EPOCHS OF ANCIENT HISTORY

 * * * * *

THE GRACCHI MARIUS AND SULLA

BY

A. H. BEESLEY

WITH MAPS

1921

PREFACE

It would be scarcely possible for anyone writing on the periodembraced in this volume, to perform his task adequately without makinghimself familiar with Mr. Long's 'History of the Decline of the RomanRepublic' and Mommsen's 'History of Rome. ' To do over again (as thoughthe work had never been attempted) what has been done once for allaccurately and well, would be mere prudery of punctiliousness. Butwhile I acknowledge my debt of gratitude to both these eminenthistorians, I must add that for the whole period I have carefullyexamined the original authorities, often coming to conclusions widelydiffering from those of Mr. Long. And I venture to hope that fromthe advantage I have had in being able to compare the works of twowriters, one of whom has well-nigh exhausted the theories as theother has the facts of the subject, I have succeeded in giving a moreconsistent and faithful account of the leaders and legislation of therevolutionary era than has hitherto been written. Certainly therecould be no more instructive commentary on either history than thestudy of the other, for each supplements the other and emphasizesits defects. If Mommsen at times pushes conjecture to the verge ofinvention, as in his account of the junction of the Helvetii andCimbri, Mr. Long, in his dogged determination never to swerve fromfacts to inference, falls into the opposite extreme, resorting tosomewhat Cyclopean architecture in his detestation of stucco. Butmy admiration for his history is but slightly qualified by suchconsiderations, and to any student who may be stimulated by thevolumes of this series to acquire what would virtually amount to anacquaintance first-hand with the narratives of ancient writers, Iwould say 'Read Mr. Long's history. ' To do so is to learn not onlyknowledge but a lesson in historical study generally. For the writingsof a man with whom style is not the first object are as refreshing ashis scorn for romancing history is wholesome, and the grave irony withwhich he records its slips amusing. 

A. H. B. 

CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER I. 

ANTECEDENTS OF THE REVOLUTION. 

Previous history of the Roman orders--The Ager Publicus--Previousattempts at agrarian legislation--Roman slavery--The first SlaveWar--The Nobiles, Optimates, Populares, Equites--Classification of thecomponent parts of the Roman State--State of the transmarine provinces

CHAPTER II. 

TIBERIUS GRACCHUS. 

Scipio Aemilianus--Tribunate of Tiberius Gracchus--His agrarianproposals--Wisdom of them--Grievances of the possessors--Octaviusthwarts Gracchus--Conduct of Gracchus defended--His other intendedreforms--He stands again for the tribunate--His motives--His murder

CHAPTER III. 

CAIUS GRACCHUS. 

Blossius spared--The law of T. Gracchus carried out--Explanationof Italian opposition to it--Attitude of Scipio Aemilianus--Hismurder--Quaestorship of Caius Gracchus--The Alien Act ofPennus--Flaccus proposes to give the Socii the franchise--Revolt andextirpation of Fregellae--Tribunate of Caius Gracchus--Compared toTiberius--His aims--His Corn Law defended--His Lex Judiciaria--His lawconcerning the taxation of Asia--His conciliation of the equites--Hiscolonies--He proposes to give the franchise to the Italians--Otherprojects--Machinations of the nobles against him--M. Livius Drususoutbids him--Stands again for the tribunate, but is rejected--Hismurder--Some of his laws remain in force--The Maria Lex--Reactionarylegislation of the Senate--The Lex Thoria--All offices confined to aclose circle

CHAPTER IV. 

THE JUGURTHINE WAR. 

Legacy of Attalus--Aristonicus usurps his kingdom--Settlement ofAsia--Jugurtha murders Hiempsal and attacks Adherbal--His intriguesat Rome and the infamy of M. Aemilius Scaurus and the other Romannobles--Three commissions bribed by Jugurtha--Adherbal murdered--Romedeclares war and Jugurtha bribes the Roman generals, Bestia andScaurus--Memmius denounces them at Rome--Jugurtha summoned to Rome, where he murders Massiva--He defeats Aulus Albinos--Metellus sentagainst him Jugurtha defeated on the Muthul--Keeps up a guerillawarfare--Marius stands for the consulship, and succeedsMetellus--Bocchus betrays Jugurtha to Sulla--Settlement of Numidia

CHAPTER V. 

THE CIMBRI AND TEUTONES. 

Recommencement of the Social struggle at Rome--Marius the popularhero--Incessant frontier-warfare of the Romans--The Cimbri defeatCarbo and Silanus--Caepio and 'The Gold of Tolosa'--The Cimbri defeatScaurus and Caepio--Marius elected consul--The Cimbri march towardsSpain--Their nationality--Their plan of operations--Plan ofMarius--Battle of Aquae Sextiae--Battle of Vercellae

CHAPTER VI. 

THE ROMAN ARMY. 

Second Slave War--Aquillius ends it--Changes in the Romanarmy--Uniform equipment of the legionary--Mariani muli--The cohortthe tactical unit--The officers--Numbers of the legion--The pay--Thepraetorian cohort--Dislike to service--The army becomes professional

CHAPTER VII. 

SATURNINUS AND DRUSUS. 

Saturninus takes up the Gracchan policy, in league with Glaucia andMarius--The Lex Servilia meant to relieve the provincials, conciliatethe equites, and throw open the judicia to all citizens--Agrarian lawof Saturninus--His laws about grain and treason--Murder of Memmius, Glaucia's rival--Saturninus is attacked and deserted by Marius--TheLex Licinia Minucia heralds the Social War--Drusus attemptsreform--Obliged to tread in the steps of the Gracchi--His proposalswith regard to the Italians, the coinage, corn, colonies and theequites--Opposed by Philippus and murdered

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE SOCIAL WAR. 

Interests of Italian capitalists and small farmers opposed--The SocialWar breaks out at Asculum--The insurgents choose Corfinium as theircapital--In the first year they gain everywhere--Then the Lex Julia ispassed and in the second year they lose everywhere--The star of Sullarises, that of Marius declines--The Lex Plautia Papiria--First yearof the war--The confederates defeat Perperna, Crassus, Caesar, Lupus, Caepio, and take town after town--The Umbrians and EtruscansRevolt--Second year--Pompeius triumphs in the north, Cosconius inthe south-east, Sulla in the south-west--Revolution at Rome--Theconfederates courted by both parties--The rebellion smoulders on tillfinally quenched by Sulla after the Mithridatic War

CHAPTER IX. 

SULPICIUS. 

Financial crisis at Rome--Sulpicius Rufus attempts to reform thegovernment, and complete the enfranchisement of the Italians--His lawsforcibly carried by the aid of Marius--Sulla driven from Rome flies tothe army at Nola, and marches at their head against Marius--Sulpiciusslain--Marius outlawed--Sulla leaves Italy after reorganizing theSenate and the comitia

CHAPTER X. 

MARIUS AND CINNA. 

Flight of Marius--His romantic adventures at Circeii, Minturnae, Carthage--Cinna takes up the Italian cause--Driven from Rome byOctavius, he flies to the army in Campania and marches on Rome--Mariuslands in Etruria--Octavius summons Pompeius from Etruria andtheir armies surround the city--Marius and Cinna enter Rome--Theproscriptions--Seventh consulship and death of Marius--Cinna supreme

CHAPTER XI. 

THE FIRST MITHRIDATIC WAR. 

Sertorius in Spain--Cyrene bequeathed to Rome--Previous history ofMithridates--His submission to Aquillius--Aquillius forces on awar--He is defeated and killed by Mithridates--Massacre of Romans inAsia--Mithridates repulsed at Rhodes

CHAPTER XII. 

SULLA IN GREECE AND ASIA. 

Aristion induces Athens to revolt--Sulla lands in Epirus, and besiegesAthens and the Piraeus--His difficulties--He takes Athens and thePiraeus, and defeats Archelaus at Chaeroneia and Orchomenus--Termsoffered to Mithridates--Tyranny of the latter--Flaccus comes to Asiaand is murdered by Fimbria, who is soon afterwards put to death bySulla

CHAPTER XIII. 

SULLA IN ITALY. 

Sulla lands at Brundisium and is joined by numerous adherents--Battleof Mount Tifata--Sertorius goes to Spain--Sulla in 83 is master ofPicenum, Apulia, and Campania--Battle of Sacriportus--Sulla blockadesyoung Marius in Praeneste--Indecisive war in Picenum between Carboand Metellus--Repeated attempts to relieve Praeneste--Carbo fliesto Africa--His lieutenants threaten Rome--Sulla comes to the rescue--Desperate attempt to take the city by Pontius--Battle of theColline Gate--Sulla's danger--Death of Carbo, of DomitiusAhenobarbus--Exploits of Pompeius in Sicily and Africa--Hisvanity--Murena provokes the second Mithridatic War--Sertorius inSpain--His successes and ascendency over the natives

CHAPTER XIV. 

PERSONAL RULE AND DEATH OF SULLA. 

The Sullan proscriptions--Sulla and Caesar--The Cornelii--Sulla'shorrible character--His death and splendid obsequies

CHAPTER XV. 

SULLA'S REACTIONARY MEASURES. 

The Leges Corneliae--Sulla remodels the Senate, the quaestorship, the censorship, the tribunate, the comitia, the consulship, thepraetorship, the augurate and pontificate, the judicia--Minor lawsattributed to him--Effects of his legislation the best justificationof the Gracchi

LIST OF PHRASES

INDEX

MAPS. 

MARCH OF SULLA AND ARCHELAUS BEFORE CHAERONEIA

BATTLE OF CHAERONEIA

THE

GRACCHI, MARIUS AND SULLA. 

 * * * * *

CHAPTER I. 

ANTECEDENTS OF THE REVOLUTION. 

During the last half of the second century before Christ Rome wasundisputed mistress of the civilised world. A brilliant period offoreign conquest had succeeded the 300 years in which she had overcomeher neighbours and made herself supreme in Italy. In 146 B. C. She hadgiven the death-blow to her greatest rival, Carthage, and had annexedGreece. In 140 treachery had rid her of Viriathus, the stubbornguerilla who defied her generals and defeated her armies in Spain. In 133 the terrible fate of Numantia, and in 132 the mercilesssuppression of the Sicilian slave-revolt, warned all foes of theRepublic that the sword, which the incompetence of many generals hadmade seem duller than of old, was still keen to smite; and exceptwhere some slave-bands were in desperate rebellion, and in Pergamus, where a pretender disputed with Rome the legacy of Attalus, every landalong the shores of the Mediterranean was subject to or at the mercyof a town not half as large as the London of to-day. Almost exactly acentury afterwards the Government under which this gigantic empire hadbeen consolidated was no more. 

Foreign wars will have but secondary importance in the followingpages. [Sidenote: The history will not be one of military events. ] Theinterest of the narrative centres mainly in home politics; and thoughthe world did not cease to echo to the tramp of conquering legions, and the victorious soldier became a more and more important factor inthe State, still military matters no longer, as in the Samnite andPunic wars, absorb the attention, dwarfed as they are by the greatsocial struggle of which the metropolis was the arena. In treating ofthe first half of those hundred years of revolution, which beganwith the tribunate of Tiberius Gracchus and ended with the battle ofActium, it is mainly the fall of the Republican and the foreshadowingof the Imperial system of government which have to be described. [Sidenote: In order to understand the times of the Gracchi it isnecessary to understand the history of the orders at Rome. ] But, inorder to understand rightly the events of those fifty years, somesurvey, however brief, of the previous history of the Roman orders isindispensable. 

[Sidenote: The patres. ] When the mists of legend clear away we see acommunity which, if we do not take slaves into account, consistedof two parts--the governing body, or patres, to whom alone the termPopulus Romanus strictly applied, and who constituted the Roman State, and the governed class, or clientes, who were outside its pale. Theword patrician, more familiar to our ear than the substantive fromwhich it is formed, came to imply much more than its original meaning. [Sidenote: The clients. ] In its simplest and earliest sense it wasapplied to a man who was sprung from a Roman marriage, who stoodtowards his client on much the same footing which, in the mildest formof slavery, a master occupies towards his slave. As the patronus wasto the libertus, when it became customary to liberate slaves, so insome measure were the Fathers to their retainers, the Clients. Thatthe community was originally divided into these two sections is known. What is not known is how, besides this primary division of patres andclientes, there arose a second _political_ class in the State, namelythe plebs. The client as client had no political existence. [Sidenote:The plebeians. ] But as a plebeian he had. Whether the plebs was formedof clients who had been released from their clientship, just as slavesmight be manumitted; or of foreigners, as soldiers, traders, orartisans were admitted into the community; or partly of foreigners andpartly of clients, the latter being equalised by the patres with theformer in self-defence; and whether as a name it dated from or wasantecedent to the so-called Tullian organization is uncertain. But weknow that in one way or other a second political division in the Statearose and that the constitution, of which Servius Tullius was thereputed author, made every freeman in Rome a citizen by giving him avote in the Comitia Centuriata. Yet though the plebeian was a citizen, and as such acquired 'commercium, ' or the right to hold and deviseproperty, it was only after a prolonged struggle that he achievedpolitical equality with the patres. [Sidenote: Gradual acquisitionby the plebs of political equality with the patres. ] Step by step hewrung from them the rights of intermarriage and of filling offices ofstate; and the great engine by which this was brought about was thetribunate, the historical importance of which dates from, even thoughas a plebeian magistracy it may have existed before, the firstsecession of the plebs in 494 B. C. [Sidenote: Character of thetribunate. ] The tribunate stood towards the freedom of the Romanpeople in something of the same relation which the press of our timeoccupies towards modern liberty: for its existence implied freecriticism of the executive, and out of free speech grew free action. [Sidenote: The Roman government transformed from oligarchy into aplutocracy. ]

Side by side with those external events which made Rome mistress firstof her neighbours, then, of Italy, and lastly of the world, there wenton a succession of internal changes, which first transformed a pureoligarchy into a plutocracy, and secondly overthrew this modified formof oligarchy, and substituted Caesarism. With the earlier of thesechanges we are concerned here but little. The political revolution wasover when the social revolution which we have to record began. But theroots of the social revolution were of deep growth, and were in factsometimes identical with those of the political revolution. [Sidenote:Parallel between Roman and English history. ] Englishmen can understandsuch an intermixture the more readily from the analogies, more or lessclose, which their own history supplies. They have had a monarchy. They have been ruled by an oligarchy, which has first confronted andthen coalesced with the moneyed class, and the united orders have beenforced to yield theoretical equality to almost the entire nation, while still retaining real authority in their own hands. They haveseen a middle class coquetting with a lower class in order to forcean upper class to share with it its privileges, and an upper classresorting in its turn to the same alliance; and they may have notedsomething more than a superficial resemblance between the tacticsof the patres and nobiles of Rome and our own magnates of birth andcommerce. Even now they are witnessing the displacement of politicalby social questions, and, it is to be hoped, the successful solutionof problems which in the earlier stages of society have defied theefforts of every statesman. Yet they know that, underlying all thepolitical struggles of their history, questions connected withthe rights and interests of rich and poor, capitalist and toiler, land-owner and land-cultivator, have always been silently andsometimes violently agitated. Political emancipation has enabledsocial discontent to organize itself and find permanent utterance, andwe are to-day facing some of the demands to satisfy which the Gracchisacrificed their lives more than 2, 000 years ago. [Sidenote: Thestruggle between the orders chiefly agrarian. ] With us indeed thewages question is of more prominence than the land question, becausewe are a manufacturing nation; but the principles at stake are muchthe same. At Rome social agitation was generally agrarian, and thefirst thing necessary towards understanding the Gracchan revolution isto gain a clear conception of the history of the public land. 

[Sidenote: Origin of the Ager Publicus. ] The ground round a town likeRome was originally cultivated by the inhabitants, some of whom, asmore food and clothing were required, would settle on the soil. Fromthem the ranks of the army were recruited; and, thus doubly oppressedby military service and by the land tax, which had to be paid in coin, the small husbandman was forced to borrow from some richer man in thetown. Hence arose usury, and a class of debtors; and the sum of debtmust have been increased as well as the number of the debtors by thevery means adopted to relieve it. [Sidenote: Fourfold way of dealingwith conquered territory. ] When Rome conquered a town she confiscateda portion of its territory, and disposed of it in one of four ways. [Sidenote: Colonies. ] 1. After expelling the owners, she sent some ofher own citizens to settle upon it. They did not cease to be Romans, and, being in historical times taken almost exclusively from theplebs, must often have been but poorly furnished with the capitalnecessary for cultivating the ground. [Sidenote: Sale. ] 2. She soldit; and, as with us, when a field is sold, a plan is made of itsdimensions and boundaries, so plans of the land thus sold were made ontablets of bronze, and kept by the State. [Sidenote: Occupation. ] 3. She allowed private persons to 'occupy' it on payment of 'vectigal, 'or a portion of the produce; and, though not surrendering the title tothe land, permitted the possessors to use it as their private propertyfor purchase, sale, and succession. [Sidenote: Commons. ] 4. A portionwas kept as common pasture land for those to whom the land had beengiven or sold, or by whom it was occupied and those who used it paid'scriptura, ' or a tax of so much per head on the beasts, for whosegrazing they sent in a return. This irregular system was fruitful inevil. It suited the patres with whom it originated, for they werefor a time the sole gainers by it. Without money it must have beenhopeless to occupy tracts distant from Rome. The poor man who did sowould either involve himself in debt, or be at the mercy of his richerneighbours, whose flocks would overrun his fields, or who might ousthim altogether from them by force, and even seize him himself andenroll him as a slave. The rich man, on the other hand, could usesuch land for pasture, and leave the care of his flocks and herdsto clients and slaves. [Sidenote: This irregular system the germ oflatifundia. ] So originated those 'latifundia, ' or large farms, whichgreatly contributed to the ruin of Rome and Italy. The tilled landgrew less and with it dwindled the free population and the recruitingfield for the army. Gangs of slaves became more numerous, and weretreated with increased brutality; and as men who do not work for theirown money are more profuse in spending it than those who do, theextravagance of the Roman possessors helped to swell the tide ofluxury, which rose steadily with foreign conquest, and to create inthe capital a class free in name indeed, but more degraded, if lessmiserable, than the very slaves, who were treated like beasts throughItaly. It is not certain whether anyone except a patrician could claim'occupation' as a right; but, as the possessors could in any casesell the land to plebeians, it fell into the hands of rich men, to whichever class they belonged, both at Rome, and in the Romancolonies, and the Municipia; and as it was never really theirproperty--'dominium'--but the property of the State, it was a constantsource of envy and discontent among the poor. 

[Sidenote: Why complaints about the Public Land became louder at theclose of the second century B. C. ] As long as fresh assignations ofland and the plantations of colonies went on, this discontent couldbe kept within bounds. But for a quarter of a century preceding ourperiod scarcely any fresh acquisitions of land had been made in Italy, and, with no hope of new allotments from the territory of theirneighbours, the people began to clamour for the restitution of theirown. [Sidenote: Previous agrarian legislation. Spurius Cassius. ] Thefirst attempt to wrest public land from possessors had been made longbefore this by Spurius Cassius; and he had paid for his daring withhis life. [Sidenote: The Licinian Law. ] More than a century later theLicinian law forbade anyone to hold above 500 'jugera' of public land, for which, moreover, a tenth of the arable and a fifth of the grazingproduce was to be paid to the State. The framers of the law are saidto have hoped that possessors of more than this amount would shrinkfrom making on oath a false return of the land which they occupied, and that, as they would be liable to penalties for exceeding theprescribed maximum, all land beyond the maximum would be sold at anominal price (if this interpretation of the [Greek: kat' oligon] ofAppian may be hazarded) to the poor. It is probable that they did notquite know what they were aiming at, and certain that they did notforesee the effects of their measure. In a confused way the lawmay have been meant to comprise sumptuary, political, and agrarianobjects. It forbade anyone to keep more than a hundred large or fivehundred small beasts on the common pasture-land, and stipulated forthe employment of a certain proportion of free labour. The freelabourers were to give information of the crops produced, so thatthe fifths and tenths might be duly paid; and it may have beenthe breakdown of such an impossible institution which led to theestablishment of the 'publicani. ' [Sidenote: Composite nature of theLicinian law. ] Nothing, indeed, is more likely than that Licinius andSextius should have attempted to remedy by one measure the specificgrievance of the poor plebeians, the political disabilities of therich plebeians and the general deterioration of public morals; but, though their motives may have been patriotic, such a measure could nomore cure the body politic than a man who has a broken limb, is blind, and in a consumption can be made sound at every point by the heal-allof a quack. Accordingly the Licinian law was soon, except in itspolitical provisions, a dead letter. Licinius was the first manprosecuted for its violation, and the economical desire of the nationbecame intensified. [Sidenote: The Flaminian law. ] In 232 B. C. Flaminius carried a law for the distribution of land taken from theSenones among the plebs. Though the law turned out no possessors, itwas opposed by the Senate and nobles. Nor is this surprising, for anylaw distributing land was both actually and as a precedent a blow tothe interests of the class which practised occupation. What is atfirst sight surprising is that small parcels of land, such as musthave been assigned in these distributions, should have been socoveted. [Sidenote: Why small portions of land were so coveted. ] Theexplanation is probably fourfold. Those who clamoured for them werewretched enough to clutch at any change; or did not realise tothemselves the dangers and drawbacks of what they desired; or intendedat once to sell their land to some richer neighbour; or, lastly, longed to keep a slave or two, just as the primary object of the 'meanwhite' in America used to be to keep his negro. [Sidenote: Failureof previous legislation. ] On the whole, it is clear that legislationprevious to this period had not diminished agrarian grievances, and itis clear also why these grievances were so sorely felt. The generaltendency at Rome and throughout Italy was towards a division ofsociety into two classes--the very rich and the very poor, a tendencywhich increased so fast that not many years later it was said that outof some 400, 000 men at Rome only 2, 000 could, in spite of the citybeing notoriously the centre to which the world's wealth gravitated, be called really rich men. To any patriot the progressive extinctionof small land-owners must have seemed piteous in itself and menacingto the life of the State. On the other hand, the poor had always oneglaring act of robbery to cast in the teeth of the rich. A sanguinetribune might hope permanently to check a growing evil by freshsupplies of free labour. His poor partisan again had a directpecuniary interest in getting the land. Selfish and philanthropicmotives therefore went hand in hand, and in advocating thedistribution of land a statesman would be sure of enlistingthe sympathies of needy Italians, even more than those of thebetter-provided-for poor of Rome. 

[Sidenote: Roman slavery. ] Incidental mention has been made of thecondition of the slaves in Italy. It was the sight of the slave-gangswhich partly at least roused Tiberius Gracchus to action, and someremarks on Roman slavery follow naturally an enquiry into the natureof the public land. The most terrible characteristic of slavery isthat it blights not only the unhappy slaves themselves, but theirowners and the land where they live. It is an absolutely unmitigatedevil. As Roman conquests multiplied and luxury increased, enormousfortunes became more common, and the demand for slaves increased also. Ten thousand are said to have been landed and sold at Delos in oneday. What proportion the slave population of Italy bore to the free atthe time of the Gracchi we cannot say. It has been placed as low as 4per cent. , but the probability is that it was far greater. [Sidenote:Slave labour universally employed. ] In trades, mining, grazing, levying of revenue, and every field of speculation, slave-labourwas universally employed. If it is certain that even unenfranchisedItalians, however poor, could be made to serve in the Roman army, itwas a proprietor's direct interest from that point of view to employslaves, of whose services he could not be deprived. 

[Sidenote: Whence the slaves came. Their treatment. ] A vast impetushad been given to the slave-trade at the time of the conquest ofMacedonia, about thirty-five years before our period. Thegreat slave-producing countries were those bordering on theMediterranean--Africa, Asia, Spain, &c. An organized system ofman-hunting supplied the Roman markets, and slave-dealers were part ofthe ordinary retinue of a Roman army. When a batch of slaves reachedits destination they were kept in a pen till bought. Those boughtfor domestic service would no doubt be best off, and the cunning, mischievous rogue, the ally of the young against the old master ofwhom we read in Roman comedy, if he does not come up to our idealof what a man should be, does not seem to have been physically verywretched. Even here, however, we see how degraded a thing a slave was, and the frequent threats of torture prove how utterly he was at themercy of a cruel master's caprice. We know, too, that when a masterwas arraigned on a criminal charge, the first thing done to prove hisguilt was to torture his slaves. But just as in America the popularfigure of the oily, lazy, jocular negro, brimming over with grotesquegood-humour and screening himself in the weakness of an indulgentmaster, merely served to brighten a picture of which the horribleplantation system was the dark background; so at Rome no instances ofindividual indulgence were a set-off against the monstrous barbaritieswhich in the end brought about their own punishment, and the ruinof the Republic. [Sidenote: Dread inspired by the prospect of Romanslavery. ] Frequent stories attest the horrors of Roman slavery feltby conquered nations. We read often of individuals, and sometimes ofwhole towns, committing suicide sooner than fall into the conquerors'hands. Sometimes slaves slew their dealers, sometimes one another. Aboy in Spain killed his three sisters and starved himself to avoidslavery. Women killed their children with the same object. If, as itis asserted, the plantation-system was not yet introduced into Italy, such stories, and the desperate out-breaks, and almost incrediblymerciless suppression of slave revolts, prove that the condition ofthe Roman slave was sufficiently miserable. [Sidenote: The horrors ofslavery culminated in Sicily. ] But doubtless misery reached its climaxin Sicily, where that system was in full swing. Slaves not sold fordomestic service were there branded and often made to work in chains, the strongest serving as shepherds. Badly fed and clothed, theseshepherds plundered whenever they found the chance. Such brigandagewas winked at, and sometimes positively encouraged, by the owners, while the governors shrank from punishing the brigands for fear ofoffending their masters. As the demand for slaves grew, slave-breedingas well as slave-importation was practised. No doubt there were asvarious theories as to the most profitable management of slaves thenas in America lately. Damophilus had the instincts of a Legree: aHaley and a Cato would have held much the same sentiments as to therearing of infants. Some masters would breed and rear, and try to getmore work from the slave by kindness than harshness. Others would workthem off and buy afresh; and as this would be probably the cheapestpolicy, no doubt it was the prevalent one. And what an appalling vistaof dumb suffering do such considerations open to us! Cold, hunger, nakedness, torture, infamy, a foreign country, a strange climate, alife so hard that it made the early death which was almost inevitablea comparative blessing--such was the terrible lot of the Romanslave. At last, almost simultaneously at various places in the Romandominions, he turned like a beast upon a brutal drover. [Sidenote:Outbreaks in various quarters. ] At Rome, at Minturnae, at Sinuessa, at Delos, in Macedonia, and in Sicily insurrections or attempts atinsurrections broke out. They were everywhere mercilessly suppressed, and by wholesale torture and crucifixion the conquerors tried toclothe death, their last ally, with terror which even a slave darednot encounter. In the year when Tiberius Gracchus was tribune (and thecoincidence is significant), it was found necessary to send a consulto put down the first slave revolt in Sicily. It is not known when itbroke out. [Sidenote: Story of Damophilus. ] Its proximate cause wasthe brutality of Damophilus, of Enna, and his wife Megallis. Hisslaves consulted a man named Eunous, a Syrian-Greek, who had longforetold that he would be a king, and whom his master's guests hadbeen in the habit of jestingly asking to remember them when he cameto the throne. [Sidenote: The first Sicilian slave war. ] Eunous led aband of 400 against Enna. He could spout fire from his mouth, and hisjuggling and prophesying inspired confidence in his followers. All themen of Enna were slain except the armourers, who were fettered andcompelled to forge arms. Damophilus and Megallis were brought withevery insult into the theatre. He began to beg for his life with someeffect, but Hermeias and another cut him down; and his wife, afterbeing tortured by the women, was cast over a precipice. But theirdaughter had been gentle to the slaves, and they not only did not harmher, but sent her under an escort, of which this Hermeias was one, toCatana. Eunous was now made king, and called himself Antiochus. Hemade Achaeus his general, was joined by Cleon with 5, 000 slaves, andsoon mustered 10, 000 men. Four praetors (according to Florus) weredefeated; the number of the rebels rapidly increased to 200, 000; andthe whole island except a few towns was at their mercy. In 134 theconsul Flaccus went to Sicily; but with what result is not known. In 133 the consul L. Calpurnius Piso captured Messana, killed 8, 000slaves, and crucified all his prisoners. In 132 P. Rupilius capturedthe two strongholds of the slaves, Tauromenium and Enna (Taormina andCastragiovanni). Both towns stood on the top ledges of precipices, andwere hardly accessible. Each was blockaded and each was eventuallysurrendered by a traitor. But at Tauromenium the defenders held out, it is said, till all food was gone, and they had eaten the children, and the women, and some of the men. Cleon's brother Comanus was takenhere; all the prisoners were first tortured, and then thrown down therocks. At Enna Cleon made a gallant sally, and died of his wounds. Eunous fled and was pulled out of a pit with his cook, his baker, hisbathman, and his fool. He is said to have died in prison of the samedisease as Sulla and Herod. Rupilius crucified over 20, 000 slaves, andso quenched with blood the last fires of rebellion. 

Besides the dangers threatening society from the discontent of thepoor, the aggressions of the rich, the multiplication and ferocioustreatment of slaves, and the social rivalries of the capital, thecondition of Italy and the general deterioration of public moralityimperatively demanded reform. It has been already said that we donot know for certain how the plebs arose. But we know how it wrestedpolitical equality from the patres, and, speaking roughly, we may datethe fusion of the two orders under he common title 'nobiles, ' fromthe Licinian laws. [Sidenote: The 'nobiles' at Rome. ] It had been agradual change, peaceably brought about, and the larger number havingabsorbed the smaller, the term 'nobiles, ' which specifically meantthose who had themselves filled a curule office, or whose fathers haddone so, comprehended in common usage the old nobility and the new. The new nobles rapidly drew aloof from the residuum of the plebs, and, in the true _parvenu_ spirit, aped and outdid the arrogance of the oldpatricians. Down to the time of the Gracchi, or thereabouts, the twogreat State parties consisted of the plebs on the one hand, and thesenobiles on the other. [Sidenote: The 'optimates' and 'populares. ']After that date new names come into use, though we can no more fix theexact time when the terms optimates and populares superseded previousparty watchwords than we can when Tory gave place to Conservative, andWhig to Liberal. Thus patricians and plebeians were obsolete terms, and nobles and plebeians no longer had any political meaning, for eachwas equal in the sight of the law; each had a vote; each was eligibleto every office. But when the fall of Carthage freed Rome from allrivals, and conquest after conquest filled the treasury, increasedluxury made the means of ostentation more greedily sought. Officemeant plunder; and to gain office men bribed, and bribed every dayon a vaster scale. If we said that 'optimates' signified the menwho bribed and abused office under the banner of the Senate and itsconnections, and that 'populares' meant men who bribed and abusedoffice with the interests of the people outside the senatorial paleupon their lips, we might do injustice to many good men on both sides, but should hardly be slandering the parties. Parties in fact they werenot. They were factions, and the fact that it is by no means easyalways to decide how far individuals were swayed by good or badmotives, where good motives were so often paraded to mask baseactions, does not disguise their despicable character. Honestoptimates would wish to maintain the Senate's preponderance fromaffection to it, and from belief in its being the mainstay of theState. Honest populares, like the Gracchi, who saw the evils ofsenatorial rule, tried to win the popular vote to compass itsoverthrow. Dishonest politicians of either side advocated conservatismor change simply from the most selfish personal ambition; and in timeof general moral laxity it is the dishonest politicians who give thetone to a party. The most unscrupulous members of the ruling ring, themost shameless panderers to mob prejudice, carry all before them. Bothseek one thing only--personal ascendency, and the State becomes thebone over which the vilest curs wrangle. 

[Sidenote: Who the equites were. ] In writing of the Gracchi referencewill be made to the Equites. The name had broadened from its originalmeaning, and now merely denoted all non-senatorial rich men. Anindividual eques would lean to the senatorial faction or the factionof men too poor to keep a horse for cavalry service, just as hisconnexions were chiefly with the one or the other. How, as a body, theequites veered round alternately to each side, we shall see hereafter. Instead of forming a sound middle class to check the excesses of bothparties, they were swayed chiefly by sordid motives, and backed upthe men who for the time seemed most willing or able to gratify theirgreed. What went on at Rome must have been repeated over again withmore or less exactitude throughout Italy, and there, in addition tothis process of national disintegration, the clouds of a politicalstorm were gathering. The following table will show at a glance theclassification of the Roman State as constituted at the outbreak ofthe Social War. 

 _Cives Romani_: 1. Rome 2. Roman Colonies 3. Municipia

 Roman Colonies and Municipia are Praefectura. 

 _Peregrini_: 1. Latini or Nomen Latinum a. Old Latin towns except such as had been made Municipia b. Colonies of old Latin towns c. Joint colonies (if any) of Rome and old Latin towns d. Colonies of Italians from all parts of Italy founded by Rome under the name of Latin Colonies 2. Socii, i. E. Free inhabitants of Italy 3. Provincials, i. E. Free subjects of Rome out of Italy

[Sidenote: Rights of Cives Romani. ] The Cives Romani in and out ofRome had the Jus Suffragii and the Jus Honorum, i. E. The right to voteand the right to hold office. [Sidenote: The Roman Colony. ] A _RomanColony_ was in its organization Rome in miniature, and the peopleamong whom it had been planted as a garrison may either have retainedtheir own political constitution, or have been governed by amagistrate sent from Rome. They were not Roman citizens except asbeing residents of a Roman city, but by irregular marriages withRomans the line of demarcation between the two peoples may have grownless clearly defined. [Sidenote: The Praefectura. ] _Praefectura_ wasthe generic name for Roman colonies and for all Municipia to whichprefects were sent annually to administer justice. [Sidenote:Municipia] _Municipia_ are supposed to have been originally thoseconquered Italian towns to which Connubium and Commercium, i. E. Rightsof intermarriage and of trade, were given, but from whom Jus Suffragiiand Jus Honorum were withheld. These privileges, however, wereconferred on them before the Social War. Some were governed by Romanmagistrates and some were self-governed. They voted in the Romantribes, though probably only at important crises, such as theagitation for an agrarian law. They were under the jurisdiction of thePraetor Urbanus, but vicarious justice was administered among them byan official called _Praefectus juri dicundo_, sent yearly from Rome. 

[Sidenote: The Latini. ] The Latini had no vote at Rome, no right ofholding offices, and were practically Roman subjects. A Roman whojoined a Latin colony ceased to be a Roman citizen. Whether there wasany difference between the internal administration of a Latin colonyand an old Latin town is uncertain. The Latini may have had Commerciumand Connubium, or only the former. They certainly had not JusSuffragii or Jus Honorum, and they were in subjection to Rome. A Latincould obtain the Roman franchise, but the mode of doing so at thistime is a disputed point. Livy mentions a law which enabled a Latin toobtain the franchise by migrating to Rome and being enrolled in thecensus, provided he left children behind him to fill his place. Thereis no doubt that either legally or irregularly Latini did migrate toRome and did so obtain the citizenship, but we know no more. Otherssay that the later right by which a Latin obtained the citizenship invirtue of filling a magistracy in his native town existed already. 

[Sidenote: The Socii. ] Of the Socii, all or many of them had treatiesdefining their relations to Rome, and were therefore known asFoederatae Civitates. They had internal self-government, but werebound to supply Rome with soldiers, ships, and sailors. 

[Sidenote: Grievances of the Latins and allies. ] At the time of theGracchi discontent was seething among the Latins and allies. Therewere two classes among them--the rich landlords and capitalists, whoprospered as the rich at Rome prospered, and the poor who were weigheddown by debt or were pushed out of their farms by slave-labour, orwere hangers-on of the rich in the towns and eager for distributionsof land. The poor were oppressed no doubt by the rich men both oftheir own cities and of Rome. The rich chafed at the intolerableinsolence of Roman officials. It was not that Rome interfered withthe local self-government she had granted by treaty, but the Italianslaboured under grievous disabilities and oppression. So late as theJugurthine war, Latin officers were executed by martial law, whereasany Roman soldier could appeal to a civil tribunal. Again, while thearmies had formerly been recruited from the Romans and the alliesequally, now the severest service and the main weight of wars fellon the latter, who furnished, moreover, two soldiers to every Roman. Again, without a certain amount of property, a man at Rome could notbe enrolled in the army; but the rule seems not to have appliedto Italians. Nor was the civil less harsh than the militaryadministration. A consul's wife wished to use the men's bath atTeanum; and because the bathers were not cleared out quickly enough, and the baths were not clean enough, M. Marius, the chief magistrateof the town, was stripped and scourged in the market-place. A freeherdsman asked in joke if it was a corpse that was in a litter passingthrough Venusia, and which contained a young Roman. Though not even anofficial, its occupant showed that, if lazy, he was at least alive, byhaving the peasant whipped to death with the litter straps. In short, the rich Italians would feel the need of the franchise as strongly asthe old plebeians had felt it, and all the more strongly because theRomans had not only ceased to enfranchise whole communities, but werechary of giving the citizenship even to individuals. The poor also hadthe ordinary grievances against their own rich, and were so far likelyto favour the schemes of any man who assailed the capitalist class, Roman or Italian, as a whole; but they none the less disliked Romansupremacy, and would be easily persuaded to attribute to thatsupremacy some of the hardships which it did not cause. 

[Sidenote: State of the transmarine provinces. ] While such fires wereslowly coming to the surface in Italy, and were soon to flame out inthe Social War, the state of the provinces out of the peninsula wasnot more reassuring. The struggle with Viriathus and the Numantine warhad revealed the fact that the last place to look for high martialhonour or heroic virtue was the Roman army. If a Scipio sustained thetraditions of Roman generalship, and a Gracchus those of republicanrectitude, other commanders would have stained the military annalsof any nation. [Sidenote: Deterioration of Roman generalship. ] Romangenerals had come to wage war for themselves and not for the State. They even waged it in defiance of the State's express orders. If theyfound peace in the provinces, they found means to break it, hoping toglut their avarice by pillage or by the receipt of bribes, which itwas now quite the exception not to accept, or to win sham laurels andcheap triumphs from some miserable raid on half-armed barbarians. Often these carpet-knights were disgracefully beaten, though infamy inthe provinces sometimes became fame at Rome, and then they resortedto shameful trickery repeated again and again. [Sidenote: and of theArmy. ] The State and the army were worthy of the commanders. Theformer engaged in perhaps the worst wars that can be waged. Hounded onby its mercantile class, it fought not for a dream of dominion, orto beat back encroaching barbarism, but to exterminate a commercialrival. The latter, which it was hard to recruit on account of thegrowing effeminacy of the city, it was harder still to keep underdiscipline. It was followed by trains of cooks, and actors, and theviler appendages of oriental luxury, and was learning to be satisfiedwith such victories as were won by the assassination of hostilegenerals, or ratified by the massacre of men who had been guaranteedtheir lives. The Roman fleet was even more inefficient than the army;and pirates roved at will over the Mediterranean, pillaging thisisland, waging open war with that, and carrying off the population asslaves. A new empire was rising in the East, as Rome permitted theParthians to wrest Persia, Babylonia, and Media from the Syrian kings. The selfish maxim, _Divide et impera_, assumed its meanest form as itwas now pursued. It is a poor and cowardly policy for a great nationto pit against each other its semi-civilised dependencies, and to fantheir jealousies in order to prevent any common action on their part, or to avoid drawing the sword for their suppression. Slave revolts, constant petty wars, and piracy were preying on the unhappyprovincials, and in the Roman protectorate they found no aid. Alltheir harsh mistress did was to turn loose upon them hordes ofmoney-lenders and tax-farmers ('negotiatores, ' and 'publicani'), whocleared off what was left by those stronger creatures of prey, theproconsuls. Thus the misery caused by a meddlesome and nervelessnational policy was enhanced by a domestic administration based onturpitude and extortion. 

[Sidenote: Universal degeneracy of the Government, and decay of thenation. ] Everywhere Rome was failing in her duties as mistress of thecivilised world. Her own internal degeneracy was faithfully reflectedin the abnegation of her imperial duties. When in any country thesmall-farmer class is being squeezed off the land; when its labourersare slaves or serfs; when huge tracts are kept waste to minister topleasure; when the shibboleth of art is on every man's lips, but ideasof true beauty in very few men's souls; when the business-sharper isthe greatest man in the city, and lords it even in the law courts;when class-magistrates, bidding for high office, deal out justiceaccording to the rank of the criminal; when exchanges are turned intogreat gambling-houses, and senators and men of title are the chiefgamblers; when, in short, 'corruption is universal, when there isincreasing audacity, increasing greed, increasing fraud, increasingimpurity, and these are fed by increasing indulgence and ostentation;when a considerable number of trials in the courts of law bring outthe fact that the country in general is now regarded as a prey, uponwhich any number of vultures, scenting it from afar, may safelylight and securely gorge themselves; when the foul tribe is amplyreplenished by its congeners at home, and foreign invaders find anynumber of men, bearing good names, ready to assist them inrobberies far more cruel and sweeping than those of the footpad orburglar'--when such is the tone of society, and such the idols beforewhich it bends, a nation must be fast going down hill. 

A more repulsive picture can hardly be imagined. A mob, a moneyedclass, and an aristocracy almost equally worthless, hating each other, and hated by the rest of the world; Italians bitterly jealous ofRomans, and only in better plight than the provinces beyond the sea;more miserable than either, swarms of slaves beginning to broodover revenge as a solace to their sufferings; the land going out ofcultivation; native industry swamped by slave-grown imports; thepopulation decreasing; the army degenerating; wars waged as aspeculation, but only against the weak; provinces subjected toorganized pillage; in the metropolis childish superstition, whole saleluxury, and monstrous vice. The hour for reform was surely come. Whowas to be the man?

 * * * * *

CHAPTER II. 

TIBERIUS GRACCHUS. 

