THE

HISTORY OF ROME. 

TITUS LIVIUS. 

BOOKS TWENTY-SEVEN TO THIRTY-SIX. 

LITERALLY TRANSLATED, WITH NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS, BY

CYRUS EDMONDS. 

MDCCCL. 

THE HISTORY OF ROME. 

BOOK XXVII. 

 _Cneius Fulvius, proconsul, defeated by Hannibal and slain; the consul, Claudius Marcellus, engages him with better success. Hannibal, raising his camp, retires; Marcellus pursues, and forces him to an engagement. They fight twice; in the first battle, Hannibal gains the advantage; in the second, Marcellus. Tarentum betrayed to Fabius Maximus, the consul. Scipio engages with Hasdrubal, the son of Hamilcar, at Baetula, in Spain, and defeats him. Among other prisoners, a youth of royal race and exquisite beauty is taken; Scipio sets him free, and sends him, enriched with magnificent presents, to his uncle Masinissa. Marcellus and Quintus Crispinus, consuls, drawn into an ambuscade by Hannibal; Marcellus is slain, Crispinus escapes. Operations by Publius Sulpicius, praetor, against Philip and the Achaeans. A census held; the number of citizens found to amount to one hundred and thirty-seven thousand one hundred and eight: from which it appears how great a loss they had sustained by the number of unsuccessful battles they had of late been engaged in. Hasdrubal, who had crossed the Alps with a reinforcement for Hannibal, defeated by the consuls, Marcus Livius and Claudius Nero, and slain; with him fell fifty-six thousand men_. 

1. Such was the state of affairs in Spain. In Italy, the consulMarcellus, after regaining Salapia, which was betrayed into his hands, took Maronea and Meles from the Samnites by force. As many as threethousand of the soldiers of Hannibal, which were left as a garrison, were here surprised and overpowered. The booty, and there was aconsiderable quantity of it, was given up to the troops. Also, twohundred and forty thousand pecks of wheat, with a hundred and tenthousand pecks of barley, were found here. The joy, however, thusoccasioned, was by no means so great as a disaster sustained a fewdays afterwards, not far from the town Herdonea. Cneius Fulvius, theconsul, was lying encamped there, in the hope of regaining Herdonea, which had revolted from the Romans after the defeat at Cannae, hisposition being neither sufficiently secure from the nature of theplace, nor strengthened by guards. The natural negligence of thegeneral was now increased by the hope that their attachment to theCarthaginians was shaken when they had heard that Hannibal, after theloss of Salapia, had retired from that neighbourhood into Bruttium. Intelligence of all these circumstances being conveyed to Hannibal bysecret messengers from Herdonea, at once excited an anxious desire toretain possession of a city in alliance with him, and inspired a hopeof attacking the enemy when unprepared. With a lightly equipped forcehe hastened to Herdonea by forced marches, so as almost to anticipatethe report of his approach and in order to strike greater terror intothe enemy, came up with his troops in battle-array. The Roman, equalto him in courage, but inferior in strength, hastily drawing out histroops, engaged him. The fifth legion and the left wing of the alliedinfantry commenced the battle with spirit. But Hannibal ordered hiscavalry, on a signal given, to ride round as soon as the foot forceshad their eyes and thoughts occupied with the contest before them, andone half of them to attack the camp of the enemy, the other half tofall upon their rear, while busily engaged in fighting. He himself, sarcastically alluding to the similarity of the name Fulvius, as hehad defeated Cneius Fulvius, the praetor, two years ago, in the samecountry, expressed his confidence that the issue of the battle wouldbe similar. Nor was this expectation vain; for after many of theRomans had fallen in the close contest, and in the engagement with theinfantry, notwithstanding which they still preserved their ranks andstood their ground; the alarm occasioned by the cavalry on their rear, and the enemy shout, which was heard at the same time from their camp, first put to flight the sixth legion, which being posted in the secondline, was first thrown into confusion by the Numidians; and thenthe fifth legion, and those who were posted in the van. Some fledprecipitately, others were slain in the middle space, where alsoCneius Fulvius himself, with eleven military tribunes, fell. Who canstate with certainty how many thousands of the Romans and their allieswere slain in this battle, when I find in some accounts thatthirteen, in others that not more than seven, thousand were slain?The conquerors got possession of the camp and the spoil. Finding thatHerdonea would have revolted to the Romans, and was not likely tocontinue faithful to him if he departed thence, he removed all itsinhabitants to Metapontum and Thurium, and burnt it. He put to deaththe chief men who were found to have held secret conferences withFulvius. Such of the Romans as escaped this dreadful carnage, fledhalf-armed, by different roads, into Samnium, to the consul Marcellus. 

2. Marcellus, who was not much discouraged at this so great adisaster, sent a letter to the senate at Rome, with an account of theloss of the general and army at Herdonea; observing, however, "that hewho, after the battle of Cannae, had humbled Hannibal when elated withvictory, was now marching against him, and that he would cause thathis present joy and exultation should not continue long. " At Rome, indeed, the grief occasioned by what had occurred, and the fearsentertained for the future, were excessive. The consul passing out ofSamnium into Lucania, pitched his camp at Numistro, on a plainwithin view of Hannibal, who occupied a hill. He added also anotherdemonstration of his confidence; for he was the first to lead out histroops to battle, nor did Hannibal decline fighting when he saw thestandards carried out from the gates. However, they drew up theirforces so that the right wing of the Carthaginians was extended up thehill, while the left wing of the Romans was contiguous to the town. For a long time neither side had any advantage; but the battle havingcontinued from the third hour till night, and the first lines, whichconsisted, on the part of the Romans, of the first legion and theright wing of the allied infantry, on the part of Hannibal, of theSpanish soldiers, the Balearic slingers, and the elephants, whichwere driven into the field after the commencement of the battle, beingfatigued with fighting, the first legion was relieved by the third, and the right wing of allied infantry by the left; while on the partof the enemy fresh troops took up the battle in place of those whowere tired. A new and desperate conflict suddenly arose, instead ofthat which was so feebly maintained, their minds and bodies beingunimpaired by fatigue; but night separated the combatants while thevictory was undecided. The following day the Romans stood drawn upfor battle from sun-rise till late in the day; but none of the enemycoming out against them, they gathered the spoils at their leisure, and collecting the bodies of their own troops into a heap, burnt them. The following night Hannibal decamped in silence, and moved on intoApulia. As soon as daylight discovered the flight of the enemy, Marcellus, leaving his wounded under the protection of a smallgarrison at Numistro, in command of which he placed Lucius FuriusPurpureo, a military tribune, commenced a close pursuit of Hannibal, and overtook him at Venusia. Here, during several days, parties oftroops sallying from the outposts, battles took place between foot andhorses promiscuously, rather irregular than important, but which forthe most part were favourable to the Romans. The armies were marchedthence through Apulia without any engagement worth recording; forHannibal marched by night, seeking an opportunity for ambuscade, but Marcellus never followed him except in broad daylight, and afterhaving explored the country. 

3. In the mean time, while Flaccus was detained at Capua in sellingthe property of the nobles, and letting out the land which had beenforfeited, all of which he let for a rent to be paid in corn, lestoccasions for exercising severity toward the Campanians should bewanting, a new piece of inquiry which had been ripening in secret, wasbrought out in evidence. He had compelled his soldiers, withdrawn fromthe houses, to build for themselves huts after the military manner, near the gates and walls; at once, that the houses of the city mightbe let and occupied together with the land, also through fear, lestthe excessive luxury of the city should enervate his troops as it hadthose of Hannibal. Now many of these were formed of hurdles or boards, others of reeds interwoven, all being covered with straw, as ifcombustable materials had been employed on purpose. A hundred andseventy Campanians, headed by the Blosii who were fathers, had formeda conspiracy to set fire to all these at a late hour of the night; butinformation of the conspiracy having been given by one of the slavesof the Blosii, the gates were suddenly closed by the command of theproconsul, and all the soldiers had been assembled under arms, on asignal given all who were implicated in the guilt were seized, and, after rigorous examination, were condemned and executed, informerswere rewarded with liberty and ten thousand _asses_ each. The peopleof Nuceria and Acerra, who complained that they had no where to dwell, Acerra being partly burnt, and Nuceria demolished, Fulvius sent toRome to the senate. Permission was given to the people of Acerra torebuild what had been destroyed by fire. The people of Nuceria wereremoved to Atella, as they preferred; the people of Atella beingordered to migrate to Calatia. Among the many and important events, sometimes prosperous, sometimes adverse, which occupied men'sthoughts, not even the citadel of Tarentum was forgotten. MarcusOgulnius and Publius Aquillius went into Etruria as commissioners tobuy up corn to be conveyed to Tarentum; and one thousand men out ofthe city troops, an equal number of Romans and allies, were sent tothe same place, together with the corn, for its protection. 

4. The summer was now on the close, and the time for the election ofconsuls drew nigh; but a letter from Marcellus, in which he stated, that it would not be for the interest of the state that he shoulddepart a single step from Hannibal, whom he was severely pressingwhile retreating before him and evading an engagement, had excitedanxiety, lest they must either recall the consul from the war at thattime when he was most actively employed, or consuls should not beappointed for the year. The best course appeared to be to recall inpreference the consul Valerius from Sicily, although he was out ofItaly. A letter was sent to him by Lucius Manlius, the city praetor, by order of the senate, together with the letter of Marcus Marcellus, the consul, that he might learn from it what reason the senate had forrecalling him from his province rather than his colleague. Much aboutthis time ambassadors came to Rome from king Syphax with accounts ofthe successful battles which he had fought with the Carthaginians. They assured the senate that there was no people to whom the kingwas more hostile than the Carthaginians, and none to whom he wasmore friendly than the Romans. They said, that "he had before sentambassadors into Spain, to Cneius and Publius Cornelius, the Romangenerals, but that he was now desirous to solicit the friendship ofthe Romans, as it were, from the fountain-head itself. " The senate notonly returned a gracious answer to the ambassadors, but also sentas ambassadors to the king, with presents, Lucius Genucius, PubliusPaetelius, and Publius Popillius. The presents they carried were apurple gown and vest, an ivory chair, and a bowl formed out of fivepounds of gold. They received orders to proceed forthwith to otherpetty princes of Africa carrying with them as presents for them gownsbordered with purple, and golden bowls weighing three pounds each. Marcus Atilius and Manius Acilius were also sent as ambassadors toAlexandria, to king Ptolemy and queen Cleopatra, to revive and renewthe treaty of friendship with them, carrying with them as presentsa gown and purple tunic, with an ivory chair for the king, and anembroidered gown and a purple vest for the queen. During the summer inwhich these transactions took place, many prodigies were reported fromthe country and cities in the neighbourhood; at Tusculum it was saidthat a lamb was yeaned with its dug full of milk; that the roof of thetemple of Jupiter was struck with lightning and almost stripped ofits entire covering. Much about the same time it was reported thatthe ground in front of the gate at Anagnia was struck, and that itcontinued burning for a day and a night without any thing to feedthe fire; that at Compitum in the territory of Anagnia, the birds haddeserted the nests in the trees in the grove of Diana; that snakesof amazing size had leaped up, like fishes sporting, in the sea atTaracina not far from the port; at Tarquinii, that a pig was producedwith a human face; that in the territory of Capena at the grove ofFeronia, four statues had sweated blood profusely for a day and anight. These prodigies were expiated with victims of the greater kind, according to a decree of the pontiffs, and a supplication was fixedto be performed for one day at Rome at all the shrines, and another inthe territory of Capena at the grove of Feronia. 

5. Marcus Valerius, the consul, having been summoned by letter, gavethe command of the province and his army to Cincius the praetor, sentMarcus Valerius Messala, commander of the fleet, with half of theships to Africa, at the same time to plunder the country and observewhat the Carthaginians were doing, and what preparations they weremaking, and then set out himself with ten ships for Rome; where, having arrived in safety, he immediately convened the senate. Herehe made a recital of his services. That "after hostilities had beencarried on, and severe losses often sustained, both by sea and land, through a period of almost sixty years, he had completely terminatedthe business of the province. That there was not one Carthaginian inSicily, nor one Sicilian absent of those who through fear had beencompelled to go into exile and live abroad; that all of them werebrought back to their cities and fields, and were employed inploughing and sowing; that the land which was deserted was now againinhabited, not only yielding its fruits to its cultivators, butforming a most certain resource for the supply of provisions to theRoman people in peace and war. " After this, Mutines and such others ashad rendered any services to the Roman people were introduced intothe senate, and all received honorary rewards in fulfilment ofthe consul's engagement. Mutines was also made a Roman citizen, a proposition to that effect having been made to the commons by aplebeian tribune, on the authority of the senate. While these thingswere going on at Rome, Marcus Valerius Messala, arriving on the coastof Africa before daylight, made a sudden descent on the territoryof Utica; and after ravaging it to a great extent, and taking manyprisoners, together with booty of every kind, he returned to his shipsand sailed over to Sicily. He returned to Lilybaeum on the thirteenthday from the time he left it. From the prisoners, on examination, thefollowing facts were discovered, and all communicated in writing tothe consul Laevinus in order, so that he might know in what state theaffairs of Africa were. That "five thousand Numidians, with Masinissa, the son of Gala, a youth of extraordinary spirit, were at Carthage, and that other troops were hiring throughout all Africa, to be passedover into Spain to Hasdrubal; in order that he might, as soon aspossible, pass over into Italy, with as large a force as could becollected, and form a junction with Hannibal. " That the Carthaginiansconsidered their success dependent on this measure. That a very largefleet was also in preparation for the recovery of Sicily, which theybelieved would sail thither in a short time. The recital of thesefacts had such an effect upon the senate, that they resolved that theconsul ought not to wait for the election, but that a dictator shouldbe appointed to hold it, and that the consul should immediately returnto his province. A difference of opinion delayed this, for the consuldeclared that he should nominate as dictator Marcus Valerius Messala, who then commanded the fleet in Sicily; but the fathers denied that aperson could be appointed dictator who was not in the Roman territory, and this was limited by Italy. Marcus Lucretius, a plebeian tribune, having taken the sense of the senate upon the question, it wasdecreed, "that the consul before he quitted the city, should putthe question to the people, as to whom they wished to be appointeddictator, and that he should nominate whomsoever they directed. If theconsul were unwilling that the praetor should put the question, andif even he were unwilling to do it, that then the tribunes should makethe proposition to the commons. " The consul refusing to submit to thepeople what lay in his own power, and forbidding the praetor to do so, the plebeian tribunes put the question, and the commons ordered thatQuintus Fulvius, who was then at Capua, should be nominated dictator. But on the night preceding the day on which the assembly of the peoplewas to be held for that purpose, the consul went off privately intoSicily; and the fathers, thus deserted, decreed that a letter shouldbe sent to Marcus Claudius, in order that he might come to the supportof the state, which had been abandoned by his colleague, and appointhim dictator whom the commons had ordered. Thus Quintus Fulvius wasappointed dictator by Marcus Claudius, the consul, and in conformitywith the same order of the people, Publius Licinius Crassus, chiefpontiff, was appointed master of the horse by Quintus Fulvius, thedictator. 

6. After the dictator had arrived at Rome, he sent Cneius SemproniusBlaesus, who had acted under him as lieutenant general at Capua, intothe province of Etruria, to take the command of the army there, in theroom of the praetor, Caius Calpurnius, whom he had summoned by letterto take the command of Capua and his own army. He fixed the first datehe could for the election: which, however, could not be brought toa conclusion, in consequence of a dispute which arose between thetribunes and the dictator. The junior century of the Galerian tribe, to whose lot it fell to give the votes first, had named QuintusFulvius and Quintus Fabius as consuls; and the other centuries, on being called upon to vote according to their course, would haveinclined the same way, had not the plebeian tribunes, Caius and LuciusArennius interposed. They said, "that it was hardly constitutionalthat a chief magistrate should be continued in office but that it wasa precedent still more shocking, that the very person who held theelection should be appointed. Then therefore, if the dictatorshould allow his own name to appear they would interpose against theelection; but if the names of any other persons besides himself wereput up, they should not impede it. " The dictator defended the electionby the authority of the fathers, the order of the commons, andprecedents. For, "in the consulate of Cneius Servilius, when the otherconsul, Caius Flaminius, had fallen at Trasimenus, it was proposedto the people on the authority of the fathers, and the people hadordered, that as long as the war continued in Italy, it should belawful for the people to elect to the consulship whomsoever theypleased, out of those persons who had been consuls, and as often asthey pleased. That he had a precedent of ancient date, which was tothe point, in the case of Lucius Posthumius Megellus, who, while hewas interrex, had been created consul with Caius Junius Bubulcus, atan election over which he himself presided; and a precedent of recentdate, in Quintus Fabius, who certainly would never have allowedhimself to be re-elected, had it not been for the good of the state. "After the contest had been continued for a long time, by argumentsof this kind, at length the tribunes and the dictator came to anagreement, that they should abide by what the senate should decide. The fathers were of opinion, that such was then the condition of thestate, that it was necessary that its affairs should be conducted byold and experienced generals, who were skilled in the art of war;and, therefore, that no delay should take place in the election. Thetribunes then withdrew their opposition, and the election was held. Quintus Fabius Maximus was declared consul for the fifth time, and Quintus Fulvius Flaccus for the fourth. The praetors were thencreated; Lucius Veturius Philo, Titus Quintus Crispinus, CaiusHostilius Tubulus, and Caius Aurunculeius. The magistrates for theyear being appointed, Quintus Fulvius resigned the dictatorship. Atthe end of this summer, a Carthaginian fleet of forty ships, under thecommand of Hamilcar, passed over to Sardinia. At first it laid wastethe territory of Olbia, and then Publius Manlius Vulso, with his army, making his appearance, it sailed round thence to the other side of theisland, and devastating the territory of Caralis, returned to Africawith booty of every kind. Several Roman priests died this year, andothers were substituted. Caius Servilius was appointed pontiff, in theplace of Titus Otacilius Crassus. Tiberius Sempronius Longus, sonof Tiberius, was appointed as augur, in the place of Titus OtaciliusCrassus; and Tiberius Sempronius Longus, son of Tiberius, wasappointed decemvir for the performance of sacred rites, in the room ofTiberius Sempronius Longus, son of Caius. Marcus Marcius, king of thesacred rites, and Marcus Aemilius Papus, chief curio, died; but nopriests were appointed to succeed them this year. The censors thisyear were Lucius Veturius Philo, and Publius Licinius Crassus chiefpontiff. Licinius Crassus had neither been consul nor praetor beforehe was appointed censor, he stepped from the aedileship to thecensorship. These censors neither chose the senate, nor transacted anypublic business, the death of Lucius Veturius prevented it; on thisLicinius also gave up his office. The curule aediles, Lucius Veturiusand Publius Licinius Varus, repeated the Roman games during one day. The plebeian aediles, Quintus Catius and Lucius Porcius Licinius, furnished brazen statues for the temple of Ceres, out of the moneyarising from fines, and exhibited games with great pomp and splendour, considering the circumstances of the times. 

7. At the close of this year, Caius Laelius, the lieutenant generalof Scipio, came to Rome on the thirty-fourth day after he set out fromTarraco, and entering the city accompanied by a train of captives, drew together a great concourse of people. The next day, on beingbrought into the senate, he stated that Carthage, the capital ofSpain, had been captured in one day, that several cities which hadrevolted were regained, and that fresh ones had been received intoalliance. From the prisoners, information was gained, correspondingfor the most part with what was contained in the letter of MarcusValerius Messala. What produced the greatest effect upon the fathers, was the march of Hasdrubal into Italy, which was with difficultyresisting Hannibal and his forces. Laelius also, who was broughtbefore the general assembly, gave a particular statement of the samethings. The senate decreed a supplication for one day, on account ofthe successes of Publius Scipio, and ordered Caius Laelius to returnas soon as possible to Spain, with the ships he had brought with him. I have laid the taking of Carthage in this year, on the authority ofmany writers, although aware that some have stated that it was takenthe following year, because it appeared to me hardly probable thatScipio should have spent an entire year in Spain in doing nothing. Quintus Fabius Maximus for the fifth time, and Quintus Fulvius Flaccusfor the fourth having entered on their offices of consuls on the idesof March, on the same day, Italy was decreed as the province of both, their command, however, was distributed to separate districts. Fabiuswas appointed to carry on the war at Tarentum; Fulvius in Lucania andBruttium. Marcus Claudius was continued in command for the year. Thepraetors then cast lots for their provinces. Caius Hostilius Tubulusobtained the city jurisdiction; Lucius Veturius Philo the foreign, with Gaul; Titus Quinctius Crispinus, Capua; Caius Aurunculeius, Sardinia. The troops were thus distributed through the provinces:Fulvius received the two legions which Marcus Valerius Laevinus had inSicily; Quintus Fabius, those which Caius Calpurnius had commandedin Etruria. The city troops were to succeed those in Etruria; CaiusCalpurnius commanding the same province and the army. Titus Quinctiuswas to take the command of Capua, and the army which had served underQuintus Fulvius there. Lucius Veturius was to succeed Caius Laetorius, propraetor, in his province and the command of the army, which wasthen at Ariminum. Marcus Marcellus had the legions with which he hadbeen successful when consul. To Marcus Valerius together with LuciusCincius, for these also were continued in command in Sicily, thetroops which had fought at Cannae were given, with orders to recruitthem out of the surviving soldiers of the legions of Cneius Fulvius. These were collected and sent by the consuls into Sicily, and the sameignominious condition of service was added, under which the troopswhich had fought at Cannae served, and to those troops belonging tothe army of Cneius Fulvius, the praetor, which had been sent thitherby the senate through displeasure occasioned by a similar flight. Caius Aurunculeius was appointed to command, in Sardinia, the samelegions with which Publius Manlius Vulso had occupied that province. Publius Sulpicius was continued in command for the year, with ordersto hold Macedonia with the same legion and fleet. Orders were givento send thirty quinqueremes from Sicily to Tarentum, to the consulFabius. With the rest of the ships, orders were given that MarcusValerius Laevinus should either pass over himself into Africa toravage the country, or send either Lucius Cincius or Marcus ValeriusMessala. With regard to Spain, no alteration was made, except thatScipio and Silanus were continued in command, not for the year, butuntil they should be recalled by the senate. In such manner were theprovinces and the commands of the armies distributed for this year. 

8. Amid concerns of greater importance, an old dispute was revived atthe election of a chief curio, when a priest was appointed to succeedMarcus Aemilius; the patricians denying that Caius Mamilius Vitulus, who was a plebeian candidate, ought to be allowed to stand, because noone before his time had held that priesthood who was not a patrician. The tribunes, on being appealed to, referred the matter to the senate. The senate left it to the decision of the people. Thus Caius MamiliusVitulus was the first plebeian created chief curio. Publius Licinius, chief pontiff, compelled Caius Valerius Flaccus to be inauguratedflamen of Jupiter, against his will. Caius Valerius Laetorius wascreated decemvir for the performance of sacred rites, in the room ofQuintus Mucius Scaevola, deceased. I should willingly have passed overin silence the reason of a flamen's being compelled to be inaugurated, had he not become a good, from having been a bad character. Inconsequence of having spent his youth in idleness and debauchery, vices for which he had incurred the displeasure of his own brother, Lucius Flaccus, and the rest of his kinsmen, Caius Flaccus was chosenflamen by Publius Licinius, chief pontiff. As soon as his mind becameoccupied with the care of the sacred rites and ceremonies, he soon socompletely divested himself of his former habits, that no one amongall the youth was more esteemed, or enjoyed in a greater degree theapprobation of the chief of the patricians, whether relations oraliens. Being raised by this generally good character to a properconfidence in himself, he claimed to be admitted into the senate; athing intermitted for many years, on account of the worthlessness offormer flamens. On entering the senate, Lucius Licinius, the praetor, led him out; on which the flamen appealed to the tribunes of thepeople. He demanded back the ancient privilege of his priesthood, which was given, together with the purple-bordered robe, and thecurule chair, to the office of flamen. The praetor wished the questionto rest not on the precedents contained in the annals, which wereobsolete from their antiquity, but on the usual practice in all thecases of most recent date; urging, that no flamen of Jupiter, inthe memory of their fathers or their grandfathers, had taken up thatprivilege. The tribunes giving it as their opinion, that justicerequired, that as the obliteration of the privilege was occasioned bythe negligence of the flamens, the consequences ought to fall upon theflamens themselves, and not upon the office, led the flamen into thesenate, with the general approbation of the fathers, and without anyopposition, even from the praetor himself; while all were of opinionthat the flamen had obtained his object more from the purity of hislife, than any right appertaining to the priesthood. The consuls, before they departed to their provinces, raised two legions for thecity, and as many soldiers as were necessary to make up the numbersof the other armies. The consul Fulvius appointed his brother, CaiusFulvius Flaccus, lieutenant-general, to march the old city army intoEtruria, and to bring to Rome the legions which were in Etruria. Andthe consul Fabius ordered his son, Quintus Fabius Maximus, to lead theremains of the army of Fulvius, which had been collected, amountingto three thousand three hundred and thirty-six, into Sicily to MarcusValerius, the proconsul, and to receive from him two legions andthirty quinqueremes. The withdrawing of these legions from the islanddid not at all diminish the force employed for the protection of thatprovince, either in effect or appearance; for though, in addition totwo veteran legions which were most effectively reinforced, he hada great number of Numidian deserters, both horse and foot, he raisedalso a body of Sicilian troops, consisting of men who had served inthe armies of Epicydes and the Carthaginians, and were experiencedin war. Having added these foreign auxiliaries to each of the Romanlegions, he preserved the appearance of two armies. With one heordered Lucius Cinctius to protect that portion of the island whichhad formed the kingdom of Hiero, with the other he himself guarded therest of the island, which was formerly divided by the boundary of theRoman and Carthaginian dominions. He divided also the fleet of seventyships, in order that it might protect the sea-coast, through theentire extent of its shores. He himself went through the island withthe cavalry of Mutines to inspect the lands, observe those which werecultivated and those which were not, and, accordingly, either praiseor reprove the owners. By this diligence so large a quantity of cornwas produced, that he both sent some to Rome, and collected at Catanacorn which might serve as a supply for the army, which was about topass the summer at Tarentum. 

9. But the transportation of the soldiers into Sicily, and theyconsisted chiefly of Latins and allies, had very nearly caused aserious commotion; from such trifling circumstances do events of greatimportance frequently arise. A murmuring arose among the Latins andallies at their meetings. They said, that "they had been drained bylevies and contributions for ten years. That almost every year theyfought with the most disastrous consequences. That some of themwere slain in the field, others were carried off by disease. That acountryman of theirs who was enlisted by the Romans was more lost tothem than one who was taken prisoner by the Carthaginians; for thelatter was sent back to his country by the enemy without ransom, whilethe former was sent beyond the limits of Italy, into exile rather thanmilitary service. That the troops which fought at Cannae were growingold there, for eight years, and would die there before the enemy, who was now more than ever flourishing and vigorous would depart fromItaly. If the old soldiers did not return to their country, and freshones were enlisted, that in a short time there would be no one left. That, therefore, they must refuse to the Roman people, before theycame to utter desolation and want, what shortly their very conditionwould refuse. If the Romans saw their allies unanimous on thispoint that they would then certainly think of making peace with theCarthaginians; otherwise, Italy would never be without war whileHannibal was alive. " Thus they discoursed in their meetings. The Romanpeople had at that time thirty colonies. Twelve of these, for they allhad embassies in Rome, told the consuls that they had not whence tofurnish either men or money. The twelve were Ardea, Nepete Sutrium, Alba, Carseoli, Cora, Suessa, Cerceii, Setia, Cales Narnia, Interamna. The consuls, astonished at this new proceeding, were desirous to deterthem from so hateful a measure and, considering that they could effectthis better by censure and remonstrance than by mild means, said that"they had dared to say to the consuls what the consuls could not bringtheir minds to declare in the senate; for that this was not refusal toperform military service, but an open defection from the Roman people. They desired, therefore, that they would return to their coloniesspeedily, and that, considering the subject as untouched, as they hadonly spoken of, but not attempted, so impious a business, they wouldconsult with their countrymen. That they would warn them that theywere not Campanians or Tarentines, but Romans; that from thence theyderived their origin, and thence were sent out into colonies and landscaptured from the enemy, for the purpose of increasing the population. That they owed to the Romans what children owed to parents, if theypossessed any natural affection, or any gratitude towards their mothercountry. That they should, therefore, consider the matter afresh; forthat certainly what they then so rashly meditated, was the betrayingthe Roman empire, and putting the victory in the hands of Hannibal. "The consuls having spent a long time in exchanging arguments of thiskind, the ambassadors, who were not at all moved by what they said, declared, that "they had nothing which they could carry home, norhad their senate any thing fresh to devise, having neither men to beenlisted, nor money to be furnished for pay. " The consuls, seeing thatthey were inflexible, laid the matter before the senate; where thealarm excited in the minds of all was so great, that "the greaterpart declared it was all over with the empire; that the rest of thecolonies would take the same course, and that all the allies hadconspired to betray the city of Rome to Hannibal. "

10. The consuls endeavoured to encourage and console the senate, telling them that "the other colonies would maintain their allegiance, and continue in their former state of dutiful obedience, and thatthose very colonies who had renounced their allegiance, would beinspired with respect for the empire, if ambassadors were sent roundto them to reprove and not entreat them. " The senate having given thempermission to do and to act as they might conceive best for the state;after sounding the intentions of the other colonies, the consulssummoned their ambassadors, and asked them whether they had theirsoldiers ready according to the roll? Marcus Sextilius of Fregellaereplied, in behalf of the eighteen colonies, that "they both had theirsoldiers ready according to the roll, and if more were wanting wouldfurnish more, and would perform with all diligence whatever else theRoman people commanded and wished; that to do this they wanted notmeans, and of inclination they had more than enough. " The consuls, having first told them that any praises bestowed by themselves aloneseemed too little for their deserts, unless the whole body of thefathers should thank them in the senate-house, led them before thesenate. The senate, having voted an address to them conceived in themost honourable terms, charged the consuls to take them before theassembly of the people; and, among the many other distinguishedservices rendered to themselves and their ancestors, to make mentionalso of this recent obligation conferred upon the state. Nor even atthe present day, after the lapse of so many ages let their names bepassed over in silence, nor let them be defrauded of the praise dueto them. They were the people of Signia, Norba, Saticulum, Brundusium, Fregellae, Lucerium Venusia, Adria, Firma, Ariminum; on the othersea, Pontius Paestum, and Cosa; and in the inland parts Beneventum, Aesernia, Spoletum, Placentia, and Cremona. By the support of thesecolonies the empire of the Roman people then stood; and the thanksboth of the senate and the people were given to them. As to the twelveother colonies which refused obedience, the fathers forbade that theirnames should be mentioned, that their ambassadors should either bedismissed or retained, to be addressed by the consuls. Such a tacitreproof appears most consistent with the dignity of the Roman people. While the consuls were getting in readiness all the other things whichwere necessary for the war, it was resolved that the vicesimary gold, which was preserved in the most sacred part of the treasury as aresource in cases of extreme exigencies should be drawn out. Therewere drawn out as many as four thousand pounds of gold, from whichfive hundred pounds each were given to the consuls, to MarcusMarcellus and Publius Sulpicius, proconsuls, and Lucius Veturius, the praetor, who had by lot obtained Gaul as his province; and inaddition, one hundred pounds of gold were given to the consul Fabius, as an extraordinary grant to be carried into the citadel of Tarentum. The rest they employed in contracts, for ready money, for clothingfor the army which was carrying on the war in Spain, to their own andtheir general glory. 

11. It was resolved also, that the prodigies should be expiated beforethe consuls set out from the city. In the Alban mount, the statue ofJupiter and a tree near the temple were struck by lightning; at Ostia, a grove; at Capua, a wall and the temple of Fortune; at Sinuessa, awall and a gate. Some also asserted, that water at Alba had flowedtinged with blood. That at Rome, within the cell of Fors Fortuna, animage, which was in the crown of the goddess, had fallen spontaneouslyfrom her head into her hands. At Privernum, it was satisfactorilyestablished that an ox spoke, and that a vulture flew down intoa shop, while the forum was crowded. And that a child was born atSinuessa, of ambiguous sex, between a male and female, such as arecommonly called Androgynes, a term derived from the Greek language, which is better adapted, as for most other purposes, so for thecomposition of words; also that it rained milk, and that a boy wasborn with the head of an elephant. These prodigies were then expiatedwith victims of the larger kind, and a supplication at every shrineand an offering up of prayers, was proclaimed for one day. It was alsodecreed, that Caius Hostilius, the praetor, should vow and performthe games in honour of Apollo as they had of late years been vowed andperformed. During the same time, Quintus Fulvius, the consul, held anelection for the creation of censors. Marcus Cornelius Cethegus, andPublius Sempronius Tuditanus, both of whom had not yet been consuls, were created censors. The question was put to the people on theauthority of the fathers, and the people ordered that these censorsshould let to farm the Campanian lands. The choosing of the senatewas delayed by a dispute which arose between the censors about theselection of a chief of the senate. The choice belonged to Sempronius;but Cornelius contended that the custom handed down by their fathersmust be followed, which was, that they should choose him as chief ofthe senate who was first censor of those who were then alive; this wasTitus Manlius Torquatus. Sempronius rejoined, that to whom the godshad given the lot of choosing, to him the same gods had given theright of exercising his discretion freely. That he would act in thisaffair according to his own free will, and would choose Quintus FabiusMaximus, whom he would prove to be the first man in the Roman state, even in the judgment of Hannibal. After a long verbal dispute, hiscolleague giving up the point, Quintus Fabius Maximus, the consul, waschosen, by Sempronius, chief of the senate. Another senate was thenchosen, and eight names were passed over; among which was thatof Lucius Caecilius Metellus, disrespected as the adviser of theabandonment of Italy, after the defeat at Cannae. In censuring thoseof the equestrian order, the same ground was acted upon, but therewere very few to whom that disgrace belonged. All of the equestrianorder belonging to the legions who had fought at Cannae, and were thenin Sicily, were deprived of their horses. To this severe punishmentthey added another relating to time, which was, that the past campaignwhich they had served on horses furnished at the public expense shouldnot be reckoned to them, but that they should serve ten campaigns onhorses furnished at their own expense. They also searched for, anddiscovered, a great number of those who ought to have served in thecavalry; and all those who were seventeen years old at the beginningof the war and had not served, they disfranchised. They thencontracted for the restoration of the seven shops, the shamble and theroyal palace, situated round the forum, and which had been consumed byfire. 

12. Having finished every thing which was to be done in Rome, theconsuls set out for the war. Fulvius first went advance to Capua; ina few days Fabius followed. He implored his colleague in person, and Marcellus by a letter use the most vigorous measures to detainHannibal, while he was making an attack upon Tarentum. That when thatcity was taken from the enemy, who had been repulsed on all sides andhad no place where he might make a stand or look back up as a saferetreat, he would not then have even a pretext for remaining in Italy. He also sent a messenger to Rhegium, the praefect of the garrison, which had been placed there the consul Laevinus, against theBruttians, and consisted eight thousand men, the greater part ofwhom had been brought from Agathyrna in Sicily, as has been beforementioned, and were men who had been accustomed to live by rapine. Tothese were added fugitives of the Bruttians natives of that country, equal to them in daring, and under an equal necessity of bravingevery thing. This band ordered to be marched, first, to lay waste theBruttian territory, and then to attack the city Caulonia. After havingexecuted the order, not only with alacrity, but avidity, and havingpillaged and put to flight the cultivators of the land they attackedthe city with the utmost vigour. Marcellus incited by the letter ofthe consul, and because he had made up his mind that no Roman generalwas so good a match for Hannibal as himself, set out from his winterquarters as soon as there was plenty of forage in the fields, and metHannibal at Canusium. The Carthaginian was then endeavouring to inducethe Canusians to revolt, but as soon as he heard that Marcellus wasapproaching, he decamped thence. The country was open, without anycovers adapted for an ambuscade; he therefore began to retire thenceinto woody districts. Marcellus closely pursued him, pitched his campclose to his, and when he had completed his works, led out his troopsinto the field. Hannibal engaged in slight skirmishes, and sentout single troops of horse and the spearmen from his infantry, notconsidering it necessary to hazard a general battle. He was, however, drawn on to a contest of that kind which he was avoiding. Hannibal haddecamped by night, but was overtaken by Marcellus in a plain and opencountry. Then, while encamping, Marcellus, by attacking the workmenon all hands, prevented the completion of his works. Thus a pitchedbattle ensued, and all their forces were brought into action; butnight coming on, they retired from an equal contest. They then hastilyfortified their camps, which were a small space apart, before night. The next day, as soon as it was light, Marcellus led out his troopsinto the field; nor did Hannibal decline the challenge, but exhortedhis soldiers at great length, desiring them "to remember Trasimenusand Cannae, and thus quell the proud spirit of their enemies. " Hesaid, "the enemy pressed upon him, and trod upon their heels; that hedid not allow them to pass unmolested, pitch their camp, or even takebreath and look around them; that every day, the rising sun and theRoman troops in battle-array were to be seen together on the plains. But if in one battle he should retire from the field, not without lossof blood, he would then prosecute the war more steadily and quietly. "Fired by these exhortations, and at the same time wearied with thepresumption of the enemy, who daily pressed upon them and provokedthem to an engagement, they commenced the battle with spirit. Thebattle continued for more than two hours, when the right wing ofthe allies and the chosen band began to give way on the part of theRomans; which Marcellus perceiving, led the eighteenth legion to thefront. While some were retiring in confusion, and others werecoming up reluctantly, the whole line was thrown into disorder, andafterwards completely routed; while their fears getting the better oftheir sense of shame, they turned their backs. In the battle and inthe flight there fell as many as two thousand seven hundred of thecitizens and allies; among which were four Roman centurions and twomilitary tribunes, Marcus Licinius and Marcus Helvius. Four militarystandards were lost by the wing which first fled, and two belonging tothe legion which came up in place of the retiring allies. 

13. Marcellus, on his return to the camp, delivered an address tohis soldiers so severe and acrimonious, that the words of theirexasperated general were more painful to them than what they hadsuffered in the unsuccessful battle during the whole day. "I praiseand thank the immortal gods, " said he "that in such an affair thevictorious enemy did not assail our very camp, when you were hurryinginto the rampart and the gates with such consternation. There can beno doubt but you would have abandoned the camp with the same cowardicewith which you gave up the battle. What panic was this? What terror?What sudden forgetfulness of who you are, and who the persons withwhom you were fighting, took possession of your minds? Surely theseare the same enemies in conquering and pursuing whom when conqueredyou spent the preceding summer; whom latterly you have been closelypursuing while they fled before you night and day; whom you havewearied by partial battles; whom yesterday you would not allow eitherto march or encamp. I pass over those things in which you might beallowed to glory; I will mention a circumstance which of itself oughtto fill you with shame and remorse. Yesterday you separated from theenemy on equal terms. What alteration has last night, what on thisday, produced? Have your forces been diminished by them, or theirsincreased? I verily do not seem to be talking to my own troops, orto Roman soldiers. The bodies and the arms are the same. Had youpossessed the same spirit, would the enemy have seen your backs? Wouldthey have carried off a standard from any company or cohort? Hithertohe was wont to boast of having cut to pieces the Roman legions, butyesterday you gave him the glory, for the first time, of having putto flight an army. " On this many soldiers began to call upon him topardon them for that day, and entreat that he would now, whenever hepleased, make trial of the courage of his soldiers. "I will indeedmake trial of you, " said he, "and to-morrow I will lead you into thefield, that in the character of conquerors, rather than conquered men, you may obtain the pardon you seek. " To the cohorts which hadlost their standards, he ordered that barley should be given. Thecenturions of the Campanians, whose standards were lost, he left tostand without their girdles and with their swords drawn; and gaveorders that all, both horse and foot, should be ready under armson the following day. Thus the assembly was dismissed; the soldiersconfessing that they had been justly and deservedly rebuked; and thatthere was no one in the whole Roman army who had acquitted himselflike a man, except the general, to whom they were bound to makeatonement, either by their death or a glorious victory. The nextday they appeared in readiness, according to the order, armed andequipped. The general praised them, and gave out, that "he shouldlead into the first line those who had commenced the flight on thepreceding day, and those cohorts which had lost their standards. Henow charged them all to fight and conquer, and exert every effort, oneand all, that the intelligence of yesterday's flight might not arriveat Rome before that of this day's victory. " They were then orderedto refresh themselves with food, in order that, if the fight shouldcontinue longer than might be expected, their strength might not fail. After every thing had been done and said, by which the courage of thesoldiers might be roused, they advanced into the field. 

14. Hannibal, on receiving intelligence of this, said, "surely theenemy we have to do with can neither bear good nor bad fortune. If heis victorious, he fiercely pursues the vanquished. If conquered, herenews the contest with the victors. " He then ordered the signal tobe given, and led out his forces. The battle was fought on both sideswith much more spirit than the day before. The Carthaginians exertingthemselves to the utmost, to keep the glory they had acquiredyesterday; the Romans, to remove their disgrace. On the side of theRomans, the left wing, and the cohorts which had lost their standards, fought in the first line, and the twentieth legion was drawn up onthe right wing. Lucius Cornelius Lentulus and Caius Claudius Nero, lieutenant-generals, commanded the wings, Marcellus gave vigour to thecentre by his presence, as an encourager and a witness. On the partof Hannibal, the Spaniards, who were the flower of his whole army, occupied the front line. After the battle had continued doubtful fora long time, Hannibal ordered the elephants to be advanced into thefront line, if by that means any confusion or panic could be created. At first, they threw the troops into confusion and broke their ranks, and treading some under foot, and dispersing others who were roundthem by the alarm they created, had made an opening in one part of theRoman line; and the flight would have spread more widely had not CaiusDecimus Flavius, a military tribune seizing the standard of the firstmaniple of the spearmen ordered that maniple to follow him. He ledthem to the spot where the elephants, collected in a body, werecreating the greatest confusion, and ordered them to discharge theirjavelins at them. As there was no difficulty in hitting such bulkybodies at a short distance, and where so many were crowded together, all their javelins stuck in them. But they were not all wounded, sothose in whose hides the javelins stuck, as that race of animals isnot to be depended on, by taking themselves to flight, drove awaythose also which were untouched. At that moment not only one maniple, but all the soldiers who could but overtake the body of retreatingelephants, threw their javelins at them, each man exerting himself tohis utmost. With so much greater impetuosity did the animals rush upontheir own men, and so much greater carnage did they make amongstthem than they had made amongst their enemies, in proportion as theviolence with which they are impelled, and the consternation producedby them when under the influence of fear, is greater than when theyare ruled by their masters seated on their backs. The Roman infantrybore their standards against the line of the enemy when thrown intodisorder by the elephants which had crossed over to them, and, thus scattered and confused, led them to flight without any greatopposition. Marcellus sent his cavalry after them as they fled;nor did they desist from the pursuit till they were driven inconsternation to their camp. For in addition to the other causes whichoccasioned terror and dismay, two elephants had fallen just by thegate, and the soldiers were compelled to rush into the camp over theditch and rampart. Here the greatest slaughter of the enemy occurred. There fell as many as eight thousand men and five elephants. Nor didthe Romans gain a bloodless victory; about seventeen hundred of thetwo legions, and thirteen hundred of the allies were slain; a greatnumber of the Romans and allies were wounded. The following nightHannibal decamped. The great number of the wounded prevented Marcellusfrom following him, as he desired. 

15. The spies who were sent to watch his movements brought word backthe next day that Hannibal was making for Bruttium. Much aboutthe same time the Hirpinians, Lucanians, and Volcentes surrenderedthemselves to the consul, Quintus Fulvius, delivering up the garrisonsof Hannibal which they had in their cities. They were mildly receivedby the consul, with only a verbal reproof for their past error. Tothe Bruttians also similar hopes of pardon were held out, when twobrothers, Vibius and Pactius, by far the most illustrious persons ofthat nation, came from them to solicit the same terms of surrenderwhich had been given to the Lucanians. Quintus Fabius, the consul, took by storm Manduria, a town in the territory of Sallentum, whereas many as four thousand men were made prisoners, and much booty takenbesides. Proceeding thence to Tarentum, he pitched his camp in thevery mouth of the harbour: of the ships which Livius had employed forprotecting convoys, some he loaded with engines and implements forattacking walls, others he furnished with machines for dischargingmissiles, and with stones and missiles of every kind; not only thosewhich were impelled with oars, but the storeships also, in order thatsome might carry the engines and ladders to the walls, while othersmight wound the defenders of the walls by discharging missiles fromthe ships at a distance. These ships were fitted up and preparedto attack the town from the open sea; and the sea was free from theCarthaginian fleet, which had crossed over to Corcyra on account ofPhilip's preparing to attack the Aetolians. Meanwhile, those who wereattacking Caulon, in the territory of Bruttium, fearful lest theyshould be overpowered, had retired on the approach of Hannibal to aneminence, secure from an immediate attack. While Fabius was besiegingTarentum, he received assistance in the accomplishment of that greatobject by a circumstance which in the mere mention, is unimportant. Tarentum was occupied by a garrison of Bruttians, given them byHannibal and the commander of that garrison was desperately in lovewith a girl, whose brother was in the army of the consul Fabius. Beinginformed, by a letter from his sister, of the new acquaintance shehad formed with a wealthy stranger and one so honoured among hiscountrymen, and conceiving a hope that the lover, by means of hissister, might be induced to any thing she pleased, he acquaintedthe consul with the hope he had formed. His reasoning appeared notaltogether unfounded, and he was desired to go to Tarentum as adeserter and having gained the confidence of the praefect by means ofhis sister, he began by sounding his disposition in a covert manner, and then, having sufficiently ascertained his weakness, induced him, by the aid of female fascinations, to the betrayal of that custody ofthe place to which he was appointed. After the method to be pursuedand the time for putting the plan into effect had been agreed upon, asoldier, who was sent out of the city by night clandestinely, throughthe intervals between the guards, related to the consul what had beendone, and what had been agreed upon to be done. At the first watch, Fabius, on a signal given to those who were in the citadel, and thosewho had the custody of the harbour went himself round the harbour, andtook up a position of concealment, on the side of the city which facedthe east. Then the trumpets began to sound at once from the citadel, the harbour, and the ships which had been brought to the shore fromthe open sea, and a shout was purposely raised, accompanied with thegreatest confusion, in whatever quarter there was the least danger. Meanwhile, the consul kept the men in silence. Democrates, therefore, who had formerly commanded the fleet, and happened to be in command inthe quarter, seeing that all was quiet around him, while other partsof the city resounded with such a din that sometimes shout like thatof a captured city was raised, and fearing loss while he hesitated, the consul should make some attack and advance his standards, ledhis party over to the citadel, from which the most alarming noiseproceeded. Fabius, concluding that the guard was withdrawn, both fromthe time which had elapsed and from the silence which prevailed, fornot a voice met the ear from a quarter where a little while ago thenoise and bustle of men resounded, rousing and calling each other toarms, ordered the ladders to be carried to that part of the wall wherethe person who had contrived the plot for betraying the city, hadinformed him that the Bruttian cohort kept guard. The wall was firstcaptured in that quarter, the Bruttians aiding and receiving theRomans; and here they got over into the city: after which the nearestgate was broken open in order that the troops might enter in a largebody. Then raising a shout, they proceeded to the forum, where theyarrived much about daybreak, without meeting a single armed man; anddrew upon themselves the attention of all the troops in every quarter, which were fighting at the citadel and at the harbour. 

16. A battle was fought in the entrance of the forum, with greaterimpetuosity than perseverance. The Tarentines were not equal to theRomans in spirit, in their arms, in tactics, in activity or strengthof body. Accordingly, having just discharged their javelins, theyturned their backs almost before they had joined battle, and escapedin different directions through the streets of the city, with whichthey were acquainted, to their own houses and those of their friends. Two of their leaders, Nico and Democrates, fell while fightingbravely. Philomenus, who was the author of the plot for betraying thecity to Hannibal, rode away from the battle at full speed. Shortlyafter, his horse, which was loose and straying through the city, was recognised, but his body could not be found any where. It wasgenerally believed that he had pitched headlong from his horse into anopen well. Carthalo, the praefect of the Carthaginian garrison, whilecoming to the consul unarmed, to put him in mind of a connexion ofhospitality which subsisted between their fathers, was put to deathby a soldier who met him. The rest were put to the sword on all hands, armed and unarmed indiscriminately, Carthaginians and Tarentineswithout distinction. Many of the Bruttians also were slain either bymistake or on account of an old grudge entertained against them, orelse with a view to the report that the city was betrayed; in orderthat Tarentum might rather appear to have been captured by force ofarms. The troops then ran off in all directions from the slaughter, to plunder the city. Thirty thousand slaves are said to havebeen captured; an immense quantity of silver, wrought and coined;eighty-three thousand pounds of gold; of statues and pictures so manythat they almost equalled the decorations of Syracuse. But Fabius, with more magnanimity than Marcellus, abstained from booty of thatkind. When his secretary asked him what he wished to be done with thestatues of their gods, which are of immense size and represented asfighting, each having his peculiar habit, he gave orders that theirangry gods should be left in the possession of the Tarentines. Afterthis, the wall which separated the city from the citadel was razed anddemolished. While things were going on thus at Tarentum, Hannibal, to whom the troops engaged in the siege of Caulonia had surrenderedthemselves, hearing of the siege of Tarentum, marched with thegreatest expedition both night and day; but hearing that the city wastaken, as he was hastening to bring assistance to it, he exclaimed, "the Romans too have their Hannibal. We have lost Tarentum by the samearts by which we took it. " However, that he might not appear to haveturned his army in the manner of a fugitive, he encamped where hehad halted, about five miles from the city. After staying there afew days, he retired to Metapontum, from which place he sent twoMetapontines with letters from the principal men in the state toFabius at Tarentum, to the effect, that they would accept of hispromise that their past conduct should be unpunished, on conditionof their betraying Metapontum together with the Carthaginian garrisoninto his hands. Fabius, who supposed that the communication theybrought was genuine, appointed a day on which he would go toMetapontum, and gave the letters to the nobles, which were put intothe hands of Hannibal. He, forsooth, delighted at the success of hisstratagem, which showed that not even Fabius was proof against hiscunning, planted an ambuscade not far from Metapontum. But when Fabiuswas taking the auspices, before he took his departure from Tarentum, the birds more than once refused approval. Also, on consulting thegods after sacrificing a victim, the aruspex forewarned him to be onhis guard against hostile treachery and ambuscade. After the day fixedfor his arrival had passed without his coming, the Metapontines weresent again to encourage him, delaying, but they were instantly seized, and, from apprehension of a severer mode of examination, disclosed theplot. 

17. In the beginning of the summer during which these events occurred, after Publius Scipio had employed the whole of the winter in Spain inregaining the affections of the barbarians, partly by presents, andpartly by sending home their hostages and prisoners, Edesco, a mandistinguished among the Spanish commanders, came to him. His wife andchildren were in the hands of the Romans; but besides this motive, he was influenced by that apparently fortuitous turn in the state offeeling which had converted the whole of Spain from the Carthaginianto the Roman cause. The same motive induced Indibilis and Mandonius, who were undoubtedly the principal men in all Spain, to desertHasdrubal and withdraw with the whole body of their countrymen to theeminences which overhung his camp, from which they had a safe retreatalong a chain of hills to the Romans. Hasdrubal, perceiving that thestrength of the enemy was increasing by such large accessions, whilehis own was diminishing, and that events would continue to flow in thesame course they had taken, unless by a bold effort he effected somealteration, resolved to come to an engagement as soon as possible. Scipio was still more eager for a battle, as well from hope whichthe success attending his operations had increased, as because hepreferred, before the junction of the enemy's forces, to fight withone general and one army, rather than with their united troops. However, in case he should be obliged to fight with more armies thanone at the same time, he had with some ingenuity augmented his forces;for seeing that there was no necessity for ships, as the whole coastof Spain was clear of Carthaginian fleets, he hauled his ships onshore at Tarraco and added his mariners to his land forces. Hehad plenty of arms for them, both those which had been captured atCarthage, and those which he had caused to be made after its capture, so large a number of workmen having been employed. With these forces, setting out from Tarraco at the commencement of the spring, forLaelius had now returned from Rome, without whom he wished nothingof very great importance to be attempted, Scipio marched against theenemy. Indibilis and Mandonius, with their forces, met him while onhis march; passing through every place Without molestation, hisallies receiving him courteously, and escorting him as he passed theboundaries of each district. Indibilis, who spoke for both, addressedhim by no means stupidly and imprudently like a barbarian, but with amodest gravity, rather excusing the change as necessary, than gloryingthat the present opportunity had been eagerly seized as the firstwhich had occurred. "For he well knew, " he said, "that the name ofa deserter was an object of execration to former allies, and ofsuspicion to new ones; nor did he blame the conduct of mankind inthis respect, provided, however, that the cause, and not the name, occasioned the twofold hatred. " He then recounted the services theyhad rendered the Carthaginian generals, and on the other hand theirrapacity and insolence, together with the injuries of every kindcommitted against themselves and their countrymen. "On this account, "he said, "his person only up to that time had been with them, hisheart had long since been on that side where he believed thatright and justice were respected. That people sought for refuge, as suppliants, even with the gods when they could not endure theoppression and injustice of men. What he had to entreat of Scipiowas, that their passing over to him might neither be the occasion ofa charge of fraud nor a ground for respect, but that he would estimatetheir services according to what sort of men he should find them to befrom experience from that day. " The Roman replied, that "he would doso in every particular; nor would he consider those men as deserterswho did not look upon an alliance as binding where no law, divine orhuman, was unviolated. " Their wives and children were then broughtbefore them and restored to them; on which occasion they wept for joy. On that day they were conducted to a lodging; on the following theywere received as allies, by a treaty, after which they were sent tobring up their forces. From that time they had their tents in the samecamp with the Romans, until under their guidance they had reached theenemy. 

18. The army of Hasdrubal, which was the nearest of the Carthaginianarmies, lay near the city Baecula. Before his camp he had outpostsof cavalry. On these the light-armed, those who fought before thestandards and those who composed the vanguard, as they came upfrom their march, and before they chose the ground for their camp, commenced an attack in so contemptuous a manner, that it was perfectlyevident what degree of spirit each party possessed. The cavalry weredriven into their camp in disorderly flight, and the Roman standardswere advanced almost within their very gates. Their minds on that dayhaving only been excited to a contest, the Romans pitched their camp. At night Hasdrubal withdrew his forces to an eminence, on the summitof which extended a level plain. There was a river on the rear, infront and on either side a kind of steep bank completely surroundedits extremity. Beneath this and lower down was another plain ofgentle declivity, which was also surrounded by a similar ridge equallydifficult of ascent. Into this lower plain Hasdrubal, the next day, when he saw the troops of the enemy drawn up before their camp, senthis Numidian cavalry and light-armed Baleares. Scipio riding out tothe companies and battalions, pointed out to them, that "the enemyhaving abandoned, beforehand, all hope of being able to withstandthem on level ground, had resorted to hills: where they stood in view, relying on the strength of their position, and not on their valour andarms. " But the walls of Carthage, which the Roman soldiers had scaled, were still higher. That neither hills, nor a citadel, nor even the seaitself, had formed an impediment to their arms. That the heightswhich the enemy had occupied would only have the effect of making itnecessary for them to leap down crags and precipices in their flight, but he would even cut off that kind of retreat. He accordingly gaveorders to two cohorts, that one of them should occupy the entrance ofthe valley down which the river ran, and that the other should blockup the road which led from the city into the country, over the sideof the hill. He himself led the light troops, which the day beforehad driven in the advanced guard of the enemy, against the light-armedtroops which were stationed on the lower ridge. At first they marchedthrough rugged ground, impeded by nothing except the road; afterwards, when they came within reach of the darts, an immense quantity ofweapons of every description was showered upon them; while on theirpart, not only the soldiers, but a multitude of servants mingled withthe troops, threw stones furnished by the place, which were spreadabout in every part, and for the most part convenient as missiles. Butthough the ascent was difficult, and they were almost overwhelmed withstones and darts, yet from their practice in approaching walls andtheir inflexibility of mind, the foremost succeeded in getting up. These, as soon as they got upon some level ground and could stand withfirm footing, compelled the enemy, who were light-armed troops adaptedfor skirmishing, and could defend themselves at a distance, where anelusive kind of fight is carried on by the discharge of missiles, butyet wanted steadiness for a close action, to fly from their position;and, killing a great many, drove them to the troops which stood abovethem on the higher eminence. Upon this Seipio, having ordered thevictorious troops to mount up and attack the centre of the enemy, divided the rest of his forces with Laelius; whom he directed to goround the hill to the right till he could find a way of easier ascent, while he himself, making a small circuit to the left, charged theenemy in flank. In consequence of this their line was first throwninto confusion, while they endeavoured to wheel round and face abouttheir ranks towards the shouts which resounded from every quarteraround them. During this confusion Laelius also came up, and while theenemy were retreating, that they might not be exposed to wounds frombehind, their front line became disjoined, and a space was leftfor the Roman centre to mount up; who, from the disadvantage of theground, never could have done so had their ranks stood unbroken withthe elephants stationed in front. While the troops of the enemy werebeing slain on all sides, Scipio, who with his left wing had chargedthe right of the enemy, was chiefly employed in attacking their nakedflank. And now there was not even room to fly; for parties of theRoman troops had blocked up the roads on both sides, right and left, and the gate of the camp was closed by the flight of the general andprincipal officers; added to which was the fright of the elephants, who, when in consternation, were as much feared by them as the enemywere. There were, therefore, slain as many as eight thousand men. 

19. Hasdrubal, having seized upon the treasure before he engaged, nowsent the elephants in advance, and collecting as many of the flyingtroops as he could, directed his course along the river Tagus tothe Pyrenees. Scipio, having got possession of the enemy's camp, andgiving up all the booty to the soldiers, except the persons of freecondition, found, on counting the prisoners, ten thousand foot and twothousand horse. Of these, all who were Spaniards he sent home withoutransom; the Africans he ordered the quaestor to sell. After this, amultitude of Spaniards, consisting of those who had surrendered tohim before and those whom he had captured the preceding day, crowdingaround, one and all saluted him as king; when Scipio, after theherald had obtained silence, declared that "in his estimation the mosthonourable title was that of general, which his soldiers had conferredupon him. That the name of king, which was in other countries revered, could not be endured at Rome. That they might tacitly consider hisspirit as kingly, if they thought that the highest excellence whichcould be attributed to the human mind, but that they must abstain fromthe use of the term. " Even barbarians were sensible of the greatnessof mind which could from such an elevation despise a name, at thegreatness of which the rest of mankind were overawed. Presentswere then distributed to the petty princes and leading men ofthe Spaniards, and out of the great quantity of horses which werecaptured, he desired Indibilis to select those he liked best to thenumber of three hundred. While the quaestor was selling the Africans, according to the command of the general, he found among them afull-grown youth remarkably handsome; and hearing that he was of royalblood, he sent him to Scipio. On being asked by Scipio "who he was, of what country, and why at that age he was in the camp?" he replied, "that he was a Numidian, that his countrymen called him Massiva; thatbeing left an orphan by his father, he was educated by his maternalgrandfather, Gala, the king of the Numidians. That he had passed overinto Spain with his uncle Masinissa, who had lately come with a bodyof cavalry to assist the Carthaginians. That having been prohibited byMasinissa on account of his youth, he had never before been in battle. That the day on which the battle took place with the Romans, he hadclandestinely taken a horse and arms, and, without the knowledge ofhis uncle, gone out into the field, where his horse falling forward, he was thrown headlong, and taken prisoner by the Romans. " Scipio, having ordered that the Numidian should be taken care of, completedthe business which remained to be done on the tribunal, and returningto his pavilion, asked him, when he had been called to him, whether hewished to return to Masinissa? Upon his replying, with tears of joy, that he did indeed desire it, he presented the youth with a gold ring, a vest with a broad purple border, a Spanish cloak with a gold clasp, and a horse completely caparisoned, and then dismissed him, ordering aparty of horse to escort him as far as he chose. 

20. A council was then held respecting the war; when some advised thathe should endeavour to overtake Hasdrubal forthwith. But thinking thathazardous, lest Mago and the other Hasdrubal should unite their forceswith his, he sent a body of troops to occupy the pass of the Pyrenees, and employed the remainder of the summer in receiving the states ofSpain into his alliance. A few days after the battle of Baecula, whenScipio on his return to Tarraco had now cleared the pass of Castulo, the generals, Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, and Mago came from the fartherSpain and joined Hasdrubal; a late assistance after the defeat he hadsustained, though their arrival was somewhat seasonable, for counselwith respect to the further prosecution of the war. They thenconsulted together as to what was the feeling of the Spaniards in thequarters where their several provinces were situated, when Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, alone gave it as his opinion, that the remotest tract ofSpain which borders on the ocean and Gades, was, as yet, unacquaintedwith the Romans, and might therefore be somewhat friendly to theCarthaginians. Between the other Hasdrubal and Mago it was agreed, that "Scipio by his good offices had gained the affections of all, both publicly and privately; and that there would be no end ofdesertions till all the Spanish soldiers were removed to the remotestparts of Spain, or were marched over into Gaul. That, therefore, though the Carthaginian senate had not decreed it, Hasdrubal must, nevertheless, march into Italy, the principal seat and object of thewar; and thus at the same time lead away all the Spanish soldiers outof Spain far from the name of Scipio. That the army, which had beendiminished by desertions and defeats, should be recruited by Spanishsoldiers. That Mago, having delivered over his army to Hasdrubal, sonof Gisgo, should himself pass over to the Baleares with a large sum ofmoney to hire auxiliaries; that Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, shouldretire with the army into the remotest part of Lusitania, and avoid anencounter with the Romans. That a body of three thousand horse shouldbe made up for Masinissa, the flower of the whole cavalry; and thathe, shifting about from place to place throughout hither Spain shouldsuccour their allies and commit depredations on the towns and landsof their enemies. " Having adopted these resolutions, the generalsdeparted to put in execution what they had resolved on. Such were thetransactions in Spain of this year. At Rome the reputation of Scipioincreased daily. The capture of Tarentum, though effected by artificemore than valour, was considered honourable to Fabius. The fame ofFulvius was on the wane. Marcellus was even under an ill report, notonly because he had failed in his first battle, but further, becausewhile Hannibal was going wherever he pleased throughout Italy, he hadled his troops to Venusia in the midst of summer to lodge in houses. Caius Publicius Bibulus, a tribune of the people, was hostile to him. This man, ever since the time of his first battle which had failed, had in constant harangues made Claudius obnoxious and odious to thepeople; and now his object was to deprive him of his command. Theconnexions of Marcellus, however, then obtained leave that Marcellus, leaving a lieutenant-general at Venusia, should return to Rome toclear himself of the charges which his enemies were urging, and thatthe question of depriving him of his command should not be agitatedduring his absence. It happened that nearly at the same time, Marcellus, and Quintius Fulvius the consul, came to Rome, the formerto exonerate himself from ignominy, the latter on account of theelections. 

