancient warfare, though less true at present. +"Distracted by domestic calamity, ye are now angry both with me who +advised you to go to war, and with yourselves who followed the advice. +Ye listened to me, considering me superior to others in judgment, in +speech, in patriotism, and in incorruptible probity--nor ought I now to +be treated as culpable for giving such advice, when in point of fact the +war was unavoidable and there would have been still greater danger in +shrinking from it. I am the same man, still unchanged--but ye in your +misfortunes cannot stand to the convictions which ye adopted when yet +unhurt. Extreme and unforeseen, indeed, are the sorrows which have +fallen upon you: yet inhabiting as ye do a great city, and brought up in +dispositions suitable to it, ye must also resolve to bear up against the +utmost pressure of adversity, and never to surrender your dignity. I +have often explained to you that ye have no reason to doubt of eventual +success in the war, but I will now remind you, more emphatically than +before, and even with a degree of ostentation suitable as a stimulus to +your present unnatural depression, that your naval force makes you +masters not only of your allies, but of the entire sea--one-half of the +visible field for action and employment. Compared with so vast a power +as this, the temporary use of your houses and territory is a mere +trifle, an ornamental accessory not worth considering: and this too, if +ye preserve your freedom, ye will quickly recover. It was your fathers +who first gained this empire, without any of the advantages which ye now +enjoy; ye must not disgrace yourselves by losing what they acquired. + +"Delighting as ye all do in the honor and empire enjoyed by the city, ye +must not shrink from the toils whereby alone that honor is sustained: +moreover, ye now fight, not merely for freedom instead of slavery, but +for empire against loss of empire, with all the perils arising out of +imperial unpopularity. It is not safe for you now to abdicate, even if +ye chose to do so; for ye hold your empire like a despotism--unjust +perhaps in the original acquisition, but ruinous to part with when once +acquired. Be not angry with me, whose advice ye followed in going to +war, because the enemy have done such damage as might be expected from +them: still less on account of this unforeseen distemper: I know that +this makes me an object of your special present hatred, though very +unjustly, unless ye will consent to give me credit also for any +unexpected good-luck which may occur. Our city derives its particular +glory from unshaken bearing up against misfortune: her power, her name, +her empire of Greeks over Greeks, are such as have never before been +seen; and if we choose to be great, we must take the consequence of that +temporary envy and hatred which is the necessary price of permanent +renown. Behave ye now in a manner worthy of that glory: display that +courage which is essential to protect you against disgrace at present, +as well as to guarantee your honor for the future. Send no further +embassy to Sparta, and bear your misfortunes without showing symptoms of +distress." + +The irresistible reason, as well as the proud and resolute bearing of +this discourse, set forth with an eloquence which it was not possible +for Thucydides to reproduce--together with the age and character of +Pericles--carried the assent of the assembled people, who when in the +Pnyx, and engaged according to habit on public matters, would for a +moment forget their private sufferings in considerations of the safety +and grandeur of Athens. Possibly, indeed, those sufferings, though still +continuing, might become somewhat alleviated when the invaders quitted +Attica, and when it was no longer indispensable for all the population +to confine itself within the walls. Accordingly, the assembly resolved +that no further propositions should be made for peace, and that the war +should be prosecuted with vigor. + +But though the public resolution thus adopted showed the ancient habit +of deference to the authority of Pericles, the sentiments of individuals +taken separately were still those of anger against him as the author of +that system which had brought them into so much distress. His political +opponents--Cleon, Simmias, or Lacratidas, perhaps all three in +conjunction--took care to provide an opportunity for this prevalent +irritation to manifest itself in act, by bringing an accusation against +him before the _dicastery_. The accusation is said to have been +preferred on the ground of pecuniary malversation, and ended by his +being sentenced to pay a considerable fine, the amount of which is +differently reported--fifteen, fifty, or eighty talents, by different +authors. The accusing party thus appeared to have carried their point, +and to have disgraced, as well as excluded from reelection, the veteran +statesman. The event, however, disappointed their expectations. The +imposition of the fine not only satiated all the irritation of the +people against him, but even occasioned a serious reaction in his favor, +and brought back as strongly as ever the ancient sentiment of esteem and +admiration. It was quickly found that those who had succeeded Pericles +as generals neither possessed nor deserved in an equal degree the public +confidence. He was accordingly soon reelected, with as much power and +influence as he had ever in his life enjoyed. + +But that life, long, honorable, and useful, had already been prolonged +considerably beyond the sixtieth year, and there were but too many +circumstances, besides the recent fine, which tended to hasten as well +as to embitter its close. At the very moment when Pericles was preaching +to his countrymen, in a tone almost reproachful, the necessity of manful +and unabated devotion to the common country in the midst of private +suffering, he was himself among the greatest of sufferers, and most +hardly pressed to set the example of observing his own precepts. The +epidemic carried off not merely his two sons--the only two legitimate, +Xanthippus and Paralus--but also his sister, several other relatives, +and his best and most useful political friends. Amid this train of +domestic calamities, and in the funeral obsequies of so many of his +dearest friends, he remained master of his grief, and maintained his +habitual self-command, until the last misfortune--the death of his +favorite son Paralus, which left his house without any legitimate +representative to maintain the family and the hereditary sacred rites. +On this final blow, though he strove to command himself as before, yet +at the obsequies of the young man, when it became his duty to place a +wreath on the dead body, his grief became uncontrollable, and he burst +out, for the first time in his life, into profuse tears and sobbing. + +In the midst of these several personal trials he received the +intimation, through Alcibiades and some other friends, of the restored +confidence of the people toward him, and of his reelection to the office +of strategus. But it was not without difficulty that he was persuaded to +present himself again at the public assembly and resume the direction of +affairs. The regret of the people was formally expressed to him for the +recent sentence--perhaps, indeed, the fine may have been repaid to him, +or some evasion of it permitted, saving the forms of law--in the present +temper of the city; which was further displayed toward him by the grant +of a remarkable exemption from a law of his own original proposition. + +He had himself, some years before, been the author of that law whereby +the citizenship of Athens was restricted to persons born both of +Athenian fathers and Athenian mothers, under which restriction several +thousand persons, illegitimate on the mother's side, are said to have +been deprived of the citizenship, on occasion of a public distribution +of corn. Invidious as it appeared to grant, to Pericles singly, an +exemption from a law which had been strictly enforced against so many +others, the people were now moved not less by compassion than by anxiety +to redress their own previous severity. Without a legitimate heir, the +house of Pericles, one branch of the great Alcmaeonid gens by his +mother's side, would be left deserted, and the continuity of the family +sacred rites would be broken--a misfortune painfully felt by every +Athenian family, as calculated to wrong all the deceased members, and +provoke their posthumous displeasure toward the city. Accordingly, +permission was granted to Pericles to legitimize, and to inscribe in his +own gens and phratry, his natural son by Aspasia, who bore his own name. + +It was thus that Pericles was reinstated in his post of strategus as +well as in his ascendency over the public counsels--seemingly about +August or September, B.C. 430. He lived about one year longer, and seems +to have maintained his influence as long as his health permitted. Yet we +hear nothing of him after this moment, and he fell a victim, not to the +violent symptoms of the epidemic, but to a slow and wearing fever, which +undermined his strength as well as his capacity. To a friend who came to +ask after him when in this disease, Pericles replied by showing a charm +or amulet which his female relations had hung about his neck--a proof +how low he was reduced, and how completely he had become a passive +subject in the hands of others. + +And according to another anecdote which we read--yet more interesting +and equally illustrative of his character--it was during his last +moments, when he was lying apparently unconscious and insensible, that +the friends around his bed were passing in review the acts of his life, +and the nine trophies which he had erected at different times for so +many victories. He heard what they said, though they fancied that he was +past hearing, and interrupted them by remarking: "What you praise in my +life belongs partly to good fortune--and is, at best, common to me with +many other generals. But the peculiarity of which I am most proud, you +have not noticed--no Athenian has ever put on mourning through any +action of mine." + + + + +DEFEAT OF THE ATHENIANS AT SYRACUSE + +B.C. 413 + +SIR EDWARD SHEPHERD CREASY + + +(That great writer of the history of the Romans, Thomas Arnold, says of +the defeat of the Athenian fleet at Syracuse: "The Romans knew not, and +could not know, how deeply the greatness of their own posterity, and the +fate of the whole western world, were involved in the destruction of the +fleet of Athens in the harbor of Syracuse. Had that great expedition +proved victorious, the energies of Greece during the next eventful +century would have found their field in the West no less than in the +East; Greece, and not Rome; might have conquered Carthage; Greek instead +of Latin might have been at this day the principal element of the +language of Spain, of France, and of Italy; and the laws of Athens, +rather than of Rome, might be the foundation of the law of the civilized +world." + +The foregoing, the author's own selection, really sums up all that need +be said as to the importance of the great event so finely treated by +Creasy.) + + +Few cities have undergone more memorable sieges during ancient and +mediaeval times than has the city of Syracuse. Athenian, Carthaginian, +Roman, Vandal, Byzantine, Saracen, and Norman have in turns beleaguered +her walls; and the resistance which she successfully opposed to some of +her early assailants was of the deepest importance, not only to the +fortunes of the generations then in being, but to all the subsequent +current of human events. To adopt the eloquent expressions of Arnold +respecting the check which she gave to the Carthaginian arms, "Syracuse +was a breakwater which God's providence raised up to protect the yet +immature strength of Rome." And her triumphant repulse of the great +Athenian expedition against her was of even more widespread and enduring +importance. It forms a decisive epoch in the strife for universal +empire, in which all the great states of antiquity successively engaged +and failed. + +The present city of Syracuse is a place of little or no military +strength, as the fire of artillery from the neighboring heights would +almost completely command it. But in ancient warfare its position, and +the care bestowed on its walls, rendered it formidably strong against +the means of offence which were then employed by besieging armies. + +The ancient city, in its most prosperous times, was chiefly built on the +knob of land which projects into the sea on the eastern coast of Sicily, +between two bays; one of which, to the north, was called the Bay of +Thapsus, while the southern one formed the great harbor of the city of +Syracuse itself. A small island, or peninsula (for such it soon was +rendered), lies at the southeastern extremity of this knob of land, +stretching almost entirely across the mouth of the great harbor, and +rendering it nearly land-locked. This island comprised the original +settlement of the first Greek colonists from Corinth, who founded +Syracuse two thousand five hundred years ago; and the modern city has +shrunk again into these primary limits. But, in the fifth century before +our era, the growing wealth and population of the Syracusans had led +them to occupy and include within their city walls portion after portion +of the mainland lying next to the little isle, so that at the time of +the Athenian expedition the seaward part of the land between the two +bays already spoken of was built over, and fortified from bay to bay, +and constituted the larger part of Syracuse. + +The landward wall, therefore, of this district of the city traversed +this knob of land, which continues to slope upward from the sea, and +which, to the west of the old fortifications, that is, toward the +interior of Sicily, rises rapidly for a mile or two, but diminishes in +width, and finally terminates in a long narrow ridge, between which and +Mount Hybla a succession of chasms and uneven low ground extends. On +each flank of this ridge the descent is steep and precipitous from its +summits to the strips of level land that lie immediately below it, both +to the southwest and northwest. + +The usual mode of assailing fortified towns in the time of the +Peloponnesian war was to build a double wall round them sufficiently +strong to check any sally of the garrison from within or any attack of a +relieving force from without. The interval within the two walls of the +circumvallation was roofed over, and formed barracks, in which the +besiegers posted themselves, and awaited the effects of want or +treachery among the besieged in producing a surrender; and in every +Greek city of those days, as in every Italian republic of the Middle +Ages, the rage of domestic sedition between aristocrats and democrats +ran high. Rancorous refugees swarmed in the camp of every invading +enemy; and every blockaded city was sure to contain within its walls a +body of intriguing malcontents, who were eager to purchase a party +triumph at the expense of a national disaster. Famine and faction were +the allies on whom besiegers relied. The generals of that time trusted +to the operation of these sure confederates as soon as they could +establish a complete blockade. They rarely ventured on the attempt to +storm any fortified post, for the military engines of antiquity were +feeble in breaching masonry before the improvements which the first +Dionysius effected in the mechanics of destruction; and the lives of +spearmen the boldest and most high-trained would, of course, have been +idly spent in charges against unshattered walls. + +A city built close to the sea, like Syracuse, was impregnable save by +the combined operations of a superior hostile fleet and a superior +hostile army; and Syracuse, from her size, her population, and her +military and naval resources, not unnaturally thought herself secure +from finding in another Greek city a foe capable of sending a sufficient +armament to menace her with capture and subjection. But in the spring of +B.C. 414 the Athenian navy was mistress of her harbor and the adjacent +seas; an Athenian army had defeated her troops, and cooped them within +the town; and from bay to bay a blockading wall was being rapidly +carried across the strips of level ground and the high ridge outside the +city (then termed Epipolae), which, if completed, would have cut the +Syracusans off from all succor from the interior of Sicily, and have +left them at the mercy of the Athenian generals. The besiegers' works +were, indeed, unfinished; but every day the unfortified interval in +their lines grew narrower, and with it diminished all apparent hope of +safety for the beleaguered town. + +Athens was now staking the flower of her forces, and the accumulated +fruits of seventy years of glory, on one bold throw for the dominion of +the western world. As Napoleon from Mount Coeur de Lion pointed to St. +Jean d'Acre, and told his staff that the capture of that town would +decide his destiny and would change the face of the world, so the +Athenian officers, from the heights of Epipolae, must have looked on +Syracuse, and felt that with its fall all the known powers of the earth +would fall beneath them. They must have felt also that Athens, if +repulsed there, must pause forever from her career of conquest, and sink +from an imperial republic into a ruined and subservient community. + +At Marathon, the first in date of the great battles of the world, we +beheld Athens struggling for self-preservation against the invading +armies of the East. At Syracuse she appears as the ambitious and +oppressive invader of others. In her, as in other republics of old and +of modern times, the same energy that had inspired the most heroic +efforts in defence of the national independence soon learned to employ +itself in daring and unscrupulous schemes of self-aggrandizement at the +expense of neighboring nations. In the interval between the Persian and +the Peloponnesian wars she had rapidly grown into a conquering and +dominant state, the chief of a thousand tributary cities, and the +mistress of the largest and best-manned navy that the Mediterranean had +yet beheld. The occupations of her territory by Xerxes and Mardonius, in +the second Persian war, had forced her whole population to become +marines; and the glorious results of that struggle confirmed them in +their zeal for their country's service at sea. + +The voluntary suffrage of the Greek cities of the coasts and islands of +the Aegean first placed Athens at the head of the confederation formed +for the further prosecution of the war against Persia. But this titular +ascendency was soon converted by her into practical and arbitrary +dominion. She protected them from piracy and the Persian power, which +soon fell into decrepitude and decay, but she exacted in return implicit +obedience to herself. She claimed and enforced a prerogative of taxing +them at her discretion, and proudly refused to be accountable for her +mode of expending their supplies. Remonstrance against her assessments +was treated as factious disloyalty, and refusal to pay was promptly +punished as revolt. Permitting and encouraging her subject allies to +furnish all their contingents in money, instead of part consisting of +ships and men, the sovereign republic gained the double object of +training her own citizens by constant and well-paid service in her +fleets, and of seeing her confederates lose their skill and discipline +by inaction, and become more and more passive and powerless under her +yoke. Their towns were generally dismantled, while the imperial city +herself was fortified with the greatest care and sumptuousness; the +accumulated revenues from her tributaries serving to strengthen and +adorn to the utmost her havens, her docks, her arsenals, her theatres, +and her shrines, and to array her in that plenitude of architectural +magnificence the ruins of which still attest the intellectual grandeur +of the age and people which produced a Pericles to plan and a Phidias to +execute. + +All republics that acquire supremacy over other nations rule them +selfishly and oppressively. There is no exception to this in either +ancient or modern times. Carthage, Rome, Venice, Genoa, Florence, Pisa, +Holland, and republican France, all tyrannized over every province and +subject state where they gained authority. But none of them openly +avowed their system of doing so upon principle with the candor which the +Athenian republicans displayed when any remonstrance was made against +the severe exactions which they imposed upon their vassal allies. They +avowed that their empire was a tyranny, and frankly stated that they +solely trusted to force and terror to uphold it. They appealed to what +they called "the eternal law of nature, that the weak should be coerced +by the strong." Sometimes they stated, and not without some truth, that +the unjust hatred of Sparta against themselves forced them to be unjust +to others in self-defence. To be safe, they must be powerful; and to be +powerful, they must plunder and coerce their neighbors. They never +dreamed of communicating any franchise, or share in office, to their +dependants, but jealously monopolized every post of command and all +political and judicial power; exposing themselves to every risk with +unflinching gallantry; embarking readily in every ambitious scheme; and +never suffering difficulty or disaster to shake their tenacity of +purpose: in the hope of acquiring unbounded empire for their country, +and the means of maintaining each of the thirty thousand citizens who +made up the sovereign republic, in exclusive devotion to military +occupations, and to those brilliant sciences and arts in which Athens +already had reached the meridian of intellectual splendor. + +Her great political dramatist speaks of the Athenian empire as +comprehending a thousand states. The language of the stage must not be +taken too literally; but the number of the dependencies of Athens, at +the time when the Peloponnesian confederacy attacked her, was +undoubtedly very great. With a few trifling exceptions, all the islands +of the Aegean, and all the Greek cities which in that age fringed the +coasts of Asia Minor, the Hellespont, and Thrace, paid tribute to +Athens, and implicitly obeyed her orders. The Aegean Sea was an Attic +lake. Westward of Greece, her influence, though strong, was not equally +predominant. She had colonies and allies among the wealthy and populous +Greek settlements in Sicily and South Italy, but she had no organized +system of confederates in those regions; and her galleys brought her no +tribute from the Western seas. The extension of her empire over Sicily +was the favorite project of her ambitious orators and generals. While +her great statesman, Pericles, lived, his commanding genius kept his +countrymen under control, and forbade them to risk the fortunes of +Athens in distant enterprises, while they had unsubdued and powerful +enemies at their own doors. He taught Athens this maxim; but he also +taught her to know and to use her own strength; and when Pericles had +departed, the bold spirit which he had fostered overleaped the salutary +limits which he had prescribed. + +When her bitter enemies, the Corinthians, succeeded, B.C. 431, in +inducing Sparta to attack her, and a confederacy was formed of +five-sixths of the continental Greeks, all animated by anxious jealousy +and bitter hatred of Athens; when armies far superior in numbers and +equipment to those which had marched against the Persians were poured +into the Athenian territory, and laid it waste to the city walls, the +general opinion was that Athens would be reduced, in two or three years +at the furthest, to submit to the requisitions of her invaders. But her +strong fortifications, by which she was girt and linked to her principal +haven, gave her, in those ages, almost all the advantages of an insular +position. Pericles had made her trust to her empire of the seas. Every +Athenian in those days was a practised seaman. A state, indeed, whose +members, of an age fit for service, at no time exceeded thirty thousand, +could only have acquired such a naval dominion as Athens once held by +devoting and zealously training all its sons to service in its fleets. +In order to man the numerous galleys which she sent out, she necessarily +employed large numbers of hired mariners and slaves at the oar; but the +staple of her crews was Athenian, and all posts of command were held by +native citizens. It was by reminding them of this, of their long +practice in seamanship, and the certain superiority which their +discipline gave them over the enemy's marine, that their great minister +mainly encouraged them to resist the combined power of Lacedaemon and +her allies. He taught them that Athens might thus reap the fruit of her +zealous devotion to maritime affairs ever since the invasion of the +Medes; "she had not, indeed, perfected herself; but the reward of her +superior training was the rule of the sea--a mighty dominion, for it +gave her the rule of much fair land beyond its waves, safe from the idle +ravages with which the Lacedaemonians might harass Attica, but never +could subdue Athens." + +Athens accepted the war with which her enemies threatened her rather +than descend from her pride of place; and though the awful visitation of +the plague came upon her, and swept away more of her citizens than the +Dorian spear laid low, she held her own gallantly against her enemies. +If the Peloponnesian armies in irresistible strength wasted every spring +her corn-lands, her vineyards, and her olive groves with fire and sword, +she retaliated on their coasts with her fleets; which, if resisted, were +only resisted to display the preëminent skill and bravery of her seamen. +Some of her subject allies revolted, but the revolts were in general +sternly and promptly quelled. The genius of one enemy had indeed +inflicted blows on her power in Thrace which she was unable to remedy; +but he fell in battle in the tenth year of the war, and with the loss of +Brasidas the Lacedaemonians seemed to have lost all energy and judgment. +Both sides at length grew weary of the war, and in 421 a truce for fifty +years was concluded, which, though ill kept, and though many of the +confederates of Sparta refused to recognize it, and hostilities still +continued in many parts of Greece, protected the Athenian territory from +the ravages of enemies, and enabled Athens to accumulate large sums out +of the proceeds of her annual revenues. So also, as a few years passed +by, the havoc which the pestilence and the sword had made in her +population was repaired; and in 415 Athens was full of bold and restless +spirits, who longed for some field of distant enterprise wherein they +might signalize themselves and aggrandize the state, and who looked on +the alarm of Spartan hostility as a mere old-woman's tale. When Sparta +had wasted their territory she had done her worst; and the fact of its +always being in her power to do so seemed a strong reason for seeking to +increase the transmarine dominion of Athens. + +The West was now the quarter toward which the thoughts of every aspiring +Athenian were directed. From the very beginning of the war Athens had +kept up an interest in Sicily, and her squadron had, from time to time, +appeared on its coasts and taken part in the dissensions in which the +Sicilian Greeks were universally engaged one against the other. There +were plausible grounds for a direct quarrel, and an open attack by the +Athenians upon Syracuse. + +With the capture of Syracuse, all Sicily, it was hoped, would be +secured. Carthage and Italy were next to be attacked. With large levies +of Iberian mercenaries she then meant to overwhelm her Peloponnesian +enemies. The Persian monarchy lay in hopeless imbecility, inviting Greek +invasion; nor did the known world contain the power that seemed capable +of checking the growing might of Athens, if Syracuse once should be +hers. + +The national historian of Rome has left us an episode of his great work, +a disquisition on the probable effects that would have followed if +Alexander the Great had invaded Italy. Posterity has generally regarded +that disquisition as proving Livy's patriotism more strongly than his +impartiality or acuteness. Yet, right or wrong, the speculations of the +Roman writer were directed to the consideration of a very remote +possibility. To whatever age Alexander's life might have been prolonged, +the East would have furnished full occupation for his martial ambition, +as well as for those schemes of commercial grandeur and imperial +amalgamation of nations in which the truly great qualities of his mind +loved to display themselves. With his death the dismemberment of his +empire among his generals was certain, even as the dismemberment of +Napoleon's empire among his marshals would certainly have ensued if he +had been cut off in the zenith of his power. Rome, also, was far weaker +when the Athenians were in Sicily than she was a century afterward in +Alexander's time. There can be little doubt but that Rome would have +been blotted out from the independent powers of the West, had she been +attacked at the end of the fifth century B.C. by an Athenian army, +largely aided by Spanish mercenaries, and flushed with triumphs over +Sicily and Africa, instead of the collision between her and Greece +having been deferred until the latter had sunk into decrepitude, and the +Roman Mars had grown into full vigor. + +The armament which the Athenians equipped against Syracuse was in every +way worthy of the state which formed such projects of universal empire, +and it has been truly termed "the noblest that ever yet had been sent +forth by a free and civilized commonwealth." The fleet consisted of one +hundred and thirty-four war-galleys, with a multitude of storeships. A +powerful force of the best heavy-armed infantry that Athens and her +allies could furnish was sent on board it, together with a smaller +number of slingers and bowmen. The quality of the forces was even more +remarkable than the number. The zeal of individuals vied with that of +the republic in giving every galley the best possible crew and every +troop the most perfect accoutrements. And with private as well as public +wealth eagerly lavished on all that could give splendor as well as +efficiency to the expedition, the fated fleet began its voyage for the +Sicilian shores in the summer of 415. + +The Syracusans themselves, at the time of the Peloponnesian war, were a +bold and turbulent democracy, tyrannizing over the weaker Greek cities +in Sicily, and trying to gain in that island the same arbitrary +supremacy which Athens maintained along the eastern coast of the +Mediterranean. In numbers and in spirit they were fully equal to the +Athenians, but far inferior to them in military and naval discipline. +When the probability of an Athenian invasion was first publicly +discussed at Syracuse, and efforts were made by some of the wiser +citizens to improve the state of the national defences and prepare for +the impending danger, the rumors of coming war and the proposal for +preparation were received by the mass of the Syracusans with scornful +incredulity. The speech of one of their popular orators is preserved to +us in Thucydides. + +The Syracusan orator told his countrymen to dismiss with scorn the +visionary terrors which a set of designing men among themselves strove +to excite, in order to get power and influence thrown into their own +hands. He told them that Athens knew her own interest too well to think +of wantonly provoking their hostility: "Even if the enemies were to +come," said he, "so distant from their resources, and opposed to such a +power as ours, their destruction would be easy and inevitable. Their +ships will have enough to do to get to our island at all, and to carry +such stores of all sorts as will be needed. They cannot therefore carry, +besides, an army large enough to cope with such a population as ours. +They will have no fortified place from which to commence their +operations, but must rest them on no better base than a set of wretched +tents, and such means as the necessities of the moment will allow them. +But, in truth, I do not believe that they would even be able to effect a +disembarkation. Let us, therefore, set at naught these reports as +altogether of home manufacture; and be sure that if any enemy does come, +the state will know how to defend itself in a manner worthy of the +national honor." + +Such assertions pleased the Syracusan assembly; but the invaders of +Syracuse came, made good their landing in Sicily; and if they had +promptly attacked the city itself, instead of wasting nearly a year in +desultory operations in other parts of Sicily, the Syracusans must have +paid the penalty of their self-sufficient carelessness in submission to +the Athenian yoke. But, of the three generals who led the Athenian +expedition, two only were men of ability, and one was most weak and +incompetent. Fortunately for Syracuse, Alcibiades, the most skilful of +the three, was soon deposed from his command by a factious and fanatic +vote of his fellow-countrymen, and the other competent one, Lamachus, +fell early in a skirmish; while, more fortunately still for her, the +feeble and vacillating Nicias remained unrecalled and unhurt, to assume +the undivided leadership of the Athenian army and fleet, and to mar, by +alternate over-caution and over-carelessness, every chance of success +which the early part of the operations offered. Still, even under him, +the Athenians nearly won the town. They defeated the raw levies of the +Syracusans, cooped them within the walls, and, as before mentioned, +almost effected a continuous fortification from bay to bay over +Epipolae, the completion of which would certainly have been followed by +a capitulation. + +Alcibiades--the most complete example of genius without principle that +history produces; the Bolingbroke of antiquity, but with high military +talents superadded to diplomatic and oratorical powers--on being +summoned home from his command in Sicily to take his trial before the +Athenian tribunal, had escaped to Sparta, and had exerted himself there +with all the selfish rancor of a renegade to renew the war with Athens +and to send instant assistance to Syracuse. + +When we read his words in the pages of Thucydides--who was himself an +exile from Athens at this period, and may probably have been at Sparta, +and heard Alcibiades speak--we are at a loss whether most to admire or +abhor his subtle counsels. After an artful exordium, in which he tried +to disarm the suspicions which he felt must be entertained of him, and +to point out to the Spartans how completely his interests and theirs +were identified, through hatred of the Athenian democracy, he thus +proceeded: + +"Hear me, at any rate, on the matters which require your grave +attention, and which I, from the personal knowledge that I have of them, +can and ought to bring before you. We Athenians sailed to Sicily with +the design of subduing, first the Greek cities there, and next those in +Italy. Then we intended to make an attempt on the dominions of Carthage, +and on Carthage itself.[24] If all these projects succeeded--nor did we +limit ourselves to them in these quarters--we intended to increase our +fleet with the inexhaustible supplies of ship timber which Italy +affords, to put in requisition the whole military force of the conquered +Greek states, and also to hire large armies of the barbarians, of the +Iberians,[25] and others in those regions, who are allowed to make the +best possible soldiers. _Then_, when we had done all this, we intended +to assail Peloponnesus with our collected force. Our fleets would +blockade you by sea and desolate your coasts, our armies would be landed +at different points and assail your cities. Some of these we expected to +storm,[26] and others we meant to take by surrounding them with +fortified lines. We thought that it would thus be an easy matter +thoroughly to war you down; and then we should become the masters of the +whole Greek race. As for expense, we reckoned that each conquered state +would give us supplies of money and provisions sufficient to pay for its +own conquest, and furnish the means for the conquest of its neighbors." + +[Footnote 24: Arnold, in his notes on this passage, well reminds the +reader that Agathocles, with a Greek force far inferior to that of the +Athenians at this period, did, some years afterward, very nearly conquer +Carthage.] + +[Footnote 25: It will be remembered that Spanish infantry were the +staple of the Carthaginian armies. Doubtless Alcibiades and other +leading Athenians had made themselves acquainted with the Carthaginian +system of carrying on war, and meant to adopt it. With the marvellous +powers which Alcibiades possessed of ingratiating himself with men of +every class and every nation, and his high military genius, he would +have been as formidable a chief of an army of _condottieri_ as Hannibal +afterward was.] + +[Footnote 26: Alcibiades here alluded to Sparta itself, which was +unfortified. His Spartan hearers must have glanced round them at these +words with mixed alarm and indignation.] + +"Such are the designs of the present Athenian expedition to Sicily, and +you have heard them from the lips of the man who, of all men living, is +most accurately acquainted with them. The other Athenian generals, who +remain with the expedition, will endeavor to carry out these plans. And +be sure that without your speedy interference they will all be +accomplished. The Sicilian Greeks are deficient in military training; +but still, if they could at once be brought to combine in an organized +resistance to Athens, they might even now be saved. But as for the +Syracusans resisting Athens by themselves, they have already, with the +whole strength of their population, fought a battle and been beaten; +they cannot face the Athenians at sea; and it is quite impossible for +them to hold out against the force of their invaders. And if this city +falls into the hands of the Athenians, all Sicily is theirs, and +presently Italy also; and the danger, which I warned you of from that +quarter, will soon fall upon yourselves. You must, therefore, in Sicily, +fight for the safety of Peloponnesus. Send some galleys thither +instantly. Put men on board who can work their own way over, and who, as +soon as they land, can do duty as regular troops. But, above all, let +one of yourselves, let a man of Sparta, go over to take the chief +command, to bring into order and effective discipline the forces that +are in Syracuse, and urge those who at present hang back to come forward +and aid the Syracusans. The presence of a Spartan general at this crisis +will do more to save the city than a whole army." + +The renegade then proceeded to urge on them the necessity of encouraging +their friends in Sicily, by showing that they themselves were in earnest +in hostility to Athens. He exhorted them not only to march their armies +into Attica again, but to take up a permanent fortified position in the +country; and he gave them in detail information of all that the +Athenians most dreaded, and how his country might receive the most +distressing and enduring injury at their hands. + +The Spartans resolved to act on his advice, and appointed Gylippus to +the Sicilian command. Gylippus was a man who, to the national bravery +and military skill of a Spartan united political sagacity that was +worthy of his great fellow-countryman Brasidas; but his merits were +debased by mean and sordid vices; and his is one of the cases in which +history has been austerely just, and where little or no fame has been +accorded to the successful but venal soldier. But for the purpose for +which he was required in Sicily, an abler man could not have been found +in Lacedaemon. His country gave him neither men nor money, but she gave +him her authority; and the influence of her name and of his own talents +was speedily seen in the zeal with which the Corinthians and other +Peloponnesian Greeks began to equip a squadron to act under him for the +rescue of Sicily. As soon as four galleys were ready, he hurried over +with them to the southern coast of Italy, and there, though he received +such evil tidings of the state of Syracuse that he abandoned all hope of +saving that city, he determined to remain on the coast, and do what he +could in preserving the Italian cities from the Athenians. + +So nearly, indeed, had Nicias completed his beleaguering lines, and so +utterly desperate had the state of Syracuse seemingly become, that an +assembly of the Syracusans was actually convened, and they were +discussing the terms on which they should offer to capitulate, when a +galley was seen dashing into the great harbor, and making her way toward +the town with all the speed which her rowers could supply. From her +shunning the part of the harbor where the Athenian fleet lay, and making +straight for the Syracusan side, it was clear that she was a friend; the +enemy's cruisers, careless through confidence of success, made no +attempt to cut her off; she touched the beach, and a Corinthian captain, +springing on shore from her, was eagerly conducted to the assembly of +the Syracusan people just in time to prevent the fatal vote being put +for a surrender. + +Providentially for Syracuse, Gongylus, the commander of the galley, had +been prevented by an Athenian squadron from following Gylippus to South +Italy, and he had been obliged to push direct for Syracuse from Greece. + +The sight of actual succor, and the promise of more, revived the +drooping spirits of the Syracusans. They felt that they were not left +desolate to perish, and the tidings that a Spartan was coming to command +them confirmed their resolution to continue their resistance. Gylippus +was already near the city. He had learned at Locri that the first report +which had reached him of the state of Syracuse was exaggerated, and that +there was unfinished space in the besiegers' lines through which it was +barely possible to introduce reënforcements into the town. Crossing the +Straits of Messina, which the culpable negligence of Nicias had left +unguarded, Gylippus landed on the northern coast of Sicily, and there +began to collect from the Greek cities an army, of which the regular +troops that he brought from Peloponnesus formed the nucleus. Such was +the influence of the name of Sparta, and such were his own abilities and +activity, that he succeeded in raising a force of about two thousand +fully armed infantry, with a larger number of irregular troops. Nicias, +as if infatuated, made no attempt to counteract his operation, nor, when +Gylippus marched his little army toward Syracuse, did the Athenian +commander endeavor to check him. The Syracusans marched out to meet him; +and while the Athenians were solely intent on completing their +fortifications on the southern side toward the harbor, Gylippus turned +their position by occupying the high ground in the extreme rear of +Epipolae. He then marched through the unfortified interval of Nicias' +lines into the besieged town, and joining his troops with the Syracusan +forces, after some engagements with varying success, gained the mastery +over Nicias, drove the Athenians from Epipolae, and hemmed them into a +disadvantageous position in the low grounds near the great harbor. + +The attention of all Greece was now fixed on Syracuse, and every enemy +of Athens felt the importance of the opportunity now offered of checking +her ambition, and, perhaps, of striking a deadly blow at her power. +Larger reinforcements from Corinth, Thebes, and other cities now reached +the Syracusans, while the baffled and dispirited Athenian general +earnestly besought his countrymen to recall him, and represented the +further prosecution of the siege as hopeless. + +But Athens had made it a maxim never to let difficulty or disaster drive +her back from any enterprise once undertaken, so long as she possessed +the means of making any effort, however desperate, for its +accomplishment. With indomitable pertinacity, she now decreed, instead +of recalling her first armament from before Syracuse, to send out a +second, though her enemies near home had now renewed open warfare +against her, and by occupying a permanent fortification in her territory +had severely distressed her population, and were pressing her with +almost all the hardships of an actual siege. She still was mistress of +the sea, and she sent forth another fleet of seventy galleys, and +another army, which seemed to drain almost the last reserves of her +military population, to try if Syracuse could not yet be won, and the +honor of the Athenian arms be preserved from the stigma of a retreat. +Hers was, indeed, a spirit that might be broken, but never would bend. +At the head of this second expedition she wisely placed her best +general, Demosthenes, one of the most distinguished officers that the +long Peloponnesian war had produced, and who, if he had originally held +the Sicilian command, would soon have brought Syracuse to submission. + +The fame of Demosthenes the general has been dimmed by the superior +lustre of his great countryman, Demosthenes the orator. When the name of +Demosthenes is mentioned, it is the latter alone that is thought of. The +soldier has found no biographer. Yet out of the long list of great men +whom the Athenian republic produced, there are few that deserve to stand +higher than this brave, though finally unsuccessful leader of her fleets +and armies in the first half of the Peloponnesian war. In his first +campaign in Aetolia he had shown some of the rashness of youth, and had +received a lesson of caution by which he profited throughout the rest of +his career, but without losing any of his natural energy in enterprise +or in execution. He had performed the distinguished service of rescuing +Naupactus from a powerful hostile armament in the seventh year of the +war; he had then, at the request of the Acarnanian republics, taken on +himself the office of commander-in-chief of all their forces, and at +their head he had gained some important advantages over the enemies of +Athens in Western Greece. His most celebrated exploits had been the +occupation of Pylos on the Messenian coast, the successful defence of +that place against the fleet and armies of Lacedaemon, and the +subsequent capture of the Spartan forces on the isle of Sphacteria, +which was the severest blow dealt to Sparta throughout the war, and +which had mainly caused her to humble herself to make the truce with +Athens. + +Demosthenes was as honorably unknown in the war of party politics at +Athens as he was eminent in the war against the foreign enemy. We read +of no intrigues of his on either the aristocratic or democratic side. He +was neither in the interest of Nicias nor of Cleon. His private +character was free from any of the stains which polluted that of +Alcibiades. On all these points the silence of the comic dramatist is +decisive evidence in his favor. He had also the moral courage, not +always combined with physical, of seeking to do his duty to his country, +irrespective of any odium that he himself might incur, and unhampered by +any petty jealousy of those who were associated with him in command. +There are few men named in ancient history of whom posterity would +gladly know more or whom we sympathize with more deeply in the +calamities that befell them than Demosthenes, the son of Alcisthenes, +who, in the spring of the year 413, left Piraeus at the head of the +second Athenian expedition against Sicily. + +His arrival was critically timed; for Gylippus had encouraged the +Syracusans to attack the Athenians under Nicias by sea as well as by +land, and by one able stratagem of Ariston, one of the admirals of the +Corinthian auxiliary squadron, the Syracusans and their confederates had +inflicted on the fleet of Nicias the first defeat that the Athenian navy +had ever sustained from a numerically inferior enemy. Gylippus was +preparing to follow up his advantage by fresh attacks on the Athenians +on both elements, when the arrival of Demosthenes completely changed the +aspect of affairs and restored the superiority to the invaders. With +seventy-three war-galleys in the highest state of efficiency, and +brilliantly equipped, with a force of five thousand picked men of the +regular infantry of Athens and her allies, and a still larger number of +bowmen, javelin-men, and slingers on board, Demosthenes rowed round the +great harbor with loud cheers and martial music, as if in defiance of +the Syracusans and their confederates. His arrival had indeed changed +their newly born hopes into the deepest consternation. + +The resources of Athens seemed inexhaustible, and resistance to her +hopeless. They had been told that she was reduced to the last +extremities, and that her territory was occupied by an enemy; and yet +here they saw her sending forth, as if in prodigality of power, a second +armament, to make foreign conquests, not inferior to that with which +Nicias had first landed on the Sicilian shores. + +With the intuitive decision of a great commander, Demosthenes at once +saw that the possession of Epipolae was the key to the possession of +Syracuse, and he resolved to make a prompt and vigorous attempt to +recover that position while his force was unimpaired and the +consternation which its arrival had produced among the besieged remained +unabated. The Syracusans and their allies had run out an outwork along +Epipolae from the city walls, intersecting the fortified lines of +circumvallation which Nicias had commenced, but from which he had been +driven by Gylippus. Could Demosthenes succeed in storming this outwork, +and in reëstablishing the Athenian troops on the high ground, he might +fairly hope to be able to resume the circumvallation of the city and +become the conqueror of Syracuse; for when once the besiegers' lines +were completed, the number of the troops with which Gylippus had +garrisoned the place would only tend to exhaust the stores of provisions +and accelerate its downfall. + +An easily repelled attack was first made on the outwork in the daytime, +probably more with the view of blinding the besieged to the nature of +the main operations than with any expectation of succeeding in an open +assault, with every disadvantage of the ground to contend against. But, +when the darkness had set in, Demosthenes formed his men in columns, +each soldier taking with him five days' provisions, and the engineers +and workmen of the camp following the troops with their tools and all +portable implements of fortification, so as at once to secure any +advantage of ground that the army might gain. Thus equipped and +prepared, he led his men along by the foot of the southern flank of +Epipolae, in a direction toward the interior of the island, till he came +immediately below the narrow ridge that forms the extremity of the high +ground looking westward. He then wheeled his vanguard to the right, sent +them rapidly up the paths that wind along the face of the cliff, and +succeeded in completely surprising the Syracusan outposts, and in +placing his troops fairly on the extreme summit of the all-important +Epipolae. Thence the Athenians marched eagerly down the slope toward the +town, routing some Syracusan detachments that were quartered in their +way, and vigorously assailing the unprotected side of the outwork. + +All at first favored them. The outwork was abandoned by its garrison, +and the Athenian engineers began to dismantle it. In vain Gylippus +brought up fresh troops to check the assault; the Athenians broke and +drove them back, and continued to press hotly forward, in the full +confidence of victory. But, amid the general consternation of the +Syracusans and their confederates, one body of infantry stood firm. This +was a brigade of their Boeotian allies, which was posted low down the +slope of Epipolae, outside the city walls. Coolly and steadily the +Boeotian infantry formed their line, and, undismayed by the current of +flight around them, advanced against the advancing Athenians. This was +the crisis of the battle. But the Athenian van was disorganized by its +own previous successes; and, yielding to the unexpected charge thus made +on it by troops in perfect order, and of the most obstinate courage, it +was driven back in confusion upon the other divisions of the army that +still continued to press forward. When once the tide was thus turned, +the Syracusans passed rapidly from the extreme of panic to the extreme +of vengeful daring, and with all their forces they now fiercely assailed +the embarrassed and receding Athenians. In vain did the officers of the +latter strive to reform their line. Amid the din and the shouting of the +fight, and the confusion inseparable upon a night engagement, especially +one where many thousand combatants were pent and whirled together in a +narrow and uneven area, the necessary manoeuvres were impracticable; and +though many companies still fought on desperately, wherever the +moonlight showed them the semblance of a foe, they fought without +concert or subordination; and not infrequently, amid the deadly chaos, +Athenian troops assailed each other. Keeping their ranks close, the +Syracusans and their allies pressed on against the disorganized masses +of the besiegers, and at length drove them, with heavy slaughter, over +the cliffs, which an hour or two before they had scaled full of hope and +apparently certain of success. + +This defeat was decisive of the event of the siege. The Athenians +afterward struggled only to protect themselves from the vengeance which +the Syracusans sought to wreak in the complete destruction of their +invaders. Never, however, was vengeance more complete and terrible. A +series of sea-fights followed, in which the Athenian galleys were +utterly destroyed or captured. The mariners and soldiers who escaped +death in disastrous engagements, and a vain attempt to force a retreat +into the interior of the island, became prisoners of war. Nicias and +Demosthenes were put to death in cold blood, and their men either +perished miserably in the Syracusan dungeons or were sold into slavery +to the very persons whom, in their pride of power, they had crossed the +seas to enslave. + +All danger from Athens to the independent nations of the West was now +forever at an end. She, indeed, continued to struggle against her +combined enemies and revolted allies with unparalleled gallantry, and +many more years of varying warfare passed away before she surrendered to +their arms. But no success in subsequent contests could ever have +restored her to the preëminence in enterprise, resources, and maritime +skill which she had acquired before her fatal reverses in Sicily. Nor +among the rival Greek republics, whom her own rashness aided to crush +her, was there any capable of reorganizing her empire, or resuming her +schemes of conquest. The dominion of Western Europe was left for Rome +and Carthage to dispute two centuries later, in conflicts still more +terrible, and with even higher displays of military daring and genius +than Athens had witnessed either in her rise, her meridian, or her fall. + + + + +RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND GREEKS + +B.C. 401-399 + +XENOPHON + + +(The expedition of the Greeks, generally known as the "Retreat of the +Ten Thousand," was conducted by Xenophon, a Greek historian, essayist, +and military commander. Xenophon was a pupil of Socrates, of whom he +left a famous memoir. In B.C. 401 he accepted the invitation of his +friend Proxenus of Boeotia, a general of Greek mercenaries, to take +service under Cyrus the Younger, brother of Artaxerxes Mnemon, king of +Persia. + +Cyrus had considered himself as deeply wronged by his elder brother, who +had thrown him into prison on the death of their father, Darius. +Escaping from prison, he formed a design to wrest the throne from +Artaxerxes. For this purpose he engaged the forces of Proxenus, and to +this army Xenophon attached himself. The rendezvous was Sardis, from +which the army marched east under the pretext of chastising the +revolting mountaineers of Pisidia. Instead of attacking the Pisidians, +the followers of Cyrus proceeded east through Asia and Babylonia till +they met the forces of Artaxerxes at Cunaxa. A furious battle took +place, and the rout of the king's army had begun when Cyrus, elated with +the victory that seemed just within his grasp, challenged his brother to +single combat. In the duel that ensued Cyrus was slain. Proxenus had +already fallen, and the virtual command of the Greek army soon devolved +upon Xenophon, who thereupon began the famous retreat. + +A vivid account of battles, and of hardships endured from the cold, in +the struggle through mountain snows, through almost impassable forests, +and across bridgeless rivers, is given in Xenophon's _Anabasis_, the +celebrated work, in seven books, which forms the classical narrative of +the campaign and the retreat. Soon after the death of Cyrus, in +September, B.C. 401, the seizure and murder of the leading Greek +generals by the treacherous Persian satrap, Tissaphernes, placed the +Greek army in great peril. Xenophon, who now took practical command, +counselled and exhorted the surviving leaders, and on the next day the +Greeks formed in a hollow square, the baggage in the centre, and began +their retreat, which led them along the Tigris to the territory of the +Carduchi [Kurds], through Armenia, and across Georgia, the enemy often +harassing them. + +At the point where the climax of the story, which is presented here, may +be said to begin, the Greeks have entered Armenia, passed the sources of +the Tigris, and reached the Teleboas. Having made a treaty with +Tiribazus, governor of the province, and discovered his insincerity, and +that he was ready to attack them in their passage over the mountains, +they resolved upon a quick resumption of their march. + +When, in the fifth month of the retreat the Greeks at last from a +hilltop beheld the Euxine, they sent up a cry, "The sea! the sea!" which +has echoed through succeeding ages as one of the great historic +jubilations of humanity. At the end of the retreat their numbers were +reduced to about six thousand, and from the starting-point at Cunaxa to +the middle of the southern coast of the Black Sea they had travelled as +much as two thousand miles. From Ephesus to Cunaxa and thence to the +Black Sea region they had marched in fifteen months [February, B.C. 401, +to June, 400], and nine months more passed before they joined the +Spartan army in Asia Minor, and their task was fully accomplished. Their +great performance is regarded as having prepared the way for Alexander's +triumphant advances in the East. The young conqueror, on the eve of the +battle of Issus, declared that he owed inspiration to the feat of the +Ten Thousand.) + + +It was thought necessary to march away as fast as possible, before the +enemy's force should be reassembled, and get possession of the pass. + +Collecting their baggage at once, therefore, they set forward through a +deep snow, taking with them several guides, and, having the same day +passed the height on which Tiribazus had intended to attack them, they +encamped. Hence they proceeded three days' journey through a desert +tract of country, a distance of fifteen _parasangs_, to the river +Euphrates, and passed it without being wet higher than the middle. The +sources of the river were said not to be far off. From hence they +advanced three days' march, through much snow and a level plain, a +distance of fifteen parasangs; the third day's march was extremely +troublesome, as the north wind blew full in their faces, completely +parching up everything and benumbing the men. One of the augurs, in +consequence, advised that they should sacrifice to the wind, and a +sacrifice was accordingly offered, when the vehemence of the wind +appeared to everyone manifestly to abate. The depth of the snow was a +fathom, so that many of the baggage cattle and slaves perished, with +about thirty of the soldiers. + +They continued to burn fires through the whole night, for there was +plenty of wood at the place of encampment. But those who came up late +could get no wood; those, therefore, who had arrived before and had +kindled fires would not admit the late comers to the fire unless they +gave them a share of the corn or other provisions that they had brought. +Thus they shared with each other what they respectively had. In the +places where the fires were made, as the snow melted, there were formed +large pits that reached down to the ground, and here there was +accordingly opportunity to measure the depth of the snow. + +From hence they marched through snow the whole of the following day, and +many of the men contracted the _bulimia_.[28] Xenophon, who commanded in +the rear, finding in his way such of the men as had fallen down with it, +knew not what disease it was. But as one of these acquainted with it +told him that they were evidently affected with bulimia, and that they +would get up if they had something to eat, he went round among the +baggage and wherever he saw anything eatable he gave it out, and sent +such as were able to run to distribute it among those diseased, who, as +soon as they had eaten, rose up and continued their march. As they +proceeded, Chirisophus came, just as it grew dark, to a village, and +found, at a spring in front of the rampart, some women and girls +belonging to the place fetching water. The women asked them who they +were, and the interpreter answered, in the Persian language, that they +were people going from the king to the satrap. They replied that he was +not there, but about a parasang off. + +[Footnote 28: Spelman quotes a description of the bulimia from Galen, in +which it is said to be "a disease in which the patient frequently craves +for food, loses the use of his limbs, falls down, turns pale, feels his +extremities become cold, his stomach oppressed, and his pulse feeble." +Here, however, it seems to mean little more than a faintness from long +fasting.] + +However, as it was late, they went with the water-carriers within the +rampart, to the head man of the village, and here Chirisophus and as +many of the troops as could come up encamped; but of the rest, such as +were unable to get to the end of the journey spent the night on the way +without food or fire, and some of the soldiers lost their lives on that +occasion. Some of the enemy too, who had collected themselves into a +body, pursued our rear, and seized any of the baggage-cattle that were +unable to proceed, fighting with one another for the possession of them. +Such of the soldiers also as had lost their sight from the effects of +the snow, or had their toes mortified by the cold, were left behind. It +was found to be a relief to the eyes against the snow, if the soldiers +kept something black before them on the march, and to the feet, if they +kept constantly in motion, and allowed themselves no rest, and if they +took off their shoes in the night. But as to such as slept with their +shoes on, the straps worked into their feet, and the soles were frozen +about them, for when their old shoes had failed them, shoes of raw hides +had been made by the men themselves from the newly skinned oxen. + +From such unavoidable sufferings some of the soldiers were left behind, +who, seeing a piece of ground of a black appearance, from the snow +having disappeared there, conjectured that it must have melted, and it +had in fact melted in the spot from the effect of a fountain, which was +sending up vapor in a wooded hollow close at hand. Turning aside +thither, they sat down and refused to proceed farther. Xenophon, who was +with the rear-guard, as soon as he heard this tried to prevail on them +by every art and means not to be left behind, telling them, at the same +time, that the enemy were collected and pursuing them in great numbers. +At last he grew angry, and they told him to kill them, as they were +quite unable to go forward. He then thought it the best course to strike +a terror, if possible, into the enemy that were behind, lest they should +fall upon the exhausted soldiers. It was now dark, and the enemy were +advancing with a great noise, quarrelling about the booty that they had +taken, when such of the rear-guard as were not disabled started up and +rushed toward them, while the tired men, shouting as loud as they could, +clashed their spears against their shields. The enemy, struck with +alarm, threw themselves among the snow into the hollow, and no one of +them afterward made himself heard from any quarter. + +Xenophon and those with him, telling the sick men that a party should +come to their relief next day, proceeded on their march, but before they +had gone four _stadia_ they found other soldiers resting by the way in +the snow, and covered up with it, no guard being stationed over them. +They roused them up, but they said that the head of the army was not +moving forward. Xenophon, going past them and sending on some of the +ablest of the _peltasts_, ordered them to ascertain what it was that +hindered their progress. They brought word that the whole army was in +that manner taking rest. Xenophon and his men, therefore, stationing +such a guard as they could, took up their quarters there without fire or +supper. When it was near day, he sent the youngest of his men to the +sick, telling them to rouse them and oblige them to proceed. At this +juncture Chirisophus sent some of his people from the village to see how +the rear were faring. The young men were rejoiced to see them, and gave +them the sick to conduct to the camp, while they themselves went +forward, and, before they had gone twenty stadia, found themselves at +the village in which Chirisophus was quartered. When they came together, +it was thought safe enough to lodge the troops up and down in the +village. Chirisophus accordingly remained where he was, and the other +officers, appropriating by lot the several villages that they had in +sight, went to their respective quarters with their men. + +Here Polycrates, an Athenian captain, requested leave of absence, and +taking with him the most active of his men, and hastening to the village +to which Xenophon had been allotted, surprised all the villagers and +their head man in their houses, together with seventeen colts that were +bred as a tribute for the king, and the head man's daughter, who had +been but nine days married; her husband was gone out to hunt hares, and +was not found in any of the villages. Their houses were underground, the +entrance like the mouth of a well, but spacious below; there were +passages dug into them for the cattle, but the people descended by +ladders. In the houses were goats, sheep, cows, and fowls, with their +young; all the cattle were kept on fodder within the walls.[29] There +were also wheat, barley, leguminous vegetables, and barley wine[30] in +large bowls; the grains of barley floated in it even with the brim of +the vessels, and reeds also lay in it, some larger and some smaller, +without joints; and these, when any one was thirsty, he was to take in +his mouth and suck.[31] The liquor was very strong, unless one mixed +water with it, and a very pleasant drink to those accustomed to it. + +[Footnote 29: This description of a village on the Armenian uplands +applies itself to many that I visited in the present day. The descent by +wells is now rare, but is still to be met with; but in exposed and +elevated situations the houses are uniformly semi-subterraneous and +entered by as small an aperture as possible, to prevent the cold getting +in. Whatever the kind of cottage used, cows, sheep, goats, and fowls +participate with the family in the warmth and protection thereof.] + +[Footnote 30: Something like our ale.] + +[Footnote 31: The reeds were used, says Krueger, that none of the grains +of barley might be taken into the mouth.] + +Xenophon made the chief man of his village sup with him, and told him to +be of good courage, assuring him that he should not be deprived of his +children, and that they would not go away without filling his house with +provisions in return for what they took, if he would but prove himself +the author of some service to the army till they should reach another +tribe. This he promised, and, to show his good-will, pointed out where +some wine[32] was buried. This night, therefore, the soldiers rested in +their several quarters in the midst of great abundance, setting a guard +over the chief, and keeping his children at the same time under their +eye. The following day Xenophon took the head man and went with him to +Chirisophus, and wherever he passed by a village he turned aside to +visit those who were quartered in it, and found them in all parts +feasting and enjoying themselves; nor would they anywhere let them go +till they had set refreshments before them; and they placed everywhere +upon the same table lamb, kid, pork, veal, and fowl, with plenty of +bread, both of wheat and barley. Whenever any person, to pay a +compliment, wished to drink to another, he took him to the large bowl, +where he had to stoop down and drink, sucking like an ox. The chief they +allowed to take whatever he pleased, but he accepted nothing from them; +where he found any of his relatives, however, he took them with him. + +[Footnote 32: Xenophon seems to mean _grape_ wine, rather than to refer +to the barley wine just before mentioned, of which the taste does not +appear to have been much liked by the Greeks. Wine from grapes was not +made, it is probable, in these parts, on account of the cold, but Strabo +speaks of the fruit wine of Armenia Minor as not inferior to any of the +Greek wines.--_Schneider_.] + +When they came to Chirisophus, they found his men also feasting in their +quarters, crowned with wreaths made of hay, and Armenian boys, in their +barbarian dress, waiting upon them, to whom they made signs what they +were to do as if they had been deaf and dumb. When Chirisophus and +Xenophon had saluted one another, they both asked the chief man, through +the interpreter who spoke the Persian language, what country it was. He +replied that it was Armenia. They then asked him for whom the horses +were bred, and he said that they were a tribute for the king, and added +that the neighboring country was that of Chalybes, and told them in what +direction the road lay. Xenophon then went away, conducting the chief +back to his family, giving him the horse that he had taken, which was +rather old, to fatten and offer in sacrifice (for he had heard that it +had been consecrated to the sun), being afraid, indeed, that it might +die, as it had been injured by the journey. He then took some of the +young horses, and gave one of them to each of the other generals and +captains. The horses in this country were smaller than those of Persia, +but far more spirited. The chief instructed the men to tie little bags +round the feet of the horses and other cattle when they drove them +through the snow, for without such bags they sunk up to their bellies. + +When the eighth day was come, Xenophon committed the guide to +Chirisophus. He left the chief[33] all the members of his family, except +his son, a youth just coming to mature age; him he gave in charge to +Episthenes of Amphipolis, in order that if the father should conduct +them properly he might return home with him. At the same time they +carried to his house as many provisions as they could, and then broke up +their camp and resumed their march. The chief conducted them through the +snow, walking at liberty. When he came to the end of the third day's +march, Chirisophus was angry at him for not guiding them to some +villages. He said that there was none in that part of the country. +Chirisophus then struck him, but did not confine him, and in consequence +he ran off in the night, leaving his son behind him. This affair, the +ill-treatment and neglect of the guide, was the only cause of dissension +between Chirisophus and Xenophon during the march. Episthenes conceived +an affection for the youth, and, taking him home, found him extremely +attached to him. + +[Footnote 33: This is rather oddly expressed, for the guide and the +chief were the same person.] + +After this occurrence they proceeded seven days' journey, five parasangs +each day, till they came to the river Phasis, the breadth of which is a +_plethrum_. Hence they advanced two days' journey, ten parasangs, when, +on the pass that led over the mountains into the plain, the Chalybes, +Taochi, and Phasians were drawn up to oppose their progress. +Chirisophus, seeing these enemies in possession of the height, came to a +halt, at the distance of about thirty stadia, that he might not approach +them while leading the army in a column. He accordingly ordered the +other officers to bring up their companies, that the whole force might +be formed in line. + +When the rear-guard was come up, he called together the generals and +captains and spoke to them as follows: "The enemy, as you see, is in +possession of the pass over the mountains, and it is proper for us to +consider how we may encounter them to the best advantage. It is my +opinion, therefore, that we should direct the troops to get their dinner +and that we ourselves should hold a council, in the mean time, whether +it is advisable to cross the mountain to-day or to-morrow." + +"It seems best to me," exclaimed Cleanor, "to march at once, as soon as +we have dined and resumed our arms, against the enemy; for if we waste +the present day in inaction the enemy, who are now looking down upon us, +will grow bolder, and it is likely that, as their confidence is +increased, others will join them in greater numbers." + +After him Xenophon said: "I am of opinion that if it be necessary to +fight, we ought to make our arrangements so as to fight with the +greatest advantage; but that if we propose to pass the mountains as +easily as possible, we ought to consider how we may incur the fewest +wounds and lose the fewest men. The range of hills, as far as we see, +extends more than sixty stadia in length; but the people nowhere seem to +be watching us except along the line of road; and it is, therefore, +better, I think, to endeavor to try to seize unobserved some part of the +unguarded range, and to get possession of it, if we can, beforehand, +than to attack a strong post and men prepared to resist us, for it is +far less difficult to march up a steep ascent without fighting than +along a level road with enemies on each side; and in the night, if men +are not obliged to fight, they can see better what is before them than +by day if engaged with enemies; while a rough road is easier to the feet +to those who are marching without molestation than a smooth one to those +who are pelted on the head with missiles. Nor do I think it at all +impracticable for us to steal a way for ourselves, as we can march by +night, so as not to be seen, and can keep at such a distance from the +enemy as to allow no possibility of being heard. We seem likely, too, in +my opinion, if we make a pretended attack on this point, to find the +rest of the range still less guarded, for the enemy will so much the +more probably stay where they are. But why should I speak doubtfully +about stealing? For I hear that you Lacedaemonians, O Chirisophus, such +of you at least as are of the better class, practise stealing from your +boyhood, and it is not a disgrace, but an honor, to steal whatever the +law does not forbid; while, in order that you may steal with the utmost +dexterity, and strive to escape discovery, it is appointed by law that, +if you are caught stealing, you are scourged. It is now high time for +you, therefore, to give proof of your education, and to take care that +we may not receive many stripes." + +"But I hear that you Athenians also," rejoined Chirisophus, "are very +clever at stealing the public money, though great danger threatens him +that steals it; and that your best men steal it most, if indeed your +best men are thought worthy to be your magistrates; so that it is time +for you likewise to give proof of your education." + +"I am then ready," exclaimed Xenophon, "to march with the rear-guard, as +soon as we have supped, to take possession of the hills. I have guides +too, for our light-armed men captured some of the marauders following +us, by lying in ambush, and from them I learn that the mountains are not +impassable, but are grazed over by goats and oxen, so that if we once +gain possession of any part of the range, there will be tracks also for +our baggage cattle. I expect also that the enemy will no longer keep +their ground, when they see us upon a level with them on the heights, +for they will not now come down to be upon a level with us." Chirisophus +then said: "But why should you go, and leave the charge of the rear? +Rather send others, unless some volunteers present themselves." Upon +this Aristonymus of Methydria came forward with his heavy-armed men, and +Aristeas of Chios and Nichomachus of Oeta with their light-armed; and +they made an arrangement that as soon as they should reach the top they +should light a number of fires. Having settled these points, they went +to dinner; and after dinner Chirisophus led forward the whole army ten +stadia toward the enemy, that he might appear to be fully resolved to +march against them on that quarter. + +When they had taken their supper, and night came on, those appointed for +the service went forward and got possession of the hills; the other +troops rested where they were. The enemy, when they saw the heights +occupied, kept watch and burned a number of fires all night. As soon as +it was day, Chirisophus, after having offered sacrifice, marched forward +along the road; while those who had gained the heights advanced by the +ridge. Most of the enemy, meanwhile, stayed at the pass, but a part went +to meet the troops coming along the heights. But before the main bodies +came together, those on the ridge closed with one another, and the +Greeks had the advantage, and put the enemy to flight. At the same time +the Grecian peltasts ran up from the plain to attack the enemy drawn up +to receive them, and Chirisophus followed at a quick pace with the +heavy-armed men. The enemy at the pass, however, when they saw those +above defeated, took to flight. Not many of them were killed, but a +great number of shields were taken, which the Greeks, by hacking them +with their swords, rendered useless. As soon as they had gained the +ascent, and had sacrificed and erected a trophy, they went down into the +plain before them, and arrived at a number of villages stored with +abundance of excellent provisions. + +From hence they marched five days' journey, thirty parasangs, to the +country of the Taochi, where provisions began to fail them; for the +Taochi inhabited strong fastnesses, in which they had laid up all their +supplies. Having at length, however, arrived at one place which had no +city or houses attached to it, but in which men and women and a great +number of cattle were assembled, Chirisophus, as soon as he came before +it, made it the object of an attack; and when the first division that +assailed it began to be tired, another succeeded, and then another, for +it was not possible for them to surround it in a body, as there was a +river about it. When Xenophon came up with his rear-guard, peltasts, and +heavy-armed men, Chirisophus exclaimed: "You come seasonably, for we +must take this place, as there are no provisions for the army unless we +take it." + +They then deliberated together, and Xenophon asking what hindered them +from taking the place, Chirisophus replied: "The only approach to it is +the one which you see; but when any of our men attempt to pass along it, +the enemy roll down stones over yonder impending rock, and whoever is +struck is treated as you behold;" and he pointed, at the same moment, to +some of the men who had had their legs and ribs broken. "But if they +expend all their stones," rejoined Xenophon, "is there anything else to +prevent us from advancing? For we see, in front of us, only a few men, +and but two or three of them armed. The space, too, through which we +have to pass under exposure to the stones is, as you see, only about a +hundred and fifty feet in length; and of this about a hundred feet is +covered with large pine trees in groups, against which, if the men place +themselves, what would they suffer either from the flying stones or the +rolling ones? The remaining part of the space is not above fifty feet, +over which, when the stones cease, we must pass at a running pace." + +"But," said Chirisophus, "the instant we offer to go to the part covered +with trees, the stones fly in great numbers." + +"That," cried Xenophon, "would be the very thing we want, for thus they +will exhaust their stones the sooner. Let us then advance, if we can, to +the point whence we shall have but a short way to run, and from which we +may, if we please, easily retreat." + +Chirisophus and Xenophon, with Callimachus of Parrhasia, one of the +captains, who had that day the lead of all the other captains of the +rear-guard, then went forward, all the rest of the captains remaining +out of danger. Next, about seventy of the men advanced under the trees, +not in a body, but one by one, each sheltering himself as he could. +Agasias of Stymphalus, and Aristonymus of Methydria, who were also +captains of the rear-guard, with some others were at the same time +standing behind, without the trees, for it was not safe for more than +one company to stand under them. Callimachus then adopted the following +stratagem: he ran forward two or three paces from the tree under which +he was sheltered, and when the stones began to be hurled, hastily drew +back; and at each of his sallies more than ten cartloads of stones were +spent. + +Agasias, observing what Callimachus was doing, and that the eyes of the +whole army were upon him, and fearing that he himself might not be the +first to enter the place, began to advance alone--neither calling to +Aristonymus who was next him, nor to Eurylochus of Lusia, both of whom +were his intimate friends, nor to any other person--and passed by all +the rest. Callimachus, seeing him rushing by, caught hold of the rim of +his shield, and at that moment Aristonymus of Methydria ran past them +both, and after him Eurylochus of Lusia, for all these sought +distinction for valor, and were rivals to one another; and thus, in +mutual emulation, they got possession of the place, for when they had +once rushed in, not a stone was hurled from above. But a dreadful +spectacle was then to be seen; for the women, flinging their children +over the precipice, threw themselves after them; and the men followed +their example. Æneas of Stymphalus, a captain, seeing one of them, who +had on a rich garment, running to throw himself over, caught hold of it +with intent to stop him. But the man dragged him forward, and they both +went rolling down the rocks together, and were killed. Thus very few +prisoners were taken, but a great number of oxen, asses, and sheep. + +Hence they advanced, seven days' journey, a distance of fifty parasangs, +through the country of the Chalybes. These were the most warlike people +of all that they passed through, and came to close combat with them. +They had linen cuirasses, reaching down to the groin, and, instead of +skirts, thick cords twisted. They had also greaves and helmets, and at +their girdles a short falchion, as large as a Spartan crooked dagger, +with which they cut the throats of all whom they could master, and then, +cutting off their heads, carried them away with them. They sang and +danced when the enemy were likely to see them. They carried also a spear +of about fifteen cubits in length, having one spike.[34] They stayed in +their villages till the Greeks had passed by, when they pursued and +perpetually harassed them. They had their dwellings in strong places, in +which they had also laid up their provisions, so that the Greeks could +get nothing from that country, but lived upon the cattle which they had +taken from the Taochi. + +[Footnote 34: Having one iron point at the upper end, and no point at +the lower for fixing the spear in the ground.] + +The Greeks next arrived at the river Harpasus, the breadth of which was +four _plethra_. Hence they proceeded through the territory of the +Scythini, four days' journey, making twenty parasangs, over a level +tract, until they came to some villages, in which they halted three days +and collected provisions. From this place they advanced four days' +journey, twenty parasangs, to a large, rich and populous city, called +Gymnias, from which the governor of the country sent the Greeks a guide +to conduct them through a region at war with his own people. The guide, +when he came, said that he would take them in five days to a place +whence they should see the sea; if not, he would consent to be put to +death. When, as he proceeded, he entered the country of their enemies, +he exhorted them to burn and lay waste the lands; whence it was evident +that he had come for this very purpose, and not from any good-will to +the Greeks. + +On the fifth day they came to the mountain; and the name of it was +Theches. When the men who were in the front had mounted the height, and +looked down upon the sea, a great shout proceeded from them; and +Xenophon and the rearguard, on hearing it, thought that some new enemies +were assailing the front, for in the rear, too, the people from the +country that they had burned were following them, and the rear-guard, by +placing an ambuscade, had killed some, and taken others prisoners, and +had captured about twenty shields made of raw ox-hides with the hair on. +But as the noise still increased, and drew nearer, and as those who came +up from time to time kept running at full speed to join those who were +continually shouting, the cries becoming louder as the men became more +numerous, it appeared to Xenophon that it must be something of very +great moment. Mounting his horse, therefore, and taking with him Lycius +and the cavalry, he hastened forward to give aid, when presently they +heard the soldiers shouting, "The sea, the sea!" and cheering on one +another. They then all began to run, the rear-guard as well as the rest, +and the baggage-cattle and horses were put to their speed; and when they +had all arrived at the top, the men embraced one another and their +generals and captains, with tears in their eyes. Suddenly, whoever it +was that suggested it, the soldiers brought stones, and raised a large +mound, on which they laid a number of raw ox-hides, staves, and shields +taken from the enemy. The shields the guide himself hacked in pieces, +and exhorted the rest to do the same. Soon after, the Greeks sent away +the guide, giving him presents from the common stock: a horse, a silver +cup, a Persian robe, and ten _darics_; but he showed most desire for the +rings on their fingers, and obtained many of them from the soldiers. +Having then pointed out to them a village where they might take up their +quarters, and the road by which they were to proceed to the Macrones, +when the evening came on he departed, pursuing his way during the night. + +Hence the Greeks advanced three days' journey, a distance of ten +parasangs, through the country of the Macrones. On the first day they +came to a river which divides the territories of the Macrones from those +of the Scythini. On their right they had an eminence extremely difficult +of access, and on their left another river, into which the boundary +river, which they had to cross, empties itself. This stream was thickly +edged with trees, not indeed large, but growing closely together. These +the Greeks, as soon as they came to the spot, cut down,[35] being in +haste to get out of the country as soon as possible. The Macrones, +however, equipped with wicker shields, and spears, and hair tunics, were +drawn up on the opposite side of the crossing-place; they were animating +one another and throwing stones into the river.[36] They did not hit our +men or cause them any inconvenience. + +[Footnote 35: The Greeks cut down the trees in order to throw them into +the stream, and form a kind of bridge on which they might cross.] + +[Footnote 36: They threw stones into the river that they might stand on +them and approach nearer to the Greeks, so as to use their weapons with +more effect.] + +At this juncture one of the peltasts came up to Xenophon, saying that he +had been a slave at Athens, and adding that he knew the language of +these men. "I think, indeed," said he, "that this is my country, and, if +there is nothing to prevent, I should wish to speak to the people." + +"There is nothing to prevent," replied Xenophon; "so speak to them, and +first ascertain what people they are." When he asked them, they said +that they were the Macrones. "Inquire, then," said Xenophon, "why they +are drawn up to oppose us and wish to be our enemies." They replied, +"Because you come against our country." The generals then told him to +acquaint them that we were not come with any wish to do them injury, but +that we were returning to Greece after having been engaged in war with +the king, and that we were desirous to reach the sea. They asked if the +Greeks would give pledges to this effect; and the Greeks replied that +they were willing both to give and receive them. The Macrones +accordingly presented the Greeks with a barbarian lance, and the Greeks +gave them a Grecian one; for they said that such were their usual +pledges. Both parties called the gods to witness. + +After these mutual assurances, the Macrones immediately assisted them in +cutting away the trees and made a passage for them as if to bring them +over, mingling freely among the Greeks; they also gave such facilities +as they could for buying provisions, and conducted them through their +country for three days, until they brought them to the confines of the +Colchians. Here was a range of hills, high, but accessible, and upon +them the Colchians were drawn up in array. The Greeks, at first, drew up +against them in a line, with the intention of marching up the hill in +this disposition; but afterward the generals thought proper to assemble +and deliberate how they might engage with the best effect. + +Xenophon then said it appeared to him that they ought to relinquish the +arrangement in line, and to dispose the troops in columns; "for a line," +pursued he, "will be broken at once, as we shall find the hills in some +parts impassable, though in others easy of access; and this disruption +will immediately produce despondency in the men, when, after being +ranged in a regular line, they find it dispersed. Again, if we advance +drawn up very many deep, the enemy will stretch beyond us on both sides, +and will employ the parts that outreach us in any way they may think +proper; and if we advance only a few deep, it would not be at all +surprising if our line be broken through by showers of missiles and men +falling upon us in large bodies. If this happen in any part, it will be +ill for the whole extent of the line. I think, then, that having formed +our companies in columns, we should keep them so far apart from each +other as that the last companies on each side may be beyond the enemy's +wings. Thus our extreme companies will both outflank the line of the +enemy, and, as we march in file, the bravest of our men will close with +the enemy first, and wherever the ascent is easiest, there each division +will direct its course. Nor will it be easy for the enemy to penetrate +into the intervening spaces when there are companies on each side, nor +will it be easy to break through a column as it advances; while, if any +one of the companies be hard pressed, the neighboring one will support +it; and if but one of the companies can by any path attain the summit, +the enemy will no longer stand their ground." + +This plan was approved, and they threw the companies into columns. +Xenophon, riding along from the right wing to the left, said: "Soldiers, +the enemy whom you see before you is now the only obstacle to hinder us +from being where we have long been eager to be. These, if we can, we +must eat up alive." + +When the men were all in their places, and they had formed the companies +into columns, there were about eighty companies of heavy-armed men, and +each company consisted of about eighty men. The peltasts and archers +they divided into three bodies, each about six hundred men, one of which +they placed beyond the left wing, another beyond the right, and the +third in the centre. The generals then desired the soldiers to make +their vows to the gods; and having made them, and sung the paean, they +moved forward. Chirisophus and Xenophon, and the peltasts that they had +with them, who were beyond the enemy's flanks, pushed on; and the enemy, +observing their motions, and hurrying forward to receive them, was drawn +off, some to the right and others to the left, and left a great void in +the centre of the line; when the peltasts in the Arcadian division, whom +Aeschines the Acarnanian commanded, seeing the Colchians separate, ran +forward in all haste, thinking that they were taking to flight; and +these were the first that reached the summit. The Arcadian heavy-armed +troop, of which Clearnor the Orchomenian was captain, followed them. But +the enemy, when once the Greeks began to run, no longer stood its +ground, but went off in flight, some one way and some another. + +Having passed the summit, the Greeks encamped in a number of villages +containing abundance of provisions. As to other things here, there was +nothing at which they were surprised; but the number of bee-hives was +extraordinary, and all the soldiers that ate of the combs lost their +senses, vomited, and were affected with purging, and not any of them was +able to stand upright; such as had eaten a little were like men greatly +intoxicated, and such as had eaten much were like madmen, and some like +persons at the point of death. They lay upon the ground, in consequence, +in great numbers, as if there had been a defeat; and there was general +dejection. The next day no one of them was found dead; and they +recovered their senses about the same hour that they had lost them on +the preceding day; and on the third and fourth days they got up as if +after having taken physic.[37] + +[Footnote 37: That there was honey in these parts, with intoxicating +qualities, was well known to antiquity. Pliny mentions two sorts of it, +one produced at Heraclea in Pontus, and the other among the Sanni or +Macrones. The peculiarities of the honey arose from the herbs to which +the bees resorted; the first came from the flower of a plant called +_oegolethron_, or goatsbane; the other from a species of rhododendron. +Tournefort, when he was in that country, saw honey of this description. +Ainsworth found that the intoxicating honey had a bitter taste. This +honey is also mentioned by Dioscorides.] + +From hence they proceeded two days' march, seven parasangs, and arrived +at Trebizond, a Greek city, of large population, on the Euxine Sea; a +colony of Sinope, but lying in the territory of the Colchians. Here they +stayed about thirty days, encamping in the villages of the Colchians, +whence they made excursions and plundered the country of Colchis. The +people of Trebizond provided a market for the Greeks in the camp, and +entertained them in the city; and made them presents of oxen, +barley-meal, and wine. They negotiated with them also on behalf of the +neighboring Colchians, those especially who dwelt in the plain, and from +them too were brought presents of oxen. + +Soon after, they prepared to perform the sacrifice which they had vowed. +Oxen enough had been brought them to offer to Jupiter the Preserver, and +to Hercules, for their safe conduct, and whatever they had vowed to the +other gods. They also celebrated gymnastic games upon the hill where +they were encamped, and chose Dracontius, a Spartan--who had become an +exile from his country when quite a boy, for having involuntarily killed +a child by striking him with a dagger--to prepare the course and preside +at the contests. When the sacrifice was ended, they gave the hides[38] +to Dracontius, and desired him to conduct them to the place where he had +made the course. Dracontius, pointing to the place where they were +standing, said, "This hill is an excellent place for running, in +whatever direction the men may wish." + +[Footnote 38: Lion and Kuehner have a notion that these skins were to be +given as prizes to the victors, referring to Herodotus, who says that +the Egyptians, in certain games which they celebrate in honor of +Perseus, offer as prizes cattle, cloaks, and hides. Krueger doubts +whether they were intended for prizes, or were given as a present to +Dracontius.] + +"But how will they be able," said they, "to wrestle on ground so rough +and bushy?" + +"He that falls," said he, "will suffer the more." Boys, most of them +from among the prisoners, contended in the short course, and in the long +course above sixty Cretans ran; while others were matched in wrestling, +boxing, and the _pancratium_. It was a fine sight; for many entered the +lists, and as their friends were spectators, there was great emulation. +Horses also ran; and they had to gallop down the steep, and, turning +round in the sea, to come up again to the altar. In the descent, many +rolled down; but in the ascent, against the exceedingly steep ground, +the horses could scarcely get up at a walking pace. There was +consequently great shouting and laughter and cheering from the people. + + + + +CONDEMNATION AND DEATH OF SOCRATES + +B.C. 399 + +PLATO + + +(The death of Socrates was brought about under the restored democracy by +three of his enemies--Lycon, Meletus, and Anytus, the last a man of high +rank and reputation in the state. Socrates was accused by them of +despising the ancient gods of the state, introducing new divinities and +corrupting the youth of Athens. He was charged with having taught his +followers, young men of the first Athenian families, to despise the +established government, to be turbulent and seditious, and his accusors +pointed to Alcibiades and Critias, notorious for their lawlessness, as +examples of the fruits of his teaching. + +It is quite certain that Socrates disliked the Athenian government and +considered democracy as tyrannical as despotism. But there was no law at +Athens by which he could be put to death for his words and actions, and +the vague charge could never have been made unless the whole trial of +the philosopher had been a party movement, headed by men like Lycon and +Anytus, whose support of the unjust measure made the condemnation of +Socrates a foregone conclusion. Xenophon, the pupil and admirer of the +philosopher, expresses in his _Memorabilia of Socrates_ his surprise +that the Athenians should have condemned to death a man of such exalted +character and transparent innocence. But the influence of the teacher +with his pupils, most of them sons of the wealthiest citizens, might +well have been dreaded by those in office and engaged in the conduct of +public business. By them, the common politicians of the day, Socrates, +with his keen and witty criticism of political corruption and +demagogism, must have been considered a formidable adversary. + +Accordingly, by the decision of the Athenian court, the philosopher was +sentenced to death by drinking a cup of hemlock. Although it was usual +for criminals to be executed the day following their condemnation, he +enjoyed a respite of thirty days, during which time his friends had +access to his prison cell. It was the time when the ceremonial galley +was crowned and sent on her pilgrimage to the holy Isle of Delos, and no +criminal could be executed until her return. Socrates exhibited heroic +constancy and cheerfulness during this interval, and repudiated the +offers of his friends to aid in his escape, though they had chartered a +ship to carry him to Thessaly. With calm composure he reasoned on the +immortality of the soul, and cheered his visitors with words of hope. + +The literary portraits of Socrates furnished by himself, and the +writings of Plato, are among the most precious monuments of antiquity, +and the life and death of such a man form a memorable era in the moral +and intellectual history of mankind. + +Plato, in his _Phædo, or the Immortality of the Soul_, gives the +following dialogue between Echecrates and Phædo--two friends and +disciples of the late philosopher--evidently with no other purpose in +view than to lend to the account of the great teacher's last hours, and +the last words his followers were to hear from his lips, the additional +force and dramatic value of a personal narrative in the mouth of a +loving pupil and an actual eyewitness of his death.) + + +Echecrates. Were you personally present, Phaedo, with Socrates on that +day when he drank the poison in prison? or did you hear an account of it +from someone else? + +_Phæd._ I was there myself, Echecrates. + +_Ech._ What then did he say before his death? and how did he die? for I +should be glad to hear; for scarcely any citizen of Phlius[39] ever +visits Athens now, nor has any stranger for a long time come from +thence, who was able to give us a clear account of the particulars, +except that he died from drinking poison; but he was unable to tell us +anything more. + +[Footnote 39: Phlius, to which Echecrates belonged, was a town of +Sicyonia in Peloponnesus.] + +_Phæd._ And did you not hear about the trial how it went off? + +_Ech._ Yes; some one told me this; and I wondered, that as it took place +so long ago, he appears to have died long afterward. What was the reason +of this, Phaedo? + +_Phæd._ An accidental circumstance happened in his favor, Echecrates: +for the poop of the ship which the Athenians send to Delos, chanced to +be crowned on the day before the trial. + +_Ech._ But what is this ship? + +_Phæd._ It is the ship, as the Athenians say, in which Theseus formerly +conveyed the fourteen boys and girls to Crete and saved both them and +himself. They, therefore, made a vow to Apollo on that occasion, as it +is said, that if they were saved they would every year despatch a solemn +embassy to Delos; which, from that time to the present, they send yearly +to the god. When they begin the preparations for this solemn embassy, +they have a law that the city shall be purified during this period, and +that no public execution shall take place until the ship has reached +Delos, and returned to Athens: and this occasionally takes a long time, +when the winds happen to impede their passage. The commencement of the +embassy is when the priest of Apollo has crowned the poop of the ship. +And this was done, as I said, on the day before the trial: on this +account Socrates had a long interval in prison between the trial and his +death. + +_Ech._ And what, Phædo, were the circumstances of his death? what was +said and done? and who of his friends were with him? or would not the +magistrates allow them to be present, but did he die destitute of +friends? + +_Phæd._ By no means; but some, indeed several, were present. + +_Ech._ Take the trouble, then, to relate to me all the particulars as +clearly as you can, unless you have any pressing business. + +_Phæd._ I am at leisure, and will endeavor to give you a full account: +for to call Socrates to mind, whether speaking myself or listening to +some one else, is always most delightful to me. + +_Ech._ And indeed, Phaedo, you have others to listen to you who are of +the same mind. However, endeavor to relate everything as accurately as +you can. + +_Phæd._ I was indeed wonderfully affected by being present, for I was +not impressed with a feeling of pity, like one present at the death of a +friend; for the man appeared to me to be happy, Echecrates, both from +his manner and discourse, so fearlessly and nobly did he meet his death: +so much so that it occurred to me that in going to Hades he was not +going without a divine destiny, but that when he arrived there he would +be happy, if anyone ever was. For this reason I was entirely +uninfluenced by any feeling of pity, as would seem likely to be the case +with one present on so mournful an occasion; nor was I affected by +pleasure from being engaged in philosophical discussions, as was our +custom; for our conversation was of that kind. But an altogether +unaccountable feeling possessed me, a kind of unusual mixture compounded +of pleasure and pain together, when I considered that he was immediately +about to die. And all of us who were present were affected in much the +same manner, at one time laughing, at another weeping one of us +especially, Apollodorus, for you know the man and his manner. + +_Ech._ How should I not? + +_Phæd._ He, then, was entirely overcome by these emotions; and I too was +troubled, as well as the others. + +_Ech._ But who were present, Phaedo? + +_Phæd._ Of his fellow-countrymen, this Apollodorus was present, and +Critobulus, and his father Crito, moreover Hermogenes, Epigenes, +Æschines, and Antisthenes; Ctesippus the Pæanian, Menexenus, and some +other of his countrymen were also there: Plato I think was sick. + +_Ech._ Were any strangers present? + +_Phæd._ Yes: Simmias the Theban, Cebes, and Phaedondes: and from Megara, +Euclides and Terpsion. + +_Ech._ But what! were not Aristippus and Cleombrotus present? + +_Phæd._ No: for they were said to be at Ægina. + +_Ech._ Was anyone else there? + +_Phæd._ I think that these were nearly all who were present. + +_Ech._ Well, now, what do you say was the subject of conversation? + +_Phæd._ I will endeavor to relate the whole to you from the beginning. +On the preceding days I and the others were constantly in the habit of +visiting Socrates, meeting early in the morning at the court-house where +the trial took place, for it was near the prison. Here then we waited +every day till the prison was opened, conversing with each other; for it +was not opened very early, but, as soon as it was opened we went in to +Socrates, and usually spent the day with him. On that occasion, however, +we met earlier than usual; for on the preceding day, when we left the +prison in the evening, we heard that the ship had arrived from Delos. We +therefore urged each other to come as early as possible to the +accustomed place; accordingly we came, and the porter, who used to admit +us, coming out, told us to wait, and not enter until he called us. +"For," he said, "the Eleven are now freeing Socrates from his bonds, and +announcing to him that he must die to-day." But in no long time he +returned, and bade us enter. + +When we entered, we found Socrates just freed from his bonds, and +Xantippe (you know her), holding his little boy and sitting by him. As +soon as Xantippe saw us, she wept aloud and said such things as women +usually do on such occasions, as, "Socrates, your friends will now +converse with you for the last time, and you with them." But Socrates, +looking toward Crito, said, "Crito, let some one take her home." Upon +which some of Crito's attendants led her away, wailing and beating +herself. + +But Socrates, sitting up in bed, drew up his leg and rubbed it with his +hand, and as he rubbed it said: "What an unaccountable thing, my +friends, that seems to be which men call pleasure; and how wonderfully +is it related toward that which appears to be its contrary, pain; in +that they will not both be present to a man at the same time, yet, if +anyone pursues and attains the one, he is almost always compelled to +receive the other, as if they were both united together from one head. + +"And it seems to me," he said, "that if Æsop had observed this he would +have made a fable from it, how the Deity, wishing to reconcile these +warring principles, when he could not do so, united their heads +together, and from hence whomsoever the one visits the other attends +immediately after; as appears to be the case with me, since I suffered +pain in my leg before from the chain, but now pleasure seems to have +succeeded." + +Hereupon Cebes, interrupting him, said: "By Jupiter, Socrates, you have +done well in reminding me. With respect to the poems which you made, by +putting into metre those Fables of Æsop and the hymn to Apollo, several +other persons asked me, and especially Evenus recently, with what design +you made them after you came here, whereas before, you had never made +any. If, therefore, you care at all that I should be able to answer +Evenus when he asks me again--for I am sure he will do so--tell me what +I must say to him." + +"Tell him the truth then, Cebes," he replied, "that I did not make them +from a wish to compete with him, or his poems, for I knew that this +would be no easy matter; but that I might discover the meaning of +certain dreams, and discharge my conscience, if this should happen to be +the music which they have often ordered me to apply myself to. For they +were to the following purport: often in my past life the same dream +visited me, appearing at different times in different forms, yet always +saying the same thing. 