[Sidenote: Scipio Aemilianius. ] General expectation would have pointedto Scipio Aemilianus, the conqueror of Numantia and Carthage, and theforemost man at Rome. He was well-meaning and more than ordinarilyable, strict and austere as a general, and as a citizen uniting Greekculture with the old Roman simplicity of life. He was full of scorn ofthe rabble, and did not scruple to express it. 'Silence, ' he cried, when he was hissed for what he said about his brother-in-law's death, 'you step-children of Italy!' and when this enraged them still more, he went on: 'Do you think I shall fear you whom I brought to Italyin fetters now that you are loose?' He showed equal scorn for suchpursuits as at Rome at least were associated with effeminacy and vice, and expressed in lively language his dislike of singing and dancing. 'Our children are taught disgraceful tricks. They go to actors'schools with sambucas and psalteries. They learn to sing--a thingwhich our ancestors considered to be a disgrace to freeborn children. When I was told this I could not believe that men of noble rankallowed their children to be taught such things. But being taken to adancing school I saw--I did upon my honour--more than fifty boys andgirls in the school; and among them one boy, quite a child, abouttwelve years of age, the son of a man who was at that time a candidatefor office. And what I saw made me pity the Commonwealth. I saw thechild dancing to the castanets, and it was a dance which one of ourwretched, shameless slaves would not have danced. ' On another occasionhe showed a power of quick retort. As censor he had degraded a mannamed Asellus, whom Mummius afterwards restored to the equites. Asellus impeached Scipio, and taunted him with the unluckiness of hiscensorship--its mortality, &c. 'No wonder, ' said Scipio, 'for the manwho inaugurated it rehabilitated you. '

Such anecdotes show that he was a vigorous speaker. He was of ahealthy constitution, temperate, brave, and honest in money matters;for he led a simple life, and with all his opportunities for extortiondid not die rich. Polybius, the historian, Panaetius, the philosopher, Terence and Lucilius, the poets, and the orator and politicianLaelius were his friends. From his position, his talents, and hisassociations, he seemed marked out as the one man who could andwould desire to step forth as the saviour of his country. But suchself-sacrifice is not exhibited by men of Scipio's type. Too able tobe blind to the signs of the times, they are swayed by instincts toostrong for their convictions. An aristocrat of aristocrats, Scipio wasa reformer only so far as he thought reform might prolong the reign ofhis order. From any more radical measures he shrank with dislike, if not with fear. The weak spot often to be found in those culturedaristocrats who coquet with liberalism was fatal to his chance ofbeing a hero. He was a trimmer to the core, who, without intentionaldishonesty, stood facing both ways till the hour came when he wasforced to range himself on one side or the other, and then he took theside which he must have known to be the wrong one. Palliation of theerrors of a man placed in so terribly difficult a position is onlyjust; but laudation of his statesmanship seems absurd. As a statesmanhe carried not one great measure, and if one was conceived in hiscircle, he cordially approved of its abandonment. To those who claimfor him that he saw the impossibility of those changes which hisbrother-in-law advocated, it is sufficient to reply that Rome didnot rest till those changes had been adopted, and that the heartyco-operation of himself and his friends would have gone far to turnfailure into success. But his mind was too narrow to break through theassociations which had environed him from his childhood. When TiberiusGracchus, a nobler man than himself, had suffered martyrdom for thecause with which he had only dallied, he was base enough to quote fromHomer [Greek: os apoloito kai allos hotis toiaita ge hoezoi]--'Soperish all who do the like again. '

[Sidenote: Tiberius Gracchus. ] But the splendid peril which Scipioshrank from encountering, his brother-in-law courted with the fireand passion of youth. Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus was, according toPlutarch, not quite thirty when he was murdered. Plutarch may havebeen mistaken, and possibly he was thirty-five. His father, whosename he bore, had been a magnificent aristocrat, and his motherwas Cornelia, daughter of Hannibal's conqueror, the first ScipioAfricanus, and one of the comparatively few women whose names arefamous in history. He had much in common with Scipio Aemilianus, whomhe resembled in rank and refinement, in valour, in his familiaritywith Hellenic culture, and in the style of his speeches. Diophanes, ofMitylene, taught him oratory. The philosopher, Blossius, of Cumae, washis friend. He belonged to the most distinguished circle at Rome. Hehad married the daughter of Appius, and his brother had married thedaughter of Mucianus. He had served under Scipio, and displayedstriking bravery at Carthage; and, as quaestor of the incompetentMancinus, had by his character for probity saved a Roman army fromdestruction; for the Numantines would not treat with the consul, butonly with Gracchus. No man had a more brilliant career open to himat Rome, had he been content only to shut his eyes to the fate thatthreatened his country. But he had not only insight but a conscience, and cheerfully risked his life to avert the ruin which he foresaw. His character has been as much debated as his measures, and the mostopposite conclusions have been formed about both, so that his nameis a synonym for patriot with some, for demagogue with others. Evenhistorians of our own day are still at variance as to the nature ofhis legislation. But from a comparison of their researches, and anindependent examination of the authorities on which they are based, something like a clear conception of the plans of Gracchus seemspossible. What has never, perhaps, as yet been made sufficiently plainis, who it was that Gracchus especially meant to benefit. Much of thepublic land previously described lay in the north and south of Italyfrom the frontier rivers Rubicon and Macra to Apulia. It formed, asAppian says, the largest portion of the land taken from conqueredtowns by Rome. [Sidenote: Agrarian proposals of Gracchus. ] WhatGracchus proposed was to take from the rich and give to the poor someof this land. It was, in fact, merely the Licinian law over again withcertain modifications, and the existence of that law would make thenecessity for a repetition of it inexplicable had it not been acurious principle with the Romans that a law which had fallen intodesuetude ceased to be binding. But it actually fell short of the lawof Licinius, for it provided that he who surrendered what he held overand above 500 jugera should be guaranteed in the permanent possessionof that quantity, and moreover might retain 250 jugera in addition foreach of his sons. Some writers conjecture that altogether an occupiermight not hold more than 1, 000 jugera. 

Now the first thing to remark about the law is that it was by nomeans a demagogue's sop tossed to the city mob which he was courting. Gracchus saw slave labour ruining free labour, and the manhoodand soil of Italy and the Roman army proportionately depreciated. [Sidenote: Nothing demagogic about the proposal. ] To fill the vacuumhe proposed to distribute to the poor not only of Rome but of theMunicipia, of the Roman colonies, and, it is to be presumed, of theSocii also, land taken from the rich members of those four componentparts of the Roman State. This consideration alone destroys at oncethe absurd imputation of his being actuated merely by demagogicmotives; but in no history is it adequately enforced. No demagogue atthat epoch would have spread his nets so wide. At the same time itgives the key to the subsequent manoeuvres by which his enemies stroveto divide his partisans. Broadly, then, we may say that Gracchusstruck boldly at the very root of the decadence of the wholepeninsula, and that if his remedy could not cure it nothing elsecould. [Sidenote: The Socii--land-owners. ] How the Socii becamepossessors of the public land we do not know. Probably they bought itfrom Cives Romani, its authorised occupiers, with the connivance ofthe State. We now see from whom the land was to be taken, namely, therich all over Italy, and to whom it was to be given, the poor all overItaly; and also the object with which it was to be given, namely, to re-create a peasantry and stop the increase of the slave-plague. [Sidenote: Provision against evasions of the law. ] In order to preventthe law becoming a dead letter like that of Licinius, owing to poormen selling their land as soon as they got it, he proposed that thenew land-owners should not have the right to dispose of their land toothers, and for this, though it would have been hard to carry out, wecannot see what other proviso could have been substituted. Lastly, asdeath and other causes would constantly render changes in the holdingsinevitable, he proposed that a permanent board should have thesuperintendence of them, and this too was a wise and necessarymeasure. 

[Sidenote: Provision for the administration of the law. ] We canunderstand so much of the law of Gracchus, but it is hard thoroughlyto understand more. It has been urged as a difficulty not easilyexplained that few people, after retaining 500 jugera for themselvesand 250 for each of their sons, would have had much left to surrender. But this difficulty is imaginary rather than real; for Appian saysthat the public land was 'the greater part' of the land taken by Romefrom conquered states, and the great families may have had vasttracts of it as pasture land. [Sidenote: Things about the law hard tounderstand. ] There are, however, other things which with our meagreknowledge of the law we cannot explain. For instance, was a hardand fast line drawn at 500 jugera as compensation whether a mansurrendered 2 jugera or 2, 000 beyond that amount? Again, consideringthe outcry made, it is hard to imagine that only those possessingabove 500 jugera were interfered with. But this perhaps may beaccounted for by recollecting that in such matters men fight bravelyagainst what they feel to be the thin end of the wedge, even if theyare themselves concerned only sympathetically. What Gracchus meant todo with the slaves displaced by free labour, or how he meant to decidewhat was public and what was private land after inextricable confusionbetween the two in many parts for so many years, we cannot evenconjecture. The statesmanlike comprehensiveness, however, of his mainpropositions justifies us in believing that he had not overlooked suchobvious stumbling-blocks in his way. [Sidenote: Appian's criticism ofthe law. ] When Appian says he was eager to accomplish what he thoughtto be a good thing, we concur in the testimony Appian thus gives toGracchus having been a good man. But when he goes on to say he was soeager that he never even thought of the difficulty, we prefer to judgeGracchus by his own acts rather than by Appian's criticism or thesimilar criticisms of modern writers. [Sidenote: Speeches of Gracchusexplaining his motives. ] The speeches ascribed to him, which areapparently genuine, seem to show that he knew well enough what he wasabout. 'The wild beasts of Italy, ' he said, 'have their dens to retireto, but the brave men who spill their blood in her cause have nothingleft but air and light. Without homes, without settled habitations, they wander from place to place with their wives and children; andtheir generals do but mock them when at the head of their armies theyexhort their men to fight for their sepulchres and the gods of theirhearths, for among such numbers perhaps there is not one Roman who hasan altar that has belonged to his ancestors or a sepulchre in whichtheir ashes rest. The private soldiers fight and die to advance thewealth and luxury of the great, and they are called masters of theworld without having a sod to call their own. ' Again, he asked, 'Isit not just that what belongs to the people should be shared by thepeople? Is a man with no capacity for fighting more useful to hiscountry than a soldier? Is a citizen inferior to a slave? Is an alienor one who owns some of his country's soil the best patriot? You havewon by war most of your possessions, and hope to acquire the rest ofthe habitable globe. But now it is but a hazard whether you gain therest by bravery or whether by your weakness and discords you arerobbed of what you have by your foes. Wherefore, in prospect of suchacquisitions, you should if need be spontaneously and of your own freewill yield up these lands to those who will rear children for theservice of the State. Do not sacrifice a great thing while strivingfor a small, especially as you are to receive no contemptiblecompensation for your expenditure on the land, in free ownership of500 jugera secure for ever, and in case you have sons, of 250 more foreach of them. 

The striking point in the last extract is his remark about a 'smallthing. ' It is likely, enough that the losses of the proprietors as abody would not be overwhelming, and that the opposition was renderedfurious almost as much by the principle of restitution, andinterference with long-recognised ownership, as by the value of whatthey were called on to disgorge. Five hundred jugera of slave-tendedpasture-land could not have been of very great importance to a richRoman, who, however, might well have been alarmed by the warning ofGracchus with regard to the army, for in foreign service, and not ingrazing or ploughing, the fine gentleman of the day found a royal roadto wealth. [Sidenote: Grievances of the possessors. ] On the other handit is quite comprehensible both that the possessors imagined that theyhad a great grievance, and that they had some ground for their belief. A possessor, for instance, who had purchased from another in the fullfaith that his title would never be disturbed, had more right to beindignant than a proprietor of Indian stock would have, if in case ofthe bankruptcy of the Indian Government the British Government shouldrefuse to refund his money. There must have been numbers of such caseswith every possible complexity of title; and even if the class thatwould be actually affected was not large, it was powerful, and everylandowner with a defective title would, however small his holding(provided it was over 30 jugera, the proposed allotment), take thealarm and help to swell the cry against the Tribune as a demagogue anda robber. This is what we can state about the agrarian law of TiberiusGracchus. It remains to be told how it was carried. 

[Sidenote: How the law was carried. ] Gracchus had a colleague namedOctavius, who is said to have been his personal friend. Octavius hadland himself to lose if the law were carried, and he opposed it. Gracchus offered to pay him the value of the land out of his ownpurse; but Octavius was not to be so won over, and as Tribuneinterposed his veto to prevent the bill being read to the people thatthey might vote on it. Tiberius retorted by using his power to suspendpublic business and public payments. One day, when the people weregoing to vote, the other side seized the voting urns, and thenTiberius and the rest of the Tribunes agreed to take the opinion ofthe Senate. The result was that he came away more hopeless of successby constitutional means, and doubtless irritated by insult. He thenproposed to Octavius that the people should vote whether he orOctavius should lose office--a weak proposal perhaps, but the proposalof an honest, generous man, whose aim was not self-aggrandisement butthe public weal. Octavius naturally refused. Tiberius called togetherthe thirty-five tribes, to vote whether or no Octavius shouldbe deprived of his office. [Sidenote: Octavius deprived of theTribunate. ] The first tribe voted in the affirmative, and Gracchusimplored Octavius even now to give way, but in vain. The next sixteentribes recorded the same vote, and once more Gracchus interceded withhis old friend. But he spoke to deaf ears. The voting went on, andwhen Octavius, on his Tribunate being taken from him, would not goaway, Plutarch says that Tiberius ordered one of his freedmen to draghim from the Rostra. 

These acts of Tiberius Gracchus are commonly said to have been thebeginning of revolution at Rome; and the guilt of it is accordinglylaid at his door. And there can be no doubt that he was guilty in thesense that a man is guilty who introduces a light into some chamberfilled with explosive vapour, which the stupidity or malice of othershas suffered to accumulate. But, after all, too much is made of thisviolation of constitutional forms and the sanctity of the Tribunate. [Sidenote: Defence of the conduct of Gracchus. ] The first were effete, and all regular means of renovating the Republic seemed to be closedto the despairing patriot, by stolid obstinacy sheltering itselfunder the garb of law and order. The second was no longer what it hadbeen--the recognised refuge and defence of the poor. The rich, asTiberius in effect argued, had found out how to use it also. If allmen who set the example of forcible infringement of law are criminals, Gracchus was a criminal. But in the world's annals he sins in goodcompany; and when men condemn him, they should condemn Washingtonalso. Perhaps his failure has had most to do with his condemnation. Success justifies, failure condemns, most revolutions in most men'seyes. But if ever a revolution was excusable this was; for itwas carried not by a small party for small aims, but by nationalacclamation, by the voices of Italians who flocked to Rome either tovote, or, if they had not votes themselves, to overawe those who had. How far Gracchus saw the inevitable effect of his acts is open todispute. [Sidenote: Gracchus not a weak sentimentalist. ] But probablyhe saw it as clearly as any man can see the future. Because he wasgenerous and enthusiastic, it is assumed that he was sentimental andweak, and that his policy was guided by impulse rather than reason. There seems little to sustain such a judgment other than the desire ofwriters to emphasise a comparison between him and his brother. Ifhis character had been what some say that it was, his speeches wouldhardly have been described by Cicero as acute and sensible, but notrhetorical enough. All his conduct was consistent. He strove hardand to the last to procure his end by peaceable means. Driven intoa corner by the tactics of his opponents, he broke through theconstitution, and once having done so, went the way on which his actsled him, without turning to the right hand or the left. There seemsto be not a sign of his having drifted into revolution. Because aportrait is drawn in neutral tints, it does not follow that it istherefore faithful, and those writers who seem to think they mustreconcile the fact of Tiberius having been so good a man with hishaving been, as they assert, so bad a citizen, have blurred thelikeness in their anxiety about the chiaroscuro. No one would affirmthat Tiberius committed no errors; but that he was a wise as well asa good man is far more in accordance with the facts than a morequalified verdict would be. 

[Sidenote: Mean behaviour of the Senate. ] The Senate showed its spiteagainst the successful Tribune by petty annoyances, such as allowinghim only about a shilling a day for his official expenditure, and, asrumour said, by the assassination of one of his friends. But, whilemen like P. Scipio Nasica busied themselves with such miserabletactics, Tiberius brought forward another great proposal supplementaryto his agrarian law. [Sidenote: Proposal of Gracchus to distribute thelegacy of Attalus. ] Attalus, the last king of Pergamus, had just diedand left his kingdom to Rome. Gracchus wished to divide his treasuresamong the new settlers, and expressed some other intention oftransferring the settlement of the country from the Senate to thepeople. As to the second of these propositions it would be unsafeas well as unfair to Gracchus to pronounce judgment on it withouta knowledge of its details. The first was both just and wise andnecessary, for previous experience had shown that the first temptationof a pauper land-owner was to sell his land to the rich, and, as thelaw of Gracchus forbade this, he was bound to give the settler a fairstart on his farm. [Sidenote: Retort of the Senate. ] The Senate tookfresh alarm, and it found vent again in characteristically meandevices. One senator said that a diadem and a purple robe had beenbrought to Gracchus from Pergamus. Another assailed him because menwith torches escorted him home at night. Another twitted him with thedeposition of Octavius. To this last attack, less contemptible thanthe others, he replied in a bold and able speech, which practicallyasserted that the spirit of the constitution was binding on a citizen, but that its letter under some circumstances was not. 

[Sidenote: Other intended reforms of Gracchus. ] He was also engaged inmeditating other important reforms, all directed against the Senate'spower. Plutarch says that they comprised abridgment of the soldier'sterm of service, an appeal to the people from the judices, and theequal partition between the Senate and equites of the privilege ofserving as judices, which hitherto belonged only to the former. According to Velleius, Tiberius also promised the franchise to allItalians south of the Rubicon and the Macra, which, if true, isanother proof of his far-seeing statesmanship. To carry out suchextensive changes it was necessary to procure prolongation of officefor himself, and he became a candidate for the next year's tribunate. [Sidenote: Gracchus stands again for the Tribunate. His motives. ] Tosay that considerations of personal safety dictated his candidatureis a very easy and specious insinuation, but is nothing more. It isindeed a good deal less, for it is utterly inconsistent with the otheracts of an unselfish, dauntless career. At election-time the firsttwo tribes voted for Tiberius. Then the aristocracy declared hiscandidature to be illegal because he could not hold office two yearsrunning. It may have been so, or the law may have been so violatedas to be no more valid than the Licinian law, which, though neverabrogated, had never much force. [Sidenote: Tactics of the Senate. ]To fasten on some technical flaw in his procedure was precisely inkeeping with the rest of the acts of the opposition. But those writerswho accuse Tiberius of being guilty of another illegal act in standingfail to observe the force of the fact, that it was not till the firsttwo tribes had voted that the aristocracy interfered. This shows thattheir objection was a last resort to an invalid statute, and a deedof which they were themselves ashamed. However, the president of thetribunes, Rubrius, hesitated to let the other tribes vote; and whenMummius, Octavius's substitute, asked Rubrius to yield to him thepresidency, others objected that the post must be filled by lot, andso the election was adjourned till the next day. 

It was clear enough to what end things were tending, and Tiberius, putting on mourning committed his young son to the protection of thepeople. It need hardly be said that the father's affection and thestatesman's bitter dismay at finding the dearest object of his lifeabout to be snatched from him by violence need not have been tingedwith one particle of personal fear. A man of tried bravery likeGracchus might guard his own life indeed, but only as be regarded itas indispensable to a great cause. That evening he told his partisanshe would give them a sign next day if he should think it necessary touse force at his election. It has been assumed that this proves he wasmeditating treason. But it proves no more than that he meant to repelforce forcibly if, as was only too certain, force should be used, andthis is not treason. No other course was open to him. The one weakspot in his policy was that he had no material strength at his back. Even Sulla would have been a lost man at a later time, if he had nothad an army at hand to which he could flee for refuge, just as withoutthe army Cromwell would have been powerless. But it was harvest-timenow, and the rural allies of Gracchus were away from home in thefields. [Sidenote: Murder of Gracchus. ] The next day dawned, and withit occurred omens full of meaning to the superstitious Romans. Thesacred fowls would not feed. Tiberius stumbled at the doorway of hishouse and broke the nail of his great toe. Some crows fought on theroof of a house on the left hand, and one dislodged a tile, whichfell at his feet. But Blossius was at his side encouraging him, andGracchus went on to the Capitol and was greeted with a great cheerby his partisans. [Sidenote: Different accounts given by Appian andPlutarch. ] Appian says that when the rich would not allow the electionto proceed, Tiberius gave the signal. Plutarch tells us that FulviusFlaccus came and told him that his foes had resolved to slay him, and, having failed to induce the consul Scaevola to act, were arming theirfriends and slaves, and that Gracchus gave the signal then. As Appianagrees with Plutarch in his account of Nasica's conduct in the Senate, the last is the more probable version of what occurred. Nasica calledon Scaevola to put down the tyrant. Scaevola replied that he would notbe the first to use force. Then Nasica, calling on the senators tofollow him, mounted the Capitol to a position above that of Gracchus. Arming themselves with clubs and legs of benches, his followerscharged down and dispersed the crowd. Gracchus stumbled over someprostrate bodies, and was slain either by a blow from P. Satyreius, afellow-tribune, or from L. Rufus, for both claimed the distinction. Sodied a genuine patriot and martyr; and so foul a murder fitly heraldedthe long years of bloodshed and violence which were in store for thecountry which he died to save. 

 * * * * *

CHAPTER III. 

CAIUS GRACCHUS. 

[Sidenote: Revenge of the aristocracy. ] Over three hundred of thepeople were killed and thrown into the Tiber, and the aristocracyfollowed up their triumph as harshly as they dared. They banishedsome, and slew others of the tribune's partisans. Plutarch says thatthey fastened up one in a chest with vipers. When Blossius was broughtbefore his judges he avowed that he would have burned the Capitol ifGracchus had told him to do it, so confident was he in his leader'spatriotism--an answer testifying not only to the nobleness of the twofriends, but to the strong character of one of them. Philosophers arenot so impressed by weak, impulsive men. Blossius was spared, probablybecause he had connexions with some of the nobles rather than becausehis reply inspired respect. But while the aristocracy was making waron individuals, the work of the dead man went on, as if even from thegrave he was destined to bring into sharper relief the pettiness oftheir projects by the grandeur of his own. 

[Sidenote: The law of Gracchus remains in force. ] The allotment ofland was vigorously carried out; and when Appius Claudius and Mucianusdied, the commissioners were partisans of Tiberius--his brother Caius, M. Fulvius Flaccus, and C. Papirius Carbo. [Sidenote: Its beneficialeffects. ] In the year 125, instead of another decrease in theable-bodied population, we find an increase of nearly 80, 000. It seemsprobable that this increase was solely in consequence of what theallotment commissioners did for the Roman burgesses. Nor, if theProletarii and Capite Censi were not included in the register of thoseclassed for military service, is the increase remarkable, for it wouldbe to members of those classes that the allotments would be chieflyassigned. Moreover, the poor whom the rich expelled from their landsdid not give in their names to the censors, and did not attend to theeducation of their children. These men would, on receiving allotments, enrol themselves. The consul of the year 132 inscribed on a publicmonument that he was the first who had turned the shepherds out ofthe domains, and installed farmers in their stead; and these farmersbecame, as Gracchus intended, a strong reinforcement to the Romansoldier-class, as well as a check to slave labour. What was done atRome was done also, it is said, throughout Italy, and if on the samescale, it must have been a really enormous measure of relief to thepoor, and a vast stride towards a return to a healthier tenure of theland. [Sidenote: Difficulties and hardships in enforcing it. ] But itis not hard to imagine what heart-burnings the commissioners must havearoused. Some men were thrust out of tilled land on to waste land. Some who thought that their property was private property found totheir cost that it was the State's. Some had encroached, and theirencroachments were now exposed. Some of the Socii had bought parcelsof the land, and found out now that they had no title. Lastly, someland had been by special decrees assigned to individual states, andthe commissioners at length proceeded to stretch out their handstowards it. 

Historians, while recording such things, have failed to explain whythe chief opposition to the commissioners arose from the country whichhad furnished the chief supporters of Tiberius, and what was the exactattitude assumed by Scipio Aemilianus. It is lost sight of that as atRome there were two classes, so there were two classes in Italy. Itis absurd constantly to put prominently forward the sharp division ofinterests in the capital, and then speak of the country classes asif they were all one body, and their interests the same. [Sidenote:Divisions in Italy similar to those in Rome. ] The natural andapparently the only way of explaining what at first sight seems theinconsistency of the country class is to conclude, that the men whosupported Tiberius were the poor of the Italian towns and the smallfarmers of the country, while the men who called on Scipio to savethem from the commissioners were the capitalists of the towns and thericher farmers--some of them voters, some of them non-voters--withtheir forces swollen, it may be, by not a few who, having clamouredfor more land, found now that the title to what they already had wascalled in question. Though this cannot be stated as a certainty, it atleast accounts for what historians, after many pages on the subject, have left absolutely unexplained, and it presents the conduct ofScipio Aemilianus in quite a different light from the one in which ithas commonly been regarded. He is usually extolled as a patriot whowould not stir to humour a Roman rabble, but who, when downtroddenhonest farmers, his comrades in the wars, appealed to him, at oncestepped into the arena as their champion. [Sidenote: Attitude ofScipio Aemilianus. ] In reality he was a reactionist who, when theinevitable results of those liberal ideas which had been broached inhis own circle stared him in the face, seized the first availablemeans of stifling them. The world had moved too fast for him. Ascensor, instead of beseeching the gods to increase the glory of theState, he begged them to preserve it. And no doubt he would havegreatly preferred that the gods should act without his intervention. Brave as a man, he was a pusillanimous statesman; and when confrontedby the revolutionary spirit which he and his friends had helped toevoke, he determined at all costs to prop up the senatorial power. [Sidenote: His unpopularity with the Senate. ] But the Senate hatedhim, partly as a trimmer, and partly because by his personal characterhe rebuked their baseness. He had just impeached Aurelius Cotta, asenator, and the judices, from spite against him, had refused toconvict. So he turned to the Italian land-owners, and becamethe mouthpiece of their selfishness, for a selfish or at best anarrow-minded end. The nobles must have, at heart, disliked hisallies; but they cheered him in the Senate, and he succeeded inpractically strangling the commission by procuring the transfer of itsjurisdiction to the consuls. The consul for the time being immediatelyfound a pretext for leaving Rome, and a short time afterwards Scipiowas found one morning dead in his bed. [Sidenote: His death. ] He hadgone to his chamber the night before to think over what he should saynext day to the people about the position of the country class, and, if he was murdered, it is almost as probable that he was murdered bysome rancorous foe in the Senate as by Carbo or any other Gracchan. Itwas well for his reputation that he died just then. Without Sulla'spersonal vices he might have played Sulla's part as a politician, andhis atrocities in Spain as well as his remark on the death of TiberiusGracchus--words breathing the very essence of a narrow swordsman'snature--showed that from bloodshed at all events he would not haveshrunk. It is hard to respect such a man in spite of all his goodqualities. Fortune gave him the opportunity of playing a great part, and he shrank from it. When the crop sprang up which he had himselfhelped to sow, he blighted it. But because he was personallyrespectable, and because he held a middle course between contemporaryparties, he has found favour with historians, who are too apt toforget that there is in politics, as in other things, a right courseand a wrong, and that to attempt to walk along both at once proves aman to be a weak statesman, and does not prove him to be a great orgood man. 

[Sidenote: The early career of Caius Gracchus. ] In B. C. 126 CaiusGracchus, seven years after he had been made one of the commissionersfor the allotment of public land, was elected quaestor. Sardinia wasat that time in rebellion, and it fell by lot to Caius to go there asquaestor to the consul Orestes. It is said that he kept quiet whenTiberius was killed, and intended to steer clear of politics. Butone of those splendid bursts of oratory, with which he had alreadyelectrified the people, remains to show over what he was for everbrooding. 'They slew him, ' he cried, 'these scoundrels slew Tiberius, my noble brother! Ah, they are all of one pattern. ' He said this inadvocating the Lex Papiria, which proposed to make the re-election ofa tribune legal. But Scipio opposed the law, and it was defeated then, to be carried, however, a few years later. Again, in the year of hisquaestorship, he spoke against the law of M. Junius Pennus, whichaimed at expelling all Peregrini from Rome. They were the very men bywhose help Tiberius had carried his agrarian law, and when Caius spokefor them he was clearly treading in his brother's steps. At a latertime he declared that he dreamt Tiberius came to him and said, 'Why doyou hesitate? You cannot escape your doom and mine--to live for thepeople and die for them. ' Such a story would be effective in a speech, and particularly effective when told to a superstitious audience; buthis day-dreams we may be sure were the cause and not the consequenceof his visions of the night. For there can be no doubt that theyounger brother had already one purpose and one only--to avenge thedeath of Tiberius and carry out his designs. 

Such omens as Roman credulity fastened on when the political air washeavy with coming storm abounded now. With grave irony the historianrecords: 'Besides showers of oil and milk in the neighbourhood ofVeii, a fact of which some people may doubt, an owl, it is said, wasseen on the Capitol, which may have been true. ' Fulvius Flaccus, thefriend of Gracchus, made the first move. [Sidenote: Proposition ofFulvius Flaccus. Its significance. ] In order to buy off the oppositionof the Socii to the agrarian law, he proposed to give them thefranchise, just as Licinius, when he had offered the poor plebeians amaterial boon, offered the rich ones a political one, so as to securethe united support of the whole body. The proposal was significant, and it was made at a critical time. The poor Italians were chafing, nodoubt, at the suspension of the agrarian law. The rich were indignantat the carrying of the law of Pennus. Other and deeper causes ofirritation have been mentioned above. In the year of the proposal ofFlaccus, and very likely in consequence of its rejection, Fregellae--aLatin colony--revolted. [Sidenote: Revolt and punishment ofFregellae. ] The revolt was punished with the ferocity of panic. Thetown was destroyed; a Roman colony, Fabrateria, was planted near itssite; and for the moment Italian discontent was awed into sullensilence. No wonder the Senate was panic-stricken. Here was a realomen, not conjured up by superstition, that one of those towns, whichthrough Rome's darkest fortunes in the second Punic War had remainedfaithful to her, should single-handed and in time of peace raise thestandard of rebellion. Was Fregellae indeed single-handed? The Senatesuspected not, and turned furiously on the Gracchan party, and, it isalleged, accused Caius of complicity with the revolt. [Sidenote: CaiusGracchus accused of treason. He stands for the tribunate. ] It was rashprovocation to give to such a man at such a time. If he was accused, he was acquitted, and he at once stood for the tribunate. Thus theparty which had slain his brother found itself again at death-gripswith an even abler and more implacable foe. 

[Sidenote: Prominence of Gracchus at home and abroad. ] There is nodoubt that for some time past Caius Gracchus, young as he was, andhaving as yet filled none of the regular high offices, had had thefirst place in all men's thoughts. His first speech had been receivedby the people with wild delight. He was already the greatest orator inRome. His importance is shown by the Senate's actually prolonging theconsul's command, in order to keep his quaestor longer abroad. But hisfriends were consoled for his absence by the stories they heard ofthe respect shown to him by foreign nations. The Sardinians would notgrant supplies to Orestes, and the Senate approved their refusal. ButGracchus interposed, and they voluntarily gave what they had beforeappealed against. Micipsa, son of Masinissa, also sent corn toOrestes, but averred that it was out of respect to Gracchus. TheSenate's fears and the esteem of foreigners were equally just. Whatthe life of Gracchus was in Sardinia he has himself told us; and fromthe implied contrast we may judge what was the life of the nobles ofthe time. [Sidenote: His description of the life of a noble. ] 'Mylife, ' he said to the people, 'in the province was not planned to suitmy ambition, but your interests. There was no gormandising with me, no handsome slaves in waiting, and at my table your sons saw moreseemliness than at head-quarters. No man can say without lying thatI ever took a farthing as a present or put anyone to expense. I wasthere two years; and if a single courtesan ever crossed my doors, orif proposals from me were ever made to anyone's slave-pet, set me downfor the vilest and most infamous of men. And if I was so scrupuloustowards slaves, you may judge what my life must have been with yoursons. And, citizens, here is the fruit of such a life. I left Romewith a full purse and have brought it back empty. Others took outtheir wine jars full of wine, and brought them back full of money. '

Such was the man who now came back to Rome to demand from thearistocracy a reckoning for which he had been yearning with undyingpassion for nearly ten years. An exaggerated contrast between him andTiberius at the expense of the latter has been previously condemned. The man who originates is always so far greater than the man whoimitates, and Caius only followed where his brother led. He was notgreater than but only like his brother in his bravery, in his culture, in the faculty of inspiring in his friends strong enthusiasm anddevotion, in his unswerving pursuit of a definite object, and, as hissending the son of Fulvius Flaccus to the Senate just before hisdeath proves in the teeth of all assertions to the contrary, in hiswillingness to use his personal influence in order to avoid civilbloodshed. [Sidenote: Caius compared with Tiberius. ] The very dreamwhich Caius told to the people shows that his brother's spell wasstill on him, and his telling it, together with his impetuous oratoryand his avowed fatalism, militates against the theory that Tiberiuswas swayed by impulse and sentiment, and he by calculation and reason. But no doubt he profited by experience of the past. He had learned howto bide his time, and to think generosity wasted on the murderous crewwhom he had sworn to punish. Pure in life, perfectly prepared for adeath to which he considered himself foredoomed, glowing with onefervent passion, he took up his brother's cause with a double portionof his brother's spirit, because he had thought more before action, because he had greater natural eloquence, and because being forewarnedhe was forearmed. 

In spite of the labours of recent historians, the legislation of CaiusGracchus is still hard to understand. Where the original authoritiescontradict each other, as they often do, probable conjecture is themost which can be attained, and no attempt will be made here tospecify what were the measures of the first tribunate of Caius andwhat of the second. [Sidenote: The general purpose of the legislationof Caius. ] The general scope and tendency of his legislation is clearenough. It was to overthrow the senatorial government, and in thenew government to give the chief share of the executive power to themercantile class, and the chief share of the legislative power to thecountry class. These were his immediate aims. Probably he meant tokeep all the strings he thus set in motion in his own hands, so as tobe practically monarch of Rome. But whether he definitely conceivedthe idea of monarchy, and, looking beyond his own requirements, pictured to himself a successor at some future time inheriting theauthority which he had established, no one can say. In such vastschemes there must have been much that was merely tentative. But hadhe lived and retained his influence we may be sure that the Empirewould have been established a century earlier than it was. 

[Sidenote: Date of the tribunate of Caius, December 10, B. C. 124. ]Rome was thronged to overflowing by the country class, and the noblesstrained every nerve in opposition when Caius was elected tribune. Hewas only fourth on the list out of ten, and entered on his office onDecember 10, B. C. 124. With a fixed presentiment of his own fate, hefelt that, even if he wished to remain passive, the people would notpermit him to be so. He might, he said, have pleaded that he and hisyoung child were the last representatives of a noble line--of P. Africanus and Tiberius Gracchus--and that he had lost a brother in thepeople's cause; but the people would not have listened to the plea. Ithas been said that his mother dissuaded him from his intentions. Butthe fragments on which the statement is based are as likely as notspurious; and Cornelia's fortitude after she had lost both her sonswould hardly have been shown by one capable of subordinating public toprivate interests. 

[Sidenote: Story of his mother's sentiments. ] It is far more likelythat when in his stirring speeches he spoke of his home as no placefor him to visit, while his mother was weeping and in despair, he wasinfluenced by her adjurations to avenge his brother, and not by anycraven warnings against sharing his fate. However this may have been, no timid influences could be traced in the fiery passion of his firstspeeches. [Sidenote: Story of the means by which he modulated hisvoice when speaking. ] He was, in fact, so carried away by his feelingsthat he had to resort to a curious device in order to keep his voiceunder control. A man with a musical instrument used, it is said, tostand near him, and warn him by a note at times if he was pitching hisvoice too high or too low. It was now that he told his stories of theflogging of the magistrate of Teanum and the murder of the Venusianherdsman, and we can imagine how they would incense his hearersagainst the nobles. Against one of them, Octavius, he speciallydirected a law, making it illegal for any magistrate previouslydeposed by the people to be elected to office; but this, at Cornelia'ssuggestion it is said, he withdrew. Another law also had specialreference to the fate of Tiberius. It made illegal the trial of anycitizen for an offence which involved the loss of his civic rightswithout the consent of the people. [Sidenote: Caius procures thebanishment of Popillius Laenas. ] This law, if in force, would haveprevented the ferocity with which Popillius Laenas hunted down thepartisans of Tiberius; and Caius followed it up according to theoration De Domo, by procuring against Popillius a sentence ofoutlawry. One of the fragments from his speeches was probably spokenat this time. In it he told the people that they now had the chancethey had so long and so passionately desired; and that, if they didnot avail themselves of it, they would lay themselves open to thecharge of caprice or of ungoverned temper. Popillius anticipated thesentence by voluntary retirement from Rome. 

[Sidenote: His Lex Frumentaria. ] Having satisfied his conscience bythe performance of what no doubt seemed to him sacred duties, Caiusat once set to work to build up his new constitution. It is commonlyrepresented that in order to gain over the people to his side hecynically bribed them by his Lex Frumentaria. Now if this were true, and Caius were as clear-sighted as the same writers who insist on thebadness of the law describe him to have been, it is hard to see howthey can in the same breath eulogise his goodness and nobleness. Togain his ends he would have been using vile means, and would have beena vile man. [Sidenote: The common criticism on it unjust. ] Looking, however, more closely into the law, we are led to doubt whether it wasbad, or, at all events, even granting that eventually it led to evil, whether it would have appeared likely to do so to Caius. The publicland, it must be remembered, was liable to an impost called vectigal. This vectigal went into the Aerarium, which the nobles had at theirdisposal. Now the law of Caius appears to have fixed a nominal pricefor corn to all Roman citizens, and if the market price was above thisprice the difference would have to be made good from the Aerarium. Weat once see the object of Caius, and how the justice of it might haveblinded him to the demoralising effects of his measure. 'The publicland, ' he said in effect, 'belongs to all Romans and so does thevectigal. If you take that to which you have no right, you shall giveit back again in cheap corn. ' In short, it was a clever device forpartially neutralising the long misappropriation of the State'sproperty by the nobles, and for giving to the people what belongedto the people--to each man, as it were, so many ears of corn fromwhatever fraction would be his own share of the land. [Sidenote:Contrast between the just proposal of Caius and the demagogy ofDrusus. ] When Drusus was afterwards set up to outbid Caius, heproposed that the vectigal should be remitted, and that the land thathad been assigned might be sold by the occupier. How this would catchthe farmer's fancy is as obvious as is its odious dishonesty. It wasdishonest to the State because it was only fair that each occupiershould contribute to its funds, and because it did away with thehope of filling Italy with free husbandmen. It was dishonest to theoccupier himself, because it put in his way the worst temptation tounthriftiness. When Caius renewed his brother's laws he purposelycharged the land distributed to the poor with a yearly vectigal. How different was this from the mere demagogic trick of Drusus!It appears, then, that the Lex Frumentaria of Caius is not theindefensible measure which modern writers, filled with modern notions, have called it. It has, moreover, been well said that it was a kindof poor-law; and, even if bad in itself, may have been the least badremedy for the pauperism which not Caius, but senatorial misgovernmenthad brought about. No doubt it conferred popularity on Caius, and nodoubt his popularity was acceptable to him; but there is no ground forbelieving that his noble nature deliberately stooped to demoralise themob for selfish motives. 

[Sidenote: His Lex Judiciaria. ] One great party, however, he had thuswon over to his side. The Lex Judiciaria gained over the equitesalso. It has been before explained that the equites at this time werenon-senatorial rich men. Senators were forbidden by law to mix incommerce, though no doubt they evaded the law. Between the senatorialand moneyed class there was a natural ill-will, which Caius proceededto use and increase. His exact procedure we do not know for certain. According to some authorities he made the judices eligible from theequites only, instead of from the Senate. In the epitome of Livy it isstated that 600 of the equites were to be added to the number of thesenators, so that the equites should have twice as much power as theSenate itself. This at first sight seems nonsense. But Caius may haveproposed that for judicial purposes 600 equites should form, as itwere, a second chamber, which, being twice as numerous, would permittwo judices for every senatorial judex. In form he may have devisedthat 'counter-senate, ' which, as it has been shown, he in factcreated. [Sidenote: The effects of it. The Senate abased, the equitesexalted. ] But whether Caius provided that all the judices or onlytwo-thirds of them should be chosen from the equites, and in whateverway he did so, he did succeed in exalting the moneyed class andabasing the Senate. In civil processes, and in the permanent andtemporary commissions for the administration of justice, the equiteswere henceforth supreme. Even the senators themselves depended ontheir verdict for acquittal or condemnation, and the chief power inthe State had changed hands. Of course the change would not be feltat once to the full; but this was the most trenchant stroke whichGracchus aimed at the Senate's power. Here, again, it is customary towrite of his actions as if they were governed solely by feeling, quiteapart from all considerations of right and wrong. But Cicero declaresthat for nearly fifty years, while the equites discharged this office, there was not even the slightest suspicion of a single eques beingbribed in his capacity as judex; and after every allowance has beenmade for Ciceronian exaggeration, the statement may at least warrantus in believing that Gracchus had some reason for hoping that hischange would be a change for the better, even if, as Appian declares, it turned out in the end just the opposite. Indeed, it is beyondquestion that, as the provinces were governed by the senatorial class, judices who had to decide cases like those of Cotta would be morefairly chosen from the equites than from the class to which Cottabelonged. 