21. The question touching Marcellus's command was debated in theFlaminian circus, in the presence of an immense concourse of plebeiansand persons of every rank. The plebeian tribune accused, not onlyMarcellus, but the nobility generally. "It was owing, " he said, "totheir dishonesty and dilatory conduct, that Hannibal occupied Italy, as though it were his province, for now ten years; that he had passedmore of his life there than at Carthage. That the Roman people wereenjoying the fruits of the prolonged command of Marcellus; that hisarmy, after having been twice defeated, was now spending the summerat Venusia lodged in houses. " Marcellus so completely destroyed theeffect of this harangue of the tribune, by the recital of the serviceshe had rendered, that not only the bill for depriving him of hiscommand was thrown out, but the following day he was created consulby the votes of all the centuries with wonderful unanimity. TitusQuinctius Crispinus, who was then praetor, was joined with him as hiscolleague. The next day Publius Licinius Crassus Dives, then chiefpontiff, Publius Licinius Varus, Sextus Julius Caesar, and QuintusClaudius Flamen were created praetors. At the very time of theelection, the public were thrown into a state of anxiety relative tothe defection of Etruria. Caius Calpurnius, who held that province aspropraetor, had written word that the Arretians had originated sucha scheme. Accordingly Marcellus, consul elect, was immediately sentthither to look into the affair, and if it should appear to him ofsufficient consequence, to send for his army and transfer the war fromApulia to Etruria. The Tuscans, checked by the alarm thus occasioned, desisted. To the ambassadors of Tarentum, who solicited a treaty ofpeace securing to them their liberty and the enjoyment of their ownlaws, the senate answered, that they might return when the consulFabius came to Rome. The Roman and plebeian games were this yearrepeated each for one day. The curule aediles were, Lucius CorneliusCaudinus and Servius Sulpicius Galba; the plebeian aediles, CaiusServilius and Quintus Caecilius Metellus. It was asserted thatServilius was not qualified to be plebeian tribune or aedile, becauseit was satisfactorily established that his father, who, for ten years, was supposed to have been killed by the Boii in the neighbourhood ofMutina, when acting as triumvir for the distribution of lands, wasalive and in the hands of the enemy. 

22. In the eleventh year of the Punic war, Marcus Marcellus, for thefifth time, reckoning in the consulate in which he did not act inconsequence of an informality in his creation, and Titus QuinctiusCrispinus entered upon the office of consuls. To both the consuls theprovince of Italy was decreed, with both the consular armies of theformer year; (the third was then at Venusia, being that which MarcusMarcellus had commanded. ) That out of the three armies the consulsmight, choose whichever two they liked, and that the third shouldbe delivered to him to whose lot the province of Tarentum and theterritory of Sallentum fell. The other provinces were thus distributedamong the praetors: Publius Licinius Varus had the city jurisdiction, Publius Licinius Crassus, chief pontiff, the foreign, and whereverthe senate though proper. Sextus Julius Caesar had Sicily, and QuintusClaudius Flamen, Tarentum. Quintus Fulvius Flaccus was to continuein command for a year, and hold the province of Capua, which had beenheld by Titus Quinctius, with one legion. Caius Hostilius Tubuluswas also continued in command, with orders to go into Etruria, in thecapacity of propraetor, and succeed Caius Calpurnius in the commandof the two legions there. Lucius Veturius Philo was also continued incommand, to hold in the capacity of propraetor the same province ofGaul with the same two legions with which he had held it as praetor. The senate decreed the same with respect to Caius Aurunculeius, who, as praetor, had held the province of Sardinia with two legions, which it did in the case of Lucius Veturius, and the question of thecontinuation of his command was proposed to the people. He had inaddition, for the protection of the province, fifty ships whichPublius Scipio had sent from Spain. To Publius Scipio and MarcusSilanus, their present province of Spain and their present armies wereassigned. Of the eighty ships which he had with him, some taken fromItaly and others captured at Carthage, Scipio was ordered to sendfifty to Sardinia, in consequence of a report that great navalpreparations were making at Carthage that year; and that the intentionof the Carthaginians was to blockade the whole coasts of Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia with two hundred ships. In Sicily also thefollowing distribution was made: to Sextus Caesar the troops of Cannaewere assigned; Marcus Valerius Laevinus, who was also continued incommand, was to have the fleet of seventy ships which was at Sicily, adding to it the thirty ships which the preceding year were stationedat Tarentum. With this fleet of a hundred ships he was ordered to passover into Africa, if he thought proper, and collect booty. PubliusSulpicius was also continued in command for a year, to hold theprovince of Macedonia and Greece, with the same fleet. No alterationwas made with regard to the two legions which were at Rome. Permissionwas given to the consuls to enlist as many troops as were necessaryto complete the numbers. This year the Roman empire was defended bytwenty-one legions. Publius Licinius Varus, the city praetor, was alsocommissioned to repair the thirty old men of war which lay at Ostia, and to man twenty new ones with full complements, in order that hemight defend the sea-coast in the neighbourhood hood of Rome with afleet of fifty ships. Caius Calpurnius was ordered not to move hisarmy from Arretium till his successor had arrived. Both he and Tubuluswere ordered to be particularly careful, lest any new plots should beformed in that quarter. 

23. The praetors set out for their provinces. The consul were detainedby religious affairs; for receiving intelligence of several prodigies, they could not easily obtain a favourable appearance from the victims. It was reported from Campania, that two temples, those of Fortuneand Mars, and several sepulchres, had been struck by lightning. FromCumae, so does superstition connect the deities with the most triflingcircumstances, that mice had gnawed some gold in the temple ofJupiter. That an immense swarm of bees had settled in the forum atCasinum. That at Ostia a wall and gate had been struck by lightning. At Caere, that a vulture had flown into the temple of Jupiter. That blood had flowed from a lake at Volsinii. On account of theseprodigies, a supplication was performed for one day. For several days, victims of the larger kind were sacrificed without any favourableappearance, and for a long time the good will of the gods could not beobtained. The fatal event indicated by these portents pointed to thepersons of the consuls, the state being unaffected. The Apollinariangames were first celebrated by Publius Cornelius Sulla, the citypraetor, in the consulate of Quintus Fulvius and Appius Claudius; fromthat time all the city praetors in succession had performed them;but they vowed them for one year only, and fixed no day for theirperformance. This year a grievous pestilence attacked the city and thecountry; it showed itself, however, in protracted rather than fataldiseases. On account of this pestilence supplication was performed inevery street throughout the city; and Publius Licinius Varus, the citypraetor, was ordered to propose to the people a law to the effect, that a vow should be made to perform these games on a stated day forever. He himself was the first who vowed them in this manner, and hecelebrated them on the third day of the nones of July, a day which washenceforth kept sacred. 

24. The reports respecting the people of Arretium became daily moreserious, and the anxiety of the fathers increased. A letter wastherefore written to Caius Hostilius, directing him not to delaytaking hostages from that people; and Caius Terentius Varro was sent, with a command, to receive from him the hostages and convey them toRome. On his arrival, Hostilius immediately ordered one legion, whichwas encamped before the city, to march into it; and having postedguards in suitable places, he summoned the senate into the forum anddemanded hostages of them. On the senate's requesting a delay of twodays to consider the matter, he declared that they must themselvesgive them forthwith, or he would the next day take all the children ofthe senators. After this the military tribunes, the praefects of theallies, and the centurions, were ordered to keep watch at the gates, that no one might go out by night. This duty was not performed withsufficient care and attention, for seven of the principal senators, with their children, escaped before night, and before the guards wereposted at the gates. The next day, as soon as it was light, the senatebegan to be summoned into the forum, when they were missed and theirgoods were sold. From the rest of the senators one hundred and twentyhostages, consisting of their own children, were taken and deliveredover to Caius Terentius to be conveyed to Rome. Before the senate hemade every thing more suspected than before. Considering, therefore, that there was imminent danger of a commotion in Tuscany, they orderedCaius Terentius himself to lead one of the city legions to Arretium, and to employ it for the protection of the city. It was also resolved, that Caius Hostilius, with the other army, should traverse the wholeprovince, and use precautions, that no opportunity might be affordedto those who were desirous of altering the state of things. On hisarrival at Arretium with the legion, Terentius asked the magistratesfor the keys of the gates, when they declared they could not be found;but he, believing that they had been put out of the way with some badintention rather than lost through negligence, took upon himself tohave fresh locks put upon all the gates, and used diligent care tokeep every thing in his own power. He earnestly cautioned Hostiliusto rest his hope in this; that the Tuscans would remain quiet, if heshould take care that not a step could be taken. 

25. The case of the Tarentines was then warmly debated in the senate, Fabius being present, and himself defending those whom he had subduedby force of arms, while others entertained an angry feeling towardsthem; the greater part comparing them with the Campanians in guiltand punishment. A decree of the senate was passed conformably tothe opinion of Manius Acilius, that the town should be guarded bya garrison, and that all the Tarentines should be kept within theirwalls; and further, that the question touching their conduct should behereafter laid before the senate afresh when the state of Italy shouldbe more tranquil. The case of Marcus Livius, praefect of the citadelof Tarentum, was also debated with no less warmth; some proposing avote of censure against the praefect on the ground that Tarentum wasbetrayed to the enemy through his negligence, others proposing rewardsfor having defended the citadel for five years, and because Tarentumhad been recovered chiefly by his single efforts; while some, adoptingan intermediate course, declared that it appertained to the censors, and not to the senate, to take cognizance of his case; and of thislatter opinion was Fabius, who added, however, "that he admitted thatthe recovery of Tarentum was owing to the efforts of Livius, as hisfriends openly boasted in the senate, but that there would have beenno necessity for its recovery, had it not been lost. " One of theconsuls, Titus Quinctius Crispinus, set out for Lucania, with sometroops to make up the numbers, to take the command of the army whichhad served under Quintus Fulvius Flaccus. Marcellus was detained bya succession of religious scruples, which presented themselves to hismind. One of which was, that when in the Gallic war at Clastidium hehad vowed a temple to Honour and Valour, its dedication was impededby the pontiffs, who said, that one shrine could not with proprietybe dedicated to two deities; because if it should be struck withlightning or any kind of portent should happen in it, the expiationwould be attended with difficulty as it could not be ascertainedto which deity sacrifice ought to be made; nor could one victimbe lawfully offered to two deities, unless in particular cases. Accordingly another temple to Virtue was erected with all speed. Nevertheless, these temples were not dedicated by Marcellus himself. Then at length he set out, with the troops raised to fill up thenumbers, to the army he had left the preceding year at Venusia. Crispinus, who endeavoured to reduce Locri in Bruttium by a siege, because he considered that the affair of Tarentum had added greatly tothe fame of Fabius, had sent for every kind of engine and machine fromSicily; he also sent for ships from the same place to attack that partof the city which lay towards the sea. But this siege was raised byHannibal's bringing his forces to Lacinium, and in consequence of areport, that his colleague, with whom he wished to effect a junction, had now led his army from Venusia. He therefore returned from Bruttiuminto Apulia, and the consuls took up a position in two separate camps, distant from each other less than three miles, between Venusia andBantia. Hannibal, after diverting the war from Locri, returned alsointo the same quarter. Here the consuls, who were both of sanguinetemperament, almost daily went out and drew up their troops foraction, confidently hoping, that if the enemy would hazard anengagement with two consular armies united, they might put an end tothe war. 

26. As Hannibal, who gained one and lost the other of the two battleswhich he fought the preceding year with Marcellus, would have equalgrounds for hope and fear, should he encounter the same generalagain; so was he far from thinking himself a match for the two consulstogether. Directing his attention, therefore, wholly to his ownpeculiar arts, he looked out for an opportunity for planting anambuscade. Slight battles, however, were fought between the two campswith varying success. But the consuls, thinking it probable that thesummer would be spun out in engagements of this kind, and being ofopinion that the siege of Locri might be going on notwithstanding, wrote to Lucius Cincius to pass over to Locri with his fleet fromSicily. And that the walls might be besieged by land also, theyordered one half of the army, which formed the garrison of Tarentum, to be marched thither. Hannibal having found from certain Thuriansthat these things would be done, sent a body of troops to lie inambush on the road leading from Tarentum. There, under the hill ofPetelia, three thousand cavalry and two thousand foot were placed inconcealment. The Romans, who proceeded without exploring their way, having fallen into the ambuscade, as many as two thousand soldierswere slain, and about twelve hundred made prisoners. The others, whowere scattered in flight through the fields and forests, returned toTarentum. There was a rising ground covered with wood situated betweenthe Punic and Roman camps, which was occupied at first by neitherparty, because the Romans were unacquainted with its nature on thatside which faced the enemy's camp, while Hannibal had supposed itbetter adapted for an ambuscade than a camp. Accordingly, he had sentthither, by night, several troops of Numidians, concealing them in themidst of the wood. Not one of them stirred from his position by day, lest their arms or themselves should be observed from a distance. There was a general murmur in the Roman camp, that this eminence oughtto be occupied and secured by a fort, lest if it should be seizedby Hannibal they should have the enemy, as it were, immediately overtheir heads. Marcellus was moved by this consideration, and observedto his colleague, "Why not go ourselves with a few horsemen andreconnoitre? The matter being examined with our own eyes, will makeour measures more certain. " Crispinus consenting, they set out withtwo hundred and twenty horsemen, of which forty were Fregellans, therest Tuscans. Marcus Marcellus, the consul's son, and Aulus Manlius, military tribunes, together with two prefects of the allies, LuciusArennius and Manius Aulius, accompanied them. Some historians haverecorded, that Marcellus had offered sacrifices on that day, and thatin the first victim slain, the liver was found without its head; inthe second, that all the usual parts were present, and that there wasalso an excrescence in the head. That the aruspex was not, indeed, pleased that the entrails should first have appeared mutilated andfoul, and then too exuberant. 

27. But the consul Marcellus was influenced by so ardent a desireof engaging with Hannibal, that he never thought their camps closeenough. At that time also, as he quitted the rampart, he gave ordersthat the troops should be ready when occasion required, in orderthat if the hill, which they were going to examine, were thoughtconvenient, they might collect their baggage and follow them. Beforethe camp there was a small plain; the road thence to the hill was openand exposed to view on all sides. A watchman who was stationed, notunder the expectation of so important an event, but in order that theymight be able to intercept any stragglers who had gone too far fromthe camp in search of wood or forage, gave a signal to the Numidiansto rise simultaneously one and all from their concealment. Those whowere to rise from the very summit of the hill, and meet the enemy, did not show themselves until those whose business it was to intercepttheir passage in the rear, had gone round. Then they all sprang upfrom every side, and, raising a shout, commenced an attack. Althoughthe consuls were in such a position in the valley that they couldneither make good their way up the hill, which was occupied by theenemy, nor retreat as they were intercepted in the rear, yet thecontest might have been continued longer had not a retreat, commencedby the Tuscans, dismayed the rest of the troops. The Fregellans, however, did not give over fighting, though deserted by the Tuscans, while the consuls, uninjured, kept up the battle by encouragingtheir men and fighting themselves. But when they saw both the consulswounded, and Marcellus transfixed with a lance and falling lifelessfrom his horse, then they too, and but a very few survived, betookthemselves to flight, together with Crispinus the consul, who hadreceived two javelin wounds, and young Marcellus, who was himself alsowounded. Aulus Manlius, a military tribune, was slain, and of the twopraefects of allies, Manius Aulius was slain, Lucius Arennius madeprisoner. Five of the consul's lictors fell into the enemy's handsalive, the rest were either slain or fled with the consul. Forty-threehorsemen fell in the battle or in the flight, and eighteen were takenalive. An alarm had been excited in the camp, and the troops werehastening to go and succour the consuls, when they saw one of theconsuls and the son of the other wounded, and the scanty remainsof this unfortunate expedition returning to the camp. The deathof Marcellus was an event to be deplored, as well from othercircumstances which attended it, as because that in a mannerunbecoming his years, for he was then more than sixty, andinconsistently with the prudence of a veteran general, he had soimprovidently plunged into ruin himself, his colleague, and almost thewhole commonwealth. I should launch out into too many digressionsfor a single event, were I to relate all the various accounts whichauthors give respecting the death of Marcellus. To pass over others, Lucius Caelius gives three narratives ranged under different heads;one as it is handed down by tradition; a second, written in thepanegyric of his son, who was engaged in the affair; a third, whichhe himself vouched for, being the result of his own investigation. Theaccounts, however, though varying in other points, agree for the mostpart in the fact, that he went out of the camp for the purpose ofviewing the ground; and all state that he was cut off by an ambuscade. 

28. Hannibal, concluding that the enemy were greatly dismayed by oneof their consuls being slain and the other wounded, that he mightnot be wanting on any opportunity presenting itself, immediatelytransferred his camp to the eminence on which the battle had beenfought. Here he found the body of Marcellus, and interred it. Crispinus, disheartened by the death of his colleague and his ownwound, set out during the silence of the following night, and encampedupon the nearest mountains he could reach, in a position elevated andsecured on all sides. Here the two generals exerted their sagacity, the one in effecting, the other in guarding against, a deception. Hannibal got possession of the ring of Marcellus, together with hisbody. Crispinus, fearing lest any artifice should be practised by theCarthaginian's employing this signet as the means of deception, hadsent round messengers to the neighbouring states, informing them, that"his colleague had been slain, and that the enemy were in possessionof his seal, and that they must not give credit to any letters writtenin the name of Marcellus. " This message of the consul arrived atSalapia a little before a letter was brought from Hannibal, written inthe name of Marcellus, to the effect, that "he should come to Salapiaon the night which followed that day; that the soldiers in thegarrison should hold themselves in readiness, in case he might wantto employ them on any service. " The Salapians were aware of the fraud, and concluding that an opportunity for punishing them was sought byHannibal, from resentment, not only on account of their defection, but also because they slew his horsemen, sent his messenger, who was adeserter from the Romans, back again, in order that the soldiers mightdo what was thought necessary, without his being privy to it, and thenplaced the townsmen in parties to keep guard along the walls, and inconvenient parts of the city. The guards and watches they formed withextraordinary care for that night, and on each side of the gate atwhich they supposed the enemy would come, they opposed to them thechoicest of the troops in the garrison. About the fourth watch, Hannibal approached the city. His vanguard was composed of Romandeserters, with Roman arms. These, all of whom spoke the Latinlanguage, when they reached the gate, called up the guards, andordered the gate to be opened, for the consul had arrived. The guards, as if awakened at their call, began to be in a hurry and bustle, andexert themselves in opening the gate, which was closed by letting downthe portcullis; some raised this with levers, others drew it up withropes to such a height that the men could come in without stooping. The opening was scarcely wide enough, when the deserters eagerlyrushed through the gate, and after about six hundred had got in, therope being let go by which it was suspended, the portcullis fell witha loud noise. Some of the Salapians fell upon the deserters, who werecarrying their arms carelessly suspended upon their shoulders, as iscustomary after a march, as if among friends; others frightened awaythe enemy by discharging stones, pikes, and javelins from the toweradjoining the gate and from the walls. Thus Hannibal withdrew, havingbeen caught by his own stratagem, and proceeded to raise the siege ofLocri, which Cincius was carrying on with the greatest vigour, withworks and engines of every kind, which were brought from Sicily. Mago, who by that time almost despaired of retaining and defending thetown, derived his first gleam of hope on the death of Marcellus beingreported. This was followed by a message, that Hannibal had despatchedhis Numidian cavalry in advance, and was himself following them withall possible speed with a body of infantry. As soon, therefore, as hewas informed, by a signal displayed from the watch-towers, thatthe Numidians were drawing near, suddenly throwing open the gate hesallied out boldly upon the enemy, and at first, more because hehad done it unexpectedly than from the equality of his strength, thecontest was doubtful; but afterwards, when the Numidians came up, theRomans were so dismayed that they fled on all hands to the sea andtheir ships, leaving their works and the engines with which theybattered the walls. Thus the siege of Locri was raised by the approachof Hannibal. 

29. When Crispinus found that Hannibal had gone into Bruttium, heordered Marcus Marcellus, a military tribune, to march the army, whichhis colleague had commanded, to Venusia. Having set out himself withhis own legions for Capua, though scarcely able to endure the motionof the litter, from the severity of his wounds, he sent a letter toRome stating the death of his colleague, and in how great danger hehimself was. He said, "it was impossible for him to go to Rome to holdthe election, both because he did not think he could bear the fatigueof the journey, and because he was anxious about Tarentum, lestHannibal should direct his course thither from Bruttium. That itwas expedient that commissioners should be sent to him, men of soundjudgment, with whom he might communicate, when he pleased, respectingthe commonwealth. " The reading of this letter excited great grief forthe death of one of the consuls, and apprehension for the safety ofthe other. They therefore sent Quintus Fabius the younger to Venusiato the army; and to the consul three commissioners, Sextus JuliusCaesar, Lucius Licinius Pollio, and Lucius Cincius Alimentus, thoughbut a few days before he had returned from Sicily. These were directedto convey a message to the consul, to the effect, that if he could nothimself go to Rome to hold the election, he should nominate a dictatorwithin the Roman territory for that purpose. If the consul should havegone to Tarentum, that it was the pleasure of the senate that MarcusClaudius, the praetor, should march off his legions to that quarterin which he could protect the greatest number of the cities of theallies. The same summer Marcus Valerius crossed over from Sicily intoAfrica with a fleet of a hundred ships, and making a descent near thecity Clupea, devastated the country to a wide extent, scarcely meetingwith a single person in arms. Afterwards the troops employed in makingthese depredations were hastily led back to their ships, and a reporthad suddenly reached them that a Carthaginian fleet was drawing near. It consisted of eighty-three ships. With these the Romans foughtsuccessfully, not far from the city Clupea, and after taking eighteenand putting the rest to flight, returned to Lilybaeum with a greatdeal of booty gained both by land and sea. The same summer also Philipgave assistance to the suppliant Achaeans. They were harassedby Machanidas, tyrant of the Lacedaemonians, with a war in theirimmediate neighbourhood; and the Aetolians, having passed over an armyin ships through the strait which runs between Naupactus and Patrae, called by the neighbouring people Rhion, had devastated their country. It was reported also, that Attalus, king of Asia, would pass over intoEurope, because the Aetolians, in their last council, had offered tohim the office of chief magistrate of their nation. 

30. Philip, when marching down into Greece, for these reasons, was metat the city Lamia by the Aetolians, under the command of Pyrrhias, who had been created praetor that year jointly with Attalus, who wasabsent. They had with them also auxiliaries from Attalus, and about athousand men sent from the Roman fleet by Publius Sulpicius. Againstthis general and these forces, Philip fought twice successfully, andslew full a thousand of his enemies in each battle. Whence, as theAetolians were compelled by fear to keep themselves under the walls ofLamia, Philip led back his army to Phalara. This place is situated inthe Malian bay, and was formerly thickly inhabited on account of itsexcellent harbour, the safe anchorage in its neighbourhood, and otherconveniences of sea and land. Hither came ambassadors from Ptolemy, king of Egypt, the Rhodians, Athenians, and Chians, to put a stopto hostilities between the Aetolians and Philip. The Aetolians alsocalled in one of their neighbours as a mediator, Amynander, king ofthe Athamanians. But all these were less concerned for the Aetolians, whose arrogance of disposition exceeded that of any other nation ofGreece, than lest Philip and his empire, which was likely to proveinjurious to the cause of liberty, should be intermixed with theaffairs of Greece. The deliberations concerning a peace were put off, to a council of the Achaeans, for which a place and certain day werefixed upon; for the mean time a truce of thirty days was obtained. Theking, setting out thence, went through Thessaly and Boeotia to Chalcisin Euboea, to prevent Attalus, who he heard was about to come toEuboea with a fleet, from entering the harbours and approaching thecoasts. Leaving a force to oppose Attalus, in case he should crossover in the mean time, he set out thence with a small body of cavalryand light-armed troops, and came to Argos. Here the superintendenceof the Heraean and Nemaean games having been conferred upon him by thesuffrages of the people, because the kings of the Macedonians tracetheir origin from that state, after completing the Heraean games, heset out directly after the celebration for Aegium, to the councilof allies, fixed some time before. Here measures were proposed forputting an end to the Aetolian war, in order that neither the Romansnor Attalus might have a pretext for entering Greece; but theywere all upset by the Aetolians, before the period of the truce hadscarcely expired, after they heard that Attalus had arrived at Aegina, and that a Roman fleet was stationed at Naupactus. For when calledinto the council of the Achaeans, where the same embassies werepresent which had negotiated for peace at Phalara, they at firstcomplained of some trifling acts committed during the period of thetruce, contrary to the faith of the convention; but at last theyasserted, that it was impossible the war could be terminated unlessthe Achaeans gave back Pylus to the Messenians, unless Atintania wasrestored to the Romans, and Ardyaea to Scerdilaedus and Pleuratus. But Philip, conceiving it an indignity that the vanquished shouldpresumptuously dictate terms to him the victor, said, "that he did notbefore either listen to proposals for peace, or agree to a truce, fromany hope he entertained that the Aetolians would remain quiet, butin order that he might have all the allies as witnesses that he wasdesirous of peace, and that they were the occasion of this war. " Thus, without effecting a peace, he dismissed the council; and leaving fourthousand troops for the protection of the Achaeans, and receiving fivemen of war, with which, if he could have joined them to the fleet ofthe Carthaginians lately sent to him, and the ships which were comingfrom Bithynia, from king Prusias, he had resolved to challenge theRomans, who had long been masters of the sea in that quarter, to anaval battle, the king himself went back from the congress to Argos;for now the time for celebrating the Nemaean games was approaching, which he wished to be celebrated in his presence. 

31. While the king was occupied with the exhibition of the games, andwas indulging himself during the days devoted to festivity with morefreedom than in time of war, Publius Sulpicius, setting out fromNaupactus, brought his fleet to the shore, between Sicyon and Corinth, and devastated without restraint a country of the most renownedfertility. Intelligence of this proceeding called Philip away from thegames. He set out hastily with his cavalry, ordering his infantry tofollow him closely; and attacking the Romans as they were scatteredthrough the fields and loaded with booty, like men who feared nothingof the kind, drove them to their ships. The Roman fleet returned toNaupactus by no means pleased with their booty. The fame of a victorygained by Philip over the Romans, of whatever magnitude, increasedthe celebrity of the remaining part of the games. The festival wascelebrated with extraordinary mirth, the more so as the king, in orderto please the people, took the diadem off his head, and laid asidehis purple robe with the other royal apparel, and placed himself, withregard to appearance, on an equality with the rest, than which nothingis more gratifying to free states. By this conduct he would haveafforded the strongest hopes of the enjoyment of liberty, had he notdebased and marred all by his intolerable lust; for he rangednight and day through the houses of married people with one or twocompanions, and in proportion as he was less conspicuous by loweringhis dignity to a private level, the less restraint he felt; thusconverting that empty show of liberty, which he had made to others, into a cover for the gratification of his own unbounded desires. Forneither did he obtain his object in all cases by money or seductivearts, but he also employed violence in the accomplishment of hisflagitious purposes; and it was dangerous both to husbands and parentsto have presented any impediment to the gratification of royal lust, by an unseasonable strictness. From one man, Aratus, of the highestrank among the Achaeans, his wife, named Polycratia, was taken awayand conveyed into Macedonia under the hope of a matrimonial connexionwith royalty. After passing the time appointed for the celebrationof the Nemaean games, and a few days more, in the commission of theseprofligate acts, he set out for Dymae to expel the garrison of theAetolians, which had been invited by the Eleans, and received into thetown. Cycliadas, who had the chief direction of affairs, met the kingat Dymae, together with the Achaeans, who were inflamed with hatredagainst the Eleans, because they had disunited themselves from therest of the Achaeans, and were incensed against the Aetolians, becausethey considered that they had stirred up a Roman war against them. Setting out from Dymae, and uniting their forces, they passed theriver Larissus, which separates the Elean from the Dymaean territory. 

32. The first day on which they entered upon the enemy's confines, they employed in plundering. The following day they approached thecity in battle-array, having sent their cavalry in advance, in orderthat, by riding up to the gates, they might provoke the Aetolians tomake a sally, a measure to which they were naturally inclined. Theywere not aware that Sulpicius had passed over from Naupactus toCyllene with fifteen ships, and landing four thousand armed men, hadentered Elis during the dead of night, that his troops might not beseen. Accordingly, when they recognised the Roman standards and armsamong the Aetolians, so unexpected an event occasioned the greatestterror; and at first the king had wished to withdraw his troops; butafterwards, an engagement having taken place between the Aetolians andTrallians, a tribe of Illyrians, when he saw his men hard pressed, theking himself with his cavalry charged a Roman cohort. Here his horsebeing pierced with a javelin threw the king, who fell over his head;when a conflict ensued, which was desperate on both sides; the Romansmaking a furious attack upon the king, and the royal party protectinghim. His own conduct was highly meritorious, when though on foot hewas obliged to fight among horsemen. Afterwards, when the contestwas unequal, many were falling and being wounded around him, he wassnatched away by his soldiers, and, being placed upon another horse, fled from the field. On that day he pitched his camp five miles fromthe city of the Eleans, and the next day led out all his forces to afort called Pyrgus, whither he had heard that a multitude of rusticshad resorted through fear of being plundered. This unorganized andunarmed multitude he took immediately on his approach, from the firsteffects of alarm; and by this capture compensated for the disgracesustained at Elis. While engaged in distributing the spoil andcaptives, and there were four thousand men and as many as twentythousand head of cattle of every kind, intelligence reached himfrom Macedonia that one Eropus had gained possession of Lychnidus bybribing the praefect of the citadel and garrison; that he held alsocertain towns of the Dassaretians, and that he was endeavouringto incite the Dardanians to arms. Desisting from the Achaean war, therefore, but still leaving two thousand five hundred armed troops ofevery description under the generals Menippus and Polyphantas for theprotection of his allies, he set out from Dymae, and passing throughAchaea, Boeotia, and Euboea, arrived on the tenth day at Demetrias inThessaly. 

33. Here he was met by other messengers with intelligence of stillgreater commotions; that the Dardanians, having poured into Macedonia, were in possession of Orestis, and had descended into the Argestaeanplain; and that there was a general report among the barbarians thatPhilip was slain. In that expedition in which he fought with theplundering party near Sicyon, being carried by the fury of his horseagainst a tree, he broke off the extremity of one of the horns of hishelmet against a projecting branch; which being found by a certainAetolian and carried into Aetolia to Scerdilaedus, who knew it tobe the ornament of his helmet, spread the report that the king waskilled. After the king had departed from Achaea, Sulpicius, going toAegina with his fleet, formed a junction with Attalus. The Achaeansfought successfully with the Aetolians and Eleans not far fromMessene. King Attalus and Publius Sulpicius wintered at Aegina. In theclose of this year Titus Quinctius Crispinus, the consul, after havingnominated Titus Manlius Torquatus dictator for the purpose of holdingthe election and celebrating the games, died of his wound. Some saythat he died at Tarentum, others in Campania. The death of the twoconsuls, who were slain without having fought any memorable battle, acoincidence which had never occurred in any former war, had left thecommonwealth in a manner orphan. The dictator, Manlius, appointed ashis master of the horse Caius Servilius, then curule aedile. On thefirst day of its meeting the senate ordered the dictator to celebratethe great games which Marcus Aemilius, the city praetor, hadcelebrated in the consulship of Caius Flaminius and Cneius Servilius, and had vowed to be repeated after five years. The dictator then bothperformed the games and vowed them for the following lustrum. But asthe two consular armies without commanders were so near the enemy, disregarding every thing else, one especial care engrossed the fathersand the people, that of creating the consuls as soon as possible; andthat they might create those in preference whose valour was least indanger from Carthaginian treachery; since, through the whole periodof the war, the precipitate and hot tempers of their generals had beendetrimental, and this very year the consuls had fallen into a snarefor which they were not prepared, in consequence of their excessiveeagerness to engage the enemy, but the immortal gods, in pity to theRoman name, had spared the unoffending armies, and doomed the consulsto expiate their temerity with their own lives. 

34. On the fathers' looking round to see whom they should appoint asconsuls, Caius Claudius Nero appeared pre-eminently. They then lookedout for a colleague for him, and although they considered him a man ofthe highest talents, they also were of opinion that he was of a moreforward and vehement disposition than the circumstances of the war, orthe enemy, Hannibal, required, they resolved that it would be right toqualify the impetuosity of his temper by uniting with him a cool andprudent colleague. The person fixed upon was Marcus Livius, who, manyyears ago, was, on the expiration of his consulship, condemned in atrial before the people; a disgrace which he took so much to heart, that he retired into the country, and for many years absented himselffrom the city, and avoided all public assemblies. Much about theeighth year after his condemnation, Marcus Claudius Marcellus andMarcus Valerius Laevinus, the consuls, had brought him back into thecity; but he appeared in a squalid dress, his hair and beard allowedto grow, and exhibiting in his countenance and attire the deepimpression of the disgrace he had sustained. Lucius Veturius andPublius Licinius, the censors, compelled him to have his beard andhair trimmed, to lay aside his squalid garb, to come into the senate, and discharge other public duties. But even then he either gave hisassent by a single word, or signified his vote by walking to one sideof the house, till the trial of Marcus Livius Macatus, a kinsmanof his, whose character was at stake, obliged him to deliver hissentiments in the senate upon his legs. On being heard in the senateon this occasion, after so long an interval, he drew the eyes of allupon him, and gave occasion to conversations to the following effect:"That the people had injuriously disgraced a man who was undeservingof it and that it had been greatly detrimental to the state that, in so important a war, it had not had the benefit of the serviceand counsels of such a man. That neither Quintus Fabius nor MarcusValerius Laevinus could be given to Caius Nero as colleagues, becauseit was not allowed for two patricians to be elected. That thesame cause precluded Titus Manlius, besides that he had refused aconsulship when offered to him, and would refuse it. That they wouldhave two most distinguished consuls if they should add Marcus Liviusas a colleague to Caius Claudius. " Nor did the people despise aproposal, the mention of which originated with the fathers. The onlyperson in the state who objected to the measure was the man to whomthe honour was offered, who accused his countrymen of inconstancy, saying, "that, having withheld their pity from him when arrayed in amourning garment and a criminal, they now forced upon him the whitegown against his will; that honours and punishments were heaped uponthe same person. If they esteemed him a good man, why had they thuspassed a sentence of condemnation upon him as a wicked and guilty one?If they had proved him a guilty man, why should they thus trust himwith a second consulate after having improperly committed to him thefirst?" While thus remonstrating and complaining, the fathers rebukedhim, putting him in mind, that "Marcus Furius too, being recalled fromexile, had reinstated his country when shaken from her very base. That we ought to soothe the anger of our country as we would that ofparents, by patience and resignation. " All exerting themselves to theutmost, they succeeded in uniting Marcus Livius in the consulate withCaius Claudius. 

35. The third day afterwards the election of praetors was held. Thepraetors created were, Lucius Porcius Licinus, Caius Mamilius, AulusHostilius Cato, and Caius Hostilius Cato. The election completed, andthe games celebrated, the dictator and master of the horse abdicatedtheir offices. Caius Terentius Varro was sent as propraetor intoEtruria, in order that Caius Hostilius might quit that province andgo to Tarentum to that army which Titus Quinctius, the consul, hadcommanded, and that Lucius Manlius might go as ambassador across thesea, and observe what was going on there; and at the same time, asthe games at Olympia, which were attended by the greatest concourseof persons of any solemnity in Greece, were about to take place thatsummer, that if he could without danger from the enemy, he might go tothat assembly, in order that any Sicilians who might be there, havingbeen driven away by the war, or any Tarentine citizens banished byHannibal, might return to their homes, and be informed that the Romanpeople would restore to them every thing which they had possessedbefore the war. As a year of the most dangerous character seemed tothreaten them, and there were no consuls to direct the government, allmen fixed their attention on the consuls elect, wishing them todraw lots for their provinces, as soon as possible, and determinebeforehand what province and what enemy each should have. The senatealso took measures, at the instance of Quintus Fabius Maximus, toeffect a reconciliation between them. For the enmity between them wasnotorious; and in the case of Livius his misfortunes rendered it moreinveterate and acrimonious, as he considered that in that situationhe had been treated with contempt. He was, therefore, the moreinexorable, and said, "that there was no need of a reconciliation, forthat they would use greater diligence and activity in every thing theydid for fear lest they should give their colleague, who was an enemy, an opportunity of advancing himself at their expense. " However, theauthority of the senate prevailed; and, laying aside their privatedifferences, they conducted the affairs of the state in friendshipand unanimity. Their provinces were not districts bordering uponeach other, as in former years, but quite separate, in the remotestconfines of Italy. To one was decreed Bruttium and Lucania, to actagainst Hannibal; to the other Gaul, to act against Hasdrubal, who, itwas reported, was now approaching the Alps; and that he to whose lotGaul fell should choose whichever he pleased of the two armies, one ofwhich was in Gaul, the other in Etruria, and receive the city legionsin addition; and that he to whose lot Bruttium fell, should, afterenlisting fresh legions for the city, take the army of whicheverof the consuls of the former year he pleased. That Quintus Fulvius, proconsul, should take the army which was left by the consul, and thathis command should last for a year. To Caius Hostilius, to whom theyhad given the province of Tarentum in exchange for Etruria, they gaveCapua instead of Tarentum, with one legion which Fulvius had commandedthe preceding year. 

36. The anxiety respecting the approach of Hasdrubal to Italyincreased daily. At first, ambassadors from the Massilians had broughtword that he had passed over into Gaul and that the expectationsof the Gauls were raised by his coming, as he was reported tohave brought a large quantity of gold for the purpose of hiringauxiliaries. Afterwards, Sextus Antistius and Marcus Raecius, who weresent from Rome, together with these persons, as ambassadors, to lookinto the affair, had brought word back that they had sent personswith Massilian guides, who, through the medium of Gallic chieftainsconnected with them by hospitality, might bring back all ascertainedparticulars; that they found that Hasdrubal, who had already collectedan immense army, would cross the Alps the ensuing spring; and that theonly cause which delayed him there was, that the passage of theAlps was closed by winter. Publius Aelius Paetus was created andinaugurated in the office of augur in the room of Marcus Marcellus andCneius Cornelius Dolabella was inaugurated king of the sacred rites inthe room of Marcus Marcius, who had died two years before. This sameyear, for the first time since Hannibal came into Italy, the lustrumwas closed by the censors Publius Sempronius Tuditanus and MarcusCornelius Cethegus. The citizens numbered in the census were onehundred and thirty-seven thousand one hundred and eight, a numberconsiderably smaller than before the war. This year it is recordedthat the Comitium was covered, and that the Roman games were repeatedonce by the curule aediles, Quintus Metellus and Caius Servilius; andthat the plebeian games were repeated twice by Quintus Mamilius andMarcus Caecilius Metellus, plebeian aediles. The same persons alsogave three statues for the temple of Ceres, and there was a feast inhonour of Jupiter on occasion of the games. After this Caius ClaudiusNero and Marcus Livius a second time entered upon their consulate;and as they had already, while consuls elect, drawn lots for theirprovinces, they ordered the praetors to draw lots for theirs. CaiusHostilius had the city jurisdiction, to which the foreign was added, in order that three praetors might go out to the provinces. AulusHostilius had Sardinia, Caius Mamilius, Sicily, Lucius Porcius, Gaul. The total amount of legions employed in the provinces wastwenty-three, which were so distributed that the consuls might havetwo each; Spain, four; the three praetors in Sicily, Sardinia, andGaul, two each; Caius Terentius, two in Etruria; Quintus Fulvius, twoin Bruttium; Quintus Claudius two in the neighbourhood of Tarentum andthe territory of Sallentum; Caius Hostilius Tubulus, one at Capua;and two were ordered to be enlisted for the city. For the first fourlegions the people elected tribunes, the consuls sent those for therest. 

37. Before the consuls set out, the nine days' sacred rite wasperformed, as a shower of stones had fallen from the sky at Veii. After the mention of one prodigy, others also were reported, as usual. At Minturnae, that the temple of Jupiter and the grove of Marica, andat Atella also that a wall and gate, had been struck by lightning. The people of Minturnae added what was more alarming, that a stream ofblood had flowed at their gate. At Capua, a wolf, which had entered atthe gate by night, had torn a watchman. These prodigies were expiatedwith victims of the larger kind, and a supplication for one day wasmade, according to a decree of the pontiffs. The nine days' sacredrite was then performed again, because a shower of stones had beenseen to fall in the armilustrum. After the people's minds hadbeen freed from superstitious fears, they were again disturbed byintelligence that an infant had been born at Frusino as large as achild of four years old, and not so much an object of wonder fromits size, as that it was born without any certain mark of distinctionwhether it was male or female, which was the case two years beforeat Sinuessa. Aruspices, called in from Etruria, declared this to beindeed a foul and ill-omened prodigy, which ought to be removed out ofthe Roman territory, and, being kept far from coming in contact withthe earth, to be plunged into the deep. They shut it up alive in achest, and carrying it away, threw it into the sea. The pontiffs alsodecreed, that thrice nine virgins should go through the city singinga hymn. While in the temple of Jupiter Stator they were learningthis hymn, which was composed by the poet Livius, the temple of JunoRegina, on the Aventine, was struck by lightning; and the aruspices, on being consulted, having replied that that prodigy appertained tothe matrons, and that the goddess must be appeased by a present, suchof the matrons as dwelt within the city and within the tenth milestonefrom it, were summoned to the Capitol by an edict of the curuleaediles; when they themselves chose twenty-five out of their own body, to whom they paid a contribution out of their dowries, from whicha golden basin was made, as a present, and carried to the Aventine, where a sacrifice was performed by the matrons in a pure and chastemanner. Immediately a day was given out by the decemviri for anothersacrifice to the same goddess, which was performed in the followingorder: two white heifers were led from the temple of Apollo into thecity through the Carmental gate; after these, two cypress images ofJuno Regina were carried; after these went seven and twenty virgins, arrayed in white vestments, and singing in honour of Juno Regina ahymn, which to the uncultivated minds of that time might appear tohave merit, but if repeated now would seem inelegant and uncouth. Thetrain of virgins was followed by the decemvirs, crowned with laurel, and in purple-bordered robes. From the gate they proceeded by theJugarian street into the forum: in the forum the procession stopped, and the virgins, linked together by a cord passed through their hands, moved on, beating time with their feet to the music of their voices. They then proceeded by the Tuscan street and the Velabrum, throughthe cattle market, up the Publician hill, and to the temple of JunoRegina; where two victims were immolated by the decemviri, and thecypress images carried into the temple. 

38. After the deities were appeased in due form, the consuls made thelevy with greater diligence and strictness than any one rememberedit to have been made in former years; for the war was now doublyformidable, in consequence of the advance of a new enemy into Italy, while the number of the youth from which they could enlist soldierswas diminished. They therefore resolved to compel the settlers uponthe sea-coast, who were said to possess an exemption from servicesolemnly granted, to furnish soldiers; and on their refusing to doso, appointed that they should severally lay before the senate, ona certain day, the grounds on which they claimed exemption. On theappointed day the following people came to the senate: the peopleof Ostia, Alsia, Antium, Anxur, Minturnae, and Sinuessa, and, onthe upper sea, Sena. After each people had stated their grounds ofexemption, the exemption of none was allowed, as the enemy was inItaly, except those of Antium and Ostia, and of these colonies theyoung men were bound by oath that they would not lodge without thewalls of their colony, while the enemy was in Italy, more than thirtydays. Although it was the opinion of all that the consuls ought toproceed to the war as soon as possible, (for Hasdrubal ought to be meton his descent from the Alps, lest he might seduce the Cisalpine Gaulsand Etruria, which was anxiously looking forward to a revolution;while it was necessary to occupy Hannibal with a war in his ownquarters, lest he should emerge from Bruttium, and advance to meet hisbrother;) yet Livius delayed, not having sufficient confidence inthe armies destined for his provinces. He said his colleague had hisoption to take which he pleased out of two excellent consular armies, and a third which Quintus Claudius commanded at Tarentum. He alsomade mention of recalling the volunteer slaves to their standards. The senate gave the consuls unrestricted liberty of filling up theirnumbers from what source they pleased, of selecting out of all thearmies such as they liked, and of exchanging and removing from oneprovince to another, as they thought conducive to the good of thestate. In all these affairs the consuls acted with the most perfectharmony. The volunteer slaves were enlisted into the nineteenth andtwentieth legions. Some authors state that very efficient auxiliarieswere sent out of Spain also to Marcus Livius by Publius Scipio;namely, eight thousand Spaniards and Gauls, two thousand legionarysoldiers, a thousand horse of Numidians and Spaniards together. That Marcus Lucretius brought these forces in ships, and that CaiusMamilius sent as many as four thousand bowmen and slingers out ofSicily. 

39. A letter which was brought out of Gaul from Lucius Porcius, thepraetor, increased the alarm at Rome. It stated that Hasdrubal hadquitted his winter quarters, and was now crossing the Alps; that eightthousand Ligurians had been enlisted and armed, which would join himwhen he had crossed over into Italy, unless some general were sentinto Liguria to engage them with a war. That he would himself advanceas far as he thought it safe with his small forces. This letterobliged the consuls hastily to conclude the levy, and go earlier thanthey had determined into their provinces, with the intention that eachshould keep his enemy in his own province, and not allow them to forma junction or concentrate their forces. This object was much aided byan opinion possessed by Hannibal; for although he felt assured thathis brother would cross over into Italy that summer, yet when herecollected what difficulties he had himself experienced through aperiod of five months, first in crossing the Rhone, then the Alps, contending against men, and the nature of the ground, he was far fromexpecting that his transit would be so easy and expeditious, and thiswas the cause of his moving more slowly from his winter quarters. Butall things were done by Hasdrubal with less delay and trouble than hehimself or any others expected. For the Arverni, and after them theother Gallic and Alpine nations in succession, not only gave him afriendly reception, but followed him to the war; and not only hadroads been formed during the passage of his brother in most of thecountries through which he marched, and which were before impassable, but also as the Alps had been passable for a period of twelve years, he marched through tribes of less ferocious dispositions. Forbefore that time, being never visited by foreigners, nor accustomed, themselves, to see a stranger in their country, they were unsociableto the whole human race. And at first, not knowing whither theCarthaginian was going, they had imagined that their own rocks andforts, and the plunder of their cattle and people, were his objects;but afterwards, the report of the Punic war with which Italy was beingdesolated for now ten years, had convinced them that the Alps wereonly a passage, and that two very powerful nations, separated fromeach other by a vast tract of sea and land, were contending for empireand power. These were the causes which opened the Alps to Hasdrubal. But the advantage which he gained by the celerity of his march helost by his delay at Placentia, while he carried on a fruitless siege, rather than an assault. He had supposed that it would be easy to takeby storm a town situated on a plain; and the celebrity of the colonyinduced him to believe that by destroying it he should strike greatterror into the rest. This siege not only impeded his own progress, but had the effect of restraining Hannibal, who was just on the pointof quitting his winter quarters, after hearing of his passage, whichwas so much quicker than he expected; for he not only revolved in hismind how tedious was the siege of towns, but also how ineffectual washis attempt upon that same colony, when returning victorious from theTrebia. 

40. The consuls, on departing from the city in different directions, had drawn the attention of the public, as it were, to two wars atonce, while they called to mind the disasters which Hannibal's firstcoming had brought upon Italy, and at the same time, tortured withanxiety, asked themselves what deities would be so propitious to thecity and empire as that the commonwealth should be victorious in bothquarters at once. Hitherto they had been enabled to hold out to thepresent time by compensating for their misfortunes by their successes. When the Roman power was laid prostrate at the Trasimenus and atCannae in Italy, their successes in Spain had raised it up from itsfallen condition. Afterwards, when in Spain one disaster after anotherhad in a great measure destroyed two armies, with the loss of twodistinguished generals, the many successes in Italy and Sicily had, as it were, afforded a haven for the shattered state; and the mereinterval of space, as one war was going on in the remotest quarterof the world, gave them time to recover their breath. Whereas now twowars were received into Italy; two generals of the highest renown werebesetting the Roman city; while the whole weight of the danger andthe entire burden pressed upon one point. Whichever of these generalsshould be first victorious, he would in a few days unite his campwith the other. The preceding year also, saddened by the deaths of twoconsuls, filled them with alarm. Such were the anxious feelings withwhich the people escorted the consuls on their departure to theirprovinces. It is recorded that Marcus Livius, still teeming withresentment against his countrymen, when setting out to the war, replied to Fabius, who warned him not rashly to come to an action tillhe had made himself acquainted with the character of his enemy, thatas soon as ever he had got sight of the troops of the enemy he wouldengage them. When asked what was his reason for such haste, he said, "I shall either obtain the highest glory from conquering the enemy, or the greatest joy from the defeat of my countrymen, a joy whichthey have deserved, though it would not become me. " Before the consulClaudius arrived in his province, Caius Hostilius Tubulus, attackingHannibal with his light cohorts while marching his army through theextreme borders of the territory of Larinum into that of Sallentum, caused terrible confusion in his unmarshalled troops; he killed asmany as four thousand, and captured nine military standards. QuintusClaudius, who had his camps distributed through the towns of theSallentine territory, had quitted his winter quarters on hearing ofthe enemy; and Hannibal, fearing on that account lest he should haveto engage with two armies at once, decamped by night, and retired fromthe Tarentine to the Bruttian territory. Claudius turned his armyto the Sallentine territory. Hostilius, on his way to Capua, metthe consul Claudius at Venusia. Here forty thousand infantry and twothousand five hundred horse were selected from both armies, with whichthe consul might carry on the war against Hannibal. The rest of thetroops Hostilius was directed to march to Capua to deliver them overto Quintus Fulvius, proconsul. 

41. Hannibal, having drawn together his forces from all quarters, boththose which he had in winter quarters, and those which he had in thegarrisons of the Bruttian territory, came to Grumentum in Lucania, with the hope of regaining the towns which through fear had revoltedto the Romans. To the same place the Roman consul proceeded fromVenusia, exploring the way as he went, and pitched his camp aboutfifteen hundred paces from the enemy. The rampart of the Carthaginiansseemed almost united with the walls of Grumentum, though five hundredpaces intervened. Between the Carthaginian and Roman camps lay aplain; and overhanging the left wing of the Carthaginians and theright of the Romans were some naked hills, which were not objectsof suspicion to either party, as they had no wood upon them, nor anyhiding-places for an ambuscade. In the plain which lay between themskirmishes hardly worth mentioning took place between parties sallyingfrom the outposts. It was evident that what the Roman aimed at was toprevent the enemy from going off, while Hannibal, who was desirous ofescaping thence, came down with all his forces, and formed in orderof battle. Upon this the consul, imitating the crafty character of hisenemy, ordered five cohorts, with the addition of five maniples, topass the summit by night and sit down in the valleys on the oppositeside; a measure to which he was prompted the more strongly inproportion as he felt that there could exist no suspicion of anambuscade in hills so uncovered. Of the time for rising up from theirretreat and of falling upon the enemy he informed Tiberius ClaudiusAsellus, a military tribune, and Publius Claudius, praefect of theallies, whom he sent with them. The general himself, at break of day, drew out all his forces, both foot and horse, for battle. Shortlyafter, the signal for battle was given out by Hannibal, and a noisewas raised in the camp, from the troops running hastily to arms; thenboth horse and foot eagerly rushed through the gates, and spreadingthemselves over the plain, hastened to the enemy. The consulperceiving them thus disordered, gave orders to Caius Aurunculeius, amilitary tribune of the third legion, to send out the cavalry of thelegion to charge the enemy with all possible vehemence, for that theenemy had spread themselves like cattle in such disorder throughoutthe whole plain, that they might be knocked down and trampled underfoot before they could be formed. 

42. Hannibal had not yet gone out of the camp, when he heard the shoutof his troops engaged; and thus roused by the alarm, he hastily ledhis forces against the enemy. Already had the Roman horse spreadterror through the Carthaginian van; the first legion also of theinfantry and the right wing were commencing the action, while thetroops of the Carthaginians, in disorder, engaged just as chance threweach in the way of horse or foot. The battle became more general byreinforcements, and the number of those who ran out to the combat. Hannibal, amid the terror and confusion, would have drawn up histroops while fighting, (which would not have been an easy task unlessto a veteran general with veteran soldiers, ) had not the shouts of thecohorts and maniples, running down from the hills, which was heard intheir rear, created an alarm lest they should be cut off from theircamp. After this they were seized with a panic, and a flight commencedin every part; but the number slain was less, because the nearness ofthe camp offered to the terrified troops a shorter distance to fly. For the cavalry hung upon their rear, and the cohorts, running downthe declivities of the hills by an unobstructed and easy path, chargedthem transversely in flank. However, above eight thousand menwere slain, above seven hundred made prisoners, and eight militarystandards taken. Of the elephants also, which had been of no use insuch a sudden and irregular action, four were killed and two captured. The conquerors lost about five hundred Romans and allies. Thefollowing day the Carthaginian remained quiet. The Roman having ledout his troops into the field, when he saw that no one came out tomeet him, gave orders that the spoils of those of the enemy who wereslain should be collected, and that the bodies of his own men shouldbe gathered into one place and buried. After this, for several daysfollowing in succession, he came up so near the enemy's gates that healmost seemed to be carrying in his standards. But at length Hannibalat the third watch, leaving a number of fires and tents in that partof the camp which faced the enemy, and also a few Numidians who mightshow themselves in the rampart and the gates, decamped and proceededtowards Apulia. As soon as it dawned, the Roman army came up to thetrenches, and the Numidians, according to the plan concerted, tookcare to show themselves for a little time on the rampart and in thegates; and having deceived the enemy for some time, rode off at fullspeed, and overtook their friends on their march. The consul, when allwas silence in the camp, and he could now no where see even the fewwho at break of day had walked up and down, sent two horsemen inadvance to reconnoitre; and after he had ascertained that all was safeenough, ordered his troops to march in; and after staying there onlywhile his men distributed themselves for plunder, sounded a retreatand led back his forces long before night. The next day he set out assoon as it was light, and following the rumour and the track of theenemy by forced marches, came up with them not far from Venusia. Herealso an irregular battle took place, in which two thousand of theCarthaginians were slain. The Carthaginian quitting this place madefor Metapontum, marching by night and over mountainous districts inorder to avoid a battle. Thence Hanno, who commanded the garrison ofthat place, was sent into Bruttium with a small party to raise afresh army. Hannibal, after adding his forces to his own, went backto Venusia by the same route by which he came, and proceeded thenceto Canusium. Nero had never quitted the enemy's steps, and when hehimself went to Metapontum, had sent for Quintus Fulvius into Lucania, lest that region should be left without protection. 

43. Meanwhile four Gallic horsemen and two Numidians, who were sent toHannibal with a letter from Hasdrubal, after he had retired from thesiege of Placentia, having traversed nearly the whole length of Italythrough the midst of enemies, while following Hannibal as he wasretiring to Metapontum, were taken to Tarentum by mistaking the roads;where they were seized by some Roman foragers, who were stragglingthrough the fields, and brought before the proprietor, Caius Claudius. At first they endeavoured to baffle him by evasive answers, butthreats of applying torture being held out to them, they werecompelled to confess the truth; when they fully admitted that theywere the bearers of a letter from Hasdrubal to Hannibal. They weredelivered into the custody of Lucius Virginius, a military tribune, together with the letter sealed as it was, to be conveyed to theconsul Claudius. At the same time two troops of Samnites were sentwith them as an escort. Having made their way to the consul, theletter was read by means of an interpreter, and the captives wereinterrogated; when Claudius, coming to the conclusion that thepredicament of the state was not such as that her generals shouldcarry on the war, each within the limits of his own province, and withhis own troops, according to the customary plans of warfare, and withan enemy marked out for him by the senate, but that some unlookedfor and unexpected enterprise must be attempted, which, in itscommencement, might cause no less dread among their countrymen thantheir enemies, but which, when accomplished, might convert theirgreat fear into great joy, sent the letter of Hasdrubal to Rome to thesenate; and at the same time informed the conscript fathers what hisintentions were; and recommended that, as Hasdrubal had written to hisbrother that he should meet him in Umbria, they should send for thelegion from Capua to Rome, enlist troops at Rome, and oppose the cityforces to the enemy at Narnia. Such was his letter to the senate. Messengers were sent in advance through the territory of Larinum, Marrucia, Frentana, and Praetutia, where he was about to march hisarmy, with orders that they should all bring down from their farms andtowns to the road-side provisions ready dressed for the soldiers toeat; and that they should bring out horses and other beasts of burden, so that those who were tired might have plenty of conveyances. He thenselected the choicest troops out of the whole army of the Romans andallies, to the amount of six thousand infantry and one thousand horse;and gave out that he intended to seize on the nearest town in Lucaniaand the Carthaginian garrison in it, and that they should all bein readiness to march. Setting out by night he turned off towardsPicenum, and making his marches as long as possible, led his troops tojoin his colleague, having left Quintus Catius, lieutenant-general, incommand of the camp. 

44. At Rome the alarm and consternation were not less than they hadbeen two years before, when the Carthaginian camp was pitched overagainst the Roman walls and gates; nor could people make up theirminds whether they should commend, or censure, this so bold march ofthe consul. It was evident that the light in which it would be viewedwould depend upon its success; than which nothing can be more unfair. They said, "that the camp was left near to the enemy, Hannibal, without a general, and with an army from which all the flower andvigour had been withdrawn; and that the consul had pretended anexpedition into Lucania, when he was in reality going to Picenum andGaul, leaving his camp secured only by the ignorance of the enemy, whowere not aware that the general and part of his army were away. Whatwould be the consequence if that should be discovered, and Hannibalshould think proper either to pursue Nero with his whole army, whohad gone off with only six thousand armed men, or to assault the camp, which was left as a prey for him, without strength, without command, without auspices?" The disasters already experienced in the war, the deaths of two consuls the preceding year, augmented their fears. Besides, all these events had occurred "when there was only onegeneral and one army of the enemy in Italy; whereas now they hadtwo Punic wars, two immense armies, and in a manner two Hannibalsin Italy, inasmuch as Hasdrubal was descended from the same father, Hamilcar, was a general equally enterprising, having been trained ina Roman war during so many years in Spain, and rendered famous by adouble victory, having annihilated two armies with two most renownedgenerals. For he could glory even more than Hannibal himself, onaccount of the celerity with which he had effected his passage outof Spain, and his success in stirring up the Gallic nations to arms, inasmuch as he had collected an army in those very regions in whichHannibal lost the major part of his soldiers by famine and cold, themost miserable modes of death. " Those who were experienced in theevents which had occurred in Spain, added, that "he would not have toengage with Caius Nero, the general, as an unknown person, whom, whenaccidentally caught in a difficult defile, he had eluded and baffledlike a little child, by drawing up fallacious terms of peace. " Underthe dictation of fear, which always puts the worst construction uponthings, they magnified all the advantages which the enemy possessed, and undervalued their own. 

45. When Nero had got such a distance from the enemy that his planmight be disclosed without danger, he briefly addressed his soldiers, observing, that "there never was a measure adopted by any generalwhich was in appearance more daring than this, but in reality moresafe. That he was leading them on to certain victory. For as hiscolleague had not set out to prosecute the war which he conducted, until forces both of horse and foot had been assigned to him by thesenate to his own satisfaction, and those greater and better equippedthan if he had been going against Hannibal himself, that they would, by joining him, however small the quantity of force which they mightadd, completely turn the scale. That when it was only heard in thefield of battle (and he would take care that it should not be heardbefore) that another consul and another army had arrived, it wouldinsure the victory. That rumour decided war; and that the mostinconsiderable incidents had power to excite hope and fear in themind. That they would themselves reap almost the entire glory whichwould be obtained if they succeeded, for it was invariably the casethat the last addition which is made is supposed to have effected thewhole. That they themselves saw with what multitudes, what admiration, and what good wishes of men their march was attended. " And, byHercules, they marched amid vows, prayers, and commendations, all theroads being lined with ranks of men and women, who had flocked therefrom all parts of the country. They called them the safeguards of thestate, the protectors of the city and empire of Rome. They said thatthe safety and liberty of themselves and their children were treasuredup in their arms and right hands. They prayed to all the gods andgoddesses to grant them a prosperous march, a successful battle, and aspeedy victory over their enemies; and that they might be bound topay the vows which they had undertaken in their behalf; so that asnow they attended them off with anxiety, go after a few days' intervalthey might joyfully go out to meet them exulting in victory. Thenthey severally and earnestly invited them to accept, offered them, and wearied them with entreaties, to take from them in preference toanother, whatever might be requisite for themselves or their cattle. They generously gave them every thing in abundance, while the soldiersvied with each other in moderation, taking care not to accept anything beyond what was necessary for use. They did not make any delaynor quit their ranks when taking food; they continued the march dayand night, scarcely giving as much to rest as was necessary to therequirements of the body. Messengers were also despatched in advanceto his colleague, to inform him of his approach, and to ask whetherhe wished that he should come secretly or openly, by day or night, whether they should lodge in the same or different camps. It appearedmost advisable that they should come into the camp secretly by night. 

46. A private signal was sent through the camp by the consulLivius, that each tribune should receive a tribune, each centurion acenturion, each horseman a horseman, each foot-soldier a foot-soldier;for it was not expedient that the camp should be enlarged, lest theenemy should discover the arrival of the other consul, while thecrowding together of several persons, who would have their tents in aconfined place, would be attended with less inconvenience, because thearmy of Claudius had brought with them on their expedition scarcelyany thing except their arms. Claudius, on the very march, hadaugmented his numbers by volunteers; for not only veteran soldiers, who had completed their period of service, but young men also offeredthemselves without solicitation; and, as they vied with each other ingiving in their names, he had enlisted those whose personal appearanceand bodily strength seemed fit for military service. The camp of theother consul was near Sena, and Hasdrubal's position was about fivehundred paces from it. Nero, therefore, when he was now drawing near, halted under cover of the mountains, in order that he might not enterthe camp before night. Having entered when all was still, theywere severally conducted into their tents by the men of their owndescription, where they were hospitably entertained with the utmostjoy on the part of all. The next day a council was held, at whichLucius Porcius Licinus, the praetor, was present. He had his campjoined to that of the consuls, and before their arrival, by leadinghis army along the heights, sometimes occupying narrow defiles that hemight intercept his passage, at other times harassing his troops whilemarching by attacking their flank or rear, he had baffled the enemy byall the arts of war. This man was, on the present occasion, one ofthe council. Many inclined to the opinion that an engagement shouldbe deferred till Nero had recruited his soldiers, who were weary withmarching and watching, and had employed a few days in acquiring aknowledge of his enemy. Nero urged, not only by persuasion, but withthe most earnest entreaties, "that they would not render rash by delaythat measure of his which despatch had made safe. That Hannibal, wholay in a state of torpid inactivity in consequence of a delusion whichwould not continue long, had neither attacked his camp, left as it waswithout a leader, nor had directed his course in pursuit of him. Thatthe army of Hasdrubal might be annihilated, and he might retire intoApulia before he stirred a step. The man who by delay gave time to theenemy both betrayed the camp to Hannibal, and opened a way to himinto Gaul, so that he might effect a junction with Hasdrubal at hisleisure, and when he pleased. That they ought to give the signal forbattle instantly, and march out into the field, and take advantage ofthe delusion of their enemies present and absent, while neither thosewere aware that they had fewer, nor these that they had more andstronger forces to encounter. " On the breaking up of the council thesignal for battle was displayed, and the troops immediately led intothe field. 