'Socrates,' it said, 'apply yourself to and +practise music.' And I formerly supposed that it exhorted and encouraged +me to continue the pursuit I was engaged in, as those who cheer on +racers, so that the dream encouraged me to continue the pursuit I was +engaged in, namely, to apply myself to music, since philosophy is the +highest music, and I was devoted to it. But now since my trial took +place, and the festival of the god retarded my death, it appeared to me +that, if by chance the dream so frequently enjoined me to apply myself +to popular music, I ought not to disobey it but do so, for that it would +be safer for me not to depart hence before I had discharged my +conscience by making some poems in obedience to the dream. Thus, then, I +first of all composed a hymn to the god whose festival was present, and +after the god, considering that a poet, if he means to be a poet, ought +to make fables and not discourses, and knowing that I was not skilled in +making fables, I therefore put into verse those fables of Æsop, which +were at hand, and were known to me, and which first occurred to me. + +"Tell this then to Evenus, Cebes, and bid him farewell, and, if he is +wise, to follow me as soon as he can. But I depart, as it seems, to-day; +for so the Athenians order." + +To this Simmias said: "What is this, Socrates, which you exhort Evenus +to do? for I often meet with him; and from what I know of him, I am +pretty certain that he will not at all be willing to comply with your +advice." + +"What then," said he, "is not Evenus a philosopher?" + +"To me he seems to be so," said Simmias. + +"Then he will be willing," rejoined Socrates, "and so will everyone who +worthily engages in this study; perhaps indeed he will not commit +violence on himself, for that they say is not allowable." And as he said +this he let down his leg from the bed on the ground, and in this posture +continued during the remainder of the discussion. + +Cebes then asked him: "What do you mean, Socrates, by saying that it is +not lawful to commit violence on one's self, but that a philosopher +should be willing to follow one who is dying?" + +"What, Cebes, have not you and Simmias, who have conversed familiarly +with Philolaus[40] on this subject, heard?" + +[Footnote 40: A Pythagorean of Crotona.] + +"Nothing very clearly, Socrates." + +"I however speak only from hearsay; what then I have heard I have no +scruple in telling. And perhaps it is most becoming for one who is about +to travel there, to inquire and speculate about the journey thither, +what kind we think it is. What else can one do in the interval before +sunset?" + +"Why, then, Socrates, do they say that it is not allowable to kill one's +self? for I, as you asked just now, have heard both Philolaus, when he +lived with us, and several others say that it was not right to do this; +but I never heard anything clear upon the subject from anyone." + +"Then you should consider it attentively," said Socrates, "for perhaps +you may hear: probably, however, it will appear wonderful to you, if +this alone of all other things is an universal truth,[41] and it never +happens to a man, as is the case in all other things, that at some times +and to some persons only it is better to die than to live; yet that +these men for whom it is better to die--this probably will appear +wonderful to you--may not, without impiety, do this good to themselves, +but must await another benefactor." + +[Footnote 41: Namely, "that it is better to die than live."] + +Then Cebes, gently smiling, said, speaking in his own dialect, "Jove be +witness." + +"And indeed," said Socrates, "it would appear to be unreasonable, yet +still perhaps it has some reason on its side. The maxim indeed given on +this subject in the mystical doctrines,[42] that we men are in a kind of +prison, and that we ought not to free ourselves from it and escape, +appears to me difficult to be understood, and not easy to penetrate. +This however appears to me, Cebes, to be well said, that the gods take +care of us, and that we men are one of their possessions. Does it not +seem so to you?" + +[Footnote 42: Of Pythagoras.] + +"It does," replied Cebes. + +"Therefore," said he, "if one of your slaves were to kill himself, +without your having intimated that you wished him to die, should you not +be angry with him, and should you not punish him if you could?" + +"Certainly," he replied. + +"Perhaps then, in this point of view, it is not unreasonable to assert, +that a man ought not to kill himself before the deity lays him under a +necessity of doing so, such as that now laid on me." + +"This, indeed," said Cebes, "appears to be probable. But what you said +just now, Socrates, that philosophers should be very willing to die, +appears to be an absurdity, if what we said just now is agreeable to +reason, that it is God who takes care of us, and that we are his +property. For that the wisest men should not be grieved at leaving that +service in which they govern them who are the best of all masters, +namely, the gods, is not consistent with reason. For surely he cannot +think that he will take better care of himself when he has become free: +but a foolish man might perhaps think thus, that he should fly from his +master, and would not reflect that he ought not to fly from a good one, +but should cling to him as much as possible, therefore he would fly +against all reason; but a man of sense would desire to be constantly +with one better than himself. Thus, Socrates, the contrary of what you +just now said is likely to be the case; for it becomes the wise to be +grieved at dying, but the foolish to rejoice." + +Socrates, on hearing this, appeared to me to be pleased with the +pertinacity of Cebes, and looking toward us said: "Cebes, you see, +always searches out arguments, and is not at all willing to admit at +once anything one has said." + +Whereupon Simmias replied: "But indeed, Socrates, Cebes appears to me, +now, to say something to the purpose; for with what design should men +really wise fly from masters who are better than themselves, and so +readily leave them? And Cebes appears to me to direct his argument +against you, because you so easily endure to abandon both us and those +good rulers--as you yourself confess--the gods." + +"You speak justly," said Socrates, "for I think you mean that I ought to +make my defence to this charge, as if I were in a court of justice." + +"Certainly," replied Simmias. + +"Come then," said he, "I will endeavor to defend myself more +successfully before you than before the judges. For," he proceeded, +"Simmias and Cebes, if I did not think that I should go first of all +among other deities who are both wise and good, and next among men who +have departed this life better than any here, I should be wrong in not +grieving at death: but now be assured, I hope to go among good men, +though I would not positively assert it; that, however, I shall go among +gods who are perfectly good masters, be assured I can positively assert +this, if I can anything of the kind. So that, on this account, I am not +so much troubled, but I entertain a good hope that something awaits +those who die, and that, as was said long since, it will be far better +for the good than the evil." + +"What then, Socrates," said Simmias, "would you go away keeping this +persuasion to yourself, or would you impart it to us? For this good +appears to me to be also common to us; and at the same time it will be +an apology for you, if you can persuade us to believe what you say." + +"I will endeavor to do so," he said. "But first let us attend to Crito +here, and see what it is he seems to have for some time wished to say." + +"What else, Socrates," said Crito, "but what he who is to give you the +poison told me some time ago, that I should tell you to speak as little +as possible? For he says that men become too much heated by speaking, +and that nothing of this kind ought to interfere with the poison, and +that, otherwise, those who did so were sometimes compelled to drink two +or three times." + +To which Socrates replied: "Let him alone, and let him attend to his own +business, and prepare to give it me twice, or, if occasion requires, +even thrice." + +"I was almost certain what you would say," answered Crito, "but he has +been some time pestering me." + +"Never mind him," he rejoined. + +"But now I wish to render an account to you, my judges, of the reason +why a man who has really devoted his life to philosophy, when he is +about to die appears to me, on good grounds, to have confidence, and to +entertain a firm hope that the greatest good will befall him in the +other world, when he has departed this life. How then this comes to +pass, Simmias and Cebes, I will endeavor to explain. + +"For as many as rightly apply themselves to philosophy seem to have left +all others in ignorance, that they aim at nothing else than to die and +be dead. If this then is true, it would surely be absurd to be anxious +about nothing else than this during their whole life, but when it +arrives, to be grieved at what they have been long anxious about and +aimed at." + +Upon this, Simmias, smiling, said: "By Jupiter, Socrates, though I am +not now at all inclined to smile, you have made me do so; for I think +that the multitude, if they heard this, would think it was very well +said in reference to philosophers, and that our countrymen particularly +would agree with you, that true philosophers do desire death, and that +they are by no means ignorant that they deserve to suffer it." + +"And indeed, Simmias, they would speak the truth, except in asserting +that they are not ignorant; for they are ignorant of the sense in which +true philosophers desire to die, and in what sense they deserve death, +and what kind of death. But," he said, "let us take leave of them, and +speak to one another. Do we think that death is anything?" + +"Certainly," replied Simmias. + +"Is it anything else than the separation of the soul from the body? and +is not this to die, for the body to be apart by itself separated from +the soul, and for the soul to subsist apart by itself separated from the +body? Is death anything else than this?" + +"No, but this," he replied. + +"Consider then, my good friend, whether you are of the same opinion as +me; for thus I think we shall understand better the subject we are +considering. Does it appear to you to be becoming in a philosopher to be +anxious about pleasures, as they are called, such as meats and drinks?" + +"By no means, Socrates," said Simmias. + +"But what? about the pleasures of love?" + +"Not at all" + +"What then? does such a man appear to you to think other bodily +indulgences of value? for instance, does he seem to you to value or +despise the possession of magnificent garments and sandals, and other +ornaments of the body, except so far as necessity compels him to use +them?" + +"The true philosopher," he answered, "appears to me to despise them." + +"Does not, then," he continued, "the whole employment of such a man +appear to you to be, not about the body, but to separate himself from it +as much as possible, and be occupied about his soul?" + +"It does." + +"First of all, then, in such matters, does not the philosopher, above +all other men, evidently free his soul as much as he can from communion +with the body?" + +"It appears so." + +"And it appears, Simmias, to the generality of men, that he who takes no +pleasure in such things, and who does not use them, does not deserve to +live; but that he nearly approaches to death who cares nothing for the +pleasures that subsist through the body." + +"You speak very truly." + +"But what with respect to the acquisition of wisdom, is the body an +impediment or not, if anyone takes it with him as a partner in the +search? What I mean is this: Do sight and hearing convey any truth to +men, or are they such as the poets constantly sing, who say that we +neither hear nor see anything with accuracy? If, however, these bodily +senses are neither accurate nor clear, much less can the others be so: +for they are all far inferior to these. Do they not seem so to you?" + +"Certainly," he replied. + +"When, then," said he, "does the soul light on the truth? for, when it +attempts to consider anything in conjunction with the body, it is plain +that it is then led astray by it." + +"You say truly." + +"Must it not then be by reasoning, if at all, that any of the things +that really are become known to it?" + +"Yes." + +"And surely the soul then reasons best when none of these things +disturbs it, neither hearing, nor sight, nor pain, nor pleasure of any +kind, but it retires as much as possible within itself, taking leave of +the body, and, as far as it can, not communicating or being in contact +with it, it aims at the discovery of that which is." + +"Such is the case." + +"Does not then the soul of the philosopher, in these cases, despise the +body, and flee from it, and seek to retire within itself?" + +"It appears so." + +"But what as to such things as these, Simmias? Do we say that justice +itself is something or nothing?" + +"We say it is something, by Jupiter." + +"And that beauty and goodness are something?" + +"How not?" + +"Now, then, have you ever seen anything of this kind with your eyes?" + +"By no means," he replied. + +"Did you ever lay hold of them by any other bodily sense? but I speak +generally, as of magnitude, health, strength, and, in a word, of the +essence of everything, that is to say, what each is. Is then the exact +truth of these perceived by means of the body, or is it thus, whoever +among us habituates himself to reflect most deeply and accurately on +each several thing about which he is considering, he will make the +nearest approach to the knowledge of it?" + +"Certainly." + +"Would not he, then, do this with the utmost purity, who should in the +highest degree approach each subject by means of the mere mental +faculties, neither employing the sight in conjunction with the +reflective faculty, nor introducing any other sense together with +reasoning; but who, using pure reflection by itself, should attempt to +search out each essence purely by itself, freed as much as possible from +the eyes and ears, and, in a word, from the whole body, as disturbing +the soul, and not suffering it to acquire truth and wisdom, when it is +in communion with it. Is not he the person, Simmias, if any one can, who +will arrive at the knowledge of that which is?" + +"You speak with wonderful truth, Socrates," replied Simmias. + +"Wherefore," he said, "it necessarily follows from all this, that some +such opinion as this should be entertained by genuine philosophers, so +that they should speak among themselves as follows: 'A by-path, as it +were, seems to lead us on in our researches undertaken by reason,' +because as long as we are encumbered with the body, and our soul is +contaminated with such an evil, we can never fully attain to what we +desire; and this, we say, is truth. For the body subjects us to +innumerable hinderances on account of its necessary support, and +moreover if any diseases befall us, they impede us in our search after +that which is; and it fills us with longings, desires, fears, all kinds +of fancies, and a multitude of absurdities, so that, as it is said in +real truth, by reason of the body it is never possible for us to make +any advances in wisdom. + +"For nothing else but the body and its desires occasions wars, +seditions, and contests; for all wars among us arise on account of our +desire to acquire wealth; and we are compelled to acquire wealth on +account of the body, being enslaved to its service; and consequently on +all these accounts we are hindered in the pursuit of philosophy. But the +worst of all is, that if it leaves us any leisure, and we apply +ourselves to the consideration of any subject, it constantly obtrudes +itself in the midst of our researches, and occasions trouble and +disturbance, and confounds us so that we are not able by reason of it to +discern the truth. It has then in reality been demonstrated to us, that +if we are ever to know anything purely, we must be separated from the +body, and contemplate the things themselves by the mere soul. And then, +as it seems, we shall obtain that which we desire, and which we profess +ourselves to be lovers of, wisdom, when we are dead, as reason shows, +but not while we are alive. For if it is not possible to know anything +purely in conjunction with the body, one of these two things must +follow, either that we can never acquire knowledge, or only after we are +dead; for then the soul will subsist apart by itself, separate from the +body, but not before. And while we live, we shall thus, as it seems, +approach nearest to knowledge, if we hold no intercourse or communion at +all with the body, except what absolute necessity requires, nor suffer +ourselves to be polluted by its nature, but purify ourselves from it, +until God himself shall release us. And thus being pure, and freed from +the folly of body, we shall in all likelihood be with others like +ourselves, and shall of ourselves know the whole real essence, and that +probably is truth; for it is not allowable for the impure to attain to +the pure. Such things, I think, Simmias, all true lovers of wisdom must +both think and say to one another. Does it not seem so to you?" + +"Most assuredly, Socrates." + +"If this, then," said Socrates, "is true, my friend, there is great hope +for one who arrives where I am going, there, if anywhere, to acquire +that perfection for the sake of which we have taken so much pains during +our past life; so that the journey now appointed me is set out upon with +good hope, and will be so by any other man who thinks that his mind has +been as it were purified. + +"This earth and the whole region here are decayed and corroded, as +things in the sea by the saltness; for nothing of any value grows in the +sea, nor, in a word, does it contain anything perfect, but there are +caverns, and sand, and mud in abundance, and filth in whatever parts of +the sea there is earth, nor are they at all worthy to be compared with +the beautiful things with us. But, on the other hand, those things in +the upper regions of the earth would appear far more to excel the things +with us. For, if we may tell a beautiful fable, it is well worth +hearing, Simmias, what kind the things are on the earth beneath the +heavens." + +"Indeed, Socrates," said Simmias, "we should be very glad to hear that +fable." + +"First of all, then, my friend," he continued, "this earth, if anyone +should survey it from above, is said to have the appearance of balls +covered with twelve different pieces of leather, variegated and +distinguished with colors, of which the colors found here, and which +painters use, are as it were copies. But there the whole earth is +composed of such, and far more brilliant and pure than these; for one +part of it is purple, and of wonderful beauty, part of a golden color, +and part of white, more white than chalk or snow, and in like manner +composed of other colors, and those more in number and more beautiful +than any we have ever beheld. And those very hollow parts of the earth, +though filled with water and air, exhibit a certain species of color, +shining among the variety of other colors, so that one continually +variegated aspect presents itself to the view. In this earth, being +such, all things that grow grow in a manner proportioned to its +nature--trees, flowers, and fruits; and again, in like manner, its +mountains and stones possess, in the same proportion, smoothness and +transparency and more beautiful colors; of which the well-known stones +here that are so highly prized are but fragments, such as sardin-stones, +jaspers, and emeralds, and all of that kind. But there, there is nothing +subsists that is not of this character, and even more beautiful than +these. + +"But the reason of this is, because the stones there are pure, and not +eaten up and decayed, like those here, by rottenness and saltness, which +flow down hither together, and which produce deformity and disease in +the stones and the earth, and in other things, even animals and plants. +But that earth is adorned with all these, and moreover with gold and +silver, and other things of the kind: for they are naturally +conspicuous, being numerous and large, and in all parts of the earth; so +that to behold it is a sight for the blessed. There are also many other +animals and men upon it, some dwelling in mid-earth, others about the +air, as we do about the sea, and others in islands which the air flows +round, and which are near the continent: and in one word, what water and +the sea are to us for our necessities, the air is to them; and what air +is to us, that ether is to them. + +"But their seasons are of such a temperament that they are free from +disease, and live for a much longer time than those here, and surpass us +in sight, hearing, and smelling, and everything of this kind, as much as +air excels water, and ether air, in purity. Moreover, they have abodes +and temples of the gods, in which gods really dwell, and voices and +oracles, and sensible visions of the gods, and such-like intercourse +with them; the sun, too, and moon, and stars, are seen by them such as +they really are, and their felicity in other respects is correspondent +with these things. + +"And such, indeed, is the nature of the whole earth and the parts about +the earth; but there are many places all round it throughout its +cavities, some deeper and more open than that in which we dwell: but +others that are deeper have less chasm than in our region, and other are +shallower in depth than they are here, and broader. + +"But all these are in many places perforated one into another under the +earth, some with narrower and some with wider channels, and have +passages through, by which a great quantity of water flows from one into +another, as into basins, and there are immense bulks of ever-flowing +rivers under the earth, both of hot and cold water, and a great quantity +of fire, and mighty rivers of fire, and many of liquid mire, some purer +and some more miry, as in Sicily there are rivers of mud that flow +before the lava, and the lava itself, and from these the several places +are filled, according as the overflow from time to time happens to come +to each of them. But all these move up and down as it were by a certain +oscillation existing in the earth. And this oscillation proceeds from +such natural cause as this: one of the chasms of the earth is +exceedingly large, and perforated through the entire earth, and is that +which Homer[43] speaks of, 'very far off, where is the most profound +abyss beneath the earth,' which elsewhere both he and many other poets +have called Tartarus. For into this chasm all rivers flow together, and +from it flow out again, but they severally derive their character from +the earth through which they flow." + +[Footnote 43: _Iliad_, lib. viii., v. 14.] + +"And the reason why all streams flow out from thence and flow into it is +because this liquid has neither bottom nor base. Therefore it oscillates +and fluctuates up and down, and the air and the wind around it do the +same; for they accompany it, both when it rushes to those parts of the +earth, and when to these. And as in respiration the flowing breath is +continually breathed out and drawn in, so there the wind, oscillating +with the liquid, causes certain vehement and irresistible winds both as +it enters and goes out. When, therefore, the water rushing in descends +to the place which we call the lower region, it flows through the earth +into the streams there and fills them, just as men pump up water. But +when again it leaves those regions and rushes hither, it again fills the +rivers here, and these, when filled, flow through channels and through +the earth, and having severally reached the several places to which they +are journeying, they make seas, lakes, rivers, and fountains. + +"Then sinking again from thence beneath the earth, some of them having +gone round longer and more numerous places, and others round fewer and +shorter, they again discharge themselves into Tartarus, some much lower +than they were drawn up, others only a little so, but all of them flow +in again beneath the point at which they flowed out. And some issue out +directly opposite the place by which they flow in, others on the same +side: there are also some which having gone round altogether in a +circle, folding themselves once or several times round the earth, like +serpents, when they had descended as low as possible, discharge +themselves again; and it is possible for them to descend on either side +as far as the middle, but not beyond; for in each direction there is an +acclivity to the streams both ways. + +"Now there are many other large and various streams, and among this +great number there are four certain streams, of which the largest, and +that which flows most outwardly round the earth, is called Ocean, but +directly opposite this, and flowing in a contrary direction, is Acheron, +which flows through other desert places, and moreover passing under the +earth, reaches the Acherusian lake, where the souls of most who die +arrive, and having remained there for certain destined periods, some +longer and some shorter, are again sent forth into the generations of +animals. A third river issues midway between these, and near its source +falls into a vast region, burning with abundance of fire, and forms a +lake larger than our sea, boiling with water and mud; from hence it +proceeds in a circle, turbulent and muddy, and folding itself round it +reaches both other places and the extremity of the Acherusian lake, but +does not mingle with its water; but folding itself oftentimes beneath +the earth, it discharges itself into the lower parts of Tartarus. And +this is the river which they call Pyriphlegethon, whose burning streams +emit dissevered fragments in whatever part of the earth they happen to +be. Opposite to this again the fourth river first falls into a place +dreadful and savage, as it is said, having its whole color like +_cyanus_: this they call Stygian, and the lake which the river forms by +its discharge, Styx. This river having fallen in here, and received +awful power in the water, sinking beneath the earth, proceeds, folding +itself round, in an opposite course to Pyriphlegethon, and meets it in +the Acherusian lake from a contrary direction. Neither does the water of +this river mingle with any other, but it, too, having gone round in a +circle, discharges itself into Tartarus opposite to Pyriphlegethon. Its +name, as the poets say, is Cocytus. + +"These things being thus constituted, when the dead arrive at the place +to which their demon leads them severally, first of all they are judged, +as well those who have lived well and piously as those who have not. And +those who appear to have passed a middle kind of life, proceeding to +Acheron, and embarking in the vessels they have, on these arrive at the +lake, and there dwell, and when they are purified, and have suffered +punishment for the iniquities they may have committed, they are set +free, and each receives the reward of his good deeds, according to his +deserts: but those who appear to be incurable, through the magnitude of +their offences, either from having committed many and great sacrileges, +or many unjust and lawless murders, or other similar crimes, these a +suitable destiny hurls into Tartarus, whence they never come forth. + +"But those who appear to have been guilty of curable yet great offences, +such as those who through anger have committed any violence against +father or mother, and have lived the remainder of their life in a state +of penitence, or they who have become homicides in a similar manner, +these must of necessity fall into Tartarus, but after they have fallen, +and have been there for a year, the wave casts them forth, the homicides +into Cocytus, but the parricides and matricides into Pyriphlegethon: but +when, being borne along, they arrive at the Acherusian lake, there they +cry out to and invoke, some those whom they slew, others those whom they +injured, and invoking them they entreat and implore them to suffer them +to go out into the lake, and to receive them, and if they persuade them +they go out and are freed from their sufferings; but if not, they are +borne back to Tartarus, and thence again to the rivers, and they do not +cease from suffering this until they have persuaded those whom they have +injured, for this sentence was imposed on them by the judges. + +"But those who are found to have lived an eminently holy life, these are +they who, being freed and set at large from these regions in the earth, +as from a prison, arrive at the pure abode above, and dwell on the upper +parts of the earth. And among these, they who have sufficiently purified +themselves by philosophy shall live without bodies, throughout all +future time, and shall arrive at habitations yet more beautiful than +these, which it is neither easy to describe nor at present is there +sufficient time for the purpose. + +"But for the sake of these things which we have described, we should use +every endeavor, Simmias, so as to acquire virtue and wisdom in this +life; for the reward is noble, and the hope great. + +"To affirm positively, indeed, that these things are exactly as I have +described them does not become a man of sense; that however either this +or something of the kind takes place with respect to our souls and their +habitations--since our soul is certainly immortal--this appears to me +most fitting to be believed, and worthy the hazard for one who trusts in +its reality; for the hazard is noble, and it is right to allure +ourselves with such things, as with enchantments; for which reason I +have prolonged my story to such a length. + +"On account of these things, then, a man ought to be confident about his +soul who during this life has disregarded all the pleasures and +ornaments of the body as foreign from his nature, and who, having +thought that they do more harm than good, has zealously applied himself +to the acquirement of knowledge, and who having adorned his soul not +with a foreign but its own proper ornament--temperance, justice, +fortitude, freedom, and truth--thus waits for his passage to Hades, as +one who is ready to depart whenever destiny shall summon him. You, +then," he continued, "Simmias and Cebes, and the rest, will each of you +depart at some future time; but now 'destiny summons me,' as a tragic +writer would say, and it is nearly time for me to betake myself to the +bath; for it appears to me to be better to drink the poison after I have +bathed myself, and not to trouble the women with washing my dead body." + +When he had thus spoken, Crito said: "So be it, Socrates, but what +commands have you to give to these or to me, either respecting your +children or any other matter, in attending to which we can most oblige +you?" + +"What I always say, Crito," he replied, "nothing new; that by taking +care of yourselves you will oblige both me and mine and yourselves, +whatever you do, though you should not now promise it; but if you +neglect yourselves, and will not live as it were in the footsteps of +what has been now and formerly said, even though you should promise much +at present, and that earnestly, you will do no good at all." + +"We will endeavor then so to do," he said; "but how shall we bury you?" + +"Just as you please," he said, "if only you can catch me, and I do not +escape from you." And at the same time smiling gently, and looking round +on us, he said: "I cannot persuade Crito, my friends, that I am that +Socrates who is now conversing with you, and who methodizes each part of +the discourse; but he thinks that I am he whom he will shortly behold +dead, and asks how he should bury me. But that which I some time since +argued at length, that when I have drunk the poison I shall no longer +remain with you, but shall depart to some happy state of the blessed, +this I seem to have urged to him in vain, though I meant at the same +time to console both you and myself. Be ye then my sureties to Crito," +he said, "in an obligation contrary to that which he made to the judges; +for he undertook that I should remain; but do you be sureties that, when +I die, I shall not remain, but shall depart, that Crito may more easily +bear it, and when he sees my body either burnt or buried, may not be +afflicted for me, as if I suffered some dreadful thing, nor say at my +interment that Socrates is laid out, or is carried out, or is buried. + +"For be well assured," he said, "most excellent Crito, that to speak +improperly is not only culpable as to the thing itself, but likewise +occasions some injury to our souls. You must have a good courage, then, +and say that you bury my body, and bury it in such a manner as is +pleasing to you, and as you think is most agreeable to our laws." + +When he had said thus he rose and went into a chamber to bathe, and +Crito followed him, but he directed us to wait for him. We waited, +therefore, conversing among ourselves about what had been said, and +considering it again, and sometimes speaking about our calamity, how +severe it would be to us, sincerely thinking that, like those who are +deprived of a father, we should pass the rest of our life as orphans. +When he had bathed, and his children were brought to him, for he had two +little sons, and one grown up; and the women belonging to his family +were come, having conversed with them in the presence of Crito and given +them such injunctions as he wished, he directed the women and children +to go away, and then returned to us. And it was now near sunset; for he +spent a considerable time within. + +But when he came from bathing he sat down, and did not speak much +afterward; then the officer of the Eleven came in, and standing near +him, said: "Socrates, I shall not have to find that fault with you that +I do with others, that they are angry with me and curse me, when, by +order of the archons, I bid them drink the poison. But you, on all other +occasions during the time you have been here, I have found to be the +most noble, meek, and excellent man of all that ever came into this +place; and therefore I am now well convinced that you will not be angry +with me (for you know who are to blame) but with them. Now, then, for +you know what I came to announce to you, farewell; and endeavor to bear +what is inevitable as easily as possible." And at the same time, +bursting into tears, he turned away and withdrew. + +And Socrates, looking after him, said: "And thou too, farewell; we will +do as you direct." At the same time turning to us, he said: "How +courteous the man is; during the whole time I have been here he has +visited me, and conversed with me sometimes, and proved the worthiest of +men; and now how generously he weeps for me. But come, Crito, let us +obey him, and let some one bring the poison, if it is ready pounded, but +if not, let the man pound it." + +Then Crito said: "But I think, Socrates, that the sun is still on the +mountains and has not yet set. Besides, I know that others have drunk +the poison very late, after it had been announced to them, and have +supped and drunk freely, and some even have enjoyed the objects of their +love. Do not hasten, then, for there is yet time." + +Upon this Socrates replied: "These men whom you mention, Crito, do these +things with good reason, for they think they shall gain by so doing, and +I too with good reason shall not do so; for I think I shall gain nothing +by drinking a little later, except to become ridiculous to myself, in +being so fond of life, and sparing of it when none any longer remains. +Go, then," he said, "obey, and do not resist." + +Crito having heard this, nodded to the boy that stood near. And the boy +having gone out, and stayed for some time, came, bringing with him the +man that was to administer the poison, who brought it ready pounded in a +cup. And Socrates, on seeing the man, said: "Well, my good friend, as +you are skilled in these matters, what must I do?" + +"Nothing else," he replied, "than when you have drunk it walk about +until there is a heaviness in your legs, then lie down; thus it will do +its purpose." And at the same time he held out the cup to Socrates. And +he having received it very cheerfully, Echecrates, neither trembling nor +changing at all in color or countenance, but, as he was wont, looking +steadfastly at the man, said: "What say you of this potion, with respect +to making a libation to anyone, is it lawful or not?" + +"We only pound so much, Socrates," he said, "as we think sufficient to +drink." + +"I understand you," he said; "but it is certainly both lawful and right +to pray to the gods, that my departure hence thither may be happy; which +therefore I pray, and so may it be." And as he said this he drank it off +readily and calmly. Thus far, most of us were with difficulty able to +restrain ourselves from weeping, but when we saw him drinking, and +having finished the draught, we could do so no longer; but in spite of +myself the tears came in full torrent, so that, covering my face, I wept +for myself, for I did not weep for him, but for my own fortune, in being +deprived of such a friend. But Crito, even before me when he could not +restrain his tears, had risen up. + +But Apollodorus, even before this, had not ceased weeping, and then +bursting into an agony of grief, weeping and lamenting, he pierced the +heart of everyone present except Socrates himself. But he said: "What +are you doing, my admirable friends? I indeed, for this reason chiefly, +sent away the women that they might not commit any folly of this kind. +For I have heard that it is right to die with good omens. Be quiet, +therefore, and bear up." + +When we heard this we were ashamed and restrained our tears. But he, +having walked about, when he said that his legs were growing heavy, laid +down on his back; for the man so directed him. And at the same time he +who gave him the poison, taking hold of him, after a short interval +examined his feet and legs; and then having pressed his foot hard, he +asked if he felt it. + +He said that he did not. + +And after this he pressed his thighs; and thus going higher, he showed +us that he was growing cold and stiff. + +Then Socrates touched himself, and said that when the poison reached his +heart he should then depart. + +But now the parts around the lower belly were almost cold; when, +uncovering himself (for he had been covered over), he said, and they +were his last words: "Crito, we owe a cock to Aesculapius; pay it, +therefore, and do not neglect it!" + +"It shall be done," said Crito; "but consider whether you have anything +else to say?" + +To this question he gave no reply; but shortly after he gave a +convulsive movement, and the man covered him, and his eyes were fixed; +and Crito, perceiving it, closed his mouth and eyes. + +This, Echecrates, was the end of our friend, a man, as we may say, the +best of all of his time that we have known, and, moreover, the most wise +and just. + + + + +BRENNUS BURNS ROME + +B.C. 388 + +BARTHOLD GEORG NIEBUHR + + +(Julius Caesar is the first writer who gives us an authentic and +enlightening account of the Gauls, whom he divided into three groups. +The Gauls were the chief branch of the great original stock of Celts. +They were a nomadic people, and from their home in Western Europe they +spread to Britain, invaded Spain, and swarmed over the Alps into Italy, +and it is from the latter event that this tall, fair, and fighting +nation first came into the region of history. + +Before the Gauls had come within the borders of Italy, Camillus, the +Dictator, had dealt the death-blow to the Etruscan League through his +capture and destruction of its stronghold, Veii. But at the very summit +of his triumph he lost the grace of his countrymen by demanding a tenth +of their spoil taken at Veii, and which he claimed to have vowed to +Apollo. It was popularly considered a ruse to increase his private +fortune. Furthermore, a counter-claim was brought against him for +appropriating bronze gates, which in Rome at that time were nothing less +than actual money--bronze being the medium of currency. Camillus went +into exile in consequence of the accusation. His parting prayer was that +his country might feel his need and call him back. His desire was +fulfilled, for soon after "the Gaul was at the gates" under the +leadership of the haughty Brennus, who had come upon the Romans at a +most opportune moment. This event of the overthrow of the Romans on the +Alia has been the occasion for the well-known tale of the cackling of +the geese in the temple of Juno, which alarmed the garrison. The episode +also gave rise to the saying of the conqueror, Brennus, who, when +reproached by his antagonists with using false weights, cast his sword +into the scale, crying, "Woe to the conquered!") + + +At that time no Roman foresaw the calamity which was threatening the +empire. Rome had become great, because the country which she had +conquered was weak through its oligarchical institutions; the subjects +of the other states gladly joined the Romans, because under them their +lot was more favorable, and probably because they were kindred nations. +But matters went with the Romans as they did with Basilius, who subdued +the Armenians when they were threatened by the Turks, and who soon after +attacked the whole Greek empire and took away far more than had been +gained before. + +The expedition of the Gauls into Italy must be regarded as a migration, +and not as an invasion for the purpose of conquest: as for the +historical account of it, we must adhere to Polybius and Diodorus, who +place it shortly before the taking of Rome by the Gauls. We can attach +no importance to the statement of Livy that they had come into Italy as +early as the time of Tarquinius Priscus, having been driven from their +country by a famine. It undoubtedly arose from the fact that some Greek +writer, perhaps Timaeus, connected this migration with the settlement of +the Phocians at Massilia. It is possible that Livy even here made use of +Dionysius; and that the latter followed Timaeus; for as Livy made use of +Dionysius in the eighth book, why not also in the fifth? He himself knew +very little of Greek history;[44] but Justin's account is here evidently +opposed to Livy. + +[Footnote 44: Comp. _Hist. of Rome_, vol. iii. n. 485.] + +Trogus Pompeius was born in the neighborhood of Massilia, and in writing +his forty-third book he obviously made use of native chronicles, for +from no other source could he derive the account of the _decreta +honorifica_ of the Romans to the Massilians for the friendship which the +latter had shown to the Romans during the Gallic war; and from the same +source must he have obtained his information about the maritime wars of +Massilia against Carthage. Trogus knows nothing of the story that the +Gauls assisted the Phocians on their arrival; but according to him, they +met with a kind reception among the Ligurians, who continued to inhabit +those parts for a long time after. Even the story of the _lucumo_ who is +said to have invited the Gauls is opposed to him, and if it were +referred to Clusium alone it would be absurd. Polybius places the +passage of the Gauls across the Alps about ten or twenty years before +the taking of Rome; and Diodorus describes them as advancing toward Rome +by an uninterrupted march. It is further stated that Melpum in the +country of the Insubrians was destroyed on the same day as Veii: without +admitting this coincidence, we have no reason to doubt that the +statement is substantially true; and it is made by Cornelius Nepos, who, +as a native of Gallia Transpadana, might possess accurate information, +and whose chronological accounts were highly esteemed by the Romans. + +There was no other passage for the Gauls except either across the Little +St. Bernard or across the Simplon; it is not probable that they took the +former road, because their country extended only as far as the Ticinus, +and if they had come across the Little St. Bernard, they would naturally +have occupied also all the country between that mountain and the +Ticinus. The Salassi may indeed have been a Gallic people, but it is by +no means certain; moreover, between them and the Gauls who had come +across the Alps the Laevi also lived; and there can be no doubt that at +that time Ligurians still continued to dwell on the Ticinus. + +Melpum must have been situated in the district of Milan. The latter +place has an uncommonly happy situation: often as it has been destroyed, +it has always been restored, so that it is not impossible that Melpum +may have been situated on the very spot afterward occupied by Milan. The +Gallic migration undoubtedly passed by like a torrent with irresistible +rapidity: how then is it possible to suppose that Melpum resisted them +for two centuries, or that they conquered it and yet did not disturb the +Etruscans for two hundred years? It would be absurd to believe it, +merely to save an uncritical expression of Livy. According to the common +chronology, the Triballi, who in the time of Herodotus inhabited the +plains, and were afterward expelled by the Gauls, appeared in Thrace +twelve years after the taking of Rome--according to a more correct +chronology it was only nine years after that event. It was the same +movement assuredly which led the Gauls to the countries through which +the middle course of the Danube extends, and to the Po; and could the +people who came in a few days from Clusium to Rome, and afterward +appeared in Apulia, have been sitting quiet in a corner of Italy for two +hundred years? If they had remained there because they had not the power +to advance, they would have been cut to pieces by the Etruscans. We must +therefore look upon it as an established fact, that the migration took +place at the late period mentioned by Polybius and Diodorus. + +These Gauls were partly Celts, and partly (indeed principally) Belgae or +Cymri, as may be perceived from the circumstance that their king, as +well as the one who appeared before Delphi, is called Brennus. _Brenin_, +according to Adelung, in his _Mithridates_, signifies in the language of +Wales and Lower Brittany a _king_. But what caused this whole +emigration? The statement of Livy, that the Gauls were compelled by +famine to leave their country, is quite in keeping with the nature of +all traditions about migrations, such as we find them in Saxo +Grammaticus, in Paul Warnefried from the sagas of the Swedes, in the +Tyrrhenian traditions of Lydia, and others. However, in the case of a +people like the Celts, every specific statement of this kind, in which +even the names of their leaders are mentioned, is of no more value than +the traditions of other barbarous nations which were unacquainted with +the art of writing. It is indeed, well known that the Celts in writing +used the Greek alphabet, but they probably employed it only in the +transactions of daily life; for we know that they were not allowed to +commit their ancient songs to writing. + +During the Gallic migration we are again made aware how little we know +of the history of Italy generally: our knowledge is limited to Rome, so +that we are in the same predicament there, as if of all the historical +authorities of the whole German empire we had nothing but the annals of +a single imperial city. According to Livy's account, it would seem as if +the only object of the Gauls had been to march to Rome; and yet this +immigration changed the whole aspect of Italy. After the Gauls had once +crossed the Apennines, there was no further obstacle to prevent their +marching to the south of Italy by any road they pleased; and it is in +fact mentioned that they did proceed farther south. The Umbrians still +inhabited the country on the lower Po, in the modern Romagna and Urbino, +parts of which were occupied by Liburnians. Polybius says that many +people there became tributary to the Gauls, and that this was the case +with the Umbrians is quite certain. + +The first historical appearance of the Gauls is at Clusium, whither a +noble Clusine is said to have invited them for the purpose of taking +vengeance on his native city. Whether this account is true, however, +must remain undecided, and if there is any truth in it, it is more +probable that the offended Clusine went across the Apennines and fetched +his avengers. Clusium has not been mentioned since the time of Porsena; +the fact of the Clusines soliciting the aid of Rome is a proof how +little that northern city of Etruria was concerned about the fate of the +southern towns, and makes us even suspect that it was allied with Rome; +however, the danger was so great that all jealousy must have been +suppressed. The natural road for the Gauls would have been along the +Adriatic, then through the country of Umbrians who were tributary to +them and already quite broken down, and thence through the Romagna +across the Apennines. + +But the Apennines which separate Tuscany from the Romagna are very +difficult to cross, especially for sumpter-horses; as therefore the +Gauls could not enter Etruria on that side--which the Etruscans had +intentionally allowed to grow wild--and as they had been convinced of +this in an unsuccessful attempt, they crossed the Apennines in the +neighborhood of Clusium, and appeared before that city. Clusium was the +great bulwark of the valley of the Tiber; and if it were taken, the +roads along the Tiber and the Arno would be open, and the Gauls might +reach Arezzo from the rear: the Romans therefore looked upon the fate of +Clusium as decisive of their own. The Clusines sued for a treaty with +the mighty city of Rome, and the Romans were wise enough readily to +accept the offer: they sent ambassadors to the Gauls, ordering them to +withdraw. According to a very probable account, the Gauls had demanded +of the Clusines a division of their territory as the condition of peace, +and not, as was customary with the Romans, as a tax upon a people +already subdued: if this is correct, the Romans sent the embassy +confiding in their own strength. But the Gauls scorned the ambassadors, +and the latter, allowing themselves to be carried away by their warlike +disposition, joined the Etruscans in a fight against the Gauls. This was +probably only an insignificant and isolated engagement. Such is the +account of Livy, who goes on to say that the Gauls, as soon as they +perceived this violation in the law of nations, gave the signal for a +retreat, and, having called upon the gods to avenge the wrong, marched +against Rome. + +This is evidently a mere fiction, for a barbarous nation like the Gauls +cannot possibly have had such ideas, nor was there in reality any +violation of the law of nations, as the Romans stood in no kind of +connection with the Gauls. But it was a natural feeling with the Romans +to look upon the fall of their city as the consequence of a _nefas_ +which no human power could resist. Roman vanity also is at work here, +inasmuch as the Roman ambassadors are said to have so distinguished +themselves that they were recognized by the barbarians among the hosts +of Etruscans. Now, according to another tradition directly opposed to +these statements, the Gauls sent to Rome to demand the surrender of +those ambassadors: as the senate was hesitating and left the decision to +the people, the latter not only rejected the demand, but appointed the +same ambassadors to the office of military tribunes, whereupon the Gauls +with all their forces at once marched toward Rome. + +Livy here again speaks of the _populus_ as the people to whom the senate +left the decision: this must have been the patricians only, for they +alone had the right to decide upon the fate of the members of their own +order. It is not fair to accuse the Romans on that occasion of +dishonesty; but this account assuredly originated with later writers, +who transferred to barbarians the right belonging to a nation standing +in a legal relation to another. The statement that the three +ambassadors, all of whom were Fabii, were appointed military tribunes, +is not even the usual one, for there is another in Diodorus, who must +here have used Roman authorities written in Greek, that is, Fabius; +since he calls the Cærites [Greek: Kairioi] and not [Greek: Agullaioi]. +He speaks of a single ambassador, who being a son of a military tribune +fought against the Gauls. This is at least a sign how uncertain history +yet is. The battle on the Alia was fought on the 16th of July; the +military tribunes entered upon their office on the first of that month; +and the distance between Clusium and Rome is only three good days' +marches. It is impossible to restore the true history, but we can +discern what is fabulous from what is really historical. + +An innumerable host of Gauls now marched from Clusium toward Rome. For a +long time the Gauls were most formidable to the Romans, as well as to +all other nations with whom they came in contact, even as far east as +the Ukraine; as to Rome, we see this as late as the Cisalpine war of the +year A.U. 527. Polybius and Diodorus are our best guides in seeking for +information about the manners of the Gauls, for in the time of Caesar +they had already become changed. In the description of their persons we +partly recognize the modern Gael, or the inhabitants of the Highlands of +Scotland: huge bodies, blue eyes, bristly hair; even their dress and +armor are those of the Highlanders, for they wore the checked and +variegated tartans; their arms consisted of the broad, unpointed +battle-sword, the same weapon as the claymore among the Highlanders. +They had a vast number of horns, which were used in the Highlands for +many centuries after, and threw themselves upon the enemy in immense +irregular masses with terrible fury, those standing behind impelling +those stationed in front, whereby they became irresistible by the +tactics of those times. + +The Romans ought to have used against them their phalanx and doubled it, +until they were accustomed to this enemy and were enabled by their +greater skill to repel them. If the Romans had been able to withstand +their first shock, the Gauls would have easily been thrown into +disorder, and put to flight. The Gauls who were subsequently conquered +by the Romans were the descendants of such as were born in Italy, and +had lost much of their courage and strength. The Goths under Vitiges, +not fifty years after the immigration of Theodoric into Italy, were +cowards, and unable to resist the twenty thousand men of Belisarius: +showing how easily barbarians degenerate in such climates. + +The Gauls, moreover, were terrible on account of their inhuman cruelty, +for, wherever they settled, the original towns and their inhabitants +completely disappeared from the face of the earth. In their own country +they had the feudal system and a priestly government: the Druids were +their only rulers, who avenged the oppressed people on the lords, but in +their turn became tyrants: all the people were in the condition of +serfs, a proof that the Gauls, in their own country too, were the +conquerors who had subdued an earlier population. We always find mention +of the wealth of the Gauls in gold, and yet France has no rivers that +carry gold-sand, and the Pyrenees were then no longer in their +possession: the gold must therefore have been obtained by barter. Much +may be exaggeration; and the fact of some noble individuals wearing gold +chains was probably transferred by ancient poets to the whole nation, +since popular poetry takes great liberty, especially in such +embellishments. + +Pliny states that previous to the Gallic calamity the census amounted to +one hundred and fifty thousand persons, which probably refers only to +men entitled to vote in the assemblies, and does not comprise women, +children, slaves, and strangers. If this be correct, the number of +citizens was enormous; but it must not be supposed to include the +inhabitants of the city only, the population of which was doubtless much +smaller. The statement of Diodorus that all men were called to arms to +resist the Gauls, and that the number amounted to forty thousand, is by +no means improbable: according to the testimony of Polybius, Latins and +Hernicans also were enlisted. Another account makes the Romans take the +field against the Gauls with twenty-four thousand men, that is, with +four field legions and four civic legions: the field legions were formed +only of plebeians, and served, according to the order of the classes, +probably in _maniples_; the civic legions contained all those who +belonged neither to the patricians nor to the plebeians, that is, all +the _aerarii, proletarii_, freedmen, and artisans who had never before +faced an enemy. They were certainly not armed with the _pilum_, nor +drawn up in _maniples_; but used pikes and were employed in phalanxes. + +Now as for the field legions, each consisted half of Latins and half of +Romans, there being in each _maniple_ one century of Roman and one of +Latins. There were at that time four legions, and as a legion, including +the reserve troops, contained three thousand men, the total is twelve +thousand; now the account which mentions twenty-four thousand men must +have presumed that there were four field legions and four irregular +civic ones. There would accordingly have been no more than six thousand +plebeians, and, even if the legions were all made up of Romans, only +twelve thousand; if in addition to these we take twelve thousand +irregular troops and sixteen thousand allies, the number of forty +thousand would be completed. In this case, the population of Rome would +not have been as large as that of Athens in the Peloponnesian war, and +this is indeed very probable. The cavalry is not included in this +calculation: but forty thousand must be taken as the maximum of the +whole army. There seems to be no exaggeration in this statement, and the +battle on the Alia, speaking generally, is an historical event. + +It is surprising that the Romans did not appoint a dictator to command +in the battle; it cannot be said indeed that they regarded this war as +an ordinary one, for in that case they would not have raised so great a +force, but they cannot have comprehended the danger in all its +greatness. New swarms continued to come across the Alps; the Senones +also now appeared to seek habitations for themselves; they, like the +Germans in after-times, demanded land, as they found the Insubrians, +Boians, and others already settled; the latter had taken up their abode +in Umbria, but only until they should find a more extensive and suitable +territory. + +The Romans committed the great mistake of fighting with their hurriedly +collected troops a battle against an enemy who had hitherto been +invincible. The hills along which the right wing is said to have been +drawn up are no longer discernible, and they were probably nothing but +little mounds of earth: at any rate it was senseless to draw up a long +line against the immense mass of enemies. The Gauls, on the other hand, +were enabled without any difficulty to turn off to the left. They +proceeded to a higher part of the river, where it was more easily +fordable, and with great prudence threw themselves with all their force +upon the right wing, consisting of the civic legions. The latter at +first resisted, but not long; and when they fled, the whole remaining +line, which until then seems to have been useless and inactive, was +seized with a panic. + +Terror preceded the Gauls as they laid waste everything on their way, +and this paralyzed the courage of the Romans, instead of rousing them to +a desperate resistance. The Romans therefore were defeated on the Alia +in the most inglorious manner. The Gauls had taken them in their rear, +and cut off their return to Rome. A portion fled toward the Tiber, where +some effected a retreat across the river, and others were drowned; +another part escaped into a forest. The loss of life must have been +prodigious, and it is inconceivable how Livy could have attached so much +importance to the mere disgrace. If the Roman army had not been almost +annihilated, it would not have been necessary to give up the defence of +the city, as was done, for the city was left undefended and deserted by +all. Many fled to Veii instead of returning to Rome: only a few, who had +escaped along the high road, entered the city by the Colline gate. + +Rome was exhausted, her power shattered, her legions defenceless, and +her warlike allies had partly been beaten in the same battle, and were +partly awaiting the fearful enemy in their own countries. At Rome it was +believed that the whole army was destroyed, for nothing was known of +those who had reached Veii. In the city itself there were only old men, +women, and children, so that there was no possibility of defending it. +It is, however, inconceivable that the gates should have been left open, +and that the Gauls, from fear of a stratagem, should have encamped for +several days outside the gates. A more probable account is that the +gates were shut and barricaded. We may form a vivid conception of the +condition of Rome after this battle, by comparing it with that of Moscow +before the conflagration: the people were convinced that a long defence +was impossible, since there was probably a want of provisions. + +Livy gives a false notion of the evacuation of the city, as if the +defenceless citizens had remained immovable in their consternation, and +only a few had been received into the Capitol. The determination, in +fact, was to defend the Capitol, and the tribune Sulpicius had taken +refuge there, with about one thousand men. There was on the Capitol an +ancient well which still exists, and without which the garrison would +soon have perished. This well remained unknown to all antiquaries, till +I discovered it by means of information gathered from the people who +live there. Its depth in the rock descends to the level of the Tiber, +but the water is now not fit to drink. The Capitol was a rock which had +been hewn steep, and thereby made inaccessible, but a _clivus_, closed +by gates both below and above, led up from the Forum and the Sacred Way. +The rock, indeed, was not so steep as in later times, as is clear from +the account of the attempt to storm it; but the Capitol was nevertheless +very strong. Whether some few remained in the city, as at Moscow, who in +their stupefaction did not consider what kind of enemy they had before +them, cannot be decided. The narrative is very beautiful, and reminds us +of the taking of the Acropolis of Athens by the Persians, where, +likewise, the old men allowed themselves to be cut down by the Persians. + +Notwithstanding the improbability of the matter, I am inclined to +believe that a number of aged patricians--their number may not be +exactly historical--sat down in the Forum, in their official robes, on +their curule chairs, and that the chief pontiff devoted them to death. +Such devotions are a well-known Roman custom. It is certainly not +improbable that the Gauls were amazed when they found the city deserted, +and only these old men sitting immovable, that they took them for +statues or supernatural visions, and did nothing to them, until one of +them struck a Gaul who touched him, whereupon all were slaughtered. To +commit suicide was repugnant to the customs of the Romans, who were +guided in many things by feelings more correct and more resembling our +own, than many other ancient nations. The old men, indeed, had given up +the hope of their country being saved; but the Capitol might be +maintained, and the survivors preferred dying in the attempt of +self-defence to taking refuge at Veii, where after all they could not +have maintained themselves in the end. + +The sacred treasures were removed to Caere, and the hope of the Romans +now was that the barbarians would be tired of the long siege. Provisions +for a time had been conveyed to the Capitol, where a couple of thousand +men may have been assembled, and where all buildings, temples, as well +as public and private houses, were used as habitations. The Gauls made +fearful havoc at Rome, even more fearful than the Spaniards and Germans +did in the year 1527. Soldiers plunder, and when they find no human +beings they engage in the work of destruction; and fires break out, as +at Moscow, without the existence of any intention to cause a +conflagration. The whole city was changed into a heap of ashes, with the +exception of a few houses on the Palatine, which were occupied by the +leaders of the Gauls. It is astonishing to find, nevertheless, that a +few monuments of the preceding period, such as statues, situated at some +distance from the Capitol, are mentioned as having been preserved; but +we must remember that _travertino_ is tolerably fireproof. That Rome was +burned down is certain; and when it was rebuilt, not even the ancient +streets were restored. + +The Gauls were now encamped in the city. At first they attempted to +storm the _clivus_, but were repelled with great loss, which is +surprising, since we know that at an earlier time the Romans succeeded +in storming it against Appius Herdonius. Afterward they discovered the +footsteps of a messenger who had been sent from Veii, in order that the +State might be taken care of in due form; for the Romans in the Capitol +were patricians, and represented the _curies_ and the Government, +whereas those assembled at Veii represented the tribes, but had no +leaders. The latter had resolved to recall Camillus, and raise him to +the dictatorship. For this reason Pontius Cominius had been sent to Rome +to obtain the sanction of the senate and the curies. This was quite in +the spirit of the ancient times. If the curies had interdicted him _aqua +et igni_, they alone could recall him, if they previously obtained a +resolution of the senate authorizing them to do so; but if he had gone +into voluntary exile, and had given up his Roman franchise by becoming a +citizen of Ardea before a sentence had been passed upon him by the +centuries, it was again in the power of the curies alone, he being a +patrician, to recall him as a citizen; and otherwise he could not have +become dictator, nor could he have regarded himself as such. + +It was the time of the dog-days when the Gauls came to Rome, and as the +summer at Rome is always pestilential, especially during the two months +and a half before the first of September, the unavoidable consequence +must have been, as Livy relates, that the barbarians, bivouacking on the +ruins of the city in the open air, were attacked by disease and carried +off, like the army of Frederick Barbarossa when encamped before the +castle of St. Angelo. The whole army of the Gauls, however, was not in +the city, but only as many as were necessary to blockade the garrison of +the Capitol; the rest were scattered far and wide over the face of the +country, and were ravaging all the unprotected places and isolated farms +in Latium; many an ancient town, which is no longer mentioned after this +time, may have been destroyed by the Gauls. None but fortified places +like Ostia, which could obtain supplies by sea, made a successful +resistance, for the Gauls were unacquainted with the art of besieging. + +The Ardeatans, whose territory was likewise invaded by the Gauls, +opposed them, under the command of Camillus; the Etruscans would seem to +have endeavored to avail themselves of the opportunity of recovering +Veii, for we are told that the Romans at Veii, commanded by Caedicius, +gained a battle against them, and that, encouraged by this success, they +began to entertain a hope of regaining Rome, since by this victory they +got possession of arms. + +A Roman of the name of Fabius Dorso is said to have offered up, in broad +daylight, a _gentilician_ sacrifice on the Quirinal; and the astonished +Gauls are said to have done him no harm--a tradition which is not +improbable. + +The provisions in the Capitol were exhausted, but the Gauls themselves +being seized with epidemic diseases became tired of their conquests, and +were not inclined to settle in a country so far away from their own +home. They once more attempted to take the Capitol by storm, having +observed that the messenger from Veii had ascended the rock, and come +down again near the Porta Carmentalis, below Araceli. The ancient rock +is now covered with rubbish, and no longer discernible. The besieged did +not think of a storm on that side; it may be that formerly there had in +that part been a wall, which had become decayed; and in southern +countries an abundant vegetation always springs up between the stones, +and if this had actually been neglected it cannot have been very +difficult to climb up. The Gauls had already gained a firm footing, as +there was no wall at the top--the rock which they stormed was not the +Tarpeian, but the Arx--when Manlius, who lived there, was roused by the +screaming of the geese: he came to the spot and thrust down those who +were climbing up. + +This rendered the Gauls still more inclined to commence negotiations; +they were, moreover, called back by an inroad of some Alpine tribes into +Lombardy, where they had left their wives and children: they offered to +depart if the Romans would pay them a ransom of a thousand pounds of +gold, to be taken no doubt from the Capitoline treasury. Considering the +value of money at that time, the sum was enormous: in the time of +Theodosius, indeed, there were people at Rome who possessed several +hundredweight of gold, nay, one is said to have had an annual revenue of +two hundredweight. There can be no doubt that the Gauls received the sum +they demanded, and quitted Rome; that in weighing it they scornfully +imposed upon the Romans is very possible, and the _vae victis_ too may +be true: we ourselves have seen similar things before the year 1813. + +But there can be no truth in the story told by Livy, that while they +were disputing Camillus appeared with an army and stopped the +proceedings, because the military tribunes had had no right to conclude +the treaty. He is there said to have driven the Gauls from the city, and +afterward in a twofold battle to have so completely defeated them that +not even a messenger escaped. Beaufort, inspired by Gallic patriotism, +has most excellently shown what a complete fable this story is. To +attempt to disguise the misfortunes of our forefathers by substituting +fables in their place is mere childishness. This charge does not affect +Livy, indeed, for he copied only what others had written before him; but +he did not allow his own conviction to appear as he generally does, for +he treats the whole of the early history with a sort of irony, half +believing, half disbelieving it. + +According to another account in Diodorus, the Gauls besieged a town +allied with Rome--its name seems to be mis-written, but is probably +intended for Vulsinii--and the Romans relieved it and took back from the +Gauls the gold which they had paid them; but this siege of Vulsinii is +quite unknown to Livy. A third account in Strabo and also mentioned by +Diodorus does not allow this honor to the Romans, but states that the +Caerites pursued the Gauls, attacked them in the country of the Sabines, +and completely annihilated them. In like manner the Greeks endeavored to +disguise the fact that the Gauls took the money from the Delphic +treasury, and that in a quite historical period (Olymp. 120). The true +explanation is undoubtedly the one found in Polybius, that the Gauls +were induced to quit Rome by an insurrection of the Alpine tribes, after +it had experienced the extremity of humiliation. + +Whatever the enemy had taken as booty was consumed; they had not made +any conquests, but only indulged in plunder and devastation; they had +been staying at Rome for seven or eight months, and could have gained +nothing further than the Capitol and the very money which they received +without taking that fortress. The account of Polybius throws light upon +many discrepant statements, and all of them, not even excepting Livy's +fairy-tale-like embellishment, may be explained by means of it. The +Romans attempted to prove that the Gauls had actually been defeated, by +relating that the gold afterward taken from the Gauls and buried in the +Capitol was double the sum paid to them as a ransom; but it is much more +probable that the Romans paid their ransom out of the treasury of the +temple of the Capitoline Jupiter and of other temples, and that +afterward double this sum was made up by a tax; which agrees with a +statement in the history of Manlius, that a tax was imposed for the +purpose of raising the Gallic ransom: surely this could not have been +done at the time of the siege, when the Romans were scattered in all +parts of the country, but must have taken place afterward for the +purpose of restoring the money that had been taken. Now if at a later +time there actually existed in the Capitol such a quantity of gold, it +is clear that it was believed to be a proof that the Gauls had not kept +the gold which was paid to them. + +Even as late as the time of Cicero and Caesar, the spot was shown at +Rome in the Carinae, where the Gauls had heaped up and burned their +dead; it was called _busta Gallica_, which was corrupted in the Middle +Ages into Protogallo, whence the church which was built there was in +reality called _S. Andreas in bustis Gallicis_, or, according to the +later Latinity, _in busta Gallica--busta Gallica_ not being declined. + +The Gauls departed with their gold, which the Romans had been compelled +to pay on account of the famine that prevailed in the Capitol, which was +so great that they pulled the leather from their shields and cooked it, +just as was done during the siege of Jerusalem. The Gauls were certainly +not destroyed. Justin has preserved the remarkable statement that the +same Gauls who sacked Rome went to Apulia, and there offered for money +their assistance to the elder Dionysius of Syracuse. From this important +statement it is at any rate clear that they traversed all Italy, and +then probably returned along the shore of the Adriatic: their +devastations extended over many parts of Italy, and there is no doubt +that the Æquians received their death-blow at that time, for henceforth +we hear no more of the hostilities of the Æquians against Rome. +Praeneste, on the other hand, which must formerly have been subject to +the Æquians, now appears as an independent town. The Æquians, who +inhabited small and easily destructible towns, must have been +annihilated during the progress of the Gauls. + +There is nothing so strange in the history of Livy as his view of the +consequences of the Gallic calamity; he must have conceived it as a +transitory storm by which Rome was humbled but not broken. The army, +according to him, was only scattered, and the Romans appear afterward +just as they had been before, as if the preceding period had only been +an evil dream, and as if there had been nothing to do but to rebuild the +city. But assuredly the devastation must have been tremendous throughout +the Roman territory: for eight months the barbarians had been ravaging +the country, every trace of cultivation, every farmer's house, all the +temples and public buildings were destroyed; the walls of the city had +been purposely pulled down, a large number of its inhabitants were led +into slavery, the rest were living in great misery at Veii; and what +they had saved scarcely sufficed to buy their bread. In this condition +they returned to Rome. Camillus as dictator is called a second Romulus, +and to him is due the glory of not having despaired in those distressing +circumstances. + + + + +TARTAR INVASION OF CHINA BY MEHA + +B.C. 341 + +DEMETRIUS CHARLES BOULGER + + +(The first Chinese are supposed to have been a nomad tribe in the +provinces of Shensi, which lies in the northwest of China, and among +them at last appeared a ruler, Fohi, whose name at least has been +preserved. His deeds and his person are mythical, but he is credited +with having given his country its first regular institutions. + +The annalists of the Chinese chronicles placed the date of the Creation +at a point of time two millions of years before Confucius; this interval +they filled up with lines of dynasties. Preceding the Chow dynasty the +chronicles give ten epochs--prior to the eighth of these there is no +authentic history. Yew-chow She [the "Nest-having"] taught the people to +build huts of the boughs of trees. Fire was discovered by Say-jin She +[the "Fire producer"]. Fuh-he [B.C. 2862] was the discoverer of iron. +With Yaou [B.C. 2356] is the period whence Confucius begins his story. +He says of that epoch: "The house door could safely be left open." Yaou +greatly extended and strengthened the empire and established fairs and +marts over the land. + +One of China's most notable rulers was Tsin Chi Hwangti, who was +studious in providing for the security of his empire, and with this +object began the construction of a fortified wall across the northern +frontier to serve as a defence against the troublesome Hiongnou tribes, +who are identified with the Huns of Attila. This wall, which he began in +the first years of his reign--about the close of the third century +B.C.--was finished before his death. It still exists, known as the Great +Wall of China, and has long been considered one of the wonders of the +world. Every third man of the whole empire was employed on this work. It +is said that five hundred thousand of them died of starvation. The +contents of the Great Wall would be enough to build two walls six feet +high and two feet thick around the equator. It is the largest artificial +structure in the world; carried for fourteen hundred miles over height +and hollow, reaching in one place the level of five thousand +feet--nearly one mile--above the sea. Earth, gravel, brick, and stone +were used in its construction. + +The weak successors of Hwangti finally gave way to the usurper, Kaotsou, +who had been originally the ruler of a small town, and had borne the +name of Lieou Pang. + +The reign of Kaotsou was distinguished by the consolidation of the +empire; the connection of Western with Eastern China by high walls and +bridges, some of which are still in perfect condition, and the +institution of an elaborate code of court etiquette. His attention to +these things was, however, rudely interrupted by an irruption of the +Hiongnou Tartars.) + + +The death of Tsin Chi Hwangti proved the signal for the outbreak of +disturbances throughout the realm. Within a few months five princes had +founded as many kingdoms, each hoping, if not to become supreme, at +least to remain independent. Moungtien, beloved by the army, and at the +head, as he tells us in his own words, of three hundred thousand +soldiers, might have been the arbiter of the empire; but a weak feeling +of respect for the imperial authority induced him to obey an order, sent +by Eulchi, Hwangti's son and successor, commanding him "to drink the +waters of eternal life." Eulchi's brief reign of three years was a +succession of misfortunes. The reins of office were held by the eunuch +Chow-kow, who first murdered the minister Lissep and then Eulchi +himself. + +Ing Wang, a grandson of Hwangti, was the next and last of the Tsin +emperors. On coming to power, he at once caused Chow-kow, whose crimes +had been discovered, to be arrested and executed. This vigorous +commencement proved very transitory, for when he had enjoyed nominal +authority during six weeks, Ing Wang's troops, after a reverse in the +field, went over in a body to Lieou Pang, the leader of a rebel force. +Ing Wang put an end to his existence, thus terminating, in a manner not +less ignominious than any of its predecessors, the dynasty of the Tsins, +which Hwangti had hoped to place permanently on the throne of China, and +to which his genius gave a lustre far surpassing that of many other +families who had enjoyed the same privilege during a much longer period. + +The crisis in the history of the country had afforded one of those great +men who rise periodically from the ranks of the people to give law to +nations the opportunity for advancing his personal interests at the same +time that he made them appear to be identical with the public weal. Of +such geniuses, if the test applied be the work accomplished, there have +been few with higher claims to respectful and admiring consideration +than Lieou Pang, who after the fall of the Tsins became the founder of +the Han dynasty under the style of Kaotsou. Originally the governor of a +small town, he had, soon after the death of Hwangti, gathered round him +the nucleus of a formidable army, and while nominally serving under one +of the greater princes, he scarcely affected to conceal that he was +fighting for his own interest. On the other hand, he was no mere soldier +of fortune, and the moderation which he showed after victory enhanced +his reputation as a general. The path to the throne being thus cleared, +the successful general became emperor. + +His first act was to proclaim an amnesty to all those who had borne arms +against him. In a public proclamation he expressed his regret at the +suffering of the people "from the evils which follow in the train of +war." During the earlier years of his reign he chose the city of Loyang +as his capital--now the flourishing and populous town of Honan--but at a +later period he removed it to Singanfoo, in the western province of +Shensi. His dynasty became known by the name of the small state where he +was born, and which had fallen early in his career into his hands. + +Kaotsou sanctioned or personally undertook various important public +works, which in many places still exist to testify to the greatness of +his character. Prominent among those must be placed the bridges +constructed along the great roads of Western China. Some of them are +still believed to be in perfect condition. No act of Kaotsou's reign +places him higher in the scale of sovereigns than the improvement of the +roads and the construction of those remarkable bridges. Kaotsou loved +splendor and sought to make his receptions and banquets imposing by +their brilliance. He drew up a special ceremonial which must have proved +a trying ordeal for his courtiers, and dire was the offence if it were +infringed in the smallest particular. He kept up festivities at +Singanfoo for several weeks, and on one of these occasions he exclaimed: +"To-day I feel I am emperor and perceive all the difference between a +subject and his master." + +Kaotsou's attention was rudely summoned away from these trivialities by +the outbreak of revolts against his authority and by inroads on the part +of the Tartars. The latter were the more serious. The disturbances that +followed Hwangti's death were a fresh inducement to these clans to again +gather round a common head and prey upon the weakness of China, for +Kaotsou's authority was not yet recognized in many of the tributary +states which had been fain to admit the supremacy of the great Tsin +emperor. About this time the Hiongnou[45] Tartars were governed by two +chiefs in particular, one named Tonghou, the other Meha or Mehe. Of +these the former appears to have been instigated by a reckless ambition +or an overweening arrogance, and at first it seemed that the forbearance +of Meha would allow his pretensions[46] to pass unchallenged. + +[Footnote 45: Probably the same race as the Huns.] + +[Footnote 46: Meha had become chief of his clan by murdering his father, +Teou-man, who was on the point of ordering his son's assassination when +thus forestalled in his intention. Tonghou sent to demand from him a +favorite horse, which Meha sent him. His kinsmen advised him to refuse +compliance; but he replied: "What! Would you quarrel with your neighbors +for a horse?" Shortly afterward Tonghou sent to ask for one of the wives +of the former chief. This also Meha granted, saying: "Why should we +undertake a war for the sake of a woman?" It was only when Tonghou +menaced his possessions that Meha took up arms.] + +Meha's successes followed rapidly upon each other. Issuing from the +desert, and marching in the direction of China, he wrested many fertile +districts from the feeble hands of those who held them; and while +establishing his personal authority on the banks of the Hoangho, his +lieutenants returned laden with plunder from expeditions into the rich +provinces of Shensi and Szchuen. He won back all the territory lost by +his ancestors to Hwangti and Moungtien, and he paved the way to greater +success by the siege and capture of the city of Maye, thus obtaining +possession of the key of the road to Tsinyang. Several of the border +chiefs and of the Emperor's lieutenants, dreading the punishment +allotted in China to want of success, went over to the Tartars, and took +service under Meha. + +The Emperor, fully aroused to the gravity of the danger, assembled his +army, and placing himself at its head marched against the Tartars. +Encouraged by the result of several preliminary encounters, the Emperor +was eager to engage Meha's main army, and after some weeks' searching +and manoeuvring, the two forces halted in front of each other. Kaotsou, +imagining that victory was within his grasp, and believing the stories +brought to him by spies of the weakness of the Tartar army, resolved on +an immediate attack. He turned a deaf ear to the cautious advice of one +of his generals, who warned him that "in war we should never despise an +enemy," and marched in person at the head of his advance guard to find +the Tartars. Meha, who had been at all these pains to throw dust in the +Emperor's eyes and to conceal his true strength, no sooner saw how well +his stratagem had succeeded, and that Kaotsou was rushing into the trap +so elaborately laid for him, than by a skilful movement he cut off his +communications with the main body of his army, and, surrounding him with +an overwhelming force, compelled him to take refuge in the city of +Pingching in Shensi. + +With a very short supply of provisions, and hopelessly outnumbered, it +looked as if the Chinese Emperor could not possibly escape the grasp of +the desert chief. In this strait one of his officers suggested as a last +chance that the most beautiful virgin in the town should be discovered, +and sent as a present to mollify the conqueror. Kaotsou seized at this +suggestion, as the drowning man will catch at a straw, and the story is +preserved, though her name has passed into oblivion, of how the young +Chinese girl entered into the plan and devoted all her wits to charming +the Tartar conqueror. She succeeded as much as their fondest hopes could +have led them to believe; and Meha permitted Kaotsou, after signing an +ignominious treaty, to leave his place of confinement and rejoin his +army, glad to welcome the return of the Emperor, yet without him +helpless to stir a hand to effect his release. Meha retired to his own +territory, well satisfied with the material results of the war and the +rich booty which had been obtained in the sack of Chinese cities, while +Kaotsou, like the ordinary type of an oriental ruler, vented his +discomfiture on his subordinates. + +The closing acts of the war were the lavishing of rewards on the head of +the general to whose warnings he had paid no heed, and the execution of +the scouts who had been misled by the wiles of Meha. + +The success which had attended this incursion and the spoil of war were +potent inducements to the Tartars to repeat the invasion. While Kaotsou +was meditating over the possibility of revenge, and considering schemes +for the better protection of his frontier, the Tartars, disregarding the +truce that had been concluded, retraced their steps, and pillaged the +border districts with impunity. In this year (B.C. 199) they were +carrying everything before them, and the Emperor, either unnerved by +recent disaster or appalled at the apparently irresistible energy of the +followers of Meha, remained apathetic in his palace. The representations +of his ministers and generals failed to rouse him from his stupor, and +the weapon to which he resorted was the abuse of his opponent, and not +his prompt chastisement. Meha was "a wicked and faithless man, who had +risen to power by the murder of his father, and one with whom oaths and +treaties carried no weight." In the mean while the Tartars were +continuing their victorious career. The capital itself could not be +pronounced safe from their assaults, or from the insult of their +presence. + +In this crisis counsels of craft and dissimulation alone found favor in +the Emperor's cabinet. No voice was raised in support of the bold and +only true course of going forth to meet the national enemy. The +capitulation of Pingching had for the time destroyed the manhood of the +race, and Kaotsou held in esteem the advice of men widely different to +those who had placed him on the throne. Kaotsou opened fresh +negotiations with Meha, who concluded a treaty on condition of the +Emperor's daughter being given to him in marriage, and on the assumption +that he was an independent ruler. With these terms Kaotsou felt obliged +to comply, and thus for the first time this never-ceasing collision +between the tribes of the desert and the agriculturists of the plains of +China closed with the admitted triumph of the former. The contest was +soon to be renewed with different results, but the triumph of Meha was +beyond question.[47] + +[Footnote 47: One historian had the courage to declare that "Never was +so great a shame inflicted on the Middle Kingdom, which then lost its +dignity and honor."] + +The weakness thus shown against a foreign foe brought its own punishment +in domestic troubles. The palace became the scene of broils, plots, and +counterplots, and so badly did Kaotsou manage his affairs at this epoch +that one of his favorite generals raised the standard of revolt against +him through apparently a mere misunderstanding. In this instance Kaotsou +easily put down the rising, but others followed which, if not pregnant +with danger, were at the least extremely troublesome. The murder of +Hansin, to whose aid Kaotsou owed his elevation to the throne as much as +to any other, by order of the empress, during a reception at the palace, +shook confidence still more in the ruler, and many of his followers were +forced into open rebellion through dread of personal danger. What wonder +that, as he has said, "the very name of revolt inspired Kaotsou with +apprehension." + +In B.C. 195 we find Kaotsou going out of his way to visit the tomb of +Confucius. Shortly after this event it became evident that he was +approaching his end. His eldest son Hiaohoei was proclaimed heir +apparent. Kaotsou died in the fifty-third year of his age, having +reigned as emperor during eight years. The close of his reign did not +bear out all the promise of its commencement; and the extent of his +authority was greatly curtailed by the disastrous effects of the war +with the Tartars and the subsequent revolts among his generals. + +Despite these reverses there remains much in favor of his character. He +had performed his part in the consolidation of the Hans; it remained for +those who came after him to complete what he left half finished. + +Under Hoeiti, the Tartar King Meha sent an envoy to the capital, but +either the form or the substance of his message enraged the +empress-mother, who ordered his execution. The two peoples were thus +again brought to the brink of war, but eventually the difference was +sunk for the time, and the Chinese chroniclers have represented that the +satisfactory turn in the question was due to Meha seeing the error of +his ways.