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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6427.txt b/6427.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..238ca36 --- /dev/null +++ b/6427.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8408 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Rome From the Earliest Times to the End of the Republic +by Arthur Gilman + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Story of Rome From the Earliest Times to the End of the Republic + +Author: Arthur Gilman + +Release Date: September, 2004 [EBook #6427] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on December 11, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO Latin-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE STORY OF ROME FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE END OF THE REPUBLIC *** + + + + +Anne Soulard, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + +THE STORY OF ROME FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE END OF THE REPUBLIC + +BY ARTHUR GILMAN, M.A. + + + + +PREFACE. + + + +It is proposed to rehearse the lustrous story of Rome, from its +beginning in the mists of myth and fable down to the mischievous times +when the republic came to its end, just before the brilliant period of +the empire opened. + +As one surveys this marvellous vista from the vantage-ground of the +present, attention is fixed first upon a long succession of well- +authenticated facts which are shaded off in the dim distance, and +finally lost in the obscurity of unlettered antiquity. The flesh and +blood heroes of the more modern times regularly and slowly pass from +view, and in their places the unsubstantial worthies of dreamy +tradition start up. The transition is so gradual, however, that it is +at times impossible to draw the line between history and legend. +Fortunately for the purposes of this volume it is not always necessary +to make the effort. The early traditions of the Eternal City have so +long been recounted as truth that the world is slow to give up even the +least jot or tittle of them, and when they are disproved as fact, they +must be told over and over again as story. + +Roman history involves a narrative of social and political struggles, +the importance of which is as wide as modern civilization, and they +must not be passed over without some attention, though in the present +volume they cannot be treated with the thoroughness they deserve. The +story has the advantage of being to a great extent a narrative of the +exploits of heroes, and the attention can be held almost the whole time +to the deeds of particular actors who successively occupy the focus or +play the principal parts on the stage. In this way the element of +personal interest, which so greatly adds to the charm of a story, may +be infused into the narrative. + +It is hoped to enter to some degree into the real life of the Roman +people, to catch the true spirit of their actions, and to indicate the +current of the national life, while avoiding the presentation of +particular episodes or periods with undue prominence. It is intended to +set down the facts in their proper relation to each other as well as to +the facts of general history, without attempting an incursion into the +domain of philosophy. + +A.G. + +CAMBRIDGE, _September_, 1885. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + +I. + +ONCE UPON A TIME + +The old king at Troy--Paris, the wayward youth--Helen carried off--The +war of ten years--Æneas, son of Anchises, goes to Italy--His death-- +Fact and fiction in early stories--How Milton wrote about early +England--How Æneas was connected with England--Virgil writes about +Æneas--How Livy wrote about Æneas--Was Æneas a son of Venus?--Italy, as +Æneas would have seen it--Greeks in Italy--How Evander came from +Arcadia--How Æneas died--Thirty cities rise--Twins and a she-wolf-- +Trojan names in Italy--How the Romans named their children and +themselves. + +II. + +HOW THE SHEPHERDS BEGAN THE CITY + +Augury resorted to--Romulus and Remus on two hills--Vultures determine +a question--Pales, god of the shepherds--Beginning the city--Celer +killed--An asylum--Bachelors want wives--A game of wife-snatching-- +Sabines wish their daughters back--Tarpeia on the hill--A duel between +two hills--Two men named Curtius--Women interfere for peace--Where did +Romulus go?--Society divided by Romulus--Numa Pompilius chosen king-- +Laws of religion given the people--Guilds established--The year divided +into months--Tullus Hostilius king--Six brothers fight--Horatia killed +--Ancus Martius king--The wooden bridge. + +III. + +HOW CORINTH GAVE ROME A NEW DYNASTY + +Magna Græcia--Cypselus, the democratic politician--Demaratus goes to +Tarquinii--Etruscan relics--Lucomo's cap lifted--Lucomo changes his +name--A Greek king of Rome--A circus and other great public works--A +light around a boy's head--Servius Tullius king--How the kingdom passed +from the Etruscan dynasty. + +IV. + +THE RISE OF THE COMMONS + +A king of the plebeians--A league with Latin cities--A census taken-- +The Seven Hills--Classes formed among the people--Assemblies of the +people--How ace means one--Heads of the people--Armor of the different +classes--A Lustration or _Suovetaurilia_--What is a lustrum?-- +Servius divides certain lands--A wicked husband and a naughty wife-- +King Servius killed--Sprinkled with a father's blood. + +V. + +HOW A PROUD KING FELL + +A tyrant king--The mysterious Sibyl of Cumæ comes to sell books--The +head found on the Capitoline--A serpent frightens a king--A serious +inquiry sent to Delphi--A hollow stick filled with gold helps a young +man--A good wife spinning--A terrible oath--The Tarquins banished--A +republic takes the place of the kingdom--The first of the long line of +consuls--The good Valerius--The god Silvanus cries out to some effect-- +Lars Porsena of Clusium and what he tried to do--Horatius the brave-- +Rome loses land--A dictator appointed--Castor and Pollux help the army +at Lake Regillus--Caius Marcius wins a crown--Appius Claudius comes to +town. + +VI. + +THE ROMAN RUNNYMEDE + +The character of the Romans--Traits of the kings--Insignificance of +Latin territory--Occupations--Art backward--A narrow religion--Who were +the _populus Romanus?_--Patricians oppress the people--Wrongs of +Roman money-lending--How a debtor flaunted his rags to good purpose-- +Appius Claudius defied--A secession to the Anio--Apologue of the body +and its members--Laws of Valerius re-affirmed--Tribunes of the people +appointed--Peace by the treaty of the Sacred Mount. + +VII. + +HOW THE HEROES FOUGHT FOR A HUNDRED YEARS + +Coriolanus fights bravely--He enrages the plebeians--Women melt the +strong man's heart--Plebeians gain ground--Agrarian laws begin to be +made--Cassius, who makes the first, undermined--The family of the Fabii +support the commons--A black day on the Cremara--Cincinnatus called +from his plow--The Æquians subjugated--What a conquest meant in those +days--The Aventine Hill given to the commons--The ten men make ten laws +and afterwards twelve--The ten men become arrogant--How Virginia was +killed--Appius Claudius cursed--The second secession of the plebeians-- +The third secession--The commons make gains--Censors chosen--The +wonderful siege of Veii--How a tunnel brings victory--Camillus the +second founder of Rome--How the territory was increased, but ill omens +threaten. + +VIII. + +A BLAST FROM BEYOND THE NORTH WIND + +What the Greeks thought when they shivered--A warlike people come into +notice--Brennus leads the barbarians to victory--A voice from the +temple of Vesta--Tearful Allia--The city alarmed and Camillus called +for--How the sacred geese chattered to a purpose--Brennus successful, +but defeated at last--A historical game of scandal--Camillus sets to +work to make a new city--Camillus honored as the second founder of +Rome--Manlius less fortunate--Poor debtors protected by a law of Stolo +--A plague comes to Rome, and priests order stage-plays to be +performed--The floods of the Tiber come into the circus. + +IX. + +HOW THE REPUBLIC OVERCAME ITS NEIGHBORS + +Alexander the Great strides over Persia--Suppose he had attacked Rome? +--The man with a chain, and the man helped by a crow--How the Samnites +came into Campania--The memorable battle of Mount Gaurus--How Carthage +thought best to congratulate Rome--Debts become heavy again--How Decius +Mus sacrificed himself for the army--Misfortune at the Caudine Forks--A +general muddle, in which another Mus sacrifices himself--Another +secession of the commons--An agrarian law and an abolition of debts-- +What the wild waves washed up--Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, takes a lofty +model--How Cineas asked hard questions--Blind Appius Claudius stirs up +the people--Maleventum gets a better name--Ptolemy Philadelphus thinks +best to congratulate Rome--How the Romans made roads--The classes of +citizens. + +X. + +AN AFRICAN SIROCCO + +How an old Bible city sent out a colony--Carthage attends strictly to +its own business--Sicily a convenient place for a great fight--The +Mamertines not far from Scylla and Charybdis--Ancient war-vessels and +how they were rowed--The prestige of Carthage on the water destroyed-- +Xanthippus the Spartan helps the Carthaginians--The horrible fate of +noble Regulus--Hamilcar, the man of lightning, comes to view--Gates of +the temple of Janus closed the second time--A perfidious queen +overthrown--Two Gauls and two Greeks buried alive--Hannibal hates Rome +--Rome and Carthage fight the second time--Scipio and Fabius the +Delayer fight for Rome--Hannibal crosses the Alps--The terrible rout at +Lake Trasimenus--A business man beaten--Syracuse falls and Archimedes +dies--Fabius takes Tarentum--A great victory at the Metaurus--War +carried to Africa and closed at Zama--Hannibal a wanderer. + +XI. + +THE NEW PUSHES THE OLD--WARS AND CONQUESTS + +Tumultuous women stir up the city--What the Oppian Law forbade--Cato +the Stern opposes the women--The women find a valorous champion--How +did the matrons establish their high character?--Two parties look at +the growing influence of ideas from Greece--What were those +influences?--How Rome coveted Eastern conquests--How Flamininus fought +at the Dog-heads--How the Grecians cried for joy at the Isthmian games +--Great battles at Thermopylæ and Magnesia, and their results-- +Philopoemen, Hannibal, and Scipio die--The battle of Pydna marks an +era--Greece despoiled of its works of art--Cato wishes Carthage +destroyed--Numantia destroyed--The slaves in Sicily give trouble. + +XII. + +A FUTILE EFFORT AT REFORM + +Scipio gives away his daughter--Tiberius Gracchus serves the state-- +Romans without family altars or tombs--Cornelia urges Gracchus to do +somewhat for the state--Gracchus misses an opportunity--Another son of +Cornelia comes to the front--The younger Gracchus builds roads and +makes good laws--Drusus undermines the reformer--Office looked upon as +a means of getting riches--Marius and Sulla appear--Jugurtha fights and +bribes--Metellus, the general of integrity--Marius captures Jugurtha--A +shadow falls upon Rome--A terrible battle at Vercellæ--The slaves rise +again--The Domitian law restricts the rights of the senate--The ill- +gotten gold of Toulouse. + +XIII. + +SOCIAL AND CIVIL WARS + +The agrarian laws of Appuleius--Luxury increases and faith falls away-- +Rome for the Romans--Another Drusus appears--The brave Marsians menace +Rome--Ten new tribes formed--A war with Mithridates of Pontus--Marius +and Sulla struggle and Marius goes to the wall--Sulla besieges Athens-- +Sulla threatens the senate--The capitol burned--A battle at the Colline +Gate--Proscription and carnage--Sulla makes laws and retires to see the +effect--A _congiarium_--A grand funeral and a cremation. + +XIV. + +THE MASTER-SPIRITS OF THIS AGE + +Tendency towards monarchy--Sertorius and his white fawn--Crassus and +his great house--Cicero, the eloquent orator--Verres, the great thief-- +How Verres ran away--Catiline the Cruel--Cæsar, the man born to rule-- +Looking for gain in confusion--Lepidus flees after the fight of the +Mulvian bridge--How the two young men caused gladiators to fight--What +Spartacus did--Six thousand crosses--Pompey overawes the senate. + +XV. + +PROGRESS OF THE GREAT POMPEY + +Pompey the principal citizen--Crassus feeds the people at ten thousand +tables--How the pirates caught Cæsar, and how Cæsar caught the pirates +--Gabinius makes a move--The Manilian law sets Pompey further on-- +Mithridates fights and flees--Times of treasons, stratagems, and +spoils--Catiline plots--The sacrilege of Clodius--Cæsar pushes himself +to the front--The last agrarian law--Cæsar's success in Gaul-- +Vercingetorix appears--Cæsar's conquests. + +XVI. + +HOW THE TRIUMVIRS CAME TO UNTIMELY ENDS + +Pompey builds a theatre--Crassus must make his mark--Cato against +Cæsar--Curio helps Cæsar--Solemn jugglery of the pontiffs--Curio warm +enough--At the Rubicon--Crossing the little river--Pompey stamps in +vain--Cato flees from Rome--Metellus stands aside--Pompey killed-- +_Veni, vidi, vici_--Honors and plans of Cæsar--The calendar +reformed--Cæsar has too much ambition--'T was one of those coronets-- +The Ides of March--Antony, the actor--Antony the chief man in Rome-- +What next?. + +XVII. + +HOW THE REPUBLIC BECAME AN EMPIRE + +How Octavius became a Cæsar--Agrippa and Cicero give him their help-- +Octavius wins the soldiers, and Cicero launches his Philippics--Antony, +Lepidus, and Octavius become Triumvirs--Their first work a bloody one-- +Cicero falls--Brutus and Cassius defeated at Philippi--Antony forgets +Fulvia--Antony and Octavius quarrel and meet for discussion at +Tarentum--How Horace travelled to Brundusium--The duration of the +Triumvirate extended five years--Cleopatra beguiles Antony a second +time--The great battle off Actium--Octavius wins complete power, and a +new era begins--The Republic ends. + +XVIII. + +SOME MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE ROMAN PEOPLE + +How did these people live?--The first Roman house--The vestibule and +the dark room--The dining-room and the parlor--Rooms for pictures and +books--Cooking taken out of the atrium--How the houses were heated and +lighted--Life in a villa--The extravagance of the pleasure villa--When +a man and a woman had agreed to marry--How the bride dressed and what +the groom did--The wife's position and work--The _stola_ and the +_toga_--Foot-gear from _soccus_ to _cothurnus_--Breakfast, luncheon, +and dinner--The formal dinner--How the Romans travelled, and how they +sought office--The law and its penalties. + +XIX. + +THE ROMAN READING AND WRITING + +Grecian influence on Roman mental culture--Textbooks--Cato and Varro on +education--Dictation and copy-books--The early writers--Fabius Pictor-- +Plautus--Terence--Atellan plays--Cicero's works--Varro's works--Cæsar +and Catullus--Lucretius--Ovid and Tibullus--Sallust--Livy--Horace-- +Cornelius Nepos--Virgil and his works--Life at the villa of Mæcenas. + +XX. + +THE ROMAN REPUBLICANS SERIOUS AND GAY + +The will of the gods sought for--The first temples--Festivals in the +first month--Vinalia and Saturnalia--Fires of Vulcan and Vesta-- +Matronly and family services--No mythology at first--Colleges of +priests needed--An incursion of Greek philosophers--Games of childhood +--Checkers and other games of chance--The people cry for games--Games +in the circus--The amphitheatre invented--Men and beasts fight--Funeral +ceremonies--Charon paid--The mourning procession--Inurning the ashes +--The columbarium--The Roman May-day--Change from rustic simplicity to +urban orgies. + +INDEX. + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + +MAP OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE +MAP OF ANCIENT ROME +VIEW OF THE COLOSSEUM AND PORTION OF MODERN ROME +THE PLAIN OF TROY IN MODERN TIMES +ROMAN GIRLS WITH A STYLUS AND WRITING-TABLET +A ROMAN ALTAR MONUMENT OF THE HORATII AND THE CURIATII +MOUTH OF THE CLOACA MAXIMA AT THE TIBER, AND THE SO-CALLED + TEMPLE OF VESTA +ROMAN SOLDIERS, COSTUMES AND ARMOR +THE RAVINE OF DELPHI +THE CAPITOL RESTORED +ROMAN STREET PAVEMENT +A PHOENICIAN VESSEL (TRIREME) +A ROMAN WAR-VESSEL +HANNIBAL +TERENCE, THE LAST ROMAN COMIC POET +PUBLIUS CORNELIUS SCIPIO AFRICANUS +A ROMAN MATRON +ROMAN HEAD-DRESSES +GLADIATORS AT A FUNERAL +ACTORS' MASKS +A ROMAN MILE-STONE +IN A ROMAN STUDY +PLAN OF A ROMAN CAMP IN THE TIME OF THE REPUBLIC +POMPEY (CNEIUS POMPEIUS MAGNUS) +CAIUS JULIUS CÆSAR +GLADIATORS +TRIUMPHAL PROCESSION OF A ROMAN GENERAL +INTERIOR OF A ROMAN HOUSE +A ROMAN POETESS +THE FORUM ROMANUM IN MODERN TIMES +AN ELEPHANT IN ARMOR +ITALIAN AND GERMAN ALLIES, COSTUMES AND ARMOR +INTERIOR OF THE FORUM ROMANUM +MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO +CLEOPATRA'S SHOW SHIP +ANCIENT STATUE OF AUGUSTUS +THE HOUSE-PHILOSOPHER +DINING-TABLE AND COUCHES +COVERINGS FOR THE FEET +ARTICLES OF THE ROMAN TOILET +RUINS OF THE COLOSSEUM, SEEN FROM THE PALATINE HILL +A COLUMBARIUM + + + + +THE STORY OF ROME. + + + + +I. + +ONCE UPON A TIME. + + + +Once upon a time, there lived in a city of Asia Minor, not far from +Mount Ida, as old Homer tells us in his grand and beautiful poem, a +king who had fifty sons and many daughters. How large his family was, +indeed, we cannot say, for the storytellers of the olden time were not +very careful to set down the actual and exact truth, their chief object +being to give the people something to interest them. That they +succeeded well in this respect we know, because the story of this old +king and his great family of sons and daughters has been told and +retold thousands of times since it was first related, and that was so +long ago that the bard himself has sometimes been said never to have +lived at all. Still; somebody must have existed who told the wondrous +story, and it has always been attributed to a blind poet, to whom the +name Homer has been given. + +The place in which the old king and his great family lived was Ilium, +though it is better known as Troja or Troy, because that is the name +that the Roman people used for it in later times. One of the sons of +Priam, for that was the name of this king, was Paris, who, though very +handsome, was a wayward and troublesome youth. He once journeyed to +Greece to find a wife, and there fell in love with a beautiful daughter +of Jupiter, named Helen. She was already married to Menelaus, the +Prince of Lacedæmonia (brother of another famous hero, Agamemnon), who +had most hospitably entertained young Paris, but this did not interfere +with his carrying her off to Troy. The wedding journey was made by the +roundabout way of Phoenicia and Egypt, but at last the couple reached +home with a large amount of treasure taken from the hospitable +Menelaus. + +This wild adventure led to a war of ten years between the Greeks and +King Priam, for the rescue of the beautiful Helen. Menelaus and some of +his countrymen at last contrived to conceal themselves in a hollow +wooden horse, in which they were taken into Troy. Once inside, it was +an easy task to open the gates and let the whole army in also. The city +was then taken and burned. Menelaus was naturally one of the first to +hasten from the smoking ruins, though he was almost the last to reach +his home. He lived afterwards for years in peace, health, and happiness +with the beautiful wife who had cost him so much suffering and so many +trials to regain. + +[Illustration: THE PLAINS OF TROY IN MODERN TIMES.] + +Among the relatives of King Priam was one Anchises, a descendant of +Jupiter, who was very old at the time of the war. He had a valiant son, +however, who fought well in the struggle, and the story of his deeds +was ever afterwards treasured up among the most precious narratives of +all time. This son was named Æneas, and he was not only a descendant of +Jupiter, but also a son of the beautiful goddess Venus. He did not take +an active part in the war at its beginning, but in the course of time +he and Hector, who was one of the sons of the king, became the most +prominent among the defenders of Troy. After the destruction of the +city, he went out of it, carrying on his shoulders his aged father, +Anchises, and leading by the hand his young son, Ascanius, or Iulus, as +he was also called. He bore in his hands his household gods, called the +Penates, and began his now celebrated wanderings over the earth. He +found a resting-place at last on the farther coast of the Italian +peninsula, and there one day he marvellously disappeared in a battle on +the banks of the little brook Numicius, where a monument was erected to +his memory as "The Father and the Native God." According to the best +accounts, the war of Troy took place nearly twelve hundred years before +Christ, and that is some three thousand years ago now. It was before +the time of the prophet Eli, of whom we read in the Bible, and long +before the ancient days of Samuel and Saul and David and Solomon, who +seem so very far removed from our times. There had been long lines of +kings and princes in China and India before that time, however, and in +the hoary land of Egypt as many as twenty dynasties of sovereigns had +reigned and passed away, and a certain sort of civilization had +flourished for two or three thousand years, so that the great world was +not so young at that time as one might at first think If only there had +been books and newspapers in those olden days, what revelations they +would make to us now! They would tell us exactly where Troy was, which +some of the learned think we do not know, and we might, by their help, +separate fact from fiction in the immortal poems and stories that are +now our only source of information. It is not for us to say that that +would be any better for us than to know merely what we do, for poetry +is elevating and entertaining, and stirs the heart; and who could make +poetry out of the columns of a newspaper, even though it were as old as +the times of the Pharaohs? Let us, then, be thankful for what we have, +and take the beginnings of history in the mixed form of truth and +fiction, following the lead of learned historians who are and long have +been trying to trace the true clue of fact in the labyrinth of poetic +story with which it is involved. + +When the poet Milton sat down to write the history of that part of +Britain now called England, as he expressed it, he said: "The beginning +of nations, those excepted of whom sacred books have spoken, is to this +day unknown. Nor only the beginning, but the deeds also of many +succeeding ages, yes, periods of ages, either wholly unknown or +obscured or blemished with fables." Why this is so the great poet did +not pretend to tell, but he thought that it might be because people did +not know how to write in the first ages, or because their records had +been lost in wars and by the sloth and ignorance that followed them. +Perhaps men did not think that the records of their own times were +worth preserving when they reflected how base and corrupt, how petty +and perverse such deeds would appear to those who should come after +them. For whatever reason, Milton said that it had come about that some +of the stories that seemed to be the oldest were in his day regarded as +fables; but that he did not intend to pass them over, because that +which one antiquary admitted as true history, another exploded as mere +fiction, and narratives that had been once called fables were afterward +found to "contain in them many footsteps and reliques of something +true," as what might be read in poets "of the flood and giants, little +believed, till undoubted witnesses taught us that all was not feigned." +For such reasons Milton determined to tell over the old stories, if for +no other purpose than that they might be of service to the poets and +romancers who knew how to use them judiciously. He said that he did not +intend even to stop to argue and debate disputed questions, but, +"imploring divine assistance," to relate, "with plain and lightsome +brevity," those things worth noting. + +After all this preparation Milton began his history of England at the +Flood, hastily recounted the facts to the time of the great Trojan war, +and then said that he had arrived at a period when the narrative could +not be so hurriedly dispatched. He showed how the old historians had +gone back to Troy for the beginnings of the English race, and had +chosen a great-grandson of Æneas, named Brutus, as the one by whom it +should be attached to the right royal heroes of Homer's poem. Thus we +see how firm a hold upon the imagination of the world the tale of Troy +had after twenty-seven hundred years. + +Twenty-five or thirty years before the birth of Christ there was in +Rome another poet, named Virgil, writing about the wanderings of Æneas. +He began his beautiful story with these words: "Arms I sing, and the +hero, who first, exiled by fate, came from the coast of Troy to Italy +and the Lavinian shore." He then went on to tell in beautiful words the +story of the wanderings of his hero,--a tale that has now been read and +re-read for nearly two thousand years, by all who have wished to call +themselves educated; generations of school-boys, and schoolgirls too, +have slowly made their way through the Latin of its twelve books. This +was another evidence of the strong hold that the story of Troy had upon +men, as well as of the honor in which the heroes, and descent from +them, were held. + +In the generation after Virgil there arose a graphic writer named Livy, +who wrote a long history of Rome, a large portion of which has been +preserved to our own day. Like Virgil, Livy traced the origin of the +Latin people to Æneas, and like Milton, he re-told the ancient stories, +saying that he had no intention of affirming or refuting the traditions +that had come down to his time of what had occurred before the building +of the city, though he thought them rather suitable for the fictions of +poetry than for the genuine records of the historian. He added, that it +was an indulgence conceded to antiquity to blend human things with +things divine, in such a way as to make the origin of cities appear +more venerable. This principle is much the same as that on which Milton +wrote his history, and it seems a very good one. Let us, therefore, +follow it. + +In the narrative of events for several hundred years after the city of +Rome was founded, according to the early traditions, it is difficult to +distinguish truth from fiction, though a skilful historian (and many +such there have been) is able, by reading history backwards, to make up +his mind as to what is probable and what seems to belong only to the +realm of myth. It does not, for example, seem probable that Æneas was +the son of the goddess Venus; and it seems clear that a great many of +the stories that are mixed with the early history of Rome were written +long after the events they pretend to record, in order to account for +customs and observances of the later days. Some of these we shall +notice as we go on with our pleasant story. + +We must now return to Æneas. After long wanderings and many marvellous +adventures, he arrived, as has been said, on the shores of Italy. He +was not able to go rapidly about the whole country, as we are in these +days by means of our good roads and other modes of communication, but +if he could have done this, he would have found that he had fallen upon +a land in which the inhabitants had come, as he had, from foreign +shores. Some of them were of Greek origin, and others had emigrated +from countries just north of Italy, though, as we now know that Asia +was the cradle of our race, and especially of that portion of it that +has peopled Europe, we suppose that all the dwellers on the boot-shaped +peninsula had their origin on that mysterious continent at some early +period. + +If Æneas could have gone to the southern part of Italy,--to that part +from which travellers now take the steamships for the East at Brindisi, +he would have found some of the emigrants from the North. If he had +gone to the north of the river Tiber, he would have seen a mixed +population enjoying a greater civilization than the others, the +aristocracy of which had come also from the northern mountains, though +the common people were from Greece or its colonies. These people of +Greek descent were called Etruscans, and it has been discovered that +they had advanced so far in civilization, that they afterwards gave +many of their customs to the city of Rome when it came to power. A +confederacy known as the "Twelve Cities of Etruria" became famous +afterwards, though no one knows exactly which the twelve were. Probably +they changed from time to time; some that belonged to the union at one +period, being out of it at another. It will be enough for us to +remember that Veii, Clusium, Fidenæ, Volsinii, and Tarquinii were of +the group of Etruscan cities at a later date. + +The central portion of the country to which Æneas came is that known as +Italia, the inhabitants of which were of the same origin as the Greeks. +It is said that about sixty years before the Trojan war, King Evander +(whose name meant good man and true) brought a company from the land of +Arcadia, where the people were supposed to live in a state of ideal +innocence and virtue, to Italia, and began a city on the banks of the +Tiber, at the foot of the Palatine Hill. Evander was a son of Mercury, +and he found that the king of the country he had come to was Turnus, +who was also a relative of the immortal gods. Turnus and Evander became +fast friends, and it is said that Turnus taught his neighbors the art +of writing, which he had himself learned from Hercules, but this is one +of the transparent fictions of the story. It may be that he taught them +music and the arts of social life, and gave them good laws. What ever +became of good Evander we do not know. + +The king of the people among whom Æneas landed was one Latinus, who +became a friend of his noble visitor, giving him his daughter Lavinia +to wife, though he had previously promised her to Turnus. Æneas named +the town in which he lived Lavinium, in honor of his wife. Turnus was +naturally enraged at the loss of his expected bride, and made war upon +both Æneas and Latinus. The Trojan came off victorious, both the other +warriors being killed in the struggle. Thus for a short time, Æneas was +left sole king of all those regions, with no one to dispute his title +to the throne or his right to his wife; but the pleasure of ruling was +not long to be his, for a short time after his accession to power, he +was killed in battle on the banks of the Numicius, as has already been +related. His son Ascanius left the low and unhealthy site of Lavinium, +and founded a city on higher ground, which was called Alba Longa (the +long, white city), and the mountain on the side of which it was, the +Alban mountain. The new capital of Ascanius became the centre and +principal one of thirty cities that arose in the plain, over all of +which it seemed to have authority. Among these were Tusculum, Præneste, +Lavinium, and Ardea, places of which subsequent history has much to +say. + +Ascanius was successful in founding a long line of sovereigns, who +reigned in Alba for three hundred years, until there arose one Numitor +who was dispossessed of his throne by a younger brother named Amulius. +One bad act usually leads to another, and this case was no exception to +the rule, for when Amulius had taken his brother's throne, he still +feared that the rightful children might interfere with the enjoyment of +his power. Though he supported Numitor in comfort, he cruelly killed +his son and shut his daughter up in a temple. This daughter was called +Silvia, or, sometimes, Rhea Silvia. Wicked men are not able generally +to enjoy the fruits of their evil doings long, and, in the course of +time, the daughter of the dethroned Numitor became the mother of a +beautiful pair of twin boys, (their father being the god of war, Mars,) +who proved the avengers of their grandfather. Not immediately, however. +The detestable usurper determined to throw the mother and her babes +into the river Tiber, and thus make an end of them, as well as of all +danger to him from them. It happened that the river was at the time +overflowing its banks, and though the poor mother was drowned, the +cradle of the twins was caught on the shallow ground at the foot of the +Palatine Hill, at the very place where the good Evander had begun his +city so long before. There the waifs were found by one of the king's +shepherds, after they had been, strangely enough, taken care of for a +while by a she-wolf, which gave them milk, and a woodpecker, which +supplied them with other food. Faustulus was the name of this shepherd, +and he took them to his wife Laurentia, though she already had twelve +others to care for. The brothers, who were named Romulus and Remus, +grew up on the sides of the Palatine Hill to be strong and handsome +men, and showed themselves born leaders among the other shepherds, as +they attended to their daily duties or fought the wild animals that +troubled the flocks. + +The grandfather of the twins fed his herds on the Aventine Hill, nearer +the river Tiber, just across a little valley, and a quarrel arose +between his shepherds and those of Faustulus, in the course of which +Remus was captured and taken before Numitor. The old man thus +discovered the relationship that existed between him and the twins who +had so long been lost. In consequence of the discovery of their origin, +and the right to the throne that was their father's, they arose against +their unworthy uncle, and with the aid of their followers, put him to +death and placed Numitor in supreme authority, where he rightfully +belonged. The twins had become attached to the place in which they had +spent their youth, and preferred to live there rather than to go to +Alba with their royal grandfather. He therefore granted to them that +portion of his possessions, and there they determined to found a city. + +Thus we have the origin of the Roman people. We see how the early +traditions "mixed human things with things divine," as Livy said had +been done to make the origin of the city more respectable; how Æneas, +the far-back ancestor, was descended from Jupiter himself, and how he +was a son of Venus, the goddess of love. How Romulus and Remus, the +actual founders, were children of the god of war, and thus naturally +fitted to be the builders of a nation that was to be strong and to +conquer all known peoples on earth. The effort to ascribe to their +nation an origin that should appear venerable to all who believed the +stories of the gods and goddesses, was remarkably successful, and there +is no doubt that it gave inspiration to the Roman people long after the +worship of those divinities had become a matter of form, if not even of +ridicule. + +This was not all that was done, however, to establish the faith in the +old stories in the minds of the people. In some way that it is not easy +to explain, the names of the first heroes were fixed upon certain +localities, just as those of the famous British hero, King Arthur, have +long been fixed upon places in Brittany, Cornwall, and Southern +Scotland. We find at a little place called Metapontem, the tools used +by Epeus in making the wooden horse that was taken into Troy. The bow +and arrows of Hercules were preserved at Thurii, near Sybaris; the tomb +of Philoctetes, who inherited these weapons of the hero, was at +Macalla, in Bruttium, not far from Crotona, where Pythagoras had lived; +the head of the Calydonian Boar was at Beneventum, east of Capua, and +the Erymanthian Boar's tusks were at Cumæ, celebrated for its Sibyl; +the armor of Diomede, one of the Trojan heroes, was at Luceria, in the +vicinity of Cannæ; the cup of Ulysses and the tomb of Elpenor were at +Circei, on the coast; the ships of Æneas and his Penates were at +Lavinium, fifteen miles south of Rome; and the tomb of the hero himself +was at a spot between Ardea and Lavinium, on the banks of the brook +Numicius. Most men are interested in relics of olden times, and these, +so many and of such great attractiveness, were doubtless strong proofs +to the average Roman, ready to think well of his ancestors, that +tradition told a true story. + +As we read the histories of other nations than our own, we are struck +by the strangeness of many of the circumstances. They appear foreign +(or "outlandish," as our great-grandparents used to say), and it is +difficult to put ourselves in the places of the people we read of, +especially if they belong to ancient times. Perhaps the names of +persons and places give us as much trouble as any thing. It seems to +us, perhaps, that the Romans gave their children too many names, and +they often added to them themselves when they had grown up. They did +not always write their names out in full; sometimes they called each +other by only one of them, and at others by several. Marcus Tullius +Cicero was sometimes addressed as "Tullius" and is often mentioned in +old books as "Tully"; and he was also "M. Tullius Cicero." It was as if +we were to write "G. Washington Tudela," and call Mr. Tudela familiarly +"Washington." This would cause no confusion at the time, but it might +be difficult for his descendants to identify "Washington" as Mr. +Tudela, if, years after his death, they were to read of him under his +middle name only. The Greeks were much more simple, and each of them +had but one name, though they freely used nicknames to describe +peculiarities or defects. The Latins and Etruscans seem to have had at +first only one name apiece, but the Sabines had two, and in later times +the Sabine system was generally followed. A Roman boy had, therefore, a +given name and a family name, which were indispensable; but he might +have two others, descriptive of some peculiarity or remarkable event in +his life--as "Scævola," left-handed; "Cato," or "Sapiens," wise; +"Coriolanus," of Corioli. "Appius Claudius Sabinus Regillensis" means +Appius of the Claudian family of Regillum, in the country of the +Sabines. "Lucius Cornelius Scipio Africanus" means Lucius, of the +Cornelian family, and of the particular branch of the Scipios who won +fame in Africa. These were called the prænomen (forename), nomen +(name), cognomen (surname), and agnomen (added name). + + + + +II. + +HOW THE SHEPHERDS BEGAN THE CITY. + + + +The proverbs says that Rome was not built in a day. It was no easy task +for the twins to agree just where they should even begin the city. +Romulus thought that the Palatine Hill, on which he and his brother had +lived, was the most favorable spot for the purpose, while Remus +inclined no less decidedly in favor of the Aventine, on which Numitor +had fed his flocks. In this emergency, they seem to have asked counsel +of their grandfather, and he advised them to settle the question by +recourse to augury, [Footnote: Augury was at first a system of divining +by birds, but in time the observation of other signs was included. At +first no plebeians could take the auspices, as they seem to have had no +share in the divinities whose will was sought, but in the year 300, +B.C., the college of augurs, then comprising four patricians, was +enlarged by the admission of five plebeians. The augurs were elected +for life.] a practice of the Etrurians with which they were probably +quite familiar, for they had been educated, we are told, at Gabii, the +largest of the towns of Latium, where all the knowledge of the region +was known to the teachers. + +Following this advice, the brothers took up positions at a given time +on the respective hills, surrounded by their followers; those of +Romulus being known as the Quintilii, and those of Remus as the Fabii. +Thus, in anxious expectation, they waited for the passage of certain +birds which was to settle the question between them. We can imagine +them as they waited. The two hills are still to be seen in the city, +and probably the two groups were about half a mile apart. On one side +of them rolled the muddy waters of the Tiber, from which they had been +snatched when infants, and around them rose the other elevations over +which the "seven-hilled" city of the future was destined to spread. +From morning to evening they patiently watched, but in vain. Through +the long April night, too, they held their posts, and as the sun of the +second day rose over the Coelian Hill, Remus beheld with exultation six +vultures swiftly flying through the air, and thought that surely +fortune had decided in his favor. The vulture was a bird seldom seen, +and one that never did damage to crops or cattle, and for this reason +its appearance was looked upon as a good augury. The passage of the six +vultures did not, however, settle this dispute, as Numitor expected it +would, for Romulus, when he heard that Remus had seen six, asserted +that twelve had flown by him. His followers supported this claim, and +determined that the city should be begun on the Palatine Hill. It is +said that this hill, from which our word palace has come, received its +name from the town of Pallantium, in Arcadia, from which Evander came +to Italy. + +The twenty-first of April was a festal day among the shepherds, and it +was chosen as the one on which the new city should be begun (753 B.C.). +In the morning of the day, it was customary, so they say, for the +country people to purify themselves by fire and smoke, by sprinkling +themselves with spring water, by formal washing of their hands, and by +drinking milk mixed with grape-juice. During the day they offered +sacrifices, consisting of cakes, milk, and other eatables, to Pales, +the god of the shepherds. Three times, with faces turned to the east, a +long prayer was repeated to Pales, asking blessings upon the flocks and +herds, and pardon for any offences committed against the nymphs of the +streams, the dryads of the woods, and the other deities of the Italian +Olympus. This over, bonfires of hay and straw were lighted, music was +made with cymbal and flute, and shepherds and sheep were purified by +passing through the flames. A feast followed, the simple folk lying on +benches of turf, and indulging in generous draughts of their homely +wines, such, probably, as the visitor to-day may regale himself with in +the same region. Towards evening, the flocks were fed, the stables were +cleansed and sprinkled with water with laurel brooms, and laurel boughs +were hung about them as adornments. Sulphur, incense, rosemary, and +fir-wood were burned, and the smoke made to pass through the stalls to +purify them, and even the flocks themselves were submitted to the same +cleansing fumes. + +The beginning of a city in the olden time was a serious matter, and +Romulus felt the solemnity of the acts in which he was about to engage. +He sent men to Etruria, from which land the religious customs of the +Romans largely came, to obtain for him the minute details of the rites +suitable for the occasion. + +At the proper moment he began the Etrurian ceremonies, by digging a +circular pit down to the hard clay, into which were cast with great +solemnity some of the first-fruits of the season, and also handfuls of +earth, each man throwing in a little from the country from which he had +come. The pit was then filled up, and over it an altar was erected, +upon the hearth of which a fire was kindled. Thus the centre of the new +city was settled and consecrated. Romulus then harnessed a white cow +and a snow-white bull to a plow with a brazen share, and holding the +handle himself, traced the line of the future walls with a furrow +(called the pomoerium [Footnote: _Pomoerium_ is composed of _post_, +behind, and _murus_, a wall. The word is often used as meaning simply a +boundary or limit of jurisdiction. The _pomoerium_ of Rome was several +times enlarged.]), carrying the plow over the places where gates were +to be left, and causing those who followed to see that every furrow as +it fell was turned inwards toward the city. As he plowed, Romulus +uttered the following prayer: + +_Do thou, Jupiter, aid me as I found this city; and Mavors_ [that +is, Mars, the god of war and protector of agriculture], _my father, +and Vesta, my mother, and all other, ye deities, whom it is a religious +duty to invoke, attend; let this work of mine rise under your auspices. +Long may be its duration; may its sway be that of an all-ruling land; +and under it may be both the rising and the setting of the day._ + +It is said that Jupiter sent thunder from one side of the heavens and +lightnings from the other, and that the people rejoiced in the omens as +good and went on cheerfully building the walls. The poet Ovid says that +the work of superintending the building was given to one Celer, who was +told by Romulus to let no one pass over the furrow of the plow. Remus, +ignorant of this, began to scoff at the lowly beginning, and was +immediately struck down by Celer with a spade. Romulus bore the death +of his brother "like a Roman," with great fortitude, and, swallowing +down his rising tears, exclaimed: "So let it happen to all who pass +over my walls!" + +Plutarch, who is very fond of tracing the origin of words, says that +Celer rushed away from Rome, fearing vengeance, and did not rest until +he had reached the limits of Etruria, and that his name became the +synonym for quickness, so that men swift of foot were called _Celeres_ +by the Romans, just as we still speak of "celerity," meaning rapidity +of motion. Thus the walls of the new city were laid in blood. + +In one respect early Rome was like our own country, for Plutarch says +that it was proclaimed an asylum to which any who were oppressed might +resort and be safe; but it was more, for all who had incurred the +vengeance of the law were also taken in and protected from punishment. +Romulus is said to have erected in a wood a temple to a god called +Asylæus, where he "received and protected all, delivering none back-- +neither the servant to his master, the debtor to his creditor, nor the +murderer into the hands of the magistrate; saying it was a privileged +place, and they could so maintain it by an order of the holy oracle; +insomuch that the city grew presently very populous." It was men, of +course, who took advantage of this asylum, for who ever heard of women +who would rush in great numbers to such a place? Rome was a colony of +bachelors, and some of them pretty poor characters too, so that there +did not seem to be a very good chance that they could find women +willing to become their wives. Romulus, like many an ardent lover +since, evidently thought that all was fair in love and war, and, after +failing in all his efforts to lead the neighboring peoples to allow the +Roman men to marry their women, he gave it out that he had discovered +the altar of the god Consus, who presided over secret deliberations,--a +very suitable divinity to come up at the juncture,--and that he +intended to celebrate his feast. + +Consus was honored on the twenty-first of August, and this celebration +would come, therefore, just four months after the foundation of the +city. There were horse and chariot races, and libations which were +poured into the flames that consumed the sacrifices. The people of the +country around Rome were invited to take part in the novel festivities, +and they were nothing loth to come, for they had considerable curiosity +to see what sort of a city had so quickly grown up on the Palatine +Hill. They felt no solicitude, though perhaps some might have thought +of the haughtiness with which they had refused the offers of matrimony +made to their maidens. Still, it was safe, they thought, to attend a +fair under the protection of religion, and so they went,--they and +their wives and their daughters. + +At a signal from Romulus, when the games were at the most exciting +stage, and the strangers were scattered about among the Romans, each +follower of Romulus siezed the maiden that he had selected, and carried +her off. It is said that as the men made the siezure, they cried out, +"Talasia!" which means spinning, and that at all marriages in Rome +afterwards, that word formed the refrain of a song, sung as the bride +was approaching her husband's house. We cannot imagine the disturbance +with which the festival broke up, as the distracted strangers found out +that they were the victims of a trick, and that their loved daughters +had been taken from them. They called in vain upon the god in whose +honor they had come, and they listened with suppressed threats of +vengeance to Romulus, as he boldly went about among them telling them +that it was owing to their pride that this calamity had fallen upon +them, but that all would now be well with their daughters. Each new +husband would, he said, be the better guardian of his bride, because he +would have to take the place with her of family and home as well as of +husband. + +The brides were soon comforted, but their parents put on mourning for +them and went up and down through the neighborhood exciting the +inhabitants against the city of Romulus. Success crowned their efforts, +and it was not long before Titus Tatius, king of the Sabines, from +among whose people most of the stolen virgins had been taken, found +himself at the head of an army sufficient to attack the warlike +citizens of the Palatine. He was not so prompt, however, as his +neighbors, and two armies from Latin cities had been collected and sent +against Romulus, and had been met and overcome by him, before his +arrangements were completed; the people being admitted to Rome as +citizens, and thus adding to the already increasing power of the +community. + +[Illustration: ROMAN GIRLS WITH A STYLUS AND WRITING TABLET. ] + +The Romans had a citadel on the Capitoline Hill, and Tatius desired to +win it. The guardian was named Tarpeius, and he had a daughter, +Tarpeia, who was so much attracted by the golden ornaments worn by the +Sabines, that she promised to open the citadel to them if each soldier +would give his bracelet to her. This was promised, and as each entered +he threw his golden ornament upon the poor maiden, until she fell +beneath the weight and died, for they wished to show that they hated +treachery though willing to profit by it. Her name was fixed upon the +steep rock of the Capitoline Hill from which traitors were in after +years thrown. + +We now have the Sabines on one hill and the Romans on another, with a +swampy plain of small extent between them, where the forum was +afterward built. The Romans wished to retake the Capitoline Hill (which +was also called the Hill of Saturn), and a battle was fought the next +day in the valley. It is said that two men began the fight, Mettus +Curtius, representing the Sabines, and Hostus Hostilius, the Romans, +and that though the Roman was killed, Curtius was chased into the +swamp, where his horse was mired, and all his efforts with whip and +spur to get him out proving ineffectual, he left the faithful beast and +saved himself with difficulty. The swamp was ever after known as +_Lacus Curtius_, and this story might be taken as the true origin +of its name (for _lacus_ in Latin meant a marsh as well as a +lake), if it were not that there are two other accounts of the reason +for it. One story is that in the year 362 B.C.--that is, some four +centuries after the battle we have just related, the earth in the forum +gave way, and all efforts to fill it proving unsuccessful, the oracles +were appealed to. They replied that the spot could not be made firm +until that on which Rome's greatness was based had been cast into the +chasm, but that then the state would prosper. In the midst of the +doubting that followed this announcement, the gallant youth, Curtius, +came forward, declaring that the city had no greater treasure than a +brave citizen in arms, upon which he immediately leaped into the abyss +with his horse. Thereupon the earth closed over the sacrifice. This is +the story that Livy prefers. The third is simply to the effect that +while one Curtius was consul, in the year 445 B.C., the earth at the +spot was struck by lightning, and was afterwards ceremoniously enclosed +by him at the command of the senate. This is a good example of the sort +of myth that the learned call _ætiological_--that is, myths that +have grown up to account for certain facts or customs. The story of the +carrying off of the Sabine women is one of this kind, for it seems to +have originated in a desire to account for certain incidents in the +marriage ceremonies of the Romans. We cannot believe either, though it +is reasonable to suppose that some event occurred which was the basis +of the tradition told in connection with the history of different +periods. We shall find that, in the year 390, all the records of Roman +history were destroyed by certain barbarians who burned the city, and +that therefore we have tradition only upon which to base the history +before that date. We may reasonably believe, however, that at some time +the marshy ground in the forum gave way, as ground often does, and that +there was difficulty in filling up the chasm. A grand opportunity was +thus offered for a good story-teller to build up a romance, or to touch +up the early history with an interesting tale of heroism. The +temptation to do this would have been very strong to an imaginative +writer. + +The Sabines gained the first advantage in the present struggle, and it +seemed as though fortune was about to desert the Romans, when Romulus +commended their cause to Jupiter in a prayer in which he vowed to erect +an altar to him as Jupiter Stator--that is, "Stayer," if he would stay +the flight of the Romans. The strife was then begun with new vigor, and +in the midst of the din and carnage the Sabine women, who had by this +time become attached to their husbands, rushed between the fierce men +and urged them not to make them widows or fatherless, which was the sad +alternative presented to them. "Make us not twice captives!" they +exclaimed. Their appeal resulted in peace, and the two peoples agreed +to form one nation, the ruler of which should be alternately a Roman +and a Sabine, though at first Romulus and Tatius ruled jointly. The +women became thus dearer to the whole community, and the feast called +Matronalia was established in their honor, when wives received presents +from their husbands and girls from their lovers. + +Romulus continued to live on the Palatine among the Romans, and Tatius +on the Quirinal, where the Sabines also lived. Each people adopted some +of the fashions and customs of the other, and they all met for the +transaction of business in the Forum Romanum, which was in the valley +of the Curtian Lake, between the hills. For a time this arrangement was +carried on in peace, and the united nation grew in numbers and power. +After five years, however, Tatius was slain by some of the inhabitants +of Lavinium, and Romulus was left sole ruler until his death. + +Under him the nation grew still more rapidly, and others were made +subject to it, all of which good fortune was attributed to his prowess +and skill. Romulus became after a while somewhat arrogant. He dressed +in scarlet, received his people lying on a couch of state, and +surrounded himself with a body of young soldiers called _Celeres_, +from the swiftness with which they executed his orders. It was a +suspicious fact that all at once, at a time when the people had become +dissatisfied with his actions, Romulus disappeared (717 B.C.). Like +Evander, he went, no one knew where, though one of his friends +presented himself in the forum and assured the people under oath that +one day, as he was going along the road, he met Romulus coming toward +him, dressed in shining armor, and looking comelier than ever. +Proculus, for that was the friend's name, was struck with awe and +filled with religious dread, but asked the king why he had left the +people to bereavement, endless sorrow, and wicked surmises, for it had +been rumored that the senators had made away with him. Romulus replied +that it pleased the gods that, after having built a city destined to be +the greatest in the world for empire and glory, he should return to +heaven, but that Proculus might tell the Romans that they would attain +the height of power by exercising temperance and fortitude, in which +effort he would sustain them and remain their propitious god Quirinus. +An altar was accordingly erected to the king's honor, and a festival +called the Quirinalia was annually celebrated on the seventeenth of +February, the day on which he is said to have been received into the +number of the gods. + +Romulus left the people organized into two great divisions, Patricians +and Clients: the former being the _Populus Romanus_, or Roman People, +and possessing the only political rights; and the others being entirely +dependent upon them. The Patricians were divided into three tribesthe +Romans (_Ramnes_), the Etruscans (_Luceres_), and the Sabines +(_Tities_, from Tatius). Another body, not yet organized, called +Plebeians, or Plebs, was composed of inhabitants of conquered towns and +refugees. These, though not slaves, had no political rights. Each tribe +was divided into ten Curiae, and the thirty Curiae composed the +_Comitia Curiata_, which was the sovereign assembly of the Patricians, +authorized to choose the king and to decide all cases affecting the +lives of the citizens. A number of men of mature age, known as the +_Patres_, composed the Senate, which Romulus formed to assist him in +the government. This body consisted of one hundred members until the +union with the Sabines, when it was doubled, the Etruscans not being +represented until a later time. The army was called a Legion, and was +composed of a contribution of a thousand foot-soldiers and a hundred +cavalry (_Equites_, Knights) from each tribe. + +A year passed after the death of Romulus before another king was +chosen, and the people complained that they had a hundred sovereigns +instead of one, because the senate governed, and that not always with +justness. It was finally agreed that the Romans should choose a king, +but that he should be a Sabine. The choice fell upon Numa Pompilius, a +man learned in all laws, human and divine, and two ambassadors were +accordingly sent to him at his home at Cures, to offer the kingdom to +him. The ambassadors were politely received by the good man, but he +assured them that he did not wish to change his condition; that every +alteration in life is dangerous to a man; that madness only could +induce one who needed nothing to quit the life to which he was +accustomed; that he, a man of peace, was not fitted to direct a people +whose progress had been gained by war; and that he feared that he might +prove a laughing-stock to the people if he were to go about teaching +them the worship of the gods and the offices of peace when they wanted +a king to lead them to war. The more he declined, the more the people +wished him to accept, and at last his father argued with him that a +martial people needed one who should teach them moderation and +religion; that he ought to recognize the fact that the gods were +calling him to a large sphere of usefulness. These arguments proved +sufficient, and Numa accepted the crown. After making the appropriate +offerings to the gods, he set out for Rome, and was met by the populace +coming forth to receive him with joyful acclamations. Sacrifices were +offered in the temples, and with impressive ceremonies the new +authority was joyfully entrusted to him (715 B.C.). + +As Romulus had given the Romans their warlike customs, so now Numa gave +them the ceremonial laws of religion; but before entering upon this +work, he divided among the people the public lands that Romulus had +added to the property of the city by his conquests, by this movement +showing that he was possessed of worldly as well as of heavenly wisdom. +He next instituted the worship of the god Terminus, who seems to have +been simply Jupiter in the capacity of guardian of boundaries. Numa +ordered all persons to mark the limits of their lands by consecrated +stones, and at these, when they celebrated the feast of Terminalia, +sacrifices were to be offered of cakes, meal, and fruits. Moses had +done something like this hundreds of years before, in the land of +Palestine, when he wrote in his laws: "Thou shalt not remove thy +neighbor's landmark, which they of old time have set, in thine +inheritance which thou shalt inherit, in the land that the Lord thy God +giveth thee." He had impressed it upon the people, repeating in a +solemn religious service the words: "Cursed be he that removeth his +neighbor's landmark," to which all the people in those primitive times +solemnly said "Amen!" You will find the same sentiment repeated in the +Proverbs of Solomon. When Romulus had laid out the pomoerium, he made +the outline something like a square, and called it _Roma Quadrata_, +that is "Square Rome," but he did not direct the landmarks of the +public domain to be distinctly indicated. The consecration of the +boundaries undoubtedly made the people consider themselves more secure +in their possessions, and consequently made the state itself more +stable. + +In order to make the people feel more like one body and think less