47. The Carthaginians were already standing before their camp inbattle-array. This circumstance delayed the battle: Hasdrubal, whohad advanced before the line with a few horsemen, remarked some oldshields among the enemy, which he had not seen before, and some horsesleaner than the rest their numbers also appeared greater than usual. Suspecting therefore, what was really the case, he hastily soundeda retreat, and sent a party to the river from which they got theirwater, where some of them might be intercepted, and notice takenwhether there were perchance any there whose complexions were morethan ordinarily sun-burnt, as from a recent march. At the same time heordered a party to ride round the camp at a distance, and note whetherthe rampart was extended in any part, and also observe whether thesignal sounded once or twice. Having received a report of all theseparticulars, the fact of the camp's not being enlarged led him intoerror. There were now two camps, as there were before the other consularrived, one belonging to Marcus Livius, the other to Lucius Porcius, and to neither of them had any addition been made to give more roomfor the tents. But the veteran general, who was accustomed to a Romanenemy, was much struck by their reporting that the signal sounded oncein the praetor's camp, and twice in the consul's; there must thereforebe two consuls, and felt the most painful anxiety as to the mannerin which the other had got away from Hannibal. Least of all could hesuspect, what was really the case, that he had got away from Hannibalby deceiving him to such an extent, as that he knew not where thegeneral was, and where the army whose camp stood opposite to his own. Surely, he concluded, deterred by a defeat of no ordinary kind, he hasnot dared to pursue him; and he began to entertain the most seriousfears that he had himself come too late with assistance, now thataffairs were desperate, and lest the same good fortune attended theRoman arms in Italy which they had experienced in Spain. Sometimeshe imagined that his letter could not have reached him, and that, ithaving been intercepted, the consul had hastened to overpower him. Thus anxious and perplexed, having put out the fires, he issued asignal at the first watch to collect the baggage in silence, and gaveorders to march. In the hurry and confusion occasioned by a marchby night, their guides were not watched with sufficient care andattention. One of them stopped in a place of concealment which he hadbeforehand fixed upon in his mind, the other swam across the riverMetaurus, at a ford with which he was acquainted. The troops, thusdeserted by their guides, at first wandered up and down through thefields; and some of them, overpowered with sleep, and fatigued with, watching, stretched themselves on the ground here and there, leavingtheir standards thinly attended. Hasdrubal gave orders to march alongthe bank of the river until the light should discover the road; but, pursuing a circuitous and uncertain course along the turnings andwindings of that tortuous river, with the intention of crossing itas soon as the first light should discover a place convenient forthe purpose he made but little progress; but wasting the day in afruitless attempt to discover a ford, for the further he went from thesea the higher he found the banks which kept the river in its course, he gave the enemy time to overtake him. 

48. First Nero arrived with the whole body of his cavalry, thenPorcius came up with him, with the light infantry. And while thesewere harassing his weary troops on every side, and charging them, andthe Carthaginian, stopping his march, which resembled a flight, wasdesirous of encamping on an eminence, on the bank of the river, Liviuscame up with all his foot forces, not after the manner of troops onmarch, but armed and marshalled for immediate action. When they hadunited all their forces, and the line was drawn out, Claudius tookthe direction of the battle in the right wing, Livius in the left; themanagement of the centre was given to the praetor. Hasdrubal, when hesaw that an engagement was inevitable, giving over the fortificationof a camp, placed his elephants in the front line, before thestandards; on either side these he placed in the left wing the Gaulsto oppose Claudius, not so much from any confidence he reposed inthem, as because he believed them to be dreaded by the enemy; theright wing he took to himself against M. Livius, together with theSpaniards, in whom, as being veteran troops, he placed his greatesthopes. Behind the elephants, in the centre, the Ligurians were posted;but his line was rather long than deep. The Gauls were covered bya hill, which extended in front. That part of the line which wasoccupied by the Spaniards, engaged the left wing of the Romans, thewhole of whose right wing, extending beyond the line of battle, wasunengaged. The hill before them prevented their making an attackeither in front or flank. Between Livius and Hasdrubal a furiouscontest arose, and the slaughter on both sides was dreadful. Here wereboth generals, here the major part of the Roman horse and infantry, here the Spaniards, veteran troops, and experienced in the Romanmanner of fighting, and the Ligurians, a nation inured to war. Theelephants were also driven to the same place which, on the firstonset, disordered the van, and had made even dislodged the standards;but afterwards, the contest growing hotter, and the shout increasing, they became less submissive to their riders, and ranged to and frobetween the two lines, as if not knowing to which side they belonged, like ships floating about without rudders. Claudius, when he hadstriven in vain to advance up the hill, repeatedly calling out to hissoldiers, "To what purpose then have we performed so long a march withsuch expedition?" when he found it impossible to make his way to theenemy in that quarter, withdrawing several cohorts from the rightwing, where he saw they would occupy an inactive station, rather thanjoin in the fight, led them round the rear of the line, and, to thesurprise not only of the enemy but his own party, charged their rightflank; and such was their rapidity, that after showing themselves ontheir flank, they almost immediately made an attack on their rear. Thus on all sides, in front, flank, and rear, the Spaniards andLigurians were cut to pieces; and now the carnage had even reached theGauls. Here the least opposition was found; for a great number of themhad quitted their standards, having slunk off during the night, andlaid themselves down to sleep up and down the fields, while even thosewho were present, being tired with marching and watching, for theirbodies are most intolerant of fatigue, could scarcely carry their armsupon their shoulders. And now it was mid-day, and thirst and heat gavethem over to the enemy to be killed or captured in multitudes. 

49. More elephants were killed by their guides than by the enemy. Theyused to have with them a workman's knife, with a mallet. When thesebeasts began to grow furious, and attack their own party, the rider, placing this knife between the ears, just on the joint by which theneck is connected with the head, used to drive it in, striking it withall the force he could. This was found to be the most expeditious modeof putting these bulky animals to death, when they had destroyed allhope of governing them. This method was first practised by Hasdrubal, a general whose conduct both frequently on other occasions, andespecially in this battle, deserved to be recorded. By encouraging themen when fighting, and sharing equally in every danger, he kept upthe battle. Sometimes by entreating, at other times by rebuking, the troops, when tired and indisposed to fight from weariness andover-exertion, he rekindled their spirits. He called back the flying, and restored the battle in many places when it had been given up. Atlength, when fortune decidedly declared for the Romans, lest he shouldsurvive so great an army which had been collected under the influenceof his name, he put spurs to his horse and rushed upon a Roman cohort, where he fell fighting, as was worthy of the son of Hamilcar and thebrother of Hannibal. At no time during that war were so many of theenemy slain in one battle; so that a defeat equal to that sustained atCannae, whether in respect of the loss of the general or the troops, was considered to have been retorted upon him. Fifty-six thousand ofthe enemy were slain, five thousand four hundred captured. The otherbooty was great, both of every other kind, and also of gold andsilver. In addition to the rest, there were recovered above fourthousand Roman citizens, who had been taken by the enemy, which formedsome consolation for the soldiers lost in that battle. For the victorywas by no means bloodless. Much about eight thousand of the Romansand the allies were slain; and so completely were even the victorssatiated with blood and slaughter, that the next day, when Livius theconsul received intelligence that the Cisalpine Gauls and Ligurians, who had either not been present at the battle or had made their escapefrom the carnage, were marching off in one body without a certainleader, without standards, without any discipline or subordination;that if one squadron of horse were sent against them they might beall destroyed, he replied, "Let some survive to bear the news of theenemy's losses and of our valour. "

50. Nero set out on the night following the battle, and marching ata more rapid rate than when he came, arrived at his camp before theenemy on the sixth day. As he was not preceded by a messenger, fewerpeople attended him on the march; but the joy felt was so great, thatthey were almost insane with delight. Neither state of feeling at Romecan be well described or told, whether that in which the citizens werewhen in doubtful expectation of the issue, or when they received theintelligence of victory. Every day, from the time that news arrivedthat the consul Claudius had set out, from sun-rise to sun-set, noneof the senators ever quitted the senate-house, or did the peopledepart from the forum. The matrons, as they had themselves no meansof affording assistance, had recourse to prayers and entreaties, and going about to all the temples, wearied the gods with vows andsupplications. While the city was in this state of solicitude andsuspense, a vague report first arrived that two Narnian horsemen hadcome from the field of battle into the camp which stood as a defencein the entrance to Umbria, with intelligence that the enemy were cutto pieces. At first they rather heard than credited this news, asbeing too great and too joyful for the mind to take in, or obtain afirm belief. Even the very rapidity with which it had arrived formedan obstacle to its reception; for it was stated that the battle tookplace two days before. After this a letter was brought which had beensent by Lucius Manlius Acidinus, from his camp, on the subject of thearrival of the Narnian horsemen. This letter being conveyed throughthe forum to the tribunal of the praetor, drew the senators out of thesenate-house; and with such eagerness and hurry did the peoplecrowd to the doors of the senate-house, that the messenger could notapproach, but was dragged off by persons who asked him questions, anddemanded vociferously that the letter should be read on the rostrumbefore it was read in the senate. At length they were put backand restrained by the magistrates; and thus the joy was graduallydispensed to their overpowered spirits. The letter was read first inthe senate, and then in the assembly of the people. The effect wasvarious, according to the difference in the cast of men's minds, somethinking that there were already sure grounds for rejoicing, whileothers would place no confidence in the news, till they listened toambassadors, or a letter from the consuls. 

51. After this, news came that the ambassadors themselves were on thepoint of arriving. Then, indeed, people of all ages ran to meet them, each man being eager to be the first to receive an assurance of suchjoyful tidings, by the evidence of his eyes and ears. One continuedtrain extended as far as the Mulvian bridge. The ambassadors, Lucius Veturius Philo, Publius Licinius Varus, and Quintus CaeciliusMetellus, made their way into the forum, surrounded by a crowdof persons of every description; when some asked the ambassadorsthemselves, others their attendants, what had been done; and, as soonas each had heard that the army and general of the enemy had beencut off, that the Roman legions were safe, and the consuls unhurt, heimmediately imparted the joyful intelligence to others, imparting tothem the joy he felt himself. Having with difficulty made their wayinto the senate-house, and the crowd with still more difficulty beingremoved, that they might not mix with the fathers, the letter wasread in the senate; after which the ambassadors were brought intothe general assembly. Lucius Veturius Philo, after reading the letterhimself, gave a more explicit account of all that had occurred, amidstgreat approbation, and at last of general shouting from the assembly, while their minds could scarcely contain their joy. They then ran offin various directions, some to the different temples of the gods, to return thanks, others to their homes, to impart the joyfulintelligence to their wives and children. The senate decreed asupplication for three days, because Marcus Livius and Caius Claudius, the consuls, had cut off the general and legions of the enemy, theirown army being safe. This supplication Caius Hostilius, the praetor, proclaimed in the assembly, and was celebrated both by men and women. During the whole three days all the temples were uniformly crowded, whilst the matrons, dressed in their richest robes, and accompaniedby their children, just as though the war had been brought to aconclusion, and free from every apprehension, offered thanksgivingsto the immortal gods. This victory produced an alteration also in thecondition of the state, so that immediately from this event, just asthough it had been a time of peace, men were not afraid to do businesswith each other, buying, selling, lending, and paying borrowed money. Caius Claudius, the consul, on his return to his camp, ordered thehead of Hasdrubal, which he had carefully kept and brought with him, to be thrown before the advanced guards of the enemy, and the Africanprisoners to be shown to them bound just as they were. Two of thesealso he unbound, and bid them go to Hannibal and tell him what hadoccurred. Hannibal, smitten by such severe distress, at once publicand domestic, is said to have declared that he recognised the destinyof Carthage; and decamping thence with the intention of drawingtogether into Bruttium, the remotest corner of Italy, all hisauxiliaries which he could not protect when widely scattered, removedinto Bruttium the whole state of the Metapontines, summoned away fromtheir former habitations, and also such of the Lucanians as were underhis authority. 

BOOK XXVIII. 

 _Successful operations against the Carthaginians in Spain, under Silanus, Scipio's lieutenant, and L. Scipio, his brother; of Sulpicius and Attalus, against Philip, king of Macedonia. Scipio finally vanquishes the Carthaginians in Spain, and reduces that whole country; passes over into Africa, forms an alliance with Syphax, king of Numidia; represses and punishes a mutiny of a part of his army; concludes a treaty of friendship with Masinissa; returns to Rome, and is elected consul; solicits Africa for his province, which is opposed by Quintus Fabius Maximus; is appointed governor of Sicily, with permission to pass over into Africa_. 

1. At the time when Spain appeared to be relieved in proportion to thedegree in which the weight of the war was removed into Italy, by thepassage of Hasdrubal, another war sprang up there equal in magnitudeto the former. At this juncture, the Romans and Carthaginians thusoccupied Spain: Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, had retired quite to theocean and Gades; the coast of our sea, and almost the whole of thatpart of Spain which lies eastward, was subject to Scipio and theRomans. The new general, Hanno, who had passed over from Africa, tosupply the place of the Barcine Hasdrubal, with a new army, and formeda junction with Mago, having in a short time armed a large numberof men in Celtiberia, which lies in the midway between the two seas, Scipio sent Marcus Silanus against him, with no more than ten thousandinfantry and five hundred horse. Silanus, by marching with all thehaste he could, (though the ruggedness of the roads, and narrowdefiles obstructed with thick woods, which are very frequent in Spain, impeded him, ) yet being guided by deserters from Celtiberia, nativesof that place, reached the enemy, anticipating not only messengers buteven all rumour of his coming. From the same source he ascertained, when they were about ten thousand paces from the enemy, that they hadtwo camps, one on each side of the road in which they were marching;that the Celtiberians, a newly-raised army, in number above ninethousand, were on the left, and that the Carthaginian camp wasstationed on the right. The latter was secured and protected byoutposts, watches, and every kind of regular military guard, while theformer was disorderly and neglected, as belonging to barbarians, whowere raw soldiers, and were under the less apprehension, because theywere in their own country. Silanus, concluding that this was the campto be attacked first, ordered the troops to march as much as possibletowards the left, lest he should be observed from any point by theCarthaginian outposts, and sending scouts in advance, pushed ontowards the enemy at a rapid pace. 

2. He was now about three thousand paces from the enemy, when as yetnone of them had perceived him. The ground was covered with craggyplaces, and hills overgrown with bushes. Here in a hollow valley, andon that account unexposed to the view, he ordered his men to sit downand take refreshment. In the mean time the scouts returned, confirmingthe statements of the deserters. Then the Romans, collecting theirbaggage in the centre, took arms, and marched to battle in regulararray. They were a thousand paces off when they were descried bythe enemy, when suddenly all began to be in a state of hurry andconfusion. At the first shout and tumult, Mago quitted the camp androde up at full speed. As there were in the Celtiberian army fourthousand targeteers and two hundred horsemen, this regular legion, asit formed the flower of his troops, he stationed in the first line;the rest, composed of light-armed, he posted in reserve. While he wasleading them out of the camp thus marshalled, the Romans dischargedtheir javelins at them before they had scarcely cleared the rampart. The Spaniards stooped down to avoid the javelins thrown at them bythe enemy, and then rose up to discharge their own in turn; which theRomans having received according to their custom in close array, withtheir shields firmly united, they then engaged foot to foot, and beganto fight with their swords. But the ruggedness of the ground, whileit rendered ineffectual the agility of the Celtiberians who wereaccustomed to a skirmishing kind of battle, was at the same time notunfavourable to the Romans, who were accustomed to a steady kind offight, except that the narrow passes and the bushes, which grew hereand there, broke their ranks, and they were compelled to engage oneagainst one and two against two, as if matched together. The samecircumstance which obstructed the enemy's flight, delivered themup, as it were, bound for slaughter. And now when almost all thetargeteers had been slain, the light-armed and the Carthaginians, who had come up to their assistance from the other camp, havingbeen thrown into confusion, were put to the sword. Not more than twothousand of the infantry, and all the cavalry, fled from the fieldwith Mago before the battle was well begun. The other general, Hanno, was taken alive, together with those who came up when the battle wasnow decided. Almost the whole of the cavalry and the veteran infantry, following Mago in his flight, came to Hasdrubal on the tenth day inthe province of Gades. The newly-raised Celtiberian troops, stealingoff to the neighbouring woods, fled thence to their homes. By thisvery seasonable victory, a stop was put to a war which was not by anymeans so considerable as that to which it would have grown, had theenemy been allowed, after having prevailed upon the Celtiberians tojoin them, to solicit other nations also to take up arms. Scipio, therefore, having liberally bestowed the highest commendations onSilanus, and entertaining a hope that he might bring the war to atermination, if he did not impede it by a want of activity on his ownpart, proceeded into the remotest part of Spain against Hasdrubal. TheCarthaginian, who then happened to be encamped in Baetica, in order toprevent his allies from wavering in their allegiance, retired quite tothe ocean and Gades, in a manner much more resembling a flight than amarch. He was afraid, however; that while he kept his forces together, he should form the principal object of attack. Before he crossed thestrait to Gades he sent them into different cities, that they mightboth provide for their own safety by the help of walls, and for thatof the town by their arms. 

3. Scipio, seeing the enemy's forces thus distributed, and that tocarry about his forces to each of the several cities would be rathertedious than important, marched his army back. Not to leave all thatcountry, however, to the Carthaginians, he sent his brother, LuciusScipio, at the head of ten thousand foot and one thousand horse, to besiege the most important city of that quarter, called by thebarbarians Orinx, and situated on the borders of the Milesians, anation of Spain so called. The soil is fertile, and even silver isdug out of it by the inhabitants. This place served as a fort toHasdrubal, from which he might make incursions on the inland states. Scipio encamped near the city. Before he formed his lines round it, hesent to the gates to sound the inclinations of the inhabitants, by adirect interview, and persuade them to make trial of the friendship ofthe Romans rather than of their power. As they answered nothing of afriendly nature, he threw a double trench and rampart round the place, dividing his army into three parts, in order that one division mightassault it while the other two rested. The first of these beginningthe attack, a furious and doubtful contest ensued. It was by no meanseasy to approach and bring the ladders to the walls, on account of theweapons which fell upon them; and even of those persons who had raisedthem, some were thrown down with forks made for the purpose, otherswere in danger of being laid hold of by iron grapples, and draggedup hanging to the wall. Scipio, seeing that the contest was equalizedowing to the fewness of his party, and that the enemy, fighting fromthe wall, were superior to him, called off the first division andattacked them with the two others together. This so terrified thebesieged, who were already fatigued with fighting with the former, that not only the townsmen forsook the walls in sudden flight, but theCarthaginian garrison, fearing that the town had been betrayed, alsoquitted their posts and collected themselves into a body. Upon thisthe inhabitants began to be alarmed, lest if the enemy broke into thetown they should kill all they met indiscriminately, Carthaginian orSpaniard. They therefore suddenly threw open the gates and rushedout of the town, holding their shields before them, lest any weaponsshould be cast at them from a distance, and stretching out to viewtheir bare right hands, that it might be seen they had thrown awaytheir swords. Whether this was not observed, in consequence of thedistance, or whether some deception was suspected, is not known; butan attack was made on the deserters, and they were put to death as ahostile force. Through this gate the enemy marched into the city inbattle-array. The other gates were cut through and broken down withaxes and sledges; and as each horseman entered, he galloped off toseize the forum, as had been ordered. A body of veteran troops werealso added to the horse to support them. The legionary troops spreadthemselves in every part of the city, but neither killed norplundered any, except such as defended themselves with arms. All theCarthaginians were put under guard, with more than three hundred ofthe inhabitants, who had shut the gates. The rest had the town putinto their hands, and their property restored. About two thousand ofthe enemy fell in the assault on this city, and not more than ninetyof the Romans. 

4. As the taking of this town was a source of great joy to those whoeffected it, as well as to the general and the rest of the army, sotheir approach to their camp also presented a splendid spectacle, on account of the immense crowd of captives they drove beforethem. Scipio, having bestowed high commendations upon his brother, representing the capture of Orinx as equal in importance to thecapture of Carthage by himself, led his forces back into hitherSpain. He could not make an attempt on Gades, or pursue the armyof Hasdrubal, now dispersed through all parts of the province, inconsequence of the approach of winter. He therefore dismissed thelegions into winter quarters, and sent his brother Lucius Scipio withHanno, the enemy's general, and other distinguished prisoners, toRome, while he retired himself to Tarraco. During the same year, theRoman fleet under Marcus Valerius Laevinus, the proconsul, sailingover from Sicily into Africa, devastated to a wide extent the fieldsabout Utica and Carthage. They carried off plunder from the remotestborders of the Carthaginian territory around the very walls of Utica. On their return to Sicily they were met by a Carthaginian fleet ofseventy ships of war, of which seventeen were taken and four sunk; therest were dispersed and compelled to fly. The Romans, victorious bothby land and sea, returned to Lilybaeum with immense booty of everykind. The ships of the enemy having thus been driven from the wholesea, large supplies of corn were conveyed to Rome. 

5. In the beginning of the summer in which these events occurred, Publius Sulpicius, proconsul, and king Attalus, having passed thewinter at Aegina, as before observed, united their fleets, consistingof twenty-three Roman quinqueremes and thirty-five belonging to theking, and proceeded to Lemnos. Philip also, that he might be preparedfor every kind of measure, whether it should be necessary to meetthe enemy on land or sea, came down to the coast of Demetrias andappointed to his army a day on which to meet him at Larissa. Onthe news of the king's arrival, ambassadors from his allies came toDemetrias from all sides. For the Aetolians, inspirited both bytheir alliance with the Romans and the approach of king Attalus, wereravaging the neighbouring states; not only the Acarnanians, Boeotians, and Euboeans were very much alarmed, but the Achaeans also werekept in a state of terror, both by the hostile proceedings of theAetolians, and also by Machanidas, tyrant of Lacedaemon, who hadencamped at a short distance from the borders of the Argives. All ofthese stating the dangers which threatened their possessions, bothby land and sea, entreated succour from the king. Philip receivedaccounts even from his own kingdom, that things were not in a state oftranquillity; that both Scerdilaedus and Pleuratus were in motion, and that some of the Thracians, and particularly the Maedians, wouldcertainly make incursions on the contiguous provinces of Macedonia, should the king be occupied with a distant war. The Boeotians, indeed, and the people inhabiting the inland parts of Greece, told him thatthe Aetolians had obstructed by a ditch and rampart the straits ofThermopylae, where the road is very narrow and confined, in order toprevent their passing to the assistance of the allied states. Somany disturbances arising on all hands were sufficient to awaken aninactive general. He dismissed the ambassadors, promising to assistthem all according as opportunity and circumstances allowed. For thepresent, he sent to Peparethus a body of troops to garrison thecity, for this was the most urgent business, as information had beenreceived thence that Attalus, crossing over to Lemnos, was devastatingall the neighbouring country. He sent Polyphantas with a smalldetachment to Boeotia, and also Menippus, one of his guards, with onethousand targeteers (the target is not unlike the ordinary buckler)to Chalcis. Five hundred Agrianians were added, that every part of theisland might be secured. He went himself to Scotussa, and ordered theMacedonian soldiers to be removed thither from Larissa. Here he heardthat the Aetolians had been summoned to an assembly at Heraclea, andthat king Attalus was to come and advise with them as to the conductof the war. Determining to interrupt this meeting by his suddenapproach, he led his troops by forced marches to Heraclea, where hearrived just after the assembly had broken up. However, he destroyedthe crops, which were nearly ripe, particularly those round the Aenianbay. He then marched back to Scotussa, and leaving there the mainarmy, retired to Demetrias with the royal guards. In order to beprepared against every attempt of the enemy, he sent persons hence toPhocis, Euboea, and Peparethus, to select elevated situations, fromwhich fires lighted upon them might be seen from a distance. He fixeda watch-tower on Tisaeum, a mountain whose summit is prodigiouslyhigh, in order that when the enemy made any attempt he might instantlyreceive intimation of it by means of fires lighted up at a distance. The Roman general and king Attalus then passed over from Peparethus toNicaea, and thence sailed to Orcus, the first city of Euboea, onthe left as you proceed to Chalcis and the Euripus from the bay ofDemetrias. It was agreed upon between Attalus and Sulpicius, that theRomans should attack the town on the side next the sea, and the king'sforces on the land side. 

6. Four days after the fleet arrived, they attacked the city. Thattime had been employed in private conferences with Plator, whomPhilip had put in command of the place. The city has two citadels, one overhanging the coasts, the other in the middle of the town, fromwhich there is a subterraneous passage to the ocean, whose entrancenext the sea is defended by a strong fortification, a tower fivestories high. Here the affair commenced with a most furious contest, the tower being furnished with all kinds of weapons, and engines andmachines of every kind for the purpose of the assault having beenlanded from the ships. While the eyes and attention of all were turnedto that quarter, Plator opened one of the gates and received theRomans into the citadel next the sea, which they instantly becamemasters of. The inhabitants, driven thence, fled to the other citadelin the middle of the city; but there had been troops posted there toshut the gates against them; so that, being thus excluded, theywere surrounded and either slain or made prisoners. Meanwhile theMacedonian garrison stood under the wall of the citadel, formed into acompact body, neither confusedly attempting a retreat, nor obstinatelyengaging in a contest. These men Plator, after obtaining permissionfrom Sulpicius, put on board ships and landed them at Demetrias inPhthiotis; he himself withdrew to Attalus. Sulpicius, elated with thesuccess at Oreum, gained with so much ease, proceeded to Chalciswith his victorious fleet, where the issue by no means answeredhis expectations. The sea, which is wide on both sides, being herecontracted into a narrow strait, might perhaps, at first view, exhibit the appearance of two harbours facing the two entrances of theEuripus. It would be difficult to find a station more dangerous forshipping; for not only do the winds come down with great violence fromthe high mountains on each side, but the strait itself of the Euripusdoes not ebb and flow seven times a day at stated times, as isreported, but the current changing irregularly, like the wind, nowthis way now that, is hurried along like a torrent rolling headlongdown a steep mountain, so that no quiet is given to vessels there dayor night. But not only did so perilous a station receive his ships, but the town was strong and impregnable, covered on one side by thesea, and very well fortified on the other towards the land, secured bya strong garrison, and above all, by the fidelity of the praefects andprincipal men, which was wavering and unsettled at Oreum. Thoughthe business had been rashly undertaken, the Roman still acted withprudence, in so far as he speedily gave up the attempt, after he hadseen all the difficulties which surrounded him, that he might notwaste time, and passed his fleet over from thence to Cynus in Locris, the port of the town of Opus, which is one mile distant from the sea. 

7. Philip had received notice of this from Oreum, by the signalfires; but through the treachery of Plator they were raised from thewatch-tower at a later period. As he was not a match for the enemy'sforces at sea, it was difficult for him to approach the island; andthus, by delay, the opportunity was lost. He moved with promptnessto the assistance of Chalcis as soon as he received the signal. Foralthough Chalcis is a city of the same island, yet it is separatedfrom the continent by so narrow a strait, that they communicate bymeans of a bridge, and the approach to it is easier by land than bywater. Philip therefore, going from Demetrias to Scotussa, and settingout thence at the third watch, dislodged the guard, put to flight theAetolians who kept the pass of Thermopylae, and drove the enemy inconfusion to Heraclea, marching in one day to Elatia in Phocis, adistance of above sixty miles. Almost on the same day the town of Opuswas taken and plundered by Attalus. Sulpicius had given it up to theking because Oreum had been plundered a few days before by the Romansoldiers, the royal soldiers not having shared the booty. The Romanfleet having retired thither, Attalus, who was not aware of Philip'sapproach, wasted time in levying contributions from the principalinhabitants, and so sudden was his coming, that had he not beendescried by some Cretans, who happened to go farther from the townthan usual in quest of forage, he might have been surprised. He fledhastily to the sea and his ships, without arms, and in the greatestdisorder. Just as they were putting off from the land Philip arrived, and even from the shore created much alarm among the mariners. Hereturned thence to Opus, accusing both gods and men, because he hadlost an opportunity of so great importance, almost snatched from hishands. He also reproached the Opuntians with the like anger, becausethey had, immediately on sight of the enemy, made almost a voluntarysurrender, though they might have prolonged the siege till hisarrival. Having settled affairs at Opus, he proceeded thence toThronium. Attalus, too, at first retired from Oreum; but therereceiving intelligence that Prusias, king of Bithynia, had invaded hiskingdom, he withdrew his attention from the Romans and the Aetolianwar, and passed over into Asia. Sulpicius also withdrew his fleet toAegina, from whence he had set out in the beginning of spring. Philiptook Thronium with as little difficulty as Attalus had at Opus. It wasinhabited by foreigners, fugitives from Thebes in Phthiotis, who, onthe capture of their own town by Philip, had fled to the protection ofthe Aetolians, and received from them a city as a settlement whichhad been laid waste and desolated in a former war by the same Philip. Having recovered Thronium, as has been a little before mentioned, heset out thence; and having taken Tritonos and Drymae, inconsiderabletowns of Doris, he came thence to Elatia, where he had orderedthe ambassadors of Ptolemy and the Rhodians to wait for him. Whileconsulting there as to the best method of bringing the Aetolian war toa conclusion, (for these ambassadors attended the late council ofthe Romans and Aetolians at Heraclea, ) intelligence is brought thatMachanidas intended to attack the Elians while busied in preparing forthe celebration of the Olympic games. Thinking it his duty to preventsuch an attempt, he dismissed the ambassadors with a gracious answerto the effect, that he had neither caused the war, nor would he beany obstacle to the restoration of peace, if it should be possible onequitable and honourable terms; then marching quickly through Boeotiahe came down from Megara, and thence to Corinth, where receivingsupplies of provisions, he went to Phlius and Pheneus. And now, whenhe had proceeded as far as Heraea, having received intelligence thatMachanidas, terrified at the news of his approach, had retreatedto Lacedaemon, he betook himself to Aegium, where the Achaeans wereassembled in council, expecting at the same time to meet there aCarthaginian fleet, which he had sent for, in order that he mightaccomplish something by sea. But the Carthaginians had left a few daysbefore, and were gone to the Oxean islands; and thence, hearingthat the Romans and Attalus had left Oreum, to the harbours of theAcarnanians, for they feared that it was intended to attack them, and that they would be overpowered while within the straits of Rhium, which is the name of the entrance of the Corinthian bay. 

8. Philip was grieved and vexed when he reflected, that though heproceeded with the utmost speed on all occasions, yet he had notcome up in time to accomplish any one object, and that fortune hadfrustrated his activity by snatching away every advantage frombefore his eyes. In the assembly, however, concealing his chagrin, hediscoursed with elated spirits, calling gods and men to witness, that"he had never been wanting at any time or place, so as not to repairinstantly wherever the enemy's arms resounded, but that it wasdifficult to calculate whether the war was carried on more boldly byhim or more pusillanimously by the enemy. Such was the manner inwhich Attalus had slipped out of his hands from Opus; Sulpicius fromChalcis; and so, within these few days, Machanidas. That flight, however, was not always successful; and that that should not beesteemed a difficult war in which victory would be certain if theenemy could be brought to a regular engagement. He had alreadyobtained one very great advantage, which was a confession on the partof the enemy themselves, that they were not a match for him; and in ashort time, " he said, "he would be in possession of undoubted victory;for that he would engage with him with a result no better thantheir expectations. " The allies listened to the king with greatsatisfaction. He then gave up to the Achaeans Heraera and Triphylia. Aliphera he restored to the Megalopolitans, they having broughtsatisfactory proof that it belonged to their territories. Then havingreceived some ships from the Achaeans, three quadriremes and threebiremes, he sailed to Anticyra, whence with seven quinqueremes andmore than twenty barks, which he had sent to the bay of Corinth tojoin the Carthaginian fleet, he proceeded to Erythrae, a town ofthe Aetolians near Eupalium, where he made a descent. He was notunobserved by the Aetolians; for all who were either in the fieldsor in the neighbouring forts of Potidania and Apollonia, fled to thewoods and mountains. The cattle which they could not drive off intheir haste they seized and put on board. He sent Nicias, praetor ofthe Achaeans, to Aegium with these and the other booty; and then goingto Corinth, ordered his army to march by land through Boeotia, whilehe himself, sailing from Cenchreae along the coast of Attica, roundthe promontory of Sunium, reached Chalcis, having passed almostthrough the midst of the enemy's fleet. After commending in thehighest terms their fidelity and bravery, as neither fear nor hopehad influenced their minds, and after exhorting them to show the samefidelity in maintaining the alliance, he sailed to Oreum; and havingplaced such of the chief inhabitants as chose to fly, rather thansurrender to the Romans, in the command of the city and the directionof affairs, he sailed over from Euboea to Demetrias, from which placehe at first set out to succour his allies. After this, having laid thekeels of one hundred ships of war at Cassandrea, and collected a largenumber of ship carpenters for the completion of that business, andas both the departure of Attalus and the seasonable assistance he hadbrought to his allies had tranquillized affairs in Greece, he retiredinto his own dominions, in order to make war upon the Dardanians. 

9. Just at the close of the summer during which these operations werecarried on in Greece, when Quintus Fabius, son of Maximus, ambassadorfrom Marcus Livius the consul, brought a message to Rome to thesenate, to the effect, that the consul considered that Lucius Portiuswith his legions formed a sufficient protection for the province, thathe might himself retire thence, and that the consular army might bewithdrawn, the fathers directed that not only Livius should return tothe city, but also his colleague, Caius Claudius. The only differencemade between them in the decree was, that they ordered the army ofMarcus Livius to be led back, and the legions of Nero to remainin their province opposed to Hannibal. The consuls agreed betweenthemselves by letter, that as they had conducted the affairs of thecommonwealth with unanimity, they should arrive at the city at thesame time, though they came from different quarters. He who arrivedfirst at Praeneste was enjoined to wait there for his colleague. It sohappened that they both came to Praeneste on the same day, and thence, sending a proclamation before them, directing that there should bea full attendance of the senate at the temple of Bellona, three daysafter, they came up to the city, when they were met by the whole bodyof the inhabitants. Not only did the whole body pour around themand salute them, but each person individually, desiring to touch thevictorious right hands of the consuls, some congratulated them, whileothers thanked them because by their services the state had beenpreserved. In the senate, when, having made a recital of theirservices according to the custom observed by all generals, they hadrequested, that "in consideration of the brave and successful conductof the affairs of the commonwealth, honours should be paid to theimmortal gods, and they themselves enter the city in triumph;" thefathers replied, that "they most willingly decreed those things whichthey requested in gratitude to the gods in the first instance, and, next to them, to the consuls. " A supplication in the name of both, and a triumph to both of them, having been decreed, lest after havingcarried on the war with entire unanimity they should have a separatetriumph, they made the following agreement; that "since both theservice had been performed in the province of Marcus Livius, and hewas in possession of the command on the day on which the battle wasfought, and further, that as the army of Livius had been withdrawnand had come to Rome, while Nero's could not be withdrawn from theprovince, Marcus Livius should enter the city in a four-horse chariotand followed by the soldiers; Caius Claudius on horseback withoutsoldiers. " This plan of associating the generals in the triumphincreased the glory of both, but particularly of him who had yieldedto his colleague in the honours he received, as much as he surpassedhim in merit. The people said, that "the general on horseback hadtraversed the whole length of Italy in the space of six days, and hadfought a pitched battle with Hasdrubal in Gaul, on the very day onwhich Hannibal supposed that he was occupying a camp pitched in Apuliato oppose him. That thus one consul, acting in defence of eitherextremity of Italy against two leaders, had opposed against one hisskill, against the other his person. That the name of Nero had beensufficient to confine Hannibal within his camp, while with regardto Hasdrubal, by what, but his arrival, had he been overwhelmed andannihilated? The other consul might move along raised aloft in achariot, drawn if he pleased by a number of horses, but that the realtriumph was his who was conveyed by one horse; and that Nero, thoughhe should go on foot, would be immortalized, whether on account of theglory he had acquired in the war, or the contempt he had shown for itin the triumph. " Such continual expressions of the spectators attendedNero all the way to the Capitol. The money they brought into thetreasury was three hundred thousand sesterces, with eighty thousandasses of brass. Marcus Livius distributed among the soldiers fifty-sixasses each. Caius Claudius promised the same sum to his absent troopswhen he returned to the army. It was observed that more verses werewritten by the soldiery upon Caius Claudius in their jocular style, than upon their own consul; that the horsemen highly extolled LuciusVeturius and Quintus Caecilius, lieutenant-generals, and exhorted thecommons to create them consuls for the ensuing year; that the consulsadded their authority to the recommendation of the knights, relatingin the public assembly the following day with what courage andfidelity their two lieutenant-generals in particular had served them. 

10. When the time for the elections approached, and it was resolvedthat it should be held by a dictator, the consul Caius Claudiusnominated as dictator his colleague Marcus Livius, who appointedQuintus Caecilius his master of the horse. Lucius Veturius and QuintusCaecilius were created consuls by Marcus Livius the dictator, thelatter being then master of the horse. After this the election ofpraetors was held. The persons appointed were, Caius Servilius, MarcusCaecilius Metellus, Titus Claudius Asellus, and Quintus MamiliusTurinus, who was at that time plebeian aedile. When the elections werefinished, the dictator, having abdicated his office and dismissed hisarmy, set out for his province of Etruria, according to a decree ofthe senate, to make inquiry what states of the Tuscans and Umbrianshad formed schemes of revolt from the Romans to Hasdrubal at the timeof his approach, and what states had assisted him with auxiliaries, provisions, or succours of any kind. Such were the transactions thisyear at home and abroad. The Roman games were thrice repeated in fullby the curule aediles, Cneius Servilius Caepio and Servius CorneliusLentulus. In the same manner the plebeian games also were oncerepeated entire by the plebeian aediles, Manius Pomponius Matho andQuintus Mamilius Thurinus. 

In the thirteenth year of the Punic war, when Lucius Veturius Philoand Quintus Caecilius Metellus were consuls, Bruttium was assigned toboth of them, as their province, to carry on the war with Hannibal. The praetors then cast lots for their provinces: Marcus CaeciliusMetellus had the city jurisdiction; Quintus Mamilius, the foreign;Caius Servilius, Sicily; Tiberius Claudius, Sardinia. The armies weredistributed thus: to one of the consuls was given the army whichCaius Claudius the consul of the former year, to the other that whichQuintus Claudius the propraetor, had commanded, consisting of twolegions each. It was decreed that Marcus Livius, proconsul, who wascontinued in command for the year, should take the two legions ofvolunteer slaves from Caius Terentius the propraetor, and that QuintusMamilius, transferring his judicial business to his colleague, shouldoccupy Gaul with the army which Lucius Porcius, the praetor, hadcommanded, with orders to lay waste the lands of those Gauls whohad revolted to the Carthaginians on the approach of Hasdrubal. Theprotection of Sicily was assigned to Caius Servilius with the twolegions which fought at Cannae, in the same manner as Caius Mamiliushad held it. The old army which Aulus Hostilius had commanded wasconveyed out of Sardinia, and the consuls enlisted a new legion, whichTiberius Claudius might take over with him. Quintus Claudius andCaius Hostilius Tubulus were continued in command for a year, that theformer might hold Tarentum as his province, the latter, Capua. MarcusValerius, the proconsul, to whom had been committed the protectionof the sea-coast round Sicily, was ordered to deliver thirty shipsto Caius Servilius, and return to the city with all the rest of thefleet. 

11. In a state where the greatest anxiety prevailed, in consequenceof the very critical situation in which the war stood, and where allevents, prosperous or adverse, were attributed to the interposition ofthe gods, accounts of many prodigies were received; that the temple ofJupiter at Tarracina, and that of Mater Matuta at Satricum, had beenstruck by lightning. The people of Satricum were no less terrifiedby two snakes gliding into the temple of Jupiter by the very doors. Areport was brought from Antium, that bloody ears of corn had been seenby the reapers. At Caere a pig with two heads had been littered, anda lamb yeaned which was both male and female. Intelligence was broughtthat two suns had been seen at Alba, and that light had suddenlyappeared during night at Fregellae. An ox was reported to have spokenin the Roman territory. A copious perspiration was said to have exudedfrom the altar of Neptune, in the Flaminian circus; and the templesof Ceres, Safety, and Quirinus were said to have been struck bylightning. The consuls were directed to expiate these prodigies withvictims of the larger sort, and to make a supplication for one day. These things were executed according to a decree of the senate. Theextinction of the fire in the temple of Vesta struck more terrorupon the minds of men than all the prodigies which were reported fromabroad, or seen at home; and the vestal, who had the guarding of itfor that night, was scourged by the command of Publius Liciniusthe pontiff. Although this event was not appointed by the gods as aportent, but had happened through human neglect, yet it was thoughtproper that it should be expiated with victims of the larger sort, andthat a supplication should be made at the temple of Vesta. 

Before the consuls set out for the campaign, they were cautioned bythe senate to take care that the common people should be brought backinto the country; for since, through the goodness of the gods, thewar was removed from the city of Rome and Latium, the country mightbe inhabited without fear. That it was most inconsistent that greatercare should be taken in cultivating Sicily than Italy. But it was amatter by no means easy for the people, the free labourers having beencut off by war, and there being a scarcity of slaves, their cattlehaving been carried off as booty, and the farmhouses pulled down orburnt. A large number, however, compelled by the authority of theconsuls, returned into the country. The mention of this affairhad been occasioned by ambassadors of Placentia and Cremona, whocomplained that their lands were being invaded and laid waste bythe neighbouring Gauls; that a large portion of their settlers haddispersed; that their cities were thinly inhabited, and their landsdevastated and deserted. Mamilius the praetor was charged with theprotection of the colonies from the enemy. The consuls, in conformitywith a decree of the senate, issued an edict that all who werecitizens of Cremona and Placentia should return to those coloniesbefore a certain day; after which, in the beginning of spring, theyset out for the campaign. Quintus Caecilius, the consul, receivedthe army from Caius Nero; Lucius Veturius received his from QuintusClaudius the propraetor, filling it up with new-raised soldiers, whom he had himself enlisted. The consuls marched their army into theterritory of Consentia, and devastating the country on all hands, when the troops were loaded with plunder, they were thrown into suchconfusion by some Bruttians and Numidian spearmen, who attacked themin a narrow defile, that not only the booty but the troops werein danger. There was more of confusion, however than fighting; andsending the booty in advance, the legions themselves also escaped intoa place free from danger. Proceeding thence into Lucania, the whole ofthat people returned, without a contest, into subjection to the Romanpeople. 

12. No action with Hannibal took place this year; for neither did hepresent himself after the public and personal calamity so recentlyinflicted, and the Romans did not provoke him while he remained quiet, such power did they consider that single general possessed, thoughevery thing else around him was falling into ruin. Indeed I know notwhether he was not more deserving of admiration in adversity than inprosperity; inasmuch as though he carried on a war in the territoryof enemies through a period of thirteen years, at so great a distancefrom home, with varying success, and with, an army not composed of hisown countrymen, but made up of the offscouring of all nations, without communion of laws, customs, or language, different in theirappearance, their dress, their arms, their religious ceremonies andobservances, and I had almost said, their gods; yet he so effectuallyunited them by some one bond, that no disturbance ever arose eitheramong the soldiers themselves, or between them and their general, though he often wanted money to pay them, and provisions, as beingin a hostile country, through want of which, in the former Punic war, many dreadful transactions had occurred between the generals and theirsoldiers. But after the destruction of Hasdrubal and his army, inwhich all hopes of victory had been treasured up; and after retiringfrom the possession of every other part of Italy by withdrawing intoBruttium, one corner of it; to whom does it not appear wonderful thatno disturbance arose in the camp? For to other circumstances this alsowas added, that he had no nope of subsisting his army, except from thelands of Bruttium, which, though they were all cultivated, would bevery insufficient for the maintenance of so large an army. Besides, many of the youth were drawn off from the cultivation of the fields, and engaged in the war; and a custom also prevailed among the peopleof that nation, grafted on a naturally depraved inclination, ofcarrying on a predatory kind of warfare. Nor did he receive anysupplies from home, where they were anxious about the retention ofSpain, as if every thing was going on prosperously in Italy. In Spainthe state of affairs was in one respect similar, but in another widelydifferent; similar in that the Carthaginians, having been defeatedwith the loss of their general, had been driven to the remotest coastof that country, even to the ocean; but different, because Spain, bothfrom the nature of the country and the genius of its inhabitants, wasbetter adapted not only than Italy, but than any other part of theworld, for renewing a war. And accordingly, therefore, though this wasthe first of the provinces on the continent which the Romans entered, it was the last which was at length reduced, in the present age, underthe conduct and auspices of Augustus Caesar. Here Hasdrubal, son ofGisgo, the greatest and most renowned general concerned in the war, next to the Barcine family, returning from Gades, and encouraged inhis hopes of reviving the war by Mago, son of Hamilcar, by meansof levies made throughout the Farther Spain, armed as many as fiftythousand foot and four thousand five hundred horse. With regard tohis mounted force, authors are pretty much agreed, but some state thatseventy thousand infantry were led to the city Silpia. Here the twoCarthaginian generals sat down on open plains, with a determinationnot to avoid a battle. 

13. When Scipio received an account of the collection of so large anarmy, he felt convinced that he would not be a match for so great amultitude with the Roman legions only, without making a show at leastof the auxiliary troops of the barbarians; at the same time that hedid not think it right that they should form so large a portion ofhis force as to occasion important consequences if they shouldchange sides, which had brought ruin upon his father and his uncle. Therefore, sending forward Silanus to Colca, who was sovereign oftwenty-eight towns, to receive from him the infantry and cavalry, which he promised to enlist during the winter, he himself set out fromTarraco; and collecting small bodies of auxiliaries from his allies, who lay near his road as he proceeded, he came to Castulo. To thisplace Silanus led the auxiliaries, consisting of three thousandinfantry and five hundred horse. Thence he advanced to the city ofBaecula, with his entire army of countrymen and allies, foot andhorse, amounting to forty-five thousand. Mago and Masinissa attackedthem with the whole body of their cavalry while forming their camp, and would have dispersed those engaged in the works, had not a partyof horse, concealed by Scipio behind an eminence conveniently situatedfor the purpose, unexpectedly charged them when rushing on to theattack, and, ere the battle was well begun, routed all the mostforward, both those who had advanced nearest the rampart, and thosewho were foremost in charging the very workmen. With the rest of thetroops who came up with their standards, and in order of march, thecontest lasted longer, and was for a considerable time doubtful. Butwhen first the light cohorts from the outposts, and then the troopswithdrawn from the works and ordered to take arms, came up, being morenumerous than those which had been engaged, and fresh while they werefatigued, and now a large body of armed troops rushed from the campto the battle, the Carthaginians and Numidians at once turned theirbacks. At first they moved off in troops without breaking their ranks, through fear or precipitation; but afterwards, when the Romans pressedfuriously upon their rear, and they were unable to bear the violenceof their attack, then at length, utterly regardless of order, they fled precipitately in every direction, as suited each man'sconvenience. And although, in consequence of this battle, the spiritsof the Romans were considerably raised, and those of the enemydepressed, yet, for several days following, the horsemen andlight-armed troops never ceased from skirmishes. 

14. After having made sufficient trial of their strength in theseslight engagements, Hasdrubal first led out his forces for battle, and then the Romans also advanced. But both the armies stood drawn upbefore their ramparts; and as neither party began the attack, and thesun was now going down, the Carthaginian first, and then the Roman, led back his troops into the camp. The same occurred for several days. The Carthaginian was always the first to lead out his troops into thefield, and the first to give the signal for retiring, when they wereweary with standing. Neither party sallied from their posts, nor was aweapon discharged, or a word uttered. On one side the Romans occupiedthe centre, on the other, the Carthaginians and Africans together; theallies occupied the wings, which were composed of Spaniards onboth sides. The elephants which stood before the Carthaginian line, appeared at a distance like castles. It was now commonly talked of inboth camps, that they would fight in the order in which they hadstood when drawn up, and that their centres, composed of Romans andCarthaginians, who were the principals in the war, would engage withequal courage and strength. When Scipio perceived that this was firmlybelieved, he studiously altered all his arrangements against the dayon which he intended to fight. He issued orders through the camp atevening, that the men and horses should be refreshed and fed beforedaylight, and that the horsemen, armed themselves, should keep theirhorses bridled and saddled. When it was scarcely yet daylight, hesent all his cavalry, with the light troops, against the Carthaginianoutposts, and then without delay advanced himself, at the head of theheavy body of the legions, having strengthened his wings with Romansoldiers, and placed the allies in the centre, contrary to the fullanticipations of his own men and of the enemy. Hasdrubal, alarmed bythe shout of the cavalry, sprang out of his tent, and, perceiving atumult before the rampart, and his own troops in a state of hurry andconfusion, the standards of the legions gleaming at a distance, andthe plain filled with the enemy, immediately sent out the whole bodyof his cavalry against the horsemen of the enemy; marching himselfout of the camp, at the head of the infantry, without departing at allfrom the usual arrangement in forming his line. The battle between thecavalry had continued for a long time doubtful; nor could they decideit themselves, because, when repulsed, which was the case in a manneralternately, they had a safe retreat upon the line of infantry. Butwhen the armies were not more than five hundred paces distant fromeach other, Scipio, sounding a retreat and opening his files, receivedinto the midst of them the whole body of his cavalry and light-armedtroops; and dividing them into two parts, placed them in reservebehind the wings. After this, when it was now time to commence thebattle, he ordered the Spaniards, who formed the centre, to advance ata slow pace; he himself sent a messenger from the right wing, for thathe commanded, to Silanus and Marcius to extend the wing on the left inthe same manner as they should see him extend that on the right, andengage the enemy with the light-armed of the horse and foot, beforethe two centres could meet. The wings being thus extended, theyadvanced against the enemy at a rapid pace, with three cohortsof infantry, and three troops of horse, each with the addition ofskirmishers, the rest following them in an oblique line. There was adepression in the centre of the line, because the battalions of theSpaniards advanced slower than the rest, and the wings had alreadyencountered the enemy, when the veteran Carthaginians and Africans hadnot yet come within distance to discharge their darts; nor dared theyrun in different directions to the wings to assist them when fighting, lest they should expose their centre to the enemy approaching overagainst them. The wings were hard pressed, by a twofold attack; thecavalry, the light-armed, and the skirmishers, wheeling round, chargedtheir flanks, while the cohorts pressed them hard in front, in orderto separate the wings from the rest of the line. 

15. The battle was now extremely unequal in every part, both becausean irregular band of Balearians and raw Spaniards were opposed toRoman and Latin soldiers, and further, because, as the day was nowgetting on, Hasdrubal's troops began to grow languid, having beendispirited by the alarm in the morning, and compelled to go outhastily into the field, without refreshing themselves with food. Scipio had designedly spun out the day, in order that the battle mighttake place at a late hour; for it was not until the seventh hour thatthe battalions of infantry charged the wings. It was considerablylater before the battle reached the centres, so that the heat from themeridian sun, and the fatigue of standing under arms, together withhunger and thirst, enfeebled their bodies before they engaged theenemy. Thus they stood still, supporting themselves upon theirshields. In addition to their other misfortunes, the elephantstoo, terrified at the tumultuous kind of attack of the cavalry, theskirmishers, and the light-armed, had transferred themselves from thewings to the centre. Fatigued therefore in mind and body, they gaveground, preserving their ranks, however, just as though the armywere retreating entire at the command of their general. But when thevictors, perceiving that the enemy had given way, charged them on allsides with increased vehemence on that very account, so that the shockcould hardly be sustained, though Hasdrubal endeavoured to stop themand hinder them from retiring, vociferating, "that there were hillson their rear, and a safe refuge if they would retreat withoutprecipitation;" yet, fear getting the better of their sense of shame, and all those who were nearest the enemy giving way, they immediatelyturned their backs, and all gave themselves up to disorderly flight. The first place they halted at was the foot of the hills, wherethey endeavoured to recall the soldiers to their ranks, theRomans hesitating to advance their line up the opposite steep; butafterwards, when they saw them push on briskly, renewing their flight, they were driven into their camp in extreme alarm. Nor were the Romansfar from the rampart; and such was their impetuosity, that they wouldhave taken their camp had not so violent a shower of rain suddenlypoured down, while, as is usually the case, the solar rays darted withthe greatest intensity between the clouds surcharged with water, thatthe victors with difficulty returned to their camp. Some were evendeterred, by superstition, from making any further attempts that day. Though night and the rain invited the Carthaginians to take necessaryrest, yet, as their fears and the danger would not allow them todelay, as it was expected that the enemy would assault their camp assoon as it was light, they raised their rampart by stones collectedfrom the neighbouring valleys around them on all sides, with thedetermination to defend themselves by works, since there was butlittle protection in their arms. But the desertion of their alliesmade it appear safer to fly than stay. Attanes, prince of theTurdetani, began this revolt; he deserted at the head of a numerousband of his countrymen. Then two fortified towns, together with theirgarrisons, were delivered up by their praefects to the Romans. And, lest the evil should spread more widely, now that the dispositionto revolt from the Carthaginians had evinced itself in one instance, Hasdrubal decamped during the silence of the ensuing night. 

16. The troops in the outposts having brought word, as soon as it waslight, that the enemy had departed, Scipio, despatching his cavalryin advance, ordered the army to move forward; and so rapidly were theyled, that had they directly followed the track of the fugitives, theywould certainly have overtaken them; but they trusted to the report oftheir guides, that there was a shorter cut to the river Baetis, wherethey might attack them while crossing it. Hasdrubal, being precludedfrom passing the river, turned his course to the ocean; and they nowadvanced in disorder and in the manner of fugitives, so that the Romanlegions were left considerably behind. The cavalry and light-armed, attacking sometimes their rear, and sometimes their flank, harassedand delayed them; and as they were obliged to halt, in consequence ofthese frequent annoyances, and engaged sometimes the cavalry, at othertimes the skirmishers and the auxiliary infantry, the legions came up. After this it was no longer a fight, but a butchering as of cattle, till the general himself, who was the first to run away, made hisescape to the neighbouring hills with about six thousand men halfarmed; the rest were slain or made prisoners. The Carthaginianshastily fortified an irregular camp on the highest eminence, and fromthence they defended themselves without difficulty, the enemy failingin his attempt to get at them, from the difficulty of the ascent. Buta siege in a place bare and affording no means of subsistence, washardly to be supported, even for a few days; the troops thereforedeserted to the enemy. At last the general himself, having procuredsome ships, for the sea was not at a great distance, left his army bynight and effected his escape to Gades. Scipio, having heard of theflight of the general of the enemy, left ten thousand foot and onethousand cavalry for Silanus to carry on the siege of the camp, andreturned to Tarraco with the rest of the troops, after a march ofseventy days, during which he took cognizance of the causes of thepetty princes and states, in order that rewards might be conferredaccording to a just estimate of their merits. After his departure, Masinissa, having held a private conference with Silanus, passedover into Africa with a few of his countrymen, in order that he mightinduce his nation also to acquiesce in his new designs. The cause ofthis sudden change was not so evident at the time, as the proof wasconvincing which was afforded by his subsequent fidelity, preservedto extreme old age, that he did not on this occasion act withoutreasonable grounds. Mago went to Gades in the ships which had beensent back by Hasdrubal. Of the rest of the troops thus abandoned bytheir generals, some deserted and others betook themselves to flight, and in this manner were dispersed through the neighbouring states. There was no body of them considerable either for numbers or strength. Such were, as near as possible, the circumstances under which theCarthaginians were driven out of Spain, under the conduct and auspicesof Publius Scipio, in the thirteenth year from the commencement ofthe war, and the fifth from the time that Publius Scipio received theprovince and the army. Not long after, Silanus returned to Tarraco toScipio, with information that the war was at an end. 

17. Lucius Scipio was sent to Rome to convey the news of the reductionof Spain, and with him a number of distinguished captives. Whileeverybody else extolled this achievement as an event in the highestdegree joyful and glorious, yet the author of it alone, whose valourwas such that he never thought he had achieved enough, and whosesearch for true glory was insatiable, considered the reduction ofSpain as affording but a faint idea of the hopes which his aspiringmind had conceived. He now directed his view to Africa and GreatCarthage, and the glorious termination of the war, as redounding tohis honour, and giving lustre to his name. Judging it therefore tobe now necessary to pave the way to his object, and to conciliatethe friendship of kings and nations, he resolved first to sound thedisposition of Syphax, king of the Masaesylians, a nation borderingon the Moors, and lying for the most part over-against that quarter ofSpain in which New Carthage is situated. The king was at the presentjuncture in league with the Carthaginians; and Scipio, concluding thathe would not hold it as more binding and sacred than was customarywith barbarians, sent Caius Laelius as envoy to him with presents. Thebarbarian, delighted with these, and seeing that the Roman cause wasthen successful in every quarter, but that the Carthaginians wereunfortunate in Italy, and no longer existed in Spain, consented toaccept the friendship of the Romans, but refused to give or receivea solemn ratification of it except the Roman general himself werepresent in person. This being the case, Laelius returned to Scipio, having received from the king merely an assurance of a safe journey. To one desirous of getting a footing in Africa, Syphax was of greatimportance, as he was the most powerful king in that country, hadalready had experience of the Carthaginians themselves in war, andthe boundaries of his dominions lay very conveniently with respectto Spain, from which they are separated by a narrow strait. Scipio, therefore, considering it an object of sufficient importance towarrant his attempting it, notwithstanding the greatness of the dangerwhich attended it, since he could not effect it otherwise, left forthe protection of Spain Lucius Marcius at Tarraco, and Marcus Silanusat New Carthage, to which place he had gone on foot by long marches;and setting out himself in company with Caius Laelius, with twoquinqueremes from Carthage, passed over into Africa, working thevessels with oars for the greatest part of the voyage, in consequenceof the calmness of the sea, though sometimes they were assisted bya gentle breeze. It so happened, that just at that time Hasdrubal, having been driven out of Spain, had entered the harbour with seventriremes, and having cast anchor was mooring his ships. The sight oftwo quinqueremes, which it was the firm opinion of everybody belongedto the enemy, and might be overpowered by superior numbers beforethey entered the harbour, produced no other effect than a tumultand confusion among the soldiers and sailors, who endeavoured to nopurpose to get their arms and ships ready; for their sails, impelledby a somewhat brisker gale from the sea, brought the quinqueremes intothe harbour before the Carthaginians weighed their anchors, and no onedared make any further stir now that they were in the king's harbour. Thus Hasdrubal, who landed first, and Scipio and Laelius, who landedsoon after, proceeded to the king. 

18. Syphax considered it highly honourable to him, as it really was, that generals of the two most powerful people of the age should cometo him on the same day to solicit peace and friendship with him. Heinvited them both to become his guests; and, as it was the will offortune that they should be under one roof, and under the protectionof the same household gods, he endeavoured to bring them together toa conference, in order to put an end to the difference between them;when Scipio declared, that there was no personal enmity between theCarthaginian and himself which he might do away with by a conference, and that he could not transact any business relating to the republicwith an enemy without the command of the senate. But the kingbeing earnest in his endeavours to persuade him to come to the sameentertainment, lest one of his guests should appear to be excluded, hedid not withhold his assent. They supped together at the king's table, and Scipio and Hasdrubal even sat at meat on the same couch, becauseit was the king's pleasure. So courteous was the manner of Scipio, sonaturally happy and universal was his genius, that by his conversationhe gained the esteem not only of Syphax, a barbarian, and unused toRoman manners, but even of a most inveterate enemy, who openly avowed, that "he appeared to him more to be admired for the qualities hedisplayed on a personal interview with him, than for his exploits inwar, and that he had no doubt that Syphax and his kingdom were alreadyat the disposal of the Romans, such were the abilities that manpossessed for gaining the esteem of others. That it, therefore, wasincumbent upon the Carthaginians not more to inquire by what meansthey had lost Spain, than to consider how they might retain possessionof Africa. That it was not from a desire to visit foreign countries, or to roam about delightful coasts, that so great a Roman captain, leaving a recently subdued province, and his armies, had crossed overinto Africa with only two ships, entering an enemy's territory, andcommitting himself to the untried honour of the king, but in pursuanceof a hope he had conceived of subduing Africa. That it had been longthe object of his anxious solicitude, and had drawn from him openexpressions of his indignation, that Scipio was not carrying on warin Africa in the same way as Hannibal was in Italy. " Scipio, havingformed a league with Syphax, set out from Africa, and, after havingbeen tossed about during his voyage by variable and generallytempestuous winds, made the port of New Carthage on the fourth day. 

19. As Spain was undisturbed by a Carthaginian war, so it was evidentthat some of the states remained quiet more from fear, arising froma consciousness of demerit, than from sincere attachment. The mostremarkable of them, both for their greatness and guilt, were Illiturgiand Castulo. Castulo had been in alliance with the Romans whenin prosperity, but had revolted to the Carthaginians after thedestruction of the Scipios and their armies. The Illiturgians, bybetraying and putting to death those who fled thither after thatcalamity, had added villany to revolt. It would have been moredeserved than expedient to have executed severe vengeance upon thesepeople on his first arrival, while the affairs of Spain were in anuncertain state; but now, when all was tranquil, as the time forvisiting them with punishment appeared to have arrived, he summonedLucius Marcius from Tarraco, and sent him with a third of his forcesto attack Castulo, and with the rest of the army he himself reachedIlliturgi, after about five days' march. The gates were closed, andevery arrangement and preparation made for repelling an attack; socompletely had the consciousness of what they deserved producedthe same effect as a declaration of war against them. From thiscircumstance Scipio commenced his exhortation to his soldiers: hesaid, that "by closing their gates the Spaniards had themselves shownwhat their deserts were by what they feared, and that therefore theyought to prosecute the war against them with much greater animositythan against the Carthaginians. For with the latter the contestwas carried on for empire and glory almost without any exasperatedfeeling, while they had to punish the former for perfidy, cruelty, andvillany. That the time had now arrived when they should take vengeancefor the horrid massacre of their fellow soldiers, and for thetreachery which was prepared for themselves, had they been carried intheir flight to the same place; and by the severity of the punishmentinflicted in the present instance, establish it as a law for ever, that no one should consider a Roman citizen and soldier, whatever hissituation, a fit object for injurious treatment. " Animated by thisexhortation of their general, they distributed the scaling-ladders tomen selected from each of the companies; and the army being dividedinto two parts, so that Laelius, as lieutenant-general, might commandone, they attacked the city in two places at once; thus creating analarm in two quarters at the same time. It was not by the exhortationsof one general, nor of the several nobles who were present, that thetownsmen were stimulated to a vigorous defence of the city, but bythe fear which they themselves entertained; they bore in mind, andadmonished each other, that the object aimed at was punishment, andnot victory. That the only question for them was, where they shouldmeet death, whether in the battle and in the field, where theindiscriminate chance of war frequently raised up the vanquished anddashed the victor to the ground; or whether, after a short interval, when the city was burnt and plundered, after suffering every horrorand indignity, they should expire amid stripes and bonds before theeyes of their captive wives and children. Therefore, not only thosewho were of an age to bear arms, or men only, but women and children, beyond the powers of their minds and bodies, were there, supplyingwith weapons those who were fighting in defence of the place, andcarrying stones to the walls for those who were strengthening theworks; for not only was their liberty at stake, which excites theenergies of the brave only, but they had before their eyes the utmostextremity of punishment, to be inflicted on all indiscriminately, andan ignominious death. Their minds were worked up to the highest pitch, both by emulation in toil and danger, and also by the mere sight ofeach other. Accordingly the contest was entered upon with such ardour, that the army which had subdued the whole of Spain was frequentlydriven back from the walls of one town, and exhibited such a wantof resolution in the contest as was not very honourable to it. WhenScipio perceived this, he was afraid lest, by the failure of hisattempts, the courage of the enemy should be raised and his own troopsbe dispirited; and thinking it incumbent upon him to exert himselfin person and share the danger, reproved his soldiers for theircowardice, and ordered the scaling-ladders to be brought, threateningto mount the wall himself, since the rest hesitated. He had nowadvanced near the walls with no small danger, when a shout was raisedfrom all sides by the soldiers, who were alarmed at the danger theirgeneral was exposed to, and the scaling-ladders began to be reared inseveral places at once. Laelius too, in another quarter, pressed onvigorously. It was then that the energy of the townsmen was subdued, and those who defended the walls being beaten off, the Romans tookpossession of them. The citadel also was captured during the confusionon a side where it was thought impregnable. 