[48] Not long afterward the Tartar King died, and was succeeded +by his son Lao Chang. + +[Footnote 48: Meha's letter of excuse is thus given: "In the barbarous +country which I govern both virtue and the decencies of life are +unknown. I have been unable to free myself from them, and, therefore, I +blush. China has her wise men; that is a happiness which I envy. They +would have prevented my being wanting in the respect due to your rank."] + + + + +ALEXANDER REDUCES TYRE: LATER FOUNDS ALEXANDRIA + +B.C. 332 + +OLIVER GOLDSMITH + + +(The master spirit who could sigh for more worlds to conquer was at this +time high in his dazzling flight. Alexander has always been considered +one of the most striking and picturesque characters of history. His +personality was pleasing, his endurance remarkable, and courage +dauntless. Educated by Aristotle, his keen mind was well trained. He was +skilled in horsemanship, and his control over the fiery Bucephalus, +untamable by others, has become a household tale in all lands. There +never was a more kingly prince. + +A king at twenty, his career has been an object of wonder to succeeding +generations. He shot like a meteor across the sky of ancient +civilization. His military achievements were remarkable for quickness of +conception and rapidity of execution; his life was a progress from +conquest to conquest. Alexander's army, with its solid phalanx, its +darting cavalry, and light troops, had become irresistible. He possessed +Napoleon's ability to select good generals and to make the most of his +talents. In battle Alexander was entirely devoid of fear. After a +victory his chief thoughts were for the wounded. Like Napoleon, he also +possessed that personal equation of absolute popularity with his +soldiers. Their devotion to him was simply complete. + +After Thebes came the invasion of Asia. The invincible Macedonian had +fought and won the battle of the Granicus. In this battle nearly all of +the Persian leaders were slain, and its result spread terror throughout +Persia. Halicarnassus was next reduced. The march of Alexander was ever +onward. In the citadel of Gordium he cut the "Gordian knot," and +prophecy marked him for the lord of Asia. + +And now Darius marched to meet him, making a fatally bad choice of +battle-ground. Darius was totally defeated at the celebrated battle of +Issus, although he had anticipated a victory. After the Persian rout and +the flight of Darius, whose numbers counted for nothing before the +Macedonian's skill, Lindon welcomed the invaders, and Alexander +determined to take Tyre. This was accomplished after a siege, which was +attended with much cruelty. + +The siege of Gaza followed, in which nearly all of the citizens +perished. In B.C. 332 Alexander began his expedition to Egypt. He +conciliated the natives by paying honors to their gods. In his progress +he was struck by the advantages of a certain site for a city, and +founded there the town which is now called Alexandria.) + + +All Phoenicia was subdued except Tyre, the capital city. This city was +justly entitled the "Queen of the Sea," that element bringing to it the +tribute of all nations. She boasted of having first invented navigation +and taught mankind the art of braving the winds and waves by the +assistance of a frail bark. The happy situation of Tyre, at the upper +end of the Mediterranean; the conveniency of its ports, which were both +safe and capacious; and the character of its inhabitants, who were +industrious, laborious, patient, and extremely courteous to strangers, +invited thither merchants from all parts of the globe; so that it might +be considered, not so much a city belonging to any particular nation, as +the common city of all nations and the centre of their commerce. + +Alexander thought it necessary, both for his glory and his interest, to +take this city. The spring was now coming on. Tyre was at that time +seated on an island of the sea, about a quarter of a league from the +continent. It was surrounded by a strong wall, a hundred and fifty feet +high, which the waves of the sea washed; and the Carthaginians, a colony +from Tyre, a mighty people, and sovereigns of the ocean, promised to +come to the assistance of their parent State. Encouraged, therefore, by +these favorable circumstances, the Tyrians determined not to surrender, +but to hold out the place to the last extremity. This resolution, +however imprudent, was certainly magnanimous, but it was soon after +followed by an act which was as blamable as the other was praiseworthy. + +Alexander was desirous of gaining the place rather by treaty than by +force of arms, and with this in view sent heralds into the town with +offers of peace; but the inhabitants were so far from listening to his +proposals, or endeavoring to avert his resentment by any kind of +concession, that they actually killed his ambassadors and threw their +bodies from the top of the walls into the sea. It is easy to imagine +what effect so shocking an outrage must produce in a mind like +Alexander's. He instantly resolved to besiege the place, and not to +desist until he had made himself master of it and razed it to the +ground. + +As Tyre was divided from the continent by an arm of the sea, there was +necessity for filling up the intermediate space with a bank or pier, +before the place could be closely invested. This work, accordingly, was +immediately undertaken and in a great measure completed; when all the +wood, of which it was principally composed, was unexpectedly burned by +means of a fire-ship sent in by the enemy. The damage, however, was very +soon repaired, and the mole rendered more perfect than formerly, and +carried nearer to the town, when all of a sudden a furious tempest +arose, which, undermining the stonework that supported the wood, laid +the whole at once in the bottom of the sea. + +Two such disasters, following so closely on the heels of each other, +would have cooled the ardor of any man except Alexander, but nothing +could daunt his invincible spirit, or make him relinquish an enterprise +he had once undertaken. He, therefore, resolved to prosecute the siege; +and in order to encourage his men to second his views, he took care to +inspire them with the belief that heaven was on their side and would +soon crown their labors with the wished-for success. At one time he gave +out that Apollo was about to abandon the Tyrians to their doom, and +that, to prevent his flight, they had bound him to his pedestal with a +golden chain; at another, he pretended that Hercules, the tutelar deity +of Macedon, had appeared to him, and, having opened prospects of the +most glorious kind, had invited him to proceed to take possession of +Tyre. + +These favorable circumstances were announced by the augurs as +intimations from above; and every heart was in consequence cheered. The +soldiers, as if that moment arrived before the city, forgetting all the +toils they had undergone and the disappointments they had suffered, +began to raise a new mole, at which they worked incessantly. + +To protect them from being annoyed by the ships of the enemy, Alexander +fitted out a fleet, with which he not only secured his own men, but +offered the Tyrians battle, which, however, they thought proper to +decline, and withdrew all their galleys into the harbor. + +The besiegers, now allowed to proceed unmolested, went on with the work +with the utmost vigor, and in a little time completed it and brought it +close to the walls. A general attack was therefore resolved on, both by +sea and land, and with this in view the King, having manned his galleys +and joined them together with strong cables, ordered them to approach +the walls about midnight and attack the city with resolution. But just +as the assault was going to begin, a dreadful storm arose, which not +only shook the ships asunder, but even shattered them in a terrible +manner, so that they were all obliged to be towed toward the shore, +without having made the least impression on the city. + +The Tyrians were elated with this gleam of good fortune; but that joy +was of short duration, for in a little time they received intelligence +from Carthage that they must expect no assistance from that quarter, as +the Carthaginians themselves were then overawed by a powerful army of +Syracusans, who had invaded their country. Reduced, therefore, to the +hard necessity of depending entirely upon their own strength and their +own resources, the Tyrians sent all their women and children to +Carthage, and prepared to encounter the very last extremities. For now +the enemy was attacking the place with greater spirit and activity than +ever. And, to do the Tyrians justice, it must be acknowledged that they +employed a number of methods of defence which, considering the rude +state of the art of war at that early period, were really astonishing. +They warded off the darts discharged from the ballisters against them, +by the assistance of turning wheels, which either broke them to pieces +or carried them another way. They deadened the violence of the stones +that were hurled at them, by setting up sails and curtains made of a +soft substance which easily gave way. + +To annoy the ships which advanced against their walls, they fixed +grappling irons and scythes to joists or beams; then, straining their +catapultas--an enormous kind of crossbow--they laid those great pieces +of timber upon them instead of arrows, and shot them off on a sudden at +the enemy. These crushed some of their ships by their great weight, and, +by means of the hooks or hanging scythes, tore others to pieces. They +also had brazen shields, which they drew red-hot out of the fire; and +filling these with burning sand, hurled them in an instant from the top +of the wall upon the enemy. + +There was nothing the Macedonians dreaded so much as this fatal +instrument; for the moment the burning sand got to the flesh through the +crevices of the armor, it penetrated to the very bone, and stuck so +close that there was no pulling it off; so that the soldiers, throwing +down their arms, and tearing their clothes to pieces, were in this +manner exposed, naked and defenceless, to the shot of the enemy. + +Alexander, finding the resources and even the courage of the Tyrians +increased in proportion as the siege continued, resolved to make a last +effort, and attack them at once both by sea and land, in order, if +possible, to overwhelm them with the multiplicity of dangers to which +they would be thus exposed. With this view, having manned his galleys +with some of the bravest of his troops, he commanded them to advance +against the enemy's fleet, while he himself took his post at the head of +his men on the mole. + +And now the attack began on all sides with irresistible and unremitting +fury. Wherever the battering-rams had beat down any part of the wall, +and the bridges were thrown out, instantly the argyraspides mounted the +breach with the utmost valor, being led on by Admetus, one of the +bravest officers in the army, who was killed by the thrust of a spear as +he was encouraging his soldiers. + +The presence of the King, and the example he set, fired his troops with +unusual bravery. He himself ascended one of the towers on the mole, +which was of a prodigious height, and there was exposed to the greatest +dangers he had ever yet encountered; for being immediately known by his +insignia and the richness of his armor, he served as a mark for all the +arrows of the enemy. On this occasion he performed wonders, killing with +javelins several of those who defended the wall; then, advancing nearer +to them, he forced some with his sword, and others with his shield, +either into the city or the sea, the tower on which he fought almost +touching the wall. + +He soon ascended the wall, followed by his principal officers, and +possessed himself of two towers and the space between them. The +battering-rams had already made several breaches; the fleet had forced +its way into the harbor; and some of the Macedonians had possessed +themselves of the towers which were abandoned. The Tyrians, seeing the +enemy masters of their rampart, retired toward an open place, called +Agenor, and there stood their ground; but Alexander, marching up with +his regiment of bodyguards, killed part of them and obliged the rest to +fly. + +At the same time, Tyre being taken on that side which lay toward the +harbor, a general carnage of the citizens ensued, and none was spared, +except the few that fell into the hands of the Siclonians in Alexander's +army, who--considering the Tyrians as countrymen--granted them +protection and carried them privately on board their ships. + +The number that was slaughtered on this occasion is almost incredible; +even after conquest, the victor's resentment did not subside. He ordered +no less than five thousand men, who were taken in the storming, to be +nailed to crosses along the shore. The number of prisoners amounted to +thirty thousand and were all sold as slaves in different parts of the +world. Thus fell Tyre, that had been for many ages the most flourishing +city in the world, and had spread the arts and commerce into the +remotest regions. + +While Alexander was employed in the siege of Tyre he received a second +letter from Darius, in which that monarch treated him with greater +respect than before. He now gave him the title of king; he offered him +ten thousand talents as a ransom for his captive mother and queen; and +he promised him his daughter Statira in marriage, with all the country +he had conquered, as far as the river Euphrates, provided he would agree +to a peace. These terms were so advantageous that, when the King debated +upon them in council, Parmenio, one of his generals, could not help +observing that he would certainly accept of them were he Alexander. "And +so would I," replied the King, "were I Parmenio!" But deeming it +inconsistent with his dignity to listen to any proposals from a man whom +he had so lately overcome, he haughtily rejected them, and scorned to +accept of that as a favor which he already considered his own by +conquest. + +From Tyre, Alexander marched to Jerusalem, fully determined to punish +that city for having refused to supply his army with provisions during +the siege; but his resentment was mollified by a deputation of the +citizens coming out to meet him, with their high priest, Taddua, before +them, dressed in white, and having a mitre on his head, on the front of +which the name of God was written. The moment the King perceived the +high priest, he advanced toward him with an air of the most profound +respect, bowed his body, adored the august name upon his front, and +saluted him who wore it with religious veneration. + +And when some of his courtiers expressed their surprise that he, who was +adored by everyone, should adore the high priest of the Jews: "I do +not," said he, "adore the high priest, but the God whose minister he is; +for while I was at Dium in Macedonia, my mind wholly fixed on the great +design of the Persian war, as I was revolving the methods how to conquer +Asia, this very man, dressed in the same robes, appeared to me in a +dream, exhorted me to banish my fear, bade me cross the Hellespont +boldly, and assured me that God would march at the head of my army and +give me the victory over the Persians." This speech, delivered with an +air of sincerity, no doubt had its effect in encouraging the army and +establishing an opinion that his mission was from heaven. + +From Jerusalem he went to Gaza, where, having met with a more obstinate +resistance than he expected, he cut to pieces the whole garrison, +consisting of ten thousand men. Not satisfied with this act of cruelty, +he caused holes to be bored through the heels of Boetis, the governor, +and tying him with cords to the back of his chariot dragged him in this +manner around the walls of the city. This he did in imitation of +Achilles, whom Homer describes as having dragged Hector around the walls +of Troy in the same manner. It was reading the past to very little, or +rather, indeed, to very bad purpose, to imitate this hero in the most +unworthy part of his character. + +Alexander, having left a garrison in Gaza, turned his arms toward Egypt; +of which he made himself master without opposition. Here he formed the +design of visiting the temple of Jupiter, which was situated in the +sandy deserts of Lybia at the distance of twelve days' journey from +Memphis, the capital of Egypt. His chief object in going thither was to +get himself acknowledged the son of Jupiter, an honor he had long +aspired to. In this journey he founded the city of Alexandria, which +soon became one of the greatest towns in the world for commerce. + +Nothing could be more dreary than the desert through which he passed, +nor anything more charming--according to the fabulous accounts of the +poets--than the particular spot where the temple was situated. + +It was a perfect paradise in the midst of an immeasurable wilderness. At +last, having reached the place, and appeared before the altar of the +deity, the priest, who was no stranger to Alexander's wishes, declared +him to be the son of Jupiter. + +The conqueror, elated with this high compliment, asked whether he should +have success in his expedition. The priest answered that he should be +monarch of the world. The conqueror inquired if his father's murderers +were punished. The priest replied that his father Jupiter was immortal, +but that the murderers of Philip had all been extirpated. + + + + +THE BATTLE OF ARBELA + +B.C. 331 + +SIR EDWARD SHEPHERD CREASY + + +(When Alexander, having returned from his campaign against the +barbarians of the North, had suppressed a revolt which meanwhile had +broken out in Greece, he found himself free for undertaking those great +foreign conquests which he had planned. When he left Greece to conquer +the world, he said farewell to his own country forever. Crossing the +Hellespont into Asia Minor with a small but well equipped and +disciplined army, he advanced unopposed until he reached the river +Granicus, where he found himself confronted with a Persian host. Upon +this army he inflicted a defeat so signal as to bring at once to +submission nearly the whole of Asia Minor. He next advanced into Syria +and met the Persian king, Darius III, who in person commanded an immense +body of soldiers, against which the young conqueror fought at Issus, +winning a decisive victory. He not only captured the Persian camp, but +also secured the King's treasures and took his family prisoners. From +this time Alexander held complete mastery of the western dominions of +Darius, whom the conqueror afterward dethroned. + +After he had next invaded and subjugated Egypt and there founded the +city of Alexandria, he pursued King Darius, who had taken flight, into +the very heart of his empire, where the Persian monarch, on the plains +of Gaugamela, near the village of Arbela, made his last stand against +his invincible foe. Of the battle to which Arbela gave its name, and +which proved the death-blow of the Persian empire, Creasy's narrative +furnishes a realistic description.) + + +A long and not uninstructive list might be made out of illustrious men +whose characters have been vindicated during recent times from +aspersions which for centuries had been thrown on them. The spirit of +modern inquiry, and the tendency of modern scholarship, both of which +are often said to be solely negative and destructive, have, in truth, +restored to splendor, and almost created anew, far more than they have +assailed with censure or dismissed from consideration as unreal. + +The truth of many a brilliant narrative of brilliant exploits has of +late years been triumphantly demonstrated, and the shallowness of the +sceptical scoffs with which little minds have carped at the great minds +of antiquity has been in many instances decisively exposed. The laws, +the politics, and the lines of action adopted or recommended by eminent +men and powerful nations have been examined with keener investigation +and considered with more comprehensive judgment than formerly were +brought to bear on these subjects. The result has been at least as often +favorable as unfavorable to the persons and the states so scrutinized, +and many an oft-repeated slander against both measures and men has thus +been silenced, we may hope forever. + +The veracity of Herodotus, the pure patriotism of Pericles, of +Demosthenes, and of the Gracchi, the wisdom of Clisthenes and of +Licinius as constitutional reformers, may be mentioned as facts which +recent writers have cleared from unjust suspicion and censure. And it +might be easily shown that the defensive tendency which distinguishes +the present and recent great writers of Germany, France, and England has +been equally manifested in the spirit in which they have treated the +heroes of thought and heroes of action who lived during what we term the +Middle Ages, and whom it was so long the fashion to sneer at or neglect. + +The name of the victor of Arbela has led to these reflections; for, +although the rapidity and extent of Alexander's conquests have through +all ages challenged admiration and amazement, the grandeur of genius +which he displayed in his schemes of commerce, civilization, and of +comprehensive union and unity among nations, has, until lately, been +comparatively unhonored. This long-continued depreciation was of early +date. The ancient rhetoricians--a class of babblers, a school for lies +and scandal, as Niebuhr justly termed them--chose, among the stock +themes for their commonplaces, the character and exploits of Alexander. + +They had their followers in every age; and, until a very recent period, +all who wished to "point a moral or adorn a tale," about unreasoning +ambition, extravagant pride, and the formidable frenzies of free will +when leagued with free power, have never failed to blazon forth the +so-called madman of Macedonia as one of the most glaring examples. +Without doubt, many of these writers adopted with implicit credence +traditional ideas, and supposed, with uninquiring philanthropy, that in +blackening Alexander they were doing humanity good service. But also, +without doubt, many of his assailants, like those of other great men, +have been mainly instigated by "that strongest of all antipathies, the +antipathy of a second-rate mind to a first-rate one," and by the envy +which talent too often bears to genius. + +Arrian, who wrote his history of Alexander when Hadrian was emperor of +the Roman world, and when the spirit of declamation and dogmatism was at +its full height, but who was himself, unlike the dreaming pedants of the +schools, a statesman and a soldier of practical and proved ability, well +rebuked the malevolent aspersions which he heard continually thrown upon +the memory of the great conqueror of the East. + +He truly says: "Let the man who speaks evil of Alexander not merely +bring forward those passages of Alexander's life which were really evil, +but let him collect and review _all_ the actions of Alexander, and then +let him thoroughly consider first who and what manner of man he himself +is, and what has been his own career; and then let him consider who and +what manner of man Alexander was, and to what an eminence of human +grandeur _he_ arrived. Let him consider that Alexander was a king, and +the undisputed lord of the two continents, and that his name is renowned +throughout the whole earth. + +"Let the evil-speaker against Alexander bear all this in mind, and then +let him reflect on his own insignificance, the pettiness of his own +circumstances and affairs, and the blunders that he makes about these, +paltry and trifling as they are. Let him then ask himself whether he is +a fit person to censure and revile such a man as Alexander. I believe +that there was in his time no nation of men, no city, nay, no single +individual with whom Alexander's name had not become a familiar word. I +therefore hold that such a man, who was like no ordinary mortal, was not +born into the world without some special providence." + +And one of the most distinguished soldiers and writers, Sir Walter +Raleigh, though he failed to estimate justly the full merits of +Alexander, has expressed his sense of the grandeur of the part played in +the world by "the great Emathian conqueror" in language that well +deserves quotation: + +"So much hath the spirit of some one man excelled as it hath undertaken +and effected the alteration of the greatest states and commonweals, the +erection of monarchies, the conquest of kingdoms and empires, guided +handfuls of men against multitudes of equal bodily strength, contrived +victories beyond all hope and discourse of reason, converted the fearful +passions of his own followers into magnanimity, and the valor of his +enemies into cowardice; such spirits have been stirred up in sundry ages +of the world, and in divers parts thereof, to erect and cast down again, +to establish and to destroy, and to bring all things, persons, and +states to the same certain ends which the infinite spirit of the +_Universal_, piercing, moving, and governing all things, hath ordained. +Certainly, the things that this King did were marvellous and would +hardly have been undertaken by anyone else; and though his father had +determined to have invaded the Lesser Asia, it is like enough that he +would have contented himself with some part thereof, and not have +discovered the river of Indus, as this man did." + +A higher authority than either Arrian or Raleigh may now be referred to +by those who wish to know the real merit of Alexander as a general, and +how far the commonplace assertions are true that his successes were the +mere results of fortunate rashness and unreasoning pugnacity. Napoleon +selected Alexander as one of the seven greatest generals whose noble +deeds history has handed down to us, and from the study of whose +campaigns the principles of war are to be learned. The critique of the +greatest conqueror of modern times on the military career of the great +conqueror of the Old World is no less graphic than true: + +"Alexander crossed the Dardanelles B.C. 334, with an army of about forty +thousand men, of which one-eighth was cavalry; he forced the passage of +the Granicus in opposition to an army under Memnon, the Greek, who +commanded for Darius on the coast of Asia, and he spent the whole of the +year 333 in establishing his power in Asia Minor. He was seconded by the +Greek colonies, who dwelt on the borders of the Black Sea and on the +Mediterranean, and in Sardis, Ephesus, Tarsus, Miletus, etc. The kings +of Persia left their provinces and towns to be governed according to +their own particular laws. Their empire was a union of confederated +states, and did not form one nation; this facilitated its conquest. As +Alexander only wished for the throne of the monarch, he easily effected +the change by respecting the customs, manners, and laws of the people, +who experienced no change in their condition. + +"In the year 332 he met with Darius at the head of sixty thousand men, +who had taken up a position near Tarsus, on the banks of the Issus, in +the province of Cilicia. He defeated him, entered Syria, took Damascus, +which contained all the riches of the Great King, and laid siege to +Tyre. This superb metropolis of the commerce of the world detained him +nine months. + +"He took Gaza after a siege of two months; crossed the desert in seven +days; entered Pelusium and Memphis, and founded Alexandria. In less than +two years, after two battles and four or five sieges, the coasts of the +Black Sea, from Phasis to Byzantium, those of the Mediterranean as far +as Alexandria, all Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt, had submitted to his +arms. + +"In 331 he repassed the desert, encamped in Tyre, re-crossed Syria, +entered Damascus, passed the Euphrates and Tigris, and defeated Darius +on the field of Arbela when he was at the head of a still stronger army +than that which he commanded on the Issus, and Babylon opened her gates +to him. In 330 he overran Susa and took that city, Persepolis, and +Pasargada, which contained the tomb of Cyrus. In 329 he directed his +course northward, entered Ecbatana, and extended his conquests to the +coasts of the Caspian, punished Bessus, the cowardly assassin of Darius, +penetrated into Scythia, and subdued the Scythians. + +"In 328 he forced the passage of the Oxus, received sixteen thousand +recruits from Macedonia, and reduced the neighboring people to +subjection. In 327 he crossed the Indus, vanquished Porus in a pitched +battle, took him prisoner, and treated him as a king. He contemplated +passing the Ganges, but his army refused. He sailed down the Indus, in +the year 326, with eight hundred vessels; having arrived at the ocean, +he sent Nearchus with a fleet to run along the coasts of the Indian +Ocean and the Persian Gulf as far as the mouth of the Euphrates. In 325 +he took sixty days in crossing from Gedrosia, entered Keramania, +returned to Pasargada, Persepolis, and Susa, and married Statira, the +daughter of Darius. In 324 he marched once more to the north, passed +Echatana, and terminated his career at Babylon." + +The enduring importance of Alexander's conquests is to be estimated, not +by the duration of his own life and empire, or even by the duration of +the kingdoms which his generals after his death formed out of the +fragments of that mighty dominion. In every region of the world that he +traversed, Alexander planted Greek settlements and founded cities, in +the populations of which the Greek element at once asserted its +predominance. Among his successors, the Seleucidae and the Ptolemies +imitated their great captain in blending schemes of civilization, of +commercial intercourse, and of literary and scientific research with all +their enterprises of military aggrandizement and with all their systems +of civil administration. + +Such was the ascendency of the Greek genius, so wonderfully +comprehensive and assimilating was the cultivation which it introduced, +that, within thirty years after Alexander crossed the Hellespont, the +Greek language was spoken in every country from the shores of the Ægean +to the Indus, and also throughout Egypt--not, indeed, wholly to the +extirpation of the native dialects, but it became the language of every +court, of all literature, of every judicial and political function, and +formed a medium of communication among the many myriads of mankind +inhabiting these large portions of the Old World. + +Throughout Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt the Hellenic character that was +thus imparted remained in full vigor down to the time of the Mahometan +conquests. The infinite value of this to humanity in the highest and +holiest point of view has often been pointed out, and the workings of +the finger of Providence have been gratefully recognized by those who +have observed how the early growth and progress of Christianity were +aided by that diffusion of the Greek language and civilization +throughout Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt which had been caused by the +Macedonian conquest of the East. + +In Upper Asia, beyond the Euphrates, the direct and material influence +of Greek ascendency was more short-lived. Yet, during the existence of +the Hellenic kingdoms in these regions, especially of the Greek kingdom +of Bactria, the modern Bokhara, very important effects were produced on +the intellectual tendencies and tastes of the inhabitants of those +countries, and of the adjacent ones, by the animating contact of the +Grecian spirit. Much of Hindu science and philosophy, much of the +literature of the later Persian kingdom of the Arsacidæ, either +originated from or was largely modified by Grecian influences. So, also, +the learning and science of the Arabians were in a far less degree the +result of original invention and genius than the reproduction, in an +altered form, of the Greek philosophy and the Greek lore acquired by the +Saracenic conquerors, together with their acquisition of the provinces +which Alexander had subjugated, nearly a thousand years before the armed +disciples of Mahomet commenced their career in the East. + +It is well known that Western Europe in the Middle Ages drew its +philosophy, its arts, and its science principally from Arabian teachers. +And thus we see how the intellectual influence of ancient Greece, poured +on the Eastern world by Alexander's victories, and then brought back to +bear on mediæval Europe by the spread of the Saracenic powers, has +exerted its action on the elements of modern civilization by this +powerful though indirect channel, as well as by the more obvious effects +of the remnants of classic civilization which survived in Italy, Gaul, +Britain, and Spain, after the irruption of the Germanic nations. + +These considerations invest the Macedonian triumphs in the East with +never-dying interest, such as the most showy and sanguinary successes of +mere "low ambition and the pride of kings," however they may dazzle for +a moment, can never retain with posterity. Whether the old Persian +empire which Cyrus founded could have survived much longer than it did, +even if Darius had been victorious at Arbela, may safely be disputed. +That ancient dominion, like the Turkish at the present time, labored +under every cause of decay and dissolution. The satraps, like the modern +pachas, continually rebelled against the central power, and Egypt in +particular was almost always in a state of insurrection against its +nominal sovereign. There was no longer any effective central control, or +any internal principle of unity fused through the huge mass of the +empire, and binding it together. + +Persia was evidently about to fall; but, had it not been for Alexander's +invasion of Asia, she would most probably have fallen beneath some other +oriental power, as Media and Babylon had formerly fallen before herself, +and as, in after-times, the Parthian supremacy gave way to the revived +ascendency of Persia in the East, under the sceptres of the Arsacidæ. A +revolution that merely substituted one Eastern power for another would +have been utterly barren and unprofitable to mankind. + +Alexander's victory at Arbela not only overthrew an oriental dynasty, +but established European rulers in its stead. It broke the monotony of +the eastern world by the impression of western energy and superior +civilization, even as England's present mission is to break up the +mental and moral stagnation of India and Cathay by pouring upon and +through them the impulsive current of Anglo-Saxon commerce and conquest. + +Arbela, the city which has furnished its name to the decisive battle +which gave Asia to Alexander, lies more than twenty miles from the +actual scene of conflict. The little village, then named Gaugamela, is +close to the spot where the armies met, but has ceded the honor of +naming the battle to its more euphonious neighbor. Gaugamela is situated +in one of the wide plains that lie between the Tigris and the mountains +of Kurdistan. A few undulating hillocks diversify the surface of this +sandy tract; but the ground is generally level and admirably qualified +for the evolutions of cavalry, and also calculated to give the larger of +two armies the full advantage of numerical superiority. + +The Persian King--who, before he came to the throne, had proved his +personal valor as a soldier and his skill as a general--had wisely +selected this region for the third and decisive encounter between his +forces and the invader. The previous defeats of his troops, however +severe they had been, were not looked on as irreparable. The Granicus +had been fought by his generals rashly and without mutual concert; and, +though Darius himself had commanded and been beaten at Issus, that +defeat might be attributed to the disadvantageous nature of the ground, +where, cooped up between the mountains, the river, and the sea, the +numbers of the Persians confused and clogged alike the general's skill +and the soldiers' prowess, and their very strength had been made their +weakness. Here, on the broad plains of Kurdistan, there was scope for +Asia's largest host to array its lines, to wheel, to skirmish, to +condense or expand its squadrons, to manoeuvre, and to charge at will. +Should Alexander and his scanty band dare to plunge into that living sea +of war, their destruction seemed inevitable. + +Darius felt, however, the critical nature to himself as well as to his +adversary of the coming encounter. He could not hope to retrieve the +consequences of a third overthrow. The great cities of Mesopotamia and +Upper Asia, the central provinces of the Persian empire, were certain to +be at the mercy of the victor. Darius knew also the Asiatic character +well enough to be aware how it yields to _prestige_ of success and the +apparent career of destiny. He felt that the diadem was now either to be +firmly replaced on his own brow or to be irrevocably transferred to the +head of his European conqueror. He, therefore, during the long interval +left him after the battle of Issus, while Alexander was subjugating +Syria and Egypt, assiduously busied himself in selecting the best troops +which his vast empire supplied, and in training his varied forces to act +together with some uniformity of discipline and system. + +The hardy mountaineers of Afghanistan, Bokhara, Khiva, and Tibet were +then, as at present, far different from the generality of Asiatics in +warlike spirit and endurance. From these districts Darius collected +large bodies of admirable infantry; and the countries of the modern +Kurds and Turkomans supplied, as they do now, squadrons of horsemen, +hardy, skilful, bold, and trained to a life of constant activity and +warfare. It is not uninteresting to notice that the ancestors of our own +late enemies, the Sikhs, served as allies of Darius against the +Macedonians. They are spoken of in Arrian as Indians who dwelt near +Bactria. They were attached to the troops of that satrapy, and their +cavalry was one of the most formidable forces in the whole Persian army. + +Besides these picked troops, contingents also came in from the numerous +other provinces that yet obeyed the Great King. Altogether, the horse +are said to have been forty thousand, the scythe-bearing chariots two +hundred, and the armed elephants fifteen in number. The amount of the +infantry is uncertain; but the knowledge which both ancient and modern +times supply of the usual character of oriental armies, and of their +populations of camp-followers, may warrant us in believing that many +myriads were prepared to fight or to encumber those who fought for the +last Darius. + +The position of the Persian King near Mesopotamia was chosen with great +military skill. It was certain that Alexander, on his return from Egypt, +must march northward along the Syrian coast before he attacked the +central provinces of the Persian empire. A direct eastward march from +the lower part of Palestine across the great Syrian Desert was then, as +ever, utterly impracticable. Marching eastward from Syria, Alexander +would, on crossing the Euphrates, arrive at the vast Mesopotamian +plains. The wealthy capitals of the empire, Babylon, Susa, and +Persepolis, would then lie to the south; and if he marched down through +Mesopotamia to attack them, Darius might reasonably hope to follow the +Macedonians with his immense force of cavalry, and, without even risking +a pitched battle, to harass and finally overwhelm them. + +We may remember that three centuries afterward a Roman army under +Crassus was thus actually destroyed by the oriental archers and horsemen +in these very plains, and that the ancestors of the Parthians who thus +vanquished the Roman legions served by thousands under King Darius. If, +on the contrary, Alexander should defer his march against Babylon, and +first seek an encounter with the Persian army, the country on each side +of the Tigris in this latitude was highly advantageous for such an army +as Darius commanded, and he had close in his rear the mountainous +districts of Northern Media, where he himself had in early life been +satrap, where he had acquired reputation as a soldier and a general, and +where he justly expected to find loyalty to his person, and a safe +refuge in case of defeat.[49] + +[Footnote 49: Mitford's remarks on the strategy of Darius in his last +campaign are very just. After having been unduly admired as a historian, +Mitford is now unduly neglected. His partiality and his deficiency in +scholarship have been exposed sufficiently to make him no longer a +dangerous guide as to Greek politics, while the clearness and brilliance +of his narrative, and the strong common sense of his remarks (where his +party prejudices do not interfere), must always make his volumes +valuable as well as entertaining.] + +His great antagonist came on across the Euphrates against him, at the +head of an army which Arrian, copying from the journals of Macedonian +officers, states to have consisted of forty thousand foot and seven +thousand horse. In studying the campaigns of Alexander, we possess the +peculiar advantage of deriving our information from two of Alexander's +generals of division, who bore an important part in all his enterprises. +Aristobulus and Ptolemy--who afterward became king of Egypt--kept +regular journals of the military events which they witnessed, and these +journals were in the possession of Arrian when he drew up his history of +Alexander's expedition. + +The high character of Arrian for integrity makes us confident that he +used them fairly, and his comments on the occasional discrepancies +between the two Macedonian narratives prove that he used them sensibly. +He frequently quotes the very words of his authorities; and his history +thus acquires a charm such as very few ancient or modern military +narratives possess. The anecdotes and expressions which he records we +fairly believe to be genuine, and not to be the coinage of a +rhetorician, like those in Curtius. In fact, in reading Arrian, we read +General Aristobulus and General Ptolemy on the campaigns of the +Macedonians, and it is like reading General Jomini or General Foy on the +campaigns of the French. + +The estimate which we find in Arrian of the strength of Alexander's army +seems reasonable enough, when we take into account both the losses which +he had sustained and the reënforcements which he had received since he +left Europe. Indeed, to Englishmen, who know with what mere handfuls of +men our own generals have, at Plassy, at Assaye, at Meeanee, and other +Indian battles, routed large hosts of Asiatics, the disparity of numbers +that we read of in the victories won by the Macedonians over the +Persians presents nothing incredible. The army which Alexander now led +was wholly composed of veteran troops in the highest possible state of +equipment and discipline, enthusiastically devoted to their leader, and +full of confidence in his military genius and his victorious destiny. + +The celebrated Macedonian phalanx formed the main strength of his +infantry. This force had been raised and organized by his father, +Philip, who, on his accession to the Macedonian throne, needed a +numerous and quickly formed army, and who, by lengthening the spear of +the ordinary Greek phalanx, and increasing the depth of the files, +brought the tactics of armed masses to the highest extent of which it +was capable with such materials as he possessed. He formed his men +sixteen deep, and placed in their grasp the _sarissa_, as the Macedonian +pike was called, which was four-and-twenty feet in length, and, when +couched for action, reached eighteen feet in front of the soldier; so +that, as a space of about two feet was allowed between the ranks, the +spears of the five files behind him projected in front of each +front-rank man. + +The phalangite soldier was fully equipped in the defensive armor of the +regular Greek infantry. And thus the phalanx presented a ponderous and +bristling mass, which, as long as its order was kept compact, was sure +to bear down all opposition. The defects of such an organization are +obvious, and were proved in after-years, when the Macedonians were +opposed to the Roman legions. But it is clear that under Alexander the +phalanx was not the cumbrous, unwieldy body which it was at Cynoscephate +and Pydna. His men were veterans; and he could obtain from them an +accuracy of movement and steadiness of evolution such as probably the +recruits of his father would only have floundered in attempting, and +such as certainly were impracticable in the phalanx when handled by his +successors, especially as under them it ceased to be a standing force, +and became only a militia. + +Under Alexander the phalanx consisted of an aggregate of eighteen +thousand men, who were divided into six brigades of three thousand each. +These were again subdivided into regiments and companies; and the men +were carefully trained to wheel, to face about, to take more ground, or +to close up, as the emergencies of the battle required. Alexander also +arrayed troops armed in a different manner in the intervals of the +regiments of his phalangites, who could prevent their line from being +pierced and their companies taken in flank, when the nature of the +ground prevented a close formation, and who could be withdrawn when a +favorable opportunity arrived for closing up the phalanx or any of its +brigades for a charge, or when it was necessary to prepare to receive +cavalry. + +Besides the phalanx, Alexander had a considerable force of infantry who +were called shield-bearers: they were not so heavily armed as the +phalangites, or as was the case with the Greek regular infantry in +general, but they were equipped for close fight as well as for +skirmishing, and were far superior to the ordinary irregular troops of +Greek warfare. They were about six thousand strong. Besides these, he +had several bodies of Greek regular infantry; and he had archers, +slingers, and javelin-men, who fought also with broadsword and target, +and who were principally supplied him by the highlanders of Illyria and +Thracia. + +The main strength of his cavalry consisted in two chosen regiments of +cuirassiers, one Macedonian and one Thessalian, each of which was about +fifteen hundred strong. They were provided with long lances and heavy +swords, and horse as well as man was fully equipped with defensive +armor. Other regiments of regular cavalry were less heavily armed, and +there were several bodies of light-horsemen, whom Alexander's conquests +in Egypt and Syria had enabled him to mount superbly. + +A little before the end of August, Alexander crossed the Euphrates at +Thapsacus, a small corps of Persian cavalry under Mazaeus retiring +before him. Alexander was too prudent to march down through the +Mesopotamian deserts, and continued to advance eastward with the +intention of passing the Tigris, and then, if he was unable to find +Darius and bring him to action, of marching southward on the left side +of that river along the skirts of a mountainous district where his men +would suffer less from heat and thirst, and where provisions would be +more abundant. + +Darius, finding that his adversary was not to be enticed into the march +through Mesopotamia against his capital, determined to remain on the +battle-ground, which he had chosen on the left of the Tigris; where, if +his enemy met a defeat or a check, the destruction of the invaders would +be certain with two such rivers as the Euphrates and the Tigris in their +rear. + +The Persian King availed himself to the utmost of every advantage in his +power. He caused a large space of ground to be carefully levelled for +the operation of his scythe-armed chariots; and he deposited his +military stores in the strong town of Arbela, about twenty miles in his +rear. The rhetoricians of after-ages have loved to describe Darius +Codomanus as a second Xerxes in ostentation and imbecility; but a fair +examination of his generalship in this his last campaign shows that he +was worthy of bearing the same name as his great predecessor, the royal +son of Hystaspes. + +On learning that Darius was with a large army on the left of the Tigris, +Alexander hurried forward and crossed that river without opposition. He +was at first unable to procure any certain intelligence of the precise +position of the enemy, and after giving his army a short interval of +rest he marched for four days down the left bank of the river. + +A moralist may pause upon the fact that Alexander must in this march +have passed within a few miles of the ruins of Nineveh, the great city +of the primæval conquerors of the human race. Neither the Macedonian +King nor any of his followers knew what those vast mounds had once been. +They had already sunk into utter destruction; and it is only within the +last few years that the intellectual energy of one of our own countrymen +has rescued Nineveh from its long centuries of oblivion. + +On the fourth day of Alexander's southward march, his advance guard +reported that a body of the enemy's cavalry was in sight. He instantly +formed his army in order for battle, and directing them to advance +steadily he rode forward at the head of some squadrons of cavalry and +charged the Persian horse, whom he found before him. This was a mere +reconnoitring party, and they broke and fled immediately; but the +Macedonians made some prisoners, and from them Alexander found that +Darius was posted only a few miles off, and learned the strength of the +army that he had with him. On receiving this news Alexander halted, and +gave his men repose for four days, so that they should go into action +fresh and vigorous. He also fortified his camp and deposited in it all +his military stores and all his sick and disabled soldiers, intending to +advance upon the enemy with the serviceable part of his army perfectly +unencumbered. + +After this halt, he moved forward, while it was yet dark, with the +intention of reaching the enemy, and attacking them at break of day. +About half way between the camps there were some undulations of the +ground, which concealed the two armies from each other's view; but, on +Alexander arriving at their summit, he saw, by the early light, the +Persian host arrayed before him, and he probably also observed traces of +some engineering operation having been carried on along part of the +ground in front of them. + +Not knowing that these marks had been caused by the Persians having +levelled the ground for the free use of their war chariots, Alexander +suspected that hidden pitfalls had been prepared with a view of +disordering the approach of his cavalry. He summoned a council of war +forthwith. Some of the officers were for attacking instantly, at all +hazards; but the more prudent opinion of Parmenio prevailed, and it was +determined not to advance farther till the battle-ground had been +carefully surveyed. + +Alexander halted his army on the heights, and, taking with him some +light-armed infantry and some cavalry, he passed part of the day in +reconnoitring the enemy and observing the nature of the ground which he +had to fight on. Darius wisely refrained from moving from his position +to attack the Macedonians on the eminences which they occupied, and the +two armies remained until night without molesting each other. + +On Alexander's return to his headquarters, he summoned his generals and +superior officers together, and telling them that he knew well that +_their_ zeal wanted no exhortation, he besought them to do their utmost +in encouraging and instructing those whom each commanded, to do their +best in the next day's battle. They were to remind them that they were +now not going to fight for a province as they had hitherto fought, but +they were about to decide by their swords the dominion of all Asia. Each +officer ought to impress this upon his subalterns, and they should urge +it on their men. Their natural courage required no long words to excite +its ardor; but they should be reminded of the paramount importance of +steadiness in action. The silence in the ranks must be unbroken as long +as silence was proper; but when the time came for the charge, the shout +and the cheer must be full of terror for the foe. The officers were to +be alert in receiving and communicating orders; and everyone was to act +as if he felt that the whole result of the battle depended on his own +single good conduct. + +Having thus briefly instructed his generals, Alexander ordered that the +army should sup and take their rest for the night. + +Darkness had closed over the tents of the Macedonians when Alexander's +veteran general, Parmenio, came to him and proposed that they should +make a night attack on the Persians. The King is said to have answered +that he scorned to filch a victory, and that Alexander must conquer +openly and fairly. Arrian justly remarks that Alexander's resolution was +as wise as it was spirited. Besides the confusion and uncertainty which +are inseparable from night engagements, the value of Alexander's victory +would have been impaired if gained under circumstances which might +supply the enemy with any excuse for his defeat, and encourage him to +renew the contest. It was necessary for Alexander not only to beat +Darius, but to gain such a victory as should leave his rival without +apology and without hope of recovery. + +The Persians, in fact, expected and were prepared to meet a night +attack. Such was the apprehension that Darius entertained of it that he +formed his troops at evening in order of battle, and kept them under +arms all night. The effect of this was that the morning found them jaded +and dispirited, while it brought their adversaries all fresh and +vigorous against them. + +The written order of battle which Darius himself caused to be drawn up +fell into the hands of the Macedonians after the engagement, and +Aristobulus copied it into his journal. We thus possess, through Arrian, +unusually authentic information as to the composition and arrangement of +the Persian army. On the extreme left were the Bactrian, Daan, and +Arachosian cavalry. Next to these Darius placed the troops from Persia +proper, both horse and foot. Then came the Susians, and next to these +the Cadusians. These forces made up the left wing. + +Darius' own station was in the centre. This was composed of the Indians, +the Carians, the Mardian archers, and the division of Persians who were +distinguished by the golden apples that formed the knobs of their +spears. Here also were stationed the bodyguard of the Persian nobility. +Besides these, there were, in the centre, formed in deep order, the +Uxian and Babylonian troops and the soldiers from the Red Sea. The +brigade of Greek mercenaries whom Darius had in his service, and who +alone were considered fit to stand the charge of the Macedonian phalanx, +was drawn up on either side of the royal chariot. + +The right wing was composed of the Coelosyrians and Mesopotamians, the +Medes, the Parthians, the Sacians, the Tapurians, Hyrcanians, Albanians, +and Sacesinae. In advance of the line on the left wing were placed the +Scythian cavalry, with a thousand of the Bactrian horse and a hundred +scythe-armed chariots. The elephants and fifty scythe-armed chariots +were ranged in front of the centre; and fifty more chariots, with the +Armenian and Cappadocian cavalry, were drawn up in advance of the right +wing. + +Thus arrayed, the great host of King Darius passed the night that to +many thousands of them was the last of their existence. The morning of +the first of October[50] dawned slowly to their wearied watching, and +they could hear the note of the Macedonian trumpet sounding to arms, and +could see King Alexander's forces descend from their tents on the +heights and form in order of battle on the plain. + +[Footnote 50: The battle was fought eleven days after an eclipse of the +moon, which gives the means of fixing the precise date.] + +There was deep need of skill, as well as of valor, on Alexander's side; +and few battle-fields have witnessed more consummate generalship than +was now displayed by the Macedonian King. There were no natural barriers +by which he could protect his flanks; and not only was he certain to be +overlapped on either wing by the vast lines of the Persian army, but +there was imminent risk of their circling round him, and charging him in +the rear, while he advanced against their centre. He formed, therefore, +a second, or reserve line, which was to wheel round, if required, or to +detach troops to either flank, as the enemy's movements might +necessitate; and thus, with their whole army ready at any moment to be +thrown into one vast hollow square, the Macedonians advanced in two +lines against the enemy, Alexander himself leading on the right wing, +and the renowned phalanx forming the centre, while Parmenio commanded on +the left. + +Such was the general nature of the disposition which Alexander made of +his army. But we have in Arrian the details of the position of each +brigade and regiment; and as we know that these details were taken from +the journals of Macedonian generals, it is interesting to examine them, +and to read the names and stations of King Alexander's generals and +colonels in this the greatest of his battles. + +The eight regiments of the royal horse-guards formed the right of +Alexander's line. Their colonels were Clitus--whose regiment was on the +extreme right, the post of peculiar danger--Glaucias, Ariston, Sopolis, +Heraclides, Demetrias, Meleager, and Hegelochus. Philotas was general of +the whole division. Then came the shield-bearing infantry: Nicanor was +their general. Then came the phalanx in six brigades. Coenus' brigade +was on the right, and nearest to the shield-bearers; next to this stood +the brigade of Perdiccas, then Meleager's, then Polysperchon's; and then +the brigade of Amynias, but which was now commanded by Simmias, as +Amynias had been sent to Macedonia to levy recruits. Then came the +infantry of the left wing, under the command of Craterus. + +Next to Craterus' infantry were placed the cavalry regiments of the +allies, with Eriguius for their general. The Thessalian cavalry, +commanded by Philippus, were next, and held the extreme left of the +whole army. The whole left wing was intrusted to the command of +Parmenio, who had round his person the Pharsalian regiment of cavalry, +which was the strongest and best of all the Thessalian horse regiments. + +The centre of the second line was occupied by a body of phalangite +infantry, formed of companies which were drafted for this purpose from +each of the brigades of their phalanx. The officers in command of this +corps were ordered to be ready to face about if the enemy should succeed +in gaining the rear of the army. On the right of this reserve of +infantry, in the second line, and behind the royal horse-guards, +Alexander placed half the Agrian light-armed infantry under Attalus, and +with them Brison's body of Macedonian archers and Cleander's regiment of +foot. He also placed in this part of his army Menidas' squadron of +cavalry and Aretes' and Ariston's light horse. Menidas was ordered to +watch if the enemy's cavalry tried to turn their flank, and, if they did +so, to charge them before they wheeled completely round, and so take +them in flank themselves. + +A similar force was arranged on the left of the second line for the same +purpose. The Thracian infantry of Sitalces were placed there, and +Coeranus' regiment of the cavalry of the Greek allies, and Agathon's +troops of the Odrysian irregular horse. The extreme left of the second +line in this quarter was held by Andromachus' cavalry. A division of +Thracian infantry was left in guard of the camp. In advance of the right +wing and centre was scattered a number of light-armed troops, of +javelin-men and bowmen, with the intention of warding off the charge of +the armed chariots.[51] + +[Footnote 51: Kleber's arrangement of his troops at the battle of +Heliopolis, where, with ten thousand Europeans, he had to encounter +eighty thousand Asiatics in an open plain, is worth comparing with +Alexander's tactics at Arbela. See Thiers' _Histoire du Consulat_.] + +Conspicuous by the brilliancy of his armor, and by the chosen band of +officers who were round his person, Alexander took his own station, as +his custom was, in the right wing, at the head of his cavalry; and when +all the arrangements for the battle were complete, and his generals were +fully instructed how to act in each probable emergency, he began to lead +his men toward the enemy. + +It was ever his custom to expose his life freely in battle, and to +emulate the personal prowess of his great ancestor, Achilles. Perhaps, +in the bold enterprise of conquering Persia, it was politic for +Alexander to raise his army's daring to the utmost by the example of his +own heroic valor; and, in his subsequent campaigns, the love of the +excitement, of "the raptures of the strife," may have made him, like +Murat, continue from choice a custom which he commenced from duty. But +he never suffered the ardor of the soldier to make him lose the coolness +of the general. + +Great reliance had been placed by the Persian King on the effects of the +scythe-bearing chariots. It was designed to launch these against the +Macedonian phalanx, and to follow them up by a heavy charge of cavalry, +which, it was hoped, would find the ranks of the spearmen disordered by +the rush of the chariots, and easily destroy this most formidable part +of Alexander's force. In front, therefore, of the Persian centre, where +Darius took his station, and which it was supposed that the phalanx +would attack, the ground had been carefully levelled and smoothed, so as +to allow the chariots to charge over it with their full sweep and speed. + +As the Macedonian army approached the Persian, Alexander found that the +front of his whole line barely equalled the front of the Persian centre, +so that he was outflanked on his right by the entire left wing of the +enemy, and by their entire right wing on his left. His tactics were to +assail some one point of the hostile army, and gain a decisive +advantage, while he refused, as far as possible, the encounter along the +rest of the line. He therefore inclined his order of march to the right, +so as to enable his right wing and centre to come into collision with +the enemy on as favorable terms as possible, although the manoeuvre +might in some respect compromise his left. + +The effect of this oblique movement was to bring the phalanx and his own +wing nearly beyond the limits of the ground which the Persians had +prepared for the operations of the chariots; and Darius, fearing to lose +the benefit of this arm against the most important parts of the +Macedonian force, ordered the Scythian and Bactrian cavalry, who were +drawn up in advance on his extreme left, to charge round upon +Alexander's right wing, and check its farther lateral progress. Against +these assailants Alexander sent from his second line Menidas' cavalry. +As these proved too few to make head against the enemy, he ordered +Ariston also from the second line with his right horse, and Cleander +with his foot, in support of Menidas. + +The Bactrians and Scythians now began to give way; but Darius reenforced +them by the mass of Bactrian cavalry from his main line, and an +obstinate cavalry fight now took place. The Bactrians and Scythians were +numerous, and were better armed than the horsemen under Menidas and +Ariston; and the loss at first was heaviest on the Macedonian side. But +still the European cavalry stood the charge of the Asiatics, and at +last, by their superior discipline, and by acting in squadrons that +supported each other,[52] instead of fighting in a confused mass like +the barbarians, the Macedonians broke their adversaries and drove them +off the field. + +[Footnote 52: The best explanation of this may be found in Napoleon's +account of the cavalry fights between the French and the mamelukes: "Two +mamelukes were able to make head against three Frenchmen, because they +were better armed, better mounted, and better trained; they had two pair +of pistols, a blunderbuss, a carbine, a helmet with a visor, and a coat +of mail; they had several horses, and several attendants on foot. One +hundred cuirassiers, however, were not afraid of one hundred mamelukes; +three hundred could beat an equal number, and one thousand could easily +put to the rout fifteen hundred, so great is the influence of tactics, +order, and evolutions! Leclerc and Lasalle presented their men to the +mamelukes in several lines. When the Arabs were on the point of +overwhelming the first, the second came to its assistance on the right +and left; the mamelukes then halted and wheeled, in order to turn the +wings of this new line; this moment was always seized upon to charge +them, and they were uniformly broken."] + +Darius now directed the scythe-armed chariots to be driven against +Alexander's horse-guards and the phalanx, and these formidable vehicles +were accordingly sent rattling across the plain, against the Macedonian +line. When we remember the alarm which the war chariots of the Britons +created among Cæsar's legions, we shall not be prone to deride this arm +of ancient warfare as always useless. The object of the chariots was to +create unsteadiness in the ranks against which they were driven, and +squadrons of cavalry followed close upon them to profit by such +disorder. But the Asiatic chariots were rendered ineffective at Arbela +by the light-armed troops, whom Alexander had specially appointed for +the service, and who, wounding the horses and drivers with their missile +weapons, and running alongside so as to cut the traces or seize the +reins, marred the intended charge; and the few chariots that reached the +phalanx passed harmlessly through the internals which the spearmen +opened for them, and were easily captured in the rear. + +A mass of the Asiatic cavalry was now, for the second time, collected +against Alexander's extreme right, and moved round it, with the view of +gaining the flank of his army. At the critical moment, when their own +flanks were exposed by this evolution, Aretes dashed on the Persian +squadrons with his horsemen from Alexander's second line. While +Alexander thus met and baffled all the flanking attacks of the enemy +with troops brought up from his second line, he kept his own +horse-guards and the rest of the front line of his wing fresh, and ready +to take advantage of the first opportunity for striking a decisive blow. + +This soon came. A large body of horse, who were posted on the Persian +left wing nearest to the centre, quitted their station, and rode off to +help their comrades in the cavalry fight that still was going on at the +extreme right of Alexander's wing against the detachments from his +second line. This made a huge gap in the Persian array, and into this +space Alexander instantly charged with his guard and all the cavalry of +his wing; and then, pressing toward his left, he soon began to make +havoc in the left flank of the Persian centre. The shield-bearing +infantry now charged also among the reeling masses of the Asiatics; and +five of the brigades of the phalanx, with the irresistible might of +their sarissas, bore down the Greek mercenaries of Darius, and dug their +way through the Persian centre. + +In the early part of the battle Darius had showed skill and energy; and +he now, for some time, encouraged his men, by voice and example, to keep +firm. But the lances of Alexander's cavalry and the pikes of the phalanx +now pressed nearer and nearer to him. His charioteer was struck down by +a javelin at his side; and at last Darius' nerve failed him, and, +descending from his chariot, he mounted on a fleet horse and galloped +from the plain, regardless of the state of the battle in other parts of +the field, where matters were going on much more favorably for his +cause, and where his presence might have done much toward gaining a +victory. + +Alexander's operations with his right and centre had exposed his left to +an immensely preponderating force of the enemy. Parmenio kept out of +action as long as possible; but Mazaeus, who commanded the Persian right +wing, advanced against him, completely outflanked him, and pressed him +severely with reiterated charges by superior numbers. + +Seeing the distress of Parmenio's wing, Simmias, who commanded the sixth +brigade of the phalanx, which was next to the left wing, did not advance +with the other brigades in the great charge upon the Persian centre, but +kept back to cover Parmenio's troops on their right flank, as otherwise +they would have been completely surrounded and cut off from the rest of +the Macedonian army. By so doing, Simmias had unavoidably opened a gap +in the Macedonian left centre; and a large column of Indian and Persian +horse, from the Persian right centre, had galloped forward through this +interval, and right through the troops of the Macedonian second line. +Instead of then wheeling round upon Parmenio, or upon the rear of +Alexander's conquering wing, the Indian and Persian cavalry rode +straight on to the Macedonian camp, overpowered the Thracians who were +left in charge of it, and began to plunder. This was stopped by the +phalangite troops of the second line, who, after the enemy's horsemen +had rushed by them, faced about, countermarched upon the camp, killed +many of the Indians and Persians in the act of plundering, and forced +the rest to ride off again. + +Just at this crisis, Alexander had been recalled from his pursuit of +Darius by tidings of the distress of Parmenio and of his inability to +bear up any longer against the hot attacks of Mazaeus. Taking his +horse-guards with him, Alexander rode toward the part of the field where +his left wing was fighting; but on his way thither he encountered the +Persian and Indian cavalry on their return from his camp. + +These men now saw that their only chance of safety was to cut their way +through, and in one huge column they charged desperately upon the +Macedonian regiments. There was here a close hand-to-hand fight, which +lasted some time, and sixty of the royal horse-guards fell, and three +generals, who fought close to Alexander's side, were wounded. At length +the Macedonian discipline and valor again prevailed, and a large number +of the Persian and Indian horsemen were cut down, some few only +succeeding in breaking through and riding away. + +Relieved of these obstinate enemies, Alexander again formed his +regiments of horse-guards, and led them toward Parmenio; but by this +time that general also was victorious. Probably the news of Darius' +flight had reached Mazæus, and had damped the ardor of the Persian right +wing, while the tidings of their comrades' success must have +proportionally encouraged the Macedonian forces under Parmenio. His +Thessalian cavalry particularly distinguished themselves by their +gallantry and persevering good conduct; and by the time that Alexander +had ridden up to Parmenio, the whole Persian army was in full flight +from the field. + +It was of the deepest importance to Alexander to secure the person of +Darius, and he now urged on the pursuit. The river Lycus was between the +field of battle and the city of Arbela, whither the fugitives directed +their course, and the passage of this river was even more destructive to +the Persians than the swords and spears of the Macedonians had been in +the engagement.[53] + +[Footnote 53: I purposely omit any statement of the loss in the battle. +There is a palpable error of the transcribers in the numbers which we +find in our present manuscripts of Arrian, and Curtius is of no +authority.] + +The narrow bridge was soon choked up by the flying thousands who rushed +toward it, and vast numbers of the Persians threw themselves, or were +hurried by others, into the rapid stream, and perished in its waters. +Darius had crossed it, and had ridden on through Arbela without halting. +Alexander reached the city on the next day, and made himself master of +all Darius' treasure and stores; but the Persian King, unfortunately for +himself, had fled too fast for his conqueror, but had only escaped to +perish by the treachery of his Bactrian satrap, Bessus. + +A few days after the battle Alexander entered Babylon, "the oldest seat +of earthly empire" then in existence, as its acknowledged lord and +master. There were yet some campaigns of his brief and bright career to +be accomplished. Central Asia was yet to witness the march of his +phalanx. He was yet to effect that conquest of Afghanistan in which +England since has failed. His generalship, as well as his valor, was yet +to be signalized on the banks of the Hydaspes and the field of +Chillianwallah; and he was yet to precede the queen of England in +annexing the Punjab to the dominions of a European sovereign. But the +crisis of his career was reached; the great object of his mission was +accomplished; and the ancient Persian empire, which once menaced all the +nations of the earth with subjection, was irreparably crushed when +Alexander had won his crowning victory at Arbela. + + + + +FIRST BATTLE BETWEEN GREEKS AND ROMANS + +B.C. 280-279 + +PLUTARCH + + +(The Romans, in B.C. 290, had conquered the Samnites and this extended +the Roman power to the very gates of the Grecian cities on the Gulf of +Tarentine. Tarentum, the chief city among them, was almost totally +controlled by a party which advised a peaceful submission to the Roman +conquerors. The opposing party of patriots, against such cowardly +measures, looked abroad for aid and found a ready ally in Pyrrhus, the +Molossian king of Epirus. He was warlike and adventurous, and a member +of the royal family of Macedonia, through Olympias, who was the mother +of Alexander the Great. + +Pyrrhus had established a reputation for fighting. Not alone had he +fought at the memorable battle of Ipsus, in Phrygia, but he had proven a +formidable opponent to Demetinus, king of Macedonia, having forced the +latter powerful monarch to conclude a truce with him, though afterward +he had been conquered and driven back to his little kingdom of Epirus. +At the time the Tarentines sent to him to help them against Rome he was +eager for a field in which he might do something to prove his mettle. +This was the greatest opportunity of his life, and he seized upon it. +The campaign is memorable for having brought the Romans and Greeks into +conflict on the battle-field for the first time.) + + +Pyrrhus, now that he had lost Macedonia, might have spent his days +peacefully ruling his own subjects in Epirus; but he could not endure +repose, thinking that not to trouble others and be troubled by them was +a life of unbearable ennui, and, like Achilles in the _Iliad_, + + "he could not rest in indolence at home, + He longed for battle, and the joys of war." + +As he desired some new adventures he embraced the following opportunity. +The Romans were at war with the Tarentines; and as that people were not +sufficiently powerful to carry on the war, and yet were not allowed by +the audacious folly of their mob orators to make peace, they proposed to +make Pyrrhus their leader and to invite him to be their ally in the war, +because he was more at leisure than any of the other kings, and also was +the best general of them all. Of the older and more sensible citizens +some endeavored to oppose this fatal decision, but were overwhelmed by +the clamor of the war party, while the rest, observing this, ceased to +attend the public assembly. + +There was one citizen of good repute, named Meton, who, on the day when +the final decision was to be made, when the people were all assembled, +took a withered garland and a torch, and like a drunkard, reeled into +the assembly with a girl playing the flute before him. At this, as one +may expect in a disorderly popular meeting, some applauded and some +laughed, but no one stopped him. They next bade the girl play, and Meton +come forward and dance to the music; and he made as though he would do +so. When he had obtained silence he said: "Men of Tarentum, you do well +in encouraging those who wish to be merry and amuse themselves while +they may. If you are wise you will all enjoy your freedom now, for when +Pyrrhus is come to our city you will have very different things to think +of and will live very differently." By these words he made an impression +on the mass of the Tarentine people, and a murmur ran through the crowd +that he had spoken well. But those politicians who feared that if peace +were made they should be delivered up to the Romans, reproached the +people for allowing anyone to insult them by such a disgraceful +exhibition, and prevailed on them to turn Meton out of the assembly. + +Thus the vote for war was passed, and ambassadors were sent to Epirus, +not from Tarentum alone, but from the other Greek cities in Italy, +carrying with them presents for Pyrrhus, with instructions to tell him +that they required a leader of skill and renown, and that they possessed +a force of Lucanians, Messapians, Samnites, and Tarentines, which +amounted to twenty thousand cavalry and three hundred and fifty thousand +infantry. This not only excited Pyrrhus, but also made all the Epirotes +eager to take part in the campaign. + +There was one Cineas, a Thessalian, who was thought to be a man of good +sense, and who, having heard Demosthenes the orator speak, was better +able than any of the speakers of his age to delight his hearers with an +imitation of the eloquence of that great master of rhetoric. He was now +in the service of Pyrrhus, and being sent about to various cities, +proved the truth of the Euripidean saw, that + + "All can be done by words + Which foemen wish to do with conquering swords." + +Pyrrhus at any rate used to say that more cities were won for him by +Cineas with words than he himself won by force of arms. This man, +observing that Pyrrhus was eagerly preparing for his Italian expedition, +once when he was at leisure conversed with him in the following manner. +"Pyrrhus," said he, "the Romans are said to be good soldiers, and to +rule over many warlike nations. Now, if heaven grants us the victory +over them, what use shall we make of it?" + +"You ask what is self-evident," answered Pyrrhus. "If we can conquer the +Romans, there is no city, Greek or barbarian, that can resist us, and we +shall gain possession of the whole of Italy, a country whose size, +richness, and power no one knows better than yourself." Cineas then, +after waiting for a short time, said: "O King, when we have taken Italy, +what shall we do then?" + +Pyrrhus, not yet seeing his drift, answered: "Close to it Sicily invites +us, a noble and populous island, and one which is very easy to conquer; +for, my Cineas, now that Agathocles is dead, there is nothing there but +revolution and faction and the violence of party spirit." + +"What you say," answered Cineas, "is very probably true. But is this +conquest of Sicily to be the extreme limit of our campaign?" + +"Heaven," answered Pyrrhus, "alone can give us victory and success; but +these conquests would merely prove to us the stepping-stones to greater +things. Who could refrain from making an attempt upon Carthage and Libya +when he was so close to them, countries which were all but conquered by +Agathocles when he ran away from Syracuse with only a few ships? and if +we were masters of these countries, none of the enemies who now give +themselves such airs at our expense will dare to resist us." + +"Certainly not," answered Cineas; "with such a force at our disposal we +clearly could recover Macedonia, and have the whole of Greece at our +feet. And after we have made all these conquests, what shall we do +then?" + +Pyrrhus laughing answered: "We will take our ease and carouse every day, +and enjoy pleasant conversation with one another." + +Having brought Pyrrhus to say this, Cineas asked in reply: "But what +prevents our carousing and taking our ease now, since we have already at +hand all those things which we propose to obtain with much bloodshed, +and great toils and perils, and after suffering much ourselves and +causing much suffering to others?" + +By talking in this manner Cineas vexed Pyrrhus, because he made him +reflect on the pleasant home which he was leaving, but his reasoning had +no effect in turning him from his purpose. + +He first despatched Cineas to Tarentum with three thousand men; next he +collected from Tarentum many horse-transports, decked vessels, and boats +of all sorts, and embarked upon them twenty elephants, twenty-three +thousand cavalry, twenty-two thousand infantry, and five hundred +slingers. When all was ready he put to sea; and when half way across a +storm burst upon him from the north, which was unusual at that season of +the year. He himself, though his ship was carried away by the tempest, +yet, by the great pains and skill of the sailors and pilots, resisted it +and reached the land, with great toil to the rowers, and beyond +everyone's expectation; for the rest of the fleet was overpowered by the +gale and scattered. Some ships were driven off the Italian coast +altogether, and forced into the Libyan and Sicilian seas, and some which +could not weather the Iapygian Cape were overtaken by night, and being +dashed by a violent and boisterous sea against that harborless coast +were utterly lost, except only the King's ship. She was so large and +strongly built as to resist the waves as long as they broke upon her +from the seaward; but when the wind changed and blew directly off the +shore, the ship, which now met the waves directly with her head, was in +great danger of going to pieces, while to let her drive out to sea again +now that it was so rough, and the wind changed so frequently, seemed +more terrible than to remain where they were. + +Pyrrhus rose and leaped into the water, and at once was eagerly followed +by his friends and his bodyguard. The darkness of night and the violent +recoil of the roaring waves made it hard for them to help him, and it +was not until daybreak, when the wind abated, that he reached the land, +faint and helpless in body, but with his spirit invincible in +misfortune. The Messapians, upon whose coast he had been thrown, now +assembled from the neighboring villages and offered their help, while +some of the ships which had outlived the storm appeared, bringing a few +horsemen, about two thousand foot, and two elephants. + +With these Pyrrhus marched to Tarentum; Cineas, as soon as he heard of +his arrival, bringing out the Tarentine army to meet him. When he +reached the city he did nothing to displease the Tarentines until his +fleet returned to the coast and he had assembled the greater part of his +army. But then, as he saw that the populace, unless ruled by a strong +hand, could neither help him nor help themselves, but intended to stay +idling about their baths and entertainments at home, while he fought +their battles in the field, he closed the gymnasia and public walks, in +which the people were wont to waste their time in empty talk about the +war. He forbade all drinking, feasting, and unseasonable revels, and +forced the people to take up arms, proving himself inexorable to +everyone who was on the muster-roll of able-bodied citizens. This +conduct made him much disliked, and many of the Tarentines left the city +in disgust; for they were so unused to discipline that they considered +that not to be able to pass their lives as they chose was no better than +slavery. + +When news came that Laevinus, the Roman consul, was marching to attack +him with a large force, and was plundering the country of Lucania as he +advanced, while Pyrrhus' allies had not yet arrived, he thought it a +shameful thing to allow the enemy to proceed any farther, and marched +out with his army. He sent before him a herald to the Roman general, +informing him that he was willing to act as arbitrator in the dispute +between the Romans and the Greek cities of Italy, if they chose to +terminate it peacefully. On receiving for an answer that the Romans +neither wished for Pyrrhus as an arbitrator, nor feared him as an enemy, +he marched forward, and encamped in the plain between the city of +Pandosia and Heraclea. + +Learning that the Romans were close by, and were encamping on the +farther side of the river Siris (the river Aciris, now called Agri), he +rode up to the river to view them; and when he observed their even +ranks, their orderly movements, and their well-arranged camp, he was +surprised, and said to the nearest of his friends: "These barbarians, +Megacles, have nothing barbarous in their military discipline; but we +shall soon learn what they can do." He began indeed already to feel some +uncertainty as to the issue of the campaign, and determined to wait +until his allies came up, and till then to observe the movements of the +Romans, and prevent their crossing the river. They, however, perceiving +his object, at once crossed the river, the infantry at a ford, the +cavalry at many points at once, so that the Greeks feared they might be +surrounded, and drew back. Pyrrhus, perceiving this, ordered his +officers instantly to form the troops in order of battle and wait under +arms while he himself charged with the cavalry, three thousand strong, +hoping to catch the Romans in the act of crossing the river and +consequently in disorder. + +When he saw many shields of the Roman infantry appearing over the river +bank, and their horsemen all ranged in order, he closed up his own ranks +and charged them first himself, a conspicuous figure in his beautiful +glittering armor, and proving by his exploits that he deserved his high +reputation; especially as although he fought personally, and engaged in +combat with the enemy, yet he continually watched the whole battle, and +handled his troops with as much facility as though he were not in the +thick of the fight, appearing always wherever his presence was required, +and reenforcing those who seemed likely to give way. In this battle +Leonnatus the Macedonian, observing one of the Italians watching Pyrrhus +and constantly following him about the field, said to him: "My King, do +you see that barbarian on the black horse with white feet? He seems to +be meditating some desperate deed. He is a man of spirit and courage, +and he never takes his eyes off you, and takes no notice of anyone else. +Beware of that man." + +Pyrrhus answered: "Leonnatus, no man can avoid his fate; but neither +that Italian nor anyone else who attacks me will do so with impunity." +While they were yet talking the Italian levelled his lance and urged his +horse in full career against Pyrrhus. He struck the King's horse with +his spear, and at the same instant his own horse was struck a sidelong +blow by Leonnatus. Both horses fell; Pyrrhus was saved by his friends, +and the Italian perished fighting. He was of the nation of the Frentani, +Hoplacus by name, and was the captain of a troop of horse. + +This incident taught Pyrrhus to be more cautious. He observed that his +cavalry were inclined to give way, and therefore sent for his phalanx, +and arrayed it against the enemy. Then he gave his cloak and armor to +one of his companions, Megacles, and after partially disguising himself +in those of his friend, led his main body to attack the Roman army. The +Romans stoutly resisted him, and an obstinate battle took place, for it +is said that the combatants alternately yielded and again pressed +forward no less than seven distinct times. The King's exchange of armor, +too, though it saved his life, yet very nearly lost him the victory: for +many attacked Megacles, and the man who first struck him down, who was +named Decius, snatched up his cloak and helmet, and rode with them to +Lævinus, displaying them and shouting aloud that he had slain Pyrrhus. + +The Romans, when they saw these spoils carried in triumph along their +ranks, raised a joyful cry, while the Greeks were correspondingly +disheartened, until Pyrrhus, learning what had taken place, rode along +the line with his head bare, stretching out his hands to his soldiers +and telling them that he was safe. At length he was victorious, chiefly +by means of a sudden charge of his Thessalian horse on the Romans after +they had been thrown into disorder by the advance of the elephants. The +Roman horses were terrified at these animals, and, long before they came +near, ran away with their riders in panic. The slaughter was very great: +Dionysius says that of the Romans there fell but little short of fifteen +thousand, but Hieronymus reduces this to seven thousand, while on +Pyrrhus' side there fell, according to Dionysius, thirteen thousand, but +according to Hieronymus less than four thousand. + +These, however, were the very flower of Pyrrhus' army; for he lost all +his most trusty officers and his most intimate personal friends. Still, +he captured the Roman camp, which was abandoned by the enemy, induced +several of their allied cities to join him, plundered a vast extent of +country, and advanced within three hundred stades--less than forty +English miles--of Rome itself. After the battle many of the Lucanians +and Samnites came up; these allies he reproached for their dilatory +movements, but was evidently well pleased at having conquered the great +Roman army with no other forces but his own Epirotes and the Tarentines. + +The Romans did not remove Laevinus from his office of consul, although +Caius Fabricius is reported to have said that it was not the Epirotes +who had conquered the Romans, but Pyrrhus who had conquered Laevinus; +meaning that he thought that the defeat was owing not to the greater +force but the superior generalship of the enemy. They astonished Pyrrhus +by quickly filling up their ranks with fresh levies, and talking about +the war in a spirit of fearless confidence. He decided to try whether +they were disposed to make terms with him, as he perceived that to +capture Rome and utterly subdue the Roman people would be a work of no +small difficulty, and that it would be vain to attempt it with the force +at his disposal, while after his victory he could make peace on terms +which would reflect great lustre on himself. Cineas was sent as +ambassador to conduct this negotiation. + +He conversed with the leading men of Rome, and offered their wives and +children presents from the King. No one, however, would accept them, but +they all, men and women alike, replied that if peace were publicly +concluded with the King, they would then have no objection to regard him +as a friend. And when Cineas spoke before the senate in a winning and +persuasive manner he could not make any impression upon his audience, +although he announced to them that Pyrrhus would restore the prisoners +he had taken without any ransom, and would assist them in subduing all +Italy, while all that he asked in return was that he should be regarded +as a friend, and that the people of Tarentum should not be molested. The +common people, however, were evidently eager for peace, in consequence +of their having been defeated in one great battle, and expecting that +they would have to fight another against a larger force, because the +Italian states would join Pyrrhus. + +At this crisis Appius Claudius, an illustrious man, but who had long +since been prevented by old age and blindness from taking any active +part in politics, when he heard of the proposals of Pyrrhus, and that +the question of peace or war was about to be voted upon by the senate, +could no longer endure to remain at home, but caused his slaves to carry +him through the Forum to the senate house in a litter. When he reached +the doors of the senate house his sons and sons-in-law supported him and +guided him into the house, while all the assembly observed a respectful +silence. + +Speaking from where he stood, he addressed them as follows: "My +countrymen, I used to grieve at the loss of my sight, but now I am sorry +not to be deaf also, when I hear the disgraceful propositions with which +you are tarnishing the glory of Rome. What has become of that boast +which we were so fond of making before all mankind, that if Alexander +the Great had invaded Italy, and had met us when we were young, and our +fathers when they were in the prime of life, he would not have been +reputed invincible, but would either have fled or perhaps even have +fallen, and added to the glory of Rome? + +"You now prove that this was mere empty vaporing, by your terror of +these Chaonians and Molossians, nations who have always been a prey and +a spoil to the Macedonians, and by your fear of this Pyrrhus, who used +formerly to dance attendance on one of Alexander's bodyguards,[54] and +who has now wandered hither not so much in order to assist the Greeks in +Italy as to escape from his enemies at home, and promises to be our +friend and protector, forsooth, when the army he commands did not +suffice to keep for him the least portion of that Macedonia which he +once acquired. Do not imagine that you will get rid of this man by +making a treaty with him. Rather you will encourage other Greek princes +to invade you, for they will despise you and think you an easy prey to +all men if you let Pyrrhus go home again without paying the penalty of +his outrages upon you, nay, with the power to boast that he has made +Rome a laughing-stock for Tarentines and Samnites." + +[Footnote 54: Demetrius.] + +By these words Appius roused a warlike spirit in the Romans, and they +dismissed Cineas with the answer that if Pyrrhus would leave Italy they +would, if he wished, discuss the question of an alliance with him, but +that while he remained in arms in their country the Romans would fight +him to the death, however many Laevinuses he might defeat. It is related +that Cineas, during his mission to Rome, took great interest in +observing the national life of the Romans, and fully appreciated the +excellence of their political constitution, which he learned by +conversing with many of the leading men of the State. On his return he +told Pyrrhus that the senate seemed to him like an assembly of kings, +and that as to the populace he feared that the Greeks might find in them +a new Lernæan hydra; for twice as many troops had been enrolled in the +consul's army as he had before, and yet there remained many more Romans +capable of bearing arms. + +After this Caius Fabricius came to arrange terms for the exchange of +prisoners; a man whom Cineas said the Romans especially valued for his +virtue and bravery, but who was excessively poor. Pyrrhus, in +consequence of this, entertained Fabricius privately, and made him an +offer of money, not as a bribe for any act of baseness, but speaking of +it as a pledge of friendship and sincerity. As Fabricius refused this, +Pyrrhus waited till the next day, when, desirous of making an impression +on him, as he had never seen an elephant, he had his largest elephant +placed behind Fabricius during their conference, concealed by a curtain. +At a given signal, the curtain was withdrawn, and the creature reached +out his trunk over the head of Fabricius with a harsh and terrible cry. +Fabricius, however, quietly turned round, and then said to Pyrrhus with +a smile, "You could not move me by your gold yesterday, nor can you with +your beast to-day." + +At table that day they conversed upon all subjects, but chiefly about +Greece and Greek philosophy. Cineas repeated the opinion of Epicurus and +his school, about the gods, and the practice of political life, and the +objects at which we should aim, how they considered pleasure to be the +highest good, and held aloof from taking any active part in politics, +because it spoiled and destroyed perfect happiness; and about how they +thought that the gods lived far removed from hopes and fears, and +interest in human affairs, in a placid state of eternal fruition.[55] +While he was speaking in this strain Fabricius burst out: "Hercules!" +cried he, "may Pyrrhus and the Samnites continue to waste their time on +these speculations as long as they remain at war with us!" Pyrrhus, at +this, was struck by the spirit and noble disposition of Fabricius, and +longed more than ever to make Rome his friend instead of his enemy. He +begged him to arrange terms of peace, and after they were concluded to +come and live with him as the first of his friends and officers. + +[Footnote 55: I have translated the above passages almost literally from +the Greek. Yet I am inclined to think that Arnold has penetrated the +true meaning, and shows us the reason for Fabricius' exclamation when he +states the Epicurean philosophy, as expounded by Cineas, to be "that war +and state affairs were but toil and trouble, and that the wise man +should imitate the blissful rest of the gods, who, dwelling in their own +divinity, regarded not the vain turmoil of this lower world."] + +Fabricius is said to have quietly answered: "That, O King, will not be +to your advantage; for those who now obey you, and look up to you, if +they had any experience of me, would prefer me to you for their king." +Pyrrhus was not angry at this speech, but spoke to all his friends about +the magnanimous conduct of Fabricius, and intrusted the prisoners to him +alone, on the condition that, if the senate refused to make peace, they +should be allowed to embrace their friends, and spend the festival of +the Saturnalia with them, and then be sent back to him. And they were +sent back after the Saturnalia, for the senate decreed that any of them +who remained behind should be put to death. + +After this, when C. Fabricius was consul, a man came into his camp +bringing a letter from King Pyrrhus' physician, in which he offered to +poison the King if he could be assured of a suitable reward for his +services in thus bringing the war to an end without a blow. Fabricius, +disgusted at the man's treachery, brought his colleague to share his +views, and in haste sent off a letter to Pyrrhus, bidding him be on his +guard. The letter ran as follows: "Caius Fabricius and Quintus Æmilius, +the Roman consuls, greet King Pyrrhus. You appear to be a bad judge both +of your friends and of your enemies. You will perceive, by reading the +enclosed letter which has been sent to us, that you are fighting against +good and virtuous men, and trusting to wicked and treacherous ones. We +do not give you this information out of any love we bear you, but for +fear that we might be charged with having assassinated you and be +thought to have brought the war to a close by treachery because we could +not do so by manhood." + +Pyrrhus on receiving this letter, and discovering the plot against his +life, punished his physician, and, in return for the kindness of +Fabricius and the Romans, delivered up their prisoners without ransom, +and sent Cineas a second time to arrange terms of peace. However, the +Romans refused to receive their prisoners back without ransom, being +unwilling either to receive a favor from their enemy or to be rewarded +for having abstained from treachery toward him, but set free an equal +number of Tarentines and Samnites, and sent them to him. As to terms of +peace, they refused to entertain the question unless Pyrrhus first +placed his entire armament on board the ships in which it came, and +sailed back to Epirus with it. + +As it was now necessary that Pyrrhus should fight another battle, he +advanced with his army to the city of Asculum, and attacked the Romans. +Here he was forced to fight on rough ground, near the swampy banks of a +river, where his elephants and cavalry were of no service, and he was +forced to attack with his phalanx. After a drawn battle, in which many +fell, night parted the combatants. Next day Pyrrhus manoeuvred so as to +bring the Romans fairly into the plain, where his elephants could act +upon the enemy's line. He occupied the rough ground on either side, +placed many archers and slingers among his elephants, and advanced with +his phalanx in close order and irresistible strength. + +The Romans, who were unable on the level ground to practise the +bush-fighting and skirmishing of the previous day, were compelled to +attack the phalanx in front. They endeavored to force their way through +that hedge of spears before the elephants could come up, and showed +marvellous courage in hacking at the spears with their swords, exposing +themselves recklessly, careless of wounds or death. After a long +struggle, it is said that they first gave way at the point where Pyrrhus +was urging on his soldiers in person, though the defeat was chiefly due +to the weight and crushing charge of the elephants. The Romans could not +find any opportunity in this sort of battle for the display of their +courage, but thought it their duty to stand aside and save themselves +from a useless death, just as they would have done in the case of a wave +of the sea or an earthquake coming upon them. In the flight to their +camp, which was not far off, Hieronymus says that six thousand Romans +perished, and that in Pyrrhus' commentaries his loss is stated at three +thousand five hundred and five. + +Dionysius, on the other hand, does not admit that there were two battles +at Asculum, or that the Romans suffered a defeat, but tells us that they +fought the whole of one day until sunset, and then separated, Pyrrhus +being wounded in the arm by a javelin, and the Samnites having plundered +his baggage. He also states the total loss on both sides to be above +fifteen thousand. + +The armies separated after the battle, and it is said that Pyrrhus, when +congratulated on his victory by his friends, said in reply: "If we win +one more such victory over the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined." For +a large part of the force which he had brought with him had perished, +and very nearly all his friends and officers, and there were no more to +send for at home. + + + + +THE PUNIC WARS + +B.C. 264-219-149 + +FLORUS + + +(The three Punic wars stand out in history as a mighty "duel _à +l'outrance_" [a fight to the death], as Victor Hugo says, in the final +scene of which Rome, having herself been brought near to defeat, "rises +again, uses the limits of her strength in a last blow, throws herself on +Carthage, and effaces her from the world." + +Jealousy and antagonism had long existed between Rome and Carthage, but +it was the preeminence of the African city which held Roman ambition in +check and for generations deferred the final struggle. But when at last +Rome had acquired the strength she needed in order to assert her +rivalry, it was only a question of actual preparation, and the first +cause of quarrel was sure to be seized upon by either party, especially +by the growing and haughty Italian Power. + +The immediate object of contention was the island of Sicily, lying +between the territory of Rome and that of Carthage. In Sicily the First +Punic War, lasting about twenty-three years, was mainly carried on by +the Romans with success, while on the sea Carthage for a long time +maintained superiority. + +During the intervals between the Punic wars two things appear with +striking force in the history of these events--the passive strength and +recuperative power of Carthage, which enabled her to return again and +again to the struggle from almost crushing defeat, and the marvellous +development of resources and aggressive vigor on the part of Rome, in +whose case the rise of powerful individual leaders more than offset the +weight of long-accumulated energies, supplemented as these were by the +genius and achievement of great Carthaginian warriors. + +The wars progressed in a spirit of deadly hatred, constantly intensified +on both sides, and the Roman determination, of which Cato was the +mouthpiece, that Carthage must be destroyed, met its stubborn answer in +the endeavors of the Carthaginians to turn this vengeance against Rome +herself. + +Carthage had been mistress of the world, the richest and most powerful +of cities. Her naval supremacy alone had sufficed to secure her safety +and superiority over all rivals or possible combinations of force. But +the strength of her government lay not so much in her people, or even in +her statesmen and soldiers, as in her men of wealth. A political +establishment founded upon such supports was peculiarly liable to all +the dangers of corruption and of public ignorance and apathy in the +conduct of affairs. These causes appear conspicuously in the history of +the Punic wars, as contributing largely to the overthrow and final +extinguishment of Carthage, which left to her successful rival the open +way to universal dominion. + +The account of Florus presents in a style at once comprehensive and +succinct a splendid narrative of these wars, with their decisive and +world-changing events.) + + +THE FIRST PUNIC WAR + +The victor-people of Italy, having now spread over the land as far as +the sea, checked its course for a little, like a fire, which, having +consumed the woods lying in its track, is stopped by some intervening +river. But soon after, seeing at no great distance a rich prey, which +seemed in a manner detached and torn away from their own Italy, they +were so inflamed with a desire to possess it that, since it could +neither be joined to their country by a mole or bridge, they resolved +that it should be secured by arms and war, and reunited, as it were, to +their continent. And behold! as if the Fates themselves opened a way for +them, an opportunity was not wanting, for Messana, a city of Sicily in +alliance with them, happened then to make a complaint concerning the +tyranny of the Carthaginians. + +As the Romans coveted Sicily, so likewise did the people of Carthage; +and both at the same time, with equal desires and equal forces, +contemplated the attainment of the empire of the world. Under the +pretext, therefore, of assisting their allies, but in reality being +allured by the prey, that rude people, that people sprung from +shepherds, and merely accustomed to the land, made it appear, though the +strangeness of the attempt startled them (yet such confidence is there +in true courage), that to the brave it is indifferent whether a battle +be fought on horseback or in ships, by land or by sea. + +It was in the consulship of Appius Claudius that they first ventured +upon that strait which has so ill a name from the strange things related +of it, and so impetuous a current. But they were so far from being +affrighted, that they regarded the violence of the rushing tide as +something in their favor, and, sailing forward immediately and without +delay, they defeated Hiero, king of Syracuse, with so much rapidity that +he owned he was conquered before he saw the enemy. In the consulship of +Duilius and Cornelius, they likewise had courage to engage at sea, and +then the expedition used in equipping the fleet was a presage of +victory; for within sixty days after the timber was felled, a navy of a +hundred and sixty ships lay at anchor; so that the vessels did not seem +to have been made by art, but the trees themselves appeared to have been +turned into ships by the aid of the gods. The aspect of the battle, too, +was wonderful; as the heavy and slow ships of the Romans closed with the +swift and nimble barks of the enemy. Little availed their naval arts, +such as breaking off the oars of a ship, and eluding the beaks of the +enemy by turning aside; for the grappling-irons and other instruments, +which, before the engagement, had been greatly derided by the enemy, +were fastened upon their ships, and they were compelled to fight as on +solid ground. Being victorious, therefore, at Liparæ, by sinking and +scattering the enemy's fleet, they celebrated their first naval triumph. +And how great was the exultation at it! Duilius, the commander, not +content with one day's triumph, ordered, during all the rest of his +life, when he returned from supper, lighted torches to be carried, and +flutes to play, before him, as if he would triumph every day. The loss +in this battle was trifling, in comparison with the greatness of the +victory; though the other consul, Cornelius Asina, was cut off, being +invited by the enemy to a pretended conference, and put to death; an +instance of Carthaginian perfidy. + +Under the dictatorship of Calatinus, the Romans expelled almost all the +garrisons of the Carthaginians from Agrigentum, Drepanum, Panormus, +Eryx, and Lilybæum. Some alarm was experienced at the forest of +Camarina, but we were rescued by the extraordinary valor of Calpurnius +Flamma, a tribune of the soldiers, who, with a choice troop of three +hundred men, seized upon an eminence occupied by the enemy, to our +annoyance, and so kept them in play till the whole army escaped; thus, +by eminent success, equalling the fame of Thermopylæ and Leonidas, +though our hero was indeed more illustrious, inasmuch as he escaped and +outlived so great an effort, notwithstanding he wrote nothing with his +blood. + +In the consulship of Lucius Cornelius Scipio, when Sicily was become as +a suburban province of the Roman people, and the war was spreading +farther, they crossed over into Sardinia, and into Corsica, which lies +near it. In the latter they terrified the natives by the destruction of +the city of Olbia, in the former by that of Aleria; and so effectually +humbled the Carthaginians, both by land and sea, that nothing remained +to be conquered but Africa itself. Accordingly, under the leadership of +Marcus Atilius Regulus, the war passed over into Africa. Nor were there +wanting some on the occasion who mutinied at the mere name and dread of +the Punic sea, a tribune named Mannius increasing their alarm; but the +general, threatening him with the axe if he did not obey, produced +courage for the voyage by the terror of death. They then hastened their +course by the aid of winds and oars, and such was the terror of the +Africans at the approach of the enemy that Carthage was almost surprised +with its gates opened. + +The first prize taken in the war was the city of Clypea, which juts out +from the Carthaginian shore as a fortress or watch-tower. Both this and +more than three hundred fortresses besides were destroyed. Nor had the +Romans to contend only with men, but with monsters also; for a serpent +of vast size, born, as it were, to avenge Africa, harassed their camp on +the Bagrada. But Regulus, who overcame all obstacles, having spread the +terror of his name far and wide, having killed or taken prisoners a +great number of the enemy's force, and their captains themselves, and +having despatched his fleet, laden with much spoil and stored with +materials for a triumph, to Rome, proceeded to besiege Carthage itself, +the origin of the war, and took his position close to the gates of it. +Here fortune was a little changed; but it was only that more proofs of +Roman fortitude might be given, the greatness of which was generally +best shown in calamities. For the enemy applying for foreign assistance, +and Lacedaemon having sent them Xanthippus as a general, we were +defeated by a captain so eminently skilled in military affairs. It was +then that by an ignominious defeat, such as the Romans had never before +experienced, their most valiant commander fell alive into the enemy's +hands. But he was a man able to endure so great a calamity; as he was +neither humbled by his imprisonment at Carthage nor by the deputation +which he headed to Rome; for he advised what was contrary to the +injunctions of the enemy, and recommended that no peace should be made, +and no exchange of prisoners admitted. Even by his voluntary return to +his enemies, and by his last sufferings, whether in prison or on the +cross, the dignity of the man was not at all obscured. But being +rendered, by all these occurrences, even more worthy of admiration, what +can be said of him but that, when conquered, he was superior to his +conquerors, and that, though Carthage had not submitted, he triumphed +over Fortune herself? + +The Roman people were now much keener and more ardent to revenge the +fate of Regulus than to obtain victory. Under the consul Metellus, +therefore, when the Carthaginians were growing insolent, and when the +war had returned into Sicily, they gave the enemy such a defeat at +Panormus that they thought no more of that island. A proof of the +greatness of this victory was the capture of about a hundred elephants, +a vast prey, even if they had taken that number, not in war, but in +hunting.