of +the fact that they comprised persons belonging to different nations, +Numa instituted nine guilds among which the workmen were distributed. +These were the pipers, carpenters, goldsmiths, tanners, leather- +workers, dyers, potters, smiths, and one in which all other +handicraftsmen were united. Thus these men spoke of each other as +members of this or that guild, instead of as Etruscans, Romans, and +Sabines. + +[Illustration: A ROMAN ALTAR] + +Human sacrifices were declared abolished at this time; the rites of +prayer were established; the temple of Janus was founded (which was +closed in time of peace and open in time of war); priests were ordained +to conduct the public worship, the Pontifex Maximus [Footnote: Pontifex +means bridge-builder (_pons_, a bridge, _facere_, to make), and the +title is said to have been given to these magistrates because they +built the wooden bridge over the Tiber, and kept it in repair, so that +sacrifices might be made on both sides of the river. The building of +this bridge is, however, ascribed to Ancus Martius at a later date, +and so some think the name was originally _pompifex_ (_pompa_, a solemn +procession), and meant that the officers had charge of such +celebrations.] being at the head of them, and the Flamens, Vestal +Virgins, and Salii, being subordinate. Numa pretended that he met by +night a nymph named Egeria, at a grotto under the Coelian Hill, not far +from the present site of the Baths of Caracalla, and that from time to +time she gave him directions as to what rites would be acceptable to +the gods. Another nymph, whom Numa commended to the special veneration +of the Romans, was named Tacita, or the silent. This was appropriate +for one of such quiet and unobtrusive manners as this good king +possessed. + +Romulus is said to have made the year consist of but ten months, the +first being March, named from Mars, the god whom he delighted to honor; +but Numa saw that his division was faulty, and so he added two months, +making the first one January, from Janus, the god who loved civil and +social unity, whose temple he had built; and the second February, or +the month of purification, from the Latin word _februa_. If he had +put in his extra months at some other part of the year, he might have +allowed it still to begin in the spring, as it naturally does, and we +should not be obliged to explain to every generation why the ninth, +tenth, eleventh, and twelfth months are still called the seventh, +eighth, ninth, and tenth. [Footnote: We shall find that in the course +of time this arrangement of the year proved very faulty in its turn, +and that Julius Cæsar made another effort to reform it. (See page +247.)] + + The poets said in the peaceful days of Numa, + Rust eats the pointed spear and double-edged sword. + No more is heard the trumpet's brazen roar, + Sweet sleep is banished from our eyes no more, + +and that over the iron shields the spiders hung their threads, for it +was a sort of golden age, when there was neither plot, nor envy, nor +sedition in the state, for the love of virtue and the serenity of +spirit of the king flowed down upon all the happy subjects. In due +time, after a long reign and a peaceful and useful life, Numa died, not +by disease or war, but by the natural decline of his faculties. The +people mourned for him heartily and honored him with a costly burial. + +After the death of this king an interregnum followed, during which the +senate ruled again, but it was not long before the Sabines chose as +king a Roman, Tullus Hostilius, grandson of that Hostus Hostilius who +had won distinction in the war with the Sabines. The new sovereign +thought that the nation was losing its noble prestige through the +quietness with which it lived among its neighbors, and therefore he +embraced every opportunity to stir up war with the surrounding peoples, +and success followed his campaigns. The peasants between Rome and Alba +[Footnote: Alba became the chief of a league of thirty Latin cities, +lying in the southern part of the great basin through which the Tiber +finds its way to the sea, between Etruria and Campania.] afforded him +the first pretext, by plundering each other's lands. The Albans were +ready to settle the difficulty in a peaceful manner, but Tullus, +determined upon aggrandizement, refused all overtures. It was much like +a civil war, for both nations were of Trojan origin, according to the +traditions. The Albans pitched their tents within five miles of Rome, +and built a trench about the city. The armies were drawn up ready for +battle, when the Alban leader came out and made a speech, in which he +said that as both Romans and Sabines were surrounded by strange nations +who would like to see them weakened, as they would undoubtedly be by +the war, he proposed that the question which should rule the other, +ought to be decided in some less destructive way. + +[Illustration: MONUMENT OF THE HORATII AND THE CURIATII] + +It happened that there were in the army of the Romans three brothers +known as the Horatii, of the same age as three others in the Alban army +called the Curiatii, and it was agreed that these six should fight in +the place of the two armies. At the first clash of arms two of the +Romans fell lifeless, though every one of the Curiatii was wounded. +This caused the Sabines to exult, especially as they saw the remaining +Roman apparently running away. The flight of Horatius was, however, +merely feigned, in order to separate the opposing brothers, whom he met +as they followed him, and killed in succession. As he struck his sword +into the last of the Albans, he exclaimed: "Two have I offered to the +shades of my brothers; the third will I offer to the cause of this war, +that the Roman may rule over the Alban!" A triumph [Footnote: A +"triumph" was a solemn rejoicing after a victory, and included a +_pompa_, or procession of the general and soldiers on foot with +their plunder. Triumphs seem to have been celebrated in some style in +the earliest days of Rome. In later times they increased very much in +splendor and costliness.] followed; but it appears that a sister of +Horatius, named Horatia, [Footnote: The Romans seem in one respect to +have had little ingenuity in the matter of names, though generally they +had too many of them, and formed that of a woman from the name of a man +by simply changing the end of it from the masculine form to the +feminine.] was to have married one of the Curiatii, and when she met +her victorious brother bearing as his plunder the military robe of her +lover that she had wrought with her own hands, she tore her hair and +uttered bitter exclamations. Horatius in his anger and impatience +thrust her through with his sword, saying: "So perish every Roman woman +who shall mourn an enemy?" For this act, the victorious young man was +condemned to death, but he appealed to the people, and they mitigated +his sentence in consequence of his services to the state. + +Another war followed, with the Etruscans this time, and the Albans not +behaving like true allies, their city was demolished and its +inhabitants removed to Rome, where they were assigned to the Coelian +Hill. Some of the more noble among them were enrolled among the +Patricians, and the others were added to the Plebs, who then became for +the first time an organic part of the social body, though not belonging +to the Populus Romanus (or Roman People), so called. On another +occasion Tullus made war upon the Sabines and conquered them, but +finally he offended the gods, and in spite of the fact that he +bethought himself of the good Numa and began to follow his example, +Jupiter smote him with a thunder-bolt and destroyed him and his house. + +Again an interregnum followed, and again a king was chosen, this time +Ancus Marcius, a Sabine, grandson of the good Numa, a man who strove to +emulate the virtues of his ancestor. It is to be noticed that the four +kings of Rome thus far are of two classes, the warlike and peaceful +alternating in the legends. The neighbors expected that Ancus would not +be a forceful king, and some of them determined to take advantage of +his supposed weakness. He set himself to repair the neglected religion, +putting up tables in the forum on which were written the ceremonial +law, so that all might know its demands, and seeking to lead the people +to worship the gods in the right spirit. Ancus seems to have united +with his religious character, however, a proper regard for the rights +of the nation, and when the Latins who lived on the river Anio, made +incursions into his domain, thinking that he would not notice it, in +the ardor of his services at the temples and altars, he entered upon a +vigorous and successful campaign, conquering several cities and +removing their inhabitants, giving them homes on the Aventine Hill, +thus increasing the lands that could be divided among the Romans and +adding to the number of the Plebeians. Ancus founded a colony at Ostia +at the mouth of the Tiber, and built a fortress on the Janiculum Hill, +across the river, connecting it with the other regions by means of the +first Roman bridge, called the _Pons Sublicius_, or in simple English, +the wooden bridge. This is the one that the Romans wanted to cut down +at a later period, as we shall see, and had great difficulty in +destroying. Another relic of Ancus is seen in a chamber of the damp +Mamertine prison under the Capitoline Hill, the first prison in the +city, rendered necessary by the increase of crime. After a reign of +twenty-four years, Ancus Martius died, and a new dynasty, of Etruscan +origin, began to control the fortunes of the now rapidly growing +nation. + + + + +III. + +HOW CORINTH GAVE ROME A NEW DYNASTY. + + + +The city of Corinth, in Greece, was one of the most wealthy and +enterprising on the Mediterranean in its day, and at about the time +that Rome is said to have been founded, it entered upon a new period of +commercial activity and foreign colonization. So many Greeks went to +live on the islands around Italy, and on the shores of Italy itself, +indeed, that that region was known as _Magna Græcia_, or Great +Greece, just as in our day we speak of Great Britain, when we wish to +include not England only, but also the whole circle of lands under +British rule. At this time of commercial activity there came into power +in Corinth a family noted for its wealth and force no less than for the +luxury in which it lived, and the oppression, too, with which it ruled +the people. One of the daughters of the sovereign married out of the +family, because she was so ill-favored that no one in her circle was +willing to have her as wife. + +In due time the princess became the mother of a boy, of whom the oracle +at Delphi prophesied that he should be a formidable opponent of the +ruling dynasty. Whenever the oracle made such a prophecy about a child, +it was customary for the ruler to try to make away with it, and that +the ruler of Corinth did in this case. All efforts were unsuccessful, +however, because his homely mother hid him in a chest when the spies +came to the house. Now the Greek word for chest is _kupsele_, and +therefore this boy was called Cypselus. He grew up to be a fine young +man, and entered political life as champion of the people--the +_demos_, as the Greeks would say, and was therefore a _democratic_ +politician. [Footnote: A politician is a person versed in the science +of government, from the Greek words _polis_, a city, _polites_, a +citizen. Though a very honorable title, it has been debased in familiar +usage until it has come to mean in turn a partisan, a dabbler in public +affairs, and even an artful trickster.] + +He opposed the aristocratic rulers, and at last succeeded in +overturning their government and getting into the position of supreme +ruler himself. He ruled thirty years in peace, and was so much loved by +the Corinthians that he went about among them in safety without any +body-guard. + +When Cypselus came into power the citizens of Corinth who belonged to +the aristocratic family were obliged to go elsewhere, somewhat as those +princes called _émigrès_ (emigrants) left France during the Revolution, +in 1789. One of them, whose name was Demaratus, a wealthy and +intelligent merchant, concluded to go westward, to Magna Græcia, +into the part of the world from which his ships had brought him his +revenues. Accordingly, accompanied by his family, a great retinue, and +some artists and sculptors, he sailed away for Italy and settled at the +Etruscan town of Tarquinii. He did not go more than five or six hundred +miles from home, but his enterprise was as marked as that of our +fathers was considered when, in the last generation, they removed from +New York to Chicago, though the distance was not nearly so great. No +wonder Demaratus thought that it would be a comfort to have with him +some of the artists and sculptors whose genius had made his Corinthian +home beautiful. + +As he had come to Tarquinii to spend all his days, Demaratus married a +lady of the place, and she became the mother of a son, Lucomo. When +this young man grew up, he found that, though a native of the city, he +was looked upon as a foreigner on his father's account, and that, +though he belonged to a family of the highest rank and wealth through +his mother's connections, he was excluded from political power and +influence. He had inherited the love of authority that had possessed +his father's ancestors, and as his father had migrated from home to +gain peace, he felt no reluctance in leaving Tarquinii in the hope of +gaining the power he thought his wealth and pedigree entitled him to. +There was no more attractive field for his ambition than Rome +presented, and Lucomo probably knew that that city had been from its +very foundation an asylum for strangers. Thither, therefore, he decided +to take himself. + +We can imagine the removal, as the long procession of chariots and +footmen slowly passed over the fifty miles that separated Tarquinii +from Rome. Just above Civita Vecchia you may see on your modern map of +Italy a town called Corneto, and a mile from that, perhaps, another +named Turchina, which is all that remains of the old town in which +Lucomo lived. Even now relics of the Tarquinians are found there, and +there are many in the museums of Europe that illustrate the ancient +civilization of the Etruscans, which was greater at this time than that +of the Romans. On his journey Lucomo was himself seated in a chariot +with his wife Tanaquil, whom he seems to have honored very highly, and +the long train of followers stretched behind them. It represented all +that great wealth directed by considerable cultivation could purchase, +and must have formed an imposing sight. Rome was approached from the +south side of the Tiber, by the way of the Janiculum Hill and over the +wooden bridge. + +When the emigrants reached the Janiculum, and saw the hills and the +modest temples of Rome before them, an eagle, symbol of royalty, flew +down, and gently stooping, took off Lucomo's cap. Then, after having +flown around the chariot with loud screams, it replaced it, and was +soon lost again in the blue heavens. It was as though it had been sent +by the gods to encourage the strangers to expect good fortune in their +new home. Tanaquil, who was well versed in the augury of her +countrymen, embraced her husband; told him from what divinity the eagle +had come, and from what auspicious quarter of the heavens; and said +that it had performed its message about the highest part of the body, +which was in itself prophetic of good. + +Considerable impression must have been made upon the subjects of Ancus +Martius as the distinguished stranger and his long suite entered the +city over the bridge, and when Lucomo bought a fine house, and showed +himself affable and courteous, he was received with a cordial welcome, +and soon admitted to the rights of a Roman citizen. Seldom had the town +received so acceptable an addition to its population. Lucomo soon +changed his name to Lucius Tarquinius, and to this, in after years, +when there were two of the same family name, the word Priscus, or +Elder, was added. Tarquinius, as we may now call him, flattered the +Romans by invitations to his hospitable mansion, where his +entertainments added greatly to his popularity, and in time Ancus +himself heard of his acts of kindness, and added his name to the list +of the new citizen's intimate friends. Tarquinius was admitted by the +king to private as well as public deliberations about matters of +foreign and domestic importance, and doubtless his knowledge of other +countries stood him in good stead on these occasions. + +The stranger had taken the king and people by storm, and when Ancus +died, he left his sons to the guardianship of Tarquinius, and the +Populus Romanus chose him to be their king. Thus Rome came to have at +the head of its affairs a man not a Roman nor a Sabine, but a citizen +of Greek extraction, who was familiar with a much higher state of +civilization than was known on the banks of the Tiber. The result is +seen in the great strides in advance that the city took during his +reign. The architectural grandeur of Rome dates its beginning from this +time. Tarquinius laid out vast drains to draw away the water that stood +in the Lacus Curtius, between the Capitoline and the Palatine hills, +and these remain to this day, as any one who has visited Rome +remembers--the mouth of the Cloaca Maxima (the great sewer) being one +of the remarkable sights there. The king also drained other parts of +the city; vowed to build, and perhaps began, the temple on the +Capitoline; built a wall about the city, and erected the permanent +buildings on the great forum. These works involved vast labor and +expense, and must have been very burdensome to the people. Like other +oppressive monarchs, Tarquinius planned games and festivities to amuse +them. He enlarged the Circus Maximus, and imported boxers and horses +from his native country to perform at games there, which were +afterwards celebrated annually. Besides these victories of peace, this +king conquered the people about him, and greatly added to the number of +his subjects. He for the first time instituted the formal "triumph," as +it was afterwards celebrated, riding into the city after a victory in a +chariot drawn by four white horses, and wearing a robe bespangled with +gold. He brought in also the augural science of his country, which had +been only partially known before. + +[Illustration: MOUTH OF CLOACA MAXIMA, AT THE TIBER, AND THE SO-CALLED +TEMPLE OF VESTA.] + +While Tarquinius was thus adding to the greatness of Rome, there +appeared in the palace one of those marvels that the early historians +delighted to relate, such as, indeed, mankind in all ages has been +pleased with. A boy was asleep in the portico when a flame was seen +encircling his little head, and the attendants were about to throw +water upon it, when the queen interfered, forbidding the boy to be +disturbed. She then brought the matter to the notice of her husband, +saying: "Do you see this boy whom we are so meanly bringing up? He is +destined to be a light in our adversity, and a help in our distress. +Let us care for him, for he will become a great ornament to us and to +the state." Tarquinius knew well the importance of his wife's advice, +and educated the boy, whose name was Servius Tullius, in a way +befitting a royal prince. In the course of time he married the king's +daughter, and found himself in favor with the people as well as with +his royal father-in-law. + +For all the forty years of the prosperous reign of Tarquinius, the +traditions would have us believe, the two sons of Ancus had been +nursing their wrath and inwardly boiling over with indignation because +they had been deprived of the kingship, and now, as they saw the +popularity of young Servius, they determined to wrench the crown from +him after destroying the king. They therefore sent two shepherds into +his presence, who pretended to wish advice about a matter in dispute. +While one engaged Tarquin's attention, the other struck him a fatal +blow with his axe. The queen was, however, quick-witted enough to keep +them from enjoying the fruit of their perfidy, for she assured the +people from a window that the king was not killed but only stunned, and +that for the present he desired them to obey the directions of Servius +Tullius. She then called upon the young man to let the celestial flame +with which the gods had surrounded his head in his youth arouse him to +action. "The kingdom is yours!" she exclaimed; "if you have no plans of +your own, then follow mine!" For several days the king's death was +concealed, and Servius took his place on the throne, deciding some +cases, and in regard to others pretending that he would consult +Tarquinius (B.C. 578). Thus he made the senate and the people +accustomed to seeing him at the head of affairs, and when the actual +fact was allowed to transpire, Servius took possession of the kingdom +with the consent of the senate, but without that of the people, which +he did not ask. This was the first king who ascended the throne without +the suffrages of the Populus Romanus. The sons of Ancus went into +banishment, and the royal power, which had passed from the Romans to +the Etruscans, now fell into the hands of a man of unknown citizenship, +though he has been described as a native of Corniculum, one of the +mountain towns to the northeast of Rome, which is never heard of +excepting in connection with this reign. + + + + +IV. + +THE RISE OF THE COMMONS. + + + +Whatever may have been the origin of the new king, he was evidently not +of the ruling class, the Populus Romanus, and for this reason his +sympathies were naturally with the Plebeians, or, as they would now be +called, the Commons. The long reign of Servius was marked by the +victories of peace, though he was involved in wars with the surrounding +nations, in which he was successful. These conquests seemed to fix the +king more firmly upon the throne, but they did not render him much less +desirous of obtaining the good-will of his subjects, and they never +seemed to tempt him to exercise his power in a tyrannical manner. He +thought that by marrying his two daughters to two sons of Tarquin, he +might make his position on the throne more secure, and he accomplished +this intention, but it failed to benefit him as he had expected. + +Besides adding largely to the national territory, Servius brought the +thirty cities of Latium into a great league with Rome, and built a +temple on the Aventine consecrated to Diana (then in high renown at +Ephesus), at which the Romans, Latins, and Sabines should worship +together in token of their unity as one civil brotherhood, though it +was understood that the Romans were chief in rank. On a brazen pillar +in this edifice the terms of the treaty on which the league was based +were written, and there they remained for centuries. The additions to +Roman territory gave Servius an opportunity of strengthening his hold +upon the commons, for he took advantage of it to cause a census to be +taken under the direction of two Censors, on the basis of which he made +new divisions of the people, and new laws by which the plebeians came +into greater prominence than they had enjoyed before. The census showed +that the city and suburbs contained eighty-three thousand inhabitants. + +The increase of population led to the extension of the pomoerium, and +Servius completed the city by including within a wall of stone all of +the celebrated seven hills [Footnote: The "seven hills" were not always +the same. In earlier times they had been: Palatinus, Cermalus, Velia, +Fagutal, Oppius, Cispius, and Coelius. Oppius and Cispius, were names +of summits of the Esquiline; Velia was a spur of the Palatine; Cermalus +and Fagutal, according to Niebuhr, were not hills at all.]--the +Palatine, Aventine, Capitoline, Coelian, Quirinal, Viminal, and +Esquilian,--for, though new suburbs grew up beyond this wall, the legal +limits of the city were not changed until the times of the empire. + +The inhabitants within the walls were divided into four "regions" or +districts--the Palatine, the Colline, the Esquiline, and the Suburran. +The subjected districts outside, which were inhabited by plebeians, +were divided into twenty-six other regions, thus forming thirty tribes +containing both plebeians and patricians. The census gave Servius a +list of all the citizens and their property, and upon the basis of this +information he separated the entire population into six classes, +comprising one hundred and ninety-three subdivisions or "centuries," +thus introducing a new principle, and placing wealth at the bottom of +social distinctions, instead of birth. This naturally pleased the +plebeians, but was not approved by the citizens of high pedigree, who +thus lost some of their prestige. The newly formed centuries together +constituted the _Comitia Centuriata_ (gathering of the centuries), +or National Assembly, which met for business on the Campus Martius, +somewhat after the manner of a New England "Town Meeting." In these +conclaves they elected certain magistrates, gave sanction to +legislative acts, and decided upon war or peace. This Comitia formed +the highest court of appeal known to Roman law. + +Besides this general assembly of the entire Populus Romanus, Servius +established a _Comitia_ in each tribe, authorized to exercise +jurisdiction in local affairs. + +The first of the six general classes thus established comprised the +Horsemen, _Equites_, Knights, or Cavalry, consisting of six patrician +centuries of Equites established by Romulus, and twelve new ones formed +from the principal plebeian families. Next in rank to them were eighty +centuries composed of persons owning property (not deducting debts) to +the amount of one hundred thousand ases (_æs_, copper, brass, bronze), +and two centuries of persons not possessed of wealth, but simply +_Fabrûm_, or workmen who manufactured things out of hard material, so +important to the state were such considered at the time. One would not +think it very difficult to get admission to this high class, when it is +remembered that an _as_ (originally a pound of copper in weight) +[Footnote: The English word _ace_ gets its meaning, "one," from the +fact that in Latin as signified the unit either of weight or measure. +Two and a half ases were equal to a sestertius, and ten ases (or four +sesterces) equalled one denarius, worth about sixteen cents.] was worth +but about a cent and a half, and that a hundred thousand such coins +would amount to only about fifteen hundred dollars; though, of course, +we should have to make allowance for the price of commodities if we +wished to arrive at the exact value in the money of our time. The +second, third, and fourth centuries were arranged on a descending grade +of property qualification, and the fifth comprised those persons whose +property was not worth less than twelve thousand five hundred ases, or +about two hundred dollars. The sixth class included all whose +possessions did not amount to even so little as this. These were called +_Proletarii_ or _Capite Censorum_; _caput_, the Latin for head, being +used in reference to these unimportant citizens for "person," as +farmers use it nowadays when they enumerate animals as so many "head." + +Though the new arrangement of Servius Tullius gave the plebeians power, +it did not give them so much as might be supposed, because it was +contrived that the richest class should have the greatest number of +votes, and they with the Equites had so many that they were able to +carry any measure upon which they agreed. The older men, too, had an +advantage, for every class was divided into Seniors and Juniors, each +of which had an equal number of votes, though it is apparent that the +seniors must have been always in the minority. Servius did not dare to +abolish the old Comitia Curiata, and he felt obliged to enact that the +votes of the new Comitia should be valid only after having received the +sanction of the more ancient body. Thus it will be seen that there were +three assemblies, with sovereignty well defined. + +The armor of the different classes was also accurately ordered by the +law. The first class was authorized to wear, for the defence of the +body, brazen helmets, shields, and coats of mail, and to bear spears +and swords, excepting the mechanics, who were to carry the necessary +military engines and to serve without arms. The members of the second +class, excepting that they had bucklers instead of shields and wore no +coats of mail, were permitted to bear the same armor, and to carry the +sword and spear. The third class had the same armor as the second, +excepting that they could not wear greaves for the protection of their +legs. The fourth had no arms excepting a spear and a long javelin. The +fifth merely carried slings and stones for use in them. To this class +belonged the trumpeters and horn-blowers. + +[Illustration: ROMAN SOLDIERS, COSTUMES, AND ARMOR] + +These reforms were very important, and very reasonable, too, but though +they gained for the king many friends, it was rather among the +plebeians than among the more wealthy patricians, and from time to time +hints were thrown out that the consent of the people had not been asked +when Servius took his seat upon the throne, and that without it his +right to the power he wielded was not complete. There was a very solemn +and striking ceremony on the Campus Martius after the census had been +finished. It was called the Lustration or _Suovetaurilia_. The first +name originated from the fact that the ceremony was a purification of +the people by water, and the second because the sacrifice on the +occasion consisted of a pig, a sheep, and an ox, the Latin names of +which were _sus_, _ovis_, and _taurus_, these being run together in a +single manufactured word. Words are not easily made to order, and this +one shows how awkward they are when they do not grow naturally. + +On the completion of the census (B.C. 566) Servius ordered the members +of all the Centuries to assemble on the Campus Martius, which was +enclosed in a bend of the Tiber outside of the walls that he built. +They came in full armor, according to rank, and the sight must have +been very grand and impressive. Three days were occupied in the +celebration. Three times were the pig, the sheep, and the bull carried +around the great multitude, and then, amid the flaunting of banners, +the burning of incense, and the sounding of trumpets, the libation was +poured forth, and the inoffensive beasts were sacrificed for the +purification of the people. Once every five years the inhabitants were +thus counted, and once in five years were they also purified, and in +this way it came to pass that that period was known as a _lustrum_. + +Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown, says the proverb, and it was +true in the case of Servius, for he could never forget that the people +had not voted in his favor. For this reason he divided among them the +lands that he had taken from the enemies he had defeated, and then, +supposing that he had obtained their good-will, he called upon them to +vote whether they chose and ordered that he should be king. When the +votes came to be counted, Servius found that he had been chosen with a +unanimity that had not been manifested before in the selection of a +sovereign. Whatever confidence he may have derived from this vote, his +place was not secure, and his fatal enemy proved to be in his own +household. + +It happened that of the two husbands of the daughters of Servius, one +was ambitious and unprincipled, and the other quiet and peaceable. The +same was true of their wives, only the unprincipled wife found herself +mated with the well-behaving husband. Now the wicked wife agreed with +the wicked husband that they should murder their partners and then +marry together, thus making a pair, both members of which should be +ambitious and without principle. This was accomplished, and then the +wicked wife, whose name was Tullia, told her husband, whose name was +Lucius Tarquinius, that what she wanted was not a husband whom she +might live with in quiet like a slave, but one who would remember of +whose blood he was, who would consider that he was the rightful king; +and that if _he_ would not do it he had better go back to Tarquinii or +Corinth and sink into his original race, thus shaming his father and +Tanaquil, who had bestowed thrones upon her husband and her son-in-law. +The taunts and instigations of Tullia led Lucius to solicit the younger +patricians to support him in making an effort for the throne. When he +thought he had obtained a sufficient number of confederates, he one day +rushed into the forum at an appointed time, accompanied by a body of +armed men, and, in the midst of a commotion that ensued, took his seat +upon the throne and ordered the senate to attend "King Tarquinius." +That august body convened very soon, some having been prepared +beforehand for the summons, and then Tarquinius began a tirade against +Servius, whom he stigmatized as "a slave and the son of a slave," who +had favored the most degraded classes, and had, by instituting the +census, made the fortunes of the better classes unnecessarily +conspicuous, so as to excite the envy and base passions of the meaner +citizens. + +Servius came to the senate-house in the midst of the harangue, and +called to Lucius to know by what audacity he had taken the royal seat, +and summoned the senate during the life of the sovereign. Lucius +replied in an insulting manner, and, taking advantage of the king's +age, seized him by the middle, carried him out, and threw him down the +steps to the bottom! Almost lifeless, Servius was slain by emissaries +of Lucius as he was making his way to his home on the Esquiline Hill +(B.C. 534). The royal retinue, in their fright, left the body where it +fell, and there it was when Tullia, returning from having congratulated +her husband, reached the place. Her driver, terrified at the sight, +stopped, and would have avoided the king's corpse, though the +narrowness of the street made it difficult; but the insane daughter +ordered him to drive on, and stained and sprinkled herself with her +father's blood, which seemed to cry out for vengeance upon such a cruel +act! The vengeance came speedily, as we shall see. + + + + +V. + +HOW A PROUD KING FELL. + + + +The new king was a tyrant. He was elected by no general consent of the +people he governed; he allowed himself to be bound by no laws; he +recognized no limit to his authority; and he surrounded himself with a +body-guard for protection from the attacks of any who might wish to +take the crown from him in the way that he had snatched it from his +predecessor. As soon as possible after coming to the throne, he swept +away all privilege and right that had been conceded to the commons, +commanded that there should no longer be any of those assemblages on +the occasions of festivals and sacrifices that had before tended to +unite the people and to break the monotony of their lives; he put the +poor at taskwork, and mistrusted, banished, or murdered the rich. To +strengthen the position of Rome as chief of the confederates cities, +and his own position as the ruler of Rome, he gave his daughter to +Octavius Mamilius of Tusculum to wife; and to beautify the capital he +warred against other peoples, and with their spoil pushed forward the +work on the great temple on the Capitoline Hill, [Footnote: This hill +is said to have received its name from the fact that as the men were +preparing for the foundation of the temple, they came upon a human +head, fresh and bleeding, from which it was augured that the spot was +to become the head of the world. (_Caput_, a head.)] a wonderful +and massy structure. + +It is said that Amalthea, the mysterious sibyl of Cumæ, one day came to +Tarquin with nine sealed prophetical books (which, she said, contained +the destiny of the Romans and the mode to bring it about), that she +offered to sell. The king refused, naturally unwilling to pay for +things that he could not examine; and thereupon the unreasonable being +went away and destroyed three of the volumes that she had described as +of inestimable value. Soon after she returned and offered the remaining +six for the price that she had demanded for the nine. Once more, the +tyrant declined the offer, and again the aged sibyl destroyed three, +and demanded the original price for the remainder. The king's curiosity +was now aroused, and he bought the three books, upon which the +prophetess vanished. The volumes were placed under the new temple on +the Capitoline, no one doubting that they actually contained precepts +of the utmost importance. The wise-looking augurs came together, peered +into the rolls, and told the king and the people that they were right, +and age after age the books were appealed to for direction, though, as +the people never were permitted even to peep into the sacred cell in +which they were hidden, they never could be quite certain that the +augurs who consulted them found any thing in them that they did not put +there themselves. + +While Tarquinius was going on with his great works, while he was +oppressing his own people and conquering his neighbors uninterruptedly, +he was suddenly startled by a dire portent. A serpent crawled out from +beneath the altar in his palace and coolly ate the flesh of the royal +sacrifice. The meaning of this appalling omen could not be allowed to +remain uncertain, and as no one in Italy was able to explain it, +Tarquin sent to the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, to ask the +signification. Delphi is a place situated in the midst of the most +sublime scenery of Greece, just north of the Gulf of Corinth. Shut in +on all sides by stupendous cliffs, among which flow the inspiring +waters of the Castalian Spring, thousands of feet above which frowns +the summit of Parnassus, on which Deucalion is said to have landed +after the deluge, this romantic valley makes a deep impression on the +mind of the visitor, and it is not strange that at an age when signs +and wonders were looked for in every direction, it should have become +the home of a sibyl. + +[Illustration: THE RAVINE OF DELPHI] + +The king's messengers to Delphi were his two sons and a nephew named +Lucius Junius Brutus, a young man who had saved his life by taking +advantage of the fact that a madman was esteemed sacred by the Romans, +and assuming an appearance of stupidity [Footnote: _Brutus_ in +Latin means irrational, dull, stupid, brutish, which senses our word +"brute" preserves.] at a time when his tyrannical uncle had put his +brother to death that he might appropriate his wealth. Upon hearing the +question of the king, the oracle said that the portent foretold the +fall of Tarquin. The sons then asked who should take his throne, and +the reply was: "He who shall first kiss his mother." Brutus had +propitiated the oracle by the present of a hollow stick filled with +gold, and learned the symbolical meaning of this reply. The sons +decided to allow their remaining brother Sextus to know the answer, and +to determine by lot which of them should rule; but Brutus kept his own +counsel, and on reaching home, fell upon mother earth, as by accident, +and kissed the ground, thus observing the terms of the oracle. + +The prophecy now hastened to its fulfilment. As the army lay before the +town of Ardea, belonging to the Rutulians, south of Rome, a dispute +arose among the sons of the king and their cousin Collatinus, as to +which had the most virtuous wife. There being nothing to keep them in +camp, the young men arose from their cups and rode to Rome, where they +found the princesses at a banquet revelling amid flowers and wine. +Lucretia, the wife of Collatinus, was found at Collatia among her +maidens spinning, like the industrious wife described in the Proverbs. +The evil passions of Sextus were aroused by the beauty of his cousin's +wife, and he soon found an excuse to return to the home of Collatinus. +He was hospitably entertained by Lucretia, who did not suspect the +demon that he was, and one night he entered her apartment and with vile +threats overcame her. In her terrible distress, Lucretia sent +immediately for her father, Lucretius, and her husband, Collatinus. +They came, each bringing a friend, Brutus being the companion of the +outraged husband. To them, with bitter tears, Lucretia, clad in the +garments of mourning and almost beside herself with sorrow, told the +story of crime, and, saying that she could not survive dishonor, +plunged a knife into her bosom and fell in the agony of shame and +death! + +At this juncture Brutus threw off the assumed stupidity that had veiled +the strength of his spirit, and taking up the reeking knife, exclaimed: +"By this blood most pure, I swear, and I call you, O gods, to witness +my oath, that I shall pursue Lucius Tarquin the Proud, his wicked wife, +and all the race, with fire and sword, nor shall I permit them or any +other to reign in Rome!" So saying, the knife was handed to each of the +others in turn, and they all took the same oath to revenge the innocent +blood. The body of Lucretia was laid in the forum of Collatia, her +home, and the populace, maddened by the sight, were easily persuaded to +rise against the tyrant. A multitude was collected, and the march began +to Rome, where a like excitement was stirred up; a gathering at the +forum was addressed by Brutus, who recalled to memory not only the +story of Lucretia's wrongs, but also the horrid murder of Servius, and +the blood-thirstiness of Tullia. On the Campus Martius the citizens met +and decreed that the dignity of king should be forever abolished and +the Tarquins banished. Tullia fled, followed by the curses of men and +women; Sextus found his way to Gabii, where he was slain; and the +tyrant himself took refuge in Cære, a city of Etruria, the country of +his father. + +There is a tradition that it had been the intention of Servius to +resign the kingly honor, and to institute in its stead the office of +Consul, to be jointly held by two persons chosen annually. There seems +to be some ground for this belief, because immediately after the +banishment of the Tarquins, the republic was established with two +consuls at its head. [Footnote: The custom of confiding the chief civil +authority and the command of the army to two magistrates who were +changed each year, was not given up as long as the republic endured, +but towards its end, Cinna maintained himself in the office alone for +almost a year, and Pompey was appointed sole consul to keep him from +becoming dictator. The authority of consul was usurped by both Cinna +and Marius. The consuls were elected by the comitia of the centuries. +They could not appear in public without the protection of twelve +lictors, who bore bundles of twigs (fasces) and walked in single file +before their chiefs.] The first to hold the highest office were Lucius +Junius Brutus and Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, husband of Lucretia. + +Some time after Tarquin had fled to Cære, he found an asylum at +Tarquinii, and from that city made an effort to stir up a conspiracy in +his favor at Rome. He sent messengers ostensibly to plead for the +restoration of his property, but really for the purpose of exciting +treason. There were at Rome vicious persons who regretted that they +were obliged to return to regular ways, and there were patricians who +disliked to see the plebeians again enjoying their rights. Some of +these were ready to take up the cause of the deposed tyrant. The +conspirators met for consultation in one of the dark chambers of a +Roman house, and their conference was overheard. They were brought +before the consuls in the Comitium, and, to the dismay of Brutus, two +of his own sons were found among the number. With the unswerving virtue +of a Roman or a Spartan, he condemned them to death, and they were +executed before his eyes. The discovery of the plot of Tarquin put an +end to his efforts to regain any foothold at Rome by peaceable methods, +and he made the appeal to arms. These plots led to the banishment of +the whole Tarquinian house, even the consul whose troubles had brought +the result about being obliged to lay down his office and leave the +city. Publius Valerius was appointed in his stead. For a time he was in +office alone, and several times he was re-chosen. He was afterwards +known as Poplicola, "the people's friend," on account of certain laws +that he passed, limiting the power of the aristocrats and alleviating +the condition of the plebeians. [Footnote: When Valerius was consul +alone he began to build a house for himself on the Velian Hill, and a +cry was raised that he intended to make himself king, upon which he +stopped building. The people were ashamed of their conduct and granted +him land to build on. One of his laws enacted that whoever should +attempt to make himself king should be devoted to the gods, and that +any one might kill him. When Valerius died he was mourned by the +matrons for ten months. See Plutarch, _Poplicola_.] + +In pursuance of his new plans, Tarquin obtained the help of the people +of Veii and Tarquinii and marched against Rome. He was met by an army +under Brutus, and a bloody battle was fought near Arsia. Brutus was +killed and the Etruscans were about to claim the victory, when, in the +night, the voice of the god Silvanus was heard saying that the killed +among the Etruscans outnumbered by one man those of the Romans. Upon +this the Etruscans fled, knowing that ultimate victory would not be +theirs. This is not the way that a modern army would have acted. +Valerius returned to Rome in triumph, and the matrons mourned Brutus as +the avenger of Lucretia, an entire year. + +This is the time of heroes and of highly ornamented lays, and we are +not surprised to find truth covered up beneath a mass of fulsome +bombast. It is related that Tarquinius now obtained the help of Prince +or Lars Porsena of Clusium in Etruria, and with a large army proceeded +undisturbed quite up to the Janiculum Hill on his march to Rome. There +he found himself separated from the object of his long struggle only by +the wooden bridge. We may picture to ourselves the city stirred to its +centre by the fearful prospect before it. The bridge that had been of +so much use, that the pontifices had so carefully built and preserved, +must be cut away, or all was lost. At this critical juncture, the brave +Horatius Cocles, with one on either hand, kept the enemy at bay while +willing arms swung the axes against the supports of the structure, and +when it was just ready to fall uttered a prayer to Father Tiber, +plunged into the muddy torrent, fully armed as he was, and swam to the +opposite shore amid the plaudits of the rejoicing people, as related in +the ballad of Lord Macaulay. Then it was, too, that the people +determined to erect a bridge which could be more readily removed in +case of necessity. Baffled in this attempt to enter Rome, the enemy +laid siege to the city, and as it was unprepared, it soon suffered the +distress of famine. Then another brave man arose, Caius Mucius by name, +and offered to go to the camp of the invaders and kill the hated king. +He was able to speak the Etruscan language, and felt that a little +audacity was all that he needed to carry his mission out safely. Though +he went boldly, he killed a secretary dressed in purple, instead of his +master, and was caught and threatened with torture. Putting his right +hand into the fire on the altar near by, he held it there until it was +destroyed, [Footnote: Mucius was after this called Scævola, the left- +handed.] and said that suffering had no terrors for him, nor for three +hundred of his companions who had all vowed to kill the king. The Roman +writers say that, thereupon Porsena took hostages from them and made +peace. It is true that peace was made, but Rome was forced to agree not +to use iron except in cultivating the earth, and she lost ten of her +thirty "regions," being all the territory that the kings had conquered +on the west bank of the Tiber. [Footnote: See Niebuhr's +_Lectures_, chapter xxiv.] + +Tarquin had been foiled in his attempts to regain his throne, but still +he tried again, the last time having the aid of his son-in-law, +Mamilius of Tusculum. It was a momentous juncture. The weakened Romans +were to encounter the combined powers of the thirty Latin cities that +had formerly been in league with them. They needed the guidance of one +strong man; but they had decreed that there should never be a king +again, and so they appointed a "dictator" with unlimited power, for a +limited time. We shall find them resorting to this expedient on other +occasions of sudden and great trouble. A fierce struggle followed at +Lake Regillus, in which the Latins were turned to flight through the +intervention of Castor and Pollux, who fought at the head of the Roman +knights on foaming white steeds. There was no other quarter to which +Tarquinius could turn for help, and he therefore fled to Cumæ, where he +died after a wretched old age. A temple was erected on the field of the +battle of Lake Regillus in honor of Castor and Pollux, and thither +annually on the fifteenth of July the Roman knights were wont to pass +in solemn procession, in memory of the fact that the twins had fought +at the head of their columns in the day of distress when fortune seemed +to be about to desert the national cause. At this battle Caius Marcius, +a stripling descended from Ancus Marcius, afterwards known as +Coriolanus, received the oaken crown awarded to the man who should save +the life of a Roman citizen, because he struck down one of the Latins, +in the presence of the commander, just as he was about to kill a Roman +soldier. + +In the year 504 B.C., there was in the town of Regillum, a man of +wealth and importance, who, at the time of the war with the Sabines, +had advocated peace, and as his fellow-citizens were firmly opposed to +him, left them, accompanied by a long train of followers (much as we +suppose the first Tarquin left Tarquinii), and took up his abode in +Rome. The name of this man was Atta Clausus, or perhaps Atta Claudius, +but, however that may be, he was known at Rome as Appius Claudius. He +was received into the ranks of the patricians, ample lands were +assigned to him and his followers, and he became the ancestor of one of +the most important Roman families, that of Claudius, noted through a +long history for its hatred of the plebeians. His line lasted some five +centuries, as we shall have occasion to observe. + + + + +VI. + +THE ROMAN RUNNYMEDE. + + + +The establishment of the republic marked an era in the history of Rome. +The people had decreed, as has been said, that for them there never +should be a king, and the law was kept to the letter; though, if they +meant that supreme authority should never be held among them by one +man, it was violated many times. The story of Rome is unique in the +history of the world, for it is not the record of the life of one great +country, but of a city that grew to be strong and successfully +established its authority over many countries. The most ancient and the +most remote from the sea of the cities of Latium, Rome soon became the +most influential, and began to combine in itself the traits of the +peoples near it; but owing to the singular strength and rare +impressiveness of the national character, these were assimilated, and +the inhabitant of the capital remained distinctively a Roman in spite +of his intimate association with men of different origin and training. + +The citizen of Rome was practical, patriotic, and faithful to +obligation; he loved to be governed by inflexible law; and it was a +fundamental principle with him that the individual should be +subordinate to the state. His kings were either organizers, like Numa +and Ancus Marcius, or warriors, like Romulus and Tullus Hostilius; they +either made laws, like Servius, or they enforced them with the +despotism of Tarquinius Superbus. It is difficult for us to conceive of +such a majestic power emanating from a territory so insignificant. We +hardly realize that Latium did not comprise a territory quite fifty +miles by one hundred in extent, and that it was but a hundred miles +from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic. It was but a short walk from +Rome to the territory of the Etruscans, and when Tarquin found an +asylum at Cære, he did not separate himself by twenty miles from the +scene of his tyranny. Ostia was scarcely more distant, and one might +have ridden before the first meal of the day to Lavinium, or Alba, or +Veii, or to Ardea, the ancient city of the Rutuli. It is important to +keep these facts in mind as we read the story of the remarkable city. + +All towns were built on hills in these early days, for safety in case +of war, as well as because the valleys were insalubrious, but this is +not a peculiarity of the Romans, for in New England in the late ages of +our own ancestors they were obliged to follow the same custom. On the +tops and slopes of seven hills, as they liked to remind themselves, the +Romans built their city. They were not impressive elevations, though +their sides were sharp and rocky, for the loftiest rose less than three +hundred feet above the sea level. Their summits were crowned with +groves of beech trees and oaks, and in the lower lands grew osiers and +other smaller varieties. + +The earlier occupations of the Roman people were war and agriculture, +or the pasturage of flocks and herds. They raised grapes and made +wines; they cultivated the oil olive and knew the use of its fruit. +They found copper in their soil and made a pound (_as_) of it their +unit of value, but it was so cheap that ten thousand ases were required +to buy a war horse, though cattle and sheep were much lower. They yoked +their oxen and called the path they occupied a _jugerum_ (_jugum_, a +cross-beam, or a yoke), and this in time came to be their familiar +standard of square measure, containing about two thirds of an acre. Two +of these were assigned to a citizen, and seven were the narrow limit to +which only one's landed possessions were for a long time allowed to +extend. In time commerce was added to the pursuits of the men, and with +it came fortunes and improved dwellings and public buildings. + +Laziness and luxury were frowned upon by the early Romans. Mistress and +maid worked together in the affairs of the household, like Lucretia and +other noble women of whom history tells, and the man did not hesitate +to hold the plow, as the example of Cincinnatus will show us. Time was +precious, and thrift and economy were necessary to success. The father +was the autocrat in the household, and exercised his power with stern +rigidity. + +Art was backward and came from abroad; of literature there was none, +long after Greece had passed its period of heroic poetry. The dwellings +of the citizens were low and insignificant, though as time passed on +they became more massive and important. The vast public structures of +the later kings were comparable to the task-work of the builders of the +Egyptian pyramids, and they still strike us with astonishment and +surprise. + +The religion of these strong conquerors was narrow, severe, and dreary. +The early fathers worshipped native deities only. They recognized gods +everywhere--in the home, in the grove, and on the mountain. They +erected their altars on the hills; they had their Lares and Penates to +watch over their hearthstones, and their Vestal Virgins kept +everlasting vigil near the never-dying fires in the temples. With the +art of Greece that made itself felt through Etruria, came also the +influence of the Grecian mythology, and Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva +found a shrine on the top of the Capitoline, where the first statue of +a deity was erected. The mysterious Sibylline Books are also a mark of +the Grecian influence, coming from Cumæ, a colony of Magna Græcia. + +During the period we have considered, the city passed through five +distinct stages of political organization. The government at first, as +we have seen, was an elective monarchy, the electors being a +patriarchal aristocracy. After the invasion of the Sabines, there was a +union with that people, the sovereignty being held by rulers chosen +from each; but it was not long before Rome became the head of a federal +state. The Tarquins established a monarchy, which rapidly degenerated +into an offensive tyranny, which aroused rebellion and at last led to +the republic. We have noted that in Greece in the year 510 B.C., the +tyranny of the family of Pisistratus was likewise overturned. + +During all these changes, the original aristocrats and their +descendants firmly held their position as the Populus Romanus, the +Roman People, insisting that every one else must belong to an inferior +order, and, as no body of men is willing to be condemned to a +hopelessly subordinate position in a state, there was a perpetual +antagonism between the patricians and the plebeians, between the +aristocracy and the commonalty. This led to a temporary change under +Servius Tullius, when property took the place of pedigree in +establishing a man's rank and influence; but, owing to the peculiar +method of voting adopted, the power of the commons was not greatly +increased. However, they had made their influence felt, and were +encouraged. The overturning of the scheme by Tarquin favored a union of +the two orders for the punishment of that tyrant, and they combined; +but it was only for a time. When the danger had been removed, the tie +was found broken and the antagonism rather increased, so that the +subsequent history for five generations, though exceedingly +interesting, is largely a record of the struggles of the commons for +relief from the burdens laid upon them by the aristocrats. + +The father passed down to his son the story of the oppression of the +patricians, and the son told the same sad narrative to his offspring. +The mother mourned with her daughter over the sufferings brought upon +them by the rich, for whom their poor father and brothers were obliged +to fight the battles while they were not allowed to share the spoil, +nor to divide the lands gained by their own prowess. The struggle was +not so much between patrician and plebeian as between the rich and the +poor. It was intimately connected with the uses of money in those +times. What could the rich Roman do with his accumulations? He might +buy land or slaves, or he might become a lender; to a certain extent he +could use his surplus in commerce; but of these its most remunerative +employment was found in usury. As there were no laws regulating the +rates of interest, they became exorbitant, and, as it was customary to +compound it, debts rapidly grew beyond the possibility of payment. As +the rich made the laws, they naturally exerted their ingenuity to frame +them in such a way as to enable the lender to collect his dues with +promptness, and with little regard for the feelings or interests of the +debtor. + +It is difficult, if not impossible, for us to form a proper conception +of the magnitude of the wrongs involved in the system of money-lending +at Rome during the period of the republic. The small farmers were ever +needy, and came to their wealthy neighbors for accommodation loans. If +these were not paid when due, the debtor was liable to be locked up in +prison, to be sold into slavery, with his children, wife, and +grandchildren; and the heartless law reads, that in case the estate +should prove insufficient to satisfy all claims, the creditors were +actually authorized to cut the body to pieces, that each Shylock might +take the pound of flesh that he claimed. + +At last the severity of the lenders overreached itself. It was in the +year four hundred and ninety-five, B.C., that a poor, but brave debtor, +one who had been at the very front in the wars, broke out of his +prison, and while the wind flaunted his rags in the face of the +populace, clanked his chains and told the story of his calamities so +effectually in words of natural eloquence, that the commons were +aroused to madness, and resolved at last to make a vigorous effort and +seek redress for their wrongs in a way that could not be resisted. The +form of this man stands out forever on the pages of Roman history, as +he entered the forum with all the badges of his misery upon him. +[Footnote: See Livy, Book II., chapter xxiii.] His pale and emaciated +body was but partially covered by his wretched tatters; his long hair +played about his shoulders, and his glaring eyes and the grizzled beard +hanging down before him added to his savage wildness. As he passed +along, he uncovered the scars of near twoscore battles that remained +upon his breast, and explained to enquirers that while he had been +serving in the Sabine war, his house had been pillaged and burned by +the enemy; that when he had returned to enjoy the sweets of the peace +he had helped to win, he had found that his cattle had been driven off, +and a tax imposed. To meet the debts that