[Sidenote: The taxation of Asia. ] We know little of the arrangementsfor the taxation of Asia made by Gracchus. He provided that the taxesshould be let by auction at Rome, which would undoubtedly be a boonto the Roman capitalists and a check to provincial competition. He issaid also to have substituted the whole system of direct and indirecttaxes for the previously existing system of fixed payments by thevarious states. There was a certain narrowness about the conceptionsof both the Gracchi with regard to the transmarine world, which wascommon to all Romans; to which, for instance, Tiberius gave expressionwhen he spoke of the conquest of the whole world as a thing which hisaudience had a right to expect; and this sentiment may have in thisinstance influenced Caius to use harshness. [Sidenote: The commoncriticism on the measure of Caius unjust. ] But even here to condemnwithout more knowledge of his measures would be unjust. Fixed paymentsit must be remembered were not always preferable to tithes of theproduce. In a sterile year the payers of vectigalia would be best off. Again, if a rich province like Asia did not pay tribute in proportionto other provinces, a re-adjustment of its taxes would not seem to theRomans unfair; and perhaps auction at Rome would after all be lessmischievous than a hole-and-corner arrangement in the provinces. Ifthe sheep were to be fleeced, they would not be shorn closest in thecapital. [Sidenote: Measure for the relief of publicani. ] To anotherof his provisions at all events no one could object--the one whichgave relief to such publicani as had suffered loss in collecting therevenue. 

[Sidenote: Alleged privileges conferred on the equites. ] Gracchus hadthus raised the equites above the Senate at Rome in the courts ofjustice, and opened a golden harvest to them in the provinces. Itis conjectured that he also gave them the distinction of a goldenfinger-ring and reserved seats at the public spectacles. Two classeswere thus gratified, the city poor and the city rich. [Sidenote:Caius attempts to conciliate the farmer class and the Italians. ] ButGracchus had to deal also with those of the country class in whosefavour his brother's agrarian law had been passed, and with thosewho had resented the law. To provide for the former he renewed theoperation of his brother's law, which had been suspended by Scipio'sintervention, and probably took away its administrations fromthe consuls and restored it to triumvirs; and as that might beinsufficient, he began the establishment of many colonies in variousparts of the peninsula; and even beyond it at Carthage, to which heinvited colonists from all parts of Italy. To compensate and benefitthe latter he proposed to give them the franchise, so as to securethem from such outrages as that of Teanum. For though such of themas belonged to Roman colonies or municipia possessed the franchisealready, the mass of the Latins and Italians did not possess it. Thereare different accounts of this measure; but Appian says that he wishedto give the Latini the Jus Suffragii and Jus Honorum, and to the restof the Italians the Jus Suffragii only. But here he reckoned withouthis host. [Sidenote: Feeling at Rome. ] The boons of colonies and cheapbread, and the prospect of a slice out of the public land occupied byItalians, were all not strong enough to overcome the deep, ingrainedprejudice against extending the franchise. Rich and poor Romans methere on the common ground of narrow pride, and the offence caused bythis wise project probably paved the way for the tribune's fall. 

In speaking of the motives which induced Tiberius to seek thetribunate a second time (p. 33) it has been said that he was notinfluenced by personal considerations, but wanted time to carry outhis measures. This view is confirmed by what Appian says about Caius, namely, that he was elected a second time; for already a law had beenenacted to this effect, that if a tribune could not find time forexecuting in his tribunate what he had promised, the people might givethe office to him again in preference to anyone else. This has beenpronounced to be a blunder on Appian's part, but without adequatereason. It was in fact the natural and inevitable law which Caiuswould insist on first, and he would plead for it precisely on thegrounds which Appian states. It is also clear that such a law oncepassed made virtual monarchy at Rome possible. [Sidenote: Othermeasures of Caius. ] In fact the other measures of Caius were bothworthy of a great and wise monarch, and might with good reasonbe thought to be designed to lead to monarchy. [Sidenote: Roads. Granaries. Soldiers' uniform. Age for service. ] He constructedmagnificent roads--along which, it would be whispered, his votersmight come more easily to Rome. He built public granaries. He gavethe soldiers clothing at the cost of the State. He made seventeen theminimum age for service in the army. He himself superintended theplantation of his own colonies. Everywhere he made his finger felt;but whether this was of set purpose or only from his constitutionalenergy it is hard to decide. His chief object, however, was tooverthrow the Senate; and we have not yet exhausted the list of hisassaults upon it. [Sidenote: Change in nomination to provinces. ]Hitherto it had been the custom for the Senate to name the consularprovinces for the next year after the election of the consuls, whichmeant that if a favourite was consul a rich province was given to him, and if not, a poor one. Caius enacted that the consular provincesshould be named before the election of the consuls. By way, perhaps, of softening this restriction he took away from the tribunes theirveto on the naming of the consular provinces. [Sidenote: Allegedchange in the order of voting. ] He is further supposed, though onslender evidence, to have changed the order of voting in the ComitiaCenturiata. Formerly the first class voted first. Now the order ofvoting first was to be settled by lot, and so the influence of therich would be diminished. 

[Sidenote: General criticism of his schemes. ] Such, in outline, wasthe grand scheme of Caius Gracchus. If he was less single-minded inhis aims than his brother, he could hardly help being so; and, havingto reconcile so many conflicting interests, he may have swerved fromwhat would have been his own ideal. But that his main purpose was tobreak down a rotten system, and establish a sound one on its ruins, and that no petty motive of expediency guided him, but only the oneprinciple, 'salus populi suprema lex, ' is incontrovertible. When wethink of him so eloquent, resolute, and energetic, conceiving suchgreat projects and executing them in person, making the regenerationof his country his lodestar in spite of his ever-present belief thathe would, in the end, fall by the same fate as his brother, we thinkof him as one of the noblest figures in history--a purer and lessselfish Julius Caesar. 

[Sidenote: Machinations of the nobles. ] As the petty acts of thenobles had brought out into relief the large policy of Tiberius, soit was now. They resorted to even lower tricks than accusations oftyranny, and found in the fatuity or dishonesty of Drusus a tool evenmore effective than Nasica's brutality. The plantation of a colony atCarthage was looked at askance by many Romans. It was the firstcolony planted out of Italy, and the superstitious were filled withforebodings which the Senate eagerly exaggerated. Such colonies hadrepeatedly out-grown and overtopped the parent state. The ground hadbeen solemnly cursed, and the restoration of the town forbidden. Whenthe first standard was set up by the colonists a blast of wind, it issaid, blew it down, and scattered the flesh of the victims; and wolveshad torn up the stakes that marked out the site. Such maliciousstories met with readier credence, because, if it is true that Caiushad called for colonists from all Italy, and Junonia was to be a Romancolony, he was evading the decree of the people against extending thefranchise; and he was thus admitting to it, by a side-wind, those towhom it had just in the harshest manner been refused. For, when thevote had been taken, every man not having a vote had been expelledfrom the city, and forbidden to come within five miles of it till thevoting was over. Caius had come to live in the Forum instead of on thePalatine when he returned to Rome, among his friends as he thought;and still even in little matters he stood forward as the champion ofthe poor against the rich. There was going to be a show of gladiatorsin the Forum, and the magistrates had enclosed the arena with benches, which they meant to hire out. Caius asked them to remove the benches, and, on their refusal, went the night before the show and took themall away. Anyone who has witnessed modern athletic sports, andobserved how a crowd will hem in the competitors so that only a fewspectators can see, although an equally good view can be obtained bya great number if the ring is enlarged, will perceive Caius's object, and be slow to admit that he spoiled the show. But though such actspleased the people, all of them had not forgiven him the propositionabout the franchise; and his popularity was on the wane. [Sidenote:Drusus outbids Caius. ] The Senate had suborned one of his colleagues, M. Livius Drusus, to outbid him. Either Drusus thought he was guidingthe Senate into a larger policy when he was himself merely theSenate's puppet, and this his son's career makes probable, or he wascynically dishonest and unscrupulous. 

Caius had meditated, it may be, many colonies, but, according toPlutarch, had at this time only actually settled two. Drusus proposedto plant twelve, each of 3, 000 citizens. Caius had superintendedthe settlement himself, and employed his friends. With virtuousself-denial Drusus washed his hands of all such patronage. Caius hadimposed a yearly tax on those to whom he gave land; Drusus proposed toremit it. Caius had wished to give the Latins the franchise; Drususreplied by a comparatively ridiculous favour, which, however, mightappeal more directly to the lower class of Latins. No Latin, he said, should be liable to be flogged even when serving in the army. Drususcould afford to be liberal. His colonies were sham colonies. Hisremission of the vectigal was a thin-coated poison. His promise to theLatins was at best a cheap one, and was not carried out. But none theless his treachery or imbecility served its purpose, and the greedierand baser of the partisans of Gracchus began to look coldly on theirleader. [Sidenote: Caius rejected for the tribunate. ] It is stated, indeed, that on his standing for the tribunate a third time he wasrejected by fraud, his colleagues having made a false return of thenames of the candidates. In any case he was not elected, and one ofthe consuls for the year 121 was L. Opimius, his mortal foe. 

The end was drawing near. Sadly Caius must have recognised that hispresentiments would soon be fulfilled, and that he must share hisbrother's fate. [Sidenote: Preparations for civil strife. ] His foesproposed to repeal the law for the settlement of Junonia, and, according to Plutarch, others of his laws also. Warned by the past, his friends armed. Men came disguised as reapers to defend him. It islikely enough that they were really reapers, who would remember whyTiberius lost his life, and that their support would have saved him. Fulvius was addressing the people about the law when Caius, attendedby some of his partisans, came to the Capitol. He did not join themeeting, but began walking up and down under a colonnade to wait itsissue. Here a man named Antyllus, who was sacrificing, probably inbehalf of Opimius the consul, either insulted the Gracchans and wasstabbed by them, or caught hold of Caius's hand, or by some otherfamiliarity or importunity provoked some hasty word or gesture fromhim, upon which he was stabbed by a servant. As soon as the deedwas done the people ran away, and Caius hastened to the assembly toexplain the affair. But it began to rain heavily; and for this, andbecause of the murder, the assembly was adjourned. Caius and Fulviuswent home; but that night the people thronged the Forum, expectingthat some violence would be done at daybreak. Opimius was not slow toseize the opportunity. He convoked the Senate, and occupied the templeof Castor and Pollux with armed men. The body of Antyllus was placedon a bier, and with loud lamentations borne along the Forum; and asit passed by the senators came out and hypocritically expressed theiranger at the deed. Then, going indoors, they authorised the consul, by the usual formula, to resort to arms. He summoned the senators andequites to arm, and each eques was to bring two armed slaves. Theequites owed much to Gracchus, but they basely deserted him now. Fulvius, on his side, armed and prepared for a struggle. All the nightthe friends of Caius guarded his door, watching and sleeping by turns. [Sidenote: Fighting in Rome. ] The house of Fulvius was also surroundedby men, who drank and bragged of what they would do on the morrow, andFulvius is said to have set them the example. At daybreak he and hismen, to whom he distributed the arms which he had when consul takenfrom the Gauls, rushed shouting up to the Aventine and seized it. Caius said good-bye to his wife and little child, and followed, in histoga, and unarmed. He knew he was going to his death, but

 For his country felt alone, And prized her blood beyond his own. 

One effort he made to avert the struggle. He induced Fulvius to sendhis young son to the Senate to ask for terms. The messenger returnedwith the Senate's reply that they must lay down their arms, and thetwo leaders must come and answer for their acts. Caius was ready togo. But Fulvius was too deeply committed, and sent his son back again, upon which Opimius seized him, and at once marched to the Aventine. There was a fight, in which Fulvius was beaten, and with another sonfled and hid himself in a bath or workshop. His pursuers threatenedto burn all that quarter if he was not given up; so the man who hadadmitted him told another man to betray him, and father and son wereslain. 

[Sidenote: Murder of Caius. ] Meanwhile Caius, who had neither armednor fought, was about to kill himself in the temple of Diana, when histwo friends implored him to try and save himself for happiertimes. Then it is said he invoked a curse on the people for theiringratitude, and fled across the Tiber. He was nearly overtaken; buthis two staunch friends, Pomponius and Laetorius, gave their lives fortheir leader--Pomponius at the Porta Trigemina below the Aventine, Laetorius in guarding the bridge which was the scene of the feat ofHoratius Cocles. As Caius passed people cheered him on, as if it wasa race in the games. He called for help, but no one helped him--for ahorse, but there was none at hand. One slave still kept up with him, named Philocrates or Euporus. Hard pressed by their pursuers the twoentered the grove of Furina, and there the slave first slew Caiusand then himself. A wretch named Septimuleius cut off the head ofGracchus; for a proclamation had been made that whosoever broughtthe heads of the two leaders should receive their weight in gold. Septimuleius, it is said, took out the brains and filled the cavitywith lead; but if he cheated Opimius, Opimius in his turn cheatedthose who brought the head of Fulvius, for as they were of the lowerclass he would pay them nothing. The story may be false; but Opimiuswas subsequently convicted of selling his country's interests toJugurtha for money, so that with equal likelihood it may be true. Inthe fight and afterwards he put to death 3, 000 men, many of whom wereinnocent, but whom he would not allow to speak in their defence. Thehouses of Caius and Fulvius were sacked, and the property of the slainwas confiscated. Then the city was purified, and the ferocious knaveOpimius raised a temple to Concord, on which one night was foundwritten 'The work of Discord makes the temple of Concord. ' That yearthere was a famous vintage, and nearly two centuries afterwards therewas some wine which had been made at the time that Caius Gracchusdied. The wine, says the elder Pliny, tasted like and had theconsistency of bitterish honey. But the memory of the great tribunehas lasted longer than the wine, and will be honoured for ever by allthose who revere patriotism and admire genius. He for whom at thelast extremity friend and slave give their lives does not fallingloriously. Even for a life so noble such deaths are a sufficientcrown. 

[Sidenote: The mother of the Gracchi. ] The child of Caius did not longsurvive him. The son of Tiberius died while a boy. Only Cornelia, theworthy mother of the heroic brothers, remained. She could (accordingto the purport of Plutarch's pathetic narrative) speak of them withouta sigh or tear; and those who concluded from this that her mind wasclouded by age or misfortune, were too dull themselves to comprehendhow a noble nature and noble training can support sorrow, for thoughfate may often frustrate virtue, yet 'to bear is to conquer our fate. '

[Sidenote: Position of the nobles after the murder. Lex Maria. ] Thenobles no doubt thought that, having got rid of Gracchus, they hadrenewed their own lease of power. But they had only placed themselvesat the mercy of meaner men. The murderous scenes just related happenedin 121 B. C. , and in 119 we read of a Lex Maria, the first law, that isto say, promulgated by the destined scourge of the Roman aristocracy. Every Roman could vote, and voted by ballot, and was eligible toevery office. The first law of Marius was to protect voters from thesolicitations of candidates for office. It is significant that thenobles opposed it, though in the end it was carried. Stealthy intriguewas now their safest weapon, but their power was tottering to itsfall. Too jealous of each other to submit to the supremacy of one, itonly remained for them to be overthrown by some leader of the popularparty, and the Republic was no more. Yet, as if smitten by judicialblindness, they proceeded to hasten on their own ruin by reactionaryprovocations to their opponents. [Sidenote: Gracchan laws remain inforce. ] They dared not interfere with the corn law of Caius, for nowthat every man had a vote, which he could give by ballot, they weredependent on the suffrages of the mob. Neither dared they tillseventeen years later make an attempt to interfere with the selectionof the judices from the equestrian order, and even then the attemptfailed. The scheme of taxation in the province of Asia was also leftuntouched. But what they dared to do they did. They prosecuted theadherents of Gracchus. They recalled Popillius from exile. WhenOpimius was arraigned for 'perduellio, ' or misuse of his officialpower to compass the death of a citizen, they procured his acquittal. But when Carbo was accused of the same crime, they remembered that hehad been a partisan of Tiberius, though since a renegade, and wouldnot help him. So while Opimius got off, the champion of Opimius wasdriven to commit suicide--a fitting close to a contemptible career. 

[Sidenote: Reactionary legislation. ] But they soon assailed measuresas well as men. The Lex Baebia appears to have secured those who hadactually established themselves at Carthage in their allotments; butthe Senate annulled the colonies which Caius had planned in Italy, and, with one exception, Neptunia, broke up those already settled. [Sidenote: The agrarian law annulled. ] Then by three successiveenactments it got rid of the agrarian law, and plunged Italy againinto the decline from which by the help of that law she was emerging. 1. The occupiers were allowed again to sell their land. Tiberius hadexpressly forbidden this, and now the rich at once began to buy outthe small owners, whom they often evicted by means more or lessfoul. 2. A tribune named Borius, or Thorius, prohibited any furtherdistribution of land, thus knocking on the head the permanentcommission. These two laws were tantamount to handing over to therich in the city and the country the greater part of the publicland, giving them a legal title to it instead of the possession onsufferance with which the Gracchi had interfered. The mouths of thefarmers were stopped by the pernicious but tempting permission to selltheir land. The people were cajoled by the vectigalia, which Drusushad abolished, being reimposed, and the proceeds divided amongthem. 3. Encouraged by the general acquiescence in these insidiousaggressions they induced a tribune, whose name is conjectured to havebeen C. Baebius, to do away with the vectigalia altogether. [Sidenote:Lex Thoria. ] The date of this law, usually called the Thorian law, was111 B. C. The real Thorian law was probably carried in 118 B. C. Betweenthese dates the rich would have been getting back the land from thepoor occupiers, and so, when the Senate abolished the vectigalia, it was really pocketing them, and once for all and by a legal formturning the public into private land. This law, which is here calledthe Baebian law, Cicero ascribes to Spurius Thorius, who, he says, freed the land from the vectigal. But as Appian says that SpuriusBorius imposed the vectigal, it is assumed that Cicero confused names, that the Spurius Borius of Appian was Spurius Thorius, and that thetribune whom Cicero calls Thorius was really quite another person. However that may be, the law would benefit the rich, because the richwould be owners of the land. Certain provisions of it were directlymeant to prevent opposition in the country. For if many of the poorfarmers would grumble at being ousted from their land, the land whichhad been specially assigned to Latin towns, and of which TiberiusGracchus had threatened to dispossess them, was left in the same stateas before his legislation; that is to say, the Senate did not givethe occupiers an indefeasible title, but it did not meddle withthem. Moreover, it amply indemnified the Socii and Latini who hadsurrendered land for the colonies of Caius, while some compensationwas given to poor farmers by a clause, that in future a man might onlygraze ten large and fifty smaller beasts on the pastures of what stillremained public land. By this law the jurisdiction over land which hadbeen assigned by the triumvirs was given to the consuls, censors, and praetors, the jurisdiction over cases in which disputes with thepublicani required settlement being granted to the consuls, praetors, and, as such cases would occur chiefly in the provinces which weremostly under propraetors, to propraetors also. 

[Sidenote: Pernicious results of the reaction. ] The results of thisreactionary legislation are partly summed up by Appian, when heattributes to it a dearth of citizens, soldiers, and revenue. To oureyes its effects are clearer still. Slave labour and slave-discontent, 'latifundia, ' decrease of population, depreciation of the land, received a fresh impetus, and the triumphant optimates pushed theState step by step further down the road to ruin. For the end forwhich they struggled was not the good of Italy, much less of theworld, but the supremacy of Rome in Italy, and of themselves in Rome. Wealth and office were shared by an ever narrowing circle. Ten yearsafter the passing of the Baebian law, it was said that among all thecitizens there were only 2, 000 wealthy families. And between theyears 123 and 109 B. C. Four sons and probably two nephews of QuintusMetellus gained the consulship, five of the six gained triumphs, andone was censor, while he himself had filled all the highest officesof the State. Thus, as Sallust says, the nobles passed on the chiefdignities from hand to hand. 

There must have been many of the Gracchan party, now left without ahead, who burned for deliverance from such despicable masters. Butthey were for the time disorganized and cowed. [Sidenote: CaiusMarius. ] There was one man whom Scipio Aemilianus was said to havepointed out in the Numantine war as capable, if he himself died, oftaking his place; and the rough soldier had already come forward as apolitician, on the one hand checking the optimates by protecting thesecrecy and efficiency of the ballot, and on the other defying the mobby opposing a distribution of corn; but for the present no one couldtell how far he would or could go, and though he had already been madepraetor, the Metelli could as yet afford to despise him. The death ofCaius prolonged the Senate's misrule for twenty years. Twenty yearsof shame at home and abroad--the turpitude of the Jugurthine war--asecond and more stubborn slave revolt in Sicily--the apparition ofthe Northern hordes inflicting disaster after disaster upon the Romanarmies, which in 105 B. C. Culminated in another and more appallingCannae--these things had yet to come about before the cup of theSenate's infamy was full, and before those who had drawn the swordagainst the Gracchi perished by the sword of Marius, impotent, unpitied, and despised. 

 * * * * *

CHAPTER IV. 

THE JUGURTHINE WAR. 

[Sidenote: Attalus of Pergamus. ] Attalus III. , the last of thatsupple dynasty which had managed to thrive on the jealous and oftentreacherous patronage of Rome, left his dominions at his death tothe Republic. He had begun his reign by massacring all his father'sfriends and their families, and ended it as an amateur gardener anddilettante modeller in wax; so perhaps the malice of insanity hadsomething to do with the bequest, if indeed it was not a forgery. Aristonicus, a natural son of a previous king, Eumenes II. , set it atnaught and aspired to the throne. 

[Sidenote: Aristonicus usurps the kingdom of Pergamus. ] Attalus diedin 133, the year of the tribunate of Tiberius Gracchus, when Scipiowas besieging Numantia, and the first slave revolt was raging inSicily. The Romans had their hands full, and Aristonicus might haveso established himself as to give them trouble, had not some of theAsiatic cities headed by Ephesus, and aided by the kings of Cappadociaand Bithynia, opposed him. He seized Leucae (the modern Lefke) andwas expelled by the Ephesians. But when the Senate found time to sendcommissioners, he was already in possession of Thyatira, Apollonia, Myndus, Colophon, and Samos. Blossius, the friend of Gracchus, hadcome to him, and the civil strife at Rome must have raised hishopes. [Sidenote: Conduct of Crassus, illustrating Roman rule in theprovince. ] But in the year 131 P. Licinius Crassus Mucianus, thefather-in-law of Caius Gracchus, was consul, and was sent to Asia. Hewas Pontifex Maximus, rich, high-born, eloquent, and of great legalknowledge; and from his intimacy with the Gracchi and Scipio he musthave been an unusually favourable specimen of the aristocrat of theday. And this is what he did in Asia. He was going to besiege Leucae, and having seen two pieces of timber at Elaea, sent for the largerof them to make a battering ram. The builder, who was the chiefmagistrate of the town, sent him the smaller piece as being the mostsuitable, and Crassus had him stripped and scourged. Next year he wassurprised by the enemy near Leucae. Apparently he could have got offif he had not been laden with his collections in Asia, to procurewhich he had intrigued to prevent his colleague Flaccus getting thatprovince. Unable to escape, he provoked his captor to kill him bythrusting a stick into his eye. His death was a striking comment onthe Senate's government. Cruelty and culture, personal bravery and. Incompetence--such an alloy was now the best metal which its mostrespectable representatives could supply. 

[Sidenote: End of Aristonicus and settlement of the kingdom. ]Aristonicus was now the more formidable because he had roused theslaves, among whom the spirit of revolt, in sympathy with the rest oftheir kind throughout the Roman world, was then working. But in theyear 130 M. Perperna surprised him, and carried him to Rome. Blossiuscommitted suicide. The pretender was strangled in prison. Part of histerritory was given to the kings who had helped the consul, one ofwhom was the father of the great Mithridates. Phrygia was the shareassigned to him; but the Senate took it back from his successor, saying that the consul Aquillius had been bribed to give it. Theconsul may have been base or the Senate mean, or, what is moreprobable, the baseness of the one was used as a welcome plea by theother's meanness. The European part was added to the province ofMacedonia. The Lycian confederacy received Telmissus. The rest wasformed into a province, which was called Asia--the name being at oncean incentive to and a nucleus for future annexation. Such a nucleusthey already possessed in the province of Africa, and there also warwas kindled by the ambition of a bastard. 

[Sidenote: Jugurtha. ] Jugurtha was the illegitimate son of Mastanabal, Micipsa's brother. He had served at Numantia under Scipio, along withhis future conqueror Marius. There he had begun to intrigue withinfluential Romans for the succession to the Numidian kingdom, andhad been rebuked by Scipio, who told him he should cultivate thefriendship, not of individual Romans, but of the State. But inJugurtha's heart a noble sentiment found no echo. Brave, treacherous, restless, an able commander, a crafty politician, adroit in discerningand profiting by other men's bad qualities, wading to the thronethrough the blood of three kinsmen, he in some respects resemblesShakspeare's Richard III. , --his 'prime of manhood daring, bold, andventurous, ' his 'age confirmed, proud, subtle, sly, and bloody. '[Sidenote: Micipsa's will. ] Micipsa had shared the kingdom with histwo brothers, who died before him; and as this, which was Scipio'sarrangement, had not worked badly in his own case, he in his turn lefthis kingdom between Adherbal, Hiempsal, and Jugurtha. Adherbal wasweak and pusillanimous, Hiempsal hot-tempered and rash. Jugurtha, tenor fifteen years older than either, was the favourite of the nation, his handsome, martial figure and his reputation as a soldier accordingwith the notions of a race of riders as to what a king should be. Hiempsal soon provoked him by refusing to yield the place of honour tohim at their first meeting; and when Jugurtha said that Micipsa's actsduring the last five years of his life should be held as null becauseof his impaired faculties, Hiempsal retorted that he agreed with him, for it was within three years that he had adopted Jugurtha. [Sidenote:Jugurtha gets rid of Hiempsal. ] Hiempsal went to a town calledThirmida, to the house of a man who had been in Jugurtha's service. This man Jugurtha bribed to procure a model of the town keys, whichwere taken to Hiempsal each evening. Then his men, getting intoThirmida one night, cut off Hiempsal's head and took it to theirmaster. He then proceeded to seize town after town; all the bestwarriors rallied to his standard, and in a pitched battle he defeatedAdherbal, who fled to Rome, whither he had previously sent ambassadorsimploring aid. Jugurtha also sent envoys with plenty of money, to begiven first to his old comrades, and then to men likely to be useful. At once the indignation which the wrongs of the brothers had rousedat Rome cooled down. [Sidenote: M. Aemilius Scaurus. ] But M. AemiliusScaurus, the chief of the aristocracy, seems to have been bidding fora higher price than was at first offered him, and by his influence tencommissioners were appointed to divide the kingdom. Scaurus had in hisyouth thought of becoming a money-lender, a trade in which he wouldcertainly have excelled; and he may very likely have hoped to makesomething out of the commission, as the exemplary Opimius, murderer ofCaius Gracchus, did. [Sidenote: Jugurtha bribes the commissioners. ]This man, whom Cicero extols as a most excellent citizen, had opposedJugurtha at Rome but being in consequence treated by the king inNumidia with marked deference, joined the majority of his colleaguesin swallowing the bribes offered to them. So Adherbal received theeastern half which, though it contained the capital Cirta and betterharbours and towns, consisted mostly of barren sand, while the morefertile portion was assigned to his rival. 

[Sidenote: Jugurtha assails Adherbal, who appeals to the Senate. ] Thistook place in the year 117 B. C. Scarcely had the commissioners leftthe province when the successful villain again took up arms. Adherbal, after much long-suffering and sending a complaint to Rome, was drivento do the same in self-defence. But he was defeated between Cirta andthe sea, and would have been taken in Cirta had not the colony ofItalians resident there beaten off the horsemen in pursuit. [Sidenote:A second commission, hoaxed or bribed by Jugurtha. ] MeanwhileAdherbal's message had reached Rome, and the Senate, with itshigh sense of responsibility, sent ten young men to Numidia asadjudicators. Perhaps, indeed, it was not mere carelessness which sentthese young hopefuls to the best school of bribery in the world. Theywere bidden to insist simply on the war ceasing, and the two kingssettling their disputes by law. And yet the news of the battle and thesiege of Cirta had reached Rome. Jugurtha came to them, and said thathis merits had won Scipio's approval, and that, conscious of right, he could not submit to wrong; he then gravely charged Adherbal withplotting against his life, and promised to send ambassadors to Rome. Then the ten young men without even seeing Adherbal, left Africa, notwe may conjecture so lightly laden as they came there. 

The town of Cirta stood on the promontory of a peninsula formed by aloop of the river Ampsaga, and was almost impregnable. Modern writersrepresent it as a square spur, thrust out into a gorge which runsbetween two mountain-ranges, this gorge being spanned by a bridge atone corner of the square. The town, now known as Constantina, anddistant 48 miles from the sea and 200 from Algiers, has been describedas occupying a bold and commanding situation on a steep, rocky hill, with the river Rummel flowing on three sides of its base, the countryaround being a high terrace between the chains of the maritime andcentral Atlas. [Sidenote: Adherbal blockaded in Cirta. ] Such beingthe strength of the place, Jugurtha could only hope to reduce it byblockade, and it was only after four months that two of Adherbal's mengot out and carried a piteous appeal from their master to the Senate, adjuring them, not indeed to give him back his kingdom, but to savehis life. [Sidenote: A third commission. ] Some of the Senate were forsending an army to Africa at once, but in those days honest menwere always in the minority, and three commissioners were sentinstead--Scaurus, the man who had so lively an appreciation of hisown value, at their head. [Sidenote: Jugurtha is admonished by it. ]Jugurtha, after a desperate attempt to storm Cirta before theyarrived, came to them at Utica, where he was admonished at greatlength. Then this precious trio left Africa, as the ten young men haddone; and the surrender of Cirta followed, either because despair ledits defenders to hope that submission, as it would save the enemytrouble, might conciliate him, or perhaps because water or foodran short. [Sidenote: Cirta taken and Adherbal murdered. ] Jugurthaimmediately tortured Adherbal to death, and put every Numidian andItalian in the place to the sword. 

[Sidenote: Genuine indignation at Rome. ] Then at last a thrill ofgenuine anger went through Rome. The honour of the State had beensorely wounded, but gold had been thus far a pleasant salve. Now, however, the equites were touched in their hearts at the fate probablyof some of their own kinsmen, and almost certainly in an even moresensitive part--their purses. For no doubt there were commercialrelations between the Italian community at Cirta and the Romanmerchants, and here their gains were confiscated at one stroke by asavage. The senators, on the other hand, who had taken Numidian money, tried to quash discussion, and would have succeeded if the tribune, Caius Memmius, had not overawed them by his harangues. [Sidenote: Wardeclared. Bestia sails to Africa. ] Fresh envoys, who had been sent byJugurtha with a fresh bribery fund, were ordered to leave Italy in tendays; and Bestia sailed for Africa, taking with him as his secondin command Scaurus, who felt, no doubt, that a patriot was at lastrewarded. [Sidenote: Jugurtha bribes the generals. ] There was somefighting, and then the money from which Roman virtue had shrunk inItaly could be resisted no longer. The itching palm of Scaurus was atlength filled as full as he thought mere decency demanded. Bestiawas also gratified, Jugurtha's submission was accepted, hostilitiesceased, and the consul sailed home to superintend the next year'selections. 

[Sidenote: Harangues of the tribune Memmius. ] But Memmius, justlyincensed, now took a bolder tone. We cannot tell how far Sallustreports what he really said, or how far he drew on his own invention. But if he has given us Memmius's own words, they must have rung in theears of many an honest Roman like the trumpet-notes of that still moreeloquent tribune whose body, ten years before, had been hurledinto the Tiber. For he cast in the teeth of his audience theirpusillanimity in suffering their champions to be murdered, andallowing so worthless a crew to lord it over them. It had beenshameful enough that they had witnessed in silence the plunder of thetreasury, the monopoly of all high office, and kings and free statescringing to a handful of nobles; but now a worse thing had been done, and the honour of the Republic trafficked away. And the men who haddone this felt neither shame nor sorrow, but strutted about with aparade of triumphs, consulships, and priesthoods, as if they were menof honour and not thieves. After these and similar home-thrusts, hecalled upon the people to insist on Jugurtha being brought to Rome, for so they would test the reality of his surrender. The tribune'seloquence prevailed. The praetor Cassius was sent to bring Jugurthaunder a promise of safe-conduct. Jugurtha hesitated. Bestia's officerswere treading in their general's steps, taking bribes, selling asslaves the Numidians who had deserted to them, and pillaging thecountry. Jugurtha was fast becoming the national hero instead of thechief of a faction, and might have even then dreamt of defying Rome. However, he yielded and, as it was not in his nature to do things byhalves, came in the mean dress which was assumed to excite compassion. He did more. This was the year of the so-called Thorian law. [Sidenote: Jugurtha comes to Rome, and bribes the tribune Baebius. ]Caius Baebius, who may have been the author of that law, was tribune, and not of the stamp of Memmius. He took Jugurtha's bribes, and whenthe king was being cross-questioned by Memmius, interposed his veto, and forbade him to reply. Thus once again, though the people werefurious, the old plan seemed to be working well. 

[Sidenote: Murder of Massiva. ] But now a cousin of the king, namedMassiva, a grandson of Masinissa, at the instigation of the consulAlbinus, claimed the Numidian crown. In the present state of partieshe was sure of support, so Jugurtha had recourse to the secondweapon which he always used when the first was useless. He had himassassinated by his adherent Bomilcar, and assisted the latter toescape from Italy. At last his savage audacity had overstepped eventhe forbearance of the rogues in his pay. [Sidenote: Jugurtha expelledfrom Rome. ] He was ordered to leave Rome, and, as he went, utteredthe famous epigram, 'A city for sale, and when the first buyer comes, doomed to ruin!' [Sidenote: Futile campaign of Albinus. ] It ispossible that Spurius Albinus, who was next sent against him, wasplaying the game of Scaurus and Bestia over again; for he effectednothing in his campaign in 110. Nor does his brother's rashnessexonerate him. Left as propraetor in charge of the army, this man, inJanuary 109, determined to try and carry off Jugurtha's treasures bya _coup de main_. To do this he marched against Suthul, where thetreasures were kept, at a season when the heavy rains turn the landinto water. [Sidenote: Jugurtha overthrows Aulus Albinus. ] Jugurtharetreated into the interior, enticing Aulus Albinus by hopes of comingto terms, and meanwhile tampering with his officers. Then, on adark night, he surrounded the army. The traitors whom he had bribeddeserted their posts. The soldiers threw away their arms, and next dayJugurtha forced Aulus to agree to go under the yoke, to make peace, and, perhaps, in mockery of the Senate's treatment of the Numidianenvoys, to leave Numidia in ten days. Of course the Senate would notacknowledge the treaty. Nor did they even go through the farce ofsurrendering the man who had made it. The chivalry of the era ofRegulus would have seemed quixotic to cynics like Scaurus. The otherAlbinus, hastening to Africa, found the troops mutinous, and couldeffect nothing. Another tribune now stepped forward to impeach all, whether soldiers or civilians, who had assisted Jugurtha to theprejudice of the State. In spite of the aid of the rich Latins, whohad just been gratified by the remission of the vectigal, thesenators were beaten and the bill passed. Triumvirs were appointed toinvestigate the matter; but one of them was Scaurus, sure to floatmost buoyantly where the scum of scoundrelism was thickest. [Sidenote:Banishment of Romans who had taken Jugurtha's bribes. ] The judiceswere equites, and among those condemned were Bestia, Sp. Albinus, Opimius, and Caius Cato, the grandson of Cato the censor. Opimius diedat Dyrrhachium, a poor man; and probably no harder punishment couldhave befallen him. 

The history of the Jugurthine war has been thus far related at greaterlength than the space at command would warrant if it was merely ahistory of military details. But it is a striking commentary on thepolitics of the time and the vices of the government. The state ofsociety could not be more succinctly summed up than in the words withwhich Jugurtha quitted Rome. What was it which made the nobles sogreedy of money as to be lost to all shame in hunting for it? A speechsupposed to have been delivered that very year partly answers thequestion: 'Gourmands say that a meal is not all that it ought to beunless, precisely when you are relishing most what you are eating, your plate is removed and another, and better, and richer one isput in its place. Your exquisite, who makes extravagance andfastidiousness pass for wit, calls that the "bloom of a meal. " "Theonly bird, " says he, "which you should eat whole is the becafico. Ofevery other bird, wild or tame, nothing, unless your host be a meanfellow, but the hinder parts will be served, and enough of them tosatisfy everybody. People who eat the fore parts have no palate. " Ifluxury goes on at this rate there will soon be nothing left but forthem to have their meats nibbled at for them by some one else, to savethem the toil of eating. Already the couches of some men are decoratedmore lavishly with silver and purple and gold than those of theimmortal gods. '

If the war up to this stage had revealed the hopeless depravity of thesenatorial government, its subsequent course revealed what shapethe revolution about to engulf that government would assume. Theconsulship of Marius, won in spite of Metellus, signified really thefall of the Republic and the rise of monarchy, while the rivalry ofMarius and Sulla showed that supreme authority would be competed for, not in the forum but the camp. The law of Manilius necessitated anearnest prosecution of the war. [Sidenote: Metellus appointed to thecommand against Jugurtha. His character. ] Quintus Caecilius Metelluswas elected consul for the year 109, and received Numidia as hisprovince. He was a stern, proud man; but if in his childish hauteur hehad a double portion of the foible of his order, he was free from manyof its vices. He set to work at once to rediscipline the army; andhis punishment of deserters, abominable in itself, was no doubt aneffective warning that the new general was not a man with whom it wassafe to trifle. The Romans were never gentle to the deserter unless hedeserted to them. They threw him to wild beasts, or cut off his hands. Metellus did more. He buried 3, 000 men to their waists, made thesoldiers use them as targets, and finally burned them. 

[Sidenote: Battle on the Muthul. ] Jugurtha was alarmed, and sent tooffer terms, asking only a guarantee for his life. Metellus returnedevasive answers, and secretly intrigued with the messengers for thesurrender or assassination of the king. But though assassination hadbecome one of the recognised weapons of a Roman noble, Metellus was anovice in the art by the side of Jugurtha, who determined to die hardnow he was at bay. The Romans had to cross a range of mountains, afterwhich they descended into a plain through which the river Muthul(probably a branch of the modern Mejerda) ran eighteen miles off. Between them and the river was hilly ground--probably a spur fromthe range. On this hilly ground the king posted Bomilcar, with theinfantry and elephants. He himself, with the best of the foot and thecavalry, waited nearer the mountains. Metellus saw the snare, but wasobliged to get water, and in making for the river was surrounded. Butthe new discipline told. Though isolated, each Roman division foughtbravely. Metellus and Marius carried the hills. Rufus dispersed thepicked infantry, and killed or captured all the elephants. Jugurtha'splan was masterly, but it had failed. [Sidenote: Jugurtha keeps up aguerilla warfare. ] His army dispersed, as such armies do upon defeat, and he was reduced to carrying on a guerilla warfare, spoiling thesprings where Metellus was marching, and cutting off stragglers. Metellus split his army into two columns; Marius commanded one and hethe other, and so they marched, ravaging the country and capturing thetowns, ready to form a junction whenever it was necessary. At lastthey came to Zama; and, while Metellus was attempting to storm thetown, Jugurtha surprised his camp. Though beaten off in this assaulthe attacked the Romans again next day, and Metellus was obliged togive up his enterprise. [Sidenote: Metellus tampers with Bomilcar. ]After garrisoning the towns which he had taken, he went into winterquarters, probably at Utica, where he proceeded to tamper withBomilcar. That traitor urged Jugurtha to surrender, and the king gaveup his elephants, the deserters, and a large sum of money. But when itcame to giving up himself his heart failed him, and, having discoveredBomilcar's treachery, he slew him, and once more resolved to fight. 

[Sidenote: Marius stands for the consulship, 107 B. C. ] The precedingmilitary operations are supposed to have taken place in the year 108B. C. Marius went to Rome to stand for the consulship, and while he wasaway, in 107, Metellus retained the command. Jugurtha's cause even nowwas not hopeless. The Numidians adored him, and were smarting underthe Roman devastations. [Sidenote: Revolt of Vaga. ] The chief townoccupied by the Romans, Vaga--the modern Baja--revolted in the winter, and the commander, Turpilius, a Latin, rightly or wrongly was executedby Metellus for collusion with the enemy. But Metellus was eager toend the war, and pressed the king hard. Jugurtha lost another battle, and fled to Thala; but Metellus marched fifty miles across the desert, and forced him to flee by night out of the town, which was taken aftera siege of forty days. But now a new enemy confronted the Romans. [Sidenote: Bocchus joins Jugurtha. ] Bocchus, king of Mauretania, formed an alliance with his son-in-law, Jugurtha, and was induced byhim to march against Cirta, which was in the possession of the Romans. About the same time Metellus heard that Marius was coming to supersedehim. The proud man shed tears of rage, and would not move further forfear of hazarding his own reputation, or lessening the difficulties ofhis successor. 

[Sidenote: Marius succeeds to the command. ] The African war nowpromised hard work and little glory or profit to the soldiers, andJugurtha's bribing days were over. Hence it was hard to recruit thelegions, and Marius took men from the Proletarii and Capite Censi, classes usually exempt from service. With these troops, who would bemore easily satisfied and more manageable, he filled up the gaps inthe legions in Africa, and set to work, as Metellus had done, takingtowns and forts and plundering the country. Bocchus had separated fromJugurtha, for they hoped that the Romans having two foes to chasewould be the more easily harassed. But Marius was always on his guard, and beat, though he could never capture, Jugurtha whenever he cameacross him. [Sidenote: Capture of Capsa. ] There is an oasis in thesouth of Tunis, and a town, Gafsa, in it, which in those days wascalled Capsa. This town Marius captured after a laborious marchof nine or ten days, and, though the inhabitants surrendered, heruthlessly massacred every adult Numidian in it, and sold the rest asslaves. One other exploit of his is told by Sallust, but withsuch blunders of geography as render identification of the placeimpossible. Carrying fire and sword through the land, Marius reacheda fort in which the king's treasures were. It stood on a precipice, which was considered inaccessible on all sides but one. For many dayshe strove in vain to gain the walls by this road, and only an accidentsaved him from failure in the end. A Ligurian in the army, whilegathering snails, unconsciously got nearly to the top of the hill. Finding this out he clambered further and got a full view of the town. [Sidenote: Capture of another stronghold. ] Next day Marius sent tenmen with horns and trumpets and the Ligurian as guide, while hehimself assailed the town by the road. As soon as they were at thetop he ordered an assault on the walls. The men marched up with theirshields locked over their heads, and at the same moment the Romantrumpets were heard at the side of the town over the precipice. TheNumidians fled and the fort was won. 