20. Some African deserters, who were at that time among the Romanauxiliaries, while the townsmen were occupied in defending thosequarters whence danger was apprehended, and the Romans were makingapproaches where they could gain access, observed that the mostelevated part of the town, which was protected by a very high rock, was neither fortified by any work nor furnished with defenders. Beingmen of light make and nimble from being well exercised, they climbedup wherever they could gain access over the irregular projections ofthe rock, carrying with them iron spikes. If in any part they met witha cliff too steep and smooth, they fixed spikes at moderate intervals, and having thus formed a sort of steps, and those who were foremostpulling up those who followed, and those who were behind lifting upthose before them, they succeeded in gaining the summit, whence theyran down with a shout into the city, which had already been taken bythe Romans. Then it became manifest indeed that it was resentment andhatred which prompted the assault upon the city. No one thought oftaking any alive, nor of booty, though every thing lay exposed toplunder. They butchered all indiscriminately, armed and unarmed, male and female. Their cruel resentment extended to the slaughter ofinfants. They then set fire to the houses, and pulled down those whichcould not be consumed by fire, so bent were they upon erasing evenevery vestige of the city, and blotting out the memory of theirenemies. Scipio marched his army thence to Castulo, which wasdefended, not only by Spaniards who had assembled there, but also bythe remains of the Carthaginian army, which had gone there from thevarious places to which they had been dispersed in their flight. Butthe news of the calamity of the Illiturgians had reached thembefore the arrival of Scipio; and in consequence of this, dismayand desperation had seized them; and as their cases were differentlycircumstanced, and each party was desirous of consulting its ownsafety independent of the other, at first secret jealousy, and thenan open rupture, created a separation between the Carthaginiansand Spaniards. Cerdubellus without disguise advised the latter tosurrender. Himilco commanded the Carthaginian auxiliaries, which, together with the city, Cerdubellus delivered up to the Romans, havingsecretly obtained terms. This victory was attended with less cruelty;for not only was the guilt of this people less than the others, buttheir voluntary surrender had considerably mitigated resentment. 

21. Marcius was then sent against the barbarians, to reduce under theauthority and dominion of the Romans such of them as had not yet beensubdued. Scipio returned to Carthage, to pay his vows to the gods, andto exhibit a gladiatorial show, which he had prepared on account ofthe death of his father and uncle. This exhibition of gladiatorswas not formed from that description of men which the lanistae areaccustomed to procure, such as slaves, or those who sell their blood. All the service of the combatants was voluntary and gratuitous; forsome were sent by the petty princes, to show an example of the naturalcourage of their people; others came forward to fight, in complimentto their general; others were induced to give and accept challenges, by a spirit of emulation and a desire of victory. Some decided bythe sword disputes which they either could not or were unwilling todetermine by argument, with an agreement that the matter in questionshould be given up to the victor. Nor was it confined to men ofobscure rank, but comprehended persons of distinction and celebrity;such were Corbis and Orsua, cousins-german, who, having a disputeabout the sovereignty of a city called Ibis, declared that they wouldcontest it with the sword. Corbis was the elder of the two. The fatherof Orsua was the last sovereign, having succeeded to that dignity onthe death of his elder brother. When Scipio was desirous of settlingthe dispute by argument and allaying their irritation, they bothdeclared that they had refused that to their mutual kinsmen, and thatthey would appeal to no other judge, whether god or man, than Mars. The elder presuming upon his strength, the younger on the prime ofyouth, each wished to die in the combat rather than become the subjectof the other; and every effort failing to prevent their prosecutingtheir mad design, they exhibited to the army a most interestingspectacle, and a proof how great mischief is occasioned among men by athirst for power. The elder, in consequence of his experience inarms and his address, easily mastered the unscientific efforts ofthe younger. To this show of gladiators were added funeral games, proportioned to the means possessed, and with such magnificence as theprovinces and the camp afforded. 

22. Meanwhile the operations of the war were carried on with unabatedactivity by the lieutenant-generals. Marcius, crossing the riverBaetis, which the natives call Certis, received the submission of twopowerful cities without a contest. There was a city called Astapa, which had always sided with the Carthaginians; nor was it that whichdrew upon it the resentment of the Romans so much as the fact, thatits inhabitants harboured an extraordinary animosity against them, which was not called for by the necessities of the war. Their citywas not so secured by nature or art as to make their dispositions sofierce, but the natural disposition of the inhabitants, which tookdelight in plunder, had induced them to make excursions into theneighbouring lands belonging to the allies of the Romans, and tointercept such Roman soldiers, suttlers, and merchants as they foundranging about. They had also surrounded, by means of an ambuscade, andput to the sword on disadvantageous ground, a large company which wascrossing their borders, for it had proved hardly safe to go in smallparties. When the troops were marched up to assault this city, theinhabitants, conscious of their guilt, and seeing that it would bedangerous to surrender to an enemy so highly incensed, and that theycould not hope to keep themselves in safety by means of their walls ortheir arms, resolved to execute upon themselves and those belongingto them a horrid and inhuman deed. They fixed upon a place in theirforum, in which they collected the most valuable of their property, and having directed their wives and children to seat themselvesupon this heap, they raised a pile of wood around it and threw on itbundles of twigs. They then ordered fifty armed youths to stand thereand guard their fortunes, and the persons dearer to them than theirfortunes, as long as the issue of the battle continued doubtful. Ifthey should perceive that the battle went against them, and thatit came to the point that the city must be captured, they might beassured that those whom they saw going out to engage the enemy wouldperish in the battle itself; but implored them by all the gods, celestial and infernal, that, mindful of their liberty, which must beterminated on that day either by an honourable death or ignominiousservitude, they would leave nothing on which an exasperated enemycould wreak his fury; that they had fire and sword at their command, and it was better that friendly and faithful hands should destroywhat must necessarily perish, than that enemies should insult it withhaughty wantonness. To these exhortations a dreadful execration wasadded against any one who should be diverted from this purpose by hopeor faint-heartedness. Then throwing open the gates, they rushed out ata rapid pace and with the utmost impetuosity. Nor was there any guardsufficiently strong opposed to them; for there could be nothing thatwas less apprehended than that they would have the courage to sallyfrom their walls. A very few troops of horse, and the light-armed, hastily sent out of the camp for that purpose, opposed them. Thebattle was furious and spirited, rather than steady and regular in anydegree. The horse, therefore, which had first encountered the enemy, being repulsed, created an alarm among the light-armed; and the battlewould have been fought under the very rampart, had not the legions, which were their main strength, drawn out their line, though they hada very short time to form in. These too, for a short time, waveredaround their standards, when the Astapans, blind with rage, rushedupon wounds and the sword with reckless daring; but afterwards theveteran soldiers, standing firm against their furious assaults, checked the violence of those that followed by the slaughter of theforemost. Soon after, the veteran troops themselves made an attempt tocharge them, but seeing that not a man gave ground, and that they wereinflexibly determined on dying each in his place, they extended theirline, which the number of their troops enabled them to do with ease, and, surrounding their flanks, slew them all to a man while fightingin a circle. 

23. But these, however, were acts committed by exasperated enemies inthe heat of battle, and executed, in conformity with the laws of war, upon men armed and most fiercely resisting; there was another morehorrible carnage in the city, where a harmless and defenceless crowdof women and children were butchered by their own countrymen, whothrew their bodies, most of them still alive, upon the burning pilewhile streams of blood damped the rising flame; and lastly, weariedwith the piteous slaughter of their friends, they threw themselves, arms and all, into the midst of the flames. When the carnage was nowcompleted the victorious Romans came up, and at the first sight of sorevolting a transaction they stood for some time wrapt in wonderand amazement; but afterwards, from a rapacity natural to humanity, wishing to snatch out of the fire the gold and silver which glitteredamid the heap of other materials, some were caught by the flames, others scorched by the hot blasts, as the foremost were unable toretreat, in consequence of the immense crowd which pressed upon them. In this manner was Astapa destroyed by the sword and fire, withoutaffording any booty to the soldiers. After the rest of the people inthat quarter, influenced by fear, had made submission to him, Marciusled his victorious troops to Scipio, at Carthage. Just at this sametime deserters arrived from Gades, who promised to betray the town andCarthaginian garrison which occupied it, together with the commanderand the fleet. Mago had halted there after his flight, and havingcollected some ships on the ocean, had got together a considerablenumber of auxiliaries from the coast of Africa, on the other side thestrait, and also by means of Hanno the prefect from the neighbouringparts of Spain. After pledges had been exchanged with the deserters, Marcius and Laelius were sent thither, the former with the lightcohorts, the latter with seven triremes and one quinquereme, in orderthat they might act in concert by land and sea. 

24. In consequence of Scipio's being afflicted with a severe fit ofillness, which rumour represented as more serious than it really was;for every one made some addition to the account he had received, froma desire inherent in mankind of intentionally exaggerating reports, the whole province, and more especially the distant parts of it, werethrown into a state of ferment; and it was evident what a seriousdisturbance would have been excited had he really died, when anunfounded report created such violent commotions. Neither theallies kept their allegiance, nor the army their duty. Mandonius andIndibilis, who were not at all satisfied with what had occurred, forthey had anticipated with certainty that they would have the dominionof Spain on the expulsion of the Carthaginians, called together theircountrymen the Lacetani, and summoning the Celtiberian youth to arms, devastated in a hostile manner the territories of the Suessetaniansand Sedetanians, allies of the Romans. Besides, a mutiny arose in thecamp at Sucro. Here were eight thousand men, stationed as a guard overthe nations dwelling on this side the Iberus. It was not on hearinguncertain rumours respecting the life of the general that their mindswere first excited, but previously, owing to the licentiousness whichnaturally results from long-continued idleness, and in some degreealso owing to the restraint felt in time of peace by men who had beenaccustomed to live freely on what they gained by plunder in an enemy'scountry. At first they only discoursed in private, asking what theywere doing among people who were at peace with them, if there wasa war in the province? if the war was terminated and the provincecompletely subdued, why were they not conveyed back into Italy?The pay also was demanded with more insolence than was customary orconsistent with military subordination, and the guards cast reproachesupon the tribunes while going round to the watches. Some too had goneout by night into the neighbouring lands, belonging to persons atpeace with the Romans, to plunder; but at last they quitted theirstandards in the day-time and openly without furloughs. Every thingwas done according to the caprice and unrestrained will of thesoldiers, and nothing according to rule and military discipline, orthe orders of those who were in command. The form, however, of a Romancamp was preserved solely in consequence of the hopes they entertainedthat the tribunes, catching the spirit of insubordination, wouldnot be averse from taking part in the mutiny and defection, on whichaccount they suffered them to dispense justice in their courts, wentto them for the watch-word, and served in their turn on the outpostsand watches; and as they had taken away the power of command, so theypreserved the appearance of obedience to orders, by spontaneouslyexecuting their own. Afterwards, when they perceived that the tribunescensured and reprobated their proceedings, endeavoured to counteractthem, and publicly declared that they would not take any share intheir disorderly conduct, the mutiny assumed a decided character;when, after driving the tribunes from their courts, and shortly afterfrom the camp, the command was conferred by universal consent uponCaius Albius of Cales and Caius Atrius of Umbria, common soldiers, who were the prime movers of the sedition. These men were so far frombeing satisfied with the ornaments used by tribunes, that they had theaudacity to lay hold even of the insignia of the highest authority, the fasces and axes, without ever reflecting that their own backs andnecks were in danger from those very rods and axes which they carriedbefore them to intimidate others. Their mistaken belief of the deathof Scipio had blinded their minds, and they doubted not that, in ashort time, when that event should be made generally known, allSpain would blaze with war; that during this confusion money mightbe exacted from the allies and the neighbouring cities plundered; andthat in this unsettled state of affairs, when there was nothing whichany man would not dare, their own acts would be less conspicuous. 

25. As they expected that other fresh accounts would follow thosewhich they had received, not only of the death, but even of theburial, of Scipio, and yet none arrived; and as the rumour which hadbeen so idly originated began to die away, the first author of itbegan to be sought out; and each backing out in order that he mightappear rather to have inconsiderately credited than to have fabricatedsuch a report, the leaders were forsaken, and began now to dread theirown ensigns of authority, and to apprehend that, instead of that emptyshow of command which they wore, a legitimate and rightful power wouldbe turned against them. The mutiny being thus paralysed, and crediblepersons bringing in accounts, first, that Scipio was alive, and, soonafter, that he was even in good health, seven military tribunes weresent by Scipio himself. At the first arrival of these their minds wereviolently excited; but they were soon calmed by the mild and soothinglanguage which they addressed to such of their acquaintance asthey met with; for, going round first of all to the tents, and thenentering the principia and the praetorium, wherever they observedcircles of men conversing together, they addressed them, inquiringrather what it was that had occasioned their displeasure and suddenconsternation, than taxing them with what had occurred. "That theyhad not received their pay at the appointed time, " was generallycomplained; and "that although at the time of the horrid transactionof the Illiturgians, and after the destruction of two generals and twoarmies, the Roman cause had been defended and the province retainedby their valour; the Illiturgians had received the punishment due totheir offence, but there was no one found to reward them for theirmeritorious services. " The tribunes replied, "that, considering thenature of their complaints, what they requested was just, and thatthey would lay it before the general; that they were happy that therewas nothing of a more gloomy and irremediable character; that bothPublius Scipio, by the favour of the gods, and the commonwealth, werein a situation to requite them. " Scipio, who was accustomed to warbut inexperienced in the storms of sedition, felt great anxiety on theoccasion, lest the army should run into excess in transgressing, orhimself in punishing. For the present he resolved to persist inthe lenient line of conduct with which he had begun, and sendingcollectors round to the tributary states, to give the soldiers hopesof soon receiving their pay. Immediately after this a proclamation wasissued that they should come to Carthage to receive their pay, whetherthey wished to do so in detached parties or all in a body. The suddensuppression of the rebellion among the Spaniards had the effect oftranquillizing the mutiny, which was by this time beginning to subsideof itself; for Mandonius and Indibilis, relinquishing their attempt, had returned within their borders when intelligence was broughtthat Scipio was alive; nor did there now remain any person, whethercountryman or foreigner, whom they could make their companion intheir desperate enterprise. On examining every method, they had noalternative except that which afforded a retreat from wicked designs, which was not of the safest kind, namely, to commit themselves eitherto the just anger of the general, or to his clemency, of whichthey need not despair. For he had pardoned even enemies whom he hadencountered with the sword; while they reflected that their seditionhad been unaccompanied with wounds or blood, and was neither in itselfof an atrocious character nor merited severe punishment. So natural isit for men to be over-eloquent in extenuating their own demerit. Theyfelt doubtful whether they should go to demand their pay in singlecohorts or in one entire body; but the opinion that they should go ina body, which they regarded as the safer mode, prevailed. 

26. At the same time, when they were employed in these deliberations, a council was held on their case at Carthage; when a warm debate tookplace as to whether they should visit with punishment the originatorsonly of the mutiny, who were in number not more than thirty-five, or, whether atonement should be made for this defection, (for such it wasrather than a mutiny, ) of so dreadful a character as a precedent, bythe punishment of a greater number. The opinion recommending themore lenient course, that the punishment should fall where the guiltoriginated, was adopted. For the multitude a reprimand was consideredsufficient. On the breaking up of the council, orders were given tothe army, which was in Carthage, to prepare for an expedition againstMandonius and Indibilis, and to get ready provisions for several days, in order that they might appear to have been deliberating about this. The seven tribunes who had before gone to Sucro to quell the mutiny, having been sent out to meet the army, gave in, each of them, fivenames of persons principally concerned in the affair, in order thatproper persons might be employed to invite them to their homes, withsmiles and kind words; and that, when overpowered with wine, theymight be thrown into chains. They were not far distant from Carthagewhen the intelligence, received from persons on the road, that thewhole army was going the following day with Marcus Silanus againstthe Lacetanians, not only freed them from all the apprehensions which, though they did not give utterance to them, sat heavy upon theirminds, but occasioned the greatest transport, because they wouldthus have the general alone, and in their power, instead of beingthemselves in his. They entered the city just at sun-set, and saw theother army making every preparation for a march. Immediately on theirarrival they were greeted in terms feigned for the purpose, thattheir arrival was looked upon by the general as a happy and seasonablecircumstance, for they had come when the other army was just onthe point of setting out. After which they proceeded to refreshthemselves. The authors of the mutiny, having been conveyed to theirlodgings by proper persons, were apprehended by the tribunes withoutany disturbance, and thrown into chains. At the fourth watch thebaggage belonging to the army, which, as it was pretended, wasabout to march, began to set out. As soon as it was light the troopsmarched, but were stopped at the gate, and guards were sent round toall the gates to prevent any one going out of the city. Then those whohad arrived the day before, having been summoned to an assembly, ranin crowds into the forum to the tribunal of the general, with thepresumptuous purpose of intimidating him by their shouts. At the sametime that the general mounted the tribunal, the armed troops, whichhad been brought back from the gates, spread themselves around therear of the unarmed assembly. Then all their insolence subsided; and, as they afterwards confessed, nothing terrified them so much as theunexpected vigour and hue of the general, whom they had supposed theyshould see in a sickly state, and his countenance, which was such asthey declared that they did not remember to have ever seen it even inbattle. He sat silent for a short time till he was informed that theinstigators of the mutiny were brought into the forum, and that everything was now in readiness. 

27. Then, a herald having obtained silence, he thus began: "I imaginedthat language would never fail me in which to address my army; notthat I have ever accustomed myself to speaking rather than action, but because, having been kept in a camp almost from my boyhood, I hadbecome familiar with the dispositions of soldiers. But I am at a lossboth for sentiments and expressions with which to address you, whom Iknow not even by what name I ought to call. Can I call you countrymen, who have revolted from your country? or soldiers, who have rejectedthe command and authority of your general, and violated the solemnobligation of your oath? Can I call you enemies? I recognise thepersons, faces, dress, and mien of fellow countrymen; but I perceivethe actions, expressions, intentions, and feelings of enemies. Forwhat have you wished and hoped for, but what the Ilergetians andLacetanians did. Yet they followed Mandonius and Indibilis, men ofroyal rank, who were the leaders of their mad project; you conferredthe auspices and command upon the Umbrian, Atrius, and the Calenian, Albius. Deny, soldiers, that you were all concerned in this measure, or that you approved of it when taken. I shall willingly believe, whenyou disclaim it, that it was the folly and madness of a few. For theacts which have been committed are of such a nature, that, if thewhole army participated in them, they could not be expiated withoutatonements of tremendous magnitude. Upon these points, like wounds, Itouch with reluctance; but unless touched and handled, they cannot becured. For my own part, I believed that, after the Carthaginianswere expelled from Spain, there was not a place in the whole provincewhere, or any persons to whom, my life was obnoxious; such was themanner in which I had conducted myself, not only towards my allies, but even towards my enemies. But lo, even in my own camp, so much wasI deceived in my opinion, the report of my death was not only readilybelieved, but anxiously waited for. Not that I wish to implicate youall in this enormity; for, be assured, if I supposed that the whole ofmy army desired my death, I would here immediately expire before youreyes; nor could I take any pleasure in a life which was odious to mycountrymen and my soldiers. But every multitude is in its nature likethe ocean; which, though in itself incapable of motion, is excited bystorms and winds. So, also, in yourselves there is calm and there arestorms; but the cause and origin of your fury is entirely attributableto those who led you on; you have caught your madness by contagion. Nay, even this day you do not appear to me to be aware to what a pitchof phrensy you have proceeded; what a heinous crime you have daredto commit against myself, your country, your parents, your children;against the gods, the witnesses of your oath; against the auspicesunder which you serve; against the laws of war, the discipline of yourancestors, and the majesty of the highest authority. With regard tomyself, I say nothing. You may have believed the report of my deathrather inconsiderately than eagerly. Lastly, suppose me to be such aman that it could not at all be a matter of astonishment that my armyshould be weary of my command, yet what had your country deservedof you, which you betrayed by making common cause with Mandonius andIndibilis? What the Roman people, when, taking the command from thetribunes appointed by their suffrages, you conferred it on privatemen? When, not content even with having them for tribunes, you, aRoman army, conferred the fasces of your general upon men who neverhad a slave under their command? Albius and Atrius had their tents inyour general's pavilion. With them the trumpet sounded, from them theword was taken, they sat upon the tribunal of Scipio, upon whom thelictor attended, for them the crowd was cleared away as they movedalong, before them the fasces with the axes were carried. When showersof stones descend, lightnings are darted from the heavens, and animalsgive birth to monsters, you consider these things as prodigies. Thisis a prodigy which can be expiated by no victims, by no supplications, without the blood of those men who have dared to commit so great acrime. 

28. "Now, though villany is never guided by reason, yet so far as itcould exist in so nefarious a transaction, I would fain know what wasyour design. Formerly, a legion which was sent to garrison Rhegium, wickedly put to the sword the principal inhabitants and keptpossession of that opulent city through a space of ten years; onaccount of which enormity the entire legion, consisting of fourthousand men, were beheaded in the forum at Rome. But they, in thefirst place, did not put themselves under the direction of Atrius theUmbrian, scarcely superior to a scullion, whose name even was ominous, but of Decius Jubellius, a military tribune; nor did they unitethemselves with Pyrrhus, or with the Samnites or Lucanians, theenemies of the Roman people. But you made common cause with Mandoniusand Indibilis, and intended also to have united your arms with them. They intended to have held Rhegium as a lasting settlement, asthe Campanians held Capua, which they took from its ancient Tuscaninhabitants; and as the Mamertines held Messana in Sicily, without anydesign of commencing without provocation a war upon the Roman peopleor their allies. Was it your purpose to hold Sucro as a place ofabode? where, had I, your general, left you on my departure after thereduction of the province, you would have been justified in imploringthe interference of gods and men, because you could not return to yourwives and children. But suppose that you banished from your minds allrecollection of these, as you did of your country and myself; I wouldwish to track the course of a wicked design, but not of one utterlyinsane. While I was alive, and the rest of the army safe, with whichin one day I took Carthage, with which I routed, put to flight, and expelled from Spain four generals and four armies of theCarthaginians; did you, I say, who were only eight thousand men, allof course of less worth than Albius and Atrius, to whom you subjectedyourselves, hope to wrest the province of Spain out of the hands ofthe Roman people? I lay no stress upon my own name, I put it out ofthe question. Let it be supposed that I have not been injured by youin any respect beyond the ready credence of my death. What! if I weredead, was the state to expire with me? was the empire of the Romanpeople to fall with me? Jupiter, most good and great, would not havepermitted that the existence of the city, built under the auspices andsanction of the gods to last for ever, should terminate with that ofthis frail and perishable body. The Roman people have survived thosemany and distinguished generals who were all cut off in one war;Flaminius, Paulus, Gracchus, Posthumius Albinus, Marcus Marcellus, Titus Quinctius Crispinus, Cneius Fulvius, my kinsmen the Scipios;and will survive a thousand others who may perish, some by the sword, others by disease; and would the Roman state have been buried with mysingle corpse? You yourselves, here in Spain, when your two generals, my father and my uncle, fell, chose Septimus Marcius as your generalto oppose the Carthaginians, exulting on account of their recentvictory. And thus I speak, on the supposition that Spain would havebeen without a leader. Would Marcus Silanus, who was sent into theprovince with the same power and the same command as myself, wouldLucius Scipio my brother, and Caius Laelius, lieutenant-generals, havebeen wanting to avenge the majesty of the empire? Could the armies, the generals themselves, their dignity or their cause, be comparedwith one another? And even had you got the better of all these, wouldyou bear arms in conjunction with the Carthaginians against yourcountry, against your countrymen? Would you wish that Africa shouldrule Italy, and Carthage the city of Rome? If so, for what offence onthe part of your country?

29. "An unjust sentence of condemnation, and a miserable andundeserved banishment, formerly induced Coriolanus to go and fightagainst his country; he was restrained, however, by private duty frompublic parricide. What grief, what resentment instigated you? Was thedelay of your pay for a few days, during the illness of your general, a reason of sufficient weight for you to declare war against yourcountry? to revolt from the Roman people and join the Ilergetians?to leave no obligation, divine or human, unviolated? Without doubt, soldiers, you were mad; nor was the disease which seized my frame moreviolent than that with which your minds were affected. I shrink withhorror from the relation of what men believed, what they hoped andwished. Let oblivion cover all these things if possible; if not, however it be, let them be covered in silence. I must confess myspeech must have appeared to you severe and harsh, but how much moreharsh, think you, must your actions be than my words! Do you think itreasonable that I should suffer all the acts which you have committed, and that you should not bear with patience even to hear themmentioned? But you shall not be reproached even with these things anyfurther. I could wish that you might as easily forget them as I shall. Therefore, as far as relates to the general body of you, if you repentof the error you have committed, I shall have received sufficient andmore than sufficient atonement for it. Albius the Calenian, and Atriusthe Umbrian, with the rest of the principal movers of thisimpious mutiny, shall expiate with their blood the crime they haveperpetrated. To yourselves, if you have returned to a sound stateof mind, the sight of their punishment ought not only to be notunpleasant, but even gratifying; for there are no persons to whom themeasures they have taken are more hostile and injurious than toyou. " He had scarcely finished speaking, when, according to the planpreconcerted, every object of terror was at once presented to theireyes and ears. The troops, which had formed a circle round theassembly, clashed their swords against their shields; the herald'svoice was heard citing by name the persons who had been condemned inthe council; the culprits were dragged naked into the midst of theassembly, and at the same time all the apparatus for punishment wasbrought forth. They were tied to the stake, scourged with rods, anddecapitated; while those who were present were so benumbed with fear, that not only no expression of dissatisfaction at the severity of thepunishment, but not even a groan was heard. They were then all draggedout, the place was cleared, and the men cited by name took the oath ofallegiance to Scipio before the military tribunes, each receivinghis full demand of pay as he answered to his name. Such was thetermination and result which the insurrection of the soldiers, whichbegan at Sucro, met with. 

30. During the time of these transactions, Hanno, thelieutenant-general of Mago, having been sent from Gades to the riverBaetis with a small body of Africans, by tempting the Spaniards withmoney, armed as many as four thousand men; but afterwards, beingdeprived of his camp by Lucius Marcius, and losing the principal partof his troops in the confusion occasioned by its capture, and somealso in the flight, for the cavalry pursued them closely while theywere dispersed, he made his escape with a few attendants. During thesetransactions on the river Baetis, Laelius in the mean time, sailingout of the straits into the ocean, came with his fleet before Carteia, a city situated on the coast of the ocean, where the sea beginsto expand itself, after being confined in a narrow strait. He hadentertained hopes of having Gades betrayed to him without a contest, persons having come unsolicited into the Roman camp to make promisesto that effect, as has been before mentioned. The plot was discoveredbefore it was ripe, and all having been apprehended, were placed byMago in the hands of Adherbal the praetor, to be conveyed to Carthage. Adherbal, having put the conspirators on board a quinquereme, sentit in advance, because it sailed slower than a trireme, and followedhimself at a moderate distance with eight triremes. The quinqueremewas just entering the strait, when Laelius, who had himself alsosailed out of the harbour of Carteia in a quinquereme, followed byseven triremes, bore down upon Adherbal and his triremes, feelingassured that the trireme, when once caught in the rapid strait, wouldnot be able to return against the opposing current. The Carthaginian, alarmed by the suddenness of the affair, hesitated for some littletime whether he should follow the trireme, or turn his prows againstthe enemy. This very delay put it out of his power to decline anaction, for they were now within a weapon's cast, and the enemy werebearing down upon him on all sides. The current also had renderedit impossible to manage the ships. Nor was the action like a navalengagement, inasmuch as it was in no respect subject to the controlof the will, nor afforded any opportunity for the exercise of skillor method. The nature of the strait and the tide, which solely andentirely governed the contest, carried the ships against those oftheir own and the enemy's party indiscriminately, though striving ina contrary direction; so that you might see one ship which was flyingwhirled back by an eddy and driven against the victors, and anotherwhich was engaged in pursuit, if it had fallen into an oppositecurrent, turning itself away as if for flight. And when actuallyengaged, one ship while bearing down upon another with its beakdirected against it, assuming an oblique position itself, received astroke from the beak of the other; while another which lay with itsside exposed to the enemy, receiving a sudden impulse, was turnedround so as to present its prow. While the triremes were thus engagedin a doubtful and uncertain contest, in which every thing was governedby chance, the Roman quinquereme, whether being more manageable inconsequence of its weight, or by means of more banks of oars makingits way through the eddies, sunk two triremes, and swept off the oarsfrom one side of another, while sailing by it with great violence. The rest too, had they come in its way, it would have disabled; butAdherbal, with his remaining four ships, sailed over into Africa. 

31. Laelius returned victorious into Carteia; and hearing therewhat had occurred at Gades, that the plot had been discovered, theconspirators sent to Carthage, and that the hopes which had broughtthem there had been completely frustrated, he sent a message toLucius Marcius, to the effect that, unless they wished to waste timeuselessly in lying before Gades, they should return to the general;and Marcius consenting to the proposal, they both returned to Carthagea few days after. In consequence of their departure, Mago not onlyobtained a temporary relief from the dangers which beset him on allsides, both by sea and land, but also on hearing of the rebellionof the Ilergetians, conceived hopes of recovering Spain, and sentmessengers to Carthage to the senate, who, at the same time that theyrepresented to them in exaggerated terms both the intestine dissensionin the Roman camp and the defection of their allies, might exhort themto send succours by which the empire of Spain, which had been handeddown to them by their ancestors, might be regained. Mandonius andIndibilis, retiring within their borders, remained quiet for alittle time, not knowing what course to take, till they knew what wasdetermined upon respecting the mutiny; but not distrusting that ifScipio pardoned the error of his own countrymen, they also mightobtain the same. But when the severe punishment inflicted came tobe generally known, concluding that their offence also would beconsidered as demanding a similar expiation, they again summoned theircountrymen to arms; and assembling the auxiliaries which had joinedthem before, they crossed over into the Sedetanian territory, wherethey had had a fixed camp at the beginning of the revolt, with twentythousand foot and two thousand five hundred horse. 

32. Scipio having without difficulty regained the affection of hissoldiers, both by his punctuality in discharging the arrears of pay toall, as well the guilty as the innocent, and particularly by the looksand language of reconciliation towards all, before he quitted Carthagesummoned an assembly; and after inveighing at large against theperfidy of the petty princes who were in rebellion, declared "that thefeelings with which he set out to take revenge for their villany werewidely different from those with which he lately corrected the errorcommitted by his countrymen. That on the latter occasion, he had withgroans and tears, as though he were cutting his own vitals, expiatedeither the imprudence or the guilt of eight thousand men with theheads of thirty; but now he was going to the destruction of theIlergetians with joyful and animated feelings: for they were neithernatives of the same soil, nor united with him by any bond of society. The only connexion which did subsist between them, that of honour andfriendship, they had themselves severed by their wicked conduct. " Whenhe looked at the troops which composed his army, besides that he sawthat they were all either of his own country, or allies and of theLatin confederacy; he was also strongly affected by the circumstance, that there was scarcely a soldier in it who was not brought out ofItaly into that country either by his uncle, Cneius Scipio, who wasthe first of the Roman name who had come into that province, or by hisfather when consul, or by himself. That they were all accustomed tothe name and auspices of the Scipios; that it was his wish to takethem home to their country to receive a well-earned triumph; andthat he hoped that they would support him when he put up for theconsulship, as if the honour sought were to be shared in common bythem all. With regard to the expedition which they were just going toundertake, that the man who considered it as a war must be forgetfulof his own achievements. That, by Hercules, Mago, who had fled forsafety with a few ships beyond the limits of the world into an islandsurrounded by the ocean, was a source of greater concern to him thanthe Ilergetians; for in it there was both a Carthaginian general and aCarthaginian army, whatever might be its numbers; while here were onlyrobbers and leaders of robbers, who, though they possessed sufficientenergy for ravaging the lands of their neighbours, burning theirhouses, and carrying off their cattle, yet would have none at all ina regular and pitched battle; and who would come to the encounterrelying more on the swiftness with which they can fly than on theirarms. "Accordingly, " he said, "that he had thought it right to quellthe Ilergetians before he quitted the province, not because he sawthat any danger could arise from them, or that a war of greaterimportance could grow out of these proceedings; but in the firstplace, that a revolt of so heinous a character might not gounpunished, and in the next place, that not a single enemy might besaid to be left in a province which had been subdued with such valourand success. He bid them, therefore, follow him, with the assistanceof the gods, not so much to make war upon, for the contest wasnot with an enemy who was upon an equality with them, but to takevengeance on the basest of men. "

33. After this harangue he dismissed them, with orders to getthemselves in readiness in every respect for marching the next day;when, setting out, he arrived at the river Iberus in ten days. Thencrossing the river, he, on the fourth day, pitched his camp withinsight of the enemy. Before him was a plain enclosed on all sides bymountains. Into the valley thus formed Scipio ordered some cattle, taken chiefly from the lands of the enemy, to be driven, in order toexcite the rapacity of the barbarians, and then sent some light-armedtroops as a protection for them, directing Laelius to charge the enemyfrom a place of concealment when they were engaged in skirmishing. Amountain which projected conveniently concealed the ambuscade of thecavalry, and the battle began without delay. The Spaniards, as soonas they saw the cattle at a distance, rushed upon them, and thelight-armed troops attacked the Spaniards while occupied with theirbooty. At first they annoyed each other with missiles; but afterwards, having discharged their light weapons, which were calculated toprovoke rather than to decide the contest, they drew their swords, and began to engage foot to foot. The fight between the infantry wouldhave been doubtful, but that the cavalry then came up, and not only, charging them in front, trod down all before them, but some also, riding round by the foot of the hill, presented themselves on theirrear, so that they might intercept the greater part of them; andconsequently the carnage was greater than usually takes place in lightand skirmishing engagements. The resentment of the barbarians wasrather inflamed by this adverse battle, than their spirits depressed. Accordingly, that they might not appear cast down, they marched outinto the field the following day as soon as it was light. The valley, which was confined, as has been before stated, would not contain alltheir forces. About two-thirds of their foot and all their cavalrycame down to the engagement. The remainder of their infantry theystationed on the declivity of the hill. Scipio, conceiving that theconfined nature of the ground would be in his favour, both because theRoman troops were better adapted for fighting in a contracted spacethan the Spanish, and also because the enemy had come down and formedtheir line on ground which would not contain all their forces, appliedhis mind to a new expedient. For he considered that he could nothimself cover his flanks with his cavalry, and that those of the enemywhich they had led out, together with their infantry, would be unableto act. Accordingly he ordered Laelius to lead the cavalry round bythe hills as secretly as possible, and separate, as far as he could, the fight between the cavalry from that between the infantry. Hehimself drew up the whole body of his infantry against the enemy, placing four cohorts in front, because he could not extend his linefurther. He commenced the battle without delay, in order that thecontest itself might divert the attention of the enemy, and preventtheir observing the cavalry which were passing along the hills. Norwere they aware that they had come round before they beard the noiseoccasioned by the engagement of the cavalry in their rear. Thus therewere two battles; two lines of infantry and two bodies of horse beingengaged within the space occupied by the plain lengthwise; and thatbecause it was too narrow to admit of both descriptions of force beingengaged in the same lines. When the Spanish infantry could not assisttheir cavalry, nor their cavalry the infantry, and the infantry, whichhad rashly engaged in the plain, relying on the assistance of thecavalry, were being cut to pieces, the cavalry themselves also, beingsurrounded and unable to stand the shock of the enemy's infantryin front, (for by this time their own infantry were completelyoverthrown, ) nor of the cavalry in their rear, after having formedthemselves into a circle and defended themselves for a long time, their horses standing still, were all slain to a man. Nor did oneperson, horse or foot, survive of those who were engaged in thevalley. The third part, which stood upon the hill rather to view thecontest in security than to take any part of it upon themselves, hadboth time and space to fly; among whom the princes themselves alsofled, having escaped during the confusion, before the army wasentirely surrounded. 

34. The same day, besides other booty, the camp of the Spaniards wastaken, together with about three thousand men. Of the Romans and theirallies as many as one thousand two hundred fell in that battle; morethan three thousand were wounded. The victory would have been lessbloody had the battle taken place in a plain more extended, andaffording facilities for flight. Indibilis, renouncing his purposeof carrying on war, and considering that his safest reliance in hispresent distress was on the tried honour and clemency of Scipio, senthis brother Mandonius to him; who, falling prostrate before his knees, ascribed his conduct to the fatal frenzy of those times, when, as itwere from the effects of some pestilential contagion, not only theIlergetians and Lacetanians, but even the Roman camp had been infectedwith madness. He said that his own condition, and that of his brotherand the rest of his countrymen, was such, that either, if it seemedgood, they would give back their lives to him from whom they hadreceived them, or if preserved a second time, they would in return forthat favour devote their lives for ever to the service of him to whomalone they were indebted for them. They before placed their relianceon their cause, when they had not yet had experience of his clemency, but now, on the contrary, placing no reliance on their cause, alltheir hopes were centred in the mercy of the conqueror. It was acustom with the Romans, observed from ancient times, not to exerciseany authority over others, as subject to them, in cases where they didnot enter into friendship with them by a league and on equal terms, until they had surrendered all they possessed, sacred and profane;until they had received hostages, taken their arms from them, andplaced garrisons in their cities. In the present instance, however, Scipio, after inveighing at great length against Mandonius, who stoodbefore him, and Indibilis, who was absent, said "that they had justlyforfeited their lives by their wicked conduct, but that they shouldbe preserved by the kindness of himself and the Roman people. Further, that he would neither take their arms from them, (which only served aspledges to those who feared rebellion, ) but would leave them thefree use of them, and their minds free from fear; nor would he takevengeance on their unoffending hostages, but upon themselves, shouldthey revolt, not inflicting punishment upon a defenceless but an armedenemy. That he gave them the liberty of choosing whether they wouldhave the Romans favourable to them or incensed against them, for theyhad experienced them under both circumstances. " Thus Mandonius wasallowed to depart, having only a pecuniary fine imposed upon him tofurnish the means of paying the troops. Scipio himself, having sentMarcius in advance into the Farther Spain, and sent Silanus back toTarraco, waited a few days until the Ilergetians had paid the fineimposed upon them; and then, setting out with some troops lightlyequipped, overtook Marcius when he was now drawing near to the ocean. 

35. The negotiation which had some time before commenced respectingMasinissa, was delayed from one cause after another; for the Numidianwas desirous by all means of conferring with Scipio in person, and oftouching his right hand in confirmation of their compact. This was thecause of Scipio's undertaking at this time a journey of such a length, and into so remote a quarter. Masinissa, when at Gades, receivedinformation from Marcius of the approach of Scipio, and by pretendingthat his horses were injured by being pent up in the island, and thatthey not only caused a scarcity of every thing to the rest, but alsofelt it themselves; moreover that his cavalry were beginning to losetheir energy for want of employment; he prevailed upon Mago to allowhim to cross over to the continent, to plunder the adjacent countryof Spain. Having passed over, he sent forward three chiefs of theNumidians, to fix a time and place for the conference desiring thattwo might be detained by Scipio as hostages. The third being sent backto conduct Masinissa to the place to which he was directed to bringhim, they came to the conference with a few attendants. The Numidianhad long before been possessed with admiration of Scipio from the fameof his exploits; and his imagination had pictured to him the idea ofa grand and magnificent person; but his veneration for him was stillgreater when he appeared before him. For besides that his person, naturally majestic in the highest degree, was rendered still moreso by his flowing hair, by his dress, which was not in a precise andornamental style, but truly masculine and soldier-like, and also byhis age, for he was then in full vigour of body, to which the bloom ofyouth, renewed as it were after his late illness, had given additionalfulness and sleekness. The Numidian, who was in a manner thunderstruckby the mere effect of the meeting, thanked him for having sent homehis brother's son. He affirmed, that from that time he had sought forthis opportunity, which being at length presented to him, by favour ofthe immortal gods, he had not allowed to pass without seizing it. Thathe desired to serve him and the Roman people in such a manner, as thatno one foreigner should have aided the Roman interest with greaterzeal than himself. Although he had long since wished it, he had notbeen so able to effect it in Spain, a foreign and strange country; butthat it would be easy for him to do so in that country in which he hadbeen born and educated, under the hope of succeeding to his father'sthrone. If, indeed, the Romans should send the same commander, Scipio, into Africa, he entertained a well-grounded hope that Carthage wouldcontinue to exist but a short time. Scipio saw and heard him with thehighest delight, both because he knew that he was the first man in allthe cavalry of the enemy, and because the youth himself exhibited inhis manner the strongest proof of a noble spirit. After mutual pledgesof faith, he set out on his return to Tarraco. Masinissa, having laidwaste the adjacent lands, with the permission of the Romans, that hemight not appear to have passed over into the continent to no purpose, returned to Gades. 

36. Mago, who despaired of success in Spain, of which he hadentertained hopes, from the confidence inspired first by the mutiny ofthe soldiers, and afterwards by the defection of Indibilis, received amessage from Carthage, while preparing to cross over into Africa, thatthe senate ordered him to carry over into Italy the fleet he had atGades; and hiring there as many as he could of the Gallic and Ligurianyouth, to form a junction with Hannibal, and not to suffer the war toflag which had been begun with so much vigour and still more success. For this object Mago not only received a supply of money fromCarthage, but himself also exacted as much as he could from theinhabitants of Gades, plundering not only their treasury, but theirtemples, and compelling them individually to bring contributions ofgold and silver, for the public service. As he sailed along the coastof Spain, he landed his troops not far from New Carthage, and afterwasting the neighbouring lands, brought his fleet thence to the city. Here, keeping his troops in the ships by day, he landed them by night, and marched them to that part of the wall at which Carthage had beencaptured by the Romans; for he had supposed both that the garrisonby which the city was occupied was not sufficiently strong for itsprotection, and that some of the townsmen would act on the hope ofeffecting a change. But messengers who came with the utmost hasteand alarm from the country, brought intelligence at once of thedevastation of the lands, the flight of the rustics, and the approachof the enemy. Besides, the fleet had been observed during the day, andit was evident that there was some object in choosing a station beforethe city. Accordingly, the troops were kept drawn up and armed withinthe gate which looks towards the lake and the sea. When the enemy, rushing forward in a disorderly manner, with a crowd of seamen mingledwith soldiers, came up to the walls with more noise than strength;the gate being suddenly thrown open, the Romans sallied forth with ashout, and pursued the enemy, routed and put to flight at the firstonset and discharge of their weapons, all the way to the shore, killing a great number of them; nor would one of them have survivedthe battle and the flight, had not the ships, which had been broughtto the shore, afforded them a refuge in their dismay. Great alarm andconfusion also prevailed in the ships, occasioned by their drawing upthe ladders, lest the enemy should force their way in together withtheir own men, and by cutting away their halsers and anchors that theymight not lose time in weighing them. Many, too, met with a miserabledeath while endeavouring to swim to the ships, not knowing, inconsequence of the darkness, which way to direct their course, or whatto avoid. On the following day, after the fleet had fled back to theocean whence it had come, as many as eight hundred were slain betweenthe wall and the shore, and two thousand stand of arms were found. 

37. Mago, on his return to Gades, not being allowed to enter theplace, brought his fleet to shore at Cimbis, a place not far distantfrom Gades; whence he sent ambassadors with complaints of their havingclosed their gates upon a friend and ally. While they endeavouredto excuse themselves on the ground that it was done by a disorderlyassembly of their people, who were exasperated against them on accountof some acts of plunder which had been committed by the soldiers whenthey were embarking, he enticed their suffetes, which is the nameof the chief magistracy among the Carthaginians, together withtheir quaestor, to come to a conference; when he ordered them to belacerated with stripes and crucified. He then passed over with hisfleet to the island Pityusa, distant about a hundred miles from thecontinent, and inhabited at that time by Carthaginians; on whichaccount the fleet was received in a friendly manner; and not only wereprovisions liberally furnished, but also young men and arms were giventhem to reinforce their fleet. Rendered confident by these supplies, the Carthaginians crossed over to the Balearian islands, fifty milesdistant. The Balearian islands are two in number; one larger than theother, and more powerful in men and arms; having also a harbour inwhich, as it was now the latter end of autumn, he believed he mightwinter conveniently. But here his fleet was opposed with as muchhostility as he would have met with had the Romans inhabited thatisland. The only weapons they used at that time, and which they nowprincipally employ, were slings; nor is there an individual of anyother nation who possesses such a degree of excellence in the skilfuluse of this weapon, as the Balearians universally possess over therest of the world. Such a quantity of stones, therefore, was pouredlike the thickest hail on the fleet, when approaching the shore, that, not daring to enter the harbour, they made off for the main. Theythen passed over to the lesser Balearian island, which is of a fertilesoil, but not equally powerful in men and arms. Here, therefore, theylanded, and pitched a camp in a strong position above the harbour;and having made themselves masters of the city and country without acontest, they enlisted two thousand auxiliaries, which they sent toCarthage, and then hauled their ships on shore for the winter. AfterMago had left the coast of the ocean, the people of Gades surrenderedto the Romans. 

38. Such were the transactions in Spain under the conduct and auspicesof Publius Scipio. Scipio himself, having put Lucius Lentulus andLucius Manlius Acidinus in charge of the province, returned to Romewith ten ships. Having obtained an audience of the senate without thecity, in the temple of Bellona, he gave an account of the services hehad performed in Spain; how often he had fought pitched battles, howmany towns he had taken by force from the enemy, and what nations hehad brought under the dominion of the Roman people. He stated that hehad gone into Spain against four generals, and four victorious armies, but that he had not left a Carthaginian in that country. On account ofthese services he rather tried his prospect of a triumph, than pressedit pertinaciously; for it was quite clear, that no one had triumphedup to that time for services performed, when not invested with amagistracy. When the senate was dismissed he entered the city, andcarried before him into the treasury fourteen thousand three hundredand forty-two pounds of silver, and a great quantity of coined silver. Lucius Veturius Philo then held the assembly for the electionof consuls, when all the centuries, with the strongest marks ofattachment, named Publius Scipio as consul. Publius Licinius Crassus, chief pontiff, was joined with him as his colleague. It is recorded, that this election was attended by a greater number of persons thanany other during the war. People had come together from all quarters, not only to give their votes, but also for the purpose of seeingPublius Scipio. They ran in crowds, not only to his house, but also tothe Capitol; where he was engaged in offering a sacrifice of ahundred oxen to Jupiter, which he had vowed in Spain, impressed witha presentiment, that as Caius Lutatius had terminated the former Punicwar, so Publius Scipio would terminate the present; and that as he haddriven the Carthaginians out of every part of Spain, so he woulddrive them out of Italy; and dooming Africa to him as his province, asthough the war in Italy were at an end. The assembly was then heldfor the election of praetors. Two were elected who were then plebeianaediles, namely, Spurius Lucretius and Cneius Octavius; and of privatepersons, Cneius Servilius Caepio and Lucius Aemilius Papus. 

In the fourteenth year of the Punic war, Publius Cornelius Scipio andPublius Licinius Crassus entered on the consulship, when the provincesassigned to the consuls were, to Scipio, Sicily, without drawing lots, his colleague not opposing it, because the care of the sacred affairsrequired the presence of the chief pontiff in Italy; to Crassus, Bruttium. The provinces of the praetors were then put to thedetermination of lots, when the city jurisdiction fell to Servilius;Ariminum, for so they called Gaul, to Spurius Lucretius; Sicily toLucius Aemilius; Sardinia to Cneius Octavius. A senate was held inthe Capitol, when, on the motion of Publius Scipio, a decree was made, that he should exhibit the games which he had vowed in Spain duringthe mutiny of the soldiers, out of the money which he had himselfbrought into the treasury. 

39. He then introduced into the senate the Saguntine ambassadors, the eldest of whom thus spoke: "Although there remains no degree ofsuffering, conscript fathers, beyond what we have endured, in orderthat we might keep our faith towards you to the last; yet such arethe benefits which we have received both from yourselves and yourgenerals, that we do not repent of the calamities to which we haveourselves been exposed. On our account you undertook the war, andhaving undertaken it, you have continued to carry it on for now thefourteenth year with such inflexible perseverance, that frequently youhave both yourselves been reduced, and have brought the Carthaginiansto the last extremity. At a time when you had a war of such adesperate character in Italy, and Hannibal as your antagonist, yousent your consul with an army into Spain, to collect, as it were, theremains of our wreck. Publius and Cneius Cornelius, from the time theyentered the province, never ceased from adopting such measures as werefavourable to us and detrimental to our enemies. First of all, they restored to us our town; and, sending persons to collect ourcountrymen, who were sold and dispersed throughout all Spain, restoredthem from a state of slavery to freedom. When our circumstances, frombeing wretched in the extreme, had nearly assumed a desirable state, your generals Publius and Cneius Cornelius fell more to be lamented byourselves even than by you. Then truly we seemed to have been draggedback from distant places to our ancient abode, to perish again, andwitness the second destruction of our country. Nor did it appearthat there was any need forsooth of a Carthaginian army or generalto effect our destruction; but that we might be annihilated by theTurdulans, our most inveterate enemies, who had also been the cause ofour former overthrow. When suddenly, to our great surprise, you sentus this Publius Scipio, in seeing whom declared consul, and in havingit in our power to carry word back to our countrymen that we haveseen it, for on him our hopes and safety entirely rest, we considerourselves the most fortunate of all the Saguntines. He, when he hadtaken a great number of the cities of your enemies in Spain, on alloccasions separated the Saguntines out of the mass of captives, andsent them back to their country; and lastly, by his arms he reduced toso low a state Turdetania, which harboured such animosity againstus, that if that nation continued to flourish it was impossible thatSaguntum could stand, that it not only was not an object of fear tous, but, and may I say it without incurring odium, not even to ourposterity. We see the city of those persons demolished, to gratifywhom Hannibal destroyed Saguntum. We receive tribute from their lands, which is not more acceptable to us from the advantage we derive fromit than from revenge. In consideration of these benefits, than whichwe could not hope or wish for greater from the immortal gods, thesenate and people of Saguntum have sent us ten ambassadors to youto return their thanks; and at the same time to offer you theircongratulations on your having carried on your operations in Spainand Italy so successfully of late years, that you have subdued byyour arms, and have gotten possession of Spain, not only as far asthe river Iberus, but also to where the ocean forms the limit of theremotest regions of the world; while in Italy you have left nothingto the Carthaginian except so much space as the rampart of his campencloses. We have been desired, not only to return thanks for theseblessings to Jove most good and great, the guardian deity of thecapitoline citadel, but also, if you should permit us, to carry intothe Capitol this present of a golden crown in token of victory. Werequest that you would permit us so to do; and, if you thinkproper, that you would, by your authority, perpetuate and ratify theadvantages which your generals have conferred upon us. " The senatereplied to the Saguntines, "that the destruction and restoration ofSaguntum would form a monument to all the nations of the world ofsocial faith preserved on both sides. That, in restoring Saguntum, andrescuing its citizens from slavery, their generals had acted properly, regularly, and according to the wishes of the senate; and that, whatever other acts of kindness they had done to them, were inconformity with the wishes of the senate. That they gave thempermission to deposit their present in the Capitol. " Orders were thengiven to furnish the ambassadors with apartments and entertainment, and that not less than ten thousand _asses_ should be given to each asa present. After this, the rest of the embassies were introduced andheard. On the request of the Saguntines that they might go and takea view of Italy as far as they could with safety, they were furnishedwith guides, and letters were sent to the several towns, requiringthem to entertain the Spaniards kindly. The senate then took intoconsideration the state of public affairs, the levying troops, and theprovinces. 

40. It being generally reported that Africa, as a new province, wasdestined for Publius Scipio without casting lots; and he himself, notcontent with any moderate share of glory, asserting that he had beendeclared consul, not only for prosecuting, but for finishing the war;that that object could not be accomplished by any other means thanby his transporting an army into Africa; and himself openly declaringthat he would do it through the people if the senate opposed him; thedesign by no means pleased the principal senators; and when the rest, either through fear or a wish to ingratiate themselves with him, onlymurmured, Quintus Fabius Maximus, being asked his opinion, thus spoke:"I know, conscript fathers, that by many of you the question which isthis day agitated is considered as already determined; and that theman who shall deliver his sentiments on the subject of making Africa aprovince, as a new proposal, will speak to little purpose. But, in thefirst place, I cannot see how it can be considered as determined, that Africa shall be the province of the consul, that brave and activeofficer, when neither the senate have voted nor the people orderedthat it should be constituted a province this year. In the nextplace, if it is determined, I think the consul is to blame, who, by pretending to consult the senate on a question already decided, insults that body, and not the senator only who delivers hissentiments in his place on the subject of deliberation. Now I am wellaware, that by disapproving of this excessive eagerness to pass overinto Africa, I subject myself to two imputations: one grounded on thecaution inherent in my disposition, which young men may if theyplease call cowardice and sloth, so long as we have the consolationto reflect, that though hitherto the measures of others have alwaysappeared on the first view of them the more plausible, mine onexperience have proved the sounder. The other imputation is that ofjealousy and envy towards the daily increasing glory of this mostvaliant consul. But if neither my past life and character, nor adictatorship, together with five consulships, and so much gloryacquired, both in peace and war, that I am more likely to loathe itthan desire more, exempt me from such a suspicion, let my age at leastacquit me. For what rivalry can there exist between myself and a manwho is not equal in years even to my son? When I was dictator, whenas yet in the possession of full vigour, and engaged in a series ofaffairs of the utmost magnitude, no one heard me, either in the senateor in the popular assembly, express any reluctance to have the commandequally shared between myself and the master of the horse, at thetime when he was maligning me; a proposition which no one ever heardmention of before. I chose to bring it about by actions rather thanby words, that he who was placed on the same footing with me in thejudgment of others, should soon by his own confession declare me hissuperior. Much less, after having passed through these honours, wouldI propose to myself to enter the lists of competition and rivalry witha man in the very bloom of youth. And that, forsooth, in order thatAfrica, if it shall have been denied to him, may be assigned as aprovince to me, who am now weary of life, and not merely of activeemployments. I must live and die with that share of glory which I havealready acquired. I prevented Hannibal from conquering, in orderthat he might even be conquered by you, whose powers are now in fullvigour. 

41. "It is but fair, Publius Cornelius, that you should pardon me, if I, who in my own case never preferred the honour of men to theinterest of the state, do not place even your fame before the publicgood. Although, if there were either no war in Italy, or an enemy ofsuch a description that no glory could be acquired from conqueringhim, the man who would retain you in Italy, though actuated by adesire to promote the public good, might appear to wish to depriveyou of an opportunity of acquiring renown when he objected to yourremoving the war. But since Hannibal is our antagonist, who isbesieging Italy for now the fourteenth year, with an army unimpaired, will you have reason to be dissatisfied, Publius Cornelius, with theglory you will acquire, if you in your consulate shall drive out ofItaly an enemy who has been the cause of so many deaths and so manydisasters to us, and if you should enjoy the distinction of havingterminated this, as Caius Lutatius did the former Punic war? Unlesseither Hamilcar is a general more worthy of consideration thanHannibal, or a war in Africa of more importance, or a victory theregreater and more glorious, (should it be our lot to be victoriouswhile you are consul, ) than one here. Would you rather have drawn awayHamilcar from Drepanum and Eryx than have expelled the Carthaginiansand Hannibal from Italy? Although you naturally prize more highlythe renown which you have acquired than that which you hope for, yetsurely you would not boast more of having freed Spain from war than ofhaving freed Italy. Hannibal is not as yet in such a state as thatthe man who prefers another war would not appear to have feared ratherthan to have despised him. Why then do you not apply yourself tothis, and carry the war in a straightforward manner to the place whereHannibal is, rather than pursue that circuitous course, according towhich you expect that when you shall have crossed over intoAfrica Hannibal will follow you thither? Do you seek to obtain thedistinguished honour of having finished the Punic war? After you havedefended your own possessions, for this is naturally the first object, then proceed to attack those of others. Let there be peace in Italybefore war in Africa; and let us be free from fear ourselves beforewe bring it upon others. If it is possible that both objects may beaccomplished under your conduct and auspices, having first conqueredHannibal here, then go and lay siege to Carthage; but if one or otherof these conquests must be left for the succeeding consuls, the formeris both the greater and more glorious, and also the cause of thesecond. For now indeed, besides that the treasury is not able tomaintain two different armies, one in Italy and one in Africa; besidesthat we nave nothing left from which we may equip fleets or be able tofurnish provisions, who knows not how great danger would be incurred?Publius Licinius will wage war in Italy, Publius Scipio in Africa. What if, (an omen which may all the gods avert, and which my mindshrinks back with alarm from mentioning, --but what has happened mayhappen again, --) what I say, if Hannibal, having gained a victory, should advance to the city? Shall we then at length send for you, ourconsul, out of Africa, as we formerly sent for Quintus Fulvius fromCapua? What shall we say when we consider that in Africa also bothparties will be liable to the chances of war? Let your own house, yourfather and your uncle, slain together with their armies within thespace of thirty days, after that, having spent several years in theperformance of the most important services, both by sea and land, theyhad inspired foreign nations with the highest reverence for the nameof the Roman people and your family, be a warning to you. The daywould fail me were I disposed to enumerate the kings and generalswho have brought the most signal calamities upon themselves and theirarmies by rashly passing into the territories of their enemies. TheAthenians, a state distinguished for prudence, leaving a war at home, sent a great fleet into Sicily at the instance of a youth equallyenterprising and illustrious; but by one naval battle they reducedtheir flourishing republic to a state of humiliation from which shecould never recover. 

42. "But I am adducing foreign and too remote examples. That sameAfrica, and Marcus Atilius, who was a signal example of bothextremes of fortune, may form a warning to us. Without doubt, PubliusCornelius, when you shall have a view of Africa from the sea, thereduction of your province of Spain will appear to you to have been amere matter of sport and pastime. For what similarity is there betweenthem? After sailing along the coast of Italy and Gaul to Emporiaewithout any enemy to oppose you, you brought your fleet to land ata city of our allies. There landing your soldiers, you marched themthrough countries entirely secure from danger to Tarraco, to join theallies and friends of the Roman people. After that, from Tarraco youmarched through places garrisoned by Roman troops. On the banks of theIberus were the armies of your father and your uncle, rendered stillmore furious after the loss of their generals, even by the verycalamity they had suffered. The general, indeed, Lucius Marcius, hadbeen irregularly constituted and chosen for the time by the suffragesof the soldiers; but had he been adorned with noble birth and theregular gradation of preferment, he would have been equal to the mostdistinguished generals, from his skill in every art of war. You thenlaid siege to Carthage, quite at your leisure, not one of the threePunic armies coming to the defence of their allies. The rest of yourachievements, nor do I wish to disparage them, are by no means to becompared with what you will have to do in a war in Africa, where thereis not a single harbour open to receive our fleet, no part of thecountry at peace with us, no state in alliance, no king in friendshipwith us, no room in any part either to take up a position or toadvance. Whichever way you turn your eyes, all is hostility anddanger. Do you trust in the Numidians and Syphax? Let it suffice tohave trusted in them once. Temerity is not always successful, and thefraudulent usually pave the way to confidence in small matters, thatwhen an advantageous opportunity occurs, they may deceive with greatgain. Your father and uncle were not cut off by the arms of theirenemies till they were duped by the treachery of their Celtiberianallies; nor were you yourself exposed to so much danger from Magoand Hasdrubal, the generals of your enemies, as from Indibilis andMandonius, whom you had received into friendship. Can you place anyconfidence in Numidians after having experienced a defection in yourown soldiers? Syphax and Masinissa would rather that they themselvesshould have the rule in Africa than the Carthaginians, but that theCarthaginians should rather than any other state. At present emulationand the various causes of dispute existing between them incite themagainst each other, because the fear of any foreign enemy is remote. But show them the Roman arms and a body of troops, natives of anothercountry, and they will run together as if to extinguish a commonconflagration. These same Carthaginians defended Spain in a differentmanner from that in which they will defend the walls of their capital, the temples of their gods, their altars, and their hearths; when theirterrified wives will attend them on the way to the battle, andtheir little children will run to them. What, moreover, if theCarthaginians, feeling sufficiently secure in the harmony subsistingin Africa, in the attachment of the sovereigns in alliance with them, and their own fortifications, should, when they see Italy deprivedof the support of yourself and your army, themselves assuming anoffensive attitude, either send a fresh army out of Africa intoItaly, or order Mago, who, it is certain, having passed over from theBaleares, is now sailing along the coast of Liguria and the Alps, toform a junction with Hannibal. Without doubt, we should be thrown intothe same state of alarm as we were lately, when Hasdrubal passed overinto Italy; that Hasdrubal, whom you, who are about to blockade, notCarthage only, but all Africa with your army, allowed to slip out ofyour hands into Italy. You will say that he was conquered by you. For that very reason I should be less willing, not on account of thecommonwealth only, but of yourself, that, after having been defeated, he should be allowed to march into Italy. Suffer us to ascribe to yourprudence all the successful events which have happened to you andthe empire of the Roman people, and to impute all those of an adversenature to the uncertain chances of war and to fortune. The moremeritorious and brave you are, so much the more do your country andall Italy desire to retain you as their protector. You cannot evenyourself pretend to deny, that where Hannibal is, there is the headand principal stress of the war, for you profess, that your motivein crossing over into Africa is to draw Hannibal thither. Whether, therefore, here or there, it is with Hannibal that you will have tocontend. Will you then, I pray, have more power in Africa and alone, or here, with your own and your colleague's army united? Is not thegreat difference which this makes proved to you even by the recentprecedent of Claudius and Livius, the consuls? What! will Hannibal, who has now for a long time been unavailingly soliciting succours fromhome, be rendered more powerful in men and arms when occupying theremotest corner of the Bruttian territory, or when near to Carthageand supported by all Africa? What sort of policy is that of yours, toprefer fighting where your own forces will be diminished by one half, and the enemy's greatly augmented, to encountering the enemy whenyou will have two armies against one, and that wearied with so manybattles, and so protracted and laborious a service? Consider how farthis policy of yours corresponds with that of your parent. He, settingout in his consulship for Spain, returned from his province intoItaly, that he might meet Hannibal on his descent from the Alps; whileyou are going to leave Italy when Hannibal is there, not because youconsider such a course beneficial to the state, but because you thinkit will redound to your own honour and glory; acting in the samemanner as you did when leaving your province and your army without thesanction of a law, without a decree of the senate, you, a generalof the Roman people, intrusted to two ships the fortune of thecommonwealth and the majesty of the empire, which were then hazardedin your person. In my estimation, conscript fathers, Publius Corneliuswas elected consul for the service of the state and of us, and not toforward his own individual interest; and the armies were enlisted forthe protection of the city and of Italy, and not for the consuls, like kings, to carry into whatever part of the world they please frommotives of vanity. "

43. Fabius having made a strong impression on a large portion of thesenate, and especially those advanced in years, by this speech, which was adapted to the occasion, and also by his authority and hislong-established reputation for prudence; and those who approvedof the counsel of this old man being more numerous than those whocommended the hot spirit of the young one; Scipio is reported thusto have spoken: "Even Quintus Fabius himself has observed, conscriptfathers, in the commencement of his speech, that in the opinion hegave a feeling of jealousy might be suspected. And though I darenot myself charge so great a man with harbouring that feeling, yet, whether it is owing to a defect in his language, or to the fact, thatsuspicion has certainly not been removed. For he has so magnified hisown honours and the fame of his exploits, in order to do away withthe imputation of envy, that it would appear I am in danger of beingrivalled by every obscure person, but not by himself, because, as heenjoys an eminence above every body else, an eminence to which I donot dissemble that I also aspire, he is unwilling that I should beplaced upon a level with him. He has represented himself as an oldman, and as one who has gone through every gradation of honour, and meas below the age even of his son; as if he supposed that the desireof glory did not exceed the limits of human life, and as if its chiefpart had not respect to memory and future ages. I am confident, thatit is usual with all the most exalted minds, to compare themselves, not only with the illustrious men of the present, but of every age. For my own part, I do not dissemble that I am desirous, not only toattain to the share of glory which you possess, Quintus Fabius, but, (and in saying it I mean no offence, ) if I can, even to exceed it. Letnot such a feeling exist in your mind towards me, nor in mine towardsthose who are my juniors, as that we should be unwilling that any ofour countrymen should attain to the same celebrity with ourselves; forthat would be a detriment, not to those only who may be the objectsof our envy, but to the state, and almost to the whole human race. Hementioned what a great degree of danger I should incur, should I crossover into Africa, so that he appeared solicitous on my account, andnot only for the state and the army. But whence has this concern forme so suddenly sprung? When my father and uncle were slain; when theirtwo armies were cut up almost to a man; when Spain was lost; when fourarmies of the Carthaginians and four generals kept possession of everything by terror and by arms; when a general was sought for to take thecommand of that war, and no one came forward besides myself, no onehad the courage to declare himself a candidate; when the Roman peoplehad conferred the command upon me, though only twenty-four years ofage; why was it that no one at that time made any mention of my age, of the strength of the enemy, of the difficulty of the war, and of therecent destruction of my father and uncle? Has some greater disasterbeen suffered in Africa now than had at that time befallen usin Spain? Are there now larger armies in Africa, more and bettergenerals, than were then in Spain? Was my age then more mature forconducting a war than now? Can a war with a Carthaginian enemy becarried on with greater convenience in Spain than in Africa? Afterhaving routed and put to flight four Carthaginian armies; after havingcaptured by force, or reduced to submission by fear, so many cities;after having entirely subdued every thing as far as the ocean, somany petty princes, so many savage nations; after having regainedpossession of the whole of Spain, so that no trace of war remains, it is an easy matter to make light of my services; just as easy asit would be, should I return victorious from Africa, to make light ofthose very circumstances which are now magnified in order that theymay appear formidable, for the purpose of detaining me here. He saysthat there is no possibility of entering Africa; that there are noports open. He mentions that Marcus Atilius was taken prisoner inAfrica, as if Marcus Atilius had miscarried on his first access toAfrica. Nor does he recollect that the ports of Africa were open tothat very commander, unfortunate as he was; that he performed somebrilliant services during the first year, and continued undefeatedto the last, so far as related to the Carthaginian generals. You willnot, therefore, in the least deter me by that example of yours. Ifthat disaster had been sustained in the present, and not in the formerwar, if lately, and not forty years ago, yet why would it be lessadvisable for me to cross over into Africa after Regulus had beenmade prisoner there, than into Spain after the Scipios had been slainthere? I should be reluctant to admit that the birth of Xanthippusthe Lacedaemonian was more fortunate for Carthage than mine for mycountry. My confidence would be increased by the very circumstance, that such important consequences depended upon the valour of oneman. But further, we must take warning by the Athenians, whoinconsiderately crossed over into Sicily, leaving a war in their owncountry. Why, therefore, since you have leisure to relate Greciantales, do you not rather set before us the instance of Agathocles, king of Syracuse, who, when Sicily was for a long time wasted by aPunic war, by passing over into this same Africa, removed the war tothe country from whence it came. 