thronged upon him, and the +interest by which they were aggravated, he had stripped himself of his +ancestral farms. Finally, pestilence had overtaken him, and as he was +not able to work, his creditor had placed him in a house of detention, +the savage treatment in which was shown by the fresh stripes upon his +bleeding back. + +At the moment a war was imminent, and the forum--the entire city, in +fact--already excited, was filled with the uproar of the angry +plebeians. Many confined for debt broke from their prison houses, and +ran from all quarters into the crowds to claim protection. The majesty +of the consuls was insufficient to preserve order, and while the +discord was rapidly increasing, horsemen rushed into the gates +announcing that an enemy was actually upon them, marching to besiege +the city. The plebeians saw that their opportunity had arrived, and +when proud Appius Claudius called upon them to enroll their names for +the war, they refused the summons, saying that the patricians might +fight their own battles; that for themselves it was better to perish +together at home rather than to go to the field and die separated. +Threatened with war beyond the gates, and with riot at home, the +patricians were forced to promise to redress the civil grievances. It +was ordered that no one could seize or sell the goods of a soldier +while he was in camp, or arrest his children or grandchildren, and that +no one should detain a citizen in prison or in chains, so as to hinder +him from enlisting in the army. When this was known, the released +prisoners volunteered in numbers, and entered upon the war with +enthusiasm. The legions were victorious, and when peace was declared, +the plebeians anxiously looked for the ratification of the promises +made to them. + +Their expectations were disappointed. They had, however, seen their +power, and were determined to act upon their new knowledge. Without +undue haste, they protected their homes on the Aventine, and retreated +the next year to a mountain across the Anio, about three miles from the +city, to a spot which afterwards held a place in the memories of the +Romans similar to that which the green meadow on the Thames called +Runnymede has held in British history since the June day when King John +met his commons there, and gave them the great charter of their +liberties. + +The plebeians said calmly that they would no longer be imposed upon; +that not one of them would thereafter enlist for a war until the public +faith were made good. They reiterated the declaration that the lords +might fight their own battles, so that the perils of conflict should +lie where its advantages were. When the situation of affairs was +thoroughly understood, Rome was on fire with anxiety, and the enforced +suspense filled the citizens with fear lest an external enemy should +take the opportunity for a successful onset upon the city. Meanwhile +the poor secessionists fortified their camp, but carefully refrained +from actual war. The people left in the city feared the senators, and +the senators in turn dreaded the citizens lest they should do them +violence. It was a time of panic and suspense. After consultation, good +counsels prevailed in the senate, and it was resolved to send an +embassy to the despised and down-trodden plebeians, who now seemed, +however, to hold the balance of power, and to treat for peace, for +there could be no security until the secessionists had returned to +their homes. + +The spokesman on the occasion was Menenius Agrippa Lanatus, who was +popular with the people and had a reputation for eloquence. In the +course of his argument he related the famous apologue which Shakespeare +has so admirably used in his first Roman play. He said: + +"At a time when all the parts of the body did not, as now, agree +together, but the several members had each its own scheme, its own +language, the other parts, indignant that every thing was procured for +the belly by their care, labor, and service, and that it, remaining +quiet in the centre, did nothing but enjoy the pleasures afforded it, +conspired that the hands should not convey food to the mouth, nor the +mouth receive it when presented, nor the teeth chew it. They wished by +these measures to subdue the belly by famine, but, to their dismay, +they found that they themselves and the entire body were reduced to the +last degree of emaciation. It then became apparent that the service of +the belly was by no means a slothful one; that it did not so much +receive nourishment as supply it, sending to all parts of the body that +blood by which the entire system lived in vigor." + +Lanatus then applied the fable to the body politic, showing that all +the citizens must work in unity if its greatest welfare is to be +attained. The address of this good man had its desired effect, and the +people were at last willing to listen to a proposition for their +return. It was settled that there should be a general release of all +those who had been handed over to their creditors, and a cancelling of +debts, and that two of the plebeians should be selected as their +protectors, with power to veto objectionable laws, their persons being +as inviolable at all times as were those of the sacred messengers of +the gods. These demands, showing that the plebeians did not seek +political power, were agreed to, the Valerian laws were reaffirmed, and +a solemn treaty was concluded, each party swearing for itself and its +posterity, with all the formality of representatives of foreign +nations. The two leaders of the commons, Caius Licinius and Lucius +Albinius, were elected the first Tribunes of the People, as the new +officers were called, with two Ædiles to aid them. [Footnote: The +duties of the ædiles were various, and at first they were simple +assistants of the tribunes. _Ædes_ means house or temple, and the +ædiles seem to have derived their name from the fact that they had the +care of the temple of Ceres, goddess of agriculture, a very important +divinity in Rome as well as in Greece.] They were not to leave the city +during their term of office; their doors being open day and night, that +all who needed their protection might have access to them. The hill +upon which this treaty had been concluded was ever after known as the +Sacred Mount; its top was enclosed and consecrated, an altar being +built upon it, on which sacrifices were offered to Jupiter, the god of +terror and deliverance, who had allowed the commons to return home in +safety, though they had gone out in trepidation. Henceforth the commons +were to be protected; they were better fitted to share the honors as +well as the benefits of their country, and the threatened dissolution +of the nation was averted. + +Towards the end of the year, Lanatus, the successful intercessor, died, +and it was found that his poverty was so great that none but the most +ordinary funeral could be afforded. Thereupon the plebeians contributed +enough to give him a splendid burial; but the sum was afterwards +presented to his children, because the senate decreed that the funeral +expenses should be defrayed by the state. (B.C. 494.) + + + + +VII. + +HOW THE HEROES FOUGHT FOR A HUNDRED YEARS. + + + +There is a long story connected with the young stripling who, at the +battle of Lake Regillus received the oaken crown for saving the life of +a Roman citizen. The century after that event was filled with wars with +the neighboring peoples, and in one of them this same Caius Marcius +fought so bravely at the taking of the Latin town of Corioli that he +was ever after known as Coriolanus (B.C. 493). He was a proud +patrician, and on one occasion when he was candidate for the office of +consul, behaved with so much unnecessary haughtiness toward the +plebeians that they refused him their votes. [Footnote: The whole +interesting story is found in Plutarch's Lives, and in Shakespeare's +play which bears the hero's name.] After a while a famine came to +Rome,--famines often came there,--and though in a former emergency of +the kind Coriolanus had himself obtained corn and beef for the people, +he was now so irritated by his defeat that when a contribution of grain +arrived from Syracuse, in Sicily (B.C. 491), he actually advocated that +it should not be distributed among the people unless they would consent +to give up their tribunes which had been assured to them by the laws of +the Sacred Mount! This enraged the plebeians very much, and they caused +Coriolanus to be summoned for trial before the comitia of the tribes, +which body, in spite of his acknowledged services to the state, +condemned him to exile. When he heard this sentence, Coriolanus angrily +determined to cast in his lot with his old enemies the Volscians, and +raised an army for them with which he marched victoriously towards +Rome. As he went, he destroyed the property of the plebeians, but +preserved that of the patricians. The people were in the direst state +of anxious fear, and some of the senators were sent out to plead with +the dreaded warrior for the safety of the city. These venerable +ambassadors were repelled with scorn. Again, the sacred priests and +augurs were deputed to make the petition, this time in the name of the +gods of the people; but, alas, they too entreated in vain. Then it was +remembered that the stern man had always reverenced his mother, and she +with an array of matrons, accompanied by the little ones of Coriolanus, +went out to add their efforts to those which had failed. As they +appeared, Coriolanus exclaimed, as Shakespeare put it: + + "I melt, and am not + Of stronger earth than others.--My mother bows; + As if Olympus to a molehill should + In supplication nod; and my young boy + Hath an aspect of intercession, which, + Great Nature cries: 'Deny not.' Let the Volsces + Plow Rome and harrow Italy; I'll never + Be such a gosling to obey instinct; but stand, + As if a man were author of himself, + And knew no other kin!"* + +The strong man is finally melted, however, by the soft influences of +the women, and as he yields, says to them: + + "Ladies, you deserve + To have a temple built you; all the swords + In Italy, and her confederate arms, + Could not have made this peace!" + +A temple was accordingly built in memory of this event, and in honor of +Feminine Fortune, at the request of the women of Rome, for the senate +had decreed that any wish they might express should be gratified. As +for Coriolanus, he is said to have lived long in banishment, bewailing +his misfortune, and saying that exile bore heavily on an old man. The +entire story, heroic and tragic as it is related to us, is not +substantiated, and we do not really know whether if true it should be +assigned to the year 488 B.C., or to a date a score of years later. + +During all the century we are now considering, the plebeians were +slowly gaining ground in their attempts to improve their political +condition, though they did not fail to meet rebuffs, and though they +were many times unjustly treated by their proud opponents. These +efforts at home were complicated, too, by the fact that nearly all the +time there was war with one or another of the adjoining nations. +Treaties were made at this period with some of the neighboring peoples, +by a good friend of the plebeians, Spurius Cassius, who was consul in +the year 486, and these to a certain extent repaired the losses that +had followed the war with Porsena after the fall of the Tarquins. +Cassius tried to strengthen the state internally, too, by dividing +certain lands among the people, and by requiring rents to be paid for +other tracts, and setting the receipts aside to pay the commons when +they should be called out as soldiers. This is known as the first of +the many Agrarian Laws (_ager_, a meadow, a field) that are recorded in +Roman history, though something of the same nature is said to have +existed in the days of Servius Tullius. + +There were public and private lands in Roman territory, just as there +are in the territory of the United States, and in those days, just as +in our own, there were "squatters," as they have been called in our +history, who settled upon public lands without right, and without +paying any thing to the government for the privileges they enjoyed. +Laws regulating the use and ownership of the public lands were passed +from time to time until Julius Cæsar (B.C. 59) enacted the last. They +had for their object the relief of poverty and the stopping of the +clamors of the poor, the settling of remote portions of territory, the +rewarding of soldiers, or the extension of the popularity of some +general or other leader. The plan was not efficient in developing the +country, because those to whom the land was allotted were often not at +all adapted to pursue agriculture successfully, and because the evils +of poverty are not to be met in that way. + +It was a sign of the power of the people that this proposition of +Cassius should have been successful; but it irritated the patricians +exceedingly, because they had derived large wealth from the improper +use of the public lands. The following year consuls came into power who +were more in sympathy with the patricians, and they accused Cassius of +laying plans to be made king. His popularity was undermined, and his +reputation blasted. Finally he was declared guilty of treason by his +enemies, and condemned to be scourged and beheaded, while his house was +razed to the ground. For seven years after this one of the consuls was +always a member of the powerful family of the Fabii, which had been +influential in thus overthrowing Cassius. The Fabians had opposed the +laws dividing the lands, and they now refused to carry them out. The +result was that the commons, deprived of their rights, again went to +the extreme of refusing to fight for the state; and when on one +occasion they were brought face to face with an enemy, they refused to +conquer when they had victory in their hands. A little later they went +one step further, and attempted to stop entirely the raising of an +army. One of the patrician family just mentioned, Marcus Fabius, proved +too noble willingly to permit such strife between the classes to +interfere with the progress of the state, and determined to conciliate +the commons. He succeeded, and led them to battle, and, though his army +won victory, was himself killed in the combat (B.C. 481). The other +members of the family took up the cause, cared kindly for the wounded, +and thus still further ingratiated themselves with the army. The next +year (B.C. 480) another Fabian was consul, and he too determined to +stand up for the laws of Spurius Cassius. He was treated with scorn by +his fellow patricians, and finding that he could not carry out his +principles and live at peace in Rome, determined to exile himself. +Going out with his followers, he established a camp on the side of the +river Cremera, a few miles above Rome, and alone carried on a war +against the fortified city of Veii. The unequal strife was continued +for two years; but then the brave family was completely cut off. There +was not a member left, excepting one who seems to have refused to +renounce the former opinions of the family, and had remained at Rome +[Footnote: The Fabii were cut off on the Cremera on the 16th of July, a +day afterwards marked by a terrible battle on the Allia, in which the +Gauls defeated the Romans.] (B.C. 477). He became the ancestor of the +Fabii of after-history. + +The support thus received from the aristocratic Fabii encouraged the +commons, and the sacrifice of the family exasperated them. They felt +anew that it was possible for them to exert some power in the state, +and they promptly accused one of the consuls, Titus Menenius, of +treason, because he had allowed his army to lie inactive near Cremera +while the Fabii were cut off before him. Menenius was found guilty, and +died of vexation and shame. The aristocrats now attempted to frighten +the commons by treachery and assassination, and succeeded, until one, +Volero Publilius, arose and took their part. He boldly proposed a law +by which the tribunes of the people, instead of being chosen by the +comitia of the centuries, in which, as we have seen, the aristocrats +had the advantage, should be chosen by the comitia of the tribes, in +which there was no such inferiority of the commons. Though violently +opposed by the patricians, this law was passed, in the year 471 B.C. +Other measures were, however, still necessary to give the plebeians a +satisfactory position in the state. + +In the year 458, the ancient tribe of the Æquians came down upon Rome, +and taking up a position upon Mount Algidus, just beyond Alba Longa, +repulsed an army sent against them, and surrounded its camp. We can +imagine the clattering of the hoofs on the hard stones of the Via +Latina as five anxious messengers, who had managed to escape before it +was too late, hurried to Rome to carry the disheartening news. All eyes +immediately turned in one direction for help. There lived just across +the Tiber a member of an old aristocratic family, one Lucius Quintius, +better known as Cincinnatus, because that name had been added to his +others to show that he wore his hair long and in curls. Lucius was +promptly appointed Dictator--that is, he was offered supreme authority +over all the state,--and messengers were sent to ask him to accept the +direction of affairs. He was found at work on his little farm, which +comprised only four jugera, either digging or plowing, and after he had +sent for his toga, or outer garment, which he had thrown off for +convenience in working, and had put it on, he listened to the message, +and accepted the responsibility. The next morning he appeared on the +forum by daylight, like an early rising farmer, and issued orders that +no one should attend to private business, but that all men of proper +age should meet him on the field of Mars by sunset with food sufficient +for five days. At the appointed hour the army was ready, and, so +rapidly did it march, that before midnight the camp of the enemy was +reached. The Æquians, not expecting such promptness, were astonished to +hear a great shout, and to find themselves shut up between two Roman +armies, both of which advanced and successfully hemmed them in. They +were thus forced to surrender, and Cincinnatus obliged them to pass +under the yoke, in token of subjugation. (_Sub_, under, _jugum_, a +yoke.) The yoke in this case was made of two spears fastened upright in +the ground with a third across them at the top. In the short space of +twenty-four hours, Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus raised an army, defeated +an enemy, and laid down his authority as dictator! It was decreed that +he should enter the city in triumph. He rode in his chariot through the +streets, the rejoicing inhabitants spreading tables in front of their +houses, laden with meat and drink for the soldiers. The defeated chiefs +walked before the victor, and after them followed the standards that +had been won, while still farther behind were the soldiers, bearing the +rich spoils. It was customary in those days for a conqueror to take +every thing from the poor people whom he had vanquished,--homes, lands, +cattle, wealth of every sort,--and then even to carry the men, women, +and children away into slavery themselves. Thus a subjugated country +became a desolation, unless the conquerors sent settlers to occupy the +vacant homes and cultivate the neglected farms. Bad and frightful as +war is now, it is not conducted on such terrible principles as were +followed in early times. + +Though from time to time concessions were made to the commons, they +continued to feel that they were deprived of many of their just +political rights, and the antagonism remained lively between them and +the patricians. The distresses that they suffered were real, and +endured even for two centuries after the time assigned to Coriolanus. +We have now, indeed, arrived at a period of their sore trial, though it +was preceded by some events that seemed to promise them good. In the +year 454, Lucius Icilius, one of the tribunes of the people, managed to +have the whole of the Aventine Hill given up to them, and as it was, +after the Capitoline, the strongest of all the seven, their political +importance was of course increased. It was but a few years later (B.C. +451) when, according to tradition, after long and violent debates it +was decided that a commission should be sent to Athens, or to some +colony of the Greeks, to learn what they could from the principles of +government adopted by that ancient and wise people, which was then at +the very height of its prosperity and fame. After this commission had +made its report (in the year B.C. 450), all the important magistrates, +including the consuls, tribunes, and ædiles, were replaced by ten +patricians, known as Decemvirs (_decem_, ten, _vir_, a man), appointed +to prepare a new code of laws. + +The chief of this body was an Appius Claudius, son of the haughty +patrician of the same name, and equally as haughty as he ever was. The +laws of Rome before this time had been in a mixed condition, partly +written and partly unwritten and traditional; but now all were to be +reduced to order, and incorporated with those two laws that could not +be touched--that giving the Aventine to the plebeians, and the sacred +law settled on the Roman Runnymede after the first secession to the +Sacred Mount. After a few months the ten men produced ten laws, which +were written out and set up in public places for the people to read and +criticise. Suggestions for alterations might be made, and if the ten +men approved them, they made them a part of their report, after which +all was submitted to the senate and the curiæ, and finally approved. +The whole code of laws was then engraved on ten tables of enduring +brass and put up in the comitium, where all might see them and have no +excuse for not obeying them. + +We do not know exactly what all these laws were, but enough has come +down to us to make it clear that they were drawn up with great +fairness, because they met the expectations of the people; and this +shows, of course, that the political power of the plebeians was now +considerable, because ten patricians would not have made the laws fair, +unless there had been a strong influence exerted over them, obliging +them to be careful in their action. The ten had acted so well, indeed, +that it was thought safe and advisable to continue the government in +the same form for another year. This proved a mistake, for Appius +managed to gain so much influence that he was the only one of the +original ten who was re-elected, and he was able also to cause nine +others to be chosen with him who were weak men, whom he felt sure that +he could control. When the new decemvirs came into power, they soon +added two new laws to the original ten, and the whole are now known, +therefore, as the "Twelve Tables." The additional laws proved so +distasteful to the people that they were much irritated, and seemed +ready to revolt against the government on the slightest provocation. +The decemvirs became exceedingly ostentatious and haughty, too, in +their bearing, as well as tyrannical in their acts, so that the city +was all excitement and opposition to the government that a few weeks +before had been liked so well. Nothing was needed to bring about an +outbreak except a good excuse, and that was not long waited for. +Nations do not often have to wait long for a cause for fighting, if +they want to find one. + +A war broke out with the Sabines and the Æquians at the same time, and +armies were sent against them both, commanded by friends of the +plebeians. Lucius Sicinius Dentatus, one of the bravest, was sent out +at the head of one army with some traitors, who, under orders from the +decemvirs, murdered him in a lonely place. The other commander was +Lucius Virginius, who will be known as long as literature lasts as +father of the beautiful but unfortunate Virginia. While Virginius was +fighting the city's war against the Æquians, the tyrant Appius was +plotting to snatch from him his beloved daughter, who was affianced to +the tribune Lucius Icilius, the same who had caused the Aventine to be +assigned to the plebeians. At first wicked Appius endeavored to entice +the maiden from her noble lover, but without success; and he therefore +determined to take her by an act of tyranny, under color of law. He +caused one of his minions to claim her as his slave, intending to get +her into his hands before her father could hear of the danger and +return from the army. The attempt was not successful, for trusty +friends carried the news quickly, and Virginius reached Rome in time to +hear the cruel sentence by which the tyrant thought to gratify his evil +intention. Before Virginia could be taken from the forum, Virginius +drew her aside, suddenly snatched a sharp knife from a butcher's stall, +and plunged it in her bosom, crying out: "This is the only way, my +child, to keep thee free!" Then, turning to Appius, he held the bloody +knife on high and cried: "On thy head be the curse of this blood." +Vainly did Appius call upon the crowd to arrest the infuriated father; +the people stood aside to allow him to pass, as though he had been +something holy, and he rushed onward toward his portion of the army, +which was soon joined by the troops that Dentatus had commanded. +Meantime, Icilius held up the body of his loved one before the people +in the forum, and bade them gaze on the work of their decemvir. A +tumult was quickly stirred up, in the midst of which Appius fled to his +house, and the senate, hastily summoned, cast about for means to stop +the wild indignation of the exasperated populace; for the people were +then, as they are now, always powerful in the strength of outraged +feeling or righteous indignation. + +All was vain. The two armies returned to the Aventine united, and from +the other parts of the city the plebeians flocked to them. This was the +second secession, and, like the first, it was successful. The decemvirs +were compelled to resign, their places being filled by two consuls; +Appius was thrown into prison, to await judgment, and took his life +there; and ten tribunes of the people were chosen to look out for the +interests of the commons, Virginius and Icilius being two of the +number. Thus, for the first time since the days of Publius Valerius, +the control of government was in the hands of men who wished to carry +it on for the good of the country, rather than in the interest of a +party. Thus good came out of evil. + +Among the laws of the Twelve Tables, the particular one which had at +this time excited the plebeians was a statute prohibiting marriages +between members of their order and the patricians. There had been such +marriages, and this made the opposition to the law all the more bitter, +though no one was powerful enough to cause it to be abolished. There +now arose a tribune of the people who possessed force and persistence, +Caius Canuleius by name, and he urged the repeal of this law. For the +third time the plebeians seceded, this time going over the Tiber to the +Janiculum Hill, where it would have been possible for them to begin a +new city, if they had not been propitiated. Canuleius argued with vigor +against the consuls who stood up for the law, and at last he succeeded. +In the year 445 the restriction was removed, and plebeian girls were at +liberty to become the wives of patrician men, with the assurance that +their children should enjoy the rank of their fathers. This right of +intermarriage led in time to the entrance of plebeians upon the highest +magistracies of the city, and it was, therefore, of great political +importance. + +It was agreed in 444 B.C. that the supreme authority should be centred +in two magistrates, called Military Tribunes, who should have the power +of consuls, and might be chosen from the two orders. The following +year, however (443 B.C.), the patricians were allowed to choose from +their own order two officers known as Censors, who were always +considered to outrank all others, excepting the dictator, when there +was one of those extraordinary magistrates. The censors wore rich robes +of scarlet, and had almost kingly dignity. They made the register of +the citizens at the time of the census, [Footnote: After the expulsion +of the Tarquins, the consuls took the census, and this was the first +appointment of special officers for the purpose.] administered the +public finances, and chose the members of the senate, besides +exercising many other important duties connected with public and +private life. The term of office of the censors at first was a lustrum +or five years, but ten years later it was limited to eighteen months. +In 421, the plebeians made further progress, for the office of quæstor +(paymaster) was opened to them, and they thus became eligible to the +senate. A score of years passed, however, before any plebeian was +actually chosen to the office of military tribune even, owing to the +great influence of the patricians in the comitia centuriata. + +All the time that these events were occurring, Rome was carrying on +intermittent wars with the surrounding nations, and by her own efforts, +as well as by the help of her allies, was adding to her warlike +prestige. Nothing in all the story of war exceeds in interest the +poetical narrative that relates to the siege and fall of the Etruscan +city of Veii, with which, since the days of Romulus, Rome had so many +times been involved in war. + +Year after year the army besieged the strong place, and there seemed no +hope that its walls would fall. It was allied with Fidenæ, another city +halfway between it and Rome, which was taken by means of a mine in the +year 426. A peace with Veii ensued, after which the incessant war began +again, and fortune sometimes favored one side and sometimes the other. +The siege of the city can be fittingly compared to that of Troy, Seven +years had passed without result, when of a sudden, in the midst of an +autumn drought, the waters of the Alban Lake, away off to the other +side of Rome, began to rise. Higher and still higher they rose without +any apparent cause, until the fields and houses were covered, and then +they found a passage where the hills were lowest, and poured down in a +great torrent upon the plains below. Unable to understand this portent, +for such it was considered, the Romans called upon the oracle at Delphi +for counsel, and were told that not until the waters should find their +way into the lowlands by a new channel, should not rush so impetuously +to the sea, but should water the country, could Veii be taken. It is +hardly necessary to say that no one but an oracle or a poet could see +the connection between the draining of a lake fifteen miles from Rome +on one side, and the capture of a fortress ten miles away on the other. +However, the lake was drained. With surprising skill, a tunnel was +built directly through the rocky hills, and the waters allowed to flow +over the fields below. The traveller may still see this ancient +structure performing its old office. It is cut for a mile and a half, +mainly through solid rock, four feet wide and from seven to ten in +height. The lake is a thousand feet above the sea-level, and of very +great depth. + +Marcus Furius Camillus is the hero who now comes to the rescue. He was +chosen dictator in order that he might push the war with the utmost +vigor. The people of Veii sent messengers to him to sue for peace, but +their appeal was in vain. Steadily the siege went on. We must not +picture to ourselves the army of Camillus using the various engines of +war that the Romans became acquainted with in later times through +intercourse with the Greeks, but trusting more to their strong arms and +their simple means of undermining the walls or breaking down the gates. +Their bows and slings and ladders were weak instruments against strong +stone walls, and the siege was a long and wearisome labor. It proved so +long in this case, indeed, that the soldiers, unable to make visits to +their homes to plant and reap their crops, were for the first time paid +for their services. + +As the unsuccessful ambassadors from Veii turned away from the senate- +house, one of them uttered a fearful prophecy, saying that though the +unmerciful Romans feared neither the wrath of the gods nor the +vengeance of men, they should one day be rewarded for their hardness by +the loss of their own country. + +Summer and winter the Roman army camped before the doomed city, but it +did not fall. At last, to ensure success, Camillus began a mine or +tunnel under the city, which he completed to a spot just beneath the +altar in the temple of Juno. When but a single stone remained to be +taken away, he uttered a fervent prayer to the goddess, and made a vow +to Apollo consecrating a tenth part of the spoil of the city to him. He +then ordered an assault upon the walls, and at the moment when the king +was making an offering on the altar of Juno, and the augur was telling +him that victory in the contest was to fall to him who should burn the +entrails then ready, the Romans burst from their tunnel, finished the +sacrifice, and rushing to the gates, let their own army in. The city +was sacked, and as Camillus looked on, he exclaimed: "What man's +fortune was ever so great as mine?" A magnificent triumph was +celebrated in Rome. Day after day the temples were crowded, and +Camillus, hailed as a public benefactor, rode to the capitol in a +chariot drawn by four white horses. The territory of the conquered city +was divided among the patricians, but Camillus won their hatred after a +time by calling upon them to give up a tenth part of their rich booty +to found a temple to Apollo, in pursuance of his vow, which he claimed +to have forgotten meanwhile. It was not long before he was accused of +unfairness in distributing the spoils, some of which he was said to +have retained himself, and when he saw that the people were so incensed +at him that condemnation was inevitable, he went into banishment. As he +went away, he added a malediction to the prophecy of the ambassador +from Veii, and said that the republic might soon have cause to regret +his loss. He was, as he had expected, condemned, a fine of one hundred +and fifty thousand ases being laid upon him. + +Thus was the territory of Rome greatly increased, after a hundred years +of war and intrigue, and thus did the warrior to whom the city owed the +most, and whom it had professed to honor, go from it with a malediction +on his lips. Let us see how the ill omens were fulfilled. + + + + +VIII. + +A BLAST FROM BEYOND THE NORTH-WIND. + + + +When the Greeks shivered in the cold north-wind, they thought that +Boreas, one of their divinities who dwelt beyond the high mountains, +had loosened the blast from a mysterious cave. The North was to them an +unknown region. Far beyond the hills they thought there dwelt a nation +known as Hyperboreans, or people beyond the region of Boreas, who lived +in an atmosphere of feathers, enjoying Arcadian happiness, and +stretching their peaceful lives out to a thousand years. That which is +unknown is frightful to the ignorant or the superstitious, and so it +was that the North was a land in which all that was alarming might be +conjured up. The inhabitants of the Northern lands were called Gauls by +the Romans. They lived in villages with no walls about them, and had no +household furniture; they slept in straw, or leaves, or grass, and +their business in life was either agriculture or war. They were hardy, +tall, and rough in appearance; their hair was shaggy and light in color +compared with that of the Italians, and their fierce appearance struck +the dwellers under sunnier climes with dread. + +These warlike people had come from the plains of Asia, and in Central +and Northern Europe had increased to such an extent that they could at +length find scarcely enough pasturage for their flocks. The mountains +were full of them, and it was not strange that some looked down from +their summits into the rich plains of Italy, and then went thither; +and, tempted by the crops, so much more abundant than they had ever +known, and by the wine, which gave them a new sensation, at last made +their homes there. It was a part of their life to be on the move, and +by degrees they slipped farther and farther into the pleasant land. +They flocked from the Hercynian forests, away off in Bohemia or +Hungary, and swarmed over the Alps; they followed the river Po in its +course, and they came into the region of the Apennines too. [Footnote: +No one knows exactly when the Gauls first entered Northern Italy. Some +think that it was as long back as the time of the Tarquins, while +others put it only ten or twenty years before the battle of the Allia-- +410-400 B.C.] It was they who had weakened the Etruscans and made it +possible for the Romans to capture Veii. Afterwards they came before +the city of Clusium (B.C. 391), and the people in distress begged for +aid from Rome. No help was given, but ambassadors were sent to warn the +invaders courteously not to attack the friends of the Roman people who +had done them no harm. Such a request might have had an effect upon a +nation that knew the Romans better, but the fierce Northerners who knew +nothing of courtesy replied that if the Clusians would peaceably give +up a portion of their lands, no harm should befall them; but that +otherwise they should be attacked, and that in the presence of the +Romans, who might thus take home an account of how the Gauls excelled +all other mortals in bravery. Upon being asked by what right they +proposed to take a part of the Clusian territory, Brennus, the leader +of the barbarians, replied that all things belonged to the brave, and +that their right lay in their trusty swords. + +In the battle that ensued, the Roman ambassadors fought with the +Clusians, and one of them killed a Gaul of great size and stature. This +was made the basis for an onset upon Rome itself. Then the Romans must +have remembered how just before the hero of Veii had gone into +banishment, a good and respectable man reported to the military +tribunes that one night as he was going along the street near the +temple of Vesta, he heard a voice saying plainly to him: "Marcus +Cædicius, the Gauls are coming!" Probably they remembered, too, how +lightly they esteemed the information, and how even the tribunes made +sport of it. Now the Northern scourge was actually rushing down upon +them, and Camillus was gone! In great rage the invaders pushed on +towards the city, alarming all who came in their way by their numbers, +their fierceness, and the violence with which they swept away all +opposition. There was little need of fear, however, for the rough men +took nothing from the fields, and, as they passed the cities, cried out +that they were on their way to Rome, and that they considered the +inhabitants of all cities but Rome friends who should receive no harm. + +The Romans had a proverb to the effect that whom the gods wish to +destroy they first make mad, and, according to their historian Livy, it +was true in this case, for when the city was thus menaced by a new +enemy, rushing in the intoxication of victory and impelled by the fury +of wrath and the thirst for vengeance, they did not take any but the +most ordinary precautions to protect themselves; leaving to the usual +officers the direction of affairs, and not bestirring themselves as +much as they did when threatened by the comparatively inferior forces +of the neighboring states. They even neglected the prescribed religious +customs and the simplest precautions of war. When they sent out their +army they did not select a fit place for a camp, nor build ramparts +behind which they might retreat, and they drew up the soldiers in such +a way that the line was unusually weak in the parts it presented to the +on-rushing enemy. + +Under such unpropitious circumstances the impetuous Gauls were met on +the banks of the river Allia, ten miles from Rome, on the very day on +which the Fabii had been destroyed by the Etruscans the century before +(July 16, 390). The result was that terror took possession of the +soldiers, and the Gauls achieved an easy victory, so easy, indeed, that +it left them in a state of stupefied surprise. A part of the Romans +fled to the deserted stronghold of Veii, and others to their own city, +but many were overtaken by the enemy and killed, or were swept away by +the current of the Tiber. [Footnote: That this was a terrible defeat is +proved by the fact that the sixteenth of July was afterward held +unlucky (_ater,_ black), and no business was transacted on it. +Ovid mentions it as "the day to which calamitous Allia gives a name in +the calendar," and on which "tearful Allia was stained with the blood +of the Latian wounds."] + +There was dire alarm in the city. The young and vigorous members of the +senate, with their wives and children and other citizens, found refuge +in the capitol, which they fortified; but the aged senators took their +seats in the forum and solemnly awaited the coming of Brennus and his +hosts. The barbarians found, of course, no difficulty in taking and +burning the city, and for days they sacked and pillaged the houses. The +venerable senators were immediately murdered, and the invaders put the +capitol in a state of siege. + +Then the curses of the ambassador of Veii and of Camillus found their +fulfilment; and then also did the thoughts of the Romans turn to their +once admired commander, who, they were now sure, could help them. The +refugees at Veii, too, turned in their thoughts to Camillus, and +messengers were sent to him at Ardea, where he was in exile, asking him +to come to the assistance of his distressed countrymen. Camillus was +too proud to accept a command to which he was not called by the senate, +while he was under condemnation for an offence of which he did not feel +guilty. The senate was shut up in the capitol, and hard to get at, but +an ambitious youth offered to climb the precipitous hill, in spite of +the besieging barbarians, and obtain the requisite order. The daring +man crossed the Tiber, and scaled the hill by the help of shrubs and +projecting stones. After obtaining for Camillus the appointment of +dictator, he successfully returned to Veii, and then the banished +leader accepted the supreme office for the second time. + +The sharp watchers among the Gauls had, however, noticed in the broken +shrubs and loosened stones the marks of the daring act of the messenger +who had climbed the hill, and determined to take the hint and enter the +capitol in that way themselves. In the dead of night, but by the bright +light of the moon we may suppose, since the battle of Allia was fought +at the full of the moon, the daring barbarians began slowly and with +great difficulty to climb the rocky hill. They actually reached its +summit, and, to their surprise, were not noisy enough to awaken the +guards; but, alas for them, the sacred geese of the capitol, kept for +use in the worship of Juno, were confined near the spot where the +ascent had been made. Alarmed by the unusual occurrence, the geese +uttered their natural noises and awakened Marcus Manlius, who quickly +buckled on his armor and rushed to the edge of the cliff. He was just +in time to meet the first Gaul as he came up, and to push him over on +the others who were painfully following him. Down he fell backwards, +striking his companions and sending them one after another to the foot +of the precipice in promiscuous ruin. In the morning the captain of the +watch was in turn cast down upon the heads of the enemies, to whom his +neglect had given such an advantage. + +Now there remained nothing for the Gauls to do but sit down and wait, +to see if they could starve the Romans confined in the capitol. Months +passed, and, indeed, they almost accomplished their object, but while +they were listlessly waiting, the hot Roman autumn was having its +natural effect upon them, accustomed as they were to an active life in +those Northern woods where the cool winds of the mountains fanned them +and the leafy shades screened their heads from the heat of the sun. The +miasma of the low lands crept up into their camps, and the ashes of the +ruins that they had made blew into their faces and affected their +health. They might almost as well have been shut up on the hill. The +result was that both Gaul and Roman felt at last that peace would be a +boon no matter at how high a price purchased, and it was agreed by +Brennus that if the Romans would weigh him out a thousand pounds of +rich gold, he would take himself and his horde back to the more +comfortable woods. The scales were prepared and the gold was brought +out, but the Romans found that their enemies were cheating in the +weight. When asked what it meant, Brennus pulled off his heavy sword, +threw it into the balances and said: "What does it mean, but woe to the +vanquished!" "_Væ victis!_" + +It was very bad for the Romans, but the story goes on to tell us that +at that very moment, the great Camillus was knocking at the gates, that +he entered at the right instant with his army, took the gold out of the +scales, threw the weights, and the scales themselves, indeed, to the +Gauls, and told Brennus that it was the custom of the Romans to pay +their debts in iron, not in gold. The Gauls immediately called their +men together and hastened from the city, establishing a camp eight +miles away on the road to Gabii, where Camillus overtook them the next +day and defeated them with such great slaughter that they were able to +do no further damage. + +[Illustration: THE CAPITOL RESTORED.] + +It seems a pity to spoil so good a story, but it is like many others +that have grown up in the way that reminds one of the game of "scandal" +that the children play. The Roman historians always wished to glorify +their nation, and they took every opportunity to make the stories +appear well for the old heroes. It seems that at this time some Gauls +were really cut off by the people of Cære, or some neighboring place, +and, to improve the story, it was at first said that they were the very +ones that had taken Rome. Then, another writer added, that the gold +given as a ransom for the city was retaken with the captives; and, as +another improvement, it was said that Camillus was the one who +accomplished the feat, but that it was a long time afterwards, when the +Gauls were besieging another city. The last step in adding to the story +was taken when some one, thinking that it could be improved still more, +and the national pride satisfied, brought Camillus into the city at the +very moment that the gold was in the scales, so that he could keep it +from being delivered at all, and then proceed to cut off all the enemy, +so that not a man should be left to take the terrible tale back over +the northern mountains! The story is not all false, for there are good +evidences that Rome was burned, but the heroic embellishments are +doubtless the imaginative and patriotic additions of historians who +thought more of national pride than historic accuracy. + +Camillus now proceeded to rebuild the city, and came to be honored as +the second founder of Rome. The suffering people rushed out of the +capitol weeping for very joy; the inhabitants who had gone elsewhere +came back; the priests brought the holy things from their hiding- +places; the city was purified; a temple was speedily erected to Rumor +or Voice on the spot where Cædicius had heard the voice announcing the +coming barbarians; and there was a diligent digging among the ashes to +find the sites of the other temples and streets. It was a tedious and +almost hopeless task to rebuild the broken-down city, and the people +began to look with longing to the strongly-built houses and temples +still standing at Veii, wondering why they might not go thither in a +body and live in comfort, instead of digging among ashes to rebuild a +city simply to give Camillus, of whom they quickly began to be jealous, +the honor that had been an attribute of Romulus only. Then the senate +appealed to the memories of the olden time; the stories of the sacred +places, and especially of the head that was found on the Capitoline +Hill, were retold, and by dint of entreaty and expostulation the +distressed inhabitants were led to go to work to patch up the ruins. +They brought stones from Veii, and to the poor the authorities granted +bricks, and gradually a new, but ill-built, city grew up among the +ruins, with crooked streets and lanes, and with buildings, public and +private, huddled together just as happened to be the most convenient +for the immediate occasion. + +Camillus lived twenty-five years longer, and was repeatedly called to +the head of affairs, as the city found itself in danger from the +Volscians, Æquians, Etruscans and other envious enemies. Six times was +he made one of the tribunes, and five times did he hold the office of +dictator. When the Gauls came again, in the year 367, Camillus was +called upon to help his countrymen for the last time, and though he was +some fourscore years of age, he did not hesitate, nor did victory +desert him. The Gauls were defeated with great slaughter, and it was a +long time before they again ventured to trouble the Romans. The second +founder of Rome, after his long life of warfare, died of a plague that +carried away many of the prominent citizens in the year 365. His +victories had not all been of the same warlike sort, however. "Peace +hath her victories no less renowned than war," and Camillus gained his +share of them. + +Marcus Manlius, the preserver of the capitol, was less fortunate, for +when he saw that the plebeians were suffering because the laws +concerning debtors were too severe, and came forward as patron of the +poor, he received no recognition, and languished in private life, while +Camillus was a favorite. He therefore turned to the plebeians, and +devoted his large fortune to relieving suffering debtors. The +patricians looking upon him as a deserter from their party, brought up +charges against him, and though he showed the marks of distinction that +he had won in battles for the country, and gained temporary respite +from their enmity, they did not relent until his condemnation had been +secured. He was hurled from the fatal Tarpeian Rock, and his house was +razed to the ground in the year 384. + +Eight years after the death of Manlius (B.C. 376), two tribunes of the +plebeians, one of whom was Caius Licinius Stolo, proposed some new laws +to protect poor debtors, whose grievances had been greatly increased by +the havoc of the Gauls, and after nine more years of tedious discussion +and effort, they were enacted (B.C. 367), and are known as the Licinian +Laws, or rather, Rogations, for a law before it was finally passed was +known as a rogation, and these were long discussed before they were +agreed to. (_Rogare_, to ask, that is, to ask the opinion of one.) +So great was the feeling aroused by this discussion, that Camillus was +called upon to interfere, and he succeeded in pacifying the city; +Lucius Sextius was chosen as the first plebeian consul, and Camillus, +having thus a third time saved the state, dedicated a temple to +Concord. As a plebeian had been made consul, the disturbing struggles +between the two orders could not last much longer, and we find that the +plebeians gradually gained ground, until at last the political +distinction between them and the patricians was wiped out for +generations. The laws that finally effected this were those of +Publilius, in 339, and of Hortensius, the dictator, in 286. + +The period of the death of Camillus is to be remembered on account of +several facts connected with a plague that visited Rome in the year +365. The people, in their despair, for the third time in the history of +the city, performed a peculiar sacrifice called the _Lectisternium_ +(_lectus_, a couch, _sternere_, to spread), to implore the favor of +offended deities. They placed images of the gods upon cushions or +couches and offered them viands, as if the images could really eat +them. Naturally this did not effect any abatement of the ravaging +disease, and under orders of the priests, stage plays were instituted +as a means of appeasing the wrath of heaven. The first Roman play- +writer, Plautus, did not live till a hundred years after this time, and +these performances were trivial imitations of Etruscan acting, which +thus came to Rome at second-hand from Greece; but, as the Romans did +not particularly delight in intellectual efforts at that time, +buffoonery sufficed instead of the wit which gave so much pleasure to +the cultivated attendants at the theatre of Athens. Livy says that +these plays neither relieved the minds nor the bodies of the Romans; +and, in fact, when on one occasion the performances were interrupted by +the overflowing waters of the Tiber which burst into the circus, the +people turned from the theatre in terror, feeling that their efforts to +soothe the gods had been despised. It was at this time that the earth +is said to have been opened in the forum by an earthquake, and that +Curtius cast himself into it as a sacrifice; but, as we have read of +the occurrence before we shall not stop to consider it again. The young +hero was called Mettus Curtius in the former instance, but now the name +given to him is Marcus Curtius. + + + + +IX. + +HOW THE REPUBLIC OVERCAME ITS NEIGHBORS. + + + +We have now reached the time when Rome had brought under her sway all +the country towards Naples as far as the river Liris, and, gaining +strength, she is about to add materially to her territory and to lay +the foundation for still more extensive conquests. During the century +that we are next to consider, she conquered her immediate neighbors, +and was first noticed by that powerful city which was soon to become +her determined antagonist, Carthage. It was the time when the great +Macedonian conqueror, Alexander, finished his war in Persia, and the +mention of his name leads Livy to pause in his narrative, and, +reflecting that the age was remarkable above others for its conquerors, +to enquire what would have been the consequences if Alexander had been +minded to turn his legions against Rome, after having become master of +the Eastern world. Alexander died, however, before he had an +opportunity to get back from the East; but, as the old historian says, +it is entertaining and relaxing to the mind to digress from weightier +considerations and to embellish historical study with variety, and he +decides that if the great Eastern conqueror had marched against Rome, +he would have been defeated. While Livy was probably influenced in this +decision by that desire to magnify the prowess of his country which is +plainly seen throughout his work, we may agree with him without fear of +being far from correct, especially when we remember that Alexander +achieved his great success against peoples that had not reached the +stage of military science that Rome had by this time attained. "The +aspect of Italy," Livy says, "would have appeared to him quite +different from that of India, which he traversed in the guise of a +reveller at the head of a crew of drunkards * * * Never were we worsted +by an enemy's cavalry, never by their infantry, never in open fight, +never on equal ground," but our army "has defeated and will defeat a +thousand armies more formidable than those of Alexander and the +Macedonians, provided that the same love of peace and solicitude about +domestic harmony in which we now live continue permanent." This is what +patriotism says for Rome, and we can hardly say less, when we remember +that when she came into conflict with great Carthage, led by diplomatic +and scientific Hannibal, she proved the victor. We are, however, more +interested now in what the Roman arms actually accomplished than in +enquiries, however interesting, about what they might have done. They +subjugated the world, and that is enough for us. + +One of the most favored and celebrated families in the history of Rome +for a thousand years was that called Valerian, and at the time to which +our thoughts are now directed, one of the members comes into prominence +as the most illustrious general of the era. Marcus Valerius Corvus was +born at about the time when the rogations of Licinius Stolo became +laws, and in early life distinguished himself as a soldier in an +assault made on the Romans by the Gauls, who seem not to have all been +swept away for a long time. It was in the year 349. The dreaded enemy +rushed upon Rome, and the citizens took up arms in a mass. One soldier, +Titus Manlius, met a gigantic Gaul on a bridge over the Anio, and after +slaying him, carried off a massy chain that he bore on his neck. +_Torquatus_ in Latin means "provided with a chain," and this word +was added to the name of Manlius ever after. It was at the same time +that Marcus Valerius encountered another huge Gaul in single combat, +and overcame him, though he was aided by a raven which settled on his +helmet, and in the contest picked at the eyes of the barbarian. +_Corvus_ is the Latin word for raven, and it was added to the other +names of Valerius. A golden crown and ten oxen were presented to him, +and the people chose him consul. + +Corvus was no less powerful than popular. He competed with the other +soldiers in their games of the camp, and listened to their jokes like a +companion without taking offence. He thus established a bond between +the two orders. Six times he served as consul, and twice as dictator. +Never was such a man more needed than was he now. At an unknown period +there had come down from the snowy tops of the Apennines a strong +people, known afterwards as Samnites, who now began to press upon the +inhabitants of the region called Campania, in the midst of which is the +volcano Vesuvius. [Footnote: Among the strange customs of the olden +times in Italy was one called _ver sacrum_ (sacred spring). In time of +distress a vow would be made to sacrifice every creature born in April +and May to propitiate an offended deity. In many cases man and beast +were thus offered; but in time humanity revolted against the sacrifice +of children, and they were considered sacred, but allowed to grow up, +and at the age of twenty were sent blindfolded out into the world +beyond the frontier to found a colony wherever the gods might lead +them. The Mamertines in Sicily sprang from such emigrants, and it is +supposed that the Samnites had a similar origin.] There, too, were Cumæ +and Capua, of which we have had occasion to speak, and Herculaneum and +Pompeii; there was Naples on its beautiful bay, and there was +Palæopolis, the "old city," not far distant (_Nea,_ new, _polis,_ city; +_palaios,_ old, _polis,_ city). This was a part of Magna Græcia, which +included many rich cities in the southern portion of the peninsula, +among which were Tarentum, and there had been the earliest of the Greek +colonies, Sybaris, the abode of wealth and luxury, until its +destruction at the time of the fall of the Tarquins. + +The Campanians invoked the help of Rome against their sturdy foes, and +a struggle for the mastery of Italy began, which lasted for more than +half a century, though there were three wars, separated by intervals of +peace. The first struggle lasted from 343 to 341, and is important for +its first battle, which was fought at the foot of Mount Gaurus, three +miles from Cumæ. It is memorable because Valerius Corvus, who lived +until the Samnites had been finally subdued, was victorious, and the +historian Niebuhr tells us that though we find it but little spoken of, +it is one of the most noteworthy in all the history of the world, +because it indicated that Rome was to achieve the final success, and +thus take its first step towards universal sovereignty. After this +victory the Carthaginians, with whom Rome was to have a desperate war +afterwards, sent congratulations, accompanied by a golden crown for the +shrine of Jupiter in the capitol. It is said that at the time of the +expulsion of the Tarquins, the Romans and Carthaginians had entered +into a treaty of friendship, which had been renewed five years before +the war with the Samnites, but we are not certain of it. + +The results of the burning of Rome by the Gauls had not all ceased to +be felt, and many of the plebeians were still suffering under the +burden of debts that they could not pay. A portion of the army, +composed, as we know, of plebeians, was left to winter at Capua. There +it saw the luxurious extravagance of the citizens, and felt its own +burdens more than ever by contrast. A mutiny ensued, and though it was +quelled, more concessions were made to the plebeians, and their debts +were generally abolished. Meantime the Latins saw evidence that the +power of Rome was growing more rapidly than their own, and they, +therefore, determined to go to war to obtain the equality that they +thought the terms of the treaty between the nations authorized them to +expect. The Samnites were now the allies of Rome, and fought with her. +The armies met under the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. In a vision, so the +story runs, it had been foretold to the Romans that the leader of one +army and the soldiers of the other were forfeited to the gods; and +when, during the battle, the plebeian consul, Marcus Decius Mus, who +had been a hero in the previous war, saw that his line was falling +back, he uttered a solemn prayer and threw himself into the thickest of +the fight. By thus giving up his life, as the partial historians like +to tell us that many Romans have done at various epochs, he ensured +victory on this occasion, and subsequently the conquest of the world, +to his countrymen. Other battles and other victories followed, and the +people of Latium became dependent upon Rome. The last engagement was at +Antium, an ancient city on a promontory below Ostia, which, having a +little navy, had interfered with the Roman commerce. The prows of the +vessels of Antium were set up in the Roman forum as an ornament to the +_suggestum_, or stage from which orators addressed the people. This was +called the _rostra_ afterward. (_Rostra_, beaks of birds or ships.) + +Thus the city kept on adding to its dependents, and increasing its +power. In 329, the Volscians were overcome and their long warfare with +Rome ended. Two years later, the Romans declared war against Palæopolis +and Neapolis, and after taking the Old City, made a league with the +New. One war thus led to another, and as the Samnites, getting jealous +of the increasing power of their ally, had aided these two cities, Rome +declared war the second time against them, in 326. It proved the most +important of the three Samnite wars, lasting upward of twenty years. +The aim of each of the combatants seems to have been to gain as many +allies as possible, and to lessen the adherents of the enemy. For this +reason the war was peculiar, the armies of Rome being often found in +Apulia, and those of the enemy being ever ready to overrun Campania. + +Success at first followed the Samnite banners, and this was notably the +case at the battle of Caudine Forks, fought in a pass on the road from +Capua to Beneventum (then Maleventum), in the year 321, when the Romans +were entrapped and all obliged to pass under the yoke. Such a success +is apt to influence allies, and this tended to strengthen the Samnites. +It was not until seven years had passed that the Romans were able to +make decided gains, and though their cause appeared quite hopeful, the +very success brought new troubles, because it led the Etruscans to take +part with the Samnites and to create a diversion on the north. This +outbreak is said to have been quelled by Fabius Maximus Rullus, (a +general whose personal prowess is vaunted in the highest terms by the +historians of Rome,) who defeated the Etruscans at Lake Vadimonis, B.C. +310. Success followed in the south, also, and in the year 304, +Bovianum, in the heart of Samnium, which had been before taken by them, +fell into the hands of the Romans and closed the war, leaving Rome the +most powerful nation in Central Italy. + +Unable to overcome its northern neighbor, Samnium now turned to attack +Lucania, the country to the south, which reached as far as the +Tarentine Gulf, just under the great heel of Italy. Magna Græcia was +then in a state of decadence, and Lucania was an ally of Rome, which +took its part against Samnium, not as loving Samnium less, but as +loving power more. The struggle became very general. The Etruscans had +begun a new war with Rome, but were about to treat for peace, when the +Samnites induced them to break off the negotiations, and they attacked +Rome at once on the north and the south. The undaunted Romans struck +out with one arm against the Etruscans and their allies the Gauls on +the north, and with the other hurled defiance at the Samnites on the +south. The war was decided by a battle fought in 295, on the ridge of +the Apennines, near the town of Sentinum in Umbria, where the allies +had all managed to unite their forces. On this occasion it is related +that Publius Decius Mus, son of that hero who had sacrificed himself at +Mount Vesuvius, followed his father's example, devoted himself and the +opposing army to the infernal gods, and thus enabled the Romans to +achieve a splendid victory. + +The Samnites continued the desperate struggle five years longer, but in +the year 290 they became subject to Rome; their leader, the hero of the +battle of the Caudine Forks, having been taken two years previously and +perfidiously put to death in Rome as the triumphal car of the victor +ascended the Capitoline Hill. This is considered one of the darkest +blots on the Roman name, and Dr. Arnold forcibly says that it shows +that in their dealings with foreigners, the Romans "had neither +magnanimity, nor humanity, nor justice." + +The Etruscans and the Gauls did not yet cease their wars on the north, +and in 283 they encountered the Roman army at the little pond, between +the Ciminian Hills and the Tiber, known as Lake Vadimonis, on the spot +where the Etrurian power had been broken thirty years before by Fabius +Maximus, and were defeated with great slaughter. The constant wars had +made the rich richer than before, while at the same time the poor were +growing poorer, and after the third Samnite war we are ready to believe +that debts were again pressing with heavy force upon many of the +citizens. Popular tumults arose, and the usual remedy, an agrarian law, +was proposed. There was a new secession of the people to the Janiculum, +followed by the enactment of the Hortensian laws, celebrated in the +history of jurisprudence because they deprived the senate of its veto +and declared that the voice of the people assembled in their tribes was +supreme law. Debts were abolished or greatly reduced, and seven jugera +of land were allotted to every citizen. We see from this that the +commotions of our own days, made by socialists, communists, and +nihilists, as they are called, are only repetitions of such agitations +as those which took place so many centuries ago. + +In the midst of a storm in the especially boisterous winter season of +the year 280, the waves of the Mediterranean washed upon the shores of +Southern Italy a brave man more dead than alive, who was to take the +lead in the last struggle against the supremacy of Rome among its +neighbors. The winds and the waves had no respect for his crown. They +knew not that he ruled over a strong people whose extensive mountainous +land was known as the "continent," and that he had left it with +thousands of archers and slingers and footmen and knights; and that he +had also huge elephants trained to war, beasts then unknown in Italian +warfare, which he expected would strike horror into the cavalry of the +country he had been cast upon. + +As we study history, we find that at almost every epoch it centres +about the personality of some strong man who has either power to +control, or sympathetic attractiveness that holds to him those who are +around him. It was so in this case. Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, was born +seven years after the great Alexander died, and was at this time +thirty-seven years of age. Claiming descent from Pyhrrus, son of +Achilles, and being a son of Æacides, he was in the direct line the +Kings of Epirus. He was also cousin of an Alexander, who, in the year +332, had crossed over from Epirus to help the Tarentines against the +Lucanians, had formed an alliance with the Romans, and had finally been +killed by a Lucanian on the banks of the Acheron, in 326. After a +variety of vicissitudes, Pyrrhus had ascended the throne of his father +at the age of twenty-three, and, taking Alexander the Great as his +model, had soon become popular and powerful. Aiming at the conquest of +the whole of Greece, he attacked the king of Macedonia and overcame +him. After resting a while upon his laurels, he found a life of +inactivity unbearable, and accepted a request, sent him in 281, to +follow in the footsteps of his cousin Alexander, and go to the help of +the people of Tarentum against the Romans, with whom they were then at +war. This is the reason why he was voyaging in haste to Italy, and it +was this ambition that led to his shipwreck on a winter's night. + +Pyrrhus had a counsellor named Cineas, who asked him how he would use +his victory if he should be so fortunate as to overcome the Romans, who +were reputed great warriors and conquerors of many peoples. The Romans +overcome, replied the king, no city, Greek nor barbarian, would dare to +oppose me, and I should be master of all Italy. Well, Italy conquered, +what next? Sicily next would hold out its arms to receive me, Pyrrhus +replied. And, what next? These would be but forerunners of greater +victories. There are Libya and Carthage, said the king. Then? Then, +continued Pyrrhus, I should be able to master all Greece. And then? +continued Cineas. Then I would live at ease, eat and drink all day, and +enjoy pleasant conversation. And what hinders you from taking now the +ease that you are planning to take after such hazards and so much +blood-shedding? Here the conversation closed, for Pyrrhus could not +answer this question. + +Once on the Italian shore the invading king marched to Tarentum, and +found it a city of people given up to pleasures, who had no thought of +fighting themselves, but expected that he would do that work for them +while they enjoyed their theatres, their baths, and their festivities. +They soon found, however, that they had a master instead of a servant. +Pyrrhus shut up the theatres and was inflexible in demanding the +services of the young and strong in the army. His preparations were +made as promptly as possible, but Rome was ahead of him, and her army +was superior, excepting that the Grecians brought elephants with them. +The first battle was fought on the banks of the river Liris, and the +elephants gave victory to the invader, but the valor of the Romans was +such that Pyrrhus is said to have boasted that if he had such soldiers +he could conquer the world, and to have confessed that another such +victory would send him back to Epirus alone. It is not to be wondered +at, therefore, that he sent Cineas to Rome to plead for peace. The +Romans were on the point of entering into negotiations, when aged and +blind Appius Claudius, hearing of it, caused himself to be carried to +the forum, where he delivered an impassioned protest against the +proposed action. So effectual was he that the people became eager for +war, and sent word to Pyrrhus that they would only treat with him when +he should withdraw his forces from Italy. Pyrrhus then marched rapidly +towards Rome, but when he had almost reached the city, after +devastating the country through which he had passed, he learned that +the Romans had made peace with the Etruscans, with whom they had been +fighting, and that thus another army was free to act against him. He +therefore retreated to winter quarters at Tarentum. The next year the +two forces met on the edge of the plains of Apulia, at Asculum, but the +battle resulted in no gain to Pyrrhus, who was again obliged to retire +for the winter to Tarentum. (B.C. 279.) + +In the last battle the brunt of the fighting had fallen to the share of +the Epirots, and Pyrrhus was not anxious to sacrifice his comparatively +few remaining troops for the benefit of the Tarentines. Therefore, +after arranging a truce with Rome, he accepted an invitation from the +Greeks of Sicily to go to their help against the Carthaginians. For two +years he fought, at first with success; but afterwards he met repulses, +so that being again asked to assist his former allies in Italy, he +returned, in 276, and for two years led the remnants of his troops and +the mercenaries that he had attracted to his standard against the +Romans. His Italian career closed in the year 274, when he encountered +his enemy in the neighborhood of Maleventum, and was defeated, the +Romans having learned how to meet the formerly dreaded elephants. The +name of this place was then changed to Beneventum. Two years later +still, in 272, Tarentum fell under the sway of Rome, which soon had +overcome every nation on the peninsula south of a line marked by the +Rubicon on the east and the Macra on the west,--the boundaries of +Gallia Cisalpina. (_Cis_, on this side, _alpina_, alpine.) + +Not only had Rome thus gained power and prestige at home, but she had +begun to come in contact with more distant peoples. Carthage had +offered to assist her after the battle of Asculum, sending a large +fleet of ships to Ostia in earnest of her good faith. Now, when the +news of the permanent repulse of the proud king of Epirus was spread +abroad, great Ptolemy Philadelphus, the Egyptian patron of art, +literature, and science, sent an embassy empowered to conclude a treaty +of amity with the republic. The proposition was accepted with +earnestness, and ambassadors of the highest rank were sent to +Alexandria, where they were treated with extraordinary consideration, +and allowed to see all the splendor of the Egyptian capital. + +Rome had now reached a position of wealth and physical prosperity; the +rich had gained much land, and the poor had been permitted to share the +general progress; commerce, agriculture, and, to some extent, +manufactures had advanced. Rome kept a firm hold upon all of the +territory she had won, connecting them with the capital by good roads, +but making no arrangements for free communication between the chief +cities of the conquered regions. The celebrated military roads, of +which we now can see the wonderful remains, date from a later period, +with the exception of the Appian Way, which was begun in 312, and, +after the conquest of Italy was completed to Brundusium, through Capua, +Tres Taberna, and Beneventum. Other than this there were a number of +earth roads leading from Rome in various directions. One of the most +ancient of these was that over which Pyrrhus marched as far as +Præneste, known as the Via Latina, which ran over the Tusculum Hills, +and the Alban Mountain. The Via Ostiensis ran down the left bank of the +Tiber; the Via Saleria ran up the river to Tibur, and was afterward +continued, as the Via Valeria, over the Apennines to the Adriatic. + +[Illustration: ROMAN STREET PAVEMENT.] + +The population of Italy (at this time less than three million) was +divided into three general classes: first, the _Roman Citizens_, +comprising the members of the thirty-three tribes, stretching from Veii +to the river Liris, the citizens in the Roman colonies, and in certain +municipal towns; the _Latin Name_, including the inhabitants of +the colonies generally, and some of the most flourishing towns of +Italy; and the _Allies_, or all other inhabitants of the peninsula +who were dependent upon Rome, but liked to think that they were not +subjects. The Romans had been made rich and prosperous by war, and were +ready to plunge into any new struggle promising additional power and +wealth. + + + + +X. + +AN AFRICAN SIROCCO. + + + +All the time that the events that we have been giving our attention to +were occurring--that is to say, ever since the foundation of Rome, +another city had been growing up on the opposite side of the +Mediterranean Sea, in which a different kind of civilization had been +developed. Carthage, of which we have already heard, was founded by +citizens of Phoenicia. The early inhabitants were from Tyre, that old +city of which we read in the Bible, which in the earliest times was +famous for its rich commerce. How long the people of Phoenicia had +lived in their narrow land under the shadow of great Libanus, we cannot +tell, though Herodotus, when writing his history, went there to find +out, and reported that at that time Tyre had existed twenty-three +hundred years, which would make its foundation forty-five hundred years +ago, and more. However that may be, the purple of Tyre and the glass of +Sidon, another and still older Phoenician city, were celebrated long +before Rome was heard of. It was from this ancient land that the people +of Carthage had come. It has been usual for emigrants to call their +cities in a new land "new," (as Nova Scotia, New York, New England, New +Town, or Newburg,) and that is the way in which Carthage was named, for +the word means, in the old language of the Phoenicians, simply new +city, just as Naples was merely the Greek for new city, as we have +already seen. + +[Illustration: A PHOENICIAN VESSEL (TRIREME).] + +Through six centuries, the people of Carthage had been permitted by the +mother-city to attend diligently to their commerce, their agriculture, +and to the building up of colonies along the southern coast of the +Mediterranean, and the advantages of their position soon gave them the +greatest importance among the colonies of the Phoenicians. There was +Utica, near by, which had existed for near three centuries longer than +Carthage, but its situation was not so favorable, and it fell behind. +Tunes, now called Tunis, was but ten or fifteen miles away, but it also +was of less importance. The commerce of Carthage opened the way for +foreign conquest, and so, besides having a sort of sovereignty over all +the peoples on the northern coast of Africa, she established colonies +on Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, and other Mediterranean islands, and +history does not go back far enough to tell us at how early a date she +had obtained peaceable possessions in Spain, from the mines of which +she derived a not inconsiderable share of her riches. + +Perhaps it may be thought strange that Carthage and Rome had not come +into conflict before the time of which we are writing, for the distance +between the island of Sicily and the African coast is so small that but +a few hours would have been occupied in sailing across. It may be +accounted for by the facts that the Carthaginians attended to their own +business, and the Romans did not engage to any extent in maritime +enterprises. On several occasions, however, Carthage had sent her +compliments across to Rome, though Rome does not appear to have +reciprocated them to any great degree; and four formal treaties between +the cities are reported, B.C. 509, 348, 306, and 279. + +It is said that when Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, was about to leave +Sicily, he exclaimed: "What a grand arena [Footnote: _Arena_ in +Latin meant "sand," and as the central portions of the amphitheatres +were strewn with sand to absorb the blood of the fighting gladiators +and beasts, an arena came to mean, as at present, any open, public +place for an exhibition. To the ancients, however, it brought to mind +the desperate combats to which the thousands of spectators were wont to +pay wrapt attention, and it was a much more vivid word than it now is.] +this would be for Rome and Carthage to contend upon!" It did not +require the wisdom of an oracle to suggest that such a contest would +come at some time, for the rich island lay just between the two cities, +apparently ready to be grasped by the more enterprising or the +stronger. As Carthage saw the gradual extension of Roman authority over +Southern Italy, she realized that erelong the strong arm would reach +out too far in the direction of the African continent. She was, +accordingly, on her guard, as she needed to be. + +At about the time of the beginning of the war with Pyrrhus, a band of +soldiers from Campania, which had been brought to Sicily, took +possession of the town of Messana, a place on the eastern end of the +island not far from the celebrated rocks Scylla and Charybdis, opposite +Rhegium. Calling themselves Mamertines, after Mars, one form of whose +name was Mamers, these interlopers began to extend their power over the +island. In their contests with Hiero, King of Syracuse, they found +themselves in need of help. In the emergency there was a fatal division +of counsel, one party wishing to call upon Rome and the other thinking +best to ask Carthage, which already held the whole of the western half +of the island and the northern coast, and had for centuries been aiming +at complete possession of the remainder. Owing to this want of united +purpose it came about that both cities were appealed to, and it very +naturally happened that the fortress of the Mamertines was occupied by +a garrison from Carthage before Rome was able to send its army. + +The Roman senate had hesitated to send help to the Mamertines because +they were people whom they had driven out of Rhegium, as robbers, six +years before, with the aid of the same Hiero, of Syracuse, who was now +besieging them. However, the people of Rome, not troubled with the +honest scruples of the senate, were, under the direction of the +consuls, inflamed by the hope of conquest and of the riches that they +expected would follow success, and a war which lasted twenty-three +years was the result of their reckless greed (B.C. 264). + +The result was really decided during the first two years, for the +Romans persuaded the Mamertines to expel the Carthaginians from +Messana, and then, though besieged by them and by Hiero, drove them +both off, and in the year 263 took many Sicilian towns and even +advanced to Syracuse. Then Hiero concluded a peace with Rome to which +he was faithful to the time of his death, fifty years afterward. The +Sicilian city next to Syracuse in importance was Agrigentum, and this +the Romans took the next year, thus turning the tables and making +themselves instead of the Carthaginians masters of most of the +important island, with the exception of Panormus and Mount Eryx, near +Drepanum (B.C. 262). + +The Carthaginians, being a commercial people, were well supplied with +large ships, and the Romans now saw that they, too, must have a navy. +Possessing no models on which to build ships of war larger than those +with three banks of oars, [Footnote: The ancient war vessels were moved +by both sails and oars; but the oars were the great dependence in a +fight. At first there was but one bank of oars; but soon there were two +rows of oarsmen, seated one above the other, the uppermost having long +oars. After awhile three banks were arranged, then four, now five, and +later more, the uppermost oars being of immense length, and requiring +several men to operate each. We do not now know exactly how so many +ranges of rowers were accommodated, nor how such unwieldly oars were +managed. The Athenians tried various kinds of ships, but concluded that +light and active vessels were better than awkward quinquiremes.] they +took advantage of the fact that a Carthaginian vessel of five banks (a +_quinquireme_) was wrecked on their shores, and in the remarkably +short space of time of less than two months built and launched one +hundred and thirty vessels of that size! They were clumsy, however, and +the crews that manned them were poorly trained, but, nevertheless, the +bold Romans ventured, under command of Caius Duilius, to attack the +enemy off the Sicilian town of Mylæ, and the Carthaginians were +overwhelmed, what remained of their fleet being forced to seek safety +in flight. The naval prestige of Carthage was destroyed. There was a +grand celebration of the victory at Rome, and a column adorned with the +ornamental prows of ships was set up in the forum. + +[Illustration: A ROMAN WAR VESSEL.] + +For a few years the war was pursued with but little effect; but in the +ninth year, when the favorite Marcus Atilius Regulus was consul, it was +determined to carry it on with more vigor, to invade Africa with an +overwhelming force, and, if possible, close the struggle. Regulus +sailed from Economus, not far from Agrigentum, with three hundred and +thirty vessels and one hundred thousand men, but his progress was soon +interrupted by the Carthaginian fleet, commanded by Hamilcar. After one +of the greatest sea-fights of all time, in which the Carthaginians lost +nearly a hundred ships and many men, the Romans gained the victory, and +found nothing to hinder their progress to the African shore. The enemy +hastened with the remainder of their fleet to protect Carthage, and the +conflict was transferred to Africa. Regulus prosecuted the war with +vigor, and, owing to the incompetence of the generals opposed to him, +was successful to an extraordinary degree. Both he and the senate +became intoxicated to such an extent, that when the Carthaginians made +overtures for peace, only intolerable terms were offered them. This +resulted in prolonging the war, for the Carthaginians called to their +aid Xanthippus, a Spartan general, who showed them the weakness of +their officers, and, finally, when his army had been well drilled, +offered battle to Regulus on level ground, where the dreaded African +elephants were of service, instead of among the mountains. The Roman +army was almost annihilated, and Regulus himself was taken prisoner +(B.C. 255). + +The Romans saw that to retain a footing in Africa they must first have +control of the sea. Though the fleet that brought back the remains of +the army of Regulus was destroyed, another of two hundred and twenty +ships was made ready in three months, only, however, to meet a similar +fate off Cape Palinurus on the coast of Lucania. The Romans, at +Panormus (now Palermo), were, in the year 250, attacked by the +Carthaginians, over whom they gained a victory which decided the +struggle, though it was continued nine years longer, owing to the rich +resources of the Carthaginians. After this defeat an embassy was sent +to Rome to ask terms of peace. Regulus, who had then been five years a +captive, accompanied it, and, it is said, urged the senate not to make +terms. He then returned to Carthage and suffered a terrible death. The +character given him in the old histories and his horrible fate made +Regulus the favorite of orators for ages. + +The Romans now determined to push the war vigorously, and began the +siege of Lilybæum (now Marsala), which was the only place besides +Drepanum, fifteen miles distant, yet remaining to the enemy on the +island of Sicily (B.C. 250). It was not until the end of the war that +the Carthaginians could be forced from these two strongholds. Six years +before that time (B.C. 247), there came to the head of Carthaginian +affairs a man of real greatness, Hamilcar Barca, whose last name is +said to mean lightning; but even he was not strong enough to overcome +the difficulties caused by the faults of others, and in 241 he +counselled peace, which was accordingly concluded, though Carthage was +obliged to pay an enormous indemnity, and to give up her claim to +Sicily, which became a part of the Roman dominion (the first "province" +so-called), governed by an officer annually sent from Rome. Hamilcar +had at first established himself on Mount Ercte, overhanging Panormus, +whence he made constant descents upon the enemy, ravaging the coast as +far as Mount Ætna. Suddenly he quitted this place and occupied Mount +Eryx, another height, overlooking Drepanum, where he supported himself +two years longer, and the Romans despaired of dislodging him. + +In their extremity, they twice resorted to the navy, and at last, with +a fleet of two hundred ships, defeated the Carthaginians off the Ægusæ +Islands, to the west of Sicily, and as the resources of Hamilcar were +then cut off, it was only a question of time when the armies at Eryx, +Drepanum, and Lilybæum would be reduced by famine. It was in view of +this fact that the settlement was effected. + +A period of peace followed this long war, during which at one time, in +the year 235, the gates of the temple of Janus, which were always open +during war and had not been shut since the days of Numa, were closed, +but it was only for a short space. After this war, the Carthaginians +became involved with their own troops, who arose in mutiny because they +could not get their pay, and Rome took advantage of this to rob them of +the islands of Sardinia and Corsica, and at the same time to demand a +large addition to the indemnity fund that had been agreed upon at the +peace (B.C. 227). Such arbitrary treatment of a conquered foe could not +fail to beget and keep alive the deepest feelings of resentment, of +which, in after years, Rome reaped the bitter fruits. + +The Adriatic Sea was at that time infested with pirates from Illyria, +the country north of Epirus, just over the sea to the east of Italy, +and as Roman towns suffered from their inroads, an embassy was sent to +make complaint. One of these peaceful messengers was murdered by +direction of the queen of the country, Teuta, by name, and of course +war was declared, which ended in the overthrow of the treacherous +queen. Her successor, however, when he thought that the Romans were too +much occupied with other matters to oppose him successfully, renewed +the piratical incursions (B.C. 219), and in spite of the other wars +this brought out a sufficient force from Rome. The Illyrian sovereign +was forced to fly, and all his domain came under the Roman power. + +Meantime the Romans had begun to think of the extensive tracts to the +north acquired from the Gauls, and in 232 B.C., a law was passed +dividing them among the poorer people and the veterans, in the +expectation of attracting inhabitants to that part of Italy. The +barbarians were alarmed by the prospect of the approach of Roman +civilization, and in 225, united to make a new attack upon their old +enemies. When it was rumored at Rome that the Gauls were preparing to +make a stand and probably intended to invade the territory of their +southern neighbors, the terrible days of the Allia were vividly brought +to mind and the greatest consternation reigned. The Sibylline or other +sacred books were carefully searched for counsel in the emergency, and +in obedience to instructions therein found, two Gauls and two Greeks (a +man and a woman of each nation) were buried alive in the Forum Boarium, +[Footnote: The Forum Boarium, though one of the largest and most +celebrated public places in the city, was not a regular market +surrounded with walls, but an irregular space bounded by the Tiber on +the west, and the Palatine Hill and the Circus Maximus on the east. The +Cloaca Maxima ran beneath it, and it was rich in temples and monuments. +On it the first gladiatorial exhibition occurred, B.C. 264, and there +too, other burials of living persons had been made, in spite of the +long-ago abolishment of such rites by Numa.] and the public excitement +somewhat allayed in that horrible way. A large army was immediately +raised, and sent to meet the Gauls at Ariminum on the Adriatic, but +they avoided it by taking a route further to the west. They were met by +a reserve force, however, which suffered a great defeat, probably near +Clusium. Afterwards the main army effected a junction with another body +coming from Pisa, and as the Gauls were attacked on both sides at once, +they were annihilated. This battle occurred near Telamon, in Etruria, +not far from the mouth of the Umbria. The victory was followed up, and +after three years, the whole of the valley of the Po, between the Alps +and the Apennines, was made a permanent addition to Roman territory. +Powerful colonies were planted at Placentia and Cremona to secure it. + +[Illustration: HANNIBAL.] + +No greater generals come before us in the grand story of Rome than +those who are now to appear. One was born while the first Punic war was +still raging, and the other in the year 235, when the gates of the +temple of Janus were, for the first time in centuries, closed in token +that Rome was at peace with the world. Hannibal, the elder of the two +was son of Hamilcar Barca, and inherited his father's hatred of Rome, +to which, indeed, he had been bound by a solemn oath, willingly sworn +upon the altar at the dictation of his father. + +When Livy began his story of the second war between Rome and Carthage, +he said that he was about to relate the most memorable of all wars that +ever were waged; and though we may not express ourselves in such +general terms, it is safe to say that no struggle recorded in the +annals of antiquity, or of the middle age, surpasses it in importance +or in historical interest. The war was to decide whether the conqueror +of the world was to be self-centred Rome; or whether it should be a +nation of traders, commanded by a powerful general who dictated to them +their policy,--a nation not adapted to unite the different peoples in +bonds of sympathy,--one whose success would, in the words of Dr. +Arnold, "have stopped the progress of the world." + +Hannibal stands out among the famed generals of history as one of the +very greatest. We must remember that we have no records of his own +countrymen to show how he was estimated among them; but we know that +though he was poorly supported by the powers at home, he was able to +keep together an army of great size, by the force of his own +personality, and to wage a disastrous war against the strongest people +of his age, far from his base of supplies, in the midst of the enemy's +country. It has well been said that the greatest masters of the art of +war, from Scipio to Napoleon, have concurred in homage to his genius. + +The other hero, and the successful one, in the great struggle, was +Publius Cornelius Scipio, who was born in that year when the temple of +Janus was closed, of a family that for a series of generations had been +noted in Roman history, and was to continue illustrious for generations +to come. + +Another among the many men of note who came into prominence during the +second war with Carthage was Quintus Fabius Maximus, a descendant of +that Rullus who in the Sabine wars brought the names Fabius and Maximus +into prominence. His life is given by Plutarch under the name Fabius, +and he is remembered as the originator of the policy of delay in war, +as our dictionaries tell us, because his plan was to worry his enemy, +rather than risk a pitched battle with him. On this account the Romans +called him _Cunctator_, which meant delayer, or one who is slow +though safe, not rash. He was called also _Ovicula_, or the lamb, +on account of his mild temper, and _Verrucosus_, because he had a +wart on his upper lip (_Verruca_, a wart). + +The second Punic war was not so much a struggle between Carthage and +Rome, as a war entered into by Hannibal and carried on by him against +the Roman republic in spite of the opposition of his own people; and +this fact makes the strength of his character appear in the strongest +light. Just at the close of the first war, the Carthaginians had +established in Spain a city which took the name of New Carthage--that +is, New New City,--and had extended their dominion over much of that +country, as well as over most of the territory on the south shore of +the Mediterranean Sea. Hannibal laid siege to the independent city of +Saguntum, on the northeast of New Carthage, and, after several months +of desperate resistance, took it, thus throwing down the gauntlet to +Rome and completing the dominion of Carthage in that region (B.C. 218). +Rome sent ambassadors to Carthage, to ask reparation and the surrender +of Hannibal: but "War!" was the only response, and for seventeen years +a struggle of the most determined sort was carried on by Hannibal and +the Roman armies. + +After wintering at New Carthage, Hannibal started for Italy with a +great army. He crossed the Pyrenees, went up the valley of the Rhone, +and then up the valley of the Isère, and most probably crossed the Alps +by the Little St. Bernard pass. It was an enterprise of the greatest +magnitude to take an army of this size through a hostile country, over +high mountains, in an inclement season; but no difficulty daunted this +general. In five months he found himself in the valley of the Duria +(modern Dora Baltea), in Northern Italy, with a force of twenty +thousand foot and six thousand cavalry (the remains of the army of +ninety-four thousand that had left New Carthage), with which he +expected to conquer a country that counted its soldiers by the hundred +thousand. The father of the great Scipio met Hannibal in the plains +west of the Ticinus, and was routed, retreating to the west bank of the +Trebia, where the Romans, with a larger force, were again defeated, +though the December cold caused the invading army great suffering and +killed all the elephants but one. The success of the Carthaginians led +the Gauls to flock to their standard, and Hannibal found himself able +to push forward with increasing vigor. + +[Illustration: TERENCE, THE LAST ROMAN COMIC POET.] + +Taking the route toward the capital, he met the Romans at Lake +Trasimenus, and totally routed them, killing the commander, Caius +Flaminius, who had come from Arretium to oppose him. The defeat was +accounted for by the Romans by the fact that Flaminius, always careless +about his religious observances, had broken camp at Ariminum, whence he +had come to Arretium, though the signs had been against him, and had +also previously neglected the usual solemnities upon his election as +consul before going to Ariminum. The policy of Hannibal was to make +friends of the allies of Rome, in order to attract them to his support, +and after his successes he carefully tended the wounded and sent the +others away, often with presents. He hoped to undermine Rome by taking +away her allies, and after this great success he did not march to the +capital, though he was distant less than a hundred miles from it, +because he expected to see tokens that his policy was a success. + +The dismay that fell upon Rome when it was known that her armies had +twice been routed, can better be imagined than described. The senate +came together, and for two days carefully considered the critical state +of affairs. They decided that it was necessary to appoint a dictator, +and Fabius Maximus was chosen. Hannibal in the meantime continued to +avoid Rome, and to march through the regions on the Adriatic, hoping to +arouse the inhabitants to his support. In vain were his efforts. Even +the Gauls seemed now to have forgotten him, and Carthage itself did not +send him aid. Fabius strove to keep to the high lands, where it was +impossible for Hannibal to attack him, while he harassed him or tried +to shut him up in some defile. + +In the spring of the year 216, both parties were prepared for a more +terrible struggle than had yet been seen. The Romans put their forces +under one Varro, a business man, who was considered the champion of +popular liberty. The armies met on the field of Cannæ, on the banks of +the river Aufidus which enters the Adriatic, and there the practical +man was defeated with tremendous slaughter, though he was able himself +to escape toward the mountains to Venusia, and again to return to +Canusium. There he served the state so well that his defeat was almost +forgotten, and he was actually thanked by the senate for his skill in +protecting the remnant of the wasted army. + +The people now felt that the end of the republic had come, but still +they would not listen to Hannibal when he sent messengers to ask terms +of peace. They were probably surprised when, instead of marching upon +their capital, the Carthaginian remained in comparative inactivity, in +pursuance of his former policy. He was not entirely disappointed this +time, in expecting that his brilliant victory would lead some of the +surrounding nations to declare in his favor, for finally the rich city +of Capua, which considered itself equal to Rome, opened to him its +gates, and he promised to make it the capital of Italy (B.C. 216). With +Capua went the most of Southern Italy, and Hannibal thought that the +war would soon end after such victories, but he was mistaken. + +Two other sources of help gave him hope, but at last failed him. Philip +V., one of the ablest monarchs of Macedon, who had made a treaty with +Hannibal after the battle of Cannæ, tried to create a diversion in his +favor on the other side of the Adriatic, but his schemes were not +energetically pressed, and failed. Again, a new king of Syracuse, who +had followed Hiero, offered direct assistance, but he, too, was +overcome, and his strong and wealthy city taken with terrible carnage, +though the scientific skill of the famous Archimedes long enabled its +ruler to baffle the Roman generals (B.C. 212). The Romans overran the +Spanish peninsula, too, and though they were for a time brought to a +stand, in the year 210 the state of affairs changed. A young man of +promise, who had, however, never been tried in positions of great +trust, was sent out. It was the great Scipio, who has been already +mentioned. He captured New Carthage, made himself master of Spain, and +was ready by the year 207 to take the last step, as he thought it would +be, by carrying the war into Africa, and thus obliging Hannibal to +withdraw from Italy. + +At home, the aged Fabius was meantime the trusted leader in public +counsels, and by his careful generalship Campania had been regained. +Capua, too, had been recaptured, though that enterprise had been +undertaken in spite of his cautious advice. Hannibal was thus obliged +to withdraw to Lower Italy, after he had threatened Rome by marching +boldly up to its very gates. The Samnites and Lucanians submitted, and +Tarentum fell into the hands of Fabius, whose active career then +closed. He had opposed the more aggressive measures of Scipio which +were to lead to success, but we can hardly think that the old commander +was led to do this because, seeing that victory was to be the result, +he envied the younger soldier who was to achieve the final laurels, +though Plutarch mentions that sinister motive. The career of Fabius, +which had opened at the battle of Cannæ, and had been successful ever +since, culminated in his triumph after the fall of Tarentum, which +occurred in B.C. 209. + +[Illustration: PUBLIUS CORNELIUS SCIPIO AFRICANUS.] + +Now the Carthaginian army in Spain, under command of Hasdrubal, made an +effort to go to the help of Hannibal, and, taking the same route by the +Little St. Bernard pass, arrived in Italy (B.C. 208) almost before the +enemy was aware of its intention. Hannibal, on his part, began to march +northward from his southern position, and after gaining some +unimportant victories, arrived at Canusium, where he stopped to wait +for his brother. The Romans, however, managed to intercept the +dispatches of Hasdrubal, and marched against him, in the spring of 207, +after he had wasted much time in unsuccessfully besieging Placentia. +The two armies met on the banks of the river Metaurus. The +Carthaginians were defeated with terrible slaughter, and the Romans +felt that the calamity of Cannæ was avenged. Hasdrubal's head was sent +to his brother, who exclaimed at the sight: "I recognize the doom of +Carthage!" + +For four years Hannibal kept his army among the mountains of Southern +Italy, feeling that his effort at conquering Rome had failed. Meantime +Scipio was making arrangements to carry out his favorite project, +though in face of much opposition from Fabius and from the senate, +which followed his lead. The people were, however, with Scipio, and +though he was not able to make such complete preparations as he wished, +by the year 204 he had made ready to set out from Lilybæum for Africa. +At Utica he was joined by his allies, and, in 203, defeated the +Carthaginians and caused them to look anxiously across the sea toward +their absent general for help. Pretending to desire peace, they took +advantage of the time gained by negotiations to send for Hannibal, who +reached Africa before the year closed, after an absence of fifteen +years, and took up his position at Hadrumentum, where he looked over +the field and sadly determined to ask for terms of peace. Scipio was +desirous of the glory of closing the long struggle, and refused to make +terms, thus forcing Hannibal to continue the war. The Romans went about +ravaging the country until, at last, a pitched battle was brought about +at a place near Zama, in which, though Hannibal managed his army with +his usual skill, he was overcome and utterly routed. He now again +advised peace, and accepted less favorable terms than had been before +offered. Henceforth Carthage was to pay an annual war-contribution to +Rome, and was not to enter upon war with any nation in Africa, or +anywhere else, without the consent of her conquerors. Scipio returned +to Rome in the year 201, and enjoyed a magnificent triumph, the name +Africanus being at the same time added to his patronymic. Other honors +were offered him, but the most extraordinary of them he declined to +accept. + +Hannibal, though overcome, stands forth as the greatest general. At the +age of forty-five he now found himself defeated in the proud plans of +his youth; but, with manly strength, he refused to be cast down, and +set about work for the improvement of his depressed city. It was not +long before he aroused the opposition which has often come to public +benefactors, and was obliged to flee from Carthage. From that time, he +was a wanderer on the earth. Ever true to his hatred of Rome, however, +he continued to plot for her downfall even in his exile. He went to +Tyre and then to Ephesus, and tried to lead the Syrian monarch +Antiochus to make successful inroads upon his old enemy. Obliged to +flee in turn from Ephesus, he sought an asylum at the court of Prusias, +King of Bithynia. At last, seeing that he was in danger of being +delivered up to the Romans, in despair he took his own life at Libyssa, +in the year 182 or 181. Thus ignominiously ended the career of the man +who stood once at the head of the commanders of the world, and whose +memory is still honored for the magnificence of his ambition in daring +to attack and expecting to conquer the most powerful nation of his +time. + + + + +XI. + +THE NEW PUSHES THE OLD--WARS AND CONQUESTS. + + + +There were days of tumult in Rome in the year 195, which illustrate the +temper of the times, and show how the city and the people had changed, +and were changing, under the influence of two opposite forces. A vivid +picture of the scenes around the Capitol at the time has been +preserved. Men were hastening to the meeting of the magistrates from +every direction. The streets were crowded, and not with men chiefly, +for something which interested the matrons seemed to be uppermost, and +women were thronging in the same direction, in spite of custom, which +would have kept them at home; in spite even of the commands of many of +their husbands, who were opposed to their frequenting public +assemblies. Not only on one day did the women pour out into all the +avenues leading to the forum, but once and again they thrust themselves +into the presence of the law-makers. Nor were they content to stand or +sit in quiet while their husbands and brothers argued and made eloquent +speeches; they actually solicited the votes of the stronger sex in +behalf of a motion that was evidently very important in their minds. + +Of old time, the Romans had thought that women should keep at home, and +that in the transaction of private business even they should be under +the direction of their parents, brothers, or husbands. What had wrought +so great a change that on these days the Roman matrons not only +ventured into the forum, but actually engaged in public business, and +that, as has been said, in many instances, in opposition to those +parents, brothers, and husbands who were in those old times their +natural directors? We shall find the reason by going back to the days +when the cost of the Punic wars bore heavily upon the state. It was +then that a law was passed that no woman should wear any garment of +divers colors, nor own more gold than a half-ounce in weight, nor ride +through the streets of a city in a carriage drawn by horses, nor in any +place nearer than a mile to a town, except for the purpose of engaging +in a public religious solemnity. The spirited matrons of Rome were ever +ready to bear their share of the public burdens, and though some +thought this oppressive, but few murmurs escaped them as they read the +Oppian law, as it was called, when it was passed, for the days were +dark, and the shadow of the defeat at Cannæ was bowing down all hearts, +and their brothers and parents and husbands were trembling, strong men +that they were, at the threatening situation of the state. Now, +however, the condition of affairs had changed. The conquests of the +past few years had brought large wealth into the city, and was it to be +expected that women should not wish to adorn themselves, as of yore, +with gold and garments of richness? + +[Illustration: A ROMAN MATRON.] + +When now the repeal of the law was to be discussed, the excitement +became so intense that people forgot that Spain was in a state of +insurrection, and that war threatened on every side. Women thronged to +the city from towns and villages, and even dared, as has been said, to +approach the consuls and other magistrates to solicit their votes. +Marcus Porcius Cato, a young man of about forty years, who had been +brought up on a farm, and looked with the greatest respect upon the +virtue of the olden times, before Grecian influences had crept in to +soften and refine the hard Roman character, represented the party of +conservatism. Now, thought he, is an opportunity for me to stand +against the corrupting influence of Magna Græcia. He therefore rose and +made a long speech in opposition to the petition of the matrons. He +thought they had become thus contumacious, he said, because the men had +not individually exercised their rightful authority over their own +wives. "The privileges of men are now spurned, trodden under foot," he +exclaimed, "and we, who have shown that we are unable to stand against +the women separately, are now utterly powerless against them as a body. +Their behavior is outrageous. I was filled with painful emotions of +shame as I just now made my way into the forum through the midst of a +body of women. Will you consent to give the reins to their intractable +nature and their uncontrolled passions? The moment they had arrived at +equality with you, they will have become your superiors. What motive +that common decency will allow is pretended for this female +insurrection? Why, that they may shine in gold and purple; that they +may ride through our city in chariots triumphing over abrogated law; +that there may be no bounds to waste and luxury! So soon as the law +shall cease to limit the expenses of the wife, the husband will be +powerless to set bounds to them." As the uttermost measure of the +abasement to which the women had descended, Cato declared with +indignation that they had solicited votes, and he concluded by saying +that though he called upon the gods to prosper whatever action should +be agreed upon, he thought that on no account should the Oppian law be +set aside. + +When Cato had finished, one of the plebeian tribunes, Lucius Valerius, +replied to him sarcastically, saying that in spite of the mild +disposition of the speaker who had just concluded, he had uttered some +severe things against the matrons, though he had not argued very +efficiently against the measure they supported. He referred his hearers +to a book of Cato's, [Footnote: Livy is authority for this statement, +but it has been doubted if Cato's book had been written at the time.] +called _Origines_, or "Antiquities," in which it was made clear +that in the old times women had appeared in public, and with good +effect too. "Who rushed into the forum in the days of Romulus, and +stopped the fight with the Sabines?" he asked. "Who went out and turned +back the army of the great Coriolanus? Who brought their gold and +jewels into the forum when the Gauls demanded a great ransom for the +city? Who went out to the sea-shore during the late war to receive the +Idæan mother (Cybele) when new gods were invited hither to relieve our +distresses? Who poured out their riches to supply a depleted treasury +during that same war, now so fresh in memory? Was it not the Roman +matrons? Masters do not disdain to listen to the prayers of their +slaves, and we are asked, forsooth, to shut our ears to the petitions +of our wives! + +"I have shown that women have now done no new thing. I will go on and +prove that they ask no unreasonable thing. It is true that good laws +should not be rashly repealed; but we must not forget that Rome existed +for centuries without this one, and that Roman matrons established +their high character, about which Cato is so solicitous, during that +period, the return of which he now seems to think would be subversive +of every thing good. This law served well in a time of trial; but that +has passed, and we are enjoying the return of plenty. Shall our matrons +be the only ones who may not feel the improvement that has followed a +successful war? Shall our children, and we ourselves, wear purple, and +shall it be interdicted to our wives? Elegances of appearance and +ornaments and dress are the women's badges of distinction; in them they +delight and glory, and our ancestors called them the women's world. +Still, they desire to be under control of those who are bound to them +by the bonds of love, not by stern law, in these matters. The consul +just now used invidious terms, calling this a female 'secession' as +though our matrons were about to seize the Sacred Mount or the +Aventine, as the plebeians did of yore; but their feeble nature is +incapable of such a thing. They must necessarily submit to what you +think proper, and the greater your power the more moderation should you +use in exercising it. "Thus, day after day, the men spoke and the women +poured out to protest, until even stern and inflexible Cato gave way, +and women were declared free from the restrictions of the Oppian law. + +[Figure: ROMAN HEAD-DRESSES.] + +Cato and Scipio represented the two forces that were at this time +working in society, the one opposing the entrance of the Grecian +influence, and the other encouraging the refinement in manners and +modes of living that came with it, even encouraging ostentation and the +lavish use of money for pleasures. When Scipio was making his +arrangements to go to Africa, he was governor of Sicily, and lived in +luxury. Cato, then but thirty years old, had been sent to Sicily to +investigate his proceedings, and act as a check upon him; but Scipio +seems to have been little influenced by the young reformer, telling him +that he would render accounts of his _actions_, not of the money +he spent. Upon this Cato returned to Rome, and denounced Scipio's +prodigality, his love of Greek literature and art, his magnificence, +and his persistence in wasting in the gymnasium or in the pursuit of +literature time which should have been used in training his troops. +Joining Fabius, he urged that an investigating committee be sent to +look into the matter, but it returned simply astonished at the +efficient condition of the army, and orders were given for prompt +advance upon Carthage. + +[Illustration: GLADIATORS AT A FUNERAL.] + +The influences coming from Greece at this time were not all the best, +for that land was in its period of decadence, and Cato did well in +trying to protect his countrymen from evil. While literature in Greece +had reached its highest and had become corrupt, there had been none in +Rome during the five centuries of its history. All this time, too, +there had been but one public holiday and a single circus; but during +the interval between the first and second Punic wars a demagogue had +instituted a second circus and a new festival, called the plebeian +games. Other festivals followed, and in time their cost became +exceedingly great, and their influence very bad. Fights of gladiators +were introduced just at the outbreak of the first Punic war, on the +occasion of the funeral of D. Junius Brutus, and were given afterward +on such occasions, because it was believed that the manes, the spirits +of the departed, loved blood. Persons began to leave money for this +purpose in their wills, and by degrees a fondness for the frightful +sport increased, for the Romans had no leaning towards the ideal, and +delighted only in those pursuits which appealed to their coarse, +strong, and, in its way, pious nature. Humor and comedy with them +became burlesque, sometimes repulsive in its grotesqueness. Dramatic +art grew up during this period. We have seen that dramatic exhibitions +were introduced in the year 363, from Etruria, at a time of pestilence, +but they were mere pantomimes. Now plays began to be written. +Trustworthy history begins at the time of the Punic wars, and the +annals of Fabius Pictor commence with the year 216, after the battle of +Cannæ. + +Rome itself was changed by the increased wealth of these times. The +streets were made wider; temples were multiplied; and aqueducts were +built to bring water from distant sources; the same Appius who +constructed the great road which now bears his name, having built the +first, which, however, disappeared long ago. Another, forty-three miles +in length, was paid for out of the spoils of the war with Pyrrhus, and +portions of it still remain. With the increase of wealth and luxury +came also improvement in language and in its use, and in the year 254, +studies in law were formally begun in a school established for the +purpose. + +[Figure: ACTORS MASKS.] + +The Romans had conquered Italy and Carthage, and the next step was to +make them masters of the East. Philip V., King of Macedon, was, as we +have seen, one of the most eminent of monarchs of that country. His +treaty with Hannibal after the battle of Cannæ, involved him in war +with the Romans, which continued, with intermissions, until Scipio was +about to go over into Africa. Then the Romans were glad to make peace, +though no considerable results followed the struggle, and it had indeed +been pursued with little vigor for much of the time. By the year 200, +Philip had been able to establish himself in Greece, and the Romans +were somewhat rested from the war with Carthage. The peace of 205 had +been considered but a cessation of hostilities, and both people were +therefore ready for a new war. There were pretexts enough. Philip had +made an alliance with Antiochus the Great, of Syria, against Ptolemy +Epiphanes, of Egypt, who applied to Rome for assistance; and he had +sent aid to soldiers to help Hannibal, who had fought at the battle of +Zama. Besides this he had attempted to establish his supremacy in the +Ægean Sea at the expense of the people of Rhodes, allies of Rome, who +were assisted by Attalus, King of Pergamus, likewise in league with +Rome. + +The senate proposed that war should be declared against Philip, but the +people longed for rest after their previous struggles, and were only +persuaded to consent by being told that if Philip, then at the pitch of +his greatness, were not checked, he would follow the example of +Hannibal, as he had been urged to follow that of Pyrrhus. No great +progress was made in the war until the command of the Roman army in +Greece was taken by a young man of high family and noble nature, well +acquainted with Greek culture, in the year 197. Flamininus, for this +was the name of the new commander, met the army of Philip that year on +a certain morning when, after a rain, thick clouds darkened the plain +on which they were. The armies were separated by low hills known as the +Dog-heads (Cynocephalæ), and when at last the sun burst out it showed +the Romans and Macedonians struggling on the uneven ground with varying +success. The Macedonians were finally defeated, with the loss of eight +thousand slain and five thousand prisoners. In 196 peace was obtained +by Philip, who agreed to withdraw from Greece, to give up his fleet, +and to pay a thousand talents for the expenses of the war. + +At the Isthmian games, the following summer, Flamininus caused a +trumpet to command silence, and a crier to proclaim that the Roman +senate and he, the proconsular general, having vanquished Philip, +restored to the Grecians their lands, laws, and liberties, remitting +all impositions upon them and withdrawing all garrisons. So astonished +were the people at the good news that they could scarcely believe it, +and asked that it might be repeated. This the crier did, and a shout +rose from the people (who all stood up) that was heard from Corinth to +the sea, and there was no further thought of the entertainment that +usually engrossed so much attention. Plutarch says gravely that the +disruption of the air was so great that crows accidentally flying over +the racecourse at the moment fell down dead into it! Night only caused +the people to leave the circus, and then they went home to carouse +together. So grateful were they that they freed the Romans who had been +captured by Hannibal and had been sold to them, and when Flamininus +returned to Rome with a reputation second only, in the popular esteem, +to Scipio Africanus, these freed slaves followed in the procession on +the occasion of his triumph, which was one of the most magnificent, and +lasted three days. + +Scarcely had Flamininus left Greece before the Ætolians, who claimed +that the victory at Cynocephalæ was chiefly due to their prowess, made +a combination against the Romans, and engaged Antiochus to take their +part. This monarch had occupied Asia Minor previously, and