[Sidenote: Marius marches for Cirta. ] Here, wherever the place was, Marius was joined by Sulla with some cavalry; and having gained hisend, he marched eastward towards Cirta, intending to winter his men inthe maritime towns. [Sidenote: Attempts of Jugurtha to surprisehis march. ] But the Numidian king had nerved himself for one lastdesperate effort. By the promise of a third of his kingdom he bribedBocchus to join him, and one night at dusk surprised the retiringarmy. Only discipline saved it. Like the English at Inkermann, theRomans fought in small detached groups, till Marius was able toconcentrate his men on a hill, while Sulla by his orders occupiedanother hard by. The barbarians surrounded them and kept up a revelall night, deeming their prey secure. But at dawn Marius bade thehorns strike up, and with a shout the soldiers charged down anddispersed the enemy with ease. Then the march went on till they werenear Cirta. Again Jugurtha attempted to cut off the retreat. Volux, son of Bocchus, had brought him some fresh infantry. While the cavalryengaged Sulla, Bocchus led these men round to attack the rear. Jugurtha, who was fighting against Masinissa in the front, rode alsoto the rear, and, holding up a bloody head, cried out that he hadslain Marius. The Romans began to give way, when Sulla, like Cromwellat Marston Moor, having done his own work charged the troops ofBocchus on the flank. Still Jugurtha fought on, and fled only whenall around him were slain. The result of this battle was that Bocchusbecame anxious to come to terms. Sulla was sent to arrange them. But Bocchus hated the Romans, while he feared them; and freshsolicitations from Jugurtha made him again waver. [Sidenote:Negotiations of Bocchus with Rome. ] Soon afterwards, by permissionof Marius, he sent an embassy to Rome. The Senate replied that theyexcused his past errors, and that he should have the friendship andalliance of Rome when he had earned it. Then ensued intrigue uponintrigue. [Sidenote: Sulla persuades Bocchus to betray Jugurtha. ]Sulla daringly visited Bocchus, and after some days' hesitation, during which Sulla pressed him to betray Jugurtha, and Jugurthapressed him to betray Sulla, the Moorish king at last decided on whichside his interests lay. The Roman devised a trap. The arch-traitor wasensnared, and was carried in chains to Rome, where he was led in hisroyal robes by the triumphal car of Marius, and, it is said, lost hissenses as he walked along. One wonders with what relish Scaurus andhis tribe, after gazing at the spectacle, sat down to their becaficoesthat day. Then he was thrust into prison, and as they hasted to striphim, some tore the clothes off his back, while others in wrenching outhis earrings pulled off the tips of his ears with them. And so he wasthrust down naked into the Tullianum. 'Hercules, what a cold bath!' hecried, with the wild smile of idiocy, as they cast him in. [Sidenote:Death of Jugurtha. ] For six days he endured the torments ofstarvation, and then died. [Sidenote: Division of the Numidiankingdom. ] The most westerly portion of his kingdom, corresponding tothe modern province of Algiers, was given to Bocchus, the rest of itto Gauda, Jugurtha's half-brother. The Romans did not care to turninto a province a country of which the frontiers were so hard toguard. But they received some Gaetulian tribes in the interior intofree alliance, so that they had plenty of opportunities for meddlingif they wished to do so. 

 * * * * *

CHAPTER V. 

THE CIMBRI AND TEUTONES. 

The Jugurthine war ended in 105 B. C. In one way it had been of realservice to Rome. A terrible crisis was at hand, and this war had givenher both soldiers and a general worthy of the name. Before, however, the story of the struggle with the Cimbri is told, something must besaid about what had been going on at Rome, about the man who had nowmost influence there, and about his rivals. [Sidenote: Recommencementof the social struggle at Rome. ] The great social struggle hadrecommenced. The personal rivalry between Marius and Sulla had begunbefore the Cimbric war. During that war men held as it were theirbreath in terror, but nevertheless it was as if only an interlude inthat deadly civil strife, for which each of the contending parties wasalready arrayed. C. Marius was now fifty years old. Cato, the censor, was of opinion that no man can endure so much as he who has turned thesoil and reaped the harvest. Marius was such a man. His family wereclients of the Herennii. His father was a day-labourer of Cereatae, called today Casamare, after his illustrious son, and he himselfserved in the ranks in Spain. [Sidenote: Previous career and presentposition of Marius. ] Soon made an officer, he won Scipio's favour as abrave, frugal, incorruptible, and trusty soldier, who never quarrelledwith his general's orders, even when they ran as counter to his owninclinations as the expulsion of all soothsayers from the camp beforeNumantia. On coming home he was lucky enough to marry the aunt ofJulius Caesar, whose high birth and wealth opened the door to Statehonours, which to a man of his origin was at this time otherwisevirtually closed. In 119 B. C. He was tribune, and had by the measurespreviously noticed won the reputation of an upright and patrioticpolitician, who would truckle neither to the nobles nor the mob. Fromthis time, however, the feud with the Metelli began; for he ordered L. Caecilius Metellus, the consul, to be cast into prison for resistinghis ballot-law, though, as the Senate yielded, the order was notcarried into effect. In 115 he gained the praetorship, and anabsurd charge of bribery trumped up against him indicated a risingdisposition among the nobles to snub the aspiring plebeian. He waspropraetor in Spain the next year, and showed his usual vigour therein putting down brigandage. With the soldiers he was as popular as Neywas with Napoleon's armies, for he was one of them, rough-spoken asthey were, fond of a cup of wine, and never scorning to share theirtoils. While he was with Metellus at Utica, a soothsayer prophesiedthat the gods had great things in store for him, and he asked Metellusfor leave to go to Rome and stand for the consulship. Metellus repliedthat when his own son stood for it it would be time enough for Marius. The man at whom he sneered resented sneers. There is evidence that thesimple nature of the rough soldier was becoming already spoiled byconstant success. He was burning with ambition, and would ascribethe favours of heaven to his own merits. He at once set to workto undermine the credit of his commander with the army, the Romanmerchants, and Gauda, saying that he himself would soon bring the warto an end if he were general. Metellus can hardly have been a popularman anywhere, and his strictness must have made him many enemies. Thushe scornfully refused Gauda a seat at his side, and an escort of Romanhorse. Gauda and the rest wrote to Rome, urging that Marius shouldhave the army. Metellus with the worst grace let him go just twelvedays before the election. But the favourite of the gods had a fairwind, and travelled night and day. The artisans of the city andthe country class from which he sprang thronged to hear him abuseMetellus, and boast how soon he would capture or kill Jugurtha, and hewas triumphantly elected consul for the year 107. 

How his after achievements turned his head we shall see. Already therewere drops of bitterness in the sweet cup of success. It was Metelluswho was called Numidicus, not he, and it was Sulla whose dare-devilknavery had entrapped the king. The substantial work had been doneby the former. The _coup de théâtre_ which completed it revealedthe latter as a rival. Marius fumed at the credit gained bythese aristocrats; and when Bocchus dedicated on the Capitol arepresentation of Sulla receiving Jugurtha's surrender, he could notconceal his wrath. [Sidenote: L. Cornelius Sulla. ] In Sulla he perhapsalready recognised by instinct one who would outrival him in the end. He was the very antipodes of Marius in everything except bravery andgood generalship, and faith in his star. He was an aristocrat. He wasdissolute. He was an admirer of Hellenic literature. War was not hisall in all as a profession. If he had a lion's courage, the fox in himwas even more to be feared. He, like Marius, owed his rise partly to awoman, but, characteristically, to a mistress, not a wife, who helpedhim as Charles II. 's sultana helped the young Churchill. If theboorish nature of the one degenerated with age into bloodthirstybrutality, the other was from the first cynically destitute offeeling. He would send men to death with a jest, and the cold-blooded, calculating, remorseless infamy of his entire career excites arepulsion which we feel for no other great figure in history, not evenfor the first Napoleon. Sulla's whole soul must have recoiled from thecoarse manners of the man under whom he first won distinction, and, while he scorned his motives, he must, as he saw him graduallyfloundering into villainy, have felt the serene superiority of anatural genius for vice. But at present it was not his game to showhis animosity. Though Marius had given fresh umbrage to the optimatesby coming from his triumph (Jan. 1, 104 B. C. ) into the Senate wearinghis triumphal robes, with the people he was the hero of the hour, andwhen the storm in the North broke, it was the safest course for Sullato follow the fortunes of his old commander, who in his turn could notdispense with so able a subordinate. 

[Sidenote: Frontier wars of Rome previous to the Cimbric invasion. ]The Romans were constantly at war on the frontiers. Besides thenatural quarrels which would arise between them and lawlessbarbarians, it was the interest of their generals to make small warsin order to gain sounding names and triumphs. Such wars, however, byno means always ended in Roman victories; and while in the last thirtyyears of the second century before the Christian era there weremany wars, there were also many defeats. [Sidenote: The Iapydes. ]Sempronius Tuditanus had a triumph for victories over the Iapydes, an Illyrian nation; but he was first beaten by them. [Sidenote: TheSalyes. ] In 125 the Salyes, a Ligurian people, who stretched fromMarseilles westwards to the Rhone and northwards to the Durance, attacked Marseilles. Flaccus went to its aid, and triumphed over theSalyes in 123. [Sidenote: The Balearic Islands. ] Quintus CaeciliusMetellus subdued the Balearic Islands in the same year, and relievedSpain from the descents of pirates, who either lived in those islandsor used them as a rendezvous. The Salyes again gave trouble in 122, and Calvinus took their capital, which was most probably the modernAix, establishing there the colony of Aquae Sextiae. This colony wasthe _point d'appui_ for further conquests. The most powerful nationsof Gaul were the Aedui and Arverni, whose territory was separated bythe Elaver, the modern Allier. The Arverni were rivals of the Aeduiand friends of the Allobroges, a tribe in the same latitude, but onthe east of the Rhone. The Romans made an alliance with the Aedui, andthe proconsul Domitius Ahenobarbus, in 122 or 121 B. C. , charged theAllobroges with violating Aeduan territory, and with harbouring theking of the Salyes. [Sidenote: The Allobroges. ] The Allobroges werehelped by the Arverni, and Domitius defeated their united forces nearAvignon, with the loss of 20, 000 men. Fabius succeeded Domitius, andmarched northwards across the Isara. [Sidenote: The Arverni. ] Near itsjunction with the Rhone, on August 8, 121, he defeated with tremendouscarnage the Arverni who had crossed to help the Allobroges. [Sidenote:Defeat of the Arverni, B. C. 121. ] The number of the slain amounted, itis said, to 120, 000 or 150, 000. The king of the Arverni was caught andsent to Rome, and the Allobroges became Roman subjects. It was theyear of the death of Caius Gracchus, of the famous vintage, and of agreat eruption of Mount Etna. [Sidenote: The Staeni. ] In 118 B. C. M. Marcius Rex annihilated the Staeni, probably a Ligurian tribe of theMaritime Alps, who were in the line of the Roman approach to SouthGaul, and for this success he gained a triumph. In the same year itwas resolved, in spite of the opposition of the Senate, to coloniseNarbo, which was the key to the valley of the Garonne, and was onthe route to the province of Tarraconensis. Thus was established theprovince named from the time of Augustus the Narbonensis, embracingthe country between the Cevennes and the Alps, as far north-east asGeneva; and a road, called Via Domitia, was laid down from the Rhoneto the Pyrenees. [Sidenote: The Dalmatae. ] In 117 B. C. L. CaeciliusMetellus triumphed over the Illyrian Dalmatae whom he had attackedwithout cause, or never attacked at all, as it was said, for which hewas surnamed Dalmaticus. [Sidenote: The Karni. ] In 115 M. AemiliusScaurus, whose name we have met with before, triumphed over the Karni, a tribe to the north of the Adriatic. C. Porcius Cato, consul in 114, was not so lucky. [Sidenote: The Scordisci. ] He lost his army indefending the Macedonian frontier against a tribe of Gauls calledScordisci, who were in their turn defeated by M. Livius Drusus in 112, and M. Minucius Rufus in 109 B. C. The year between their first victoryand first defeat was remarkable, not, indeed, because one Metellustriumphed for what he had done in Sardinia, and another for what hehad done in Thrace; but in that year the Cimbri came in collision withRome. [Sidenote: First collision with Cimbri. ] Cn. Papirius Carbo, theconsul, was sent against them as they had crossed or were expected tocross the Roman frontiers. Some were in Noricum, and to them he sentto say that they were invading a people who were the friends of Rome. They agreed to evacuate the country; but Carbo treacherously attackedthem, and was disgracefully beaten at a place called Noreia. [Sidenote: Defeat of Silanus. ] Four years later, in the year 109, M. Junius Silanus, colleague of Marius, met the same barbarians, who hadnow crossed the Rhine, in the new province of South Gaul, and was inhis turn defeated. 

[Sidenote: The Cimbri rouse the Helvetii. ] The movements of the Cimbrimade the Helvetii restless. [Sidenote: Defeat of Longinus. ] One oftheir clans, the Tiguroni, which dwelt between the Jura, the Rhone, and the lake of Geneva, defeated and slew the consul Longinus in 107B. C. , and forced his lieutenant, Popillius Laenas, to go under theyoke. Tolosa thereupon rose against the Romans, and put the troopswhich garrisoned it in chains. By treachery Q. Servilius Caepiorecovered the town, and sent off its treasures to Marseilles. [Sidenote: The gold of Tolosa. ] The ill-gotten gold, however, wasseized on the way by robbers, whom Caepio himself was accused ofemploying. His name was destined, however, to be linked with a greatdisaster as well as a thievish trick. The Cimbri, who had hithertopetitioned the Romans for lands to settle on, were now meditating araid into Italy. On the left bank of the Rhone, in 105, they overthrewM. Aurelius Scaurus, whom they took prisoner and put to death. CnaeusMallius Maximus commanded the main force on that side of the river, and he told Caepio, who as consul was in command on the right bank, tocross and effect a junction. But Caepio was as wilful as Minucius hadshown himself towards another Maximus in the Second Punic War. Whenhis superior began to negotiate with the Cimbri, he thought it wasa device to rob him of the honour of conquering them, and in hisirritation rashly provoked a battle, in which he was beaten and losthis camp. [Sidenote: Defeat of Caepio and Maximus. ] The place of hisdefeat his camp is not known. Maximus was also defeated, and theRomans were reported to have lost 80, 000 men and 20, 000 campfollowers. There was terrible dismay at Rome. The Gaul seemed againto be at its gates. [Sidenote: Consternation at Rome. Marius electedconsul for 104. ] The time of mourning for the dead was abridged. Everyman fit for service had to swear not to leave Italy, and the captainsin Italian ports took an oath not to receive any such man on board. Marius also was elected consul for 104. 

[Sidenote: The Cimbri move off towards Spain. ] But fortune helped theRomans more than all these precautions. The Cimbri, after wilfullydestroying every vestige of the spoils they had taken, in fulfilment, probably, of some vow, wandered westward on a plundering raid towardsthe Pyrenees, the road thither having been lately provided, as itwere, for them by Domitius. [Sidenote: Beaten back by Celtiberi, theyare joined by the Teutones in South Gaul. ] In the Celtiberi they metwith foes who sold too dearly the little they had to lose, and againthey surged back into South Gaul, where they were joined by theTeutones, and once more threatened Italy. [Sidenote: How the Romanshad been occupied meanwhile. ] But meantime the generals of theRepublic had not been idle. Rutilius Rufus, the old comrade of Marius, had been diligently drilling troops, having engaged gladiators toteach them fencing. Probably Marius was engaged in the same work atthe beginning of 104, and then went to South Gaul, where, as wehear of Sulla capturing the king of the Tectosages, he was no doubtcollecting supplies and men, and suppressing all disaffection in theprovince. He also cut a canal from the Rhone, about a mile aboveits mouth, to a lake supposed to be now the Étang de l'Estouma; foralluvial deposits had made access to the river difficult, and hewanted the Rhone as a highway for his troops and commissariat. [Sidenote: Marius consul in 103 and 102 B. C. ] In 103 he was madeconsul for the third time, and again in 102. And now he was ready tomeet the invaders. 

[Sidenote: Nationality of the Cimbri. ] Who these invaders were hasbeen a matter of hot dispute. Were they Celts? Were they Teutons? Didthey come from the Baltic shores, or the shores of the Sea of Azof; orwere they the Homeric Cimmerii who dwelt between the Dnieper and theDon? Or did their name indicate their personal qualities, and nottheir previous habitation? The following seems the most probableconjecture. In the great plain which runs along the Atlantic and thesouthern shore of the Baltic, from the Pyrenees to the Volga, therehad been in pre-historic times a movement constantly going on amongthe barbarous inhabitants like the ebb and flow of a great sea. TheCelts had reached Spain and Italy on the south, and Germany and theDanube on the east. Then, making the Rhine their frontier, they hadsettled down into semi-civilised life. Now the Teutonic tribes werein their turn going through the same process of flux and reflux; andimpelled probably at this time by some invasion of other tribes, orpossibly, as Strabo says, by some great inundation of the sea, theseinvading nations, for they were not armies but whole nations, cameroaming southwards in search of a new home. Celts there were amongthem, for the Helvetii had joined them, and therefore Helvetic chiefs. But the names still exist in modern Denmark and near the Baltic. Caesar did not think they were Celts. The light hair and blue eyes ofthe warriors, and the hair of old age on the heads of children, which excited the astonishment of the Romans, are not Celticcharacteristics. We may therefore set them down as Teutonic by race. The name Cimbri is probably derived from some word of their own, Kaemper, meaning champions or spoilers, and their last emigration wasfrom the country between the Rhine, the Danube, and the Baltic. Theywere a tall, fierce race, who fought with great swords and narrowshields, and wore copper helmets and mail. [Sidenote: Their modeof fighting, etc. ] The men in their front ranks were often linkedtogether so as to make retreat impossible. Their priestesses cheeredthem on in battle, and, when prisoners were taken, cut their throatsover a great bowl, and then, ripping them up, drew auguries from theirentrails. 

[Sidenote: Plan of the invaders. ] The plan of the invaders was thatone body, consisting of the Teutones, Ambrones, and Tugeni, shoulddescend into Italy on the west, the Cimbri on the east. Whence theTeutones had come to join the Cimbri we do not know. They joined themin South Gaul. [Sidenote: The Ambrones. ] The Ambrones may have been aclan of the Helvetii, as the Tugeni were. [Sidenote: Plan of Marius. ]Marius waited for the western division at the confluence of the Isaraand the Rhone, near the spot where Fabius had defeated the Arverni, his object being to command the two main roads into Italy, over theLittle St. Bernard and along the coast. He did not follow the exampleof his old commander Scipio Aemilianus, in expelling soothsayersfrom his camp; for he had a Syrian woman, named Martha, with him toforetell the future. The soldiers had their own pet superstitions. They had caught two vultures, put rings on their necks and let themgo, and so knew them again as they hovered over the army. When thebarbarians reached the camp they tried to storm it. But they werebeaten back, and then for six days they filed past with tauntingquestions, whether the Romans had any messages to send their wives. Marius cautiously followed, fortifying his camp nightly. They weremaking for the coast-road; and as they could not have taken theirwagons along it, they were marching, as Marius had seen, to their owndestruction. His strategy was masterly, for he was winning withoutfighting; but accident brought on an engagement. [Sidenote: Scene ofthe battle of Aquae Sextiae. ] East of Aquae Sextiae (the modern Aix)Marius had occupied a range of hills, one of which is to this daycalled Sainte Victoire. The Arc flowed below. The soldiers wantedwater, and Marius told his men that they might get it there if theywanted it, for he wished to accustom them to the barbarians' mode offighting. Some of the barbarians were bathing; and on their giving thealarm, others came up, and a battle began. The first shock was betweenthe Ambrones and Ligurians. The Romans supported the latter, and theAmbrones fled across the Arc to the wagons, where the women, assailingboth pursuers and pursued with yells and blows, were slain with themen. So ended the first day's fight. 

All night and next day the barbarians prepared for a final struggle. Marius planted an ambuscade of mounted camp-followers, headed by afew foot and horse in some ravines on the enemy's rear. [Sidenote:Circumstances of the battle. ] He drew the legions up in front of thecamp, and the cavalry went ahead to the plain. The barbarians chargedup the hill, but were met by a shower of 'pila, ' which the legionariesfollowed up by coming to close quarters with their swords. The enemywere rolled back down the hill, and at the same time with loud criesthe ambuscade attacked them from behind. Then the battle became abutchery, in which, it was said, 200, 000 men were slain, and amongthem Teutoboduus, their king. Others, however, say that he was takenprisoner, and became the chief ornament of Marius's triumph. Much ofthe spoil was gathered together to be burnt, and Marius, as the armystood round, was just lighting the heap, when men came riding at fullspeed and told him he was elected consul for the fifth time. Thesoldiers set up a joyful cheer, and his officers crowned him witha chaplet of bay. The name of the village of Pourričres (Campus dePutridis) and the hill of Sainte Victoire commemorate this great fightto our day, and till the French Revolution a procession used to bemade by the neighbouring villagers every year to the hill, where abonfire was lit, round which they paraded, crowned with flowers, andshouting 'Victoire, Victoire!'

[Sidenote: The Cimbri. ] Meanwhile Catulus was waiting for the Cimbrion the east. A son of M. Aemilius Scaurus fled before them in the passof Tridentum, and in 102 B. C. , about the time of the battle of AquaeSextiae, they poured down the valley on the east of the Athesis(Adige). [Sidenote: Catulus on the Adige. ] Catulus was posted justbelow Verona on the west bank, with a bridge connecting him with asmaller force on the other side. When the foe appeared his men took toflight; but the detachment on the east side stood its ground, and keptthe enemy from crossing the bridge in pursuit. The Cimbri admiredtheir bravery, and when they had forced the bridge let its defendersgo. Pursuing Catulus, they cut him off from a river for which he wasmaking, probably the Ticinus, though according to some, the Po. Hethen pretended to encamp on a hill as if for a long stay. The Cimbridispersed over the country, and Catulus immediately came down, assaulted their camp and crossed the river, where he was joined bythe victorious army of Gaul and by Marius, who had been to Rome. [Sidenote: Battle with the Cimbri, July 30, 101 B. C. ] The villagefestival on the hill of Sainte Victoire was held in May. The battlewith the Cimbri was fought on July 30, 101. More than a year thereforehad elapsed since the Teutones were defeated. But it was thebarbarians' custom not to fight in winter, and they were in a richcountry which had not been invaded for a century, where they wererevelling in unwonted comforts. So they spread themselves over theland as far as the Sesia; and when Marius came, they sent, it issaid, and asked for land for the Teutones whom they were awaiting. [Sidenote: Story of the Cimbric embassy to Marius. ] Marius repliedthat their brothers had all the land they wanted already. Upon whichthey requested him to name a field and a day for battle. Mariusanswered that Romans never consulted their foes on such points, but hewould humour them, and named the Campi Raudii, near Vercellae. Such astory bears falsehood on the face of it. It is absurd to suppose thatthe Cimbri had not heard of the defeat of the Teutones, which hadtaken place more than a year before. Very likely they asked for land, and finding that they would only get hard blows, determined to bringmatters to a crisis at once. Sulla's memoirs were Plutarch's authorityfor what followed, and Sulla hated Marius. [Sidenote: Story ofMarius's jealousy of Catulus. ] He said that Marius, expecting that thefighting would be on the wings, posted his own men there, that theymight gain the glory, but that the brunt of the battle was borne byCatulus in the centre; and that such a dust rose that Marius was for along time out of the battle, and knew not where he was. It seems thatthe barbarian cavalry feigned a flight, hoping to turn and take theRomans between themselves and their infantry. But the Romans droveback the cavalry on the infantry. [Sidenote: Circumstances of thebattle. ] However this may be, Marius had shown his usual goodgeneralship. He had fed his men before the battle, and so manoeuvredthat sun, wind, and dust were in the enemy's faces. His own men werein perfect training, and in the burning heat did not turn a hair. Butthe Northmen were fresh from high living, and could not bear up long. When they gave way, the same scenes as at Aquae Sextiae took placeamong the women. One hundred and twenty thousand men, it is said, werekilled--among them the gallant Boiorix, their king--and 60, 000 takenprisoners. Disputes rose as to who had really won the day. Mariusgenerously insisted on Catulus sharing his triumph. But it was to himthat the popular voice ascribed the victory, and there can be littledoubt that the popular voice was right. 

 * * * * *

CHAPTER VI. 

THE ROMAN ARMY. 

While Rome was trembling for the issue of the war with the Cimbri, shewas forced to send an army elsewhere. [Sidenote: Slave revolts. ] Therewas at this time another general stir among the slave population. There were risings at Nuceria, at Capua, in the silver mines ofAttica, and at Thurii, and the last was headed by a Roman eques, namedMinucius or Vettius. He wanted to buy a female slave; and, failing toraise the money which was her price, armed his own slaves, was joinedby others, assumed the state and title of king, and fortified a camp, being at the head of 3, 500 men. Lucullus, the praetor, marched againsthim with 4, 400 men; but though superior in numbers, he preferredJugurthine tactics, and bribed a Greek to betray Vettius, whoanticipated a worse fate by suicide. [Sidenote: Second slave rebellionin Sicily. ] But, as before, the fiercest outbreak was in Sicily. Marius had applied for men for his levies to Nicomedes, king ofBithynia, who replied that he had none to send, because the Romanpublicani had carried off most of his subjects and sold them asslaves. Thereupon the Senate issued orders that no free member of anallied state should be kept as a slave in a Roman province. [Sidenote:Weakness of Licinius Nerva. ] P. Licinius Nerva, governor of Sicily, inaccordance with these orders, set free a number of Sicilian slaves;but, worked on by the indignation of the proprietors, he backed out ofwhat he had begun to do, and, having raised the hopes of the slaves, caused an insurrection by disappointing them. He suppressed the firstrebels by treachery. But he was a weak man, and delayed so long inattacking another body near Heraclea, that when he sent a lieutenantto attack them with 600 men they were strong enough to beat him. [Sidenote: Salvius elected king. ] By this success they suppliedthemselves with arms, and then elected Salvius as their king, whofound himself at the head of 20, 000 infantry and 2, 000 horse. Withthese troops he attacked Morgantia, and, on the governor coming torelieve it, turned on him and routed him; and by proclaiming thatanyone who threw down his arms should be spared, he got a fresh supplyfor his men. [Sidenote: Athenion heads the slaves in the west. ] Thenthe slaves of the west rose near Lilybaeum, headed by Athenion, aCilician robber-captain before he was a slave, and a man of greatcourage and capacity, who pretended to be a magician and was electedking. [Sidenote: Salvius takes the name of Tryphon. ] Salvius took thename of Tryphon, a usurper of the Syrian throne in 149. Athenion, deferring to his authority, became his general, and Triocala, supposedto be near the modern Calata Bellotta, was their head-quarters. Insome respects this second slave revolt was a repetition of the first. As the Cilician Cleon submitted to the impostor Eunous, who calledhimself Antiochus, so now the Cilician Athenion submitted to theimpostor Salvius, who called himself Tryphon. [Sidenote: Lucullus sentto Sicily, 103 B. C. ] The outbreak had probably begun in 105, but itwas not till 103 that Lucullus, who had put down Vettius, was sentto Sicily with 1, 600 or 1, 700 men. [Sidenote: Battle of Scirthaea. ]Tryphon, distrusting Athenion, had put him in prison. But he releasedhim now, and at Scirthaea a great battle was fought, in which 20, 000slaves were slain, and Athenion was left for dead. Lucullus, however, delayed to attack Triocala, and did nothing more, unless he destroyedhis own military stores in order to injure his successor C. Servilius. To say that if he did so, such mean treason could only happen ina government where place depends on a popular vote, is a randomcriticism, for, though nominally open to all, the consulship wasvirtually closed, except to a few families, which retained now, asthey had always done, the high offices in their own hands, and, whenMarius forced this close circle, Metellus is said to have acted muchas Lucullus did. 

Servilius was incapable. Athenion, who at Tryphon's death becameking, surprised his camp, and nearly captured Messana. [Sidenote: M'. Aquilius ends the war. ] But, in 101, M'. Aquilius was sent out, anddefeated Athenion and slew him with his own hand. A batch of 1, 000still remained under arms, but surrendered to Aquilius. He sent themto Rome to fight with wild beasts in the arena. They preferred to dieby each other's swords there. Satyrus and one other were left last, and Satyrus after killing his comrade slew himself. The misery causedin Sicily by this long war, which ended in 100 B. C. , may be estimatedby the fact that, whereas Sicily usually supplied Rome with corn, itwas now desolated by famine, and its towns had to be supplied withgrain from Rome. 

After this narration of the military events of the period to thebeginning of the second century B. C. , it is natural to consider thechanges which Marius had effected in the army--the instrument of hislate conquests. [Sidenote: Changes in the Roman army. ] We cannot tellhow many of the innovations now introduced were initiated by him, butthey were introduced about this date. Before his time the Hastati, Principes, and Triarii, ranked according to length of service, had superseded the Servian classes. From his time this secondclassification also ceased. [Sidenote: Arms of the legionary. ] Everylegionary was armed alike with the heavy pilum--an iron-headed javelin6 feet 9 inches long, the light pilum, a sword, and a coat of armour. Besides these he had to carry food and other burdens, which would varyaccording to the length and object of the march, such as stakes forencampment, tools, &c. [Sidenote: The 'Marian mules. '] Marius inventedwhat were called 'Mariani muli' to ease the soldier--forked sticks, with a board at the end to bear the bundle, carried over theshoulders. Before his time the army had ceased to be recruited solelyfrom Roman citizens. Not only had Italians been drafted into it, but foreign mercenaries were employed, such as Thracians, Africans, Ligurians, and Balearians. [Sidenote: The light troops auxiliaries. ]After his time the Velites are not mentioned, and all the light-armedtroop were auxiliaries. [Sidenote: The cohort the tactical unit. ]Before his time the maniple had been the tactical unit. Now it was thecohort. [Sidenote: Composition of the legion. ] A legion consisted often cohorts, each cohort containing three maniples, and each manipletwo centuries. The legion's standard was the eagle, borne by theoldest centurion of the first cohort. Each cohort had its 'signum, 'or ensign. [Sidenote: Standards. ] Each maniple had its 'vexillum, ' orstandard. [Sidenote: Officers. ] There were two centurions for eachmaniple, one commanding the first and the other the second century, and taking rank according to the cohort to which they belonged, whichmight be from the first to the tenth. The youngest centurion officeredthe second century of the third maniple of the tenth cohort. Theoldest officered the first century of the first maniple of the firstcohort, and was called 'primus-pilus, ' and the 'primi ordines, ' orfirst class of centurions, consisted of the six centurions of thefirst cohort. These corresponded to our non-commissioned officers, were taken from the lower classes of society, and were seldom madetribunes. [Sidenote: The tribunes. ] The tribunes were six to eachlegion, were taken from the upper class, and after being attachedto the general's suite, received the rank of tribune, if they weresupposed to be qualified for it. The tribunes were originallyappointed by the consuls. Afterwards they had been elected, partly bythe people and partly by the consuls. Caesar superseded the tribunesby 'legati' of his own, to one of whom he would entrust a legion, andappointed some, but probably not all, of the tribunes, and Marius, itseems likely, did the same. [Sidenote: Numbers of the legion. ] Thenormal number of a legion had been 4, 200 men and 300 horse, but wasoften larger. [Sidenote: The pay. ] The pay of a legionary was inthe time of Polybius two obols a day for the private, four for acenturion, and six for a horse soldier, besides an allowance of corn. But deductions were made for clothing, arms, and food. Hence the lawof Caius Gracchus (cf. P. 51); but from the first book of the Annalsof Tacitus we find that such deductions long continued to be thesoldier's grievance. Auxiliary troops received an allowance of corn, but no pay from Rome. [Sidenote: The engineers. ] The engineers of thearmy were called Fabri, under a 'praefectus, ' the 'Fabri Lignarii'having the woodwork, and the 'Fabri Ferrarii' the ironwork of theenginery under their special charge, [Sidenote: The staff. ] and allwere attached to the staff of the army, which consisted of the generaland certain officers, such as the legati, or generals of division, andthe quaestors, or managers of the commissariat. [Sidenote: The CohorsPraetoria. ] One of the most significant changes that had sprung upof late years was one which was introduced by Scipio Aemilianus atNumantia--the institution of a body-guard, or Cohors Praetoria. Itconsisted of young men of rank, who went with the general to learntheir profession, or as volunteers of troops specially enlisted forthe post, who would often be veterans from his former armies. The termEvocati was applied to such veterans strictly, but also to any menspecially enlisted for the purpose. [Sidenote: The equites. ] It isprobable that the equites no longer formed the cavalry of a legion, but only served in the general's body-guard, as tribunes andpraefects, or on extraordinary commissions. The cavalry in Caesar'stime appears to have consisted entirely of auxiliaries. 

[Sidenote: Disinclination for service at Rome. ] There had been for along time among the wealthier classes a growing disinclination forservice, and as the middle class was rapidly disappearing, therehad been great difficulty in filling the ranks. The speeches of theGracchi alluded to this, and it had been experienced in the wars withViriathus, with Jugurtha, with Tryphon, and with the Cimbri. Onedevice for avoiding it we have seen, by the orders issued to thecaptains of ships in Italian ports. Among Roman citizens, if notamong the allies, some property qualification had been required in asoldier. [Sidenote: Marius enrols the Capite Censi. ] Marius tapped alower stratum, and allowed the Capite Censi to volunteer. To such menthe prospect of plunder would be an object, and they would be far moreat the bidding of individual generals than soldiers of the old stamp. Thus though obligation to service was not abolished, volunteering wasallowed, and became the practice; and the army, with a new drill, andno longer consisting of Romans or even Italians, but of men of allnations, became as effective as of old, if not more so, and at thesame time a body detached from the State. [Sidenote: The army ceasesto be a citizen army. ] The citizen was lost in the professional, andpatriotism was superseded by the personal attachment of soldiers offortune, who knew no will but that of their favourite commander ortheir own selfishness. Their general could reward them with money, andextort land for them from the State; and when Marius after Vercellaegave the franchise to two Italian cohorts, saying that he could nothear the laws in the din of arms, he was giving to what was becoming astanding army privileges which could not be conferred by a consul, butonly by a king. 

 * * * * *

CHAPTER VII. 

SATURNINUS AND DRUSUS. 

[Sidenote: Attitude of Marius. ] With such a weapon in his hand Mariuscame back to Rome, intoxicated with success. He thought his marches intwo continents worthy to be compared with the progresses of Bacchus, and had a cup made on the model of that of the god. He spoke badly; hewas easily disconcerted by the disapproval of an audience; he had noinsight into the evils, or any project for the reformation, of theState. But the scorn of men like Metellus had made him throw himselfon the support of the people from whom he sprang; and they, idolisinghim for his dazzling exploits as a soldier, looked to him as theirnatural leader, and the creator of a new era. Indeed it needed nostimulus from without to whet his ambitious cravings. That seventhconsulship which superstition whispered would be surely his he had yetto win; and in all his after conduct he seems to have been guidedby the most vulgar selfishness, which in the end became murderousinsanity. But while he hoped to use all parties for his ownadvancement--a game in which he of all men was least qualified tosucceed--other and abler politicians were bent on using him for theoverthrow of the optimates. 

[Sidenote: Saturninus. ] The harangues of Memmius had shown that thespirit of the Gracchi was still alive in Rome; and now Lucius ApuleiusSaturninus took up their revolutionary projects with a violenceto which they had been averse, but for which the acts of theiradversaries had become a fatal precedent. Of Saturninus himself wedo not know much more than that he was an eloquent speaker, anda resolute though not over-scrupulous man at a time when to bescrupulous was equivalent to self-martyrdom or self-effacement. [Sidenote: Glaucia. ] In something of the same relation in whichCamille Desmoulins stood to Danton, Caius Servilius Glaucia, a witand favourite of the people, stood towards the sombre and imperiousSaturninus, and both hoped to effect their aims by the aid of Marius. If they are to be judged by their acts alone we can hardly condemnthem. [Sidenote: Defence of their policy. ] They tried to do what theGracchi had attempted before them, what Drusus attempted after them, and what, when they and Drusus had fallen, as the Gracchi had fallen, the Social War finally effected. No historian has given sufficientprominence to the fact that it was primarily a country movementof which each of these men was the leader; a movement of unbrokencontinuity, though each used his own means and had his own specialtemperament. If this is kept in view, we shall no longer consider withsome modern historians that no event perhaps in Roman history is sosudden, so unconnected, and accordingly so obscure in its originalcauses as this revolt or conspiracy of Saturninus. 

Like Caius Gracchus, Saturninus represented rural as opposed to urbaninterests, and the interests of the provinces as opposed to thoseof the capital. Like Caius, too, he endeavoured to conciliate theequites; but they had all the Roman prejudice against admittingItalians to a level with themselves, and the attempt to play offparty against party utterly failed. In vain Saturninus tried to defyopposition by enlisting the support of the Marian veterans. The rich, the noble, and the city mob united against him; and when he seized theCapitol, it was to defend himself against all three. In the year 100B. C. Marius was consul for the sixth time, Glaucia was praetor, andSaturninus was a second time tribune. A triumvirate so powerful might, if united, have overthrown the Constitution. But the vanity andvacillation of Marius were the best allies of the optimates; and itwas no grown man, but Caius Julius Caesar, a child born in that sameyear, who was destined to subvert their rule. [Sidenote: TheLex Servilia. The equites and the judicia. ] Saturninus had beeninstrumental in securing the election of Marius to his fifthconsulship in 102, and it was about that time that the Lex Serviliawas carried. This law defined the liability of Roman officials totrial for extortion in the provinces, and, by a process of elimination(for senators, workers for hire, and others were expressly declaredineligible), practically left to the equites the jurisdiction in suchtrials. Whether or no the law of Gracchus had been repealed by anotherServilian law--that of Q. Servilius Caepio--we cannot say for certain. If so, the second Servilian law repealed the first. But, whether itrestored power to the equites or only confirmed them in it, in theoryit left the office of judex open to all citizens, for, while itexcluded so many citizens that in practice the judicia were closed toall but the equestrian class, it did not assign the office to any oneclass in particular. It also provided that anyone not a citizen whowon his suit against an official should by virtue of doing so obtainthe citizenship. [Sidenote: Threefold purpose of the Lex Servilia. ] Sothat we may trace in this law a threefold policy--an attempt (1) torelieve the provincials, by making prosecutions for extortion easy, and even putting a premium on them; (2) to conciliate the equites; (3)to pave the way for the overthrow of class jurisdiction by, nominallyat least, leaving the judicia open to all who did not come underspecified restrictions. Cicero inveighs against Glaucia as a demagogueof the Hyperbolus stamp. But there was more of the statesman than thedemagogue in this law. 

When Saturninus was a candidate for the tribunate, he and Glaucia aresaid to have set on men to murder Nonius, another candidate, who theyfeared might use his veto to thwart their projects. Marius hadbeen previously elected consul, and supported Saturninus in hiscandidature, as Saturninus had supported him. [Sidenote: Personalreasons for Marius joining Saturninus. ] Marius may have been inducedto enter into this alliance by the desire to gratify a personalgrudge, for the rival candidate had been the man he most detested, Q. Metellus; and the first measure of Saturninus was a compliment tohim and a direct blow aimed at Metellus. [Sidenote: Agrarian law ofSaturninus. ] This was an agrarian law which would benefit the Marianveterans; and as it contained a proviso that any senator refusingto swear to observe it within five days should be expelled from theSenate, it would be sure to drive Metellus from Rome. But if there wasdiplomacy in this measure of Saturninus, there was sagacity also. Whatdiscontent was seething in Italy the Social War soon proved, and thiswas an attempt to appease it. Saturninus had previously proposedallotments in Africa; now he proposed to allot lands in TransalpineGaul, Sicily, Achaia, and Macedonia, and to supply the colonists withan outfit from the treasure taken from Tolosa. Marius was to have theallotment of the land. [Sidenote: Difficulty about this agrarian law. ]There is a difficulty as to these colonies which no history solves. They were Roman colonies to which only Roman citizens were eligible, and yet the Roman populace opposed the law. The Italians, on thecontrary, carried it by violence. Some have cut the knot by supposingthat, though the colonies were Roman, Italians were to be admitted tothem. But there is another possible explanation. It is certain thatmany Italians passed as citizens at Rome. In 187 B. C. 12, 000 Latins, passing as Roman citizens, had been obliged to quit Rome. In 95 B. C. There was another clearance of aliens, which was one of the immediatecauses of the Social War. Fictitious citizens might have found it easyto obtain allotments from a consul whose ears, if first made deaf bythe din of arms, had never since recovered their hearing. Howeverthis may be, it was the rural party which by violence procured apreponderance of votes at the ballot-boxes, and it was the townpopulace which resisted what it felt to be an invasion of itsprerogative by the men from the country. [Sidenote: Exile ofMetellus. ] Marius is said to have got rid of Metellus by a trick. Hepretended that he would not take the oath which the law demanded, but, when Metellus had said the same thing, told the Senate that he wouldswear to obey the law as far as it was a law, in order to induce therural voters to leave Rome, and Metellus, scorning such a subterfuge, went into exile. 