44. "But what need is there of ancient and foreign examples to remindus what sort of thing it is boldly to carry terror against an enemy, and, removing the danger from oneself, to bring another into peril?Can there be a stronger instance than Hannibal himself, or one moreto the point? It makes a great difference whether you devastate theterritories of another, or see your own destroyed by fire and sword. He who brings danger upon another has more spirit than he who repelsit. Add to this, that the terror excited by unknown circumstances isincreased on that account. When you have entered the territory of anenemy, you may have a near view of his advantages and disadvantages. Hannibal did not expect that it would come to pass that so many of thestates in Italy would come over to him as did so after the defeat atCannae. How much less would any firmness or constancy be experiencedin Africa by the Carthaginians, who are themselves faithless allies, oppressive and haughty masters! Besides, we, even when deserted byour allies, stood firm in our own strength, the Roman soldiery. TheCarthaginians possess no native strength. The soldiers they have areobtained by hire;--Africans and Numidians--people remarkable aboveall others for the inconstancy of their attachments. Provided noimpediment arises here, you will hear at once that I have landed, andthat Africa is blazing with war; that Hannibal is preparing for hisdeparture from this country, and that Carthage is besieged. Expectmore frequent and more joyful despatches from Africa than you receivedfrom Spain. The considerations on which I ground my anticipations arethe good fortune of the Roman people, the gods, the witnesses of thetreaty violated by the enemy, the kings Syphax and Masinissa; on whosefidelity I will rely in such a manner as that I may be secure fromdanger should they prove perfidious. Many things which are not nowapparent, at this distance, the war will develope; and it is thepart of a man, and a general, not to be wanting when fortune presentsitself, and to bend its events to his designs. I shall, QuintusFabius, have the opponent you assign me, Hannibal; but I shall ratherdraw him after me than be kept here by him. I will compel him to fightin his own country, and Carthage shall be the prize of victory ratherthan the half-ruined forts of the Bruttians. With regard to providingthat the state sustain no injury in the mean time, while I am crossingover, while I am landing my troops in Africa, while I am advancingmy camp to the walls of Carthage; be not too sure that it is not aninsult to Publius Licinius, the consul, a man of consummate valour, who did not draw lots for so distant a province merely that, as he waschief pontiff, he might not be absent from religious affairs, tosay that he is unable to do that, now that the power of Hannibal isshaken, and in a manner shattered, which you Quintus Fabius, wereable to effect when he was flying victorious throughout all Italy. By Hercules, even if the war would not be more speedily terminated byadopting the plan I propose, yet it were consistent with the dignityof the Roman people, and the high character they enjoy with foreignkings and nations, to appear to have had spirit not only to defendItaly, but also to carry hostilities into Africa; and that it shouldnot be supposed and spread abroad that no Roman general dared whatHannibal had dared; that in the former Punic war, when the contest wasabout Sicily, Africa should have been so often attacked by our fleetsand armies, and that now, when the contest is about Italy, Africashould be left undisturbed. Let Italy, which has so long beenharassed, at length enjoy some repose; let Africa, in her turn, be fired and devastated. Let the Roman camp overhang the gates ofCarthage rather than that we should again behold the rampart of theenemy from our walls. Let Africa be the seat of the remainder of thewar. Let terror and flight, the devastation of lands, the defection ofallies, and all the other calamities of war which have fallen uponus, through a period of fourteen years, be turned upon her. It issufficient for me to have spoken on those matters which relate to thestate, the war before us, and the provinces which form the subject ofdeliberation. My discourse would be tedious and uninteresting to youif, as Fabius has depreciated my services in Spain, I should alsoin like manner endeavour, on the other hand, to turn his glory intoridicule, and make the most of my own. I will do neither, conscriptfathers; and if in nothing else, though a young man, I shall certainlyhave shown my superiority over this old man, in modesty and thegovernment of my tongue. Such has been my life, and such the servicesI have performed, that I can gladly rest contented in silence withthat opinion which you have spontaneously conceived of me. "

45. Scipio was heard less favourably, because, a report had beenspread that, if he did not prevail with the senate to have Africadecreed to him as his province, he would immediately lay the matterbefore the people. Therefore, Quintus Fulvius, who had been consulfour times, and censor, requested of the consul that he would openlydeclare in the senate whether "he submitted to the fathers to deciderespecting the provinces; and whether he intended to abide by theirdetermination, or to put it to the people. " Scipio having replied thathe would act as he thought for the interest of the state, Fulvius thenrejoined: "When I asked you the question I was not ignorant of whatanswer you would give, or how you would act; for you plainly show thatyou are rather sounding than consulting the senate; and, unless weimmediately decree to you the province you wish, have a bill ready(to lay before the people). Therefore, " said he, "I require of you, tribunes of the people, to support me in refusing to give my opinion, because, though my recommendation should be adopted, the consul isnot disposed to abide by it. " An altercation then arose, the consulasserting that it was unfair for the tribunes to interpose so as toprevent any senator from living his opinion in his place on beingasked it. The tribunes came to the determination, "that if the consulsubmit to the senate the question relating to the provinces, whateverthe senate decree we shall consider as final, nor will we allow a billto be proposed to the people on the subject. If he does not submitit to them, we will support any one who shall refuse to deliver hissentiments upon the matter. " The consul requested the delay of a dayto confer with his colleague. The next day the decision was submittedto the senate. The provinces were assigned in this manner: to one ofthe consuls Sicily and thirty ships of war, which Caius Servilius hadcommanded the former year; he was also permitted to cross over intoAfrica if he conceived it to be for the advantage of the state. To theother consul Bruttium and the war with Hannibal were assigned; witheither that army which Lucius Veturius or that which Quintus Caeciliuscommanded. The two latter were to draw lots, and settle betweenthemselves which should act in Bruttium with the two legions whichthe consul gave up; and he to whose lot that province fell, was to becontinued in command for a year. The other persons also, besidesthe consuls and praetors, who were to take the command of armies andprovinces, were continued in command. It fell to the lot of QuintusCaecilius to carry on the war against Hannibal in Bruttium, togetherwith the consul. The games of Scipio were then celebrated in thepresence of a great number of persons, and with the approbation of thespectators. The deputies, Marcus Pomponius Matho and Quintus Catius, sent to Delphi to convey a present out of the spoils taken fromHasdrubal, carried with them a golden crown of two hundred pounds'weight, and representations of the spoils made out of a thousandpounds' weight of silver. Scipio, though he could not obtain leaveto levy troops, a point which he did not urge with great eagerness, obtained leave to take with him such as volunteered their services;and also, as he declared that the fleet would not be the occasion ofexpense to the state, to receive what was furnished by the allies forbuilding fresh ships. First, the states of Etruria engaged to assistthe consuls to the utmost of their respective abilities. The peopleof Caere furnished corn, and provisions of every description, for thecrews; the people of Populoni furnished iron; of Tarquinii, clothfor sails; those of Volaterrae, planks for ships, and corn; those ofArretium, thirty thousand shields, as many helmets; and of javelins, Gallic darts, and long spears, they undertook to make up to the amountof fifty thousand, an equal number of each description, togetherwith as many axes, mattocks, bills, buckets, and mills, as should besufficient for fifty men of war, with a hundred and twenty thousandpecks of wheat; and to contribute to the support of the decurios androwers on the voyage. The people of Perusia, Clusium, and Rusellafurnished firs for building ships, and a great quantity of corn. Scipio had firs out of the public woods. The states of Umbria, and, besides them, the people of Nursia, Reate, and Amiternum, andall those of the Sabine territory, promised soldiers. Many of theMarsians, Pelignians, and Marrucinians volunteered to serve in thefleet. The Cameritans, as they were joined with the Romans in leagueon equal terms, sent an armed cohort of six hundred men. Having laidthe keels of thirty ships, twenty of which were quinqueremes, and tenquadriremes, he prosecuted the work with such diligence, that, on theforty-fifth day after the materials were taken from the woods, theships, being fully equipped and armed, were launched. 

46. He set out into Sicily with thirty ships of war, with about seventhousand volunteers on board. Publius Licinius came into Bruttium tothe two consular armies, of which he selected for himself that whichLucius Veturius, the consul, had commanded. He allowed Metellus tocontinue in the command of those legions which were before under him, concluding that he could act more easily with the troops accustomed tohis command. The praetors also went to their different provinces. Asthere was a scarcity of money to carry on the war, the quaestors wereordered to sell a district of the Campanian territory extending fromthe Grecian trench to the sea, with permission to receive informationas to what land belonged to a native Campanian, in order that it mightbe put into the possession of the Roman people. The reward fixedupon for the informer was a tenth part of the value of the lands sodiscovered. Cneius Servilius, the city praetor, was also charged withseeing that the Campanians dwelt where they were allowed, according tothe decree of the senate, and to punish such as dwelt anywhere else. The same summer, Mago, son of Amilcar, setting out from the lesser ofthe Balearian islands, where he had wintered, having put on boardhis fleet a chosen body of young men, conveyed over into Italy twelvethousand foot, and about two thousand horse, with about thirty shipsof war, and a great number of transports. By the suddenness of hisarrival he took Genoa, as there were no troops employed in protectingthe sea-coast. Thence he brought his fleet to shore, on the coast ofthe Alpine Ligurians, to see if he could create any commotion there. The Ingaunians, a tribe of the Ligurians, were at that junctureengaged in war with the Epanterians, a people inhabiting themountains. The Carthaginian, therefore, having deposited his plunderat Savo, an Alpine town, left ten ships of war for its protection. Hesent the rest to Carthage to guard the sea-coast, as it was reportedthat Scipio intended to pass over thither; formed an alliance withthe Ingaunians, whose friendship he preferred; and commenced an attackupon the mountaineers. His army increased daily, the Gauls flocking tohis standard from all sides, from the splendour of his fame. When thesenate received information of these things, by a letter from SpuriusLucretius, they were filled with the most intense anxiety, lest thejoy they had experienced on the destruction of Hasdrubal and his army, two years before, should be rendered vain by another war's springingup in the same quarter, equal in magnitude, but under a new leader. They therefore ordered Marcus Livius, proconsul, to march his armyof volunteer slaves out of Etruria to Ariminum, and gave in charge toCneius Servilius to issue orders, if he thought it necessary for thesafety of the state, that the city legions should be marched out underthe command of any person he thought proper. Marcus Valerius Laevinusled those legions to Arretium. About the same time, as many as eightytransports of the Carthaginians were captured, near Sardinia, byCneius Octavius, who had the government of that province. Caeliusstates that they were laden with corn and provisions, sent forHannibal; Valerius, that they were conveying the plunder of Etruria, and the Ligurian mountaineers who had been captured, to Carthage. In Bruttium scarcely any thing was done this year worth recording. A pestilence had attacked both Romans and Carthaginians with equalviolence; but the Carthaginian army, in addition to sickness, wasdistressed by famine. Hannibal passed the summer near the templeof Juno Lacinia, where he erected and dedicated an altar with aninscription engraved in Punic and Greek characters, setting forth, inpompous terms, the achievements he had performed. 

BOOK XXIX. 

 _In Spain, Mandonius and Indibilis, reviving hostilities, are finally subdued. Scipio goes over from Syracuse to Locri; dislodges the Carthaginian general; repulses Hannibal, and recovers that city. Peace made with Philip. The Idaean Mother brought to Rome from Phrygia; received by Publius Scipio Nasica, judged by the senate the best man in the state. Scipio passes over into Africa. Syphax, having married a daughter of Hasdrubal, renounces his alliance with Scipio. Masinissa, who had been expelled his kingdom by Syphax, joins Scipio with two hundred horsemen; they defeat a large army commanded by Hanno. Hasdrubal and Syphax approach with a most numerous force. Scipio raises the siege of Utica, and fortifies a post for the winter. The consul Sempronius gets the better of Hannibal in a battle near Croton. Dispute between Marcus Livius and Claudius Nero, censors. _

1. Scipio, after his arrival in Sicily, formed his volunteers intocohorts and centuries. Of these he kept about his person three hundredyoung men, in the bloom of their age and the prime of their strength, unarmed, and not knowing for what purpose they were reserved, as theywere not included in the centuries, nor furnished with arms. He thenselected out of the number of the youth of all Sicily three hundredhorsemen, of the highest birth and fortune, who were to cross overwith him into Africa, appointing a day on which they were to presentthemselves equipped and furnished with horses and arms. This severeservice, far from their native land, appeared to them likely to beattended with many hardships, and great dangers, both by sea and land;nor did that anxiety affect themselves alone, but also their parentsand relations. When the appointed day arrived, they exhibited theirarms and horses. Then Scipio observed, "that an intimation had beenconveyed to him that certain of the Sicilian horsemen felt a strongaversion to that service, as being severe and arduous. If there wereany who entertained such a feeing, that he would rather they shouldthen confess it to him, than, complaining afterwards, prove themselvesslothful and useless soldiers to the state. He desired that they wouldopenly avow their sentiments, for that he would hear them with kindlyfeeling. " When one of the number took courage to declare, that if hewere allowed the uncontrolled exercise of his will he certainly wouldnot serve, Scipio replied to him thus: "Since then, young man, youhave not dissembled your sentiments, I will furnish a substitute foryou, to whom I request that you transfer your arms, your horse, andother appliances of war; and, taking him hence immediately toyour house, train him, and take care that he is instructed in themanagement of his horse and arms. " The youth accepted the termsjoyfully, when Scipio delivered to him one of the three hundred whomhe kept unarmed. The rest, seeing the horseman thus dischargedwithout giving any offence to the general, began severally toexcuse themselves and receive substitutes. Thus Roman horsemen weresubstituted for the three hundred Sicilian, without any expense to thestate. The Sicilians had the care of instructing and training them, because the general had ordered that the man who should not doso, should serve himself. It is said that this turned out to be anadmirable body of cavalry, and rendered effectual service to the statein many engagements. Afterwards, inspecting the legions, he chose outof them such soldiers as had served the greatest number of campaigns, particularly those who had acted under Marcellus; for he consideredthat they were formed under the best discipline, and also, from thelong time in which they were engaged in the siege of Syracuse, weremost skilled in the assault of towns: for his thoughts were nowoccupied with no small object, but the destruction of Carthage. Hethen distributed his army through the towns; ordered the Sicilianstates to furnish corn, sparing that which had been brought fromItaly; repaired his old ships, and sent Caius Laelius with them intoAfrica to plunder. His new ships he hauled on shore at Panormus, thatthey might be kept on land during the winter, as they had been hastilybuilt of unseasoned timber. 

When every thing was got in readiness for the war he came to Syracuse, which had hardly yet returned to a state of tranquillity, after theviolent commotions of the war. The Greeks, demanding restitution oftheir property, which had been granted to them by the senate, fromcertain persons of the Italian nation, who retained possession of itin the same forcible manner in which they had seized it in the war, Scipio, who deemed it of the first importance to preserve thepublic faith, restored their property to the Syracusans, partly byproclamation, and partly even by judgments pronounced against thosewho pertinaciously retained their unjust acquisitions. This measurewas acceptable not only to the persons immediately concerned, but toall the states of Sicily, and so much the more energetically did theygive aid in the war. During the same summer a very formidable warsprang up in Spain, at the instance of Indibilis the Hergetian, fromno other cause than the contempt he conceived for the other generals, in consequence of his admiration of Scipio. He considered "that he wasthe only commander the Romans had left, the rest having been slain byHannibal. That they had, therefore, no other general whom theycould send into Spain after the Scipios were cut off there, and thatafterwards, when the war in Italy pressed upon them with increasedseverity, he was recalled to oppose Hannibal. That, in addition to thefact that the Romans had the names only of generals in Spain, theirold army had also been withdrawn thence. That all the troops they hadthere were irresolute, as consisting of an undisciplined multitude ofrecruits. That there would never again occur such an opportunity forthe liberation of Spain. That up to that time they had been the slaveseither of Carthaginians or Romans, and that not to one or the other inturns, but sometimes to both together. That the Carthaginians had beendriven out by the Romans, and that the Romans might be driven out bythe Spaniards, if they would unite: so that Spain, for ever freedfrom a foreign yoke, might return to her native customs and rites. "By these and other observations he stirred up not only his countrymen, but the Ausetanians also, a neighbouring nation, as well as otherstates bordering on his own and their country. Accordingly, within afew days, thirty thousand foot and about four thousand horse assembledin the Sedetanian territory, according to the orders which had beengiven. 

2. On the other side, the Roman generals also, Lucius Lentulus andLucius Manlius Acidinus, lest by neglecting the first beginnings ofthe war it should increase in violence, having united their armies, and led their troops through the Ausetanian territory in a peaceablemanner, as though it had been the territory of friends instead ofenemies, came to the position of the enemy, and pitched their campat a distance of three miles from theirs. At first an unsuccessfulattempt was made, through ambassadors, to induce them to lay downtheir arms; then the Spanish cavalry making a sudden attack on theRoman foragers, a body of cavalry was sent to support them from theRoman outposts, when a battle between the cavalry took place with nomemorable issue to either side. The next day, at sun-rise, the wholeforce displayed their line, armed and drawn out for battle, at thedistance of about a mile from the Roman camp. The Ausetanians were inthe centre, the right wing was occupied by the Ilergetians, the leftby some inconsiderable states of Spain. Between the wings and thecentre they had left intervals of considerable extent, through whichthey might send out their cavalry when occasion required. The Romansalso, drawing up their army in their usual manner, imitated the enemyin respect only of leaving themselves also intervals between thelegions to afford passages for their cavalry. Lentulus, however, concluding that the cavalry could be employed with advantage by thoseonly who should be the first to send them against the enemy's line, thus broken by intervals, ordered Servius Cornelius, a militarytribune, to direct the cavalry to ride at full speed into the spacesleft in the enemy's line. Lentulus himself, as the battle between theinfantry was somewhat unfavourable in its commencement, waited onlyuntil he had brought up from the reserve into the front line thethirteenth legion to support the twelfth legion, which had beenposted in the left wing, against the Ilergetians, and which was givingground. And when the battle was thus placed on an equal footing inthat quarter, he came to Lucius Manlius, who was exhorting the troopsin the foremost line, and bringing up the reserves in such places ascircumstances required, and told him that all was safe in the leftwing, and that Cornelius Servius, who had been sent by him for thatpurpose, would soon pour round the enemy a storm of cavalry. He hadscarcely uttered these words, when the Roman horse, riding intothe midst of the enemy, at once threw their line of infantry intodisorder, and closed up the passage by which the Spanish cavalrywere to advance. The Spaniards, therefore, giving up all thoughts offighting on horseback, dismounted and fought on foot. When the Romangenerals saw that the ranks of the enemy were in confusion, that theywere in a state of trepidation and dismay, their standards moving toand fro, they exhorted and implored their men to charge them whilethus discomfited, and not allow them to form their line again. So desperate was their charge that the barbarians could not havewithstood the shock, had not the prince Indibilis in person, togetherwith the discounted cavalry, opposed himself to the enemy before thefront rank of the infantry. There an obstinate contest continued for aconsiderable time; but those who fought round the king, who continuedhis resistance though almost expiring, and who was afterwards pinnedto the earth by a javelin, having at length fallen, overwhelmed withdarts, a general flight took place; and the number slain was thegreater because the horsemen were prevented from remounting, andbecause the Romans pressed impetuously upon the discomfited troops;nor did they give over until they had deprived the enemy of theircamp. On that day thirteen thousand Spaniards were slain, and abouteight hundred captured. Of the Romans and allies there fell a littlemore than two hundred, and those principally in the left wing. Suchof the Spaniards as were beaten out of their camp, or had escaped fromthe battle, at first dispersed themselves through the country, butafterwards returned each to his own state. 

3. They were then summoned to an assembly by Mandonius, at which, after complaining bitterly of the losses they had sustained, andupbraiding the instigators of the war, they resolved that ambassadorsshould be sent with proposals to deliver up their arms and make asurrender. These, laying the blame on Indibilis, the instigator of thewar, and the other chiefs, most of whom had fallen in the battle, andoffering to deliver up their arms and surrender themselves, receivedfor answer, that their surrender would be accepted on condition thatthey delivered up alive Mandonius and the rest of the persons who hadfomented the war; but if they refused to comply, that armies should bemarched into the territories of the Ilergetians and Ausetanians, andafterwards into those of the other states in succession. This answergiven to the ambassadors, was reported to the assembly, andMandonius and the other chiefs were there seized and delivered upfor punishment. Peace was restored to the states of Spain, whichwere ordered to pay double taxes that year, and furnish corn for sixmonths, together with cloaks and gowns for the army; and hostages weretaken from about thirty of the states. 

The tumult occasioned by the rebellion in Spain having been thusexcited and suppressed within the space of a few days, without anygreat disturbance, the whole terror of the war was directed againstAfrica. Caius Laelius having arrived at Hippo Regius by night, atbreak of day led his soldiers and mariners in regular array to laywaste the country. As all the inhabitants were living unguardedly, asin a time of peace, great damage was done; and messengers, flying interror, filled Carthage with alarm, by reporting that the Roman fleetand the general, Scipio, had arrived; for there was a rumour thatScipio had already crossed over into Sicily. Not knowing accuratelyhow many ships they had seen, or how large a body of troops wasdevastating the country, they, under the influence of fear, whichrepresented them as greater than they really were, exaggerated everything. Accordingly, at first, terror and dismay took possession oftheir minds, but afterwards grief, when they reflected that theircircumstances had undergone so great a change; that they, who latelyas conquerors had an army before the walls of Rome, and, after havinglaid prostrate so many armies of the enemy, had received the surrenderof all the states of Italy, either by force or choice, now, thewar having taken an unfavourable turn, were destined to behold thedevastation of Africa and the siege of Carthage, without any thinglike the resources to enable them to bear up against those calamitieswhich the Romans possessed. To the latter the Roman commons andLatium afforded a supply of young men, which continually grew up morevigorous and more numerous, in the room of so many armies destroyed, while their own people, both those in the city and those in thecountry, were unfit for military service; their troops consisted ofauxiliaries, procured by hire from the Africans, a faithless nation, and veering about with every gale of fortune. Now too, with regard tothe kings, Syphax was alienated from them since his conference withScipio, and Masinissa, by an open defection, had become their mostdetermined enemy. Wherever they turned their eyes there was no hope, no aid. Neither did Mago excite any commotion on the side of Gaul, norjoin his forces with those of Hannibal; while Hannibal himself was nowdeclining both in reputation and strength. 

4. Their minds, which had fallen into these melancholy reflections inconsequence of the intelligence they had just received, were broughtback by their immediate fears to deliberate how to oppose the instantdanger. They resolved, that troops should be hastily levied bothin the city and in the country; that persons should be sent to hireauxiliaries from the Africans; that the city should be fortified, corncollected, weapons and arms prepared, and ships equipped and sentto Hippo against the Roman fleet. But now, while engaged in thesematters, news at length arrived that it was Laelius, and not Scipio;that the forces which he had brought over were only what weresufficient for making predatory incursions into the country, and thatthe principal stress of the war still lay in Sicily. Thus they wereenabled to take breath, and they began to send embassies to Syphaxand the other petty princes, for the purpose of strengthening theiralliances. To Philip also ambassadors were sent, to promise him twohundred talents of silver, if he would cross over into Sicily orItaly. Ambassadors were also sent into Italy to the two generals, todesire them to keep Scipio at home by terrifying the enemy inevery way they could. To Mago, not only ambassadors were sent, buttwenty-five men of war, six thousand infantry, eight hundred horse, and seven elephants, besides a large sum of money to be employed inhiring auxiliaries, in order that, encouraged by these aids, he mightadvance his army nearer to the city of Rome, and form a junction withHannibal. Such were the preparations and plans at Carthage. WhileLaelius was employed in carrying off an immense quantity of bootyfrom the country, the inhabitants of which had no arms, and which wasdestitute of forces, Masinissa, moved by the report of the arrivalof the Roman fleet, came to him attended by a small body of horse. He complained that "Scipio had not acted with promptness in thisbusiness, in that he had not already passed his army over into Africa, while the Carthaginians were in consternation, and while Syphax wasentangled in wars with the neighbouring states, and in doubt anduncertainty as to the course he should take; that if time was allowedto Syphax to adjust his own affairs according to his mind, he wouldnot in any thing keep his faith with the Romans inviolate. " Herequested that he would exhort and stimulate Scipio not to delay. Though driven from his kingdom, he said he would join him with nodespicable force of foot and horse. Nor was it right, said he thatLaelius should continue in Africa, for he believed that a fleet hadset sail from Carthage, with which, in the absence of Scipio, it wouldnot be altogether safe to engage. 

5. After this discourse Masinissa departed. Laelius, the next day, sailed from Hippo with his ships loaded with booty, and returning toSicily, delivered to Scipio the injunctions of Masinissa. About thesame time the ships which were sent from Carthage to Mago touchedat the country between the Albingaunian Ligurians and Genoa. Magohappened to be lying here with his fleet at this time. After hearingthe message of the ambassadors, directing him to collect as great anumber of troops as possible, he immediately held a council of theGauls and Ligurians, for a great number of both those nations werethere. He said that he was sent to restore them to liberty, and, asthey themselves might see, succours were sent him from home; but thatit depended upon them with how great forces and how large an army thewar for that purpose was to be carried on. That the Romans had twoarmies in the field, one in Gaul and another in Etruria. That he waswell informed that Spurius Lucretius would form a junction with MarcusLivius, and that they on their part must arm many thousands, in orderto cope with two Roman generals and two armies. The Gauls replied, that they had the strongest possible inclination to this, but asthe Romans had one army within their borders, and another in theneighbouring country of Etruria, almost within sight, if it shouldbe known that they had supported the Carthaginians with auxiliaries, those would immediately invade their territories on both sides withdetermined hostility. They requested that he would ask of the Gaulssuch aids as they could afford in a covert manner. The purposes of theLigurians, they said, were unrestrained, because the Roman troops wereat a distance from their lands and cities; that it was fair that theyshould arm their youth and take upon themselves a portion of the war. The Ligurians did not dissent; they only requested the space of twomonths to make their levies. Having dismissed the Gauls, Mago in themean time secretly hired soldiers through their country. Provisionsalso of every description were sent to him privately by the Gallicstates. Marcus Livius led his army of volunteer slaves out of Etruriainto Gaul, and having joined Lucretius, prepared to meet Mago in casehe should move from Liguria nearer to the city; but intending, if theCarthaginian should keep himself quiet under the angle formed by theAlps, to remain himself also in the same quarter, near Ariminum, forthe protection of Italy. 

6. After the return of Caius Laelius from Africa, though Scipio wasgoaded on by the exhortations of Masinissa; and the soldiers, onseeing the booty which was taken from the enemy's country landed fromthe whole fleet, were inflamed with the strongest desire to cross overas soon as possible; this important object was interrupted by oneof minor consideration, namely, that of regaining the town of Locri, which at the time of the general defection of Italy had itself alsogone over to the Carthaginians. The hope of accomplishing this objectbeamed forth from a very trifling circumstance. The war was carried onin Bruttium rather in a predatory than a regular manner, the Numidianshaving set the example, and the Bruttians falling in with thatpractice, not more in consequence of their connexion with theCarthaginians, than from their natural inclination. At last the Romansalso, who now took delight in plunder by a sort of infection, madeexcursions into the lands of their enemies so far as their leaderswould permit it. Some Locrians who had gone out of the town, weresurrounded by them and carried off to Rhegium. Among the number ofthe prisoners were certain artisans, who, as it happened, had beenaccustomed to work for the Carthaginians in the city of Locri forhire. They were recognised by some of the Locrian nobles, who havingbeen driven out by the opposite faction, which had delivered up Locrito Hannibal, had retired to Rhegium; and having answered their otherquestions relative to what was going on at home, questions which areusually put by such as have been long absent, they gave them hopesthat, if ransomed and sent back, they might be able to deliver up thecitadel to them; for there they resided, and among the Carthaginiansthey enjoyed unlimited confidence. Accordingly, as these nobles wereat once tormented with a longing for their country, and inflamed witha desire to be revenged on their enemies, they immediately ransomedthe prisoners and sent them back, after having settled the plan ofoperation, and agreed upon the signals which were to be given at adistance and observed by them. They then went themselves to Scipio toSyracuse, with whom some of the exiles were; and having, by relatingto him the promises made by the prisoners, inspired the consul withhopes which seemed likely to be realized, Marcus Sergius and PubliusMatienus, military tribunes, were sent with them, and ordered tolead three thousand soldiers from Rhegium to Locri. A letter was alsowritten to Quintus Pleminius, the propraetor, with directions that heshould assist in the business. The troops, setting out from Rhegiumand carrying with them ladders to suit the alleged height of thecitadel, about midnight gave a signal to those who were to betray itfrom the place agreed upon. The latter were ready and on the watch, and having themselves also lowered down ladders made for the purpose, and received the Romans as they climbed up in several places at once, an attack was made upon the Carthaginian sentinels, who were fastasleep, as they were not afraid of any thing of the kind before anynoise was made. Their dying groans were the first sound that washeard; then, awaking from their sleep, a sudden consternation andconfusion followed, the cause of the alarm being unknown. At length, one rousing another, the fact became more certain, and now every oneshouted "To arms" with all his might; "that the enemy were in thecitadel and the sentinels slain;" and the Romans, who were farinferior in numbers, would have been overpowered, had not a shoutraised by those who were outside of the citadel rendered it uncertainwhence the noise proceeded, while the terror of an alarm by nightmagnified all fears, however groundless. The Carthaginians, therefore, terrified and supposing that the citadel was already filled withthe enemy, gave up all thoughts of opposition and fled to the othercitadel; for there were two at no great distance from each other. Thetownsmen held the city, which lay between the two fortresses, as theprize of the victors. Slight engagements took place daily from thetwo citadels. Quintus Pleminius commanded the Roman, Hamilcar theCarthaginian garrison. They augmented their forces by calling in aidsfrom the neighbouring places. At last Hannibal himself came; nor wouldthe Romans have held out, had not the general body of the Locrians, exasperated by the pride and rapacity of the Carthaginians, leanedtowards the Romans. 

7. When Scipio received intelligence that the posture of affairsat Locri had become more critical, and that Hannibal himself wasapproaching, lest even the garrison might be exposed to danger; forit was not an easy matter for it to retire thence; as soon as thedirection of the tide in the strait had changed, he let the shipsdrive with the tide from Messana, having left his brother, LuciusScipio, in command there. Hannibal also sent a messenger in advancefrom the river Butrotus, which is not far from the town of Locri, todesire his party to attack the Romans and Locrians at break of day inthe most vigorous manner, while he on the opposite side assaulted thetown, which would be unprepared for such a measure, as every onewould have his attention occupied with the tumult created in the otherquarter. But when, as soon as it was light, he found that the battlehad commenced, he was unwilling to shut himself up in the citadel, where, by his numbers, he would crowd that confined place; nor hadhe brought with him scaling-ladders to enable him to mount the walls. Having, however, had the baggage thrown together in a heap, anddisplayed his line at a distance from the walls to intimidate theenemy, while the scaling-ladders and other requisites for an assaultwere preparing, he rode round the city with some Numidian horsemen, inorder to observe in what quarter the attack might be best made. Havingadvanced towards the rampart, the person who happened to stand nexthim was struck by a weapon from a scorpion; and, terrified at anaccident in which he had been exposed to so much danger, he retired, gave directions for sounding a retreat, and fortified a camp outof the reach of weapons. The Roman fleet from Messana came to Locriseveral hours before night. The troops were all landed and had enteredthe city before sun-set. The following day the fight began from thecitadel on the part of the Carthaginians, and Hannibal, having nowprepared ladders and all the other requisites for an assault, wascoming up to the walls; when, throwing open the gate, the Romanssuddenly sallied out upon him, Hannibal fearing nothing less than sucha step. They slew as many as two hundred in the attack, having takenthem by surprise. The rest Hannibal withdrew into the camp when hefound the consul was there; and having despatched a messenger to thosewho were in the citadel, to desire them to take measures for theirown safety, he decamped by night. Those who were in the citadel also, after throwing fire upon the buildings they occupied, in order thatthe alarm thus occasioned might detain their enemy, went away witha speed which resembled flight, and overtook the body of their armybefore night. 

8. Scipio, seeing that the citadel was abandoned by the enemy, andtheir camp deserted, called the Locrians to an assembly and rebukedthem severely for their defection. He inflicted punishment on thepersons principally concerned, and gave their effects to the leadersof the other party, in consideration of their extraordinary fidelityto the Romans. As to the Locrians in general, he said that he wouldneither grant them any thing, nor take any thing from them. They mightsend ambassadors to Rome, and they should experience that treatmentwhich the senate thought proper to adopt. Of one thing, however, hesaid he was confident, which was, that although they had deserved illat the hands of the Romans, they would be better off when subject tothem, though incensed against them, than they had been when in thepower of their friends the Carthaginians. Leaving Quintus Pleminiuslieutenant-general, and the garrison which had taken the citadel todefend the city, the general himself crossed over to Messana with theforces he had brought with him. The Locrians had been treated withsuch insolence and cruelty by the Carthaginians since their revoltfrom the Romans, that they were able to endure severities of anordinary kind not only with patience but almost willingness. Butindeed, so greatly did Pleminius surpass Hamilcar, who had commandedthe garrison, so greatly did the Roman soldiers in the garrisonsurpass the Carthaginians in villany and rapacity, that it wouldappear that they endeavoured to outdo each other, not in arms, but invices. None of all those things which render the power of a superiorhateful to the powerless was omitted towards the inhabitants, eitherby the general or his soldiers. The most shocking insults werecommitted against their own persons, their children, and their wives, For their rapacity did not abstain from the spoliation even ofsacred things; and not only were other temples violated, but eventhe treasures of Proserpine, which had never been touched throughall ages, excepting that they were said to have been carried away byPyrrhus, who restored the spoils, together with a costly offering inexpiation of his sacrilege. Therefore, as on the former occasion, the royal ships, wrecked and shattered, brought nothing safe to land, except the sacred money of the goddess, which they were carrying away;so now also, that same money, by a different kind of calamity, cast aspirit of madness upon all who were contaminated by this violationof the temple, and turned them against each other with the fury ofenemies, general against general, and soldier against soldier. 

9. Pleminius had the chief command; that part of the soldiers which hehad brought with him from Rhegium were under his own command, the restwere under the command of the tribunes. One of Pleminius's men, whilerunning away with a silver cup which he had stolen from the house ofa townsman, the owners pursuing him, happened to meet Sergius andMatienus, the military tribunes. The cup having been taken away fromhim at the order of the tribunes, abuse and clamour ensued, and atlast a fight arose between the soldiers of Pleminius and those of thetribunes; the numbers engaged and the tumult increasing at the sametime, as either party was joined by their friends who happened to comeup at the time. When the soldiers of Pleminius, who had been worsted, had run to him in crowds, not without loud clamouring and indignantfeelings, showing their blood and wounds, and repeating the reproacheswhich had been heaped upon him during the dispute, Pleminius, firedwith resentment, flung himself out of his house, ordered the tribunesto be summoned and stripped, and the rods to be brought out. During the time which was consumed in stripping them, for they maderesistance, and implored their men to aid them, on a sudden thesoldiers, flushed with their recent victory, ran together from everyquarter, as if there had been a shout to arms against enemies; andwhen they saw the bodies of their tribunes now mangled with rods, thenindeed, suddenly inflamed with much, more ungovernable rage, withoutrespect, not only for the dignity of their commander, but of humanity, they made an attack upon the lieutenant-general, having firstmutilated the lictors in a shocking manner; they then cruellylacerated the lieutenant-general himself, having cut him off from hisparty and hemmed him in, and after mutilating his nose and earsleft him almost lifeless. Accounts of these occurrences arriving atMessana, Scipio, a few days after, passing over to Locri in a shipwith six banks of oars, took cognizance of the cause of Pleminius andthe tribunes. Having acquitted Pleminius and left him in command ofthe same place, and pronounced the tribunes guilty and thrown theminto chains, that they might be sent to Rome to the senate, hereturned to Messana, and thence to Syracuse. Pleminius, unableto restrain his resentment, for he thought that the injury he hadsustained had been treated negligently and too lightly by Scipio, andthat no one could form an estimate of the punishment which ought tobe inflicted in such a case, except the man who had in his own personfelt its atrocity, ordered the tribunes to be dragged before him, andafter lacerating them with every punishment which the human bodycould endure, put them to death; and not satisfied with the punishmentinflicted on them while alive, cast them out unburied. The likecruelty he exercised towards the Locrian nobles, whom he heard hadgone to Scipio to complain of the injuries he had done them. Thehorrid acts, prompted by lust and rapacity, which he had beforeperpetrated upon his allies, he now multiplied from resentment; thusbringing infamy and odium, not only upon himself, but upon the generalalso. 

10. The time of the elections was now drawing near, when a letter fromthe consul Publius Licinius arrived at Rome, stating that "he himselfand his army were afflicted with a severe sickness, nor could theyhave stood their ground had not the malady attacked the enemy with thesame or even greater violence. Therefore, as he could not comehimself to the election, he would, with the approbation of the senate, nominate Quintus Caecilius Metellus dictator, for the purpose ofholding the election. That it was for the interest of the state thatthe army of Quintus Caecilius should be disbanded; for that it couldnot be made any use of under present circumstances, for Hannibal hadnow withdrawn his troops into winter quarters; and so violent wasthe malady which had infected that camp, that unless it was speedilybroken up, there would not survive one man out of the whole army. "The senate left it to the consul to settle these matters, as he shoulddeem consistent with the interest of the state and his own honour. The state was at this time suddenly occupied with a question of areligious nature, in consequence of the discovery of a predictionin the Sibylline books, which had been inspected on account ofthere having been so many showers of stones this year. It ran thus:"Whensoever a foreign enemy should bring war into the land of Italy, he may be driven out of Italy and conquered, if the Idaean Mothershould be brought from Pessinus to Rome. " This prophecy, discoveredby the decemviri, produced the greater impression upon the senate, because ambassadors also, who had carried a present to Delphi, hadbrought word back, that they had both obtained a favourable appearancein sacrificing to the Pythian Apollo, and that a response wasdelivered from the oracle, to the effect, that a much greater victorythan that from the spoils of which they now brought presents, awaitedthe Roman people. They considered the presentiment which existed inthe mind of Publius Scipio, with regard to the termination of thewar, when he claimed Africa as his province, as corroborating the sameanticipation. In order, therefore, that they might the more speedilyput themselves in possession of victory, which was portended to themby the fates, omens, and oracles, they began to think what methodcould be adopted for conveying the goddess to Rome. 

11. As yet the Roman people had none of the states of Asia in alliancewith them. Recollecting, however, that formerly Aesculapius, onaccount of a sickness among the people, was fetched from Greece, whichwas not then united with them by any treaty; recollecting, also, thata friendship had already commenced between them and king Attalus, onaccount of the war which they waged in common against Philip, andthat he would do whatever he could to oblige the Roman people, theyresolved to send, as ambassadors to him, Marcus Valerius Laevinus, whohad been twice consul, and had carried on operations in Greece; MarcusCaecilius Metellus, who had been praetor; Servius Sulpicius Galba, who had been aedile; and two who had been quaestors, Caius TremelliusFlaccus and Marcus Valerius Falto. To these five quinqueremes wereassigned, in order that, in a manner suitable to the dignity of theRoman people, they might visit those lands where it was importantto gain respect for the Roman name. The ambassadors, on their wayto Asia, having landed at Delphi, immediately approached the oracle, inquiring what hopes the deity held out to themselves and the Romanpeople, of accomplishing the business for which they had been sentfrom home. It is said that the answer given was, "that they wouldobtain what they were seeking by means of king Attalus. When they hadconveyed the goddess to Rome, they must take care that the best man atRome should receive her to his hospitality. " They came to Pergamus tothe king, who received the ambassadors graciously, and conducted themto Pessinus in Phrygia, and putting into their hands a sacred stone, which the inhabitants said was the mother of the gods, bid them conveyit to Rome. Marcus Valerius Falto, who was sent in advance, broughtword that the goddess was on her way, and that the most virtuous manin the state must be sought out, who might in due form receive andentertain her. Quintus Caecilius Metellus was nominated dictator forholding the elections, by the consul in Bruttium, and his army wasdisbanded. Lucius Veturius Philo was made master of the horse. Theelections were held by the dictator; the consuls elected were MarcusCornelius Cethegus and Publius Sempronius Tuditanus, who was absent, being engaged in his province of Greece. The praetors were thenelected: Titus Claudius Nero, Marcus Marcius Ralla, Lucius ScriboniusLibo, Marcus Pomponius Matho. On the conclusion of the elections, thedictator abdicated his office. The Roman games were repeated thrice, the plebeian seven times. The curule aediles were Cneius and LuciusCornelius Lentulus: Lucius had the province of Spain; he was electedin his absence, and was absent while he filled the office. Theplebeian aediles were Titus Claudius Asellus and Marcus Junius Pennus. Marcus Marcellus this year dedicated the temple of Virtue at the PortaCapena, in the seventeenth year after it had been vowed by his fatherduring his first consulate at Clastidium in Gaul: also Marcus AemiliusRegillus, flamen of Mars, died this year. 

12. For the last two years the affairs of Greece had been neglected. Accordingly, as the Aetolians were deserted by the Romans, on whomalone they depended for assistance, Philip compelled them to sue forand agree to a peace on whatever conditions he pleased. Had he notexerted himself to the utmost in expediting this measure, he wouldhave been overpowered, while engaged in war with the Aetolians, by Publius Sempronius, the proconsul, who had been sent to succeedSulpicius in the command, with ten thousand infantry and a thousandhorse, together with thirty-five ships of war, a force of no smallimportance to bring to the assistance of allies. Ere the peace waswell concluded, news was brought to the king that the Romans hadarrived at Dyrrachium; that the Parthinians, and other borderingnations, were up in arms on seeing hopes of effecting a change; andthat Dimallum was besieged. The Romans had turned their efforts tothat quarter instead of assisting the Aetolians, for which purposethey had been sent, from resentment at the conduct of the Aetoliansfor making peace with the king without their sanction, contrary to theleague. When Philip had received intelligence of these events, lestany greater commotion should arise in the neighbouring nations andstates, he proceeded by forced marches to Apollonia, to which placeSempronius had retired, having sent Laetorius, his lieutenant-general, with a part of his forces and fifteen ships into Aetolia, to look intothe state of affairs, and, if he could, dissolve the peace. Philiplaid waste the lands of the Apollonians, and, advancing his troops tothe tower, offered the Romans battle. But seeing that they remainedquiet, only defending the walls, and not having sufficient confidencein his strength to assault the town, being desirous also of makingpeace with the Romans if possible, as he had with the Aetolians, orat least a truce, he withdrew into his own dominions, without furtherexciting their animosity by a fresh contest. During the same timethe Epirots, wearied by the long continuance of the war, having firstsounded the disposition of the Romans, sent ambassadors to Philip onthe subject of a common peace; affirming that they were well satisfiedthat it might be arranged if he would come to a conference withPublius Sempronius, the Roman general. They easily prevailed on him topass into Epirus, for neither were the king's own inclinations aversefrom this measure. Phoenice is a city of Epirus; here Philip firstconferred with Aeropus Dardas and Philip, praetors of the Epirots, andafterwards met Publius Sempronius. Amynander, king of the Athamanians, and other magistrates of the Epirots and Acarnanians, were present atthe conference. The praetor Philip spoke first, and requested at onceof the king and the Roman general, that they would put an end to thewar, and grant this boon to the Epirots. Publius Sempronius proposedas the conditions of the peace, that the Parthinians, and Dimallum, and Bargulum, and Eugenium, should be under the dominion of theRomans; that Atintania, if on sending ambassadors to Rome they couldprevail upon the senate to acquiesce, should be added to the dominionsof the Macedonian. The peace having been agreed upon on theseterms, Prusias king of Bithynia, the Achaeans, the Boeotians, theThessalians, the Acarnanians, and the Epirots, were included inthe treaty by the king; by the Romans, the Ilians, king Attalus, Pleuratus, Nabis tyrant of the Lacedaemonians, the Eleans, theMessenians, and Athenians. These conditions were committed to writingand sealed; and a truce was agreed upon for two months, to allow timefor ambassadors being sent to Rome, that the people might order thepeace upon these terms. All the tribes agreed in ordering it, becausenow that the operations of the war were removed into Africa, they weredesirous to be relieved for the present from all other wars. The peacebeing concluded, Publius Sempronius took his departure for Rome, toattend to the duties of his consulship. 

13. To Publius Sempronius and Marcus Cornelius, the consuls in thefifteenth year of the Punic war, the provinces assigned were, toCornelius, Etruria, with the old army; to Sempronius, Bruttium, withdirections to levy fresh legions. Of the praetors, to Marcus Marciusfell the city jurisdiction; to Lucius Scribonius Libo, the foreign, together with Gaul; to Marcus Pomponius Matho, Sicily; to TitusClaudius Nero, Sardinia. Publius Scipio was continued in commandwith the army and fleet which he had under him, as was also PubliusLicinius, with directions to occupy Bruttium with two legions, so longas the consul should deem it for the advantage of the state thathe should continue in the province with command. Marcus Livius andSpurius Lucretius were also continued in command, with the two legionswith which they had protected Gaul against Mago; also Cneius Octavius, with orders that, after he had delivered up Sardinia and the legionto Titus Claudius, he should, with forty ships of war, protect thesea-coast within such limits as the senate should appoint. To MarcusPomponius, the praetor in Sicily, the troops which had fought atCannae, consisting of two legions, were assigned. It was decreed, thatTitus Quinctius and Caius Tubulus, propraetors, should occupy, theformer Tarentum, the latter Capua, as in the former year, each havinghis old army. With respect to the command in Spain, it was submittedto the people to decide on the two proconsuls to be sent into thatprovince. All the tribes agreed in ordering that the same persons, namely, Lucius Cornelius Lentulus and Lucius Manlius Acidinus, should, as proconsuls, hold the command of those provinces as they had theformer year. The consuls set about making the levies, both to raisenew legions for Bruttium, and recruit the other armies; for so werethey directed by the senate. 

14. Although Africa had not as yet been openly declared a province, the senate keeping it a secret, I suppose, lest the Carthaginiansshould get intelligence of it beforehand, nevertheless, the mostsanguine hopes were entertained in the city, that the enemy would bevanquished that year in Africa, and that the termination of the Punicwar was at hand. This circumstance had filled the minds of the peoplewith superstitious notions, and they were strongly disposed to creditand propagate accounts of prodigies, and for that reason more werereported. It was said, "that two suns had been seen; that it hadbecome light for a time during the night; that at Setia a meteor hadbeen seen, extending from the east to the west; that at Tarracina agate, at Anagnia a gate and the wall in many places, had been struckby lightning; that in the temple of Juno Sospita, at Lanuvium, a noisehad been heard, accompanied with a tremendous crash. " There was asupplication for one day for the purpose of expiating these, andthe nine days' sacred rite was celebrated on account of a shower ofstones. In addition to these cares, they had to deliberate about thereception of the Idaean Mother; for besides that Marcus Valerius, oneof the ambassadors who had come before the rest, had brought word thatshe would be in Italy forthwith a recent account had arrived that shewas at Tarracina. The senate was occupied with the determination of amatter of no small importance, namely, who was the most virtuous manin the state. Every one doubtless would wish for himself the victoryin this contest, rather than any office of command, or any honours, which could be conferred by the suffrages either of the senate or thepeople. Publius Scipio, son of Cneius who had fallen in Spain, a youthnot yet of the age to be quaestor, they adjudged to be the best of thegood men in the whole state. Though I would willingly record it forthe information of posterity, had the writers who lived in the timesnearest to those events mentioned by what virtues of his they wereinduced to come to this determination, yet I will not obtrude my ownopinion, formed upon conjecture, relative to a matter buried in theobscurity of antiquity. Publius Cornelius was ordered to go to Ostia, attended by all the matrons, to meet the goddess; to receive her fromthe ship himself, and, when landed, place her in the hands of thematrons to convey her away. After the ship arrived at the mouth of theTiber, Scipio, according to the directions given him, sailed out intothe open sea, and, receiving the goddess from the priests, conveyedher to land. The chief matrons in the state received her, among whomthe name of Claudia Quinta alone is worthy of remark. Her fame, which, as it is recorded, was before that time dubious, became, in consequence of her having assisted in so solemn a business, illustrious for chastity among posterity. The matrons, passing herfrom one to another in orderly succession, conveyed the goddess intothe temple of Victory, in the Palatium, on the day before the ides ofApril, which was made a festival, while the whole city poured out tomeet her; and, placing censers before their doors, on the way by whichshe was conveyed in procession, kindled frankincense, and prayedthat she would enter the city of Rome willingly and propitiously. Thepeople in crowds carried presents to the goddess in the Palatium; alectisternium was celebrated, with games called the Megalesian. 

15. When the business of recruiting the legions in the provinces wasunder consideration, it was suggested by certain senators that now wasthe time, when, by the favour of the gods, their fears were removed, to put a stop to certain things, however they might have beentolerated in perilous circumstances. The senators, being intent inexpectation, subjoined, that the twelve Latin colonies which hadrefused to furnish soldiers to the consuls, Quintus Fabius andQuintus Fulvius, were enjoying, for now the sixth year, exemptionfrom military service, as though it had been granted to them a markof honour and favour; while in the mean time their good and dutifulallies, in return for their fidelity and obedience to the Romanpeople, had been exhausted by continual levies every year. By thesewords the recollection of the senate was renewed touching a matterwhich was now almost obliterated, and their indignation equallyexcited. Accordingly, without allowing the consuls to lay any otherbusiness before the senate in priority, they decreed, "that theconsuls should summon to Rome the magistrates, and ten principalinhabitants, from each of the colonies, Xepete, Sutrium, Ardea, Cales, Alba, Carseoli, Sora, Suessa, Setia, Circeii, Narnia, and Interamna;for these were the colonies implicated in this affair; and commandthem that each of those colonies should furnish double the greatestnumber of foot soldiers which they had ever provided for the Romanpeople since the enemy had been in Italy, and one hundred and twentyhorsemen each. If any of them was unable to make up that number ofhorsemen, that it should be allowed to furnish three foot soldiers forevery horseman deficient. That both the foot and horse soldiers shouldbe chosen from the wealthiest of the inhabitants, and should be sentout of Italy wheresoever there was want of recruits. If any of themrefused to comply, it was their pleasure that the magistrates andambassadors of such should be detained; and that, if they requestedit, they should not be allowed an audience of the senate till they hadobeyed these orders. Moreover, that an annual tax should be imposedupon them, and collected after the rate of one _as_ for everythousand; and that a census should be taken in those colonies, according to a formula appointed by the Roman censors, which should bethe same which was employed in the case of the Roman people; and thata return should be made at Rome by sworn censors of the colonies, before they retired from their office. " The magistrates and principalmen of these colonies having been summoned to Rome, when the consulsimposed upon them the contribution of men, and the management of thetax, they vied with each other in making excuses, and remonstratingagainst it. They said "it was impossible that so large a number of mencould be raised. That they could scarcely accomplish it, if even thesimple contribution only, according to the established ratio, wererequired of them. They entreated and besought them that they might beallowed to appear before the senate and deprecate their resolution. They had committed no crime for which they deserved to be ruined;but, even if they were to be ruined, neither their own crime northe resentment of the Roman people could make them furnish a greaternumber of soldiers than they had got. " The consuls, persisting, ordered the ambassadors to remain at Rome, and the magistrates togo home to make the levies; observing, that "unless the amount ofsoldiers enjoined were brought to Rome, no one would give them anaudience of the senate. " All hope of appearing before the senate, and deprecating their decision, being then cut off, the levies werecompleted in the twelve colonies without difficulty, as the number oftheir youth had increased during their long exemption from service. 

16. Another affair, likewise, which had been passed over in silencefor an almost equally long period, was laid before the senate byMarcus Valerius Laevinus; who said, "that equity required that themonies which had been contributed by private individuals, when heand Marcus Claudius were consuls, should now at length be repaid. Norought any one to feel surprised that a case, where the public faithwas pledged, should have engaged his attention in an especial manner;for, besides that the matter appertained, in some degree, peculiarlyto the consul of that year in which the money was contributed, he washimself the author of the measure, as the treasury was drained, andthe people unable to pay the taxes. " This suggestion was well receivedby the senate, and, bidding the consuls to propose the question, theydecreed, "that this money should be paid by three instalments; thatthe present consuls should make the first payment immediately, and thethird and fifth consuls, from that time, the two remaining. "

After this, all their other cares gave place to one alone when thesufferings of the Locrians, of which they had been ignorant up to thatday, were made known by the arrival of their ambassadors. Nor was itthe villany of Pleminius so much as the partiality or negligence ofScipio in that affair, which excited the resentment of the people. While the consuls were sitting in the comitium, ten ambassadors of theLocrians, covered with filth, and in mourning, and extending branchesof olive, the badges of suppliants, according to the Grecian custom, prostrated themselves on the ground before the tribunal, with loudlamentations. In answer to the inquiry of the consuls, they said, "that they were Locrians, who had suffered such things at the hands ofPleminius the lieutenant-general, and the Roman soldiers, as theRoman people would not wish even the Carthaginians to experience. Theyrequested that they would allow them to appear before the senate, andcomplain of their sufferings. "

17. An audience having been granted, the eldest of them thus spoke:"I know, conscript fathers, that the importance you will attach tothe complaints we make before you must depend, in a very great degree, upon your accurately knowing the manner in which Locri was betrayed toHannibal, and placed again under your dominion after the expulsion ofhis garrison. Inasmuch as if the guilt of defection does not restupon the public, and it is made apparent that our restoration to yourdominion was effected, not only in concurrence with our wishes, but byour own co-operation and valour, you will be the more indignant thatsuch atrocious and shameful injuries should have been inflicted upongood and faithful allies by your lieutenant-general and soldiers. But I think it proper that the subject of our changing sides, in bothinstances, should be deferred to another time, on two accounts: first, that it may be discussed in the presence of Publius Scipio, whoretook Locri, and who witnessed all our acts, both good and bad; andsecondly, because, whatever we are, we ought not to have sufferedwhat we have. We cannot conceal, conscript fathers, that when we hada Carthaginian garrison in our citadel we were exposed to manysufferings, of a shocking and shameful kind, from Hamilcar, thecaptain of the garrison, and the Numidians and Africans. But whatare they compared with what we endure this day? I request, conscriptfathers, that you will hear without offence what I am reluctant tomention. All mankind are now in a state of anxious suspense, whetherthey are to see you or the Carthaginians lords of the world. If anestimate is to be formed of the Roman and Carthaginian governmentsfrom what we Locrians have suffered from the Carthaginians on the onehand, or on the other, from what we are suffering, at the present timeespecially, from your garrison; there is no one who would not wishthe Carthaginians to be his masters rather than the Romans. And yetobserve what are the feelings which the Locrians have entertainedtowards you. When we were suffering injuries of much less magnitudefrom the Carthaginians, we fled for protection to your general; nowwe are suffering more than hostile indignities from your garrison, wehave carried our complaints to no others than yourselves. Conscriptfathers! either you will consider our forlorn condition or there isno other resource left us for which we can even pray to the immortalgods. Quintus Pleminius, the lieutenant-general, was sent with a bodyof troops to recover Locri from the Carthaginians, and was left therein command of the same as a garrison. In this your lieutenant-generalthere is neither any thing of a man, conscript fathers, but the figureand outward appearance, (for the extremity of our misery prompts me tospeak freely, ) nor of a Roman citizen, but the attire and dress, andthe sound of the Latin language. He is a pest and savage monster, suchas are fabled to have beset the strait by which we are separatedfrom Sicily, for the destruction of mariners. And yet if he had beencontent to be the only person to vent his villany, his lust, andrapacity upon your allies, that one gulf, deep as it was, we wouldhowever have filled up by our patience. But the case is, he hasmade every one of your centurions and soldiers a Pleminius, soindiscriminately has he willed that licentiousness and wickednessshould be practised. All plunder, spoil, beat, wound, and slay; alldefile matrons, virgins, and free-born youths torn from the embracesof their parents. Our city is captured daily, plundered daily. Dayand night, every place indiscriminately rings with the lamentations ofwomen and children, seized and carried away. Any one, acquainted withour sufferings, might be astonished how it is that we are capable ofbearing them, or that the authors of them are not yet satiated withinflicting such enormous cruelties. Neither am I able to go throughwith them, nor is it worth your while to listen to the particulars ofour sufferings. I will embrace them all in a general description. I declare that there is not a house or a man at Locri exempt frominjury. I say that there cannot be found any species of villany, lust, or rapacity which has not been exercised on every one capable of beingthe object of them. It would be difficult to determine in which casethe city was visited with the more horrible calamity, whether when itwas captured by an enemy, or when a sanguinary tyrant crushed itby violence and arms. Every evil, conscript fathers, which capturedcities suffer, we have suffered, and do now as much as ever suffer. All the enormities which the most cruel and savage tyrants are wontto perpetrate upon their oppressed subjects, Pleminius has perpetratedupon ourselves, our children, and our wives. 