would have +passed into Greece but for Flamininus. This was while Hannibal was at +the court of Antiochus. The Romans declared war, and sent an army into +Thessaly, which overcame the Syrians at the celebrated pass of +Thermopylæ, on the spot where Leonidas and his brave three hundred had +been slaughtered by the Persians two hundred and eighty-nine years +before (B.C. 191). Lucius Cornelius Scipio, brother of Africanus, +closed the war by defeating Antiochus at Magnesia, in Asia Minor, at +the foot of Mount Sipylus (B.C. 190). The Syrian monarch is said to +have lost fifty-three thousand men, while but four hundred of the +Romans fell. Antiochus resigned to the Romans all of Asia west of the +Taurus mountains, agreed to pay them fifteen thousand talents, and to +surrender Hannibal. The great Carthaginian, however, escaped to the +court of Prusias, King of Bithynia, where, as we have already seen, he +took his own life. Scipio carried immense booty to Rome, where he +celebrated a splendid triumph, and, in imitation of his brother +Africanus, added the name Asiaticus to his others. + +The succeeding year, the Ætolians were severely punished, their land +was ravaged, and they were required to accept peace upon humiliating +terms. Never again were they to make war without the consent of Rome, +whose supremacy they acknowledged, and to which they paid an indemnity +of five hundred talents. At this time the most famous hero of later +Grecian history comes before us indirectly, just as the greatness of +his country was sinking from sight forever. Philopoemen, who was born +at Megalopolis in Arcadia (not far from the spot from which old Evander +started for Italy), during the first Punic war, just before Hamilcar +appeared upon the scene, raised himself to fame, first by improving the +armor and drill of the Achæan soldiers, when he became chief of the +ancient league, and then by his prowess at the battle of Mantinea, in +the year 207, when Sparta was defeated. He revived the ancient league, +which had been dormant during the Macedonian supremacy; but in 188, he +took fierce revenge upon Sparta, for which he was called to account by +the Romans; and five years later, in 183, he fell into the hands of the +Messenians, who had broken from the league, and was put to death by +poison. It was in the same year that both Hannibal and Scipio, the two +other great soldiers of the day died. [Footnote: See the Student's +Merivale, ch. xxv., for remarks about these three warriors.] + +Philip V. of Macedon followed these warriors to the grave five years +later, after having begun to prepare to renew the war with Rome. His +son Perseus continued these preparations, but war did not actually +break out until 171, and then it was continued for three years without +decisive result. In 168 the Romans met the army of Perseus at Pydna, in +Macedonia, north of Mount Olympus, on the 22d June, [Footnote: This +date is proved by an eclipse of the sun which occurred at the time. It +had been foretold by a scientific Roman so that the army should not see +in it a bad omen.] and utterly defeated it. Perseus was afterward taken +prisoner and died at Alba. From the battle of Pydna the great historian +Polybius, who was a native of Megalopolis, dates the complete +establishment of the universal empire of Rome, since after that no +civilized state ever confronted her on an equal footing, and all the +struggles in which she engaged were rebellions or wars with +"barbarians" outside of the influence of Greek or Roman civilization, +and since all the world recognized the senate as the tribunal of last +resort in differences between nations; the acquisition of Roman +language and manners being henceforth among the necessary +accomplishments of princes. Rome had never before seen so grand a +triumph as that celebrated by Æmilius Paulus, the conqueror of +Macedonia, after his return. Plutarch gives an elaborate account of it. + +In pursuance of its policy of conquest a thousand of the noblest +citizens of Achæa were sent to Italy to meet charges preferred against +them. Among them was the historian Polybius, who became well acquainted +with Scipio Æmilianus, son by adoption of a son of the conqueror of +Hannibal. For seventeen years these exiles were detained, their numbers +constantly decreasing, until at last even the severe Cato was led to +intercede for them and they were returned to their homes. Exasperated +by their treatment they were ready for any desperate enterprise against +their conquerors, but Polybius endeavored to restrain them. The +historian went to Carthage, however, and while he was away disputes +were stirred up which gave Rome an excuse for interfering. Corinth was +taken with circumstances of barbarous cruelty, and plundered of its +priceless works of art, the rough and ignorant Roman commander sending +them to Italy, after making the contractors agree to replace any that +might be lost with others of equal value! With Corinth fell the +liberties of Greece; a Roman province took the place of the state that +for six centuries had been the home of art and eloquence, the +intellectual sovereign of antiquity; but though overcome and despoiled +she became the guide and teacher of her conqueror. + +When Carthage had regained some of its lost riches and population, Rome +again became jealous of her former rival, and Cato gave voice to the +feeling that she ought to be destroyed. One day in the senate he drew +from his toga a bunch of early figs, and, throwing them on the floor, +exclaimed: "Those figs were gathered but three days ago in Carthage; so +close is our enemy to our walls!" After that, whenever he expressed +himself on this subject, or any other, in the senate, he closed with +the words "_Delenda est Carthago_,"--"Carthage ought to be destroyed!" +Internal struggles gave Rome at last an opportunity to interfere, and +in 149 a third Punic war was begun, which closed in 146 with the utter +destruction of Carthage. The city was taken by assault, the inhabitants +fighting with desperation from street to street. Scipio Æmilianus, who +commanded in this war, was now called also Africanus, like his ancestor +by adoption. + +For years the tranquillity of Spain, which lasted from 179 to 153, had +been disturbed by wars, and it was not until Scipio was sent thither +that peace was restored. That warrior first put his forces into an +effective condition, and then laid siege to the city of Numantia, +situated on an elevation and well fortified. The citizens defended +themselves with the greatest bravery, and showed wonderful endurance, +but were at last obliged to surrender, and the town was levelled to the +ground, most of the inhabitants being sold as slaves. + +The great increase in slaves, and the devastation caused by long and +exhaustive wars, had brought about in Sicily a servile insurrection, +before the Numantians had been conquered. It is said that the number of +those combined against their Roman masters reached the sum of two +hundred thousand. In 132, the strongholds of the insurgents were +captured by a consular army, and peace restored. The barbarism of Roman +slavery had nowhere reached such extremes as in Sicily. Freedmen who +had cultivated the fields were there replaced by slaves, who were ill- +fed and poorly cared for. Some worked in chains, and all were treated +with indescribable brutality. They finally became bandits in despair, +and efforts at repression of their disorders led to the open and +fearful war. The same year that this war ended, the last king of +Pergamos died, leaving his kingdom and treasures to the Roman people, +as he had no children, and Pergamos became the "province" of Asia. +Besides this, Rome had the provinces of Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica, +Spain, Gallia Cisalpina, Macedonia, Illyricum, Southern Greece (Achæa), +and Africa, to which was soon to be added the southern portion of Gaul +over the Alps, between those mountains and the Pyrenees called +_Provincia Gallia_ (Provence). + + + + +XII. + +A FUTILE EFFORT AT REFORM. + + + +One day when the conqueror of Carthage, Scipio Africanus, was feasting +with other senators at the Capitol, the veteran patrician was asked by +the friends about him to give his daughter Cornelia to a young man of +the plebeian family of Sempronia, Tiberius Gracchus by name. This young +man was then about twenty-five years old; he had travelled and fought +in different parts of the world, and had obtained a high reputation for +manliness. Just at this time he had put Africanus under obligations to +him by defending him from attacks in public life, and the old commander +readily agreed to the request of his friends. When he returned to his +home and told his wife that he had given away their daughter, she +upbraided him for his rashness; but when she heard the name of the +fortunate man, she said that Gracchus was the only person worthy of the +gift. The mother's opinion proved to be correct. The young people lived +together in happiness, and Cornelia became the mother of three +children, who carried down the good traits of their parents. One of +these was a daughter named, like her mother, Cornelia, who became the +wife of Scipio Africanus the younger, and the others were her two +brothers. Tiberius and Caius, who are known as _the_ Gracchi. Tiberius +Gracchus lived to be over fifty years old, and won still greater +laurels in war and peace at home and in foreign lands. Cicero says that +he did a great service to the state by gathering together on the +Esquiline the freedmen who had spread themselves throughout the +tribes, and restricting their franchise (B.C. 169). Thus, Cicero +thought, he succeeded for a time in checking the ruin of the republic. +[Footnote: The freedmen had been confined to the four city tribes in +220 B.C.] + +There was sad need of some movement to correct abuses that had grown up +in Rome, and the men destined to stand forth as reformers were the two +Gracchi, sons of Cornelia and Tiberius. Their father did not live to +complete their education, but their mother, though courted by great +men, and by at least one king, refused to marry again, and gave up her +time to educating her sons, whom she proudly called her "jewels" when +the Roman matrons, relieved from the restrictions of the Oppian law, +boastfully showed her the rich ornaments of gold and precious stones +that they adorned themselves with. The brothers had eminent Greeks to +give them instruction, and grew up wise, able and eloquent, though each +exhibited his wisdom and ability in a different way. + +Tiberius, who was nine years older than his brother, came first into +public life. He went to Africa with his brother-in-law, when the +younger Africanus completed the destruction of Carthage, and afterward +he took part in the wars in Spain. It is said that, as he went through +Etruria on his way to Spain, he noticed that the fields were cultivated +by foreign slaves, working in clanking chains, instead of by freemen; +and that because the rich had taken possession of great ranges of +territory, the poor Romans had not even a clod to call their own, +though they had fought the battles by which the land had been made +secure. The sight of so much distress in a fertile country lying waste +affected Tiberius very deeply, and when he returned to Rome, he +bethought himself that it was in opposition to law that the rich +controlled such vast estates. He remembered that the Licinian Rogation, +which became a law more than two hundred years before this time, +forbade any man having such large tracts in his possession, and thought +that so beneficent a law should continue to be respected. He told the +people of Rome that the wild beasts had their dens and caves, while the +men who had fought and exposed their lives for Italy enjoyed in it +nothing more than light and air, and were obliged to wander about with +their wives and little ones, their commanders mocking them by calling +upon them to fight "for their tombs and the temples of their gods,"-- +things that they never possessed nor could hope to have any interest +in. "Not one among many, many Romans," said he, "has a family altar or +an ancestral tomb. They have fought to maintain the luxury of the +great, and they are called in bitter irony the 'masters of the world' +while they do not possess a clod of earth that they may call their +own!" + +It was a noble patriotism that filled the heart of Tiberius, but it was +not easy to carry out a reform like the one he contemplated. It may not +have appeared difficult to re-enact the old law, but we must remember +that, during two centuries of its neglect, generations of men had +peaceably possessed the great estates, of which its enforcement would +deprive them all at once. Was it to be supposed that they would quietly +permit this to be done? Was it just to deprive men of possessions that +they had received from their parents and grandparents without protest +on the part of the nation? Cornelia urged Tiberius to do some great +work for the state, telling him that she was called the "daughter of +Scipio," while she wished to be known as the "mother of the Gracchi." +The war in Sicily emphasized the troubles that Tiberius wished to put +an end to, and in the midst of it he was elected one of the tribunes, +the people hoping something from him, and putting up placards all over +the city calling upon him to take their part. + +The people seemed to feel sure that Gracchus was intending to do +something for them, and they eagerly came together and voted for him, +and when he was elected, they crowded into the city from all the +regions about to vote in favor of the re-establishment of the Licinian +laws, with some alterations. They were successful; much to the disgust +of the aristocrats, [Footnote: Aristocrat is a word of Greek origin, +and means one of a governing body composed of the best men +(_aristos_, best) in the state. The aristocrats came to be called +also _optimatos_, from _optimus_, the corresponding Latin word for +best.] who hated Gracchus, and thenceforth plotted to overthrow him and +his power. For a while, the lands that had been wrongfully occupied by +the rich were taken by a commission and returned to the government. + +When Attalus, the erratic king of Pergamus, left his estates to Rome, +Gracchus had an opportunity to perform an act of justice, by refunding +to the rich the outlays they had made on the lands of which they had +been deprived. This would have been politic as well as just, but +Gracchus did not see his opportunity. He proposed, on the other hand, +to divide the new wealth among the plebeians, to enable them to buy +implements and cattle for the estates they had acquired. + +It was easy at that excited time to make false accusations against +public men, and to cause the populace to act upon them, and, +accordingly, the aristocrats now stirred up the people to believe that +Gracchus was aspiring to the power of king, which, they were reminded, +had been forever abolished ages before. No opportunity was given him to +explain his intentions. A great mob was raised and a street fight +precipitated, in the midst of which three hundred persons were killed +with sticks and stones and pieces of benches. Among them was Gracchus +himself, who thus died a martyr to his patriotic plans for the Roman +republic. [Footnote: The course of Gracchus was not understood at the +time by all good citizens; and even for ages after he was considered a +designing demagogue. It was not until the great Niebuhr, to whom we owe +so much in Roman history, explained fully the nature of the agrarian +laws which Gracchus passed, that the world accepted him for the hero +and honest patriot that he was.] + +Caius Gracchus was in Spain at the time of his brother's murder, and +Scipio, his brother-in-law, was there also. So little did Scipio +understand Tiberius, that when he heard of his death he quoted the +words of Minerva to Mercury, which he remembered to have read in his +Homer, "So perish he who doth the same again!" The next year brother +and brother-in-law returned from Spain, but Caius did not seem to care +to enter political life, and as he lived in quiet for some years, it +was thought that he disapproved his brother's laws. Little did the +public dream of what was to come. + +Meantime Scipio became the acknowledged leader of the optimates, and in +order to keep the obnoxious law from being enforced, proposed to take +it out of the hands of the commission and give it to the senate. His +proposition was vigorously opposed in the forum, and when he retired to +his home to prepare a speech to be delivered on the subject, a number +of friends thought it necessary to accompany him as protectors. The +next morning the city was startled by the news that he was dead. His +speech was never even composed. No effort was made to discover his +murderer, though one Caius Papirius Carbo, a tribune, leader of the +opposing party, was generally thought to have been the guilty one. + +The eloquence of young Gracchus proved greater than that of any other +citizen, and by it he ingratiated himself with the people to such an +extent, that in the year 123 B.C. they elected him one of their +tribunes. Though the aristocrats managed to have his name placed fourth +on the list, his force and eloquence made him really first in all +public labors, and he proceeded to use his influence to further his +brother's favorite projects. He was impetuous in his oratory. As he +spoke, he walked from side to side of the rostra, and pulled his toga +from his shoulder as he became warm in his delivery. His powerful voice +filled the forum, and stirred the hearts of his hearers, who felt that +his persuasive words came from an honest heart. + +[Illustration: A ROMAN MILE-STONE.] + +The optimates were of course offended by the acts of the new tribune, +who abridged the power of the senate, and in all ways showed an +intention of working for the people. He was exceedingly active in works +of public benefit, building roads and bridges, erecting mile-stones +along the principal routes, extending to the Italians the right to +vote, and alleviating the distressing poverty of the lower orders by +directing that grain should be sold to them at low rates. The laws +under which he accomplished these beneficent changes are known, from +the family to which the Gracchi belonged, as the Sempronian Laws. In +carrying out the necessary legislation and in executing the laws, Caius +labored himself with great assiduity, and his activity afforded his +enemies the opportunity to say falsely that he made some private gain +from them. + +The optimates soon saw that the labors of Gracchus had drawn the people +close to him, and they determined to weaken his influence by indirect +means, rather than venture to make any immediate display of opposition. +They according adopted the sagacious policy of making it appear that +they wished to do more for the people than their own champion proposed. +They allowed a rich and eloquent demagogue, Marcus Livius Drusus, to +act for them, and he deceived the people by proposing measures that +appeared more democratic than those of Gracchus, whose power over the +people was thus somewhat undermined. The next step was then taken. In +the midst of an election a tumult was excited, and Gracchus was obliged +to flee, over the wooden bridge, to the Grove of the Furies. Death was +his only deliverance. The optimates tried to make it out that he had +been an infamous man, but the common people afterward loved both the +brothers and esteemed them as great benefactors who had died for them, + +The fall of the Gracchi left the people without a leader, and the +optimates easily kept possession of the government, though they did not +yet feel disposed to proceed at once to carry out their own wishes +fully, for fear that they might sting the _populares_ beyond +endurance. They stopped the assignments of lands, however, allowing +those who had occupied large tracts to keep them, and thus the +desolation and retrogression which had so deeply moved Gracchus +continued and increased even more rapidly than it had in his time. The +state fell into a condition of corruption in every department, and +office was looked upon simply as a means of acquiring wealth, not as +something to be held as a trust for the good of the governed. The +nation suffered also from servile insurrections; the seas were overrun +with pirates; the rich plunged into vice; the poor were pushed down to +deeper depths of poverty; judicial decisions were sold for money; the +inhabitants of the provinces were looked upon by the nobles as fit +subjects for plunder, and the governors obtained their positions by +purchase; everywhere ruin stared the commonwealth in the face, though +there seems to have been no one with perceptions clear enough to +perceive the trend of affairs. + +In this degenerate time there arose two men of the most diverse traits +and descent, whose lives, running parallel for many years, furnish at +once instructive studies and involve graphic pictures of public +affairs. The elder of them was with Scipio when Numantia fell into his +hands, and with Jugurtha, a Numidian prince, won distinction by his +valor on that occasion. Caius Marius was the name of this man, and he +belonged to the commons. He was twenty-three years of age, and had +risen from the low condition of a peasant to one of prominence in +public affairs. Fifteen years after the fall of Numantia we find him a +tribune of the people, standing for purity in the elections, against +the opposition of the optimates. Rough, haughty, and undaunted, he +carried his measures and waited for the gathering storm to furnish him +more enlarged opportunities for the exercise of his strength and +ambition. + +The opponent and final conqueror of this commoner was but four years of +age when Numantia fell, and came into public life later than Marius. +Lucius Cornelius Sulla was an optimate of illustrious ancestry and +hereditary wealth, a student of the literature and art of Greece and +his native land, and he united in his person all the vices as well as +accomplishments that Cato had been accustomed to denounce with the +utmost vigor. + +Marius and Sulla, the plebeian and the optimate, the man without +education of the schools, and the master of classic culture, were +brought together in Africa in the year 107. Numidia had long been an +ally of Rome, but upon the death of one of its kings, Jugurtha, who had +gained confidence in himself during the Numantian campaign, attempted +to gain control of the government. Rome interfered, but so accessible +were public men to bribes, that Jugurtha obtained from the senate a +decree dividing the country between him and the rightful claimant of +the throne. Not contented with this, he attempted to conquer his rival +and obtain the undivided sway. This action aroused the Roman people, +who were less corrupt than their senate, and they forced their rulers +to interfere. War was declared, but the first commander was corrupted +by African gold, and the struggle was intermitted. Jugurtha was called +to Rome, with promise of safety, to testify against the officer who had +been bribed, and remained there awhile, until he grew bold enough to +assassinate one of his enemies, when he was ordered to leave Italy. As +he left, he is said to have exclaimed [Footnote: "_Urbem venalem, et +mature perituram, si emptorem invenerit_"--Sallust's "Jugurtha," +chapter 35.]: "A city for sale, ready to fall into the hands of the +first bidder!" These memorable words, whether really uttered by the +Numidian or not, well characterize the state of affairs at this corrupt +period. + +[Illustration: IN A ROMAN STUDY.] + +One general and another were sent to oppose Jugurtha, but he proved too +much for them, either corrupting them by bribes or overcoming them by +skill of arms. The spirit of the Roman people was at last fully +aroused, and an investigation was made, which resulted in convicting +some of the optimates, one of them being Opimius, the consul, who had +been cruelly opposed to Caius Gracchus. A general of integrity was +chosen to go to Africa. He was Cæcilius Metellus, member of a family +which had come into prominence during the first Punic war. Marius was +with him, and when Jugurtha saw that men of this high character were +opposed to him, he began to despair. While the struggle progressed, +Marius remembered that a witch whom he had had with him in a former war +had prophesied that the gods would help him in advancing himself, and +resolved to go to Rome to try to gain the consulship. Metellus at first +opposed this scheme, but was finally persuaded to allow Marius to +leave. Though but few days elapsed before the election, after Marius +announced himself as a candidate, he was chosen consul, and then he +began to exult over the optimates who had so long striven to keep him +down. He vaunted his lowly birth, declared that his election was a +victory over the pusillanimity and license of the rich, and boldly +compared his warlike prowess with the effeminacy of the nobility, whom +he determined to persecute as vigorously as they had pursued him. + +[Illustration: THE ROMAN CAMP] + +Marius brought the Numidian War to a close by obtaining possession of +Jugurtha in the year 106, but as his subordinate, Sulla, was the +instrument in actually taking the king, the enemies of Marius claimed +for the young aristocrat the credit of the capture, and Sulla irritated +his senior still more by constantly wearing a ring on which he had +caused to be engraved a representation of the surrender. Marius did not +immediately return to Rome, but remained to complete the subjugation of +Numidia, Sulla the meantime making every effort to ingratiate himself +with the soldiers, sharing every labor, and sitting with them about the +camp-fires as they softened the asperities of a hard life by telling +tales of past experience, and making prophesies of the future. + +Sulla was not a prepossessing person. His blue eyes were keen and +glaring; but they were rendered forbidding and even terrible at times +by the bad complexion of his face, which was covered with red blotches +that told the story of his debaucheries. "Sulla is a mulberry sprinkled +over with meal," is the expression that a Greek jester is said to have +used in describing his frightful face. + +It was the first of January, 104, when Marius entered Rome in triumph, +accompanied by evidences of his victories, the greatest of which was +the pitiful Numidian king himself, who followed in the grand +procession, and was afterwards ruthlessly dropped into the horrible +Tulliarium, or Mamertine prison, to perish by starvation in the watery +chill. He is said to have exclaimed as he touched the water at the +bottom of the prison, "Hercules! how cold are thy baths!" + +During the absence of Marius in Africa, there had come over Rome the +shadow of a greater peril than had been known since the days when +Hannibal's advance had made the strongest hearts quail. The tumultuous +multitudes who inhabited the unexplored regions of Central Europe, the +Celts and Germans, [Footnote: The Cimbri, who formed a portion of this +invading body, had their original home in the modern peninsula of +Jutland, whence came also early invaders of Britain, and they were +probably a Celtic people.] had gathered a mass comprising, it is said, +more than three hundred thousand men capable of fighting, besides hosts +of women and children, and were marching with irresistible force +towards the Roman domains. Nine years before (B.C. 113), these +barbarians had defeated a Roman army in Noricum, north of Illyricum, +and after that they had roamed at will through Switzerland, adding to +their numbers, and ravaging every region, until at last they had poured +over into the plains of Gaul. Year after year passed, and army after +army of the Romans was cut to pieces by these terrible barbarians. + +As Marius entered the city he was looked upon as the only one who could +stem the impetuous human torrent that threatened to overwhelm the +republic, for, in the face of the supreme danger, as is usual in such +cases, every party jealousy was forgotten. The proud commoner accepted +the command with alacrity, setting out for distant Gaul immediately, +and taking Sulla as one of his subordinates. After two years of +inconsequent strategy, he overcame the barbarians at a spot twelve +miles distant from _Aquæ Sextiæ_ (the Springs of Sextius, the modern +Aix, in Provence), (B.C. 102). He collected the richest of the spoil to +grace a triumph that he expected to celebrate, and was about to offer +the remainder to the gods, when, just as he stood amid the encircling +troops in a purple robe, ready to touch the torch to the pile, horsemen +dashed into the space, announcing that the Romans had for the fifth +time elected him consul! The village of Pourrières (_Campi Putridi_) +now marks the spot, and the rustics of the vicinity still celebrate a +yearly festival, at which they burn a vast heap of brushwood on the +summit of one of their hills, as they shout _Victoire! victoire!_ in +memory of Marius. + +During this period Sulla gained renown by his valorous deeds, but the +jealousy that had begun in Africa increased, and in 103 or 102, he left +Marius and joined himself to his colleague Lutatius Catulus, who was +endeavoring to stem another torrent of barbarians, this time pouring +down toward Rome from the valley of the Po. When Marius reached home +after his victories in Gaul, he was offered a triumph, but refused to +celebrate it until he had marched to the help of Catulus, who, he +found, was then retreating before the invaders in a panic. After the +arrival of Marius the flight was stopped, and the barbarians totally +destroyed at a battle fought near Vercellæ. Though much credit for this +wonderful victory was awarded to both Catulus and Sulla, the whole +honor was at Rome given to Marius, who celebrated a triumph, was called +the third founder of the city (as Camillus had been the second), and +enjoyed the distinction of having his name joined with those of the +gods when offerings and libations were made. The jealousy of Sulla was +all this time growing from its small beginnings. + +While Marius and Sulla were fighting the barbarians there had been a +second insurrection among the slave population of Italy, and it was not +distant Sicily only that was troubled at this time, for though the +uprising spread to that island, many towns of Campania were afflicted, +and at last the contagion had affected thousands of the slaves, who +arose and struck for freedom. The outbreak in Campania was repressed in +103, but it was not until 99 that quiet was restored on the island, and +then it was by the destruction of many thousands of lives. Large +numbers of the captives were taken to Rome to fight in the arena with +wild beasts, but they disappointed their sanguinary masters by killing +each other instead in the amphitheatre. The condition of the slaves +after this was worse than before. They were deprived of all arms, and +even the spear with which the herdsmen were wont to protect themselves +from wild beasts was taken away. + +At this time the power of the optimates was rather decreasing, and +signs of promise for the people appeared. In the year 103, a law had +been passed which took from the senate the right to select the chief +pontiffs, and it had been given to the populares. [Footnote: This +important law was passed through the tribune Cneius Domitius +Ahenobarbus, in order to effect his own election as pontiff in the +place of his father, and is known as the Domitian law. The people +elected him afterward out of gratitude. The chief pontiff was an +influential factor in politics, as he pronounced the verdict of the +Sibylline books on public questions, and gave or withheld the divine +approval from public acts, besides appointing the rites and +sacrifices.] An agrarian law was proposed in the following year, a +speaker on the subject asserting that in the entire republic there were +not two thousand landholders, so rapidly had the rich been able to +concentrate in themselves the ownership of the land. The powers of the +senate were still further restricted in the year 100, by a law intended +to punish magistrates who had improperly received money, and to take +from the senators the right to try such offences. [Footnote: The exact +date of this law is uncertain. It was directed against Quintus +Servilius Cæpio, who, when the barbarians were threatening Italy, +commanded in Gaul, and enriched himself by the wealth of Tolosa, which +he took (B.C. 106), thus giving rise to the proverb, "He has gold of +Toulouse"--ill-gotten gains (_aurum Tolosanum habet_). He was also +held responsible for a terrible defeat at Arausio (Orange), where +eighty thousand Romans and forty thousand camp-followers perished, +October 6, B.C. 105. The day became another black one in the Roman +calendar.] At the same time the right of citizenship was offered to all +Italians who should succeed in convicting a magistrate of peculation or +extortion. Thus it seemed as though the reforms aimed at by the Gracchi +might be brought about if only the man for the occasion were to present +himself. Marius presented himself, but we shall find that he mistook +his means, and only cast the nation down into deeper depths of misery. +His star was at its highest when he celebrated his triumph, and it +would have been better for his fame had he died at that time. + + + + +XIII. + +SOCIAL AND CIVIL WARS. + + + +Marius was brave and strong and able to cope with any in the rush of +war, but he knew little of the arts of peace and the science of +government. Sulla, his enemy, was at Rome, living in quiet, but the +same, fiery, ambition that animated Marius, and the same jealousy of +all who seemed to be growing in popularity, burned in his bosom and +were ready to burst out at any time. The very first attempts of Marius +at government ended in shame, and he retired from the city in the year +99. He had supported two rogations, called the Appuleian laws, from the +demagogue who moved them, Lucius Appuleius Saturninus, and they were +carried by violence and treachery. They enacted that the lands acquired +from the barbarians should be divided among both the Italians and the +citizens of Rome, thus affording relief to all Italy; and that corn +should be sold to Romans by the state at a nominal price. + +When Marius retired, the authority of the senate was restored, but the +state was in a deplorable condition, for the violence and bloodshed +that had been familiar for the half century since the triumph over +Greece and Carthage, were bearing their legitimate fruits. Not only was +the separation between the rich and poor constantly growing greater, +but the effect of the luxury and license of the wealthy was debauching +the public conscience, and faith was everywhere falling away. Impostors +and foreign priests had full sway. + +Opposed to Saturninus was a noble of the most exalted type of +character, Marcus Livius Drusus, son of the Drusus who had opposed the +Gracchi. A genuine aristocrat, possessed of a colossal fortune, strict +in his morals and trustworthy in every position, he was a man of +acknowledged weight in the national councils. In the year 91, he was +elected tribune, and endeavored to bring about reform. He obtained the +adherence of the people by laws for distributing corn at low prices, +and by holding out to the allies hopes of the franchise. The allies had +long looked for this, and as their condition had been growing worse +year by year, their impatience increased, until at last they were no +longer willing to brook delay. The Romans (whose party cry was "Rome +for the Romans") ever opposed this measure, and now they stirred up +opposition to the conservative Drusus, who paid the penalty of his life +to his efforts at civil reform and the alleviation of oppression. +Though he tried to please all parties, the senate first rendered his +laws nugatory, and their partisans not satisfied with his civil defeat, +afterwards caused him to be assassinated. [Footnote: Velleius +Paterculus, the historian, relates that as Drusus was dying, he looked +upon the crowd of citizens who were lamenting his fortune, and said, in +conscious innocence: "My relations and friends, will the commonwealth +ever again have a citizen like me?" He adds, as illustrating the purity +of his intentions, that when Drusus was building a house on the +Palatine, his architect offered to make it so that no observer could +see into it, but he said: "Rather, build my house so that whatever I do +may be seen by all."] It was then enacted that all who favored the +allies should be considered guilty of treason to the state. Many +prominent citizens were condemned under this law, and the allies +naturally became convinced that there was no hope for them except in +revolution. + +Rome was in consequence menaced by those who had before been her +helpers, and the danger was one of the greatest that she had ever +encountered. The Italians were prepared for the contest, but the Romans +were not. It was determined by the allies that Rome should be +destroyed, and a new capital erected at Corfinum, which was to be known +as Italica. On both sides it was a struggle for existence. + +The Marsians were the most prominent among the allies in one division, +and the Samnites were at the head of another. [Footnote: The Marsians +were an ancient people of Central Italy, inhabiting a mountainous +district, and had won distinction among the allies for their skill and +courage in war. "The Marsic cohorts" was an almost proverbial +expression for the bravest troops in the time of Horace and Virgil.] +The whole of Central Italy became involved in the desperate struggle. +The Etruscans and Umbrians took the part of Rome, being offered the +suffrage for their allegiance. At the end of the first campaign this +was offered also to those of the other antagonistic allies who would +lay down their arms, and by this means discord was thrown into the camp +of the enemy. The campaign of 89 was favorable to the Romans, who, led +by Sulla, drove the enemy out of Campania, and captured the town of +Bovianum. The following year the war was closed, but Rome and Italy had +lost more than a quarter of a million of their citizens, while the +allies had nominally obtained the concessions that they had fought for. + +Ten new tribes were formed in which the new citizens were enrolled, +thus keeping them in a body by themselves; and it was natural that +there should be much discontent among them on account of the manner in +which their privileges had been awarded. The franchise could only be +obtained by a visit to Rome, which was difficult for the inhabitants of +distant regions, and there was besides no place in the city large +enough to contain all the citizens, if they had been able to come. The +new citizens found, too, that there was still a difference between +themselves and those who had before enjoyed the suffrage, something +like that which existed between the freedmen and the men who had never +been enslaved. + +Marius and Sulla, the ever-vigilant rivals, had both been engaged in +the Marsic war, but they came out of it in far differing frames of +mind. The young aristocrat boasted that fortune had permitted him to +strike the last decisive blow; and the old plebeian, now seventy years +of age, found his heart swelling with indignation because he received +only new mortifications in return for his new services to the state, in +whose behalf he had this time fought with reluctance. A spirit of dire +vengeance was agitating his heart, the results of which we are soon to +observe. + +The troubles of the state now seemed to accumulate with terrible +rapidity. Two wars broke out immediately upon the close of that which +we have just considered, one at home and the other in Asia. The one was +the strife of faction, and the other an effort to repel attacks upon +allies of the republic. Mithridates the Great, King of Pontus, the +sixth of his name, was remarkable for his physical and mental +development, no less than for his great ambition and boundless +activity. Under his rule his kingdom had reached its greatest power. +This monarch had attempted to add to his dominion Cappadocia, the +country adjoining Pontus on the south, by placing his nephew on the +throne, but Sulla, who was then in Cilicia, prevented it. Mithridates +next interfered in the government of Bithynia, to the southwest, +expecting that the oppressive rule of the Roman governors would lead +the inhabitants to be friendly to him, while the troubles of the Romans +at home would make it difficult for them to interfere. The close of the +Marsian struggle, however, left Rome free to engage the Eastern +conqueror, and war was determined upon. + +The success of Sulla in the East made it plain that he was the one to +lead the army, but Marius was still ambitious to gain new laurels, and +in order to prove that he was not too old to endure the hardships of a +campaign, he went daily to the Campus Martius and exercised with the +young men. His efforts proved vain, and he determined to take more +positive measures. He procured the enactment of a law distributing the +new citizens, who far out-numbered the old ones, among the tribes, +knowing that they would vote in his favor. It was not without much +opposition that this law was enacted, but Marius was then appointed, +instead of Sulla, to lead the army against Pontus. Sulla meantime +hastened to the army and obtained actual command of the soldiers, who +loved him, caused the tribunes of Marius to be murdered, and left the +old commander without support. Marius in turn raised another army by +offering freedom to slaves, and with it attempted to resist Sulla, but +in vain. He was obliged to fly, and a price was placed upon his head. +He sailed for Africa, but was thrown back upon the shores of Italy, was +cast into prison, and ordered to execution; but the slave commissioned +to carry out the judgment was frightened by the flashing eyes of the +aged warrior and refused to perform the act, as he heard a voice from +the darkness of the cell haughtily asking: "Fellow, darest thou kill +Caius Marius?" The magistrates, struck with pity and remorse, as they +reflected that Marius was the preserver of Italy, let him go to meet +his fate on other shores, and at last he found his way to Africa. + +The departure of both Marius and Sulla from Rome left it exposed to a +new danger. As soon as Sulla had left for Pontus, Lucius Cornelius +Cinna, one of the consuls, began to form a popular party, composed +largely of the newly made citizens, for the purpose of overpowering the +senate and recalling Marius. A frightful conflict ensued on a day of +voting, and thousands were butchered in the struggle. Cinna was driven +from the city, but received the support of a vast number of Italians, +which enabled him to march again upon Rome. + +Meantime Marius returned from Africa, captured Ostia and other places, +and joined Cinna. Then, by cutting off its supplies, he caused the city +to yield. Marius and Cinna entered the gates, and again the streets ran +blood; for every one who had given Marius cause to hate or fear him was +hunted to the death without mercy, and with no respect to rank, talent, +or former friendship. Cinna and Marius named themselves consuls for the +year 86 without the form of election, [Footnote: See note on page 64.] +but the firm constitution of the old hero was completely undermined by +his sufferings and fatigues, and he succumbed to an attack of pleurisy +after a few days, during which, as Plutarch tells us, he was terrified +by dreams and by the anticipated return of Sulla. The people rejoiced +that they were freed from the cruelty of his ruthless tyranny, little +knowing what new horrors the grim future had in store for them. + +We return now to Sulla. When he had driven Marius from Rome, he was +obliged to hasten away to carry on the war in Asia, though he marched +first against Athens, which had become the head-quarters of the allies +of Mithridates in Greece. The siege of this city was long and +obstinate, and it was not until March I, 86, that it was overcome, when +Sulla gave it up to rapine and pillage. He then advanced into Boeotia, +and success continued to follow his arms until the year 84, when he +crossed the Hellespont to carry the war into Asia. Mithridates had put +to death all Roman citizens and allies, wherever found, with all the +reckless ferocity of an Asiatic tyrant, but had met many losses and was +now anxious to have peace. Sulla settled the terms at a personal +interview at Dardanus, in the Troad. Enormous sums (estimated at more +than $100,000,000) were exacted from the rich cities, and a single +settled government was restored to Greece, Macedonia, and Asia Minor. +The soldiers were compensated for their fatigues by a luxurious winter +in Asia, and, in the spring of 83, they were transferred, in 1,600 +vessels, from Ephesus to the Piraeus, and thence to Brundusium. Sulla +carried with him from Athens the valuable library of Apellicon of Teos, +which contained the works of Aristotle and his disciple, Theophrastus, +then not in general circulation, for he did not forget his interest in +literature even in war. Thus it was that the rich thoughts of the great +philosopher came to the knowledge of the Roman students. [Footnote: +Aristoteles, sometimes called the Stagirite, because he was born in +Stagira, in Macedonia, lived at Athens in the fourth century before our +era. Theophrastus was his friend and disciple, both at Stagira and +Athens.] + +Sulla sent a letter to the senate, announcing the close of the war and +his intention to return, in the course of which he took occasion to +recount his services to the republic, from the time of the war with +Jugurtha to the conquest of Mithridates, and announced that he should +take vengeance upon his enemies and upon those of the commonwealth. The +senate was alarmed, and proposed to treat with him for peace, but Cinna +hastened to oppose the arrogant conqueror with force. He was, however, +assassinated by his own soldiers. + +On the sixth of July, after the arrival of Sulla at Brundusium (B.C. +83), Rome was thrown into a state of consternation by the burning of +the capitol and the destruction of the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, +with the Sibylline oracles, those valuable books which had directed the +counsels of the nation for ages, and the close of a historic era +approached. [Footnote: Ambassadors were afterwards sent to various +places in Greece, Asia, and Italy, to make a fresh collection, and when +the temple was rebuilt it was put in the place occupied by the lost +books.] Sulla easily marched in triumph through lower Italy on his way +to Rome, for his opponents were not well organized, but it was not +until months had passed that the fierce struggle was decided. He was +besieging Præneste, when the Samnites, after finding that they could +not relieve it, marched directly upon Rome. Sulla followed them, and a +bloody battle was fought at the Colline gate, on the northern side of +the city. It was a fight for the very existence of Rome, for Pontius +Telesinus, commander of the Samnites, declared that he intended to raze +the city to the ground. Fifty thousand are said to have fallen on each +side, and most of the leaders of the party of Marius perished or were +afterward put to death. All the Samnites (8,000) who were taken were +collected by Sulla in the Campus Martius and ruthlessly butchered. + +If the former scenes had been terrible, much more so were those that +now followed. Sulla was made dictator, an officer that had been unknown +for a century and a quarter, and proceeded to show his adhesion to the +optimates by attempting to blot out the popular party. He announced +that he would give a better government to Rome, but he found it +necessary to kill all whom he pretended to think her enemies. It was +Marius who had brought on the era of carnage by attempting to deprive +Sulla of his command in the war against Mithridates, and accordingly +the body of the great plebeian was torn from its tomb and cast into the +Anio. A list was drawn up of those whose possessions were to be +confiscated, and who were themselves to be executed in vengeance. On +this the names of the family of Marius came first. Fresh lists were +constantly posted in the forum. Each of these was called a _tabula +proscriptionis_, a list of proscription, and it presents the first +instance of a proscription in Roman history. [Footnote: A proscription +had formerly been an offering for sale of any thing by advertisement; +but Sulla gave it a new meaning,--the sale of the property of those +unfortunates who were put to death by his orders. The victims were said +to be proscribed. The meaning given by Sulla still lives in the English +word.] Sulla placed on these lists not only the names of enemies of the +state, but his personal opponents, those whose property he coveted, and +those who were enemies of friends whom he desired to please. No man was +safe, for his name might appear at any time on the terrible lists, and +then he would be an outlaw, whom any one might kill with impunity. +Especially were the rich and prominent liable to find themselves in +this position. Many thousands of unfortunate citizens perished before +Sulla was content to put a stop to the horrors. He then celebrated with +exceeding magnificence the postponed triumph on account of his victory +over Mithridates, and received from a trembling people the title +_Felix_, the lucky. + +It has been said that after having killed the men with his sword, Sulla +made it his work to kill the party that opposed him, by laws. He wished +to have in Rome the silence and the autocracy of a camp. He put some +three hundred new members into the senate, and gave that body the power +to veto legislative enactments, while at the same time he restricted +the authority of the tribunes of the people and of the _comitia +tributa,_ the general convention of the tribes. On the other hand, +he reduced debts by one fourth, to conciliate the masses, and paid his +soldiers for their services in the civil strife with vast amounts of +booty and great numbers of slaves. The _pomoerium_ was extended to +embrace all Italy, and, as is supposed, the northern boundary of Roman +territory was extended to the Rubicon. New courts were established and +the judicial system was reorganized; the censors were practically +shelved, but sumptuary laws were passed to prevent extravagance and +luxury. All of the laws of Sulla were submitted to the people for +formal approval; but as no one was hardy enough to differ from the +dictator, it mattered little what the people thought. + +By the beginning of the year 79, Sulla considered that his reforms were +complete, and bethought himself of retiring to see at a little distance +the effect of his regulations. He felt that no danger could overtake +him, for he had settled his old veterans (called Cornelians), to the +number of more than a hundred thousand, in colonies scattered +throughout Italy, on the estates and in the cities that he had +confiscated, and thought that they would prove his supporters in any +event. He boldly summoned the people and, announcing his purpose, +offered to render an account of his official conduct. He gave the crowd +a _congiarium_, as it was called--that is, he glutted them with +the costliest meats and the richest wines, and so great was his +profusion that vast quantities that the gorged multitude were unable to +eat were cast into the Tiber. He then discharged his armed attendants, +dismissed his lictors, descended from the rostra, and retired on foot +to his house, accompanied only by his friends, passing through the +midst of the populace which he had given every reason to desire to +wreak vengeance upon him. It was audacity of the supremest sort. Sulla +afterwards withdrew to his estate at Puteoli, where he spent the brief +remainder of his life in the most remarkable alternation of nocturnal +orgies and cultured enjoyment, sharing his time with male and female +debauchees and learned students of Greek literature, and concluding the +memoirs of his life and times, in which, through twenty-two books, he +recorded the story of his deeds, colored doubtless to a great extent by +his own magnificent self-love. In the last words of his "Memoirs" he +characterized himself, with a certain degree of truth from his own +point of view, as "fortunate and all-powerful to his last hour." + +The senate voted Sulla a gorgeous funeral, in spite of opposition on +the part of the consul Lepidus, and his body was carried to the Campus +Martius, preceded by the magistrates, the senate, the equites, the +vestal virgins, and the veterans. There it was burned, that no future +tyrant could treat it as that of Marius had been, though up to that +time the Cornelian gens, to which Sulla belonged, had always buried +their dead. + +Thus lived and thus died the man who, though he relieved Rome of the +last of her invaders, infused into her system a malady from which she +was to suffer in the future; for the pampered veterans whom he had +distributed throughout Italy in scenes of peace, all unwonted to such a +life, were to be the ones on which another oppressor was to depend in +his efforts to subvert the government. + + + + +XIV. + +THE MASTER SPIRITS OF THIS AGE. + + + +Rome was now ruled by an oligarchy,--that is, the control of public +affairs fell into the hands of a few persons. There was an evident +tendency, however, towards the union of all the functions of +governmental authority in the person of a single man, whenever one +should be found of sufficient strength to grasp them. The younger +Gracchus had exercised almost supreme control, and Marius, Cinna, and +Sulla had followed him; but their power had perished with them, leaving +no relics in the fundamental principles of the government, except as it +marked stages in the general progress. Now other strong men arise who +pursue the same course, and lead directly up to the concentration of +supreme authority in the hands of one man, and he not a consul, nor a +tribune, nor a dictator, but an emperor, a titled personage never +before known in Rome. With this culmination the life of the populus +Romanus was destined to end. + +A dramatist endeavoring to depict public life at Rome during the period +following the death of Sulla, would find himself embarrassed by the +multitude of men of note crowding upon his attention. One of the eldest +of these was Quintus Sertorius, a soldier of chivalric bravery, who had +come into prominence during the Marian wars in Gaul. He had at that +time won distinction by boldly entering the camp of the Teutones +disguised as a spy, and bringing away valuable information, before the +battle at Aix. When Sulla was fighting Mithridates, Sertorius was on +the side of Cinna, and had to flee from the city with him. When the +battle was fought at the Colline gate, Sertorius served with his old +comrade Marius, whom he did not admire, and with Cinna, but we do not +know that he shared the guilt of the massacre that followed. Certainly +he punished the slaves that surrounded Marius for their cruel excesses. +When Sulla returned, Sertorius escaped to Spain, where he raised an +army, and achieved so much popularity that the Romans at home grew very +jealous of him. [Footnote: Sertorius is almost the only one among the +statesmen of antiquity who seems to have recognized the modern truth, +that education is a valuable aid in making a government firm. He +established a school in Spain in which boys of high rank, dressed in +the garb of Romans, learned the languages that still form the basis of +a classical education, while they were also held as hostages for the +good behavior of their elders. He was not a philanthropist, but a +sagacious ruler, and the author of Latin colonies in the West. He was +for a time accompanied by a white fawn, which he encouraged the +superstitious barbarians to believe was a familiar spirit, by means of +which he communicated with the unseen powers and ensured his success.] +He did not intentionally go to live in Spain, but having heard that +there were certain islands out in the Atlantic celebrated since the +days of Plato as the abode of the blest; where gentle breezes brought +soft dews to enrich the fertile soil; where delicate fruits grew to +feed the inhabitants without their trouble or labor; where the yellow- +haired Rhadamanthus was refreshed by the whistling breezes of Zephyrus; +he longed to find them and live in peace and quiet, far from the rush +of war and the groans of the oppressed. From this bright vision he was +turned, but perhaps his efforts to establish a merciful government in +Spain may be traced to its influence. + +Another prominent man on the stage at this time was a leader of the +aristocratic party, Marcus Crassus, who lived in a house that is +estimated to have cost more than a quarter of a million dollars. +Probably he would not have been very prominent if his father had not +left him a small fortune, to which he had added very largely by methods +that we can hardly consider noble. It is said that when the Sullan +proscription was going on, he obtained at ruinously low prices the +estates that the proscribed had to give up, and, whenever there was a +fire, he would be on the spot ready to buy the burning or ruined +buildings for little or nothing. He owned many slaves who were +accomplished as writers, silversmiths, stewards, and table-waiters, +whom he let out to those who wished their services, and thus added +largely to his income. He did not build any houses, except the one in +which he lived, for he agreed with the proverb which says that fools +build houses for wise men to live in, though "the greatest part of Rome +sooner or later came into his hands," as Plutarch observes. He was of +that sordid, avaricious character which covets wealth merely for the +desire to be considered rich, for the vulgar popularity that +accompanies that reputation, and not for ambition or enjoyment. He was +said to be uninfluenced by the love of luxury or by the other passions +of humanity. He was not a man of extensive learning, though he was +pretty well versed in philosophy and in history, and by pains and +industry had made himself an accomplished orator. He could thus wield a +great influence by his speeches to the people from the rostra. + +Among the aristocrats who composed the oligarchy that ruled at about +this time were two men born in the same year (106 B.C.): the egotistic, +vain, and irresolute, but personally pure orator, Marcus Tullius +Cicero; and the cold and haughty soldier, Cneius Pompeius Magnus, +commonly known as Pompey the Great. The philosophical, oratorical, and +theological writings of Cicero are still studied in our schools as +models in their different classes. Inheriting a love of culture from +his father, a member of an ancient family, he was afforded every +advantage in becoming acquainted with all branches of a polite +education; and travelled to the chief seats of learning in Greece and +Asia Minor with this end in view. When he was twenty-six years of age, +he made his first appearance as a public pleader, and soon gained the +reputation of being the first orator at the Roman bar. Besides these +pursuits, Cicero had had a brief military experience, during the war +between Sulla and Marius. + +Pompey, likewise, began to learn the art of war under his father, in +the same struggle, but he continued its exercise until he became a +consummate warrior. For his success in pursuing the remains of the +Marian faction in Africa and Sicily, Pompey was honored with the name +Magnus (the Great), and with a triumph, a distinction that had never +before been won by a man of his rank who had not previously held public +office. + +[Illustration: POMPEY (CNEIUS POMPEIUS MAGNUS).] + +Older than these men there was one whose character is forever blackened +on the pages of history by the relentless pen of Cicero, Caius Licinius +Verres, who, if we may believe the only records we have regarding him, +was the most phenomenal freebooter of all time. The story of his career +is a vivid demonstration of the manner in which the people of the Roman +provinces were outraged by the officers sent to rule over them, and we +shall anticipate our story a little in tracing it. The provincial +governors were, as a class, corrupt, and Verres was as vile as any of +them, but he was also brutal in his manners and natural instincts, +rapacious, licentious, cruel, and fond of low companions. At first, one +of the Marian faction, he betrayed his associates, embezzled the funds +that had been entrusted to him, and joined himself to Sulla, who sent +him to Brundusium, allowing him a share in the confiscated estates. +Thence he was transferred to Cilicia, where again he proved a traitor +to his superior officer, and stole from cities, private persons, +temples, and public places, every thing that his rapacity coveted. One +city offered him a vessel as a loan, and he refused to return it; +another had a statue of Diana covered with gold, and he scraped off the +precious metal to put it