[Sidenote: Corn-law of Saturninus. ] Another law of Saturninus eitherrenewed the corn-law of Caius Gracchus, or went farther and made theprice of grain merely nominal. This law was no doubt meant to recoverthe favour of the city mob, which he had forfeited by his agrarianlaw. But Caepio, son, probably, of the hero of Tolosa, stoppedthe voting by force, and the law was not carried. [Sidenote: Law oftreason. ] The third law of Saturninus was a Lex de Majestate, a law bywhich anyone could be prosecuted for treason against the State, andwhich was not improbably aimed specially at Caepio, who was impeachedunder it. It seems at any rate certain that of these laws the agrarianwas the chief, and the others subsidiary; in other words, that he andGlaucia were working together on an organized plan, and striving toadmit the whole Roman world into a community of rights with Rome. Theythought that with the Marian soldiers at their back they would besafer than Gracchus with his bands of reapers; and so they may havetaken the initiative in violence from which, both by past events andthe acts of men like Caepio, it was certain that the optimates wouldnot shrink. It is difficult to apportion the blame in such cases. [Sidenote: Civil strife. Saturninus seizes the Capitol. ] But whenGlaucia stood for the consulship of 99, and his rival Memmius, afavourite with the people, was murdered, an attack was made onSaturninus, who hastily sent for aid to his rural supporters andseized the Capitol. He found then that in reckoning on Marius he hadmade a fatal blunder. That selfish intriguer had been alarmed by thepopular favour shown to an impostor named Equitius, who gave out thathe was the son of Tiberius Gracchus, and who, being imprisoned byMarius, was released by the people and elected tribune. He mayhave been jealous too of the popularity of Saturninus with his ownveterans, and at the same time anxious to curry favour with the foesof Saturninus--the urban populace. [Sidenote: Marius turns on hisfriends. ] So, instead of boldly joining his late ally, he became thegeneral of the opposite party, drove Saturninus and his friends fromthe Forum, and, when they had surrendered, suffered them to be peltedto death in the Curia Hostilia where he had placed them. [Sidenote:Death of Saturninus and Glaucia. ] Saturninus, it is said, had beenproclaimed king before his death. If so he had at least struck for acrown consistently and boldly; and even if his attempt for the momentunited the senatorial party and the equites, while the city mob stoodwavering or hostile, he might nevertheless have forestalled the empireby a century had Marius only had half his enterprise or nerve. In anepoch of revolution it is idle to judge men by an ordinary standard. How far personal ambition and how far a nobler ideal animatedSaturninus no man can say. Those who condemn him must condemn Cromwelltoo. 

For the moment the power of the optimates seemed restored. The spectreof monarchy had made the men of riches coalesce with their old rivalsthe men of rank; and the mob, ungrateful for an unexecuted corn-law, chafed at Italian pretensions. Metellus, the aristocrat, was recalledto Rome amid the enthusiasm of the anti-Italian mob, and P. Furius wastorn to pieces for having opposed his return. [Sidenote: Marius fallsinto disrepute. ] Marius slunk away to the East, finding that histreachery had only isolated him and brought him into contempt; andthere, it is said, he tried to incite Mithridates to war. SextusTitius indeed brought forward an agrarian law in 99 B. C. But he wasopposed by his colleagues and driven into exile. Two events soonhappened which showed not only the embittered feelings existingbetween the urban and rural population, but also the sympathy withthe provincials felt by the better Romans, and, as an inference, themiserable condition of the provincials themselves. [Sidenote: The LexLicinia Minucia. ] The first was the enactment, in 95 B. C. , of the LexLicinia Minucia, which ordered Latins and Italians resident at Rometo leave the city. [Sidenote: and the prosecution of Rutilius Rufusforeshadow the Social War. ] The second was the prosecution andconviction of Publius Rutilius Rufus, nominally for extortion, butreally because, by his just administration of the province of Asia, hehad rebuked extortion and the equestrian courts which connived at it. Though most of the senators were as guilty as the equites, the mass, like M. Scaurus, who was himself impeached for extortion, would illbrook being forced to appear before their courts, and be eager to takehold of their maladministration of justice as a pretext for abrogatingthe Servilian law. 

[Sidenote: Drusus attempts a reform. ] One more attempt at reform wasto be made, this time by one of the Senate's own members, but only tobe once more defeated by rancorous party-spirit and besotted urbanpride. Marcus Livius Drusus was son of the man whom the Senate had putforward to outbid Caius Gracchus. He was a haughty, upright man, ofan impetuous temper--such a man as often becomes the tool of lesscourageous but more dexterous intriguers. M. Scaurus had beenimpeached for taking bribes in Asia, and it is said that in hisdisgust he egged on Drusus to restore the judicia to the Senate. Drusus was probably one of those men whom an aristocracy in itsdecadence not rarely produces. [Sidenote: Attitude of Drusus. ] Hedisliked the preponderance of the moneyed class. He could not feel thevulgar Roman's antipathy to giving Italians the franchise, for he sawit exercised by men who were in his eyes infinitely more contemptible. He disliked also and despised the vices of his own order. Mistakingthe crafty suggestions of Scaurus for a genuine appeal to highmotives, flattered by it, and by the confidence of the Italians, hethought that he could educate his party, and by his personal influenceinduce it to do justice to Italy. But this conservative advocate ofreform was not wily enough tactician for the times in which he lived, or the changes which he meditated. His attempts to improve on thedevices of Saturninus and Gracchus were miserable failures; and thesenators who used him, or were influenced by him, shrank from his sidewhen they saw him follow to their logical issue the principles whichthey had advocated either for selfish objects or only theoretically. 

[Sidenote: Main object of Drusus to aid the Italians. ] Whether this isthe true view of the character and position of Drusus or not, we mayfeel sure that he was in earnest in his advocacy of Italian interests, and that this was the main object of his reforms. [Sidenote: Sops tothe mob: Depreciation of the coinage. Colonies. Corn-law. ] To silencethe mob at Rome, he slightly depreciated the coinage so as to relievedebtors, established some colonies--perhaps those promised by hisfather--and carried some law for distributing cheap grain. [Sidenote:Sop to the senate and equites. ] Senators like Scaurus he courted byhanding over the judicia once more to the Senate, while, by admitting300 equites to the Senate, he hoped to compensate them for the woundwhich he thus inflicted on their material interests and their pride. The body thus composed was to try cases of judices accused of takingbribes. But the Senate scorned and yet feared the threatened invasionby which it would be severed into two antagonistic halves. Theequites left behind were jealous of the equites promoted; and whereDrusus hoped to conciliate both classes, he only drew down theirunited animosity upon himself. Even in Italy his plans were notunanimously approved. Occupiers of the public land, who had neveryet been disturbed in their occupation--such as those who held theCampanian domain land--were alarmed by this plan of colonisation, which not only called in question once more their right of tenure, but even appropriated their land. But though the large land-ownerswere adverse to him, the great mass of the Italians was on his side;and it was by their help that he carried the first three of his laws, which he shrewdly included in one measure. Thus those who wanted landor grain were constrained to vote for the changes in the judiciaalso. But, as there was a law expressly forbidding this admixture ofdifferent measures in one bill, he left an opening for his opponentsof which they soon took advantage. [Sidenote: Philippus opposesDrusus. ] Chief of these opponents was the consul Philippus. When theItalians crowded into Rome to support Drusus, which they would do byoverawing voters at the ballot-boxes, by recording fictitious votes, and by escorting Drusus about, so as to lend him the support which anapparent majority always confers, Philippus came forward as thechampion of the opposite side. He seems to have been a turncoat, witha fluent tongue and few principles. He had no sympathy with thegenerous, if flighty, liberalism of the party of Drusus. No doubt itseemed to him weak sentimentalism; and he openly said that he musttake counsel with other people, as he could not carry on thegovernment with such a Senate. Accordingly he appealed to the worstRoman prejudices, viz. The selfishness of large occupiers and theanti-Italian sentiments of the mob. This explains his being numberedamong the popular party, with which the Italian party was not nowidentical. Drusus, when his subsidiary measures had proved abortive, grew desperate. As his influence in the Senate waned he enteredinto closer alliance with the Italians, who, on their part, boundthemselves by an oath to treat as their friend or enemy each friendor enemy of Drusus; and it is conjectured, from a fragment ofDiodorus, that 10, 000 of them, led by Pompaedius Silo, armed withdaggers, set out for Rome to demand the franchise, but were persuadedto desist from their undertaking. [Sidenote: Drusus almost monarch. ]Monarchy seemed once more imminent; and now, as in the case ofGracchus, it is impossible to say whether the attitude of thechampion of reform was due to the force of circumstances or tosettled design. But Philippus was equal to the occasion. He inducedthe Senate to annul the laws of Drusus already carried, and summonedthe occupiers of the public land whom that law affected, to come andconfront the Italians in Rome. [Sidenote: Assassination of Drusus. ]A battle in the streets would have no doubt ensued; but it wasprevented by the assassination of Drusus, who was one evening stabbedmortally in his own house. It is said that when dying he ejaculatedthat it would be long before the State had another citizen like him. He seems to have had much of the disinterested spirit of CaiusGracchus, though with far inferior ability; and, like him, he left amother Cornelia, to do honour by her fortitude to the memory of herson. That year the presentiment of coming political convulsions foundexpression in reports of supernatural prodigies, while 'signs both onthe earth and in the heavens portended war and bloodshed, the trampof hostile armies, and the devastation of the peninsula. '

 * * * * *

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE SOCIAL WAR

In a previous chapter the relations now existing between Rome and herdependents have been described. For two centuries the Italians hadremained faithful to Rome through repeated temptations, and eventhrough the fiery trial of Hannibal's victorious occupation. But theloyalty, which no external or sudden shock could snap, had been slowlyeaten away by corrosives, which the arrogance or negligence of thegovernment supplied. [Sidenote: Interests of Italian capitalists andItalian farmers opposed. ] It is clear from the episode of Drususthat there was as wide a breach between Italian capitalists andcultivators, as there had been between Roman occupiers and the firstclamourers for agrarian laws. So, at the outbreak of the war, Umbriaand Etruria, whence Philippus had summoned his supporters, because thefarmer class had been annihilated and large land-owners held thesoil, remained faithful to Rome. But where the farmer class stillflourished, as among the Marsi, Marrucini, and the adjacent districts, discontent had been gathering volume for many years. No doubt thedemoralisation of the metropolis contributed to this result; and, asintercourse with Rome became more and more common, familiarity withthe vices of their masters would breed indignation in the minds of thehardier dependents. Who, they would ask themselves, were these Scauri, these Philippi, men fit only to murder patriots and sell their countryand themselves for gold, that they should lord it over Italians? Whyshould a Roman soldier have the right of appeal to a civil tribunal, and an Italian soldier be at the mercy of martial law? Why should twoItalians for every one Roman be forced to fight Rome's battles? Whyshould insolent young Romans and the fine ladies of the metropolisinsult Italian magistrates and murder Italians of humbler rank? Thiswas the reward of their long fidelity. If here and there a statesmanwas willing to yield them the franchise, the flower of thearistocracy, the Scaevolae and the Crassi, expelled them by anAlien Act from Rome. They had tried all parties, and by all beendisappointed, for Roman factions were united on one point, and oneonly--in obstinate refusal to give Italians justice. The two gloriousbrothers had been slain because they pitied their wrongs. So hadScipio. So had the fearless Saturninus. And now their last friend, this second Scipio, Drusus, had been struck down by the same cowardlyhands. Surely it was time to act for themselves and avenge theirbenefactors. They were more numerous, they were hardier than theirtyrants; and if not so well organized, still by their union withDrusus they were in some sort welded together, and now or never wasthe time to strike. For the friends of Drusus were marked men. Letthem remain passive, and either individual Italians would perish bythe dagger which had slain Drusus, or individual communities by thesentence of the Senate which had exterminated Fregellae. 

[Sidenote: Outbreak of the Social War. ] The revolt broke out atAsculum. Various towns were exchanging hostages to secure mutualfidelity. Caius Servilius, the Roman praetor, hearing that this wasgoing on at Asculum, went there and sharply censured the people in thetheatre. He and his escort were torn to pieces, the gates were shut, every Roman in the town was slain, and the Marsi, Peligni, Marrucini, Frentani, Vestini, Picentini, Hirpini, the people of Pompeii andVenusia, the Iapyges, the Lucani, and the Samnites, and all the peoplefrom the Liris to the Adriatic, flew to arms; [Sidenote: The allieswho remained faithful to Rome. ] and though here and there a town likePinna of the Vestini, or a partisan like Minutius Magius of Aeclanum, remained loyal to Rome, all the centre and south of Italy was soon ininsurrection. Perhaps at Pinna the large land-owners or capitalistswere supreme, as in Umbria and Etruria, which sided with Rome, as alsodid most of the Latin towns, the Greek towns Neapolis and Rhegium, andmost of Campania, where Capua became an important Roman post duringthe war. [Sidenote: The rebels demand the franchise. ] The insurgents, emboldened by the swift spread of the rebellion, sent to demand thefranchise as the price of submission. But the old dogged spirit whichextremity of danger had ever aroused at Rome was not dead. [Sidenote:Rage of the equites. The law of Varius. ] The offer was sternlyrejected, and the equites turned furiously on the optimates, or theItalianising section of the optimates, to whose folly they felt thatthe war was due. With war the hope of their gains was gone; and, enraged at this, they took advantage of the outbreak to repay theSenate for its complicity in the attempt of Drusus to deprive them ofthe judicia. Under a law of Varius, who is said by Cicero to have beenthe assassin of Drusus and Metellus, Italian sympathisers were broughtto trial, and either convicted and banished, or overawed into silence. Among the accused was Scaurus. But now, as ever, that shifty manemerged triumphant from his intrigues. He aped the defence of Scipio, and retired not only safe, but with a dignity so well studied that butfor his antecedents it might have seemed sincere. A Spaniard accusedhim, he said, and Scaurus, chief of the Senate, denied the accusation. Whether of the twain should the Romans believe?

[Sidenote: Perils of the crisis. ] For such prosecutions there wasindeed some excuse, for the prospect was threatening. Mithridatesmight at any moment stop the supplies from Asia. The soldiers of theenemy were men who had fought in Roman armies and been trained toRoman discipline; they were led by able captains, and were morenumerous than the forces opposed to them. And yet the war must be awar of detachments, where numbers were all-important. It was no timefor hesitation about purging out all traitors or waverers. Butthe courts that tried other cases were closed for the time. Thedistributions of grain were curtailed. The walls were put in order. Arms were prepared as fast as possible. A fleet was collected fromthe free cities of Greece and Asia Minor. Levies were raised fromthe citizens, from Africa, and from Gaul. Lastly, in view of theinevitably scattered form which the fighting would take, each consulwas to have five lieutenants. [Sidenote: Generals of Rome. ] Lupus wasto command in the northern district, from Picenum to Campania. Amongthe generals who acted under him were the father of Pompeius Magnus, and Marius. Samnium, Campania, and the southern district fell toLucius Julius Caesar, and among the five officers who went with himwere also two men of mark, Publius Licinius Crassus and Sulla. Weshall see how by an exhaustive process the Romans, after a series ofdefeats, were at last driven to employ as generals-in-chief the tworivals who were now subordinates and were thus carefully kept aloof. 

[Sidenote: Corfinium the capital of the confederates. ] Theconfederates on their part were equally energetic. They had chosen astheir capital Corfinium, on the river Aternus (Pescara), because ofits central position with reference to the insurrection, and soon madeit evident that the Roman franchise was no longer the limit to theiraspirations, but that they aimed at the conquest of Rome herself. [Sidenote: Measures of the confederates. ] They called their capitalItalica. In it they built a forum, and fortified its walls. Theyissued a new coinage. They chose two consuls, twelve praetors, and asenate of five hundred, and gave the franchise to every communityin arms on their side. They mustered an army of 100, 000 men, andentrusted the command against Lupus in the north and west toPompaedius Silo, with six lieutenants under him; the command againstCaesar in the south and east was given to a noted Samnite, named CaiusPapius Mutilus. 

It is easier to get a general idea of the war than of its details, though the latter are not without interest. The results of the firstyear were, in spite of some victories, most unfavourable to Rome. Theinsurgents were encouraged. The insurrection had spread to Umbria andEtruria, and the Romans had at one time almost despaired. [Sidenote:General survey of the war. ] But in council they retrieved what theyhad lost in the camp. A most politic concession of the franchisechecked all further disaffection in the very nick of time. The revoltin Umbria and Etruria was speedily suppressed, and at the close of thesecond year of the war, B. C. 89, the insurrection itself was virtuallyat an end. For, though the Sulpician revolution at Rome prevented itsabsolute extinction, and some embers of it still lingered for fiveyears more, and though Roman forces were still required after 89 B. C. Among the Sabines in Samnium, in Lucania, and at Nola, the war asa war ended in that year. [Sidenote: Twofold division of the war. ]Consequently we may divide it into two periods, each well defined andeach consisting of a year, the first in which the confederate causetriumphed and Marius lost credit; the second in which the cause ofRome triumphed, and Sulla enhanced his reputation and became theforemost man at Rome. 

[Sidenote: B. C. 90. First year of the war. Attempt on Asculum byPompeius. ] The war began, as was natural, with an attempt to takeAsculum. But the townsmen, manning the walls with the old men pastservice, surprised Cnaeus Pompeius by a sally, and defeated him. [Sidenote: Pompeius defeated and driven into Firmum. ] Subsequently hewas again defeated at Faleria and driven into Firmum, a Latin colonywhich held out for Rome. There he stayed till Servius Sulpicius cameto his help. [Sidenote: Pompeius, relieved by Sulpicius, besiegesAsculum. ] On the approach of Sulpicius he sallied out. The enemy, taken in front and rear, was routed, and Pompeius began the siege ofAsculum. It was not taken till the next year, 89, and only after adesperate battle before its walls. Judacilius, who had come to relievethe town of which he was a native, though the day was lost, forced hisway inside the walls, and held out for several months longer. Finally, when it was impossible to protract the defence, he had a pile of woodmade, and a table placed on it at which he feasted with friends. Then, taking poison, he had the pile fired. When the Romans got in theytook fearful vengeance, slaying all the officers and men of position, expelling the rest of the inhabitants, and confiscating theirproperty. Such was the fate of the ringleaders of the rebellion. 

[Sidenote: The confederates assail the towns which cling to Rome. ] AsAsculum was the first object of Roman vengeance, so the confederatesdirected their first efforts against the towns in their neighbourhoodwhich refused to join them. Silo assailed Alba and Mutilus Aesernia. The consul Caesar, sending ahead Marcellus and Crassus into Samniumand Lucania, followed in person as soon as he could. Put he was beatenby Vettius Scato in Samnium with the loss of 2, 000 men. [Sidenote:They take Aesernia and are joined by Venafrum. ] Venafrum thereuponrevolted; and, though one account says that Sulla relieved Aesernia, it was at best only a partial or a temporary relief, for itcapitulated before the close of the year. How the siege of Albaended we do not know. Defeat after defeat was now announced at Rome. [Sidenote: Perperna defeated. ] Perperna lost 4, 000 men, and most ofhis other soldiers threw away their arms on the battlefield. For thisLupus deprived him of his command and attached his troops to thoseof Marius. [Sidenote: Crassus defeated. Grumentum taken by theconfederates. ] Crassus was beaten in Lucania and shut up in Grumentum, which was besieged and taken. [Sidenote: Story of the generosity ofsome slaves. ] A pleasant story is told about some slaves of thistown. They had deserted to the confederates, and when the town wastaken made straight for the house where they had lived and draggedtheir mistress away, telling people they were going to have theirrevenge on her at last. And so they saved her. [Sidenote: Nola takenby the confederates. ] While the troops of Crassus were cooped up inGrumentum Mutilus descended into Campania and obtained possession ofNola by treason. Two thousand soldiers also went over to him. Theofficers remained loyal and were starved to death. [Sidenote: Townafter town won by the confederates. ] Stabiae, Salernum, Pompeii, Herculaneum, and probably Nuceria were taken in quick succession;and, with his army swollen by deserters and recruits from theneighbourhood, Mutilus laid siege to Acerrae. Caesar hastened torelieve it. But Canusium and Venusia had joined the insurgents, andin Venusia Oxyntas, son of Jugurtha, had been kept prisoner by theRomans. Mutilus now put royal robes on him, and the Numidians inCaesar's army, when they saw him, deserted in troops, so that Caesarwas forced to send the whole corps home. 

[Sidenote: Caesar gains the first success for Rome; but is afterwardsdefeated. ] But out of this misfortune came the first gleam of successwhich had as yet shone on the Roman arms. Mutilus ventured to attackCaesar's camp, was driven back; and in the retreat the Roman cavalrycut down 6, 000 of his men. Though Marius Egnatius soon afterwardsdefeated Caesar, this victory in some sort dissipated the gloom ofthe capital; and while the two armies settled again into their oldposition at Acerrae, the garb of mourning was laid aside at Rome forthe first time since the war began. Lupus and Marius meanwhile hadmarched against the Marsi. Marius, in accordance with his old tacticsagainst the Cimbri, advised Lupus not to hazard a battle. But Lupusthought that Marius wanted to get the consulship next year and reservefor himself the honours of the war. So he hastened to fight, and, throwing two bridges over the Tolenus, crossed by one himself, leavingMarius to cross by the other. [Sidenote: Lupus defeated by the Marsi. ]As soon as the consul had reached the opposite bank, an ambuscade setby Vettius Scato attacked him, and slew him and 8, 000 of his men. Their bodies, floating down the river, told Marius what had happened. Like the good soldier that he was, he promptly crossed and seized theenemy's camp. This disaster happened June 11, B. C. 90, and causedgreat consternation in Rome. But at Rome small merit was now discernedin any success gained by the veteran general, and Caepio, who hadopposed Drusus and was therefore a favourite with the equites, wasmade joint commander in the north. It was a foolish choice. Theprudence of Marius and a victory over the Peligni gained by Sulpiciuswere neutralised by the new general's rashness. Pompaedius Silo, whomust have been a thoroughly gallant man, came in person to the Romancamp, bringing two young slaves whom he passed off as his own childrenand offered as hostages for the sincerity of the offer he made, whichwas to place his camp in Caepio's hands. [Sidenote: Caepio defeatedand slain by Silo. ] Caepio went with him, and Pompaedius, running up ahill to look out, as he said, for the enemy, gave a signal to men whomhe had placed in ambush. Caepio and many of his men were slain, and atlast Marius was sole commander. He advanced steadily but warily intothe Marsian country. Silo tauntingly told him to come down and fight, if he was a great general. [Sidenote: Prudence of Marius. ] 'Nay, 'replied Marius, 'if you are a great general, do you make me. ' Atlength he did fight; and, as he always did, won the day. In anotherbattle the Marrucinian leader, and 6, 000 of the Marsi were slain. [Sidenote: Success of Sulla. ] But Sulla was at that time co-operatingwith Marius, having apparently, when the Romans evacuated most ofCampania, marched north to form a junction with him; and beside hisstar that of Marius always paled. Marius had shrunk from following theenemy into a vineyard. Sulla, on the other side of it, cut them off. Not that Marius was always over-cautious. Once in this war he saidto his men, 'I don't know which are the greatest cowards, you orthe enemy, for they dare not face your backs, nor you theirs. ' Buteverything he now did was distrusted at home; and while some mendisparaged his successes, and said that he was grown old and clumsy, others were more afraid of him than of the enemy, with whom indeedthere was some reason to think that he had too good an understanding. [Sidenote: A secret understanding, possibly, between Marius and theconfederates. ] For once, when his army and Silo's were near eachother, both generals and men conversed, cursing the war, and withmutual embraces adjuring each other to desist from it. If the story betrue, it is a sufficient reason for the Senate's conduct, inexplicableexcept by political reasons, in not employing Marius at all in thefollowing year. 

[Sidenote: Revolt of the Umbrians and Etruscans. ] It was probably atthe close of this year that the revolt of the Umbrians and Etruscanstook place, and that Plotius defeated the Umbrians, and Porcius Catothe Etruscans. On a general review of this piecemeal campaign it isplain that the Romans had been worsted. On the main scene of war, Campania, they had been decisively defeated, and the country was inthe enemy's power. In Picenum and the Marsian territory the balancewas more even; but Lupus and Caepio had been slain, Perperna andPompeius had been defeated, and on the whole the confederates hadcarried off the honours of the war. [Sidenote: Results of the firstyear of the war. ] Now Umbria was in insurrection, Mithridates wasastir in Asia, and there were symptoms of revolt in Transalpine Gaul. A selfish intriguer like Marius might very likely have thought ofthrowing in his lot with the Italians, for theirs seemed to be thewinning side. But on honester men such considerations produced quiteanother effect. [Sidenote: The party of Drusus revives. ] The party ofDrusus took heart again, and appealed to the results of the war asa proof of his patriotic foresight and of the moderation of hiscounsels. They got the administration of the Varian Law into their ownhands, and turned it against its authors, Varius himself being exiled. The consul Caesar had personal reasons for being disquieted withthe war, if the story of Orosius be true, that, when he asked for atriumph for his victory at Acerrae, the Senate sent him a mourningrobe as a sign of what they thought of his request. [Sidenote: The LexJulia. ] In any case he was the author of that Lex Julia which reallyterminated the Social War. [Sidenote: Various accounts of the law. ]There are different accounts given of this law. According to Gelliusit enfranchised all Latium, by which he must mean to include all theLatin colonies. According to Cicero it enfranchised all Italy exceptCisalpine Gaul. According to Appian it enfranchised all the Italiansstill faithful. In any case those enfranchised were not to be enrolledin the old tribes lest they should swamp them by their votes, but ineight new ones, which were to vote only after the others. [Sidenote:The Lex Plautia Papiria. ] The Lex Julia was immediately followed bythe Lex Plautia Papiria, framed by the tribunes M. Plautius Silvanusand C. Papirius Carbo. This law seems to have been meant to supplementthe other. The Lex Julia rewarded the Italians who had remainedfaithful. The Lex Plautia Papiria held out the olive branch to theItalians who had rebelled. It enfranchised any citizen of an alliedtown who at the date of the law was dwelling in Italy, and made adeclaration to the praetor within sixty days. In the same year, and inconnexion no doubt with these measures, the Jus Latii was conferred ona number of towns north of the Po, by which every magistrate in histown might, if he chose, claim the franchise. Some of the free alliesof Rome did not look upon the Lex Julia as a boon. Heracleia andNeapolis hesitated to accept it, the latter having special privileges, such as exemption from service by land, which it valued above thefranchise. Probably these towns and Rhegium made a special bargain, and, while accepting the franchise, retained their own language andinstitutions. [Sidenote: Effects of these laws. ] The general resultof the legislation was this. All Italy and all Latin colonies inCisalpine Gaul, together with all allied communities in Cisalpine Gaulsouth of the Po, received the franchise. All the other Cisalpine townsnorth of the Po received the Jus Latii. A general amnesty was infact offered; and though the provisions as to the new tribes wereunsatisfactory, its effect was soon apparent. 

[Sidenote: B. C. 89 The second year of the war. ] [Sidenote: Successesof Pompeius in the north. ] The consuls for 89 were Lucius PorciusCato, who took command of the army in the Marian district, and CnaeusPompeius, who retained the command in Picenum. Caesar was succeededin Campania by Sulla. Flushed with hope, the confederates opened thecampaign by despatching 15, 000 men across the Apennines to join theEtruscan insurgents. But Pompeius intercepted and slew 5, 000 of them, and dispersed the rest, who, even if they had reached Etruria, wouldhave found that they had come on a bootless errand. He followed upthis success by blow after blow. One of his lieutenants, Sulpicius, crushed the Marrucini at Teate. Another, Q. Metellus Piso, subdued theMarsi. Pompeius in person fought a great battle before Asculum, asbefore related, and captured the town; and in the following yearthe Peligni and Vestini submitted to him. 

[Sidenote: Successes of Cosconius in the south-east. ] In thesouth-east of Italy, Cosconius, the praetor, burnt Salapia in Apulia, received the submission of Cannae, and besieged Canusium. MariusEgnatius came to its aid; but though he at first drove back Cosconiusto Cannae, he or his successor was defeated and slain in anotherfight, and Cosconius became master of all Apulia and the Iapygianpeninsula, which he laid waste with fire and sword. 

[Sidenote: Successes of Sulla in the south-west. ] While the Romansupremacy was thus re-established all along the east coast, Sulla, inCampania, was equally triumphant. He recovered Stabiae in April, andhis lieutenant, T. Didius, took Herculaneum in June. Didius, however, lost his life in the assault. Sulla next besieged Pompeii, defeatedCluentius who came to its aid, again defeated him between Pompeiiand Nola, and a third time at the gates of Nola, where Cluentius wasslain. About this time Aulus Postumius Albinus, while in charge ofthe fleet, was murdered by his own men, recruits probably whom he wasbringing from Rome to Sulla's army. Sulla pardoned the mutineers, saying that he knew they would wipe out their crime by their bravery, and they did so in the fights with Cluentius. By such politic clemencyand never-varying good fortune Sulla bound the army to his owninterests. 

Leaving Nola behind him, he crossed the Hirpinian frontier and marchedon Aeclanum. The townsmen, who were expecting a Lucanian reinforcementthat day, asked for time to deliberate. Sulla gave them an hour, andoccupied the hour in heaping vine osiers round the wooden walls. Notchoosing to be burnt the townsmen surrendered, and Sulla sacked theplace. He then marched northwards into Samnium. The mountain-passeswere held by Mutilus, who hemmed in Sulla near Aesernia. Sullapretended to treat for peace, and, when the enemy were off theirguard, marched away in the night, leaving a trumpeter to sound allthe watches as if the army was still in position. He seems to havedefeated Mutilus after this, and, leaving Aesernia behind as he hadleft Nola, finally, before going home to sue for the consulship of 88B. C. , stormed Bovianum. He had managed the campaign in a bold and ableway, where less daring generalship might have failed. 

[Sidenote: First Bovianum, and then Aesernia, becomes the confederatecapital. ] As the insurrection was thus being stamped out on eithercoast, Bovianum had become the capital of the insurgents instead ofCorfinium. Now Bovianum was taken, and Aesernia became its centre. Theoccupation of the Hirpinian territory cut off the Samnites from theSouth of Italy, where the Lucanians and Bruttians remained in arms. Except for some trifling operations, which Pompeius had to carry outin order to complete the pacification of his district, all that wasnow left for the commanders of 88 was to crush the rebels in these twoisolated divisions, and the war would be at an end. [Sidenote: B. C. 88. Desperation of the confederates. ] The rebels indeed prepared for adesperate resistance. Five generals were appointed, Pompaedius Silo, the Marsian, at their head; and, by enrolling slaves and calling outfresh levies, the Samnites mustered an army of 50, 000 men. Once more, almost single-handed, they prepared to strive with their old enemy forthe sovereignty of Italy. The gallant Silo signalised his appointmentby recovering Bovianum, but he was soon afterwards slain. He is saidto have been defeated in a great battle by Mamercus Aemilius, and tohave fallen in it. Appian says that Metellus defeated him in Iapygia;Orosius, that Sulpicius defeated him in Apulia. However that may be, with him the last gleam of hope for the Samnite cause faded away. Theymade, it is said, a treaty with Mithridates; but long before that kingcould have reached Italy, if he had been able to make the attempt, there would have been no allies to support him. In Lucania AulusGabinius, made rash by some successes, assaulted the confederate camp, but was repulsed and slain. Lamponius, the Lucanian general, remainedmaster of the country, and attempted to take Rhegium, with the viewof crossing over to Sicily and renewing the rebellion there. But theattempt failed. [Sidenote: Revolution at Rome, and the part taken bythe insurgents in it. ] Nola, however, still held out in Campania; andnow there occurred a revolution at Rome which postponed the finalsubjugation of the insurgents till after the battle of the CollineGate. For convenience and clearness the part taken by them in thisrevolution may be here summarised. Sulla, as consul, was besiegingNola when he was recalled to Rome by the Sulpician revolution and hiselection to the command against Mithridates. A Samnite army had cometo relieve it, but had been defeated by Sulla. Three Roman corpsstill remained to keep the Samnites in check and besiege Nola, underClaudius, Metellus, and Plotius. It was to Nola that Cinna came, andseduced a large portion of the besiegers to follow him to Rome. Uponthis the insurgents suddenly found themselves, instead of hunteddesperadoes, courted as allies by two parties. The Senate againoffered the terms of the Lex Plautia Papiria to all in arms, and someaccepted them. But the Nolans, when Metellus was recalled and the longsiege was then raised in 87 B. C. , marched out and burnt Abella. The Samnites demanded, as the price of their assistance, that theprisoners, spoils, and deserters should be restored, and that theyand the Romans who had joined them should receive the franchise. TheSenate refused, and the Samnites at once joined Cinna and Marius, whowere pledged not only to give the franchise, but also to enrol allthe new voters in the old tribes; a measure which was ratified by theSenate in the year of Cinna's last consulship, 84 B. C. On Sulla'sreturn to Italy they with the Lucanians, who had meanwhile beenpractically independent, were the most eager supporters of Marius'sson. [Sidenote: Pontius of Telesia. ] In 82 Pontius of Telesia, at thehead of a Samnite force, with the desperate hardihood inspired bycenturies of hatred, marched straight on Rome, and the city was savedonly by Sulla's victory at the Colline Gate. Three days after thebattle Sulla massacred all his prisoners. He knew that death alonecould disarm such implacable foes. The Samnite name, he said, withhis cold ferocity, must be erased from the earth, or Rome could neverrest. The Samnites evacuated Nola in the year 80 B. C. , and then theirlast great leader, C. Papius Mutilus, having fled in disguise to hiswife at Teanum, was disowned by her and slew himself. [Sidenote:Fate of Samnium. ] Sulla carried his threats into effect. He capturedAesernia, and spread a desolation all around, from which the countryhas never recovered to this day. Then, and not till then, the stubbornresistance of the most relentless foes of Rome was finally suppressed. 

 * * * * *

CHAPTER IX. 

SULPICIUS. 

The terrible disintegration which the Social War had brought on Italywas faithfully reproduced in Rome. There, too, every man's hand wasagainst his neighbour. Creditor and debtor, tribune and consul, Senateand anti-Senate, fiercely confronted each other. Personal interestshad become so much more prominent, and old party-divisions were soconfused by the schemes of Italianising politicians, aristocratic intheir connexions, but cleaving to part at least of the traditionaldemocratic programme, that it is very hard to see where the views ofone faction blended with those of another and where they clashed. [Sidenote: The Sulpician revolution difficult to understand. ] Stillharder is it to dissect the character of individuals; to decide, forinstance, how far a man like Sulpicius was swayed by disinterestedprinciples, and how far he fought for his own hand. We need not maketoo much of the fact that he appealed to force, because violencewas the order of the day, and submission to the law simply meantsubmission to the law of force. But there are some parts of his careerapparently so inconsistent as almost to defy explanation which in anycase can be little more than guesswork. 

[Sidenote: Sulpicius. ] Publius Sulpicius Rufus was now in the prime oflife, having been born in 124 B. C. He was an aristocrat, an orator ofgreat force and fire, and a friend of Drusus, whose views he sharedand inherited. Cicero speaks of him in no grudging terms. 'Of all thespeakers I have heard Sulpicius was the grandest, and, so to speak, most tragic. Besides being powerful, his voice was sweet and resonant. His gestures and movements, elegant though they were, had nothingtheatrical about them, and his oratory, though quick and fluent, wasneither redundant nor verbose. ' [Sidenote: Financial crisis at Rome. ]The year before his tribunate had been a turbulent one at Rome. TheSocial War and Asiatic disturbances had brought about a financialcrisis. Debtors, hard pressed by their creditors, invoked obsoletepenalties against usury in their defence, and the creditors, becausethe praetor Asellio attempted to submit the question to trial, murdered him in the open Forum. The debtors responded by a cry for_tabulae novae_, or a sweeping remission of all debts. Of thesedebtors many doubtless would belong to the lower orders; but, from aproposal of Sulpicius made the next year, it appears probable thatsome were found in the ranks of the Senate. War had made money'tight, ' to use the phraseology of our modern Stock Exchange, andreckless extravagance could no longer be supported by borrowing. 

[Sidenote: Sulpicius the successor of Drusus. ] Sulpicius inherited thepolicy of Drusus, which was to reconstruct the Senatorial Governmenton an Italian basis. Like Drusus he had to conciliate prejudices inorder to carry out his design. Plutarch says that he went about with600 men of the equestrian order, whom he called his anti-Senate. Nodoubt it was to please these equites, who would belong to the party ofcreditors, that he proposed that no one should be a senator who owedmore than 2, 000 denarii. No doubt, too, he would have filled thevacancies thus created by the expulsion of reckless anti-Italianoptimates, from the ranks of these equites, just as Drusus had done. [Sidenote: He attempts to remodel the government. ] Just like Drusus, too, he had to court the proletariate, and this he did by proposing toenrol freedmen in the tribes. This, as they were generally dependenton men of his own order, he could do without prejudice to thenew-modelled aristocracy which he was attempting to organize. He alsoproposed to grant an amnesty to those who had been exiled by the LexVaria, hoping, no doubt, to gain more by the adherents who wouldreturn to Rome than he would lose by the return of men like Variushimself. He had opposed such an amnesty before; but on such a point hemight have easily changed his views, especially if a strong cry wasbeing raised by the friends of the exiles. He had a personal feud withthe Julian family, because he had opposed Caesar's illegal candidaturefor the consulship; but, having fortified himself by such alliances, he proceeded to carry out the main design of Drusus, namely, thecomplete enfranchisement of the Italians. [Sidenote: Pro-Italianmeasure of Sulpicius. ] This, perhaps, would be especially distastefulto the Julii, as superseding the Lex Julia and the Lex PlautiaPapiria, which to them, no doubt, seemed ample and more than ampleconcessions. Sulpicius, on the other hand, and the minority of theSenate which sided with him, saw that under the cover of clemency agrievous wrong was being done. For not only were the Italians who hadsubmitted since the terms of the Lex Plautia took effect without thefranchise, but from the fact of their rebellion they had lost theirold privileges as allied States. Even those who had benefited by theseconcessions had benefited only in name. As they voted in new tribes, their votes were valueless, and often would not be recorded at all;for a majority on most questions would be assured long before it cameto their turn to vote. To a statesman imbued with the views of Drusussuch a distribution of the franchise must have seemed impolitictrickery; and, like Drusus, Sulpicius resorted to questionable meansin order to gain the end on which he had set his heart. 

Rome was thus broken up into two camps, not as of yore broadly markedoff by palpable distinctions of rank, property, or privilege, but eachcontaining adherents of all sorts and conditions, though in the Senatethe opponents of Sulpicius had the majority. When Sulpicius proposedto enrol the Italians in the old tribes, the consuls proclaimed ajustitium, or suspension of all public business for some religiousobservances. It is said by some modern writers that the object ofSulpicius in proposing to enrol the Italians in the old tribes was tosecure the election of Marius to the command against Mithridates. Itis certain, indeed, that Marius longed for it. [Sidenote: Attitude ofMarius. ] Daily he was to be seen in the Campus Martius exercising withthe young men, and, though old and fat, showing himself nimble inarms and active on horseback--conduct which excited some men'sgood-humoured sympathy, but shocked others, who thought he had muchbetter go to Baiae for the baths there, and that such an exhibitionwas contemptible in one of his years. Sulpicius may have thoughtMarius quite fit for the command, and was warranted in thinking soby the events of the Social War; but there is no more ground forsupposing that the election of Marius was his primary object than forconsidering Plutarch's diatribe a fair estimate of his character. [Sidenote: Connection of Marius and Sulpicius explained. ] He was thefriend and successor of Drusus, and his alliance with Marius was ameans to the end which in common with Drusus he had in view, andnot the end itself. This consideration is essential to a trueunderstanding of the politics of the time, and just makes thedifference whether Sulpicius was a petty-minded adventurer ordeliberately following in the lines laid down for him by a successionof statesmen. [Sidenote: Street-fighting. ] To the manoeuvre of theconsul he replied by a violent protest that it was illegal. Rome wasbeing paraded by his partisans--3, 000 armed men, and there was atumult in which the lives of the consuls were in danger. One, PompeiusRufus, escaped, but his son was killed. The other, Sulla, annulledthe justitium, but is said to have got off with his life only becauseMarius generously gave him shelter in his own house. In theseoccurrences it is impossible not to see that the consuls were thefirst to act unfairly. Sulpicius had been intending to bring forwardhis laws in the regular fashion. They thwarted him by a trick. Whetherhe in anger gave the signal for violence, or whether, as is quite aslikely, his Italian partisans did not wait for his bidding, the blameof the tumult lay at the door of the other side. In such cases he isnot guiltiest who strikes the first blow, but he who has made blowsinevitable. 

[Sidenote: The Sulpician laws carried by force. ] The laws of Sulpiciuswere carried. [Sidenote: Sulla flies to the army, which marches onRome. ] Sulla fled to the army; and, perhaps, it was only now thatSulpicius, knowing or thinking that he knew that Sulla would march onRome, carried a resolution in the popular assembly for making Mariuscommander in the east. Two tribunes were accordingly sent to the campat Nola to take the army from Sulla. His soldiers immediately slewthem; and, burning for the booty of Asia and attached to theirfortunate leader, they, when without venturing to hint at the meansby which he could avenge it, he complained of the wrong done to him, clamorously called on him to lead them to Rome. All his officers, except one quaestor, left him; but he set out with six legions and wasjoined by Pompeius on the way. Two praetors met him and forbade hisadvance. They escaped with their lives, but the soldiers broke theirfasces and tore off their senatorial robes. A second and a third timethe Senate sent to ask his intentions. 'To release Rome from hertyrants, ' was the grim reply. Then he vouchsafed an offer that theSenate, Marius, and Sulpicius should meet him in the Campus Martius tocome to terms. If this meant that he would come with his army at hisback, it was an absurd proposal. If it meant that he would come alone, it was a falsehood. In either case it was a device to fritter awaytime. [Sidenote: Sulla's astuteness and superstition. ] For all thewhile that he was bandying meaningless messages he continued hisonward march. He had sacrificed, and the soothsayer Postumius, when hesaw the entrails, had stretched out his hands to him, and offered tobe kept in chains for punishment after the battle if it was not avictory. He, too, had himself seen a vision of good omen. Bellona, oranother goddess, had, he dreamed, put a thunderbolt in his hands, and, naming his enemies one by one, bidden him strike them, and they wereconsumed to ashes. 