18. "There is one circumstance, however, in complaining of whichparticularly we may be allowed to yield to our deeply-rooted sense ofreligion, and indulge a hope that you will listen to it; and, if itshall seem good to you, conscript fathers, free your state fromthe guilt of irreligious conduct. For we have seen with how greatsolemnity you not only worship your own deities, but entertain eventhose of foreign countries. We have a fane dedicated to Proserpine, ofthe sanctity of which temple I imagine some accounts must have reachedyou, during the war with Pyrrhus; who, when sailing by Locri, on hisreturn from Sicily, among other horrid enormities which he committedagainst our state, on account of our fidelity towards you, plunderedalso the treasures of Proserpine, which had never been touched up tothat day; and then, putting the money on board his ships, proceededon his journey himself by land. What, therefore, was the result, conscript fathers? The next day his fleet was shattered by a mosthideous tempest, and all the ships which carried the sacred money werethrown on our shores. That most insolent king, convinced by thisso great disaster that there were gods, ordered all the money to becollected and restored to the treasures of the goddess. However, henever met with any success afterwards; but, after being driven out ofItaly, he died an ignoble and dishonourable death, having incautiouslyentered Argos by night. Though your lieutenant-general and militarytribune had heard of these, and a thousand other circumstances, whichwere related not for the purpose of creating increased reverence, butfrequently experienced by ourselves and our ancestors, through thespecial interposition of the goddess, they had, nevertheless, the audacity to apply their sacrilegious hands to those hallowedtreasures, and pollute themselves, their own families, and yoursoldiers, with the impious booty. Through whom we implore you, conscript fathers, by your honour, not to perform any thing in Italyor in Africa, until you have expiated their guilty deed, lest theyshould atone for the crime they have committed, not with their ownblood only, but by some disaster affecting their country. Although, even now, conscript fathers, the resentment of the goddess does nottarry either towards your generals or your soldiers. Already have theyseveral times engaged each other in pitched battles, one party headedby Pleminius, and the other by the two military tribunes. Never didthey employ their weapons with more fury against the Carthaginiansthan when encountering each other; and they would have affordedHannibal an opportunity of retaking Locri, had not Scipio, whom wecalled in, come in time to prevent it. But, by Hercules, is it thatthe soldiers are impelled by frenzy, and that the influence of thegoddess has not shown itself in punishing the generals themselves?Nay, herein her interposition was manifested in the most conspicuousmanner. The tribunes were beaten with rods by the lieutenant-general. Then the lieutenant-general, treacherously seized by the tribunes, besides being mangled in every part of his body, had his nose and earscut off, and was left for dead. Then, recovering from his wounds, hethrew the tribunes into chains; beat them, tortured them with everyspecies of degrading punishment, and put them to death in a cruelmanner, forbidding them to be buried. Such atonements has the goddessexacted from the despoilers of her temple; nor will she cease topursue them, with every species of vengeance, till the sacred moneyshall have been replaced in the treasury. Formerly, our ancestors, during a grievous war with the Crotonians, because the temple waswithout the town, were desirous of removing the money into it; but avoice was heard from the shrine, during the night, commanding them tohold off their hands, for the goddess would defend her own temple. As they were deterred, by religious awe, from removing the treasuresthence, they were desirous of surrounding the temple with a wall. Thewalls were raised to a considerable height, when they suddenly felldown in ruins. But, both now, and frequently on other occasions, thegoddess has either defended her own habitation and temple, or hasexacted heavy expiations from those who had violated it. Our injuriesshe cannot avenge, nor can any but yourselves avenge them, conscriptfathers. To you, and to your honour, we fly, as suppliants. It makesno difference to us whether you suffer Locri to be subject to thatlieutenant-general and that garrison, or whether you deliver us upfor punishment to incensed Hannibal and the Carthaginians. We donot request that you should at once believe us respecting one who isabsent, and when the cause has not been heard. Let him come; let himhear our charges in person, and refute them himself. If there is anyenormity one man can commit against another which he has not committedupon us we do not refuse to suffer all the same cruelties over again, if it is possible we can endure them, and let him be acquitted of allguilt towards gods and men. "

19. When the ambassadors had thus spoken, and Quintus Fabius had askedthem whether they had carried those complaints to Publius Scipio, theyanswered, "that deputies were sent to him, but he was occupied withthe preparations for the war, and had either already crossed overinto Africa, or was about to do so within a few days. That they hadexperienced how highly the lieutenant-general was in favour with thegeneral, when, after hearing the cause between him and thetribunes, he threw the tribunes into chains, while he left thelieutenant-general, who was equally or more guilty, in possession ofthe same power as before. " The ambassadors, having been directed towithdraw from the senate-house, not only Pleminius, but even Scipio, was severely inveighed against by the principal men; but, above all, by Quintus Fabius, who endeavoured to show, "that he was born for thecorruption of military discipline. It was thus, " he said, "that inSpain he almost lost more men in consequence of mutiny than thewar. That, after the manner of foreigners and kings, he indulged thelicentiousness of the soldiers, and then punished them with cruelty. "He then followed up his speech by a resolution equally harsh: that "itwas his opinion, that Pleminius should be conveyed to Rome in chains, and in chains plead his cause; and, if the complaints of the Locrianswere founded in truth, that he should be put to death in prison, andhis effects confiscated. That Publius Scipio should be recalled, forhaving quitted his province without the permission of the senate; andthat the plebeian tribunes should be applied to, to propose to thepeople the abrogation of his command. That the senate should reply tothe Locrians, when brought before them, that the injuries which theycomplained of having received were neither approved of by the senatenor the people of Rome. That they should be acknowledged as worthymen, allies, and friends; that their children, their wives, andwhatsoever else had been taken from them, should be restored; thatthe sum of money which had been taken from the treasures of Proserpineshould be collected, and twice the amount placed in the treasury. Thatan expiatory sacred rite should be celebrated, first referring it tothe college of pontiffs, to determine what atonements should be made, to what gods, and with what victims, in consequence of the sacredtreasures' having been removed and violated. That the soldiers atLocri should be all transported into Sicily, and four cohorts of theallies of the Latin confederacy taken to Locri for a garrison. " Thevotes could not be entirely collected that day in consequence of thewarm feeling excited for and against Scipio. Besides the atrociousconduct of Pleminius, and the calamities of the Locrians, much wassaid about the dress of the general himself, as being not only notRoman, but even unsoldierlike. It was said, that "he walked about inthe gymnasium in a cloak and slippers, and that he gave his time tolight books and the palaestra. That his whole staff were enjoyingthe delights which Syracuse afforded, with the same indolence andeffeminacy. That Carthage and Hannibal had dropped out of his memory;that the whole army, corrupted by indulgence, like that at Sucro inSpain, or that now at Locri, was more to be feared by its allies thanby its enemies. "

20. Though these charges, partly true, and partly containing a mixtureof truth and falsehood, and therefore, probably, were urged withvehemence; the opinion, however, of Quintus Metellus prevailed, who, agreeing with Maximus on other points, differed from him in the caseof Scipio. "For how inconsistent would it be, " said he, "that theperson whom the state a little while ago selected as their general, though a very young man, for the recovery of Spain; whom, after hehad taken Spain out of the hands of their enemies, they elected theirconsul, for the purpose of putting an end to the Punic war; whom theymarked out with the most confident anticipation as the person whowould draw Hannibal out of Italy, and subdue Africa; how inconsistentwould it be, that this man, like another Pleminius, condemned ina manner without a hearing, should suddenly be recalled from hisprovince! when the Locrians asserted that the wicked acts which hadbeen committed against them were done not even in the presence ofScipio, and no other charge could be brought against him, than that hespared the lieutenant-general, either from good nature or respect. Hethought it advisable, that Marcus Pomponius the praetor, to whose lotthe province of Sicily had fallen, should go to his province withinthe next three days; that the consuls should select out of the senateten deputies, whomsoever they thought proper, and send them with thepraetor, together with two tribunes of the people, and an aedile. Thatthe praetor, assisted by this council, should take cognizance of theaffair. If those acts of which the Locrians complained were committedat the command or with the concurrence of Scipio, that they shouldcommand him to quit the province. If Publius Scipio had alreadycrossed over into Africa, that the tribunes of the people and theaedile, with two of the deputies, whom the praetor should judge mostfit for it, should proceed into Africa; the tribunes and the aedile tobring Scipio back from thence, and the deputies to take the command ofthe army until a new general had come to it. But if Marcus Pomponiusand the ten deputies should discover that those acts had beencommitted neither with the orders nor concurrence of Publius Scipio, that Scipio should then remain with the army and carry on the war ashe had proposed. " A decree of the senate having passed to this effect, application was made to the tribunes of the people to arrange amongthemselves, or determine by lot, which two should go with the praetorand the deputies. The advice of the college of pontiffs was taken onthe subject of the expiations to be made, on account of the treasuresin the temple of Proserpine, at Locri, having been touched, violated, and carried out of it. The tribunes of the people, who went with thepraetor and ten deputies, were Marcus Claudius Marcellus and MarcusCincius Alimentus. To these a plebeian aedile was given, whom, ifScipio, whether he was still in Sicily or had now crossed over intoAfrica, should refuse to obey the orders of the praetor, the tribunesmight direct to apprehend him, and bring him home in right of theirmost sacred authority. The plan was, to go to Locri before they wentto Messana. 

21. With regard to Pleminius, there are two different accounts. Somerelate that, having heard what measures had been adopted at Rome, as he was going into exile to Naples, he accidentally fell in withQuintus Metellus, one of the deputies, by whom he was forciblyconveyed back to Rhegium. Others say, that Scipio himself sent alieutenant-general with thirty of the most distinguished of thecavalry to throw Quintus Pleminius into chains, and with him theprincipal movers of the mutiny. All these, whether by the ordersof Scipio before, or of the praetor now, were delivered over to theRhegians to be kept in custody. The praetor and the deputies going toLocri, gave their attention first to the affair relating to religion, agreeably to their instructions; for, collecting all the sacred money, whether in the possession of Pleminius or the soldiers, they replacedit in the treasury, together with that which they had brought withthem, and performed an expiatory sacred rite. The praetor then, summoning the soldiers to an assembly, ordered them to march out ofthe city, and pitched a camp in the plain, issuing an edict whichthreatened severe punishment to any soldier who either had remainedbehind in the city, or had carried out with him what did not belong tohim. He gave permission to the Locrians to seize whatever each of themidentified as his property, and demand restitution to be made of anything which was concealed. Above all, he was resolved that the freepersons should be restored to the Locrians without delay. That the manwho did not restore them should be visited with no light punishment. He then held an assembly of the Locrians, and told them, that "thepeople and senate of Rome restored to them their liberty and theirlaws. That if any one was desirous of bringing charges againstPleminius, or any one else, he should follow them to Rhegium. If theywere desirous of complaining, in the name of their state, of PubliusScipio, as having ordered and approved of the nefarious acts which hadbeen committed at Locri against gods and men, that they should senddeputies to Messana, where, with the assistance of his council, hewould hear them. " The Locrians returned thanks to the praetor anddeputies, and to the senate and people of Rome, and said that theywould go and bring their charge against Pleminius. That Scipio, thoughhe had evinced too little sympathy in the injuries inflicted on theirstate, was such a man as they would rather have their friend thantheir enemy; that they were convinced that the many and horrid actswhich had been committed were done neither by the orders nor withthe approval of Publius Scipio; that he had either placed too muchconfidence in Pleminius, or too little in them; that the naturaldisposition of some men was such, that they rather were unwilling thatcrimes should be committed, than had sufficient resolution to punishthem when committed. Both the praetor and his council were relievedfrom a burden of no ordinary weight in not having to take cognizanceof charges against Scipio. Pleminius, and as many as thirty-twopersons with him, they condemned and sent in chains to Rome. Theythen proceeded to Scipio, that they might carry to Rome a statementattested by their own observation relative to the facts which had beenso generally talked of, concerning the dress and indolent habits ofthe general, and the relaxation of military discipline. 

22. While they were on their way to Syracuse, Scipio prepared to clearhimself, not by words but facts. He ordered all his troops to assemblethere, and the fleet to be got in readiness, as though a battle hadbeen to be fought that day with the Carthaginians, by sea and land. On the day of their arrival he entertained them hospitably, and on thenext day presented to their view his land and naval forces, not onlydrawn up in order, but the former performing evolutions, while thefleet in the harbour itself also exhibited a mock naval fight. The praetor and the deputies were then conducted round to view thearmouries, the granaries, and other preparations for the war. And sogreat was the admiration excited in them of each particular, and ofthe whole together, that they firmly believed, that under the conductof that general, and with that army, the Carthaginians would bevanquished, or by none other. They bid him, with the blessing ofthe gods, cross over, and, as soon as possible, realize to the Romanpeople the hopes they conceived on that day when all the centuriesconcurred in naming him first consul. Thus they set out on theirreturn in the highest spirits, as though they were about to carry toRome tidings of a victory, and not of a grand preparation for war. Pleminius, and those who were implicated in the same guilt with him, when they arrived at Rome, were thrown immediately into prison. Atfirst, when brought before the people by the tribunes, they found noplace in their compassion, as their minds were previously engrossedby the sufferings of the Locrians; but afterwards, being repeatedlybrought before them, and the hatred with which they were regardedsubsiding, their resentment was softened. Besides, the mutilatedappearance of Pleminius, and their recollections of the absent Scipio, operated in gaining them favour with the people. Pleminius, however, died in prison, before the people had come to a determinationrespecting him. Clodius Licinius, in the third book of his Romanhistory, relates, that this Pleminius, during the celebration of thevotive games, which Africanus, in his second consulate, exhibitedat Rome, made an attempt, by means of certain persons whom he hadcorrupted by bribes, to set fire to the city in several places, thathe might have an opportunity of breaking out of prison, and making hisescape; and that afterwards, the wicked plot having been discovered, he was consigned to the Tullian dungeon, according to a decree of thesenate. The case of Scipio was considered no where but in thesenate; where all the deputies and tribunes, bestowing the highestcommendations on the fleet, the army, and the general, induced thesenate to vote that he should cross over into Africa as soon aspossible; and that permission should be given him to select himself, out of those armies which were in Sicily, those forces which he wouldcarry with him into Africa, and those which he would leave for theprotection of the province. 

23. While the Romans were thus employed, the Carthaginians, on theirpart, though they had passed an anxious winter, earnestly inquiringwhat was going on, and terrified at the arrival of every messenger, with watch-towers placed on every promontory, had gained a point of nosmall importance for the defence of Africa, in adding to their alliesking Syphax, in reliance on whom chiefly they believed the Romanswould cross over into Africa. Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, not only formeda connexion of hospitality with the before-named king, when Scipio andHasdrubal happened to come to him at the same time out of Spain, but mention had also been slightly made of an affinity to take placebetween them, by the king's marrying the daughter of Hasdrubal. Hasdrubal, who had gone for the purpose of completing thisbusiness, and fixing a time for the nuptials, for the virgin was nowmarriageable, perceiving that the king was inflamed with desire, forthe Numidians are, beyond all the other barbarians, violently addictedto love, sent for the virgin from Carthage, and hastened the nuptials. Among the other proofs of joy felt upon the occasion, and in orderthat a public connexion might be added to this private one, an oathwas taken in confirmation of an alliance between the Carthaginianpeople and the king, and faith reciprocally pledged that they wouldhave the same friends and enemies. But Hasdrubal, recollecting boththe alliance which had been entered into by the king and Scipio, andhow inconstant and changeable were the minds of the barbarians, wasafraid that, if Scipio were to invade Africa, that marriage wouldprove but a slight bond of union, he therefore took advantage of theNumidian while under the influence of the first transports of love, and calling to his aid the caresses of the bride, prevailed upon himto send ambassadors into Sicily to Scipio, and by them to warn him"not to cross over into Africa in reliance upon his former promises. That he was united to the Carthaginians both by a marriage witha Carthaginian citizen, the daughter of Hasdrubal, whom he sawentertained at his house, and likewise by a public treaty. Thathis first wish was that the Romans would carry on the war with theCarthaginians at a distance from Africa, as they had hitherto done, lest he should be compelled to interfere with their disputes, and joinone of the two contending parties, renouncing his alliance with theother. If Scipio should not keep away from Africa, and should advancehis army to Carthage, it would be incumbent upon him to fight forthe land of Africa, which gave him birth, and for the country of hisspouse, for her parent, and household gods. "

24. The ambassadors, sent to Scipio by the king with theseinstructions, met him at Syracuse. Scipio, though disappointed inan affair which was of the greatest importance with regard to hisoperations in Africa, and in the sanguine expectations he had formedfrom it, sent the ambassadors back into Africa speedily, before theirbusiness was made known, giving them letters for the king, in which hewarned him over and over again "not to violate the laws of hospitalitywhich bound them together; the obligation of the alliance entered intowith the Roman people; nor make light of justice, honour, theirright hands pledged, and the gods the witnesses and arbitrators ofcompacts. " But, as the coming of the Numidians could not be concealed, for they lounged about the city, and had frequently appeared at thepavilion; and as, if nothing were said about the object of theirvisit, there was danger lest the truth, from the very circumstance ofits being made a secret, should spontaneously spread the more; and, inconsequence, the troops become alarmed lest they should have to wagewar at once with the king and the Carthaginians, Scipio endeavoured todivert their attention from the truth by preoccupying their minds withfalse information; and, summoning his soldiers to an assembly, said, "that it was not expedient to delay any longer. That the kings, theirallies, urged them to cross over into Africa with all speed. ThatMasinissa himself had before come to Laelius, complaining thattime was consumed in delays, and that now Syphax sent ambassadors, expressing his astonishment on the same account, namely, what couldbe the cause of such long delay; and requesting either that the armywould now at length be transported into Africa, or, if the plan waschanged, that he might be informed so that he might himself takemeasures for the safety of himself and his dominions. Therefore, asevery thing was now ready and prepared, and as the business admittedof no further delay, he was resolved, after having removed the fleetto Lilybaeum, and collected here all his forces of foot and horse, with the blessing of the gods to pass over into Africa the first daythe ships could sail. " He sent a letter to Marcus Pomponius, directinghim, if he thought proper, to come to Lilybaeum, that they mightconsult together as to what legions, in preference to any others, andhow large a number of soldiers, they should convey into Africa; healso sent round to every part of the sea-coast, with directions thatall the ships of burthen should be seized and collected at Lilybaeum. When all the soldiers and ships in Sicily were assembled at Lilybaeum, and neither the city could contain the multitude of men, nor theharbour the ships, so ardent was the desire possessed by all ofpassing over to Africa, that they did not appear as if going to wagewar, but to reap the certain rewards of victory. Particularly thosewho remained of the soldiers who had fought at Cannae felt convincedthat under Scipio, and no other general, they would be enabled, byexerting themselves in the cause of the state, to put an end to theirignominious service. Scipio was very far from feeling contempt forthat description of soldiers, inasmuch as he knew that the defeatsustained at Cannae was not attributable to their cowardice, and thatthere were no soldiers in the Roman army who had served so long, orwere so experienced not only in the various kinds of battles, but inassaulting towns also. The legions which had fought at Cannae werethe fifth and sixth. After declaring that he would take these with himinto Africa, he inspected them man by man; and leaving those whom heconsidered unfit for service, he substituted for them those whom hehad brought from Sicily, filling up those legions so that each mightcontain six thousand two hundred infantry and three hundred horse. Thehorse and foot of the allies, of the Latin confederacy, he also choseout of the army of Cannae. 

25. There is a wide difference among historians as to the number ofmen transported into Africa. In some I find ten thousand infantry andtwo hundred horse; in others, sixteen thousand infantry and sixteenhundred horse. In others, again, I find it stated that thirty-fivethousand infantry and cavalry were put on board the fleet, making thenumber more than one half greater. Some have not added an account ofthe number; among whom, as the matter is doubtful, I should ratherhave myself ranked. Caelius, though he abstains from specifying thenumber, increases the impression of their multitude indefinitely. Hesays, that birds fell to the ground from the shout of the soldiers, and that so great a multitude went on board the fleet, that it seemedas if there was not a man left in Italy or Sicily. Scipio took uponhimself the care of seeing that the soldiers embarked orderly andwithout confusion. The seamen, who were made to embark first, CaiusLaelius, the admiral of the fleet, kept in order on board the ships. The task of the putting on board the provisions was assigned to MarcusPomponius, the praetor. Food for forty-five days, of which enough forfifteen was cooked, was put on board. When they were all embarked, hesent boats round with directions that the pilots and masters, withtwo soldiers from each ship, should assemble in the forum to receiveorders. After they had assembled, he first asked them whether they hadput on board water for the men and cattle, sufficient to last as manydays as the corn would. When they answered that there was water onboard sufficient for five and forty days' consumption, he then chargedthe soldiers that, conducting themselves submissively, and keepingquiet, they would not make any noise or disturb the mariners in theexecution of their duties. He informed them, that he himself andLucius Scipio in the right wing, with twenty ships of war, and CaiusLaelius, admiral of the fleet, together with Marcus Porcius Cato, whowas then quaestor, with the same number of ships of war in the leftwing, would protect the transports. That the ships of war should carryeach a single light, the transports two each. That in the ship of thecommander-in-chief there would be three lights as a distinction bynight. He desired the pilots to make for Emporia, where the land isremarkably fertile; and on that account the district abounds withplenty of every thing, and the barbarous inhabitants are unwarlike, which is usually the case where the soil is rich. It was supposedthat they might, therefore, be overpowered before assistance could bebrought them from Carthage. After these commands were delivered, theywere ordered to return to their ships, and the next day, with theblessing of the gods, on the signal being given, to set sail. 

26. Many Roman fleets had set sail from Sicily, and from that veryharbour. But not only during this war, nor is that surprising, (formost of the fleets went out for the purpose of getting plunder, ) buteven in any former war, never did a fleet on setting out exhibitso grand a spectacle. And yet, if the estimate is to be formed withreference to the magnitude of the fleet, it must be owned that twoconsuls with their armies had passed from thence before, and therewere almost as many ships of war in those fleets as the transportswith which Scipio was crossing. For, besides fifty men of war, heconveyed his army over in four hundred transports. But what made theRomans consider one war as more formidable than the other, the secondthan the first, was, that it was carried on in Italy, and that so manyarmies had been destroyed, and their commanders slain. The general, Scipio, also, who enjoyed the highest degree of renown, partlyfrom his brave achievements, and partly from a peculiar felicity offortune, which conducted him to the acquisition of boundless glory, attracted extraordinary regard. At the same time, the very project ofpassing over into the enemy's country, which had not been formedby any general before during that war, had made him an object ofadmiration; for he had commonly declared, that he passed over with theobject of drawing Hannibal out of Italy, of removing the seat of warinto Africa, and terminating it there. A crowd of persons of everydescription had assembled in the harbour to view the spectacle; notonly the inhabitants of Lilybaeum, but all the deputies from Sicily, who had come together out of compliment to witness the departureof Scipio, and had followed Marcus Pomponius, the praetor of theprovince. Besides these, the legions which were to be left in Sicilyhad come forth to do honour to their comrades on the occasion; and notonly did the fleet form a grand sight to those who viewed it from theland, but the shore also, crowded as it was all around, afforded thesame to those who were sailing away. 

27. As soon as day appeared, silence having been obtained by a herald, Scipio thus spoke from the ship of the commander-in-chief: "Ye godsand goddesses who preside over the seas and lands, I pray and entreatyou, that whatever things have been, are now, or shall be performedduring my command, may turn out prosperously to myself, the state, andcommons of Rome, to the allies and the Latin confederacy, and toall who follow my party and that of the Roman people, my command andauspices, by land, by sea, and on rivers. That you would lend yourfavourable aid to all those measures, and promote them happily. Thatyou would bring these and me again to our homes, safe and unhurt;victorious over our vanquished enemies, decorated with spoils, loadedwith booty, and triumphant. That you would grant us the opportunity oftaking revenge upon our adversaries and foes, and put it in the powerof myself and the Roman people to make the Carthaginian state feelthose signal severities which they endeavoured to inflict upon ourstate. " After these prayers, he threw the raw entrails of a victiminto the sea, according to custom, and, with the sound of a trumpet, gave the signal for sailing. Setting out with a favourable wind, whichblew pretty strong, they were soon borne away out of sight of theland; and in the afternoon a mist came over them, so that they couldwith difficulty prevent the ships from running foul of each other. Thewind abated when they got into the open sea. The following night thesame haziness prevailed; but when the sun rose it was dispelled, andthe wind blew stronger. They were now within sight of land, and, notlong after, the pilot observed to Scipio, that "Africa was not morethan five miles off; that he could discern the promontory of Mercury, and that if he gave orders to direct their course thither, the wholefleet would presently be in harbour. " Scipio, when the land was insight, after praying that his seeing Africa might be for the goodof the state and himself, gave orders to make for another place oflanding, lower down. They were borne along by the same wind; but amist, arising nearly about the same time as on the preceding day, hidthe land from them; and the wind fell as the mist grew more dense. Afterwards, the night coming on increased the confusion in everyrespect; they therefore cast anchor, lest the ships should eitherrun foul of each other, or be driven on shore. At daybreak the wind, rising in the same quarter, dispelled the mist and discovered thewhole coast of Africa. Scipio asked what was the name of the nearestpromontory, and, on being told that it was called the cape of Pulcher, he observed, "the omen pleases me, direct your course to it. " Tothis place the fleet ran down, and all the troops were landed. I haveadopted the accounts given by a great many Greek and Latin authors, who state that the voyage was prosperous, and unattended with anycause of alarm or confusion. Caelius alone, except that he does notstate that the ships were sunk in the waves, says that they wereexposed to all the terrors of the heavens and the sea, and thatat last the fleet was driven by tempest from Africa to the islandAegimurus, from which, with great difficulty, they got into the rightcourse; and that, the ships almost foundering, the soldiers, withoutorders from their general, got into boats, just as if they hadsuffered shipwreck, and escaped to land without arms, and in theutmost disorder. 

28. The troops being landed, the Romans marked out their camp on thenearest rising grounds. By this time, not only the parts bordering onthe sea were filled with consternation and alarm, first in consequenceof the fleet being seen, and afterwards from the bustle of landing, but they had extended to the cities also. For not only multitudes ofmen, mixed with crowds of women and children, had filled up all theroads in every direction, but the rustics also drove away their cattlebefore them, so that you would say that Africa was being suddenlydeserted. In the cities, indeed, they occasioned much greater terrorthan they felt themselves. At Carthage, particularly, the tumult wasalmost as great as if it had been captured. For since the time ofMarcus Atilius Regulus and Lucius Manlius, which was almost fiftyyears ago, the Carthaginians had seen no Roman armament, with theexception of fleets sent for plundering, from which troops had madedescents upon the lands bordering on the sea, and after carrying awayevery thing which chance threw in their way, had always returned totheir ships before their noise had collected the peasantry. For thisreason the hurry and consternation in the city was, on the presentoccasion, the greater. And, by Hercules, they had neither an efficientarmy at home, nor a general, whom they could oppose to their enemy. Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, was by far the first man in their state inrespect of birth, fame, opulence, and, at that time, also by reasonof an affinity with the king. But they recollected that he had beenrouted in several battles and driven out of Spain by this very Scipio;and that therefore, as a general, he was no more a match for thegeneral of the enemy than their tumultuary army was for that of theRomans. Therefore they shouted to arms, as if Scipio were comingimmediately to attack the city; the gates were hastily closed, armedmen placed upon the walls, guards and outposts stationed in differentplaces, and the following night was spent in watching. The next day, five hundred horsemen, sent to the coast to reconnoitre and interruptthe enemy while landing, fell in with the advanced guards of theRomans; for by this time Scipio, having sent his fleet to Utica, hadproceeded a short distance from the sea, and occupied the nearestheights. He had also placed outposts of cavalry in proper situations, and sent troops through the country to plunder. 

29. These, engaging the body of Carthaginian horse, slew a few of themin the fight, and the greater part of them as they pursued them whenthey were flying; among whom was Hanno, their captain, a young man ofdistinction. Scipio not only devastated the lands in the countryround him, but also took a very wealthy city of the Africans which laynearest to him; where, besides other things which were immediatelyput on board the transports and sent into Sicily, eight thousand freepersons and slaves were captured. But the most gratifying circumstanceto the Romans was, the arrival of Masinissa just at the commencementof their operations. Some say that he came with not more than twohundred horse, but most authors say with a body of two thousandcavalry. But, as this man was by far the greatest king of his age, andrendered most essential service to the Romans, it seems worth while todigress a little, to give a full account of the great vicissitudesof fortune he experienced in the loss and recovery of his father'skingdom. While he was serving in Spain in the cause of theCarthaginians, his father, named Gala, died. The kingdom, according tothe custom of the Numidians, came to Oesalces, the brother of thelate king, who was very aged. Not long after, Oesalces also dying, the elder of his two sons, named Capusa, the other being quite a boy, succeeded to his father's kingdom. But, as he occupied the throne moreby right of descent than from the esteem in which he was held amonghis countrymen, or the power he possessed, there stood forth a personnamed Mezetulus, not unrelated by blood to the kings, of a familywhich had always been hostile to them, and had continually contestedthe right to the throne with those who then occupied it, with varioussuccess. This man, having roused his countrymen to arms, over whom hepossessed a great influence, from the hatred felt towards the kings, openly pitched his camp, and compelled the king to come into the fieldand fight for the throne. Capusa, with many of his nobles, falling inthe action, the whole nation of the Massylians came under the dominionand rule of Mezetulus. He abstained, however, from assuming thetitle of king; and, contenting himself with the modest appellationof protector, gave the name of king to the boy Lacumaces, a survivingbranch of the royal stock. In the hope of an alliance with theCarthaginians, he formed a matrimonial connexion with a nobleCarthaginian lady, daughter of Hannibal's sister, who had been latelymarried to the king Oesalces; and, sending ambassadors for thatpurpose, renewed an old connexion of hospitality with Syphax, takingall these measures with a view to obtain assistance against Masinissa. 

30. Masinissa, hearing of the death of his uncle, and afterwards thathis cousin-german was slain, passed over out of Spain into Mauritania. Bocchar was king of the Moors at that time. Applying to him as asuppliant, he succeeded, by means of the most humble entreaties, inobtaining from him four thousand Moors to escort him on his march, since he could not procure his co-operation in the war. With these, after sending a messenger before him to his own and his father'sfriends, he arrived on the frontiers of the kingdom, when about fivehundred Numidians came to join him. Having, therefore, sent back theMoors to their king, as had been agreed, though the numbers whichjoined him were much less than he had anticipated, not being such asto inspire him with sufficient confidence for so great an attempt, yet, concluding that by action, and by making some effort, he shouldcollect sufficient strength to enable him to effect something, hethrew himself in the way of the young king Lacumaces, at Thapsus, ashe was going to Syphax. The troops which attended him having fled backto the town in consternation, Masinissa took it at the first assault. Of the royal party, some who surrendered themselves he received, others he slew while attempting resistance. The greater part, with theyoung king himself, escaped during the confusion and came to Syphax, to whom they intended to go at first. The fame of this success, inthe commencement of his operations, though of no great magnitude, brought the Numidians over to the cause of Masinissa; and the veteransoldiers of Gala flocked to his standard from all quarters, from thecountry and the towns, inviting the youth to come and recover hispaternal dominions. Mezetulus had somewhat the advantage in the numberof his soldiers, for he had himself both the army with which he hadconquered Capusa, and also some troops who had submitted to him afterthe king was slain; and the young king Lacumaces had brought him verylarge succours from Syphax. Mezetulus had fifteen thousand infantry, and ten thousand cavalry. With these Masinissa engaged in battle, though he had by no means so many horse or foot. The valour, however, of the veteran troops, and the skill of the general, who had beenexercised in the war between the Romans and Carthaginians, prevailed. The young king, with the protector and a small body of Massylians, escaped into the territories of the Carthaginians. Masinissa thusrecovered his paternal dominions; but, as he saw that there stillremained a struggle considerably more arduous with Syphax, he thoughtit advisable to come to a reconciliation with his cousin-german. Having, therefore sent persons to give the young king hopes, that ifhe put himself under the protection of Masinissa, he would be held inthe same honour by him as Oesalces had formerly been by Gala; and topromise Mezetulus, in addition to impunity, a faithful restitutionof all his property; as both of them preferred a moderate shareof fortune at home to exile, he brought them over to his side, notwithstanding the Carthaginians studiously exerted every means toprevent it. 

31. It happened that Hasdrubal was with Syphax at the time thesethings were taking place. He told the Numidian, who considered that itcould make very little difference to him whether the government of theMassylians was in the hands of Lacumaces or Masinissa, that "he wasvery much mistaken if he supposed that Masinissa would be content withthe same power which his father Gala or his uncle Oesalces enjoyed. That he possessed a much greater degree of spirit, and a moreenterprising turn of mind, than had ever existed in any one of thatrace. That he had frequently, when in Spain, exhibited proofs to hisallies, as well as to his enemies, of such valour as was rarelyfound among men. That both Syphax and the Carthaginians, unless theysmothered that rising flame, would soon find themselves enveloped ina vast conflagration, when they could not help themselves. That as yethis strength was feeble, and such as might easily be broken, whilehe was trying to keep together a kingdom, which was not yet firmlycemented. " By continually urging and goading him on, he succeeded ininducing him to lead an army to the frontiers of the Massylians, andto pitch his camp in a country for which he had not only disputedverbally, but had fought battles with Gala, as though it had been hisown by uncontested right. He alleged, that "if any one should attemptto dislodge him, which was what he most wanted, he would have anopportunity of fighting; but, if the ground were given up to himthrough fear, he must march into the heart of the kingdom. That theMassylians would either submit to his authority without a contest, or would be inferior to him in arms. " Syphax, impelled by thesearguments, made war on Masinissa, and, in the first engagement, routedand put him to flight. Masinissa, with a few horsemen, effected hisescape from the field to a mountain called by the natives Balbus. Several families, with their tents and cattle, which form theirwealth, followed the king; the rest of the Massylian people submittedto Syphax. The mountain, which the exiles had seized, had plentyof grass and water; and, as it was well adapted for feeding cattle, afforded an abundant supply of food for men who live upon flesh andmilk. From this place they infested all the surrounding country; atfirst with nightly and clandestine incursions, but afterwards withopen depredations. The lands of the Carthaginians suffered theseverest devastation, because there was not only a greater quantityof booty there than among the Numidians, but their plunder would besafer. And now they did it with so much boldness and defiance, that, carrying their booty down to the sea, they sold it to merchants, whobrought their ships to land for that very purpose; while a greaternumber of Carthaginians were slain and made prisoners, than frequentlyhappens in a regular war. The Carthaginians complained bitterly ofthese occurrences to Syphax, and urged him strongly to follow up thisremnant of the war, though he was himself highly incensed at them. Buthe considered it hardly suitable to the dignity of a king to pursue avagabond robber through the mountains. 

32. Bocchar, one of the king's generals, an enterprising and activeofficer, was chosen for this service. Four thousand infantry andtwo thousand cavalry were assigned him; and having been loaded withpromises of immense rewards if he brought back the head of Masinissa, or if, which would be a source of incalculable joy, he took him alive;he unexpectedly attacked his party while dispersed and carelesslyemployed, and after cutting off an immense quantity of cattle and menfrom the troops which guarded them, drove Masinissa himself witha small body of attendants to the summit of the mountain. On this, considering the business as in a manner settled, he not only sent thebooty of cattle and the prisoners he had made to the king, but alsosent back a part of his forces, as being considerably more than werenecessary to accomplish what remained of the war; and then pursuingMasinissa, who had come down from the top of the mountain with notmore than five hundred foot and two hundred horse, shut him up in anarrow valley, both the entrances of which he blocked up. Here greatslaughter was made of the Massylians. Masinissa, with not more thanfifty horsemen, disengaged himself from the defile by passing throughsteep descents of the mountains, which were not known to his pursuers. Bocchar, however, followed close upon him, and overtaking him in theopen plains near Clupea, so effectually surrounded him, that he slewevery one of his attendants except four horsemen. These, together withMasinissa himself, who was wounded, he let slip, in a manner, out ofhis hands during the confusion. The fugitives were in sight, anda body of horse, dispersed over the whole plain, pursued the fivehorsemen of the enemy, some of them pushing off in an obliquedirection, in order to meet them. The fugitives met with a very broadriver, into which they unhesitatingly plunged their horses, as theywere pressed by greater danger from behind, and carried away by thecurrent were borne along obliquely. Two of them having sunk in therapid eddy in the sight of the enemy, Masinissa himself was supposedto have perished; but he with the two remaining had emerged among thebushes on the farther bank. Here Bocchar stopped his pursuit, as heneither had courage to enter the river, nor believed that he now hadany one to pursue. Upon this he returned to the king, with the falseaccount of the death of Masinissa. Messengers were despatched toCarthage to convey this most joyful event, and all Africa rang withthe news of Masinissa's death; but the minds of men were variouslyaffected by it. Masinissa, while curing his wound by the applicationof herbs, was supported for several days in a secret cave by what thetwo horsemen procured by plunder. As soon as it was cicatrized, and hethought himself able to bear the motion, with extraordinary resolutionhe set out to recover his kingdom; and collecting not more than fortyhorsemen during his progress, when he arrived among the Massylians, where he now made himself known, he produced such a sensation amongthem, both by reason of their former regard for him, and also from theunhoped-for joy they experienced at seeing him safe whom they supposedto have perished, that within a few days six thousand armed foot andfour thousand horse came and joined him; and now he not only was inpossession of his paternal dominions, but was also laying wastethe lands of the states in alliance with the Carthaginians, and thefrontiers of the Massylians, the dominions of Syphax. Then, havingprovoked Syphax to war, he took up a position between Cirta and Hippo, on the tops of mountains which were conveniently situated for all hispurposes. 

33. Syphax, considering this an affair of too great importance to bemanaged by one of his generals, sent a part of his army with his sonVermina, a youth, with orders to march his troops round and attack theenemy in the rear, while he engaged their attention in front. Verminaset out by night, as he was to fall upon the enemy unawares; butSyphax decamped in the day-time and marched openly, intending to fighta pitched battle. When it was thought that sufficient time had elapsedfor those who were sent round to have reached their destination, Syphax himself, relying upon his numbers and on the ambuscade preparedon the enemy's rear, led his troops up the mountain which lay beforehim, by a gentle acclivity which led towards the enemy. Masinissa, relying chiefly on the great superiority he would have over hisopponents in respect of the ground, on his part also formed histroops. The battle was furious, and for a long time doubtful;Masinissa having the advantage in point of situation and the courageof his troops, and Syphax in respect of his numbers, which were muchthe greater of the two. His numerous troops, which were divided, someof them pressing upon the enemy in front, while others surrounded themon the rear, gave Syphax a decisive victory; and, enclosed as theywere in front and rear, the enemy had not even a way to escape. Accordingly, all their troops, both horse and foot, were slain andmade prisoners, except about two hundred horsemen, which Masinissahaving collected round him in a compact body, and divided into threesquadrons, ordered to force their way through, first naming a placewhere they were to meet after being separated in their flight. Masinissa himself escaped through the midst of the enemy's weapons inthe quarter to which he had directed his course; two of the squadronswere unable to extricate themselves; one of them surrendered to theenemy through fear, the other, taking a more obstinate resistance, wasoverwhelmed with weapons and annihilated. Vermina followed Masinissa, treading almost in his steps; but he eluded him by continually turningout of one road into another, till at length he obliged him, weariedwith the hopeless task, to desist from the pursuit, and arrived at theLesser Syrtis with sixty horsemen. Here, in the country lying betweenthe Carthaginian Emporia and the nation of the Garamantians, he passedall the time till the coming of Caius Laelius and the Roman fleet intoAfrica, with the proud consciousness of having made every exertionto recover his paternal dominions. These are the circumstances whichincline me to the opinion, that afterwards also, when Masinissa cameto Scipio, he brought with him a smallish rather than a large body ofcavalry to succour him; for the large number would seem to suitonly with the condition of a reigning king, while the small numbercorresponds with the circumstances of an exile. 

34. The Carthaginians having lost a detachment of cavalry togetherwith the commander, got together another body by means of a new levy, and gave the command of it to Hanno son of Hamilcar. They frequentlysent for Hasdrubal and Syphax by letters and messengers, and lastlyeven by ambassadors, ordering Hasdrubal to bring assistance to hisalmost besieged country, and imploring Syphax to bring relief toCarthage, nay to all Africa. At that time Scipio had his camp aboutfive miles from the city of Utica, having removed it from the sea, where he had continued encamped for a few days near the fleet. Hanno, having received the body of horse, which was far from being strongenough, not only to attack the enemy, but even to protect the countryfrom devastation, made it his first business to augment the numberof his cavalry by pressing; and though he did not despise the men ofother nations, he enlisted principally from the Numidians, who are byfar the first horsemen in Africa. He had now as many as four thousandhorsemen, when he took possession of a town named Salera, aboutfifteen miles from the Roman camp. When Scipio was told of this, hesaid, "What! cavalry lodging in houses during the summer! Let them beeven more in number while they have such a leader. " Concluding thatthe more dilatory they were in their operations, the more active heought to be, he sent Masinissa forward with the cavalry, directing himto ride up to the gates of the enemy and draw them out to battle; andwhen their whole force had poured out and pressed upon him with suchimpetuosity in the contest that they could not easily be withstood, then to retire by degrees, and he would himself come up and joinin the battle in time. Waiting only till he thought he had allowedsufficient time for the advanced party to draw out the enemy, hefollowed with the Roman cavalry, proceeding without being seen, ashe was covered by some rising grounds, which lay very convenientlybetween him and the enemy, round the windings of the road. Masinissa, according to the plan laid down, at one time as if menacingthe enemy, at another as if he had been afraid, either rode up to the gates, orelse by retiring when his counterfeited fears had inspired them withcourage, tempted them to pursue him with inconsiderate ardour. Theyhad not as yet all gone out, and the general was wearying himself withvarious occupations, compelling some who were oppressed with sleep andwine to take arms and bridle their horses, and preventing others fromrunning out at all the gates in scattered parties and in disorder, without keeping their ranks or following their standards. At first, those who incautiously rushed out were overpowered by Masinissa; butthen a greater number pouring out of the gate at once in a dense body, placed the contest on an equal footing; and at last the whole of theircavalry coming up and joining in the battle, they could now no longerbe withstood. Masinissa, however, did not receive their charge inhasty flight, but retired slowly, until he drew them to the risinggrounds which covered the Roman cavalry. The Roman cavalry then risingup, their own strength unimpaired and their horses fresh, spreadthemselves round Hanno and the Africans, fatigued with the fight andthe pursuit, and Masinissa, suddenly turning his horses round, cameback to the battle. About a thousand who formed the first line andcould not easily retreat, together with Hanno their general, weresurrounded and slain. The victors pursuing the rest through a spaceof three miles, as they fled with the most violent haste, beingterrified, principally on account of the death of their leader, eithertook or slew as many as two thousand horsemen more. It appeared thatthere were not less than two hundred Carthaginian horsemen among them, some of whom were distinguished by birth and fortune. 

35. It happened that the same day on which these events occurred, the ships which had carried the plunder to Sicily returned withprovisions, as if divining that they came to take another cargo ofbooty. All the writers do not vouch for the fact that two generals ofthe Carthaginians bearing the same name were slain in the battles ofthe cavalry; fearing, I believe, lest the same circumstance relatedtwice should lead them into error. Caelius, indeed, and Valerius, makemention of a Hanno also who was made prisoner. Scipio rewarded hisofficers and horsemen according to the service they had respectivelyrendered, but he presented Masinissa above all the rest withdistinguished gifts. Leaving a strong garrison at Salera, he set outwith the rest of his army; and having not only devastated the countrywherever he marched, but taken some cities and towns, thus spreadingthe terrors of war far and wide, he returned to his camp on theseventh day after he set out, bringing with him an immense quantityof men and cattle, and booty of every description, and sent away hisships again loaded with the spoils of the enemy. Then giving up allexpeditions of a minor kind, and predatory excursions, he directed thewhole force of the war to the siege of Utica, that he might make itfor the time to come, if he took it, a position from which he mightset out for the execution of the rest of his designs. At one and thesame time his marines attacked the city from the fleet in that partwhich is washed by the sea, and the land forces were brought up from arising ground which almost immediately overhung the walls. He had alsobrought with him engines and machines which had been conveyed fromSicily with the stores, and fresh ones were made in the armoury, inwhich he had for that purpose employed a number of artificers skilledin such works. The people of Utica, thus beset on all sides with soformidable a force, placed all their hopes in the Carthaginians, andthe Carthaginians in the chance there was that Hasdrubal could induceSyphax to take arms. But all their movements were made too slowly forthe anxiety felt by those who were in want of assistance. Hasdrubal, though he had by levies, conducted with the utmost diligence, madeup as many as thirty thousand infantry and three thousand horse, yet dared not move nearer to the enemy before the arrival of Syphax. Syphax came with fifty thousand foot and ten thousand horse, and, immediately decamping from Carthage, took up a position not far fromUtica and the Roman works. Their arrival produced, however, thiseffect, that Scipio, who had been besieging Utica for forty days, during which he had tried every expedient without effect, left theplace without accomplishing his object; and as the winter was now fastapproaching, fortified a camp for the winter upon a promontory, whichbeing attached to the continent by a narrow isthmus, stretched out aconsiderable way into the sea. He included his naval camp also withinone and the same rampart. The camp for the legions being stationed onthe middle of the isthmus, the ships, which were drawn on land, andthe mariners occupied the northern shore, the cavalry a valley on thesouth inclining towards the other shore. Such were the transactions inAfrica up to the close of autumn. 

36. Besides the corn collected from all parts of the surroundingcountry by plunder, and the provisions imported from Italy and Sicily, Cneius Octavius, propraetor, brought a vast quantity out of Sardiniafrom Tiberius Claudius the praetor, whose province Sardinia was; andnot only were the granaries already built filled, but new ones wereerected. The army wanted clothing, and Octavius was instructedto consult with the praetor in order to ascertain if any couldbe procured and sent out of that province. This business was alsodiligently attended to. One thousand two hundred gowns and twelvethousand tunics were in a short time sent. During the summer in whichthese operations were carried on in Africa, Publius Sempronius, theconsul, who had the province of Bruttium, fought an irregular kindof battle with Hannibal in the Crotonian territory while actually onmarch; they fought with their troops drawn more in order of march thanof battle. The Romans were driven back, and as many as twelve hundredof the army of the consul were slain in this affair, which was morea tumult than a battle. They returned in confusion to their camp. Theenemy, however, dared not assault it. But, during the silence of thefollowing night, the consul marched away, and having sent a messengerbefore him to Publius Licinius, the proconsul, to bring up hislegions, united his forces with his. Thus two generals and two armiesreturned to Hannibal. Nor did either party delay to fight, as theforces of the consul were doubled, and the Carthaginian was inspiritedby recent victory. Sempronius led his legions into the front line;those of Licinius were placed in reserve. The consul, in the beginningof the battle, vowed a temple to Fortuna Primigenia if he routedthe enemy that day, and he obtained the object of that vow. TheCarthaginians were routed and put to flight; above four thousand armedmen were slain, a little under three hundred taken alive, with fortyhorses and eleven military standards. Hannibal, dispirited by thisadverse battle, led his troops away to Croton. At the same time, inanother part of Italy, Etruria, almost the whole of which hadespoused the interest of Mago, and had conceived hopes of effectinga revolution through his means, was kept in subjection by the consulMarcus Cornelius, not so much by the force of his arms as the terrorof his judicial proceedings. In the trials he had instituted there, in conformity with the decree of the senate, he had shown the utmostimpartiality; and many of the Tuscan nobles, who had either themselvesgone, or had sent others to Mago respecting the revolt of theirstates, at first standing their trials, were condemned; but afterwardsothers, who, from a consciousness of guilt, had gone into voluntaryexile, were condemned in their absence, and by thus withdrawing lefttheir effects only, which were liable to confiscation, as a pledge fortheir punishment. 

37. While the consuls were thus engaged in different quarters, in themean time, at Rome, the censors, Marcus Livius and Caius Claudius, called over the senate roll. Quintus Fabius was again chosen chief ofthe senate; seven were stigmatized, of whom there was not one who hadsat in the curule chair. They inquired into the business relating tothe repair of public edifices with diligence and the most scrupulousexactness. They set by contract the making of a road out of the oxmarket to the temple of Venus, with public seats on each side of it, and a temple to be built in the palatium for the great mother. Theyestablished also a new tax out of the price of salt. Salt, both atRome, and throughout all Italy, was sold at the sixth part of an _as_. They contracted for the supply of it at Rome at the same price, at ahigher price in the country towns and markets, and at differentprices in different places. They felt well convinced that this taxwas invented by one of the censors, out of resentment to the peoplebecause he had formerly been condemned by an unjust sentence, and thatin fixing the price of salt, those tribes had been most burdened bywhose means he had been condemned. Hence Livius derived the surnameof Salinator. The closing of the lustrum was later than usual, becausethe censors sent persons through the provinces, that a report might bemade of the number of Roman citizens in each of the armies. Includingthese, the number of persons returned in the census was two hundredand fourteen thousand. Caius Claudius Nero closed the lustrum. Theythen received a census of the twelve colonies, which had never beendone before, the censors of the colonies themselves presenting it, in order that there might appear registers among the public records, stating the extent of their resources, both in respect of furnishingsoldiers and money. The review of the knights then began to be made, and it happened that both the censors had a horse at the publicexpense. When they came to the Pollian tribe, in which was the nameof Marcus Livius, and the herald hesitated to cite the censor himself, Nero said, "Cite Marcus Livius;" and whether it was that he wasactuated by the remains of an old enmity, or that he felt a ridiculouspride in this ill-timed display of severity, he ordered Marcus Liviusto sell his horse, because he had been condemned by the sentence ofthe people. In like manner, when they came to the Narnian tribe, andthe name of his colleague, Marcus Livius ordered Caius Claudius tosell his horse, for two reasons; one, because he had given falseevidence against him; the other, because he had not been sincere inhis reconciliation with him. Thus a disgraceful contest arose, inwhich each endeavoured to asperse the character of the other, thoughnot without detriment to his own. On the expiration of the office, when Caius Claudius had taken the oath respecting the observance ofthe laws, and had gone up into the treasury, he gave the name ofhis colleague among the names of those whom he left disfranchised. Afterwards, Marcus Livius came into the treasury, and excepting onlythe Maecian tribe, which had neither condemned him nor made him consulor censor when condemned, left all the Roman people, four and thirtytribes, disfranchised, because they had both condemned him wheninnocent, and when condemned had made him consul and censor; andtherefore could not deny that they had been guilty of a crime, eitheronce in his condemnation, or twice at the elections. He said that thedisfranchisement of Caius Claudius would be included in that of thethirty-four tribes, but that if he were in possession of a precedentfor leaving the same person disfranchised twice he would have lefthis name particularly among the disfranchised. This contest betweencensors, endeavouring to brand each other, was highly improper, whilethe correction applied to the inconstancy of the people was suitableto the office of a censor, and worthy of the strict discipline ofthe times. As the censors were labouring under odium, Cneius Babius, tribune of the people, thinking this a favourable opportunity ofadvancing himself at their expense, summoned them both to trial beforethe people. This proceeding was quashed by the unanimous voice of thesenate, lest in future this office of censor should become subject tothe caprice of the people. 

38. The same summer Clampetia in Bruttium was taken by the consul bystorm. Consentia and Pandosia, with some other inconsiderable states, submitted voluntarily. As the time for the elections was now drawingnear, it was thought best that Cornelius should be summoned to Romefrom Etruria, as there was no war there. He elected, as consuls, Cneius Servilius Caepio and Caius Servilius Geminus. The election ofpraetors was then held. The persons elected were, Publius CorneliusLentulus, Publius Quinctilius Varus, Publius Aelius Paetus, andPublius Villius Tappulus. The last two were plebeian aediles whenelected praetors. The elections finished, the consul returned intoEtruria to his army. The priests who died this year, and those whowere put in their places, were Tiberius Veturius Philo, flamen ofMars, elected and inaugurated in the room of Marcus Aemilius Regillus, who died the year before: in the room of Marcus Pomponius Matho, augur and decemvir, were elected Marcus Aurelius Cotta, decemvir, andTiberius Sempronius Gracchus, augur, being then a very young man;an instance of very rare occurrence in the disposal of the priests'offices in those times. Golden four-horsed chariots were placed thisyear in the Capitol by the curule aediles, Caius Livius and MarcusServilius Geminus. The Roman games were repeated during two days. During two days also the plebeian games were repeated by the aediles, Publius Aelius and Publius Villius. There was likewise a feast ofJupiter on occasion of the games. 

BOOK XXX. 

 _Scipio, aided by Masinissa, defeats the Carthaginians, Syphax and Hasdrubal, in several battles. Syphax taken by Laelius and Masinissa. Masinissa espouses Sophonisba, the wife of Syphax, Hasdrubal's daughter; being reproved by Scipio, he sends her poison, with which she puts an end to her life. The Carthaginians, reduced to great extremity by Scipio's repeated victories, call Hannibal home from Italy; he holds a conference with Scipio on the subject of peace, and is again defeated by him in battle. The Carthaginians sue for peace, which is granted them. Masinissa reinstated in his kingdom. Scipio returns to Rome; his splendid triumph; is surnamed Africanus_. 

1. Cneius Servilius and Caius Servilius Geminus, the consuls inthe sixteenth year of the Punic war, having consulted the senaterespecting the state, the war, and the provinces, they decreed thatthe consuls should arrange between themselves, or draw lots, which ofthem should have the province of Bruttium, to act against Hannibal, and which that of Etruria and Liguria; that the consul to whose lotBruttium fell should receive the army from Publius Sempronius; thatPublius Sempronius, who was continued in command as proconsul for ayear, should succeed Publius Licinius, who was to return to Rome. Inaddition to the other qualifications with which he was adorned ina degree surpassed by no citizen of that time, for in him wereaccumulated all the perfections of nature and fortune, Licinius wasalso esteemed eminent in war. He was at once a man of noble family andgreat wealth; possessing a fine person and great bodily strength. He was considered an orator of the highest order, both in respect ofjudicial eloquence, and also when engaged in promoting or opposing anymeasure in the senate, or before the people. He was alsoaccurately skilled in the pontifical law. In addition to all theserecommendations, the consulship enabled him to acquire military glory. The senate adopted the same course in the decree with respect to theprovince of Etruria and Liguria as had been observed with regard toBruttium. Marcus Cornelius was ordered to deliver his army to the newconsul, and with continued command to hold himself the province ofGaul, with those legions which the praetor Lucius Scribonius hadcommanded the former year. The consuls then cast lots for theirprovinces: Bruttium fell to the lot of Caepio, Etruria to the lot ofServilius Geminus. The provinces of the praetors were then put to thelot. Paetus Aelius obtained the city jurisdiction; Publius Lentulus, Sardinia; Publius Villius, Sicily; Quinctilius Varus, Ariminum, withtwo legions which had served under Lucretius Spurius. Lucretius alsowas continued in command that he might complete the building of thetown of Genoa, which had been destroyed by Mago the Carthaginian. Publius Scipio was continued in command for a period not limited inpoint of time, but the object he had to achieve, namely, till the warin Africa had been brought to a termination; and a decree was passed, ordering a supplication to be made that the circumstance of hiscrossing over into Africa might be beneficial to the Roman people, thegeneral himself, and his army. 

2. Three thousand men were enlisted for Sicily, and lest any fleetshould go thither from Africa, as all the efficient troops thatprovince had possessed had been transported into Africa, it wasresolved that the sea-coast of that island should be guarded withforty ships. Villius took with him into Sicily thirteen ships, therest consisted of the old ones, which were repaired. Marcus Pomponius, the praetor of the former year, who was continued in command, havingbeen placed at the head of this fleet, put on board the fresh soldiersbrought from Italy. The senate assigned by a decree an equal number ofships to Cneius Octavius, who was also a praetor of the former year, with a similar privilege of command, for the protection of the coastof Sardinia. Lentulus the praetor was ordered to furnish two thousandsoldiers to put on board it. The protection of the coast of Italy wasassigned to Marcus Marcius, a praetor of the former year, withthe same number of ships; for it was uncertain to what quarter theCarthaginians would send a fleet, though it was supposed that theywould attack any quarter which was destitute of defence. The consuls, in conformity with a decree of the senate, enlisted three thousandsoldiers for this fleet, and two city legions with a view to thehazards of war. The Spains were assigned to the former generals, Lucius Lentulus and Lucius Manlius Acidinus, who were continued incommand, and retained their former armies. The operations of thewar on the part of the Romans this year were carried on with twentylegions in all, and one hundred and sixty ships of war. The praetorswere ordered to proceed to their provinces. Directions were given tothe consuls, that before they left the city they should celebrate thegreat games which Titus Manlius Torquatus, when dictator, had vowedto exhibited in the fifth year, if the condition of the state remainedunaltered. Accounts of prodigies brought from several places excitedfresh superstitious fears in the minds of men. It was believed thatcrows had not only torn with their beaks some gold in the Capitol, buthad even eaten it. At Antium mice gnawed a golden crown. An immensequantity of locusts filled the whole country around Capua, nor couldit be made appear satisfactorily whence they came. At Reate a foal wasproduced with five feet. At Anagnia at first scattered fires appearedin the sky, afterwards a vast meteor blazed forth. At Frusino a circlesurrounded the sun with a thin line, which was itself afterwardsincluded within the sun's disc which extended beyond it. At Arpinumthe earth sank into an immense gulf, in a place where the ground waslevel. When one of the consuls was immolating the first victim, thehead of the liver was wanting. These prodigies were expiated withvictims of the larger kind. The college of pontiffs gave out to whatgods sacrifice was to be made. 

3. After these matters were finished, the consuls and praetors setout for their provinces. All, however, made Africa the great object oftheir concern, as though it had been allotted to them; whether it wasbecause they saw that the welfare of the state and the issue ofthe war turned upon the operations there, or that they might obligeScipio, on whom the whole state was then intent. Accordingly, not onlyfrom Sardinia, as has been before mentioned, but from Sicily also andSpain, clothing and corn, and from Sicily arms also, together withevery kind of stores, were conveyed thither. Nor did Scipio at anytime during the winter relax in any of the various military operationsin which he was engaged on all sides. He continued the siege of Utica. His camp was within sight of Hasdrubal. The Carthaginians had launchedtheir ships, and had a fleet prepared and equipped to intercept hissupplies. Amid these occupations he had not even lost sight of hisendeavours to regain the friendship of Syphax, whose passion for hisbride he thought might now perhaps have become satiated fromunlimited enjoyment. From Syphax he received terms of peace with theCarthaginians, with proposals that the Romans should evacuate Africa, and the Carthaginians Italy, rather than any ground of hope that hewould desert their cause if the war proceeded. For my part I am ofopinion, and in this I am countenanced by the majority of writers, that these negotiations were carried on through messengers, ratherthan that Syphax himself came to the Roman camp to hold a conference, as Antias Valerius relates. At first the Roman general scarcelyallowed these terms to be mentioned, but afterwards, in order thatthere might exist a plausible pretext for his emissaries to gofrequently into the camp of the enemy, he rejected these same terms ina more qualified manner, holding out a hope that they might eventuallycome to an agreement by agitating the question on both sides. The winter huts of the Carthaginians, which were constructed frommaterials hastily collected out of the fields, were almost entirelyof wood. The Numidians, particularly, lay for the most part in hutsformed of interwoven reeds, and covered with mats, dispersed up anddown without any regard to order; while some of them, having chosenthe situations for their tents without waiting for orders, lay evenwithout the trench and rampart. These circumstances having beenreported to Scipio, gave him hopes that he might have an opportunityof burning the enemy's camp. 

4. In company with the ambassadors whom he sent to Syphax, he alsosent some centurions of the first rank, of tried valour and prudence, dressed as servants, in lieu of soldiers' drudges; in order that, while the ambassadors were engaged in conference, they might ramblethrough the camp, one in one direction and another in another, andthus observe all the approaches and outlets, the situation and formboth of the camp in general and of its parts; where the Carthaginianslay, where the Numidians, and what was the distance between the campof Hasdrubal and that of the king; and that they might at the sametime acquaint themselves with their customary mode of stationingoutposts and watches, and learn whether they were more open tostratagem by night or by day. During the frequent conferences whichwere held, several different persons were purposely sent, in orderthat every circumstance might be known to a greater number. When themore frequent agitation of the matter had given to Syphax a dailyincreasing hope of peace, and to the Carthaginians through him, theRoman ambassadors at length declared that they were forbidden toreturn to their general unless a decisive answer was given, and that, therefore, if his own determination was now fixed, he should declareit, or if Hasdrubal and the Carthaginians were to be consulted, heshould consult them. That it was time either that an accommodationshould be settled or the war vigorously prosecuted. While Hasdrubalwas consulted by Syphax, and the Carthaginians by Hasdrubal, the spieshad time to inspect every thing, and Scipio to get together what wasnecessary for the accomplishment of his project. In consequence of themention and prospect of a peace, neglect arose among the Carthaginiansand Numidians, as is usually the case, to take precautions in the meantime that they might not suffer an attack of the enemy. At length ananswer was returned; and as the Romans appeared excessively eagerfor peace, advantage was taken of that circumstance to add certainunreasonable conditions, which afforded Scipio a very seasonablepretext for putting an end to the truce according to his wishes; andtelling the king's messenger that he would refer the matter to hiscouncil, he answered him the next day. He said, that while he alonehad in vain endeavoured to restore peace, no one else had desired it. That he must, therefore, carry word back that Syphax must hope forpeace on no other condition than his abandonment of the Carthaginians. Thus he put an end to the truce, in order that he might be free toexecute his designs without breaking his faith; and, launchinghis ships, for it was now the beginning of spring, he put on boardmachines and engines, with the purpose of assaulting Utica fromthe sea. He also sent two thousand men to seize the eminence whichcommanded that place, and which he had before occupied, at once withthe view of turning the attention of the enemy from the design he wasendeavouring to effect to another object of concern, and to preventany sally or attack which might be made from the city upon his camp, which would be left with a slight force to protect it, while hehimself went against Syphax and Hasdrubal. 

5. Having made these preparations, he called a council and afterordering the spies to give an account of the discoveries theyhad made, and requesting Masinissa, who was acquainted with everycircumstance relating to the enemy, to state what he knew, lastly, hehimself laid before the council the plan proposed for the followingnight. He gave directions to the tribunes, that when, after thebreaking up of the council, the trumpets had sounded, they shouldimmediately march the legions out of the camp. Agreeably to hiscommands, the standards began to be carried out about sun-set. Aboutthe first watch they formed the troops in marching order. At midnight, for it was seven miles' march, they came up at a moderate pace to thecamp of the enemy. Here Scipio assigned a part of his forces, togetherwith Masinissa and the Numidians, to Laelius, ordering them to fallupon the camp of Syphax, and throw fire upon it. Then taking eachof the commanders, Masinissa and Laelius, aside, he implored themseparately to make up by diligence and care for the absence of thatforesight which the night rendered it impossible to exercise. He said, that he should himself attack Hasdrubal and the Carthaginian camp; butthat he should not begin till he saw the fire in that of the king. Nor did this delay him long; for when the fire thrown upon the nearesthuts had taken effect, immediately communicating with all those whichwere within the shortest distance, and those connected with them inregular succession, it spread itself throughout the whole camp. Theconfusion and alarm which took place, in consequence of so widelyextended a fire breaking out during the night, were as great as mightnaturally be expected; but as they concluded that it was the effect ofchance, and not produced by the enemy, or connected with the war, theyrushed out in a disorderly manner, without their arms, to extinguishthe flames, and fell in with armed enemies, particularly theNumidians, who on account of their knowledge of the king's campwere placed by Masinissa in convenient places at the openings of thepasses. Many perished in the flames in their beds while half asleep;and many, tumbling over one another in their haste to escape, weretrampled to death in the narrow passages of the gates. 

6. When first the Carthaginian sentinels, and afterwards the rest, roused by the terrifying effects of a tumult by night, beheld thelight emitted from the flames, they also, labouring under the samedelusion, imagined that the fire had originated from accidentalcauses; while the shout raised amidst the slaughter and wounds, beingof a confused kind, prevented their distinguishing whether it wasoccasioned by the trepidation of an alarm by night. Accordingly, rushing out one and all at every gate, each man taking the nearestroad, without their arms, as not suspecting any hostile attack, and carrying with them only such things as might be useful inextinguishing the flames, they fell upon the Roman troops. After allthese had been slain, not only with the animosity of enemies, but alsothat no one might escape as a messenger, Scipio immediately attackedthe gates, which were unguarded in consequence of the confusion; and, having thrown fire upon the nearest huts, at first the flames blazedforth with great fury, in several places at once, in consequenceof the fire having been applied to different parts, but afterwardsextending themselves along the contiguous huts, they suddenlyenveloped the whole camp in one general conflagration. Men and cattlescorched with the flames blocked up the passages of the gates, firstin a terrible rush to escape, and afterwards with their prostratebodies. Those who got out of the way of the fire were cut off by thesword, and the two camps were involved in one common destruction. Thetwo generals, however, and out of so many thousand troops only twothousand foot and five hundred horsemen, escaped, half armed, a greatmany of them being wounded and scorched. Forty thousand men wereeither slain or destroyed by the flames, and above five thousandcaptured. Among the captured were many Carthaginian nobles, elevensenators, with a hundred and seventy-four military standards, abovetwo thousand seven hundred Numidian horses, and six elephants. Eightelephants were destroyed either by fire or sword, and a great quantityof arms taken. All the latter the general dedicated to Vulcan andburnt. 