[56] Under the consulship of Appius Claudius, they were +overcome, not by the enemy, but by the gods themselves, whose auspices +they had despised, their fleet being sunk in that very place where the +consul had ordered the chickens to be thrown overboard, because he was +warned by them not to fight. Under the consulship of Marcus Fabius +Buteo, they overthrew, near Ægimurus, in the African sea, a fleet of the +enemy which was just sailing for Italy. But, oh! how great materials for +a triumph were then lost by a storm, when the Roman fleet, richly laden +with spoil, and driven by contrary winds, covered with its wreck the +coasts of Africa and the Syrtes, and of all the islands lying amid those +seas! A great calamity! But not without some honor to this eminent +people, from the circumstance that their victory was intercepted only by +a storm, and that the matter for their triumph was lost only by a +shipwreck. Yet, though the Punic spoils were scattered abroad, and +thrown up by the waves on every promontory and island, the Romans still +celebrated a triumph. In the consulship of Lutatius Catulus, an end was +at last put to the war near the islands named Ægates. Nor was there any +greater fight during this war; for the fleet of the enemy was laden with +provisions, troops, towers, and arms; indeed, all Carthage, as it were, +was in it; a state of things which proved its destruction, as the Roman +fleet, on the contrary, being active, light, free from encumbrance, and +in some degree resembling a land-camp, was wheeled about by its oars +like cavalry in a battle by their reins; and the beaks of the vessels, +directed now against one part of the enemy and now against another, +presented the appearance of living creatures. In a very short time, +accordingly, the ships of the enemy were shattered to pieces, and filled +the whole sea between Sicily and Sardinia with their wrecks. So great, +indeed, was the victory that there was no thought of demolishing the +enemy's city; since it seemed superfluous to pour their fury on towers +and walls, when Carthage had already been destroyed at sea. + +[Footnote 56: "A vast prey--not in war, but in hunting." The sense is, +it would have been a considerable capture if he had taken these hundred +elephants, not in battle, but in hunting, in which more are often +taken.] + + +THE SECOND PUNIC WAR + +After the first Carthaginian war there was scarcely a rest of four +years, when there was another war, inferior, indeed, in length of time, +for it occupied but eighteen years, but so much more terrible, from the +direfulness of its havoc, that if anyone compares the losses on both +sides, the people that conquered was more like one defeated. What +provoked this noble people was that the command of the sea was forced +from them, that their islands were taken, and that they were obliged to +pay tribute which they had before been accustomed to impose. Hannibal, +when but a boy, swore to his father, before an altar, to take revenge on +the Romans; nor was he backward to execute his oath. Saguntum, +accordingly, was made the occasion of a war; an old and wealthy city of +Spain, and a great but sad example of fidelity to the Romans. This city, +though granted, by the common treaty, the special privilege of enjoying +its liberty, Hannibal, seeking pretences for new disturbances, destroyed +with his own hands and those of its inhabitants, in order that, by an +infraction of the compact, he might open a passage for himself into +Italy. + +Among the Romans there is the highest regard to treaties, and +consequently, on hearing of the siege of an allied city, and +remembering, too, the compact made with the Carthaginians, they did not +at once have recourse to arms, but chose rather to expostulate on legal +grounds. In the mean time the Saguntines, exhausted with famine, the +assaults of machines, and the sword, and their fidelity being at last +carried to desperation, raised a vast pile in the market-place, on which +they destroyed, with fire and sword, themselves, their wives and +children, and all that they possessed. Hannibal, the cause of this great +destruction, was required to be given up. The Carthaginians hesitating +to comply, Fabius, who was at the head of the embassy, exclaimed: "What +is the meaning of this delay? In the fold of this garment I carry war +and peace; which of the two do you choose?" As they cried out "War," +"Take war, then," he rejoined, and, shaking out the fore-part of his +toga in the middle of the senate house, as if he really carried war in +its folds, he spread it abroad, not without awe on the part of the +spectators. + +The sequel of the war was in conformity with its commencement; for, as +if the last imprecations of the Saguntines, at their public +self-immolation and burning of the city, had required such obsequies to +be performed to them, atonement was made to their _manes_ by the +devastation of Italy, the reduction of Africa, and the destruction of +the leaders and kings who engaged in that contest. When once, therefore, +that sad and dismal force and storm of the Punic War had arisen in +Spain, and had forged, in the fire of Saguntum, the thunderbolt long +before intended for the Romans, it immediately burst, as if hurried +along by resistless violence, through the middle of the Alps, and +descended, from those snows of incredible altitude, on the plains of +Italy, as if it had been hurled from the skies. The violence of its +first assault burst, with a mighty sound, between the Po and the +Ticinus. There the army under Scipio was routed; and the general +himself, being wounded, would have fallen into the hands of the enemy, +had not his son, then quite a boy, covered his father with his shield, +and rescued him from death. This was the Scipio who grew up for the +conquest of Africa, and who was to receive a name from its ill-fortune. + +To Ticinus succeeded Trebia, where, in the consulship of Sempronius, the +second outburst of the Punic War was spent. On that occasion, the crafty +enemy, having chosen a cold and snowy day, and having first warmed +themselves at their fires, and anointed their bodies with oil, conquered +us, though they were men that came from the south and a warm sun, by the +aid (strange to say!) of our own winter. + +The third thunderbolt of Hannibal fell at the Trasimene lake, when +Flaminius was commander. There also was employed a new stratagem of +Carthaginian subtlety; for a body of cavalry, being concealed by a mist +rising from the lake, and by the osiers growing in the fens, fell upon +the rear of the Romans as they were fighting. Nor can we complain of the +gods; for swarms of bees settling upon the standards, the reluctance of +the eagles to move forward, and a great earthquake that happened at the +commencement of the battle--unless, indeed, it was the tramping of horse +and foot, and the violent concussion of arms, that produced this +trembling of the ground--had forewarned the rash leader of approaching +defeat. + +The fourth and almost mortal wound of the Roman Empire was at Cannæ, an +obscure village of Apulia; which, however, became famous by the +greatness of the defeat, its celebrity being acquired by the slaughter +of forty thousand men. Here the general, the ground, the face of heaven, +the day, indeed, all nature conspired together for the destruction of +the unfortunate army. For Hannibal, the most artful of generals, not +content with sending pretended deserters among the Romans, who fell upon +their rear as they were fighting, but having also noted the nature of +the ground in those open plains, where the heat of the sun is extremely +violent, the dust very great, and the wind blows constantly, and as it +were statedly, from the east, drew up his army in such a position that, +while the Romans were exposed to all these inconveniences, he himself, +having heaven, as it were, on his side, fought with wind, dust, and sun +in his favor. Two vast armies, in consequence, were slaughtered till the +enemy were satiated, and till Hannibal said to his soldiers, "Put up +your swords." Of the two commanders, one escaped, the other was slain; +which of them showed the greater spirit is doubtful. Paulus was ashamed +to survive; Varrodid not despair. Of the greatness of the slaughter the +following proofs may be noticed: that the Aufidus was for some time red +with blood; that a bridge was made of dead bodies, by order of Hannibal, +over the torrent of Vergellus, and that two _modii_ of rings were sent +to Carthage, and the equestrian dignity estimated by measure. + +It was afterward not doubted but that Rome might have seen its last day, +and that Hannibal, within five days, might have feasted in the Capitol, +if--as they say that Adherbal, the Carthaginian, the son of Bomilcar, +observed--"he had known as well how to use his victory as how to gain +it." But at that crisis, as is generally said, either the fate of the +city that was to be empress of the world, or his own want of judgment, +and the influence of deities unfavorable to Carthage, carried him in a +different direction. When he might have taken advantage of his victory, +he chose rather to seek enjoyment from it, and, leaving Rome, to march +into Campania and to Tarentum, where both he and his army soon lost +their vigor, so that it was justly remarked that "Capua proved a Cannæ +to Hannibal"; since the sunshine of Campania and the warm springs of +Baiæ subdued--who could have believed it?--him who had been unconquered +by the Alps and unshaken in the field. In the mean time the Romans began +to recover and to rise, as it were, from the dead. They had no arms, but +they took them down from the temples; men were wanting, but slaves were +freed to take the oath of service; the treasury was exhausted, but the +senate willingly offered their wealth for the public service, leaving +themselves no gold but what was contained in their children's +_bullæ_[57] and in their own belts and rings. The knights followed their +example, and the common people that of the knights; so that when the +wealth of private persons was brought to the public treasury--in the +consulship of Lævinus and Marcellus--the registers scarcely sufficed to +contain the account of it, or the hands of the clerks to record it. + +[Footnote 57: A sort of ornament suspended from the necks of children, +which, among the wealthy, was made of gold. It was in the shape of a +bubble on water, or, as Pliny says, of a heart.] + +But how can I sufficiently praise the wisdom of the centuries in the +choice of magistrates, when the younger sought advice from the elder as +to what consuls should be created? They saw that against an enemy so +often victorious, and so full of subtlety, it was necessary to contend, +not only with courage, but with his own wiles. The first hope of the +empire now recovering, and, if I may use the expression, coming to life +again, was Fabius, who found a new mode of conquering Hannibal, which +was, _not to fight_. Hence he received that new name, so salutary to the +commonwealth, of _Cunctator_, or Delayer. Hence too it happened that he +was called by the people _the shield of the empire_. Through the whole +of Samnium, and through the Falerian and Gauran forests, he so harassed +Hannibal that he who could not be reduced by valor was weakened by +delay. The Romans then ventured, under the command of Claudius +Marcellus, to engage him; they came to close quarters with him, drove +him out of his dear Campania, and forced him to raise the siege of Nola. +They ventured likewise, under the leadership of Sempronius Gracchus, to +pursue him through Lucania, and to press hard upon his rear as he +retired; though they then fought him (sad dishonor!) with a body of +slaves, for to this extremity had so many disasters reduced them, but +they were rewarded with liberty, and from slaves they made them Romans. + +O amazing confidence in the midst of so much adversity! O extraordinary +courage and spirit of the Roman people in such oppressive and +distressing circumstances! At a time when they were uncertain of +preserving their own Italy, they yet ventured to look to other +countries; and when the enemy were at their throat, flying through +Campania and Apulia, and making an Africa in the middle of Italy, they +at the same time both withstood that enemy and dispersed their arms over +the earth into Sicily, Sardinia, and Spain. + +Sicily was assigned to Marcellus, and did not long resist his efforts; +for the whole island was conquered in the conquest of one city. +Syracuse, its great and, till that period, unconquered capital, though +defended by the genius of Archimedes, was at last obliged to yield. Its +triple wall and three citadels, its marble harbor and the celebrated +fountain of Arethusa, were no defence to it, except so far as to procure +consideration for its beauty when it was conquered. + +Sardinia Gracchus reduced; the savageness of the inhabitants, and the +vastness of its Mad Mountains--for so they are called--availed it +nothing. Great severity was exercised upon its cities, and upon Caralis, +the city of its cities, that a nation, obstinate and regardless of +death, might at least be humbled by concern for the soil of its country. + +Into Spain were sent the two Scipios, Cnaeus, and Publius, who wrested +almost the whole of it from the Carthaginians; but, being surprised by +the artifices of Punic subtlety, they again lost it, even after they had +slaughtered the enemy's forces in great battles. The wiles of the +Carthaginians cut off one of them by the sword as he was pitching his +camp, and the other by surrounding him with lighted fagots after he had +made his escape into a tower. But the other Scipio, to whom the Fates +had decreed so great a name from Africa, being sent with an army to +revenge the death of his father and uncle, recovered all that warlike +country of Spain, so famous for its men and arms, that seminary of the +enemy's force, that instructress of Hannibal, from the Pyrenean +mountains--the account is scarcely credible--to the Pillars of Hercules +and the ocean, whether with greater speed or good fortune is difficult +to decide; how great was his speed, four years bear witness; how +remarkable his good fortune, even one city proves, for it was taken on +the same day in which siege was laid to it, and it was an omen of the +conquest of Africa that Carthage in Spain was so easily reduced. It is +certain, however, that what most contributed to make the province submit +was the eminent virtue of the general, who restored to the barbarians +certain captive youths and maidens of extraordinary beauty, not allowing +them even to be brought into his sight, that he might not seem, even by +a single glance, to have detracted from their virgin purity. + +These actions the Romans performed in different parts of the world, yet +were they unable, notwithstanding, to remove Hannibal, who was lodged in +the heart of Italy. Most of the towns had revolted to the enemy, whose +vigorous commander used even the strength of Italy against the Romans. +However, we had now forced him out of many towns and districts. Tarentum +had returned to our side; and Capua, the seat, home, and second country +of Hannibal, was again in our hands; the loss of which caused the Punic +leader so much affliction that he then directed all his force against +Rome. + +O people worthy of the empire of the world, worthy of the favor and +admiration of all, not only men, but gods! Though they were brought into +the greatest alarm, they desisted not from their original design; though +they were concerned for their own city, they did not abandon their +attempts on Capua; but, part of their army being left there with the +consul Appius, and part having followed Flaccus to Rome, they fought +both at home and abroad at the same time. Why then should we wonder that +the gods themselves, the gods, I say--nor shall I be ashamed[58] to +admit it--again opposed Hannibal as he was preparing to march forward +when at three miles' distance from Rome. For, at every movement of his +force, so copious a flood of rain descended, and such a violent storm of +wind arose, that it was evident the enemy was repulsed by divine +influence, and the tempest proceeded, not from heaven, but from the +walls of the city and the Capitol. He therefore fled and departed, and +withdrew to the farthest corner of Italy, leaving the city in a manner +adored. It is but a small matter to mention, yet sufficiently indicative +of the magnanimity of the Roman people, that during those very days in +which the city was besieged, the ground which Hannibal occupied with his +camp was offered for sale at Rome, and, being put up to auction, +actually found a purchaser. Hannibal, on the other side, wished to +imitate such confidence, and put up for sale the bankers' houses in the +city; but no buyer was found; so that it was evident that the Fates had +their presages. + +[Footnote 58: Why should he be ashamed to admit that Rome was saved by +the aid of the gods? To receive assistance from the gods was a proof of +merit. The gods help those who help themselves, says the proverb. When +he says that the gods "_again_ opposed Hannibal," he seems to refer to +what he said above in speaking of the battle of Cannae, that the +deities, averse to Carthage, prevented Hannibal from marching at that +time to Rome.] + +But as yet nothing had been effectually accomplished by so much valor, +or even through such eminent favor from the gods; for Hasdrubal, the +brother of Hannibal, was approaching with a new army, new strength, and +every fresh requisite for war. There had doubtless been an end of Rome, +if that general had united himself with his brother; but Claudius Nero, +in conjunction with Livius Salinator, overthrew him as he was pitching +his camp. Nero was at that time keeping Hannibal at bay in the farthest +corner of Italy; while Livius had marched to the very opposite quarter, +that is, to the very entrance and confines of Italy; and of the ability +and expedition with which the consuls joined their forces--though so +vast a space, that is, the whole of Italy where it is longest, lay +between them--and defeated the enemy with their combined strength, when +they expected no attack, and without the knowledge of Hannibal, it is +difficult to give a notion. When Hannibal, however, had knowledge of the +matter, and saw his brother's head thrown down before his camp, he +exclaimed, "I perceive the evil destiny of Carthage." This was his first +confession of that kind, not without a sure presage of his approaching +fate; and it was now certain, even from his own acknowledgment, that +Hannibal might be conquered. But the Roman people, full of confidence +from so many successes, thought it would be a noble enterprise to subdue +such a desperate enemy in his own Africa. Directing their whole force, +therefore, under the leadership of Scipio, upon Africa itself, they +began to imitate Hannibal, and to avenge upon Africa the sufferings of +their own Italy. What forces of Hasdrubal (good gods!), what armies of +Syphax, did that commander put to flight! How great were the camps of +both that he destroyed in one night by casting firebrands into them! At +last, not at three miles distance, but by a close siege, he shook the +very gates of Carthage itself. And thus he succeeded in drawing off +Hannibal when he was still clinging to and brooding over Italy. There +was no more remarkable day, during the whole course of the Roman Empire, +than that on which those two generals, the greatest of all that ever +lived, whether before or after them, the one the conqueror of Italy, and +the other of Spain, drew up their forces for a close engagement. But +previously a conference was held between them concerning conditions of +peace. They stood motionless awhile in admiration of each other. When +they could not agree on a peace, they gave the signal for battle. It is +certain, from the confession of both, that no troops could have been +better drawn up, and no fight more obstinately maintained. This Hannibal +acknowledged concerning the army of Scipio, and Scipio concerning that +of Hannibal. But Hannibal was forced to yield, and Africa became the +prize of the victory; and the whole earth soon followed the fate of +Africa. + + +THE THIRD PUNIC WAR + +The third war with Africa was both short in its duration--for it was +finished in four years--and, compared with those that preceded it, of +much less difficulty; as we had to fight not so much against troops in +the field as against the city itself; but it was far the greatest of the +three in its consequences, for in it Carthage was at last destroyed. And +if anyone contemplates the events of the three periods, he will +understand that the war was begun in the first, greatly advanced in the +second, and entirely finished in the third. + +The cause of this war was that Carthage, in violation of an article in +the treaty, had once fitted out a fleet and army against the Numidians, +and had frequently threatened the frontiers of Masinissa. But the Romans +were partial to this good king, who was also their ally. + +When the war had been determined upon, they had to consider about the +end of it. Cato, even when his opinion was asked on any other subject, +pronounced, with implacable enmity, that Carthage should be destroyed. +Scipio Nasica gave his voice for its preservation, lest, if the fear of +the rival city were removed, the exultation of Rome should grow +extravagant. The senate decided on a middle course, resolving that the +city should only be removed from its place; for nothing appeared to them +more glorious than that there should be a Carthage which should not be +feared. In the consulship of Manlius and Censorinus, therefore, the +Roman people having attacked Carthage, but giving them some hopes of +peace, burned their fleet, which they voluntarily delivered up, in sight +of the city. Having next summoned the chief men, they commanded them to +quit the place if they wished to preserve their lives. This requisition, +from its cruelty, so incensed them that they chose rather to submit to +the utmost extremities. They accordingly bewailed their necessities +publicly, and shouted with one voice _to arms_; and a resolution was +made to resist the enemy by every means in their power; not because any +hope of success was left, but because they had rather their birthplace +should be destroyed by the hands of the enemy than by their own. With +what spirit they resumed the war may be understood from the facts that +they pulled down their roofs and houses for the equipment of a new +fleet; that gold and silver, instead of brass and iron, were melted in +their forges for the construction of arms; and that the women parted +with their hair to make cordage for the engines of war. + +Under the command of the consul Mancinus, the siege was warmly conducted +both by land and sea. The harbor was dismantled of its works, and a +first, second, and even third wall taken, while nevertheless the Byrsa, +which was the name of the citadel, held out like another city. But +though the destruction of the place was thus very far advanced, it was +the name of the Scipios only that seemed fatal to Africa. The +Government, accordingly, applying to another Scipio, desired from him a +termination of the war. This Scipio, the son of Paulus Macedonicus, the +son of the great Africanus had adopted as an honor to his family, and, +as it appeared, with this destiny, that the grandson should overthrow +the city which the grandfather had shaken. But as the bites of dying +beasts are wont to be most fatal, so there was more trouble with +Carthage half-ruined than when it was in its full strength. The Romans +having shut the enemy up in their single fortress, had also blockaded +the harbor; but upon this they dug another harbor on the other side of +the city, not with a design to escape, but because no one supposed that +they could even force an outlet there. Here a new fleet, as if just +born, started forth; and, in the mean while, sometimes by day and +sometimes by night, some new mole, some new machine, some new band of +desperate men perpetually started up, like a sudden flame from a fire +sunk in ashes. At last, their affairs becoming desperate, forty thousand +men, and (what is hardly credible) with Hasdrubal at their head, +surrendered themselves. How much more nobly did a woman behave, the wife +of the general, who, taking hold of her two children, threw herself from +the top of her house into the midst of the flames, imitating the queen +that built Carthage. How great a city was then destroyed is shown, to +say nothing of other things, by the duration of the fire, for the flames +could scarcely be extinguished at the end of seventeen days; flames +which the enemy themselves had raised in their houses and temples, that, +since the city could not be rescued from the Romans, all matter for +triumph might at least be burned. + + + + +BATTLE OF THE METAURUS + +B.C. 207 + +SIR EDWARD SHEPHERD CREASY + + +(During the closing years of the Second Punic War the resources of the +Romans were drained to such an extent as to bring great disheartenment +to their rulers and generals. Under the stress of financial +difficulties, the cost of living greatly increased, and the State was +compelled to resort to loans of various kinds, and to levy upon citizens +of means for the pay of seamen. This scheme for raising Roman "ship +money" was one of the most significant indications of the extreme weight +resting upon the republic in the prosecution of this arduous war. A war +with Sicily was fortunately terminated, releasing some additional force +for employment against the Carthaginians; but for some time little +headway was made by the Roman commanders, and when, in B.C. 207, the +people were called upon to elect consuls, their affairs were still in a +condition which caused serious anxiety. The consuls chosen in that year +were Marcus Livius and Caius Claudius Nero, and without delay they went +to take command in southern Italy, which the Carthaginians under +Hannibal, though not in much strength, had invaded. + +But when, later in the season, Hasdrubal crossed the Alps from the north +to join his brother, Hannibal, the aspect of the war became still more +grave in the eyes of the Romans. Hasdrubal solicited the support of the +Gauls, but to little purpose. Meanwhile Hannibal made skilful use of his +small forces in eluding the consul Nero; but the capture by the Romans +of despatches from Hasdrubal disclosed his plans, and Nero at once +formed his own for intercepting him. The result was that Nero and Livius +joined their forces in Hasdrubal's front, and to the Carthaginian they +offered immediate battle. Hasdrubal attempted a retreat, but was +compelled to give battle on the banks of the Metaurus. Of this, one of +the "decisive battles of the world," Creasy has left an authoritative +and graphic account, which here follows. The part of the consul Nero in +the campaign is thus remarked upon by Lord Byron: + +"The consul Nero, who made the unequalled march which deceived Hannibal +and deceived Hasdrubal, thereby accomplished an achievement almost +unrivalled in military annals. The first intelligence of his return, to +Hannibal, was the sight of Hasdrubal's head thrown into his camp. When +Hannibal saw this, he exclaimed, with a sigh, that 'Rome would now be +the mistress of the world.' To this victory of Nero's it might be owing +that his imperial namesake reigned at all. But the infamy of the one has +eclipsed the glory of the other. When the name of Nero is heard, who +thinks of the consul? But such are human things.") + + +About midway between Rimini and Ancona a little river falls into the +Adriatic, after traversing one of those districts of Italy in which a +vain attempt has lately been made to revive, after long centuries of +servitude and shame, the spirit of Italian nationality and the energy of +free institutions. That stream is still called the Metauro, and wakens +by its name the recollections of the resolute daring of ancient Rome, +and of the slaughter that stained its current two thousand and +sixty-three years ago, when the combined consular armies of Livius and +Nero encountered and crushed near its banks the varied hosts which +Hannibal's brother was leading from the Pyrenees, the Rhone, the Alps, +and the Po, to aid the great Carthaginian in his stern struggle to +annihilate the growing might of the Roman republic, and make the Punic +power supreme over all the nations of the world. + +The Roman historian,[59] who termed that struggle the most memorable of +all wars that ever were carried on, wrote in no spirit of exaggeration; +for it is not in ancient, but in modern history that parallels for its +incidents and its heroes are to be found. The similitude between the +contest which Rome maintained against Hannibal, and that which England +was for many years engaged in against Napoleon, has not passed +unobserved by recent historians. "Twice," says Arnold, "has there been +witnessed the struggle of the highest individual genius against the +resources and institutions of a great nation, and in both cases the +nation has been victorious. For seventeen years Hannibal strove against +Rome; for sixteen years Napoleon Bonaparte strove against England: the +efforts of the first ended in Zama; those of the second in Waterloo." + +[Footnote 59: Livy.] + +One point, however, of the similitude between the two wars has scarcely +been adequately dwelt on; that is, the remarkable parallel between the +Roman general who finally defeated the great Carthaginian, and the +English general who gave the last deadly overthrow to the French +Emperor. Scipio and Wellington both held for many years commands of high +importance, but distant from the main theatres of warfare. The same +country was the scene of the principal military career of each. It was +in Spain that Scipio, like Wellington, successively encountered and +overthrew nearly all the subordinate generals of the enemy before being +opposed to the chief champion and conqueror himself. Both Scipio and +Wellington restored their countrymen's confidence in arms when shaken by +a series of reverses, and each of them closed a long and perilous war by +a complete and overwhelming defeat of the chosen leader and the chosen +veterans of the foe. + +Nor is the parallel between them limited to their military characters +and exploits. Scipio, like Wellington, became an important leader of the +aristocratic party among his countrymen, and was exposed to the +unmeasured invectives of the violent section of his political +antagonists. When, early in the last reign, an infuriated mob assaulted +the Duke of Wellington in the streets of the English capital on the +anniversary of Waterloo, England was even more disgraced by that outrage +than Rome was by the factious accusations which demagogues brought +against Scipio, but which he proudly repelled on the day of trial by +reminding the assembled people that it was the anniversary of the battle +of Zama. Happily, a wiser and a better spirit has now for years pervaded +all classes of our community, and we shall be spared the ignominy of +having worked out to the end the parallel of national ingratitude. +Scipio died a voluntary exile from the malevolent turbulence of Rome. +Englishmen of all ranks and politics have now long united in +affectionate admiration of our modern Scipio; and even those who have +most widely differed from the duke on legislative or administrative +questions, forget what they deem the political errors of that +time-honored head, while they gratefully call to mind the laurels that +have wreathed it. + +Scipio at Zama trampled in the dust the power of Carthage, but that +power had been already irreparably shattered in another field, where +neither Scipio nor Hannibal commanded. When the Metaurus witnessed the +defeat and death of Hasdrubal, it witnessed the ruin of the scheme by +which alone Carthage could hope to organize decisive success--the scheme +of enveloping Rome at once from the north and the south of Italy by two +chosen armies, led by two sons of Hamilcar. That battle was the +determining crisis of the contest, not merely between Rome and Carthage, +but between the two great families of the world, which then made Italy +the arena of their oft-renewed contest for preëminence. + +The French historian, Michelet, whose _Histoire Romaine_ would have been +invaluable if the general industry and accuracy of the writer had in any +degree equalled his originality and brilliancy, eloquently remarks: "It +is not without reason that so universal and vivid a remembrance of the +Punic wars has dwelt in the memories of men. They formed no mere +struggle to determine the lot of two cities or two empires; but it was a +strife on the event of which depended the fate of two races of mankind, +whether the dominion of the world should belong to the Indo-Germanic or +to the Semitic family of nations. Bear in mind that the first of these +comprises, besides the Indians and the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, +and the Germans. In the other are ranked the Jews and the Arabs, the +Phoenicians and the Carthaginians. On the one side is the genius of +heroism, of art, and legislation; on the other is the spirit of +industry, of commerce, of navigation. + +"The two opposite races have everywhere come into contact, everywhere +into hostility. In the primitive history of Persia and Chaldaea, the +heroes are perpetually engaged in combat with their industrious and +perfidious neighbors. The struggle is renewed between the Phoenicians +and the Greeks on every coast of the Mediterranean. The Greek supplants +the Phoenician in all his factories, all his colonies in the East: soon +will the Roman come, and do likewise in the West. Alexander did far more +against Tyre than Shalmaneser or Nebuchadnezzar had done. Not content +with crushing her, he took care that she never should revive; for he +founded Alexandria as her substitute, and changed forever the track of +the commerce of the world. There remained Carthage--the great Carthage, +and her mighty empire--mighty in a far different degree than Phoenicia's +had been. Rome annihilated it. Then occurred that which has no parallel +in history--an entire civilization perished at one blow--banished, like +a falling star. The _Periplus_ of Hanno, a few coins, a score of lines +in Plautus, and, lo, all that remains of the Carthaginian world! + +"Many generations must needs pass away before the struggle between the +two races could be renewed; and the Arabs, that formidable rear-guard of +the Semitic world, dashed forth from their deserts. The conflict between +the two races then became the conflict of two religions. Fortunate was +it that those daring Saracenic cavaliers encountered in the East the +impregnable walls of Constantinople, in the West the chivalrous valor of +Charles Martel and the sword of the Cid. The crusades were the natural +reprisals for the Arab invasions, and form the last epoch of that great +struggle between the two principal families of the human race." + +It is difficult, amid the glimmering light supplied by the allusions of +the classical writers, to gain a full idea of the character and +institutions of Rome's great rival. But we can perceive how inferior +Carthage was to her competitor in military resources, and how far less +fitted than Rome she was to become the founder of centralized and +centralizing dominion that should endure for centuries, and fuse into +imperial unity the narrow nationalities of the ancient races that dwelt +around and near the shores of the Mediterranean Sea? + +Carthage was originally neither the most ancient nor the most powerful +of the numerous colonies which the Phoenicians planted on the coast of +Northern Africa. But her advantageous position, the excellence of her +constitution--of which, though ill-informed as to its details, we know +that it commanded the admiration of Aristotle--and the commercial and +political energy of her citizens gave her the ascendency over Hippo, +Utica, Leptis, and her other sister Phoenician cities in those regions; +and she finally reduced them to a condition of dependency similar to +that which the subject allies of Athens occupied relatively to that once +imperial city. When Tyre and Sidon and the other cities of Phoenicia +itself sank from independent republics into mere vassal states of the +great Asiatic monarchies, and obeyed by turns a Babylonian, a Persian, +and a Macedonian master, their power and their traffic rapidly declined, +and Carthage succeeded to the important maritime and commercial +character which they had previously maintained. + +The Carthaginians did not seek to compete with the Greeks on the +northeastern shores of the Mediterranean, or in the three inland seas +which are connected with it; but they maintained an active intercourse +with the Phoenicians, and through them with Lower and Central Asia; and +they, and they alone, after the decline and fall of Tyre, navigated the +waters of the Atlantic. They had the monopoly of all the commerce of the +world that was carried on beyond the Straits of Gibraltar. We have yet +extant (in a Greek translation) the narrative of the voyage of Hanno, +one of their admirals, along the western coast of Africa as far as +Sierra Leone; and in the Latin poem of Festus Avienus frequent +references are made to the records of the voyages of another celebrated +Carthaginian admiral, Himilco, who had explored the northwestern coast +of Europe. Our own islands are mentioned by Himilco as the lands of the +Hiberni and Albioni. It is indeed certain that the Carthaginians +frequented the Cornish coast--as the Phoenicians had done before +them--for the purpose of procuring tin; and there is every reason to +believe that they sailed as far as the coasts of the Baltic for amber. +When it is remembered that the mariner's compass was unknown in those +ages, the boldness and skill of the seamen of Carthage, and the +enterprise of her merchants, may be paralleled with any achievements +that the history of modern navigation and commerce can produce. + +In their Atlantic voyages along the African shores the Carthaginians +followed the double object of traffic and colonization. The numerous +settlements that were planted by them along the coast from Morocco to +Senegal provided for the needy members of the constantly increasing +population of a great commercial capital, and also strengthened the +influence which Carthage exercised among the tribes of the African +coast. Besides her fleets, her caravans gave her a large and lucrative +trade with the native Africans; nor must we limit our belief of the +extent of the Carthaginian trade with the tribes of Central and Western +Africa by the narrowness of the commercial intercourse which civilized +nations of modern times have been able to create in those regions. + +Although essentially a mercantile and seafaring people, the +Carthaginians by no means neglected agriculture. On the contrary, the +whole of their territory was cultivated like a garden. The fertility of +the soil repaid the skill and toil bestowed on it; and every invader, +from Agathocles to Scipio Æmilianus, was struck with admiration at the +rich pasture lands carefully irrigated, the abundant harvests, the +luxuriant vineyards, the plantations of fig and olive trees, the +thriving villages, the populous towns, and the splendid villas of the +wealthy Carthaginians, through which his march lay, as long as he was on +Carthaginian ground. + +Although the Carthaginians abandoned the Ægean and the Pontus to the +Greek, they were by no means disposed to relinquish to those rivals the +commerce and the dominion of the coasts of the Mediterranean westward of +Italy. For centuries the Carthaginians strove to make themselves masters +of the islands that lie between Italy and Spain. They acquired the +Balearic Islands, where the principal harbor, Port Mahon, still bears +the name of a Carthaginian admiral. They succeeded in reducing the +greater part of Sardinia; but Sicily could never be brought into their +power. They repeatedly invaded that island, and nearly overran it; but +the resistance which was opposed to them by the Syracusans under Gelon, +Dionysius, Timoleon, and Agathocles preserved the island from becoming +Punic, though many of its cities remained under the Carthaginian rule +until Rome finally settled the question to whom Sicily was to belong by +conquering it for herself. + +With so many elements of success, with almost unbounded wealth, with +commercial and maritime activity, with a fertile territory, with a +capital city of almost impregnable strength, with a constitution that +insured for centuries the blessing of social order, with an aristocracy +singularly fertile in men of the highest genius, Carthage yet failed +signally and calamitously in her contest for power with Rome. One of the +immediate causes of this may seem to have been the want of firmness +among her citizens, which made them terminate the First Punic War by +begging peace, sooner than endure any longer the hardships and burdens +caused by a state of warfare, although their antagonists had suffered +far more severely than themselves. Another cause was the spirit of +faction among their leading men, which prevented Hannibal in the second +war from being properly reënforced and supported. But there were also +more general causes why Carthage proved inferior to Rome. These were her +position relatively to the mass of the inhabitants of the country which +she ruled, and her habit of trusting to mercenary armies in her wars. + +Our clearest information as to the different races of men in and about +Carthage is derived from Diodorus Siculus. That historian enumerates +four different races: first, he mentions the Phoenicians who dwelt in +Carthage; next, he speaks of the Liby-Phoenicians: these, he tells us, +dwelt in many of the maritime cities, and were connected by +intermarriage with the Phoenicians, which was the cause of their +compound name; thirdly, he mentions the Libyans, the bulk and the most +ancient part of the population, hating the Carthaginians intensely on +account of the oppressiveness of their domination; lastly, he names the +Numidians, the nomad tribes of the frontier. + +It is evident, from this description, that the native Libyans were a +subject class, without franchise or political rights; and, accordingly, +we find no instance specified in history of a Libyan holding political +office or military command. The half-castes, the Liby-Phoenicians, seem +to have been sometimes sent out as colonists; but it may be inferred, +from what Diodorus says of their residence, that they had not the right +of the citizenship of Carthage; and only a single solitary case occurs +of one of this race being intrusted with authority, and that, too, not +emanating from the home government. This is the instance of the officer +sent by Hannibal to Sicily after the fall of Syracuse, whom Polybius +calls Myttinus the Libyan, but whom, from the fuller account in Livy, we +find to have been a Liby-Phoenician; and it is expressly mentioned what +indignation was felt by the Carthaginian commanders in the island that +this half-caste should control their operations. + +With respect to the composition of their armies, it is observable that, +though thirsting for extended empire, and though some of her leading men +became generals of the highest order, the Carthaginians, as a people, +were anything but personally warlike. As long as they could hire +mercenaries to fight for them, they had little appetite for the irksome +training and the loss of valuable time which military service would have +entailed on themselves. + +As Michelet remarks: "The life of an industrious merchant, of a +Carthaginian, was too precious to be risked, as long as it was possible +to substitute advantageously for it that of a barbarian from Spain or +Gaul. Carthage knew, and could tell to a drachma, what the life of a man +of each nation came to. A Greek was worth more than a Campanian, a +Campanian worth more than a Gaul or a Spaniard. When once this tariff of +blood was correctly made out, Carthage began a war as a mercantile +speculation. She tried to make conquests in the hope of getting new +mines to work or to open fresh markets for her exports. In one venture +she could afford to spend fifty thousand mercenaries, in another rather +more. If the returns were good, there was no regret felt for the capital +that had been sunk in the investment; more money got more men, and all +went on well." + +Armies composed of foreign mercenaries have in all ages been as +formidable to their employers as to the enemy against whom they were +directed. We know of one occasion--between the First and Second Punic +wars--when Carthage was brought to the very brink of destruction by a +revolt of her foreign troops. Other mutinies of the same kind must from +time to time have occurred. Probably one of these was the cause of the +comparative weakness of Carthage at the time of the Athenian expedition +against Syracuse, so different from the energy with which she attacked +Gelon half a century earlier and Dionysius half a century later. And +even when we consider her armies with reference only to their efficiency +in warfare, we perceive at once the inferiority of such bands of +_condottieri_, brought together without any common bond of origin, +tactics, or cause, to the legions of Rome, which, at the time of the +Punic wars, were raised from the very flower of a hardy agricultural +population, trained in the strictest discipline, habituated to victory, +and animated by the most resolute patriotism. + +And this shows, also, the transcendency of the genius of Hannibal, which +could form such discordant materials into a compact organized force, and +inspire them with the spirit of patient discipline and loyalty to their +chief, so that they were true to him in his adverse as well as in his +prosperous fortunes; and throughout the checkered series of his +campaigns no panic rout ever disgraced a division under his command, no +mutiny, or even attempt at mutiny, was ever known in his camp; and +finally, after fifteen years of Italian warfare, his men followed their +old leader to Zama, "with no fear and little hope,"[60] and there, on +that disastrous field, stood firm around him, his Old Guard, till +Scipio's Numidian allies came up on their flank, when at last, +surrounded and overpowered, the veteran battalions sealed their devotion +to their general by their blood! + +[Footnote 60: "We advanced to Waterloo as the Greeks did to Thermopylae: +all of us without fear, and most of us without hope."--_Speech of +General Foy._] + +"But if Hannibal's genius may be likened to the Homeric god, who, in his +hatred to the Trojans, rises from the deep to rally the fainting Greeks +and to lead them against the enemy, so the calm courage with which +Hector met his more than human adversary in his country's cause is no +unworthy image of the unyielding magnanimity displayed by the +aristocracy of Rome. As Hannibal utterly eclipses Carthage, so, on the +contrary, Fabius, Marcellus, Claudius Nero, even Scipio himself, are as +nothing when compared to the spirit and wisdom and power of Rome. The +senate, which voted its thanks to its political enemy, Varro, after his +disastrous defeat, 'because he had not despaired of the commonwealth,' +and which disdained either to solicit or to reprove or to threaten or in +any way to notice the twelve colonies which had refused their accustomed +supplies of men for the army, is far more to be honored than the +conqueror of Zama. This we should the more carefully bear in mind +because our tendency is to admire individual greatness far more than +national; and, as no single Roman will bear comparison to Hannibal, we +are apt to murmur at the event of the contest, and to think that the +victory was awarded to the least worthy of the combatants. On the +contrary, never was the wisdom of God's providence more manifest than in +the issue of the struggle between Rome and Carthage. + +"It was clearly for the good of mankind that Hannibal should be +conquered; his triumph would have stopped the progress of the world; for +great men can only act permanently by forming great nations; and no one +man, even though it were Hannibal himself, can in one generation effect +such a work. But where the nation has been merely enkindled for a while +by a great man's spirit, the light passes away with him who communicated +it; and the nation, when he is gone, is like a dead body to which magic +power had for a moment given unnatural life: when the charm has ceased, +the body is cold and stiff as before. He who grieves over the battle of +Zama should carry on his thoughts to a period thirty years later, when +Hannibal must in the course of nature have been dead, and consider how +the isolated Phoenician city of Carthage was fitted to receive and to +consolidate the civilization of Greece, or by its laws and institutions +to bind together barbarians of every race and language into an organized +empire, and prepare them for becoming, when that empire was dissolved, +the free members of the commonwealth of Christian Europe."[61] + +[Footnote 61: Arnold.] + +It was in the spring of 207 B.C. that Hasdrubal, after skilfully +disentangling himself from the Roman forces in Spain, and after a march +conducted with great judgment and little loss through the interior of +Gaul and the passes of the Alps, appeared in the country that now is the +north of Lombardy, at the head of troops which he had partly brought out +of Spain and partly levied among the Gauls and Ligurians on his way. At +this time Hannibal, with his unconquered and seemingly unconquerable +army, had been eight years in Italy, executing with strenuous ferocity +the vow of hatred to Rome which had been sworn by him while yet a child +at the bidding of his father, Hamilcar, who, as he boasted, had trained +up his three sons, Hannibal, Hasdrubal, and Mago, like three lion's +whelps, to prey upon the Romans. But Hannibal's latter campaigns had not +been signalized by any such great victories as marked the first years of +his invasion of Italy. The stern spirit of Roman resolution, ever +highest in disaster and danger, had neither bent nor despaired beneath +the merciless blows which "the dire African" dealt her in rapid +succession at Trebia, at Thrasymene, and at Cannae. Her population was +thinned by repeated slaughter in the field; poverty and actual scarcity +ground down the survivors, through the fearful ravages which Hannibal's +cavalry spread through their cornfields, their pasture lands, and their +vineyards; many of her allies went over to the invader's side, and new +clouds of foreign war threatened her from Macedonia and Gaul. But Rome +receded not. Rich and poor among her citizens vied with each other in +devotion to their country. The wealthy placed their stores, and all +placed their lives, at the State's disposal. And though Hannibal could +not be driven out of Italy, though every year brought its sufferings and +sacrifices, Rome felt that her constancy had not been exerted in vain. +If she was weakened by the continued strife, so was Hannibal also; and +it was clear that the unaided resources of his army were unequal to the +task of her destruction. The single deerhound could not pull down the +quarry which he had so furiously assailed. Rome not only stood fiercely +at bay, but had pressed back and gored her antagonist, that still, +however, watched her in act to spring. She was weary, and bleeding at +every pore; and there seemed to be little hope of her escape if the +other hound of old Hamilcar's race should come up in time to aid his +brother in the death grapple. + +Hasdrubal had commanded the Carthaginian armies in Spain for some time +with varying but generally unfavorable fortune. He had not the full +authority over the Punic forces in that country which his brother and +his father had previously exercised. The faction at Carthage, which was +at feud with his family, succeeded in fettering and interfering with his +power; and other generals were from time to time sent into Spain, whose +errors and misconduct caused the reverses that Hasdrubal met with. This +is expressly attested by the Greek historian Polybius, who was the +intimate friend of the younger Africanus, and drew his information +respecting the Second Punic War from the best possible authorities. Livy +gives a long narrative of campaigns between the Roman commanders in +Spain and Hasdrubal, which is so palpably deformed by fictions and +exaggerations as to be hardly deserving of attention. It is clear that +in the year B.C. 208, at least, Hasdrubal outmanoeuvred Publius Scipio, +who held the command of the Roman forces in Spain, and whose object was +to prevent him from passing the Pyrenees and marching upon Italy. Scipio +expected that Hasdrubal would attempt the nearest route along the coast +of the Mediterranean, and he therefore carefully fortified and guarded +the passes of the eastern Pyrenees. But Hasdrubal passed these mountains +near their western extremity; and then, with a considerable force of +Spanish infantry, with a small number of African troops, with some +elephants and much treasure, he marched, not directly toward the coast +of the Mediterranean, but in a northeastern line toward the centre of +Gaul. He halted for the winter in the territory of the Arverni, the +modern Auvergne, and conciliated or purchased the goodwill of the Gauls +in that region so far that he not only found friendly winter quarters +among them, but great numbers of them enlisted under him, and, on the +approach of spring, marched with him to invade Italy. + +By thus entering Gaul at the southwest, and avoiding its southern +maritime districts, Hasdrubal kept the Romans in complete ignorance of +his precise operations and movements in that country; all that they knew +was that Hasdrubal had baffled Scipio's attempts to detain him in Spain; +that he had crossed the Pyrenees with soldiers, elephants, and money, +and that he was raising fresh forces among the Gauls. The spring was +sure to bring him into Italy, and then would come the real tempest of +the war, when from the north and from the south the two Carthaginian +armies, each under a son of the Thunderbolt[62], were to gather together +around the seven hills of Rome. + +[Footnote 62: Hamilcar was surnamed Barca, which means the Thunderbolt. +Sultan Bajazet had the similar surname of Yilderim.] + +In this emergency the Romans looked among themselves earnestly and +anxiously for leaders fit to meet the perils of the coming campaign. + +The senate recommended the people to elect, as one of their consuls, +Caius Claudius Nero, a patrician of one of the families of the great +Claudian house. Nero had served during the preceding years of the war +both against Hannibal in Italy and against Hasdrubal in Spain; but it is +remarkable that the histories which we possess record no successes as +having been achieved by him either before or after his great campaign of +the Metaurus. It proves much for the sagacity of the leading men of the +senate that they recognized in Nero the energy and spirit which were +required at this crisis, and it is equally creditable to the patriotism +of the people that they followed the advice of the senate by electing a +general who had no showy exploits to recommend him to their choice. + +It was a matter of greater difficulty to find a second consul; the laws +required that one consul should be a plebeian; and the plebeian nobility +had been fearfully thinned by the events of the war. While the senators +anxiously deliberated among themselves what fit colleague for Nero could +be nominated at the coming comitia, and sorrowfully recalled the names +of Marcellus, Gracchus, and other plebeian generals who were no more, +one taciturn and moody old man sat in sullen apathy among the conscript +fathers. This was Marcus Livius, who had been consul in the year before +the beginning of this war, and had then gained a victory over the +Illyrians. After his consulship he had been impeached before the people +on a charge of peculation and unfair division of the spoils among his +soldiers; the verdict was unjustly given against him, and the sense of +this wrong, and of the indignity thus put upon him, had rankled +unceasingly in the bosom of Livius, so that for eight years after his +trial he had lived in seclusion in his country seat, taking no part in +any affairs of State. Latterly the censors had compelled him to come to +Rome and resume his place in the senate, where he used to sit gloomily +apart, giving only a silent vote. At last an unjust accusation against +one of his near kinsmen made him break silence, and he harangued the +house in words of weight and sense, which drew attention to him and +taught the senators that a strong spirit dwelt beneath that unimposing +exterior. + +Now, while they were debating on what noble of a plebeian house was fit +to assume the perilous honors of the consulate, some of the elder of +them looked on Marcus Livius, and remembered that in the very last +triumph which had been celebrated in the streets of Rome, this grim old +man had sat in the car of victory, and that he had offered the last +thanksgiving sacrifice for the success of the Roman arms which had bled +before Capitoline Jove. There had been no triumphs since Hannibal came +into Italy. The Illyrian campaign of Livius was the last that had been +so honored; perhaps it might be destined for him now to renew the +long-interrupted series. The senators resolved that Livius should be put +in nomination as consul with Nero; the people were willing to elect him: +the only opposition came from himself. He taunted them with their +inconsistency in honoring the man whom they had convicted of a base +crime. "If I am innocent," said he, "why did you place such a stain on +me? If I am guilty, why am I more fit for a second consulship than I was +for my first one?" The other senators remonstrated with him, urging the +example of the great Camillus, who, after an unjust condemnation on a +similar charge, both served and saved his country. At last Livius ceased +to object; and Caius Claudius Nero and Marcus Livius were chosen consuls +of Rome. + +A quarrel had long existed between the two consuls, and the senators +strove to effect a reconciliation between them before the campaign. Here +again Livius for a long time obstinately resisted the wish of his +fellow-senators. He said it was best for the State that he and Nero +should continue to hate one another. Each would do his duty better when +he knew that he was watched by an enemy in the person of his own +colleague. At last the entreaties of the senate prevailed, and Livius +consented to forego the feud, and to cooperate with Nero in preparing +for the coming struggle. + +As soon as the winter snows were thawed, Hasdrubal commenced his march +from Auvergne to the Alps. He experienced none of the difficulties which +his brother had met with from the mountain tribes. Hannibal's army had +been the first body of regular troops that had ever traversed their +regions; and, as wild animals assail a traveller, the natives rose +against it instinctively, in imagined defence of their own habitations, +which they supposed to be the objects of Carthaginian ambition. But the +fame of the war, with which Italy had now been convulsed for twelve +years, had penetrated into the Alpine passes, and the mountaineers now +understood that a mighty city southward of the Alps was to be attacked +by the troops whom they saw marching among them. They now not only +opposed no resistance to the passage of Hasdrubal, but many of them, out +of love of enterprise and plunder, or allured by the high pay that he +offered, took service with him; and thus he advanced upon Italy with an +army that gathered strength at every league. It is said, also, that some +of the most important engineering works which Hannibal had constructed +were found by Hasdrubal still in existence, and materially favored the +speed of his advance. He thus emerged into Italy from the Alpine valleys +much sooner than had been anticipated. Many warriors of the Ligurian +tribes joined him; and, crossing the River Po, he marched down its +southern bank to the city of Placentia, which he wished to secure as a +base for his future operations. Placentia resisted him as bravely as it +had resisted Hannibal twelve years before, and for some time Hasdrubal +was occupied with a fruitless siege before its walls. + +Six armies were levied for the defence of Italy when the long-dreaded +approach of Hasdrubal was announced. Seventy thousand Romans served in +the fifteen legions of which, with an equal number of Italian allies, +those armies and the garrisons were composed. Upward of thirty thousand +more Romans were serving in Sicily, Sardinia, and Spain. The whole +number of Roman citizens of an age fit for military duty scarcely +exceeded a hundred and thirty thousand. The census taken before the +commencement of the war had shown a total of two hundred and seventy +thousand, which had been diminished by more than half during twelve +years. These numbers are fearfully emphatic of the extremity to which +Rome was reduced, and of her gigantic efforts in that great agony of her +fate. Not merely men, but money and military stores, were drained to the +utmost, and if the armies of that year should be swept off by a +repetition of the slaughters of Thrasymene and Cannae all felt that Rome +would cease to exist. + +Even if the campaign were to be marked by no decisive success on either +side her ruin seemed certain. In South Italy, Hannibal had either +detached Rome's allies from her or had impoverished them by the ravages +of his army. If Hasdrubal could have done the same in Upper Italy; if +Etruria, Umbria, and Northern Latium had either revolted or been laid +waste, Rome must have sunk beneath sheer starvation, for the hostile or +desolated territory would have yielded no supplies of corn for her +population, and money to purchase it from abroad there was none. Instant +victory was a matter of life or death. Three of her six armies were +ordered to the North, but the first of these was required to overawe the +disaffected Etruscan. The second army of the North was pushed forward, +under Porcius, the praetor, to meet and keep in check the advanced +troops of Hasdrubal; while the third, the grand army of the North, which +was to be under the immediate command of the consul Livius, who had the +chief command in all North Italy, advanced more slowly in its support. +There were similarly three armies in the South, under the orders of the +other consul, Claudius Nero. + +The lot had decided that Livius was to be opposed to Hasdrubal, and that +Nero should face Hannibal. And "when all was ordered as themselves +thought best, the two consuls went forth from the city, each his several +way. The people of Rome were now quite otherwise affected than they had +been when L. Æmilius Paulus and C. Terentius Varro were sent against +Hannibal. They did no longer take upon them to direct their generals, or +bid them despatch and win the victory betimes, but rather they stood in +fear lest all diligence, wisdom, and valor should prove too little; for +since few years had passed wherein some one of their generals had not +been slain, and since it was manifest that, if either of these present +consuls were defeated or put to the worst, the two Carthaginians would +forthwith join, and make short work with the other, it seemed a greater +happiness than could be expected that each of them should return home +victor, and come off with honor from such mighty opposition as he was +like to find. With extreme difficulty had Rome held up her head ever +since the battle of Cannae; though it were so, that Hannibal alone, with +little help from Carthage, had continued the war in Italy. But there was +now arrived another son of Hamilcar, and one that in his present +expedition had seemed a man of more sufficiency than Hannibal himself; +for whereas, in that long and dangerous march through barbarous nations, +over great rivers and mountains that were thought unpassable, Hannibal +had lost a great part of his army, this Hasdrubal, in the same places, +had multiplied his numbers, and gathering the people that he found in +the way, descended from the Alps like a rolling snowball, far greater +than he came over the Pyrenees at his first setting out of Spain. These +considerations and the like, of which fear presented many unto them, +caused the people of Rome to wait upon their consuls out of the town, +like a pensive train of mourners, thinking upon Marcellus and Crispinus, +upon whom, in the like sort, they had given attendance the last year, +but saw neither of them return alive from a less dangerous war. +Particularly old Q. Fabius gave his accustomed advice to M. Livius, that +he should abstain from giving or taking battle until he well understood +the enemy's condition. But the consul made him a froward answer, and +said that he would fight the very first day, for that he thought it long +till he should either recover his honor by victory, or, by seeing the +overthrow of his own unjust citizens, satisfy himself with the joy of a +great though not an honest revenge. But his meaning was better than his +words." + +Hannibal at this period occupied with his veteran but much-reduced +forces the extreme south of Italy. It had not been expected either by +friend or foe that Hasdrubal would effect his passage of the Alps so +early in the year as actually occurred. And even when Hannibal learned +that his brother was in Italy, and had advanced as far as Placentia, he +was obliged to pause for further intelligence before he himself +commenced active operations, as he could not tell whether his brother +might not be invited into Etruria, to aid the party there that was +disaffected to Rome, or whether he would march down by the Adriatic Sea. +Hannibal led his troops out of their winter quarters in Bruttium, and +marched northward as far as Canusium. Nero had his head-quarters near +Venusia, with an army which he had increased to forty thousand foot and +two thousand five hundred horse, by incorporating under his own command +some of the legions which had been intended to act under other generals +in the South. There was another Roman army, twenty thousand strong, +south of Hannibal at Tarentum. The strength of that city secured this +Roman force from any attack by Hannibal, and it was a serious matter to +march northward and leave it in his rear, free to act against all his +depots and allies in the friendly part of Italy, which for the two or +three last campaigns had served him for a base of his operations. +Moreover, Nero's army was so strong that Hannibal could not concentrate +troops enough to assume the offensive against it without weakening his +garrisons and relinquishing, at least for a time, his grasp upon the +southern provinces. To do this before he was certainly informed of his +brother's operations would have been a useless sacrifice, as Nero could +retreat before him upon the other Roman armies near the capital, and +Hannibal knew by experience that a mere advance of his army upon the +walls of Rome would have no effect on the fortunes of the war. In the +hope, probably, of inducing Nero to follow him and of gaining an +opportunity of outmanoeuvring the Roman consul and attacking him on his +march, Hannibal moved into Lucania, and then back into Apulia; he again +marched down into Bruttium, and strengthened his army by a levy of +recruits in that district. Nero followed him, but gave him no chance of +assailing him at a disadvantage. Some partial encounters seem to have +taken place; but the consul could not prevent Hannibal's junction with +his Bruttian levies, nor could Hannibal gain an opportunity of +surprising and crushing the consul.[63] Hannibal returned to his former +headquarters at Canusium, and halted there in expectation of further +tidings of his brother's movements. Nero also resumed his former +position in observation of the Carthaginian army. + +[Footnote 63: The annalists whom Livy copied spoke of Nero's gaining +repeated victories over Hannibal, and killing and taking his men by tens +of thousands. The falsehood of all this is self-evident. If Nero could +thus always beat Hannibal, the Romans would not have been in such an +agony of dread about Hasdrubal as all writers describe. Indeed, we have +the express testimony of Polybius that the statements which we read in +Livy of Marcellus, Nero, and others gaining victories over Hannibal in +Italy must be all fabrications of Roman vanity. Polybius states that +Hannibal was never defeated before the battle of Zama; and in another +passage he mentions that after the defeats which Hannibal inflicted on +the Romans in the early years of the war, they no longer dared face his +army in a pitched battle on a fair field, and yet they resolutely +maintained the war. He rightly explains this by referring to the +superiority of Hannibal's cavalry, the arm which gained him all his +victories. By keeping within fortified lines, or close to the sides of +the mountains when Hannibal approached them, the Romans rendered his +cavalry ineffective; and a glance at the geography of Italy will show +how an army can traverse the greater part of that country without +venturing far from the high grounds.] + +Meanwhile, Hasdrubal had raised the siege of Placentia, and was +advancing toward Ariminum on the Adriatic, and driving before him the +Roman army under Porcius. Nor when the consul Livius had come up, and +united the second and third armies of the North, could he make head +against the invaders. The Romans still fell back before Hasdrubal beyond +Ariminum, beyond the Metaurus, and as far as the little town of Sena, to +the southeast of that river. Hasdrubal was not unmindful of the +necessity of acting in concert with his brother. He sent messengers to +Hannibal to announce his own line of march, and to propose that they +should unite their armies in South Umbria and then wheel round against +Rome. Those messengers traversed the greater part of Italy in safety, +but, when close to the object of their mission, were captured by a Roman +detachment; and Hasdrubal's letter, detailing his whole plan of the +campaign, was laid, not in his brother's hands, but in those of the +commander of the Roman armies of the South. Nero saw at once the full +importance of the crisis. The two sons of Hamilcar were now within two +hundred miles of each other, and if Rome were to be saved the brothers +must never meet alive. Nero instantly ordered seven thousand picked men, +a thousand being cavalry, to hold themselves in readiness for a secret +expedition against one of Hannibal's garrisons, and as soon as night had +set in he hurried forward on his bold enterprise; but he quickly left +the southern road toward Lucania, and, wheeling round, pressed northward +with the utmost rapidity toward Picenum. He had, during the preceding +afternoon, sent messengers to Rome, who were to lay Hasdrubal's letters +before the senate. There was a law forbidding a consul to make war or +march his army beyond the limits of the province assigned to him; but in +such an emergency, Nero did not wait for the permission of the senate to +execute his project, but informed them that he was already on his march +to join Livius against Hasdrubal. He advised them to send the two +legions which formed the home garrison on to Narnia, so as to defend +that pass of the Flaminian road against Hasdrubal, in case he should +march upon Rome before the consular armies could attack him. They were +to supply the place of these two legions at Rome by a levy _en masse_ in +the city, and by ordering up the reserve legion from Capua. These were +his communications to the senate. He also sent horsemen forward along +his line of march, with orders to the local authorities to bring stores +of provisions and refreshment of every kind to the roadside, and to have +relays of carriages ready for the conveyance of the wearied soldiers. +Such were the precautions which he took for accelerating his march; and +when he had advanced some little distance from his camp, he briefly +informed his soldiers of the real object of their expedition. He told +them that never was there a design more seemingly audacious and more +really safe. He said he was leading them to a certain victory, for his +colleague had an army large enough to balance the enemy already, so that +_their_ swords would decisively turn the scale. The very rumor that a +fresh consul and a fresh army had come up, when heard on the +battle-field--and he would take care that they should not be heard of +before they were seen and felt--would settle the business. They would +have all the credit of the victory and of having dealt the final +decisive blow. He appealed to the enthusiastic reception which they +already met with on their line of march as a proof and an omen of their +good fortune. And, indeed, their whole path was amid the vows and +prayers and praises of their countrymen. The entire population of the +districts through which they passed flocked to the roadside to see and +bless the deliverers of their country. Food, drink, and refreshments of +every kind were eagerly pressed on their acceptance. Each peasant +thought a favor was conferred on him if one of Nero's chosen band would +accept aught at his hands. The soldiers caught the full spirit of their +leader. Night and day they marched forward, taking their hurried meals +in the ranks, and resting by relay in the wagons which the zeal of the +country people provided, and which followed in the rear of the column. + +Meanwhile, at Rome, the news of Nero's expedition had caused the +greatest excitement and alarm. All men felt the full audacity of the +enterprise, but hesitated what epithet to apply to it. It was evident +that Nero's conduct would be judged of by the event, that most unfair +criterion, as the Roman historian truly terms it. People reasoned on the +perilous state in which Nero had left the rest of his army, without a +general, and deprived of the core of its strength, in the vicinity of +the terrible Hannibal. They speculated on how long it would take +Hannibal to pursue and overtake Nero himself, and his expeditionary +force. They talked over the former disasters of the war, and the fall of +both the consuls of the last year. All these calamities had come on them +while they had only one Carthaginian general and army to deal with in +Italy. Now they had two Punic wars at a time. They had two Carthaginian +armies, they had almost two Hannibals, in Italy. Hasdrubal was sprung +from the same father; trained up in the same hostility to Rome; equally +practised in battle against their legions; and, if the comparative speed +and success with which he had crossed the Alps were a fair test, he was +even a better general than his brother. With fear for their interpreter +of every rumor, they exaggerated the strength of their enemy's forces in +every quarter, and criticised and distrusted their own. + +Fortunately for Rome, while she was thus a prey to terror and anxiety, +her consul's nerves were stout and strong, and he resolutely urged on +his march toward Sena, where his colleague Livius and the praetor +Porcius were encamped, Hasdrubal's army being in position about half a +mile to their north. Nero had sent couriers forward to apprise his +colleague of his project and of his approach; and by the advice of +Livius, Nero so timed his final march as to reach the camp at Sena by +night. According to a previous arrangement, Nero's men were received +silently into the tents of their comrades, each according to his rank. +By these means there was no enlargement of the camp that could betray to +Hasdrubal the accession of force which the Romans had received. This was +considerable, as Nero's numbers had been increased on the march by the +volunteers, who offered themselves in crowds, and from whom he selected +the most promising men, and especially the veterans of former campaigns. +A council of war was held on the morning after his arrival, in which +some advised that time should be given for Nero's men to refresh +themselves after the fatigue of such a march. But Nero vehemently +opposed all delay. "The officer," said he, "who is for giving time to my +men here to rest themselves is for giving time to Hannibal to attack my +men, whom I have left in the camp in Apulia. He is for giving time to +Hannibal and Hasdrubal to discover my march, and to manoeuvre for a +junction with each other in Cisalpine Gaul at their leisure. We must +fight instantly, while both the foe here and the foe in the South are +ignorant of our movements. We must destroy this Hasdrubal, and I must be +back in Apulia before Hannibal awakes from his torpor." Nero's advice +prevailed. It was resolved to fight directly; and before the consuls and +praetor left the tent of Livius, the red ensign, which was the signal to +prepare for immediate action, was hoisted, and the Romans forthwith drew +up in battle array outside the camp. + +Hasdrubal had been anxious to bring Livius and Porcius to battle, though +he had not judged it expedient to attack them in their lines. And now, +on hearing that the Romans offered battle, he also drew up his men and +advanced toward them. No spy or deserter had informed him of Nero's +arrival, nor had he received any direct information that he had more +than his old enemies to deal with. But as he rode forward to reconnoitre +the Roman line, he thought that their numbers seemed to have increased, +and that the armor of some of them was unusually dull and stained. He +noticed, also, that the horses of some of the cavalry appeared to be +rough and out of condition, as if they had just come from a succession +of forced marches. So also, though, owing to the precaution of Livius, +the Roman camp showed no change of size, it had not escaped the quick +ear of the Carthaginian general that the trumpet which gave the signal +to the Roman legions sounded that morning once oftener than usual, as if +directing the troops of some additional superior officer. Hasdrubal, +from his Spanish campaigns, was well acquainted with all the sounds and +signals of Roman war, and from all that he heard and saw he felt +convinced that both the Roman consuls were before him. In doubt and +difficulty as to what might have taken place between the armies of the +South, and probably hoping that Hannibal also was approaching, Hasdrubal +determined to avoid an encounter with the combined Roman forces, and to +endeavor to retreat upon Insubrian Gaul, where he would be in a friendly +country, and could endeavor to reopen his communication with his +brother. He therefore led his troops back into their camp; and as the +Romans did not venture on an assault upon his intrenchments, and +Hasdrubal did not choose to commence his retreat in their sight, the day +passed away in inaction. At the first watch of the night Hasdrubal led +his men silently out of their camp, and moved northward toward the +Metaurus, in the hope of placing that river between himself and the +Romans before his retreat was discovered. His guides betrayed him; and +having purposely led him away from the part of the river that was +fordable, they made their escape in the dark, and left Hasdrubal and his +army wandering in confusion along the steep bank, and seeking in vain +for a spot where the stream could be safely crossed. At last they +halted; and when day dawned on them, Hasdrubal found that great numbers +of his men, in their fatigue and impatience, had lost all discipline and +subordination, and that many of his Gallic auxiliaries had got drunk, +and were lying helpless in their quarters. The Roman cavalry was soon +seen coming up in pursuit, followed at no great distance by the legions, +which marched in readiness for an instant engagement. It was hopeless +for Hasdrubal to think of continuing his retreat before them. The +prospect of immediate battle might recall the disordered part of his +troops to a sense of duty, and revive the instinct of discipline. He +therefore ordered his men to prepare for action instantly, and made the +best arrangement of them that the nature of the ground would permit. + +Heeren has well described the general appearance of a Carthaginian army. +He says: "It was an assemblage of the most opposite races of the human +species from the farthest parts of the globe. Hordes of half-naked Gauls +were ranged next to companies of white-clothed Iberians, and savage +Ligurians next to the far-travelled Nasamones and Lotophagi. +Carthaginians and Phoenici-Africans formed the centre, while innumerable +troops of Numidian horsemen, taken from all the tribes of the Desert, +swarmed about on unsaddled horses, and formed the wings; the van was +composed of Balearic slingers; and a line of colossal elephants, with +their Ethiopian guides, formed, as it were, a chain of moving fortresses +before the whole army." + +Such were the usual materials and arrangements of the hosts that fought +for Carthage; but the troops under Hasdrubal were not in all respects +thus constituted or thus stationed. He seems to have been especially +deficient in cavalry, and he had few African troops, though some +Carthaginians of high rank were with him. His veteran Spanish infantry, +armed with helmets and shields, and short cut-and-thrust swords, were +the best part of his army. These and his few Africans he drew up on his +right wing, under his own personal command. In the centre he placed his +Ligurian infantry, and on the left wing he placed or retained the Gauls, +who were armed with long javelins and with huge broadswords and targets. +The rugged nature of the ground in front and on the flank of this part +of his line made him hope that the Roman right wing would be unable to +come to close quarters with these unserviceable barbarians before he +could make some impression with his Spanish veterans on the Roman left. +This was the only chance that he had of victory or safety, and he seems +to have done everything that good generalship could do to secure it. He +placed his elephants in advance of his centre and right wing. He had +caused the driver of each of them to be provided with a sharp iron spike +and a mallet, and had given orders that every beast that became +unmanageable, and ran back upon his own ranks, should be instantly +killed by driving the spike into the vertebra at the junction of the +head and the spine. Hasdrubal's elephants were ten in number. We have no +trustworthy information as to the amount of his infantry, but it is +quite clear that he was greatly outnumbered by the combined Roman +forces. + +The tactics of the Roman legions had not yet acquired that perfection +which they received from the military genius of Marius,[64] and which we +read of in the first chapter of Gibbon. We possess, in that great work, +an account of the Roman legions at the end of the commonwealth, and +during the early ages of the empire, which those alone can adequately +admire who have attempted a similar description. We have also, in the +sixth and seventeenth books of Polybius, an elaborate discussion on the +military system of the Romans in his time, which was not far distant +from the time of the battle of the Metaurus. But the subject is beset +with difficulties; and instead of entering into minute but inconclusive +details, I would refer to Gibbon's first chapter as serving for a +general description of the Roman army in its period of perfection, and +remark that the training and armor which the whole legion received in +the time of Augustus were, two centuries earlier, only partially +introduced. Two divisions of troops, called _hastati_ and _principes_, +formed the bulk of each Roman legion in the Second Punic War. Each of +these divisions was twelve hundred strong. The hastatus and the princeps +legionary bore a breastplate or coat of mail, brazen greaves, and a +brazen helmet with a lofty upright crest of scarlet or black feathers. +He had a large oblong shield; and, as weapons of offence, two javelins, +one of which was light and slender, but the other was a strong and +massive weapon, with a shaft about four feet long and an iron head of +equal length. The sword was carried on the right thigh, and was a short +cut-and-thrust weapon, like that which was used by the Spaniards. Thus +armed, the hastati formed the front division of the legion, and the +principes the second. Each division was drawn up about ten deep, a space +of three feet being allowed between the files as well as the ranks, so +as to give each legionary ample room for the use of his javelins and of +his sword and shield. The men in the second rank did not stand +immediately behind those in the first rank, but the files were +alternate, like the position of the men on a draught-board. This was +termed the _quincunx_ order. + +[Footnote 64: Most probably during the period of his prolonged +consulship, from B.C. 104 to B.C. 101, while he was training his army +against the Cimbri and the Teutons.] + +Niebuhr considers that this arrangement enabled the legion to keep up a +shower of javelins on the enemy for some considerable time. He says: +"When the first line had hurled its _pila_, it probably stepped back +between those who stood behind it, and two steps forward restored the +front nearly to its first position; a movement which, on account of the +arrangement of the quincunx, could be executed without losing a moment. +Thus one line succeeded the other in the front till it was time to draw +the swords; nay, when it was found expedient, the lines which had +already been in the front might repeat this change, since the stores of +pila were surely not confined to the two which each soldier took with +him into battle. + +"The same charge must have taken place in fighting with the sword, +which, when the same tactics were adopted on both sides, was anything +but a confused _mêlée_; on the contrary, it was a series of single +combats." He adds that a military man of experience had been consulted +by him on the subject and had given it as his opinion "that the change +of the lines as described above was by no means impracticable; but, in +the absence of the deafening noise of gunpowder, it cannot have had even +any difficulty with well-trained troops." + +The third division of the legion was six hundred strong and acted as a +reserve. It was always composed of veteran soldiers, who were called the +_triarii_. Their arms were the same as these of the principes and +hastati, except that each _triarian_ carried a spear instead of +javelins. The rest of the legion consisted of light-armed troops, who +acted as skirmishers. The cavalry of each legion was at this period +about three hundred strong. The Italian allies who were attached to the +legion seem to have been similarly armed and equipped, but their +numerical proportion of cavalry was much larger. + +Such was the nature of the forces that advanced on the Roman side to the +battle of the Metaurus. Nero commanded the right wing, Livius the left, +and the praetor Porcius had the command of the centre. "Both Romans and +Carthaginians well understood how much depended upon the fortune of this +day, and how little hope of safety there was for the vanquished. Only +the Romans herein seemed to have had the better in conceit and opinion +that they were to fight with men desirous to have fled from them; and +according to this presumption came Livius the consul, with a proud +bravery, to give charge on the Spaniards and Africans, by whom he was so +sharply entertained that the victory seemed very doubtful. The Africans +and Spaniards were stout soldiers, and well acquainted with the manner +of the Roman fight. The Ligurians also were a hardy nation, and not +accustomed to give ground, which they needed the less, or were able now +to do, being placed in the midst. Livius, therefore, and Porcius found +great opposition; and with great slaughter on both sides prevailed +little or nothing. Besides other difficulties, they were exceedingly +troubled by the elephants, that brake their first ranks and put them in +such disorder as the Roman ensigns were driven to fall back; all this +while Claudius Nero, laboring in vain against a steep hill, was unable +to come to blows with the Gauls that stood opposite him, but out of +danger. This made Hasdrubal the more confident, who, seeing his own left +wing safe, did the more boldly and fiercely make impression on the other +side upon the left wing of the Romans."