Again envoys came from the Senate forbidding him to come within fivemiles of Rome. Perhaps they still felt as secure in the immemorialfreedom of the city from military rule as the English Parliament didbefore Cromwell's _coup d'état_. Again he amused them, and no doubthimself also, with a falsehood, and, professing compliance, followedclose upon their heels. With one legion he occupied the Caelian Gate, with another under Pompeius the Colline Gate, with a third the PonsSublicius, while a fourth was posted outside as a reserve. Thus, forthe first time, a consul commanded an army in the city, and soldierswere masters of Rome. [Sidenote: Street-fighting. ] Marius andSulpicius met them on the Esquiline and, pouring down tiles from thehousetops, at first beat them back. But Sulla, waving a burning torch, bade his men shoot fiery arrows at the houses, and drove the Mariansfrom the Esquiline Forum. Then he sent for the legion in reserve, andordered a detachment to go round by the Subura and take the enemy inthe rear. In vain Marius made another stand at the temple of Tellus. In vain he offered liberty to any slaves that would join him. Hewas beaten and fled from the city. Thus Sulla, having by injusticeprovoked disorder, quelled it by the sword, and began the civil war. Sulpicius, Marius, and ten others were proscribed, and Sulla is saidto have still further stimulated the pursuit of Marius by setting aprice on his head. [Sidenote: Sulpicius slain. ] Sulpicius was killedat Laurentum, and, according to Velleius Paterculus, Sulla fixed upthe eloquent orator's head at the Rostra, a thing not unlikely to havebeen done by a man to whose nature such grim irony was thoroughlycongenial. [Sidenote: Stories of Sulla. ] He evinced it on thisoccasion in another way, which may have suggested to Victor Hugo hisepisode of Lantenac and the gunner. He gave the slave who betrayedSulpicius his freedom, and then had him hurled from the Tarpeian Rock. After this he set to work to restore such order as would enable him tohasten to the east. 

[Sidenote: Why Sulla left Italy. ] Various explanations have beenoffered to account for his moderation at this conjuncture, and for hisleaving Italy precisely when his enemies were again gathering for anattack. But the true one has never yet, perhaps, been suggested. Whowas it that had made him supreme at Rome? The army. What had been thebribe which had won it over? A campaign in Asia under the fortunateSulla. Without that army he was powerless, nay, he was a dead man. Therefore it was absolutely necessary to execute his pledge to thearmy, which would have no keen desire to encounter its countrymen inItaly. No doubt he coveted the glory and spoil of the Asiatic command;but it is absurd to suppose that he would have quitted Italy now ofhis own free will. He had no choice in the matter. He was bound handand foot by his promises to the soldiers; and all that he could do wasby plausible moderation to win as many friends, conciliate as manyfoes, as possible, throw on Cinna, whom he could not hope to keepquiet, the guilt of perjury, and trust to fortune for the rest. Thisis a probable and consistent view of what now took place at Rome; andevery other account makes out Sulla to have been either inconsistent, which he never was, for he was always uniformly selfish; or patriotic, which he never was, if patriotism consists in sacrificing private topublic considerations; or indifferent, which he was in principle butnever in practice, unless where his own interests were not threatenedand only the suffering of others involved. 

[Sidenote: Sulla's measures. ] His first measure was to annul theSulpician laws. Secondly, to relieve the debtors, some colonies wereestablished, and a law was passed about interest, the terms of whichwe do not know. Thirdly, the Senate, thinned by the Social War andthe Varian law, was recruited by 300 optimates. Fourthly, becauseSulpicius had resisted the proclamation of a justitium--that device bywhich the Senate had virtually, though not legally, retained in itsown hands the power of discussing any measure before it was submittedto the people--therefore for the future no measure was to be submittedto the people till it had been previously discussed by the Senate. Inother words, the Senate was now confirmed by law in a privilegewhich it had hitherto only exercised by the employment of a fiction. Fifthly, the votes were to be taken, not in the Comitia Tributa, butin the Comitia of Centuries. Sixthly, the five classes were no longerto have an equal voice, but the first class was, as in the Servianconstitution, to have nearly half the votes. As the first classconsisted of those who had an estate of 100, 000 sesterces, thisordinance changed the democracy into a timocracy, transferring thepower from the people generally to the wealthier classes: but, considering how voting had been manipulated of late, it was perhaps ameasure due to the Senate quite as much as to Sulla. On the whole helegislated as little as he could and proscribed as few as he could. [Sidenote: Opposition to Sulla. ] But he tried to get two of hispartisans, Servius and Nonius, elected consuls for the year 87. Instead of them, however, L. Cornelius Cinna, a determined leader ofthe populares, was elected; and though Cnaeus Octavius, his colleague, was one of the optimates, he was not Sulla's creature. In anotherquarter his arrangements were thwarted even more unpleasantly. He hadgot a decree framed by the people, giving the army of the north to hisfriend Q. Pompeius Rufus, and recalling Cn. Pompeius Strabo. But thelatter procured the assassination of the former, and remained at thehead of the army. Still Sulla showed no resentment. A tribune namedVirginius was threatening to prosecute him. But he contented himselfwith making Cinna ascend the Capitol with a stone in his hand, and, throwing it down before a number of spectators, solemnly swear toobserve the new constitution. Then, leaving Metellus in Samniumand Appius Claudius at Nola, he hurried to Capua, and embarking atBrundusium felt, no doubt, that if he must pay his debt to the armybefore the army would commit fresh treasons for him, it was notunpleasant now to be forced away from the wasps' nest which he hadstirred up round him at home. And so, making a virtue of a necessity, he sailed with a light heart from the chance of assassination at Rometo fame and fortune in the East. 

 * * * * *

CHAPTER X. 

MARIUS AND CINNA. 

[Sidenote: Flight of Marius. ] Meanwhile what had become of Marius?Already a halo of legend was gathering round his name, and all Italywas ringing with his adventures. When he had fled from Rome (not sorrynow, we may be sure, that he had gone through his late exhibitionsin the Campus Martius), he had sent his son to some of hisfather-in-law's farms to get necessary provisions. Young Marius wasovertaken by daylight, before he could get to his father-in-law'sfarm, and pack the things up, and was nearly caught by those on histrack. But the farm-bailiff saw them in time, and, hiding him in acart full of beans, yoked the teams, and drove him to Rome. [Sidenote:Ostia. ] There young Marius went to his wife's house, and, gettingwhat he wanted, set out at nightfall for Ostia, and finding a shipstarting for Africa, went aboard. His father had not waited for hisreturn. He too had embarked at Ostia for Africa with his son-in-law. But now in his old age the sea was not so kind to him as when, inhis bold and confident youth, he had sailed to sue for his firstconsulship from the very land to which he was now flying. A storm cameon, and the ship was blown southwards along the coast. Marius beggedthe captain to keep clear of Tarracina, because Geminius, a leadingman there, was his bitter foe. [Sidenote: Circeii. ] But the stormincreased; Marius was sea-sick, and they were forced to go ashore atCirceii (Monte Circello). Some herdsmen told them that horsemen hadjust been there in pursuit; so they spent the night in a thick wood, hungry, and tortured by anxiety. Next day they went to the coastagain, and Marius implored the men to stand by him, telling them thatwhen he was a child an eagle's nest fell into his lap, with sevenyoung ones in it, and the soothsayers had said that it meant thathe should attain to the highest honours seven times. [Sidenote:Minturnae. ] About two miles and a half from Minturnae they spied somehorsemen making towards them; and, plunging into the sea, they swamtowards some merchantmen near the shore. Two slaves swam with Marius, keeping him up, and he got into one ship, and his son-in-law into theother, while the horsemen shouted to the crew to put ashore, or throwMarius overboard. The captains consulted together, and a terriblemoment it must have been for the fugitives. But the spell of theCimbric victories was potent still, and the captains replied that theywould not give up Marius. So the soldiers rode off in a rage. But thesailors, having so far acted generously, were anxious to get rid oftheir dangerous guest, and, landing at the mouth of the Liris, onpretence of waiting for a fair wind, told Marius to go ashore and getsome rest, and, while he was lying down, sailed away. Half stupified, he scrambled through bogs, and dykes, and mud, till he came to anold man's cottage, and begged the owner to shelter a man who, if heescaped, would reward him beyond his hopes. The man told him that hecould hide him in a safer place than his cottage; and, showing him ahole by the riverside, covered him up in it with some rushes. But hewas soon rudely disturbed. Geminius was on his trail, and Marius heardsome of his emissaries loudly threatening the old man for hiding anoutlaw. In his terror Marius stripped and plunged into the river, andso betrayed himself to the pursuers, who hauled him out naked andcovered with mud, and gave him up to the magistrates of Minturnae. Bythese he was placed under a strong guard in the house of a woman namedFannia. She, like Geminius, had a personal grudge against him, for inhis sixth consulship he had fined her four drachmas for ill-conduct. But now when she saw his misery she forgot her resentment, and didher best to cheer him. Nor was this difficult, for the stout heart ofMarius had never failed him. He told Fannia that, as he was coming toher house, an ass had come out to drink at a neighbouring fountain, and, fixing its eyes steadily on him, had brayed aloud and friskedvivaciously, whence he augured that he would find safety by sea. Themagistrates, however, had resolved to kill him, and sent a Cimbrianto do the deed, for no citizen would do it. The man went armed witha sword into the gloomy room where Marius lay. But soon he ran outcrying, 'I cannot slay Marius. ' He had seen eyes glaring in thedarkness, and had heard a terrible voice say, 'Darest thou slay CaiusMarius?' His heart had failed him; he had thrown down the sword andfled. Either the magistrates now changed their minds, or the peopleforced them to let Marius go, or perhaps Fannia connived at hisescape. Plutarch says that the people escorted him to the coast, and, when they came to a sacred grove, called the Marician Grove, which noman might enter, but which it would take a long time to go round, anold man had led the way into it, saying that no place was so sacredbut that it might be entered to save Marius. [Sidenote: Aenaria. ] Insome way he reached the coast where a friend had secured a vessel, and being driven by the wind to Aenaria (Ischia), he there found hisson-in-law and sailed for Africa. 

[Sidenote: Eryx. ] Want of water forced them to put in at Eryx on theN. W. Of Sicily; but the Roman quaestor there was on the look-out, andkilling sixteen of the crew nearly took Marius. Landing at Meninx(Jerbah), the fugitive heard that his son was in Africa too, and hadgone to Hiempsal, King of Numidia, to ask for aid, upon which he setsail again and landed at Carthage. [Sidenote: Carthage. ] The Romangovernor there sent to warn him off from Africa. Marius was dumb withindignation, but on being asked what answer he had to send, replied, so ran the story, 'Go and say you have seen Caius Marius sitting onthe ruins of Carthage. '

Hiempsal meanwhile had been keeping young Marius in a sort ofhonourable captivity. But, according to a story similar to that toldof Thomas ŕ Becket's father, a damsel of the country had fallen in lovewith his handsome face, and helped him to escape. [Sidenote: Circina. ]Father and son now retired to Circina (Kerkennah), where news soonreached him which brought him back to Italy. 

[Sidenote: Counter-revolutions at Rome. ] Hardly had Sulla leftBrundusium when the truce which he had patched up was broken. Cinnabeing bribed, as was said probably without foundation, with 300talents, had demanded that the Italians lately enfranchised should beenrolled in the old tribes. [Sidenote: Cinna. ] We do not know verymuch about Cinna, but we do seem to gather that he was bold, resolute, not ungenerous or bloodthirsty; and it cannot be too strongly insistedon that, like Saturninus, and Sulpicius, and Drusus, he was onlydemanding justice. [Sidenote: Street-fighting. Cinna driven fromRome. ] Octavius opposed him, and, hearing that Cinna's partisans werethreatening the tribunes in the Forum, he charged down the Via Sacrawith a band of followers, and dispersed them, and a great number ofCinna's followers were slain. On this Cinna left Rome, and, joined bySertorius, whom we shall hear of again, went round the towns musteringhis friends. The Senate declared his consulship to be void, andelected L. Cornelius Merula in his place. [Sidenote: His causeespoused by the Campanian army. ] Cinna, with characteristic audacity, instantly hastened to the army in Campania; and, rending his clothesand throwing himself on the ground, so worked on the pity of thesoldiers that they lifted him up, and told him he was consul still, and might lead them where he pleased. [Sidenote: Marius lands inEtruria. ] Then, visiting the Italian towns, he obtained many recruits;and, hearing that Marius had landed in Etruria (perhaps on hisinvitation), he agreed to act in concert with him, in spite of theopposition of Sertorius. 

[Sidenote: The Senate summons Pompeius from Picenum. ] MeanwhileOctavius and Merula had fortified the city, had sent for troops fromCisalpine Gaul, and had summoned the proconsul Pompeius from Picenum. Pompeius came and halted at the Colline Gate. It was suspected thathe was waiting to join the successful side. With him was his son, afterwards called 'the Great, ' who now showed of what stuff he wasmade by putting down a mutiny against his father and baffling a plotfor his own assassination. [Sidenote: Marius sacks Ostia, and he, Sertorius, and Cinna hem Rome in. ] Marius, with a band of Moors, andthe slaves whom he had collected from the Etrurian field-gangs, wasadmitted by treachery into Ostia and sacked the town. Cinna marched tothe right bank of the Tiber, opposite the Janiculum. Sertorius heldthe river above the city, and a corps was sent to Ariminum to preventany help coming from North Italy. [Sidenote: The Senate summonsMetellus, and courts the alliance of the Samnites. ] At this crisis theSenate sent for Metellus and tried to obtain the aid of the Samnites, who, as we have seen, joined Marius and Cinna. The treachery of atribune in command of the Janiculum gave the Marians admission tothe city. But they were driven out again, and might even have beendislodged from the Janiculum had not Pompeius persuaded Octavius tocheck the pursuit. Pompeius was playing a waiting game, ready to jointhe strongest, or crush both parties, as he saw his chance. And nowwithin the city starvation set in, and a pestilence spread. Marius hadblocked up the Tiber, and occupied the outlying towns on which thecommunications of the capital depended. Nor could the Senate trust itsown troops. [Sidenote: Death of Pompeius. ] Pompeius was killed by athunder-bolt--not less suspicious than that which slew Romulus--andhis body had been torn from the bier, and dragged through the streetsby the people. [Sidenote: Disaffection in the Senate's troops. ] Thesoldiers of Octavius cheered Cinna when he marshalled his troopsopposite them near the Alban Mount. Moreover the leaders themselveswere at variance. Octavius, seeing the humour of his men, was afraidto fight, but would concede nothing. Metellus wished for a compromise. Both armies were now outside the city, the pestilence probably havingdriven the Marians to withdraw. But Marius had command of the ViaAppia, the Tiber, and most of the neighbourhood; and the famine becamesorer in Rome. [Sidenote: Incompetence of Octavius and Metellus. ] Thesoldiers wished Metellus to take the command from Octavius, and, onhis refusal, deserted in crowds to the enemy. So also did the slaves, to whom Octavius would not promise freedom, as Cinna gladly did. [Sidenote: The Senate submits to Cinna. ] At last the Senate sentto make terms with Cinna; but while they were stickling aboutacknowledging his title of consul, he advanced to the gates. Then theysurrendered at discretion, only begging him to swear to shed no blood. Cinna, refusing to be bound by this condition, promised that he wouldnot voluntarily do so. For he saw by his side the grim figure of theman to whom he had given pro-consular powers, who had already tauntedhim with weakness for conferring with the Senate at all, and in whosesullen, unshorn face he read a craving for vengeance which nothing butblood would satisfy. 

[Sidenote: A massacre at Rome. ] When Cinna entered the city, Marius, with savage irony, said that an outlaw had no business within thewalls, and he would not come in till the sentence had been formallyrescinded by a meeting of the people in the Forum. But the gates, when once he had passed them, were closed, and for five days and fivenights Rome became a shambles. Appian says that Marius and Cinna hadboth sworn to spare the life of Octavius. But Marius was never a liar, and the story is false on the face of it; for just before this Appianrelates how, when Cinna had promised to be merciful, Marius wouldmake no sign. [Sidenote: Death of Octavius. ] Octavius is said to haveseated himself in his official chair, dressed in his official robes, on the Janiculum, and to have awaited the assassins there. His headwas fastened up in front of the Rostra in emulation of the ghastlyprecedent set by Sulla. He was an obstinate, dull man; and if thisburlesque of the conduct of the senators when the Gauls took Rome wasreally enacted, the theatrical display must have been cold comfort forthose of his party on whom his incapacity brought ruin. [Sidenote:Chief victims of the massacre. ] [Sidenote: The Caesars. ] Among thelatter were the brothers Caesar, Caius, who had sought to be consulbefore he was praetor, and had been denounced for it by Sulpicius, and Lucius, the conqueror at Acerrae and author of the Julian law. [Sidenote: Publius Crassus. ] Publius Crassus, consul in 97, and one ofCaesar's lieutenants in the Social War, fled with his son, and whenovertaken first stabbed his son and then himself. [Sidenote: MarcusAntonius. ] Marcus Antonius, the great forensic orator, was so odiousto Marius that the latter, on hearing that he was taken, wished, sothe story runs, to go and kill him with his own hand. Antonius was inhiding, and was betrayed by the indiscretion of a slave, who, beingquestioned by a wine-seller why he was buying more or better winethan usual, whispered to him that it was for Marcus Antonius. On thesoldiers coming to kill him, he pleaded so eloquently for his lifethat they wept and would not touch him. But their officer, who waswaiting below, impatiently came up and cut off his head with his ownhand. Lucius Merula opened his veins, and so bled to death. His crimewas that he had been made consul when Cinna was deposed. His last actseems odd to us, but pathetically bespoke the man's piety and recallsthe last scene in the life of Demosthenes. He wrote on a tablet thathe had taken off his official cap when opening his veins, so as toavoid the sacrilege of a flamen of Jupiter dying with it on his head. [Sidenote: Catulus. ] Marius had behaved generously once to Q. LutatiusCatulus, his old colleague against the Cimbri; but Catulus had helpedto drive him into exile, and there was to be no second mistake of thatsort. 'He must die, ' he said, when the relatives of Catulus pleadedfor his life. It is not unlikely that disease, and drinking, and hislate hardships had made the old man insane. He had been occasionallygood-natured in former days; now he seemed to gloat in carnage. Forevery sneer cast at him, for every wrong done to him in past years, hetook a horrible revenge. When Cinna had summoned him, he had said thathe would settle the question of enrolment in the tribes once for all. He wished not to select victims, but to massacre all the leadingoptimates. Sertorius begged Cinna to check the slaughter. Cinna didtry to curb the outrages of the slave bands; but he dared not breakwith Marius, whom he named as joint consul with himself for the year86. But as soon as his colleague was dead, he and Sertorius surroundedthe ruffians and killed them to a man. 

[Sidenote: Death of Marius. ] Marius did not live much longer. He hadhad his revenge. He had gained his seventh consulship. It is saidthat, telling his friends that after such vicissitudes it would bewrong to tempt fate further, he took to his bed and after seven daysdied. He drank hard, was seized with pleurisy, and in his last hoursbecame delirious. He fancied that he was in Asia, and by shouts andgestures cheered on the army of his dreams, and with 'such a stern andiron-clashing close' died January 13 or 17. He was more than seventyyears old, and had enjoyed his seventh consulship for either thirteenor seventeen days. 

Lucius Valerius Flaccus succeeded Marius as consul, and passed alaw making one-fourth of a debt legal tender for payment of it; andprobably in the same year the denarius was restored to its standardvalue. A census was also held, which would include the new Italiancitizens, and Philippus, whose opposition to Drusus on this veryquestion had helped to kindle the Social War, was censor. [Sidenote:Settlement of Italian disabilities by Cinna. ] Cinna, as he was pledgedto do so, must have carried some measure for enrolling the Italiansin the old tribes; but we can only conjecture what was actually done. Sulpicius had already carried such a measure, but it had been probablyrevoked by Sulla before he left Italy. In 84, just before his return, the Senate, it is said, gave the Italians the right of voting, anddistributed the libertini, or freed slaves, among the thirty-fivetribes. Perhaps this was a formal ratification of what had been passedbefore under Cinna's coercion. 

[Sidenote: Cinna's supremacy. ] Cinna was now all-powerful at Rome. For four successive years, 87 to 84 B. C. , he was consul; and with theexception of Asia, Macedonia, Greece, and Africa, where Metellus hadescaped and was in arms, the whole Roman world was at his feet. Buthe did not know how to use his power. He may have removed therestrictions on grain, and did proclaim Sulla and Metellus outlaws;but, though he should have bent every energy to hinder Sulla's return, he did worse than nothing, and, instead of Sertorius, sent theincapable Flaccus and the ruffian Fimbria against the general who hadjust taken Athens and defeated Archelaus. The miscarriage of theirenterprise will be told in the next chapter. When Cinna suddenlybecame alive to the fact that the avenger was at hand, and that eitherhe must act promptly or Sulla would be in Rome, he hastened to Ancona, where he sent one division of the army across to the opposite coast. But the second division was driven back by a storm; and the soldiersthen dispersed, saying that they would not fight against their owncountrymen. On this the rest of the army refused to embark. Cinna wentto harangue them, and one of his lictors in clearing a way strucka soldier. Another soldier struck him. [Sidenote: Cinna slain atAncona. ] Cinna told his lictors to seize this second mutineer, and inthe tumult that arose Cinna was slain. Plutarch says that the troopsmurdered him because he was suspected of having killed Pompeius, andthat, when he tried to bribe a centurion with a signet-ring to sparehim, the centurion replied that he was not going to seal a bond butslay a tyrant. But Cinna probably died as he lived, a brave man, andone who could not have held ascendency for so long, and over men likeSertorius, had he not been an able as well as a brave man. 

 * * * * *

CHAPTER XI. 

THE FIRST MITHRIDATIC WAR. 

Events have been anticipated in order to relate the close of Cinna'scareer. But it is time now to say what Sulla had been doing, and whothat Mithridates was whose name for so long had been formidable atRome. 

[Sidenote: Foreign events after the second slave war. ] After thedefeat of the northern hordes and the suppression of the second slaverevolt, there was a war with the Celtiberi in Spain, in 97, inwhich Sertorius showed himself already an adroit and bold officer. [Sidenote: Sertorius in command against the Celtiberi. ] He was inwinter quarters at Castulo (Cazlona), and his men were so disorderlythat the Spaniards were emboldened to attack them in the town;Sertorius escaped, rallied those soldiers who had also escaped, marched back, and after putting those in the town to the sword, dressed his troops in the dead men's clothes, and so obtainedadmission to another town which had helped the enemy. But the hero ofthe campaign was Titus Didius, afterwards Caesar's lieutenant in theSocial War. He had some hard fighting and captured Termesus, the chieftown of the Arevaci, and Colenda. --He earned his triumph by othermeans also. There was a town near Colenda, the inhabitants of whichthe Romans wished to destroy. Didius told them that he would give themthe lands of Colenda, and they came to receive their allotments. Assoon as they were within his lines, his soldiers set on them and slewthem all. 

[Sidenote: Africa. ] In 96 B. C. Ptolemaus Apion bequeathed Cyrene--anarrow strip of terraced land on the north coast of Africa, situatedbetween the Libyan deserts and the Mediterranean--to Rome. The Romansdid not refuse the legacy; but they took no trouble to govern thecountry. The cities of Cyrene were declared to be free. In otherwords, while nominally subject to Rome, so that she might interferewhen she pleased, they were left to govern themselves. Such governmentwas no government; but it was in accordance with the deliberate policyof the senatorial party. 

[Sidenote: Crimes and intrigues of Mithridates. ] It was in the sameyear that Mithridates committed the first of the series of crimeswhich eventually brought him into collision with Rome. His sisterhad married the King of Cappadocia. Mithridates assassinated him. Nicomedes, King of Bithynia, seized Cappadocia and married the widowedsister of Mithridates. Having slain one brother-in-law, Mithridatesexpelled the other, and set on the throne his sister's son. But whenhis nephew refused to welcome home Gordius, the man who had murderedhis father, Mithridates marched against and assassinated him. Then heset on the throne his own son, to whom he gave his nephew's name, andmade Gordius his guardian. Him the Cappadocians expelled, and raisedto the throne another nephew of Mithridates; but Mithridates instantlydrove him from power. Nicomedes now appealed to the Senate, andproduced, as he asserted, a third nephew of Mithridates as a claimantfor the crown. To support his assertion he sent his wife to Rome toswear she had had three sons. Mithridates, as if in burlesque of theimposture, sent Gordius to swear that the youth on the throne was sonof a Cappadocian king who had died more than thirty years before. TheSenate decided as a lion might between two jackals quarrelling overa carcase. It took Cappadocia from Mithridates and Paphlagonia fromNicomedes, and declared both countries free. But the Cappadociansclamoured for a king, and so, in 93, the Senate appointed AriobarzanesI. Mithridates then stirred up Tigranes, King of Armenia, to expelAriobarzanes, who fled to Rome. Sulla was sent to restore him, anddid so in 92, after defeating the Cappadocians under Gordius and theArmenians. [Sidenote: The Romans come in contact with the Parthians. ]It was when he was on this mission that the Romans and Parthiansconfronted each other for the first time. The Parthians sent anembassy to ask for the alliance of Rome. Three chairs were set forAriobarzanes, Sulla, and Orobazus; and Sulla, who was only propraetor, took the central seat. This incensed the Parthian king; and herevenged himself not on Sulla, but on the unfortunate Orobazus, whomhe put to death. A Chaldean in the Parthian's suite, after studyingSulla's face, predicted great things for him; which pleased Sulla asmuch as it would have done Marius, for he believed in his luck just ashis rival did in his seventh consulship. But when he came home he wasimpeached for taking bribes from Ariobarzanes, and no doubt he hadmade his trip which was so gratifying to his pride not less profitablealso, and had had his appetite whetted for a second taste of easterntreasures. Mithridates, meanwhile, was brooding over his humiliationand meditating revenge. He went on a journey incognito through theRoman province of Asia and Bithynia, intending to attack both if hefound himself strong enough. When he came back he found that his wife, who was also his sister, had been unfaithful to him, and he put her todeath. He had now murdered a wife, a sister, a brother, and a nephew. He had also imprisoned his mother, and was equally merciless to hissons, his daughters, and his concubines. At his death, it is said, apaper was found in which he had foredoomed his most trusted servants, and he slew all the inmates of his harem in order to hinder them fromfalling into his enemies' hands. 

[Sidenote: Early years of Mithridates. ] His whole history is infact one long record of sensuality, treachery, and murder. Fromhis earliest years he had breathed, as it were, an atmosphere ofassassination. His father had been assassinated when he was elevenyears old. His guardians and even his own mother had then plotted toassassinate him. They placed him on a wild horse, and made him performexercises with the javelin on it. When his precocious vigour defeatedtheir hopes, they tried to poison him. But by studying antidotes hemade his body poison-proof, or at least was reputed to have done so, and, flying from his enemies, lived for seven years through all thehardships of a wild and wandering life, in which he never slept undera roof, and hunted and fought with wild beasts, to emerge in manhood avery tiger himself for strength, and beauty of body, and ferocity ofdisposition, a tyrant who spared neither man in his ambition norwoman in his lust. [Sidenote: His physical vigour. ] His staturewas gigantic, his strength and activity such as took captive theimagination of the East. He could, it was believed, outrun the deer;out-eat and out-drink everyone at the banquet; strike down flyinggame unerringly; tame the wildest steed, and ride 120 miles in a day. Twenty-two nations obeyed him, and he could speak the dialect ofeach. A veneer of Greek refinement was spread thinly over the savageanimalism of the man. [Sidenote: Pseudo-civilisation of his court. ] Hewas a virtuoso, and had a wonderful collection of rings. He maintainedGreek poets and historians, and offered prizes for singing. He hadshrewdness enough to employ Greek generals, but not enough to keep himfrom being grossly superstitious. 

[Sidenote: His kingdom and how it was acquired. ] For twenty years(110-90 B. C. ) he had been with never-resting activity extending hisempire, before the Romans assailed him. He had inherited from hisancestors the kingdom of Pontus, or Cappadocia on the Pontus, whichhad been one of the two satrapies into which Cappadocia was dividedat the time of the Macedonian conquest. Mithridates IV. Had married aprincess of the Greek race, the sister of Seleucus, King of Syria. His grandfather had conquered Sinope and Paphlagonia, as far as theBithynian frontier. His father had helped the Romans in the thirdPunic War, had been styled the friend of Rome, and had been rewardedwith the province of Phrygia nominally for his services againstAristonicus, the pretender to the kingdom of Attalus, but had beendeprived of it afterwards when it was found out that really it hadbeen put up for auction by Manius Aquillius, who was completing thesubjugation of the adherents of the pretender. The boundaries ofPontus at his accession cannot be strictly defined. On the east itstretched towards the Caucasus and the sources of the Euphrates, Lesser Armenia being dependent on it. On the south and south-westits frontiers were Cappadocia and Galatia. On the west nominallyPaphlagonia was the frontier, for the grandfather of Mithridates hadbeen induced by the Romans to promise to evacuate his conquests. But Sinope was then, and continued to be, the capital of the Pontickingdom, and both Paphlagonia and Galatia were virtually dependent. This was the territory to which Mithridates was heir, and which, trueto the policy of his father and grandfather, he constantly strove byforce or fraud to extend. [Sidenote: Mithridates extends his kingdom. ]To the east of the Black Sea he conquered Colchis on the Phasis, and converted it into a satrapy. To the north he was hailed as thedeliverer of the Greek towns on that coast and in the region nowknown as the Crimea, which from the constant exaction of tribute bybarbarous tribes were, in the absence of any protectorate like that ofAthens, falling into decay. By sea, and perhaps across the Caucasus byland, Mithridates sent his troops under the Greek generals Neoptolemusand Diophantus. Neoptolemus won a victory over the Tauric Scythians atPanticapaeum (Kertch), and the kingdom of Bosporus in the Crimea wasceded to his master by its grateful king. Diophantus marched westwardsas far as the Tyras (Dneister), and in a great battle almostannihilated an army of the Roxolani, a nomadic people who roamedbetween the Borysthenes (Dneiper) and the Tanais (Don). By theseconquests Mithridates acquired a tribute of 200 talents (48, 000_l_. ), and 270, 000 bushels of grain, and a rich recruiting ground for hisarmies. [Sidenote: His alliance with Tigranes. ] On the east he annexedLesser Armenia, and entered into the closest alliance with Tigranes, King of Greater Armenia, which had lately become a powerful kingdom, giving him his daughter Cleopatra in marriage. If the allies had anydefined scheme of conquest, it was that Mithridates should occupy AsiaMinor and the coast of the Black Sea, and Tigranes the interior andSyria. How the King intrigued and meddled in Cappadocia and Bithyniahas been previously related; and when he had marched into Cappadociait was at the head of 80, 000 foot, 10, 000 horse, and 600 scythedchariots. 

Such was the history, the power, and the character of the greatpotentate who had yielded to the demands of Sulla, the propraetor, but who now awaited the attack of Sulla, the proconsul, with prouddisdain. Much, indeed, had happened since the year 92 to justify suchfeelings. Hardly had Sulla reinstated Ariobarzanes when Tigranes drovehim out again, and restored the son of Mithridates; while in Bithyniathe younger son of Nicomedes, Socrates, appeared in arms against hiselder brother, Nicomedes II. , who on his father's death had beenacknowledged as king by Rome. Socrates had soldiers from Pontus withhim; but Mithridates, though his hand was plain in these disturbances, outwardly stood aloof; and the Senate, sending Manius Aquillius torestore the two kings, ordered Mithridates to aid him with troops ifthey were wanted. [Sidenote: Mithridates submits to Aquillius. ] Theking submitted as before, not, indeed, sending troops, but withoutresisting, and as a proof of his complacency put Socrates to death. This happened in the year 90, when Rome was pressed hardest by theItalians, and at first sight it seems astonishing that he should nothave seized on so favourable a moment. But in those days news wouldtravel from the west of Italy to Sinope but slowly and uncertainly, and Mithridates would have the fate of Antiochus in mind to warn himhow the foes of the great republic fared, and the history of Pergamusto testify to the prosperity of those who remained its friends. Sulla's proud tone in 92 would not have lessened this impression;and, before he appealed to force, the crafty king hoped to make hisposition securer by fraud. Partly, therefore, from real awe, partlybecause he was not yet ready, he obeyed Aquillius as he had obeyedSulla. But Aquillius, who had once put up Phrygia to auction, knewwhat pickings there were for a senator when war was afoot in Asia, andperhaps may have had the honester notion that, as Mithridates was sureto go to war soon, it was for the public as well as for his privateinterest to act boldly and strike the first blow. So he forced thereluctant Bithynian king to declare war, and to ravage with an armythe country round Amastris while his fleet shut up the Bosporus. StillMithridates did not stir; all that he did was to lodge a complaintwith the Romans, and solicit their mediation or their permission todefend himself. [Sidenote: Aquillius forces on a war. ] Aquilliusreplied that he must in no case make war on Nicomedes. It is easy toconceive how such an answer affected a man of the king's temper. Heinstantly sent his son with an army into Cappadocia. But once more hetried diplomacy. [Sidenote: Ultimatum of Mithridates. ] Pelopidas, hisenvoy, came to Aquillius, and said that his master was willing to aidthe Romans against the Italians if the Romans would forbid Nicomedesto attack him, their ally. If not, he wished the alliance to beformally dissolved. Or there was yet another alternative. Let thecommissioners and himself appeal to the Senate to decide between them. The commissioners treated the message as an insult. Mithridates, they said, must not attack Nicomedes, and they intended to restoreAriobarzanes. Possibly the conduct of Aquillius was due to his havingbeen heavily bribed by Nicomedes, who must have felt that when theRomans were gone he would be like a mouse awaiting the cat's spring;for it is difficult to imagine the foolhardiness which without somesuch tangible stimulus would at that moment have plunged him into war. 

[Sidenote: War begun. Energy of Mithridates. ] But when once the diewas cast, Mithridates threw himself into the war with the energy oflong-suppressed rage. He sent to court the alliance of Egypt and theCretan league, to whom he represented himself as the champion ofGreece against her tyrant. He tried to stir up revolts in Thrace andMacedonia. He arranged with Tigranes that an Armenian army shouldco-operate with him, leaving him the land it occupied, but carryingoff the plunder. He gave the word, and a swarm of pirate ships sweptthe Mediterranean under his colours. He summoned an army of 250, 000foot, 40, 000 horse, and 130 scythed chariots, a fleet of 300 deckedvessels, and 100 other ships called 'Dicrota' with a double bank ofoars. He formed and armed in Roman fashion a foreign contingent, inwhich many Romans and Italians enlisted; and he placed able Greekgenerals, Archelaus and Neoptolemus, over his troops. [Sidenote:Forces of Rome. ] To meet this formidable array the Romans had a fleetoff Byzantium, the army of Nicomedes, which was still between Sinopeand Amastris, and three corps, each of 40, 000 men, but composed forthe most part of hastily organized Asiatics; one under Cassius betweenBithynia and Galatia, another under Aquillius between Bithynia andPontus, and a third under Oppius in Cappadocia. The war was decidedalmost in a single battle. [Sidenote: Victory of Mithridates overNicomedes. ] Neoptolemus and Archelaus routed the Bithynian army onthe river Amnias, and captured the camp and military chest. It was afierce and for some time a doubtful fight, and seems to have beendecided by the scythed chariots, which spread terror in the Bithynianranks. [Sidenote: Victory over Aquillius. ] Nicomedes fled toAquillius, who was defeated by Archelaus near Mount Scorobas, and fledwith the king across the Sangarius to Pergamus, whence he attempted toreach Rhodes. Cassius retreated to Phrygia, and tried to disciplinehis raw levies. But, finding this impossible; he broke up the army andled the Roman troops with him to Apameia. The fleet in the Black Seawas surrendered by its commander. 

[Sidenote: Mithridates' progress through Phrygia, Mysia and Asia. ]Thus, triumphant by sea and land, Mithridates, after settlingBithynia, marched through Phrygia and Mysia into the Roman provinceAsia, and was hailed everywhere as a deliverer, for after hisvictories he had sent home all his Asiatic prisoners with presents. Then he sent messengers into Lycia and Pamphylia to seek the allianceof those countries. Oppius was in Laodicea, on the Lycus. The kingoffered the townsmen immunity if they surrendered him, and, when theydid so, carried him about as a show. [Sidenote: Fate of Aquillius. ]Aquillius was also given up by the Mytileneans and made to ride inchains on an ass, calling out who he was wherever he went. At PergamusMithridates slew him by pouring molten gold down his throat--a savagepunishment, which, however, confirms the impression that it was Romanavarice which forced on the war. Magnesia on the Maeander, Ephesus, and Mitylene welcomed the king joyfully, and Stratoniceia, in Caria, was captured. He then attacked Magnesia near Mount Sipylus, preparedto invade Rhodes, and issued a hideous order for an exterminatingmassacre of every Roman and Italian in Asia on an appointed day. Punishments were proclaimed for anyone who should hide one of theproscribed or bury his body; rewards were promised for all who killedor denounced them. Slaves who slew their masters were to be freed. Themurder of a creditor was to be taken as payment by a debtor of halfhis debt. [Massacre of Romans and Italians. ] There were dreadfulscenes on the fatal day--the thirtieth after the order was issued--inthe Asiatic cities. In Pergamus the victims fled to the temple ofAesculapius, and were shot down as they clung to the statues. AtEphesus they were dragged out from the temple of Artemis and slain. AtAdramyttium they swam out to sea, but were brought back and killed, and their children were drowned. At Cos alone was any mercy shown. There those who had taken refuge in the temple of Aesculapius werespared. The number of the slain was said to be 80, 000 or even 120, 000, which must have been, however, an incredible exaggeration. [Sidenote:Objects of the massacre. ] By this fiendish crime Mithridates must, though he was mistaken, have felt that he cut himself off forever from all reconciliation with Rome. But no doubt he acted oncalculation. For not only did he get rid of men who might haverecruited the Roman armies; not only did he gratify the long-hoardedhatred of the farmers and peasants of whom Roman publicans and Romanslave-masters had so long made a prey; not only did he oblige thedebtors by wiping out their debts and even the very memory of themin their creditors' blood, but he might well count on putting hisaccomplices also beyond the pale of Roman mercy, and so linking themto his own fortunes. Moreover, vengeance seemed remote. For Sulla hadjust marched on Rome instead of to the east, and a civil war inItaly might make Mithridates permanently supreme in Asia. [Sidenote:Mithridates' settlement of his new acquisitions. ] So he made Pergamushis capital, leaving Sinope to his son as vice-regent, whileCappadocia, Phrygia, and Bithynia were turned into satrapies. Allarrears of taxes were remitted; and so wealthy had his spoils made himthat exemption for five years to come was promised to the towns thathad obeyed his orders. 

[Sidenote: Reverses of Mithridates. He retires to Pergamus. ] Butthe tide was already on the turn. In Paphlagonia there was stillresistance. Archelaus was repulsed and wounded at Magnesia. Mithridates in person was forced to abandon the siege of Rhodes. Hisrevenge was sated; he was tired of the hardships of a war which hemeant his generals to conduct in future; and with a new wife he wentback to Pergamus, to his rings, and his music, and debaucheries, atthe very time that a shudder had gone through Italy at the tidings ofthe massacre, and when Sulla was on his way to avenge it. 

 * * * * *

CHAPTER XII. 

SULLA IN GREECE AND ASIA. 

[Sidenote: Aristion at Athens. ] A citizen of Athens, named Aristion, whose mother was an Egyptian slave, and who was the son or adoptedson of one Athenion, had been sent by the Athenians as ambassador toMithridates. He had been a schoolmaster and teacher of rhetoric, and professed the philosophy of Epicurus. He gained the ear ofMithridates, and sent home flaming accounts of the king's power, andof his intention of restoring the democracy at Athens. The Athenianssent some ships of war to bring him home from Euboea, with a presentof a silver-footed litter; and in this, clothed in purple, and witha fine ring on his finger, which he had got probably from his friendMithridates, he came back to Athens with much parade. [Sidenote:Revolt of Athens from Rome. ] In a set speech he dilated on the king'ssplendid successes, and advised the people to declare themselvesindependent and elect him their general. They did so, and he very soonmassacred his opponents and made himself despot. Thus Athens andthe Piraeus passed into the hands of Mithridates. The spirit ofdisaffection to Rome spread rapidly. [Sidenote: Revolt of theAchaeans, Laconians, and Boeotians. ] When Archelaus appeared inGreece, the Achaeans, Laconians, and Boeotians, with the exception ofThespiae, joined him, while the Pontic fleet seized Euboea andDemetrias, a town at the head of the gulf of Pagasae. 

Sura was sent by the Roman governor of Macedonia to make head againstthe invaders. He won a naval battle and captured Sciathus, where allthe spoils of the enemy were stored. [Sidenote: Conflicts between theRomans and the forces of Mithridates in Boeotia. ] Then he marched intoBoeotia, and, after a three days' engagement with the combined forcesof Archelaus and Aristion, pushed Archelaus back to the coast. Thewar, perhaps, might have been ended here; but at this moment Luculluscame to announce the approach of Sulla, and to warn Sura that the warhad been entrusted to him. So Sura retired to Macedonia. [Sidenote:Sulla lands in Epirus, 87 B. C. , and marches on Athens. ] Sulla had leftBrundusium in 87, and, landing on the coast of Epirus, gathered whatsupplies he could from Aetolia and Thessaly, and marched straightfor Athens. It was soon seen that the foundations of the empire ofMithridates were based on sand. The Boeotians at once submitted, including Thebes, which had joined the king. [Sidenote: Siege of thePiraeus and Athens. ] Sulla then began two sieges, that of the Piraeuswhere Archelaus was, and that of Athens defended by Aristion. Archelaus had before shown himself an intrepid soldier, and he baffledall Sulla's efforts with equal ingenuity and courage. After anunsuccessful attempt to storm the walls, Sulla retired to Eleusisand Megara, thus keeping up his communications with Thebes and thePeloponnese, and set to work constructing catapults and other engines, and preparing an earthwork from which he meant to attack the wall withthem. For these purposes he cut down the trees of the Academia and theLyceum. He was kept informed of intended sallies by two slaves insidethe town, who threw out leaden balls with words cut on them. Butas fast as the earthwork rose Archelaus built towers on the wallsopposite to it, and thence harassed the besiegers. [Sidenote: Battleat the Piraeus. Archelaus nearly taken. ] He was also reinforced byMithridates, and then came out and fought a battle which was for sometime doubtful; but he was forced to retire at length with the loss of2, 000 men. He himself remained till the last. The gates were shut andhe had to be drawn up by a rope over the wall. 