in his pocket. Using the money thus gained to +ensure his election to office at Rome, Verres enjoyed a year at the +Capitol, and then entered upon a still more outrageous career as +governor of the island of Sicily. Taking with him a painter and a +sculptor well versed in the values of works of art, he systematically +gathered together all that was considered choice in the galleries and +temples. Allowing his officers to make exorbitant exactions upon the +farmers, he confiscated many estates to his own use, and reaped the +crops. Even travellers were attacked to enrich this extraordinary +thief, and six vessels were afterward dispatched to Rome with the +plunder, which he asserted was sufficient to permit him to revel in +opulence the remainder of his life, even if he were obliged to give up +two thirds in fines and bribes. + +The people Verres had outraged did not, however, suffer in quiet. They +engaged Cicero to conduct their case against him, and this the great +orator did with overwhelming success. [Footnote: The orations of Cicero +against Verres are based upon information which the orator gathered by +personally examining witnesses at the scenes of the rascality he +unveiled. The orator showed a true Roman lack of appreciation of Greek +art, and exercised his own love of puns to a considerable extent, +playing a good deal upon the name Verres, which meant a boar. The +extreme corpulence of the defendant, too, offered an opportunity for +gross personal allusions. Cicero compared him to the Erymanthean boar, +and called him the "drag-net" of Sicily, because his name resembled the +word _everriculum_, a drag-net.] Though protected by Hortensius, +an older advocate, who, during the absence of Cicero, on his travels, +had acquired the highest rank as an orator, so terrible was the +arraignment in its beginning that, at the suggestion of Hortensius, +Verres did not remain to hear its close, but hastened into voluntary +exile. He precipitately took ship for Marseilles, and for twenty-seven +years was forced to remain in that city. Would that every misdoer among +the provincial governors had thus been followed up by the law! + +The representative of the Sullan party at this time was Lucius Sergius +Catiline, an aristocrat, who, during the proscription, behaved with +fiendish atrocity towards those of the opposite party, torturing and +killing men with the utmost recklessness. His early years had been +passed in undisguised debaucheries and unrestrained vice, but in spite +of all his acts, he made political progress, was prætor, governor of +Africa, and candidate for the consulship by turn. Failing in the last +effort, however, he entered into a conspiracy to murder the successful +candidates, and was only foiled by his own impatience. We shall find +that he was encouraged by this failure which so nearly proved a +success. + +There was one man among the host of busy figures on the stage at this +eventful period who seems to stalk about like a born master, and the +lapse of time since his days has not at all dimmed the fame of his +deeds, so deep a mark have they left upon the laws and customs of +mankind, and so noteworthy are they in the annals of Rome. Caius Julius +Cæsar was six years younger than Pompey and Cicero, and was of the +popular or Marian party, both by birth and tastes. His aunt Julia was +wife of the great Marius himself, and though he had married a young +woman of high birth to please his father, he divorced her as soon as +his father died, and married Cornelia, daughter of Cinna, the devoted +opponent of Sulla, to please himself. + +When Sulla returned to Rome from the East, he ordered Pompey to put +away his wife, and he obeyed. He ordered Cæsar, a boy of seventeen, to +give up his Cornelia, and he proudly replied that he would not. Of +course he could not remain at Rome after that, and he fled to the land +of the Sabines until Sulla was induced to grant him a pardon. Still, he +did not feel secure at Rome, and a second time he sought safety in +expatriation. Upon the death of the dictator, he returned, having +gained experience in war, and having developed his talents as an orator +by study in a school at Rhodes. He plunged immediately into public life +and won great distinction by his effective speaking. + +These are enough characters for us to remember at present. They +represent four groups, all striving for supreme power. There are the +men of the oligarchy, represented by Pompey and Cicero, actually +holding the reins of government; and Crassus, standing for the +aristocrats, who resent their claims; Cæsar, foremost among the +Marians, the former opponents of Sulla and his schemes; and Catiline, +at the head of the faction which included the host of warriors that +Sulla had settled in peaceful pursuits throughout Italy,--in peaceful +pursuits that did not at all suit their impetuous spirits, ever eager +as they were for some revolution that would plunge them again into +strife, and perchance win for them some spoil. + +[Illustration: CAIUS JULIUS CÆSAR.] + +The consuls at the time of the death of Sulla were Lepidus and Catulus, +who now fell out with one another, Lepidus taking the part of the +Marians, and Catulus holding with the aristocrats. This was the same +Lepidus who had opposed the burial of the dictator Sulla in the Campus +Martius. As soon as the Marians saw that one consul was ready to favor +them, there was great excitement among the portion of the community +that looked for gain in confusion. Those who had lost their riches and +civic rights, hoped to see them restored; young profligates trusted +that in some way they might find means to gratify their love of luxury; +and the people in general, who had no other reason, thought that after +the three years of the calm of despotism, it would be refreshing to see +some excitement in the forum. Lepidus was profuse in promises; he told +the beggars that he would again distribute free grain; and the families +deprived of their estates, that they might soon expect to enjoy them +again. Catulus protested in vain, and the civil strife constantly +increased, without any apparent probability that the Senate, now weak +and inefficient, would or could successfully interfere. Finally it was +decreed that Lepidus and Catulus should each be sent to the provinces +under oath not to turn their swords against each other. + +Lepidus slowly proceeded to carry out his part of this decree, but +Catulus remained behind long enough to complete a great temple, which +towered above the forum on the Capitoline Hill. The foundations only +remain now, but they bear an inscription placed there by order of the +senate, testifying that Catulus was the consul under whom the structure +was completed. Lepidus did not consider his oath binding long, and the +following year (B.C. 77) he marched straight to Rome again, announcing +to the senators that he came to re-establish the rights of the people +and to assume the dictatorship himself. He was met by an army under +Pompey and Catulus, at a spot near the Mulvian bridge and the Campus +Martius, almost on the place where the fate of the Roman Empire was to +be determined four centuries later by a battle between Maxentius and +Constantine (A.D. 312). Lepidus was defeated and forced to flee. +Shortly after, he died on the island of Sardinia, overcome by chagrin +and sorrow. One would expect to read of a new proscription, after this +success, but the victors did not resort to that terrible vengeance. +Thus Pompey found himself at the head of Roman affairs. + +His first duty was to march against the remnant of the party of the +Marians. They had joined Sertorius in Spain. It was the year 76 when +Pompey arrived on the scene of his new operations. He found his enemy +more formidable than he had supposed, and it was not until five years +had passed, and Sertorius had been assassinated, that he was able to +achieve the victory and scatter the army of the Marians. Meantime the +Romans had been fearing that Sertorius would actually prove strong +enough to march upon the capital and perhaps overwhelm it. Hardly had +their fears in this respect been quieted than they found themselves +menaced by a still more frightful catastrophe. + +We remember how, in the year 264 B.C., two young Romans honored the +memory of their father by causing men to fight each other to the death +with swords to celebrate his funeral, and hints from time to time have +shown how the Romans had become more and more fond of seeing human +beings hack and hew each other in the amphitheatres. The men who were +to be "butchered to make a Roman holiday," as the poet says, were +trained for their horrid work with as much system as is now used in our +best gymnasiums to fit men to live lives of happy peace, if not with +more. They were divided into classes with particular names, according +to the arms they wore, the hours at which they fought, and their modes +of fighting, and great were the pains that their instructors took to +make them perfect in their bloody work. Down at Capua, that celebrated +centre of refinement and luxury, there was a school of gladiators, kept +by one Lentulus, who hired his fierce pupils out to the nobles to be +used at games and festivals. + +While Pompey was away engaged with Sertorius, the enemies of Rome +everywhere thought it a favorable moment to give her trouble, and these +gladiators conspired in the year 73 to escape to freedom, and thus +cheat their captors out of their expected pleasures, and give their own +wives and children a little more of their lives. So large was the +school that two hundred engaged in the plot, though only seventy-eight +were successful in escaping. They hurried away to the mountains, armed +with knives and spits that they had been able to snatch from the stalls +as they fled, and, directed by one Spartacus who had been leader of a +band of robbers, found their way to the crater of Mount Vesuvius, not a +comfortable resort one would think; but at that time it was quite +different in form from what it is now, the volcano being extinct, so +that it afforded many of the advantages of a fortified town. From every +quarter the hard-worked slaves flocked to the standard of Spartacus, +and soon he found himself at the head of a large army. His plan was to +cross the Alps, and find a place of refuge in Gaul or in his native +Thrace; but his brutalized followers thought only of the present. They +were satisfied if they could now and then capture a rich town, and for +a while revel in luxuries; if they could wreak their vengeance by +forcing the Romans themselves to fight as gladiators; or, if they had +the opportunity to kill those to whom they attributed their former +distresses. They cared not to follow their leader to the northward, and +thus his wiser plans were baffled; but, in spite of all obstacles, he +laid the country waste from the foot of the Alps to the most southern +extremity of the toe of the Italian boot. For two years he was able to +keep up his war against the Roman people, but at last he was driven to +the remotest limits of Bruttium, where his only hope was in getting +over to Sicily, in the expectation of gaining other followers; but his +army was signally defeated by Crassus, a small remnant only escaping to +the northward, where they were exterminated by Pompey, then returning +from Spain (B.C. 71). From Capua to Rome six thousand crosses, each +bearing a captured slave, showed how carefully and ruthlessly the man- +hunt had been pursued by the frightened and exasperated Romans. Both +Crassus and Pompey claimed the credit of the final victory, Pompey +asserting that though Crassus had scotched the serpent, he had himself +killed it. + +[Illustration: GLADIATORS.] + +On the last day of the year 71 Pompey entered Rome with the honor of a +triumph, while Crassus received the less important distinction of an +ovation, [Footnote: In a triumph in these times, the victorious +general, clad in a robe embroidered with gold, and wearing a laurel +wreath, solemnly entered the city riding in a chariot drawn by four +horses. The captives and spoils went before him, and the army followed. +He passed along the Via Sacra on the Forum Romanum, and went up to the +Capitol to sacrifice in the temple of Jupiter. In the ovation the +general entered the city on foot, wore a simple toga, and a wreath of +myrtle, and was in other respects not so conspicuously honored as in +the triumph. The two celebrations differed in other respects also.] as +it was called, because his success had been obtained over slaves, less +honorable adversaries than those whom Pompey had met. Each desired to +be consul, but neither was properly qualified for the office, and +therefore they agreed to overawe the senate and win the office for +both, each probably thinking that at the first good opportunity he +would get the better of the other. In this plan they were successful, +and thus two aristocrats came to the head of government, and the +oligarchy, to which one of them belonged, went out of power, and soon +Pompey, who all the time posed as the friend of the people, proceeded +to repeal the most important parts of the legislation of Sulla. The +tribunes were restored, and Pompey openly broke with the aristocracy to +which by birth he belonged, thus beginning a new era, for the social +class of a man's family was no longer to indicate the political party +to which he should give his adherence. + +[Illustration: TRIUMPHAL PROCESSION OF A ROMAN GENERAL] + + + + +XV. + +PROGRESS OF THE GREAT POMPEY. + + + +The master spirits of this remarkable age were now in full action on +the stage, and it is difficult to keep the eye fixed upon all of them +at once. Now one is prominent and now another; all are pushing their +particular interests, while each tries to make it appear that he has +nothing but the good of the state at heart. Whenever it is evident that +a certain cause is the popular one, the various leaders, opposed on +most subjects, are united to help it, in the hope of catching the +popular breeze. During the consulship of Pompey and Catulus, Pompey was +the principal Roman citizen, and he tried to make sure that his +prestige should not be lessened when he should step down from his high +office. + +[Illustration: INTERIOR OF A ROMAN HOUSE] + +Crassus, aristocrat by birth and aristocrat by choice, had been a +candidate for the senate in opposition to Pompey, but he soon found +that his interest demanded that he should make peace with his powerful +colleague, and as he did it, he told the people that he did not +consider that his action was in any degree base or humiliating, for he +simply made advances to one whom they had themselves named the Great. +Crowds daily courted Pompey on account of his power; but a multitude +equally numerous surrounded Crassus for his wealth, and Cicero on +account of his wonderful oratory. Even Julius Cæsar, the strong Marian, +who pronounced a eulogy upon his aunt, the widow of Marius, seemed also +to pay homage to Pompey, when, a year later, he took to wife Pompeia, a +relative of the great soldier (B.C. 67). + +Both Cæsar and Pompey saw that gross corruption was practised by the +chiefs of the senate when they had control of the provinces, and knew +that it ought to be exposed and effectually stopped, but Cæsar was the +first to take action. He was quickly followed by Pompey, however, who +encouraged Cicero to denounce the crimes of Verres with the success +that we have already noticed. Cicero loftily exclaimed that he did not +seek to chastise a single wicked man who had abused his authority as +governor, but to extinguish and blot out all wickedness in all places, +as the Roman people had long been demanding; but with all his eloquence +he was not able to make the people appreciate the fact that the +interests of Rome were identical with the well-being and prosperity of +her allies, distant or near at hand. + +Both Crassus and Pompey retired from the consulship amid the plaudits +of the people and with the continued friendship of the optimates. +Crassus, out of his immense income, spread a feast for the people on +ten thousand tables; dedicated a tenth of his wealth to Hercules; and +distributed among the citizens enough grain to supply their families +three months. With all his efforts, however, he could not gain the +favor which Pompey apparently held with ease. For two years Pompey +assumed royal manners, and gave himself up to the enjoyment of his +popularity, but then beginning to fear that without some new evidence +of genius he might lose the admiration of the people, he began to make +broad plans to astonish them. + +For years the Mediterranean Sea had been infested by daring pirates, +who at last made it unsafe for a Roman noble even to drive to his sea- +side villa, or a merchant to venture abroad for purposes of trade. +Cities had been ravaged, and the enemies of Rome had from time to time +made alliances with the marauders. The pirates dyed their sails with +Tyrian purple, they inlaid their oars with silver, and they spread gold +on their pennants, so rich had their booty made them. Nor were they +less daring than rich; they had captured four hundred towns of +importance, they had once kidnapped Cæsar himself, and held him for +enormous ransom, [Footnote: This occurred in the year 76 B.C., when +Cæsar, at the age of twenty-four, was on his way to Rhodes, intending +to perfect himself in oratory at the school of Apollonius Molo, the +teacher of Cicero, lie was travelling as a gentleman of rank, and was +captured off Miletus. After a captivity of six weeks, during which he +mingled freely with the games and pastimes of the pirates, though +plainly assuring them that he should one day hang them all, Cæsar was +liberated, on payment of a ransom of some fifty thousand dollars. Good +as his word, he promptly collected a fleet of vessels, returned to the +island, seized the miscreants as they were dividing their plunder, +carried them off to Pergamos, and had them crucified. He then went on +to Rhodes, and practised elocution for two years.] and now they +threatened to cut off the entire supply of grain that came from Africa, +Sardinia, and Sicily, + +The crisis was evident to all, and in it Pompey saw his opportunity. In +the year 67, he caused a law to be introduced by the tribune Gabinius, +ordaining that a commander of consular rank should be appointed for +three years, with absolute power over the sea and the coasts about it +for fifty miles inland, together with a fleet of two hundred sail, with +officers, seamen, and supplies. When the bill had passed, Gabinius +declared that there was but one man fit to exercise such remarkable +power, and it was conferred with acclamations upon Pompey, whom he +nominated. The price of grain immediately fell, for every one had +confidence that the dread crisis was passed. The people were right, for +in a few weeks the pirates had all been brought to terms. Pompey had +divided the sea into thirteen parts, and in each of them the +freebooters had been encountered in open battle, driven into creeks and +captured, or forced to take refuge in their castles and hunted out of +them, so that those who were not taken had surrendered. + +The next move among the master spirits led to the still greater +advancement of Pompey. His supporters at Rome managed to have him +appointed to carry on a war in the East. In the year 74, when other +enemies of the republic seized the opportunity to rise against Rome, +Mithridates, never fully conquered, entered upon a new war. Lucius +Licinius Lucullus, who had gained fame in the former struggle with +Mithridates, was sent again to protect Roman interests in Pontus. He +completely broke the power of the great monarch, in spite of his vast +preparations for the struggle, but, under a pretext, he was now +superseded by Pompey, who went out with a feigned appearance of +reluctance, to pluck the fruit just ready to drop (B.C. 66). Cicero +urged Pompey to accept this new honor, [Footnote: When the Manilian law +which enlarged the powers of Pompey was under discussion, Cicero made +his first address to the Roman people, and though vigorously opposed by +Hortensius and Catulus, carried the day against the senate and the +optimates whom they represented. This oration contains a panegyric of +Pompey for suppressing piracy, and argues that a public servant who has +done well once deserves to be trusted again.] and Cæsar, who enjoyed +the precedents that Pompey had established, in adopting monarchical +style, was now glad to have a rival removed from the country, that he +might have, better opportunity to perfect his own plans. + +[Illustration: A ROMAN POETESS.] + +The third or great Mithridatic war lasted from the year 74, when +Lucullus was sent out, to 61. By the terms of the Manilian law, Pompey +went out with unlimited power over the whole of Asia, as far as +Armenia, as well as over the entire Roman forces; and as he already was +supreme over the region about the Mediterranean Sea, he was practically +dictator throughout all of the dominions of the republic. He planned +his first campaign with so much skill that he cut Mithridates off from +all help by sea, and destroyed every hope of alliances with other +rulers. So clearly did it appear to the Pontic monarch that resistance +would be vain, that he sued for peace. Pompey would accept no terms but +unconditional surrender, however, and negotiations were broken off. +Mithridates determined to avoid battle, but Pompey finally surprised +and defeated him in Lesser Armenia, forcing him to flight. He found a +retreat in the mountainous region north of the Euxine Sea, where Pompey +was unable to follow him. There he meditated grand schemes against the +Romans, which he was utterly unable to carry out, and at last he fell a +victim to the malevolence of one of his former favorites (B.C. 63). + +Pompey continued his conquering progress throughout Asia Minor, and did +not return to Rome until he had subdued Armenia, Syria, Phoenicia, and +Palestine, [Footnote: There was civil war in Palestine at the time, and +the king surrendered to Pompey, but the people refused, took refuge in +the stronghold of the temple, and were only overcome after a seige of +three months. Pompey explored the temple, examined the golden vessels, +the table of shew bread, and the candlesticks in their places, but was +surprised to find the Holy of Holies empty, there being no +representation of a deity. He reverently refrained from touching the +gold, the spices, and the money that he saw, and ordered the place to +be cleansed and purified that service might be resumed.] had +established many cities, and had organized the frontier of the Roman +possessions from the Euxine to the river Jordan. When he arrived at +Rome, on the first of January, 61, he found that affairs had +considerably changed during his absence, and it was not easy for him to +determine what position he should assume in relation to the political +parties. Cicero offered him his friendship; Cato, grandson of the stern +old censor, and an influential portion of the senate opposed him; +Crassus and Lucullus, too, were his personal enemies; and Cæsar, who +appeared to support him, had really managed to prepare for him a +secondary position in the state. On the last day of September, Pompey +celebrated the most splendid triumph that the city had ever seen, and +with it the glorious part of his life ended. Over three hundred captive +princes walked before his chariot, and brazen tablets declared that he +had captured a thousand fortresses, many small towns, and eight hundred +ships; that he had founded thirty-nine cities, and vastly raised the +public revenue. + +The year following the departure of Pompey for the East was rendered +noteworthy by the breaking out of a conspiracy that will never be +forgotten so long as the writings of Cicero and Sallust remain. These +were times of treasons, stratagems, and greed for spoils. Vice and +immorality were rampant, and among the vicious and debased none had +fallen lower than Lucius Sergius Catiline, a ferocious man of powerful +body and strong mind, who first appears as a partisan of Sulla and an +active agent in his proscription. All his powers were perverted to +evil, and when to his natural viciousness there was added the intensity +of disappointed political ambition, he was ready to plunge his country +into the most desperate strife to gratify his hate. He stands for the +worst vices of this wretched age. He had been a provincial governor, +and in Africa had perpetrated all the crimes that Cicero could impute +to a Verres, and thus had proclaimed himself a villain of the deepest +dye, both abroad and at home. + +Gathering about him the profligate nobles and the criminals who had +nothing to lose and every thing to gain by revolution, Catiline plotted +to murder the consuls and seize the government; but his attempt was +foiled, and he waited for a more favorable opportunity. Two years later +he was defeated by Cicero as candidate for the consulship, and the plot +was renewed, it being then determined to add the burning of the city to +the other atrocities contemplated. Cicero discovered the scheme, and +unveiled its horrid details in four orations; but again the miserable +being was permitted to escape justice. He was present and listened in +rage to the invective of Cicero until he could bear it no longer, and +then rushed wildly out and joined his armed adherents, an open enemy of +the state. His plot failed in the city through imprudence of the +conspirators and the skill of Cicero, and he himself fled, hoping to +reach Gaul. He was, however, hemmed in by the Roman army and killed in +a battle. Catiline's head was sent to Rome to assure the government +that he was no more. Cicero, who had caused nine of the conspirators to +be put to death, [Footnote: Under Roman law no citizen could legally be +put to death except by the sanction of the Comitia Curiata, the +sovereign assembly of the people, though it often happened that the +regulation was ignored. If nobody dared or cared to object, no notice +was taken of the irregularity, but we shall see that Cicero paid dearly +for his action at this time.] now laid down his consular authority amid +the plaudits of the people, who, under the lead of Cato and Catulus, +hailed him as the Father of his Country. + +Cicero was apparently spoiled by his success. Carried away by his own +oratorical ability, he too often reminded the people in his long and +eloquent speeches of the great deeds that he had done for the country. +They cheered him as he spoke, but after this they never raised him to +power again. + +Just about this time a noble named Publius Clodius Pulcher, who was a +demagogue of the worst moral character, in the pursuance of his base +intrigues, committed an act of sacrilege by entering the house of +Cæsar, disguised as a woman, during the celebration of the mysteries of +the Bona Dea, to which men were never admitted. He was tried for the +impiety, and, through the efforts of Cicero, was almost convicted, +though he managed to escape by bribery. He was ever afterward a +determined enemy of the great orator, and, by the aid of Pompey, Cæsar, +and Crassus, finally succeeded in having him condemned for putting to +death the Catilinian conspirators without due process of law. Cicero +does not appear manly in the story of this affair. He left Rome, +fearing to face the result; and after he had gone Clodius caused a bill +to be passed by which he was declared a public enemy, and every citizen +was forbidden to give him fire or water within four hundred miles of +Rome (spring of 58). He found his way to Brundusium and thence to +Greece, where he passed his time in the most unmanly wailings and +gloomy forebodings. His property was confiscated, his rich house on the +Palatine Hill and his villas being given over to plunder and +destruction. Strange as it appears, Cicero was recalled the next year, +and entered the city amid the hearty plaudits of the changeful people, +though his self-respect was gone and his spirit broken. + +Meantime, Cæsar had been quietly pushing himself to the front. He had +returned from Spain, where he had been governor, at about the time that +Pompey had returned from the East. He reconciled that great warrior to +Crassus (called from his immense wealth _Dives_, the rich), and with +the two made a secret arrangement to control the government. This was +known as the _First Triumvirate_ [Footnote: Each of the three pledged +himself not to speak nor to act except to subverse the common interest +of all, though of course they were not sincere in their promises of +mutual support.] or government of three men, though it was only a +coalition, and did not strictly deserve the name given it (B.C. 60). +Cæsar reaped the first-fruits of the league, as he intended, by +securing the office of consul, through the assistance of his +colleagues, whose influence proved irresistible. + +[Illustration: THE FORUM ROMANUM IN MODERN TIMES.] + +Entering upon his office in the year 59, Cæsar very soon obtained the +good-will of all,--first winning the people by proposing an agrarian +law dividing the public lands among them. This was the last law of this +sort, as that of Cassius (B.C. 486) had been the first. [Footnote: See +page 83.] He rewarded Crassus by means of a law remitting one third of +the sum that the publicans who had agreed to farm the revenues in Asia +Minor had contracted to pay to the state; and satisfied Pompey by a +ratification of all his acts in the East. The distribution of the lands +among the people was placed in the hands of Pompey and Crassus. + +At the end of his term of office Cæsar was made governor of Gaul, an +office which he sought no more for the opportunity it afforded of +gaining renown by conquering those ancient enemies who had formerly +visited Rome with such dire devastation, than because he hoped to win +for himself an army and partisans who would be useful in carrying out +further ambitious ends. + +Cæsar now entered upon a wonderful career of conquest, which lasted +nine years. The story of what he accomplished during the first seven is +given in his "Commentaries," as they are called, which are still read +in schools, on account of the incomparable simplicity, naturalness, and +purity of the style in which they are written, as well as because they +seem to give truthful accounts of the events they describe. Sixty years +before this time the Romans had possessed themselves of a little strip +of Gaul south of the Alps, which was known as the Province, [Footnote: +See pages 166 and 182.] and though they had ever since thought that +there was a very important region to the north and west that might be +conquered, they made no great effort to gain it. Cæsar was now to win +imperishable laurels by effecting what had been before only vaguely +dreamed of. He first made himself master of the country of the Helvetii +(modern Switzerland), defeated the Germans under their famous general +Ariovistus, and subjected the Belgian confederacy. The frightful +carnage involved in these campaigns cannot be described, and the +thousands upon thousands of brave barbarians who were sacrificed to the +extension of Roman civilization are enough to make one shudder. When +the despatches of Cæsar announcing his successes reached Rome, the +senate, on motion of Cicero, though against the protestations of Cato, +ordained that a grand public thanksgiving, lasting fifteen days, should +be celebrated (B.C. 57). This was an unheard-of honor, the most +ostentatious thanksgiving of the kind before--that given to Pompey, +after the close of the war against Mithridates--having lasted but ten +days. + +Pompey and Crassus had fallen out during the absence of Cæsar, and he +now invited them to meet and consult at Lucca, at the foot of the +Apennines, just north of Pisa, where (April, 56) he held a sort of +court, hundreds of Roman senators waiting upon him to receive the +bribes with which he ensured the success of his measures during his +absences in the field. [Footnote: Pompey had left Rome ostensibly for +the purpose of arranging for supplies of grain from Africa and +Sardinia. He was followed by many of his most noted adherents, the +conference counting more than two hundred senators and sixscore +lictors. Cæsar, like a mighty magician, caused the discordant spirits +to act in concert. The power of the triumvirs is shown by the change +that came over public opinion, and the calmness with which their acts +were submitted to, though it was evident that the historic form of +government was to be overturned, and a monarchy established. ] Here the +three agreed that Pompey should rule Spain, Crassus Syria, and Cæsar +Gaul, which he had made his own. Cæsar still kept on with his +conquests, meeting desperate resistance, however, from the hordes of +barbarians, who would not remain conquered, but engaged in revolts that +caused him vast trouble and the loss of large numbers of soldiers. +Incidentally to his other wars, he made two incursions into Britain, +the home of our forefathers (B.C. 55 and 54), and nominally conquered +the people, but it was not a real subjugation. Shakespeare did not make +a mistake when he put into the mouth of the queen-wife of Cymbeline the +words: + + * * * "A kind of conquest + Cæsar made here; but made not here his brag + Of 'came' and 'saw' and 'overcame,'" + +and certainly the brave Britons did not continue to obey their self- +styled Roman "rulers." + +In the sixth year of Cæsar's campaigns in Gaul, it seemed as if all was +to be lost to the Romans. There arose a young general named +Vercingetorix, who was much abler than any leader the Gauls had ever +opposed to their enemies, and he united them as they had never been +united before. This man persuaded his countrymen to lay their own +country waste, in order that it might not afford any abiding place for +the Romans, but contrary to his intentions one town that was strongly +fortified was left, and to that Cæsar laid siege, finally taking it and +butchering all the men, women, and children that it contained. +Vercingetorix then fortified himself at Alesia (southeast of Paris), +where he was, of course, besieged by the Romans, but soon Cæsar found +his own forces attacked in the rear, and surrounded by a vast army of +Gauls, who had come to the relief of their leader. In the face of such +odds, he succeeded in vanquishing the enemy, and took the place, +achieving the most wonderful act of his genius. The conquered chief was +reserved to grace a Roman triumph, and to die by the hand of a Roman +executioner. [Footnote: The historian Mommsen says of this unfortunate +"barbarian": "As after a day of gloom the sun breaks through the clouds +at its setting, so destiny bestows on nations in their decline a last +great man. Thus Hannibal stands at the close of the Phoenician history +and Vercingetorix at the close of the Celtic. They were not all to save +the nations to which they belonged from a foreign yoke, but they spared +them the last remaining disgrace--an ignominious fall.... The whole +ancient world presents no more genuine knight [than Vercingetorix], +whether as regards his essential character or his outward appearance."] +The fate of Gaul was now certain, and Cæsar found comparatively little +difficulty in subduing the remaining states, the last of which was +Aquitania, the flat and uninteresting region in the southwest of modern +France, watered by the Garonne and washed by the Atlantic. The +conqueror treated the Gauls with mildness, and endeavored in every way +to make them adopt Roman habits and customs. As they had lost all hope +of resisting him, they calmly accepted the situation, and the +foundation of the subsequent Romanizing of the west of Europe was laid. +Three million Gauls had been conquered, a million had been butchered, +and another million taken captive, while eight hundred cities, centres +of active life and places of the enjoyment of those social virtues for +which the rough inhabitants of the region were noted, had been +destroyed. Legions of Roman soldiers had been cut to pieces in +accomplishing this result, the influence of which upon the history of +Europe can hardly be over-estimated Cæsar had completely eclipsed the +military prestige of his rival, Pompey the Great. + + + + +XVI. + +HOW THE TRIUMVIRS CAME TO UNTIMELY ENDS. + + + +It was agreed at the conference of Lucca that Pompey should rule Spain, +but it did not suit his plans to go to that distant country. He +preferred to remain at Rome, where he thought that he might do +something that would establish his influence with the people, and give +him the advantage over his colleagues that they were each seeking to +get over him. In order to court popularity, he built the first stone +theatre that Rome had ever seen, capable of accommodating the enormous +number of forty thousand spectators, and opened it with a splendid +exhibition (B.C. 55). [Footnote: This theatre was built after the model +of one that Pompey had seen at Mitylene, and stood between the Campus +Martius and Circus Flaminius. Adjoining it was a hall affording shelter +for the spectators in bad weather, in which Julius Cæsar was +assassinated. The Roman theatres had no roofs, and, in early times, no +seats. At this period there were seats of stone divided by broad +passages for the convenience of the audience in going in and out. A +curtain, which was drawn down instead of up, served to screen the +actors from the spectators. Awnings were sometimes used to protect the +audience from rain and sun. A century before this time the Senate had +stopped the construction of a theatre, and prohibited dramatic +exhibitions as subversive of good morals. The actors usually wore +masks. See page 159.] Day after day the populace were admitted, and on +each occasion new games and plays were prepared for their +gratification. For the first time a rhinoceros was shown; eighteen +elephants were killed by fierce Libyan hunters, and five hundred +African lions lost their lives in the combats to which they were +forced; the vehement, tragic actor Æsopus, then quite aged, came out of +his retirement for the occasion, and uttered his last words on the +stage, the juncture being all the more remarkable from the fact that +his strength failed him in the midst of a very emphatic part; gymnasts +contended, gladiators fought to the death, and the crowd cheered, but, +alas for Pompey! the cheers expressed merely temporary enjoyment at the +scenes before them, and did not at all indicate that he had been +received to their hearts. + +Crassus, in the meantime, was thinking that he too must accomplish +something great or he would be left behind by both of his associates. +He reflected that Cæsar had won distinction in Gaul, and Pompey by +overcoming the pirates and conquering the East, and determined to show +his skill as a warrior in his new province, Parthia. There was no cause +for war against the people of that distant land, but a cause might +easily be found, or a war begun without one, the great object aimed at +being the extension of the sovereignty of Rome, and marking the name of +Crassus high on the pillar of fame. This would surely, he thought, give +him the utmost popularity. Thus, in the year 54, he set out for Syria, +and the world saw each of the triumvirs busily engaged in pushing his +own cause in his own way. Ten years later not one of them was alive to +enjoy that which they had all so earnestly sought. + +[Illustration: AN ELEPHANT IN ARMOR] + +It is not necessary to follow Crassus minutely in his campaign. He +spent a winter in Syria, and in the spring of 53 set out for the still +distant East, crossing the Euphrates, and plunging into the desert +wastes of old Mesopotamia, where he was betrayed into the hands of the +enemy, and lost, not far from Carrhæ (Charran or Haran), the City of +Nahor, to which the patriarch Abraham migrated with his family from Ur +of the Chaldees. Thus there remained but two of the three ambitious +seekers of popular applause. + +Pompey had been in some degree attached to Cæsar through his daughter +Julia, whom he had married; but she died in the same year that Crassus +went to the East, and from that time he gravitated toward the +aristocrats, with whom his former affiliations had been. The ten years +of Cæsar's government were to expire on the 1st of January, 48, and it +became important for him to obtain the office of consul for the +following year; but the senate and Pompey were equally interested to +have him deprived of the command of the army before receiving any new +appointment. The reason for this was that Cato [Footnote: This Cato was +great-grandson of Cato the Censor (see page 152), was a man who +endeavored to remind the world constantly of his illustrious descent by +imitating the severe independence of his great ancestor, and by +assuming marked peculiarity of dress and behavior. His life, blighted +by an early disappointment in love, was unfortunate to the last. He was +a consistent, but often ridiculous, leader of the minority opposed to +the triumvirs.] had declared that as soon as Cæsar should become a +private citizen he would bring him to trial for illegal acts of which +his enemies accused him; and it was plain to him, no less than to all +the world, that if Pompey were in authority at the time, conviction +would certainly follow such a trial. One of Cicero's correspondents +said on this subject: "Pompey has absolutely determined not to allow +Cæsar to be elected consul on any terms except a previous resignation +of his army and his government, while Cæsar is convinced that he must +inevitably fall if he has once let go his army." + +In the year 50, Cæsar went into Cisalpine Gaul, that is, into the +region which is now known as Northern Italy, and was received as a +great conqueror. He then went over the mountains to Farther Gaul and +reviewed his army--the army that he had so often led to victory. He did +not lose sight of the fact that it was now, more than ever before, +necessary for him to have some one in Rome who would look out for his +interests in his absences, and he bethought himself of a man whom he +had known from his youth, Caius Scribonius Curio by name, a spendthrift +whom he had vainly tried to inspire with higher ambition than the mere +gratification of his appetites. He was married to Fulvia, a scheming +woman of light character, widow of Clodius (who afterwards become wife +of Marc Antony), and he was harassed by enormous debts. Though Curio +was allied to the party of Pompey, Cæsar won him over by paying his +debts, [Footnote: The debts of this young man have been estimated as +high as $2,500,000, and their vastness shows by contrast how wealthy +private citizens sometimes became at this epoch.] and he then began +cautiously to turn his back upon his former associates. At first, he +pretended to act against Cæsar as usual; then he cautiously assumed the +appearance of neutrality; and, when the proper opportunity arrived, he +threw all the weight of his influence in favor of the master to whom he +had sold himself. Curio was not the only person whom Cæsar bought, for +he distributed immense sums among other citizens of influence, as he +had not hesitated to do before, and they quietly interposed objections +to any movement against him, though outwardly holding to Pompey's +party. + +The senate, assisted by the solemn jugglery of the pontiffs, who had +charge of the calendar and were accustomed to shorten or lengthen the +year according as their political inclinations impelled them, proposed +to weaken Cæsar's position by obliging him to resign his authority +November 13th, though his term did not expire, as we know, until the +following January. + +Under these circumstances, Curio, then one of the tribunes of the +people, began his tactics by plausibly urging that it would be only +fair that Pompey, who was not far from the city at the head of an army, +should also give up his authority at the same time before entering the +city. Pompey had no intention of doing this, though everybody saw that +it was reasonable, and Curio took courage and went a step farther, +denouncing him as evidently designing to make himself tyrant. +[Footnote: A tyrant was simply a ruler with dictatorial powers, and it +was not until he abused his authority that he became the odious +character indicated by the modern meaning of the title; but any thing +that looked like a return to the government of a king was hateful to +the Romans.] However, in order to keep up his appearance of +impartiality, he approved a declaration that unless both generals +should lay down their authority, they ought to be denounced as public +enemies, and that war should be immediately declared against them. +Pompey became indignant at this. Finally it was decided that each +commander should be ordered to give up one legion, to be used against +the Parthians, in a war which it was pretended would soon open. Pompey +readily assented, but craftily managed to perform his part without any +loss; for he called upon Cæsar to return to him a legion that he had +borrowed three years before. The senate then sent both legions to Capua +instead of to Asia, intending, in due time, to use them against Cæsar. +Cæsar gave up the two legions willingly, because he thought that with +the help of the army that remained, and with the assistance of the +citizens whom he had bribed, he would be able to take care of himself +in any emergency, but nevertheless he endeavored to bind the soldiers +of these legions more firmly to him by giving a valuable present to +each one as he went away. [Footnote: One of Cicero's correspondents +writing in January, 50, says in a postscript: "I told you above that +Curio was freezing, but he finds it warm enough just at present, +everybody being hotly engaged in pulling him to pieces. Just because he +failed to get an intercalary month, without the slightest ado he has +stepped over to the popular side, and begun to harangue in favor of +Cæsar." In replying to this, Cicero wrote: "The paragraph you added was +indeed a stab from the point of your pen. What! Curio now become a +supporter of Cæsar. Who could ever have expected this but myself? for, +upon my life, I really did expect it. Good heavens! how I miss our +laughing together over it." ] Not long after this Curio went to Ravenna +to consult Cæsar. + +We see on our maps a little stream laid down as the boundary between +Italy and Gaul. It is called the Rubicon; but when we go to Italy and +look for the stream itself we do not find it so easily, because there +are at least two rivers that may be taken for it. However, it is not of +much importance for the purposes of history which was actually the +boundary. North of the Rubicon we see the ancient city of Ravenna, +which stood in old times like Venice, on islands, and like it was +intersected in all directions by canals through which the tide poured +volumes of purifying salt water twice every day. Now the canals are all +filled up, and the city is four miles from the sea, so large have been +the deposits from the muddy waters that flow down the rivers into the +Adriatic at that place. Thirty-three miles south of Ravenna and nine +miles from the Rubicon, the map shows us another ancient town called +Ariminum. connected directly with Rome by the Flaminian road, which was +built some two hundred years before the time of which we are writing. +Ravenna was the last town in the territory of Cæsar on the way to Rome, +and there he took his position to watch proceedings, for it was not +allowed him to leave his province. + +[Illustration: ITALIAN AND GERMAN ALLIES, COMSTUMES, AND ARMOR.] + +On the first of January, 49, Curio arrived at Rome with a letter from +Cæsar offering to give up his command provided Pompey would do the +same. The consuls at that time were partisans of Pompey, and they at +first refused to allow the letter to be read; but the tribunes of the +people were in favor of Cæsar, and they forced the senators to listen +to it. A violent debate followed, and it was finally voted that unless +Cæsar should disband his army within a certain time he should be +considered an enemy of the state, and be treated accordingly. On the +sixth of the same month the power of dictators was given to the +consuls, and the two tribunes who favored Cæsar--one of whom was Marc +Antony--fled to him in disguise, for there was no safety for them in +Rome. + +Now there was war. On the one side we have Pompey, proud and confident, +but unprepared because he was so confident; and on the other, Cæsar, +cool and unperturbed, relying not only on his army, but also upon the +friends that his money and tact had made among the soldiers with him, +no less than among those at Capua and elsewhere, upon which his +opponent also depended. + +The moment is one that has been fixed in the memory of men for all time +by a proverbial expression based upon an apochryphal event that might +well have happened upon the banks of the little Rubicon. As soon as +Cæsar heard of the action of the senate he assembled his soldiers and +asked them if they would support him. They replied that they would +follow him wherever he commanded. The story runs that he then ordered +the army to advance upon Ariminum, but that when he arrived at the +little dividing river he ordered a halt, and meditated upon his course. +He knew that when he crossed that line blood would surely flow from +thousands of Romans, and he asked himself whether he was right in +bringing such woes upon his countrymen, and how his act would be +represented in history. + +It is not improbable that the great conqueror entertained thoughts like +these, for he was a writer of history as well as one of the mightiest +makers of it; but he mentions nothing of the sort in his own story of +the advance, and we may well doubt whether it was not invented by +Suetonius, or some other historian, who wished to make his account as +picturesque as possible. It is said that after these thoughts Cæsar +exclaimed: "The die is cast; let us go where the gods and the injustice +of our enemies direct us!" He then urged his charger through the +stream. + +There had been confusion in the capital many a time before, but +probably never was there such a commotion as arose when it was known +that the conqueror of Gaul, the man who had for years marched through +that great region as a mighty monarch, was on the way towards it. That +the consuls were endowed with dictatorial power for the emergency, +availed little. A few days before, some one had asked Pompey what he +should do for an army if Cæsar should leave his province with his +soldiers, and he replied haughtily that he should need but to stamp on +the ground and soldiers would spring up. Now he stamped, and stamped in +vain; no volunteers came at his call. The venerable senators, +successors of those who had remained in their seats when the barbarians +were coming, hastened away for dear life; they did not make the usual +sacrifices; they did not take their goods and chattels; they even +forgot the public treasure, which would have been of the utmost use to +them and to the cause of Pompey. + +Cæsar's army supported him as a whole, but there was one self-important +man among the leaders of it who proved an exception. Titus Labienus, +who had been with Cæsar in Spain, who had performed some brilliant +feats when Vercingetorix revolted, and who was in all his master's +confidence, had allowed his little mind to become filled with pride and +ambition until he began to believe that he was at the bottom of Cæsar's +success, and probably as great a general as he! He was ready to allow +the Pompeians to beguile him from his allegiance, and at last went over +to them. Cæsar, to show how little he cared for the defection of +Labienus, hastened to send his baggage after him; but in Rome he was +welcomed with acclamations. Cicero, the trimmer, exclaimed: "Labienus +has behaved quite like a hero!" and believed that Cæsar had received a +tremendous blow by his defection. This deserter's act had, however, no +effect whatever on the progress of Cæsar, who, though it was the middle +of winter, marched onwards, receiving the surrender of city after city, +giving to all the conquered citizens the most liberal terms, and thus +binding them firmly to his cause. [Footnote: As Cæsar approached Rome, +Cato took flight, and, determined to mourn until death the unhappy lot +of his country, allowed his hair to grow, and resigned himself to +unavailing grief. Too weak and perplexed to stand against opposing +troubles, he fondly thought that resolutions and laws and a temporizing +policy might avail to bring happiness and order to a distraught +commonwealth.] + +Pompey did not even attempt to interrupt the triumphant career of his +enemy, but determined to find safety out of Italy, and hastened to +Brundusium as fast as possible. After mastering the whole country, +Cæsar reached the same port before Pompey was able to get away, and +began a siege, in the progress of which Pompey escaped. Cæsar was not +able to follow, on account of a want of vessels. He therefore turned +back to Rome, where he encountered no opposition, except from Metellus, +a tribune of the people, who attempted to keep him from taking +possession of the gold in the temple of Saturn, traditionally supposed +to have been that which Camillus had recovered from Brennus. It was +intended for use in case the Gauls should make another invasion, but +Cæsar said that he had conquered the Gauls, and they need be feared no +more. "Stand aside, young man!" he exclaimed; "it is easier for me to +do than to say!" Metellus saw that it was not worth while to discuss +the question with such a man, and prudently stepped aside. + +Cæsar did not remain at Rome at this time, but hastened to Spain, where +partisans of Pompey were in arms, leaving Marc Antony in charge of +Italy in general, and Marcus Lepidus responsible for order in the city. +Both of these men were destined to become more prominent in the future. +At the same time, legions were sent to Sicily and Sardinia, and their +success, which was easily gained, preserved the city from a scarcity of +grain. Cæsar himself overcame the Pompeians in Spain, and, in +accordance with his policy in Italy, dismissed them unharmed. Most of +their soldiers were taken into his own army. He then felt free to +continue his movements against Pompey himself, and returned to the +capital. + +For eleven days Cæsar was dictator of Rome, receiving the office from +Lepidus, who had been authorized to give it by those senators who had +not fled with Pompey. In that short period he passed laws calling home +the exiles; giving back their rights as citizens to the children of +those who had suffered in the Sullan proscription; and affording relief +to debtors. Then, causing the senate to declare him consul, he started +for Brundusium to pursue his rival. It was the fourth of January, 48, +when he sailed for the coast of Epirus, and the following day he landed +on the soil of Greece. He met Pompey at Dyrrachium, but his force was +so small that he was defeated. He then retreated to the southeast, and +another battle was fought on the plain of Pharsalia, in Thessaly, June +6, 48. The forces were still very unequal, Pompey having more than two +soldiers to one of Cæsar's; but Cæsar's were the better warriors, and +Pompey was totally defeated. Feeling that every thing was now lost, +Pompey sought an asylum in Egypt; and there he was assassinated by +order of the reigning monarch, who hoped to win the favor of Cæsar in +his contest with his sister, Cleopatra, who claimed the throne. + +Cæsar followed his adversary with his usual promptness, and when he had +reached Egypt was shown his rival's severed head, from which he turned +with real or feigned sadness and tears. This alarmed the king and his +partisans, and they still further lost heart when Cleopatra won Cæsar +to her support by the charms of her personal beauty. + +After a brief struggle known as the Alexandrine War, which closed in +March, 47, Cæsar placed the queen and her brother on the throne. It was +at this time that the great Library and Museum at Alexandria were +destroyed by fire. Four hundred thousand volumes were said to have been +burned. The next month Cæsar was called from Egypt to Pontus, where a +son of Mithridates was in arms, and, after a campaign of five days, he +gained a decisive victory at a place called Zela, boastfully announcing +his success to the senate in three short words: "_Veni, vidi, vici_" +(I came, I saw, I overcame). In September, Cæsar was again in Rome, +where he remained only three months, arranging affairs. There were +fears lest he should make a proscription, but he proceeded to no such +extremity, exercising his characteristic clemency towards those who had +been opposed to him. A revolt occurred at this time among the soldiers +at Capua, and they marched to Rome, but Cæsar cowed them by a display +of haughty coolness. + +The remnant of the adherents of Pompey gathered together and went to +Africa, whither Cæsar followed, and after a short campaign defeated +them on the field of Thapsus, April 6, 46. They were commanded by +Scipio, father-in-law of Pompey, and by Cato, who had accepted the +position after it had been declined by Cicero, his superior in rank. +After the defeat of Thapsus Cato retreated to Utica, where he +deliberately put an end to his life after occupying several hours in +reading Plato's _Phædo_, a dialogue on the immortality of the +soul. From the place of his death he is known in history as Cato of +Utica. + +When the news of this final victory reached Rome Cæsar was appointed +dictator for ten years, and a thanksgiving lasting forty days was +decreed. He was also endowed with a newly created office-that of +Overseer of Public Morals (_Præfectus Morum_). Temples and statues +were dedicated to his honor; a golden chair was assigned for his use +when he sat in the senate; the month Quintilis was renamed after him +Julius (July); and other unheard of honors were thrust upon him by a +servile senate. He was also called the Father of his Country (a title +that had been before borne by Camillus and Cicero), and four triumphs +were celebrated for him. On his own part, Cæsar feasted the people at +twenty-two thousand tables, and caused combats of wild animals and +gladiators to be celebrated in the arenas beneath awnings of the +richest silks. + +The great conqueror now prepared to carry out schemes of a beneficent +nature which would have been of great value to the world; but their +achievement was interfered with, first by war and then by his own +death. He intended to unify the regions controlled by the republic by +abolishing offensive political distinctions, and to develop them by +means of a geographical survey which would have occupied years to +complete under the most competent management; and he wished to codify +the Roman law, which had been growing up into a universal +jurisprudence, a work which Cicero looked upon as a hopeless though +brilliant vision, and one that Justinian actually accomplished, though +not until six hundred years later. He contemplated also the erection of +vast public works. His knowledge of astronomy led him to accomplish one +important change, for which we have reason to remember him to-day. He +reformed the calendar, substituting the one used until 1582 (known from +him as the Julian calendar) for that which was then current. [Footnote: +The Gregorian calendar was introduced in the Catholic states of Europe +in 1582, but owing to popular prejudice England did not begin to use it +until 1752, in which year September 3d became, by act of Parliament, +September 14th. Usage in America followed that of the mother country.] +Three hundred and fifty-five days had been called a year from the time +of Numa Pompilius, but as that number did not correspond with the +actual time of the revolution of the earth around the sun, it had been +customary to intercalate a month, every second year, of twenty-two and +twenty-three days alternately, and one day had also been added to make +a fortunate number. This made the adaptation of the nominal year to the +actual a matter of great intricacy, the duty being intrusted to the +chief pontiffs. These officers were often corrupted, and managed to +effect political ends from time to time by the addition or omission of +the intercalary days and months. At this time the civil calendar was +some weeks in advance of the actual time, so that the consuls, for +example, who should have entered office January 1, 46, really assumed +their power October 13, 47. The Julian calendar made the year to +consist of 365 days and six hours, which was correct within a few +minutes; but, by the time of Pope Gregory XIII, this had amounted to +ten days, and a new reform was instituted. Cæsar now added ninety days +to the year in order to make the year 45 begin at the proper time, +inserting a new month between the 23d and 24th of February, and adding +two new months after the end of November, so that the long year thus +manufactured (445 days) was very justly called the "year of confusion", +or "the last year of confusion." + +Cæsar had also in mind plans of conquest. He had not forgotten that the +Roman arms had been unsuccessful at Carrhæ, and he wished to subdue the +Parthians, but the ghost of Pompey would not down. His sons raised the +banner of revolt in Spain, and the officers sent against them did not +succeed in their efforts to assert the supremacy of Rome. It was +necessary that Cæsar himself should go there, and accordingly he set +out in September. Twenty-seven days later he was on the ground, and +though he found himself in the face of greater difficulties than he had +anticipated, a few months sufficed to completely overthrow the enemy, +who were defeated finally at the battle of Munda, not far from +Gibraltar (March, 17, 45). Thirty thousand of them perished. Cæsar did +not return to Rome until September, because affairs of the province +required attention. Again he celebrated a triumph, marked by games and +shows, and new honors from the senate. + +Cæsar's ambition now made him wish to continue the supreme power in his +family, and he fixed upon a great-nephew named Octavius as his +successor. In the fifth year of his consulate (B.C. 44), on the feast +of Lupercalia (Feb. 15th), he attempted to take a more important step. +He prevailed upon Marc Antony to make him an offer of the kingly +diadem, but as he immediately saw that it was not pleasing to the +people that he should accept it, he pushed the glittering coronet from +him, amid their plaudits, as though he would not think of assuming any +sign of authority that the people did not freely offer him themselves. +[Footnote: "I saw Mark Antony offer him a crown; yet 't was not a +crown neither, 't was one of these coronets; and, as I told you, he +put it by once; but for all that, to my thinking, he would fain have +had it. Then he offered it to him again; then he put it by again; but +to my thinking, he was very loth to lay his fingers off it. And then he +offered it the third time; he put it the third time by, and still as +he refused it, the rabblement shouted and clapped their chapped hands, +and threw up their sweaty night-caps, and uttered such a deal of +stinking breath because Cæsar refused the crown, that it had almost +choked Cæsar; for he swooned and fell down at it." Casca's account, in +Shakespeare's _Julius Cæsar_, act i., sc. 2.] Cæsar still longed +for the name of king, however, and became irritated because it was not +given him. This was shown in his intercourse with the nobles, and they +were now excited against him by one Caius Cassius Longinus (commonly +called simply Cassius), who had wandered and fought with Crassus in +Parthia, but had escaped from that disastrous campaign. He had been a +follower of Pompey, and had fallen into Cæsar's hands shortly after the +battle of Pharsalia. Though he owed his life to Cæsar, he was +personally hostile to him, and his feelings were so strong that he +formed a plot for his destruction, in which sixty or eighty persons +were involved. Among these was Marcus Junius Brutus, then about forty +years of age, who had also been with Pompey at Pharsalia. He was of +illustrious pedigree, and claimed to be descended from the shadowy hero +of his name, who is said to have pursued the Tarquins with such +patriotic zeal. His life also had been spared by Cæsar at Pharsalia, +and he had made no opposition to his acts as dictator. Cato was his +political model, and at about this time, he divorced his wife to marry +Portia, Cato's daughter. Cassius had married Junia Tertulla, half- +sister of Brutus, and now offered him the place of chief adviser of the +conspirators, who determined upon a sudden and bold effort to +assassinate the dictator. They intended to make it appear that +patriotism gave them the reason for their act, but in this they failed. + +The senate was to convene on the Ides of March, and Cæsar was warned +that danger awaited him; but he was not to be deterred, and entered the +chamber amid the applause of the people. The conspirators crowded about +him, keeping his friends at a distance, and at a concerted signal he +was grasped by the hands and embraced by some, while others stabbed him +with their fatal daggers. He fell at the base of the statue of Pompey, +pierced with more than a score of wounds. It is said that when he +noticed Brutus in the angry crowd, he exclaimed in surprise and sorrow: +"_Et tu Brute!