7. Hasdrubal, in his flight, had made for the nearest city of theAfricans, accompanied by a few attendants; and hither all thosewho survived, following the footsteps of their general had betakenthemselves. But afterwards, fearing lest he should be given up toScipio, he quitted that city. Soon after the Romans were receivedthere with open gates; nor was any act of hostility committed, becausethe inhabitants had surrendered voluntarily. Shortly after, two othercities were captured and plundered. The booty found there, togetherwith what had been rescued from the camps when burning, and from theflames, was given up to the soldiers. Syphax took up a position in afortified place about eight miles off. Hasdrubal hastened to Carthage, lest the apprehensions occasioned by the recent disaster should leadto any timorous measures. So great was the consternation created thereon the first receipt of the news, that it was fully anticipated thatScipio, suspending his operations against Utica, would immediatelylay siege to Carthage. The suffetes, therefore, who form with them anauthority similar to the consular, summoned the senate, when thethree following opinions were given. The first proposed, that a decreeshould be passed to the effect, that ambassadors should be sent toScipio to treat of peace; the second, that Hannibal should be recalledto defend his country from a war which threatened its annihilation;the third breathed the spirit of Roman constancy under adversity; itrecommended that the losses of the army should be repaired, and thatSyphax should be exhorted not to abandon the war. The latter opinionprevailed, because it was that which Hasdrubal, who was present, andall the members of the Barcine faction, preferred. After this, the levy commenced in the city and country, and ambassadors weredespatched to Syphax, who was himself employing every effort torestore the war; for his wife had prevailed upon him, not, asheretofore, by caresses, powerful as they are in influencing the mindof a lover, but by prayers and appeals to his compassion, imploringhim, with streaming eyes, not to betray her father and her country, nor suffer Carthage to be consumed by the same flames which hadreduced the camps to ashes. In addition to this, the ambassadorsinformed him of a circumstance which had occurred very seasonably toraise their hopes; that they had met with four thousand Celtiberiansin the neighbourhood of a city named Abba, a fine body of young menwho had been enlisted by their recruiting officers in Spain; and thatHasdrubal would very soon arrive with a body of troops by no meanscontemptible. Accordingly, he not only returned a kind answer to theambassadors, but also showed them a multitude of Numidian rustics, whom he had lately furnished with arms and horses; and at the sametime assured them that he would call out all the youth in his kingdom. He said, he well knew that the loss sustained had been occasioned byfire, and not by battle, and that he was inferior to his adversary inwar who was overcome by force of arms. Such was the answer given tothe ambassadors; and, after a few days, Hasdrubal and Syphax againunited their forces. This army consisted of about thirty-five thousandfighting men. 

8. Scipio, considering that Syphax and the Carthaginians could make nofurther efforts, gave his whole attention to the siege of Utica, andwas now bringing up his engines to the walls, when he was divertedfrom his purpose by a report of the renewal of the war; and, leavingsmall forces merely to keep up the appearance of a siege by sea andland, he set out himself with the main strength of his army to meetthe enemy. At first he took up his position on an eminence about fivemiles distant from the king's camp. The next day, coming down with hiscavalry into a place called the great plains, which lay at the foot ofthat eminence, he spent the day in advancing up to the outposts of theenemy, and provoking them by skirmishing attacks. During the ensuingtwo days, irregular excursions were made by both sides alternately, but nothing worthy of notice was achieved. On the fourth day, bothsides came down in battle-array. The Romans placed their principesbehind the spearmen, which latter formed the front line, and thetriarii they stationed in reserve; the Italian cavalry they opposed tothe enemy in the right wing, the Numidians and Masinissa on theleft. Syphax and Hasdrubal, placing the Numidians against the Italiancavalry, and the Carthaginians opposite to Masinissa, received theCeltiberians into the centre of their line, to face the Roman legions. Thus arranged, they then commenced the encounter. At the first charge, both the wings, the Numidians and Carthaginians, were together drivenfrom their ground; for neither could the Numidians, who consistedprincipally of rustics, sustain the shock of the Roman cavalry, northe Carthaginians, who were also raw soldiers, withstand Masinissa, who, in addition to other circumstances, was rendered formidable byhis recent victory. The Celtiberian line, though stript of the supportof both the wings, stood their ground; for neither did any hope ofsafety by flight present itself, as they were ignorant of the country, nor could they expect pardon from Scipio, against whom, though he haddeserved well both of them and their nation, they had come into Africato fight for hire. Surrounded therefore, on all sides by the enemy, they died with obstinate resolution, falling one upon another; and, while the attention of all was turned upon them, Syphax and Hasdrubalgained a considerable space of time to effect their escape. Thevictors, fatigued with the slaughter, which had continued for agreater length of time than the battle, were interrupted by the night. 

9. The next day Scipio sent Laelius and Masinissa, with all the Romanand Numidian cavalry, and the light infantry, to pursue Syphax andHasdrubal. He himself, with the main strength of the army, reduced theneighbouring towns, which were all subject to the Carthaginians, someby holding out hopes to them, some by threats, and others by force. At Carthage, indeed, the consternation was extreme; and it was fullyanticipated there, that Scipio, who was carrying his arms to thedifferent places around, would, after having rapidly subdued all theneighbouring parts, suddenly attack Carthage itself. Their wallswere repaired and protected with outworks; and every man individuallyexerted himself to the utmost in collecting from the country therequisites for holding out against a protracted siege. Mention wasseldom made of peace, but not so seldom of sending deputies to recallHannibal. The majority of them urged that the fleet, which had beenequipped to intercept the convoys of the enemy, should be sent tosurprise the ships stationed near Utica, which were lying in anunguarded state. It was also urged that they might perhaps overpowerthe naval camp, which was left under the protection of a triflingforce. They chiefly inclined to the latter plan, though they thought, nevertheless, that deputies should be sent to Hannibal; for should theoperations of the fleet succeed in the highest degree, the siege ofUtica would be partially raised, but they had no general remaining butHannibal, and no army but his which could defend Carthage itself. The ships were therefore launched the following day, and, at the sametime, the deputies set out for Italy; and, their position stimulatingthem, every thing was done with the greatest expedition; each manconsidering, that the safety of all was betrayed in whatever degree heremitted his own individual exertions. Scipio, who drew after himan army now encumbered with the spoils of many cities, sent hisprisoners, and other booty, to his old camp at Utica, and, as hisviews were now fixed on Carthage, he seized on Tunes, which wasabandoned in consequence of the flight of the garrison. This city isabout fifteen miles distant from Carthage, being a place secured bothby works, and also by its own natural position; it may be seen fromCarthage, and itself affords a prospect both of that city and of thesea which washes it. 

10. From this place the Romans, while diligently employed in raisinga rampart, descried the fleet of the enemy, on its way to Utica fromCarthage. Desisting from their work, therefore, orders for marchingwere given, and the troops began to move with the utmost haste, lestthe ships which were turned towards the land, and occupied withthe siege, and which were far from being in a condition for a navalbattle, should be surprised and overpowered. For how could ships, carrying engines and machines, and either converted to the purposesof transports, or brought up to the walls so as to afford the meansof mounting up, in lieu of a mound and bridges, resist a fleet, withnothing to impede its movements, furnished with every kind of navalimplement, and prepared for action. Scipio, therefore, contrary tohis usual practice in naval engagements, drew the ships of war, whichmight have been employed in defending the rest, into the rear, andformed them into a line near the land; opposing to the enemy a rowof transports, four deep, to serve as a wall; and, lest these sametransports should be thrown into disorder during the confusion of thebattle, he bound them together by placing masts and yard-arms acrossthem, from one vessel to the other; and, by means of strong ropes, fastened them together, as it were, by one uninterrupted bond. He alsolaid planks upon them, so as to form a free passage along the line, leaving spaces under these bridges of communication by which thevessels of observation might run out towards the enemy, and retreatwith safety. Having hastily made these arrangements as well as thetime would permit, he put on board the transports about a thousandpicked men, to keep off the enemy, with a very large store of weapons, particularly missiles, that they might hold out, however long thecontest lasted. Thus prepared, and on the watch, they waited theapproach of the enemy. The Carthaginians, who, if they had made hastewould, on the first assault, have surprised their adversaries whileevery thing was in a state of confusion, from the hurry and bustleattending the preparations, were so dismayed at their losses by land, and thereby had lost so much confidence even in their strength by sea, in which they had the advantage, that, after consuming the day, inconsequence of the slow rate at which they sailed, about sun-set theyput in to a harbour which the Africans call Ruscino. The followingday, at sun-rise, they drew up their ships towards the open sea, asfor a regular naval battle, and with the expectation that the Romanswould come out to engage them. After they had continued stationary forsome time, and saw that no movement was made on the part of the enemy, then, at length, they attacked the transports. The affair bore noresemblance to a naval fight, but rather had the appearance of shipsattacking walls. The transports had considerably the advantage inrespect of height; and as the Carthaginians had to throw their weaponsupward, against a mark which was above them, most of them failed oftaking effect; while the weapons thrown from the transports from abovefell with increased force, and derived additional impetus from theirvery weight. The vessels of observation, and even the lighter kindof barks, which went out through the spaces left under the flooring, which formed a communication between the ships, were at first run downby the mere momentum and bulk of the ships of war; and afterwards theyproved a hindrance to the troops appointed to keep the enemy off; foras they mixed with the ships of the enemy, they were frequently underthe necessity of withholding their weapons for fear, by a misdirectedeffort, they should fall on their friends. At length, beams with ironhooks at their ends, called harpoons, began to be thrown from theCarthaginian upon the Roman ships; and, as they could not cut theharpoons themselves, nor the chains suspended by which they werethrown upon their ships, as each of the ships of war of the enemy, being pulled back, drew with it a transport, connected with it by aharpoon, you might see the fastenings by which the transports werejoined together rent asunder, and in another part a series of manyvessels dragged away together. In this manner chiefly were all thebridges of communication torn to pieces, and scarcely had the troopswho fought in front time to leap to the second line of ships. Aboutsix transports were towed away to Carthage, where the joy felt wasgreater than the occasion warranted; but their delight was increasedfrom the reflection, that, in the midst of so many successivedisasters and woes, one event, however trifling, which afforded matterof joy, had unexpectedly occurred; besides which, it was manifest thatthe Roman fleet would have been well nigh annihilated, had not theirown commanders been wanting in diligence, and had not Scipio come upto its assistance in time. 

11. It happened about the same time, that Laelius and Masinissahaving arrived in Numidia after a march of about fifteen days, theMassylians, Masinissa's hereditary kingdom, placed themselves underthe protection of their king with the greatest joy, as they had longwished him among them. After the commanders and garrisons of Syphaxhad been expelled from thence, that prince kept himself withinthe limits of his original dominions, but without any intention ofremaining quiet. Subdued by the power of love, he was spurred on byhis wife and father-in-law; and he possessed such an abundance of menand horses, that a review of the resources of his kingdom, which hadflourished for so many years, was calculated to infuse spirit into amind even less barbarous and impetuous than his. Wherefore, collectingtogether all who were fit for service, he distributed among themhorses, armour, and weapons. He divided his horsemen into troops, andhis infantry into cohorts, as he had formerly learnt from the Romancenturions. With an army not less than that which he had before, butalmost entirely raw and undisciplined, he set out to meet the enemy, and pitched his camp at a short distance from them. At first a fewhorsemen advanced cautiously from the outposts to reconnoitre, andbeing compelled to retire, from a discharge of javelins, they ran backto their friends. Then skirmishing parties were sent out from bothsides, and the vanquished, fired with indignation, returned to theencounter with increased numbers. This is the usual incitement ofbattles between cavalry, when the victors are joined by more of theirparty from hope, and the vanquished from resentment. Thus, on thepresent occasion, the action commencing with a few, at last the wholebody of the cavalry on both sides poured out to join in it from thezeal excited by the contest. While the cavalry only were engaged, itwas scarcely possible to withstand the numbers of the Masaesylians, which Syphax sent out in immense bodies. But afterwards, when theRoman infantry, suddenly coming up between the troops of horse whichmade way for them, gave stability to their line, and checked theenemy, who were charging furiously, at first the barbarians slackenedtheir speed, then halted, and were in a manner confounded at thisnovel kind of battle. At length, they not only retired before theinfantry, but were unable to sustain the shock even of the cavalry, who had assumed courage from the support of the infantry. By this timethe legions also were approaching; when, indeed, the Masaesylians notonly dared not await their first charge, but could not bear eventhe sight of the standards and arms; so powerful was either therecollection of their former defeats, or their present fears. 

12. It was then that Syphax, while riding up to the troops of theenemy to try if, either by shame or by exposing his own person todanger, he could stop their flight, being thrown from his horse, whichwas severely wounded, was overpowered, and being made prisoner, wasdragged alive into the presence of Laelius; a spectacle calculated toafford peculiar satisfaction to Masinissa. Cirta was the capital ofthe dominions of Syphax; to which a great number of men fled. Thenumber of the slain in this battle was not so great as the victory wasimportant, because the cavalry only had been engaged. Not more thanfive thousand were slain, and less than half that number were madeprisoners in an attack upon the camp, to which the multitude, dismayedat the loss of their king, had fled. Masinissa declared that nothingcould be more highly gratifying to him than, having gained thisvictory, to go now and visit his hereditary dominions, which he hadregained after having been kept out of them so long a time; but it wasnot proper in prosperity any more than in adversity to lose any time. That if Laelius would allow him to go before him to Cirta with thecavalry and the captive Syphax, he should overpower the enemy whileall was in a state of consternation and dismay; and that Laelius mightfollow with the infantry at a moderate rate. Laelius assenting, headvanced to Cirta, and ordered the principal inhabitants to be calledout to a conference. But as they were not aware of what had befallentheir king, he was unable to prevail upon them, either by layingbefore them what had passed, by threats, or by persuasion, until theking was presented to their view in chains. A general lamentationarose at this shocking exhibition, and while some deserted the wallsin a panic, others, who sought to ingratiate themselves with thevictor, suddenly came to an agreement to throw open the gates. Masinissa, having sent troops to keep guard near the gates, andat such parts of the wall as required it, that no one might have apassage out to escape by, galloped off to seize the palace. Whileentering the porch, Sophonisba, the wife of Syphax and daughter ofHasdrubal the Carthaginian, met him in the very threshold, and seeingMasinissa in the midst of the armed band, for he was distinguishedboth by his arms and also by his habiliments, she concluded, as wasreally the case, that he was the king; and, falling down at his knees, thus addressed him: "The gods, together with your own valour and goodfortune, have given you the power of disposing of us as you please. But if a captive may be allowed to give utterance to the voice ofsupplication before him who is the sovereign arbiter of her life ordeath; if she may be permitted to touch his knees and his victoriousright hand, I entreat and beseech, you by the majesty of royalty, which we also a short time ago possessed; by the name of the Numidianrace, which was common to Syphax and yourself; by the guardian deitiesof this palace, (and O! may they receive you more auspiciously thanthey sent Syphax from it!) that you would indulge a suppliant bydetermining yourself whatever your inclination may suggest respectingyour captive, and not suffer me to be placed at the haughty andmerciless disposal of any Roman. Were I nothing more than the wife ofSyphax, yet would I rather make trial of the honour of a Numidian, one born in Africa, the same country which gave me birth than ofa foreigner and an alien. You know what a Carthaginian, what thedaughter of Hasdrubal, has to fear from a Roman. If you cannot effectit by any other means, I beg and beseech you that you will by my deathrescue me from the power of the Romans. " She was remarkably beautiful, and in the full bloom of youth. Accordingly, while she pressed hisright hand, and only implored him to pledge himself that she shouldnot be delivered up to any Roman, her language assuming the characterof amorous blandishment rather than entreaty, the heart of theconqueror not only melted with compassion, but, as the Numidians arean excessively amorous race, he became the slave of his captive; andgiving his right hand as a pledge for the performance of her request, withdrew into the palace. He then set upon reflecting in what mannerhe could make good his promise; and not being able to hit upon anyexpedient, his passion suggested to him an inconsiderate and barefacedalternative. He ordered that preparations should be instantly madefor celebrating the nuptials that very day; in order that he mightnot leave it at all open to Laelius, or Scipio himself, to adoptany measure respecting her as a captive who had become the wife ofMasinissa. After the nuptials were concluded, Laelius came up: and sofar was he from dissembling his disapprobation of the proceeding, thatat first he would even have had her dragged from the marriage bedand sent with Syphax and the rest of the captives to Scipio: butafterwards, having been prevailed upon by the entreaties of Masinissa, who begged of him to leave it to Scipio to decide which of the twokings should have his fortunes graced by the accession of Sophonisbahe sent away Syphax and the prisoners; and, aided by Masinissa, employed himself in reducing the rest of the cities of Numidia, whichwere occupied by the king's garrisons. 

13. When it was announced that Syphax was being brought into the camp, the whole multitude poured out, as if to behold a triumphal pageant. The king himself walked first in chains, and a number of Numidiannobles followed. On this occasion every one strove to the utmost toincrease the splendour of their victory, by magnifying the greatnessof Syphax and the renown of his nation. "That was the king, " theysaid, "to whose dignity the two most powerful nations in the world theRoman and the Carthaginian, had paid so much deference, that their owngeneral, Scipio, leaving his province of Spain and his army, sailedinto Africa with only two quinqueremes to solicit his friendship;while Hasdrubal, the Carthaginian general, not only visited him in hisdominions, but gave him his daughter in marriage. That he had in hispower two commanders, one a Roman and the other a Carthaginian, at thesame time. That as both the contending parties sought the favourof the immortal gods by the immolation of victims, so had they bothequally solicited his friendship. That he had lately possessed suchgreat power, that after expelling Masinissa from his kingdom, hereduced him to such a state, that his life was protected by a reportof his death, and by concealment, while he supported himself in thewoods on prey after the manner of wild beasts. " Thus signalized by theobservations of the surrounding multitude, the king was brought intothe pavilion before Scipio, who was moved by the former conditionof the man compared with his present, and particularly by therecollection of their relation of hospitality, his right hand pledged, and the public and private connexion which had been formed betweenthem. These same considerations inspired Syphax also with confidencein addressing the conqueror; for when Scipio asked what had been hisobject in not only renouncing his alliance with the Romans, but inmaking war against them without provocation, he fully admitted "thathe had indeed done wrong, and acted like a madman; but not at thattime only when he took up arms against the Roman people; that was theconsummation of his frenzy, not its commencement. Then it was thathe is mad; then it was that he banished from his mind all regardfor private friendship and public treaties, when he received aCarthaginian wife into his house. It was by the flames kindled bythose nuptial torches that his palace had been consumed. That furyand pest had by every kind of fascination engrossed his affectionsand obscured his reason; nor had she rested till she had with her ownhands clad him with impious arms against his guest and friend. Yetruined and fallen as he was, he derived some consolation in hismisfortunes when he saw that that same pest and fury had beentransferred to the dwelling and household gods of the man who was ofall others his greatest enemy. That Masinissa was neither more prudentnor more firm than Syphax; but even more incautious by reason of hisyouth. Doubtless he had shown greater folly and want of self-controlin marrying her than he himself had. "

14. These words, dictated not merely by the hatred naturally felttowards an enemy, but also by the anguish of jealousy, on seeing theobject of his affections in the possession of his rival, affected themind of Scipio with no ordinary degree of anxiety. His accusationsagainst Masinissa derived credibility from the fact of the nuptialshaving, been celebrated in the most violent hurry, almost amid theclash of arms, without consulting or waiting for Laelius, and withsuch precipitate haste, that on the very day on which he saw thecaptive enemy he united himself with her in matrimony, and performedthe nuptial rite in the presence of the household gods of his enemy. This conduct appeared the more heinous to Scipio, because when a veryyoung man in Spain he had not allowed himself to be influenced bythe beauty of any captive. While ruminating on these circumstances, Laelius and Masinissa came up. Without making any distinction betweenthem he received them both with a cheerful countenance, and havingbestowed upon them the highest commendations before a full assemblyof his officers, he took Masinissa aside and thus addressed him:"I suppose, Masinissa, that it was because you saw in me some goodqualities that you at first came to me when in Spain, for the purposeof forming a friendship with me, and that afterwards in Africa youcommitted yourself and all your hopes to my protection. But of allthose virtues, on account of which I seemed to you worthy of yourregard, there is not one in which I gloried so much as temperance andthe control of my passions. I could wish that you also, Masinissa, had added this to your other distinguished qualities. There is not, believe me, there is not so much danger to be apprehended by personsat our time of life from armed foes, as from the pleasures whichsurround us on all sides. The man who by temperance has curbed andsubdued his appetite for them, has acquired for himself much greaterhonour and a much more important victory than we now enjoy in theconquest of Syphax. I have mentioned with delight, and I remember withpleasure, the instances of fortitude and courage which you displayedin my absence. As to other matters, I would rather that you shouldreflect upon them in private, than that you should be put to theblush by my reciting them. Syphax was subdued and captured underthe auspices of the Roman people; therefore he himself, his wife hiskingdom, his territories, his towns and their inhabitants, in short, every thing which belonged to him, is the booty of the Roman people, and it was proper that the king himself and his consort, even thoughshe had not been a citizen of Carthage, even though we did not see herfather commanding the armies of our enemies, should be sent to Rome, and that the senate and people of Rome should judge and determinerespecting her who is said to have alienated from us a king inalliance with us, and to have precipitated him into war with us. Subdue your passions. Beware how you deform many good qualities by onevice, and mar the credit of so many meritorious deeds by a degree ofguilt more than proportioned to the value of its object. "

15. While Masinissa heard these observations, he not only becamesuffused with blushes, but burst into tears; and after declaring thathe would submit to the discretion of the general, and imploring himthat, as far as circumstances would permit, he would consider theobligation he had rashly imposed upon himself, for he had promisedthat he would not deliver her into the power of any one, he retired inconfusion from the pavilion into his own tent. There, dismissinghis attendants, he spent a considerable time amid frequent sighs andgroans, which could be distinctly heard by those who stood around thetent. At last, heaving a deep groan, he called one of his servants inwhom he confided, in whose custody poison was kept, according to thecustom of kings, as a remedy against the unforeseen events of fortune, and ordered him to mix some in a cup and carry it to Sophonisba; atthe same time informing her that Masinissa would gladly have fulfilledthe first obligation which as a husband he owed to her his wife; butsince those who had the power of doing so had deprived him of theexercise of that right, he now performed his second promise, that sheshould not come alive into the power of the Romans. That, mindful ofher father the general, of her country, and of the two kings to whomshe had been married, she would take such measures as she herselfthought proper. When the servant came to Sophonisba bearing thismessage and the poison, she said, "I accept this nuptial present; noris it an unwelcome one, if my husband can render me no better service. Tell him, however, that I should have died with greater satisfactionhad I not married so near upon my death. " The spirit with which shespoke was equalled by the firmness with which she took and drained thechalice, without exhibiting any symptom of perturbation. When Scipiowas informed of this event, fearful lest the high-spirited youngman should in the distempered state of his mind adopt some desperateresolution, he immediately sent for him, and at one time endeavouredto solace him, at another gently rebuked him for expiating one act oftemerity with another, and rendering the affair more tragical than wasnecessary. The next day, in order to divert his mind from his presentaffliction, he ascended his tribunal and ordered an assembly to besummoned, in which having first saluted Masinissa with the title ofking, and distinguished him with the highest encomiums, he presentedhim with a golden goblet, a curule chair, an ivory sceptre, anembroidered gown, and a triumphal vest. He increased the honour byobserving, that among the Romans there was nothing more magnificentthan a triumph; and that those who triumphed were not arrayed withmore splendid ornaments than those with which the Roman peopleconsidered Masinissa alone, of all foreigners, worthy. He thenbestowed the highest commendations upon Laelius also, and presentedhim with a golden crown, and gave presents to the other militarycharacters proportioned to their respective merits. By these honoursthe king's mind was soothed, and encouraged to hope that he wouldspeedily become master of all Numidia, now that Syphax was removed. 

16. Scipio, having sent Caius Laelius with Syphax and the rest of theprisoners to Rome, with whom went also ambassadors from Masinissa, ledhis troops back again to Tunes, and completed the fortifications whichhe had before begun. The Carthaginians, who had experienced not onlya short-lived but almost groundless joy, from their attack upon thefleet, which, under existing circumstances, was tolerably successful, were so dismayed at the account of the capture of Syphax, in whom theyreposed almost greater confidence than in Hasdrubal and his army, thatnow listening no longer to any who advocated war, they sent thirtyof their principal elders as deputies to solicit peace. With them thecouncil of elders is held in the highest reverence, and has supremepower even to control the senate itself. When they came into the Romancamp and entered the pavilion, they prostrated themselves after themanner of those who pay profound adoration to kings, adopting thecustom, I suppose, from the country from which they derived theirorigin. Their language corresponded with such abject humiliation, forthey did not endeavour to deny their guilt, but charged Hannibal andthe favourers of his violent measures with being the originators ofit. They implored pardon for their state, which had been now twicebrought to the brink of ruin by the temerity of its citizens, andwould again owe its safety to the indulgence of its enemies. Theysaid, the object the Roman people aimed at in the subjugation of theirenemies was dominion, and not their destruction; that he might enjoinwhat he pleased upon them, as being prepared submissively to obey. Scipio replied, "that he had come into Africa with the hope, andthat hope had been increased by the success he had experienced in hisoperations, that he should carry home victory and not terms of peace. Still, though he had victory in a manner within his grasp, he wouldnot refuse all accommodation, that all the nations of the world mayknow that the Roman people both undertake and conclude wars withjustice. " The terms of peace which he prescribed were these: "Thatthey should restore the prisoners, deserters, and fugitives; withdrawtheir armies from Italy and Gaul; give up all claim to Spain; retirefrom all the islands between Italy and Africa; deliver up all theirships of war except twenty, and furnish five hundred thousand pecks ofwheat, and three hundred thousand of barley. " Authors are not agreedas to the sum of money he demanded. In some I find five thousandtalents; in others five thousand pounds' weight of silver; in others, that double pay for the troops was required. "Three days, " he said, "shall be allowed to deliberate whether you accept of peace on theseterms. If you do accept it, make a truce within me, and send deputiesto Rome to the senate. " The Carthaginians being thus dismissed, asthey thought it proper to accept of any conditions of peace, for theironly object was to gain time for Hannibal to cross over into Africa, sent some ambassadors to Scipio to conclude a truce, and others toRome to solicit peace; the latter taking with them a few prisoners, deserters, and fugitives, in order to facilitate the attainment ofpeace. 

17. Laelius with Syphax and the principal Numidian prisoners arrivedat Rome several days before, and laying before the senate all thetransactions which had occurred in Africa in order, the greatest joywas felt for the present, and the most sanguine anticipations formedof the future. The sense of the senate being then taken upon thesubject, they resolved that the king should be sent to Alba to be keptin custody, and that Laelius should be detained until the arrivalof the Carthaginian ambassadors. A supplication for four days wasdecreed. The senate breaking up and an assembly of the people beingthen called, Publius Aelius the praetor accompanied by Caius Laelius, mounted the rostrum. There, on hearing that the armies of theCarthaginians had been routed, that a king of the greatest renown hadbeen vanquished and made prisoner, that all Numidia had been overrunwith brilliant success, the people were unable to refrain fromexpressing their delight, but manifested their transports by shoutsand all the other means usually resorted to by the multitude. Thepraetor, therefore, immediately issued orders that the keepers shouldopen all the temples throughout the city, and that the people shouldbe allowed during the whole day to go round and make their adorationto the gods, and return their thanks. The next day he brought theambassadors of Masinissa before the senate. They in the first placecongratulated the senate on the successes of Scipio in Africa, andthen thanked them, not only for having saluted him with the title ofking, but for having made him one, by reinstating him in his paternaldominions, where, now that Syphax was removed, he would reign, if itwas the pleasure of the senate, without fear or opposition. Next, forhaving bestowed upon him the highest commendations in the assembly, and decorated him with the most magnificent presents, of whichMasinissa had endeavoured, and would in future endeavour, to renderhimself worthy. They requested that the senate would by a decreeconfirm the title of king with the other favours and benefitsconferred by Scipio, and, if it were not troublesome, they said, thatMasinissa further Requested that they would send home the Numidiancaptives who were detained at Rome; for that this boon would procurehim the esteem and honour of his countrymen. On these points thesenate replied to the ambassadors, "that they reciprocated thecongratulations of the king on the successes in Africa. That Scipiowas considered to have acted properly and regularly in saluting himwith the title of king, and that the senate applauded and approved ofevery thing else he had done which was gratifying to Masinissa. " Theyappointed by a decree what presents the ambassadors should carry tothe king; they were, two purple cloaks, each having a golden clasp, and each accompanied with vests and broad purple borders, two horsesarrayed with trappings, two suits of equestrian armour with coats ofmail, together with tents and other military apparatus such as thoseusually provided for a consul. These the praetor was directed to sendfor the king. The ambassadors were severally presented with not lessthan five thousand _asses_, their attendants with one thousand. Twosuits of apparel were presented to each of the ambassadors, and oneto each of their attendants and to the Numidians, who were dischargedfrom custody and given back to the king. In addition to these, dwellings, reserved by the state for such purposes, grounds, andentertainment, were assigned to the ambassadors. 

18. The same summer during which these decrees were passed at Rome, and these transactions took place in Africa, Publius QuinctiliusVarus, the praetor, and Marcus Cornelius, the proconsul, fought apitched battle with Mago the Carthaginian in the territories of theInsubrian Gauls. The legions of the praetor were in the first line;Cornelius kept his in reserve, riding forward into the front himself, and the praetor and proconsul, leading on the two wings, exhortedthe soldiers to attack the enemy with the utmost vigour. Finding theyproduced no impression upon the enemy, Quinctilius said to Cornelius:"The battle, as you perceive, does not proceed with spirit, the enemy, having succeeded in their resistance beyond expectation, have becomecallous to fear, and there is danger lest it should be converted intoboldness. We must stir up a tempest of cavalry if we wish to disorderand drive them from their ground; therefore, either do you sustain thefight in front, and I will lead the cavalry into the action; or else, I will act in the front line and you send out the cavalry of the fourlegions against the enemy. " The proconsul offering to take whicheverpart of the service the praetor pleased, Quinctilius the praetor, withhis son, surnamed Marcus, a spirited youth, went off to the cavalry, and desiring them to mount, instantly led them to the charge. Theconfusion on occasioned by these was increased by a shout raised bythe legions; nor would the line of the enemy have stood unbroken, hadnot Mago, as soon as he saw the cavalry in motion, immediately broughtinto the action his elephants, which he kept in readiness. The horseswere so terrified at the snorting, the smell, and appearance of theseanimals, that the aid of the cavalry was rendered ineffectual. As theRoman horseman had the advantage in point of efficiency in a closefight, when he could use his javelin and sword hand to hand, so theNumidians had the advantage when throwing their darts from a distanceupon enemies borne away from them by their terrified horses. At thesame time the twelfth legion, though a great number of them wereslain, maintained their ground through shame rather than a reliance ontheir strength; but they would not have continued to do so longer, had not the thirteenth legion, brought up into the front line from thereserve, taken up the doubtful conflict. Mago, also, bringing up theGauls from his reserve, opposed them to the fresh legion. The Gaulsbeing routed without any great effort, the spearmen of the eleventhlegion formed themselves into a circular body and charged theelephants, which were now disordering the line of infantry; and asscarcely one of the javelins which they threw upon them failed oftaking effect, as they were close together, they turned them allupon the line of their own party. Four of them fell overpowered withwounds. It was then that the front line of the enemy gave ground, thewhole body of the Roman infantry at the same time rushing forward toincrease the panic and confusion, on seeing the elephants turn theirbacks. As long as Mago stood in front, the troops stepped back slowly, preserving their ranks and not relaxing their ardour in fighting;but when they saw him falling, from a wound in his thigh, which wastransfixed, and carried off the field almost lifeless, in an instantthey all betook themselves to flight. As many as five thousand of theenemy were slain, and twenty-two military standards captured on thatday. Nor did the Romans obtain a bloodless victory. Two thousand threehundred of the army of the praetor, by far the greater part of whombelonged to the twelfth legion, were lost. Two military tribunes, Marcus Cosconius and Marcus Maenius, of the same legion; and of thethirteenth legion also, which joined in the action at its close, Cneius Helvius, a military tribune, fell in restoring the fight;and about twenty-two distinguished horsemen, together with severalcenturions, were trampled upon and killed by the elephants. Thecontest would have continued longer, had not the enemy conceded thevictory, in consequence of the wound of their general. 

19. Mago, setting out during the silence of the succeeding night, andmarching as far at a time as his wounds would allow him, reachedthe sea-coast in the territory of the Ingaunian Ligurians. Hereambassadors from Carthage, who had put into the Gallic bay a few daysbefore, came to him with directions to cross over into Africa with allspeed; informing him that his brother Hannibal, for to him also theysaid ambassadors had gone with similar directions, would do the same, for the affairs of the Carthaginians were not in a condition toadmit of their occupying Gaul and Italy with armies. Mago, notonly influenced by the command of the senate and the danger whichthreatened his country, but fearful also lest the victorious enemyshould be upon him if he delayed, and lest the Ligurians themselves, seeing that the Carthaginians were leaving Italy, should pass overto those under whose power they were likely soon to be placed; at thesame time hoping that his wound would be less irritated by the motionof sailing than marching, and that he would have greater facilitiesfor the cure of it, put his troops on board and set sail. But he hadscarcely cleared Sardinia when he died of his wound. Several also ofhis ships, which had been dispersed in the main sea, were captured bythe Roman fleet which lay near Sardinia. Such were the transactions bysea and land in that part of Italy which is adjacent to the Alps. The consul, Caius Servilius, without having performed any memorableachievement in Etruria, his province, and in Gaul, for he had advancedthither also, but having rescued from slavery, which they had enduredfor now the sixteenth year, his father, Caius Servilius, and hisuncle, Caius Lutatius, who had been taken by the Boians at the villageof Tanetum, returned to Rome with his father on one side of him andhis uncle on the other, distinguished, by family, rather than bypublic, honours. It was proposed to the people, that Caius Serviliusshould be indemnified for having filled the offices of plebeiantribune and plebeian aedile contrary to what was established by thelaws, while his father, who had sat in the curule chair, was stillalive, he being ignorant of that circumstance. This propositionhaving been carried, he returned to his province. The towns Consentia, Uffugum, Vergae, Besidiae, Hetriculum, Sypheum, Argentanum, Clampetia, and many other inconsiderable states, perceiving that the Carthaginiancause was declining, went over to Cneius Servilius the consul inBruttium. The same consul fought a battle with Hannibal, in theterritory of Croto. The accounts of this battle are not clear. Valerius Antias states that five thousand men were slain. But thisis an event of such magnitude, that either it must be an impudentfiction, or negligently omitted. It is certain that nothing furtherwas done by Hannibal in Italy; for ambassadors from Carthage, recalling him into Africa, came to him, as it happened, at the sametime that they came to Mago. 

20. It is said that when Hannibal heard the message of the ambassadorshe gnashed with his teeth, groaned, and scarcely refrained fromshedding tears. After they had delivered the commands with whichthey were charged, he said: "Those who have for a long time beenendeavouring to drag me home, by forbidding the sending of suppliesand money to me, now recall me, not indirectly, but openly. Hannibal, therefore, hath been conquered, not by the Roman people, who have beenso often slain and routed, but by the Carthaginian senate, throughenvy and detraction; nor will Publius Scipio exult and glory in thisunseemly return so much as Hanno, who has crushed our family, sincehe could not effect it by any other means, by the ruins of Carthage. "Already had his mind entertained a presentiment of this event, and hehad accordingly prepared ships beforehand. Having, therefore, sent acrowd of useless soldiers under pretence of garrisons into the townsin the Bruttian territory, a few of which continued their adherence tohim, more through fear than attachment, he transported the strengthof his army into Africa. Many natives of Italy who, refusing to followhim into Africa had retired to the shrine of Juno Lacinia, which hadnever been violated up to that day, were barbarously massacred in thevery temple. It is related, that rarely any person leaving hiscountry to go into exile exhibited deeper sorrow than Hannibal did ondeparting from the land of his enemies; that he frequently looked backupon the shores of Italy, and, arraigning both gods and men, cursedhimself and his own head that he did not lead his troops, whilereeking with blood from the victory at Cannae, to Rome. Scipio, whosince his appointment to the office of consul had not looked at theCarthaginian enemy in Italy, had dared, he said, to go and attackCarthage, while he, after slaying a hundred thousand fighting men atTrasimenus and Cannae, had suffered his strength to wear away aroundCasilinum, Cumae, and Nola. Amid these reproaches and complaints hewas borne away from his long occupation of Italy. 

21. At the same time intelligence was brought to Rome that both Magoand Hannibal had taken their departure. But the delight occasioned bythis twofold source of joy was diminished by the reflection that theircommanders had wanted either spirit or strength sufficient to detainthem, for they had been charged by the senate to do so; and also inconsequence of the anxiety they felt for the issue of a contest, inwhich the whole weight of the war rested on the efforts of one generaland his army. About the same time ambassadors from Saguntum arrived, bringing with them some Carthaginians who had crossed over into Spainfor the purpose of hiring auxiliaries, having seized them and themoney they had with them. They laid down in the vestibule of thesenate-house two hundred and fifty pounds' weight of gold, and eighthundred of silver. After the men had been received and thrown intoprison, and the gold and silver returned, the ambassadors werethanked, and received, besides, presents and ships to convey them backinto Spain. Some of the older senators then observed, that men wereless powerfully affected by prosperity than adversity. That theythemselves remembered what terror and consternation had beenoccasioned by the passage of Hannibal into Italy; what disasters andwhat lamentations had followed that event. When the camp of the enemywas seen from their walls, what vows were poured forth by each andall! How often, extending their hands to heaven, exclamations wereheard in their assemblies. Oh! will that day ever arrive when we shallbehold Italy cleared of her enemies and enjoying the blessings ofpeace! The gods, they said, had at length, in the sixteenth year, granted that favour and yet there was no one who proposed that thanksshould be returned to them for it. That if men received a presentblessing so ungratefully, they would not be very mindful of it when itwas past. In consequence of this a general shout was raised from everypart of the senate-house, that Publius Aelius the praetor, shouldlay the matter before the senate, and a decree was passed, that asupplication should be performed at all the shrines for the space offive days, and that a hundred and twenty victims of the larger sortshould be immolated. Laelius and the ambassadors of Masinissa havingbeen by this time dismissed, and intelligence having arrived thatambassadors of the Carthaginians, who were coming to the senate totreat about peace, had been seen at Puteoli, and would proceed thenceby land, it was resolved, that Caius Laelius should be recalled, that the negotiations respecting the peace might take place in hispresence. Quintus Fulvius Gillo, a lieutenant-general of Scipio, conducted the Carthaginians to Rome; and as they were forbidden toenter the city, they were lodged in a country-house belonging to thestate, and admitted to an audience of the senate at the temple ofBellona. 

22. They addressed the senate in nearly the same terms as theyhad employed before Scipio; laying the whole blame of the war uponHannibal, and exculpating their state. They declared, that he had notonly crossed the Alps, but the Iberus also, without the sanctionof the senate; and that he had made war not only on the Romans, but previously on the Saguntines also, on his own individualresponsibility. That, if the question were viewed in its proper light, it would be found that the league between the senate and people ofCarthage and the Romans remained unbroken up to that day. Accordingly, all they had in charge to solicit was, that they might be allowed tocontinue in the enjoyment of that peace which was last entered intowith the consul Caius Lutatius. When the praetor, according tothe custom handed down from their ancestors, had given the fatherspermission to ask the ambassadors any questions they might be pleasedto put, and the older members who had been present at the makingof the treaties had put some one question and others another, theambassadors declared that they were not old enough to recollect, forthey were nearly all of them young men. Upon this every part of thesenate-house resounded with exclamations, that with Carthaginianknavery men had been chosen to solicit a renewal of the old peace whodid not recollect its terms. 

23. After this, the ambassadors having been removed out of thesenate-house, the senators began to be asked their opinions. MarcusLivius recommended, that Caius Servilius, the consul nearest home, should be sent for, that he might be present at the proceedingsrelative to the peace; for as it was impossible that any subject ofdeliberation could occur of greater importance than the present, hedid not see how it could be discussed, consistently with the dignityof the Roman people, in the absence of one or both of the consuls. Quintus Metellus, who three years before had been consul, and hadfilled the office of dictator, said that, since Publius Scipio, bydestroying the armies and by devastating the lands of the enemy, hadreduced them to such a state that they were compelled as supplicantsto sue for peace; and as no one could estimate with more truth theintentions with which it was solicited, than he who was prosecutingthe war before the gates of Carthage; the peace should be rejectedor adopted on the advice of none other than Scipio. Marcus ValeriusLaevinus, who had been twice consul, endeavoured to show that thosewho had come were spies, and not ambassadors; that they ought to beordered to depart from Italy; that guards should be sent with them totheir very ships, and that Scipio should be written to not to relaxin prosecuting the war. Laelius and Fulvius added, that Scipio hadgrounded his hopes of effecting a peace on Hannibal and Mago notbeing recalled from Italy. He considered that the Carthaginians wouldpractise every species of dissimulation, in expectation of thearrival of those generals and their armies, and then, forgetful of alltreaties, however recent, and all gods, would proceed with the war. For these reasons they were the more disposed to adopt the opinion ofLaevinus. The ambassadors were dismissed without having accomplishedthe peace, and almost without an answer. 

24. About the same time Cneius Servilius, the consul, not doubting butthat he should enjoy the glory of having restored Italy to a state ofpeace, pursued Hannibal, whom he considered had fled before him, andcrossed over into Sicily, with the intention of proceeding thence intoAfrica. As soon as this became known at Rome, at first the fathersgave it as their opinion, that the praetor should inform the consulby letter that the senate thought it proper that he should return intoItaly; but afterwards, the praetor declaiming that he would not heedhis letter, Publius Sulpicius, who was created dictator for thisvery purpose, recalled the consul to Italy, in virtue of his superiorauthority. The remainder of the year he employed in conjunction withMarcus Servilius, his master of the horse, in going round to thecities of Italy, which had been alienated from the Romans during thewar, and in taking cognizance of the cases of each. During the time ofthe truce, Lentulus the praetor sent over into Africa, from Sardinia, a hundred transports with stores, under a convoy of twenty ships ofwar, without meeting with any injury either from the enemy or storms. The same good fortune did not attend Cneius Octavius, while crossingover from Sicily with two hundred transports and thirty men of war. Having experienced a prosperous voyage until he arrived almost withinsight of Africa, at first the wind dropped, but afterwards changing tothe south-west, it dispersed his ships in every direction. He himselfwith the ships of war, having struggled through the opposing billowsby the extraordinary exertions of his rowers, made the promontory ofApollo. The greater part of the transports were driven to Aegimurus, an island filling the mouth of the bay on which Carthage stands, and about thirty miles from the city; the rest were driven on shoredirectly opposite the city, near the warm baths. The whole occurrencewas within sight of Carthage, and, accordingly, the people ran incrowds to the forum, from every part of the city. The magistratessummoned the senate, and the people were yelling in the vestibule ofthe senate-house, lest so great a booty should escape from their handsand their sight. Though some urged as an objection the obligationimposed upon them by having solicited peace, and others the restraintoccasioned by the existence of a truce, the period of which had notyet expired, it was agreed in an assembly, made up almost of amixture of the senate and people, that Hasdrubal should cross over toAegimurus with fifty ships, and, proceeding thence, pick up the Romanships scattered along the coasts and in the different ports. First thetransports from Aegimurus, and then those from the baths, abandoned bythe crews, were towed to Carthage. 

25. The ambassadors had not as yet returned from Rome, nor was itknown whether the Roman senate had pronounced in favour of peaceor war; nor as yet had the period of the truce expired. Scipio, therefore, considering that the malignity of their offence washeightened by the fact, that, though they had solicited peace anda truce, they had cut off all hopes of the former and violated thelatter, immediately despatched Lucius Baebius, Lucius Sergius, andLucius Fabius, as ambassadors to Carthage. These, having narrowlyescaped violence from the assembled multitude, and perceiving thatthey would be exposed to similar danger on their return, requested ofthe magistrates, by whose aid they had been protected from violence, to send ships to escort them. Two triremes were assigned them, which, when they had come to the river Bagradas, whence the Roman camp couldbe seen, returned to Carthage. The Carthaginian fleet was stationed atUtica, and from this three quadriremes were despatched, which suddenlyattacked the Roman quinquereme from the main sea, while doubling thepromontory, either owing to a message sent from Carthage thatthis should be done, or that Hasdrubal, who commanded the fleet, perpetrated the atrocity without public connivance. But neither couldthey strike it with their beaks from the rapidity with which it evadedthem, nor could the fighting men board the higher from lower vessels. The quinquereme was gallantly defended as long as their weaponslasted; but these failing, and there being now nothing which couldsave them but the nearness of the land, and the multitude which hadpoured out from the camp upon the shore, they communicated a rapidmotion to the vessel by means of their oars, and running her againstthe shore with all the force they could, they escaped themselveswithout injury, and only lost the vessel. Thus when the truce hadbeen unequivocally violated by repeated acts of villany, Laelius andFulvius arrived from Rome with the Carthaginian ambassadors. Scipiotold them, that although the Carthaginians had not only broken theirfaith pledged in the truce, but had also violated the laws of nationsin the persons of his ambassadors, yet he would not in their casedo any thing unworthy of the maxims of the Roman people or his ownprinciples; after saying which, he dismissed the ambassadors andprepared for war. When Hannibal was now drawing near land, one of thesailors, who was ordered to climb the mast to see what part of thecountry they were making, said the prow pointed toward a demolishedsepulchre, when Hannibal, recognising the inauspicious omen, orderedthe pilot to steer by that place, and putting in his fleet at Leptis, landed his forces there. 

26. Such were the transactions in Africa this year. Those whichfollowed extended themselves into that year in which Marcus ServiliusGeminus, who was then master of the horse and Tiberius Claudius Nerowere consuls. However, at the close of the former year, deputies fromthe allied states in Greece having arrived with complaints that theirlands had been devastated by the king's garrisons, and that theirambassadors, who had gone into Macedonia to demand restitution hadnot been admitted into the presence of Philip; and having also broughtinformation that four thousand men were said to have been conveyedover into Africa, under the conduct of Sopater, to assist theCarthaginians, and that a considerable quantity of money had been sentwith them; the senate resolved that ambassadors should be sent to theking to inform him that the fathers considered that these acts werecontrary to the treaty. The persons sent were Caius Terentius Varro, Caius Mamilius, and Marcus Aurelius. Three quinqueremes were assignedto them. This year was rendered remarkable by a most extensive fire, by which the buildings on the Publician hill were burned to theground, and by the greatness of the floods. But still provisions werecheap, not only because, as it was a time of peace, supplies could beobtained from every part of Italy, but also because Marcus ValeriusFalto and Marcus Fabius Buteo, the curule aediles, distributed to thepeople, so much for each street, at the rate of four _asses_ a bushel, a great quantity of corn which had been sent out of Spain. The sameyear died Quintus Fabius Maximus at an advanced age, if, indeed, it betrue that he was augur sixty-two years, which some historians relate. He was a man unquestionably worthy of the high surname which he bore, even had it begun with him. He surpassed the honours of his father, and equalled those of his grandfather. His grandfather, Rullus, wasdistinguished by a greater number of victories and more importantbattles; but one antagonist like Hannibal is sufficient tocounterbalance them all. He was esteemed rather cautious thanspirited; and though it may be questioned whether he was naturallydilatory, or whether he adopted that kind of conduct because it waspeculiarly suited to the war which he was carrying on, yet nothing canbe more clear that he was that one man who by his delay retrievedour affairs, as Ennius says. Quintus Fabius Maximus, his son, wasconsecrated augur in his room. In the room of the same, for he heldtwo priesthoods, Servius Sulpicius Galba was consecrated pontiff. The Roman games were repeated for one day, the plebeian were thricerepeated entire by the aediles, Marcus Sextius Sabinus and CneiusTremellius Flaccus. Both these were elected praetors, and with themCaius Livius Salinator and Caius Aurelius Cotta. The difference in theaccounts of historians renders it uncertain whether Caius Serviliusthe consul presided in the elections this year, or Publius Sulpicius, nominated dictator by him, because business detained him in Etruria;being engaged, according to a decree of the senate, in makinginquisitions respecting the conspiracies of the principal inhabitants. 

27. In the beginning of the following year, Marcus Servilius andTiberius Claudius, having assembled the senate, consulted themrespecting the provinces. As both were desirous of having Africa, theywished Italy and Africa to be disposed of by lots; but, principally inconsequence of the exertions of Quintus Metellus, Africa was neitherassigned to any one nor withheld. The consuls were ordered to makeapplication to the tribunes of the people, to the effect, that, ifthey thought proper, they should put it to the people to decide whomthey wished to conduct the war in Africa. All the tribes nominatedPublius Scipio. Nevertheless, the consuls put the province of Africato the lot, for so the senate had decreed. Africa fell to the lot ofTiberius Claudius, who was to cross over into Africa with a fleet offifty ships, all quinqueremes, and have an equal command with Scipio. Marcus Servilius obtained Etruria. Caius Servilius was continued incommand in the same province, in case the senate resolved that theconsul should remain at the city. Of the praetors, Marcus Sextusobtained Gaul; which province, together with two legions, PubliusQuinctilius Varus was to deliver to him; Caius Livius obtainedBruttium, with the two legions which Publius Sempronius, theproconsul, had commanded the former year; Cneius Tremellius hadSicily, and was to receive the province and two legions fromPublius Villius Tappulus, a praetor of the former year; Villius, aspropraetor, was to protect the coast of Sicily with twenty men of war, and a thousand soldiers; and Marcus Pomponius was to convey thenceto Rome one thousand five hundred soldiers, with the remaining twentyships. The city jurisdiction fell to Caius Aurelius Cotta; and therest of the praetors were continued in command of the respectiveprovinces and armies which they then had. Not more than sixteenlegions were employed this year in the defence of the empire. And, that they might have the gods favourably disposed towards them in alltheir undertakings and proceedings, it was ordered that the consuls, before they set out to the war, should celebrate those games, andsacrifice those victims of the larger sort, which, in the consulateof Marcus Claudius Marcellus and Titus Quinctius, Titus Manlius, thedictator, had vowed, provided the commonwealth should continue in thesame state for the next five years. The games were exhibited in thecircus during four days, and the victims sacrificed to those deitiesto whom they had been vowed. 

28. Meanwhile, hope and anxiety daily and simultaneously increased;nor could the minds of men be brought to any fixed conclusion, whetherit was a fit subject for rejoicing, that Hannibal had now at length, after the sixteenth year, departed from Italy, and left the Romans inthe unmolested possession of it, or whether they had not greater causeto fear, from his having transported his army in safety into Africa. They said that the scene of action certainly was changed, but not thedanger. That Quintus Fabius, lately deceased, who had foretold howarduous the contest would be, was used to predict, not without goodreason, that Hannibal would prove a more formidable enemy in his owncountry than he had been in a foreign one; and that Scipio would haveto encounter not Syphax, a king of undisciplined barbarians, whosearmies Statorius, a man little better than a soldier's drudge, wasused to lead; nor his father-in-law, Hasdrubal, that most fugaciousgeneral; nor tumultuary armies hastily collected out of a crowd ofhalf-armed rustics, but Hannibal, born in a manner in the pavilionof his father, that bravest of generals, nurtured and educated inthe midst of arms, who served as a soldier formerly, when a boy, andbecame a general when he had scarcely attained the age of manhood;who, having grown old in victory, had filled Spain, Gaul, and Italy, from the Alps to the strait, with monuments of his vast achievements;who commanded troops who had served as long as he had himself; troopshardened by the endurance of every species of suffering, such as itis scarcely credible that men could have supported; stained a thousandtimes with Roman blood, and bearing with them the spoils not only ofsoldiers but of generals. That many would meet the eyes of Scipio inbattle who had with their own hands slain Roman praetors, generals, and consuls; many decorated with crowns, in reward for having scaledwalls and crossed ramparts; many who had traversed the captured campsand cities of the Romans. That the magistrates of the Roman peoplehad not then so many fasces as Hannibal could have carried before him, having taken them from generals whom he had slain. While their mindswere harassed by these apprehensions, their anxiety and fears werefurther increased from the circumstance, that, whereas they had beenaccustomed to carry on war for several years, in different parts ofItaly, and within their view, with languid hopes, and without theprospect of bringing it to a speedy termination, Scipio and Hannibalhad stimulated the minds of all, as generals prepared for a finalcontest. Even those persons whose confidence in Scipio and hopesof victory were great, were affected with anxiety, increasing inproportion as they saw their completion approaching. The state offeeling among the Carthaginians was much the same; for, when theyturned their eyes on Hannibal, and the greatness of his achievements, they repented having solicited peace; but when again they reflectedthat they had been twice defeated in a pitched battle, that Syphax hadbeen made prisoner, that they had been driven out of Spain and Italy, and that all this had been effected by the valour and conduct ofScipio alone, they regarded him with horror, as a general marked outby destiny, and born, for their destruction. 

29. Hannibal had by this time arrived at Adrumetum; from which place, after employing a few days there in refreshing his soldiers, who hadsuffered from the motion by sea, he proceeded by forced marches toZama, roused by the alarming statements of messengers, who broughtword, that all the country around Carthage was filled with armedtroops. Zama is distant from Carthage a five days' journey. Somespies, whom he sent out from this place, being intercepted by theRoman guard, and brought before Scipio, he directed that they shouldbe handed over to the military tribunes, and after having been desiredfearlessly to survey every thing, to be conducted through the campwherever they chose; then, asking them whether they had examined everything to their satisfaction, he assigned them an escort, and sent themback to Hannibal. Hannibal received none of the circumstances whichwere reported to him with feelings of joy; for they brought word that, as it happened, Masinissa had joined the enemy that very day, withsix thousand infantry and four thousand horse; but he was principallydispirited by the confidence of his enemy, which, doubtless, was notconceived without some ground. Accordingly, though he himself was theoriginator of the war, and by his coming had upset the truce which hadbeen entered into, and cut off all hopes of a treaty, yet concludingthat more favourable terms might be obtained if he solicited peacewhile his strength was unimpaired, than when vanquished, he sent amessage to Scipio, requesting permission to confer with him. I haveno means of affirming whether he did this on his own spontaneoussuggestion, or by the advice of his state. Valerius Antias says, that after having been beaten by Scipio in a battle, in which twelvethousand armed men were slain, and one thousand seven hundred madeprisoners, he came himself with ten other deputies into the campto Scipio. However, as Scipio did not decline the proposal for aconference, both the generals, by concert, brought their camps forwardin order to facilitate their meeting by shortening the distance. Scipio took up his position not far from the city Naragara, in asituation convenient not only for other purposes, but also becausethere was a watering place within a dart's throw. Hannibal tookpossession of an eminence four miles thence, safe and convenient inevery respect, except that he had a long way to go for water. Here, in the intermediate space, a place was chosen, open to view from allsides, that there might be no opportunity for treachery. 

30. Their armed attendants having retired to an equal distance, theymet, each attended by one interpreter, being the greatest generals notonly of their own times, but of any to be found in the records of thetimes preceding them, and equal to any of the kings or generals ofany nation whatever. When they came within sight of each other theyremained silent for a short time, thunderstruck, as it were, withmutual admiration. At length Hannibal thus began: "Since fate hath soordained it, that I, who was the first to wage war upon the Romans, and who have so often had victory almost within my reach, shouldvoluntarily come to sue for peace, I rejoice that it is you, above allothers, from whom it is my lot to solicit it. To you, also, amid themany distinguished events of your life, it will not be esteemed oneof the least glorious, that Hannibal, to whom the gods had so oftengranted victory over the Roman generals, should have yielded toyou; and that you should have put an end to this war, which has beenrendered remarkable by your calamities before it was by ours. In thisalso fortune would seem to have exhibited a disposition to sport withevents, for it was when your father was consul that I first took uparms; he was the first Roman general with whom I engaged in a pitchedbattle; and it is to his son that I now come unarmed to solicit peace. It were indeed most to have been desired, that the gods should haveput such dispositions into the minds of our fathers, that you shouldhave been content with the empire of Italy, and we with thatof Africa: nor, indeed, even to you, are Sicily and Sardinia ofsufficient value to compensate you for the loss of so many fleets, somany armies, so many and such distinguished generals. But what is pastmay be more easily censured than retrieved. In our attempts to acquirethe possessions of others we have been compelled to fight for our own;and not only have you had a war in Italy, and we also in Africa, butyou have beheld the standards and arms of your enemies almost inyour gates and on your walls, and we now, from the walls of Carthage, distinctly hear the din of a Roman camp. What, therefore, we shouldmost earnestly deprecate, and you should most devoutly wish for, isnow the case: peace is proposed at a time when you have the advantage. We who negotiate it are the persons whom it most concerns to obtainit, and we are persons whose arrangements, be they what they will, our states will ratify. All we want is a disposition not aversefrom peaceful counsels. As far as relates to myself, time, (for Iam returning to that country an old man which I left a boy, ) andprosperity, and adversity, have so schooled me, that I am moreinclined to follow reason than fortune. But I fear your youth anduninterrupted good fortune, both of which are apt to inspire a degreeof confidence ill comporting with pacific counsels. Rarely doesthat man consider the uncertainty of events whom fortune hath neverdeceived. What I was at Trasimenus, and at Cannae, that you are thisday. Invested with command when you had scarcely yet attainedthe military age, though all your enterprises were of the boldestdescription, in no instance has fortune deserted you. Avenging thedeath of your father and uncle, you have derived from the calamity ofyour house the high honour of distinguished valour and filial duty. You have recovered Spain, which had been lost, after driving thencefour Carthaginian armies. When elected consul, though all otherswanted courage to defend Italy, you crossed over into Africa; wherehaving cut to pieces two armies, having at once captured and burnt twocamps in the same hour; having made prisoner Syphax, a most powerfulking, and seized so many towns of his dominions and so many of ours, you have dragged me from Italy, the possession of which I had firmlyheld for now sixteen years. Your mind, I say, may possibly be moredisposed to conquest than peace. I know the spirits of your countryaim rather at great than useful objects. On me, too, a similar fortuneonce shone. But if with prosperity the gods would also bestow upon ussound judgment, we should not only consider those things which havehappened, but those also which may occur. Even if you should forgetall others, I am myself a sufficient instance of every vicissitudeof fortune. For me, whom a little while ago you saw advancing mystandards to the walls of Rome, after pitching my camp between theAnio and your city, you now behold here, bereft of my two brothers, men of consummate bravery, and most renowned generals, standingbefore the walls of my native city, which is all but besieged, anddeprecating, in behalf of my own city, those severities with which Iterrified yours. In all cases, the most prosperous fortune is least tobe depended upon. While your affairs are in a favourable and ours ina dubious state, you would derive honour and splendour from grantingpeace; while to us who solicit it, it would considered as necessaryrather than honourable. A certain peace is better and safer than avictory in prospect; the former is at your own disposal, the latterdepends upon the gods. Do not place at the hazard of a single hour thesuccesses of so many years. When you consider your own strength, thenalso place before your view the power of fortune, and the fluctuatingnature of war. On both sides there will be arms, on both sides humanbodies. In nothing less than in war do events correspond (with men'scalculations). Should you be victorious in a battle, you will not addso much to that renown which you now have it in your power to acquireby granting peace, as you will detract from it should any adverseevent befall you. The chance of a single hour may at once overturn thehonours you have acquired and those you anticipate. Every thing is atyour own disposal in adjusting a peace; but, in the other case, youmust be content with that fortune which the gods shall impose uponyou. Formerly, in this same country, Marcus Atilius would have formedone among the few instances of good fortune and valour, if, whenvictorious, he had granted a peace to our fathers when they requestedit; but by not setting any bounds to his success, and not checkinggood fortune, which was elating him, he fell with a degree of ignominyproportioned to his elevation. It is indeed the right of him whogrants, and not of him who solicits it, to dictate the terms of peace;but perhaps we may not be unworthy to impose upon ourselves the fine. We do not refuse that all those possessions on account of which thewar was begun should be yours; Sicily, Sardinia, Spain, with all theislands lying in any part of the sea, between Africa and Italy. Let usCarthaginians, confined within the shores of Africa, behold you, sincesuch is the pleasure of the gods, extending your empire over foreignnations, both by sea and land. I cannot deny that you have reason tosuspect the Carthaginian faith, in consequence of their insinceritylately in soliciting a peace and while awaiting the decision. Thesincerity with which a peace will be observed, depends much, Scipio, on the person by whom it is sought. Your senate, as I hear, refused togrant a peace in some measure because the deputies were deficient inrespectability. It is I, Hannibal, who now solicit peace; who wouldneither ask for it unless I believed it expedient, nor will I failto observe it for the same reason of expedience on account of whichI have solicited it. And in the same manner as I, because the war wascommenced by me, brought it to pass that no one regretted it till thegods began to regard me with displeasure; so will I also exert myselfthat no one may regret the peace procured by my means. "

31. In answer to these things the Roman general spoke nearly to thefollowing effect: "I was aware that it was in consequence of theexpectation of your arrival, that the Carthaginians violated theexisting faith of the truce and broke off all hope of a peace. Nor, indeed, do you conceal the fact; inasmuch as you artfully withdrawfrom the former conditions of peace every concession except whatrelates to those things which have for a long time been in our ownpower. But as it is your object, that your countrymen should besensible how great a burden they are relieved from by your means, soit is incumbent upon me to endeavour that they may not receive, asthe reward of their perfidy, the concessions which they formerlystipulated, by expunging them now from the conditions of the peace. Though you do not deserve to be allowed the same conditions as before, you now request even to be benefited by your treachery. Neither didour fathers first make war respecting Sicily, nor did we respectingSpain. In the former case the danger which threatened our allies theMamertines, and in the present the destruction of Saguntum, girdedus with just and pious arms. That you were the aggressors, both youyourselves confess, and the gods are witnesses, who determinedthe issue of the former war, and who are now determining and willdetermine the issue of the present according to right and justice. Asto myself, I am not forgetful of the instability of human affairs, but consider the influence of fortune, and am well aware that allour measures are liable to a thousand casualties. But as I shouldacknowledge that my conduct would savour of insolence and oppression, if I rejected you on your coming in person to solicit peace, beforeI crossed over into Africa, you voluntarily retiring from Italy, andafter you had embarked your troops; so now, when I have dragged youinto Africa almost by manual force, notwithstanding your resistanceand evasions, I am not bound to treat you with any respect. Wherefore, if in addition to those stipulations on which it was considered that apeace would at that time have been agreed upon, and what they are youare informed, a compensation is proposed for having seized our ships, together with their stores, during a truce, and for the violenceoffered to our ambassadors, I shall then have matter to lay before mycouncil. But if these things also appear oppressive, prepare for war, since you could not brook the conditions of peace. " Thus, withouteffecting an accommodation, when they had returned from the conferenceto their armies, they informed them that words had been bandied to nopurpose, that the question must be decided by arms, and that they mustaccept that fortune which the gods assigned them. 