[Sidenote: Sulla's difficulties. ] The affairs of Sulla, however, werein no flourishing condition. He had come to Greece with only 30, 000men, with no fleet, and little money. He was forced to plunder theshrines of Epidaurus, Olympia, and Delphi. His messenger to Delphicame back saying that he had heard the sound of a lute in the temple, and dared not commit the sacrilege. But Sulla sent him back, sayingthat he was sure the sound was a note of welcome, and that the godmeant him to have the treasure. He promised to pay it back some day, and he kept his word, for he confiscated half the land of Thebes andapplied the proceeds to reimbursing the sacred funds. In his worststraits he was always ready with some such mockery. [Sidenote: Sullasends Lucullus to Egypt. ] Winter was now at hand, and Sulla despatchedLucullus to Egypt to get ships. The refusal of the King of Egypt showswhat was now thought of the Roman power. Sulla then formed a campat Eleusis and continued the siege, and so shook the great tower ofArchelaus by a simultaneous discharge of twelve leaden balls fromhis catapults that it had to be drawn back. [Sidenote: Blockade ofAthens. ] By means of the two slaves he was also able to frustrate theattempts of Archelaus to throw supplies into Athens, which was nowsuffering from hunger, for Sulla had surrounded it with forts andturned the siege into a blockade. Mithridates now sent his son intoMacedonia with an army, before which the small Roman force there hadto retire. After this success the prince marched towards Athens, butdied on the way. [Sidenote: Desperate defence of the Piraeus. ] At thePiraeus scenes occurred which were afterwards repeated at the siege ofJerusalem. Archelaus undermined the earthwork and Sulla made anotherdetermined attempt to take the wall by storm. He battered down partof it, fired the props of his mine and so brought down more, and senttroops by relays to escalade the breach. But Archelaus, like thePlataeans in the Peloponnesian war, built an inner crescent-shapedwall, from which he took the assailants in front and on both flankswhen they tried to advance. [Sidenote: Sulla turns the siege into ablockade. ] At last, wearied by this dogged resistance, Sulla turnedthe siege of the Piraeus also into a blockade, which meant simply thathe hindered Archelaus from helping Athens, for he could not preventthe influx of supplies from the sea. 

[Sidenote: Athens taken March 1, B. C. 86. ] Athens meanwhile was indreadful straits. Wheat was selling at nearly 3_l_. 10_s_. A gallon, and the inhabitants were feeding on old leather bottles, shoes, andthe bodies of the dead. A deputation came out, but Sulla sent themback because they began an harangue on the deeds of their ancestors, put into their mouths, no doubt, by the rhetorician Aristion. Sullatold them they were the scum of nations, not descended from the oldAthenians at all, and that instead of listening to their rhetoric hemeant to punish their rebellion. On the night of March 1, 86 B. C. , hebroke into the town amid the blare of trumpets and the shouts of histroops. He told his men to give no quarter, and the blood, it wassaid, ran down through the gates into the suburbs. [Sidenote: Aristionslain. ] Aristion fled to the Acropolis. Hunger forced him in the endto capitulate, and he was killed. Sulla meanwhile had forced on thesiege of Piraeus still more vigorously. He got past the crescent wall, only to find other walls similarly constructed behind it; but hegradually drove Archelaus into Munychia, or the peninsular part ofPiraeus, and as he had no ships he could do nothing more. [Sidenote:Archelaus sails from Piraeus, and joins Taxiles, sent by Mithridateswith reinforcements. ] Either before or after the capture of theAcropolis Archelaus sailed away, in obedience to a summons fromTaxiles, a new general whom Mithridates had sent with an army of100, 000 foot, 10, 000 horse, and ninety scythed chariots into Greece. With these forces and the troops previously sent with his master'sson he formed a junction at Thermopylae, marched into Phocis down thevalley of the Cephissus, attempted but failed to take Elateia, andcame up with Sulla near Chaeroneia. [Sidenote: Sulla forms ajunction with Hortensius. ] Sulla had marched into Boeotia and joinedHortensius, who had a brought some troops from Thessaly. But he issaid by Appian to have had not a third of the enemy's numbers, whilePlutarch affirms that he had only 15, 000 foot and 1, 500 horse. 

[Illustration: Map to illustrate the March of SULLA and ARCHELAUSbefore Chaeroneia. ]

[Sidenote: Position of the two armies. ] Sulla was on the west bank ofthe Cephissus, on an eminence named Philoboeotus, and Archelaus on theother side of the river not far off. Sulla's soldiers were alarmed bythe numbers and splendour of the enemy, for the brass and steelof their armour 'kindled the air with an awful flame like that oflightning. ' [Sidenote: Manoeuvres of Sulla and Archelaus. ] Archelaus, marching down the valley of the Cephissus, tried to seize a strongposition called the Acropolis of the Parapotamii, situated on theAssus, which joined the Cephissus to the south of both armies. ButSulla, who had wearied out his men by drudgery in dyke-making, andmade them eager for a fight, crossed the Cephissus, seized theposition first, and then, crossing the Assus, took up his positionunder Mount Edylium. Here he encamped opposite Archelaus, who, havingalso crossed the Assus, was now at a place called Assia, which wasnearer Lake Copais. Thence Archelaus made an attempt on Chaeroneia;but Sulla was again beforehand with him, and garrisoned the placewith one legion. South of Chaeroneia was a hill called Thurium. ThisArchelaus seized. Sulla then brought the rest of his troops acrossthe Cephissus, to form a junction with the legion in Chaeroneia anddislodge the enemy from Thurium. He left Murena on the north of theCephissus to keep the enemy in check at Assia. Archelaus, however, also brought his main army across the Cephissus after Sulla. Murenafollowed him, and Sulla drew up his army with his cavalry on eachwing, himself commanding the right and Murena the left. The armieswere now opposite each other, Sulla to the south, then Archelaus, thenthe Cephissus. 

[Sidenote: Battle of Chaeroneia. ] Sulla sent some troops round Thuriumto the hills behind Chaeroneia, and in the enemy's rear. The enemy randown in confusion from Thurium, where they were met by Murena withSulla's left wing, and were either destroyed or driven back upon thecentre of the line of Archelaus, which they threw into disorder. Sullaon the right advanced so quickly as to prevent the scythed chariotsfrom getting any impetus, by which they were rendered useless, for thesoldiers easily eluded them when driven at a slow pace, and as soon asthey had passed killed the horses and drivers. Archelaus now extendedhis right wing in order to surround Murena. Hortensius, whom Sulla hadposted on some hills to the left of his left wing on purpose to defeatthis manoeuvre, immediately pressed forward to attack this body on itsleft flank. But Archelaus drove him back with some cavalry, and nearlysurrounded Hortensius. 

[Illustration: First position of the two armies at CHAERONEIA. ][Illustration: Second position of the two armies at CHAERONEIA. ]

Sulla hastened to his aid, and Archelaus, seeing him coming, instantlycounter-marched and attacked Sulla's right in his absence, whileTaxiles assailed Murena on the left. But Sulla hastened back, too, after leaving Hortensius to support Murena, and, when he appeared, theright wing drove back Archelaus to the Cephissus. Murena was equallytriumphant on the left wing, and the barbarians fled pell-mell to theCephissus, only 10, 000 of them reaching Chalcis in Euboea. [Sidenote:Sulla's falsehood about the battle. ] Appian says the Romans lost onlythirteen men, while Plutarch, on the authority of Sulla's Memoirs, says that they lost four. This is absurd. Sulla seems to have toldsome startling lies in his Memoirs, perhaps to prove that he had beenthe favourite of fortune, which was a mania of his. 

[Sidenote: Dorylaus reinforces Archelaus. ] Mithridates, when he heardof the defeat of Archelaus, sent Dorylaus with 8, 000 men to Euboea, where he joined the remnant of the army of Archelaus, and crossingto the mainland met Sulla at Orchomenus. Sulla was in Phthiotis, toconfront L. Valerius Flaccus who had come to supersede him, but hereturned as soon as he heard that Dorylaus had landed. Orchomenus isjust north of the Cephissus where it runs into Lake Copais, and astream called Melas, rising on the east of Orchomenus, joined theCephissus near its mouth, the neighbouring ground being a marsh. [Sidenote: Battle of Orchomenus. Disposition of Archelaus' army. ]Archelaus did not want to fight, but Dorylaus hinted at treachery andhad, no doubt, been ordered by Mithridates to avenge Chaeroneia. Near Mount Tilphossium, however, to the south of Lake Copais, he wasworsted by Sulla in a skirmish, and thinking better of the advice ofArchelaus tried to prolong the war. Archelaus, indeed, seems to havecommanded in the battle, for Mithridates was shrewd enough to knowwhen he had a good general. He drew up his army in four lines, thescythed chariots in front, behind them the Macedonian phalanx, thenhis auxiliaries, including Italian deserters, and, lastly, hislight-armed troops. On each flank he posted his cavalry. [Sidenote:Sulla's arrangements. ] Sulla, who was weak in cavalry, dug two ditchesguarded by forts, one on each flank, so as to keep off the enemy'shorse. Then he drew up his infantry in three lines, leaving gaps inthem for the light troops and cavalry to come through from the rearwhen needed. To the second line stakes were given, with orders toplant them so as to form a palisade; and the first line, when thechariots charged, retired behind the palisade, while the light troopsadvanced through the gaps and hurled missiles at the horses anddrivers. The chariots turned and threw the phalanx into confusion, andwhen Archelaus ordered up his cavalry, Sulla sent round his to takethem in the rear. At one time, however, the contest was doubtful, andthe Romans wavered, till they were put to shame by their general, who, seizing a standard and advancing towards the foe, cried out, 'Whenthose at home ask where it was you abandoned your leader, say, it wasat Orchomenus. ' This great victory, in which Sulla showed generalshipof a high order, ended the first Mithridatic war. The date is notquite certain. Probably it happened in 86. 

[Sidenote: Sulla winters in Thessaly. ] After the battle Sulla winteredin Thessaly, where he built a fleet, being tired of waiting forLucullus. [Sidenote: He confers with Archelaus at Delium. ] At Deliumhe met Archelaus and each urged the other to turn traitor, Archelauspromising that Mithridates would aid Sulla against Cinna; Sullaadvising Archelaus to dethrone Mithridates. It was a curious way ofshowing the respect which they entertained for each other's ability;but Sulla was too scornful of Asiatic aid, and Archelaus too loyalto listen to such suggestions. However, when Archelaus fell illafterwards, Sulla was so attentive to him, besides giving him landin Euboea and styling him friend of the Roman people, that it wassuspected that Archelaus had been playing into his hands all along. Itwas a most unlikely suspicion; for nothing was more natural than thatnow, when Sulla was making terms with Mithridates and going to meetFimbria, he should wish to make Archelaus his friend. For after all hehad resolved to forget the Asiatic massacre and not push Mithridatesto desperation. [Sidenote: Terms offered by Sulla to Mithridates. ] Theterms agreed upon were these: Mithridates was to surrender Cappadocia, Paphlagonia, Bithynia, Asia, and the islands, eighty ships of war, allprisoners and deserters; he was to give pay and provisions to Sulla'smen, and provide a war indemnity of 3, 000 talents (732, 000_l_. ); torestore to their homes the refugees from Macedonia, and those whom, aswill be related hereafter, he had carried off from Chios; and to handover more of his ships of war to such states as Rhodes in alliancewith Rome. Mithridates was then to be recognised as the ally of Rome. He chafed at the terms, the proposal of which indeed brought out thelong-headed intrepidity of Sulla's character in the strongest light. Walking, as it were, on the razor-edge of two precipices, he neverfaltered once. The Romans could not charge him with not having carriedinto effect the original purpose of the war--the restoration ofNicomedes and Ariobarzanes--nor could Mithridates fail in the end tolisten to the voice of Archelaus. When he at first rejected the terms, Sulla advanced towards Asia, plundering some of the barbarous tribeson the frontiers of Macedonia, and reducing that province to order. But Mithridates did not hesitate long. [Sidenote: Tyranny anddifficulties of Mithridates. ] He, too, was in a difficult position. The inhabitants of Asia Minor soon found that in yielding to him theyhad exchanged whips for scorpions. He suspected that the defeat ofArchelaus at Chaeroneia would excite rebellion, and he seized as manyof the Galatian chiefs as he could, and slew them with their wives andchildren. The consequence was that the surviving chiefs expelled theman whom he had sent as satrap. He suspected the Chians also, andmade them give up their arms and the children of their chief menas hostages. Then he made a requisition on them for 2, 000 talents(488, 000_l_. ), and because they could not raise the money, or becausethe tyrant pretended that there was a deficiency, the citizens wereshipped off to the east of the Black Sea, and the island was occupiedby colonists. The man who had managed the affair of Chios was sent toplay the same game at Ephesus. But the people were on their guard, slew him, and raised the standard of rebellion. Tralles, Hypaepa, Metropolis, Sardis, Smyrna, and other towns followed their example. Mithridates tried to buoy up his sinking cause, attracting debtors bythe remission of debts, resident aliens by the gift of the citizenshipof the towns which they inhabited, and slaves by the promise offreedom--devices of a desperate man. A plot was laid against his lifewhich was betrayed, and in his fury he launched out into yet moresavage excesses. He sent a set of men to collect depositions, and theyslew indiscriminately those who were denounced, 1600, it is said, inall. 

[Sidenote: Fimbria mutinies against and murders Flaccus. ] These eventsmust have occurred in the winter of 86-85 B. C. , when Flaccus was onhis march from the Adriatic coast through Macedonia and Thracefor Asia. Flaccus had quarrelled with his lieutenant Fimbria, andsuperseded him. The latter, when Flaccus had crossed from Byzantiumto Chalcedon, induced the troops, who hated their general, to mutiny. Flaccus returned in haste; but, learning what had happened, fled backto Chalcedon and thence to Nicomedia. Here Fimbria, finding him hiddenin a well, murdered him, and threw his head into the sea. [Sidenote:He defeats the son of Mithridates and pursues the king. ] Then, attacking the king's son, he defeated him at the river Rhyndacus, andpursued the king himself to Pergamus and Pitane, where he would havetaken him but that he crossed over to Mitylene, while Fimbria had noships and was thus baulked of his prey. Another event had happened toaggravate his irritation. [Sidenote: Lucullus off the coast of AsiaMinor. Overtures of Fimbria to him. ] Lucullus, sent by Sulla tocollect a fleet, had, as has been related (p. 153), failed in Egypt. But he had procured ships from Syria and Rhodes, induced Cos andCnidus to revolt, and driven out the Pontic partisans from Chios andColophon. He was now in the neighbourhood, when Mithridates was atPitane. [Sidenote: Mithridates meets Sulla and thy come to terms. ]But, he turned a deaf ear to Fimbria's request for aid, and afterdefeating Neoptolemus, the king's admiral, met Sulla in the ThracianChersonese, and conveyed him across to Dardanus, in the Troad, whereMithridates came to meet him. Each had one feeling in common--dreadlest the other should make terms with Fimbria; and the bargain wassoon struck in spite of Sulla's soldiers, who were thus after allbaulked of the long-looked-for Asiatic campaign and their desire totake revenge for the great massacre. But Sulla, as we have seen (p. 153), got some money to quiet them; and they were in his power in Asiaalmost as much as he had been in theirs at Rome. He at once led themagainst Fimbria, who was near Thyatira, in Lydia. [Sidenote: Fimbria'smen desert to Sulla. Fimbria commits suicide. ] He summoned that leaderto hand over his army, and the soldiers began to desert to him. Fimbria tried to force them to swear obedience to him, and slew thefirst who refused. Then he sent a slave to assassinate Sulla; and thediscovery of this attempt so maddened Sulla's soldiers that Fimbriadared not trust even Sulla's promised safe-conduct and slew himself. [Sidenote: Sulla's measures. ] Sulla incorporated his troops with hisown army, and proceeded to regulate the affairs of Asia. Those townswhich had remained faithful to Rome or had sided with him wereliberally rewarded. All slaves who refused to return to their masterswere slain. The towns that resisted were punished and their wallsdestroyed. The ringleaders in the massacre were put to death. Thetaxpayers were forced to pay at once the previous five years' arrearsand a fine of 20, 000 talents (4, 880, 000_l_. ), and Lucullus was leftto collect it. In order to raise this sum the unhappy Asiaticswere obliged to mortgage their public buildings to the Italianmoney-lenders; but Sulla got the whole of it, and scarcely was hegone when pirates, hounded on by Mithridates, came, like flocks ofvultures, to devour what the eagles had left. 

 * * * * *

CHAPTER XIII. 

SULLA IN ITALY. 

[Sidenote: Sulla sets out homewards. ] Leaving Murena in Asia withFimbria's legions, Sulla, in 84 B. C. , with his soldiers in goodhumour, and with full coffers, at last set out homewards. Three daysafter sailing from Ephesus he reached the Piraeus. Thence he wrote tothe Senate in a different style from that in which he had communicatedhis victory over Fimbria, when he had not mentioned his own outlawry. He now recounted the Senate all that he had done, and contrasted itwith what had been done to him at Rome, how his house had beendestroyed, his friends murdered, and his wife and children forced tofly for their lives. He was on his way, he said, to punish his enemiesand those who had wronged him. Other men, including thenewly-enfranchised Italians, need be under no apprehension. We do notknow much of what had been going on at Rome beyond what has beenrelated in a previous chapter. Cinna and Carbo, the consuls, weremaking what preparations they could when the letter arrived. But itstruck a cold chill of dread into many of the Senate, and Cinna andCarbo were told to desist for a time, while an embassy was sent toSulla to try and arrange terms, and to ask, if he wished to be assuredof his own safety, what were his demands. But when the ambassadorswere gone, Cinna and Carbo proclaimed themselves consuls for 83, sothat they might not have to come back to Rome to hold the elections;and Cinna was soon afterwards murdered at Ancona. The tribunes thencompelled Carbo to come back and hold the elections in the regularmanner; and Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus and Caius Norbanus wereelected. 

Meanwhile the ambassadors had found Sulla in Greece, and had receivedhis answer. [Sidenote: Sulla's response to an embassy from Rome. ]He said that he would never be reconciled to such criminals as hisenemies, though the Romans might, if they chose; and that, as for hisown safety, he had an army devoted to him, and should prefer to securethe safety of the Senate and his own adherents. He sent back with theambassadors some friends to represent him before the Senate, and, embarking his army at the Piraeus, ordered it to go round the coast toPatrae in Achaia, and thence to the shores opposite Brundisium. He, himself, having a fit of gout, went to Euboea, to try the springs ofAedepsus. [Sidenote: Story of Sulla and some fishermen. ] One day, says Plutarch, while he was walking on the shore there some fishermenbrought him some fine fish. He was much pleased, but when they toldhim that they were citizens of Halae, a town which he had destroyedafter the battle of Orchomenos, he said in his grim way, 'What! isthere a man of Halae still alive?' But then he told the men to takeheart, for the fish had pleaded eloquently for them. From Euboea hecrossed to the mainland to rejoin his troops. They were about 40, 000in number, and more than 200, 000 men were, he said, in arms againsthim in Italy. [Sidenote: Devotion of Sulla's troops to him. ] ButSulla, who had connived at their mutinies, their vices, and theirbreaches of discipline, who had always led them to victory, andhad never yet thrown aside that mask of moderation which veiled aninflexible determination to be revenged--Sulla who had been so longthe sole representative of authority, and to whom they had learned tolook for their ultimate reward, was their hero and hope. They offeredhim their money, and of their own accord swore not to disperse or toravage the country. Sulla refused their money. Indeed he must have hadplenty of his own. But now, when slowly and still very cautiously hewas unfolding his designs, such devotion must have been very welcome. 

[Sidenote: Sulla lands at Brundisium, B. C. 83. ] Early in 83 he sailedfrom Dyrrhachium to Brundisium, and was at once received by the town. He was particularly anxious not to rouse against himself the Italians, with whom his name was anything but popular, and he solemnly swore torespect their lately-acquired rights. Adherents soon flocked to him. [Sidenote: He is joined by Crassus;] Marcus Licinius Crassus came fromAfrica, and was sent to raise troops among the Marsi. He asked for anescort, for he had to go through territory occupied by the enemy. 'Igive thee, ' said Sulla hotly, 'thy father, thy brother, thy friendsand thy kinsmen, who were cut off by violence and lawlessness, andwhose murderers I am now hunting down. ' [Sidenote: by Metellus Pius;]Quintus Metellus Pius came from Liguria, whither he had escaped fromAfrica, after holding out there against the Marians as long as hecould. [Sidenote: by Ofella;] Quintus Lucretius Ofella also came, soonto find to his cost that he had chosen a master who could as readilyforget as accept timely service. [Sidenote: by Cn. Pompeius;] Mostwelcome of all was Cneius Pompeius, welcome not only for his talents, energy, and popularity, but because he did not come empty-handed. Hehad taken service under Cinna, but had been looked on with distrust, and an action had been brought against him to make him surrenderplunder which his father, Cneius Pompeius Strabo, was said to haveappropriated when he took Auximum. Carbo had pleaded for him, and hehad been acquitted. But, as soon as Sulla was gaining ground in Italy, he went to Picenum where he had estates, and expelled from Auximum theadherents of Carbo, and then passing from town to town won them one byone from his late protector's interests, and got together a corps ofthree legions, with all the proper equipment and munitions of war. Three officers were sent against him at the head of three divisions;but they quarrelled, and Pompeius, who is said to have slain with hisown hand the strongest horseman in the enemy's ranks, defeated one ofthem and effected a junction with Sulla somewhere in Apulia. Sulla'ssoldierly eye was pleased at the sight of troops thus successful, andin good martial trim; and when Pompeius addressed him as Imperator, he hailed him by the same title in return. Or, perhaps, he was onlyplaying on the youth's vanity, for Pompeius, who was for his courageand good looks the darling of the soldiers and the women, was veryvain, and flattery was a potion which it seems to have been oneof Sulla's cynical maxims always to administer in strong doses. [Sidenote: by Philippus;] Later on he was joined by Philippus, the foeof Drusus, who for shifty and successful knavery seems to have beenanother Marcus Scaurus; [Sidenote: by Cethegus;] by Cethegus, whohad been one of his bitterest enemies, which to a man of Sulla'sbusiness-like disposition would not be an objection, so long as hecould make himself useful at the time; [Sidenote: by Verres. ] and byCaius Verres, a late quaestor of Carbo, who had embezzled the publicmoney in that capacity, and thus began by tergiversation and theft anotorious career. 

Sulla marched northwards through Apulia, gaining friends by committingno devastation, and sending proposals of peace to the consul Norbanus, which were as hypocritical as was his abstinence from ravaging thecountry. He meant to deal with these Samnites through whose country hewas marching at some other time. At present it was most politic not toprovoke them. According to Appian, he met the consul at Canusium, onthe Aufidus. [Sidenote: Battle of Mount Tifata. Defeat of Norbanus. ]But it is probable that this is a mistake, and that the first battlewas fought at Mount Tifata, a spur of the Apennines, near Capua. Norbanus had seized Sulla's envoys, and this so enraged the soldiersof the latter that they charged down the hill with irresistibleimpetuosity, and killed 6000 of the foe. Norbanus fled to Capua. Onlyseventy of the Sullans were killed. Sulla now crossed the Volturnus, and marching along the Appian Road met the other consul, Scipio, atTeanum, with whom he opened negotiations. Scipio sent Sertorius toNorbanus, who was blockaded in Capua, to consult him on the termsproposed. Sertorius, who had guessed what was coming and hoped toprevent it by something more efficacious than the advice of Norbanus, went out of his way and seized Suessa. This would interrupt Sulla'simmediate communications with the sea, of which he was master. Sullacomplained; but all the while he was, as Sertorius had warned Scipio, corrupting the Consul's troops. [Sidenote: Scipio's troops desert toSulla. ] They murmured when Scipio returned the hostages which Sullahad given; and, when the latter on their invitation approached theirlines they went over to him in a body. On hearing of this Carbo said, that in contending with Sulla he had to contend with a lion and a fox, and that the fox gave him most trouble. 

It may be noted here that Sulla, whose calculated moderation waspaying him well--the more pleasantly because he knew that he couldwreak his revenge afterwards at his leisure--never scrupled to employevery kind of subterfuge and lie. [Sidenote: Sulla's mendacity. ] Hetricked and lied on his march to Rome in 88. He lied foully to theSamnites after the battle of the Colline Gate. And he lied in hisMemoirs, when he said that he only lost four at Chaeroneia, andtwenty-three at Sacriportus, where he also said that he killed 20, 000of the foe. Absurd assertions like these may have been dictated as asort of lavish acknowledgment paid to fortune, of whom he liked to bethought the favourite--lies that no one believed or was expected tobelieve, but keeping up a fiction of which it was his foible to beproud. [Sidenote: His success due greatly to desertions. ] Anotherthing we may note is, that this was only the first of a long seriesof treasons to which, as much almost as to his own generalship, Sullaowed his final success. Five cohorts deserted at Sacriportus. Fivemore went over from Carbo to Metellus. Two hundred and seventy cavalrywent over from Carbo to Sulla in Etruria. A whole legion, despatchedby Carbo to relieve Praeneste, joined Pompeius. At the battle ofFaventia 6000 deserted, and a Lucanian legion did the same directlyafterwards. Naples and Narbo were both banded over by treachery. Wehear also of commanders deserting. On the other hand, nothing is saidof anyone deserting from Sulla, so that from the very beginning thecontest could never have been really considered doubtful. 

[Sidenote: Sertorius sent to Spain. No capable man left to opposeSulla. ] After this signal success at Teanum Sertorius was sent toSpain, either because, as is likely, he made bitter comments on theconsul's incompetence, or because it was important to hold Spain as aplace for retreat. Carbo hastened to Rome to and at his instigationthe Senate outlawed all the senators who had joined Sulla--a suicidalstep, which would contrast fatally with Sulla's crafty moderation. [Sidenote: Burning of the Capitol. ] It was about this time that theCapitol, and in it the Sibylline books, were burnt. Some people saidthat Carbo burnt it, though what his motive could be is difficult toconjecture. Sulla very likely regretted the loss of the Sibyllinebooks as much as any man. [Sidenote: Sulla's situation at the close of83 B. C. ] With this the first year of the civil war ended. Sulla wasmaster of Picenum, Apulia, and Campania; had disposed of two consulsand their armies; and had, by conciliation and swearing to respecttheir rights, made friends of some of the newly-enfranchised Italiantowns. 

The consuls for the next year (82) were Carbo and young Marius. TheMarian governor in Africa was suspected of wishing to raise the slavesand to make himself absolute in the province. Consequently the Romanmerchants stirred up a tumult, in which he was burnt alive in hishouse. In Sardinia the renegade Philippus did some service bydefeating the Marian praetor, and so securing for Sulla the cornsupply of the islands. In the spring Sulla seized Setia, a strongposition on the west of the Volscian Mountains. Marius was in the sameneighbourhood, and he retreated to Sacriportus on the east of the samerange. [Sidenote: Battle of Sacriportus. ] Sulla followed him, his aimbeing to get to Rome. A battle took place at Sacriportus. Marius wasgetting the worst of it on the left wing, when five cohorts and twocompanies of cavalry deserted him. The rest fled with great slaughter, and Sulla pressed so hard on them that the gates of Praeneste wereshut, to hinder him getting in with the fugitives. Marius was thusleft outside, and, like Archelaus at Piraeus, had to be hoisted overthe walls by ropes. [Sidenote: Sulla wins the battle and besiegesPraeneste. ] Sulla captured 8000 Samnites in the battle, and now, forthe first time, when the road to Rome was opened and victory seemedsecure, showed himself in his true colours, and slew all of them to aman. [Sidenote: Massacre at Rome by order of young Marius. ] An equallysavage butchery had been going on in Rome, where Marius, before he wasblockaded in Praeneste, had given orders to massacre the leaders ofthe opposite faction. The Senate was assembled as if to despatchbusiness in the Curia Hostilia, and there Carbo's cousin and thefather-in-law of Pompeius were assassinated. The wife of the latterkilled herself on hearing the news. Quintus Mucius Scaevola, the chiefpontiff, and the first jurist who attempted to systematise Roman law, fled to the temple of Vesta, and was there slain. The corpses of thosewho had been killed were thrown into the Tiber, and Marius had theferocious satisfaction of feeling that his enemies would not be ableto exult over his own imminent ruin. [Sidenote: Sulla comes to Rome. ]Sulla, leaving Ofella to blockade Praeneste, hastened to Rome, butthere was no one on whom to take vengeance, for his foes had fled. He confiscated their property, and tried to quiet apprehensions bytelling the people that he would soon re-establish the State. But hecould not stay long in the city, for matters looked threatening in thenorth. 

[Sidenote: Metellus and Carbo in the north. ] In this quarter thecontest was more stubborn, because the newly enfranchised towns werestronger partisans of Marius. Metellus had fought a battle on theAesis, the frontier river of Picenum, against Carrinas, one of Carbo'slieutenants, and after a hard fight had beaten him and occupied theadjacent country. This brought Carbo against him with a superior army, and Metellus could do nothing till the news of Sacriportus frightenedCarbo into retreating to Ariminum, that he might secure hiscommunications and get supplies from the rich valley of the Po. Metellus immediately resumed the offensive. He defeated in person onedivision of Carbo, five of whose cohorts deserted in the battle. Hislieutenant, Pompeius, defeated Censorinus at Sena and sacked the town. Pompeius is also said to have crossed the Po and taken Mediolanum(Milan), where his soldiers massacred the senate. Metellus, meanwhile, had gone by sea along the east coast north of Ariminum, and had thuscut off Carbo's communications with the valley of the Po. This droveCarbo from his position, and he marched into Etruria, where he foughta battle near Clusium with Sulla, who had just arrived from Rome. In acavalry fight near the Clanis, 270 of Carbo's Spanish horse wentover to Sulla, and Carbo killed the rest. There was another fightat Saturnia, on the Albegna, and there, too, Sulla was victorious. [Sidenote: Indecisive combats. ] He was less fortunate in a generalengagement near Clusium, which after a whole day's fighting endedindecisively. Carbo was, however, now reduced to great straits. Carrinas was defeated by Pompeius and Crassus near Spoletum, andretired into the town. Carbo sent a detachment to his aid; but it wascut to pieces by an ambuscade laid by Sulla. Bad news, too, reachedhim from the south, where Marius was beginning to starve in Praeneste. [Sidenote: Carbo attempts to relieve Praeneste. ] He sent a strongforce of eight legions to raise the siege; but Pompeius waylaid androuted them, and surrounded their officer who had retreated to a hill. But the latter, leaving his fires alight, marched off by night, and returned to Carbo with only seven cohorts; for his troops hadmutinied, one legion going off to Ariminum and many men dispersing totheir homes. [Sidenote: A second attempt also fails. ] A second attemptto relieve Praeneste was now made from the south. Lamponius fromLucania, whom we last heard of in the Social War (p. 120), and PontiusTelesinus from Samnium, marched at the head of 70, 000 men into Latium. This movement drew Sulla from Etruria. He threw himself between Romeand the enemy, and occupied a gorge through which they had to passbefore they could get to Praeneste. The Latin Road branches off nearAnagnia, one route leading straight to Rome, the other making a detourthrough Praeneste. [Sidenote: The dead lock at Praeneste. ] It wassomewhere here that Sulla took his stand; and neither could thesouthern army break through his lines, nor Marius break through thoseof Ofella, though he made determined attempts to do so. 

Meanwhile Carbo and Norbanus, released from the pressure of Sulla'sarmy, struck across the Apennines to overwhelm Metellus; but theirimprudence ruined them. [Sidenote: Overthrow of Carbo by Metellus. ]Coming on Metellus at Faventia (Faenza) when their troops were wearyafter a day's march, they attacked him in the evening, hoping tosurprise him. But the tired men were defeated. Ten thousand werekilled; 6000 surrendered or deserted. The rest fled, and only 1000effected an orderly retreat to Arretium. Nor did the disaster endhere. A Lucanian legion, coming to join Carbo, deserted to Metellus onhearing the result of the battle, and the commander sent to offer hissubmission to Sulla. Sulla characteristically replied that he mustearn his pardon, and the other, nothing loth, asked Norbanus and hisofficers to a banquet and murdered all who came. Norbanus refused theinvitation and escaped to Rhodes; but when Sulla sent to demand thathe should be given up he committed suicide. [Sidenote: Third attemptto relive Praeneste. ] Carbo had still more than 30, 000 men at Clusium, and he made a third attempt to relieve Praeneste by sending Damasippuswith two legions to co-operate from the north with the Samnites on thesouth. [Sidenote: Carbo flies to Africa. ] But Sulla found means tohold them in check, and Carbo, on the news of other disasters--atFidentia, where Marcus Lucullus defeated one of his lieutenants, andat Tuder, which Marcus Crassus took and pillaged--lost heart and fledto Africa. Plutarch says that Lucullus, having less than a third ofthe numbers of the enemy, was in doubt whether to fight. But just thena gentle breeze blew the flowers from a neighbouring field, which fellon the shields and helmets of the soldiers in such a manner that theyseemed to be crowned with garlands, and this so cheered them that theywon an easy victory. After Carbo's flight his army was defeated byPompeius near Clusium. [Sidenote: Carbo's lieutenants threaten Rome. ]The rest of it, under Carrinas and Censorinus, joined Damasippus, and, taking up a position twelve miles from Rome in the Alban territory, threatened the capital and forced Sulla to break up his quarters, where he had been barring the roads to Praeneste and Rome. [Sidenote:Sulla comes to the rescue. ] The sequel is uncertain; but it isprobable that when the three commanders marched into Latium, Sulla wasobliged to detach cavalry to harass them, and soon afterwards to marchwith all his forces to prevent Rome being taken. Why Carrinas did notassault Rome at once as he came south, we cannot say. Probably therelief of Praeneste was the most urgent necessity, and he hoped, aftersetting Marius free, to overwhelm Sulla first, then Pompeius, and thento take Rome. But, if these were his plans, the furious impetuosity ofthe Samnites disarranged them. [Sidenote: Desperate attempt of PontiusTelesinus. ] Pontius, as soon as he saw Sulla's troops weakened, inorder to oppose Carrinas, forced his way by night along the LatinRoad, gathered up the troops of Carrinas on the march, and at daybreakwas within a few miles of Rome. Sulla instantly followed, but by thePraenestine Road, which was somewhat longer; and when he got to Romeabout midday, fighting had already taken place, and the Roman cavalryhad been beaten under the walls of the city. 

[Sidenote: Battle of the Colline Gate. ] It was November, B. C. 82. Sunset was near and Sulla's men were weary, but he was determined orwas compelled to fight. Giving his men some hasty refreshment, he atonce formed the line of battle before the Colline Gate, and the lastand most desperate conflict of the civil war began. Sulla's left wingwas driven back to the city walls, and fugitives brought word toOfella at Praeneste that the battle was lost. [Sidenote: Danger ofSulla. ] Sulla himself was nearly slain. He was on a spirited whitehorse, cheering on his men. Two javelins were hurled at him at once. He did not see them, but his groom did, and he lashed Sulla's horse soas to make it leap forward, and the javelins grazed its tail. Sullawore in his bosom a small golden image of Apollo, which he broughtfrom Delphi. He now kissed it with devotion, and prayed aloud tothe god not to allow him to fall ingloriously by the hands of hisfellow-citizens, after leading him safe through so many perils to thethreshold of the city. But neither courage nor superstition availedhim against the fury of the Samnite onset. For the first time in hislife Sulla was beaten, and either retreated into Rome or maintained adesperate struggle close to the walls during the night. On the rightwing, however, Crassus had gained the day, had chased the foe toAntemnae, and halting there sent to Sulla for a supply of food. Thusapprised of his good fortune, he hastened to join Crassus. Thatdivision of the enemy which had beaten him had doubtless heard thesame news, and must have dispersed or joined the rest of their forcesat Antemnae. But in any case they were full of despair. Three thousandoffered to surrender. But Sulla never gave mercy, though he often soldit for an explicit or tacit consideration. He swore to spare them ifthey turned on their own comrades. They did so, and Sulla, taking themto Rome with four or five thousand other prisoners, placed them inthe Circus Flaminius and had them all slain. [Sidenote: Sulla'scold-blooded ferocity. ] He was haranguing the Senate in the temple ofBellona, and the cries of the poor wretches alarmed his audience; buthe told them to attend to what he was saying, for the noise they heardwas only made by some malefactors, whom he had ordered to bechastised. This last blind rush of the Sabellian bull on the lair ofthe wolves, which Pontius had told his followers they must destroy, had failed only by a hair's breadth, and since the days of the GaulsRome had never been in such peril. But now at last Sulla hadtriumphed, and could afford to gratify his pent-up passion forvengeance. This butchery in the Circus was but the beginning of whathe meant to do. [Sidenote: Executions. ] The four leaders, Pontius, Carrinas, Damasippus, and Censorinus, were all beheaded; and, in thesame ghastly fashion in which, it was said, Hannibal had learnt thedeath of Hasdrubal, so those blockaded in Praeneste learnt the fate ofthe relieving army and their own fate also by seeing four heads stuckon poles outside the town walls. They were half starving and couldresist no longer. Marius and a younger brother of Pontius killed eachother before the surrender. Ofella sent the head of Marius to Sulla, who had it fixed up before the Rostra, and jeered at it in hispitiless fashion, quoting from Aristophanes the line, You should have worked at the oar before trying to handle the helm. 

[Sidenote: Massacre at Praeneste. ] Then he went to Praeneste, and madeall the inhabitants come outside and lay down their arms. The Romansenators who had been in the place had been already slain by Ofella. Three groups were made of the rest, consisting of Samnites, Romans, and Praenestines. The Romans, the women, and the children were spared. All the others, 12, 000 in number, were massacred, and Praeneste wasgiven over to pillage. 

[Sidenote: Fate of Norba. ] So ruthless an example provoked a desperateresistance at Norba. It was betrayed to Lepidus by night; but thecitizens stabbed and hung themselves or each other, and some lockingthemselves inside their houses, set them in flames. A wind was blowingand the town was consumed. So at Norba there was neither pillage norexecution. Nola was not taken till two years afterwards, and we haveseen (p. 121) what became of Mutilus on its surrender. [Sidenote:Sulla's vengeance in Samnium. ] Aesernia, the last Samnite capital inthe Social War, was captured in the same year (80), and Sulla did hisbest to fulfil his threat of extirpating the Samnite name. In EtruriaPopulonium held out longer, and in Strabo's time was still deserted--aproof of the punishment which it received. Volaterrae was the lasttown to submit. In 79 its garrison surrendered, on condition of theirlives being spared. But the soldiers of the besieging force raised acry of treason and stoned their general, and a troop of cavalry sentfrom Rome cut the garrison to pieces. 

[Sidenote: Fate of Carbo. Pompeius in Sicily. ] In the provinces therewas still much to be done. Pompeius was sent to Sicily, and on hisarrival Perperna, the Marian governor, left the island. Carbo hadcome over from Africa to Cossura, and was taken and brought beforePompeius. Pompeius condemned the man who had once been his advocate, and sent his head to Sulla. It is said that Carbo met his death in acraven way, begging for a respite. Whether this is true or not, heseems to have been a selfish and incapable man. But if it be true thatPompeius, while he had Carbo's companions instantly slain, purposelyspared Carbo himself in order to have the satisfaction of trying him, he was less to be envied than the man he tried. He divorced his wifeat this time in order to marry Sulla's step-daughter, who was alsodivorced from her husband for the purpose. From Sicily Pompeiuswas sent to Africa, where Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus was in arms. Crossing offer with 120 ships and 800 transports he landed some of histroops at Utica and some at Carthage. 

[Sidenote: Decay of discipline in Roman armies. ] The decay ofdiscipline in the Roman armies is illustrated by an incident whichoccurred at Carthage. One soldier found some treasure, and the restwould not stir for several days till they were convinced that therewas nothing more to be found. Pompeius looked on and laughed at them. Sulla's way of treating his soldiers was already bearing fruit, andwas one of the worst of the evils which he brought on Italy; for hewho goes about scattering smiles and smooth words in order to win aname, for good-nature will always find others to run him a race insuch meanness, and so discipline becomes subverted and states areruined. 