[65] + +[Footnote 65: Sir Walter Raleigh: _Historie of the World_.] + +But at last Nero, who found that Hasdrubal refused his left wing, and +who could not overcome the difficulties of the ground in the quarter +assigned to him, decided the battle by another stroke of that military +genius which had inspired his march. Wheeling a brigade of his best men +round the rear of the rest of the Roman army, Nero fiercely charged the +flank of the Spaniards and Africans. The charge was as successful as it +was sudden. Rolled back in disorder upon each other, and overwhelmed by +numbers, the Spaniards and Ligurians died, fighting gallantly to the +last. The Gauls, who had taken little or no part in the strife of the +day, were then surrounded, and butchered almost without resistance. +Hasdrubal, after having, by the confession of his enemies, done all that +a general could do, when he saw that the victory was irreparably lost, +scorning to survive the gallant host which he had led, and to gratify, +as a captive, Roman cruelty and pride, spurred his horse into the midst +of a Roman cohort, and sword in hand, met the death that was worthy of +the son of Hamilcar and the brother of Hannibal. + +Success the most complete had crowned Nero's enterprise. Returning as +rapidly as he had advanced, he was again facing the inactive enemies in +the South before they even knew of his march. But he brought with him a +ghastly trophy of what he had done. In the true spirit of that savage +brutality which deformed the Roman national character, Nero ordered +Hasdrubal's head to be flung into his brother's camp. Ten years had +passed since Hannibal had last gazed on those features. The sons of +Hamilcar had then planned their system of warfare against Rome which +they had so nearly brought to successful accomplishment. Year after year +had Hannibal been struggling in Italy, in the hope of one day hailing +the arrival of him whom he had left in Spain, and of seeing his +brother's eye flash with affection and pride at the junction of their +irresistible hosts. He now saw that eye glazed in death, and in the +agony of his heart the great Carthaginian groaned aloud that he +recognized his country's destiny. + +Meanwhile, at the tidings of the great battle, Rome at once rose from +the thrill of anxiety and terror to the full confidence of triumph. +Hannibal might retain his hold on Southern Italy for a few years longer, +but the imperial city and her allies were no longer in danger from his +arms; and, after Hannibal's downfall, the great military republic of the +ancient world met in her career of conquest no other worthy competitor. +Byron has termed Nero's march "unequalled," and, in the magnitude of its +consequences, it is so. Viewed only as a military exploit, it remains +unparalleled save by Marlborough's bold march from Flanders to the +Danube in the campaign of Blenheim, and perhaps also by the Archduke +Charles' lateral march in 1796, by which he overwhelmed the French under +Jourdan, and then, driving Moreau through the Black Forest and across +the Rhine, for a while freed Germany from her invaders. + + + + +SCIPIO AFRICANUS CRUSHES HANNIBAL AT ZAMA AND SUBJUGATES CARTHAGE + +B.C. 202 + +LIVY + + +(Sprung from a colony of Tyre, Carthage, founded about B.C. 800, rapidly +developed, through a wonderful system of colonization, into a dominating +power, her rule extending through Northwestern Africa and Western +Europe. In B.C. 509 Carthage made her first treaty with Rome. But the +rivalry which grew up between the two Powers developed into a stubborn +contest for the empire of the world, culminating in the three Punic +wars. The first of these lasted from B.C. 264 to 241; the second, from +B.C. 218 to 201. In the interval between these two wars Rome acquired +the northern part of Italy, whence she sent victorious armies against +the barbarians in Gaul. Meanwhile, under Hamilcar Barcar, the +Carthaginians had effected the conquest of Southern Spain, which they +reduced to the condition of a dependency. + +Hamilcar's greater son, Hannibal, was compelled by his father to swear +eternal enmity to Rome. Having established the Carthaginian empire in +Spain, at the age of twenty-six he took the Spanish city of Saguntum, an +ally of Rome, and this was the immediate cause of the Second Punic War, +which the Romans declared. The passage of the Alps by Hannibal is +regarded as one of the greatest military performances in history. He was +welcomed by the Gauls as a deliverer, and was soon operating in Northern +Italy, his appearance there being a complete surprise to the Romans. He +won victories over them at the rivers Ticinus and Trebia, B.C. 218; +another in 217 at Lake Trasimenus; a great triumph at Cannae in 216; +took Capua in the same year, and wintered there; in 212 captured +Tarentum; marched against Rome in 211; and in 203 was recalled to +Africa. + +In the mean time the Romans had decided to carry the war into Africa, +although in 215 they had beaten Hannibal, and in 211 had retaken Capua. +Publius Cornelius Scipio [Scipio Africanus Major] in B.C. 210-206 drove +the Carthaginians out of Spain. In 205 he was made consul, and the next +year invaded Africa. Landing on the coast, he was met by the forces of +the Numidian King, who became his allies against Carthage. In 203 he +defeated Syphax and Hasdrubal. Hannibal now having returned to Carthage, +he took command of the forces which she opposed to the Roman invaders, +but in B.C. 202 suffered final overthrow at Zama, in the battle that +ended the Second Punic War. Livy's account of the closing scenes of that +war, which here follows, gives the reader a clear understanding of the +sequence and conclusion of the events related.) + + +Marcus Servilius and Tiberius Claudius, having assembled the senate, +consulted them respecting the provinces. As both were desirous of having +Africa, they wished Italy and Africa to be disposed of by lots; but, +principally in consequence of the exertions of Quintus Metellus, Africa +was neither assigned to anyone nor withheld. The consuls were ordered to +make application to the tribunes of the people, to the effect that, if +they thought proper, they should put it to the people to decide whom +they wished to conduct the war in Africa. All the tribes nominated +Publius Scipio. Nevertheless, the consuls put the province of Africa to +the lot, for so the senate had decreed. Africa fell to the lot of +Tiberius Claudius, who was to cross over into Africa with a fleet of +fifty ships, all quinqueremes, and have an equal command with Scipio. +Marcus Servilius obtained Etruria. Caius Servilius was continued in +command in the same province, in case the senate resolved that the +consul should remain at the city. Of the praetors, Marcus Sextus +obtained Gaul, which province, together with two legions, Publius +Quinctilius Varus was to deliver to him; Caius Livius obtained Bruttium, +with the two legions which Publius Sempronius, the proconsul, had +commanded the former year; Cneius Tremellius had Sicily, and was to +receive the province and two legions from Publius Villius Tappulus, a +praetor of the former year; Villius, as propraetor, was to protect the +coast of Sicily with twenty men-of-war and a thousand soldiers; and +Marcus Pomponius was to convey thence to Rome one thousand five hundred +soldiers, with the remaining twenty ships. The city jurisdiction fell to +Caius Aurelius Cotta; and the rest of the praetors were continued in +command of the respective provinces and armies which they then had. Not +more than sixteen legions were employed this year in the defence of the +empire. And, that they might have the gods favorably disposed toward +them in all their undertakings and proceedings, it was ordered that the +consuls, before they set out to the war, should celebrate those games +and sacrifice those victims of the larger sort which, in the consulate +of Marcus Claudius Marcellus and Titus Quinctius, Titus Manlius the +dictator had vowed, provided the commonwealth should continue in the +same state for the next five years. The games were exhibited in the +circus during four days, and the victims sacrificed to those deities to +whom they had been vowed. + +Meanwhile, hope and anxiety daily and simultaneously increased; nor +could the minds of men be brought to any fixed conclusion, whether it +was a fit subject for rejoicing that Hannibal had now at length, after +the sixteenth year, departed from Italy and left the Romans in the +unmolested possession of it or whether they had not greater cause to +fear from his having transported his army in safety into Africa. They +said that the scene of action certainly was changed, but not the danger. +That Quintus Fabius, lately deceased, who had foretold how arduous the +contest would be, was used to predict, not without good reason, that +Hannibal would prove a more formidable enemy in his own country than he +had been in a foreign one; and that Scipio would have to encounter, not +Syphax, a king of undisciplined barbarians whose armies Statorius, a man +little better than a soldier's drudge, was used to lead, nor his +father-in-law Hasdrubal, that most fugacious general, nor tumultuary +armies hastily collected out of a crowd of half-armed rustics, but +Hannibal, born in a manner in the pavilion of his father, that bravest +of generals, nurtured and educated in the midst of arms, who served as a +soldier formerly, when a boy, and became a general when he had scarcely +attained the age of manhood; who, having grown old in victory, had +filled Spain, Gaul, and Italy, from the Alps to the strait, with +monuments of his vast achievements; who commanded troops who had served +as long as he had himself; troops hardened by the endurance of every +species of suffering, such as it is scarcely credible that men could +have supported; stained a thousand times with Roman blood, and bearing +with them the spoils not only of soldiers, but of generals. That many +would meet the eyes of Scipio in battle who had with their own hands +slain Roman praetors, generals, and consuls; many decorated with crowns +in reward for having scaled walls and crossed ramparts; many who had +traversed the captured camps and cities of the Romans. That the +magistrates of the Roman people had not then so many fasces as Hannibal +could have carried before him, having taken them from generals whom he +had slain. While their minds were harassed by these apprehensions, their +anxiety and fears were further increased from the circumstance that, +whereas they had been accustomed to carry on war for several years in +different parts of Italy, and within their view, with languid hopes and +without the prospect of bringing it to a speedy termination, Scipio and +Hannibal had stimulated the minds of all, as generals prepared for a +final contest. Even those persons whose confidence in Scipio and hopes +of victory were great, were affected with anxiety, increasing in +proportion as they saw their completion approaching. The state of +feeling among the Carthaginians was much the same; for when they turned +their eyes on Hannibal, and the greatness of his achievements, they +repented having solicited peace; but when again they reflected that they +had been twice defeated in a pitched battle, that Syphax had been made +prisoner, that they had been driven out of Spain and Italy, and that all +this had been effected by the valor and conduct of Scipio alone, they +regarded him with horror, as a general marked out by destiny, and born +for their destruction. + +Hannibal had by this time arrived at Adrumetum, from which place, after +employing a few days there in refreshing his soldiers, who had suffered +from the motion by sea, he proceeded by forced marches to Zama, roused +by the alarming statements of messengers who brought word that all the +country around Carthage was filled with armed troops. Zama is distant +from Carthage a five days' journey. Some spies whom he sent out from +this place, being intercepted by the Roman guard and brought before +Scipio, he directed that they should be handed over to the military +tribunes, and after having been desired fearlessly to survey everything, +to be conducted through the camp wherever they chose; then, asking them +whether they had examined everything to their satisfaction, he assigned +them an escort and sent them back to Hannibal. + +Hannibal received none of the circumstances which were reported to him +with feelings of joy, for they brought word that, as it happened, +Masinissa had joined the enemy that very day with six thousand infantry +and four thousand horse; but he was principally dispirited by the +confidence of his enemy, which, doubtless, was not conceived without +some ground. Accordingly, though he himself was the originator of the +war, and by his coming had upset the truce which had been entered into, +and cut off all hopes of a treaty, yet concluding that more favorable +terms might be obtained if he solicited peace while his strength was +unimpaired than when vanquished, he sent a message to Scipio requesting +permission to confer with him. + +Scipio took up his position not far from the city of Naragara, in a +situation convenient not only for other purposes, but also because there +was a watering-place within a dart's throw. Hannibal took possession of +an eminence four miles thence, safe and convenient in every respect, +except that he had a long way to go for water. Here in the intermediate +space a place was chosen open to view from all sides, that there might +be no opportunity for treachery. + +Their armed attendants having retired to an equal distance, they met, +each attended by one interpreter, being the greatest generals not only +of their own times, but of any to be found in the records of the times +preceding them, and equal to any of the kings or generals of any nation +whatever. When they came within sight of each other they remained silent +for a short time, thunderstruck, as it were, with mutual admiration. At +length Hannibal thus began: "Since fate hath so ordained it that I, who +was the first to wage war upon the Romans, and who have so often had +victory almost within my reach, should voluntarily come to sue for +peace, I rejoice that it is you, above all others, from whom it is my +lot to solicit it. To you, also, amid the many distinguished events of +your life, it will not be esteemed one of the least glorious that +Hannibal, to whom the gods had so often granted victory over the Roman +generals, should have yielded to you; and that you should have put an +end to this war, which has been rendered remarkable by your calamities +before it was by ours. + +"Peace is proposed at a time when you have the advantage. We who +negotiate it are the persons whom it most concerns to obtain it, and we +are persons whose arrangements, be they what they will, our states will +ratify. You have recovered Spain, which had been lost, after driving +thence four Carthaginian armies. When elected consul, though all others +wanted courage to defend Italy, you crossed over into Africa, where +having cut to pieces two armies, having at once captured and burnt two +camps in the same hour, having made prisoner Syphax, a most powerful +king, and seized so many towns of his dominions and so many of ours, you +have dragged me from Italy, the possession of which I had firmly held +for now sixteen years. While your affairs are in a favorable and ours in +a dubious state, you would derive honor and splendor from granting +peace; while to us, who solicit it, it would be considered as necessary +rather than honorable. + +"It is indeed the right of him who grants, and not of him who solicits +it, to dictate the terms of peace, but perhaps we may not be unworthy to +impose upon ourselves the fine. We do not refuse that all those +possessions on account of which the war was begun should be yours; +Sicily, Sardinia, Spain, with all the islands lying in any part of the +sea, between Africa and Italy. Let us Carthaginians, confined within the +shores of Africa, behold you, since such is the pleasure of the gods, +extending your empire over foreign nations both by sea and land. I +cannot deny that you have reason to suspect the Carthaginian faith, in +consequence of their insincerity lately in soliciting a peace and while +awaiting the decision. The sincerity with which a peace will be observed +depends much, Scipio, on the person by whom it is sought. Your senate, +as I hear, refused to grant a peace in some measure because the deputies +were deficient in respectability. It is I, Hannibal, who now solicit +peace; who would neither ask for it unless I believed it expedient, nor +will I fail to observe it for the same reason of expedience on account +of which I have solicited it. And in the same manner as I, because the +war was commenced by me, brought it to pass that no one regretted it +till the gods began to regard me with displeasure; so will I also exert +myself that no one may regret the peace procured by my means." + +In answer to these things the Roman general spoke nearly to the +following effect: "I was aware that it was in consequence of the +expectation of your arrival that the Carthaginians violated the existing +faith of the truce and broke off all hope of a peace. Nor, indeed, do +you conceal the fact, inasmuch as you artfully withdraw from the former +conditions of peace every concession except what relates to those things +which have for a long time been in our own power. But as it is your +object that your countrymen should be sensible how great a burden they +are relieved from by your means, so it is incumbent upon me to endeavor +that they may not receive, as the reward of their perfidy, the +concessions which they formerly stipulated, by expunging them now from +the conditions of the peace. Though you do not deserve to be allowed the +same conditions as before, you now request even to be benefited by your +treachery. + +"Neither did our fathers first make war respecting Sicily, nor did we +respecting Spain. In the former case the danger which threatened our +allies the Mamertines, and in the present the destruction of Saguntum, +girded us with just and pious arms. That you were the aggressors, both +you yourselves confess and the gods are witnesses, who determined the +issue of the former war, and who are now determining and will determine +the issue of the present according to right and justice. As to myself, I +am not forgetful of the instability of human affairs, but consider the +influence of fortune, and am well aware that all our measures are liable +to a thousand casualties. But as I should acknowledge that my conduct +would savor of insolence and oppression if I rejected you on your coming +in person to solicit peace before I crossed over into Africa, you +voluntarily retiring from Italy, and after you had embarked your troops, +so now, when I have dragged you into Africa almost by manual force, +notwithstanding your resistance and evasions, I am not bound to treat +you with any respect. Wherefore, if in addition to those stipulations on +which it was considered that a peace would at that time have been agreed +upon, and what they are you are informed, a compensation is proposed for +having seized our ships together with their stores during a truce, and +for the violence offered to our ambassadors, I shall then have matter to +lay before my council. But if these things also appear oppressive, +prepare for war, since you could not brook the conditions of peace." + +Thus, without effecting an accommodation, when they had returned from +the conference to their armies, they informed them that words had been +bandied to no purpose, that the question must be decided by arms, and +that they must accept that fortune which the gods assigned them. + +When they had arrived at their camps, they both issued orders that their +soldiers should get their arms in readiness and prepare their minds for +the final contest; in which, if fortune should favor them, they would +continue victorious, not for a single day, but forever. "Before +to-morrow night," they said, "they would know whether Rome or Carthage +should give laws to the world, and that neither Africa nor Italy, but +the whole world, would be the prize of victory. That the dangers which +threatened those who had the misfortune to be defeated were proportioned +to the rewards of the victors." For the Romans had not any place of +refuge in an unknown and foreign land, and immediate destruction seemed +to await Carthage if the troops which formed her last reliance were +defeated. To this important contest, the day following, two generals, by +far the most renowned of any, and belonging to two of the most powerful +nations in the world, advanced either to crown or overthrow on that day +the many honors they had previously acquired. + +Scipio drew up his troops, posting the hastati in front, the principes +behind them, and closing his rear line with the triarii. He did not draw +up his cohorts in close order, but each before their respective +standards; placing the companies at some distance from each other, so as +to leave a space through which the elephants of the enemy passing might +not at all break their ranks. Laelius, whom he had employed before as +lieutenant-general, but this year as quaestor, by special appointment, +according to a decree of the senate, he posted with the Italian cavalry +in the left wing, Masinissa and the Numidians in the right. The open +spaces between the companies of those in the van he filled with velites, +which then formed the Roman light-armed troops, with an injunction that +on the charge of the elephants they should either retire behind the +files, which extended in a right line, or, running to the right and left +and placing themselves by the side of those in the van, afford a passage +by which the elephants might rush in between weapons on both sides. + +Hannibal, in order to terrify the enemy, drew up his elephants in front, +and he had eighty of them, being more than he had ever had in any +battle; behind these his Ligurian and Gallic auxiliaries, with +Balearians and Moors intermixed. In the second line he placed the +Carthaginians, Africans, and a legion of Macedonians; then, leaving a +moderate interval, he formed a reserve of Italian troops, consisting +principally of Bruttians, more of whom had followed him on his departure +from Italy by compulsion and necessity than by choice. His cavalry also +he placed in the wings, the Carthaginian occupying the right, the +Numidian the left. Various were the means of exhortation employed in an +army consisting of a mixture of so many different kinds of men; men +differing in language, customs, laws, arms, dress, and appearance, and +in the motives for serving. To the auxiliaries, the prospect both of +their present pay and many times more from the spoils was held out. The +Gauls were stimulated by their peculiar and inherent animosity against +the Romans. To the Ligurians the hope was held out of enjoying the +fertile plains of Italy, and quitting their rugged mountains, if +victorious. The Moors and Numidians were terrified with subjection to +the government of Masinissa, which he would exercise with despotic +severity. + +Different grounds of hope and fear were represented to different +persons. The view of the Carthaginians was directed to the walls of +their city, their household gods, the sepulchres of their ancestors, +their children and parents, and their trembling wives; they were told +that either the destruction of their city and slavery or the empire of +the world awaited them; that there was nothing intermediate which they +could hope for or fear. + +While the general was thus busily employed among the Carthaginians, and +the captains of the respective nations among their countrymen, most of +them employing interpreters among troops intermixed with those of +different nations, the trumpets and cornets of the Romans sounded; and +such a clamor arose that the elephants, especially those in the left +wing, turned round upon their own party, the Moors and Numidians. +Masinissa had no difficulty in increasing the alarm of the terrified +enemy, and deprived them of the aid of their cavalry in that wing. A +few, however, of the beasts which were driven against the enemy, and +were not turned back through fear, made great havoc among the ranks of +the velites, though not without receiving many wounds themselves; for +when the velites, retiring to the companies, had made way for the +elephants, that they might not be trampled down, they discharged their +darts at them; exposed as they were to wounds on both sides, those in +the van also keeping up a continual discharge of javelins, until driven +out of the Roman line by the weapons which fell upon them from all +quarters, these elephants also put to flight even the cavalry of the +Carthaginians posted in their right wing. Laelius, when he saw the enemy +in disorder, struck additional terror into them in their confusion. + +The Carthaginian line was deprived of the cavalry on both sides, when +the infantry, who were now not a match for the Romans in confidence or +strength, engaged. In addition to this there was one circumstance, +trifling in itself, but at the same time producing important +consequences in the action. On the part of the Romans the shout was +uniform, and on that account louder and more terrific, while the voices +of the enemy, consisting as they did of many nations of different +languages, were dissonant. The Romans used the stationary kind of fight, +pressing upon the enemy with their own weight and that of their arms; +but on the other side there was more of skirmishing and rapid movement +than force. Accordingly, on the first charge, the Romans immediately +drove back the line of their opponents; then pushing them with their +elbows and the bosses of their shields, and pressing forward into the +places from which they had pushed them, they advanced a considerable +space, as though there had been no one to resist them, those who formed +the rear urging forward those in front when they perceived the line of +the enemy giving way, which circumstance itself gave great additional +force in repelling them. + +On the side of the enemy, the second line, consisting of the Africans +and Carthaginians, were so far from supporting the first line when +giving ground, that on the contrary they even retired, lest their enemy, +by slaying those who made a firm resistance, should penetrate to +themselves also. Accordingly the auxiliaries suddenly turned their +backs, and facing about upon their own party, fled, some of them into +the second line, while others slew those who did not receive them into +their ranks, since before they did not support them, and now refused to +receive them. And now there were, in a manner, two contests going on +together, the Carthaginians being compelled to fight at once with the +enemy and with their own party. Not even then, however, did they receive +into their line the terrified and exasperated troops, but, closing their +ranks, drove them out of the scene of action to the wings and the +surrounding plain, lest they should mingle these soldiers, terrified +with defeat and wounds, with that part of their line which was firm and +fresh. + +But such a heap of men and arms had filled the space in which the +auxiliaries a little while ago had stood that it was almost more +difficult to pass through it than through a close line of troops. The +spearmen, therefore, who formed the front line, pursuing the enemy as +each could find a way through the heap of arms and men and streams of +blood, threw into complete disorder the battalions and companies. The +standards also of the principes had begun to waver when they saw the +line before them driven from their ground. Scipio, perceiving this, +promptly ordered the signal to be given for the spearmen to retreat, and +having taken his wounded into the rear, brought the principes and +triarii to the wings in order that the line of spearmen in the centre +might be more strong and secure. Thus a fresh and renewed battle +commenced, inasmuch as they had penetrated to their real antagonists, +men equal to them in the nature of their arms, in their experience in +war, in the fame of their achievements, and the greatness of their hopes +and fears. But the Romans were superior both in numbers and courage, for +they had now routed both the cavalry and the elephants, and, having +already defeated the front line, were fighting against the second. + +Lælius and Masinissa, who had pursued the routed cavalry through a +considerable space, returning very opportunely, charged the rear of the +enemy's line. This attack of the cavalry at length routed them. Many of +them, being surrounded, were slain in the field; and many, dispersed in +flight through the open plain around, were slain on all hands, as the +cavalry were in possession of every part. Of the Carthaginians and their +allies, above twenty thousand were slain on that day; about an equal +number were captured, with a hundred and thirty-three military standards +and eleven elephants. Of the victors as many as two thousand fell. + +Hannibal, slipping off during the confusion, with a few horsemen, came +to Adrumetum, not quitting the field till he had tried every expedient +both in the battle and before the engagement; having, according to the +admission of Scipio and everyone skilled in military science, acquired +the fame of having marshalled his troops on that day with singular +judgment. He placed his elephants in the front, in order that their +desultory attack and insupportable violence might prevent the Romans +from following their standards and preserving their ranks, on which they +placed their principal dependence. Then he posted his auxiliaries before +the line of Carthaginians, in order that men who were made up of the +refuse of all nations, and who were not bound by honor but by gain, +might not have any retreat open to them in case they fled; at the same +time that the first ardor and impetuosity might be exhausted upon them, +and, if they could render no other service, that the weapons of the +enemy might be blunted in wounding them. Next he placed the Carthaginian +and African soldiers, on whom he placed all his hopes, in order that, +being equal to the enemy in every other respect, they might have the +advantage of them inasmuch as, being fresh and unimpaired in strength +themselves, they would fight with those who were fatigued and wounded. +The Italians he removed into the rear, separating them also by an +intervening space, as he knew not with certainty whether they were +friends or enemies. Hannibal, after performing this as it were his last +work of valor, fled to Adrumetum, whence, having been summoned to +Carthage, he returned thither in the sixth and thirtieth year after he +had left it when a boy, and confessed in the senate house that he was +defeated, not only in the battle, but in the war, and that there was no +hope of safety in anything but in obtaining peace. + +Immediately after the battle, Scipio, having taken and plundered the +enemy's camp, returned to the sea and his ships with an immense booty, +news having reached him that Publius Lentulus had arrived at Utica with +fifty men-of-war, and a hundred transports laden with every kind of +stores. Concluding that he ought to bring before Carthage everything +which could increase the consternation already existing there, after +sending Laelius to Rome to report his victory, he ordered Cneius +Octavius to conduct the legions thither by land, and setting out himself +from Utica with the fresh fleet of Lentulus added to his former one, +made for the harbor of Carthage. When he had arrived within a short +distance he was met by a Carthaginian ship decked with fillets and +branches of olive. There were ten deputies, the leading men in the +State, sent at the instance of Hannibal to solicit peace, to whom, when +they had come up to the stern of the general's ship, holding out the +badges of suppliants, entreating and imploring the protection and +compassion of Scipio, the only answer given was that they must come to +Tunis, to which place he would move his camp. After taking a view of the +site of Carthage, not so much for the sake of acquainting himself with +it for any present object as to dispirit the enemy, he returned to +Utica, having recalled Octavius to the same place. + +As they were proceeding thence to Tunis, they received intelligence that +Vermina, the son of Syphax, with a greater number of horse than foot, +was coming to the assistance of the Carthaginians. A part of his +infantry with all the cavalry having attacked them on their march on the +first day of the Saturnalia, routed the Numidians with little +opposition, and as every way by which they could escape in flight was +blocked up, for the cavalry surrounded them on all sides, fifteen +thousand men were slain, twelve hundred were taken alive, with fifteen +hundred Numidian horses and seventy-two military standards. The prince +himself fled from the field with a few attendants during the confusion. +The camp was then pitched near Tunis in the same place as before, and +thirty ambassadors came to Scipio from Carthage. These behaved in a +manner even more calculated to excite compassion than the former, in +proportion as their situation was more pressing; but from the +recollection of their recent perfidy, they were heard with considerably +less pity. In the council, though all were impelled by just resentment +to demolish Carthage, yet, when they reflected upon the magnitude of the +undertaking and the length of time which would be consumed in the siege +of so well fortified and strong a city, while Scipio himself was uneasy +in consequence of the expectation of a successor, who would come in for +the glory of having terminated the war, though it was accomplished +already by the exertions and danger of another, the minds of all were +inclined to peace. + +The next day the ambassadors being called in again, and with many +rebukes of their perfidy, warned that instructed by so many disasters +they would at length believe in the existence of the gods and the +obligation of an oath, these conditions of the peace were stated to +them: "That they should enjoy their liberty and live under their own +laws; that they should possess such cities and territories as they had +enjoyed before the war, and with the same boundaries, and that the +Romans should on that day desist from devastation. That they should +restore to the Romans all deserters and fugitives, giving up all their +ships-of-war except ten triremes, with such tamed elephants as they had, +and that they should not tame any more. That they should not carry on +war in or out of Africa without the permission of the Roman people. That +they should make restitution to Masinissa, and form a league with him. +That they should furnish corn, and pay for the auxiliaries until the +ambassadors had returned from Rome. That they should pay ten thousand +talents of silver in equal annual installments distributed over fifty +years. That they should give a hundred hostages, according to the +pleasure of Scipio, not younger than fourteen nor older than thirty. +That he would grant them a truce on condition that the transports, +together with their cargoes, which had been seized during the former +truce, were restored. Otherwise they would have no truce, nor any hope +of a peace." When the ambassadors who were ordered to bear these +conditions home reported them in an assembly, and Gisgo had stood forth +to dissuade them from the terms, and was being listened to by the +multitude, who were at once indisposed for peace and unfit for war, +Hannibal, indignant that such language should be held and listened to at +such a juncture, laid hold of Gisgo with his own hand and dragged him +from his elevated position. + +This unusual sight in a free State having raised a murmur among the +people, the soldier, disconcerted at the liberties which the citizens +took, thus addressed them: "Having left you when nine years old, I have +returned after a lapse of thirty-six years. I flatter myself I am well +acquainted with the qualifications of a soldier, having been instructed +in them from my childhood, sometimes by my own situation and sometimes +by that of my country. The privileges, the laws, and customs of the city +and the forum you ought to teach me." Having thus apologized for his +indiscretion, he discoursed largely concerning the peace, showing how +inoppressive the terms were, and how necessary it was. The greatest +difficulty was that of the ships which had been seized during the truce +nothing was to be found except the ships themselves, nor was it easy to +collect the property, because those who were charged with having it were +opposed to the peace. It was resolved that the ships should be restored +and that the men at least should be looked up; and as to whatever else +was missing, that it should be left to Scipio to put a value upon it, +and that the Carthaginians should make compensation accordingly in +money. There are those who say that Hannibal went from the field of +battle to the sea-coast; whence he immediately sailed in a ship, which +he had ready for the purpose, to king Antiochus; and that when Scipio +demanded above everything that Hannibal should be given up to him, +answer was made that Hannibal was not in Africa. + +After the ambassadors returned to Scipio, the quaestors were ordered to +give in an account, made out from the public registers, of the public +property which had been in the ships; and the owners to make a return of +the private property. For the amount of the value twenty-five thousand +pounds of silver were required to be paid down; and a truce for three +months was granted to the Carthaginians. It was added that during the +time of the truce they should not send ambassadors anywhere else than to +Rome; and that whatever ambassadors came to Carthage, they should not +dismiss them before informing the Roman general who they were and what +they sought. With the Carthaginian ambassadors, Lucius Veturius Philo, +Marcus Marcius Ralla, and Lucius Scipio, brother of the general, were +sent to Rome. + +The Roman, together with the Carthaginian, ambassadors having arrived at +Rome from Africa, the senate was assembled at the temple of Bellona; +when Lucius Veturius Philo stated, to the great joy of the senate, that +a battle had been fought with Hannibal which was decisive of the fate of +the Carthaginians, and that a period was at length put to that +calamitous war. He added what formed a small accession to their +successes, that Vermina, the son of Syphax, had been vanquished. He was +then ordered to go forth to the public assembly and impart the joyful +tidings to the people. Then, a thanksgiving having been appointed, all +the temples in the city were thrown open and supplications for three +days were decreed. Publius Scipio was continued in command in the +province of Africa with the armies which he then had. The Carthaginian +ambassadors were called before the senate. On observing their ages and +dignified appearance, for they were by far the first men of the State, +all promptly declared their conviction that now they were sincere in +their desire to effect a peace. Hasdrubal, however, surnamed by his +countrymen Haedus, who had invariably recommended peace and was opposed +to the Barcine faction, was regarded with greater interest than the +rest. + +On these accounts the greater weight was attached to him when +transferring the blame of the war from the State at large to the +cupidity of a few. After a speech of varied character, in which he +sometimes refuted the charges which had been brought, at other times +admitted some, lest by imprudently denying what was manifestly true +their forgiveness might be the more difficult; and then, even +admonishing the conscript fathers to be guided by the rules of decorum +and moderation in their prosperity, he said that if the Carthaginians +had listened to himself and Hanno, and had been disposed to make a +proper use of circumstances, they would themselves have dictated terms +of peace, instead of begging it as they now did. That it rarely happened +that good fortune and a sound judgment were bestowed upon men at the +same time. That the Roman people were therefore invincible, because when +successful they forgot not the maxims of wisdom and prudence; and indeed +it would have been matter of astonishment did they act otherwise. That +those persons to whom success was a new and uncommon thing proceeded to +a pitch of madness in their ungoverned transports in consequence of +their not being accustomed to it. That to the Roman people the joy +arising from victory was a matter of common occurrence, and was now +almost become old-fashioned. That they had extended their empire more by +sparing the vanquished than by conquering. + +The language employed by the others was of a nature more calculated to +excite compassion; they represented from what a height of power the +Carthaginian affairs had fallen. That nothing besides the walls of +Carthage remained to those who a little time ago held almost the whole +world in subjection by their arms; that shut up within these, they could +see nothing anywhere on sea or land which owned their authority. That +they would retain possession of their city itself and their household +gods only in case the Roman people should refrain from venting their +indignation upon these, which is all that remains for them to do. When +it was manifest that the fathers were moved by compassion, it is said +that one of the senators, violently incensed at the perfidy of the +Carthaginians, immediately asked with a loud voice by what gods they +would swear in striking the league, since they had broken their faith +with those by whom they swore in striking the former one? By those same, +replied Hasdrubal, who have shown such determined hostility to the +violators of treaties. + +The minds of all being disposed to peace, Cneius Lentulus, whose +province the fleet was, protested against the decree of the senate. Upon +this, Manius Acilius and Quintus Minucius, tribunes of the people, put +the question to the people whether they willed and ordered that the +senate should decree that peace should be made with the Carthaginians? +whom they ordered to grant that peace, and whom to conduct the army out +of Africa? All the tribes ordered respecting the peace according as the +question had been put. That Publius Scipio should grant the peace, and +that he also should conduct the army home. Agreeably to this order, the +senate decreed that Publius Scipio, acting according to the opinion of +the ten deputies, should make peace with the Carthaginian people on what +terms he pleased. The Carthaginians then returned thanks to the senate, +and requested that they might be allowed to enter the city and converse +with their countrymen who had been made prisoners and were in custody of +the State; observing that some of them were their relations and friends, +and men of rank, and some, persons to whom they were charged with +messages from their relations. + +Having obtained these requests, they again asked permission to ransom +such of them as they pleased; when they were desired to give in their +names. Having given in a list of about two hundred, a decree of the +senate was passed to the effect that the Carthaginian ambassadors should +be allowed to take away into Africa to Publius Cornelius Scipio two +hundred of the Carthaginian prisoners, selecting whom they pleased; and +that they should convey to him a message that if the peace were +concluded he should restore them to the Carthaginians without ransom. +The heralds being ordered to go into Africa to strike the league, at +their own desire the senate passed a decree that they should take with +them flint stones of their own and vervain of their own; that the Roman +praetor should command them to strike the league, and that they should +demand of him herbs. The description of herb usually given to the +heralds is taken from the Capitol. Thus the Carthaginians being allowed +to depart from Rome, when they had gone into Africa to Scipio concluded +the peace on the terms before mentioned. They delivered up their +men-of-war, their elephants, deserters, fugitives, and four thousand +prisoners, among whom was Quintus Terentius Culleo, a senator. The ships +he ordered to be taken out into the main and burned. Some say there were +five hundred of every description of those which are worked with oars, +and that the sudden sight of these when burning occasioned as deep a +sensation of grief to the Carthaginians as if Carthage had been in +flames. The measures adopted respecting the deserters were more severe +than those respecting the fugitives. Those who were of the Latin +confederacy were decapitated; the Romans were crucified. + +The last peace with the Carthaginians was made forty years before this +in the consulate of Quintus Lutatius and Aulus Manlius. The war +commenced twenty-three years afterward in the consulate of Publius +Cornelius and Tiberius Sempronius. It was concluded in the seventeenth +year, in the consulate of Cneius Cornelius and Publius Aelius Paetus. It +is related that Scipio frequently said afterward, that first the +ambition of Tiberius Claudius, and afterward of Cneius Cornelius, were +the causes which prevented his terminating the war by the destruction of +Carthage. + +The Carthaginians finding difficulty in raising the first sum of money +to be paid, as their finances were exhausted by a protracted war, and in +consequence great lamentation and grief arising in the senate house, it +is said that Hannibal was observed laughing, and when Hasdrubal Haedus +rebuked him for laughing amid the public grief, when he himself was the +occasion of the tears which were shed, he said: "If, as the expression +of the countenance is discerned by the sight, so the inward feelings of +the mind could be distinguished, it would clearly appear to you that +that laughter which you censure came from a heart not elated with joy, +but frantic with misfortunes. And yet it is not so ill-timed as those +absurd and inconsistent tears of yours. Then you ought to have wept when +our arms were taken from us, our ships burned, and we were forbidden to +engage in foreign wars, for that was the wound by which we fell. Nor is +it just that you should suppose that the measures which the Romans have +adopted toward you have been dictated by animosity. No great state can +remain at rest long together. If it has no enemy abroad it finds one at +home in the same manner as over-robust bodies seem secure from external +causes, but are encumbered with their own strength. So far, forsooth, we +are affected with the public calamities as they reach our private +affairs; nor is there any circumstance attending them which is felt more +acutely than the loss of money. Accordingly, when the spoils were torn +down from vanquished Carthage, when you beheld her left unarmed and +defenceless amid so many armed nations of Africa, none heaved a sigh. +Now, because a tribute is to be levied from private property you lament +with one accord, as though at the funeral of the State. How much do I +dread lest you should soon be made sensible that you have shed tears +this day for the lightest of your misfortunes!" + +Such were the sentiments which Hannibal delivered to the Carthaginians. +Scipio, having summoned an assembly, presented Masinissa, in addition to +his paternal dominions, with the town of Cirta, and the other cities and +territories which had passed from the kingdom of Syphax into the +possession of the Romans. He ordered Cneius Octavius to conduct the +fleet to Sicily and deliver it to Cneius Cornelius the consul, and +directed the Carthaginian ambassadors to go to Rome, that the +arrangements he had made with the advice of the ten deputies might be +ratified by the sanction of the fathers and the order of the people. + +Peace having been established by sea and land, he embarked his troops +and crossed over to Lilybæum in Sicily, whence, having sent a great part +of his soldiers by ships, he himself proceeded through Italy, which was +rejoicing not less on account of the peace than the victory; while not +only the inhabitants of the cities poured out to show him honor, but +crowds of rustics thronged the roads. He arrived at Rome and entered the +city in a triumph of unparalleled splendor. He brought into the treasury +one hundred and twenty-three thousand pounds of silver. He distributed +to each of his soldiers four hundred asses out of the spoils. By the +death of Syphax, which took place but a short time before at Tibur, +whither he had been removed from Alba, a diminution was occasioned in +the interest of the pageant rather than in the glory of him who +triumphed. His death, however, was attended with circumstances which +produced a strong sensation, for he was buried at the public expense. +Polybius, an author by no means to be despised, asserts that this King +was led in the triumph. Quintus Terentius Culleo followed Scipio in his +triumph with a cap of liberty on his head, and during the remainder of +his life treated him with the respect due to him as the author of his +freedom. I have not been able to ascertain whether the partiality of the +soldiers or the favor of the people fixed upon him the surname of +Africanus, or whether in the same manner as Felix was applied to Sulla, +and Magnus to Pompey, in the memory of our fathers, it originated in the +flattery of his friends. He was doubtless the first general who was +distinguished by a name derived from the nation which he had conquered. +Afterward, in imitation of his example, some, by no means his equals in +his victories, affixed splendid inscriptions on their statues and gave +honorable surnames to their families. + + + + +JUDAS MACCAÆBUS LIBERATES JUDEA + +B.C. 165 + +JOSEPHUS + + +(The noble-minded Judas Maccabaeus was the hero of Jewish independence-- +the deliverer of Judea and Judaism during the bloody persecutions of the +Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes, in the second century B.C. This King +was attempting to destroy in Palestine the national religion. For this +purpose pagan altars were set up among the Jews and pagan sacrifices +enjoined upon the worshippers of Jehovah. Many Jews fled from their own +towns and villages into the uninhabited wilderness, in order that they +might have liberty to worship the God of their fathers; but a few +conformed to the ordinances of Antiochus. Soon, however, open resistance +to the decrees of the pagan ruler began to manifest itself among the +faithful. + +The first protest in the shape of active opposition was made by +Mattathias, a priest living at Modin. When the servants of Antiochus +came to that retired village and commanded Mattathias to do sacrifice to +the heathen gods, he refused; he went so far as to strike down at the +altar a Jew who was preparing to offer such a sacrifice. Then he escaped +to the mountains with his five sons and a band of followers. These +followers grew in numbers and activity, overthrowing pagan altars, +circumcising heathen children, and putting to the sword both apostates +and unbelievers. When Mattathias died, in B.C. 166, he was succeeded as +leader by his son Judas, called Maccabaeus, "the Hammer"; as Charles, +who defeated the Saracens at Tours, is called Martel or hammer. + +The successes of Judas were uninterrupted, and culminated B.C. 165 in +the repulse of Lysias, the general of Antiochus, at Bethzur, where a +large Syrian force gathered in the expectation of crushing the patriotic +army of Judas. After this victory Judas led his followers into Jerusalem +and proceeded to restore the Temple and the worship of the national +religion, and to cleanse the Temple from all traces of pagan worship. +The great altar was rebuilt; new sacred vessels provided; and an +eight-days' dedication festival begun on the very day when, three years +before, the altar of Jehovah had been desecrated by a heathen sacrifice. +This Feast of the Dedication was ever afterward observed in the Temple +at Jerusalem and is mentioned in the gospels [John x. 22]. Judas +established a dynasty of priest-kings, which lasted until supplanted by +Herod, with the aid of the Romans, in B.C. 40; and gave by his genuinely +heroic bearing his name to this whole glorious epoch of Jewish history.) + + +Now at this time there was one whose name was Mattathias, who dwelt at +Modin, the son of John, the son of Simeon, the son of Asamoneus, a +priest of the order of Joarib, and a citizen of Jerusalem. He had five +sons: John, who was called Gaddis, and Simon, who was called Matthes, +and Judas, who was called Maccabæus,[66] and Eleazar, who was called +Auran, and Jonathan, who was called Apphus. Now this Mattathias lamented +to his children the sad state of their affairs, and the ravage made in +the city, and the plundering of the Temple, and the calamities the +multitude were under; and he told them that it was better for them to +die for the laws of their country than to live so ingloriously as they +then did. + +[Footnote 66: That this appellation of Maccabee was not first of all +given to Judas Maccabæaus, nor was derived from any initial letters of +the Hebrew words on his banner, _Mi Kamoka Be Elim, Jehovah_? ("Who is +like unto thee among the gods, O Jehovah?"), Exod. xv. II, as the modern +rabbins vainly pretend, see _Authent. Rec._, part i., pp. 205, 206. Only +we may note, by the way, that the original name of these Maccabees and +their posterity was Asamoneans, which was derived from Asamoneus, the +great-grandfather of Mattathias, as Josephus here informs us.] + +But when those that were appointed by the King were come to Modin that +they might compel the Jews to do what they were commanded, and to enjoin +those that were there to offer sacrifice, as the King had commanded, +they desired that Mattathias, a person of the greatest character among +them, both on other accounts and particularly on account of such a +numerous and so deserving a family of children, would begin the +sacrifice, because his fellow-citizens would follow his example, and +because such a procedure would make him honored by the King. But +Mattathias said that he would not do it, and that if all the other +nations would obey the commands of Antiochus, either out of fear or to +please him, yet would not he nor his sons leave the religious worship of +their country; but as soon as he had ended his speech there came one of +the Jews into the midst of them and sacrificed as Antiochus had +commanded. At which Mattathias had great indignation, and ran upon him +violently with his sons, who had swords with them, and slew both the man +himself that sacrificed and Apelles, the King's general who compelled +him to sacrifice, with a few of his soldiers. + +He also overthrew the idol altar and cried out, "If," said he, "anyone +be zealous for the laws of his country and for the worship of God, let +him follow me"; and when he had said this he made haste into the desert +with his sons, and left all his substance in the village. Many others +did the same also, and fled with their children and wives into the +desert and dwelt in caves; but when the King's generals heard this, they +took all the forces they then had in the citadel at Jerusalem, and +pursued the Jews into the desert; and when they had overtaken them, they +in the first place endeavored to persuade them to repent, and to choose +what was most for their advantage and not put them to the necessity of +using them according to the law of war; but when they would not comply +with their persuasions, but continued to be of a different mind, they +fought against them on the Sabbath day, and they burned them as they +were in the caves, without resistance, and without so much as stopping +up the entrances of the caves. And they avoided to defend themselves on +that day because they were not willing to break in upon the honor they +owed the Sabbath, even in such distresses; for our law requires that we +rest upon that day. + +There were about a thousand, with their wives and children, who were +smothered and died in these caves; but many of those that escaped joined +themselves to Mattathias and appointed him to be their ruler, who taught +them to fight even on the Sabbath day, and told them that unless they +would do so they would become their own enemies by observing the law [so +rigorously] while their adversaries would still assault them on this +day, and they would not then defend themselves; and that nothing could +then hinder but they must all perish without fighting. This speech +persuaded them, and this rule continues among us to this day, that if +there be a necessity we may fight on Sabbath days. So Mattathias got a +great army about him and overthrew their idol altars and slew those that +broke the laws, even all that he could get under his power; for many of +them were dispersed among the nations round about them for fear of him. +He also commanded that those boys who were not yet circumcised should be +circumcised now; and he drove those away that were appointed to hinder +such their circumcision. + +But when he had ruled one year and was fallen into a distemper, he +called for his sons and set them round about him, and said: "O my sons, +I am going the way of all the earth; and I recommend to you my +resolution and beseech you not to be negligent in keeping it, but to be +mindful of the desires of him who begat you and brought you up, and to +preserve the customs of your country, and to recover your ancient form +of government which is in danger of being overturned, and not to be +carried away with those that either by their own inclination or out of +necessity betray it, but to become such sons as are worthy of me; to be +above all force and necessity, and so to dispose your souls as to be +ready when it shall be necessary to die for your laws, as sensible of +this, by just reasoning, that if God see that you are so disposed he +will not overlook you, but will have a great value for your virtue, and +will restore to you again what you have lost and will return to you that +freedom in which you shall live quietly and enjoy your own customs. + +"Your bodies are mortal and subject to fate; but they receive a sort of +immortality by the remembrance of what actions they have done; and I +would have you so in love with this immortality that you may pursue +after glory, and that when you have undergone the greatest difficulties +you may not scruple for such things to lose your lives. I exhort you +especially to agree one with another, and in what excellency any one of +you exceeds another, to yield to him so far, and by that means to reap +the advantage of everyone's own virtues. Do you then esteem Simon as +your father because he is a man of extraordinary prudence, and be +governed by him in what counsels he gives you. Take Maccabaeus for the +general of your army, because of his courage and strength, for he will +avenge your nation and will bring vengeance on your enemies. Admit among +you the righteous and religious, and augment their power." + +When Mattathias had thus discoursed to his sons and had prayed to God to +be their assistant and to recover to the people their former +constitution, he died a little afterward, and was buried at Modin, all +the people making great lamentation for him. Whereupon his son Judas +took upon him the administration of public affairs, in the hundred and +forty-sixth year; and thus, by the ready assistance of his brethren and +of others, Judas cast their enemies out of the country and put those of +their own country to death who had transgressed its laws, and purified +the land of all the pollutions that were in it. + +When Apollonius, the general of the Samaritan forces, heard this he took +his army and made haste to go against Judas, who met him and joined +battle with him, and beat him and slew many of his men, and among them +Apollonius himself, their general, whose sword, being that which he +happened then to wear, he seized upon and kept for himself; but he +wounded more than he slew, and took a great deal of prey from the +enemy's camp, and went his way; but when Seron, who was general of the +army of Celesyria, heard that many had joined themselves to Judas, and +that he had about him an army sufficient for fighting and for making +war, he determined to make an expedition against him, as thinking it +became him to endeavor to punish those that transgressed the King's +injunctions. He then got together an army as large as he was able, and +joined to it the renegade and wicked Jews, and came against Judas. + +He then came as far as Bethoron, a village of Judea, and there pitched +his camp; upon which Judas met him, and when he intended to give him +battle he saw that his soldiers were backward to fight because their +number was small and because they wanted food, for they were fasting. He +encouraged them and said to them that victory and conquest of enemies +are not derived from the multitude in armies, but in the exercise of +piety toward God; and that they had the plainest instances in their +forefathers, who, by their righteousness and exerting themselves on +behalf of their own laws and their own children, had frequently +conquered many ten thousands, for innocence is the strongest army. By +this speech he induced his men to contemn the multitude of the enemy, +and to fall upon Seron; and upon joining battle with him he beat the +Syrians; and when their general fell among the rest they all ran away +with speed, as thinking that to be their best way of escaping. So he +pursued them unto the plain and slew about eight hundred of the enemy, +but the rest escaped to the region which lay near to the sea. + +When king Antiochus heard of these things he was very angry at what had +happened; so he got together all his own army, with many mercenaries +whom he had hired from the islands, and took them with him, and prepared +to break into Judea about the beginning of the spring; but when, upon +his mustering his soldiers, he perceived that his treasures were +deficient, and there was a want of money in them, for all the taxes were +not paid, by reason of the seditions there had been among the nations, +he having been so magnanimous and so liberal that what he had was not +sufficient for him, he therefore resolved first to go into Persia and +collect the taxes of that country. Hereupon he left one whose name was +Lysias, who was in great repute with him, governor of the kingdom, as +far as the bounds of Egypt and of the Lower Asia and reaching from the +river Euphrates, and committed to him a certain part of his forces and +of his elephants and charged him to bring up his son Antiochus with all +possible care until he came back; and that he should conquer Judea and +take its inhabitants for slaves and utterly destroy Jerusalem, and +abolish the whole nation; and when king Antiochus had given these things +in charge to Lysias, he went into Persia, and in the hundred and +forty-seventh year he passed over Euphrates and went to the superior +provinces. + +Upon this Lysias chose Ptolemy the son of Dorymenes, and Nicanor, and +Gorgias, very potent men among the King's friends, and delivered to them +forty thousand foot-soldiers and seven thousand horsemen, and sent them +against Judea, who came as far as the city Emmaus and pitched their camp +in the plain country. There came also to them auxiliaries out of Syria +and the country round about, as also many of the renegade Jews; and +besides these came some merchants to buy those that should be carried +captives--having bonds with them to bind those that should be made +prisoners--with that silver and gold which they were to pay for their +price; and when Judas saw their camp and how numerous their enemies +were, he persuaded his own soldiers to be of good courage, and exhorted +them to place their hopes of victory in God and to make supplication to +him, according to the custom of their country, clothed in sackcloth, and +to show what was their usual habit of supplication in the greatest +dangers, and thereby to prevail with God to grant them the victory over +their enemies. So he set them in their ancient order of battle used by +their forefathers, under their captains of thousands, and other +officers, and dismissed such as were newly married, as well as those +that had newly gained possessions, that they might not fight in a +cowardly manner out of an inordinate love of life, in order to enjoy +those blessings. + +When he had thus disposed his soldiers he encouraged them to fight by +the following speech, which he made to them: "O my fellow-soldiers, no +other time remains more opportune than the present for courage and +contempt of dangers; for if you now fight manfully you may recover your +liberty, which, as it is a thing of itself agreeable to all men, so it +proves to be to us much more desirable, by its affording us the liberty +of worshipping God. Since, therefore, you are in such circumstances at +present, you must either recover that liberty and so regain a happy and +blessed way of living, which is that according to our laws and the +customs of our country, or to submit to the most opprobrious sufferings; +nor will any seed of your nation remain if you be beat in this battle. +Fight therefore manfully, and suppose that you must die though you do +not fight; but believe that besides such glorious rewards as those of +the liberty of your country, of your laws, of your religion, you shall +then obtain everlasting glory. Prepare yourselves, therefore, and put +yourselves into such an agreeable posture that you may be ready to fight +with the enemy as soon as it is day to-morrow morning." + +And this was the speech which Judas made to encourage them. But when the +enemy sent Gorgias with five thousand foot and one thousand horse, that +he might fall upon Judas by night, and had for that purpose certain of +the renegade Jews as guides, the son of Mattathias perceived it and +resolved to fall upon those enemies that were in their camp, now their +forces were divided. When they had therefore supped in good time and had +left many fires in their camp he marched all night to those enemies that +were at Emmaus; so that when Gorgias found no enemy in their camp, but +suspected that they were retired and had hidden themselves among the +mountains, he resolved to go and seek them wheresoever they were. + +But about break of day Judas appeared to those enemies that were at +Emmaus, with only three thousand men, and those ill-armed by reason of +their poverty; and when he saw the enemy very well and skilfully +fortified in their camp he encouraged the Jews and told them that they +ought to fight, though it were with their naked bodies, for that God had +sometimes of old given such men strength, and that against such as were +more in number, and were armed also, out of regard to their great +courage. So he commanded the trumpeters to sound for the battle, and by +thus falling upon the enemy when they did not expect it, and thereby +astonishing and disturbing their minds, he slew many of those that +resisted him and went on pursuing the rest as far as Gadara and the +plains of Idumea, and Ashdod, and Jamnia; and of these there fell about +three thousand. Yet did Judas exhort his soldiers not to be too desirous +of the spoils, for that still they must have a contest and battle with +Gorgias and the forces that were with him, but that when they had once +overcome them then they might securely plunder the camp because they +were the only enemies remaining, and they expected no others. + +And just as he was speaking to his soldiers, Gorigas' men looked down +into that army which they left in their camp and saw that it was +overthrown and the camp burned; for the smoke that arose from it showed +them, even when they were a great way off, what had happened. When, +therefore, those that were with Gorgias understood that things were in +this posture, and perceived that those that were with Judas were ready +to fight them, they also were affrighted and put to flight; but then +Judas, as though he had already beaten Gorgias' soldiers without +fighting, returned and seized on the spoils. He took a great quantity of +gold and silver and purple and blue, and then returned home with joy, +and singing hymns to God for their good success; for this victory +greatly contributed to the recovery of their liberty. + +Hereupon Lysias was confounded at the defeat of the army which he had +sent, and the next year he got together sixty thousand chosen men. He +also took five thousand horsemen and fell upon Judea, and he went up to +the hill country of Bethsur, a village of Judea, and pitched his camp +there, where Judas met him with ten thousand men; and when he saw the +great number of his enemies, he prayed to God that he would assist him, +and joined battle with the first of the enemy that appeared and beat +them and slew about five thousand of them, and thereby became terrible +to the rest of them. Nay, indeed, Lysias observing the great spirit of +the Jews, how they were prepared to die rather than lose their liberty, +and being afraid of their desperate way of fighting, as if it were real +strength, he took the rest of the army back with him and returned to +Antioch. + +When, therefore, the generals of Antiochus' armies had been beaten so +often, Judas assembled the people together, and told them that after +these many victories which God had given them, they ought to go up to +Jerusalem and purify the Temple and offer the appointed sacrifices. But +as soon as he with the whole multitude was come to Jerusalem and found +the Temple deserted and its gates burned down and plants growing in the +Temple of their own accord on account of its desertion, he and those +that were with him began to lament and were quite confounded at the +sight of the Temple; so he chose out some of his soldiers and gave them +orders to fight against those guards that were in the citadel until he +should have purified the Temple. When therefore he had carefully purged +it and had brought in new vessels, the candlestick, the table [of +shewbread], and the altar [of incense], which were made of gold, he hung +up the veils at the gates and added doors to them. + +He also took down the altar [of burnt-offering], and built a new one of +stones that he gathered together and not of such as were hewn with iron +tools. So on the five-and-twentieth day of the month of Casleu, which +the Macedonians call Apelleus, they lighted the lamps that were on the +candlestick and offered incense upon the altar [of incense], and laid +the loaves upon the table [of shew-bread], and offered burnt-offerings +upon the new altar [of burnt-offering]. Now it so fell out that these +things were done on the very same day on which their divine worship had +fallen off and was reduced to a profane and common use after three +years' time; for so it was, that the Temple was made desolate by +Antiochus, and so continued for three years. This desolation happened to +the Temple in the hundred forty and fifth year, on the twenty-fifth day +of the month Apelleus, and on the hundred and fifty-third Olympiad; but +it was dedicated anew, on the same day, the twenty-fifth of the month +Apelleus, in the hundred and forty-eighth year, and on the hundred and +fifty-fourth Olympiad. And this desolation came to pass according to the +prophecy of Daniel, which was given four hundred and eight years before, +for he declared that the Macedonians would dissolve that worship [for +some time]. + +Now Judas celebrated the festival of the restoration of the sacrifices +of the Temple for eight days, and omitted no sort of pleasures thereon; +but he feasted them upon very rich and splendid sacrifices, and he +honored God and delighted them by hymns and psalms. Nay, they were so +very glad at the revival of their customs, when after a long time of +intermission they unexpectedly had regained the freedom of their +worship, that they made it a law for their posterity that they should +keep a festival, on account of the restoration of their Temple worship, +for eight days. And from that time to this we celebrate this festival +and call it Lights. I suppose the reason was, because this liberty +beyond our hopes appeared to us, and that thence was the name given to +that festival. Judas also rebuilt the walls round about the city, and +reared towers of great height against the incursions of enemies, and set +guards therein. He also fortified the city Bethsura that it might serve +as a citadel against any distresses that might come from our enemies. + +When these things were over, the nations round about the Jews were very +uneasy at the revival of their power and rose up together and destroyed +many of them, as gaining advantage over them by laying snares for them +and making secret conspiracies against them. Judas made perpetual +expeditions against these men, and endeavored to restrain them from +those incursions and to prevent the mischiefs they did to the Jews. So +he fell upon the Idumeans, the posterity of Esau, at Acra-battene, and +slew a great many of them and took their spoils. He also shut up the +sons of Bean, that laid wait for the Jews; and he sat down about them, +and besieged them, and burned their towers and destroyed the men [that +were in them]. After this he went thence in haste against the Ammonites +who had a great and a numerous army, of which Timotheus was the +commander. And when he had subdued them he seized on the city of Jazer, +and took their wives and their children captives and burned the city and +then returned into Judea. But when the neighboring nations understood +that he was returned they got together in great numbers in the land of +Gilead and came against those Jews that were at their borders, who then +fled to the garrison of Dathema, and sent to Judas to inform him that +Timotheus was endeavoring to take the place whither they were fled. And +as these epistles were reading, there came other messengers out of +Galilee who informed him that the inhabitants of Ptolemais, and of Tyre +and Sidon, and strangers of Galilee, were gotten together. + +Accordingly Judas, upon considering what was fit to be done with +relation to the necessity both these cases required, gave order that +Simon his brother should take three thousand chosen men and go to the +assistance of the Jews in Galilee, while he and another of his brothers, +Jonathan, made haste into the land of Gilead with eight thousand +soldiers. And he left Joseph, the son of Zacharias, and Azarias, to be +over the rest of the forces, and charged them to keep Judea very +carefully and to fight no battles with any persons whomsoever until his +return. Accordingly Simon went into Galilee and fought the enemy and put +them to flight, and pursued them to the very gates of Ptolemais, and +slew about three thousand of them, and took the spoils of those that +were slain and those Jews whom they had made captives, with their +baggage, and then returned home. + +Now as for Judas Maccabaeus and his brother Jonathan, they passed over +the river Jordan, and when they had gone three days' journey they +lighted upon the Nabateans, who came to meet them peaceably and who told +them how the affairs of those in the land of Galilee stood and how many +of them were in distress and driven into garrisons and into the cities +of Galilee, and exhorted him to make haste to go against the foreigners, +and to endeavor to save his own countrymen out of their hands. To this +exhortation Judas hearkened and returned into the wilderness, and in the +first place fell upon the inhabitants of Bosor, and took the city, and +beat the inhabitants, and destroyed all the males, and all that were +able to fight, and burned the city. Nor did he stop even when night came +on, but he journeyed in it to the garrison where the Jews happened to be +then shut up, and where Timotheus lay round the place with his army; and +Judas came upon the city in the morning, and when he found that the +enemy were making an assault upon the walls, and that some of them +brought ladders on which they might get upon those walls, and that +others brought engines [to batter them], he bid the trumpeter to sound +his trumpet, and he encouraged his soldiers cheerfully to undergo +dangers for the sake of their brethren and kindred; he also parted his +army into three bodies and fell upon the backs of their enemies. But +when Timotheus' men perceived that it was Maccabaeus that was upon them, +of both whose courage and good success in war they had formerly had +sufficient experience, they were put to flight; but Judas followed them +with his army and slew about eight thousand of them. He then turned +aside to a city of the foreigners called Malle, and took it, and slew +all the males and burned the city itself. He then removed from thence, +and overthrew Casphom and Bosor, and many other cities of the land of +Gilead. + +But not long after this Timotheus prepared a great army, and took many +others as auxiliaries, and induced some of the Arabians by the promise +of rewards to go with him in this expedition, and came with his army +beyond the brook over against the city Raphon; and he encouraged his +soldiers, if it came to a battle with the Jews, to fight courageously, +and to hinder their passing over the brook; for he said to them +beforehand that "if they come over it we shall be beaten." And when +Judas heard that Timotheus prepared himself to fight he took all his own +army and went in haste against Timotheus, his enemy; and when he had +passed over the brook he fell upon his enemies, and some of them met +him, whom he slew, and others of them he so terrified that he compelled +them to throw down their arms and fly, and some of them escaped; but +some of them fled to what was called the temple of Carnaim, and hoped +thereby to preserve themselves, but Judas took the city and slew them +and burned the temple, and so used several ways of destroying his +enemies. + +When he had done this he gathered the Jews together with their children +and wives and the substance that belonged to them, and was going to +bring them back into Judea. But as soon as he was come to a certain city +the name of which was Ephron, that lay upon the road--and as it was not +possible for him to go any other way, so he was not willing to go back +again--he then sent to the inhabitants, and desired that they would open +their gates and permit them to go on their way through the city; for +they had stopped up the gates with stones and cut off their passage +through it. And when the inhabitants of Ephron would not agree to this +proposal, he encouraged those that were with him, and encompassed the +city round and besieged it, and lying round it by day and night took the +city and slew every male in it and burned it all down, and so obtained a +way through it; and the multitude of those that were slain was so great +that they went over the dead bodies. So they came over Jordan and +arrived at the great plain over against which is situate the city +Bethshan, which is called by the Greeks Scythopolis.[67] And going away +hastily from thence, they came into Judea, singing psalms and hymns as +they went, and indulging such tokens of mirth as are usual in triumphs +upon victory. They also offered thank-offerings both for their good +success and for the preservation of their army, for not one of the Jews +was slain in these battles. + +[Footnote 67: The reason why Bethshan was called Scythopolis is well +known from Herodotus, b. i., p. 105, and Syncellus, p. 214, that the +Scythians, where they overran Asia, in the days of Josiah, seized on +this city, and kept it as long as they continued in Asia; from which +time it retained the name of Scythopolis, or the City of the Scythians.] + +But as to Joseph, the son of Zacharias, and Azarias, whom Judas left +generals [of the rest of his forces] at the same time when Simon was in +Galilee fighting against the people of Ptolemais, and Judas himself and +his brother Jonathan were in the land of Gilead, did these men also +affect the glory of being courageous generals in war, in order whereto +they took the army that was under their command and came to Jamnia. +There Gorgias, the general of the forces of Jamnia, met them, and upon +joining battle with him they lost two thousand of their army and fled +away, and were pursued to the very borders of Judea. And this misfortune +befell them by their disobedience to what injunctions Judas had given +them not to fight with anyone before his return. For besides the rest of +Judas' sagacious counsels, one may well wonder at this concerning the +misfortune that befell the forces commanded by Joseph and Azarias, which +he understood would happen if they broke any of the injunctions he had +given them. But Judas and his brethren did not leave off fighting with +the Idumeans, but pressed upon them on all sides, and took from them the +city of Hebron, and demolished all its fortifications and set all its +towers on fire, and burned the country of the foreigners and the city +Marissa. They came also to Ashdod, and took it, and laid it waste, and +took away a great deal of the spoils and prey that were in it and +returned to Judea. + + + + +THE GRACCHI AND THEIR REFORMS + +B.C. 133 + +THEODOR MOMMSEN + + +(Cornelia, whose father was Scipio Africanus, preferred to be called +"Mother of the Gracchi" rather than daughter of the conqueror of +Numantia. Tiberius and Caius Gracchus, her sons, were born at a time +when the social condition of Rome was rank with corruption. The small +farmer class were deprived of holdings, the soil was being worked by +slaves, and its products wasted on pleasure and debauchery by the rich; +the law courts were controlled by the wealthy and powerful, while +oppression, bribery, and fraud were generally rampant in the city. + +On December 10, B.C. 133, Tiberius Gracchus entered upon the office of +tribune, to which he had been elected, and pledged himself to the +abolition of crying abuses. His first movement was in the direction of +agrarian legislation. He proposed to vest all public lands in the hands +of three commissioners [triumviri], who were to distribute the public +lands, at that time largely monopolized by the wealthy, to all citizens +in needy circumstances. The bill met with bitter opposition from the +rich landholders, but was eventually passed, and Gracchus rose to the +summit of popular power. He also brought forward a measure limiting the +necessary period of military service; a second bill was drawn up by him +for the reformation of the law courts, and a third established a right +of appeal from the law courts to the popular assembly. These measures +were afterward carried by his brother Caius. Tiberius Gracchus was +killed in a tumult which was raised in the Forum by the nobles and their +partisans, and three hundred of his followers lost their lives in the +fray. + +Caius Gracchus, his brother, returned to Rome B.C. 124 from Sardinia, +where he had been engaged in subduing the mountaineers. For ten years he +had kept aloof from public life, but was at once elected tribune, in the +discharge of which office he showed distinguished powers as an orator. +He brought forth the important measures known as the Sempronian Laws, +the provisions of which were quite revolutionary in character. The first +of these laws renewed and extended the agrarian laws of his brother and +instituted new colonies in Italy and the provinces. By the second +Sempronian law the State undertook to furnish corn at a low price to all +Roman citizens. + +Other measures aimed at diminishing the great administrative power of +the senate, which had so far monopolized all judicial offices. By the +law of Gracchus the administration of justice was entirely transferred +to a body of three hundred persons who possessed the equestrian rate of +property. The Sempronian law for the assignment of consular provinces, +which hitherto had been left to the senate, made the allotment of two +designated provinces to be decided by the newly elected consuls +themselves. The power of the senate was also crippled by the law of +Gracchus in which he transferred to the tribunes the burden of improving +the roads of Italy, contracts for which had hitherto been awarded by the +censor under the approval of the senate. These movements were all in the +direction of increasing popular and democratic power, and the work of +the Gracchi tended to the extension of political freedom. In the history +of politics these social struggles are among the most important events +illustrative of the gradual dawn of civil liberty among a people which +had been dominated and oppressed by a selfish aristocracy.) + + +The power of Gracchus rested on the mercantile class and the +proletariat; primarily on the latter, which in this conflict--wherein +neither side had any military reserve--acted, as it were, the part of an +army. It was clear that the senate was not powerful enough to wrest +either from the merchants or from the proletariat their new privileges; +any attempt to assail the corn laws or the new jury arrangement would +have led under a somewhat grosser or somewhat more civilized form to a +street riot, in presence of which the senate was utterly defenceless. +But it was no less clear that Gracchus himself and these merchants and +proletarians were only kept together by mutual advantage, and that the +men of material interests were ready to accept their posts, and the +populace, strictly so called, its bread, quite as well from any other as +from Caius Gracchus. + +The institutions of Gracchus stood, for the moment at least, immovably +firm, with the exception of a single one--his own supremacy. The +weakness of the latter lay in the fact that in the constitution of +Gracchus there was no relation of allegiance subsisting at all between +the chief and the army; and, while the new constitution possessed all +other elements of vitality, it lacked one--the moral tie between ruler +and ruled, without which every state rests on a pedestal of clay. In the +rejection of the proposal to admit the Latins to the franchise it had +been demonstrated with decisive clearness that the multitude in fact +never voted for Gracchus, but always simply for itself. The aristocracy +conceived the plan of offering battle to the author of the corn +largesses and land assignations on his own ground. + +As a matter of course the senate offered to the proletariat not merely +the same advantages as Gracchus had already assured to it in corn and +otherwise, but advantages still greater. Commissioned by the senate, the +tribune of the people, Marcus Livius Drusus, proposed to relieve those +who received land under the laws of Gracchus from the rent imposed on +them, and to declare their allotments to be free and alienable property; +and, further, to provide for the proletariat not in transmarine, but in +twelve Italian, colonies, each of three thousand colonists, for the +planting of which the people might nominate suitable men; only Drusus +himself declined--in contrast with the family complexion of the Gracchan +commission--to take part in this honorable duty. Presumably the Latins +were named as those who would have to bear the costs of the plan, for +there does not appear to have existed then in Italy other occupied +domain land of any extent save that which was enjoyed by them. + +We find isolated enactments of Drusus--such as the regulation that the +punishment of scourging might only be inflicted on the Latin soldier by +the Latin officer set over him, and not by the Roman officer--which were +to all appearance intended to indemnify the Latins for other losses. The +plan was not the most refined. The attempt at rivalry was too clear; the +endeavor to draw the fair bond between the nobles and the proletariat +still closer by their exercising jointly a tyranny over the Latins was +too transparent; the inquiry suggested itself too readily. + +In what part of the peninsula, now that the Italian domains had been +mainly given away already--even granting that the whole domains assigned +to the Latins were confiscated--was the occupied domain land requisite +for the formation of twelve new, numerous, and compact burgess +communities to be discovered? Lastly, the declaration of Drusus that he +would have nothing to do with the execution of his law was so dreadfully +prudent as to border on sheer folly. But the clumsy snare was quite +suited to the stupid game which they wished to catch. There was the +additional and perhaps decisive consideration that Gracchus, on whose +personal influence everything depended, was just then establishing the +Carthaginian colony in Africa, and that his lieutenant in the capital, +Marcus Flaccus, played into the hands of his opponents by his vehement +and maladroit acts. The "people" accordingly ratified the Livian laws as +readily as it had before ratified the Sempronian. It then as usual +repaid its latest by inflicting a gentle blow on its earlier benefactor, +declining to reëlect him when he stood for the third time as a candidate +for the tribunate for the year B.C. 120. On this occasion, however, +there are alleged to have been unjust proceedings on the part of the +tribune presiding at the election, who had been offended by Gracchus. + +Thus the foundation of his despotism gave way beneath him. A second blow +was inflicted on him by the consular elections, which not only proved, +in a general sense, adverse to the democracy, but which placed at the +head of the State Lucius Opimius, one of the least scrupulous chiefs of +the strict aristocratic party and a man firmly resolved to get rid of +their dangerous antagonist at the earliest opportunity. Such an +opportunity soon occurred. On the 10th of December, B.C. 121, Gracchus +ceased to be tribune of the people. On the 1st of January, B.C. 120, +Opimius entered upon his office. + +The first attack, as was fair, was directed against the most useful and +the most unpopular measure of Gracchus, the reëstablishment of Carthage, +while the transmarine colonies had hitherto been only indirectly +assailed through the greater allurements of the Italian. African hyenas, +it was now alleged, dug up the newly placed boundary stones of Carthage, +and the Roman priests when requested certified that such signs and +portents ought to form an express warning against rebuilding on a site +accursed by the gods. The senate thereby found itself in its conscience +compelled to have a law proposed which prohibited the planting of the +colony of Sunonia. Gracchus, who with the other men nominated to +establish it was just then selecting the colonists, appeared on the day +of voting at the Capitol, whither the burgesses were convoked, with a +view to procure by means of his adherents the rejection of the law. + +He wished to shun acts of violence that he might not himself supply his +opponents with the pretext which they sought, but he had not been able +to prevent a great portion of his faithful partisans--who remembered the +catastrophe of Tiberius, and were well acquainted with the designs of +the aristocracy--from appearing in arms, fearing that, amid the immense +excitement on both sides, quarrels could hardly be avoided. The consul +Lucius Opimius offered the usual sacrifice in the porch of the +Capitoline temple, one of the attendants assisting at the ceremony. +Quintus Antullius, with the holy entrails in his hands, haughtily +ordered the "bad citizens" to quit the porch, and seemed as though he +would lay hands on Caius himself; whereupon a zealous Gracchan drew his +sword and cut the man down. A fearful tumult arose. Gracchus vainly +sought to address the people and to disclaim the responsibility for the +sacreligious murder; he only furnished his antagonists with a further +formal ground of accusation, as, without being aware of it in the +confusion, he interrupted a tribune in the act of speaking to the +people--an offence for which an obsolete statute, originating at the +time of the old dissensions between the orders (I. 353), had prescribed +the severest penalty. The consul Lucius Opimius took his measures to put +down by force of arms the insurrection for the overthrow of the +republican constitution, as they were fond of designating the events of +this day. He himself passed the night in the temple of Castor in the +Forum. At early dawn the Capitol was filled with Cretan archers, the +senate house and Forum with the men of the government party (the +senators and that section of the _equites_ adhering to them), who by +order of the consul had all appeared in arms, each attended by two armed +slaves. None of the aristocracy was absent; even the aged and venerable +Quintus Metellus, well disposed to reform, had appeared with shield and +sword. An officer of ability and experience acquired in the Spanish +wars, Decimus Brutus, was intrusted with the command of the armed force; +the senate assembled in the senate house. The bier with the corpse of +Antullius was deposited in front of it, the senate as if surprised +appeared _en masse_ at the door in order to view the dead body, and then +retired to determine what should be done. + +The leaders of the democracy had gone from the Capitol to their houses; +Marcus Flaccus had spent the night in preparing for the war in the +streets, while Gracchus apparently disdained to strive with destiny. +Next morning when they learned of the preparations made by their +opponents at the Capitol and the Forum, both proceeded to the Aventine, +the old stronghold of the popular party in the struggles between the +patricians and the plebeians. Gracchus went thither silent and unarmed. +Flaccus called the slaves to arms and intrenched himself in the temple +of Diana, while he at the same time sent his younger son Quintus to the +enemy's camp in order if possible to arrange a compromise. The latter +returned with the announcement that the aristocracy demanded +unconditional surrender. At the same time he brought a summons from the +senate to Gracchus and Flaccus to appear before it and to answer for +their violation of the majesty of the tribunes. + +Gracchus wished to comply with the summons, but Flaccus prevented him +from doing so, and repeated the equally weak and mistaken attempt to +move such antagonists to a compromise. When instead of the two cited +leaders the young Quintus Flaccus once more presented himself alone, the +consul treated their refusal to appear as the beginning of open +insurrection against the Government. He ordered the messenger to be +arrested and gave the signal for attack on the Aventine, while at the +same time he caused proclamations to be made in the streets that the +Government would give to whomsoever should bring the head of Gracchus or +of Flaccus its literal weight in gold; and that they would guarantee +complete indemnity to everyone who should leave the Aventine before the +beginning of the conflict. The ranks on the Aventine speedily thinned; +the valiant nobility in conjunction with the Cretans and the slaves +stormed the almost undefended mount, and killed all whom they +found--about two hundred and fifty persons, mostly of humble rank. +Marcus Flaccus fled with his eldest son to a place of concealment, where +they were soon afterward hunted out and put to death. Gracchus had at +the beginning of the conflict retired into the temple of Minerva and was +there about to pierce himself with his sword when his friend Publius +Laetorius seized his arm and besought him to preserve himself, if +possible, for better times. + +Gracchus was induced to make an attempt to escape to the other bank of +the Tiber, but when hastening down the hill he fell and sprained his +foot. To gain time for him to escape, his two attendants turned, and +facing his pursuers allowed themselves to be cut down. As Marcus +Pomponius at the Porta Trigemina under the Aventine; Publius Laetorius +at the bridge over the Tiber--where Horatius Cocles was said to have +once withstood, singly, the Etruscan army--so Gracchus, attended only by +his slave Euporus, reached the suburb on the right bank of the Tiber. + +There, in the grove of Furrina, afterward were found the two dead +bodies. It seemed as if the slave had put to death first his master, and +then himself. The heads of the two fallen leaders were handed over to +the Government as required. The stipulated price, and more, was paid to +Lucius Septumuleius, a man of quality, the bearer of the head of +Gracchus; while the murderers of Flaccus, persons of humble rank, were +sent away with empty hands. The bodies of the dead were thrown into the +river, and the houses of the leaders were abandoned to the pillage of +the multitude. The warfare of prosecution against the partisans of +Gracchus began on the grandest scale; as many as three thousand of them +are said to have been strangled in prison, among whom was Quintus +Flaccus, eighteen years of age, who had taken no part in the conflict, +and was universally lamented on account of his youth and his amiable +disposition. On the open space beneath the Capitol, where the altar +consecrated by Camillus after the restoration of internal peace (I. +382), and other shrines--erected on similar occasions to Concord--were +situated, the small chapels were pulled down, and out of the property of +the killed or condemned traitors--which was confiscated, even to the +portions of their wives--a new and splendid temple of Concord, with the +basilica belonging to it, was erected in accordance with a decree of the +senate by the consul Lucius Opimius. + +Certainly it was an act in accordance with the spirit of the age to +remove the memorials of the old and to inaugurate a new Concord over the +remains of the three grandsons of Zama, all of whom--first, Tiberius +Gracchus, then Scipio Aemilianus, and lastly the youngest and the +mightiest, Caius Gracchus--had now been engulfed by the revolution. The +memory of the Gracchi remained officially proscribed; Cornelia was not +allowed even to put on mourning for the death of her last son; but the +passionate attachment which very many had felt toward the two noble +brothers, and especially toward Caius, during their life, was touchingly +displayed also after their death, in the almost religious veneration +which the multitude, in spite of all precautions of the police, +continued to pay to their memory and to the spots where they had fallen. + + + + +CAESAR CONQUERS GAUL[68] + + +B.C. 58-50 + +NAPOLEON III + + +[Footnote 68: From Louis Napoleon's Julius Caesar, by permission of +Harper & Brothers.] + +(In Caesar's military performances the Gallic war plays the most +important part, as shown in his _Commentaries_, his sole extant literary +work and almost the only authority for this part of Roman history. + + +Cisalpine Gaul--that portion lying on the southern or Italian side of +the Alps--came partly under the dominion of Rome as early as B.C. 282, +when a Roman colony was founded at Sena Gallica. This division of Gaul +was wholly conquered by B.C. 191; and in B.C. 43, having been made a +Roman province, it became a part of Italy. + +Transalpine Gaul--that part lying north and northwest of the Alps from +Rome--comprised in Caesar's day three divisions: Aquitaine to the +southwest, Celtic Gaul in the middle, and Belgic Gaul to the northwest. +The region was inhabited by various tribes having neither unity of race +nor of customs whereby nationality becomes distinguished. Toward the +close of the second century B.C. the Romans made their first settlements +in Transalpine Gaul, in the southeastern part. At the time when Caesar +became proconsul in Gaul, B.C. 58, the province was in a state of +tranquillity, but Fortune seemed determined that he should have great +opportunities for the display of his military genius, and, when Asia had +been subdued by Pompey, "conferred what remained to be done in Europe +upon Caesar." The attempt of the Helvetii to leave their homes in the +Alps for new dwelling-places in Gaul served him as an occasion for war. +As they were crossing the Arar [now Saone] he attacked and routed them, +later defeated them again, and at last drove them back to their own +country. + +The story of the long war, with its various campaigns, has become +familiar to the world's readers through the masterly account of Caesar +himself, known to "every schoolboy" who advances to the dignity of +classical studies. In the end the country between the Pyrenees and the +Rhine was subjugated, and for several centuries it remained a Roman +province. + +At the time when the history is taken up in the following narrative by +Napoleon III, the great rebellion, B.C. 52, had sustained a heavy blow +in the surrender of Alesia, and the capture of the heroic chief and +leader of the insurrection, Vercingetorix, whom Caesar exhibited in his +triumph at Rome, B.C. 46, and then caused to be put to death. + +The distinguished author of the article says he wrote "for the purpose +of proving that when Providence raises up such men as Caesar, +Charlemagne, and Napoleon it is to trace out to peoples the path they +ought to follow, to stamp with the seal of their genius a new era, and +to accomplish in a few years the work of many centuries." The work was +prepared [_vide Manual of Historical Literature_: Adams] with the utmost +care--a care which extended in some instances to special surveys, to +insure perfect accuracy in the descriptions, etc.) + + +The capture of Alesia and that of Vercingetorix, in spite of the united +efforts of all Gaul, naturally gave Caesar hopes of a general +submission; and he therefore believed that he could leave his army +during the winter to rest quietly in its quarters from the hard labors +which had lasted without interruption during the whole of the past +summer. But the spirit of insurrection was not extinct among the Gauls; +and convinced by experience that whatever might be their number they +could not in a body cope with troops inured to war, they resolved, by +partial insurrections raised on all points at once, to divide the +attention and the forces of the Romans as their only chance of resisting +them with advantage. + +Caesar was unwilling to leave them time to realize this new plan, but +gave the command of his winter quarters to his quaestor, Mark Antony; +quitted Bibracte on the day before the Calends of January (the 25th of +December) with an escort of cavalry, joined the Thirteenth legion, which +was in winter quarters among the Bituriges, not far from the frontier of +the Aldui, and called to him the Eleventh legion, which was the nearest +at hand. Having left two cohorts of each legion to guard the baggage, he +proceeded toward the fertile country of the Bituriges, a vast territory, +where the presence of a single legion was insufficient to put a stop to +the preparations for insurrection. + +His sudden arrival in the midst of men without distrust, who were spread +over the open country, produced the result which he expected. They were +surprised before they could enter into their _oppidae_--for Caesar had +strictly forbidden everything which might have raised their suspicion; +especially the application of fire, which usually betrays the sudden +presence of an enemy. Several thousands of captives were made. Those who +succeeded in escaping sought in vain a refuge among the neighboring +nations. Caesar, by forced marches, came up with them everywhere and +obliged each tribe to think of its own safety before that of others. + +This activity held the populations in their fidelity, and through fear +engaged the wavering to submit to the conditions of peace. Thus the +Bituriges, seeing that Caesar offered them an easy way to recover his +protection, and that the neighboring states had suffered no other +chastisement than that of having to deliver hostages, did not hesitate +in submitting. + +The soldiers of the Eleventh and Thirteenth legions had, during the +winter, supported with rare constancy the fatigues of very difficult +marches in intolerable cold. To reward them he promised to give by way +of prize-money two hundred _sestertii_ to each soldier and two thousand +to each centurion. He then sent them into their winter quarters and +returned to Bibracte after an absence of forty days. While he was there, +dispensing justice, the Bituriges came to implore his support against +the attacks of the Carnutes. Although it was only eighteen days since he +returned, he marched again at the head of two legions--the Sixth and the +Fourteenth--which had been placed on the Saone to insure the supply of +provisions. + +On his approach the Carnutes, taught by the fate of others, abandoned +their miserable huts--which they had erected on the site of their burgs +and oppida destroyed in the last campaign--and fled in every direction. + +Caesar, unwilling to expose his soldiers to the rigor of the season, +established his camp at Genabum (Gien), and lodged them partly in the +huts which had remained undestroyed, partly in tents under penthouses +covered with straw. The cavalry and auxiliary infantry were sent in +pursuit of the Carnutes, who, hunted down everywhere, and without +shelter, took refuge in the neighboring counties. + +After having dispersed some rebellious meetings and stifled the germs of +an insurrection, Caesar believed that the summer would pass without any +serious war. He left therefore at Genabum the two legions he had with +him, and gave the command of them to C. Trebonius. + +Nevertheless, he learned by several intimations from the Remi that the +Bellovaci and neighboring peoples, with Correus and Commius at their +head, were collecting troops to make an inroad on the territory of the +Suessiones, who had been placed--since the campaign of 697--under the +dependence of the Remi. + +He considered that he regarded his interest as well as his dignity in +protecting allies who had deserved so well of the republic. He again +drew the Eleventh legion from its winter quarters, sent written orders +to C. Fabius, who was encamped in the country of the Remi, to bring into +that of the Suessiones the two legions under his command, and demanded +one of his legions from Labienus, who was at Besançon. Thus without +taking any rest himself he shared the fatigues among the legions by +turns, as far as the position of the winter quarters and the necessities +of the war permitted. + +When this army was assembled he marched against the Bellovaci, +established his camp on their territory, and sent cavalry in every +direction in order to make some prisoners and learn from them the +designs of the enemy. The cavalry reported that the emigration was +general, and that the few inhabitants who were to be seen were not +remaining behind in order to apply themselves to agriculture, but to act +as spies upon the Romans. + +Caesar by interrogating the prisoners learned that all the Bellovaci +able to fight had assembled on one spot, and that they had been joined +by the Ambiani, the Aulerci, the Caletes, the Veliocasses, and the +Atrebates. Their camp was in a forest on a height surrounded by +marshes--Mont Saint Marc, in the forest of Compiègne; their baggage had +been transported to more distant woods. The command was divided among +several chiefs, but the greater part obeyed Correus on account of his +well-known hatred of the Romans. Commius had a few days before gone to +seek succor from the numerous Germans who lived in great numbers in the +neighboring counties--probably those on the banks of the Meuse. + +The Bellovaci resolved with one accord to give Caesar battle, if, as +report said, he was advancing with only three legions; for they would +not run the risk of having afterward to encounter his entire army. If, +on the contrary, the Romans were advancing with more considerable forces +they proposed to keep their positions and confine themselves to +intercepting, by means of ambuscades, the provisions and forage, which +were very scarce at that season. + +This plan, confirmed by many reports, seemed to Caesar full of prudence +and altogether contrary to the usual rashness of the barbarians. He took +therefore every possible care to dissimulate as to the number of his +troops. He had with him the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth legions, composed +of old soldiers of tried valor, and the Eleventh, which, formed of +picked young men who had gone through eight campaigns, deserved his +confidence, although it could not be compared with the others with +regard to bravery and experience in war. In order to deceive the enemy +by showing them only three legions--the only number they were willing to +fight--he placed the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth in one line; while the +baggage, which was not very considerable, was placed behind under the +protection of the Eleventh legion, which closed the march. In this +order, which formed almost a square, he came unawares in sight of the +Bellovaci. At the unexpected view of the legions, which advanced in +order of battle and with a firm step, they lost their courage and, +instead of attacking, as they had engaged to do, they confined +themselves to drawing themselves up before their camp without leaving +the height. A valley deeper than it was wide separated the two armies. + +On account of this obstacle and the numerical superiority of the +barbarians, Caesar, though he had wished for battle, abandoned the idea +of attacking them and placed his camp opposite that of the Gauls in a +strong position. He caused it to be surrounded with a parapet twelve +feet high, surmounted by accessory works proportioned to the importance +of the retrenchment and preceded by a double fosse fifteen feet wide, +with a square bottom. Towers of three stories were constructed from +distance to distance and united together by covered bridges, the +exterior parts of which were protected by hurdle-work. In this manner +the camp was protected not only by a double fosse, but also by a double +row of defenders, some of whom, placed on the bridges, could from this +elevated and sheltered position throw their missiles farther and with a +better aim; while the others, placed on the _vallum_, nearer