_" (And thou, too, Brutus!). + +Brutus had prepared a speech to deliver to the senate, but when he +looked around, he found that senators, centurions, lictors, and +attendants, all had fled, and the place was empty. He then marched with +his accomplices to the forum. It was crowded with an excited multitude, +but it was not a multitude of friends. The assassins saw that there was +no safety for them in the city. Lepidus was at the gates with an army, +and Antony had taken possession of the papers and treasures of Cæsar, +which gave him additional power; but all parties were in doubt as to +the next steps, and a reconciliation was determined upon as giving time +for reflection. Cassius went to sup with Antony, and Brutus with +Lepidus. This shows plainly that the good of the republic was not the +cause nearest the hearts of the principal actors; but that each, like a +wary player at chess, was only anxious lest some adversary should get +an advantage over him. + +The senate was immediately convened, and under the direction of Cicero, +who became its temporary leader, it was voted that the acts of Cæsar, +intended as well as performed, should be ratified, and that the +conspirators should be pardoned, and assigned to the provinces that +Cæsar had designated them for. + +Antony now showed himself a consummate actor, and a master of the art +of moving the multitude. He prepared for the obsequies of the dictator, +at which he was to deliver the oration, and, while pretending to +endeavor to hold back the people from violence against the murderers, +managed to excite them to such an extent that nothing could restrain +them. He brought the body into the Campus Martius for the occasion, and +there in its presence displayed the bloody garment through which the +daggers of the conspirators had been thrust; identified the rents made +by the leader, Cassius, the "envious Casca," the "well-beloved Brutus," +and the others; and displayed a waxen effigy that he had prepared for +the occasion, bearing all the wounds. He called upon the crowd the +while, as it swayed to and fro in its threatening violence, to listen +to reason, but at the same time told them that if he possessed the +eloquence of a Brutus he would ruffle up their spirits and put a tongue +in every wound of Cæsar that would move the very stones of Rome to rise +in mutiny. He said that if the people could but hear the last will of +the dictator, they would dip their kerchiefs in his blood--yea, beg a +hair of him for memory, and, dying, mention it in their wills as a rich +legacy to their children. + +The oration had its natural effect. The people, stirred from one degree +of frenzy to another, piled up chairs, benches, tables, brushwood, even +ornaments and costly garments for a funeral pile, and burned the whole +in the forum. Unable to restrain themselves, they rushed with brands +from the fire towards the homes of the conspirators to wreak vengeance +upon them. Brutus and Cassius had fled from the city, and the others +could not be found, so that the fury of their hate died out for want of +new fuel upon which to feed. + +[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE FORUM ROMANUM] + +Antony was now the chief man of Rome, and it was expected that he would +demand the dictatorship. To the astonishment of all, he proposed that +the office itself should be forever abolished, thus keeping up his +pretence of moderation; but, on the other hand, he asked for a body- +guard, which the senate granted, and he surrounded himself with a force +of six thousand men. He appointed magistrates as he wished, recalled +exiles, and freed any from prison whom he desired, under pretence of +following the will of Cæsar. + +It soon became apparent that, in the words of Cicero addressed to +Cassius, the state seemed to have been "emancipated from the king, but +not from the kingly power," for no one could tell where Antony would +stop his pretence of carrying out the plans of Cæsar. The republic was +doubtless soon to end, and it was not plain what new misery was in +store for the distracted people. + + + + +XVII. + +HOW THE REPUBLIC BECAME AN EMPIRE. + + + +When Cæsar had planned to go to Parthia, he sent in that direction some +of his legions, which wintered at Apollonia, just over the Adriatic, +opposite Brundusium, and with them went the young and sickly nephew +whom Cæsar had mentioned in his will as his heir. While the young man +was engaged in familiarizing himself with the soldiers and their life, +a freedman arrived in camp to announce from his mother the tragedy of +the Ides of March. The soldiers offered to go with him to avenge his +uncle's death, but he decided to set out at once and alone for the +capital. At Brundusium he was received by the army with acclamations. +He did not hesitate to assume the name Cæsar, and to claim the +succession, though he thus bound himself to pay the legacies that Cæsar +had made to the people. He was known as Caius Julius Cæsar Octavianus, +or, briefly, as Octavius. [Footnote: Octavius was son of Caius Octavius +and Atia, daughter of Julia, sister of Julius Cæsar, and was born Sept. +23, B.C. 63. His true name was the same as that of his father, but he +is usually mentioned in history as Augustus, an untranslatable title +that he assumed when he became emperor. His descent was traced from +Atys, son of Alba, an old Latin hero.] Cæsar had bequeathed his +magnificent gardens on the opposite side of the Tiber to the public as +a park, and to every citizen in Rome a gift of three hundred sesterces, +equal to ten or fifteen dollars. These provisions could not easily be +carried out except by Antony, who had taken possession of Cæsar's +moneys, and who was at the moment the most powerful man in the +republic. Next to him stood Lepidus, who was in command of the army. +These two seemed to stand between Octavius and his heritage. + +Octavius understood the value of money, and took possession of the +public funds at Brundusium, captured such remittances from the +provinces as he could reach, and sent off to Asia to see how much he +could secure of the amount provided for the Parthian expedition, just +as though all this had been his own personal property. + +Thus the timid but ambitious youth began to prepare himself for supreme +authority. When he reached Rome his mother and other friends warned him +of the risks involved in his course, but he was resolute. He had made +the acquaintance at Apollonia of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, then twenty +years of age, who afterwards became a skilful warrior and always was a +valuable adviser, and now he determined to make a friend of Cicero. +This remarkable orator had already been intimate with all the prominent +men of his day; had at one time or another flattered or cajoled Curio, +Cassius, Crassus, Pompey, Antony, and Cæsar, and now, after thoroughly +canvassing the probabilities, he decided to take the side of Octavius, +though he was loth to break with either Brutus or Antony. His weakness +is plainly and painfully presented by his own hand in his interesting +letters, which add much light to the story of this period. [Footnote: +James Anthony Froude says: "In Cicero, Nature half-made a great man and +left him uncompleted. Our characters are written in our forms, and the +bust of Cicero is the key to his history. The brow is broad and strong, +the nose large, the lips tightly compressed, the features lean and keen +from restless intellectual energy. The loose, bending figure, the neck +too weak for the weight of the head, explain the infirmity of will, the +passion, the cunning, the vanity, the absence of manliness and +veracity. He was born into an age of violence with which he was too +feeble to contend. The gratitude of mankind for his literary excellence +will forever preserve his memory from too harsh a judgment."--"Cæsar, a +Sketch," chapter xxvii.] + +Octavius gathered together enough money to pay the legacies of Cæsar by +sales of property, and by loans, in spite of the fact that Antony +refused to give up any that he had taken. He artfully won the soldiers +and the people by his liberality (that could not fail to be contrasted +with the grasping action of Antony), and by the shows with which he +amused them. Thus with it all he managed to make the world believe that +he was not laying plans of ambition, but simply wished to protect the +state from the selfish designs of his rival. In this effort he was +supported by the oratory of Cicero, who began to compose and deliver or +publish a remarkable series of fourteen speeches known as Philippics, +from their resemblance to the four acrimonious invectives against +Philip of Macedon which the great Demosthenes launched at Athens during +the eleven years in which he strove to arouse the weakened Greeks from +inactivity and pusillanimity (352-342 B.C.). + +Cicero entered Rome on the first of September, and delivered his first +Philippic the next day, in the same Temple of Concord in which he had +denounced Catiline twenty years before. He then retired from the city, +and did not hear the abusive tirade with which Antony attempted to +blacken his reputation. In October he prepared a second speech, which +was not delivered, but was given to the public in November. This is the +most elaborate and the best of the Philippics, and it is also much more +fierce than the former. The last of the series was delivered April 22, +43. Antony was soon declared a public enemy, and Cicero in his speeches +constantly urged a vigorous prosecution of the war against him. + +Octavius gained the confidence of the army, and then demanded the +consulate of the senate. When that powerful office had been obtained, +he broke with the senate, and marched to the northward, ostensibly to +conquer Antony and Lepidus, who were coming down with another great +army. Instead of precipitating a battle, Lepidus contrived to have a +meeting on a small island in a tributary of the Po, not far from the +present site of Bologna, and there, toward the end of October, it was +agreed that the government of the Roman world should be peaceably +divided between the three captains, who were to be called Triumvirs for +the settlement of the affairs of the republic. They were to retain +their offices until the end of December, 38, Lepidus ruling Spain; +Octavius, Sicily, Sardinia, and Africa; and Antony, the two Gauls; +while Italy was to be governed by the three in common, their authority +being paramount to senate, consuls, and laws. This is known as the +Second Triumvirate, though we must remember that the former +arrangement, made by Cæsar, Pompey, and Crassus, was simply a private +league without formal sanction of law. The second triumvirate was +proclaimed November, 27, 43 B.C. + +[Illustration: MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO.] + +The first work of the three rulers was to rid themselves of all whom +they feared as enemies, and we have to imagine them sitting down to +make out a list of those who, like the sufferers at the dreadful time +of Marius and Sulla, were proscribed. Among the prominent men seventeen +were first chosen to be butchered, and on the horrid list are found the +names of a cousin of Octavius, a brother of Lepidus, and an uncle of +Antony. To the lasting execration of Octavius, he consented that +Cicero, who had so valiantly fought for him, should be sacrificed to +the vengeance of Antony, whom the orator had scarified with his burning +words. + +This was but the beginning of blood-shedding, for when the triumvirs +reached Rome they issued list after list of the doomed, some names +being apparently included at the request of daughters, wives, and +friends to gratify private malice. The head and hands of Cicero were +cut off and sent to be affixed to the rostra, where they had so often +been seen during his life. It is said that on one occasion a head was +presented to Antony, and he exclaimed: "I do not recognize it, show it +to my wife"; and that on another, when a man begged a few moments of +respite that he might send his son to intercede with Antony, he was +told that it was that son who had demanded his death. The details are +too horrible for record, and yet it is said that the massacre was not +so general as in the former instance. In this reign of terror, three +hundred senators died, and two thousand knights. + +While these events had occurred in Rome, Brutus and Cassius had been +successfully pursuing their conquests in Syria and Greece, and were now +masters of the eastern portion of the Roman world. When they heard of +the triumvirate and the proscription, they determined to march into +Europe; but Antony and Octavius were before them, and the opposed +forces met on the field of Philippi, which lies nine miles from the +Ægean Sea, on the road between Europe and Asia, the Via Egnatia, which +ran then as now from Dyrrachium and Apollonia in Illyricum, by way of +Thessalonica to Constantinople, or Byzantium, as it was then called. +Brutus engaged the forces of Octavius, and Cassius those of Antony. +Antony made head against his opponent; but Octavius, who was less of a +commander, and fell into a fit of illness on the beginning of the +battle, gave way before Brutus, though in consequence of misinformation +of the progress of the struggle, Cassius killed himself just before a +messenger arrived to tell him of his associate's success. Twenty days +afterwards the struggle was renewed on the same ground, and Brutus was +defeated, upon which he likewise put an end to his own life. If the +murderers of Cæsar had fought for the republic, there was no hope for +that cause now. The three rulers were reduced to two, for Lepidus was +ignored after the victory of his associates, and it only remained to +eliminate the second member of the triumvirate to establish the +monarchy. For the present, Octavius and Antony divided the government +between them, Antony taking the luxurious East, and leaving to Octavius +the invidious task of governing Italy and allotting lands to the +veterans. + +Thousands of the inhabitants of Cisalpine Gaul were expelled from their +homes to supply the soldiers with farms, but still they remained +unsatisfied, and Italy was filled with complaints which Octavius was +unable to allay. Antony, on the other hand, gave himself up to the +grossest dissipation, careless of consequences. At Tarsus, he had an +interview with Cleopatra, then twenty-eight years of age, whom he had +seen years before when he had accompanied Gabinius to Alexandria, and +later, when she had lived at Rome the favorite of Cæsar. Henceforth he +was her willing slave. She sailed up the river Cydnus in a vessel +propelled by silver oars that moved in unison with luxurious music, and +filled the air with fragrance as she went, while beautiful slaves held +the rudder and the ropes. The careless and pleasure-loving warrior +forgot every thing in his wild passion for the Egyptian queen. He +forgot his wife, Fulvia, but she was angry with Octavius because he had +renounced his wife Claudia, her daughter, and stirred up a threatening +revolt against him, which she fondly hoped might also serve to recall +Antony from the fascinations of Cleopatra. With her supporters she +raised a considerable army, by taking the part of the Italians who had +been dispossessed to give farms to the veterans, and by pretending also +to favor the soldiers, to whom rich spoils from Asia were promised. +They were, however, pushed from place to place until they found +themselves shut up in the town of Perusia, in Etruria, where they were +besieged and forced to surrender, by the military skill of Agrippa, +afterwards known as one of the ablest generals of antiquity. + +Meantime, Antony's fortunes in the East were failing, and he determined +upon a brave effort to overthrow Octavius. He sailed for Brundusium, +and laid siege to it; but the soldiers on both sides longed for peace. +Fulvia had died, and mutual friends prevailed upon Octavius and Antony +to make peace and portion out the world anew. Again the East fell to +Antony and the West to his colleague. Antony married Octavia, sister of +Octavius, and both repaired to the capital, where they celebrated games +and festivities in honor of the marriage and the reconciliation. This +was at the end of the year 40 B.C. + +[Illustration: CLEOPATRA'S SHOW-SHIP.] + +The next year peace was effected with Sextus, a son of the great +Pompey, who had been proscribed as one of the murderers of Cæsar, +though he had really had no share in that deed. He had been engaged in +marauding expeditions having for their purpose the injury of the +triumvirs, and at this time had been able to cut off a considerable +share of the supply of grain from Sicily and Africa. He was indemnified +for the loss of his private property and was given an important command +for five years. This agreement was never consummated, for Antony had +not been consulted and refused to carry out a portion of it that +depended upon him. Again Pompey entered upon his marauding expeditions, +and the price of grain rose rapidly at Rome. Two years were occupied in +preparing a fleet, which was placed under command of Agrippa, who +defeated Pompey off Naulochus, on the northwestern coast of Sicily +(Sept. 3, 36.) + +In the midst of the preparations for the war with Pompey, (B.C. 37) +discord had arisen between Antony and Octavius, and the commander of +the Eastern army set out for Italy with a fleet of three hundred sail. +Octavius forbade his landing, and he kept on his course to Tarentum, +where a conference was held. There were present on this memorable +occasion, besides the two triumvirs, Agrippa, the great general; +Octavia, sister of one triumvir and wife of the other, one of the +noblest women of antiquity; and Caius Cilnius Mæcenas, a wealthy +patron of letters, who had also been present when the negotiations were +made previous to the peace of Brundusium, three years before. Probably +the satiric poet Horace was also one of the group, for he gives, in one +of his satires, an account of a journey from Rome to Brundusium, which +he is supposed to have made at the time that Mæcenas was hurrying to +the conference. + +Horace says that he set out from Rome accompanied by Heliodorus, a +rhetorician whom he calls by far the most learned of the Greeks, and +that they found a middling inn at Aricia, the first stopping-place, on +the Appian Way, sixteen miles out, at the foot of the Alban mount. + +Next they rested, or rather tried to rest, at Appii Forum, a place +stuffed with sailors, and then took a boat on the canal for Tarracina. +He gives a vivid picture of the confusion of such a place, where the +watermen and the slaves of the travellers were mutually liberal in +their abuse of each other, and the gnats and frogs drove off sleep. +Drunken passengers, also, added to the din by the songs that their +potations incited them to. At Feronia the passengers left the boat, +washed their faces and hands, and crawled onward three miles up to the +heights of Anxur, where Mæcenas and others joined the party. Slowly +they made their way past Fundi, and Formiæ, where they seem to have +been well entertained. The next day they were rejoiced by the addition +of the poet Virgil and several more friends to the party, and +pleasantly they jogged onwards until their mules deposited their pack- +saddles at Capua, where Mæcenas was soon engaged in a game of tennis, +while Horace and Virgil sought repose. The next stop was not far from +the celebrated Caudine Forks, at a friend's villa, where they were very +hospitably entertained, and supplied with a bountiful supper, at which +buffoons performed some droll raillery. Thence they went directly to +Beneventum, where the bustling landlord almost burned himself and those +he entertained in cooking their dainty dinner, the kitchen fire falling +through the floor and spreading the flames towards the highest part of +the roof. It was a ludicrous moment, for the hungry guests and +frightened slaves hardly knew whether to snatch their supper from the +flames or to try to extinguish the fire. + +From Beneventum the travellers rode on in sight of the Apuleian +mountains to the village of Trivicum, where the poet gives us a glimpse +of the customs of the times when he tells us that tears were brought to +their eyes by the green boughs with the leaves upon them with which a +fire was made on the hearth. Hence for twenty-four miles the party was +bowled away in chaises to a little town that the poet does not name, +where water was sold, the worst in the world, he thought it, but where +the bread was very fine. Through Canusium they went to Rubi, reaching +that place fatigued because they had made a long journey and had been +troubled by rains. Two days more took them through Barium and Egnatia +to Brundusium, where the journey ended. + +At this conference it was agreed that the triumvirate should continue +five years longer, Antony agreeing to assist Octavius with 120 ships +against Pompey, and Octavius contributing a large land force to help +Antony against the Parthians. After Pompey had been overcome, Lepidus +claimed Sicily, but Octavius seduced his soldiers from him, and obliged +him to throw himself upon his rival's mercy. He was permitted to retire +into private life, but was allowed to enjoy his property and dignities. +He lived in the ease that he loved until 13 B.C., first at Circeii, not +far from Tarracina, and afterwards at Rome, where he was deprived of +honors and rank. Lepidus had not been a strong member of the +triumvirate for a long time, but after this he was not allowed to +interfere even nominally in affairs of government. Antony and Octavius +were now to wrestle for the supremacy, and the victor was to be +autocrat. + +For three years after his marriage with Octavia, Antony seems to have +been able to conquer the fascinations of the Egyptian queen, but then, +when he was preparing to advance into Parthia, he allowed himself to +fall again into her power, and the chances that he could hold his own +against Octavius were lessened (B.C. 37). He advanced into Syria, but +called Cleopatra to him there, and delayed his march to remain with +her, overwhelming her with honors. When at last he did open the +campaign, he encountered disaster, and, hardly escaping the fate of +Crassus, retreated to Alexandria, where he gave himself up entirely to +his enchantress. He laid aside the dress and manners of a Roman, and +appeared as an Eastern monarch, vainly promising Cleopatra that he +would conquer Octavius and make Alexandria the capital of the world. +The rumors of the mad acts of Antony were carried to Rome, where +Octavius was growing in popularity, and it was inevitable that a +contrast should be made between the two men. Octavius easily made the +people believe that they had every thing to fear from Antony. The +nobles who sided with Antony urged him to dismiss Cleopatra, and enter +upon a contest with his rival untrammelled; but, on the contrary, in +his infatuation he divorced Octavia. + +War was declared against Cleopatra, for Antony was ignored, and +Octavius as consul was directed to push it. Mæcenas was placed in +command at Rome, Agrippa took the fleet, and the consul himself the +land forces. The decisive struggle took place off the west coast of +Greece, north of the islands of Samos and Leucas, near the promontory +of Actium, which gained its celebrity from this battle (September 2, +B.C. 31). The ships of Agrippa were small, and those of Antony large, +but difficult of management, and Cleopatra soon became alarmed for her +safety, She attempted to flee, and Antony sailed after her, leaving +those who were fighting for them. Agrippa obtained a decisive victory, +and Octavius likewise overcame the forces on land. + +Agrippa was sent back to Rome, and for a year Octavius busied himself +in Greece and Asia Minor, adding to his popularity by his mildness in +the treatment of the conquered. He had intended to pass the winter at +Samos, but troubles among the veterans called him to Italy, where he +calmed the rising storm, and returned again to his contest, after an +absence of only twenty-seven days. + +Both Cleopatra and Antony sent messengers to solicit the favor of +Octavius, but he was cold and did not satisfy them, and calmly pushed +his plans. An effort was made by Cleopatra to flee to some distant +Arabian resort, but it failed: Antony made a show of resistance, but +found that his forces were not to be trusted, and both then put an end +to their lives, leaving Octavius master of Egypt, as he was of the rest +of the world. He did not hasten back to Rome, where he knew that +Mæcenas and Agrippa were faithfully attending to his interests, but +occupied himself another year away from the capital in regulating the +affairs of his new province. + +[Illustration: ANCIENT STATUS OF AUGUSTUS. (THE RIGHT ARM IS A +RESTORATION.)] + +In the summer of the year 29, however, Octavius left Samos, where he +had spent the winter in rest, and entered Rome amid the acclamations of +the populace, celebrating triumphs for the conquest of Dalmatia, of +Actium, and of Egypt, and distributing the gold he had won with such +prodigality that interest on loans was reduced two thirds and the price +of lands doubled. Each soldier received a thousand sesterces (about +$40), each citizen four hundred, and a certain sum was given to the +children, the whole amounting to some forty million dollars. + +Octavius marked the end of the old era by himself closing the gates of +the temple of Janus for the third time in the history of Rome, and by +declaring that he had burned all the papers of Antony. Several months +later, by suppressing all the laws of the triumvirate he emphasized +still more the fact which he wished the people to understand, that he +had broken with the past. + +The Roman Republic was ended. The Empire was not established in name, +but the government was in reality absolute. The chief ruler united in +himself all the great offices of the state, but concealed his strength +and power, professing himself the minister of the senate, to which, +however, he dictated the decrees that he ostentatiously obeyed. + + + + +XVIII. + +SOME MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE ROMAN PEOPLE. + + + +We have now traced the career of the people of Rome from the time when +they were the plain and rustic subjects of a king, through their long +history as a conquering republic, down to the period when they lost the +control of government and fell into the hands of a ruler more +autocratic than their earlier tyrants. The heroic age of the republic +had now long since passed away, and with it had gone even the +admiration of those personal qualities which had lain at the foundation +of the national greatness. + +History at its best is to such an extent made up of stories of the +doings of rulers and fighting-men, who happen by their mere strength +and physical force to have made themselves prominent, that it is often +read without conveying any actual familiarity with the people it is +ostensibly engaged with. The soldiers and magistrates of whom we have +ourselves been reading were but few, and we may well ask what the +millions of other citizens were doing all these ages. How did they +live? What were their joys and griefs? We have, it is true, not failed +to get an occasional glimpse of the intimate life of the people who +were governed, as we have seen a Virginia passing through the forum to +her school, and a Lucretia spinning among her maidens, and we have +learned that in the earliest times the workers were honored so much +that they were formed into guilds, and had a very high position among +the centuries (see pages 31 and 50), but these were only suggestions +that make us all the more desirous to know particulars. + +Rome had not become a really magnificent city, even after seven hundred +years of existence. We know that it was a mere collection of huts in +the time of Romulus, and that after the burning of the principal +edifices by the Gauls, it was rebuilt in a hurried and careless manner, +the houses being low and mean, the streets narrow and crooked, so that +when the population had increased to hundreds of thousands the crowds +found it difficult to make their way along the thoroughfares, and +vehicles with wheels were not able to get about at all, except in two +of the streets. The streets were paved, it is true, and there were +roads and aqueducts so well built and firm that they claim our +admiration even in their ruins. + +[Illustration: THE HOUSE-PHILOSOPHER.] + +The Roman house at first was extremely simple, being of but one room +called the _atrium_, or darkened chamber, because its walls were +stained by the smoke that rose from the fire upon the hearth and with +difficulty found its way through a hole in the roof. The aperture also +admitted light and rain, the water that dripped from the roof being +caught in a cistern that was formed in the middle of the room. The +atrium was entered by way of a vestibule open to the sky, in which the +gentleman of the house put on his toga as he went out. [Footnote: When +Cincinnatus went out to work in the field, he left his toga at home, +wearing his tunic only, and was "naked" (_nudus_), as the Romans +said. The custom illustrates MATT, xxiv., 18. (See p. 86.)] Double +doors admitted the visitor to the entrance-hall or _ostium_. There +was a threshold, upon which it was unlucky to place the left foot; a +knocker afforded means of announcing one's approach, and a porter, who +had a small room at the side, opened the door, showing the caller the +words _Cave canem_ (beware of the dog), or _Salve_ (welcome), or +perchance the dog himself reached out toward the visitor as far as +his chain would allow. Sometimes, too, there would be noticed in the +mosaic of the pavement the representation of the faithful domestic +animal which has so long been the companion as well as the protector of +his human friend. Perhaps myrtle or laurel might be seen on a door, +indicating that a marriage was in process of celebration, or a chaplet +announcing the happy birth of an heir. Cypress, probably set in pots in +the vestibule, indicated a death, as a crape festoon does upon our own +door-handles, while torches, lamps, wreaths, garlands, branches of +trees, showed that there was joy from some cause in the house. + +[Illustration: DINING TABLE AND COUCHES.] + +In the "black room" the bed stood; there the meals were cooked and +eaten, there the goodman received his friends, and there the goodwife +sat in the midst of her maidens spinning. The original house grew +larger in the course of time: wings were built on the sides, and the +Romans called them wings as well as we (_ala_, a wing). Beyond the +black room a recess was built in which the family records and archives +were preserved, but with it for a long period the Roman house stopped +its growth. + +Before the empire came, however, there had been great progress in +making the dwelling convenient as well as luxurious. Another hall had +been built out from the room of archives, leading to an open court, +surrounded by columns, known as the _peristylum_ (_peri_ about, +_stulos_, a pillar), which was sometimes of great magnificence. +Bedchambers were made separate from the atrium, but they were small, +and would not seem very convenient to modern eyes. + +The dining-room, called the _triclinium_ (Greek, _kline_, a bed) from +its three couches, was a very important apartment. In it were three +lounges surrounding a table, on each of which three guests might +be accommodated. The couches were elevated above the table, and each +man lay almost flat on his breast, resting on his left elbow, and +having his right hand free to use, thus putting the head of one near +the breast of the man behind him, and making natural the expression +that he lay in the bosom of the other. [Footnote: In the earliest times +the Romans sat at table on benches. The habit of reclining was +introduced from Greece, but Roman women sat at table long after the men +had fallen into the new way.] As the guests were thus arranged by +threes, it was natural that the rule should have been made that a party +at dinner should not be less in number than the Graces nor more than +the Muses, though it has remained a useful one ever since. + +Spacious saloons or parlors were added to the houses, some of which +were surrounded with galleries and highly adorned. In these the dining- +tables were spread on occasions of more ceremony than usual. After the +capture of Syracuse, and the increase of familiarity with foreign art, +picture-rooms were built in private dwellings; and after the second +Punic war, book-rooms became in some sort a necessity. Before the +republic came to an end, it was so fashionable to have a book-room that +ignorant persons who might not be able to read even the titles of their +own books endeavored to give themselves the appearance of erudition by +building book-rooms in their houses and furnishing them with elegance. +The books were in cases arranged around the walls in convenient manner, +and busts and statues of the Muses, of Minerva, and of men of note were +used then as they are now for ornaments. [Footnote: The books were +rolls of the rind (_liber_) of the Egyptian papyrus, which early +became an article of commerce, or of parchment, written on but one side +and stained of a saffron color on the other. Slaves were employed to +make copies of books that were much in demand, and booksellers bought +and sold them.] House-philosophers were often employed to open to the +uninstructed the stores of wisdom contained in the libraries. + +As wealth and luxury increased, the Romans added the bath-room to their +other apartments. In the early ages they had bathed for comfort and +cleanliness once a week, but the warm bath was apparently unknown to +them. In time this became very common, and in the days of Cicero there +were hot and cold baths, both public and private, which were well +patronized. Some were heated by fires in flues, directly under the +floors, which produced a vapor bath. The bath was, however, considered +a luxury, and at a later date it was held a capital offence to indulge +in one on a religious holiday, and the public baths were closed when +any misfortune happened to the republic. + +Comfort and convenience united to take the cooking out of the atrium +(which then became a reception-room) into a separate apartment known as +the _culina_, or kitchen, in which was a raised platform on which +coals might be burned and the processes of broiling, boiling, and +roasting might be carried on in a primitive manner, much like the +arrangement still to be seen at Rome. On the tops of the houses, after +a while, terraces were planned for the purpose of basking in the sun, +and sometimes they were furnished with shrubs, fruit-trees, and even +fishponds. Often there were upwards of fifty rooms in a house on a +single floor; but in the course of time land became so valuable that +other stories were added, and many lived in flats. A flat was sometimes +called an _insula_, which meant, properly, a house not joined to +another, and afterwards was applied to hired lodgings. _Domus_, a +house, meant a dwelling occupied by one family, whether it were an +_insula_ or not. + +The floors of these rooms were sometimes, but not often, laid with +boards, and generally were formed of stone, tiles, bricks, or some sort +of cement. In the richer dwellings they were often inlaid with mosaics +of elegant patterns. The walls were often faced with marble, but they +were usually adorned with paintings; the ceilings were left uncovered, +the beams supporting the floor or the roof above being visible, though +it was frequently arched over. The means of lighting, either by day or +night, were defective. The atrium was, as we have seen, lighted from +above, and the same was true of other apartments--those at the side +being illuminated from the larger ones in the middle of the house. +There were windows, however, in the upper stories, though they were not +protected by glass, but covered with shutters or lattice-work, and, at +a later period, were glazed with sheets of mica. Smoking lamps, hanging +from the ceiling or supported by candelabra, or candles, gave a gloomy +light by night in the houses, and torches without. + +The sun was chiefly depended upon for heat, for there were no proper +stoves, though braziers were used to burn coals upon, the smoke +escaping through the aperture in the ceiling, and, in rare cases, hot- +air furnaces were constructed below, the heat being conveyed to the +upper rooms through pipes. There has been a dispute regarding chimneys, +but it seems almost certain that the Romans had none in their +dwellings, and, indeed, there was little need of them for purposes of +artificial warmth in so moderate a climate as theirs. + +Such were some of the chief traits of the city houses of the Romans. +Besides these, there were villas in the country, some of which were +simply farm-houses, and others places of rest and luxury supported by +the residents of cities. The farm villa was placed, if possible, in a +spot secluded from visitors, protected from the severest winds, and +from the malaria of marshes, in a well-watered place near the foot of a +well-wooded mountain. It had accommodations for the kitchen, the wine- +press, the farm-superintendent, the slaves, the animals, the crops, and +the other products of the farm. There were baths, and cellars for the +wine and for the confinement of the slaves who might have to be +chained. + +Varro thus describes life at a rural household: "Manius summons his +people to rise with the sun, and in person conducts them to the scene +of their daily work. The youths make their own bed, which labor renders +soft to them, and supply themselves with water-pot and lamp. Their +drink is the clear fresh spring; their fare, bread, with onions as a +relish. Every thing prospers in house and field. The house is no work +of art, but an architect might learn symmetry from it. Care is taken of +the field that it shall not be left disorderly, and waste or go to ruin +through slovenliness or neglect; and, in return, grateful Ceres wards +off damage from the produce, that the high-piled sheaves may gladden +the heart of the husbandman. Here hospitality still holds good; every +one who has but imbibed mother's milk is welcome. The bread-pantry, the +wine-vat, and the store of sausages on the rafter,--lock and key are at +the service of the traveller, and piles of food are set before him; +contented, the sated guest sits, looking neither before him nor behind, +dozing by the hearth in the kitchen. The warmest double-wool sheepskin +is spread as a couch for him. Here people still, as good burgesses, +obey the righteous law which neither out of envy injures the innocent, +nor out of favor pardons the guilty. Here they speak no evil against +their neighbors. Here they trespass not with their feet on the sacred +hearth, but honor the gods with devotion and with sacrifices; throw to +the familiar spirit his little bit of flesh into his appointed little +dish, and when the master of the household dies accompany the bier with +the same prayer with which those of his father and of his grandfather +were borne forth." + +The pleasure villa had many of the appointments of the town house, but +was outwardly more attractive, of course. It stood in the midst of +grassy slopes, was approached through avenues of trees leading to the +portico, before which was a terrace and ornaments made of box-trees cut +into fantastic forms representing animals. The dining-room stood out +from the other buildings, and was light and airy. Perhaps a grand +bedchamber was likewise built out from the others, so that it might +have the warmth of the sun upon it through the entire day. Connected +with the establishment were walks ornamented with flowerbeds, closely +clipped hedges, and trees tortured into all sorts of unnatural shapes. +There were shaded avenues for gentle exercise afoot or in litters; +there were fountains, and perhaps a hippodrome formed like a circus, +with paths divided by hedges and surrounded by large trees in which the +luxurious owner and his guests might run or exercise themselves in the +saddle. [Footnote: Roman extravagance ran riot in the appointments of +the villa. One is mentioned that sold for some $200,000, chiefly +because it comprised a desirable fish-pond. A late writer says of the +site of Pompey's villa on a slope of the Alban hills: "It has never +ceased in all the intervening ages to be a sort of park, and very fine +ruins, from out of whose massive arches grow a whole avenue of live +oaks, attest to the magnificence which must once have characterized the +place. The still beautiful grounds stretch along the shore of the lake +as far as the gate of the town of Albano.... The house in Rome I +occupy, stands in the old villa of Mæcenas, an immense tract of land +comprising space enough to contain a good-sized city.... Where did the +Plebs live? and what air did they and their children breathe? Who cared +or knew, so long as Pompey or Cæsar fared sumptuously? What marvel that +there were revolutions!"] + +In such houses the Roman family lived, composed as families must be, of +parents and children, to which were usually added servants, for after +the earlier times of simplicity had passed away it became so +fashionable to keep slaves to perform all the different domestic +labors, that one could hardly claim to be respectable unless he had at +least ten in his household. The first question asked regarding a +stranger was: "How many slaves does he keep?" and upon its answer +depended the social position the person would have in the inquirer's +estimation. The son did not pass from his father's control while that +parent lived, but the daughter might do so by marriage. The power of +the father over his children and grandchildren, as well as over his +slaves was very great, and the family spirit was exceedingly strong. + +When a man and a woman had agreed to marry, and the parents and friends +had given their consent, there was sometimes a formal meeting at the +maiden's house, at which the marriage-agreement was written out on +tablets and signed by the engaged persons. It seems, too, that in some +cases the man placed a ring on the hand of his betrothed. It was no +slight affair to choose the wedding-day, for no day that was marked +_ater_ on the calendar would be considered fit for the purpose of +the rites that were to accompany the ceremony. The calends (the first +day of the month), the nones (the fifth or seventh), and the ides (the +thirteenth or fifteenth), would not do, nor would any day in May or +February, nor many of the festivals. + +In early times, the bride dressed herself in a long white robe, adorned +with ribbons, and a purple fringe, and bound herself with a girdle on +her wedding day. She put on a bright yellow veil and shoes of the same +color, and submitted to the solemn religious rites that were to make +her a wife. The pair walked around the altar hand in hand, received the +congratulations of their friends, and the bride, taken with apparent +force from the arms of her mother, as the Sabine women were taken in +the days of Romulus, was conducted to her new home carrying a distaff +and a spindle, emblems of the industry that was thought necessary in +the household work that she was to perform or direct. Strong men lifted +her over the threshold, lest her foot should trip upon it, and her +husband saluted her with fire and water, symbolic of welcome, after +which he presented her the keys. A feast was then given to the entire +train of friends and relatives, arid probably the song was sung of +which _Talasia_ was the refrain. [Footnote: See page 22.] +Sometimes the husband gave another entertainment the next day, and +there were other religious rites after which the new wife took her +proud position as mater-familias, sharing the honors of her husband, +and presiding over the household. + +The wives and daughters made the cloth and the dresses of the +household, in which they had ample occupation, but their labors did not +end there. [Footnote: Varro contrasts the later luxury with past +frugality, setting in opposition the spacious granaries, and simple +farm arrangements of the good old times, and the peacocks and richly +inlaid doors of a degenerate age. Formerly even the city matron turned +the spindle with her own hand, while at the same time she kept her eye +upon the pot on the hearth; now the wife begs the husband for a bushel +of pearls, and the daughter demands a pound of precious stones: then +the wife was quite content if the husband gave her a trip once or twice +in the year in an uncushioned wagon; now she sulks if he go to his +country estate without her, and as she travels my lady is attended to +the villa by the fashionable host of Greek menials and singers.] The +grinding of grain and the cooking was done by the servants, but the +wife had to superintend all the domestic operations, among which was +included the care of the children, though old Cato thought it was +necessary for him to look after the washing and swaddling of his +children in person, and to teach them what he thought they ought to +know. The position of the woman was entirely subordinate to the +husband, though in the house she was mistress. She belonged to the +household and not to the community, and was to be called to account for +her doings by her father, her husband, or her near male relatives, not +by her political ruler. She could acquire property and inherit money +the same as a man could, however. When the pure and noble period of +Roman history had passed, women became as corrupt as the rest of the +community. The watering-places were scenes of unblushing wickedness; +women of quality, but not of character, masquerading before the gay +world with the most reckless disregard of all the proprieties of life. +[Footnote: Cato the Elder, who enjoyed uttering invectives against +women, was free in denouncing their chattering, their love of dress, +their ungovernable spirit, and condemned the whole sex as plaguy and +proud, without whom men would probably be more godly.] + +[Illustration: COVERINGS FOR THE FEET.] + +The garments of Roman men and women were of extreme simplicity for a +long period, but the desire of display and the love of ornament +succeeded in making them at last highly adorned and varied. Both men +and women wore two principal garments, the tunic next to the body, and +the pallium which was thrown over it when going abroad; but they also +each had a distinctive article of dress, the men wearing the +_toga_ (originally worn also by women), a flowing outer garment which +no foreigner could use, and the women the _stola_, which fell over the +tunic to the ankles and was bound about the waist by a girdle. Boys and +girls wore a toga with a broad border of purple, but when the boy +became a man he threw this off and wore one of the natural white color +of the wool. + +Sometimes the stola was clasped over the shoulder, and in some +instances it had sleeves. The _pallium_ was a square outer garment +of woollen goods, put on by women as well as men when going out. It +came into use during the civil wars, but was forbidden by Augustus. +Both sexes also wore in travelling a thick, long cloak without sleeves, +called the _pænula_, and the men wore also over the toga a dark +cloak, the _lacerna_. + +On their feet the men wore slippers, boots, and shoes of various +patterns. The _soccus_ was a slipper not tied, worn in the house; +and the _solea_ a very light sandal, also used in the house only. +The _sandalium_ proper was a rich and luxurious sandal introduced +from Greece and worn by women only. The _baxa_ was a coarse sandal +made of twigs, used by philosophers and comic actors; the _calcæus_ +was a shoe that covered the foot, though the toes were often exposed; +and the _cothurnus_, a laced boot worn by horsemen, hunters, men of +authority, and tragic actors, and it left the toes likewise exposed. + +An examination of the mysteries of the dressing-rooms of the ladies of +Rome displays most of the toilet conveniences that women still use. +They dressed their hair in a variety of styles (see page 155), and used +combs, dyes, oils, and pomades just as they now do. They had mirrors, +perfumes, soaps in great variety, hair-pins, ear-rings, bracelets, +necklaces, gay caps and turbans, and sometimes ornamental wigs. + +[Illustration: ARTICLES OF THE ROMAN TOILET.] + +The change that came over Rome during the long period of the kingdom +and the republic is perhaps as evident in the table customs as in any +respect. For centuries the simple Roman sat down at noon to a plain +dinner of boiled pudding made of spelt (_far_), and fruits, which, +with milk, butter, and vegetables, formed the chief articles of his +diet. His table was plain, and his food was served warm but once a day. +When the national horizon had been enlarged by the foreign wars, and +Asiatic and Greek influences began to be felt, hot dishes were served +oftener, and the two courses of the principal meal no longer sufficed +to satisfy the fashionable appetite. A baker's shop was opened at the +time of the war with Perseus, and scientific cookery rapidly came into +vogue. + +We cannot follow the course of the history of increasing luxury in its +details. Towards the end of the republic, breakfast (_jentaculum_), +consisting of bread and cheese, with perhaps dried fruit, was taken at +a very early hour, in an informal way, the guests not even sitting +down. At twelve or one o'clock luncheon followed (_prandium_). There +was considerable variety in this meal. The principal repast of the day +(_cæna_) occurred late in the afternoon, some time just before sunset, +there having been the same tendency to make the hour later and later +that has been manifested in England and America. There were three usual +courses, the first comprising stimulants to the appetite, eggs, olives, +oysters, lettuce, and a variety of other such delicacies. For the +second course the whole world was put under requisition. There were +turbots and sturgeon, eels and prawns, boar's flesh and venison, +pheasants and peacocks, ducks and capons, turtles and flamingoes, +pickled tunny-fishes, truffles and mushrooms, besides a variety of +other dishes that it is impossible to mention here. After these came +the dessert, almonds and raisins and dates, cheese-cakes and sweets and +apples. Thus the egg came at the beginning, and the apple, +representative of fruit in general, at the end, a fact that gave Horace +ground for his expression, _ab ovo usque ad mala_, from the egg to the +apple, from the beginning to the end. [Footnote: The practical side of +the Roman priesthood was the priestly _cuisine_; the augural and +pontifical banquets were, as we may say, the official gala days in the +life of a Roman epicure, and several of them form epochs in the history +of gastronomy: the banquet on the occasion of the inauguration of the +augur Quintus Hortensius, for instance, brought roast peacocks into +vogue.--Mommsen. Book IV., chap. 12.] + +The Roman dinner was served with all the ostentatious elegance and +formality of our own days, if not with more. The guests assembled in +gay dresses ornamented with flowers; they took off their shoes, lest +the couch, inlaid with ivory, perhaps, or adorned with cloth of gold, +should be soiled; and laid themselves down to eat, each one adjusting +his napkin carefully, and taking his position according to his relative +importance, the middle place being deemed the most honorable. About the +tables stood the servants, dressed in the tunic, and carrying napkins +or rough cloths to wipe off the table, which was of the richest wood +and covered by no cloth. While some served the dishes, often of +magnificent designs, other slaves offered the feasters water to rinse +their hands, or cooled the room with fans. At times music and dances +were added to give another charm to the scene. + +The first occupation of the Romans was agriculture, in which was +included the pasturage of flocks and herds. In process of time trades +were learned, and manufactures (literally making with the hand, +_manus_, the hand, _facere_, to make) were introduced, but not, of +course, to any thing like the extent familiar in our times. There were +millers and shoe-makers, butchers and tanners, bakers and blacksmiths, +besides other tradesmen and laborers. In the process of time there were +also artists, but in this respect Rome did not excel as Greece had long +before. There were also physicians, lawyers, and teachers, besides +office-holders. [Footnote: There were office-seekers, also, and of the +most persistent kind, throughout the whole history of the republic, and +they practised the corrupt arts of the most ingenious of the class in +modern times. The candidate went about clad in a toga of artificial +whiteness (_candidus_, white), accompanied by a _nomenclator_, who gave +him the names of the voters they might meet, so that he could +compliment them by addressing them familiarly, and he shook them by the +hand. He "treated" the voters to drink or food in a very modern +fashion, though with a more than modern profusion; and he went to the +extreme of bribing them if treating did not suffice. Against these +practices Coriolanus haughtily protests, in Shakespeare's play. +Sometimes candidates canvassed for votes outside of Rome, as Cicero +proposed in one of his letters to Atticus.] + +When the Roman wished to go from place to place he had a variety of +modes among which to choose, as we have already had suggested by Horace +in his account of the trip from Rome to Brundusium. He might have his +horse saddled, and his saddle-bags packed, as our fathers did of yore; +he could do as one of the rich provincial governors described by Cicero +did when, at the opening of a Sicilian spring, he entered his rose- +scented litter, carried by eight bearers, reclining on a cushion of +Maltese gauze, with garlands about his head and neck, applying a +delicate scent-bag to his nose as he went. There were wagons and cars, +in which he might drive over the hard and smooth military roads, and +canals; and along the routes, there were, as Horace has told us, +taverns at which hospitality was to be expected. + +The Roman law was remarkable for embodying in itself "the eternal +principles of freedom and of subordination, of property and legal +redress," which still reign unadulterated and unmodified, as Mommsen +says; and this system this strong people not only endured but actually +ordained for itself, and it involved the principle that a free man +could not be tortured, a principle which other European peoples +embraced only after a terrible and bloody struggle of a thousand years. + +One of the punishments is worthy of mention here. We have already +noticed its infliction. It was ordered that a person might not live in +a certain region, or that he be confined to a certain island, and that +he be interdicted from fire and water, those two essentials to life, in +case he should overstep the bounds mentioned. These elements with the +Romans had a symbolical meaning, and when the husband received his +bride with fire and water, he signified that his protection should ever +be over her. Thus their interdiction meant the withdrawal of the +protection of the state from a person, which left him an outlaw. Such a +law could only have been made after the nation had become possessed of +regions somewhat remote from its centre of power. England can now exile +its criminals to another hemisphere, and Russia to a distant region of +deserts and cold, but neither country could have punished by exile +before it owned such regions. + + + + +XIX. + +THE ROMAN READING AND WRITING. + + + +In the earliest times the education of young Romans was probably +confined to instruction in dancing and music, though they became +acquainted with the processes of agriculture by being called upon to +practise them in company with their elders. It was not long before the +elementary attainments of reading, writing, and counting were brought +within their reach, even among the lower orders and the slaves, and we +know that it was thought important to make the latter class proficient +in many departments of scholarship. + +The advance in the direction of real mental culture was, however, not +great until after the contact with Greece. So long as the Romans +remained a strong and self-centred people, deriving little but tribute +from peoples beyond the Italian peninsula, and looking with disdain +upon all outside that limit, there was not much to stimulate their +mental progress; but when contrast with another civilization showed +that there was much power to be gained by knowledge, it was naturally +more eagerly sought. The slaves and other foreigners, to whom the +instruction of the children was assigned, were familiar with the Greek +language, and it had the great advantage over Latin of being the casket +in which an illustrious literature was preserved. For this reason Roman +progress in letters was founded upon that of Greece. + +The Roman parent for a long time made the Twelve Tables the text-book +from which his children were taught, thus giving them a smattering of +reading, of writing, and of the laws of the land at once. Roman +authorship and the study of grammar, however, were about coincident in +their beginnings with the temporary cessation of war and the second +closing of the temple of Janus. Cato the elder prepared manuals for the +instruction of youth (or, perhaps, one manual in several parts), which +gave his views on morals, oratory, medicine, war, and agriculture (a +sort of encyclopædia), and a history entitled _Origines_, which +recounted the traditions of the kings, told the story of the origin of +the Italian towns, of the Punic wars, and of other events down to the +time of his own death. [Footnote: See page 153. "Cato's encyclopædia... +was little more than an embodiment of the old Roman household +knowledge, and truly when compared with the Hellenic culture of the +period, was scanty enough."