[Sidenote: Domitius Ahenobarbus conquered and slain by Pompeius inAfrica. ] Pompeius found Domitius strongly posted behind a ravine. Taking advantage of a tempest, he crossed it and routed the enemy. Hismen hailed him Imperator: but he said he would not take the title tillthey had taken the camp. The camp was then stormed and Domitius slain. Pompeius also captured the towns held by the partisans of Domitius, and defeated and took prisoner the Marian usurper who had expelledHiempsal, King of Numidia. Hiempsal was restored and his rival putto death. On returning to Utica Pompeius found a message from Sulla, telling him to disband his troops except one legion and wait till hissuccessor came. [Sidenote: Vanity of Pompeius. ] The men mutinied, for they liked Pompeius, and Sulla was told that Pompeius was inrebellion. He remarked that 'in his old age it was his fate to fightwith boys'--a saying to which Pompeius's speech, 'that more menworshipped the rising than the setting sun, ' may have been intendedas a rejoinder. But soon he was relieved by hearing that the politicPompeius had appeased the mutiny. Sulla had the art of yielding witha good grace when it was necessary, and, seeing how popular Pompeiuswas, he went out to meet him on his return and greeted him by the name'Magnus. ' The vain young man asked for a triumph. His forty days'campaign had indeed been brilliant; but he was not even a praetor, thelowest official to whom a triumph was granted, nor a senator, butonly an eques. Sulla at first was astonished at the request, butcontemptuously replied, 'Let him triumph; let him have his triumph. '

[Sidenote: Sulla has Ofella slain. ] Two other officials of Sulla gavehim trouble. One, Ofella, stood for the consulship against his wishes, and went about with a crowd of friends in the Forum. But with a manlike Sulla it was foolish to presume on past services. He had nonotion of allowing street-riots again, and sent a centurion who cutOfella down. The people brought the centurion to him, demandingjustice. [Sidenote: Sulla's parables. ] Sulla told them the man haddone what he ordered, and then spoke a grim parable to them. A rustic, he said, was so bitten by lice that twice he took off his coat andshook it. But as they went on biting him he burnt it. And so thosewho had twice been humbled had better not provoke him to use fire thethird time. [Sidenote: Murena provokes the second Mithridatic war. ]The other officer was Murena, who had been left in Asia. He raisedtroops besides the legions left with him, forced Miletus and otherAsiatic towns to supply a fleet, and then stirred up the secondMithridatic war. The Colchians had revolted, and Mithridates suspectedhis son of fostering the revolt in order to be set over them. So heinvited him to come to his court, put him there in chains of gold, andsoon killed him. He had also, it seems, threatened Archelaus, who fledfrom him and represented to the ready ears of Murena, that Mithridatesstill held part of Cappadocia, and was collecting a powerful army. Murena advanced into Cappadocia, took Comana, and pillaged its temple. Mithridates appealed to the treaty; but Murena asked where it was, for the terms had never been reduced to a written form. [Sidenote:Mithridates appeals to the Senate. ] The king then sent to the Senate. Murena crossed the Halys, and retired into Phrygia and Galatia withrich spoil. [Sidenote: Murena defeated. ] Disregarding a prohibitionof the Senate, he again attacked the king, who at last sent Gordiusagainst him, and soon after, coming up in person, defeated Murenatwice and drove him into Phrygia. For this success Mithridates lit ona high mountain a bonfire, which, it is said, was seen more than ahundred miles away by sailors in the Black Sea. [Sidenote: Sulla putsa stop to the war. ] Sulla sent orders to Murena to fight nor more; andMithridates, on condition of being reconciled to Ariobarzanes, wasallowed to keep as much of Cappadocia as was in his possession. Hegave a great banquet in honour of the occasion; and Murena went home, where he had a triumph. Sulla probably granted it to him after hisdefeats with more pleasure than he granted it to Pompeius for hisvictories. 

[Sidenote: Sertorius in Spain. ] The ablest of the Marian generals was, it has been seen, virtually unemployed in the Civil War. Sertorius, when sent to Spain, seized the passes of the Pyrenees. Sulla, in 81, sent against him, Q. Annius Luscus, who found one of the lieutenantsof Sertorius so strongly posted that he could not get past him. However this lieutenant was assassinated by one of his own men, and his troops abandoned their position. [Sidenote: He flies toMauretania. At Pityussa. ] Sertorius had few men, and fled to NewCarthage, and thence to Mauretania. Here he was attacked by thebarbarians, and re-embarking, was on his way back to Spain, when hefell in with some Cilician pirates with whom he attacked Pityussa(Iviza) and expelled the Roman garrison. [Sidenote: At Gades. ] Anniushastened to the rescue and worsted him in a fight, after whichSertorius sailed away through the Straits of Gibraltar to Gades(Cadiz). Here some sailors told him of two islands which the Spaniardsbelieved to be the Islands of the Blest, with a pleasant climate and afruitful soil. In these islands--probably Madeira--Sertorius wishedto settle. [Sidenote: In Mauretania. ] But, when his Cilician alliessailed to Mauretania to restore some prince to his throne, he wentthere too and fought on the other side. Sulla sent help to the prince, but Sertorius defeated the commander and was joined by the troops. [Sidenote: Invited to Spain. ] Now, when once more at the head ofa Roman army, he was invited to Spain by the Lusitani, who werepreparing to revolt against Rome. With 2, 600 Romans and 700 Africanshe crossed the sea, gaining a victory over the Roman cruisers on hisway, and set to work organizing and drilling the Lusitani in Romanfashion. [Sidenote: His white fawn. ] One of them gave him a whitefawn, and Sertorius declared that it had been given him by Diana. After this, when he obtained any secret intelligence he said that thefawn had told him, and brought it out crowned with flowers, if it wassome officer's success of which he had heard. By such means, and byintroducing a gay and martial uniform among his troops, he made hisarmy both well-disciplined and devoted to him personally, and defeatedone governor of Further Spain on the Baetis (Guadalquiver). [Sidenote:Defeats Metellus Pius. ] Gaining afterwards a series of successes overQ. Metellus Pius, who had been sent against him, he was still in armsand master of a considerable part of Spain when Sulla died. 

 * * * * *

CHAPTER XIV. 

THE PERSONAL RULE AND DEATH OF SULLA. 

Sulla was to all intents and purposes a king in Rome. He haranguedthe people on what he had achieved, and told them that if they wereobedient he would make things better for them, but that he would notspare his enemies, and would punish everyone who had sided with themsince Scipio violated his covenant. [Sidenote: Reign of terror inRome. ] Then began a reign of terror. Not only did he kill his enemies, but gave over to his creatures men against whom he had no complaint tomake. At last a young noble, Caius Metellus, asked him in the Senate, 'Tell us, Sulla, when there is to be an end of our calamities. We donot ask thee to spare those whom those hast marked out for punishment, but to relieve the suspense of those whom thou hast determined tosave. ' Sulla replied that he did not yet know. 'Then, ' said Metellus, 'let us know whom thou intendest to destroy. ' [Sidenote: Sulla'sproscriptions. ] Sulla answered by issuing a first proscription list, including eighty names. People murmured at the illegality of this, andin two days, as if to rebuke their presumption, he issued a second of220, and as many more the next day. Then he told the people from therostrum that he had now proscribed all that he remembered, and thosewhom he had forgotten must come into some future proscription. Sucha speech would seem incredible if put into the mouth of any othercharacter it history; but it is in keeping with Sulla's passionlessand nonchalant brutality. The ashes of Marius he ordered to be dug upand scattered in the Anio, the only unpractical act we ever read ofhim committing. Death was ordained for every one who should harbour orsave a proscribed person, even his own brother, son, or parent. Buthe who killed a proscribed man, even if it was a slave who slew hismaster or a son his father, was to receive two talents. Even the sonand grandson of those proscribed were deprived of the privileges ofcitizenship, and their property was confiscated. Not only in Rome butin all the cities of Italy this went on. Lists were posted everywhere, and it was a common saying among the ruffianly executioners, 'His finehome was the death of such an one, his gardens of another, his hotbaths of a third, ' for they hunted down men for their wealth more thanfrom revenge. [Sidenote: Story illustrative of the time. ] One day aquiet citizen came into the Forum, and out of mere curiosity read theproscription list. To his horror he saw his own name. 'Wretch, ' hecried, 'that I am, my Alban villa pursues me!' and he had not gone farwhen a ruffian came up and killed him. [Sidenote: Sulla and JuliusCaesar. ] The famous Julius Caesar was one of those in danger. He wouldnot divorce his wife at the bidding of Sulla, who confiscated herproperty if not his as well, being so far merciful for some reasonwhich we do not know. [Sidenote: Story of Roscius. ] One case has beenmade memorable by the fact that Cicero was the counsel for one of thesufferers. Two men named Roscius procured the assassination of athird of the same name by Sulla's favourite freedman, Chrysogonus, who then got the name of Roscius put on the proscription list, and, seizing on his property, expelled the man's son from it. He havingfriends at Rome fled to them, and made the assassins fear that theymight be compelled to disgorge. So they suddenly charged the son withhaving killed his father. The most frightful circumstance about thecase is not the piteous injustice suffered by the son, but the abjectway in which Cicero speaks of Sulla, comparing him to Jupiter who, despite his universal beneficence, sometimes permits destruction, noton purpose but because his sway is so world-wide, and scouting theidea of its being possible for him to share personally in such wrongs. It has been well said, 'We almost touch the tyrant with our finger. 'Cicero soon afterwards left Rome, probably from fear of Sulla. 

[Sidenote: Wholesale punishment of towns. ] It is said that the namesof 4, 700 persons were entered on the public records as having fallenin the proscriptions, besides many more who were assassinated forprivate reasons. Whole towns were put up for auction, says one writer, such as Spoletum, Praeneste, Interamna, and Florentia. By this we mayunderstand that they lost all their land, their privileges, andpublic buildings, perhaps even the houses themselves. Others, such asVolaterrae and Arretium, were deprived of all privileges except thatof Commercium or the right of trade. 

[Sidenote: Sulla rewards his soldiers and establishes a permanentparty. ] Sulla's friends attended such auctions and made largefortunes. One of his centurions, named Luscius, bought an estate for10, 000, 000 sesterces, or 88, 540_l_. Of our money. One of his freedmenbought for 20_l_. 12_s_. An estate worth 61, 000_l_. Crassus, Verres, and Sulla's wife, Metella, became in this way infamously rich. Inspite of such nominal prices, the sale of confiscated estates produced350, 000, 000 sesterces, or nearly 3, 000, 000_l_. Of our money. Sullaapproved of such purchases, for they bound the buyers to hisinterests, and ensured their wishing to uphold his acts after hisdeath. With the same view of creating a permanent Sullan party inItaly, and at the same time to fulfil his pledges to the soldiers, heallotted to them all public lands in Italy hitherto undistributed, and all confiscated land not otherwise disposed of. In this way hepunished and rewarded at a stroke. No fewer than 120, 000 allotmentswere made and twenty-three legions provided for. There was in it aplausible mimicry of the democratic scheme of colonies which Sullamust have thoroughly enjoyed. Thus in Italy he provided a standingarmy to support his new constitution. [Sidenote: The Cornelii. ] InRome itself, by enfranchising 10, 000 slaves whose owners had beenslain, he formed a strong body of partisans ever ready to do hisbidding; these were all named Cornelii. A man is known by hisadherents, and the worst men were Sulla's _protégés_. 

[Sidenote: Catiline. ] Catiline's name rose into notoriety amid thesehorrors. He was said not only to have murdered his own brother, but, to requite Sulla for legalising the murder by including this brother'sname in the list of the proscribed, to have committed the mosthorrible act of the Civil War--the torture of Marcus MariusGratidianus. This man, because he was cousin of Marius, was offeredup as a victim to the manes of Catulus, of whom the elder Marius hadsaid, 'He must die. ' This poor wretch was scourged, had his limbsbroken, his nose and hands cut off, and his eyes gouged out of theirsockets. Finally his head was cut off, and Cicero's brother writesthat Catiline carried it in his hands streaming with blood. But no onewould attach much importance to what the Ciceros said of Catiline, andtwo circumstances combine to point to his innocence of such extremeenormities. One is that it was the son of Catulus who begged as a boonfrom Sulla the death of this Marius, and his name was very likelyconfused with Catiline's in the street rumours of the time; and theother and more direct piece of evidence is, that Catiline was tried inthe year 64 for murders committed at this time, and was acquitted. Itis a curious thing that the obloquy which has clung to Catiline's nameon such dubious reports has never attached in the same measure to theundoubted horrors and abominations of Sulla's career. 

Sulla, though he meant above all to have his own way, had no objectionto use constitutional forms where they could be conveniently employed. He made the Senate pass a resolution approving his acts, and, as therewere no consuls in 82, after the death of Marius and Carbo, he retiredfrom Rome for a while and told the Senate to elect an Interrex, inconformity with the prescribed usage under such circumstances. Thenhe wrote to the Interrex and recommended that a Dictator should beappointed, not for a limited time, but till he had restored quiet inthe Roman world, and, with a touch of that irony which he could notresist displaying in and out of season, went on to say that he thoughthimself the best man for the post. [Sidenote: Sulla's power. ] Thus, in November 82, he was formally invested with despotic power overthe lives and property of his fellow-citizens, could contract orextend the frontiers of the State, could change as he pleased theconstitution of the Italian towns and the provinces, could legislatefor the future, could nominate proconsuls and propraetors, and couldretain his absolute power as long as he liked. He might have dispensedwith consuls altogether. But he did not care to do this. The consulswhom he allowed to be elected for 81 were of course possessed ofmerely nominal power. Twenty-four lictors preceded him in the streets. He told the people to hail him as 'Felix, ' declared that hisleast deliberate were his most successful actions, signed himself'Epaphroditus' when he wrote to Greeks, named his son and daughterFaustus and Fausta, boasted that the gods held converse with himin dreams, and sent a golden crown and axe to the goddess whomhe believed to be his patroness. Like Wallenstein, he mingledindifference to bloodshed with extreme superstition and boundlessself-confidence. But, as the historian remarks, 'a man who issuperstitious is capable of any crime, for he believes that his godscan be conciliated by prayers and presents. The greatest crimes havenot been committed by men who have no religious belief. ' No doubtto his mind there was a sort of judicial retribution in all thisbloodshed; and, as he tried to make himself out the favourite of thegods, so by formally announcing the close of the proscription listsfor June 1, 81 B. C. , he spread some veil of legality over hisshameless violence. [Sidenote: Peculiarly horrible nature of Sulla'sacts. ] There is something particularly revolting in the business-likeand systematic way in which he went about his murderous work, appointing a fixed time for it to end, a fixed list of the victims; afixed price to be paid per head, a fixed exemption for the murderersfrom his own law 'De Sicariis. ' Modern idolaters of a policy of bloodand iron may profane history by their glorification of human monsters;but no sophistry can blind an independent reader to the real nature ofSulla's character and acts. He organized murder, and filled Italy withidle soldiers instead of honest husbandmen. He did so in the interestsof a class--a class whose incapacity for government he had discovered;and yet, knowing that his re-establishment of this class could onlybe temporary, he fortified it by every means in his power, and then, after a theatrical finale, returned to the gross debaucheries in whichhe revelled. Anything more selfish or cynical cannot be conceived, andthose who call vile acts by their plain names will not feel inclinedto become Sulla's apologists. 

When he died he left behind him, it is said, what he may have meant ashis epitaph, an inscription containing the purport of three lines inthe 'Medea'--

 Let no man deem me weak or womanly, Or nerveless, but of quite another mood, A scourge to foes, beneficent to friends. 

Pompeius, the only man who had successfully bearded him, was the onlyfriend not mentioned in his will. If anything could palliate hisremorseless selfishness it is the candour with which he confessed it. He had made a vast private fortune out of his countrymen's misery. When he surrendered his dictatorship he offered a tenth of hisproperty to Hercules, and gave a banquet to the people on so profuse ascale that great quantities of food were daily thrown into the Tiber. Some of the wine was forty years old, perhaps wine of that vintagewhich was gathered in when Caius Gracchus died. [Sidenote: He divorcesMetella and marries again. ] In the middle of the banquet his wifeMetella sickened, and in order that, as Pontifex, he might preventhis home being polluted by death he divorced her, and removed her toanother house while still alive. Soon afterwards he married anotherwife, who at a gladiatorial show came and plucked his sleeve, inorder, as she said, to obtain some of his good fortune. [Sidenote: Hisabdication. ] The rest of his life was spent, near Cumae, in hunting, writing his memoirs, amusing himself with actors, and practising allsorts of debauchery. Ten days before he died he settled the affairsof the people of Puteoli at their request, and was busy in collectingfunds to restore the Capitol up to the last. [Sidenote: His death. ]Some say he died of the disease which destroyed Herod. Some say thatthere is no such disease. Others say that he broke a blood-vessel whenin a rage. He is described as having blue eyes, and a pale face soblotched over that it was likened to a mulberry sprinkled with meal. 

[Sidenote: Rivalry of Lepidus and Pompeius. ] His death, 78 B. C. , wasthe signal for that break-up of his political institutions to whichhe had wilfully shut his eyes. The great men at Rome began to wrangleover his very body before it was cold. Lepidus, whom Pompeius, againstSulla's wishes, had helped to the consulship, opposed a publicfuneral. The other consul supported it. Sulla had with his usualshrewdness divined the character of Lepidus, and told Pompeius that hewas only making a rival powerful. Pompeius opposed Lepidus now, for heknew that the partisans of Sulla would insist on doing honour to hismemory. [Sidenote: Funeral of Sulla. ] Appian describes the funeral atlength. 'The body was borne on a litter, adorned with gold and otherroyal array, amid the flourish of trumpets, and with an escort ofcavalry. After them followed a concourse of armed men, his oldsoldiers, who had thronged from all parts and fell in with theprocession as each came up. Besides these there was as vast a crowd ofother men as was ever seen at any funeral. In front were carried theaxes and the other symbols of office which had belonged to him asdictator. But it was not till the procession reached Rome that thefull splendour of the ceremonial was seen. More than 2, 000 crowns ofgold were borne in front, gifts from towns, from his old comrades inarms, and his personal friends. In every other respect, too, the pompand circumstance of the funeral was past description. In awe of theveterans all the priests of all the sacred fraternities were there infull robes, with the Vestal Virgins, and all the senators, and allthe magistrates, each in his garb of office. Next, in array thatcontrasted with theirs, came the knights of Rome in column; then allthe men whom Sulla had commanded in his wars, and who had viedwith each other in hastening there, carrying gilded standardsand silver-plated shields. There was also a countless host offlute-players, making now most tender, now most wailing music. A cryof benediction, raised by the senators, was taken up by the knightsand the soldiers, and re-echoed by the people, for some mourned hisloss in reality, and others feared the soldiers and dreaded himin death as much as in life, the present scene recalling dreadfulmemories. That he had been a friend to his friends they could not butadmit; but to the rest, even when dead, he was still terrible. Thebody was exhibited before the rostra, and the greatest orator of thetime spoke the funeral oration; for Faustus, Sulla's son, was tooyoung to do so. Then some strong senators took up the litter on theirshoulders and bore it to the Campus Martius, where kings only werewont to be buried. There it was placed on the funeral pyre; and theknights and all the army circled round it in solemn procession. Andthat was Sulla's ending. '

To the student of history the story of such a funeral seems likethe prostration of a nation of barbarians before the car of somedemon-god. If the strong personality of the man--with all thatdauntless bravery, that unerring sagacity, that trenchanttongue--still after two thousand years fascinates attention, if we areforced to own that for sheer power of will and intellect he stands inthe very foremost rank of men, yet we feel also that in the case ofsuch superhuman wickedness tyrannicide would, if it ever could, ceaseto be a crime. 

 * * * * *

CHAPTER XV. 

SULLA'S REACTIONARY MEASURES. 

It is difficult to say about part of the legislation of this periodwhether it was directly due to Sulla or not, just as some of thechanges in the army may or may not have been due to Marius, but werecertainly made about his time. The method of gathering together allthe changes made within certain dates, attributing them to one man, and basing an estimate of his character on them, has a simplicityabout it which enables the writer to be graphic and spares the readertrouble, but is an unsatisfactory way of presenting history. Enough, however, is known of Sulla's own measures to make their generaltendency perfectly plain. [Sidenote: Main object of Sulla's laws. ] Hismain object was to restore the authority of the Senate, and to do morethan restore it, to give it such power as might, if it was true toitself, secure it from mob-rule on the one hand and tyranny on theother. Though he foresaw that his efforts would be futile, he was nonethe less energetic in making them, and may reasonably have hoped thatthey would at all events last his time, and enable him to enjoyhimself in Campania, undisturbed by another revolution. Ouracquaintance with his laws is only second-hand, for none of themsurvive in their original form. They are known as Leges Corneliae, aterm which, though applicable to some other laws, is usually appliedto those of his making. 

The Senate had originally been an advising council. Then it hadacquired superior authority, and issued commands to the magistrates. It was placed by Sulla in a still higher position. [Sidenote: Hereconstitutes the Senate;] To fill up its exhausted ranks he admittedto it 300 of the equestrian order; and, though it is not certain whatits numbers were to be, it is probable that they were fixed at about500. Then he provided for keeping the list full for the future. [Sidenote: fills it up from the quaestors;] Hitherto a man had becomea senator either at the censor's summons (of which he was practicallycertain if he had been tribune or quaestor), or, if he had beenconsul, praetor or aedile. [Sidenote: increases the number of thequaestors;] Sulla made the quaestorship instead of the aedileship theregular stepping-stone, and increased the number of the quaestorsto twenty. [Sidenote: degrades the censorship. ] He also, in allprobability, though it is not certain, took away from the censorstheir right of conferring or taking away senatorial rank. 'Once asenator, always a senator, ' was therefore now the rule; and as thequaestors, who were the main source of supply, were nominated by theComitia Tributa, the Senate became a more representative as well as amore permanent body than before, and independent of the magistrates. 

[Sidenote: Legislative initiative given to the Senate. ] Secondly, wehave seen that Sulla had given to the Senate by law the power which ithad previously exercised only by custom, of deliberating on a measurebefore it was submitted to the vote of the Comitia. This was onesecurity against any measure being carried against its interests. Before this the practice had been either for the Senate through thetribunes to submit a measure to the vote, or for the tribunes tosubmit a measure of their own after obtaining the Senate's authorityto do so. Saturninus, as we have seen, had overridden this custom, andthe only way in which the Senate could maintain its old privilegeswould have been either by proclaiming a justitium, as it did on thatoccasion, or by picking out some technical informality in the passingof the plebiscitum, had not Sulla thus made its previous authorisationabsolutely indispensable. [Sidenote: Curtailment of the tribunes'prerogative. ] The tribunes, being deprived of the power of proposing ameasure at will to the Comitia Tributa, would also lose the power ofprosecuting anyone before it, and probably lost the right of conveningmeetings in order to address the people. Sulla, too, provided thatthose who had been tribunes should be ineligible to other offices, and, though the right of veto seems to have been left to them, it isnot clear that it was left without restrictions, while the abuse of itwas made a heavily punishable offence. It is likely also that he madesenators the only persons eligible to the tribunate. Positively, therefore, by making the Senate's previous consent to a law necessary, and negatively by these limitations of the prerogative of thetribunes, legislative power was placed wholly in the Senate's hands. 

[Sidenote: Changes in the Comitia. ] Thirdly, the balance in theComitia themselves was so adjusted that the voting would be mostly inthe Senate's interests. Something has already been said of Sulla'schanges on this head, in reverting to the Servian mode of voting (p. 129). Some explanation of what this means may be given here. Sulla didnot abolish the Comitia Tributa; but the measures just mentioned, asthey left the practical power of legislation with the Senate, left theformal power with the Comitia Centuriata. [Sidenote: History of theComitia Tributa and Centuriata. ] We know the origin of the ComitiaCenturiata. We do not know the origin of the Comitia Tributa. Butwe do know that by degrees the latter obtained legislative powerco-ordinate with that of the former, and that the Plebiscitum becameas binding on the nation as the Lex. There were in short two parallelbodies in which the people could make laws--ranged in the one bytribes, and voting on measures submitted to them by their tribunes;ranged in the other by centuries, and voting on measures submitted tothem by the consul. But as the State became more and more democratic, the Comitia Tributa was more used than the Comitia Centuriata, inwhich legislation was gradually confined to special matters assignedto them by law or custom. Besides these functions the Comitia Tributadecided on war or peace, elected the tribunes, aediles, and lessermagistrates, and also usurped judicial power, arraigning magistratesfor their conduct in office, &c. The functions of the ComitiaCenturiata were, as we have, seen, also legislative. They elected tothe higher magistracies and exercised jurisdiction in capital cases, afunction which grew out of the Roman citizen's right to appeal. Eachcentury had one vote; and as by the Servian arrangement the firstclass, though containing fewest voters, had nevertheless, owing to itshighest assessment, most votes, it could by itself outvote the otherclasses. At some time or other this classification was altered; and anew system, based partly on centuries and partly on tribes, came intouse. Each tribe was divided into ten centuries, five of seniors andfive of juniors. The first class consisted of one of each of thesefrom each tribe, so that, as there were thirty-five tribes, each classwould consist of seventy centuries. It is said by some that the firstclass included also thirty-five centuries, or eighteen centuries ofequites. If this be true, the first class would still have retainedthe preponderance of votes. In any case it had the best of the voting, for even if it was decided by lot which century of all the centuriesshould vote first, still the first class voted second, and the moraleffect of the wealthier and weightier citizens voting one way or otherwould naturally influence the votes of the other centuries. Moreoversome say that the lot was confined to the centuries of the firstclass. Such then was the original and such the modified constitutionof the Comitia Centuriata. [Sidenote: Sulla's legislation about theComitia. ] Appian expressly states that Sulla reverted to the originalmode of voting. But he may be confusing things, and only mean thatSulla took the voting power from the Comitia Tributa and vested it inthe Comitia Centuriata. And this probably is what Sulla did. 

[Sidenote: Curtailment of the power of the consuls and praetors. ]Fourthly, as Sulla weakened the censorship in order to exalt theSenate's authority at its expense, so, to prevent any individual againobtaining undue influence, he ordained that no man should be consultill he had been first quaestor and then praetor, and that no manshould be re-eligible to a curule office till after an interval of tenyears. This, however, was not enough. It was his object to curtail thepowers of every magistrate. And therefore, though the consulate wasnot dangerous to the Senate in the sense that the tribunate was, helaid hands both on it and on the praetorship. [Sidenote: Previouspowers of the two offices. ] The functions of the consuls and praetorshad hitherto been these. The consuls had the general superintendenceof all except judicial matters at home, and the militarysuperintendence in all the provinces except Sicily, Sardinia, and thetwo Spains, in which they only occasionally exercised their imperium. One praetor, the Praetor Urbanus, presided over civil suits betweenRoman citizens. Another, the Praetor Peregrinus, superintended suchsuits between a citizen and an alien or between two aliens. The otherfour were over the four above-mentioned provinces. In case of needone man could do the work both of the Praetor Urbanus and the PraetorPeregrinus, leaving his colleague free for a military command. Or theconsul or praetor might have his term of office extended, being boundto continue in his command till a successor arrived. Or one consulmight manage the ordinary functions of both, and the other besimilarly left free for some special employment. The Senate could inany given year assign, as business to be superintended by a consul ora praetor, some military command or judicial commission, and then theconsuls or praetors had to settle by lot or by agreement who shouldundertake it. As the State grew greater these special assignations hadto be made oftener. [Sidenote: The new scheme. ] There had been eightofficials for eight offices; now five new superintendents had to beprovided for Asia, Africa, Macedonia, Narbo, and Cilicia, as well asone for the Quaestio de Repetundis. To enable eight men to do the workof fourteen the Senate made prolongation of office for a second yearthe rule, and the officials confined by the nature of these duties tothe city during these years of office were generally sent at the endof it to the transmarine provinces where most money was to be made. Sulla increased the six praetors to eight, and made the two years'term of office the legal term. But if this added to their power inappearance, he diminished it in reality by separating the civil fromthe military functions altogether. The consuls and praetors were tomanage the civil business of Rome. The proconsuls and propraetors wereto command the army. In the first year of office the two consulshad the general administration of Rome, and two of the praetors itsjudicial administration. The other six presided over the variouscourts. In the second the ten exercised the imperium in Sicily, Sardinia, the two Spains, Asia, Africa, Macedonia, Cilicia, and thetwo Gauls, and none of them might stay in his province beyond thirtydays after his successor's arrival; or, under penalties for treason, might leave his province during his term; or attack a foreign powerwithout express leave from home. [Sidenote: Effect of the new scheme. ]The effect of all this is plain. Whereas formerly the magistrates, directly elected in the Comitia, might combine civil and militaryauthority, now the military authority could only be held by thosewhose term of office was prolonged by the Senate's pleasure; for, though the practice became invariable, it remained at the Senate'sdiscretion to break through it when it chose. 

[Sidenote: Co-optation restored to the colleges. ] Fifthly, having thuslessened the power of the censors, consuls, praetors, and tribunes, heby way of compensation--a serio-comic compensation it must haveseemed to his shrewd yet superstitious mind--restored the rightof co-optation to the sacred colleges of augurs and pontiffs, andincreased their numbers, thus multiplying harmless objects of rivalryanalogous to the ribands and garters of modern courts. 

Sixthly, he took away from the equites and restored to the Senate thejudicia. 

[Sidenote: Restoration of the Judicia to the Senate. ] The judicia havebeen often mentioned, and something maybe said about them here. Incivil suits the praetor, as we have seen, had the superintendence. Sometimes he decided a case at once. Sometimes, if he thought the caseshould be tried, he appointed a judex, giving him certain instructionsby which after the investigation he must decide the case. His actionhere would be something like one of our judge's charges, but givenbefore hearing the evidence. There is nothing to prove that a judex ofthis kind was at this time taken from any special class, or thatSulla interfered with the established mode of procedure. [Sidenote:Organisation of criminal courts. ] It was about the constitution of thecriminal courts that the long struggle had raged between the Senateand equites and here he made great changes. He found some permanentcriminal courts (e. G. The Quaestio de Repetundis, or court forinvestigating cases of extortion in the provinces) already inexistence. He instituted or settled others; but it cannot beascertained how many of the following, which were in existence afterhis time, were due to him. There were at least nine of these permanentcourts (Quaestiones Perpetuae): the Quaestio Majestatis; de vi; desicariis &c; de veneficiis; de parricidio; de falso; de repetundis;peculatus; ambitus; or courts for trying cases of treason, violence, assassination, poisoning, parricide, forgery, extortion, embezzlement, and bribery. And there may have been more, e. G. De adulteriis and deplagiis, for trying cases of adultery and the enslavement of freemen. [Sidenote: Procedure in the courts. ] His object in consolidating themwas to take from the Comitia the settlement of criminal cases, and toobviate the necessity for appointing special commissions. For therewas no appeal from the quaestio, and a special commission was seldomrequisite when so many courts were available. 

To preside in these courts there were six praetors; but, as there weremore courts than praetors, a senator, called judex quaestionis, wasappointed annually for each court where a president was wanting, something after the fashion by which one of our judges sometimes inpress of business appoints a barrister as his deputy to clear off thecases. The praetor, or judex quaestionis, presided over the judices ineach court, and the judices returned a verdict by a majority of votes, sometimes given by ballot, sometimes openly. In choosing these judicesthis was the process. The whole number available was, it is said, 300, divided into three decuriae. In any given case the praetor named thedecuria from which the jurymen were to be taken, and then drew from anurn containing their names the number assigned by law for the case tobe decided. Each side could then challenge a certain number, and freshnames were drawn from the urn in place of those challenged. What Sulladid was to supply these decuriae from the senators instead of theequites. 

One of the permanent courts found by Sulla already existing was thatof the Centumviri, who had jurisdiction over disputed inheritances. The members of it were elected by the tribes, three by each tribe, 105 in all. Though it was directly elected by the people, Sulla couldapprehend no danger from such a court, and did not meddle with it. 

[Sidenote: Other measures attributed to Sulla. ] Other measures areattributed to Sulla on evidence more or less probable, such as thesuppression of gratuitous distributions of corn; the abolition of theright of freedmen to vote, and of the reserved seats appropriated tothe equites at public festivals; the re-establishment in Asia of fixedtaxes instead of the farming system; the extension of Italy properfrom the Aesis to the Rubicon, and the conversion of Cisalpine Gaulinto a province. It may be considered certain that he did all thathe could to humiliate the equites; but the settlement of Italy wasprobably not due to him. 

[Sidenote: His minor measures. ] Other minor laws of which he was theauthor dealt with specific criminal offences or social matters. One, as we have seen (p. 196) specified the penalties for all sorts ofassassination and poisoning. Another dealt with forgery, another withviolence to the person or property, another with marriage and probablyadultery. Another was a sumptuary law, which is said to have limitedthe price of certain luxuries. If this was the case it was evensillier than other sumptuary laws, for it would have encouragedinstead of checking gluttony. Lastly, there was a law for thesettlement of his colonies through Italy, and at Aleria in Corsica. 

[Sidenote: Effects of Sulla's legislation. ] Sulla had for the momentundone by his legislation the work of ages. He gagged free speech bythe disabilities attached to the tribunate. He kept the governmentwithin a close circle by his process of recruiting the Senate. He madethe magistrates subordinate to the Senate. He filled Italy and Romewith his own partisans, and therefore with those of the Senate, andhe gave back to the Senate that coveted possession of the judicia forwhich it had struggled so long with the equites. But a system whichcould endure only by the repression not only of hostile interests butof the ambition of its own adherents carried in itself the seedsof early dissolution. Almost before the reaction was complete acounter-reaction had begun. Abdication only revealed monarchy, and thebroad road which Sulla had laid over the breakers and quicksands ofrevolution in reality paved the way to a throne. 

[Sidenote: Sulla's abdication a farce. ] When be abdicated, he offeredto render account to anyone for his acts, and there is a story thatone young man thereupon followed him to his home loading him withabuse, which Sulla listened to with meekness. If the story be true, the incident was probably a pre-arranged part of the ceremony ofabdication, which in everything, except the fact that Sulla slippedoff the cares of government, was of course a farce. His funeral showedwhat his real power continued to be, and, if another anecdote be true, just before his death he had a magistrate of Puteoli strangledbecause he had not collected in time his town's subscription to therestoration of the Capitol. He had in fact done mischievously what theGracchi would have done beneficently; and greedy swordsmen occupiedthe soil which the tribunes would have divided peaceably amongpeaceable men. [Sidenote: The policy of the Gracchi justified by afterevents. ] The civil wars and the triumvirates are the best vindicationof the policy of the Gracchi, unless we can bring ourselves to fancythat the Gracchi created, instead of attempting wisely to satisfy, the demands of the age. By an orderly intermixture of Italians andforeigners with the corrupt body of Roman citizens new life might havebeen infused into the old system, and something foreshadowing modernrepresentative government have been established, without proscriptionor praetorian rule. As it was, the vices of society only becameaggravated at an era of violence, and the sharpest remedies failed tostay the creeping paralysis by which it was assailed. 

The gradual depopulation of Italy has already been described. In spiteof Sulla's colonies the ruin of the country must have been vastlyaccelerated by his civil wars and those which followed them. And, while the honest country class was dying out, the town class was everplunging deeper into frivolity and voluptuousness. To defray the costof the sumptuous life of the capital the fashionable spendthrift wasforced to resort to extortion in the provinces, which, as we haveseen, became so crying an evil that a permanent court existed fordealing with it before the time of Sulla. The greedy throve on usury, or involved the State in war, to fill their own purses. The fortunesamassed by an Aquillius, a Verres, a Lucullus, spoke as eloquently ofRome's rapacity abroad as did those of Crassus or Sulla in Italy. Suchbeing the state of things under the government which Sulla stroveto perpetuate, his character as a statesman deserves as strongreprobation as his conduct as a man. To lay down power from a sense ofduty is one thing. Cynically to shrink from responsibility is another. The misery of the following half-century must be laid chiefly atSulla's door. The inevitable goal to which everything was tending wasas patent in his time as in the time of Augustus. Whatever may havebeen for the interest of the Roman aristocracy, monarchy was by thistime for the interest of the Roman world. 

LIST OF PHRASES

_It has been suggested that the following List of Phrases occurring inthe History may be useful. But the definitions are only approximatelyprecise. _

_Aerarium_. The State treasury. 

_Capite Censi_. Roman citizens rated by the head only, as having noproperty. 

_Cives Romani_. Citizens of Rome, a Roman colony, or a Municipium. 

_Clientes_. Dependents of the Patres. Free, but not Cives Romani. 

_Comitia Centuriata_. The subdivisions (193 or 194 in number) of thesix classes into which the Romans were divided, according to property, were called Centuries, and the assembly of them Comitia Centuriata. 

_Comitia Tributa_. The assembly in which the people voted according tothe tribes or territorial divisions. 

_Dominium_. Ownership. 

_Equites_. Originally the men rich enough to maintain war-horses;afterwards the rich class corresponding to our city men. 

_Flamen_. A priest of some particular god. 

_Frumentaria_. Lex. A law for cheapening corn. 

_Imperator_. The title given on the battle-field to a successfulgeneral by his soldiers. 

_Imperium_. The power given by the State to an individual who was tocommand an army. 

_Interrex_. An official appointed to hold an election of consuls whenthe regular mode of election had not been followed. 

_Judicia_. Bodies of jurymen (judices) who tried criminal cases. 

_Jugerum_. A measure of surface 240 feet long, 120 broad. 

_Justitium_. A suspension of public business for some religiousobservance. 

_Latifundia_. Large estates cultivated by slave-labour. 

_Latini_. See p. 16. 

_Legati_. Officers of the general's suite corresponding to ourgenerals of division. 

_Libertini_. The class of freedmen known as Liberti, with reference tofreeborn men, Libertini with reference to each other. 

_Municipia_. Conquered Italian towns having the right of acquiringproperty in the Roman State (Commercium), and marrying the daughter ofa Roman citizen (Connubium), but unable to acquire the honours of theState (Jus Honoris), or to vote at Rome (Jus Suffragii). 

_Negotiatores_. Money-lenders. 

_Nobiles_. The offspring of men who had held a curule office. 

_Optimates_. The senatorial party at and after the era of the Gracchi. 

_Patres_. 1. Originally Cives Romani, the governing body at Rome. 2. Afterwards the Senate. 

_Patronus_. A Pater with reference to a Client. A Dominus withreference to a Libertus. 

_Perduellio_. Abuse of official position injurious to the State. 

_Pilum_. A wooden shaft 4 feet long, with an iron head 2 feet 3 incheslong. There was also a lighter kind. 

_Plebiscitum_. 1. A resolution of the people. 2. Equivalent to lex. 

_Plebs_. Originally the free citizens of Rome who had no politicalprivileges. 

_Populares_. The anti-senatorial party at and after the time of theGracchi. 

_Possessor_. An occupier of public land. 

_Praefectura_. A Roman colony, or Municipium, in which a RomanPraefectus administered justice. 

_Proletarii_. Roman citizens rated at less than 1, 500 asses. 

_Publicani_. Farmers of the revenue. 

_Rostra_. A name given to the stage in the Forum where speakersaddressed the people. So called because ornamented with beaks of shipscaptured from the enemy. 

_Scriptura_. A tax paid to the State on cattle grazing on public land. 

_Socii_. Free inhabitants of Italy. See p. 16. 

_Vectigal_. 1. A tax of 1/10th of the year's crops. 2. The revenueproduced by the Scriptura. 

INDEX

Adherbal. Aedui, the. Ager Publicus. Agrarian law, the first. Ahenobarbus, Domitius. Albinus, Aulus. Albinus, Sp. Allobroges, the. Ambrones, the. 

Antyllus. Aquae Sextiae. Archelaus. Aristion. Aristonicus. Army, the Roman. Arverni, the. Asculum. Asia, taxation of. Athenion. Athens, siege of. Attalus of Pergamus. 

Baebius. Bestia. Blossius. Bocchus. Bomilcar. 

Caepio, Q. Servilius. Calvinus. Capsa. Carbo. Cassius, Sp. Catiline. Catulus. Centumviri, the. Chaeroneia, battle of. Cimbri. Cinna, L. Cornelius. Cirta. Cives Romani, the. Cleon. Clientes. Colline Gate, battle of the. Colony, a Roman. Comitia Centuriata. Comitia Tribunata. Commercium. Connubium. Cornelia. Crassus, P. Licinius. 

Damophilus. Domitia, Via. Drusus, M. Livius. 

England, history of Rome compared to that of. Equites, the. Equitius. Eunous. 

Fimbria. Flaccus, Fulvius. Fregellae, revolt of. 

Gauda. Geminus. Glaucia, C. Servilius. Gordius. Gracchus, C. Gracchus, T. 

Helvetii, the. Hortensius. 

Jugurtha. Jus Honorum. --Suffragii. 

Laenas Popilius. Lamponius. Lex Baebia. --Cassia. --Flaminia. --Frumentaria of C. Gracchus. --Judiciaria of C. Gracchus. --Julia. --Junia de Peregrinis. --Licinia. --Maria. --Papiria. --Plautia Papiria. --Servilia. --Thoria. Lucullus, (1); (2). Lupus. Luxury at Rome. 

M. Antonius. M'. Aquillius. Mariani Muli. Marius, C. (1); (2). Massiva. Megallis. Memmius. Merula, L. Metellus, Q. Caecilius. Mithridates. Municipium. Murena. Mutilus, C. Papius. 

Nobiles. Norbanus. 

Octavius. Ofella. Opimius. Optimates. 

Orchomenus. Oxyntas. 

Patres. Perduellio. Peregrini, the. Philippus. Piraeus, siege of. Plebeians. Pompeius, Cn. (1); (2). 

Pontius, C. Populares. Praefectura. Proscriptions of Marius and Cinna. 

Provincials. 

Quaestio. 

Rhone, canal cut from, by Marius. Roscius. Rubrius. Rufus Rutilius. Rupillius. 

Sacriportus, battle of. Salvius. 

Salyes, theSaturninus, Satyreius, P. Satyrus. Scaevola. Scaurus, M. Aemilius. Scipio Aemilianus. Scipio Nasica. Septimuleius. Sertorius. Silo, Pompaedius. Slavery, Roman. Slave War, the first. -- -- the second. Social War, The. Society, deterioration of Roman. 

Sulla, L. Cornelius. Sulla's laws. 

Sulpician laws, the. Sulpicius. 

Taxiles. Teanum, story of Roman cruelty at. Teutones, the. Thala. Tifata, battle of. Tigranes. Tiguroni, the. Tolosa, the gold of. Tribunate. Tuditanus, Sempronius. Tugeni, the. Turpilius. 

Vaga. Venusia, story of a herdsman at. Vercellae. Verres. Vettius. Vettius Scato. Volux.