to the +enemy, were protected by the bridges from the missiles which showered +down upon them. The entrances were defended by means of higher towers +and were closed with gates. + +These formidable retrenchments had a double aim--to increase the +confidence of the barbarians by making them believe that they were +feared, and next to allow the number of the garrison to be reduced with +safety when they had to go far for provisions. For some days there were +no serious engagements, but slight skirmishes in the marshy plain which +extended between the two camps. The capture, however, of a few foragers +did not fail to swell the presumption of the barbarians, which was still +more increased by the arrival of Commius, although he had brought only +five hundred German cavalry. + +The enemy remained for several days shut up in its impregnable position. +Caesar judged that an assault would cost too many lives; an investment +alone seemed to him opportune, but it would require a greater number of +troops. + +He wrote thereupon to Trebonius to send him as soon as possible the +Thirteenth legion, which, under the command of T. Sextius, was in winter +quarters among the Bituriges, to join it with the Sixth and the +Fourteenth (which the first of these lieutenants commanded at Genabum), +and to come himself with these three legions by forced marches. + +During this time he employed the numerous cavalry of the Remi, the +Lingones and the other allies, to protect the foragers and to prevent +surprises, but this daily service, as is often the case, ended by being +negligently performed. And one day the Remi, pursuing the Bellovaci with +too much ardor, fell into an ambuscade. In withdrawing they were +surrounded by foot-soldiers in the midst of whom Vertiscus, their chief, +met with his death. True to his Gaulish nature, he would not allow his +age to exempt him from commanding and mounting on horseback, although he +was hardly able to keep his seat. His death and this feeble advantage +raised the self-confidence of the barbarians still more, but it rendered +the Romans more circumspect. + +Nevertheless, in one of the skirmishes which were continually taking +place within sight of the two camps about the fordable places of the +marsh, the German infantry--which Caesar had sent for from beyond the +Rhine in order to mix them with the cavalry--joined in a body, boldly +crossed the marsh, and, meeting with little resistance, continued the +pursuit with such impetuosity that fear seized not only the enemy who +fought, but even those who were in reserve. Instead of availing +themselves of the advantages of the ground, all fled in a cowardly +manner. They did not stop until they were within their camp, and some +even were not ashamed to fly beyond it. This defeat caused a general +discouragement, for the Gauls were as easily daunted by the least +reverse as they were made arrogant by the smallest success. + +Day after day was passing in this manner when Caesar was informed of the +arrival of C. Trebonius and his troops, which raised the number of his +legions to seven. The chiefs of the Bellovaci then feared an investment +like that of Alesia, and resolved to quit their position. They sent away +by night the old men, the infirm, the unarmed men, and the part of the +baggage which they had kept with them. Scarcely was this confused +multitude in motion--embarrassed by its own mass and its numerous +chariots--when daylight surprised it, and the troops had to be drawn up +in line before the camp to give the column time to move away. Caesar saw +no advantage either in giving battle to those who were in position, nor, +on account of the steepness of the hill, in pursuing those who were +making their retreat; he resolved, nevertheless, to make two legions +advance in order to disturb the enemy in its retreat. Having observed +that the mountain on which the Gauls were established was connected with +another height (Mont Collet), from which it was only separated by a +narrow valley, he ordered bridges to be thrown across the marsh. The +legions crossed over them and soon attained the summit of the height, +which was defended on both sides by abrupt declivities. + +There he collected his troops and advanced in order of battle up to the +extremity of the plateau, whence the engines placed in battery could +reach the masses of the enemy with their missiles. + +The barbarians, rendered confident by the advantage of their position, +were ready to accept battle if the Romans dared to attack the mountain; +besides, they were afraid to withdraw their troops successively, as, if +divided, they might have been thrown into disorder. This attitude led +Cæsar to resolve upon leaving twenty cohorts under arms, and on tracing +a camp on this spot and retrenching it. When the works were completed +the legions were placed before the retrenchments and the cavalry +distributed with their horses bridled at the outposts. The Bellovaci had +recourse to a stratagem in order to effect their retreat. They passed +from hand to hand the fascines and the straw on which, according to the +Gaulish custom, they were in the habit of sitting, preserving at the +same time their order of battle; placed them in front of the camp, and +toward the close of the day, on a preconcerted signal, set fire to them. +Immediately a vast flame concealed from the Romans the Gaulish troops, +who fled in haste. + +Although the fire prevented Cæsar from seeing the retreat of the enemy +he suspected it. He ordered his legions to advance, and sent the cavalry +in pursuit, but he marched slowly in fear of some stratagem, suspecting +the barbarians to have formed the design of drawing the Romans to +disadvantageous ground. Besides, the cavalry did not dare to ride +through the smoke and flames; and thus the Bellovaci were able to pass +over a distance of ten miles and halt in a place strongly fortified by +nature (Mont Ganelon), where they pitched their camp. In this position +they confined themselves to placing cavalry and infantry in frequent +ambuscades, thus inflicting great damage on the Romans when they went to +forage. After several encounters of this kind Cæsar learned by a +prisoner that Correus, chief of the Bellovaci, with six thousand picked +infantry and one thousand horsemen, was preparing an ambuscade in places +where the abundance of corn and forage was likely to attract the Romans. +In consequence of this information he sent forward the cavalry, which +was always employed to protect the foragers, and joined with them some +light-armed auxiliaries, while he himself, with a greater number of +legions, followed them as closely as possible. + +The enemy had posted themselves in a plain--that of Choisy-au-Bac--of +about one thousand paces in length and the same in breadth, surrounded +on one side by forests, on the other by a river which was difficult to +pass (the Aisne). The cavalry becoming acquainted with the designs of +the Gauls and feeling themselves supported, advanced resolutely in +squadrons toward this plain, which was surrounded with ambushes on all +sides. + +Correus, seeing them arrive in this manner, believed the opportunity +favorable for the execution of his plan and began by attacking the first +squadrons with a few men. The Romans sustained the shock without +concentrating themselves in a mass on the same point, "which," says +Hirtius, "usually happens in cavalry engagements, and leads always to a +dangerous confusion." There, on the contrary, the squadrons, remaining +separated, fought in detached bodies, and when one of them advanced, its +flanks were protected by the others. Correus then ordered the rest of +his cavalry to issue from the woods. An obstinate combat began on all +sides without any decisive result until the enemy's infantry, debouching +from the forest in close ranks, forced the Roman cavalry to fall back. +The lightly armed soldiers who preceded the legions placed themselves +between the squadrons and restored the fortune of the combat. After a +certain time the troops, animated by the approach of the legions and the +arrival of Caesar, and ambitious of obtaining alone the honor of the +victory, redoubled their efforts and gained the advantage. The enemy, on +the other hand, were discouraged and took to flight, but were stopped by +the very obstacles which they intended to throw in the way of the +Romans. A small number, nevertheless, escaped through the forest and +crossed the river. Correus, who remained unshaken under this +catastrophe, obstinately refused to surrender, and fell pierced with +wounds. After this success Caesar hoped that if he continued his march +the enemy in dismay would abandon his camp, which was only eight miles +from the field of battle. He therefore crossed the Aisne, though not +without great difficulties. + +The Bellovaci and their allies, informed by the fugitives of the death +of Correus, of the loss of their cavalry and the flower of their +infantry, and fearing every moment to see the Romans appear, convoked by +sound of trumpet a general assembly and decided by acclamation to send +deputies and hostages to the proconsul. The barbarians implored +forgiveness, alleging that this last defeat had ruined their power, and +that the death of Correus, the instigator of the war, delivered them +from oppression, for, during his life, it was not the senate which +governed, but an ignorant multitude. To their prayers Caesar replied +that last year the Bellovaci had revolted in concert with the other +Gaulish peoples, but that _they_ alone had persisted in the revolt. It +was very convenient to throw their faults upon those who were dead, but +how could it be believed that with nothing but the help of a weak +populace a man should have had sufficient influence to raise and sustain +a war contrary to the will of the chiefs, the decision of the senate, +and the desire of honest people? However, the evil which they had drawn +upon themselves was for him a sufficient reparation. + +The following night the Bellovaci and their allies submitted, with the +exception of Commius, who fled to the country from which he had but +recently drawn support. He had not dared to trust the Romans for the +following reason: "The year before, in the absence of Caesar, T. +Labienus, informed that Commius was conspiring and preparing an +insurrection, thought that without accusing him of bad faith," says +Hirtius, "he could repress his treason." ("Under pretext of an interview +he sent C. Volusenus Quadratus, with some centurions, to kill him; but +when they were in the presence of the Gaulish chief the centurion who +was to strike him missed his blow and only wounded him; swords were +drawn on both sides and Commius had time to escape.") + +The most warlike tribes had been vanquished and none of them dreamed of +further revolt. Nevertheless, many inhabitants of the newly conquered +countries abandoned the towns and the fields in order to withdraw +themselves from the Roman dominion. Caesar, in order to put a stop to +this emigration, distributed his army in different countries. He ordered +the quaestor, Mark Antony, to come to him with the Twelfth legion, and +sent the lieutenant Fabius with twenty-five cohorts into an opposite +part of Gaul--to the country situated between the Creuse and the +Vienne--where it was said that several tribes were in arms, and where +the lieutenant, Caninius Rebilus, who commanded with two legions, did +not appear to be sufficiently strong. Lastly, he ordered T. Labienus to +join him in person and to send the Fifteenth legion, which he had under +his command, into Cisalpine Gaul to protect the colonies of Roman +citizens there against the sudden inroads of the barbarians, who the +summer before had attacked the Tergestini (the inhabitants of Trieste). + +As for Cæsar, he proceeded with four legions to the territory of the +Eburones to lay it waste. As he could not secure Ambiorix, who was still +wandering at large, he thought it advisable to destroy everything by +fire and sword, persuaded that this chief would never dare to return to +a country upon which he had brought such a terrible calamity. The +legions and the auxiliaries were charged with the execution of this +plan. Then he sent Labienus, with two legions, to the country of the +Treviri, who, always at war with the Germans, were only kept in +obedience by the presence of a Roman army. + +During this time Caninius Rebilus, who had first been appointed to go +into the country of the Ruteni, but who had been detained by petty +insurrections in the region situated between the Creuse and the Vienne, +learned that numerous hostile bands were assembling in the country of +the Pictones. He was informed of this by letters from Duratius, their +king, who, amid the defection of a part of his people, had remained +invariably faithful to the Romans. He started immediately for Lemonum +(Poitiers). On the road he learned from prisoners that Duratius was shut +up there and besieged by several thousand men under the orders of +Dumnacus, chief of the Andes. + +Rebilus, at the head of two weak legions, did not dare to measure his +strength with the enemy; he contented himself with establishing his camp +in a strong position. At the news of his approach, Dumnacus raised the +siege, and marched to meet the legions, but after several days of +fruitless attempts to force their camp he returned to attack Lemonum. + +Meanwhile, the lieutenant, Caius Fabius, occupied in pacifying several +other tribes, learned from Caninius Rebilus what was going on in the +country of the Pictones and marched without delay to the assistance of +Duratius. The news of the march of Fabius deprived Dumnacus of all hope +of opposing, at the same time, the troops shut up in Lemonum and the +relieving army. He abandoned the siege again in great haste, not +thinking himself safe until he had placed the Loire between himself and +the Romans; but he could only pass that river where there was a bridge +(at Saumur). Before he had joined Rebilus, before he had even obtained a +sight of the enemy, Fabius, who came from the North, and had lost no +time, doubted not, from what he heard from the people of the country, +that Dumnacus, in his fear, had taken the road which led to that bridge. +He therefore marched thither with his legions, preceded at a short +distance by his cavalry. The latter surprised the column of Dumnacus on +its march, dispersed it, and returned to the camp laden with booty. + +During the night of the following day Fabius again sent his cavalry +forward with orders to delay the march of the enemy so as to give time +for the arrival of the infantry. The two bodies of cavalry were soon +engaged, but the enemy, thinking he had to contend with only the same +troops as the day before, drew up his infantry in line so as to support +the squadrons, when suddenly the Roman legions appeared in order of +battle. At this sight the barbarians were struck with terror, the long +train of baggage thrown into confusion, and the infantry dispersed. More +than twelve thousand men were killed and all the baggage fell into the +hands of the Romans. + +Only five thousand fugitives escaped from this rout; they were received +by the Senonan, Drappes, the same who in the first revolt of the Gauls +had collected a crowd of vagabonds, slaves, exiles, and robbers to +intercept the convoys of the Romans. + +They took the direction of the Narbonnese with the Cadurcan Lucterius +who had before attempted a similar invasion. + +Rebilus pursued them with two legions in order to avoid the shame of +seeing the province suffering any injury from such a contemptible +rabble. As for Fabius, he led the twenty-five cohorts against the +Carnutes and the other tribes whose forces had already been reduced by +the defeat they had suffered from Dumnacus. The Carnutes, though often +beaten, had never been completely subdued. They gave hostages, and the +Armoricans followed their example. Dumnacus, driven out of his own +territory, went to seek a refuge in the remotest part of Gaul. + +Drappes and Lucterius, when they learned that they were pursued by +Rebilus and his two legions, gave up the design of penetrating into the +province; they halted in the country of the Cadurci and threw themselves +into the _oppidum_ of Uxellodunum (Puy-d'Issolu, near Varac), an +exceedingly strong place formerly under the dependence of Lucterius, who +soon incited the inhabitants to revolt. + +Rebilus appeared immediately before the town, which, surrounded on all +sides by steep rocks, was, even without being defended, difficult of +access to armed men. Knowing that there was in the oppidum so great a +quantity of baggage that the besieged could not send it away secretly +without being detected and overtaken by the cavalry, and even by the +infantry, he divided his cohorts into three bodies and established three +camps on the highest points. Next he ordered a countervallation to be +made. On seeing these preparations the besieged remembered the +ill-fortune of Alesia, and feared a similar fate. Lucterius, who had +witnessed the horrors of famine during the investment of that town, now +took especial care of the provisions. + +During this time the garrison of the oppidum attacked the redoubts of +Rebilus several times, which obliged him to interrupt the work of the +countervallation, which, indeed, he had not sufficient forces to defend. + +Drappes and Lucterius established themselves at a distance of ten miles +from the oppidum, with the intention of introducing the provisions +gradually. They shared the duties between them. Drappes remained with +part of the troops to protect the camp. Lucterius, during the +night-time, endeavored to introduce beasts of burden into the town by a +narrow and wooded path. The noise of their march gave warning to the +sentries. Rebilus, informed of what was going on, ordered the cohorts to +sally from the neighboring redoubts, and at daybreak fell upon the +convoy, the escort of which was slaughtered. Lucterius, having escaped +with a small number of his followers, was unable to rejoin Drappes. + +Rebilus soon learned from prisoners that the rest of the troops which +had left the oppidum were with Drappes at a distance of twelve miles, +and that by a fortunate chance not one fugitive had taken that direction +to carry him news of the last combat. The Roman general sent in advance +all the cavalry and the light German infantry; he followed them with one +legion, without baggage, leaving the other as a guard to the three +camps. When he came near the enemy he learned, by his scouts, that the +barbarians--according to their custom of neglecting the heights--had +placed their camp on the banks of a river (probably the Dordogne); that +the Germans and the cavalry had surprised them, and that they were +already fighting. Rebilus then advanced rapidly at the head of the +legion drawn up in order of battle and took possession of the heights. + +As soon as the ensigns appeared, the cavalry redoubled its ardor; the +cohorts rushed forward from all sides and the Gauls were taken or +killed. The booty was immense and Drappes fell into the hands of the +Romans. + +Rebilus, after this successful exploit, which cost him but a few +wounded, returned under the walls of Uxellodunum. Fearing no longer any +attack from without, he set resolutely to work to continue his +circumvallation. The day after, C. Fabius arrived, followed by his +troops, and shared with him the labors of the siege. While the south of +Gaul was the scene of serious trouble, Cæsar left the quaestor, Mark +Antony, with fifteen cohorts in the country of the Bellovaci. To deprive +the Belgæ of all idea of revolt he had proceeded to the neighboring +countries with two legions; had exacted hostages, and restored +confidence by his conciliating speeches. When he arrived among the +Carnutes--who the year before had been the first to revolt--he saw that +the remembrance of their conduct kept them in great alarm, and he +resolved to put an end to it by causing his vengeance to fall only upon +Gutruatus, the instigator of the war. + +This man was brought in and delivered up. Although Cæsar was naturally +inclined to be indulgent, he could not resist the tumultuous entreaties +of his soldiers, who made that chief responsible for all the dangers +they had run and for all the misery they had suffered. Gutruatus died +under the stripes and was afterward beheaded. + +It was in the land of the Carnutes that Cæsar received news, by the +letters of Rebilus, of the events which had taken place at Uxellodunum +and of the resistance of the besieged. Although a handful of men shut up +in a fortress was not very formidable, he judged it necessary to punish +their obstinacy, for fear that the Gauls should entertain the conviction +that it was not strength, but constancy, which had failed them in +resisting the Romans; and lest this example might encourage the other +states which possessed fortresses advantageously situated, to recover +their independence. + +Moreover, it was known everywhere among the Gauls that Cæsar had only +one more summer to hold his command, and that after that time they would +have nothing more to fear. He left therefore the lieutenant Quintus +Calenus at the head of his two legions, with orders to follow him by +ordinary marches, and, with his cavalry, hastened by long marches toward +Uxellodunum. Cæsar, arriving unexpectedly before the town, found it +completely defended at all accessible points. He judged that it could +not be taken by assault (_neque ab oppugnatione recedi vidaret ulla +conditione posse_), and, as it was abundantly provided with provisions, +conceived the project of depriving the inhabitants of water. + +The mountain was surrounded almost on every side by very low ground, but +on one side there existed a valley through which a river (the Tourmente) +ran. As it flowed at the foot of two precipitous mountains the +disposition of the localities did not admit of turning it aside and +conducting it into lower channels. It was difficult for the besieged to +come down to it, and the Romans rendered the approaches to it still more +dangerous. They placed posts of archers and slingers, and brought +engines which commanded all the slopes which gave access to the river. +The besieged had thenceforth no other means of procuring water but by +carrying it from an abundant spring which arose at the foot of the wall +three hundred feet from the channel of the Tourmente. Cæsar resolved to +drain this spring, and for this purpose he did not hesitate to attempt a +laborious undertaking. Opposite the point where it rose he ordered +covered galleries to be pushed forward against the mountain, and under +protection of these a terrace to be raised--labors which were carried on +in the midst of continual fighting and weariness. + +Although the besieged from their elevated position fought without danger +and wounded many Romans, yet the latter did not yield to discouragement, +but continued the work. At the same time they made a subterranean +gallery, which, running from the covered galleries, was intended to lead +up to the spring. This work, carried on free from all danger, was +executed without being perceived by the enemy. The terrace attained a +height of sixty feet and was surmounted by a tower of ten stories, +which, without equalling the elevation of the wall--a result it was +impossible to obtain--still commanded the fountain. Its approaches, +battered by engines from the top of this tower, became inaccessible. In +consequence of this, many men and animals in the place died of thirst. +The besieged, terrified at this mortality, filled barrels with pitch, +grease, and shavings, and rolled them flaming upon the Roman works, +making at the same time a sally to prevent them from extinguishing the +fire. Soon it spread to the covered galleries and the terrace, which +stopped the progress of the inflammable materials. + +Notwithstanding the difficult nature of the ground and the increasing +danger, the Romans still persevered in their struggle. The battle took +place on a height within sight of the army. Loud cries were raised on +both sides. Each individual sought to rival his fellow in zeal, and the +more he was exposed to view the more courageously he faced the missiles +and the fire. + +Caesar, as he was sustaining great loss, determined to feign an assault. +In order to create a diversion he ordered some cohorts to climb the hill +on all sides, uttering loud cries. This movement terrified the besieged, +who, fearing to be attacked at other points, called back to the defence +of the wall those who were setting fire to the works. Then the Romans +were enabled to extinguish the flames. The Gauls, although exhausted by +thirst and reduced to a small number, ceased not to defend themselves +vigorously. At length the subterranean gallery having reached the source +of the spring, the supply was turned aside. The besieged, beholding the +fountain suddenly become dry, believed in their despair that it was an +intervention of the gods, and, submitting to necessity, surrendered. + +Caesar considered that the pacification of Gaul would never be completed +if as strong a resistance was encountered in other towns. He thought it +advisable to spread terror by a severe example--so much the more so as +"the well-known mildness of his temper," says Hirtius, "would not allow +this necessary rigor to be ascribed to cruelty." He ordered that all +those who had borne arms should have their hands cut off, and sent them +away living examples of the punishment reserved for rebels. + +Drappes, who had been taken prisoner, starved himself to death; +Lucterius, who had been arrested by the Arvernan Epasnactus (a friend of +the Romans), was delivered up to Caesar. While these events were taking +place on the banks of the Dordogne, Labienus, in a cavalry engagement, +had gained a decisive advantage over a part of the Treviri and Germans; +had taken prisoner their chief, and thus subjected a people who were +always ready to support any insurrection against the Romans. The Aeduan +Surus fell also into his hands. He was a chief distinguished for his +courage and birth, and the only one of that nation who had not yet laid +down his arms. + +From that moment Caesar considered Gaul to be completely pacified. He +resolved, however, to go himself to Aquitaine, which he had not yet +visited and which Publius Crassus had partly conquered. Arriving there +at the head of two legions, he obtained the complete submission of that +country without difficulty. All the tribes sent him hostages. He +proceeded next to Narbonne with a detachment of cavalry and charged his +lieutenants to put the army into winter quarters. Four legions, under +the orders of Mark Antony, Caius Trebonius, Publius Vatinius, and Q. +Tullius, were quartered in Belgium, two among the Aedui and two among +the Turones on the frontier of the Carnutes, to hold in check all the +countries bordering on the ocean. + +These two last legions took up their winter quarters on the territory of +the Lemovices, not far from the Arverni, so that no part of Gaul should +be without troops. Caesar remained but a short time in the province, +presiding hastily over the assemblies, determining cases of public +dispute, and rewarding those who had served him well. He had had +occasion more than anyone to know their sentiments individually, because +during the general revolt of Gaul the fidelity and succor of the +province had aided him in triumphing over it. When these affairs were +settled he returned to his legions in Belgium and took up his winter +quarters at Nemetocenna (Arras). + +There he was informed of the last attempts of Commius, who, continuing a +partisan war at the head of a small number of cavalry, intercepted the +Roman convoys. Mark Antony had charged C. Volusenus Quadratus, prefect +of the cavalry, to pursue him. He had accepted the task eagerly in the +hope of succeeding the second time better than the first, but Commius, +taking advantage of the rash ardor with which his enemy had rushed upon +him, had wounded him seriously and escaped. He was discouraged, however, +and had promised Mark Antony to retire to any spot which should be +appointed him on condition that he should never be compelled to appear +before a Roman. This condition having been accepted, he had given +hostages. Gaul was hereby subjugated. Death or slavery had carried off +its principal citizens. Of all the chiefs who had fought for its +independence only two survived--Commius and Ambiorix. + +Banished far from their country they died in obscurity. + + + + +ROMAN INVASION AND CONQUEST OF BRITAIN + +B.C. 55 - A.D. 79 + +OLIVER GOLDSMITH + + +(When Julius Caesar received the province of Gaul as his government, +B.C. 58, it was only a small portion of the territory inhabited by the +Gauls or Celts, being almost conterminous with the mediaeval Provence. +It was also at peace, and there seemed no excuse for making an extension +of Roman territory among the three tribes or races between which +Northern and Western Gaul were divided. But the Helvetii, who occupied +that part of the Alps known to-day as Switzerland, meditated an +emigration into the plains of Gaul, and, as their shortest route lay +across the Roman provinces, they asked leave of Caesar to pass three +hundred and sixty thousand souls in all, counting women and children, +through the imperial territory. + +The Roman commander, after giving them an evasive answer, met them in +the territory of the Sequani and Aedui and defeated them, driving them +back to their mountains. He next went to the aid of the Aedui, ancient +allies of Rome, against the Arverni and Sequani, who had invaded the +Aeduan territory under a German chieftain, Ariovistus. The result was +that Ariovistus was defeated and driven eastward across the Rhine. He +then defeated the Belgae, who, in B.C. 57, took up arms against the +garrisons which he had left in the country of the Sequani [dwellers on +the Seine]. He continued his conquest of the Belgic territory, and +subjected the three nations who occupied it, finally entering the +country of the warlike Nervii, whom he only conquered after a stubborn +and bloody battle. As soon as he had subjugated the whole of Gaul, he +crossed the Rhine for the purpose of intimidating the Germans and +teaching them to keep within their own boundaries. + +He pursued the same policy with regard to the Britons, who, according to +information received by him, had sent aid to the Gauls in their struggle +with Rome. His ships were brought round from the Loire to that part of +the French coast now known as Boulogne, and he set out for Britain, +where he landed, and eventually received the submission of the British +chieftains.) + + +The Britons in their rude and barbarous state seemed to stand in need of +more polished instructors; and indeed whatever evils may attend the +conquest of heroes, their success has generally produced one good effect +in disseminating the arts of refinement and humanity. It ever happens +when a barbarous nation is conquered by another more advanced in the +arts of peace, that it gains in elegance a recompense for what it loses +in liberty. + +The Britons had long remained in this rude but independent state, when +Cæsar, having overrun Gaul with his victories, and willing still further +to extend his fame, determined upon the conquest of a country that +seemed to promise an easy triumph. He was allured neither by the riches +nor by the renown of the inhabitants; but being ambitious rather of +splendid than of useful conquests, he was willing to carry the Roman +arms into a country the remote situation of which would add seeming +difficulty to the enterprise and consequently produce an increase of +reputation. His pretence was to punish these islanders for having sent +succors to the Gauls while he waged war against that nation, as well as +for granting an asylum to such of the enemy as had sought protection +from his resentment. + +The natives, informed of his intention, were sensible of the unequal +contest and endeavored to appease him by submission. He received their +ambassadors with great complacency, and having exhorted them to continue +steadfast in the same sentiments, in the mean time made preparations for +the execution of his design. When the troops designed for the expedition +were embarked he set sail for Britain about midnight, and the next +morning arrived on the coast near Dover, where he saw the rocks and +cliffs covered with armed men to oppose his landing. + +Finding it impracticable to gain the shore where he first intended, from +the agitation of the sea and the impending mountains, he resolved to +choose a landing-place of greater security. The place he chose was about +eight miles farther on (some suppose at Deal), where an inclining shore +and a level country invited his attempts. The poor, naked, ill-armed +Britons we may well suppose were but an unequal match for the +disciplined Romans who had before conquered Gaul and afterward became +the conquerors of the world. However, they made a brave opposition +against the veteran army; the conflicts between them were fierce, the +losses mutual, and the success various. + +The Britons had chosen Cassibelaunus for their commander-in-chief; but +the petty princes under his command, either desiring his station or +suspecting his fidelity, threw off their allegiance. Some of them fled +with their forces into the internal parts of the kingdom, others +submitted to Caesar; till at length Cassibelaunus himself, weakened by +so many desertions, resolved upon making what terms he was able while +yet he had power to keep the field. The conditions offered by Caesar and +accepted by him were that he should send to the Continent double the +number of hostages at first demanded and that he should acknowledge +subjection to the Romans. + +The Romans were pleased with the name of this new and remote conquest, +and the senate decreed a supplication of twenty days in consequence of +their general's success. Having therefore in this manner rather +discovered than subdued the southern parts of the island, Caesar +returned into Gaul with his forces and left the Britons to enjoy their +customs, religion, and laws. But the inhabitants, thus relieved from the +terror of his arms, neglected the performance of their stipulations, and +only two of their states sent over hostages according to the treaty. +Caesar, it is likely, was not much displeased at the omission, as it +furnished him with a pretext for visiting the island once more and +completing a conquest which he had only begun. + +Accordingly the ensuing spring he set sail for Britain with eight +hundred ships,[69] and arriving at the place of his descent he landed +without opposition. The islanders being apprised of his invasion had +assembled an army and marched down to the sea-side to oppose him, but +seeing the number of his forces, and the whole sea, as it were, covered +with his shipping, they were struck with consternation and retired to +their places of security. The Romans, however, pursued them to their +retreats until at last common danger induced these poor barbarians to +forget their former dissensions and to unite their whole strength for +the mutual defence of their liberty and possessions. + +[Footnote 69: With regard to these Roman _ships_, let not our readers be +misled by a familiar notion or a pompous name. They were but little more +than rowboats, as may be easily imagined from the fact that Cicero +instances for its uncommon magnitude a _ship_ of only fifty-six tons! +These ancient vessels were occasionally sheathed with leather or lead, +and had the prow decorated with paint and gilding, while the stern was +sometimes carved in the figure of a shield, elaborately adorned. Upon a +staff there erected hung ribbons distinctive of the ship and serving at +the same time to show the direction of the wind. There, too, stood the +_tutela_, or chosen patron of the ship, to whom prayers and sacrifices +were daily offered. The selection of this deity was guided by either +private or professional reasons, and as merchants committed themselves +to the protection of Mercury, or lovers to the care of Cupid, warriors, +it will at once be surmised, made Mars the object of their pious +supplication. + +At a later period than the epoch to which our present note attaches, +when Constantius removed from Heliopolis to Rome an enormous obelisk, +weighing fifteen hundred tons, the vessel on board of which it was +shipped also carried _eleven hundred and thirty-eight tons_ of pulse; +but such vast and unmanageable masses were regarded as monsters, and +owed their existence to the absolute urgency of a remarkable purpose, +backed by the despotic institutions of the times.] + +Cassibelaunus was chosen to conduct the common cause, and for some time +he harassed the Romans in their march and revived the desponding hopes +of his countrymen. But no opposition that undisciplined strength could +make was able to repress the vigor and intrepidity of Cæsar. He +discomfited the Britons in every action; he advanced into the country, +passed the Thames in the face of the enemy, took and burned the capital +city of Cassibelaunus, established his ally Mandubratius as sovereign of +the Trinobantes; and having obliged the inhabitants to make new +submissions, he again returned with his army into Gaul, having made +himself rather the nominal than the real possessor of the island. + +Whatever the stipulated tribute might have been, it is more than +probable, as there was no authority left to exact it, that it was but +indifferently paid. Upon the accession of Augustus, that Emperor had +formed a design of visiting Britain, but was diverted from it by an +unexpected revolt of the Pannonians. Some years after he resumed his +design; but being met in his way by the British ambassadors, who +promised the accustomed tribute and made the usual submissions, he +desisted from his intention. The year following, finding them remiss in +their supplies and untrue to their former professions, he once more +prepared for the invasion of the country; but a well-timed embassy again +averted his indignation, and the submissions he received seemed to +satisfy his resentment; upon his death-bed he appeared sensible of the +overgrown extent of the Roman Empire and recommended it to his +successors never to enlarge their territories. + +Tiberius followed the maxims of Augustus and, wisely judging the empire +already too extensive, made no attempt upon Britain. Some Roman soldiers +having been wrecked on the British coast the inhabitants not only +assisted them with the greatest humanity, but sent them in safety back +to their general. In consequence of these friendly dispositions, a +constant intercourse of good offices subsisted between the two nations; +the principal British nobility resorted to Rome, and many received their +education there. + +From that time the Britons began to improve in all the arts which +contribute to the advancement of human nature. The first art which a +savage people is generally taught by politer neighbors is that of war. +The Britons thenceforward, though not wholly addicted to the Roman +method of fighting, nevertheless adopted several of their improvements, +as well in their arms as in their arrangement in the field. Their +ferocity to strangers, for which they had been always remarkable, was +mitigated and they began to permit an intercourse of commerce even in +the internal parts of the country. They still, however, continued to +live as herdsmen and hunters; a manifest proof that the country was yet +but thinly inhabited. A nation of hunters can never be populous, as +their subsistence is necessarily diffused over a large tract of country, +while the husbandman converts every part of nature to human use, and +flourishes most by the vicinity of those whom he is to support. + +The wild extravagances of Caligula by which he threatened Britain with +an invasion served rather to expose him to ridicule than the island to +danger. The Britons therefore for almost a century enjoyed their liberty +unmolested, till at length the Romans in the reign of Claudius began to +think seriously of reducing them under their dominion. The expedition +for this purpose was conducted in the beginning by Plautius and other +commanders, with that success which usually attended the Roman arms. + +Claudius himself, finding affairs sufficiently prepared for his +reception, made a journey thither and received the submission of such +states as living by commerce were willing to purchase tranquillity at +the expense of freedom. It is true that many of the inland provinces +preferred their native simplicity to imported elegance and, rather than +bow their necks to the Roman yoke, offered their bosoms to the sword. +But the southern coast with all the adjacent inland country was seized +by the conquerors, who secured the possession by fortifying camps, +building fortresses, and planting colonies. The other parts of the +country, either thought themselves in no danger or continued patient +spectators of the approaching devastation. + +Caractacus was the first who seemed willing, by a vigorous effort, to +rescue his country and repel its insulting and rapacious conquerors.[70] +The venality and corruption of the Roman prætors and officers, who were +appointed to levy the contributions in Britain, served to excite the +indignation of the natives and give spirit to his attempts. This rude +soldier, though with inferior forces, continued for about the space of +nine years to oppose and harass the Romans; so that at length Ostorius +Scapula was sent over to command their armies. He was more successful +than his predecessors. He advanced the Roman conquest over Britain, +pierced the country of the Silures, a warlike nation along the banks of +the Severn, and at length came up with Caractacus, who had taken +possession of a very advantageous post upon an almost inaccessible +mountain, washed by a deep and rapid stream. + +[Footnote 70: The character of this hero has been powerfully depicted by +Beaumont and Fletcher, in one of their noblest dramas.] + +The unfortunate British general, when he saw the enemy approaching, drew +up his army, composed of different tribes, and going from rank to rank +exhorted them to strike the last blow for liberty, safety, and life. To +these exhortations his soldiers replied with shouts of determined valor. +But what could undisciplined bravery avail against the attack of an army +skilled in all the arts of war and inspired by a long train of +conquests? The Britons were, after an obstinate resistance, totally +routed, and a few days after Caractacus himself was delivered up to the +conquerors by Cartismandua, queen of the Brigantes, with whom he had +taken refuge. The capture of this general was received with such joy at +Rome that Claudius commanded that he should be brought from Britain in +order to be exhibited as a spectacle to the Roman people. Accordingly, +on the day appointed for that purpose, the Emperor, ascending his +throne, ordered the captives and Caractacus among the number to be +brought into his presence. The vassals of the British King, with the +spoils taken in war, were first brought forward; these were followed by +his family, who, with abject lamentations, were seen to implore for +mercy. + +Last of all came Caractacus with an undaunted air and a dignified +aspect. He appeared no way dejected at the amazing concourse of +spectators that were gathered upon this occasion, but, casting his eyes +on the splendors that surrounded him, "Alas!" cried he, "how is it +possible that a people possessed of such magnificence at home could envy +me an humble cottage in Britain?" When brought into the Emperor's +presence he is said to have addressed him in the following manner: "Had +my moderation been equal to my birth and fortune, I had arrived in this +city not as a captive, but as a friend. But my present misfortunes +redound as much to your honor as to my disgrace; and the obstinacy of my +opposition serves to increase the splendor of your victory. Had I +surrendered myself in the beginning of the contest, neither my disgrace +nor your glory would have attracted the attention of the world, and my +fate would have been buried in general oblivion. I am now at your mercy; +but if my life be spared, I shall remain an eternal monument of your +clemency and moderation." The Emperor was affected with the British +hero's misfortunes and won by his address. He ordered him to be +unchained upon the spot, with the rest of the captives, and the first +use they made of their liberty was to go and prostrate themselves before +the empress Agrippina, who as some suppose had been an intercessor for +their freedom. + +Notwithstanding these misfortunes, the Britons were not subdued, and +this island was regarded by the ambitious Romans as a field in which +military honor might still be acquired. The Britons made one expiring +effort to recover their liberty in the time of Nero, taking advantage of +the absence of Paulinus, the Roman general, who was employed in subduing +the isle of Anglesey. That small island, separated from Britain by a +narrow channel, still continued the chief seat of the Druidical +superstition, and constantly afforded a retreat to their defeated +forces. It was thought necessary therefore to subdue that place, in +order to extirpate a religion that disdained submission to foreign laws +or leaders; and Paulinus, the greatest general of his age, undertook the +task. + +The Britons endeavored to obstruct his landing on that last retreat of +their superstitions and liberties, both by the force of their arms and +the terrors of their religion. The priests and islanders were drawn up +in order of battle upon the shore, to oppose his landing. The women, +dressed like Furies, with dishevelled hair, and torches in their hands, +poured forth the most terrible execrations. Such a sight at first +confounded the Romans and fixed them motionless on the spot; so that +they received the first assault without opposition. But Paulinus, +exhorting his troops to despise the menaces of an absurd superstition, +impelled them to the attack, drove the Britons off the field, burned the +Druids in the same fires they had prepared for their captive enemies, +and destroyed all their consecrated groves and altars. + +In the mean time the Britons, taking advantage of his absence, resolved, +by a general insurrection, to free themselves from that state of abject +servitude to which they were reduced by the Romans. They had many +motives to aggravate their resentment--the greatness of their taxes, +which were levied with unremitting severity; the cruel insolence of +their conquerors, who reproached that very poverty which they had +caused, but particularly the barbarous treatment of Boadicea, queen of +the Iceni, drove them at last into open rebellion. + +Prasatagus, king of the Iceni, at his death had bequeathed one-half of +his dominions to the Romans, and the other to his daughters; thus hoping +by the sacrifice of a part to secure the rest in his family; but it had +a different effect; for the Roman procurator immediately took possession +of the whole, and when Boadicea, the widow of the deceased, attempted to +remonstrate, he ordered her to be scourged like a slave, and violated +the chastity of her daughters. These outrages were sufficient to produce +a revolt through the whole island. The Iceni, being the most deeply +interested in the quarrel, were the first to take arms; all the other +states soon followed the example, and Boadicea, a woman of great beauty +and masculine spirit, was appointed to head the common forces, which +amounted to two hundred and thirty thousand fighting men. + +These, exasperated by their wrongs, attacked several of the Roman +settlements and colonies with success, Paulinus hastened to relieve +London, which was already a flourishing colony; but found on his arrival +that it would be requisite, for the general safety, to abandon that +place to the merciless fury of the enemy. London was therefore soon +reduced to ashes; such of the inhabitants as remained in it were +massacred; and the Romans with all other strangers to the number of +seventy thousand were cruelly put to the sword. Flushed with these +successes the Britons no longer sought to avoid the enemy, but boldly +came to the place where Paulinus awaited their arrival, posted in a very +advantageous manner with a body of ten thousand men. The battle was +obstinate and bloody. Boadicea herself appeared in a chariot with her +two daughters and harangued her army with masculine firmness; but the +irregular and undisciplined bravery of her troops was unable to resist +the cool intrepidity of the Romans. They were routed with great +slaughter; eighty thousand perished in the field, and an infinite number +were made prisoners, while Boadicea herself, fearing to fall into the +hands of the enraged victor, put an end to her life by poison. Nero soon +after recalled Paulinus from a government where, by suffering and +inflicting so many severities, he was judged improper to compose the +angry and alarmed minds of the natives. + +After an interval, Cerealis received the command from Vespasian, and by +his bravery propagated the terror of the Roman arms. Julius Frontinus +succeeded Cerealis both in authority and reputation. The general who +finally established the dominion of the Romans in this island was Julius +Agricola, who governed it during the reigns of Vespasian, Titus, and +Domitian, and distinguished himself as well by his courage as humanity. + +Agricola, who is considered as one of the greatest characters in +history, formed a regular plan for subduing and civilizing the island, +and thus rendering the acquisition useful to the conquerors. As the +northern part of the country was least tractable, he carried his +victorious arms thither, and defeated the undisciplined enemy in every +encounter. He pierced into the formerly inaccessible forests and +mountains of Caledonia; he drove onward all those fierce and intractable +spirits who preferred famine to slavery, and who, rather than submit, +chose to remain in perpetual hostility. Nor was it without opposition +that he thus made his way into a country rude and impervious by nature. + +He was opposed by Galgacus at the head of a numerous army, whom he +defeated in a decisive action, in which considerable numbers were slain. +Being thus successful, he did not think proper to pursue the enemy into +their retreats; but embarking a body of troops on board his fleet, he +ordered the commander to surround the whole coast of Britain, which had +not been discovered to be an island till the preceding year. This +armament, pursuant to his orders, steered to the northward, and there +subdued the Orkneys; then making the tour of the whole island, it +arrived in the port of Sandwich, without having met with the least +disaster. + +During these military enterprises, Agricola was ever attentive to the +arts of peace. He attempted to humanize the fierceness of those who +acknowledged his power, by introducing the Roman laws, habits, manners, +and learning. He taught them to desire and raise all the conveniences of +life, instructed them in the arts of agriculture, and, in order to +protect them in their peaceable possessions, he drew a rampart, and +fixed a train of garrisons between them and their northern neighbors, +thus cutting off the ruder and more barren parts of the island and +securing the Roman province from the invasion of a fierce and +necessitous enemy. In this manner the Britons, being almost totally +subdued, now began to throw off all hopes of recovering their former +liberty, and, having often experienced the superiority of the Romans, +consented to submit, and were content with safety. From that time the +Romans seemed more desirous of securing what they possessed than of +making new conquests, and were employed rather in repressing than +punishing their restless northern invaders. + + + + +CLEOPATRA'S CONQUEST OF CÆSAR AND +ANTONY + +B.C. 51-30 + +JOHN P. MAHAFFY + + +(Several Egyptian princesses of the line of the Ptolemies bore the name +of Cleopatra, but history, romance, and tragedy are all illumined with +the story of one--Cleopatra the daughter of Ptolemy Auletes. Born at +Alexandria, B.C. 69, she ruled jointly with her brother Ptolemy from 51 +to 48. Being then expelled by her colleague, she entered upon the +performance of her part in Roman history when her cause was espoused by +Julius Cæsar, whom she had captivated by her charms. Her reinstatement +by the help of Cæsar, as well as all that followed in her relations with +Roman rulers, was due primarily to personal considerations, rather than +political or military causes; and among women whose lives have vitally +influenced the conduct of great historic leaders, and thereby affected +the course of events, Cleopatra holds a place at once the most +conspicuous and most unique. + +Like Cæsar, Mark Antony, at his first interview with Cleopatra, +succumbed to the fascinations of the "Rare Egyptian," and he never after +ceased to be her slave. Not long after Cæsar's death Antony had married +Fulvia, whom he deserted for the "enchanting queen." From this point to +its culmination in overwhelming disaster and the tragic death of this +celebrated pair of lovers, the romantic drama of Cleopatra's conquests +becomes even more important in literature than in history. This +extraordinary voluptuary, whose beauty and witcheries have interested +mankind for almost twenty centuries, has been the subject of some thirty +tragedies in various languages; and in _Antony and Cleopatra_--one of +his greatest plays--Shakespeare, closely following the narratives of +Plutarch and other classical writers, has invested her with a potency of +charm unparalleled among literary creations. + +She matches Antony in qualities of intellect, while she dazzles him with +her coquettish arts. "A queen, a siren," says Thomas Campbell, "a +Shakespeare's Cleopatra alone could have entangled Shakespeare's +Antony." And Shakespeare alone, as declared by Mrs. Jameson, "has dared +to exhibit the Egyptian Queen with all her greatness and all her +littleness, all her paltry arts and dissolute passions, yet awakened our +pity for fallen grandeur without once beguiling us into sympathy with +guilt." + +Yet the plain history of this "Sorceress of the Nile," with her +"infinite variety," as told by Plutarch and the other ancients, and +retold, with whatever advantages gained from critical research, by the +modern masters, makes the same impression of moral contrast and +inscrutability as that imparted by the greatest poet who has dramatized +the character of Cleopatra.) + + +Now at last Egypt, coming into close connection with the world's +masters, becomes the stage for some of the most striking scenes in +ancient history. They seem to most readers something new and +strange--the pageants and passions of the fratricide Cleopatra as +something unparalleled--and yet she was one of a race in which almost +every reigning princess for the last two hundred years had been swayed +by like storms of passion, or had been guilty of like daring violations +of common humanity. What Arsinoë, what Cleopatra, from the first to the +last, had hesitated to murder a brother or a husband, to assume the +throne, to raise and command armies, to discard or adopt a partner of +her throne from caprice in policy, or policy in caprice? But hitherto +this desperate gambling with life had been carried on in Egypt and +Syria; the play had been with Hellenistic pawns--Egyptian or Syrian +princes; the last Cleopatra came to play with Roman pieces, easier +apparently to move than the others, but implying higher stakes, greater +glory in the victory, greater disaster in the defeat. Therefore is it +that this last Cleopatra, probably no more than an average specimen of +the beauty, talent, daring, and cruelty of her ancestors, has taken an +unique place among them in the imagination of the world, and holds her +own even now and forever as a familiar name throughout the world. + +Ptolemy Auletes, when dying, had taken great care not to bequeath his +mortgaged kingdom to his Roman creditors. In his will he had named as +his heirs the elder of his two sons, and his daughter, who was the +eldest of the family. Nobody thought of claiming Egypt for a heritage of +the Roman Republic, when the whole world was the prize proposed in the +civil conflict, for though the war of Cæsar and Pompey had not actually +broken out, the political sky was lowering with blackness, and the +coming tempest was muttering its thunder through the sultry air. So +Cleopatra, now about sixteen or seventeen years of age, and her much +younger brother (about ten) assumed the throne as was traditional, +without any tumult or controversy, + +The opening discords came from within the royal family. The tutors and +advisers of the young King, among whom Pothinos, a eunuch brought up +with him as his playmate, according to the custom of the court, was the +ablest and most influential, persuaded him to assume sole direction of +affairs and to depose his elder sister. Cleopatra was not able to +maintain herself in Alexandria, but went to Syria as an exile, where she +promptly collected an army, as was the wont of these Egyptian +princesses, who seem to have resources always under their control, and +returned--within a few months, says Cæsar--by way of Pelusium, to +reconquer her lawful share in the throne. This happened in the fourth +year of their so-called joint reign, B.C. 48, at the very time that +Pompey and Cæsar were engaged in their conflict for a far greater +kingdom. + +Cæsar expressed his opinion that the quarrel of the sovereigns in Egypt +concerned the Roman people, and himself as consul, the more so as it was +in his previous consulate that the recognition of and alliance with +their father had taken place. So he signified his decision that Ptolemy +and Cleopatra should dismiss their armies, and should discuss their +claims before him by argument and not by arms. All our authorities, +except Dio Cassius, state that he sent for Cleopatra that she might +personally urge her claims; but Dio tells us, with far more detail and I +think greater probability, "that at first the quarrel with her brother +was argued for her by friends, till she, learning the amorous character +of Cæsar, sent him word that her case was being mismanaged by her +advocates, and she desired to plead it herself, She was then in the +flower of her age (about twenty) and celebrated for her beauty. +Moreover, she had the sweetest of voices, and every charm of +conversation, so that she was likely to ensnare even the most obdurate +and elderly man. These gifts she regarded as her claims upon Cæsar. She +prayed therefore for an interview, and adorned herself in a garb most +becoming, but likely to arouse his pity, and so came secretly by night +to visit him." + +If she indeed arrived secretly and was carried into the palace by one +faithful follower as a bale of carpet, it was from fear of assassination +by the party of Pothinos. She knew that as soon as she had reached +Cæsar's sentries she was safe; as the event proved, she was more than +safe, for in the brief interval of peace, and perhaps even of apparent +jollity, while the royal dispute was under discussion, she gained an +influence over Cæsar which she retained till his death. Cæsar +adjudicated the throne according to the will of Auletes; he even +restored Cyprus to Egypt, and proposed to send the younger brother and +his sister Arsinoë to govern it; but he also insisted on a repayment, in +part at least, of the enormous outstanding debt of Auletes to him and +his party. + +A few months after Cæsar's departure from Egypt Cleopatra gave birth to +a son, whom she alleged, without any immediate contradiction, to be the +dictator's. The Alexandrians called him Cæsarion, and she never swerved +from asserting for him royal privileges. We hear of no other lover, +though it is impossible to imagine Cleopatra arriving at the age of +twenty without providing herself with this luxury. She was, however, +afraid to let Cæsar live far from her influence, and some time before +his assassination--that is to say, some time between B.C. 48 and 44--she +came with the young King her brother to Rome, where she was received in +Cæsar's palace beyond the Tiber, causing by her residence there +considerable scandal among the stricter Romans. Cicero confesses that he +went to see her, but protests that his reasons for doing so were +absolutely nonpolitical. Cicero found her haughty; he does not say she +was beautiful and fascinating. We do not hear of any political activity +on her part, though Cicero evidently suspects it; it is well-nigh +impossible that she can have preferred her very doubtful position at +Rome to her brilliant life in the East. She was suspected of urging +Cæsar to move eastward the capital of his new empire, to desert Rome, +and choose either Ilium, the imaginary cradle of his race, or +Alexandria, as his residence. She is likely to have encouraged at all +events his expedition against the Parthians, which would bring him to +Syria, whence she hoped to gain new territory for her son. The whole +situation is eloquently, perhaps too eloquently, described by Merivale, +for he weaves in many conjectures of his own, as if they were +ascertained facts. + +The colors of this imitation of a hateful original [the oriental despot] +were heightened by the demeanor of Cleopatra, who followed her lover to +Rome at his invitation. She came with the younger Ptolemæus, who now +shared her throne, and her ostensible object was to negotiate a treaty +between her kingdom and the Commonwealth. While the Egyptian nation was +formally admitted to the friendship and alliance of Rome, its sovereign +was lodged in Cæsar's villa on the other side of the Tiber, and the +statue of the most fascinating of women was erected in the temple of the +Goddess of Love and Beauty. The connection which subsisted between her +and the dictator was unblushingly avowed. Public opinion demanded no +concessions to its delicacy; the feelings of the injured Calpurnia had +been blunted by repeated outrage, and Cleopatra was encouraged to +proclaim openly that her child Cæsarion was the son of her Roman +admirer. A tribune, named Helvius Cinna, ventured, it is said, to assert +among his friends that he was prepared to propose a law, with the +dictator's sanction, to enable him to marry more wives than one, for the +sake of progeny, and to disregard in his choice the legitimate +qualification of Roman descent. The Romans, however, were spared this +last insult to their prejudices. The queen of Egypt felt bitterly the +scorn with which she was popularly regarded as the representative of an +effeminate and licentious people. It is not improbable that she employed +her fatal influence to withdraw her lover from the Roman capital, and +urged him to schemes of oriental conquest to bring him more completely +within her toils. In the mean while the haughtiness of her demeanor +corresponded with the splendid anticipations in which she indulged. She +held a court in the suburbs of the city, at which the adherents of the +dictator's policy were not the only attendants. Even his opponents and +concealed enemies were glad to bask in the sunshine of her smiles. + +When Cæsar was assassinated, she was still at Rome, and had some wild +hopes of having her son recognized by the Cæsareans. But failing in this +she escaped secretly, and sailed to Egypt, not without causing +satisfaction to cautious men like Cicero that she was gone. The passage +in which he seems to allude to a rumor that she was about to have +another child--another misfortune to the State--does not bear that +interpretation. As he says not a word concerning the young king Ptolemy, +we may assume that the youth was already dead, and that he died at Rome. +The common belief was that Cleopatra poisoned him as soon as his +increasing years made him troublesome to her. In her reign four years +are assigned to a joint rule with her elder brother, four more to that +with her younger, so that this latter must have died in the same year as +Cæsar. + +Cleopatra, watching from Egypt the great civil war which ensued, +summoned and commanded by the various leaders to send aid in ships and +money, threatened with plunder and confiscation by those who were now +exhausting Asia Minor and the islands with monstrous exactions, had +ample occupation for her talents in steering safely among these constant +dangers. Appian says she pleaded famine and pestilence in her country in +declining the demands of Cassius for subsidies. The latter was on the +point of invading Egypt, at the moment denuded of defending forces and +_wasted with famine_, when he was summoned to Philippi by Brutus. + +It was not till B.C. 41, after the decisive battle of Philippi, that the +victorious Antony, turning to subdue the East to the Cæsarean cause, +held his _joyeuse entrée_ into Ephesus, and then proceeded to drain all +Asia Minor of money for the satisfaction of his greedy legionaries and +his own still more greedy vices. Reaching Cilicia, he sent an order to +the queen of Egypt to come before him and explain her conduct during the +late war, for she was reported to have sent aid to Cassius. The sequel +may be told in Plutarch's famous narrative: + +"Dellius, who was sent on this message, had no sooner seen her face, and +remarked her adroitness and subtlety in speech, than he felt convinced +that Antony would not so much as think of giving any molestation to a +woman like this. On the contrary, she would be the first in favor with +him. So he set himself at once to pay his court to the Egyptian, and +gave her his advice, 'to go,' in the Homeric style, to Cilicia, 'in her +best attire,' and bade her fear nothing from Antony, the gentlest and +kindest of soldiers. She had some faith in the words of Dellius, but +more in her own attractions, which, having formerly recommended her to +Cæsar and the young Cnaeus Pompey, she did not doubt might yet prove +more successful with Antony. Their acquaintance was with her when a +girl, young, and ignorant of the world, but she was to meet Antony in +the time of life when women's beauty is most splendid and their +intellects are in full maturity. She made great preparation for her +journey, of money, gifts, and ornaments of value, such as so wealthy a +kingdom might afford, but she brought with her her surest hopes in her +own magic arts and charms. + +"She received several letters, both from Antony and from his friends, to +summon her, but she took no account of these orders; and at last, as if +in mockery of them, she came sailing up the river Cydnus, in a barge +with gilded stern and outspread sails of purple, while oars of silver +beat time to the music of flutes and fifes and harps. She herself lay +all along, under a canopy of cloth of gold, dressed as Venus in a +picture, and beautiful young boys, like painted cupids, stood on each +side to fan her. Her maids were dressed like sea nymphs and graces, some +steering at the rudder, some working at the ropes.[71] The perfumes +diffused themselves from the vessel to the shore, which was covered with +multitudes, part following the galley up the river on either bank, part +running out of the city to see the sight. The market-place was quite +emptied, and Antony at last was left alone sitting upon the tribunal, +while the word went through all the multitude that Venus was come to +feast with Bacchus, for the common good of Asia.[72] On her arrival, +Antony sent to invite her to supper. She thought it fitter he should +come to her; so, willing to show his good humor and courtesy, he +complied, and went. He found the preparations to receive him magnificent +beyond expression, but nothing so admirable as the great number of +lights, for on a sudden there was let down altogether so great a number +of branches with lights in them so ingeniously disposed, some in squares +and some in circles, that the whole thing was a spectacle that has +seldom been equalled for beauty." + +[Footnote 71: There was no Egyptian feature in this show, which was +purely Hellenistic.] + +[Footnote 72: How easily such a belief started up in the minds of a +crowd in the Asia Minor of that day appears from Acts xiv. 11 _seq_., +where the crowd at Iconium, on seeing a cripple cured, at once exclaim +that the gods are come down to them in the likeness of men, and call +Barnabas Jupiter, and Paul Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker, +bringing sacrifices to offer to the apostles.] + +"The next day Antony invited her to supper, and was very desirous to +outdo her as well in magnificence as contrivance; but he found he was +altogether beaten in both, and was so well convinced of it that he was +himself the first to jest and mock at his poverty of wit and his rustic +awkwardness. She, perceiving that his raillery was broad and gross and +savored more of the soldier than the courtier, rejoined in the same +taste, and fell into it at once, without any sort of reluctance or +reserve, for her actual beauty, it is said, was not in itself so +remarkable that none could be compared with her, or that no one could +see her without being struck by it, but the contact of her presence, if +you lived with her, was irresistible; the attraction of her person, +joining with the charm of her conversation and the character that +attended all she said or did, was something bewitching. It was a +pleasure merely to hear the sound of her voice, with which, like an +instrument of many strings, she could pass from one language to another; +so that there were few of the barbarian nations that she answered by an +interpreter. To most of them she spoke herself, as to the Ethiopians, +troglodytes, Hebrews, Arabians, Syrians, Medes, Parthians, and many +others, whose language she had learned;[73] which was all the more +surprising, because most of the kings her predecessors scarcely gave +themselves the trouble to acquire the Egyptian tongue, and several of +them quite abandoned the Macedonian." + +[Footnote 73: We have here the usual lies of courtiers.] + +"Antony was so captivated by her that, while Fulvia, his wife, +maintained his quarrels in Rome against Cæsar by actual force of arms, +and the Parthian troops, commanded by Labienus--the King's generals +having made him commander-in-chief--were assembled in Mesopotamia, and +ready to enter Syria, he could yet suffer himself to be carried away by +her to Alexandria, there to keep holiday, like a boy, in play and +diversion, squandering and fooling away in enjoyments that most costly, +as Antiphon says, of all valuables, time. They had a sort of company, to +which they gave a particular name, calling it that of the 'Inimitable +Livers.' The members entertained one another daily in turn, with an +extravagance of expenditure beyond measure or belief. Philotas, a +physician of Amphissa, who was at that time a student of medicine in +Alexandria, used to tell my grandfather Lamprias that, having some +acquaintance with one of the royal cooks, he was invited by him, being a +young man, to come and see the sumptuous preparations for dinner. So he +was taken into the kitchen, where he admired the prodigious variety of +all things, but, particularly seeing eight wild boars roasting whole, +says he, 'Surely you have a great number of guests.' The cook laughed at +his simplicity, and told him there were not above twelve to dine, but +that every dish was to be served up just roasted to a turn, and if +anything was but one minute ill-timed it was spoiled. 'And,' said he, +'maybe Antony will dine just now, maybe not this hour, maybe he will +call for wine, or begin to talk, and will put it off. So that,' he +continued, 'it is not one, but many dinners, must be had in readiness, +as it is impossible to guess at his hour.'" + +Plato admits four sorts of flattery, but Cleopatra had a thousand. Were +Antony serious or disposed to mirth she had any moment some new delight +or charm to meet his wishes. At every turn she was upon him, and let him +escape her neither by day nor by night. She played at dice with him, +drank with him, hunted with him, and when he exercised in arms she was +there to see. At night she would go rambling with him to joke with +people at their doors and windows, dressed like a servant woman, for +Antony also went in servant's disguise, and from these expeditions he +always came home very scurvily answered, and sometimes even beaten +severely, though most people guessed who it was. However, the +Alexandrians in general liked it all well enough, and joined +good-humoredly and kindly in his frolic and play, saying they were much +obliged to Antony for acting his tragic parts at Rome and keeping his +comedy for them. It would be trifling without end to be particular in +relating his follies, but his fishing must not be forgotten. He went out +one day to angle with Cleopatra, and being so unfortunate as to catch +nothing in the presence of his mistress, he gave secret orders to the +fishermen to dive under water and put fishes that had been already taken +upon his hooks, and these he drew in so fast that the Egyptian perceived +it. But feigning great admiration, she told everybody how dexterous +Antony was, and invited them next day to come and see him again. So when +a number of them had come on board the fishing boats, as soon as he had +let down his hook, one of her servants was beforehand with his divers +and fixed upon his hook a salted fish from Pontus. Antony, feeling his +line taut, drew up the prey, and when, as may be imagined, great +laughter ensued, "Leave," said Cleopatra, "the fishing rod, autocrat, to +us poor sovereigns of Pharos and Canopus; your game is cities, kingdoms, +and continents." + +Plutarch does not mention the most tragic and the most characteristic +proof of Cleopatra's complete conquest of Antony. Among his other crimes +of obedience he sent by her orders and put to death the Princess +Arsinoë, who, knowing well her danger, had taken refuge as a suppliant +in the temple of Artemis Leucophryne at Miletus. + +It is not our duty to follow the various complications of war and +diplomacy, accompanied by the marriage with the serious and gentle +Octavia, whereby the brilliant but dissolute Antony was weaned, as it +were, from his follies, and persuaded to live a life of public activity. +Whether the wily Octavian did not foresee the result, whether he did not +even sacrifice his sister to accumulate odium against his dangerous +rival, is not for us to determine. But when it was arranged (in B.C. 36) +that Antony should lead an expedition against the Parthians, any man of +ordinary sense must have known that he would come within the reach of +the eastern siren, and was sure to be again attracted by her fatal +voice. It is hard to account for her strange patience during these four +years. She had borne twins to Antony, probably after the meeting in +Cilicia. Though she still maintained the claims of her eldest son +Cæsarion to be the divine Julius' only direct heir, we do not hear of +her sending requests to Antony to support him, or that any agents were +working in her interests at Rome. She was too subtle a woman to solicit +his return to Alexandria. There are mistaken insinuations that she +thought the chances of Sextus Pompey, with his naval supremacy, better +than those of Antony, but these stories refer to his brother Cnaeus, who +visited Egypt before Pharsalia. + +It is probably to this pause in her life, as we know it, that we may +refer her activity in repairing and enlarging the national temples. The +splendid edifice at Dendera, at present among the most perfect of +Egyptian temples, bears no older names than those of Cleopatra and her +son Cæsarion, and their portraits represent the latter as a growing lad, +his mother as an essentially Egyptian figure, conventionally drawn +according to the rules which had determined the figures of gods and +kings for fifteen hundred years. Under these circumstances it is idle to +speak of this well-known relief picture as a portrait of the Queen. It +is no more so than the granite statues in the Vatican are portraits of +Philadelphus and Arsinoë. The artist had probably never seen the Queen, +and if he had, it would not have produced the slightest alteration in +his drawing. + +Plutarch expressly says that it was not in peerless beauty that her +fascination lay, but in the combination of more than average beauty with +many other personal attractions. The Egyptian portrait is likely to +confirm in the spectator's mind the impression derived from +Shakespeare's play, that Cleopatra was a swarthy Egyptian, in strong +contrast to the fair Roman ladies, and suggesting a wide difference of +race. She was no more an Egyptian than she was an Indian, but a pure +Macedonian, of a race akin to, and perhaps fairer than, the Greeks. + +No sooner had Antony reached Syria than the fell influence of the +Egyptian Queen revived. In the words of Plutarch: + +"But the mischief that thus long had lain still, the passion for +Cleopatra, which better thoughts had seemed to have lulled and charmed +into oblivion, upon his approach to Syria, gathered strength again, and +broke out into a flame. And in fine, like Plato's restive and rebellious +horse of the human soul, flinging off all good and wholesome counsel and +breaking fairly loose, he sent Fonteius Capito to bring Cleopatra into +Syria; to whom at her arrival he made no small or trifling +present--Phoenicia, Coele-Syria, Cyprus, great part of Cilicia, that +side of Judea which produces balm, that part of Arabia where the +Nabathaeans extend to the outer sea--profuse gifts which much displeased +the Romans. For although he had invested several private persons with +great governments and kingdoms, and bereaved many kings of theirs, as +Antigonus of Judea, whose head he caused to be struck off--the first +example of that punishment being inflicted on a king--yet nothing stung +the Romans like the shame of these honors paid to Cleopatra. Their +dissatisfaction was augmented also by his acknowledging as his own the +twin children he had by her, giving them the names of Alexander and +Cleopatra, and adding, as their surnames, the titles of Sun and Moon." + +After much dallying the triumvir really started for the wild East, +whither it is not our business to follow him. Cleopatra he sent home to +Egypt, to await his victorious return, and it was on this occasion that +she came in state to Jerusalem to visit Herod the Great--probably the +most brilliant scene of the kind which had taken place since the queen +of Sheba came to learn the wisdom of Solomon. But it was a very +different wisdom that Herod professed, and in which he was verily a high +authority, nor was the subtle daughter of the Ptolemies a docile pupil, +but a practised expert in the same arts of cruelty and cunning; +wherewith both pursued their several courses of ambition and sought to +wheedle from their Roman masters cities and provinces. The reunion of +Antony and Cleopatra must have greatly alarmed Herod, whose plans were +directly thwarted by the freaks of Antony, and he must have been +preparing at the time to make his case with Octavian, and seek from his +favor protection against the new caprices of the then lord of the East. + +"The scene at Herod's palace must have been inimitable. The display of +counter-fascinations between these two tigers; their voluptuous natures +mutually attracted; their hatred giving to each that deep interest in +the other which so often turns to mutual passion while it incites to +conquest; the grace and finish of their manners, concealing a ruthless +ferocity; the splendor of their appointments--what more dramatic picture +can we imagine in history? + +"We hear that she actually attempted to seduce Herod, but failed, owing +to his deep devotion to his wife Mariamne. The prosaic Josephus adds +that Herod consulted his council whether he should not put her to death +for this attempt upon his virtue. He was dissuaded by them on the ground +that Antony would listen to no arguments, not even from the most +persuasive of the world's princes, and would take awful vengeance when +he heard of her death. So she was escorted with great gifts and +politenesses back to Egypt." + +Such, then, was the character of this notorious Queen. But her violation +of temples, and even of ancient tombs, for the sake of treasure must +have been a far more public and odious exhibition of that want of +respect for the sentiment of others which is the essence of bad +manners.[74] + +[Footnote 74: _The Greek World under Roman Sway._] + +As is well known, the first campaign of Antony against Armenians and +Parthians was a signal failure, and it was only with great difficulty +that he escaped the fate of Crassus. But Cleopatra was ready to meet him +in Syria with provisions and clothes for his distressed and ragged +battalions, and he returned with her to spend the winter (B.C. 36-35) at +Alexandria. She thus snatched him again from his noble wife, Octavia, +who had come from Rome to Athens with succors even greater than +Cleopatra had brought. This at least is the word of the historians who +write in the interest of the Romans, and regard the queen of Egypt with +horror and with fear. + +The new campaign of Antony (B.C. 34) was apparently more prosperous, but +it was only carried far enough to warrant his holding a Roman triumph at +Alexandria--perhaps the only novelty in pomp which the triumvir could +exhibit to the Alexandrian populace, while it gave the most poignant +offence at Rome. It was apparently now that he made that formal +distribution of provinces which Octavian used as his chief _casus +belli_. + +"Nor was the division he made among his sons at Alexandria less +unpopular. It seemed a theatrical piece of insolence and contempt of his +country, for, assembling the people in the exercise ground, and causing +two golden thrones to be placed on a platform of silver, the one for him +and the other for Cleopatra, and at their feet lower thrones for their +children, he proclaimed Cleopatra queen of Egypt, Cyprus, Libya, and +Coele-Syria, and with her conjointly Cæsarion, the reputed son of the +former Cæsar. His own sons by Cleopatra were to have the style of 'King +of Kings'; to Alexander he gave Armenia and Media, with Parthia so soon +as it should be overcome; to Ptolemy Phoenicia, Syria, and Cilicia. +Alexander was brought out before the people in Median costume, the tiara +and upright peak, and Ptolemy in boots and mantle and Macedonian cap +done about with the diadem; for this was the habit of the successors of +Alexander, as the other was of the Medes and Armenians. And, as soon as +they had saluted their parents, the one was received by a guard of +Macedonians, the other by one of Armenians. Cleopatra was then, as at +other times when she appeared in public, dressed in the habit of the +goddess Isis, and gave audience to the people under the name of the New +Isis. + +"This over, he gave Priene to his players for a habitation, and set sail +for Athens, where fresh sports and play-acting employed him. Cleopatra, +jealous of the honors Octavia had received at Athens--for Octavia was +much beloved by the Athenians--courted the favor of the people with all +sorts of attentions. The Athenians, in requital, having decreed her +public honors, deputed several of the citizens to wait upon her at her +house, among whom went Antony as one, he being an Athenian citizen, and +he it was that made the speech. + +"The speed and extent of Antony's preparations alarmed Cæsar, who feared +he might be forced to fight the decisive battle that summer, for he +wanted many necessaries, and the people grudged very much to pay the +taxes; freemen being called upon to pay a fourth part of their incomes, +and freed slaves an eighth of their property, so that there were loud +outcries against him, and disturbances throughout all Italy. And this is +looked upon as one of the greatest of Antony's oversights that he did +not then press the war, for he allowed time at once for Cæsar to make +his preparations, and for the commotions to pass over, for while people +were having their money called for they were mutinous and violent; but, +having paid it, they held their peace. + +"Titius and Plancus, men of consular dignity and friends to Antony, +having been ill-used by Cleopatra, whom they had most resisted in her +design of being present in the war, came over to Cæsar, and gave +information of the contents of Antony's will, with which they were +acquainted. It was deposited in the hands of the vestal virgins, who +refused to deliver it up, and sent Cæsar word, if he pleased, he should +come and seize it himself, which he did. And, reading it over to +himself, he noted those places that were most for his purpose, and, +having summoned the senate, read them publicly. Many were scandalized at +the proceeding, thinking it out of reason and equity to call a man to +account for what was not to be until after his death. Cæsar specially +pressed what Antony said in his will about his burial, for he had +ordered that even if he died in the city of Rome, his body, after being +carried in state through the Forum, should be sent to Cleopatra at +Alexandria. + +"Calvisius, a dependent of Cæsar's, urged other charges in connection +with Cleopatra against Antony: that he had given her the library of +Pergamus, containing two hundred thousand distinct volumes; that at a +great banquet, in the presence of many guests, he had risen up and +rubbed her feet, to fulfil some wager or promise; that he had suffered +the Ephesians to salute her as their queen; that he had frequently at +the public audience of kings and princes received amorous messages +written in tablets made of onyx and crystal, and read them openly on the +tribunal; that when Furnius, a man of great authority and eloquence +among the Romans, was pleading, Cleopatra happening to pass by in her +litter, Antony started up and left them in the middle of their cause, to +follow at her side and attend her home."[75] + +[Footnote 75: Plutarch: _Antony_.] + +When war was declared, Antony sought to gain the support of the East in +the conflict. He made alliance with a Median king who betrothed his +daughter to Cleopatra's infant son Alexander; but he made the fatal +mistake of allowing Cleopatra to accompany him to Samos, where he +gathered his army, and even to Actium, where she led the way in flying +from the fight, and so persuading the infatuated Antony to leave his +army and join in her disgraceful escape. + +Historians have regarded this act of Cleopatra as the mere cowardice of +a woman who feared to look upon an armed conflict and join in the din of +battle. But she was surely made of sterner stuff. She had probably +computed with the utmost care the chances of the rivals, and had made up +her mind that, in spite of Antony's gallantry, his cause was lost.[76] +If she fought out the battle with her strong contingent of ships, she +would probably fall into Octavian's hands as a prisoner, and would have +no choice between suicide or death in the Roman prison, after being +exhibited to the mob in Octavian's triumph. There was no chance whatever +that she would have been spared, as was her sister Arsinoë after Julius +Cæsar's triumph, nor would such clemency be less hateful than death. But +there was still a chance, if Antony were killed or taken prisoner, that +she might negotiate with the victor as queen of Egypt, with her fleet, +army, and treasures intact, and who could tell what effect her charms, +though now full ripe, might have upon the conqueror? Two great Romans +had yielded to her, why not the third, who seemed a smaller man? + +[Footnote 76: Dion says that Antony was of the same opinion, and went +into the battle intending to fly; but this does not agree with his +character or with the facts.] + +This view implies that she was already false to Antony, and it may well +be asked how such a charge is compatible with the affecting scenes which +followed at Alexandria, where her policy seemed defeated by her passion, +and she felt her old love too strong even for her heartless ambition? I +will say in answer that there is no more frequent anomaly in the +psychology of female love than a strong passion coexisting with selfish +ambition, so that each takes the lead in turn; nay, even the +consciousness of treachery may so intensify the passion as to make a +woman embrace with keener transports the lover whom she has betrayed +than one whom she has no thought of surrendering. There are, moreover, +in these tragedies unexpected accidents, which so affect even the +hardest nature that calculations are cast aside, and the old loyalty +resumes a temporary sway. Nor must we fail to insist again upon the +traditions wherein this last Cleopatra was born and bred. She came from +a stock whose women played with love and with life as if they were mere +counters. To hesitate whether such a scion of such a house would have +delayed to discard Antony and to assume another passion is to show small +appreciation of the effects of heredity and of example. Dion tells us +that she arrived in Alexandria before the news of her defeat, pretended +a victory, and took the occasion of committing many murders, in order to +get rid of secret opponents, and also to gather wealth by confiscation +of their goods, for both she and Antony, who came along the coast of +Libya, seem still to have thought of defending the inaccessible Egypt, +and making terms for themselves and their children with the conqueror. +But Antony's efforts completely failed; no one would rally to his +standard. And meanwhile the false Queen had begun to send presents to +Cæsar and encourage him to treat with her. But when he bluntly proposed +to her to murder Antony as the price of her reconciliation with himself, +and when he even declared by proxy that he was in love with her, he +clearly made a rash move in this game of diplomacy, though Dion says he +persuaded her of his love, and that accordingly she betrayed to him the +fortress of Pelusium, the key of the country. Dion also differs from +Plutarch in repeatedly ascribing to Octavian great anxiety to secure the +treasures which Cleopatra had with her, and which she was likely to +destroy by fire if driven to despair. + +The historian may well leave to the biographer, nay, to the poet, the +affecting details of the closing scenes of Cleopatra's life. In the +fourth and fifth acts of _Antony and Cleopatra_ Shakespeare has +reproduced every detail of Plutarch's narrative, which was drawn from +that of her physician Olympos. Her fascinations were not dead, for they +swayed Dolabella to play false to his master so far as to warn her of +his intentions, and leave her time for her dignified and royal end. But +if these Hellenistic queens knew how to die, they knew not how to live. +Even the penultimate scene of the tragedy, when she presents an +inventory of her treasures to Octavian, and is charged by her steward +with dishonesty, shows her in uncivilized violence striking the man in +the face and bursting into indecent fury, such as an Athenian, still +less a Roman, matron would have been ashamed to exhibit. Nor is there +any reason to doubt the genuineness of this scene, though we must not be +weary of cautioning ourselves against the hostile witnesses who have +reported to us her life. They praise nothing in her but her bewitching +presence and her majestic death. + +"After her repast Cleopatra sent to Cæsar a letter which she had written +and sealed, and, putting everybody out of the monument but her two +women, she shut the doors. Cæsar, opening her letter, and finding +pathetic prayers and entreaties that she might be buried in the same +tomb with Antony, soon guessed what was doing. At first he was going +himself in all haste; but, changing his mind, he sent others to see. The +thing had been quickly done. The messengers came at full speed, and +found the guards apprehensive of nothing; but on opening the doors they +saw her stone dead, lying upon a bed of gold, set out in all her royal +ornaments. Iras, one of her women, lay dying at her feet, and Charmion, +just ready to fall, scarce able to hold up her head, was adjusting her +mistress' diadem. And when one that came in said angrily, 'Was this well +done of your lady, Charmion?' 'Perfectly well,' she answered, 'and as +became the daughter of so many kings'; and as she said this she fell +down dead by the bedside." + +Even the hostile accounts cannot conceal from us that both in physique +and in intellect she was a very remarkable figure, exceptional in her +own, exceptional had she been born in any other, age. She is a speaking +instance of the falsehood of a prevailing belief, that the intermarriage +of near relations invariably produces a decadence in the human race. The +whole dynasty of the Ptolemies contradicts this current theory, and +exhibits in the last of the series the most signal exception. Cleopatra +VI was descended from many generations of breeding-in, of which four +exhibit marriages of full brother and sister. And yet she was deficient +in no quality, physical or intellectual, which goes to make up a +well-bred and well-developed human being. Her morals were indeed those +of her ancestors, and as bad as could be, but I am not aware that it is +degeneration in this direction which is assumed by the theory in +question, except as a consequence of physical decay. Physically, +however, Cleopatra was perfect. She was not only beautiful, but +prolific, and retained her vigor, and apparently her beauty, to the time +of her death, when she was nearly forty years old. + + + + +ASSASSINATION OF CÆSAR + +B.C. 44 + +NIEBUHR and PLUTARCH + + +(Cæsar's assassination forms the groundwork of one of Shakespeare's most +notable tragedies. The "itching palm" of Cassius, Brutus' rectitude and +honesty of purpose, and Mark Antony's oration will ever live while the +English language endures. When the great Cæsar was struck down, the +civil war was over and he was master of the world. The month of the year +B.C. 100 in which he was born, Quinctilis, was afterward called in his +honor, July. + +Caius Julius Cæsar was one of the greatest figures in history, and early +took a prominent part in the affairs of Rome. He was a rival of Cicero +in forensic eloquence and highly esteemed as a writer, his +_Commentaries_ being universally admired. Ransomed from pirates who had +captured him on his way to study philosophy at Rhodes, he attacked them +in turn, took them to Pergamus, and crucified them. + +After various successful engagements Cæsar marched against Pharnaces, +now established in the kingdom of the Bosphorus, gaining at Zela, in +Pontus, the decisive victory which he announced in the famous despatch, +_Veni, vidi, vici_ ["I came, I saw, I conquered"]. + +His unbounded affability, his liveliness and cordiality, his unaffected +kindness to his friends had made him popular with the high as well as +the low. His ambition began to show itself. During the wrangles over the +election of Afranius as consul, Cæsar returned from his brilliant +successes in Spain. The troops saluted him as imperator and the senate +voted a thanksgiving in his honor. He was now strong enough to take his +place as the leader of the popular party. He was elected consul in spite +of the hostility of the senate. + +A coalition was formed between Cæsar and Pompey. Cæsar's agrarian law +added to his popularity with the people, and he gained the influence of +the _equites_ by relief of one-third of the farmed taxes of Asia. He now +became proconsul of Illyricum and Gaul for five years. This suited his +ambition. At this time Pompey was the absolute master of Rome. And now +arose his duel for power with Cæsar. For a time he opposed the latter's +election as consul, but later yielded. + +Cæsar had achieved his brilliant success beyond the Alps. He had won +victories in Gaul and Britain; but in the mean time his enemies had been +active at Rome. Still believing that the senate would permit his quiet +election to the consulship, he refused to strike any blow at their +authority. But the senate had determined to humble Cæsar. Both Pompey +and Cæsar were removed from leadership, but the Consul Marcellus refused +to execute the decree. Cæsar was directed by the senate to disband his +army by a fixed day, on pain of being considered a public enemy. Pompey +sided with the senate. This meant civil war. Antony and Cassius fled to +the camp of Cæsar, who was enthusiastically supported by his soldiers +and "crossed the Rubicon." + +Having become master of all Italy in three months without a battle, +Cæsar reëntered Rome. Pompey had fled, and at the battle of Pharsalia +was utterly routed, and took refuge in Egypt, where he was murdered a +few days before the arrival of Cæsar. + +Upon receipt of the news of Pompey's death Cæsar was named dictator for +one year. The government was now placed without disguise in his hands. +He was invested with the tribunician power for life. He was also again +elected consul and named dictator. + +Cæsar had now become a demi-god, and was named dictator for ten years, +being awarded a fourfold triumph, and a thanksgiving being decreed for +forty days. He was also made censor. This was in B.C. 46. After +defeating the remnant of the Pompeians, he returned to Rome in +September, B.C. 45, and was named imperator, and appointed consul for +ten years and dictator for life, being hailed as _Parens Patriæ_. + +All these triumphs had caused jealousies. It was thought that he aspired +to become king, and this led to his fall.) + + +NIEBUHR + +It is one of the inestimable advantages of a hereditary government +commonly called the legitimate, whatever its form may be, that it may be +formally inactive in regard to the state and the population--that it may +reserve its interference until it is absolutely necessary, and +apparently leave things to take their own course. If we look around us +and observe the various constitutions, we shall scarcely perceive the +interference of the government; the greater part of the time passes away +without those who have the reins in their hands being obliged to pay any +particular attention to what they are doing, and a very large amount of +individual liberty may be enjoyed. But if the government is what we call +a usurpation, the ruler has not only to take care to maintain his power, +but in all that he undertakes he has to consider by what means and in +what ways he can establish his right to govern, and his own personal +qualifications for it. Men who are in such a position are urged on to +act by a very sad necessity, from which they cannot escape, and such was +the position of Cæsar at Rome. + +In our European States, men have wide and extensive spheres in which +they can act and move. The much-decried system of centralization has +indeed many disadvantages; but it has this advantage for the ruler, that +he can exert an activity which shows its influence far and wide. But +what could Cæsar do, in the centre of nearly the whole of the known +world? He could not hope to effect any material improvements either in +Italy or in the provinces. He had been accustomed from his youth, and +more especially during the last fifteen years, to an enormous activity, +and idleness was intolerable to him. At the close of the civil war he +would have had little or nothing to do unless he had turned his +attention to some foreign enterprise. He was obliged to venture upon +something that would occupy his whole soul, for he could not rest. His +thoughts were therefore again directed to war, and that in a quarter +where the most brilliant triumphs awaited him, where the bones of the +legions of Crassus lay unavenged--to a war against the Parthians. About +this time the Getae also had spread in Thrace, and he intended to check +their progress likewise. But his main problem was to destroy the +Parthian empire and to extend the Roman dominion as far as India, a plan +in which he would certainly have been successful; and he himself felt so +sure of this that he was already thinking of what he should undertake +afterward. + +It is by no means incredible that, as we are told, he intended on his +return to march through the passes of the Caucasus, and through ancient +Scythia into the country of the Getae, and thence through Germany and +Gaul into Italy. Besides this expedition, he entertained other plans of +no less gigantic dimensions. The port of Ostia was bad, and in reality +little better than a mere roadstead, so that great ships could not come +up the river. Accordingly it is said that Cæsar intended to dig a canal +for sea-ships, from the Tiber, above or below Rome, through the Pomptine +marshes as far as Terracina. He further contemplated to cut through the +Isthmus of Corinth. It is not easy to see in what manner he would have +accomplished this, considering the state of hydraulic architecture in +those times. The Roman canals were mere _fossæ_, and canals with +sluices, though not unknown to the Romans, were not constructed by +them.