--MOMMSEN, bk. IV., ch. 12.] This seems to +have originated in the author's natural interest in the education of +his son, a stimulating cause of much literature of the same kind since. + +The Roman knowledge of medicine came first from the Etruscans, to whom +they are said to have owed so much other culture, and subsequently from +the Greeks. The first person to make a distinct profession of medicine +at Rome, however, was not an Etruscan, but a Greek, named Archagathus, +who settled there in the year 219, just before the second Punic war +broke out. He was received with great respect, and a shop was bought +for him at the public expense; but his practice, which was largely +surgical, proved too severe to be popular. In earlier days the father +had been the family physician, and Cato vigorously reviled the foreign +doctors, and like the true conservative that he was, strove to bring +back the good old times that his memory painted; but his efforts did +not avail, and the professional practice of the healing art not only +became one of the most lucrative in Rome, but remained for a long +period almost a monopoly in the hands of foreigners. Science, among the +latest branches of knowledge to be freed from the swaddling-clothes of +empiricism, received, in its applied form, some attention, though +mathematics and physics were not specially favored as subjects of +investigation. + +The progress of Roman culture is distinctly shown by a comparison of +the curriculum of Cato with that of Marcus Terentius Varro, a long-time +friend of Cicero, though ten years his senior. [Footnote: Varro is said +to have written of his youth. "For me when a boy there sufficed a +single rough coat and a single undergarment, shoes without stockings, a +horse without a saddle. I had no daily warm bath, and but seldom a +river bath." Still, he utters warnings against over-feeding and over- +sleeping, as well as against cakes and high living, pointing to his own +youthful training, and says that dogs were in his later years more +judiciously cared for than children.] Varro obtained from Quintilian +the title "the most learned of the Romans," and St. Augustine said that +it was astonishing that he could write so much, and that one could +scarcely believe that anybody could find time even to read all that he +wrote. He was proscribed by the triumvirs at the same time that Cicero +was, but was fortunate enough to escape and subsequently to be placed +under the protection of Augustus. Cato thought that a proper man ought +to study oratory, medicine, husbandry, war, and law, and was at liberty +to look into Greek literature a little, that he might cull from the +mass of chaff and rubbish, as he affected to deem it, some serviceable +maxims of practical experience, but he might not study it thoroughly. +Varro extended the limit of allowed and fitting studies to grammar, +logic, rhetoric, geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, music, medicine, and +architecture. + +Young children were led to their first studies by the kindergarten path +of amusement, learning their letters as we learned them ourselves by +means of blocks, and spelling by repeating the letters and words in +unison after the instructor. Dictation exercises were turned to account +in the study of grammar and orthography, and writing was taught by +imitation, though the "copy-book" was not paper, but a tablet covered +with a thin coating of wax, and the pen a stylus, pencil-shaped, sharp +at one end and flat at the other, so that the mark made by the point +might be smoothed out by reversing the instrument. Thus _vertere +stilum_, to turn the stylus, meant to correct or to erase. [Footnote: +See illustrations on pages 23 and 219.] The first school-book seems to +have been an Odyssey, by one Livius Andronicus, probably a Tarentine, +who was captured during the wars in Southern Italy. He became a slave, +of course, and was made instructor of his master's children. He +familiarized himself with the Latin language, and wrote dramas in it. +Thus though he was a native of Magna Græcia, he is usually mentioned as +the first Roman poet. It is not known whether his Odyssey and other +writings were imitations of the Greek or translations, but it matters +little; they were immediately appreciated and held their own so well +that they were read in schools as late as the time of Horace. This +first awakener of Roman literary effort was born at the time of Pyrrhus +and died before the battle of Zama. + +A few other Roman writers of prominence claim our attention. With some +reason the Romans looked upon Ennius as the father of their literature. +He, like Andronicus, was a native of Magna Græcia, claiming lordly +ancestors, and boasting that the spirit of Homer, after passing through +many mortal bodies, had entered his own. His works remain only in +fragments gathered from others who had quoted them, and we cannot form +any accurate opinion of his rank as a poet; but we know that his +success was so great that Cicero considered him the prince of Roman +song, that Virgil was indebted to him for many thoughts and +expressions, and that even the brilliance of the Augustan poets did not +lessen his reputation. His utterances were vigorous, bold, fresh, and +full of the spirit of the brave old days. He found the language rough, +uncultivated, and unformed, and left it softer, more harmonious, and +possessed of a system of versification. He was born in 239 B.C., the +year after the first plays of Andronicus had been exhibited on the +Roman stage, and died just before the complete establishment of the +universal empire of Rome as a consequence of the battle of Pydna. +[Footnote: See Page 164.] + +At the head of the list of Roman prose annalists stands the name of +Quintus Fabius Pictor, at one time a senator, who wrote a history of +his nation beginning, probably, like other Roman works of its class, +with the coming of Æneas, and narrating later events, to the end of the +second Punic war, with some degree of minuteness. He wrote in Greek, +and made the usual effort to preserve and transmit a sufficiently good +impression of the greatness of his own people. That Pictor was a +senator proves his social importance, which is still further +exemplified by the fact that after the carnage of Cannæ, he was sent to +Delphi to learn for his distressed countrymen how they might appease +the angry gods. We only know that his history was of great value from +the frequent use that was made of it by subsequent investigators in the +antiquities of the Roman people, because no manuscript of it has been +preserved. + +Titus Maccius, surnamed, from the flatness of his feet, Plautus, was +the greatest among the comic poets of Rome. Of humble origin, he was +driven to literature by his necessities, and it was while turning the +crank of a baker's hand-mill that he began the work by which he is now +known. He wrote three plays which were accepted by the managers of the +public games, and he was thus able to turn his back upon menial +drudgery. Born at an Umbrian village during the first Punic war, not +far from the year when Regulus was taken, [Footnote: See page 133.] he +came to Rome at an early age, and after he began to write, produced a +score or more of plays which captivated both the learned and the +uneducated by their truth to the life that they depicted, and they held +their high reputation long after the death of the author. Moderns have +also attested their merit, and our great dramatist in his amusing +_Comedy of Errors_ imitated the _Menoechmi_ of this early play-wright. +[Footnote: Rude farces, known as _Atellanæ Fabula_, were introduced +into Rome after the contact with the Campanians, from one of whose +towns, Atella, they received their name. Though they were at a later +time divided into acts, they seem to have been at first simply +improvised raillery and satire without dramatic connection. The Atellan +plays were later than the imitations of Etruscan acting mentioned on +page 110.] + +Publius Terentius Afer, commonly known as Terrence, the second and last +of the comic poets, was of no higher social position than Plautus, and +was no more a Roman than the other writers we have referred to, for he +was a native of Carthage, Rome's great rival, where he was born at the +time that Hannibal was a refugee at the court of Antiochus at Ephesus. +In spite of his foreign origin, Terence was of sufficient ability to +exchange the slave-pen of Carthage for the society of the best circles +in Rome, and he attained to such purity and ease in the use of his +adopted tongue that Cicero and Cæsar scarcely surpass him in those +respects. His first play, the _Andria_ (the Woman of Andros), was +produced in 166 B.C., the year before Polybius and the other Achæans +were transported to Rome. [Footnote: See page 164; and portrait, page +141] It has been imitated and copied in modern times, and notably by +Sir Richard Steele in his _Conscious Lovers_. Andria was followed +by _Hecyra_ (the Stepmother), _Heautontimoroumenos_, (the Self- +Tormentor), _Eunuchus_ (the Eunuch), _Phormio_ (named from a parasite +who is an active agent in the plot), and _Adelphi_ (the Brothers), the +plot of which was mainly derived from a Greek play of the same title. +This foreign influence is further shown in the names of these plays, +which are Greek. + +Cato, the Censor, found time among his varied public labors to +contribute to the literature of his language. His _Origines_ and +other works have already been mentioned. [Footnote: See pages 153 and +239.] The varied literary productions of Cicero have also come under +our notice, [Footnote: See page 202] but they deserve more attention, +though they are too many to be enumerated. Surpassing all others in the +art of public speaking, he was evidently well prepared to write on +rhetoric and oratory as he did; but his general information and +scholarly taste led him to go far beyond this limit, and he made +considerable investigations in the domains of politics, history, and +philosophy, law, theology, and morals, besides practising his hand in +his earlier years on the manufacture of verses that have not added to +his reputation. The writings of Cicero of greatest interest to us now +are his orations and correspondence, both of which give us intimate +information concerning life and events that is of inestimable value, +and it is conveyed in a literary style at once so appropriate and +attractive that it is itself forgotten in the impressive interest of +the narrative. The period covered by the eight hundred letters of +Cicero that have been preserved is one of the utmost importance in +Roman history, and the author and his correspondents were in the +hottest of the exciting movements of the time. + +When he writes without reserve, he gives his modern readers +confidential revelations of the utmost piquancy; and when he words his +epistles with diplomatic care, he displays with equal acuteness, to the +student familiar with the intrigues of public life at Rome at the time, +the sinuosities of contemporary statesmanship and the wiles of the wary +politician, and the revelation is all the more entertaining and +important because it is an unintentional exhibition. The orations of +Cicero are likewise storehouses of details connected with public and +private life, gathered with the minute care of an advocate persistently +in earnest and determined not to allow any item to pass unnoticed that +might affect the decision of his cause. + +The learned Varro, already mentioned, deserves far more attention than +we can afford him. He had the advantage at an early age of the +acquaintance of a scholar of high attainments in Greek and Latin +literature, who was well acquainted also with the history of his own +country, from whom he imbibed a love of intellectual pursuits. During +the wars with the pirates (in which he obtained the naval crown) and +with Mithridates, he held a high command, and after supporting Pompey +and the senate during the civil struggles, he was compelled to +surrender to Cæsar (though he was not changed in his opinions), and +passed over to Greece, where he was finally overcome by the dictator, +and owed his subsequent opportunities for study to the clemency of his +conqueror, who gave him pardon after the battle of Pharsalia. All the +rest of his life was passed aloof from the storm that raged around him, +the circumstances of his proscription and pardon being the only +indication of his personal connection with it. He died in the year 28 +B.C., after the temple of Janus had been closed the third time, when +Augustus had entered upon the enjoyment of his absolute power. + +Of nearly five hundred works that Varro is said to have written, one +only has come down to our time complete, though some portions of +another are also preserved. The first is a laboriously methodical and +thorough treatise on agriculture. The other work (a treatise on Latin +grammar) is of value in its mutilated and imperfect state (it seems +never to have received its author's final revision), because it +preserves many terms and forms that would otherwise have been lost, +besides much curious information concerning ancient civil and religious +usages. In regard to the derivation of words, his principles are sound, +but his practice is often amusingly absurd. We must remember, however, +that the science of language did not advance beyond infancy until after +our own century had opened. The great reputation of Varro was founded +upon a work now lost, entitled "Book of Antiquities," in the first part +of which he discussed the creation and history of man, especially of +man in Italy from the foundation of the city in 753 B.C. (which date he +established), not omitting reference to Æneas, of course, and +presenting details of the manners and social customs of the people +during all their career. In a second part Varro gave his attention to +Divine Antiquities, and as St. Augustine drew largely from it in his +"City of God," we may be said to be familiar with it at second hand. It +was a complete mythology of Italy, minutely describing every thing +relating to the services of religion, the festivals, temples, +offerings, priests, and so on. Probably the loss of the works of Varro +may be accounted for by their lack of popular interest, or by their +infelicities of style, which rendered them little attractive to +readers. + +Julius Cæsar must be included among the authors of Rome, though most of +his works are lost, his _Commentaries_ (mentioned on p. 226) being +the only one remaining. This book is written in Latin of great purity, +and shows that the author was master of a clear style, though the +nature of the work did not admit him to exhibit many of the graces of +diction. The Commentaries seem to have been put into form in winter +quarters, though roughly written during the actual campaigns. Cæsar +always took pleasure in literary pursuits and in the society of men of +letters. + +Valerius Catullus, a contemporary of the writers just named, was born +when Cinna was Consul (B.C. 87), and died at the age of thirty or +forty, for the dates given as that of his death are quite doubtful. His +father was a man of means and a friend of Cæsar, whom he frequently +entertained. Catullus owned a villa near Tibur, but he took up his +abode at Rome when very young, and mingled freely in the gayest +society, the expensive pleasures of which made great inroads upon his +moderate wealth. Like other Romans, he looked to a career in the +provinces for means of improving his fortune, but was disappointed, and +like our own Chaucer, but more frequently, he pours forth lamentations +to his empty purse. He was evidently a friend of most of the prominent +men of letters of his time, and he entered freely into the debauchery +of the period. Thus his verse gives a representation of the debased +manners of the day in gay society. His style was remarkably felicitous, +and it is said that he adorned all that he touched. Most of his poems +are quite short, and their subjects range from a touching outburst of +genuine grief for a brother's death to a fugitive epigram of the most +voluptuous triviality. His verses display ease and impetuosity, +tumultuous merriment and wild passion, playful grace and slashing +invective, vigorous simplicity and ingenious imitation of the learned +stiffness and affectation of the Alexandrian school. They are strongly +national, despite the author's use of foreign materials, and made +Catullus exceedingly popular among his countrymen. + +Lucretius (Titus Lucretius Carus) was a native of Italy, whose birth is +said to have occurred B.C. 95, His death was caused by his own hand, or +by a philtre administered by another, about 50 B.C., and very little is +known about his life. His great work, entitled About the Nature of +Things (_De Rerum Natura_), is a long poem, in which an attempt is +made to present in clear terms the leading principles of the philosophy +of Epicurus, and it is acknowledged to be one of the greatest of the +world's didactic poems. He undertakes to demonstrate that the miseries +of men may be traced to a slavish dread of the gods; and in order to +remove such apprehensions, he would prove that no divinity ever +interposed in the affairs of the earth, either as creator or director. +The Romans were not, as we have had occasion to observe, inclined to +philosophic pursuits, and Lucretius certainly labored with all the +force of an extraordinary genius to lead them into such studies. He +brought to bear upon his task the power of sublime and graceful verse, +and it has been said that but for him "we could never have formed an +adequate idea of the strength of the Latin language. We might have +dwelt with pleasure upon the softness, flexibility, richness, and +musical tone of that vehicle of thought which could represent with full +effect the melancholy tenderness of Tibullus, [Footnote: Albius +Tibullus was a poet of singular gentleness and amiability, who wrote +verses of exquisite finish, gracefully telling the story of his worldly +misfortunes and expressing the fluctuations that marked his indulgence +in the tender passion, in which his experience was extensive and his +record real. He was a warm friend of Horace.] the exquisite ingenuity +of Ovid, [Footnote: Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) was born March 20, B.C. +43, and did not compose his first work, The Art of Love (Ars Amatoria), +until he was more than fifty years of age. He wrote subsequently The +Metamorphoses, in fifteen books; The Fasti, containing accounts of the +Roman festivals; and the Elegies, composed during his banishment to a +town on the Euxine, near the mouth of the Danube, where he died, A.D. +18. Niebuhr places him after Catullus the most poetical among the Roman +poets, and ranks him first for facility. He did not direct his genius +by a sound judgment, and has the unenviable fame of having been the +first to depart from the canons of correct Greek taste.] the inimitable +felicity and taste of Horace, the gentleness and high spirit of Virgil, +and the vehement declamation of Juvenal, but, had the verses of +Lucretius perished, we should never have known that it could give +utterance to the grandest conceptions with all that sustained majesty +and harmonious swell in which the Grecian Muse rolls forth her loftiest +outpourings." + +Caius Sallustius Crispus (Sallust) was born the year that Marius died +(B.C. 86) of a plebeian family, and during the civil wars was a +partisan of Cæsar, whom he accompanied to Africa, after having brought +to him the news of the mutiny of his troops in Campania (B.C. +46). [Footnote: See page 245.] Left as governor, Sallust seems to have +pursued the methods common to that class, for he became immensely rich. +Upon his return from Africa, he retired to an extensive estate on the +Quirinal Hill, and lived through the direful days which followed the +death of Cæsar. He died in the year 34 B.C., his last years being +devoted to diligent pursuits of literature. His two works are +_Catilina_, a history of the suppression of the conspiracy of +Catiline, and _Jugurtha_, a history of the war against Jugurtha, +in both of which he took great pains with his style. As he witnessed +many of the events he described, his books have a great value to the +student of the periods. Roman writers asserted that he imitated the +style of Thucydides, but there is an air of artificiality about his +work which he did not have the skill to conceal. He has the honor of +being the first Roman to write history, as distinguished from mere +annals. + +Livy (Titus Livius) was born in the year of Cæsar's first consulship +(B.C. 59), at Patavium (Padua), and died A.D. 17. His writings, like +those of Ovid, come therefore rather into the period of the empire. His +great work is the History of Rome, which he modestly called simply +_Annales_. Little is known of his life, but he was of very high +repute as a writer in his own day, for it is said by Pliny that a +Spaniard travelled all the way from his distant home merely to see him, +and as soon as his desire had been accomplished, returned. Livy's +history comprised one hundred and forty-two books, of which thirty-five +only are extant, though with the exception of two of the missing books +valuable epitomes are preserved. Though wanting many of the traits of +the historian, and though he was of course incapable of looking at +history with the modern philosophic spirit, Livy was honest and candid, +and possessed a wonderful command of his native language. His work +enjoyed an unbounded popularity, not entirely to be accounted for by +the fascinations of his theme, He realized his desire to present a +clear and probable narrative, and no history of Rome can now be written +without constant reference to his pages. + +Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) was born on the river Aufidus, in the +year 65 B.C., and was son of a freeman who seems to have been a +publican or collector of taxes. At about the age of twelve, after +having attended the local school at Venusia, to which the children of +the rural aristocracy resorted, he was taken to Rome, where he enjoyed +the advantages of the best means of education. He studied Livius +Andronicus, and Homer, and was flogged with care by at least one of his +masters. He was accompanied at the capital by his father, of whom he +always speaks with great respect, and because he mingled with boys of +high rank, was well dressed and attended by slaves. The gentle +watchfulness of the father guarded Horace from all the temptations of +city life, and at the age of eighteen he went to Athens, as most well- +educated Romans were obliged to, and studied in the academic groves, +though for a while he was swept away by the youthful desire to acquire +military renown under Brutus, who came there after the murder of Cæsar. +Like the others of the republican army, he fled from the field of +Philippi, and found his military ardor thoroughly cooled. He +thenceforth devoted himself to letters. Returning to Rome, he attracted +notice by his verses, and became a friend of Mæcenas and Virgil, the +former of whom bestowed upon him a farm sufficient to sustain him. His +life thereafter was passed in frequent interchange of town and country +residence, a circumstance which is reflected with charming grace in his +verses. His rural home is described in his epistles. It was not +extensive, but was pleasant, and he enjoyed it to the utmost. His +poetry is deficient in the highest properties of verse, but as the +fresh utterances of a man of the world who was possessed of quick +observation and strong common-sense, and who was honest and bold, they +have always charmed their readers. The Odes of Horace are unrivalled +for their grace and felicitous language, but express no great depth of +feeling. His Satires do not originate from moral indignation, but the +writer playfully shoots folly as it flies, and exhibits a wonderful +keenness of observation of the ways of men in the world. His Epistles +are his most perfect work, and are, indeed, among the most original and +polished forms of Roman verse. His Art of Poetry is not a complete +theory of poetic art, and is supposed to have been written simply to +suggest the difficulties to be met on the way to perfection by a +versifier destitute of the poetic genius. The works of Horace were +immediately popular, and in the next generation became text-books in +the schools. + +Cornelius Nepos was a historical writer of whose life almost no +particulars have come down to us, except that he was a friend of +Cicero, Catullus, and probably of other men of letters who lived at the +end of the republic. The works that he is known to have written are all +lost, and that which goes under his name, The Biographies of +Distinguished Commanders (_Excellentium Imperatorum Vitæ_), seems +to be an abridgment made some centuries after his death, and tedious +discussions have been had regarding its authorship. The lives are, +however, valuable for their pure Latinity, and interesting for the +lofty tone in which the greatness of the Roman people is celebrated. +The life of Atticus, the friend and correspondent of Cicero, is the one +of the biographies regarding which the doubts have been least. The work +is still a favorite school-book and has been published in innumerable +editions. + +This brief list of celebrated writers whose works were in the hands of +the reading public of Rome during the time of the republic, must be +closed with reference to Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro), the writer +who stands at the head of the literature of Rome, sharing his pre- +eminence only with his younger friend, Horace. Born on his father's +small estate near Mantua, Virgil studied Greek at Naples, and other +branches, probably, at Rome, where in time he became the friend of the +munificent patron of letters, Mæcenas, with whom we have already seen +him on the noted journey to Brundusium. It was at the instigation of +Mæcenas that Virgil wrote his most finished work, the agricultural poem +entitled _Georgica_, which was completed after the battle of Actium +(B.C. 31), when Augustus was in the East. It had been preceded by ten +brief poems called Bucolics (_Bucolica_, Greek, _boukolos_, a cowherd), +noteworthy for their smooth versification and many natural touches, +though they have only the form and coloring of the true pastoral poem. +The Æneid, which was begun about 30 B.C., occupied eleven years in +composition, and yet lacked the finishing touches when the poet was on +his death-bed. His death occurred September 22, B.C. 19, at Brundusium, +to which place he had come from Greece, where he had been in company +with Augustus, and he was buried between the first and second +milestones on the road from Naples to Puteoli, where a monument is +still shown as his. + +Though always a sufferer from poor health, and therefore debarred from +entering upon an oratorical or a military career, Virgil was +exceptionally fortunate in his friendships and enjoyed extraordinary +patronage which enabled him to cultivate literature to the greatest +advantage. He was fortunate, too, in his fame, for he was a favorite +when he lived no less than after his death. Before the end of his own +generation his works were introduced as text-books into Roman schools; +during the Middle Age he was the great poet whom it was heresy not to +admire; Dante owned him as a master and a model; and the people finally +embalmed him in their folk-lore as a mysterious conjurer and +necromancer. His _Æneid_, written in imitation of the great Greek +poem on the fall of Troy, is a patriotic epic, tracing the wanderings, +the struggles, and the death of Æneas, and vaunting the glories of Rome +and the greatness of the royal house of the emperor. + +Thus, through long ages the Roman wrote, and thus he was furnished with +books to read. For centuries he had no literature excepting those rude +ballads in which the books of all countries have begun, and all trace +of them has passed away. When at last, after the conquest of the Greek +cities in Southern Italy, the Tarentine Andronicus began to imitate the +epics of his native language in that of his adoption, the progress was +still quite slow among a people who argued with the sword and saw +little to interest them in the fruit of the brain. As the republic +totters to its fall, however, the cultivators of this field increase, +and we must suppose that readers also were multiplied. At that time and +during the early years of the empire, a Mæcenas surrounded himself with +authors and stimulated them to put forth all their vigor in the effort +to create a native literature. + +On the Esquiline Hill there was a spot of ground that had been a place +of burial for the lower orders. This the hypochondriacal invalid +Mæcenas bought, and there he laid out a garden and erected a lofty +house surmounted by a tower commanding a view of the city and vicinity. +Effeminate and addicted to every sort of luxury, Mæcenas calmed his +sometimes excited nerves by the sweet sound of distant symphonies, +gratified himself by comforting baths, adorned his clothing with +expensive gems, tickled his palate with dainty confections of the cook, +and regaled himself with the loftier delights afforded by the +companionship of the wits and virtuosi of the capital. Magnificent was +the patronage that he dispensed among the men of letters; and that he +was no mean critic, his choice of authors seems to prove. They were the +greatest geniuses and most learned men of the day. At his table sat +Virgil, Horace, and Propertius, besides many others, and his name has +ever since been proverbial for the patron of letters. No wealthy public +man has since arisen who could rival him in this respect. + + + + +XX. + +THE ROMAN REPUBLICANS SERIOUS AND GAY. + + + +It is easier to think of the old Roman republicans as serious than gay, +when we remember that they considered that their very commonwealth was +established upon the will of the gods, and that no acts--at least no +public acts--could properly be performed without consulting those +spiritual beings, which their imagination pictured as presiding over +the hearth, the farm, the forum--as swarming throughout every +department of nature. The first stone was not laid at the foundation of +the city until Romulus and Remus had gazed up into the heavens, so +mysterious and so beautiful, and had obtained, as they thought, some +indication of the fittest place where they might dig and build. The +she-wolf that nurtured the twins was elevated into a divinity with the +name Lupa, or Luperca (_lupus_, a wolf), and was made the wife of +a god who was called Lupercus, and worshipped as the protector of sheep +against their enemies, and as the god of fertility. On the fifteenth of +February, when in that warm clime spring was beginning to open the +buds, the shepherds celebrated a feast in honor of Lupercus. Its +ceremonies, in some part symbolic of purification, were rude and almost +savage, proving that they originated in remote antiquity, but they +continued at least down to the end of the period we have considered, +and the powerful Marc Antony did not disdain to clothe himself in a +wolfskin and run almost naked through the crowded streets of the +capital the month before his friend Julius Cæsar was murdered. +[Footnote: see page 248*] It was a fitting festival for the month of +which the name was derived from that of the god of purification +(_februare_, to purify). + +It was at the foot of a fig-tree that Romulus and Remus were fabled to +have been found by Faustulus, and that tree was always looked upon with +special veneration, though whenever the Roman walked through the woods +he felt that he was surrounded by the world of gods, and that such a +leafy shade was a proper place to consecrate as a temple. A temple was +not an edifice in those simple days, but merely a place separated and +set apart to religious uses by a solemn act of dedication. When the +augur moved his wand aloft and designated the portion of the heavens in +which he was to make his observations, he called the circumscribed area +of the ethereal blue a temple, and when the mediæval astrologer did the +same, he named the space a "house." On the Roman temple an altar was +set up, and there, perhaps beneath the spreading branches of a royal +oak, sacred to Jupiter, the king of the gods, or of an olive, sacred to +Minerva, the maiden goddess, impersonation of ideas, who shared with +him and his queen the highest place among the Capitoline deities, +prayers and praises and sacrifices were offered. + +When the year opened, the Roman celebrated the fact by solemnizing in +its first month, March, the festivity of the father of the Roman people +by Rhea Silvia, the god who stood next to Jupiter; who, as Mars +Silvanus, watched over the fields and the cattle, and, as Mars Gradivus +(marching), delighted in bloody war, and was a fitting divinity to be +appealed to by Romulus as he laid the foundation of the city. +[Footnote: See page 19.] As spring progressed, sacrifices were offered +to Tellus, the nourishing earth; to Ceres, the Greek goddess Demeter, +introduced from Sicily B.C. 496, to avert a famine, whose character did +not, however, differ much from that of Tellus; and to Pales, a god of +the flocks. At the same inspiring season another feast was observed in +honor of the vines and vats, when the wine of the previous season was +opened and tasted. [Footnote: This was the ,_Vinalia urbana_ (_urbs_, a +city), but there was another festival celebrated August 19th, when the +vintage began, known as the _Vinalia rustica_ when lambs were +sacrificed to Jupiter. While the flesh was still on the altar, the +priest broke a cluster of grapes from a vine, and thus actually opened +the wine harvest.] + +In like manner after the harvest, there were festivals in honor of Ops, +goddess of plenty, wife of that old king of the golden age, Saturnus, +introducer of social order and god of sowing, source of wealth and +plenty. The festival of Saturnus himself occurred on December 17th, and +was a barbarous and joyous harvest-home, a time of absolute relaxation +and unrestrained merriment, when distinctions of rank were forgotten, +and crowds thronged the streets crying, _Io Saturnalia!_ even slaves +wearing the _pileus_ or skullcap, emblem of liberty, and all throwing +off the dignified toga for the easy and comfortable _synthesis_, +perhaps a sort of tunic. + +Other festivals were devoted to Vulcanus, god of fire, without whose +help the handicraftsmen thought they could not carry on their work; and +Neptunus, god of the ocean and the sea, to whom sailors addressed their +prayers, and to whom commanders going out with fleets offered +oblations. Family life was not likely to be forgotten by a people among +whom the father was the first priest, and accordingly we find that +every house was in a certain sense a temple of Vesta, the goddess of +the fireside, and that as of old time the family assembled in the +atrium around the hearth, to partake of their common meal, the renewal +of the family bond of union was in later days accompanied with acts of +worship of Vesta, whose actual temple was only an enlargement of the +fireside, uniting all the citizens of the state into a single large +family. In her shrine there was no statue, but her presence was +represented by the eternal fire burning upon her hearth, a fire that +Æneas was fabled to have brought with him from old Troy. The purifying +flames stood for the unsullied character of the goddess, which was also +betokened by the immaculate maidens who kept alive the sacred coals. As +Vesta was remembered at every meal, so also the Lares and Penates, +divinities of the fireside, were worshipped, for there was a +purification at the beginning of the repast and a libation poured upon +the table or the hearth in their honor at its close. When one went +abroad he prayed to the Penates for a safe return, and when he came +back, he hung his armor and his staff beside their images, and gave +them thanks. In every sorrow and in every joy the indefinite divinities +that went under these names were called upon for sympathy or help. + +In the month of June the mothers celebrated a feast called +_Matralia_, to impress upon themselves their duties towards children; +and at another they brought to mind the good deeds of the Sabine women +in keeping their husbands and fathers from war. [Footnote: see page 26] +This was the _Matronalia_, and the epigrammatist Martial, who lived +during the first century of our era, called it the Women's Saturnalia, +on account of its permitted relaxation of manners. At that time +husbands gave presents to their wives, lovers to their sweethearts, and +mistresses feasted their maids. + +The _Lemuria_ was a family service that the father celebrated on +the ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth of May, when the ghosts of the +departed were propitiated. It was thought that these spirits were wont +to return to the scenes of their earthly lives to injure those who were +still wrestling with the severe realities of time, and specially did +they come up during the darkness of night. Therefore it was that at +midnight the father rose and went forth with cabalistic signs, +skilfully adapted to keep the spectres at a distance. After thrice +washing his hands in pure spring water, he turned around and took +certain black beans into his mouth, and then threw them behind him for +the ghosts to pick up. The goodman then uttered other mystic +expressions without risking any looks towards the supposed sprites, +after which he washed his hands, and beat some brazen basins, and nine +times cried aloud: "Begone, ye spectres of the house!" Then could he +look around, for the ghosts were harmless. + +Thus the Roman forefathers worshipped personal gods, but they did not, +in the early times, follow the example of the imaginative Greeks, and +represent them, as possessing passions like themselves, nor did they +erect them into families and write out their lines of descent, or +create a mythology filled with stories of their acts good and bad. The +gods were spiritual beings, but the religion was not a spiritual life, +nor did it have much connection with morality. It was mainly based on +the enjoyment of earthly pleasures. If the ceremonious duties were +done, the demands of Roman religion were satisfied. It was a hard and +narrow faith, but it seemed to tend towards bringing earthly guilt and +punishment into relation with its divinities, and it contained the idea +of substitution, as is clearly seen in the stories of Curtius, Decius +Mus, and others. [Footnote: "When the gods of the community were angry, +and nobody could be laid hold of as definitely guilty, they might be +appeased by one who voluntarily gave himself up."--MOMMSEN, Book I., +chapter 12. ] + +As time passed on the rites and ceremonies increased in number and +intricacy, and it became necessary to have special orders to attend to +their observance, for the fathers of the families were not able to give +their attention to the matter sufficiently. Thus the colleges of +priests naturally grew up to care for the national religion, the most +ancient of them bearing reference to Mars the killing god. They were +the augurs and the pontifices, and as the religion grew more and more +formal and the priests less and less earnest, the observances fell into +dull and insipid performances, in which no one was interested, and in +time public service became not only tedious, but costly, penny +collections made from house to house being among the least onerous +expedients resorted to for the support of the new grafts on the tree of +devotion. + +As early as the time of the first Punic war, a consul was bold enough +to jest at the auspices in public. Superstitions and impostures +flourished, the astrology of ancient Chaldea spread, the Oriental +ceremonies were introduced with the pomps that accompanied the +reception of the unformed boulder which the special embassy brought +from Pessinus when the weary war with Hannibal had rendered any source +of hope, even the most futile, inspiring. [Footnote: B.C. 204. See page +153.] Then the abominable worship of Bacchus came in, and thousands +were corrupted and made vicious throughout Italy before the authorities +were able to put a stop to the midnight orgies and the crimes that +daylight exposed. + +Cato the elder, who would have nothing to do with consulting Chaldeans +or magicians of any sort, asked how it were possible for two such +ministers to meet each other face to face without laughing at their own +duplicity and the ridiculous superstition of the people they deceived. +[Footnote: It had been in early times customary to dismiss a political +gathering if a thunder-storm came up, and the augurs had taken +advantage of the practice to increase their own power by laying down an +occult system of celestial omens which enabled them to bring any such +meeting to a close when the legislation promised to thwart their plans. +They finally reached the absurd extreme of enacting a law, by the terms +of which a popular assembly was obliged to disperse, if it should occur +to a higher magistrate merely to look into the heavens for signs of the +approach of such a storm. The power of the priests under such a law was +immeasurable. (See pages 236 and 247). ] Cato was very much shocked by +the preaching of three Greek philosophers: Diogenes, a stoic; +Critolaus, a peripatetic; and Carneades, an academic, who visited Rome +on a political mission, B.C. 155; because it seemed to him that they, +especially the last, preached a doctrine that confounded justice and +injustice, a system of expediency, and he urged successfully that they +should have a polite permission to depart with all speed. The +philosophers were dismissed, but it was impossible to restrain the +Roman youth who had listened to the addresses of the strangers with an +avidity all the greater because their utterances had been found +scandalous, and they went to Athens, or Rhodes, to hear more of the +same doctrine. + +Thus in time the simplicity of the people was completely undermined, +and while they became more cosmopolitan they also grew more lax. They +used the Greek language, and employed Greek writers, as we have seen, +to make their books for them, which, though bearing Greek titles, were +composed in Latin. The public men performed in the forenoon their civil +and religious acts; took their siestas in the middle of the day; +exercised in the Campus Martius, swimming, wrestling, and fencing, in +the afternoon; enjoyed the delicacies of the table later, listening to +singing and buffoonery the while, and were thus prepared to seek their +beds when the sun went down. At the bath, which came to be the polite +resort of pleasure-seekers, all was holiday; the toga and the foot- +coverings were exchanged for a light Greek dressing-gown, and the time +was whiled away in gossip, idle talk, lounging, many dippings into the +flowing waters, and music. Pleasure became the business of life, and +morality was relaxed to a frightful extent. + +When we consider the gay moods of the Roman people we turn probably +first to childhood, and try to imagine how the little ones amused +themselves. We find that the girls had their dolls, some of which have +been dug out of ruins of the ancient buildings, and that the boys +played games similar to those that still hold dominion over the young +English or American school-boy at play. In their quieter moods they +played with huckle-bones taken from sheep, goats, or antelopes, or +imitated in stone, metal, ivory, or glass. From the earliest days these +were used chiefly by women and children, who used five at a time, which +they threw into the air and then tried to catch on the back of the +hand, their irregular form making the success the result of +considerable skill. The bones were also made to contribute to a variety +of amusements requiring agility and accuracy; but after a while the +element of chance was introduced. The sides were marked with different +values, and the victor was he who threw the highest value, fourteen, +the numbers cast being each different from the rest. This throw +obtained at a symposium or drinking party caused a person to be +appointed king of the feast. + +One of the oldest games of the world is that called by the Romans +little marauders (_latrunculi_), because it was played like draughts or +checkers, there being two sets of "men," white and red, representing +opposed soldiers, and the aim of each player being to gain advantage +over the other, as soldiers do in a combat. This game is as old as +Homer, and is represented in Egyptian tombs, which are of much greater +antiquity than any Grecian monuments. In this game, too, skill was all +that was needed at first, but in time spice was given by the addition +of chance, and dice (_tessera_, a die) were used as in backgammon; but +gambling was deemed disreputable, and was forbidden during the +republic, except at the time of the Saturnalia, though both Greeks and +Romans permitted aged men to amuse themselves in that way. [Footnote: A +gambler was called _aleator_, and sometimes his implement was spoken of +as _alea_, which meant literally gaming. When Suetonius makes Cæsar +say, before crossing the Rubicon, "The die is cast," he uses the words +_Jacta alea est!_] + +The games of the Romans range from the innocent tossing of huckle-bones +to the frightful scenes of the gladiatorial show. Some were celebrated +in the open air, and others within the enclosures of the circus or the +amphitheatre. Some were gay, festive, and abandoned, and others were +serious and tragic. Some were said to have been instituted in the +earliest days by Romulus, Servius Tullius, or Tarquinius Priscus, and +others were imported from abroad or grew up naturally as the nation +progressed in experience or in acquaintance with foreign peoples. The +great increase of games and festivals and their enormous cost were +signs of approaching trouble for the republic, and foretold the +terrible days of the empire, when the rabblement of the capital, +accustomed to be amused and fed by their despotic and corrupt rulers, +should cry in the streets: "Give us bread for nothing and games +forever!" It was gradually educating the populace to think of nothing +but enjoyment and to abhor honest labor, and we can imagine the +corruption that must have been brought into politics when honors were +so expensive that a respectable gladiatorical show cost more than +thirty-five thousand dollars (£7,200). If money for such purposes could +not be obtained by honest means, the nobles, who lived on popular +applause, would seek to force it from poor citizens of the colonies or +win it by intrigue at home. + +There were impressive games celebrated from the fourth to the twelfth +of September, called the great games of the Roman Circus, but it is a +disputed point what divinities they were in honor of. Jupiter was +thought surely to be one, and Census another, by those who believed the +legends asserting that they were a continuation of those established by +Romulus when he wished to get wives from the Sabines. Others think that +Tarquinius Priscus, after a victory over the Latins, commemorated his +success by games in a valley between the Aventine and the Palatine +hills, where the spectators stood about to look on, or occupied stages +that they erected for their separate use. The racers went around in a +circuit, and it is perhaps on this account that the course and its +scaffolds was called the circus (_circum,_ round about). The course was +long, and about it the seats of the spectators were in after times +arranged in tiers. A division, called the _spina (spine)_, was built +through the central enclosure, separated the horses running in one +direction from those going in the other. + +A variety of different games were celebrated in the circus. The races +may be mentioned first. Sometimes two chariots, drawn by two horses or +four each (the _biga_ or the _quadriga_), entered for the trial of +speed. Each had two horsemen, one of whom, standing in the car with the +reins behind his back to enable him to throw his entire weight on them, +drove, while the other urged the beasts forward, cleared the way, or +assisted in managing the reins. Before the race lists of the horses +were handed about and bets made on them, the utmost enthusiasm being +excited, and the factions sometimes even coming to blows and blood. The +time having arrived, the horses were brought from stalls at the end of +the course, and ranged in line, a trumpet sounded, or a handkerchief +was dropped, and the drivers and animals put forth every exertion to +win the prize. Seven times they whirled around the course, the applause +of the excited spectators constantly sounding in their ears. Now and +then a biga would be overturned, or a driver, unable to control his +fiery steeds, would be thrown to the ground, and, not quick enough to +cut the reins that encircled him with the bill-hook that he carried for +the purpose, would be dragged to his death. Such an accident would not +stop the onrushing of the other competitors, and at last the victor +would step from his car, mount the _spina_, and receive the sum of +money that had been offered as the prize. + +[Illustration: RUINS OF THE COLOSSEUM SEEN FROM THE PALATINE HILL] + +Another game was the Play of Troy, fabled to have been invented by +Æneas, in which young men of rank on horses performed a sham fight. On +another occasion the circus would be turned into a camp, and +equestrians and infantry would give a realistic exhibition of battle. +Again, there would be athletic games, running, boxing, wrestling, +throwing the discus or the spear, and other exercises testing the +entire physical system with much thoroughness. One day the amphitheatre +would be filled with huge trees, and savage animals would be brought to +be hunted down by criminals, captives, or men especially trained for +the desperate work, who made it their profession. + +For the purposes of these combats the circus was found not to be the +best, and the amphitheatre was invented by Curio for the celebration of +his father's funeral games. It differed from a theatre in permitting +the audience to see on both sides (Greek _amphi_, both), but the +distinctive name was first applied to a structure built by Cæsar, B.C. +46. The Flavian Amphitheatre, better known as the Colosseum, of which +the ruins now stand in Rome, was the culmination of this sort of +building, and affords a good idea of the general arrangement of those +that were not so grand. That of Cæsar was, however, of wood, which +material was used in constructing theatres also; the first one of stone +was not erected until 30 B.C., when Augustus was consul. [Footnote: +History gives an account of one edifice of this kind made of wood that +fell down owing to imperfect construction, killing many thousand +spectators, and of another that was destroyed by fire. Pompey's theatre +of stone, built B.C. 55, has already been mentioned (page 231).] + +Variety was given to the exhibitions of the amphitheatre by introducing +sufficient water to float ships, and by causing the same wretched class +that fought the wild beasts to represent two rival nations, and to +fight until one party was actually killed, unless preserved by the +clemency of the ruler. + +It must not be supposed that all these exhibitions were known in early +times, for, in reality, they were mostly the fruit of the increased +love of pleasure that characterized the close of the period of the +republic, and reached their greatest extravagance only under the +emperors. + +The departure of a Roman from this world was considered an event of +great importance, and was attended by peculiar ceremonies, some of +which have been imitated in later times. At the solemn moment the +nearest relative present tried to catch in his mouth the last expiring +breath, and as soon as life had passed away, he called out the name of +the departed and exclaimed "Vale!" (farewell). The ring had been +previously taken from the finger, and now the body was washed and +anointed by undertakers, who had been called from a place near the +temple of Venus Libitina, where the names of all who died were +registered, and where articles needed for funerals were hired and sold. +[Footnote: Libitina was an ancient Italian divinity about whom little +is known. She has been identified with both Proserpina (the infernal +goddess of death and queen of the domain of Pluto her husband) and with +Venus.] + +A small coin was placed in the mouth of the deceased to pay Charon the +ferryman who was to take it across the rivers of the lower world, the +body was laid out in the vestibule, with its feet toward the door, +wearing the simple toga, in the case of an ordinary citizen, or the +toga _prætexta_ in case of a magistrate, and flowers and leaves +were used for decorations as they are at present. If the deceased had +received a crown for any act of heroism in life, it was placed upon his +head at death. We have already seen that cypress was put at the door to +express to the passer-by the bereavement of the dwellers in the house. +If the person had been of importance, the funeral was public, and +probably it would be found that he had left money for the purpose; but +if he had omitted to do that, the expenses of burial would devolve on +those who were to inherit his property. These charges in case of a poor +person would be but slight, the funeral being celebrated; as in the +olden times of the republic, at night and in a very modest style. + +The master of the funeral, as he was called, attended by lictors +dressed in black, directed the ceremonies in the case of a person of +importance. On the eighth day the body would be taken to its cremation +or burial, accompanied by persons wearing masks, representing the +ancestors of the deceased and dressed in the official costumes that had +been theirs, while before it would be borne the military and civic +rewards that the deceased had won. + +Musicians playing doleful strains headed the procession, followed by +hired mourners who united lamentations with songs in praise of the +virtue of the departed. Players, buffoons, and liberated slaves +followed, and of the actors one represented the deceased, imitating his +words and actions. The couch on which the body rested as it was carried +was often of ivory adorned with gold, and was borne by the near +relatives or freedmen, though Julius Cæsar was carried by magistrates +and Augustus by senators. + +Behind the body the relatives walked in mourning, which was black or +dark blue, the sons having their heads veiled, and the daughters +wearing their hair dishevelled, and both uttering loud lamentations, +the women frantically tearing their cheeks and beating their breasts. +As the procession passed through the forum it stopped, and an oration +was delivered celebrating the praises of the deceased, after which it +went on through the city to some place beyond the walls where the body +was burned or buried. We have seen that burial was the early mode of +disposing of the dead, and that Sulla was the first of his gens to be +burned. [Footnote: See page 197.] In case of burning, the body was +placed on a square, altar-like pile of wood, still resting on the +couch, and the nearest relative, with averted face, applied the torch. +As the flames rose, perfumes, oil, articles of apparel, and dishes of +food were cast into them. Sometimes animals, captives, or slaves were +slaughtered on the occasion, and, as we have seen, gladiators were +hired to fight around the flaming pile. [Footnote: See pages 158 and +210] + +When the fire had accomplished its work, and the whole was burned down, +wine was thrown over the ashes to extinguish the expiring embers, and +the remains were sympathetically gathered up and placed in an urn of +marble or less costly material. A priest then sprinkled the ashes with +pure water, using a branch of olive or laurel, the urn was placed in a +niche of the family tomb, and the mourning relatives and friends +withdrew, saying as they went _Vale, vale_! When they reached their +homes they underwent a process of purification, the houses themselves +were swept with a broom of prescribed pattern, and for nine days the +mourning exercises, which included a funeral feast, were continued. In +the case of a great man this feast was a public banquet, and +gladiatorial shows and games were added in some instances, and they +were also repeated on anniversaries of the funeral. + +[Illustration: A COLUMBARIUM.] + +The public buried the illustrious citizens of the nation, and those +whose estates were too poor to pay such expenses; the former being for +a long time laid away in the Campus Martius, until the site became +unhealthy, when it was given to Mæcenas, who built a costly house on +it. The rich often erected expensive vaults and tombs during their own +lives, and some of the streets for a long distance from the city gate +were bordered with ornamental but funereal structures, which must have +made the traveller feel that he was passing through unending burial- +places. If a tomb was fitted up to contain many funeral ash-urns, it +was known as a columbarium, or dove-cote (_columba_, a dove), the +ashes of the freedmen and even slaves being placed in niches covered by +lids and bearing inscriptions. The Romans ornamented their tombs in a +variety of ways, but did not care to represent death in a direct +manner. The place of burial of a person, even a slave, was sacred, and +one who desecrated it was liable to grave punishment--even to death,-- +if the bodies or bones were removed. Oblations of flowers, wine, and +milk were often brought to the tombs by relatives, and sometimes they +were illuminated. + +Almost every country lying under a southern sun is accustomed to +rejoice at the annual return of flowers, and ancient Rome was not +without its May-day. Festivals of the sort are apt to degenerate +morally, and that, also, was true of the Floralia, as these feasts were +called at Rome. It is said that in the early age of the republic there +was found in the Sibylline books a precept commanding the institution +of a celebration in honor of the goddess Flora, who presided over +flowers and spring-time, in order to obtain protection for the +blossoms. The last three days of April and the first two of May were +set apart for this purpose, and then, under the direction of the +ædiles, the people gave themselves up to all the delights and, it must +be confessed, to many of the dissipations of the opening spring. The +amusements were of a varied character, including scenic and other +theatrical shows, great merriment, feasting, and drinking. Dance and +song added to the gay pleasures, and flowers adorned the scenes that +met the eye on every hand. Probably no particular deity was honored at +these festivals at first. They were simply the unbending of the rustics +after the cold of winter, the rejoicings natural to man in spring; but +finally the personal genius of the flowers was developed and her name +given to the gay festival. + +The rustic simplicity represented well the primal homeliness of the +nation during the heroic ages; the orgies of the crowded city may be +put for the growing decay of the later period when, enriched and +intoxicated by foreign conquest and maddened by civil war, the republic +fell, and the way was made plain for the great material growth of the +empire, as well as for the final fall of the vast power that had for so +many centuries been invincible among the nations of the earth;--a power +which still stands forth in monumental grandeur, and is to-day studied +for the lessons it teaches and the warnings its history utters to +mankind. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE STORY OF ROME FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE END OF THE REPUBLIC *** + +This file should be named 6427.txt or 6427.zip + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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