[77] + +[Footnote 77: The first canals with sluices were executed by the Dutch +in the fifteenth century.] + +The fact of Cæsar forming such enormous plans is not very surprising; +but we can scarcely comprehend how it was possible for him to accomplish +so much of what he undertook in the short time of five months preceding +his death. Following the unfortunate system of Sulla, Cæsar founded +throughout Italy a number of colonies of veterans. The old Sullanian +colonists were treated with great severity, and many of them and their +children were expelled from their lands, and were thus punished for the +cruelty which they or their fathers had committed against the +inhabitants of the municipia. In like manner colonies were established +in Southern Gaul, Italy, Africa, and other parts; I may mention in +particular the colonies founded at Carthage and Corinth. The latter, +however, was a _colonia libertinorum_, and never rose to any importance. +We do not know the details of its foundation, but one would imagine that +Cæsar would have preferred restoring the place as a purely Greek town. +This, however, he did not do. Its population was and remained a mixed +one, and Corinth never rose to a state of real prosperity. + +Cæsar made various new arrangements in the State, and among others he +restored the full franchise, or the _jus honorum_, to the sons of those +who had been proscribed in the time of Sulla. He had obtained for +himself the title of imperator and the dictatorship for life and the +consulship for ten years. Half of the offices of the republic to which +persons had before been elected by the centuries were in his gift, and +for the other half he usually recommended candidates; so that the +elections were merely nominal. + +The tribes seem to have retained their rights of election uncurtailed, +and the last tribunes must have been elected by the people. But although +Cæsar did not himself confer the consulship, yet the whole republic was +reduced to a mere form and appearance. Cæsar made various new laws and +regulations; for example, to lighten the burdens of debtors and the +like; but the changes he introduced in the form of the constitution were +of little importance. He increased the number of prætors, which Sulla +had raised to eight, successively to ten, twelve, fourteen, and sixteen, +and the number of quaestors was increased to forty. Hence the number of +persons from whom the senate was to be filled up became greater than +that of the vacancies, and Cæsar accordingly increased the number of +senators, though it is uncertain what number he fixed upon, and raised a +great many of his friends to the dignity of senators. In this, as in +many other cases, he acted very arbitrarily; for he elected into the +senate whomsoever he pleased, and conferred the franchise in a manner +equally arbitrary. These things did not fail to create much discontent. +It is a remarkable fact that, notwithstanding his mode of filling up the +senate, not even the majority of senators were attached to his cause +after his death. + +If we consider the changes and regulations which Cæsar introduced, it +must strike us as a singular circumstance that among all his measures +there is no trace of any indicating that he thought of modifying the +constitution for the purpose of putting an end to the anarchy, for all +his changes are in reality not essential or of great importance. Sulla +felt the necessity of remodelling the constitution, but he did not +attain his end; and the manner, too, in which he set about it was that +of a short-sighted man; but he was at least intelligent enough to see +that the constitution as it then was could not continue to exist. In the +regulations of Cæsar we see no trace of such a conviction; and I think +that he despaired of the possibility of effecting any real good by +constitutional reforms. Hence, among all his laws there is not one that +had any relation to the constitution. The fact of his increasing the +number of patrician families had no reference to the constitution; so +far in fact were the patricians from having any advantages over the +plebeians that the office of the two _oediles Cereales_, which Cæsar +instituted, was confined to the plebeians--a regulation which was +opposed to the very nature of the patriciate. + +His raising persons to the rank of patricians was neither more nor less +than the modern practice of raising a family to the rank of nobility; he +picked out an individual and gave him the rank of patrician for himself +and his descendants, but did not elevate a whole gens. The distinction +itself was merely a nominal one and conferred no privilege upon a person +except that of holding certain priestly offices, which could be filled +by none but patricians, and for which their number was scarcely +sufficient. If Cæsar had died quietly the republic would have been in +the same, nay, in a much worse, state of dissolution than if he had not +existed at all. I consider it a proof of the wisdom and good sense of +Cæsar that he did not, like Sulla, think an improvement in the state of +public affairs so near at hand or a matter of so little difficulty. The +cure of the disease lay yet at a very great distance, and the first +condition on which it could be undertaken was the sovereignty of Cæsar, +a condition which would have been quite unbearable even to many of his +followers, who as rebels did not scruple to go along with him. But Rome +could no longer exist as a republic. + +It is curious to see in Cicero's work, _de Republica_, the consciousness +running through it that Rome, as it then stood, required the strong hand +of a king. Cicero had surely often owned this to himself; but he saw no +one who would have entered into such an idea. The title of king had a +great fascination for Cæsar, as it had for Cromwell--a surprising +phenomenon in a practical mind like that of Cæsar. Everyone knows the +fact that while Cæsar was sitting on the _suggestum_, during the +celebration of the _Lupercalia_, Antony presented to him the diadem, to +try how the people would take it. Cæsar saw the great alarm which the +act created and declined the diadem for the sake of appearance; but had +the people been silent, Cæsar would unquestionably have accepted it. His +refusal was accompanied by loud shouts of acclamation, which for the +present rendered all further attempts impossible. Antony then had a +statue of Cæsar adorned with the diadem; but two tribunes of the people, +L. Caesetius Flavus and Epidius Marullus, took it away: and here Cæsar +showed the real state of his feelings, for he treated the conduct of the +tribunes as a personal insult toward himself. He had lost his +self-possession and his fate carried him irresistibly onward. He wished +to have the tribunes imprisoned, but was prevailed upon to be satisfied +with their being stripped of their office and sent into exile. + +This created a great sensation at Rome. Cæsar had also been guilty of an +act of thoughtlessness, or perhaps merely of distraction, as might +happen very easily to a man in his circumstances. When the senate had +made its last decrees, conferring upon Cæsar unlimited powers, the +senators, consuls, and prætors, or the whole senate, in festal attire, +presented the decrees to him, and Cæsar at the moment forgot to show his +respect for the senators; he did not rise from his _sella curulis_, but +received the decrees in an unceremonious manner. This want of politeness +was never forgiven by the persons who had not scrupled to make him their +master; for it had been expected that he would at least behave politely +and be grateful for such decrees.[78] Cæsar himself had no design in the +act, which was merely the consequence of distraction or thoughtlessness; +but it made the senate his irreconcilable enemies. The affair with the +tribunes, moreover, had made a deep impression upon the people. We must, +however, remember that the people under such circumstances are most +sensible to anything affecting their honor, as we have seen at the +beginning of the French Revolution. + +[Footnote 78: I have known an instance of a man of rank and influence +who could never forgive another man, who was by far his superior in +every respect, for having forgotten to take off his hat during a visit.] + +In the year of Cæsar's death, Brutus and Cassius were prætors. Both had +been generals under Pompey. Brutus' mother, Servilia, was a half-sister +of Cato, for after the death of her first husband Cato's mother had +married Servilius Caepio. She was a remarkable woman, but very immoral, +and unworthy of her son; not even the honor of her own daughter was +sacred to her. The family of Brutus derived its origin from L. Junius +Brutus, and from the time of its first appearance among the plebeians it +had had few men of importance to boast of. During the period subsequent +to the passing of the Licinian laws we meet with some Junii in the +Fasti, but not one of them acquired any great reputation. The family had +become reduced and almost contemptible. One M. Brutus in particular +disgraced his family by sycophancy in the time of Sulla and was +afterward killed in Gaul by Pompey. Although no Roman family belonged to +a more illustrious gens, yet Brutus was not by any means one of those +men who are raised by fortunate circumstances. The education, however, +which he received had a great influence upon him. His uncle Cato, whose +daughter Porcia he married--whether in Cato's lifetime or afterward is +doubtful--had initiated him from his early youth in the Stoic +philosophy, and had instilled into his mind a veneration for it, as +though it had been a religion. + +Brutus had qualities which Cato did not possess. The latter had +something of an ascetic nature, and was, if I may say so, a scrupulously +pious character; but Brutus had no such scrupulous timidity; his mind +was more flexible and lovable. Cato spoke well, but could not be +reckoned among the eloquent men of his time. Brutus' great talents had +been developed with the utmost care, and if he had lived longer and in +peace he would have become a classical writer of the highest order. He +had been known to Cicero from his early age, and Cicero felt a fatherly +attachment to him; he saw in him a young man who he hoped would exert a +beneficial influence upon the next generation. + +Cæsar too had known and loved him from his childhood; but the stories +which are related to account for this attachment must be rejected as +foolish inventions of idle persons; for nothing is more natural than +that Cæsar should look with great fondness upon a young man of such +extraordinary and amiable qualities. The absence of envy was one of the +distinguishing features in the character of Cæsar, as it was in that of +Cicero. In the battle of Pharsalus, Brutus served in the army of Pompey, +and after the battle he wrote a letter to Cæsar, who had inquired after +him; and when Cæsar heard of his safety he was delighted, and invited +him to his camp. Cæsar afterward gave him the administration of +Cisalpine Gaul, where Brutus distinguished himself in a very +extraordinary manner by his love of justice. + +Cassius was related to Brutus, and had likewise belonged to the Pompeian +party, but he was very unlike Brutus; he was much older, and a +distinguished military officer. After the death of Crassus he had +maintained himself as quaestor in Syria against the Parthians, and he +enjoyed a very great reputation in the army, but he was after all no +better than an ordinary officer of Cæsar. After the battle of Pharsalus, +Cæsar did not at first know whither Pompey was gone. Cassius was at the +time stationed with some galleys in the Hellespont, notwithstanding +which Cæsar with his usual boldness took a boat to sail across that +strait, and on meeting Cassius called upon him to embrace his party. +Cassius readily complied, and Cæsar forgave him, as he forgave all his +adversaries: even Marcellus, who had mortally offended him, was pardoned +at the request of Cicero. Cæsar thus endeavored to efface all +recollections of the civil war. + +Cæsar had appointed both Brutus and Cassius prætors for that year. With +the exception of the office of _prætor urbanus_, which was honorable and +lucrative, the prætorship was a burdensome office and conferred little +distinction, since the other prætors were only the presidents of the +courts. Formerly they had been elected by lot, but the office was now +altogether in the gift of Cæsar. Both Brutus and Cassius had wished for +the prætura urbana, and, when Cæsar gave that office to Brutus, Cassius +was not only indignant at Cæsar, but began quarrelling with Brutus also. +While Cassius was in this state of exasperation, a meeting of the senate +was announced for the 15th of March, on which day, as the report went, a +proposal was to be made to offer Cæsar the crown. This was a welcome +opportunity for Cassius, who resolved to take vengeance, for he had even +before entertained a personal hatred of Cæsar, and was now disappointed +at not having obtained the city prætorship. He first sounded Brutus and, +finding that he was safe, made direct overtures to him. During the night +some one wrote on the tribunal and the house of Brutus the words, +"Remember that thou art Brutus." + +Brutus became reconciled to Cassius, offered his assistance, and gained +over several other persons to join the conspiracy. All party differences +seemed to have vanished all at once; two of the conspirators were old +generals of Cæsar, C. Trebonius and Decimus Brutus, both of whom had +fought with him in Gaul, and against Massilia, and had been raised to +high honors by their chief. There were among the conspirators persons of +all parties. Men who had fought against one another at Pharsalus now +went hand-in-hand and intrusted their lives to one another. No proposals +were made to Cicero, the reasons usually assigned for which are of the +most calumniatory kind. It is generally said that the conspirators had +no confidence in Cicero, an opinion which is perfectly contemptible. +Cicero would not have betrayed them for any consideration, but what they +feared were his objections. Brutus had as noble a soul as anyone, but he +was passionate; Cicero, on the other hand, who was at an advanced age, +had many sad experiences, and his feelings were so exceedingly delicate +that he could not have consented to take away the life of him to whom he +himself owed his own, who had always behaved most nobly toward him, and +had intentionally drawn him before the world as his friend. + +Cæsar's conduct toward those who had fought in the ranks of Pompey and +afterward returned to him was extremely noble, and he regarded the +reconciliation of those men as a personal favor conferred upon himself. +All who knew Cicero must have been convinced that he would not have +given his consent to the plan of the conspirators; and if they ever did +give the matter a serious thought, they must have owned to themselves +that every wise man would have dissuaded them from it; for it was in +fact the most complete absurdity to fancy that the republic could be +restored by Cæsar's death. Goethe says somewhere that the murder of +Cæsar was the most senseless act that the Romans ever committed; and a +truer word was never spoken. The result of it could not possibly be any +other than that which did follow the deed. + +Cæsar was cautioned by Hirtius and Pansa, both wise men of noble +character, especially the former, who saw that the republic must become +consolidated and not thrown into fresh convulsions. They advised Cæsar +to be careful, and to take a bodyguard; but he replied that he would +rather not live at all than be in constant fear of losing his life. +Cæsar once expressed to some of his friends his conviction that Brutus +was capable of harboring a murderous design, but he added that as he, +Cæsar, could not live much longer, Brutus would wait, and not be guilty +of such a crime. Cæsar's health was at that time weak, and the general +opinion was that he intended to surrender his power to Brutus as the +most worthy. While the conspirators were making their preparations, +Porcia, the wife of Brutus, inferred from the excitement and +restlessness of her husband that some fearful secret was pressing on his +mind; but as he did not show her any confidence, she seriously wounded +herself with a knife and was seized with a violent wound-fever. No one +knew the cause of her illness; and it was not till after many entreaties +of her husband that at length she revealed it to him, saying that as she +had been able to conceal the cause of her illness, so she could also +keep any secret that might be intrusted to her. Her entreaties induced +Brutus to communicate to her the plan of the conspirators. Cæsar was +also cautioned by the haruspices, by a dream of his wife, and by his own +forebodings, which we have no reason for doubting. But on the morning of +the 15th of March, the day fixed upon for assassinating Cæsar, Decimus +Brutus treacherously enticed him to go with him to the Curia, as it was +impossible to delay the deed any longer. + +The conspirators were at first seized with fear lest their plan should +be betrayed; but on Cæsar's entrance into the senate house, C. Tillius +(not Tullius) Cimber made his way up to him, and insulted him with his +importunities, and Casca gave the first stroke. Cæsar fell covered with +twenty-three wounds. He was either in his fifty-sixth year or had +completed it; I am not quite certain on this point, though, if we judge +by the time of his first consulship, he must have been fifty-six years +old. His birthday, which is not generally known, was the 11th of +Quinctilis, which month was afterward called Julius, and his death took +place on the 15th of March, between eleven and twelve o'clock. + + +PLUTARCH + +At one time the senate having decreed Cæsar some extravagant honors, the +consuls and prætors, attended by the whole body of patricians, went to +inform him of what they had done. When they came, he did not rise to +receive them, but kept his seat, as if they had been persons in a +private station, and his answer to their address was, "that there was +more need to retrench his honors than to enlarge them." This haughtiness +gave pain not only to the senate, but the people, who thought the +contempt of that body reflected dishonor upon the whole Commonwealth; +for all who could decently withdraw went off greatly dejected. + +Perceiving the false step he had taken, he retired immediately to his +own house, and, laying his neck bare, told his friends "he was ready for +the first hand that would strike." He then bethought himself of alleging +his distemper as an excuse; and asserted that those who are under its +influence are apt to find their faculties fail them when they speak +standing, a trembling and giddiness coming upon them, which bereave them +of their senses. This, however, was not really the case; for it is said +he was desirous to rise to the senate; but Cornelius Balbus, one of his +friends, or rather flatterers, held him, and had servility enough to +say, "Will you not remember that you are Cæsar, and suffer them to pay +their court to you as their superior?" + +These discontents were greatly increased by the indignity with which he +treated the tribunes of the people. In the Lupercalia, which, according +to most writers, is an ancient pastoral feast, and which answers in many +respects to the _Lycaea_ among the Arcadians, young men of noble +families, and indeed many of the magistrates, run about the streets +naked, and, by way of diversion, strike all they meet with leathern +thongs with the hair upon them. Numbers of women of the first quality +put themselves in their way, and present their hands for stripes--as +scholars do to a master--being persuaded that the pregnant gain an easy +delivery by it, and that the barren are enabled to conceive. Cæsar wore +a triumphal robe that day, and seated himself in a golden chair upon the +_rostra_, to see the ceremony. + +Antony ran among the rest, in compliance with the rules of the festival, +for he was consul. When he came into the Forum, and the crowd had made +way for him, he approached Cæsar, and offered him a diadem wreathed with +laurel. Upon this some plaudits were heard, but very feeble, because +they proceeded only from persons placed there on purpose. Cæsar refused +it, and then the plaudits were loud and general. Antony presented it +once more, and few applauded his officiousness; but when Cæsar rejected +it again, the applause again was general. Cæsar, undeceived by his +second trial, rose up and ordered the diadem to be consecrated in the +Capitol. + +A few days after, his statues were seen adorned with royal diadems; and +Flavius and Marullus, two of the tribunes, went and tore them off. They +also found out the persons who first saluted Cæsar king, and committed +them to prison. The people followed with cheerful acclamations, and +called them Brutuses, because Brutus was the man who expelled the kings +and put the government in the hands of the senate and people. Cæsar, +highly incensed at their behavior, deposed the tribunes, and by way of +reprimand to them, as well as insult to the people, called them several +times _Brutes_ and _Cumceans_. + +Upon this, many applied to Marcus Brutus, who, by the father's side, was +supposed to be a descendant of that ancient Brutus, and whose mother was +of the illustrious house of the Servilli. He was also nephew and +son-in-law to Cato. No man was more inclined than he to lift his hand +against monarchy, but he was withheld by the honors and favors he had +received from Cæsar, who had not only given him his life after the +defeat of Pompey at Pharsalia, and pardoned many of his friends at his +request, but continued to honor him with his confidence. That very year +he had procured him the most honorable prætorship, and he had named him +for the consulship four years after, in preference to Cassius, who was +his competitor; on which occasion Cæsar is reported to have said, +"Cassius assigns the strongest reasons, but I cannot refuse Brutus." + +Some impeached Brutus after the conspiracy was formed; but, instead of +listening to them, he laid his hand on his body and said, "Brutus will +wait for this skin"; intimating that though the virtue of Brutus +rendered him worthy of empire, he would not be guilty of any ingratitude +or baseness to obtain it. Those, however, who were desirous of a change +kept their eyes upon him only, or principally at least; and as they +durst not speak out plain, they put billets night after night in the +tribunal and seat which he used as prætor, mostly in these terms: "Thou +sleepest, Brutus," or, "Thou art not Brutus." + +Cassius, perceiving his friend's ambition a little stimulated by these +papers, began to ply him closer than before, and spur him on to the +great enterprise; for he had a particular enmity against Cæsar. Cæsar, +too, had some suspicion of him, and he even said one day to his friends: +"What think you of Cassius? I do not like his pale looks." Another time, +when Antony and Dolabella were accused of some designs against his +person and government, he said: "I have no apprehensions from those fat +and sleek men; I rather fear the pale and lean ones," meaning Cassius +and Brutus. + +It seems, from this instance, that fate is not so secret as it is +inevitable; for we are told there were strong signs and presages of the +death of Cæsar. As to the lights in the heavens, the strange noises +heard in various quarters by night, and the appearance of solitary birds +in the Forum, perhaps they deserve not our notice in so great an event +as this. But some attention should be given to Strabo the philosopher. +According to him there were seen in the air men of fire encountering +each other; such a flame appeared to issue from the hand of a soldier's +servant that all the spectators thought it must be burned, yet, when it +was over, he found no harm; and one of the victims which Cæsar offered +was found without a heart. The latter was certainly a most alarming +prodigy; for, according to the rules of nature, no creature can exist +without a heart. What is still more extraordinary, many report that a +certain soothsayer forewarned him of a great danger which threatened him +on the ides of March, and that when the day was come, as he was going to +the senate house, he called to the soothsayer, and said, laughing, "The +ides of March are come"; to which he answered softly, "Yes; but they are +not gone." + +The evening before, he supped with Marcus Lepidus, and signed, according +to custom, a number of letters, as he sat at table. While he was so +employed, there arose a question, "What kind of death was the best?" and +Cæsar, answering before them all, cried out, "A sudden one." The same +night, as he was in bed with his wife, the doors and windows of the room +flew open at once. Disturbed both with the noise and the light, he +observed, by moonshine, Calpurnia in a deep sleep, uttering broken words +and inarticulate groans. She dreamed that she was weeping over him, as +she held him, murdered, in her arms. Others say she dreamed that the +pinnacle was fallen, which, as Livy tells us, the senate had ordered to +be erected upon Cæsar's house by way of ornament and distinction; and +that it was the fall of it which she lamented and wept for. Be that as +it may, the next morning she conjured Cæsar not to go out that day if he +could possibly avoid it, but to adjourn the senate; and, if he had no +regard to her dreams, to have recourse to some other species of +divination, or to sacrifices, for information as to his fate. This gave +him some suspicion and alarm; for he had never known before, in +Calpurnia, anything of the weakness or superstition of her sex, though +she was now so much affected. + +He therefore offered a number of sacrifices, and, as the diviners found +no auspicious tokens in any of them, he sent Antony to dismiss the +senate. In the mean time Decius Brutus, surnamed Albinus, came in. He +was a person in whom Cæsar placed such confidence that he had appointed +him his second heir, yet he was engaged in the conspiracy with the other +Brutus and Cassius. This man, fearing that if Cæsar adjourned the senate +to another day the affair might be discovered, laughed at the diviners, +and told Cæsar he would be highly to blame if by such a slight he gave +the senate an occasion of complaint against him. "For they were met," he +said, "at his summons, and came prepared with one voice to honor him +with the title of king in the provinces, and to grant that he should +wear the diadem both by sea and land everywhere out of Italy. But if +anyone go and tell them, now they have taken their places, they must go +home again, and return when Calpurnia happens to have better dreams, +what room will your enemies have to launch out against you? Or who will +hear your friends when they attempt to show that this is not an open +servitude on the one hand and tyranny on the other? If you are +absolutely persuaded that this is an unlucky day, it is certainly better +to go yourself and tell them you have strong reasons for putting off +business till another time." So saying he took Cæsar by the hand and led +him out. + +He was not gone far from the door when a slave, who belonged to some +other person, attempted to get up to speak to him, but finding it +impossible, by reason of the crowd that was about him, he made his way +into the house, and putting himself into the hands of Calpurnia desired +her to keep him safe till Cæsar's return, because he had matters of +great importance to communicate. + +Artemidorus the Cnidian, who, by teaching the Greek eloquence, became +acquainted with some of Brutus' friends, and had got intelligence of +most of the transactions, approached Cæsar with a paper explaining what +he had to discover. Observing that he gave the papers, as fast as he +received them, to his officers, he got up as close as possible and said: +"Cæsar, read this to yourself, and quickly, for it contains matters of +great consequence and of the last concern to you." He took it and +attempted several times to read it, but was always prevented by one +application or other. He therefore kept that paper, and that only, in +his hand, when he entered the house. Some say it was delivered to him by +another man, Artemidorus being kept from approaching him all the way by +the crowd. + +These things might, indeed, fall out by chance; but as in the place +where the senate was that day assembled, and which proved the scene of +that tragedy, there was a statue of Pompey, and it was an edifice which +Pompey had consecrated for an ornament to his theatre, nothing can be +clearer than that some deity conducted the whole business and directed +the execution of it to that very spot. Even Cassius himself, though +inclined to the doctrines of Epicurus, turned his eye to the statue of +Pompey, and secretly invoked his aid, before the great attempt. The +arduous occasion, it seems, overruled his former sentiments, and laid +them open to all the influence of enthusiasm. Antony, who was a faithful +friend to Cæsar, and a man of great strength, was held in discourse +without, by Brutus Albinus, who had contrived a long story to detain +him. + +When Cæsar entered the house, the senate rose to do him honor. Some of +Brutus' accomplices came up behind his chair, and others before it, +pretending to intercede, along with Metillius Cimber, for the recall of +his brother from exile. They continued their instances till he came to +his seat. When he was seated he gave them a positive denial; and as they +continued their importunities with an air of compulsion, he grew angry. +Cimber, then, with both hands, pulled his gown off his neck, which was +the signal for the attack. Casca gave him the first blow. It was a +stroke upon the neck with his sword, but the wound was not dangerous; +for in the beginning of so tremendous an enterprise he was probably in +some disorder. Cæsar therefore turned upon him and laid hold of his +sword. At the same time they both cried out, the one in Latin, "Villain! +Casca! what dost thou mean?" and the other in Greek, to his brother, +"Brother, help!" + +After such a beginning, those who knew nothing of the conspiracy were +seized with consternation and horror, insomuch that they durst neither +fly nor assist, nor even utter a word. All the conspirators now drew +their swords, and surrounded him in such a manner that, whatever way he +turned, he saw nothing but steel gleaming in his face, and met nothing +but wounds. Like some savage beast attacked by the hunters, he found +every hand lifted against him, for they all agreed to have a share in +the sacrifice and a taste of his blood. Therefore Brutus himself gave +him a stroke in the groin. Some say he opposed the rest, and continued +struggling and crying out till he perceived the sword of Brutus; then he +drew his robe over his face and yielded to his fate. Either by accident +or pushed thither by the conspirators, he expired on the pedestal of +Pompey's statue, and dyed it with his blood; so that Pompey seemed to +preside over the work of vengeance, to tread his enemy under his feet, +and to enjoy his agonies. Those agonies were great, for he received no +less than three-and-twenty wounds. And many of the conspirators wounded +each other as they were aiming their blows at him. + +Cæsar thus despatched, Brutus advanced to speak to the senate and to +assign his reasons for what he had done, but they could not bear to hear +him; they fled out of the house and filled the people with inexpressible +horror and dismay. Some shut up their houses; others left their shops +and counters. All were in motion; one was running to see the spectacle; +another running back. Antony and Lepidus, Cæsar's principal friends, +withdrew, and hid themselves in other people's houses. Meantime Brutus +and his confederates, yet warm from the slaughter, marched in a body +with their bloody swords in their hands, from the senate house to the +Capitol, not like men that fled, but with an air of gayety and +confidence, calling the people to liberty, and stopping to talk with +every man of consequence whom they met. There were some who even joined +them and mingled with their train, desirous of appearing to have had a +share in the action and hoping for one in the glory. Of this number were +Caius Octavius and Lentulus Spinther, who afterward paid dear for their +vanity, being put to death by Antony and young Cæsar; so that they +gained not even the honor for which they lost their lives, for nobody +believed that they had any part in the enterprise; and they were +punished, not for the deed, but for the will. + +Next day Brutus and the rest of the conspirators came down from the +Capitol and addressed the people, who attended to their discourse +without expressing either dislike or approbation of what was done. But +by their silence it appeared that they pitied Cæsar, at the same time +that they revered Brutus. The senate passed a general amnesty; and, to +reconcile all parties, they decreed Cæsar divine honors and confirmed +all the acts of his dictatorship; while on Brutus and his friends they +bestowed governments and such honors as were suitable; so that it was +generally imagined the Commonwealth was firmly established again, and +all brought into the best order. + +But when, upon the opening of Cæsar's will, it was found that he had +left every Roman citizen a considerable legacy, and they beheld the +body, as it was carried through the Forum, all mangled with wounds, the +multitude could no longer be kept within bounds. They stopped the +procession, and, tearing up the benches, with the doors and tables, +heaped them into a pile, and burned the corpse there. Then snatching +flaming brands from the pile, some ran to burn the houses of the +assassins, while others ranged the city to find the conspirators +themselves and tear them in pieces; but they had taken such care to +secure themselves that they could not meet with one of them. + +One Cinna, a friend of Cæsar's, had a strange dream the preceding night. +He dreamed--as they tell us--that Cæsar invited him to supper, and, upon +his refusal to go, caught him by the hand and drew him after him, in +spite of all the resistance he could make. Hearing, however, that the +body of Cæsar was to be burned in the Forum, he went to assist in doing +him the last honors, though he had a fever upon him, the consequence of +his uneasiness about his dream. On his coming up, one of the populace +asked who that was? and having learned his name, told it to his next +neighbor. A report immediately spread through the whole company that it +was one of Cæsar's murderers; and, indeed, one of the conspirators was +named Cinna. The multitude, taking this for the man, fell upon him, and +tore him to pieces upon the spot. Brutus and Cassius were so terrified +at this rage of the populace that a few days after they left the city. +An account of their subsequent actions, sufferings, and death may be +found in the life of Brutus. + +Cæsar died at the age of fifty-six, and did not survive Pompey above +four years. His object was sovereign power and authority, which he +pursued through innumerable dangers, and by prodigious efforts he gained +it at last. But he reaped no other fruit from it than an empty and +invidious title. It is true the divine Power, which conducted him +through life, attended him after his death as his avenger, pursued and +hunted out the assassins over sea and land, and rested not till there +was not a man left, either of those who dipped their hands in his blood +or of those who gave their sanction to the deed. + +The most remarkable of natural events relative to this affair was that +Cassius, after he had lost the battle of Philippi, killed himself with +the same dagger which he had made use of against Cæsar; and the most +signal phenomenon in the heavens was that of a great comet, which shone +very bright for seven nights after Cæsar's death, and then disappeared; +to which we may add the fading of the sun's lustre; for his orb looked +pale all that year; he rose not with a sparkling radiance, nor had the +heat he afforded its usual strength. The air, of course, was dark and +heavy, for want of that vigorous heat which clears and rarefies it; and +the fruits were so crude and unconcocted that they pined away and +decayed, through the chilliness of the atmosphere. + +We have a proof still more striking that the assassination of Cæsar was +displeasing to the gods, in the phantom that appeared to Brutus. The +story of it is this: Brutus was on the point of transporting his army +from Abydos to the opposite continent; and the night before, he lay in +his tent awake, according to custom, and in deep thought about what +might be the event of the war; for it was natural for him to watch a +great part of the night, and no general ever required so little sleep. +With all his senses about him, he heard a noise at the door of his tent, +and looking toward the light, which was now burned very low, he saw a +terrible appearance in the human form, but of prodigious stature and the +most hideous aspect. At first he was struck with astonishment; but when +he saw it neither did nor spoke anything to him, but stood in silence by +his bed, he asked it who it was? The spectre answered: "I am thy evil +genius, Brutus; thou shalt see me at Philippi." Brutus answered boldly, +"I'll meet thee there"; and the spectre immediately vanished. + +Some time after, he engaged Antony and Octavius Cæsar at Philippi, and +the first day was victorious, carrying all before him, where he fought +in person, and even pillaging Cæsar's camp. The night before he was to +fight the second battle the same spectre appeared to him again, but +spoke not a word. Brutus, however, understood that his last hour was +near, and courted danger with all the violence of despair. Yet he did +not fall in the action; but seeing all was lost, he retired to the top +of a rock, where he presented his naked sword to his breast, and a +friend, as they tell us, assisting the thrust, he died upon the spot. + + + + +ROME BECOMES A MONARCHY + +DEATH OF ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA + +B.C. 44-30 + +HENRY GEORGE LIDDELL + + +(After the death of Cæsar, Rome was in confusion; consternation seized +the people, and the "liberators" failed to rally them to their own +support. In possession of Cæsar's treasure, Antony, the surviving +consul, bided his time. His oration at Cæsar's funeral stirred the +populace against the "liberators," and made him for the moment master of +Rome; but his self-seeking soon turned the people against him. The young +Octavius, Cæsar's heir, had become popular with the army. He returned to +Rome and claimed his inheritance, demanded from Antony Cæsar's moneys, +but in vain, and assumed the title of Cæsar. The rivalry between the two +leaders rapidly approached a crisis. The partisans of Antony and +Octavius began to clash, and civil war followed. Defeated, Antony +retreated across the Alps. Octavius was elected consul, and began +negotiations with Antony and Lepidus, which resulted in the three new +masters constituting themselves a triumvirate--the Second +Triumvirate--to settle the affairs of the Commonwealth. They divided the +powers of government, and a partition of territory was made between +them. Their next business was to put out of the way, by proscription, +the enemies of this new order of things. Three hundred senators, +including Cicero, were massacred, as well as two thousand knights. + +When the terrified senate had legalized the self-assumed authority of +the triumvirs, they turned their attention to Brutus and Cassius in the +East, whither they had gone after the assassination of Cæsar and +established and maintained themselves in power. At the battle of +Philippi in Macedonia [B.C. 42] Antony and Octavius defeated Brutus and +Cassius, both of whom died by their own hands. The Roman world was now +in the hands of the triumvirs. Antony ruled in the East, Octavius in the +West, and Lepidus in Africa, B.C. 42-36. In the latter year Lepidus was +deposed by Octavius after a short conflict. And only a year after +Philippi a war between Octavius and Antony was threatened because of a +revolt in Italy, raised by Antony's brother Lucius and Fulvia, wife of +Antony; but it was prevented by a treaty of peace, sealed by the +marriage of Antony to Octavia, sister of Octavius. This peace lasted for +ten years, during which time, however, there was constant friction +between them. + +At Tarsus, in B.C. 41, Antony received a visit from Cleopatra, to whose +charms he had yielded years before. This was the turning-point in his +career; he went with her to Alexandria. By his oppression of the people +of the East, and his dalliance with Cleopatra, he made himself the +object of hatred and contempt. His army met with a series of defeats. In +the mean time Octavius was constantly strengthening himself. The rivalry +between them finally reached the point where both prepared for war. The +great sea fight near Actium, September 2d, B.C. 31, resulted in the +destruction of Antony's fleet after he had followed Cleopatra in her +flight. A year later occurred the death of both. This important battle +established Octavius as the sole ruler of the Roman possessions, and +historians regard it as marking the end of the republic and the +beginning of the empire.) + + +While the conspirators were at their bloody work [of slaying Cæsar], the +mass of the senators rushed in confused terror to the doors; and when +Brutus turned to address his peers in defence of the deed, the hall was +well-nigh empty. Cicero, who had been present, answered not, though he +was called by name; Antony had hurried away to exchange his consular +robes for the garb of a slave. Disappointed of obtaining the sanction of +the senate, the conspirators sallied out into the Forum to win the ear +of the people. But here, too, they were disappointed. Not knowing what +massacre might be in store, every man had fled to his own house; and in +vain the conspirators paraded the Forum, holding up their blood-stained +weapons and proclaiming themselves the liberators of Rome. +Disappointment was not their only feeling: they were not without fear. +They knew that Lepidus, being on the eve of departure for his province +of Narbonnese Gaul, had a legion encamped on the island of the Tiber: +and if he were to unite with Antony against them, Cæsar would quickly be +avenged. In all haste, therefore, they retired to the Capitol. Meanwhile +three of Cæsar's slaves placed their master's body upon a stretcher and +carried it to his house on the south side of the Forum, with one arm +dangling from the unsupported corner. In this condition the widowed +Calpurnia received the lifeless clay of him who had lately been +sovereign of the world. + +Lepidus moved his troops to the Campus Martius. But Antony had no +thoughts of using force; for in that case probably Lepidus would have +become master of Rome. During the night he took possession of the +treasure which Cæsar had collected to defray the expenses of his +Parthian campaign, and persuaded Calpurnia to put into his hands all the +dictator's papers. Possessed of these securities, he barricaded his +house on the Carinae, and determined to watch the course of events. + +In the evening Cicero, with other senators, visited the self-styled +liberators in the Capitol. They had not communicated their plot to the +orator, through fear (they said) of his irresolute counsels; but now +that the deed was done, he extolled it as a godlike act. Next morning, +Dolabella, Cicero's son-in-law, whom Cæsar had promised should be his +successor in the consulship, assumed the consular fasces and joined the +liberators; while Cinna, son of the old Marian leader and therefore +brother-in-law to Cæsar, threw aside his praetorian robes, declaring he +would no longer wear the tyrant's livery. Dec. Brutus, a good soldier, +had taken a band of gladiators into pay, to serve as a bodyguard of the +liberators. Thus strengthened, they ventured again to descend into the +Forum. Brutus mounted the tribune, and addressed the people in a +dispassionate speech, which produced little effect. But when Cinna +assailed the memory of the dictator, the crowd broke out into menacing +cries, and the liberators again retired to the Capitol. + +That same night they entered into negotiations with Antony, and the +result appeared next morning, the second after the murder. The senate, +summoned to meet, obeyed the call in large numbers. Antony and Dolabella +attended in their consular robes, and Cinna resumed his praetorian garb. +It was soon apparent that a reconciliation had been effected: for Antony +moved that a general amnesty should be granted, and Cicero seconded the +motion in an animated speech. It was carried; and Antony next moved that +all the acts of the dictator should be recognized as law. He had his own +purposes here; but the liberators also saw in the motion an advantage to +themselves; for they were actually in possession of some of the chief +magistracies, and had received appointments to some of the richest +provinces of the empire. This proposal, therefore, was favorably +received; but it was adjourned to the next day, together with the +important question of Cæsar's funeral. + +On the next day Cæsar's acts were formally confirmed, and among them his +will was declared valid, though its provisions were yet unknown. After +this, it was difficult to reject the proposal that the dictator should +have a public burial. Old senators remembered the riots that attended +the funeral of Clodius and shook their heads. Cassius opposed it. But +Brutus, with imprudent magnanimity, decided in favor of allowing it. To +seal the reconciliation, Lepidus entertained Brutus at dinner and +Cassius was feasted by Mark Antony. + +The will was immediately made public. Cleopatra was still in Rome, and +entertained hopes that the boy Cæsarion would be declared the dictator's +heir; for though he had been married thrice, there was no one of his +lineage surviving. But Cæsar was too much a Roman, and knew the Romans +too well, to be guilty of this folly. Young C. Octavius, his sister's +son, was declared his heir. Legacies were left to all his supposed +friends, among whom were several of those who had assassinated him. His +noble gardens beyond the Tiber were devised to the use of the public, +and every Roman citizen was to receive a donation of three hundred +sesterces--between ten and fifteen dollars. The effect of this recital +was electric. Devotion to the memory of the dictator and hatred for his +murderers at once filled every breast. + +Two or three days after this followed the funeral. The body was to be +burned, and the ashes deposited in the Campus Martius, near the tomb of +his daughter Julia. But it was first brought into the Forum upon a bier +inlaid with ivory and covered with rich tapestries, which was carried by +men high in rank and office. There Antony, as consul, rose to pronounce +the funeral oration. He ran through the chief acts of Cæsar's life, +recited his will, and then spoke of the death which had rewarded him. To +make this more vividly present to the excitable Italians he displayed a +waxen image marked with the three-and-twenty wounds, and produced the +very robe which he had worn, all rent and blood-stained. Soul-stirring +dirges added to the solemn horror of the scene. But to us the memorable +speech which Shakespeare puts into Antony's mouth will give the +liveliest notion of the art used and the impression produced. That +impression was instantaneous. The senator friends of the liberators who +had attended the ceremony looked on in moody silence. Soon the menacing +gestures of the crowd made them look to their safety. They fled; and the +multitude insisted on burning the body, as they had burned the body of +Clodius, in the sacred precincts of the Forum. Some of the veterans who +attended the funeral set fire to the bier; benches and firewood heaped +round it soon made a sufficient pile. + +From the blazing pyre the crowd rushed, eager for vengeance, to the +houses of the conspirators. But all had fled betimes. One poor wretch +fell a victim to the fury of the mob--Helvius Cinna, a poet who had +devoted his art to the service of the dictator. He was mistaken for L. +Cornelius Cinna the prætor, and was torn to pieces before the mistake +could be explained.[79] + +[Footnote 79: This story is, however, rendered somewhat doubtful by the +manner in which Cinna is mentioned in Vergil's ninth _Eclogue_, which +was certainly written in or after the year B.C. 40.] + +Antony was now the real master of Rome. The treasure which he had seized +gave him the means of purchasing good will, and of securing the +attachment of the veterans stationed in various parts of Italy. He did +not, however, proceed in the course which, from the tone of his funeral +harangue, might have been expected. He renewed friendly intercourse with +Brutus and Cassius, who were encouraged to visit Rome once at least, if +not oftener, after that day; and Dec. Brutus, with his gladiators, was +suffered to remain in the city. Antony went still further. He gratified +the senate by passing a law to abolish the dictatorship forever. He then +left Rome to win the favor of the Italian communities and try the temper +of the veterans. + +Meanwhile another actor appeared upon the scene. This was young +Octavius. He had been but six months in the camp at Apollonia; but in +that short time he had formed a close friendship with M. Vipsanius +Agrippa, a young man of his own age, who possessed great abilities for +active life, but could not boast of any distinguished ancestry. As soon +as the news of his uncle's assassination reached the camp, his friend +Agrippa recommended him to appeal to the troops and march upon Rome. But +the youth, with a wariness above his years, resisted these bold +counsels. Landing near Brundusium almost alone, he there first heard +that Cæsar's will had been published and that he was declared Cæsar's +heir. He at once accepted the dangerous honor. As he travelled slowly +toward the city he stayed some days at Puteoli with his mother, Atia, +who was now married to L. Philippus. Both mother and stepfather +attempted to dissuade him from the perilous business of claiming his +inheritance. At the same place he had an interview with Cicero, who had +quitted Rome in despair after the funeral, and left the orator under the +impression that he might be won to what was deemed the patriotic party. + +He arrived at Rome about the beginning of May, and demanded from Antony, +who had now returned from his Italian tour, an account of the moneys of +which the consul had taken possession, in order that he might discharge +the obligations laid upon him by his uncle's will. But Antony had +already spent great part of the money in bribing Dolabella and other +influential persons; nor was he willing to give up any portion of his +spoil. Octavius therefore sold what remained of his uncle's property, +raised money on his own credit, and paid all legacies with great +exactness. This act earned him much popularity. Antony began to fear +this boy of eighteen, whom he had hitherto despised, and the senate +learned to look on him as a person to be conciliated. + +Still Antony remained in possession of all actual power. Cicero, not +remarkable for political firmness, in this crisis displayed a vigor +worthy of his earlier days. He had at one moment made up his mind to +retire from public life and end his days at Athens in learned leisure. +In the course of this summer he continued to employ himself on some of +his most elaborate treatises. His works on the _Nature of the Gods_ and +on _Divination_, his _Offices_, his _Dialogue on Old Age_, and several +other essays belong to this period and mark the restless activity of his +mind. But though he twice set sail from Italy, he was driven back to +port at Velia, where he found Brutus and Cassius. Here he received +letters from Au. Hirtius and other friends of Cæsar, which gave him +hopes that, in the name of Octavius, they might successfully oppose +Antony and restore constitutional government. He determined to return, +and announced his purpose to Brutus and Cassius, who commended him and +took leave of him. They went their way to the east to raise armies +against Antony; he repaired to Rome to fight the battles of his party in +the senate house. + +Meanwhile Antony had been running riot. In possession of Cæsar's papers, +with no one to check him, he produced ready warrant for every measure +which he wished to carry, and pleaded the vote of the senate which +confirmed all the acts of Cæsar. When he could not produce a genuine +paper, he interpolated or forged what was needful. + +On the day after Cicero's return (September 1st) there was a meeting of +the senate. But the orator did not attend, and Antony threatened to send +men to drag him from his house. Next day Cicero was in his place, but +now Antony was absent. The orator arose and addressed the senate in what +is called his _First Philippic_. This was a measured attack upon the +government and policy of Antony, but personalities were carefully +eschewed: the tone of the whole speech, indeed, is such as might be +delivered by a leader of opposition in parliament at the present day. +But Antony, enraged at his boldness, summoned a meeting for the 19th of +September, which Cicero did not think it prudent to attend. He then +attacked the absent orator in the strongest language of personal abuse +and menace. Cicero sat down and composed his famous _Second Philippic_, +which is written as if it were delivered on the same day, in reply to +Antony's invective. At present, however, he contented himself with +sending a copy of it to Atticus, enjoining secrecy. + +Matters quickly drew to a head between Antony and Octavius. The latter +had succeeded in securing a thousand men of his uncle's veterans who had +settled in Campania; and by great exertions in the different towns of +Italy had levied a considerable force. Meantime four of the Epirote +legions had just landed at Brundusium, and Antony hastened to attach +them to his cause. But the largess which he offered them was only a +hundred _denaries_ a man, and the soldiers laughed in his face. Antony, +enraged at their conduct, seized the ringleaders and decimated them. But +this severity only served to change their open insolence into sullen +anger, and emissaries from Octavius were ready to draw them over to the +side of their young master. They had so far obeyed Antony as to march +northward to Ariminum, while he repaired to Rome. But as he entered the +senate house he heard that two of the four legions had deserted to his +rival, and in great alarm he hastened to the camp just in time to keep +the remainder of the troops under his standard by distributing to every +man five hundred denaries. + +The persons to hold the consulship for the next year had been designated +by Cæsar. They were both old officers of the Gallic army, C. Vibius +Pansa and Au. Hirtius, the reputed author of the Eighth Book of the +_History of the Gallic War_. Cicero was ready to believe that they had +become patriots, because, disgusted with the arrogance of Antony, they +had declared for Octavius and the senate. Antony began to fear that all +parties might combine to crush him. He determined, therefore, no longer +to remain inactive; and about the end of November, having now collected +all his troops at Ariminum, he marched along the Æmilian road to drive +Dec. Brutus out of Cisalpine Gaul. Decimus was obliged to throw himself +into Mutina (Modena), and Antony blockaded the place. As soon as his +back was turned, Cicero published the famous _Second Philippic_, in +which he lashed the consul with the most unsparing hand, going through +the history of his past life, exaggerating the debaucheries, which were +common to Antony with great part of the Roman youth, and painting in the +strongest colors the profligate use he had made of Cæsar's papers. Its +effect was great, and Cicero followed up the blow by the following +twelve _Philippics_, which were speeches delivered in the senate house +and Forum, at intervals from December (44) to April in the next year. + +Cicero was anxious to break with Antony at once, by declaring him a +public enemy. But the latter was still regarded by many senators as the +head of the Cæsarean party, and it was resolved to treat with him. But +the demands of Antony were so extravagant that negotiations were at once +broken off, and nothing remained but to try the fortune of arms. The +consuls proceeded to levy troops; but so exhausted was the treasury that +now for the first time since the triumph of Æmilius Paullus it was found +necessary to levy a property tax on the citizens of Rome. + +Octavius and the consuls assembled their forces at Alba. On the first +day of the new year (43) Hirtius marched for Mutina, with Octavius under +his command. The other consul, Pansa, remained at Rome to raise new +levies; but by the end of March he also marched to form a junction with +Hirtius. Both parties pretended to be acting in Cæsar's name. + +Antony left his brother Lucius in the trenches before Mutina, and took +the field against Hirtius and Octavius. For three months the opponents +lay watching each other. But when Antony learned that Pansa was coming +up, he made a rapid movement southward with two of his veteran legions +and attacked him. A sharp conflict followed, in which Pansa's troops +were defeated, and the consul himself was carried, mortally wounded, off +the field. But Hirtius was on the alert, and assaulted Antony's wearied +troops on their way back to their camp, with some advantage. This was on +the 15th of April, and on the 27th Hirtius drew Antony from his +intrenchments before Mutina. A fierce battle followed, which ended in +the troops of Antony being driven back into their lines. Hirtius +followed close upon the flying enemy; the camp was carried by storm, and +a complete victory would have been won had not Hirtius himself fallen. +Upon this disaster Octavius drew off the troops. The news of the first +battle had been reported at Rome as a victory, and gave rise to +extravagant rejoicings. The second battle was really a victory, but all +rejoicing was damped by the news that one consul was dead and the other +dying. No such fatal mischance had happened since the Second Punic War, +when Marcellus and Crispinus fell in one day. + +After his defeat Antony felt it impossible to maintain the siege of +Mutina. With Dec. Brutus in the town behind him, and the victorious +legions of Octavius before him, his position was critical. He therefore +prepared to retreat, and effected this purpose like a good soldier. His +destination was the province of Narbonnese Gaul, where Lepidus had +assumed the government and had promised him support. But the senate also +had hopes in the same quarter. L. Munatius Plancus commanded in Northern +Gaul, and C. Asinius Pollio in Southern Spain. Sext. Pompeius had made +good his ground in the latter country, and had almost expelled Pollio +from Bætica. Plancus and Pollio, both friends and favorites of Cæsar, +had as yet declared neither for Antony nor Octavius. If they would +declare for the senate, Lepidus, a feeble and fickle man, might desert +Antony; or if Octavius would join with Dec. Brutus, and pursue him, +Antony might not be able to escape from Italy at all. But these +political combinations failed. Plancus and Pollio stood aloof, waiting +for the course of events. Dec. Brutus was not strong enough to pursue +Antony by himself, and Octavius was unwilling, perhaps unable, to unite +the veterans of Cæsar with troops commanded by one of Cæsar's murderers. +And so it happened that Antony effected his retreat across the Alps, but +not without extreme hardships, which he bore in common with the meanest +soldier. It was at such times that his good qualities always showed +themselves, and his gallant endurance of misery endeared him to every +man under his command. On his arrival in Narbonnese Gaul he met Lepidus +at Forum Julii (Frejus), and here the two commanders agreed on a plan of +operations. + +The conduct of Octavius gave rise to grave suspicions. It was even said +that the consuls had been killed by his agents. Cicero, who had hitherto +maintained his cause, was silent. He had delivered his _Fourteenth_ and +last _Philippic_ on the news of the first victory gained by Hirtius. But +now he talked in private of "removing" the boy of whom he had hoped to +make a tool. Octavius, however, had taken his part, and was not to be +removed. Secretly he entered into negotiations with Antony. After some +vain efforts on the part of the senate to thwart him, he appeared in the +Campus Martius with his legions. Cicero and most of the senators +disappeared, and the fickle populace greeted the young heir of Cæsar +with applause. Though he was not yet twenty he demanded the consulship, +having been previously relieved from the provisions of the _Lex Annalis_ +by a decree of the senate, and he was elected to the first office in the +State, with his cousin, Q. Pedius.[80] + +[Footnote 80: Pedius was son of Cæsar's second sister, Julia minor, and +therefore first cousin (once removed) to Octavius.] + +A curiate law passed, by which Octavius was adopted into the patrician +gens of the Julii, and was put into legal possession of the name which +he had already assumed--C. Julius Cæsar Octavianus. We shall henceforth +call him Octavian. + +The change in his policy was soon indicated by a law in which he +formally separated himself from the senate. Pedius brought it forward. +By its provisions all Cæsar's murderers were summoned to take their +trial. Of course none of them appeared and they were condemned by +default. By the end of September Octavian was again in Cisalpine Gaul +and in close negotiation with Antony and Lepidus. The fruits of his +conduct soon appeared. Plancus and Pollio declared against Cæsar's +murderers. Dec. Brutus, deserted by his soldiery, attempted to escape +into Macedonia through Illyricum; but he was overtaken near Aquileia and +slain by order of Antony. + +Italy and Gaul being now clear of the senatorial party, Lepidus, as +mediator, arranged a meeting between Octavian and Antony, upon an island +in a small river near Bononia (Bologna). Here the three potentates +agreed that they should assume a joint and coordinate authority, under +the name of "Triumvirs for settling the affairs of the Commonwealth." +Antony was to have the two Gauls, except the Narbonnese district, which, +with Spain, was assigned to Lepidus; Octavian received Sicily, Sardinia, +and Africa. Italy was for the present to be left to the consuls of the +year, and for the ensuing year Lepidus, with Plancus, received promise +of this high office. In return, Lepidus gave up his military force, +while Octavian and Antony, each at the head of ten legions, prepared to +conquer the Eastern part of the empire, which could not yet be divided +like the Western provinces, because it was in possession of Brutus and +Cassius. + +But before they began war, the triumvirs agreed to follow the example +set by Sylla--to extirpate their opponents by a proscription, and to +raise money by confiscation. They framed a list of all men's names whose +death could be regarded as advantageous to any of the three, and on this +list each in turn pricked a name. Antony had made many personal enemies +by his proceedings at Rome, and was at no loss for victims. Octavian had +few direct enemies; but the boy-despot discerned with precocious +sagacity those who were likely to impede his ambitious projects, and +chose his victims with little hesitation. Lepidus would not be left +behind in the bloody work. The author of the _Philippics_ was one of +Antony's first victims; Octavian gave him up, and took as an equivalent +for his late friend the life of L. Cæsar, uncle of Antony. Lepidus +surrendered his brother Paullus for some similar favor. So the work went +on. Not fewer than three hundred senators and two thousand knights were +on the list. Q. Pedius, an honest and upright man, died in his +consulship, overcome by vexation and shame at being implicated in these +transactions. + +As soon as their secret business was ended, the triumvirs determined to +enter Rome publicly. Hitherto they had not published more than seventeen +names of the proscribed. They made their entrance severally on three +successive days, each attended by a legion. A law was immediately +brought in to invest them formally with the supreme authority, which +they had assumed. This was followed by the promulgation of successive +lists, each larger than its predecessor. + +Among the victims, far the most conspicuous was Cicero. With his brother +Quintus, the old orator had retired to his Tusculan villa after the +battle of Mutina; and now they endeavored to escape in the hope of +joining Brutus in Macedonia; for the orator's only son was serving as a +tribune in the liberator's army. After many changes of domicile they +reached Astura, a little island near Antium, where they found themselves +short of money, and Quintus ventured to Rome to procure the necessary +supply. Here he was recognized and seized, together with his son. Each +desired to die first, and the mournful claim to precedence was settled +by the soldiers killing both at the same moment. + +Meantime Cicero had put to sea. But even in this extremity he could not +make up his mind to leave Italy, and put to land at Circeii. After +further hesitation he again embarked, and again sought the Italian shore +near Formiae. For the night he stayed at his villa near that place, and +next morning would not move, exclaiming: "Let me die in my own +country--that country which I have so often saved." But his faithful +slaves forced him into a litter and carried him again toward the coast. +Scarcely were they gone when a band of Antony's bloodhounds reached his +villa, and were put upon the track of their victim by a young man who +owed everything to the Ciceros. The old orator from his litter saw the +pursuers coming up. His own followers were strong enough to have made +resistance, but he desired them to set the litter down. Then, raising +himself on his elbow, he calmly waited for the ruffians and offered his +neck to the sword. He was soon despatched. The chief of the band, by +Antony's express orders, hewed off the head and hands and carried them +to Rome. Fulvia, the widow of Clodius and now the wife of Antony, drove +her hairpin through the tongue which had denounced the iniquities of +both her husbands. The head which had given birth to the _Second +Philippic_, and the hands which had written it, were nailed to the +Rostra, the home of their eloquence. The sight and the associations +raised feelings of horror and pity in every heart. Cicero died in his +sixty-fourth year. + +Brutus and Cassius left Italy in the autumn of B.C. 44 and repaired to +the provinces which had been allotted to them, though by Antony's +influence the senate had transferred Macedonia from Brutus to his own +brother Caius, and Syria from Cassius to Dolabella. C. Antonius was +already in possession of parts of Macedonia; but Brutus succeeded in +dislodging him. Meanwhile Cassius, already well known in Syria for his +successful conduct of the Parthian War, had established himself in that +province before he heard of the approach of Dolabella. This worthless +man left Italy about the same time as Brutus and Cassius, and at the +head of several legions marched without opposition through Macedonia +into Asia Minor. Here C. Trebonius had already arrived. But he was +unable to cope with Dolabella; and the latter surprised him and took him +prisoner at Smyrna. He was put to death with unseemly contumely in +Dolabella's presence. This was in February, 43; and thus two of Cæsar's +murderers, in less than a year's time, felt the blow of retributive +justice. When the news of this piece of butchery reached Rome, Cicero, +believing that Octavian was a puppet in his hands, was ruling Rome by +the eloquence of his _Philippics_. On his motion Dolabella was declared +a public enemy.[81] Cassius lost no time in marching his legions into +Asia, to execute the behest of the senate, though he had been +dispossessed of his province by the senate itself. Dolabella threw +himself into Laodicea, where he sought a voluntary death. + +[Footnote 81: He had divorced Tullia, the orator's daughter, before he +left Italy.] + +By the end of B.C. 43, therefore, the whole of the East was in the hands +of Brutus and Cassius. But instead of making preparations for war with +Antony, the two commanders spent the early part of the year 42 in +plundering the miserable cities of Asia Minor. Brutus demanded men and +money of the Lycians; and, when they refused, he laid siege to Xanthus, +their principal city. The Xanthians made the same brave resistance which +they had offered five hundred years before to the Persian invaders. They +burned their city and put themselves to death rather than submit. Brutus +wept over their fate and abstained from further exactions. But Cassius +showed less moderation; from the Rhodians alone, though they were allies +of Rome, he demanded all their precious metals. After this campaign of +plunder, the two chiefs met at Sardis and renewed the altercations which +Cicero had deplored in Italy. It is probable that war might have broken +out between them had not the preparations of the triumvirs waked them +from their dream of security. It was as he was passing over into Europe +that Brutus, who continued his studious habits amid all disquietudes, +and limited his time of sleep to a period too small for the requirements +of health, was dispirited by the vision which Shakespeare, after +Plutarch, has made famous. It was no doubt the result of a diseased +frame, though it was universally held to be a divine visitation. As he +sat in his tent in the dead of night, he thought a huge and shadowy form +stood by him; and when he calmly asked, "What and whence art thou?" it +answered, or seemed to answer: "I am thine evil genius, Brutus: we shall +meet again at Philippi." + +Meantime Antony's lieutenants had crossed the Ionian Sea and penetrated +without opposition into Thrace. The republican leaders found them at +Philippi. The army of Brutus and Cassius amounted to at least eighty +thousand infantry, supported by twenty thousand horse; but they were +ill-supplied with experienced officers. For M. Valerius Messalla, a +young man of twenty-eight, held the chief command after Brutus and +Cassius; and Horace, who was but three-and-twenty, the son of a +freedman, and a youth of feeble constitution, was appointed a legionary +tribune. The forces opposed to them would have been at once overpowered +had not Antony himself opportunely arrived with the second corps of the +triumviral army. Octavian was detained by illness at Dyrrhachium, but he +ordered himself to be carried on a litter to join his legions. The army +of the triumvirs was now superior to the enemy; but their cavalry, +counting only thirteen thousand, was considerably weaker than the force +opposed to it. The republicans were strongly posted upon two hills, with +intrenchments between: the camp of Cassius upon the left next the sea, +that of Brutus inland on the right. The triumviral army lay upon the +open plain before them, in a position rendered unhealthy by marshes; +Antony, on the right, was opposed to Cassius; Octavian, on the left, +fronted Brutus. But they were ill-supplied with provisions and anxious +for a decisive battle. The republicans, however, kept to their +intrenchments, and the other party began to suffer severely from famine. + +Determined to bring on an action, Antony began works for the purpose of +cutting off Cassius from the sea. Cassius had always opposed a general +action, but Brutus insisted on putting an end to the suspense, and his +colleague yielded. The day of the attack was probably in October. Brutus +attacked Octavian's army, while Cassius assaulted the working parties of +Antony. Cassius' assault was beaten back with loss, but he succeeded in +regaining his camp in safety. Meanwhile, Messalla, who commanded the +right wing of Brutus' army, had defeated the host of Octavian, who was +still too ill to appear on the field, and the republican soldiers +penetrated into the triumvirs' camp. Presently his litter was brought in +stained with blood, and the corpse of a young man found near it was +supposed to be Octavian's. But Brutus, not receiving any tidings of the +movements of Cassius, became so anxious for his fate that he sent off a +party of horse to make inquiries, and neglected to support the +successful assaults of Messalla. + +Cassius, on his part, discouraged at his ill-success, was unable to +ascertain the progress of Brutus. When he saw the party of horse he +hastily concluded that they belonged to the enemy, and retired into his +tent with his freedman Pindarus. What passed there we know not for +certain. Cassius was found dead, with the head severed from the body. +Pindarus was never seen again. It was generally believed that Pindarus +slew his master in obedience to orders; but many thought that he had +dealt a felon blow. The intelligence of Cassius' death was a heavy blow +to Brutus. He forgot his own success, and pronounced the elegy of +Cassius in the well-known words, "There lies the last of the Romans." +The praise was ill-deserved. Except in his conduct of the war against +the Parthians, Cassius had never played a worthy part. + +After the first battle of Philippi it would have still been politic in +Brutus to abstain from battle. The triumviral armies were in great +distress, and every day increased their losses. Reinforcements coming to +their aid by sea were intercepted--a proof of the neglect of the +republican leaders in not sooner bringing their fleet into action. Nor +did Brutus ever hear of this success. He was ill-fitted for the life of +the camp, and after the death of Cassius he only kept his men together +by largesse and promises of plunder. Twenty days after the first battle +he led them out again. Both armies faced one another. There was little +manoeuvring. The second battle was decided by numbers and force, not by +skill; and it was decided in favor of the triumvirs. Brutus retired with +four legions to a strong position in the rear, while the rest of his +broken army sought refuge in the camp. Octavian remained to watch them, +while Antony pursued the republican chief. Next day Brutus endeavored to +rouse his men to another effort; but they sullenly refused to fight; and +Brutus withdrew with a few friends into a neighboring wood. Here he took +them aside one by one, and prayed each to do him the last service that a +Roman could render to his friend. All refused with horror; till at +nightfall a trusty Greek freedman named Strato held the sword, and his +master threw himself upon it. Most of his friends followed the sad +example. The body of Brutus was sent by Antony to his mother. His wife +Portia, the daughter of Cato, refused all comfort; and being too closely +watched to be able to slay herself by ordinary means, she suffocated +herself by thrusting burning charcoal into her mouth. Massalla, with a +number of other fugitives, sought safety in the island of Thasos, and +soon after made submission to Antony. + +The name of Brutus has, by Plutarch's beautiful narrative, sublimed by +Shakespeare, become a byword for self-devoted patriotism. This exalted +opinion is now generally confessed to be unjust. Brutus was not a +patriot, unless devotion to the party of the senate be patriotism. +Toward the provincials he was a true Roman, harsh and oppressive. He was +free from the sensuality and profligacy of his age, but for public life +he was unfit. His habits were those of a student. His application was +great, his memory remarkable. But he possessed little power of turning +his acquirements to account; and to the last he was rather a learned man +than a man improved by learning. In comparison with Cassius, he was +humane and generous; but in all respects his character is contrasted for +the worse with that of the great man from whom he accepted favors and +then became his murderer. + +The battle of Philippi was in reality the closing scene of the +republican drama. But the rivalship of the triumvirs prolonged for +several years the divided state of the Roman world; and it was not till +after the crowning victory of Actium that the imperial government was +established in its unity. We shall, therefore, here add a rapid +narrative of the events which led to that consummation. + +The hopeless state of the republican or rather the senatorial party was +such that almost all hastened to make submission to the conquerors: +those whose sturdy spirit still disdained submission resorted to Sext. +Pompeius in Sicily. Octavian, still suffering from ill-health, was +anxious to return to Italy; but before he parted from Antony, they +agreed to a second distribution of the provinces of the empire. Antony +was to have the Eastern world; Octavian the Western provinces. To +Lepidus, who was not consulted in this second division, Africa alone was +left. Sext. Pompeius remained in possession of Sicily. + +Antony at once proceeded to make a tour through Western Asia, in order +to exact money from its unfortunate people. About midsummer (B.C. 41) he +arrived at Tarsus, and here he received a visit which determined the +future course of his life and influenced Roman history for the next ten +years. + +Antony had visited Alexandria fourteen years before, and had been +smitten by the charms of Cleopatra, then a girl of fifteen. She became +Cæsar's paramour, and from the time of the dictator's death Antony had +never seen her. She now came to meet him in Cilicia. The galley which +carried her up the Cydnus was of more than oriental gorgeousness: the +sails of purple; oars of silver, moving to the sound of music; the +raised poop burnished with gold. There she lay upon a splendid couch, +shaded by a spangled canopy; her attire was that of Venus; around her +flitted attendant cupids and graces. At the news of her approach to +Tarsus, the triumvir found his tribunal deserted by the people. She +invited him to her ship, and he complied. From that moment he was her +slave. He accompanied her to Alexandria, exchanged the Roman garb for +the Graeco-Egyptian costume of the court, and lent his power to the +Queen to execute all her caprices. + +Meanwhile Octavian was not without his difficulties. He was so ill at +Brundusium that his death was reported at Rome. The veterans, eager for +their promised rewards, were on the eve of mutiny. In a short time +Octavian was sufficiently recovered to show himself. But he could find +no other means of satisfying the greedy soldiery than by a confiscation +of lands more sweeping than that which followed the proscription of +Sylla. The towns of Cisalpine Gaul were accused of favoring Dec. Brutus, +and saw nearly all their lands handed over to new possessors. The young +poet, Vergil, lost his little patrimony, but was reinstated at the +instance of Pollio and Maecenas, and showed his gratitude in his _First +Eclogue_. Other parts of Italy also suffered: Apulia, for example, as we +learn from Horace's friend Ofellus, who became the tenant of the estate +which had formerly been his own. + +But these violent measures deferred rather than obviated the difficulty. +The expulsion of so many persons threw thousands loose upon society, +ripe for any crime. Many of the veterans were ready to join any new +leader who promised them booty. Such a leader was at hand. + +Fulvia, wife of Antony, was a woman of fierce passions and ambitious +spirit. She had not been invited to follow her husband to the East. She +saw that in his absence imperial power would fall into the hands of +Octavian. Lucius, brother of Mark Antony, was consul for the year, and +at her instigation he raised his standard at Præneste. But L. Antonius +knew not how to use his strength; and young Agrippa, to whom Octavian +intrusted the command, obliged Antonius and Fulvia to retire northward +and shut themselves up in Perusia. Their store of provisions was so +small that it sufficed only for the soldiery. Early in the next year +Perusia surrendered, on condition that the lives of the leaders should +be spared. The town was sacked; the conduct of L. Antonius alienated all +Italy from his brother. + +While his wife, his brother, and his friends were quitting Italy in +confusion, the arms of Antony suffered a still heavier blow in the +Eastern provinces, which were under his special government. After the +battle of Philippi, Q. Labienus, son of Cæsar's old lieutenant Titus, +sought refuge at the court of Orodes, king of Parthia. Encouraged by the +proffered aid of a Roman officer, Pacorus (the King's son) led a +formidable army into Syria. Antony's lieutenant was entirely routed; and +while Pacorus with one army poured into Palestine and Phoenicia, Q. +Labienus with another broke into Cilicia. Here he found no opposition; +and, overrunning all Asia Minor even to the Ionian Sea, he assumed the +name of Parthicus, as if he had been a Roman conqueror of the people +whom he served. + +These complicated disasters roused Antony from his lethargy. He sailed +to Tyre, intending to take the field against the Parthians; but the +season was too far advanced, and he therefore crossed the Ægean to +Athens, where he found Fulvia and his brother, accompanied by Pollio, +Plancus, and others, all discontented with Octavian's government. +Octavian was absent in Gaul, and their representation of the state of +Italy encouraged him to make another attempt. Late in the year (41) +Antony formed a league with Sext. Pompeius; and while that chief +blockaded Thurii and Consentia, Antony assailed Brundusium. Agrippa was +preparing to meet this new combination; and a fresh civil war was +imminent. But the soldiery was weary of war: both armies compelled their +leaders to make pacific overtures, and the new year was ushered in by a +general peace, which was rendered easier by the death of Fulvia. Antony +and Octavian renewed their professions of amity, and entered Rome +together in joint ovation to celebrate the restoration of peace. They +now made a third division of the provinces, by which Scodra (Scutari) in +Illyricum was fixed as the boundary of the West and East; Lepidus was +still left in possession of Africa. It was further agreed that Octavian +was to drive Sext. Pompeius, lately the ally of Antony, out of Sicily; +while Antony renewed his pledges to recover the standards of Crassus +from the Parthians. The new compact was sealed by the marriage of Antony +with Octavia, his colleague's sister, a virtuous and beautiful lady, +worthy of a better consort. These auspicious events were celebrated by +the lofty verse of Vergil's _Fourth Eclogue_. + +Sext. Pompeius had reason to complain. By the peace of Brundusium he was +abandoned by his late friend to Octavian. He was not a man to brook +ungenerous treatment. Of late years his possession of Sicily had given +him command of the Roman corn market. During the winter which followed +the peace of Brundusium (B.C. 40-39), Sextus blockaded Italy so closely +that Rome was threatened with a positive dearth. Riots arose; the +triumvirs were pelted with stones in the Forum, and they deemed it +prudent to temporize by inviting Pompey to enter their league. He met +them at Misenum, and the two chiefs went on board his ship to settle the +terms of alliance. It is said that one of his chief officers, a Greek +named Menas or Menodorus, suggested to him the expediency of putting to +sea with the great prize, and then making his own terms. Sextus rejected +the advice with the characteristic words, "You should have done it +without asking me." It was agreed that Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica +should be given up to his absolute rule, and that Achaia should be added +to his portion; so that the Roman world was now partitioned among four: +Octavian, Antony, Lepidus, and Sext. Pompeius. On their return the +triumvirs were received with vociferous applause. + +Before winter, Antony sailed for Athens in company with Octavia, who for +the time seems to have banished Cleopatra from his thoughts. But he +disgusted all true Romans by assuming the attributes of Grecian gods and +indulging in Grecian orgies. + +He found the state of things in the East greatly changed since his +departure. He had commissioned P. Ventidius Bassus, an officer who had +followed Fulvia from Italy, to hold the Parthians in check till his +return. Ventidius was son of a Picenian nobleman of Asculum, who had +been brought to Rome as a captive in the Social War. In his youth he had +been a contractor to supply mules for the use of the Roman commissariat. +But in the civil wars which followed, men of military talent easily rose +to command; and such was the lot of Ventidius. While Antony was absent +in Italy, he drove Q. Labienus into the defiles of Taurus, and here that +adventurer was defeated and slain. The conqueror then marched rapidly +into Syria, and forced Pacorus also to withdraw to the eastern bank of +the Euphrates. + +In the following year (38) he repelled a fresh invasion of the +Parthians, and defeated them in three battles. In the last of these +engagements Pacorus himself was slain on the fifteenth anniversary of +the death of Crassus. Antony found Ventidius laying siege to Samosata, +and displaced him, only to abandon the siege and return to Athens. +Ventidius repaired to Rome, where he was honored with a well-deserved +triumph. He had left it as a mule jobber; he returned with the laurel +round his brows. He was the first, and almost the last, Roman general +who could claim such a distinction for victory over the Parthians. + +The alliance with Sext. Pompeius was not intended to last, and it did +not last. Antony refused to put him in possession of Achaia, and to +avenge himself for this breach of faith Pompeius again began to +intercept the Italian corn fleets. Fresh discontent appeared at Rome, +and Octavian equipped a second fleet to sail against the naval chief; +but after two battles of doubtful result, the fleet was destroyed by a +storm, and Sextus was again left in undisputed mastery of the sea. +Octavian, however, was never daunted by reverses, and he gave his +favorite Agrippa full powers to conduct the war against Pompeius. This +able commander set about his work with that resolution that marked a man +determined not to fail. As a harbor for his fleet, he executed a plan of +the great Cæsar; namely, to make a good and secure harbor on the coast +of Latium, which then, as now, offered no shelter to ships. For this +purpose he cut a passage through the narrow necks of land which +separated Lake Lucrinus from the sea, and Lake Avernus from Lake +Lucrinus, and faced the outer barrier with stone. This was the famous +Julian Port. In the whole of the two years B.C. 38 and 37 Agrippa was +occupied in this work and in preparing a sufficient force of ships. +Every dockyard in Italy was called into requisition. A large body of +slaves was set free that they might be trained to serve as rowers. + +On the 1st of July, B.C. 36, the fleet put to sea. Octavian himself, +with one division, purposed to attack the northern coast of Sicily, +while a second squadron was assembled at Tarentum for the purpose of +assailing the eastern side. Lepidus, with a third fleet from Africa, was +to assault Lilybaeum. But the winds were again adverse; and, though +Lepidus effected a landing on the southern coast, Octavian's two fleets +were driven back to Italy with great damage. But the injured ships were +refitted, and Agrippa was sent westward toward Panormus, while Octavian +himself kept guard near Messana. Off Mylae, a place famous for having +witnessed the first naval victory of the Romans, Agrippa encountered the +fleet of Sext. Pompeius; but Sextus, with the larger portion of his +ships, gave Agrippa the slip, and sailing eastward fell suddenly upon +Octavian's squadron off Tauromenium. A desperate conflict followed, +which ended in the complete triumph of Sextus, and Octavian escaped to +Italy with a few ships only. But Agrippa was soon upon the traces of the +enemy. On the 3d of September Sextus was obliged once more to accept +battle near the Straits of Messana, and suffered an irretrievable +defeat. His troops on land were attacked and dispersed by an army which +had been landed on the eastern coast by the indefatigable Octavian; and +Sextus sailed off to Lesbos, where he had found refuge as a boy during +the campaign of Pharsalia, to seek protection from the jealousy of +Antony. + +Lepidus had assisted in the campaign; but after the departure of Sextus +he openly declared himself independent of his brother triumvirs. +Octavian, with prompt and prudent boldness, entered the camp of Lepidus +in person with a few attendants. The soldiers deserted in crowds, and in +a few hours Lepidus was fain to sue for pardon, where he had hoped to +rule. He was treated with contemptuous indifference, Africa was taken +from him; but he was allowed to live and die at Rome in quiet enjoyment +of the chief pontificate. + +It was fortunate for Octavian that during this campaign Antony was on +friendly terms with him. In B.C. 37 the ruler of the East again visited +Italy, and a meeting between the two chiefs was arranged at Tarentum. +The five years for which the triumvirs were originally appointed were +now fast expiring; and it was settled that their authority should be +renewed by the subservient senate and people for a second period of the +same duration. They parted good friends; and Octavian undertook his +campaign against Sext. Pompeius without fear from Antony. This was +proved by the fate of the fugitive. From Lesbos Sextus passed over to +Asia, where he was taken prisoner by Antony's lieutenants and put to +death. + +Hitherto Octavia had retained her influence over Antony. But presently, +after his last interview with her brother, the fickle triumvir abruptly +quitted a wife who was too good for him, and returned to the fascinating +presence of the Egyptian Queen, whom he had not seen for three years. +From this time forth he made no attempt to break the silken chain of her +enchantments. During the next summer, indeed, he attempted a new +Parthian campaign. But his advance was made with reckless indifference +to the safety of his troops. Provisions failed; disease broke out; and +after great suffering he was forced to seek safety by a precipitate +retreat into the Armenian mountains. In the next year he contented +himself with a campaign in Armenia, to punish the King of that country +for alleged treachery in the last campaign. The King fell into his +hands; and with this trophy Antony returned to Alexandria, where the +Romans were disgusted to see the streets of a Graeco-Egyptian town +honored by a mimicry of a Roman triumph. + +For the next three years he surrendered himself absolutely to the will +of the enchantress. To this period belong those tales of luxurious +indulgence which are known to every reader. The brave soldier, who in +the perils of war could shake off all luxurious habits and could rival +the commonest man in the cheerfulness with which he underwent every +hardship, was seen no more. He sunk into an indolent voluptuary, pleased +by childish amusements. At one time he would lounge in a boat at a +fishing party, and laugh when he drew up pieces of salt fish which by +the Queen's order had been attached to his hook by divers. At another +time she wagered that she would consume ten million sesterces at one +meal, and won her wager by dissolving in vinegar a pearl of unknown +value. While Cleopatra bore the character of the goddess Isis, her lover +appeared as Osiris. Her head was placed conjointly with his own on the +coins which he issued as a Roman magistrate. He disposed of the kingdoms +and principalities of the East by his sole word. By his influence Herod, +son of Antipater, the Idumæan minister of Hyrcanus, the late sovereign +of Judea, was made king to the exclusion of the rightful heir. Polemo, +his own son by Cleopatra, was invested with the sceptre of Armenia. +Encouraged by the absolute submission of her lover, Cleopatra fixed her +eye upon the Capitol, and dreamed of winning by means of Antony that +imperial crown which she had vainly sought from Cæsar. + +While Antony was engaged in voluptuous dalliance, Octavian was +resolutely pursuing the work of consolidating his power in the West. His +patience, his industry, his attention to business, his affability, were +winning golden opinions and rapidly obliterating all memory of the +bloody work by which he had risen to power. He had won little glory in +war; but so long as the corn fleets arrived daily from Sicily and +Africa, the populace cared little whether the victory had been won by +Octavian or by his generals. In Agrippa he possessed a consummate +captain, in Maecenas a wise and temperate minister. It is much to his +credit that he never showed any jealousy of the men to whom he owed so +much. He flattered the people with the hope that he would, when Antony +had fulfilled his mission of recovering the standards of Crassus, engage +him to join in putting an end to their sovereign power and restoring +constitutional liberty. + +In point of fidelity to his marriage vows Octavian was little better +than Antony. He renounced his marriage with Clodia, the daughter of +Fulvia, when her mother attempted to raise Italy against him. He +divorced Scribonia, when it no longer suited him to court the favor of +her kinsman. To replace this second wife, he forcibly took away Livia +from her husband, T. Claudius Nero, though she was at that time pregnant +of her second son. But in this and other less pardonable immoralities +there was nothing to shock the feelings of Romans. + +But Octavian never suffered pleasure to divert him from business. If he +could not be a successful general, he resolved at least to show that he +could be a hardy soldier. While Antony in his Egyptian palace was +neglecting the Parthian War, his rival led his legions in more than one +dangerous campaign against the barbarous Dalmatians and Pannonians, who +had been for some time infesting the province of Illyricum. In the year +B.C. 33 he announced that the limits of the empire had been extended +northward to the banks of the Save. + +Octavian now began to feel that any appearance of friendship with Antony +was a source of weakness rather than of strength at Rome. +Misunderstandings had already broken out. Antony complained that +Octavian had given him no share in the provinces wrested from Sext. +Pompeius and Lepidus. Octavian retorted by accusing his colleague of +appropriating Egypt and Armenia, and of increasing Cleopatra's power at +the expense of the Roman Empire. Popular indignation rose to its height +when Plancus and Titius, who had been admitted to Antony's confidence, +passed over to Octavian, and disclosed the contents of their master's +will. In that document Antony ordered that his body should be buried at +Alexandria, in the mausoleum of Cleopatra. Men began to fancy that +Cleopatra had already planted her throne upon the Capitol. These +suspicions were sedulously encouraged by Octavian. + +Before the close of B.C. 32, Octavian, by the authority of the senate, +declared war nominally against Cleopatra. Antony, roused from his sleep +by reports from Rome, passed over to Athens, issuing orders everywhere +to levy men and collect ships for the impending struggle. At Athens he +received news of the declaration of war, and replied by divorcing +Octavia. His fleet was ordered to assemble at Corcyra; and his legions +in the early spring prepared to pour into Epirus. He established his +head-quarters at Patræ on the Corinthian Gulf. + +But Antony, though his fleet was superior to that of Octavian, allowed +Agrippa to sweep the Ionian Sea, and to take possession of Methone, in +Messenia, as a station for a flying squadron to intercept Antony's +communications with the East, nay, even to occupy Corcyra, which had +been destined for his own place of rendezvous. Antony's fleet now +anchored in the waters of the Ambracian Gulf, while his legions encamped +on a spot of land which forms the northern horn of that spacious inlet. +But the place chosen for the camp was unhealthy; and in the heats of +early summer his army suffered greatly from disease. Agrippa lay close +at hand watching his opportunity. In the course of the spring Octavian +joined him in person. + +Early in the season Antony had repaired from Patræ to his army, so as to +be ready either to cross over into Italy or to meet the enemy if they +attempted to land in Epirus. At first he showed something of his old +military spirit, and the soldiers, who always loved his military +frankness, warmed into enthusiasm; but his chief officers, won by +Octavian or disgusted by the influence of Cleopatra, deserted him in +such numbers that he knew not whom to trust, and gave up all thoughts of +maintaining the contest with energy. Urged by Cleopatra, he resolved to +carry off his fleet and abandon the army. All preparations were made in +secret, and the great fleet put to sea on the 28th of August. For the +four following days there was a strong gale from the south. Neither +could Antony escape nor could Octavian put to sea against him from +Corcyra. On the 2d of September, however, the wind fell, and Octavian's +light vessels, by using their oars, easily came up with the unwieldy +galleys of the eastern fleet. A battle was now inevitable. + +Antony's ships were like impregnable fortresses to the assault of the +slight vessels of Octavian; and, though they lay nearly motionless in +the calm sea, little impression was made upon them. But about noon a +breeze sprung up from the west; and Cleopatra, followed by sixty +Egyptian ships, made sail in a southerly direction. Antony immediately +sprang from his ship-of-war into a light galley and followed. Deserted +by their commander, the captains of Antony's ships continued to resist +desperately; nor was it till the greater part of them were set on fire +that the contest was decided. Before evening closed, the whole fleet was +destroyed; most of the men and all the treasure on board perished. A few +days after, when the shameful flight of Antony was made known to his +army, all his legions went over to the conqueror. + +It was not for eleven months after the battle of Actium that Octavian +entered the open gates of Alexandria. He had been employed in the +interval in founding the city of Nicopolis to celebrate his victory on +the northern horn of the Ambracian Gulf, in rewarding his soldiers, and +settling the affairs of the provinces of the East. In the winter he +returned to Italy, and it was midsummer, B.C. 30, before he arrived in +Egypt. + +When Antony and Cleopatra arrived off Alexandria they put a bold face +upon the matter. Some time passed before the real state of the case was +known; but it soon became plain that Egypt was at the mercy of the +conqueror. The Queen formed all kinds of wild designs. One was to +transport the ships that she had saved across the Isthmus of Suez and +seek refuge in some distant land where the name of Rome was yet unknown. +Some ships were actually drawn across, but they were destroyed by the +Arabs, and the plan was abandoned. She now flattered herself that her +powers of fascination, proved so potent over Cæsar and Antony, might +subdue Octavian. Secret messages passed between the conqueror and the +Queen; nor were Octavian's answers such as to banish hope. + +Antony, full of repentance and despair, shut himself up in Pharos, and +there remained in gloomy isolation. + +In July, B.C. 30, Octavian appeared before Pelusium. The place was +surrendered without a blow. Yet, at the approach of the conqueror, +Antony put himself at the head of a division of cavalry and gained some +advantage. But on his return to Alexandria he found that Cleopatra had +given up all her ships; and no more opposition was offered. On the 1st +of August (Sextilis, as it was then called) Octavian entered the open +gates of Alexandria. Both Antony and Cleopatra sought to win him. +Antony's messengers the conqueror refused to see; but he still used fair +words to Cleopatra. The Queen had shut herself up in a sort of mausoleum +built to receive her body after death, which was not approachable by any +door; and it was given out that she was really dead. All the tenderness +of old times revived in Antony's heart. He stabbed himself, and in a +dying state ordered himself to be laid by the side of Cleopatra. The +Queen, touched by pity, ordered her expiring lover to be drawn up by +cords into her retreat, and bathed his temples with her tears. + +After he had breathed his last, she consented to see Octavian. Her +penetration soon told her that she had nothing to hope from him. She saw +that his fair words were only intended to prevent her from desperate +acts and reserve her for the degradation of his triumph. This impression +was confirmed when all instruments by which death could be inflicted +were found to have been removed from her apartments. But she was not to +be so baffled. She pretended all submission; but when the ministers of +Octavian came to carry her away, they found her lying dead upon her +couch, attended by her faithful waiting-women, Iras and Charmion. The +manner of her death was never ascertained; popular belief ascribed it to +the bite of an asp which had been conveyed to her in a basket of fruit. + +Thus died Antony and Cleopatra. Antony was by nature a genial, +open-hearted Roman, a good soldier, quick, resolute, and vigorous, but +reckless and self-indulgent, devoid alike of prudence and of principle. +The corruptions of the age, the seductions of power, and the evil +influence of Cleopatra paralyzed a nature capable of better things. We +know him chiefly through the exaggerated assaults of Cicero in his +_Philippic_, and the narratives of writers devoted to Octavian. But +after all deductions for partial representation, enough remains to show +that Antony had all the faults of Cæsar, with little of his redeeming +greatness. + +Cleopatra was an extraordinary person. At her death she was but +thirty-eight years of age. Her power rested not so much on actual beauty +as on her fascinating manners and her extreme readiness of wit. In her +follies there was a certain magnificence which excites even a dull +imagination. We may estimate the real power of her mental qualities by +observing the impression her character made upon the Roman poets of the +time. No meditated praises could have borne such testimony to her +greatness as the lofty strain in which Horace celebrates her fall and +congratulates the Roman world on its escape from the ruin which she was +threatening to the Capitol. + +Octavian dated the years of his imperial monarchy from the day of the +battle of Actium. But it was not till two years after (the summer of +B.C. 29) that he established himself in Rome as ruler of the Roman +world. Then he celebrated three magnificent triumphs, after the example +of his uncle the great dictator, for his victories in Dalmatia, at +Actium, and in Egypt. At the same time the temple of Janus was +closed--notwithstanding that border wars still continued in Gaul and +Spain--for the first time since the year B.C. 235. All men drew breath +more freely, and all except the soldiery looked forward to a time of +tranquillity. Liberty and independence were forgotten words. After the +terrible disorders of the last century, the general cry was for quiet at +any price. Octavian was a person admirably fitted to fulfil these +aspirations. His uncle Julius was too fond of active exertion to play +such a part well. Octavian never shone in war, while his vigilant and +patient mind was well fitted for the discharge of business. He avoided +shocking popular feeling by assuming any title savoring of royalty; but +he enjoyed by universal consent an authority more than regal. + + + + +GERMANS UNDER ARMINIUS REVOLT AGAINST ROME + +A.D. 9 + +SIR EDWARD SHEPHERD CREASY + + +(The German race was beginning to make itself felt to a greater extent +than hitherto in its efforts for freedom from the Roman rule. Research +shows that from the earliest days there were two distinct peoples under +this designation of _German_--the northern or Scandinavian, and the +southern, being more truly the German. Both consisted of numerous +tribes, the Romans giving separate names to each: from this arose the +generic titles of _Franks, Bavarians, Alamanni_, and the rest. + +They were great fighters and, as a natural sequence, mighty hunters. +When warfare did not occupy their attention, hunting, feasting, and +drinking took its place. Tacitus writes: "To drink continuously, night +and day, was no shame for them." Their chief beverage was barley beer, +though, in the South, wine was used to some extent. + +Rome had garrisons throughout the whole land, and the fortunes of the +Germans were at a low ebb. Freedom seemed stifled forever when Arminius +led his forces against the Roman hosts in the forest of Teutoburgium. +Rightly does Creasy rate this important battle so highly, for it meant +the final uplifting of the Teuton, and with him the English-speaking +races of a later time.) + + +To a truly illustrious Frenchman, whose reverses as a minister can never +obscure his achievements in the world of letters, we are indebted for +the most profound and most eloquent estimate that we possess of the +importance of the Germanic element in European civilization, and of the +extent to which the human race is indebted to those brave warriors who +long were the unconquered antagonists, and finally became the +conquerors, of imperial Rome. + +Twenty-three eventful years have passed away since M. Guizot[82] +delivered from the chair of modern history, at Paris, his course of +lectures on the history of civilization in Europe. During those years +the spirit of earnest inquiry into the germs and primary developments of +existing institutions has become more and more active and universal, and +the merited celebrity of M. Guizot's work has proportionally increased. +Its admirable analysis of the complex political and social organizations +of which the modern civilized world is made up must have led thousands +to trace with keener interest the great crises of times past, by which +the characteristics of the present were determined. The narrative of one +of these great crises, of the epoch A.D. 9, when Germany took up arms +for her independence against Roman invasion, has for us this special +attraction--that it forms part of our own national history. Had Arminius +been supine or unsuccessful, our Germanic ancestors would have been +enslaved or exterminated in their original seats along the Eider and the +Elbe. This island would never have borne the name of England, and "we, +this great English nation, whose race and language are now overrunning +the earth, from one end of it to the other," would have been utterly cut +off from existence. + +[Footnote 82: Guizot was minister of foreign affairs, and later (1848) +prime minister, under Louis Philippe.] + +Arnold may, indeed, go too far in holding that we are wholly unconnected +in race with the Romans and Britons who inhabited this country before +the coming over of the Saxons; that, "nationally speaking, the history +of Cæsar's invasion has no more to do with us than the natural history +of the animals which then inhabited our forests." There seems ample +evidence to prove that the Romanized Celts whom our Teutonic forefathers +found here influenced materially the character of our nation. But the +main stream of our people was, and is, Germanic. Our language alone +decisively proves this. Arminius is far more truly one of our national +heroes than Caractacus; and it was our own primeval fatherland that the +brave German rescued when he slaughtered the Roman legions, eighteen +centuries ago, in the marshy glens between the Lippe and the Ems. + +Dark and disheartening, even to heroic spirits, must have seemed the +prospects of Germany when Arminius planned the general rising of his +countrymen against Rome. Half the land was occupied by Roman garrisons; +and, what was worse, many of the Germans seemed patiently acquiescent in +their state of bondage. The braver portion, whose patriotism could be +relied on, was ill-armed and undisciplined, while the enemy's troops +consisted of veterans in the highest state of equipment and training, +familiarized with victory and commanded by officers of proved skill and +valor. The resources of Rome seemed boundless; her tenacity of purpose +was believed to be invincible. There was no hope of foreign sympathy or +aid; for "the self-governing powers that had filled the Old World had +bent one after another before the rising power of Rome, and had +vanished. The earth seemed left void of independent nations." + +The German chieftain knew well the gigantic power of the oppressor. +Arminius was no rude savage, fighting out of mere animal instinct or in +ignorance of the might of his adversary. He was familiar with the Roman +language and civilization; he had served in the Roman armies; he had +been admitted to the Roman citizenship, and raised to the rank of the +equestrian order. It was part of the subtle policy of Rome to confer +rank and privileges on the youth of the leading families in the nations +which she wished to enslave. Among other young German chieftains, +Arminius and his brother, who were the heads of the noblest house in the +tribe of the Cherusci, had been selected as fit objects for the exercise +of this insidious system. Roman refinements and dignities succeeded in +denationalizing the brother, who assumed the Roman name of Flavius, and +adhered to Rome throughout all her wars against his country. Arminius +remained unbought by honors or wealth, uncorrupted by refinement or +luxury. He aspired to and obtained from Roman enmity a higher title than +ever could have been given him by Roman favor. It is in the page of +Rome's greatest historian that his name has come down to us with the +proud addition of "_Liberator hand dubie Germaniae_." + +Often must the young chieftain, while meditating the exploit which has +thus immortalized him, have anxiously revolved in his mind the fate of +the many great men who had been crushed in the attempt which he was +about to renew--the attempt to stay the chariot wheels of triumphant +Rome. Could he hope to succeed where Hannibal and Mithradates had +perished? What had been the doom of Viriathus? and what warning against +vain valor was written on the desolate site where Numantia once had +flourished? Nor was a caution wanting in scenes nearer home and more +recent times. The Gauls had fruitlessly struggled for eight years +against Cæsar; and the gallant Vercingetorix, who in the last year of +the war had roused all his countrymen to insurrection, who had cut off +Roman detachments, and brought Cæsar himself to the extreme of peril at +Alesia--he, too, had finally succumbed, had been led captive in Cæsar's +triumph, and had then been butchered in cold blood in a Roman dungeon. + +It was true that Rome was no longer the great military republic which +for so many ages had shattered the kingdoms of the world. Her system of +government was changed, and, after a century of revolution and civil +war, she had placed herself under the despotism of a single ruler. But +the discipline of her troops was yet unimpaired and her warlike spirit +seemed unabated. The first year of the empire had been signalized by +conquests as valuable as any gained by the republic in a corresponding +period. It is a great fallacy--though apparently sanctioned by great +authorities--to suppose that the foreign policy pursued by Augustus was +pacific; he certainly recommended such a policy to his successors +(_incertum metu an per invidiam_: Tac., _Ann_., i. 11), but he himself, +until Arminius broke his spirit, had followed a very different course. +Besides his Spanish wars, his generals, in a series of generally +aggressive campaigns, had extended the Roman frontier from the Alps to +the Danube, and had reduced into subjection the large and important +countries that now form the territories of all Austria south of that +river, and of East Switzerland, Lower Wuertemberg, Bavaria, the +Valtelline, and the Tyrol. + +While the progress of the Roman arms thus pressed the Germans from the +south, still more formidable inroads had been made by the imperial +legions on the west. Roman armies, moving from the province of Gaul, +established a chain of fortresses along the right as well as the left +bank of the Rhine, and, in a series of victorious campaigns, advanced +their eagles as far as the Elbe, which now seemed added to the list of +vassal rivers, to the Nile, the Rhine, the Rhone, the Danube, the Tagus, +the Seine, and many more, that acknowledged the supremacy of the Tiber. +Roman fleets also, sailing from the harbors of Gaul along the German +coasts and up the estuaries, coöperated with the land forces of the +empire, and seemed to display, even more decisively than her armies, her +overwhelming superiority over the rude Germanic tribes. Throughout the +territory thus invaded the Romans had with their usual military skill +established fortified posts; and a powerful army of occupation was kept +on foot, ready to move instantly on any spot where a popular outbreak +might be attempted. + +Vast, however, and admirably organized as the fabric of Roman power +appeared on the frontiers and in the provinces, there was rottenness at +the core. In Rome's unceasing hostilities with foreign foes, and still +more in her long series of desolating civil wars, the free middle +classes of Italy had almost wholly disappeared. Above the position which +they had occupied, an oligarchy of wealth had reared itself; beneath +that position a degraded mass of poverty and misery was fermenting. +Slaves; the chance sweepings of every conquered country; shoals of +Africans, Sardinians, Asiatics, Illyrians, and others made up the bulk +of the population of the Italian peninsula. + +The foulest profligacy of manners was general in all ranks. In universal +weariness of revolution and civil war, and in consciousness of being too +debased for self-government, the nation had submitted itself to the +absolute authority of Augustus. Adulation was now the chief function of +the senate; and the gifts of genius and accomplishments of art were +devoted to the elaboration of eloquently false panegyrics upon the +prince and his favorite courtiers. With bitter indignation must the +German chieftain have beheld all this and contrasted with it the rough +worth of his own countrymen: their bravery, their fidelity to their +word, their manly independence of spirit, their love of their national +free institutions, and their loathing of every pollution and meanness. +Above all, he must have thought of the domestic virtues that hallowed a +German home; of the respect there shown to the female character, and of +the pure affection by which that respect was repaid. His soul must have +burned within him at the contemplation of such a race yielding to these +debased Italians. + +Still, to persuade the Germans to combine, in spite of the frequent +feuds among themselves, in one sudden outbreak against Rome; to keep the +scheme concealed from the Romans until the hour for action arrived; and +then, without possessing a single walled town, without military stores, +without training, to teach his insurgent countrymen to defeat veteran +armies and storm fortifications, seemed so perilous an enterprise that +probably Arminius would have receded from it had not a stronger feeling +even than patriotism urged him on. Among the Germans of high rank who +had most readily submitted to the invaders and become zealous partisans +of Roman authority was a chieftain named Segestes. His daughter, +Thusnelda, was preeminent among the noble maidens of Germany. Arminius +had sought her hand in marriage; but Segestes, who probably discerned +the young chief's disaffection to Rome, forbade his suit, and strove to +preclude all communication between him and his daughter. Thusnelda, +however, sympathized far more with the heroic spirit of her lover than +with the timeserving policy of her father. An elopement baffled the +precautions of Segestes, who, disappointed in his hope of preventing the +marriage, accused Arminius before the Roman governor of having carried +off his daughter and of planning treason against Rome. Thus assailed, +and dreading to see his bride torn from him by the officials of the +foreign oppressor, Arminius delayed no longer, but bent all his energies +to organize and execute a general insurrection of the great mass of his +countrymen, who hitherto had submitted in sullen hatred to the Roman +dominion. + +A change of governors had recently taken place, which, while it +materially favored the ultimate success of the insurgents, served, by +the immediate aggravation of the Roman oppressions which it produced, to +make the native population more universally eager to take arms. +Tiberius, who was afterward emperor, had recently been recalled from the +command in Germany and sent into Pannonia to put down a dangerous revolt +which had broken out against the Romans in that province. The German +patriots were thus delivered from the stern supervision of one of the +most suspicious of mankind, and were also relieved from having to +contend against the high military talents of a veteran commander, who +thoroughly understood their national character, and also the nature of +the country, which he himself had principally subdued. + +In the room of Tiberius, Augustus sent into Germany Quintilius Varus, +who had lately returned from the proconsulate of Syria. Varus was a true +representative of the higher classes of the Romans, among whom a general +taste for literature, a keen susceptibility to all intellectual +gratifications, a minute acquaintance with the principles and practice +of their own national jurisprudence, a careful training in the schools +of the rhetoricians, and a fondness for either partaking in or watching +the intellectual strife of forensic oratory had become generally +diffused, without, however, having humanized the old Roman spirit of +cruel indifference to human feelings and human sufferings, and without +acting as the least checks on unprincipled avarice and ambition or on +habitual and gross profligacy. Accustomed to govern the depraved and +debased natives of Syria--a country where courage in man and virtue in +woman had for centuries been unknown--Varus thought that he might +gratify his licentious and rapacious passions with equal impunity among +the high-minded sons and pure-spirited daughters of Germany. When the +general of an army sets the example of outrages of this description, he +is soon faithfully imitated by his officers, and surpassed by his still +more brutal soldiery. The Romans now habitually indulged in those +violations of the sanctity of the domestic shrine, and those insults +upon honor and modesty, by which far less gallant spirits than those of +our Teutonic ancestors have often been maddened into insurrection. + +Arminius found among the other German chiefs many who sympathized with +him in his indignation at their country's abasement, and many whom +private wrongs had stung yet more deeply. There was little difficulty in +collecting bold leaders for an attack on the oppressors, and little fear +of the population not rising readily at those leaders' call. But to +declare open war against Rome and to encounter Varus' army in a pitched +battle would have been merely rushing upon certain destruction. Varus +had three legions under him, a force which, after allowing for +detachments, cannot be estimated at less than fourteen thousand Roman +infantry. He had also eight or nine hundred Roman cavalry, and at least +an equal number of horse and foot sent from the allied states, or raised +among those provincials who had not received the Roman franchise. + +It was not merely the number, but the quality of this force that made +them formidable; and, however contemptible Varus might be as a general, +Arminius well knew how admirably the Roman armies were organized and +officered, and how perfectly the legionaries understood every manoeuvre +and every duty which the varying emergencies of a stricken field might +require. Stratagem was, therefore, indispensable; and it was necessary +to blind Varus to their schemes until a favorable opportunity should +arrive for striking a decisive blow. + +For this purpose, the German confederates frequented the head-quarters +of Varus, which seem to have been near the centre of the modern country +of Westphalia, where the Roman general conducted himself with all the +arrogant security of the governor of a perfectly submissive province. +There Varus gratified at once his vanity, his rhetorical tastes, and his +avarice, by holding courts, to which he summoned the Germans for the +settlement of all their disputes, while a bar of Roman advocates +attended to argue the cases before the tribunal of Varus, who did not +omit the opportunity of exacting court fees and accepting bribes. Varus +trusted implicitly to the respect which the Germans pretended to pay to +his abilities as a judge, and to the interest which they affected to +take in the forensic eloquence of their conquerors. + +Meanwhile a succession of heavy rains rendered the country more +difficult for the operations of regular troops, and Arminius, seeing +that the infatuation of Varus was complete, secretly directed the tribes +near the Weser and the Ems to take up arms in open revolt against the +Romans. This was represented to Varus as an occasion which required his +prompt attendance at the spot; but he was kept in studied ignorance of +its being part of a concerted national rising; and he still looked on +Arminius as his submissive vassal, whose aid he might rely on in +facilitating the march of his troops against the rebels and in +extinguishing the local disturbance. He therefore set his army in +motion, and marched eastward in a line parallel to the course of the +Lippe. For some distance his route lay along a level plain; but on +arriving at the tract between the curve of the upper part of that stream +and the sources of the Ems, the country assumes a very different +character; and here, in the territory of the modern little principality +of Lippe, it was that Arminius had fixed the scene of his enterprise. + +A wooded and hilly region intervenes between the heads of the two +rivers, and forms the water-shed of their streams. This region still +retains the name (Teutobergenwald = _Teutobergiensis saltus_) which it +bore in the days of Arminius. The nature of the ground has probably also +remained unaltered. The eastern part of it, round Detmold, the modern +capital of the principality of Lippe, is described by a modern German +scholar, Dr. Plate, as being a "table-land intersected by numerous deep +and narrow valleys, which in some places form small plains, surrounded +by steep mountains and rocks, and only accessible by narrow defiles. All +the valleys are traversed by rapid streams, shallow in the dry season, +but subject to sudden swellings in autumn and winter. The vast forests +which cover the summits and slopes of the hills consist chiefly of oak; +there is little underwood, and both men and horse would move with ease +in the forests if the ground were not broken by gulleys or rendered +impracticable by fallen trees." This is the district to which Varus is +supposed to have marched; and Dr. Plate adds that "the names of several +localities on and near that spot seem to indicate that a great battle +had once been fought there. We find the names '_das Winnefeld_' (the +field of victory), '_die Knochenbahn_' (the bone-lane), '_die +Knochenleke_' (the bone-brook), '_der Mordkessel_' (the kettle of +slaughter), and others." + +Contrary to the usual strict principles of Roman discipline, Varus had +suffered his army to be accompanied and impeded by an immense train of +baggage wagons and by a rabble of camp followers, as if his troops had +been merely changing their quarters in a friendly country. When the long +array quitted the firm, level ground and began to wind its way among the +woods, the marshes, and the ravines, the difficulties of the march, even +without the intervention of an armed foe, became fearfully apparent. In +many places the soil, sodden with rain, was impracticable for cavalry +and even for infantry, until trees had been felled and a rude causeway +formed through the morass. + +The duties of the engineer were familiar to all who served in the Roman +armies. But the crowd and confusion of the columns embarrassed the +working parties of the soldiery, and in the midst of their toil and +disorder the word was suddenly passed through their ranks that the +rear-guard was attacked by the barbarians. Varus resolved on pressing +forward; but a heavy discharge of missiles from the woods on either +flank taught him how serious was the peril, and he saw his best men +falling round him without the opportunity of retaliation; for his +light-armed auxiliaries, who were principally of Germanic race, now +rapidly deserted, and it was impossible to deploy the legionaries on +such broken ground for a charge against the enemy. + +Choosing one of the most open and firm spots which they could force +their way to, the Romans halted for the night; and, faithful to their +national discipline and tactics, formed their camp amid the harassing +attacks of the rapidly thronging foes with the elaborate toil and +systematic skill the traces of which are impressed permanently on the +soil of so many European countries, attesting the presence in the olden +time of the imperial eagles. + +On the morrow the Romans renewed their march, the veteran officers who +served under Varus now probably directing the operations and hoping to +find the Germans drawn up to meet them, in which case they relied on +their own superior discipline and tactics for such a victory as should +reassure the supremacy of Rome. But Arminius was far too sage a +commander to lead on his followers, with their unwieldy broadswords and +inefficient defensive armor, against the Roman legionaries, fully armed +with helmet, cuirass, greaves, and shield, who were skilled to commence +the conflict with a murderous volley of heavy javelins hurled upon the +foe when a few yards distant, and then, with their short cut-and-thrust +swords, to hew their way through all opposition, preserving the utmost +steadiness and coolness, and obeying each word of command in the midst +of strife and slaughter with the same precision and alertness as if upon +parade. Arminius suffered the Romans to march out from their camp, to +form first in line for action and then in column for marching, without +the show of opposition. + +For some distance Varus was allowed to move on, only harassed by slight +skirmishes, but struggling with difficulty through the broken ground, +the toil and distress of his men being aggravated by heavy torrents of +rain, which burst upon the devoted legions, as if the angry gods of +Germany were pouring out the vials of their wrath upon the invaders. +After some little time their van approached a ridge of high wooded +ground, which is one of the offshoots of the great Hercynian forest, and +is situated between the modern villages of Driburg and Bielefeld. +Arminius had caused barricades of hewn trees to be formed here, so as to +add to the natural difficulties of the passage. Fatigue and +discouragement now began to betray themselves in the Roman ranks. Their +line became less steady; baggage wagons were abandoned from the +impossibility of forcing them along; and, as this happened, many +soldiers left their ranks and crowded round the wagons to secure the +most valuable portions of their property; each was busy about his own +affairs, and purposely slow in hearing the word of command from his +officers. + +Arminius now gave the signal for a general attack. The fierce shouts of +the Germans pealed through the gloom of the forests, and in thronging +multitudes they assailed the flanks of the invaders, pouring in clouds +of darts on the encumbered legionaries as they struggled up the glens or +floundered in the morasses, and watching every opportunity of charging +through the intervals of the disjointed column, and so cutting off the +communication between its several brigades. Arminius, with a chosen band +of personal retainers round him, cheered on his countrymen by voice and +example. He and his men aimed their weapons particularly at the horses +of the Roman cavalry. The wounded animals, slipping about in the mire +and their own blood, threw their riders and plunged among the ranks of +the legions, disordering all round them. Varus now ordered the troops to +be countermarched, in the hope of reaching the nearest Roman garrison on +the Lippe. + +But retreat now was as impracticable as advance; and the falling back of +the Romans only augmented the courage of their assailants and caused +fiercer and more frequent charges on the flanks of the disheartened +army. The Roman officer who commanded the cavalry, Numonius Vala, rode +off with his squadrons in the vain hope of escaping by thus abandoning +his comrades. Unable to keep together or force their way across the +woods and swamps, the horsemen were overpowered in detail and +slaughtered to the last man. The Roman infantry still held together and +resisted, but more through the instinct of discipline and bravery than +from any hope of success or escape. + +Varus, after being severely wounded in a charge of the Germans against +his part of the column, committed suicide to avoid falling into the +hands of those whom he had exasperated by his oppressions. One of the +lieutenants-general of the army fell fighting; the other surrendered to +the enemy. But mercy to a fallen foe had never been a Roman virtue, and +those among her legions who now laid down their arms in hope of quarter, +drank deep of the cup of suffering, which Rome had held to the lips of +many a brave but unfortunate enemy. The infuriated Germans slaughtered +their oppressors with deliberate ferocity, and those prisoners who were +not hewn to pieces on the spot were only preserved to perish by a more +cruel death in cold blood. + +The bulk of the Roman army fought steadily and stubbornly, frequently +repelling the masses of assailants, but gradually losing the compactness +of their array and becoming weaker and weaker beneath the incessant +shower of darts and the reiterated assaults of the vigorous and +unencumbered Germans. At last, in a series of desperate attacks, the +column was pierced through and through, two of the eagles captured, and +the Roman host, which on the morning before had marched forth in such +pride and might--now broken up into confused fragments--either fell +fighting beneath the overpowering numbers of the enemy or perished in +the swamps and woods in unavailing efforts at flight. Few, very few, +ever saw again the left bank of the Rhine. One body of brave veterans, +arraying themselves in a ring on a little mound, beat off every charge +of the Germans, and prolonged their honorable resistance to the close of +that dreadful day. The traces of a feeble attempt at forming a ditch and +mound attested in after-years the spot where the last of the Romans +passed their night of suffering and despair. But on the morrow this +remnant also, worn out with hunger, wounds, and toil, was charged by the +victorious Germans, and either massacred on the spot or offered up in +fearful rites on the altars of the deities of the old mythology of the +North. + +A gorge in the mountain ridge, through which runs the modern road +between Paderborn and Pyrmont, leads from the spot where the heat of the +battle raged to the Extersteine--a cluster of bold and grotesque rocks +of sandstone--near which is a small sheet of water, overshadowed by a +grove of aged trees. According to local tradition, this was one of the +sacred groves of the ancient Germans, and it was here that the Roman +captives were slain in sacrifice by the victorious warriors of Arminius. + +Never was victory more decisive; never was the liberation of an +oppressed people more instantaneous and complete. Throughout Germany the +Roman garrisons were assailed and cut off; and within a few weeks after +Varus had fallen, the German soil was freed from the foot of an invader. + +At Rome the tidings of the battle were received with an agony of terror, +the reports of which we would deem exaggerated did they not come from +Roman historians themselves. They not only tell emphatically how great +was the awe which the Romans felt of the prowess of the Germans if their +various tribes could be brought to unite for a common purpose,[83] but +they also reveal how weakened and debased the population of Italy had +become. Dion Cassius says: "Then Augustus, when he heard the calamity of +Varus, rent his garment, and was in great affliction for the troops he +had lost, and for terror respecting the Germans and the Gauls. And his +chief alarm was that he expected them to push on against Italy and Rome; +and there remained no Roman youth fit for military duty that were worth +speaking of, and the allied populations, that were at all serviceable, +had been wasted away. Yet he prepared for the emergency as well as his +means allowed; and when none of the citizens of military age were +willing to enlist, he made them cast lots, and punished, by confiscation +of goods and disfranchisement, every fifth man among those under +thirty-five and every tenth man of those above that age. At last, when +he found that not even thus could he make many come forward, he put some +of them to death. So he made a conscription of discharged veterans and +of emancipated slaves, and, collecting as large a force as he could, +sent it, under Tiberius, with all speed into Germany." + +[Footnote 83: It is clear that the Romans followed the policy of +fomenting dissensions and wars of the Germans among themselves.] + +Dion mentions also a number of terrific portents that were believed to +have occurred at the time, and the narration of which is not immaterial, +as it shows the state of the public mind when such things were so +believed in and so interpreted. The summits of the Alps were said to +have fallen, and three columns of fire to have blazed up from them. In +the Campus Martius, the temple of the war-god, from whom the founder of +Rome had sprung, was struck by a thunderbolt. The nightly heavens glowed +several times as if on fire. Many comets blazed forth together; and +fiery meteors, shaped like spears, had shot from the northern quarter of +the sky down into the Roman camps. It was said, too, that a statue of +Victory, which had stood at a place on the frontier, pointing the way +toward Germany, had of its own accord turned round, and now pointed to +Italy. These and other prodigies were believed by the multitude to +accompany the slaughter of Varus' legions and to manifest the anger of +the gods against Rome. + +Augustus himself was not free from superstition; but on this occasion no +supernatural terrors were needed to increase the alarm and grief that he +felt, and which made him, even months after the news of the battle had +arrived, often beat his head against the wall and exclaim, "Quintilius +Varus, give me back my legions." We learn this from his biographer +Suetonius; and, indeed, every ancient writer who alludes to the +overthrow of Varus attests the importance of the blow against the Roman +power, and the bitterness with which it was felt. + +The Germans did not pursue their victory beyond their own territory; but +that victory secured at once and forever the independence of the +Teutonic race. Rome sent, indeed, her legions again into Germany, to +parade a temporary superiority, but all hopes of permanent conquests +were abandoned by Augustus and his successors. + +The blow which Arminius had struck never was forgotten. Roman fear +disguised itself under the specious title of moderation, and the Rhine +became the acknowledged boundary of the two nations until the fifth +century of our era, when the Germans became the assailants, and carved +with their conquering swords the provinces of imperial Rome into the +kingdoms of modern Europe. + + +ARMINIUS + +I have said above that the great Cheruscan is more truly one of our +national heroes than Caractacus is. It may be added that an Englishman +is entitled to claim a closer degree of relationship with Arminius than +can be claimed by any German of modern Germany. The proof of this +depends on the proof of four facts: First, that the Cheruscans were Old +Saxons, or Saxons of the interior of Germany; secondly, that the +Anglo-Saxons, or Saxons of the coast of Germany, were more closely akin +than other German tribes were to the Cheruscan Saxons; thirdly, that the +Old Saxons were almost exterminated by Charlemagne; fourthly, that the +Anglo-Saxons are our immediate ancestors. The last of these may be +assumed as an axiom in English history. The proofs of the other three +are partly philological and partly historical. It may be, however, here +remarked that the present Saxons of Germany are of the _High_ Germanic +division of the German race, whereas both the Anglo-Saxon and Old Saxon +were of the _Low_ Germanic. + +Being thus the nearest heirs of the glory of Arminius, we may fairly +devote more attention to his career than, in such a work as the present, +could be allowed to any individual leader; and it is interesting to +trace how far his fame survived during the Middle Ages, both among the +Germans of the Continent and among ourselves. + +It seems probable that the jealousy with which Maroboduus, the king of +the Suevi and Marcomanni, regarded Arminius, and which ultimately broke +out into open hostilities between those German tribes and the Cherusci, +prevented Arminius from leading the confederate Germans to attack Italy +after his first victory. Perhaps he may have had the rare moderation of +being content with the liberation of his country, without seeking to +retaliate on her former oppressors. When Tiberius marched into Germany +in the year 10, Arminius was too cautious to attack him on ground +favorable to the legions, and Tiberius was too skilful to entangle his +troops in the difficult parts of the country. His march and countermarch +were as unresisted as they were unproductive. A few years later, when a +dangerous revolt of the Roman legions near the frontier caused their +generals to find them active employment by leading them into the +interior of Germany, we find Arminius again active in his country's +defence. The old quarrel between him and his father-in-law, Segestes, +had broken out afresh. + +Segestes now called in the aid of the Roman general, Germanicus, to whom +he surrendered himself; and by his contrivance, his daughter, Thusnelda, +the wife of Arminius, also came into the hands of the Romans, she being +far advanced in pregnancy. She showed, as Tacitus relates, more of the +spirit of her husband than of her father, a spirit that could not be +subdued into tears or supplications. She was sent to Ravenna, and there +gave birth to a son, whose life we know, from an allusion in Tacitus, to +have been eventful and unhappy; but the part of the great historian's +work which narrated his fate has perished, and we only know from another +quarter that the son of Arminius was, at the age of four years, led +captive in a triumphal pageant along the streets of Rome. + +The high spirit of Arminius was goaded almost into frenzy by these +bereavements. The fate of his wife, thus torn from him, and of his babe +doomed to bondage even before its birth, inflamed the eloquent +invectives with which he roused his countrymen against the +home-traitors, and against their invaders, who thus made war upon women +and children. Germanicus had marched his army to the place where Varus +had perished, and had there paid funeral honors to the ghastly relics of +his predecessor's legions that he found heaped around him.[84] Arminius +lured him to advance a little farther into the country, and then +assailed him, and fought a battle, which, by the Roman accounts, was a +drawn one. + +[Footnote 84: In the Museum of Rhenish Antiquities at Bonn there is a +Roman sepulchral monument the inscription on which records that it was +erected to the memory of M. Coelius, who fell "_Bella Variano_."] + +The effect of it was to make Germanicus resolve on retreating to the +Rhine. He himself, with part of his troops, embarked in some vessels on +the Ems, and returned by that river, and then by sea; but part of his +forces were intrusted to a Roman general named Caecina, to lead them +back by land to the Rhine. Arminius followed this division on its march, +and fought several battles with it, in which he inflicted heavy loss on +the Romans, captured the greater part of their baggage, and would have +destroyed them completely had not his skilful system of operations been +finally thwarted by the haste of Inguiomerus, a confederate German +chief, who insisted on assaulting the Romans in their camp, instead of +waiting till they were entangled in the difficulties of the country, and +assailing their columns on the march. + +In the following year the Romans were inactive, but in the year +afterward Germanicus led a fresh invasion. He placed his army on +shipboard and sailed to the mouth of the Ems, where he disembarked and +marched to the Weser, there encamping, probably in the neighborhood of +Minden. Arminius had collected his army on the other side of the river; +and a scene occurred, which is powerfully told by Tacitus, and which is +the subject of a beautiful poem by Praed. It has been already mentioned +that the brother of Arminius, like himself, had been trained up while +young to serve in the Roman armies; but, unlike Arminius, he not only +refused to quit the Roman service for that of his country, but fought +against his country with the legions of Germanicus. He had assumed the +Roman name of Flavius, and had gained considerable distinction in the +Roman service, in which he had lost an eye from a wound in battle. When +the Roman outposts approached the river Weser, Arminius called out to +them from the opposite bank and expressed a wish to see his brother. +Flavius stepped forward, and Arminius ordered his own followers to +retire, and requested that the archers should be removed from the Roman +bank of the river. This was done; and the brothers, who apparently had +not seen each other for some years, began a conversation from the +opposite sides of the stream, in which Arminius questioned his brother +respecting the loss of his eye, and what battle it had been lost in, and +what reward he had received for his wound. Flavius told him how the eye +was lost, and mentioned the increased pay that he had on account of its +loss, and showed the collar and other military decorations that had been +given him. Arminius mocked at these as badges of slavery; and then each +began to try to win the other over--Flavius boasting the power of Rome +and her generosity to the submissive; Arminius appealing to him in the +name of their country's gods, of the mother that had borne them, and by +the holy names of fatherland and freedom, not to prefer being the +betrayer to being the champion of his country. They soon proceeded to +mutual taunts and menaces, and Flavius called aloud for his horse and +his arms, that he might dash across the river and attack his brother; +nor would he have been checked from doing so had not the Roman general +Stertinius run up to him and forcibly detained him. Arminius stood on +the other bank, threatening the renegade, and defying him to battle. + +I shall not be thought to need apology for quoting here the stanzas in +which Praed has described this scene--a scene among the most affecting, +as well as the most striking, that history supplies. It makes us reflect +on the desolate position of Arminius, with his wife and child captives +in the enemy's hands, and with his brother a renegade in arms against +him. The great liberator of our German race was there, with every source +of human happiness denied him except the consciousness of doing his duty +to his country. + + "Back, back! he fears not foaming flood + Who fears not steel-clad line: + No warrior thou of German blood, + No brother thou of mine. + Go, earn Rome's chain to load thy neck, + Her gems to deck thy hilt; + And blazon honor's hapless wreck + With all the gauds of guilt. + + "But wouldst thou have _me_ share the prey? + By all that I have done, + The Varian bones that day by day + Lie whitening in the sun, + The legion's trampled panoply, + The eagle's shatter'd wing-- + I would not be for earth or sky + So scorn'd and mean a thing. + + "Ho, call me here the wizard, boy, + Of dark and subtle skill, + To agonize but not destroy, + To torture, not to kill. + When swords are out and shriek and shout + Leave little room for prayer, + No fetter on man's arm or heart + Hangs half so heavy there. + + "I curse him by the gifts the land + Hath won from him and Rome, + The riving axe, the wasting brand, + Rent forest, blazing home. + I curse him by our country's gods, + The terrible, the dark, + The breakers of the Roman rods, + The smiters of the bark. + + "Oh, misery that such a ban + On such a brow should be! + Why comes he not in battle's van + His country's chief to be? + To stand a comrade by my side, + The sharer of my fame, + And worthy of a brother's pride + And of a brother's name? + + "But it is past! where heroes press + And cowards bend the knee, + Arminius is not brotherless, + His brethren are the free. + They come around: one hour, and light + Will fade from turf and tide, + Then onward, onward to the fight, + With darkness for our guide. + + "To-night, to-night, when we shall meet + In combat face to face, + Then only would Arminius greet + The renegade's embrace. + The canker of Rome's guilt shall be + Upon his dying name; + And as he lived in slavery, + So shall he fall in shame." + +On the day after the Romans had reached the Weser, Germanicus led his +army across that river, and a partial encounter took place, in which +Arminius was successful. But on the succeeding day a general action was +fought, in which Arminius was severely wounded and the German infantry +routed with heavy loss. The horsemen of the two armies encountered +without either party gaining the advantage. But the Roman army remained +master of the ground and claimed a complete victory. Germanicus erected +a trophy in the field, with a vaunting inscription that the nations +between the Rhine and the Elbe had been thoroughly conquered by his +army. But that army speedily made a final retreat to the left bank of +the Rhine; nor was the effect of their campaign more durable than their +trophy. The sarcasm with which Tacitus speaks of certain other triumphs +of Roman generals over Germans may apply to the pageant which Germanicus +celebrated on his return to Rome from his command of the Roman army of +the Rhine. The Germans were "_triumphati potius quam victi_." + +After the Romans had abandoned their attempts on Germany, we find +Arminius engaged in hostilities with Maroboduus, king of the Suevi and +Marcomanni, who was endeavoring to bring the other German tribes into a +state of dependency on him. Arminius was at the head of the Germans who +took up arms against this home invader of their liberties. After some +minor engagements a pitched battle was fought between the two +confederacies (A.D. 19) in which the loss on each side was equal, but +Maroboduus confessed the ascendency of his antagonist by avoiding a +renewal of the engagement and by imploring the intervention of the +Romans in his defence. The younger Drusus then commanded the Roman +legions in the province of Illyricum, and by his mediation a peace was +concluded between Arminius and Maroboduus, by the terms of which it is +evident that the latter must have renounced his ambitious schemes +against the freedom of the other German tribes. + +Arminius did not long survive this second war of independence, which he +successfully waged for his country. He was assassinated in the +thirty-seventh year of his age by some of his own kinsmen, who conspired +against him. Tacitus says that this happened while he was engaged in a +civil war, which had been caused by his attempts to make himself king +over his countrymen. It is far more probable, as one of the best +biographers[85] has observed, that Tacitus misunderstood an attempt of +Arminius to extend his influence as elective war chieftain of the +Cherusci and other tribes, for an attempt to obtain the royal dignity. + +[Footnote 85: Dr. Plate, in _Biographical Dictionary_.] + +When we remember that his father-in-law and his brother were renegades, +we can well understand that a party among his kinsmen may have been +bitterly hostile to him, and have opposed his authority with the tribe +by open violence, and, when that seemed ineffectual, by secret +assassination. + +Arminius left a name which the historians of the nation against which he +combated so long and so gloriously have delighted to honor. It is from +the most indisputable source, from the lips of enemies, that we know his +exploits.[86] His countrymen made history, but did not write it. But his +memory lived among them in the days of their bards, who recorded + + "The deeds he did, the fields he won, + The freedom he restored." + +Tacitus, writing years after the death of Arminius, says of him, +"_Canitur adhuc barbaras apud gentes_." As time passed on, the gratitude +of ancient Germany to her great deliverer grew into adoration, and +divine honors were paid for centuries to Arminius by every tribe of the +Low Germanic division of the Teutonic races. The _Irmin-sul_, or the +column of Herman, near Eresburgh (the modern Stadtberg), was the chosen +object of worship to the descendants of the Cherusci (the Old Saxons), +and in defence of which they fought most desperately against Charlemagne +and his Christianized Franks. "Irmin, in the cloudy Olympus of Teutonic +belief, appears as a king and a warrior; and the pillar, the +'Irmin-sul,' bearing the statue, and considered as the symbol of the +deity, was the Palladium of the Saxon nation until the temple of +Eresburgh was destroyed by Charlemagne, and the column itself +transferred to the monastery of Corbey, where perhaps a portion of the +rude rock idol yet remains, covered by the ornaments of the Gothic +era."[87] Traces of the worship of Arminius are to be found among our +Anglo-Saxon ancestors after their settlement in this island. One of the +four great highways was held to be under the protection of the deity, +and was called the "Irmin street." The name _Arminius_ is, of course, +the mere Latinized form of _Herman_, the name by which the hero and the +deity were known by every man of Low German blood on either side of the +German Sea. It means, etymologically, the _War-man_, the _man of hosts_. +No other explanation of the worship of the Irmin-sul, and of the name of +the Irmin street, is so satisfactory as that which connects them with +the deified Arminius. We know for certain of the existence of other +columns of an analogous character. Thus there was the _Roland-seule_ in +North Germany; there was a _Thor-seule_ in Sweden, and (what is more +important) there was an _Athelstan-seule_ in Saxon England.[88] + +[Footnote 86: Tacitus: _Annales_.] + +[Footnote 87: Palgrave: _English Commonwealth_.] + +[Footnote 88: Lappenburg: _Anglo-Saxons_.] + + + + +CHRONOLOGY OF UNIVERSAL HISTORY + +EMBRACING THE PERIOD COVERED IN THIS VOLUME B.C. 450-A.D. 12 + +JOHN RUDD, LL.D. + + +Events treated at length are here indicated in large type; the numerals +following give volume and page. + +Separate chronologies of the various nations, and of the careers of +famous persons, will be found in the INDEX VOLUME, with volume and page +references showing where the several events are fully treated. + +"Est" means date uncertain. + +B.C. + +450. The decemvirate instituted at Rome; the Twelve Tables of law +framed. See "INSTITUTION AND FALL OF THE DECEMVIRATE IN ROME," ii, 1. + +Alcibiades born.[Est] + +448. First Sacred War between the Phocians and Delphians for the +possession of the temple at Delphi. + +The decemvirate abolished at Rome. See "INSTITUTION AND FALL OF THE +DECEMVIRATE IN ROME," ii, 1. + +Athens is now the principal seat of Greek philosophy, literature, and +art. + +447. The Boeotians defeat the Athenians at Coronea; the conflict was +brought about by Athens breaking the truce arranged between the Greek +states to endure for five years, in order to combine against Persia. The +result was the loss to Athens of Boeotia, Phocis, and Locris. + +445.[Est] Nehemiah begins the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. + +Peace of Callias between the Greeks and Persians. + +Birth of Xenophon, general and historian. + +444. Ascendency of Pericles at Athens.[Est] See "PERICLES RULES IN +ATHENS," ii, 12. + +The military tribunes instituted at Rome. The consulship was in no sense +abolished; until the passage of the Licinian Rogations (when it +reappeared as a permanent annual magistracy) it alternated irregularly +with the military tribunes. See "INSTITUTION AND FALL OF THE DECEMVIRATE +IN ROME," ii, 1. + +Thucydides exiled Athens. + +443. An Athenian colony planted at Thurium, near Sybarius; it is +accompanied by Herodotus and Lysias. + +442. Pericles, guided by Phidias the sculptor, adorns Athens; the +Parthenon, Propylæa, and Odeum built. + +440. Samos resists the Athenian sway; is besieged by Pericles and +Sophocles; Melissus defends the city, but surrenders after a siege of +nine months. + +Comedies prohibited performance at Athens. + +439. Great famine in Rome; Sp. Mælius distributes corn to the citizens, +for which he is accused of wishing to be king, and is assassinated by +Servilius Ahala. + +438. Spartacus becomes king of Bosporus. + +Ahala impeached and exiled Rome. + +437. The prohibition of comedy repealed at Athens. + +Syracuse, the predominant state in Sicily, reaches the height of its +prosperity. See "DEFEAT OF THE ATHENIANS AT SYRACUSE," ii, 48. + +436. Commencement of the dispute between Corinth and Corcyra regarding +the city of Epidamnus, in which Athens supported the latter; this led to +the Peloponnesian War. + +435. Naval victory over the Corinthians by the Corcyræans, near Actium. + +432. Ambassadors from Corcyra implore the aid of Athens, which series a +fleet to defend the island against the Corinthian attack. Corinth +incites Potidæa to revolt from Athens. + +431. Beginning of the Peloponnesian War. Sparta declares on the side of +Corinth and makes war on Athens. The real cause of the war--which was to +be so disastrous to Greece--was that Sparta and its allies were jealous +of the great power Athens had attained. Sparta was an oligarchy and a +friend of the nobles everywhere; Athens was a democracy and the friend +of the common people; so that the war was to some extent a struggle +between these classes all over Greece. + +430. "GREAT PLAGUE AT ATHENS." See ii, 34. The physician Hippocrates +distinguishes himself by extraordinary cures of the sick. + +Second invasion of Attica by the Spartans. + +429. Death of Pericles, during the plague, at Athens. + +Potidæa reduced by the Athenians. + +Birth of Plato. + +428. Attica invaded the third time. + +Lesbos revolts from the Athenian confederacy; on this the Athenians +besiege Mitylene. + +427. Mitylene reduced; Athens becomes master of Lesbos. Platæa, the ally +of Athens, after being besieged, surrenders to the Peloponnesians and is +destroyed. + +Attica again invaded. + +425. Agis begins the fifth invasion of Attica; he retires on learning +that the Athenians under Cleon had taken Pylos and Sapachteria. + +Mount Æetna in eruption. + +On the death of Artaxerxes I, his son, Xerxes II, succeeds him as ruler +of Persia; he reigns only forty-five days, being slain by his brother +Sogdianus, who usurps the throne. + +424. The island of Cythera taken by the Athenians. Brasidas, the Spartan +general, captures Amphipolis, defeating Thucydides. + +Ochus (Darius Nothus) rids himself of Sogdianus and succeeds him on the +Persian throne. + +423. The Athenians banish Thucydides for having suffered Amphipolis to +be taken. + +422. The Athenians send Cleon to recover Amphipolis; he is defeated by +Brasidas; both fall in the battle. + +421. Peace of Nicias between Sparta and Athens. End of the first period +of the Peloponnesian War. + +420. Alcibiades negotiates an alliance between Athens and Argos. +Amphipolis retained by the Spartans. + +419. An Athenian expedition is led into the Peloponnesus by Alcibiades. + +418. Victory of the Spartans at Mantinea. + +The league between Athens and Argos dissolved. + +416. The island of Melos, which had remained neutral, is conquered by +the Athenians; its inhabitants are treated with extreme cruelty. + +415. The Athenians send an expedition against Syracuse under Nicias, +Lamachus, and Alcibiades; the latter is recalled to answer an accusation +of having broken some statues of Mercury in Athens; he takes refuge in +Sparta. Andocides, the orator, implicated in the same charge, is +imprisoned and exiled. + +414. Syracuse is invested by the Athenians under Nicias; being hard +pressed, Syracuse appeals to the other Greek states; Cylippus, the +Spartan commander, comes with a fleet to the aid of the city. See +"DEFEAT OF THE ATHENIANS AT SYRACUSE," ii, 48. + +The Romans capture Bolae, an Æquian town; the division of the booty +causes a mutiny among the soldiers, who slay the quaestor and the +military tribune, M. Postumius. + +413. On Alcibiades' advice the Spartans fortify a position at Decelea, +in Attica. + +"DEFEAT OF THE ATHENIANS AT SYRACUSE." See ii, 48. + +412. Alcibiades visits the Persian satrap Tissaphernes, with whose aid +he negotiates an alliance between Persia and Sparta. + +411. Owing to the machinations of Alcibiades a revolt is organized in +Athens, by the aid of the clubs of the nobles and rich men; its object +being to overthrow the democracy and establish an oligarchy. The rising +is successful and the "Reign of the Four Hundred" ensues; it lasts four +months; its framer, Antipho, is put to death. Alcibiades is recalled. + +410. The Spartans are defeated by Alcibiades in a naval encounter at +Cyzicus. Sparta makes overtures for peace. + +409. The Carthaginians invade Sicily; they reduce Silenus and Himera. + +408. Alcibiades takes Selymbria and Byzantium. + +Psammeticus is king of Egypt. + +Roman plebs first admitted to the quaestorship. + +407. Lysander, the Spartan admiral, defeats the Athenian fleet at +Notium; in consequence of this defeat, Alcibiades, who had been received +with great honor, is banished, and ten generals are nominated to succeed +him. + +406. The Athenians vanquish the Spartan fleet under Callicratidas, at +Arginusae. The Athenian generals are executed at Athens for not saving +the shattered vessels and the bodies of the slain. + +Dionysius the Elder becomes ruler of Syracuse. + +Anxur and other towns captured by the Romans, who now first give their +soldiers a regular pay. + +405. The Spartan under Lysander, who had been restored to command, +annihilate the Athenian navy at Aegospotami. + +Artaxerxes II succeeds Darius II on the Persian throne. + +Successful revolt of the Egyptians against the Persians; the +independence of Egypt secured. + +404. Athens taken by Lysander and dismantled; thirty tyrants appointed +by him. Lysias and other orators banished. End of the Peloponnesian War. + +403. Democracy is restored in Athens by Thrasybulus; he publishes an act +of amnesty. The Ionian alphabet adopted at Athens. + +401. Cyrus rebels against his brother Artaxerxes, of Persia; he is +defeated and slain at the battle of Cunaxa. + +400. The Ten Thousand Greek auxiliaries of Cyrus effect their retreat to +the sea. See "RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND GREEKS," ii, 68. + +399. Sparta and Persia engage in war. + +"CONDEMNATION AND DEATH OF SOCRATES." See ii, 87. + +396. Agesilaus, the Spartan general, begins his victorious campaigns +against the Persians. + +The Romans, headed by Camillus, capture Veii, after a ten years' siege. + +395. Corinth, Thebes, Argos, and Athens combine against Sparta; the +Spartans are defeated at Haliartus; Lysander is slain. + +Tissaphernes' Persian army is defeated by Agesilaus, near Sardis. + +394. The Athenian admiral Conon, in charge of the Persian fleet, +crushingly defeats that of the Spartans, under Pisander, off Cnidus. + +Agesilaus is recalled from Asia; commanding the Spartans, he gains a +victory over the confederate Greeks at Coronea. + +393. Conon undertakes the rebuilding of the walls in Athens and restores +the fortifications. + +392. Conon excites the jealousy of the Persians; he retires into Cyprus, +where he dies. + +391. Camillus banished from Rome, charged with misappropriating the +booty secured at Veii, but really on account of his patrician +haughtiness; he dies at Ardea, whither he had withdrawn. + +389. Aeschines born; he was accounted in Athens second only to +Demosthenes as an orator. + +388[89] (387). Brennus, commanding the Gauls, burns Rome. See "BRENNUS +BURNS ROME," ii, 110. + +[Footnote 89: By the old chronological reckoning this event occurred +B.C. 390.] + +387. Through the mediation of Persia, Sparta compels the Greek states to +accept the peace of Antalcidas, which leaves the Ionian cities and +Cyprus at his mercy; this enables Sparta to maintain her supremacy in +Greece. + +385.[Est] Birth of Demosthenes, the famous Greek orator and general. + +384. Aristotle born. + +383. War of Syracuse with Carthage. + +Thebes is betrayed to Sparta, during her war against Olynthus. + +379. The Olynthians are forced to submission by the Spartans. Pelopidas +and his associates drive the Spartans from Thebes. + +378. Athens declares in favor of Thebes against Sparta. + +376. Cleombrotus leads the Spartans into Boeotia; the Spartan fleet, +under Pollis, is overwhelmed off Maxos, by Chabrias. + +371. Congress of Sparta, Thebes being excluded from the treaty of peace; +Pelopidas and Epaminondas gain the great victory of Leuctra, in which +Cleombrotus, King of Sparta, is slain. Thebes becomes the dominant power +in Greece. + +The Arcadian union formed. One of the first effects of the battle of +Leuctra was to emancipate the Arcadians, and a plan was formed to raise +them in the political affairs of Greece. + +370. Epaminondas, the Theban general, heads his first expedition into +the Peloponnesus; he threatens Sparta, which Agesilaus saves. + +369. The Thebans advance into Laconia; they restore the independence of +the Messenians. Epaminondas and Pelopidas are condemned for having +retained their command beyond the term allowed by the laws of Thebes; +they are pardoned and reappointed. + +The Arcadians found Megalopolis, which they make the capital of the +Arcadian confederacy. + +368. The Thebans again enter the Peloponnesus, but retreat before the +arrival of succor sent by Dionysius to the Lacedaemonians. Pelopidas, +treacherously made prisoner by Alexander of Pherae, is rescued by +Epaminondas. A congress, under the mediation of Persia, is held at +Delphi; it fails, because the Thebans will not abandon the Messenians. + +The Carthaginians at war with Dionysius; but, after losing Selinus and +other towns, they make peace. + +Camillus, more than eighty years old, appointed dictator at Rome; he +persuades the patricians to assent to the demands of the plebs, and +builds the temple of Concord. + +A celestial globe brought into Greece from Egypt. + +367. The Licinian Rogations, Rome; three bills introduced by Licinius, +decreeing: 1. That interest on loans be deducted from the principal; 2. +Limiting the public land held by any individual to 500 jugera (320 +acres); 3. Ordering that one of the two consuls should be a plebeian. +Institution of the praetorship. + +364. Pelopidas attacks Alexander of Pherae; during the battle of +Cymoscephale his soldiers are alarmed at an eclipse of the sun, and he +is slain. + +362. The Spartans and allies defeated at Mantinea by Epaminondas; he is +slain. + +361 (359). Artaxerxes II of Persia succeeded by Artaxerxes III (Ochus). + +359. Philip ascends the throne of Macedon; he concludes peace with the +Athenians. + +358.[Est] Athens involves herself in the Social War with Cos, Rhodes, +Chios, and Byzantium. + +Amphipolis captured by Philip of Macedon; he loses his right eye by an +arrow from Astor. + +357. Outbreak of the Ten Years' Sacred War, caused by the Crissians +levying grievous taxes on those who went to consult the oracle of +Delphi. + +356. Burning of the temple of Diana at Ephesus; this building was +accounted one of the Seven Wonders of the World. + +Birth of Alexander the Great. + +Dion frees Syracuse from Dionysius the Younger; he is expelled from +Sicily. + +355. The Social War ends in Greece. Athens recognizes the independence +of the confederated states. + +353. Final conquest of Egypt by the Persians. + +352. Philip of Macedon interferes in the Greek Sacred War; Demosthenes +delivers his First Philippic encouraging the Greeks to resist the +Macedonians; Philip's attempt to seize Thermopylae is defeated. + +Two thousand colonists are sent from Athens to Samos. + +347. Philip of Macedon captures and destroys Olynthus. + +346. Phocis occupied by Philip of Macedon; this ends the Sacred War. + +Dionysius the Younger again assumes power in Syracuse. + +343 (340). Timoleon effects the deliverance of Syracuse from Dionysius +the Younger. + +Rome engages in the First Samnite War. + +341 (338). End of the First Samnite War. + +Invasion of China by Meha the Hun. See "TARTAR INVASION OF CHINA BY +MEHA," ii, 126.[Est] + +340. Adoption of the Publilian laws in Rome, which further restricted +the power of the patricians. + +The Romans make war upon the Latins; the latter are subjugated. Manlius, +one of the Roman consuls, condemns his son to death for a breach of +discipline. + +338. Athens and Thebes form an alliance to resist Philip of Macedon, who +had passed Thermopylae and seized Elatea. The allied forces are +overwhelmed at Chaeronea, and Philip establishes the Macedonian dominion +in Greece. + +Artaxerxes III is succeeded by Arses in Persia. + +337. Philip of Macedon declares himself commander of the Greeks against +the Persians; he repudiates his wife Olympias; their son Alexander +attends his mother into Epirus. + +336. Assassination of Philip of Macedon, by Pausanias at Aegae, while +preparing to invade Persia; he is succeeded by his son, Alexander the +Great. + +Arses is succeeded by Darius III (Codomannus) in Persia. + +335. Thebes, revolting against the Macedonian authority, is subdued and +destroyed by Alexander, who, however, spares the house of Pindar the +poet. + +Rome concludes a peace with Gaul. + +334. Alexander enters upon the conquest of Persia; he is victorious over +Darius at the Granicus. + +333. Lycia and Syria reduced by Alexander; Damascus captured by +Parmenio, Alexander's general, and the siege of Tyre begun. + +Darius is defeated at Issus; his family are among Alexander's captives. + +332. "ALEXANDER REDUCES TYRE: LATER FOUNDS ALEXANDRIA." See ii, 133. He +takes Gaza and occupies Egypt. + +The Lucanians and Bruttians defeat and slay Alexander of Epirus, his +ambitious designs in Italy having been betrayed. + +331. "THE BATTLE OF ARBELA," in which Alexander the Great conquers +Darius and overthrows the Persian empire. See ii, 141. + +330. The Spartans, under Agis III, revolt against the Macedonians; +Antipater defeats the Spartans and their allies at Megalopolis; Agis is +slain. + +Darius is seized and laden with chains by Bessus, a Bactrian satrap who +soon after slays him. + +Alexander captures Bessus and delivers him to Oxathres, the brother of +Darius, by whom he is executed. + +Alexander pursues his conquests in Parthia, Media, Bactria, and on the +shores of the Caspian. + +329. The Oxus and Jaxartes are crossed by Alexander; he drives back the +Scythians; he founds new cities in the countries adjacent, and winters +in Bactria. + +The consuls at Rome are granted a triumph and the surname of +"Privernas," for the conquest of Privernum. + +328. Sogdiana, Central Asia, occupies Alexander during this, his seventh +campaign, and he winters there at Nautaca. + +327. Marriage of Alexander to Roxana, daughter of Oxyartes, a Bactrian +ruler. + +326. Alexander invades India and defeats Porus; his soldiers refuse to +proceed farther. + +Rome begins the Second Samnite War. + +325-4. Alexander marches from the Indus to Persepolis; his fleet is +sailed to the Euphrates by Nearchus. + +Harpalus flees from Babylon with immense treasures, which he conveys to +Athens. + +323. Death of Alexander the Great at Babylon. His principal generals +endeavored to obtain, each for himself, a portion of his empire. Ptolemy +first secures Egypt and establishes his dynasty firmly there. Philip +Aridaeus, half-brother of Alexander, succeeds him on the throne of +Macedon, with Perdiccas as regent. Demosthenes returns to Athens and +rouses the Greek states to recover their freedom; under Leosthenes they +overpower Antipater, who takes refuge in Lamia, whence this is called +the Lamian War. + +The Samnites sue for peace, but reject the terms on which it is offered +by the Romans. + +322. The body of Alexander is entombed at Alexandria. + +The confederate Greeks are defeated by Antipater at Crannon; end of the +Lamian War. + +Demosthenes, who was accused by the Macedonians of being privy to the +looting of the treasury by Harpalus, after the battle of Crannon fled to +Calauria; he was captured by the Macedonian troops and thereupon +poisoned himself. + +321. Beginning of the wars between Alexander's successors; Perdiccas and +Eumenes oppose themselves to Antipater, Craterus, Antigonus, and +Ptolemy. + +Perdiccas assails Ptolemy in Egypt; Perdiccas is slain in a mutiny. In +Asia Minor, Eumenes triumphs over Craterus, who is killed. + +Victory of the Samnites over the Romans at the Caudine Forks. These were +two narrow gorges, united by a range of mountains on each side. The +Romans went through the first pass, but found the second blocked up; on +returning they found the first similarly obstructed. Being thus hemmed +in they passed under the yoke. + +320. Eumenes, defeated by Antigonus, shuts himself up in the castle of +Nora, where he sustains a year's siege. + +319. Polysperchon is appointed by Antipater to succeed him as regent for +Philip Arrhidaeus and Alexander Aegus, half-brother and son of Alexander +the Great, on his, Antipater's, death. + +Polysperchon's elevation to power is followed by a league against him, +formed by Antipater's son Cassander, Antigonus, and Ptolemy. Eumenes +lends his support to Polysperchon, after escaping from Nora. + +318. The Romans and Samnites make a truce. + +Polysperchon prevailed over by Cassander in the struggle for power in +Greece and Macedonia. Athens he places under the rule of Phalereus. + +317. Phocion, an Athenian general who wisely advised in vain for peace +with Antipater, became regarded as a traitor; he fled to Phocis, entered +into the intrigues of Cassander, who delivered him up to the Athenians, +who condemned him to drink hemlock. Olympias, mother of Alexander the +Great, aided by Polysperchon and the Epirotes, seizes Macedonia. + +Olympias is put to death by Cassander. Eumenes, being betrayed to +Antigonus, is put to death; Antigonus holds the supreme power in Asia. + +315. The rebuilding of Thebes undertaken by Cassander. + +314. Commencement of the struggle against Antigonus waged by Cassander, +Ptolemy, Seleucus, and Lysimachus. + +313. Tyre surrenders to Antigonus. Ptolemy engages with him and conquers +Cyprus. + +The Romans take Fregellae and other towns from the Samnites. + +312. Seleucus Nicator establishes the realm of the Seleucidae, the army +of Antigonus, under his son Demetrius Poliorcetes, being defeated by +Ptolemy and Seleucus. Babylon is made the capital. + +Ptolemy conquers Judea; he transplants many Jews to Alexandria and +Cyrene, where their industry is encouraged and their religion protected. + +At Rome Appius Claudius, the blind, constructs the Via Appia, the first +aqueduct, and a canal through the Pontine marshes. + +Zeno institutes the sect of Stoics at Athens. + +311. A temporary peace among the competitors for power in Asia. Greece +is declared to be free, and Ptolemy resigns Phoenicia to Antigonus. + +Roxana, the widow of Alexander the Great, and her young son Alexander +Aegas, are put to death by Cassander. + +The Roman consul Bubulcus penetrates into Samnium, where he is +surrounded, and cuts his way through with great courage. + +310. Agathocles, the Syracusan ruler, defeated by the Carthaginians at +Himera, passes over to Africa and carries the war into their own +country. + +The Etruscans take up arms in favor of the Samnites. + +Civil war in the little kingdom of Bosporus; Satyrus II, king for a few +months, falls in battle. + +An eclipse of the sun, August 15th. + +309. Hercules, a natural son of Alexander, proclaimed king of Macedon; +he is murdered by Cassander. + +The Romans are victorious over the Samnites and the Etruscans. + +308. The Romans, under Fabius, compel the Etruscans to make peace; +Fabius then turns against the Samnites, whom he defeats. + +307. Demetrius Poliorcetes, son of Antigonus, arrives with a fleet at +Athens, expels Demetrius Phalereus, and restores the democracy, the +Athenians throw down Phalereus' statues and condemn him to death. + +306. Ptolemy's fleet is destroyed by Demetrius Poliorcetes at Salamis; +but Antigonus fails in his attempt on Egypt. Antigonus assumes the title +of king of Asia; Ptolemy Lagi, Lysimachus, and Seleucus, the rulers of +Egypt, Thrace, and that part of Alexander's empire east of the +Euphrates, likewise assume the royal title. Cassander of Macedon is +hailed king by his subjects. + +305. War between Seleucus and India, under Sandrocottus, ends in a +treaty of amity. + +Flavius reconciles all orders of the Roman state and erects a temple of +Concord. + +Demetrius Poliorcetes besieges Rome. + +304. The Romans triumphantly end the Second Samnite War. + +302. The priesthood at Rome is opened to the plebs. + +300.[90] Battle of Ipsus. Seleucus and Lysimachus overwhelm the army of +Antigonus and his son, Demetrius Poliorcetes; Antigonus is slain. His +dominions are divided among the victors. Lysimachus takes a large +portion of Asia Minor; Seleucus appropriates Upper Syria, Capuadocia, +and other territory. + +[Footnote 90: The date is usually given as 301.] + +Seleucus Nicator builds Antioch, which he makes the capital of his +kingdom of Syria. + +299. Rome engages in the Third Samnite War, which becomes one of +extermination, but the Samnites bravely resist in their mountain holds. + +295. Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, espouses Antigone of the house of Ptolemy; +he returns to his dominions, out of which he had been driven by the +Molossi. + +The Samnites, Etruscans, Umbrians, and Gauls unite against Rome. Q. +Fabius Rullianus and P. Decimo Mus defeat the Samnites and Gauls at +Sentinum. + +Demetrius Poliorcetes retakes Athens; Lysimachus and Ptolemy deprive him +of all he possesses. + +294. The Macedonian throne is seized by Demetrius Poliorcetes; by +violence or treachery the sons of Cassander are slain. + +293. Many towns of the Samnites are so utterly destroyed by the Romans +that their sites are unknown; a portion of the spoil is cast into a +brazen colossus, and placed in front of the Roman Capitol. + +The Roman census is 272,308 citizens. + +The first sun-dial at Rome is placed on the temple of Quirinus. + +290. The end of the Third Samnite War, which results in the submission +of the Samnites to Rome. + +287. Birth of Archimedes, celebrated mathematician.[Est] + +Lysimachus and Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, wrest Macedonia from Demetrius +Poliorcetes; immediately after, Lysimachus expels Pyrrhus. + +286. The Hortensian law, passed by Q. Hortensino, affirmed the +legislative power granted the plebeians B.C. 446 and 336. + +285. Completion of the Septuagint, a Greek version of the Scriptures, +called "the Alexandrian." + +The length of the solar year first accurately determined by Dionysius, +in the astronomical canon. + +283. Death of Ptolemy Lagi (Ptolemy Soter); Ptolemy Philadelphus +(jointly on the throne with his father since 295) succeeds him as King +of Egypt. He further encourages the immigration of the Jews, who +flourish exceedingly. + +282. The Tarentines attack a Roman fleet and insult the ambassadors, who +demand satisfaction. Rome prepares for war; the Tarentines engage +Pyrrhus to assist them. + +281. Lysimachus, at war with Seleucus Nicator, is defeated and slain in +Phrygia. + +The Roman consul Aemilius invades the territory of Tarentum. + +280. Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, invades Italy; he makes the cause of +Tarentum his own and wars on Rome. Laevinus, the Roman consul, is +defeated. See "FIRST BATTLE BETWEEN GREEKS AND ROMANS," ii, 166. + +Revival of the Achaean League. The Achaei originally inhabited the +neighborhood of Argos; when driven thence by the Heraclidae, they +retired among the Ionians, expelled the natives, and seized their +thirteen cities, forming the Achaean League. + +279. Pyrrhus, who had tried to mediate between Tarentum and Rome, +meeting with non-success, advances on Rome. He fails to make any +impression and returns to Tarentum; the Romans follow him, and he gains +an unimportant victory over them at Asculum. See "FIRST BATTLE BETWEEN +GREEKS AND ROMANS," ii, 166. + +Irruption of Gauls into Macedonia; King Ptolemy Ceraunus offers battle +to them, in which he is killed.[91] + +[Footnote 91: The date usually given is B.C. 280.] + +278. The Gauls under Brennus invade Greece; they are cut to pieces near +Delphi. + +Alliance formed between Rome and Carthage. + +Pyrrhus wars against Carthage in Sicily. + +277. A body of Gauls enter Northern Phrygia, of which they take +possession. + +Pyrrhus expels the Carthaginians from most of their possessions in +Sicily. + +276. Other Grecian cities join the Achaean League. + +275. Pyrrhus, on the arrival of Carthaginian reenforcements, returns to +Italy; he is totally defeated by M. Curius Dentatus (at Beneventum), who +exhibits in his triumphs the first elephants ever seen in Rome. + +273. Ptolemy Philadelphus, of Egypt, sends an embassy to congratulate +the Romans on their victory and to ask an alliance with them. + +272. Pyrrhus attempts the siege of Sparta; he is repulsed. In an attack +on Argos, Pyrrhus is slain. + +Tarentum surrenders to the Romans. + +Lucania and Brittium also submit to Rome. + +269. The first silver coinage at Rome. + +266. The Romans capture and destroy Volsinii; Rome controls all Italy. + +264. War between Rome and Carthage. See "THE PUNIC WARS," ii, 179. + +Gladiators first introduced into Rome. + +263. Antigonus Gonatus, King of Macedon, captures Athens. + +The Romans compel Hiero, King of Syracuse, to withdraw from the support +of Carthage. See "THE PUNIC WARS," ii, 179. + +Philetaerus at his death appoints his nephew, Eumenes, King of Pergamus; +the competition for books between him and Ptolemy Philadelphus causes +the latter to prohibit the export of papyrus from Egypt; this leads to +the invention of parchment at Pergamus, whence it takes its name. + +Hiero makes peace with the Romans; he becomes their most trusted ally. + +260. Ships-of-war first built by the Romans; the naval power of Rome +inaugurated by the decisive victory of Duilius over the Carthaginians at +Mylae. See "THE PUNIC WARS," ii, 179. + +259. The Romans invade Corsica; they carry off much rich spoil from +thence and Sardinia, but make no permanent conquests. The island of +Melita (Malta) is captured by the Romans. + +258. Atilius, the Roman consul, surrounded by the Carthaginians in +Sicily, escapes with difficulty. + +257. A drawn battle between the fleets of Rome and Carthage off Tyndaris +causes the Romans to prepare larger ships, in order to strike a decisive +blow. + +256. Total defeat of the Carthaginian fleet near Ecnomus; the victorious +Roman consuls land in Africa. The Carthaginians hire troops from Greece +and give the command to Xanthippus. See "THE PUNIC WARS," ii, 179. + +255. Regelus and his Roman legions are vanquished by Xanthippus; Regelus +is taken captive. The Romans fit out a large fleet, which gains another +victory and brings off the remains of the army from Africa. Many of the +ships are wrecked. + +254. Another fleet consisting of 220 ships is equipped in three months +by the Romans; Panormus (Palermo) is captured. See "THE PUNIC WARS," ii, +179. + +253. The Romans again land in Africa and ravage many Carthaginian coast +cities; on their return most of their ships are wrecked; the Romans +resolve to abstain from naval warfare. + +252. Birth of Philopoemen, called the "Last of the Greeks." + +251. Aratus restores the freedom of Sicyon; joins the Achaean League, +which becomes a powerful body. + +250. Arsaceo founds the kingdom of Parthia. + +The Romans begin the siege of Lilybaeum; the Carthaginians successfully +defend it till the close of the war. Metellus, the Roman proconsul, +commanding in Sicily, gains a great victory over Hasdrubal near +Panoramus; over one hundred elephants form part of his triumphal +procession. + +249. Naval victory of the Carthaginians over the Romans at Drepanum. + +Regelus is sent to Rome to propose an exchange of prisoners; on his +return the Carthaginians put him to death with the utmost cruelty. + +The war between Syria and Egypt, which had been ruinous to the former, +is ended by a treaty between Antiochus II and Ptolemy Philadelphus. One +of the conditions was that Antiochus repudiate Laodice and marry +Berenice, Ptolemy's daughter. + +248. Parthia becomes an independent kingdom. + +247. Birth of Hannibal, the famous Carthaginian general. + +Ptolemy Euergetes succeeds his father Ptolemy Philadelphus on the throne +of Egypt. + +243. Corinth, delivered by Aratus from the yoke of Macedon, joins the +Achaean League; other states follow the example. + +241. Agis IV, of Sparta, assists the Achaeans in their war against the +Aetolians. + +Rome, having again assembled a great fleet, under Lutatius Catalus, +vanquishes the Carthaginians in a naval encounter off the Aegates. End +of the First Punic War; Sicily is relinquished by Carthage to Rome. + +240. The Carthaginian mercenaries in Africa revolt; Hamilcar Barca +crushes it out. + +237. Carthage is compelled to cede Sardinia to Rome. + +236-221. Celomenes III of Sparta institutes great political reforms and +engages in a struggle with the Achaean League. + +236-220. Hamilcar Barca and Hasdrubal, his son-in-law, conquer a great +part of Spain. + +235. Rome, at peace with all the world, closes the temple of Janus, for +the first time since Numa, according to legend, the second king of Rome. + +234. Birth of Cato the Elder. + +Scipio Africanus born. + +230. Ambassadors sent by Rome to protest against the piracies of the +Illyrians are murdered by the order of Queen Teuta. + +229. A successful war is waged by the Romans against the Greek kingdom +of Illyria; the Roman power is extended across the Adriatic. + +On the death of Hamilcar, his son-in-law, Hasdrubal, takes his place in +Spain; he founds Carthago Nova (Carthagena). + +227. Sparta makes war with the Achaean League. + +225-222. Cisalpine Gaul is conquered by the Romans. + +221. Cleomenes III is crushed by Antigonus Doson, ruler of Macedon, at +Sellasia; the Spartan power is utterly destroyed. + +220. Social war; the war made by the Aetolian League on the Achaean +League. + +219. Hannibal lays siege to Saguntum, which he destroys; this is the +real commencement of the Second Punic War. See "THE PUNIC WARS," ii, +179. + +Philip V, of Macedon, is victorious in his campaigns against the +Aetolian League. + +218. Hannibal crosses the Alps into Italy; he defeats the Romans on the +Ticinus and Trebia. See "THE PUNIC WARS," ii, 179. + +217. Philip V continues his victorious way against the Aetolian League. + +Hannibal defeats the Romans at the Trasimene Lake. + +Antiochus the Great cedes Coele-Syria and Palestine to Egypt. + +216. Crushing defeat of the Romans by Hannibal at Cannae. See "THE PUNIC +WARS," ii, 179. + +214. Rome has her first encounter with Macedon; Philip V allies himself +with Hannibal and begins the war. + +Marcellus is sent into Sicily and besieges Syracuse, which had declared +against Rome. + +213. Aratus, strategus of the Achaean League, is poisoned by Philip V of +Macedon; this alienates from him many Greek states. + +Hwangti crushes out literature in China. + +212. After a two-years' siege the Romans under Marcellus take Syracuse. + +The two Scipios defeated and killed in Spain. See "THE PUNIC WARS," ii, +179. + +211. Hannibal before the gates of Rome. See "THE PUNIC WARS," ii, 179. + +The Aetolian League with its allies assists Rome against Macedon. + +210. Aegina taken by the Romans; the inhabitants reduced to slavery. + +Agrigentum, being conquered by Caevinus, places all Sicily again under +Roman subjection. + +Scipio, victorious in Spain, takes Carthago Nova. See "THE PUNIC WARS," +ii, 179. + +208. Suspension of his operations against Scipio--the future Scipio +Africanus--in Spain by Hasdrubal, son of Hamilcar, who sets out to +relieve his brother Hannibal in Italy. + +207. Hasdrubal is defeated and slain on the Metaurus. See "BATTLE OF THE +METAURUS," ii, 195. + +A signal victory is achieved by Philopoemen, general of the Achaean +League, with Macedon, over the Spartans at Matinea. + +206. Birth of Polybius, Greek historian. + +The Carthaginian power in Spain completely destroyed by Scipio. + +205. End of the first Romo-Macedonian war. + +204. Scipio carries the war into Africa; he defeats the Carthaginians +and the Numidians. + +203. Hannibal, recalled from Italy, arrives at Carthage. + +202. The Carthaginian power is completely broken, ending the Second +Punic War. See "SCIPIO AFRICANUS CRUSHES HANNIBAL AT ZAMA AND SUBJUGATES +CARTHAGE," ii, 224. + +201. A war is begun by Rome for the resubjugation of the Boii and +Insubres of Cisalpine Gaul, who had attained freedom owing to the +Carthaginian invasion. + +The Jews become subject to the Seleucid monarchy. + +200. Declaration of war by Rome against Macedon; the second Macedonian +war. + +198. Antiochus the Great, of Syria, conquers Palestine and Coele-Syria +from Egypt, defeating Scopas and the Aetolian allies. + +197. Decisive Roman victory over the Macedonians at Cynoscephale; Philip +V of Macedon makes a humiliating peace. + +196. The Roman general Flaminius proclaims the freedom of the Greeks. + +195.[Est] Birth of Terrence, Roman comic poet. + +Ptolemy V, Epiphanes, King of Egypt. See i, 1, "The Rosetta Stone." + +192. In concert with the Aetolians, Antiochus the Great takes up arms +against Rome. + +191. Antiochus is defeated by the Romans under Acilius Glabrio, at +Thermopylae, in Greece. The resubjugation of Cisalpine Gaul is completed +by Rome. + +All the Peloponnesus is included in the Achaean League, which attains +its apogee. + +190. Scipio Asiaticus takes command of the Romans in Greece, with his +brother Africanus as lieutenant; Antiochus is vanquished at Magnesia and +he is compelled to release his hold on the greater part of Asia Minor. +Most of the conquered territory is annexed to Pergamus. Scipio Asiaticus +takes his surname for the courage and ability he showed. + +189. Fall of the Aetolian League. + +185. Birth of Scipio Africanus the Younger. + +179. Death of Philip V of Macedon. His son Perseus negotiates secretly +with other states against Rome. The Celtiberians and Lusitanians lay +down their arms. + +177. Rome suppresses a revolt in Sardinia. A colony settled at Lucca. +The Achaeans contract an alliance with Rome. + +Thessaly relapses under the Macedonian influence. + +176. The consul Scipio dies, and C. Valerius Laevinus takes his place +for the rest of the year. His colleague Petilius is slain in battle +against the Ligurians. The Orchian and other sumptuary laws fail to +repress the luxury of the Romans. + +175. Disgraceful struggles for the high-priesthood of Jerusalem; +Antiochus sells it to Jason, the brother of Onias, who is deposed. + +174. Masinissa, after many encroachments, seizes the Carthaginian +provinces of Tyssa, with fifty cities; Roman ambassadors sent to settle +the dispute. Others deputed to ascertain the intentions of Perseus. + +Mithridates VI of the Arsacidae begins his reign and prepares the +elevation of Parthia to great power. + +173. The Roman ambassadors return, Perseus having refused to receive +them. + +Death of Cleopatra, who, in the name of her young son, had been regent +of Egypt. + +172. The Ligurians are subdued and Northern Italy filled with Roman +colonies. Eumenes honorably received at Rome; on his way back he is +attacked by assassins near Delphi. + +Menelaus, another brother, supplants Jason in the high-priesthood of +Jerusalem. + +171. Commencement of the Third Macedonian War; King Perseus begins his +struggle with Rome. + +Antiochus invades Egypt and takes Memphis. + +170. Hostilius, who takes the command in Macedon, makes no progress; the +Roman fleet ravages the sea-coast. + +Perseus negotiates with Antiochus, Prusias, and many Greek states to +form a coalition against Rome; even Eumenes begins to treat with him. + +Ptolemy Physcon is associated with his brother as joint King of Egypt. + +169. The manoeuvres of Marcius Philippus drive Perseus from his strong +position in Tempe. + +Antiochus lays siege to Alexandria; the Egyptians apply to Rome for aid. + +168. Battle of Pydna; complete defeat of Perseus, King of Macedon, by +the Romans, under L. Aenilius Paulas. Macedon becomes a Roman province. + +Antiochus, awed by the Roman ambassador Popillius and the fate of +Perseus, evacuates Egypt. In his retreat he plunders Jerusalem and +despoils the Temple, in which he sets up the statue of Jupiter Olympias. + +167. Deportation of a thousand Achaeans to Rome; among them is Polybius, +the historian, who there finds patrons and friends. The first library +opened in Rome, consisting of books plundered from Macedon. + +Arms are taken up by the Asmoneans against Antiochus, King of Syria. + +165. Judas Maccabaeus enters Jerusalem; he purifies the Temple. See +"JUDAS MACCABEUS LIBERATES JUDEA," ii, 245. + +160. Defeat and death of Judas Maccabaeus in battle. + +158. Roman citizens are almost entirely relieved of direct taxation by +the revenues from Macedon and other conquests. + +149. Commencement of the Third Punic War between Rome and Carthage. See +"THE PUNIC WARS," ii, 179. + +First Roman law against bribery at elections. + +147.[Est] Viriathus, the Lusitanian leader, has his first great victory +over the Romans. + +146. Scipio Africanus the Younger completely destroys Carthage. + +Mummius, commanding in Greece, defeats the Archaeans at Leucopetra; he +captures and destroys Corinth. The treasures of Grecian art conveyed to +Rome. Greece becomes a Roman province. + +Demetrius Nicator slays Alexander Bala in battle and becomes king of +Syria. + +141. Simon Maccabaeus captures the citadel of Jerusalem. + +Silanus, accused by the Macedonians of corrupt practices, is condemned +by his father, Torquatus, and takes his own life. + +140. The Jews proclaim Simon Maccabaeus hereditary prince; with this +dignity is united the office of high-priest. + +[Est]Viriathus, the Lusitanian leader against the Romans in Spain, is +assassinated by order of the consul Caepio. + +135. Simon Maccabaeus is assassinated; John Hyrcanus, his son, succeeds +him as ruler at Jerusalem. + +134-133. Antiochus Tidetes, King of Syria, besieges Jerusalem; he is +repulsed. + +134-132. Servile War in Sicily, caused by the inhuman treatment of the +slaves by their owners; two great battles were fought before the rising +was suppressed. + +133. Tiberius Gracchus attempts his great political and agrarian reforms +in Rome. See "THE GRACCHI AND THEIR REFORMS," ii, 259. + +Scipio Africanus the Younger reduces Numantia. + +Attalus III of Pergamus bequeaths his kingdom, which embraces a great +part of Asia Minor, to the Romans. + +125-121. The southeastern portion of Transalpine Gaul conquered by the +Romans. + +123-122. Caius Gracchus commences his agrarian reforms in Rome. See "THE +GRACCHI AND THEIR REFORMS," ii, 259. + +118. Rome extends her dominion beyond the Rhone; the colony of Narbo +Martius (Narbonne) founded. + +113. Hordes of the Cimbri and Teutons threaten the Rome dominion by an +invasion of Illyrium. + +112. Jugurtha, King of Numidia, kills Adherbal, who has been restored to +the throne of Numidia after being driven thence by Jugurtha. + +111. The consul Calpurnius proceeds with a Roman army into Numidia; +bribed by Jugurtha, he makes a peace and withdraws his forces. + +109. Jugurtha is opposed in Numidia by the Roman army headed by +Metellus. + +John Hyrcanus, the Jewish Prince and high-priest, defeats Ptolemy +Lathyrus and captures Samaria.[Est] + +The Cimbri request an allotment of land from the Romans, whereon to +settle; it is refused; they ravage the country, but are checked in +Thrace by Nimicus Rufus. + +108. Metellus, as proconsul, continues the war in Numidia. + +The Cimbri defeat the consul Scaurus in Gaul. + +Mithridates of Pontus secretly prepares to regain by force the province +of Phrygia, which the Romans took from him during his minority. + +107. Marius vigorously carries on the war against Jugurtha; Marius is +consul, Sylla his quaestor. + +Cassius, Roman consul, is defeated and slain by the Cimbri in Gaul. + +106. Birth of Cicero. Birth of Pompey the Great. + +Jugurtha is betrayed by Bocchus, King of Mauretania, into the hands of +the Romans, which ends the Jugurthine War. + +105. The Cimbri and Teutones defeat the consul Manilius and proconsul +Caepio, near the Rhone, with great loss. + +Aristobulus, son of John Hyrcanus, succeeds his father and assumes the +title of king of Judea. + +104. Alexander Jannaeus succeeds his brother Aristobulus in Judea. + +102. Marius overwhelmingly defeats the Teutones, while they were +retreating from Spain, at Aquae Sextiae (Aix). + +Another revolt of the slaves in Sicily (Second Servile War). + +101. Marius utterly crushes the Cimbri on the Raudian Fields, after they +had previously defeated the proconsul Lutatius Catulus. + +100. The Second Servile War continues. + +Birth of Julius Cæsar. + +99. M. Aquilius finally crushes out the slave uprising in Sicily. + +94. Mithridates makes his son king of Cappadocia. + +93. Cappadocians appeal to the Romans, who give them Ariobarzanes for +their king. Mithridates seizes Galatia. + +92. Sulla is sent by the Romans into Cappadocia to observe Mithridates' +proceedings; ambassadors from Parthia meet him there. + +91. M. Livius Drussus, people's tribune, advocates giving the rights of +citizenship to the Roman allies; he is assassinated. + +90. Social or Marsic War, a conflict of the Italian states against Rome, +begins, the cause being the refusal of the franchise by Rome. Cæsar, the +consul, is unfortunate against the Samnites, and Rutilius is defeated +and slain by the Marsi. Marius retrieves these disasters. Citizenship +granted to the states which remain faithful to Rome. + +The Roman senate promises aid to Cappadocia against Mithridates. + +89. The consul Pompeius (father of Pompey the Great) gains decided +victories over the Picentines; his colleague, Cato, defeats the Marsi, +but is killed in the battle; Sulla takes the command, and is so +successful that he is elected consul for the ensuing year. Cicero is a +cadet in the army of Pompeius. + +Cleopatra is put to death by her son Alexander, who is expelled from +Egypt, and Ptolemy Soter restored. + +88. End of the Social War. Most of the refractory states admitted to +Roman citizenship. + +Mithridates, King of Pontus, occupies Phrygia; he asks all Asia Minor to +join him; a general massacre of the Romans occurs. + +Quarrel between Sulla and Marius which causes war between them for the +control of the Roman army. The first Roman civil war. + +87. Sulla proceeds to Greece to conduct the war against Mithridates; +Sulla besieges Athens. + +The consul Cinna, deposed by the senate, calls Marius from Africa, +raises an Italian army, and reinstates himself in office; bloody +proscriptions by Marius and Cinna follow. + +86. Death of Marius, in the beginning of his seventh consulate; Flaccus, +appointed in his place, is assassinated on his march to the east, by C. +Fimbria, who assumes command of the Roman army. + +Sulla captures the revolted city of Athens and defeats the army of +Mithridates under Archelaus. + +A sedition of the Jews is quelled with merciless severity by Alexander +Jannaeus. + +85. The Romans are successful against Mithridates in Asia. + +84. End of the First Mithridatic War; Mithridates, finding himself +between two victorious Roman armies, agrees to peace and relinquishes +all his acquisitions. + +83. Sulla makes war against the Marian party in Italy. + +The Roman senate refuses to send Mithridates a formal ratification of +the treaty. He retains a part of Cappadocia. The Second Mithridatic War +begins. + +82. Sulla becomes dictator at Rome, after crushing the Marian party; he +inflicts a bloody vengeance on his enemies. + +End of the Second Mithridatic War. + +81. Pompey, having been successful in Africa, is granted a triumph in +Rome. + +80. Sertorius, the Marian leader, sets up an independent state in Spain. + +Cæsar serves as a cadet at the siege of Mitylene; he receives a civic +crown for saving the life of a citizen. + +79. Sulla resigns the dictatorship, but remains master of Rome. + +Alexander Jannaeus, King of Judea, is succeeded on his death by his +widow Alexandra. + +78. Death of Sulla. + +76. Pompey is sent into Spain to oppose Sertorius. + +74. Mithridates renews hostilities; he enters into an abortive alliance +with Sertorius. Third Mithridatic War. Lucullus commands the Roman +forces. + +73. Lucullus routs the army of Mithridates. + +Rising of the gladiators; Spartacus collects, on Mount Vesuvius, a +numerous army of slaves and gladiators; they overcome the forces sent +against them and ravage Southern Italy. The Third Servile War. + +72. Sertorius is assassinated in Spain; the Spaniards submit to Pompey. + +King Mithridates is driven from his dominions by Lucullus; the King +takes refuge in Armenia. + +71. Crassus defeats and slays Spartacus; the gladiators are crushed. + +70. Death of Alexandra, widow of Jannaeus; she nominates her son, +Hyrcanus, as her successor; but his brother, Aristobulus, usurps the +throne of Judea. + +Pompey and Crassus, previously at variance, are reconciled during their +joint consulship. + +Cicero's six orations (the first only being actually delivered) against +Verres, who, when governor of Sicily, had plundered the island of +property, art treasures, etc. + +Birth of Vergil. + +69. Lucullus crosses the Euphrates, captures Tigranocerta, and defeats +Tigranes, who had succored Mithridates in Armenia. + +68. Lucullus defeats Tigranes and takes Nisibis. + +67. A mutiny in the Roman army caused by the appointment of Glabrio to +succeed Lucullus. + +Pompey crushes the pirates of Cilicia and makes it a Roman province. + +Julius Cæsar is quaestor in Spain. + +Metellus completes the conquest of Crete for the Romans. + +Mithridates makes a successful advance. + +66. Pompey, after a conference with Lucullus, completely crushes +Mithridates and drives him over the Cimmerian Bosporus. + +65. End of the Third Mithridatic War. + +Antiochus XIII is deposed by Pompey; this puts an end to the kingdom of +the Seleucidas (Syria). + +Hyrcanus takes up arms against his brother Aristobulus in Judea. + +64. Pompey takes possession of Syria; he is recalled thence to oppose +Mithridates, who, returned to his states, prepares for further +resistance. + +63. Having intervened between the brothers John Hyrcanus II and +Aristobulus II, and decided in favor of Hyrcanus, Pompey lays siege to +Jerusalem, where Aristobulus reigns, captures it, and makes Judea a +Roman province. + +Mithridates, betrayed by his son, poisons himself. + +Cicero frustrates the conspiracy of Catiline, having for its object the +cancellation of debts, the proscription of the wealthy, and the +distribution among the conspirators of all the offices of honor and +emolument. + +62. Catiline is defeated and slain, after having collected an army in +Etruria. + +Discord arises between Cæsar, now prætor, and Cato, tribune of the +people. + +60. First Triumvirate in Rome, formed of Pompey, Crassus, and Cæsar, +equally dividing the power. + +59. Consulship of Cæsar at Rome; he carries his agrarian law and +ingratiates himself with the people; he is given the command in Gaul and +Illyrium for five years. + +58. Cæsar begins his campaigns in Gaul. See "CÆSAR CONQUERS GAUL," ii, +267. + +Cicero exiled from Rome; he had saved the Republic at the time of the +Catiline conspiracy, but had broken the constitution, which forbade +capital punishment without the sentence of the assembly of the people. + +57. The Belgae conquered by Cæsar. + +Cicero recalled to Rome. + +56. Roman conquest of Aquitaine. + +55. Cato is imprisoned for opposing the vote giving the triumvirs five +more years in their respective provinces: Pompey in Spain; Cæsar in +Gaul; Crassus in Syria. The triumvirs meet at Lucca. + +Caesar's first expedition into Britain. See "ROMAN INVASION AND CONQUEST +OF BRITAIN," ii, 285. + +54. First campaign of Crassus; he plunders the Temple of Jerusalem and +proceeds against the Parthians. + +Mithridates of Parthia is murdered by his brother Orodes. + +Cæsar's second invasion of Britain. See "ROMAN INVASION AND CONQUEST OF +BRITAIN," ii, 285. + +53. Crassus defeated and slain in the war against the Parthians at +Carrhae. + +52. Vercingetorix, at the head of various Gallic tribes, makes a +formidable effort to drive Cæsar out of Gaul; he is unsuccessful, and +Cæsar, besieging him in his stronghold Alesia, forces him to surrender. + +51. Peace between Rome and Parthia. Cæsar completes his conquest of +Gaul. + +Cleopatra, on the death of her father, Ptolemy Auletes, becomes queen of +Egypt. See "CLEOPATRA'S CONQUEST OF CÆSAR AND ANTONY," ii, 295. + +50. Cæsar returns to Italy; jealousy between him and Pompey arouses the +people of Rome. + +49. War breaks out between Cæsar and Pompey; the second civil war in +Rome. + +48. Pompey is defeated by Cæsar at Pharsalia; Pompey flees to Egypt, +where he is assassinated. + +47. The Roman senate appoints Cæsar dictator, M. Antony as his master of +the horse. Cæsar subdues Egypt. + +46. Cæsar overwhelms the Pompeians in Africa at the battle of Thapsus; +Juba, King of Numidia, on the defeat, takes his own life.[92] + +[Footnote 92: Other authorities say he fell in battle.] + +Death of Cato. + +The calendar is reformed by Cæsar. + +45. Cæsar conquers the sons of Pompey at Munda, Spain. He is appointed +dictator for life. + +44. Brutus, Cassius, and other conspirators murder Cæsar in Rome. See +"ASSASSINATION OF CÆSAR," ii, 313. + +Conflict for power between Antony and Octavius; Cicero's oration secures +Octavius' success in Rome. + +Antony resorts to arms to regain his lost ascendency. See "ROME BECOMES +A MONARCHY," ii, 333. + +43. Second Triumvirate at Rome, formed by Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus. + +Murder of Cicero. Birth of Ovid. + +42. Brutus and Cassius are defeated at the two battles of Philippi. See +"ROME BECOMES A MONARCHY," ii, 333. + +41. Octavius and Antony's party war in Italy. + +Fulvia, the wife of Antony, and the consul Lucius, his brother, oppose +Octavius, who drives them from Rome. See "ROME BECOMES A MONARCHY," ii, +333. + +40. Herod I, in his absence at Rome, is proclaimed by Antony and +Octavius king of Judea. + +Antony accompanies Cleopatra to Egypt. See "ROME BECOMES A MONARCHY," +ii, 333. + +39. Herod lands in Syria to take the throne of Judea. + +38. Pompey is defeated in a naval engagement and loses all his fleet. + +37. Herod conquers Jerusalem; the Asmonean house ends. + +36. Lepidus, aspiring to greater power, is deserted by his soldiers and +ejected from the triumvirate. + +31. War of Antony and Octavius; Octavius is victorious at Actium: he +becomes master of the Roman dominions. Flight of Antony with Cleopatra +to Egypt. See "ROME BECOMES A MONARCHY," ii, 333. + +30. Death of Antony and Cleopatra. See "ROME BECOMES A MONARCHY," ii, +333. + +Egypt becomes a Roman province. + +27. Octavius has a triumph at Rome and receives the title of Augustus. + +The temple of Janus is closed. + +24. Aelius Gallus, governor of Egypt, fails in an expedition into +Arabia. + +19. Final subjugation of the Cantabri by Agrippa; the whole Spanish +peninsula subject to Rome. + +15. The Rhaetians and Vindelicians subdued by Drassus and Tiberius, at +the head of the Roman troops. + +12. Victorious advance of Drusus in Germany. + +9. Pannonia completely subdued by Tiberius. + +Last German campaign and death of Drusus. + +4. Death of Herod the Great, King of Judea. + +Probable date of the birth of Jesus. + +A.D. + +1. Beginning of the Christian era. + +4. Emperor Tiberius' campaign in Germany. + +6. Archelaus, the Herodian ethnarch, is deposed; Judea becomes a +district of the Roman prefecture of Syria. + +9. Arminius annihilates the army of Varus in Teutoburg Forest. See +"GERMANS UNDER ARMINIUS REVOLT AGAINST ROME," ii, 362. + +12. Tiberius leaves Germanicus to prosecute the war, and returns to +Rome. + + +END OF VOLUME II + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GREAT EVENTS BY FAMOUS HISTORIANS, VOL. 2 *** + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following +the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use +of the Project Gutenberg trademark. 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