32. When they had arrived at their camps, they both issued orders thattheir soldiers should get their arms in readiness, and prepare theirminds for the final contest; in which, if fortune should favour them, they would continue victorious, not for a single day, but for ever. "Before to-morrow night, " they said, "they would know whether Rome orCarthage should give laws to the world; and that neither Africa norItaly, but the whole world, would be the prize of victory. That thedangers which threatened those who had the misfortune to be defeated, were proportioned to the rewards of the victors. " For the Romans hadnot any place of refuge in an unknown and foreign land, and immediatedestruction seemed to await Carthage, if the troops which formedher last reliance were defeated. To this important contest, theday following, two generals, by far the most renowned of any, andbelonging to two of the most powerful nations in the world, advanced, either to crown or overthrow, on that day, the many honours they hadpreviously acquired. Their minds, therefore, were agitated with theopposite feelings of hope and fear; and while they contemplated atone time their own troops, at another those of their enemy, estimatingtheir powers more by sight than by reason, they saw in them at oncethe grounds for joy and grief. Those circumstances which did not occurto the troops themselves spontaneously, their generals suggested bytheir admonitions and exhortations. The Carthaginian recounted hisachievements in the land of Italy during sixteen years the many Romangenerals and armies annihilated, reminding each individually of thehonours he had acquired as he came to any soldier who had obtaineddistinction in any of his battles. Scipio referred to Spain, therecent battles in Africa and the enemy's own confession, that theycould not through fear but solicit peace, nor could they, throughtheir inveterate perfidy, abide by it. In addition to this he gavewhat turn he pleased to his conference with Hannibal, which was heldin private, and was therefore open to misrepresentation. He auguredsuccess that the gods had exhibited the same omens to them on goingout to battle on the present occasion, as they had to their fatherswhen they fought at the islands Aegates. He told them that thetermination of the war, and their hardships, had arrived; that theyhad within their grasp the spoils of Carthage, and the power ofreturning home to their country, their parents, their children, theirwives, and their household gods. He delivered these observations witha body so erect, and with a countenance so full of exultation, thatone would have supposed that he had already conquered. He then drew uphis troops, posting the hastati in front, the principes behind them, and closing his rear line with the triarii. 

33. He did not draw up his cohorts in close order, but each beforetheir respective standards; placing the companies at some distancefrom each other, so as to leave a space through which the elephants ofthe enemy passing might not at all break their ranks. Laelius, whom hehad employed before as lieutenant-general, but this year as quaestor, by special appointment, according to a decree of the senate, he postedwith the Italian cavalry in the left wing, Masinissa and the Numidiansin the right. The open spaces between the companies of those in thevan he filled with velites, which then formed the Roman light-armedtroops, with an injunction, that on the charge of the elephants theyshould either retire behind the files, which extended in a right line, or, running to the right and left and placing themselves by the sideof those in the van, afford a passage by which the elephants mightrush in between weapons on both sides. Hannibal, in order to terrifythe enemy, drew up his elephants in front, and he had eighty ofthem, being more than he had ever had in any battle; behind these hisLigurian and Gallic auxiliaries, with Balearians and Moors intermixed. In the second line he placed the Carthaginians, Africans, and a legionof Macedonians; then, leaving a moderate interval, he formed a reserveof Italian troops, consisting principally of Bruttians, more ofwhom had followed him on his departure from Italy by compulsion andnecessity than by choice. His cavalry also he placed in the wings, theCarthaginian occupying the right, the Numidian the left. Various werethe means of exhortation employed in an army consisting of a mixtureof so many different kinds of men; men differing in language, customslaws, arms, dress, and appearance, and in the motives for serving. To the auxiliaries, the prospect both of their present pay, and manytimes more from the spoils, was held out. The Gauls were stimulatedby their peculiar and inherent animosity against the Romans. To theLigurians the hope was held out of enjoying the fertile plains ofItaly, and quitting their rugged mountains, if victorious. The Moorsand Numidians were terrified with subjection to the government ofMasinissa, which he would exercise with despotic severity. Differentgrounds of hope and fear were represented to different persons. Theview of the Carthaginians was directed to the walls of their city, their household gods, the sepulchres of their ancestors, theirchildren and parents, and their trembling wives; they were told, thateither the destruction of their city and slavery or the empire of theworld awaited them; that there was nothing intermediate which theycould hope for or fear. While the general was thus busily employedamong the Carthaginians, and the captains of the respective nationsamong their countrymen, most of them employing interpreters amongtroops intermixed with those of different nations, the trumpets andcornets of the Romans sounded; and such a clamour arose, that theelephants, especially those in the left wing, turned round upon theirown party, the Moors and Numidians. Masinissa had no difficulty inincreasing the alarm of the terrified enemy, and deprived them of theaid of their cavalry in that wing. A few, however, of the beasts whichwere driven against the enemy, and were not turned back through fear, made great havoc among the ranks of the velites, though not withoutreceiving many wounds themselves; for when the velites, retiring tothe companies, had made way for the elephants, that they might not betrampled down, they discharged their darts at them, exposed as theywere to wounds on both sides, those in the van also keeping up acontinual discharge of javelins; until, driven out of the Roman lineby the weapons which fell upon them from all quarters, these elephantsalso put to flight even the cavalry of the Carthaginians posted intheir right wing. Laelius, when he saw the enemy in disorder, struckadditional terror into them in their confusion. 

34. The Carthaginian line was deprived of the cavalry on bothsides, when the infantry, who were now not a match for the Romans inconfidence or strength, engaged. In addition to this there was onecircumstance, trifling in itself, but at the same time producingimportant consequences in the action. On the part of the Romans theshout was uniform, and on that account louder and more terrific; whilethe voices of the enemy, consisting as they did of many nations ofdifferent languages, were dissonant. The Romans used the stationarykind of fight, pressing upon the enemy with their own weight and thatof their arms; but on the other side there was more of skirmishingand rapid movement than force. Accordingly, on the first charge, the Romans immediately drove back the line of their opponents; thenpushing them with their elbows and the bosses of their shields, andpressing forward into the places from which they had pushed them, they advanced a considerable space, as though there had been no one toresist them, those who formed the rear urging forward those infront when they perceived the line of the enemy giving way; whichcircumstance itself gave great additional force in repelling them. Onthe side of the enemy, the second line, consisting of the Africans andCarthaginians, were so far from supporting the first line when givingground, that, on the contrary, they even retired, lest their enemy, by slaying those who made a firm resistance, should penetrate tothemselves also. Accordingly, the auxiliaries suddenly turned theirbacks, and facing about upon their own party, fled, some of them intothe second line, while others slew those who did not receive them intotheir ranks, since before they did not support them, and now refusedto receive them. And now there were, in a manner, two contests goingon together, the Carthaginians being compelled to fight at once withthe enemy and with their own party. Not even then, however, did theyreceive into their line the terrified and exasperated troops; but, closing their ranks, drove them out of the scene of action to thewings and the surrounding plain, lest they should mingle thesesoldiers, terrified with defeat and wounds, with that part of theirline which was firm and fresh. But such a heap of men and arms hadfilled the space in which the auxiliaries a little while ago hadstood, that it was almost more difficult to pass through it thanthrough a close line of troops. The spearmen, therefore, who formedthe front line, pursuing the enemy as each could find a way throughthe heap of arms and men, and streams of blood, threw into completedisorder the battalions and companies. The standards also of theprincipes had begun to waver when they saw the line before them drivenfrom their ground. Scipio, perceiving this, promptly ordered thesignal to be given for the spearmen to retreat, and, having taken hiswounded into the rear, brought the principes and triarii to the wings, in order that the line of spearmen in the centre might be more strongand secure. Thus a fresh and renewed battle commenced, inasmuch asthey had penetrated to their real antagonists, men equal to them inthe nature of their arms, in their experience in war, in the fame oftheir achievements, and the greatness of their hopes and fears. Butthe Romans were superior both in numbers and courage, for they had nowrouted both the cavalry and the elephants, and having already defeatedthe front line, were fighting against the second. 

35. Laelius and Masinissa, who had pursued the routed cavalry througha considerable space, returning very opportunely, charged the rear ofthe enemy's line. This attack of the cavalry at length routed them. Many of them, being surrounded, were slain in the field; and many, dispersed in flight through the open plain around, were slain onall hands, as the cavalry were in possession of every part. Of theCarthaginians and their allies, above twenty thousand were slain onthat day; about an equal number were captured, with a hundred andthirty-three military standards, and eleven elephants. Of the victorsas many as two thousand fell. Hannibal, slipping off during theconfusion, with a few horsemen came to Adrumetum, not quitting thefield till he had tried every expedient both in the battle and beforethe engagement; having, according to the admission of Scipio, andevery one skilled in military science, acquired the fame of havingmarshalled his troops on that day with singular judgment. He placedhis elephants in the front, in order that their desultory attack, andinsupportable violence, might prevent the Romans from following theirstandards, and preserving their ranks, on which they placed theirprincipal dependence. Then he posted his auxiliaries before the lineof Carthaginians, in order that men who were made up of the refuse ofall nations and who were not bound by honour but by gain, might nothave any retreat open to them in case they fled; at the same time thatthe first ardour and impetuosity might be exhausted upon them, and, if they could render no other service, that the weapons of the enemymight be blunted in wounding them. Next he placed the Carthaginianand African soldiers, on whom he placed all his hopes, in order that, being equal to the enemy in every other respect, they might have theadvantage of them, inasmuch as, being fresh and unimpaired in strengththemselves, they would fight with those who were fatigued and wounded. The Italians he removed into the rear, separating them also by anintervening space, as he knew not, with certainty, whether they werefriends or enemies. Hannibal, after performing this as it were hislast work of valour, fled to Adrumetum, whence, having been summonedto Carthage, he returned thither in the six and thirtieth year afterhe had left it when a boy; and confessed in the senate-house that hewas defeated, not only in the battle, but in the war, and that therewas no hope of safety in any thing but in obtaining peace. 

36. Immediately after the battle, Scipio, having taken and plunderedthe enemy's camp, returned to the sea and his ships, with an immensebooty, news having reached him that Publius Lentulus had arrived atUtica with fifty men of war, and a hundred transports laden with everykind of stores. Concluding that he ought to bring before Carthageevery thing which could increase the consternation already existingthere, after sending Laelius to Rome to report his victory, he orderedCneius Octavius to conduct the legions thither by land; and, settingout himself from Utica with the fresh fleet of Lentulus, added tohis former one, made for the harbour of Carthage. When he had arrivedwithin a short distance, he was met by a Carthaginian ship decked withfillets and branches of olive. There were ten deputies, the leadingmen in the state, sent at the instance of Hannibal to solicit peace;to whom, when they had come up to the stern of the general's ship, holding out the badges of suppliants, entreating and imploring theprotection and compassion of Scipio, the only answer given was, thatthey must come to Tunes, to which place he would move his camp. Aftertaking a view of the site of Carthage, not so much for the sake ofacquainting himself with it for any present object, as to dispiritthe enemy, he returned to Utica, having recalled Octavius to thesame place. As they were proceeding thence to Tunes, they receivedintelligence that Vermina, the son of Syphax, with a greater number ofhorse than foot, was coming to the assistance of the Carthaginians. A part of his infantry, with all the cavalry, having attacked them ontheir march on the first day of the Saturnalia, routed the Numidianswith little opposition; and as every way by which they could escape inflight was blocked up, for the cavalry surrounded them on all sides, fifteen thousand men were slain, twelve hundred were taken alive, withfifteen hundred Numidian horses, and seventy-two military standards. The prince himself fled from the field with a few attendants duringthe confusion. The camp was then pitched near Tunes in the same placeas before, and thirty ambassadors came to Scipio from Carthage. Thesebehaved in a manner even more calculated to excite compassion than theformer, in proportion as their situation was more pressing; butfrom the recollection of their recent perfidy, they were heard withconsiderably less pity. In the council, though all were impelled byjust resentment to demolish Carthage, yet, when they reflected uponthe magnitude of the undertaking, and the length of time which wouldbe consumed in the siege of so well fortified and strong a city, while Scipio himself was uneasy in consequence of the expectation ofa successor, who would come in for the glory of having terminated thewar, though it was accomplished already by the exertions and danger ofanother, the minds of all were inclined to peace. 

37. The next day the ambassadors being called in again, and withmany rebukes for their perfidy, warned that, instructed by so manydisasters, they would at length believe in the existence of the gods, and the obligation of an oath, these conditions of the peace werestated to them: "That they should enjoy their liberty and live undertheir own laws; that they should possess such cities and territoriesas they had enjoyed before the war, and with the same boundaries, andthat the Romans should on that day desist from devastation. That theyshould restore to the Romans all deserters and fugitives, giving upall their ships of war except ten triremes, with such tamed elephantsas they had, and that they should not tame any more. That they shouldnot carry on war in or out of Africa without the permission of theRoman people. That they should make restitution to Masinissa, andform a league with him. That they should furnish corn, and pay for theauxiliaries until the ambassadors had returned from Rome. That theyshould pay ten thousand talents of silver, in equal annual instalmentsdistributed over fifty years. That they should give a hundredhostages, according to the pleasure of Scipio, not younger thanfourteen nor older than thirty. That he would grant them a truce oncondition that the transports, together with their cargoes, which hadbeen seized during the former truce, were restored. Otherwise theywould have no truce, nor any hope of a peace. " When the ambassadorswho were ordered to bear these conditions home reported them in anassembly, and Gisgo had stood forth to dissuade them from theterms, and was being listened to by the multitude, who were at onceindisposed for peace and unfit for war, Hannibal, indignant that suchlanguage should be held and listened to at such a juncture, laidhold of Gisgo with his own hand, and dragged him from his elevatedposition. This unusual sight in a free state having raised a murmuramong the people, the soldier, disconcerted at the liberties which thecitizens took, thus addressed them: "Having left you when nine yearsold, I have returned after a lapse of thirty-six years. I flattermyself I am well acquainted with the qualifications of a soldier, having been instructed in them from my childhood, sometimes by my ownsituation, and sometimes by that of my country. The privileges, thelaws, and customs of the city and the forum you ought to teach me. "Having thus apologized for his indiscretion, he discoursed largelyconcerning the peace, showing how inoppressive the terms were, and hownecessary it was. The greatest difficulty was, that of the ships whichhad been seized during the truce nothing was to be found except theships themselves: nor was it easy to collect the property, becausethose who were charged with having it were opposed to the peace. Itwas resolved that the ships should be restored, and that the men atleast should be looked up; and as to whatever else was missing, thatit should be left to Scipio to put a value upon it, and that theCarthaginians should make compensation accordingly in money. Thereare those who say that Hannibal went from the field of battle to thesea-coast; whence he immediately sailed in a ship, which he had readyfor the purpose, to king Antiochus; and that when Scipio demandedabove every thing that Hannibal should be given up to him, answer wasmade that Hannibal was not in Africa. 

38. After the ambassadors returned to Scipio, the quaestors wereordered to give in an account, made out from the public registers, of the public property which had been in the ships; and the ownersto make a return of the private property. For the amount of the valuetwenty-five thousand pounds of silver were required to be paid down;and a truce for three months was granted to the Carthaginians. Itwas added, that during the time of the truce they should notsend ambassadors any where else than to Rome; and that, whateverambassadors came to Carthage, they should not dismiss them beforeinforming the Roman general who they were, and what they sought. Withthe Carthaginian ambassadors, Lucius Veturius Philo, Marcus MarciusRalla, and Lucius Scipio, brother of the general, were sent to Rome. At the time in which these events took place, the supplies sent fromSicily and Sardinia produced such cheapness of provisions, that themerchant gave up the corn to the mariners for their freight. AtRome alarm was excited at the first intelligence of the renewal ofhostilities by the Carthaginians; and Tiberius Claudius was directedto conduct the fleet with speed into Sicily, and cross over from thatplace into Africa. The other consul, Marcus Servilius, was directed tostay at the city until the state of affairs in Africa was ascertained. Tiberius Claudius, the consul, proceeded slowly with every thingconnected with the equipment and sailing of the fleet, because thesenate had decided that it should be left to Scipio, rather than tothe consul, to determine the conditions on which the peace should begranted. The accounts also of prodigies which arrived just at the timeof the news of the revival of the war, had occasioned great alarm. At Cumae the orb of the sun seemed diminished, and a shower of stonesfell; and in the territory of Veliternum the earth sank in greatchasms, and trees were swallowed up in the cavities. At Aricia theforum and the shops around it, at Frusino a wall in several places, and a gate, were struck by lightning; and in the Palatium a shower ofstones fell. The latter prodigy, according to the custom handed downby tradition, was expiated by a nine days' sacred rite; the restwith victims of the larger sort. Amid these events an unusually greatrising of the waters was converted into a prodigy; for the Tiberoverflowed its banks to such a degree, that as the circus was underwater, the Apollinarian games were got up near the temple of VenusErycina, without the Colline gate. However, the weather suddenlyclearing up on the very day of the celebration, the procession, whichhad begun to move at the Colline gate, was recalled and transferred tothe circus, on its being known that the water had retired thence. Thejoy of the people and the attraction of the games were increased bythe restoration of this solemn spectacle to its proper scene. 

39. The consul Claudius, having set out at length from the city, was placed in the most imminent danger by a violent tempest, whichovertook him between the ports of Cosa and Laurentum. Having reachedPopulonii, where he waited till the remainder of the tempest hadspent itself, he crossed over to the island Ilva. From Ilva he went toCorsica, and from Corsica to Sardinia. Here, while sailing round theMontes Insani, a tempest much more violent in itself, and in a moredangerous situation, dispersed his fleet. Many of his ships wereshattered and stripped of their rigging, and some were wrecked. Hisfleet thus weatherbeaten and shattered arrived at Carales, where thewinter came on while the ships were drawn on shore and refitted. Theyear having elapsed, and no one proposing to continue him in command, Tiberius Claudius brought back his fleet to Rome in a privatecapacity. Marcus Servilius set out for his province, having nominatedCaius Servilius Geminus as dictator, that he might not be recalled tothe city to hold the elections. The dictator appointed Publius AeliusPaetus master of the horse. It frequently happened, that the electionscould not be held on account of bad weather, though the days werefixed for them; and, therefore, as the magistrates of the former yearretired from their offices on the day before the ides of March, andfresh ones were not appointed to succeed them, the state was withoutcurule magistrates. Lucius Manlius Torquatus, a pontiff, died thisyear. Caius Sulpicius Galba was elected in his room. The Roman gameswere thrice repeated by the curule aediles, Lucius Licinius Lucullusand Quintus Fulvius. Some scribes and runners belonging to theaediles were found, on the testimony of an informer, to have privatelyconveyed money out of the treasury, and were condemned, not withoutdisgrace to the aedile Lucullus. Publius Aelius Tubero and LuciusLaetorius, plebeian aediles, on account of some informality in theircreation, abdicated their office, after having celebrated the games, and the banquet on occasion of the games, in honour of Jupiter, andafter having placed in the Capitol three statues made out of silverpaid as fines. The dictator and master of the horse celebrated thegames in honour of Ceres, in conformity with a decree of the senate. 

40. The Roman, together with the Carthaginian ambassadors, havingarrived at Rome from Africa, the senate was assembled at the templeof Bellona; when Lucius Veturius Philo stated, to the great joy ofthe senate, that a battle had been fought with Hannibal, which wasdecisive of the fate of the Carthaginians, and that a period wasat length put to that calamitous war. He added what formed a smallaccession to their successes, that Vermina, the son of Syphax, had been vanquished. He was then ordered to go forth to the publicassembly, and impart the joyful tidings to the people. Then, athanksgiving having been appointed, all the temples in the citywere thrown open, and supplications for three days were decreed. Theambassadors of the Carthaginians, and those of king Philip, for theyalso had arrived, requesting an audience of the senate, answer wasmade by the dictator, by order of the fathers, that the new consulswould give them an audience. The elections were then held. The consulselected were Cneius Cornelius Lentulus and Publius Aelius Paetus. The praetors elected were Marcus Junius Pennus, to whose lot thecity jurisdiction fell, Marcus Valerius Falto, who received Bruttium, Marcus Fabius Buteo, who received Sardinia, and Publius Aelius Tubero, who received Sicily. It was the pleasure of the senate that nothingshould be done respecting the provinces of the consuls, till theambassadors of king Philip and the Carthaginians had been heard;for they foresaw the termination of one war and the commencementof another. Cneius Lentulus, the consul, was inflamed with a strongdesire to have the province of Africa, looking forward to an easyvictory if there was still war, or, if it was on the point of beingconcluded, to the glory of having it terminated in his consulate. Hetherefore refused to allow any business to be transacted before theprovince of Africa was assigned him; his colleague, who was a moderateand prudent man, giving up his claim to it, for he clearly saw thata contest with Scipio for that honour would be not only unjustbut unequal. Quintus Minucius Thermus, and Manius Acilius Glabrio, tribunes of the people, said that Cneius Cornelius was endeavouring toeffect the same object which had been attempted in vain by the consulTiberius Claudius the former year. That, by the direction of thesenate, it had been proposed to the people to decide whom they wishedto have the command in Africa, and all the thirty-five tribes hadconcurred in assigning that command to Publius Scipio. After manydiscussions, both in the senate and popular assembly, it was at lengthdetermined to leave it to the senate. The fathers, therefore, onoath, for so it had been agreed, voted, that as to the provinces, theconsuls should settle between themselves, or determine by lots, whichof them should have Italy, and which a fleet of fifty ships. That heto whose lot the fleet fell should sail to Sicily, and if peace couldnot be concluded with the Carthaginians, that he should cross overinto Africa. That the consul should act by sea, and Scipio by land, with the same right of command as heretofore. If an agreement shouldbe come to, as to the terms of the peace, that then the plebeiantribunes should consult the commons as to whether they ordered theconsul or Publius Scipio to grant the peace; and if the victoriousarmy was to be brought home out of Africa, whom they ordered to bringit. That if they ordered that the peace should be granted by PubliusScipio, and that the army should be brought home likewise by him, thenthe consul should not pass out of Sicily into Africa. That the otherconsul, to whose lot Italy fell, should receive two legions fromMarcus Sextius the praetor. 

41. Publius Scipio was continued in command in the province of Africa, with the armies which he then had. To the praetor Marcus ValeriusFalto the two legions in Bruttium, which Caius Livius had commandedthe preceding year, were assigned. Publius Aelius, the praetor, was toreceive two legions in Sicily from Cneius Tremellius. To Marcus Fabiuswas assigned one legion, which Publius Lentulus, propraetor, hadcommanded, to be employed in Sardinia; Marcus Servilius, the consul ofthe former year, was continued in command in Etruria, with his owntwo legions likewise. As to Spain, it appeared that Lucius CorneliusLentulus and Lucius Manlius Acidinus had been there for now severalyears. It was resolved, therefore, that the consuls should makeapplication to the plebeian tribunes to take the opinion of thepeople, if they thought proper, as to whom they ordered to havecommand in Spain; that the person so ordered should form one legion ofRoman soldiers out of the two armies, and also fifteen cohorts ofthe allies of the Latin confederacy, with which he should occupy theprovince. That Lucius Cornelius Lentulus and Lucius Manlius Acidinusshould convey the old soldiers into Italy. To Cornelius, the consul, was assigned a fleet of fifty ships formed out of the two fleets, oneof which was under Cneius Octavius in Africa, the other employedin protecting the coast of Sicily, under Publius Villius. He was toselect such ships as he pleased. That Publius Scipio should stillhave the forty ships of war which he before had, or if he wished thatCneius Octavius should command it, as he had commanded a fleet therebefore, that Octavius should be continued in command for a year aspropraetor; but if he appointed Laelius to the command of it, Octaviusshould retire to Rome, and bring with him the ships which the consuldid not want. To Marcus Fabius also ten men of war were assigned forSardinia. The consuls were directed to enlist two city legions, sothat the operations of the state might be carried on this year withfourteen legions, and one hundred men of war. 

42. Then the business relating to the ambassadors of Philip and theCarthaginians was considered. It was resolved that the Macedoniansshould be brought before the senate first. Their address comprehendeda variety of subjects, being employed partly in clearing themselvesfrom the charges relative to the depredations committed against theallies, which the deputies sent to the king from Rome had broughtagainst them; and partly in preferring accusations themselves againstthe allies of the Roman people, but particularly against MarcusAurelius, whom they inveighed against with much greater acrimony; forthey said that, being one of the three ambassadors sent to them, he had staid behind, and levying soldiers, had assailed them withhostilities contrary to the league, and frequently fought pitchedbattles with their prefects; and partly in preferring a request thatthe Macedonians and their general, Sopater, who had served in thearmy of Hannibal for hire, and having been made prisoners were keptin bondage, should be restored to them. In opposition to these thingsMarcus Furius, who had been sent from Macedonia for the expresspurpose by Aurelius, thus argued: he said, "that Aurelius, havingbeen left behind, lest the allies of the Roman people, wearied bydevastations and injuries, should revolt to the king, had not gonebeyond the boundaries of the allies; but had taken measures to preventplundering parties from crossing over into their lands with impunity. That Sopater was one of those who wore purple, and was related tothe king; that he had been lately sent into Africa with fourthousand Macedonians and a sum of money to assist Hannibal and theCarthaginians. " The Macedonians, on being interrogated on thesepoints, proceeded to answer in a subtle and evasive manner; butwithout waiting for the conclusion of their reply they were told, "that the king was seeking occasion for war, and that if he persistedhe would soon obtain his object. That the treaty had been doublyviolated by him, both by offering insults to the allies of the Romanpeople, by assaulting them with hostilities and arms, and also byaiding their enemies with auxiliaries and money. That Publius Scipiowas deemed to have acted properly and regularly in keeping in chains, as enemies, those who had been made prisoners while bearing armsagainst the Romans; and that Marcus Aurelius had consulted theinterest of the state, and the senate were thankful to him for it, inprotecting the allies of the Roman people by arms, since he could notdo it by the obligation of the treaty. " The Macedonian ambassadorshaving been dismissed with this unpleasant answer, the Carthaginianambassadors were called. On observing their ages and dignifiedappearance, for they were by far the first men of the state, allpromptly declared their conviction, that now they were sincere intheir desire to effect a peace. Hasdrubal, however, surnamed by hiscountrymen Haedus, who had invariably recommended peace, and wasopposed to the Barcine faction, was regarded with greater interestthan the rest. On these accounts the greater weight was attached tohim when transferring the blame of the war from the state at large tothe cupidity of a few. After a speech of varied character, in which hesometimes refuted the charges which had been brought, at other timesadmitted some, lest by impudently denying what was manifestlytrue their forgiveness might be the more difficult; and then, evenadmonishing the conscript fathers to be guided by the rules of decorumand moderation in their prosperity, he said, that if the Carthaginianshad listened to himself and Hanno, and had been disposed to make aproper use of circumstances, they would themselves have dictatedterms of peace, instead of begging it as they now did. That it rarelyhappened that good fortune and a sound judgment were bestowed uponmen at the same time. That the Roman people were therefore invincible, because when successful they forgot not the maxims of wisdom andprudence; and indeed it would have been matter of astonishment didthey act otherwise. That those persons to whom success was a new anduncommon thing, proceeded to a pitch of madness in their ungovernedtransports in consequence of their not being accustomed to it. That tothe Roman people the joy arising from victory was a matter of commonoccurrence, and was now almost become old-fashioned. That theyhad extended their empire more by sparing the vanquished than byconquering. The language employed by the others was of a nature morecalculated to excite compassion; they represented from what a heightof power the Carthaginian affairs had fallen. That nothing, besidesthe walls of Carthage, remained to those who a little time ago heldalmost the whole world in subjection by their arms; that, shut upwithin these, they could see nothing any where on sea or land whichowned their authority. That they would retain possession of their cityitself and their household gods only, in case the Roman people shouldrefrain from venting their indignation upon these, which is all thatremains for them to do. When it was manifest that the fathers weremoved by compassion, it is said that one of the senators, violentlyincensed at the perfidy of the Carthaginians, immediately asked witha loud voice, by what gods they would swear in striking the league, since they had broken their faith with those by whom they swore instriking the former one? By those same, replied Hasdrubal, who haveshown such determined hostility to the violators of treaties. 

43. The minds of all being disposed to peace, Cneius Lentulus, whoseprovince the fleet was, protested against the decree of the senate. Upon this, Manius Acilius and Quintus Minucius, tribunes of thepeople, put the question to the people, whether they willed andordered that the senate should decree that peace should be made withthe Carthaginians? whom they ordered to grant that peace, and whom toconduct the army out of Africa? All the tribes ordered respectingthe peace according as the question had been put. That Publius Scipioshould grant the peace, and that he also should conduct the armyhome. Agreeably to this order, the senate decreed that Publius Scipio, acting according to the opinion of the ten deputies, should makepeace with the Carthaginian people on what terms he pleased. TheCarthaginians then returned thanks to the senate, and requestedthat they might be allowed to enter the city and converse with theircountrymen who had been made prisoners and were in custody of thestate; observing, that some of them were their relations and friends, and men of rank, and some, persons to whom they were charged withmessages from their relations. Having obtained these requests, theyagain asked permission to ransom such of them as they pleased; whenthey were desired to give in their names. Having given in a list ofabout two hundred, a decree of the senate was passed to the effect, that the Carthaginian ambassadors should be allowed to take away intoAfrica to Publius Cornelius Scipio two hundred of the Carthaginianprisoners, selecting whom they pleased; and that they should conveyto him a message, that if the peace were concluded, he should restorethem to the Carthaginians without ransom. The heralds being; orderedto go into Africa to strike the league, at their own desire the senatepassed a decree that they should take with them flint stones of theirown, and vervain of their own; that the Roman praetor should commandthem to strike the league, and that they should demand of him herbs. The description of herb usually given to the heralds is taken from theCapitol. Thus the Carthaginians, being allowed to depart from Rome, when they had gone into Africa to Scipio concluded the peace on theterms before mentioned. They delivered up their men-of-war, theirelephants, deserters, fugitives, and four thousand prisoners, amongwhom was Quintus Terentius Culleo, a senator. The ships he ordered tobe taken out into the main and burnt. Some say there were five hundredof every description of those which are worked with oars, and that thesudden sight of these, when burning, occasioned as deep a sensationof grief to the Carthaginians as if Carthage had been in flames. Themeasures adopted respecting the deserters were more severe than thoserespecting the fugitives. Those who were of the Latin confederacy weredecapitated; the Romans were crucified. 

44. The last peace with the Carthaginians was made forty years beforethis, in the consulate of Quintus Lutatius and Aulus Manlius. The warcommenced twenty-three years afterwards, in the consulate of PubliusCornelius and Tiberius Sempronius. It was concluded in the seventeenthyear, in the consulate of Cneius Cornelius and Publius Aelius Paetus. It is related that Scipio frequently said afterwards, that first theambition of Tiberius Claudius, and afterwards of Cneius Cornelius, were the causes which prevented his terminating the war by thedestruction of Carthage. The Carthaginians, finding difficulty inraising the first sum of money to be paid, as their finances wereexhausted by a protracted war, and in consequence great lamentationand grief arising in the senate-house, it is said that Hannibal wasobserved laughing; and when Hasdrubal Haedus rebuked him for laughingamid the public grief, when he himself was the occasion of the tearswhich were shed, he said: "If, as the expression of the countenanceis discerned by the sight, so the inward feelings of the mind could bedistinguished, it would clearly appear to you that that laughter whichyou censure came from a heart not elated with joy, but frantic withmisfortunes. And yet it is not so ill-timed as those absurd andinconsistent tears of yours. Then you ought to have wept, when ourarms were taken from us, our ships burnt, and we were forbidden toengage in foreign wars, for that was the wound by which we fell. Noris it just that you should suppose that the measures which the Romanshave adopted towards you have been dictated by animosity. No greatstate can remain at rest long together. If it has no enemy abroadit finds one at home, in the same manner as over-robust bodiesseem secure from external causes, but are encumbered with their ownstrength. So far, forsooth, we are affected with the public calamitiesas they reach our private affairs; nor is there any circumstanceattending them which is felt more acutely than the loss of money. Accordingly, when the spoils were torn down from vanquished Carthage, when you beheld her left unarmed and defenceless amid so many armednations of Africa, none heaved a sigh. Now, because a tribute is to belevied from private property, you lament with one accord, as though atthe funeral of the state. How much do I dread lest you should soon bemade sensible that you have shed tears this day for the lightest ofyour misfortunes!" Such were the sentiments which Hannibal deliveredto the Carthaginians. Scipio, having summoned an assembly, presentedMasinissa, in addition to his paternal dominions, with the town ofCirta, and the other cities and territories which had passed from thekingdom of Syphax into the possession of the Romans. He ordered CneiusOctavius to conduct the fleet to Sicily and deliver it to CneiusCornelius the consul, and directed the Carthaginian ambassadors to goto Rome, that the arrangements he had made, with the advice of theten deputies, might be ratified by the sanction of the fathers and theorder of the people. 

45. Peace having been established by sea and land, he embarked histroops and crossed over to Lilybaeum in Sicily; whence, having senta great part of his soldiers by ships, he himself proceeded throughItaly, which was rejoicing, not less on account of the peace than thevictory; while not only the inhabitants of the cities poured out toshow him honour, but crowds of rustics thronged the roads. He arrivedat Rome and entered the city in a triumph of unparalleled splendour. He brought into the treasury one hundred and twenty-three thousandpounds of silver. He distributed to each of his soldiers four hundredasses out of the spoils. By the death of Syphax, which took place buta short time before at Tibur, whither he had been removed from Alba, a diminution was occasioned in the interest of the pageant rather thanin the glory of him who triumphed. His death, however, was attendedwith circumstances which produced a strong sensation, for he wasburied at the public expense. Polybius, an author by no means tobe despised, asserts that this king was led in the triumph. QuintusTerentius Culleo followed Scipio in his triumph with a cap of libertyon his head, and during the remainder of his life treated him with therespect due to him as the author of his freedom. I have not been ableto ascertain whether the partiality of the soldiers or the favour ofthe people fixed upon him the surname of Africanus, or whether in thesame manner as Felix was applied to Sulla, and Magnus to Pompey, in the memory of our fathers, it originated in the flattery of hisfriends. He was, doubtless, the first general who was distinguished bya name derived from the nation which he had conquered. Afterwards, in imitation of his example, some, by no means his equals in hisvictories, affixed splendid inscriptions on their statues and gavehonourable surnames to their families. 

BOOK XXXI. 

 _Renewal of the war with Philip, king of Macedon. Successes of Publius Sulpicius, consul, who had the conduct of that war. The Abydenians, besieged by Philip, put themselves to death, together with their wives and children. Lucius Furius, praetor, defeats the Insubrian Gauls who had revolted; and Hamilcar, who stirred up the insurrection, is slain, with thirty-five thousand men. Further operations of Sulpicius, Attalus, and the Rhodians against Philip_. 

1. It is delightful even to me to have come to the end of the Punic war, as if I myself had borne a share of the toil and danger. For thoughit by no means becomes a person, who has ventured to promise an entirehistory of all the Roman affairs, to be fatigued by any particularparts of so extensive a work; yet when I reflect that sixty-threeyears (for so many there are from the first Punic war to the end ofthe second) have occupied as many of my volumes, as the four hundredand eighty-seven years, from the building of the city to the consulateof Appius Claudius, who first made war on the Carthaginians, I plainlyperceive that, like those who, tempted by the shallows near the shore, walk into the sea, the farther I advance, I am carried, as it were, into a greater depth and abyss; and that my work almost increases onmy hands which seemed to be diminished by the completion of each ofits earlier portions. The peace with Carthage was quickly followed bya war with Macedonia: a war, not to be compared to the former, indeed, either in danger, or in the abilities of the commander, or the valourof the soldiers; but almost more remarkable with regard to the renownof their former kings, the ancient fame of that nation, and the vastextent of their empire, in which they had formerly comprehended alarge part of Europe, and the greater part of Asia. The contest withPhilip, which had begun about ten years before, had been intermittedfor the three last years; the Aetolians having been the occasion bothof the war and the peace. The entreaties of the Athenians whom, havingravaged their lands, Philip had driven into their city, excited theRomans to a renewal of the war, left, as they were, disengaged bythe Carthaginian peace, and incensed against him as well for histreacherous negotiation of peace with the Aetolians and the otherallies in that region, as on account of the auxiliaries sent by himwith money into Africa to Hannibal and the Carthaginians. 

2. About the same time, ambassadors arrived both from king Attalus, and from the Rhodians, with information that the Macedonian wastampering with the states of Asia. To these embassies an answer wasgiven, that the senate would give attention to the affairs of Asia. The determination with regard to the making war on him, was left opento the consuls, who were then in their provinces. In the mean time, three ambassadors were sent to Ptolemy, king of Egypt, namely, Caius Claudius Nero, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, and PubliusSempronius Tuditanus, to announce their conquest of Hannibal and theCarthaginians; to give thanks to the king for his faithful adherenceto his engagements in the time of their distress, when even thenearest allies of the Romans abandoned them; and to request that if, compelled by ill treatment, they should undertake a war with Philip, he would preserve his former disposition towards the Roman people. InGaul, about this time, the consul, Publius Aelius, having heard that, before his arrival, the Boians had made inroads on the territoriesof the allies, levied two occasional legions on account of thisdisturbance; and adding to them four cohorts from his own army, ordered Caius Oppius, the praefect, to march with this tumultuaryband through Umbria, (which is called the Sappinian district, ) and toinvade the territories of the Boians. He himself led his own troopsthither openly, over the intervening mountains. Oppius, on enteringthe same, for some time committed depredations with tolerable successand safety. But afterwards, having pitched on a place near a fortcalled Mutilum, convenient enough for cutting down the corn, (forthe crops were now ripe, ) and setting out without having reconnoitredaround, and without establishing armed posts of sufficient strengthto protect those who were unarmed and intent on their work, he wassuddenly surrounded, together with his foragers, by an unexpectedinvasion of the Gauls. On this, panic and flight seized even on thosewho were furnished with weapons. Seven thousand men, dispersed throughthe corn fields, were put to the sword, among whom was the commanderhimself, Caius Oppius. The rest were driven by terror into the camp;from whence, in consequence of a resolution of the soldiers, they setout on the following night, without any particular commander; and, leaving behind a great part of their baggage, made their way, throughwoods almost impassable, to the consul, who returned to Rome withouthaving performed any thing in his province worth notice, exceptthat he ravaged the lands of the Boians, and made a treaty with theIngaunian Ligurians. 

3. The first time he assembled the senate, it was unanimously orderedthat he should propose no other business before that which related toPhilip and the complaints of the allies. It was immediately taken intoconsideration, and a numerous senate decreed, that Publius Aelius, consul, should send such person as he might think proper, vested withcommand, to receive the fleet which Cneius Octavius was bringing homefrom Sicily, and pass over to Macedonia. Accordingly Marcus ValeriusLaevinus, propraetor, was sent; and, receiving thirty-eight ships fromCneius Octavius, near Vibo, he sailed to Macedonia, where, whenMarcus Aurelius, the ambassador, had come to him and informed him whatnumerous forces and what large fleets the king had prepared, andhow he was arousing the inhabitants to arms, partly by visiting themhimself and partly by ambassadors, not only through all the cities ofthe continent, but even in the islands, (Laevinus was convinced) thatthe war ought to be undertaken by the Romans with greater vigour;lest, if they were dilatory, Philip might attempt that which hadbeen formerly undertaken by Pyrrhus, who possessed not such largedominions. He therefore desired Aurelius to convey this intelligenceby letter to the consuls and to the senate. 

4. Towards the end of this year the senate, taking into considerationthe lands to be given to the veteran soldiers, who, under the conductand auspices of Publius Scipio, had finished the war in Africa, decreed that Marcus Tunius, praetor of the city, should, if he thoughtproper, appoint ten commissioners to survey, and distribute amongthem, that part of the Samnite and Apulian lands which was theproperty of the Roman people. For this purpose were appointed, PubliusServilius, Quintus Caecilius Metellus, Caius and Marcus Servilius, both surnamed Geminus, Lucius and Aulus Hostilius Cato, PubliusVillius Tappulus, Marcus Fulvius Flaccus, Publius Aelius Paetus, andQuintus Flaminius. At the same time, Publius Aelius presiding at theelection of consuls, Publius Sulpicius Galba and Caius Aurelius Cottawere elected. Then were chosen praetors, Quintus Minucius Rufus, Lucius Furius Purpureo, Quintus Fulvius Gillo, Cneius Sergius Plancus. The Roman stage-games were exhibited, in a sumptuous and elegantmanner, by the curule aediles, Lucius Valerius Flaccus, and LuciusQuintius Flaminius, and repeated for two days; and a vast quantity ofcorn, which Scipio had sent from Africa, was distributed by them tothe people, with strict impartiality and general satisfaction, at therate of four _asses_ a peck. The plebeian games were thrice repeatedentire by the plebeian aediles, Lucius Apustius Fullo, and QuintusMinucius Rufus; the latter of whom was, from the aedileship, electedpraetor. There was also a feast of Jove on occasion of the games. 

5. In the year five hundred and fifty-two from the building of thecity, Publius Sulpicius Galba and Caius Aurelius being consuls, withina few months after the conclusion of the peace with the Carthaginians, the war was entered upon against king Philip. This was the firstbusiness introduced by the consul, Publius Sulpicius, on the ides ofMarch, the day on which, in those times, the consulship commenced; andthe senate decreed, that the consul should perform sacrifices withthe greater victims, to such gods as they should judge proper, withprayers to this purpose, --that "the business which the senate andpeople of Rome had then under deliberation, concerning the state, andthe entering on a new war, might issue prosperously and happily to theRoman people, the allies, and the Latin confederacy;" and that, afterthe sacrifices and prayers, they should consult the senate on thestate of public affairs, and the provinces. At this time, veryopportunely for exciting their minds to war, the letters were broughtfrom Marcus Aurelius, the ambassador, and Marcus Valerius Laevinus, propraetor. A fresh embassy, likewise, arrived from the Athenians, toacquaint them that the king was approaching their frontiers, and thatin a short time, not only their lands, but their city also, must fallinto his hands, unless they received aid from the Romans. When theconsuls had made their report, that the sacrifices had been dulyperformed, and that the gods had accepted their prayers; that thearuspices had declared that the entrails showed good omens, and thatenlargement of territory, victory, and triumph were portended; theletters of Valerius and Aurelius were read, and audience given to theambassadors of the Athenians. After which, a decree of the senate waspassed, that thanks should be given to their allies, because, thoughlong solicited, they had not, even when in fear of a siege, renouncedtheir fidelity. With regard to sending assistance to them, theyresolved, that an answer should be given as soon as the consuls shouldhave cast lots for the provinces; and when the consul to whose lotMacedonia fell should have proposed to the people, that war should bedeclared against Philip, king of the Macedonians. 

6. The province of Macedonia fell by lot to Publius Sulpicius; and heproposed to the people to declare, "that they chose and ordered, that on account of the injuries and hostilities committed againstthe allies of the Roman people, war should be proclaimed against kingPhilip, and the Macedonians under his government. " The province ofItaly fell to the lot of the other consul, Aurelius. The praetors thencast lots: to Cneius Sergius Plancus fell the city jurisdiction; toQuintus Fulvius Gillo, Sicily; to Quintus Minucius Rufus, Bruttium;and to Lucius Furius Purpureo, Gaul. At the first meeting of thepeople, the proposal concerning the Macedonian war was rejected byalmost all the tribes. This was done partly spontaneously, as thepeople were wearied by the length and severity of the late war, anddisgusted with toils and dangers; and partly by Quintus Baebius, tribune of the people, who, pursuing the old practice of criminatingthe patricians, charged them with multiplying wars one after another, so that the people could never enjoy peace. This proceeding thepatricians with difficulty brooked, and the tribune was severelyreprehended in the senate; where each severally urged the consulto call a new assembly, for passing the proposal; to rebuke thebackwardness of the people; and to prove to them how much loss anddisgrace the delay of this war would occasion. 

7. The consul, having assembled the people in the field of Mars, before he dismissed the centuries to the vote, required theirattention, and addressed them thus: "Citizens, you seem to me not tounderstand that the question before you is not whether you choose tohave peace or war: for Philip, having already commenced hostilitieswith a formidable force, both on land and sea, allows you not thatoption. The question is, Whether you must transport your legions toMacedonia, or admit the enemy into Italy? How important the differenceis, if you never experienced it before, you certainly did in the latePunic war. For who entertains a doubt, but if, when the Saguntineswere besieged, and implored our protection, we had assisted them withvigour, as our fathers did the Mamertines, we should have avertedthe whole weight of the war upon Spain; which, by our dilatoryproceedings, we suffered to our extreme loss to fall upon Italy? Nordoes it admit a doubt, that we confined this same Philip in Macedonia, (after he had entered into an engagement with Hannibal by ambassadorsand letters, to cross over into Italy, ) by sending Laevinus with afleet to make war aggressively upon him. And what we did at that time, when we had Hannibal to contend with in Italy, do we hesitate to donow, after Hannibal has been expelled Italy, and the Carthaginianssubdued? Suppose that we allow the king to experience the sameinactivity on our part, while he is taking Athens, as we sufferedHannibal to experience while he was taking Saguntum: it will not be inthe fifth month, as Hannibal came from Saguntum, but on the fifth dayafter he sets sail from Corinth, that he will arrive in Italy. Perhapsyou may not consider Philip as equal to Hannibal; or the Macedoniansto the Carthaginians: certainly, however, you will allow him equal toPyrrhus. Equal, do I say? what a vast superiority has the one man overthe other, the one nation over the other! Epirus ever was, and is atthis day, deemed but an inconsiderable accession to the kingdom ofMacedonia. Philip has the entire Peloponnesus under his dominion; evenArgos itself, not more celebrated for its ancient glory than for thedeath of Pyrrhus. Now compare our situation. How much more nourishingwas Italy, how much greater its strength, with so many commanders, somany armies unimpaired, which the Punic war afterwards consumed, whenPyrrhus attacked and shook it, and advanced victorious almost to theRoman capital! and not the Tarentines only, and the inhabitants ofthat tract of Italy which they call the greater Greece, whom you maysuppose to have been led by the similarity of language and name, butthe Lucanian, the Bruttian, and the Samnite revolted from us. Do youbelieve that these would continue quiet and faithful, if Philip shouldcome over to Italy? They subsequently continued faithful, forsooth, during the Punic war! Be assured those states will never fail torevolt from us, except when there is no one to whom they can go over. If you had been annoyed at passing into Africa, you would this dayhave had Hannibal and the Carthaginians to contend with in Italy. LetMacedonia, rather than Italy, be the seat of war. Let the cities andlands of the enemy be wasted with fire and sword. We have alreadyfound by experience, that our arms are more powerful and moresuccessful abroad than at home. Go to the vote with the blessing ofthe gods; and what the senate have voted, do you ratify by your order. This resolution is recommended to you, not only by your consul, buteven by the immortal gods themselves; who, when I offered sacrifice, and prayed that the issue of this war might be happy and prosperous tome and to the senate, to you and the allies and Latin confederates, toour fleets and armies, portended all joyful and prosperous results. "

8. After this speech of Sulpicius, being sent to give their votes, they declared for the war as he had proposed. On which, in pursuanceof a decree of the senate, a supplication for three days wasproclaimed by the consuls; and prayers were offered to the gods at allthe shrines, that the war which the people had ordered against Philipmight turn out well and happily. The consul Sulpicius inquiring of theheralds, whether they would direct the declaration of the war againstking Philip to be made to himself in person, or whether it would besufficient to publish it in the nearest garrison, within the frontiersof his kingdom, they answered, that they would do rightly whichevercourse they should adopt. The consul received authority from thesenate to send any person whom he thought proper, not being a senator, as ambassador, to denounce war against the king. They then arrangedfor the armies of the consuls and praetors. The consuls were orderedto levy two legions, and to disband the veteran troops. Sulpicius, to whom the management of this new and highly important war had beendecreed, was allowed permission to carry with him as many volunteersas he could procure out of the army which Publius Scipio had broughthome from Africa; but he was not empowered to take with him anyveteran soldier against his will. They ordered that the consul shouldgive to the praetors, Lucius Furius Purpureo and Quintus MinuciusRufus, five thousand of the allies of the Latin confederacy; withwhich forces they should hold, one, the province of Gaul, the other, Bruttium. Quintus Fulvius Gillo was ordered, in like manner, to selectout of the army which Publius Aelius, late consul, had commanded, suchas had been the shortest time in the service, until he also made upfive thousand of the allies and Latin confederates; that this was tobe the protection of the province of Sicily. To Marcus Valerius Falto, who, during the former year, had held the province of Campania, aspraetor, the command was continued for a year; in order that he mightgo over, as propraetor, to Sardinia, and choose out of the army therefive thousand of the allies of the Latin confederacy, who had servedthe fewest campaigns. The consuls were at the same time ordered tolevy two legions for the city, which might be sent wherever occasionsshould require; as there were many states in Italy infected with anattachment to the Carthaginians, which they had formed during the war, and, in consequence, swelling with resentment. The state was to employduring that year six Roman legions. 

9. In the midst of the preparations for war, ambassadors came fromking Ptolemy, who delivered a message; that "the Athenians hadpetitioned the king for aid against Philip; but that although theywere their common allies, yet the king would not, except with thesanction of the Roman people, send either fleet or army into Greece, for the purpose of defending or attacking any person. That he wouldeither remain quiet in his kingdom, if the Romans were at leisure toprotect their allies; or, if more agreeable to them to be at rest, would himself send such aid as might easily secure Athens againstPhilip. " Thanks were returned to the king by the senate, and thisanswer: that "it was the intention of the Roman people to protecttheir allies; that if they should have occasion for any assistancetowards carrying on the war, they would acquaint the king; and thatthey were fully sensible, that the resources of his kingdom were thesure and faithful support of their own state. " Presents were then, by order of the senate, sent to the ambassadors, of five thousand_asses_[1] to each. While the consuls were engaged in the levy, and preparing what was necessary for the war, the people, prone toreligious observances, especially at the beginning of new wars, aftersupplications had been already performed, and prayers offered up atall the shrines, lest any thing should be omitted that had ever beenpractised, ordered, that the consul who was to have the province ofMacedonia should vow games and a present to Jove. Licinius, the chiefpontiff, occasioned some delay to this public vow, alleging, that "itought not to be fulfilled from promiscuous funds. For as the sum tobe named should not be applied to the uses of the war, it should beimmediately set apart, and not to be intermixed with other money; andthat, unless this were done, the vow could not be properly performed. "Although the objection and the author of it were influential, yet theconsul was ordered to consult the college of pontiffs, whether avow could be undertaken at an indeterminate expense? The pontiffsdetermined, that it could; and that it would be even more in order todo it in that way. The consul, therefore, repeating after the chiefpontiff, made the vow in the same words in which those made for fiveyears of safety used to be expressed; only that he engaged to performthe games, and make the offerings, at such expense as the senateshould direct by their vote, at the time when the vow was performed. Before this, the great games so often vowed, were constantly rated ata certain expense: these first at an unspecified amount. 

[Footnote 1: 16l. 2s. 1d. ]

10. While every one's attention was turned to the Macedonian war, andat a time when people apprehended nothing less, a sudden account wasbrought of an inroad of the Gauls. The Insubrians, Caenomanians, and Boians, having been joined by the Salyans, Ilvatians, and otherLigurian states, and putting themselves under the command of Hamilcar, a Carthaginian, who, having been in the army of Hasdrubal, hadremained in those parts, had fallen upon Placentia; and, afterplundering the city, and, in their rage, burning a great part of it, leaving scarcely two thousand men among the flames and ruins, passedthe Po, and advanced to plunder Cremona. The news of the calamitywhich had fallen on a city in their neighbourhood, having reachedthither, the inhabitants had time to shut their gates, and placeguards on the walls, that they might, at least, be besieged beforethey were taken, and send messengers to the Roman praetor. LuciusFurius Purpureo, who had then the command of the province, had, inpursuance of the decree of the senate, disbanded the army, exceptingfive thousand of the allies and Latin confederacy; and had remained, with these troops, in the nearest district of the province aboutAriminum. He immediately informed the senate, by letter, in whatconfusion the province was. That, "of the two colonies which hadescaped in the dreadful storm of the Punic war, one was taken andsacked by the present enemy, and the other besieged. Nor was hisarmy capable of affording sufficient protection to the distressedcolonists, unless he chose to expose five thousand allies to beslaughtered by forty thousand invaders (for so many there were inarms); and by such a loss, on his side, to augment the courage of theenemy, already elated on having destroyed one Roman colony. "

11. This letter having been read they decreed, that the consulAurelius should order the army which he had appointed to assemble on acertain day in Etruria, to attend him on the same day at Ariminum; andshould either go in person, if the public business would permit, to suppress the tumult of the Gauls, or write to the praetor LuciusFurius, that, as soon as the legions from Etruria came to him, heshould send five thousand of the allies to guard that place in themean time, and should himself proceed to relieve the colony fromthe siege. They also determined, that ambassadors should be sentto Carthage, and also into Numidia, to Masinissa: to Carthage, toannounce that "their countryman, Hamilcar, having been left in Gaul, (either with a part of the army formerly commanded by Hasdrubal, orwith that of Mago--they did not with certainty know which, ) was wagingwar, contrary to the treaty. That he had excited the armies of theGauls and Ligurians to arms against the Roman people. That, if theywished for peace, they must recall him, and give him up to the Romanpeople. " They were ordered at the same time to tell them, that "allthe deserters had not been sent back; that a great part of them weresaid to appear openly in Carthage, who ought to be sought after, andsurrendered according to the treaty. " Such was the message to theCarthaginians. To Masinissa they were charged with congratulations, onhis "having not only recovered the kingdom of his father, but enlargedit by the acquisition of the most flourishing parts of Syphax'sterritories. " They were ordered also to acquaint him, that "a warhad been undertaken against Philip, because he had given aid to theCarthaginians, while, by the injuries which he offered to the alliesof the Roman people, he had obliged them to send fleets and armiesinto Greece, while Italy was blazing with war; and that by thus makingthem separate their forces, had been the principal cause of theirbeing so late passing over into Africa; and to request him to sendto that war supplies of Numidian horsemen. " Ample presents were giventhem to be carried to the king; vases of gold and silver, a purplerobe, and a tunic adorned with palms of purple, an ivory sceptre, and a robe of state, with a curule chair. They were also directed toassure him, that if he deemed any thing further requisite to confirmand enlarge his kingdom, the Roman people, in return for his goodservices, would exert their utmost zeal to effect it. At this time, too, ambassadors from Vermina, son of Syphax, came to the senateapologizing for his mistaken conduct, on account of his youth and wantof judgment, and throwing all the blame on the deceitful policy of theCarthaginians: adding, "that as Masinissa had from an enemy become afriend to the Romans, so Vermina would also use his best endeavoursthat he should not be outdone in offices of friendship to the Romanpeople either by Masinissa, or by any other; and requesting that hemight receive from the senate the title of king, friend, and ally. "The answer given to these ambassadors was, that "not only his fatherSyphax, from a friend and ally, had on a sudden, without any reason, become an enemy to the Roman people, but that he himself had madehis first essay of manhood in bearing arms against them. He must, therefore, sue to the Roman people for peace, before he could expectto be acknowledged king, ally, and friend; that it was the practiceof that people to bestow the honour of such title, in return for greatservices performed by kings towards them; that the Roman ambassadorswould soon be in Africa, to whom the senate would give instructions toregulate conditions of peace with Vermina, if he would leave the termsof it entirely to the will of the Roman people; and that, if he wishedthat any thing should be added, left out, or altered, he must make asecond application to the senate. " The ambassadors sent to Africaon those affairs, were Caius Terentius Varro, Publius Lucretius, andCneius Octavius, each of whom had a quinquereme assigned him. 

12. A letter was then read in the senate, from Quintus Minucius, thepraetor, who held the province of Bruttium, that "the money had beenprivately carried off by night out of the treasury of Proserpineat Locri; and that there were no traces to those to whom the chargeapplied. " The senate was highly incensed at finding that the practiceof sacrilege continued, and that even the fate of Pleminius, anexample so recent and so conspicuous both of the guilt and of thepunishment, did not deter men from it. They ordered the consul, CneiusAurelius, to signify to the praetor in Bruttium, that "it was thepleasure of the senate, that an inquiry be made concerning the robberyof the treasury, according to the method used by Marcus Pomponius, praetor, three years before; that the money which could be discoveredshould be restored, that what was not found should be made up, andthat if he thought proper, atonements should be made for the purposeof expiating the violation of the temple, in the manner formerlyprescribed by the pontiffs. " At the same time, also, prodigies wereannounced as having happened in many places. It was said, that inLucania the sky had been seen in a blaze; that at Privernum, in clearweather, the sun had been of a red colour during a whole day; that atLanuvium, in the temple of Juno Sospita, a very loud noise had beenheard in the night. Besides, monstrous births of animals were relatedto have occurred in many places: in the country of the Sabines, aninfant was born whose sex was doubtful; and another was found, sixteenyears old, of doubtful sex. At Frusino a lamb was born with a swine'shead; at Sinuessa, a pig with a human head; and in Lucania, in theland belonging to the state, a foal with five feet. All these wereconsidered as horrid and abominable, and as if nature were straying tostrange productions. Above all, the people were particularly shockedat the hermaphrodites, which were ordered to be immediately throwninto the sea, as had been lately done with a production of the samemonstrous kind, in the consulate of Caius Claudius and Marcus Livius. Notwithstanding they ordered the decemvirs to inspect the books inregard of that prodigy; and the decemvirs, from the books, directedthe same religious ceremonies which had been performed on an occasionof the same kind. They ordered, besides, a hymn to be sung through thecity by thrice nine virgins, and an offering to be made to imperialJuno. The consul, Caius Aurelius, took care that all these matterswere performed according to the direction of the decemvirs. The hymnwas composed by Publius Licinius Tegula, as a similar one had been, inthe memory of their fathers, by Livius. 

13. All religious scruples were fully removed by expiations; at Locri, too, the affair of the sacrilege had been thoroughly investigated byQuintus Minucius, and the money replaced in the treasury out of theeffects of the guilty. When the consuls wished to set out to theirprovinces, a number of private persons, to whom the third paymentbecame due that year, of the money which they had lent to the publicin the consulate of Marcus Valerius and Marcus Claudius, applied tothe senate. The consuls, however, declared that the treasury beingscarcely sufficient for the exigencies of a new war, in which a greatfleet and great armies must be employed, there were no means of payingthem at present. The senate could not stand against them when theycomplained, that "if the state intended to use, for the purpose of theMacedonian war, the money which had been lent for the Punic war, asone war constantly arose after another, what would be the issue, but that, in return for their generosity, their property would beconfiscated as for some crime?" The demands of the private creditorsbeing equitable, and the state being in no capacity of dischargingthe debt, they decreed a middle course between equity and convenience;resolving that "whereas many of them mentioned that lands werefrequently exposed to sale, and that they themselves wished to becomepurchasers, they should, therefore, have liberty to purchase anybelonging to the public, and which lay within fifty miles of the city. That the consuls should make a valuation of these, and impose on eachacre one _as_, as an acknowledgment that the land was the property ofthe public, in order that, when the people should become able to pay, if any one chose rather to have the money than the land, he mightrestore it. " The private creditors accepted the terms with joy; andthat land was called Trientius and Tabulius, because it was given inlieu of the third part of their money. 

14. Publius Sulpicius, after making his vows in the Capitol, setout robed from the city with his lictors, and arrived at Brundusium;where, having formed into legions the veteran soldiers of the Africanarmy who were willing to follow him, and chosen his ships out ofthe fleet of the late consul, Cornelius, he crossed and arrived inMacedonia the day after he had set sail from Brundusium. There he wasmet by ambassadors from the Athenians, entreating him to relieve themfrom the siege. Immediately, Caius Claudius Centho was despatched toAthens, with twenty ships of war, and a thousand of land forces. Forit was not the king himself who carried on the siege of Athens; hewas at that time besieging Abydus, after having tried his strengthin naval contests against Attalus, and against the Rhodians, without success in either engagement. But, besides the naturalpresumptuousness of his temper, he acquired confidence from a treatywhich he had formed with Antiochus, king of Syria, in which they haddivided the wealth of Egypt between them; on which, on hearing ofthe death of Ptolemy, they were both intent. The Athenians now hadentangled themselves in a war with Philip on too trifling an occasion, and at a time when they retained nothing of their former condition buttheir pride. During the celebration of the mysteries, two young men ofAcarnania, who were not initiated, unapprized of its being an offenceagainst religion, entered the temple of Ceres along with the rest ofthe crowd: their discourse readily betrayed them, by their asking someabsurd questions; whereupon, being carried before the presidents ofthe temple, although it was evident that they went in through mistake, yet they were put to death, as if for a heinous crime. The Acarnaniannation made complaint to Philip of this barbarous and hostile act, andprevailed on him to grant them some aid of Macedonian soldiers, andto allow them to make war on the Athenians. At first this army, afterravaging the lands of Attica with fire and sword, retired toAcarnania with booty of all kinds. This was the first provocation tohostilities. The Athenians afterwards, on their side, entered into aregular war, and proclaimed it by order of the state. For king Attalusand the Rhodians, having come to Aegina in pursuit of Philip, whowas retiring to Macedonia, the king crossed over to Piraeus, for thepurpose of renewing and confirming his alliance with the Athenians. Onentering the city, the whole inhabitants received him, pouring forthwith their wives and children to meet him; the priests, with theiremblems of religion; and in a manner the gods themselves, called forthfrom their abodes. 

15. Immediately the people were summoned to an assembly, that theking might treat with them in person on such subjects as he chose; butafterwards it was judged more suitable to his dignity to explain hissentiments in writing, than, being present, to be forced to blush, either at the recital of his favours to the state, or at theimmoderate applause of the multitude, which would overwhelm hismodesty with acclamations and other signs of approbation. In theletter which he sent, and which was read to the assembly, wascontained first, a recapitulation of his acts of kindness to thestate, as his ally; then, of the actions which he had performedagainst Philip; and lastly, an exhortation to "enter immediately onthe war; while they had himself, the Rhodians, and the Romans also toassist them;" not omitting to warn them that "if they were backwardnow, they would hereafter wish in vain for the opportunity whichthey neglected. " They then gave audience to the ambassadors of theRhodians, to whom they were under a recent obligation for havingretaken, and sent home, four of their ships of war, which had beenlately seized by the Macedonians. War was determined upon againstPhilip with universal consent. Unbounded honours were conferred onking Attalus, and then on the Rhodians. At that time, mention was madeof adding a tribe, which they were to call Attalus, to the ten ancienttribes; the Rhodian state was presented with a golden crown, as anacknowledgment of its bravery, and the freedom of the city was givento the inhabitants, in like manner as the Rhodians had formerly givenit to the Athenians. After this, king Attalus returned to his fleet atAegina. From Aegina, the Rhodians sailed to Cia, and thence toRhodes, through the islands, all of which they brought to join inthe alliance, except Andros, Paros, and Cythnus, which were held byMacedonian garrisons. Attalus, having sent messengers to Aetolia, andexpecting ambassadors from thence, was detained at Aegina for sometime in a state of inaction; failing also in his endeavours to excitethe Aetolians to arms, for they were rejoiced at having made peacewith Philip on any terms. Had Attalus and the Rhodians pressed Philipvigorously, they might have acquired the illustrious title of thedeliverers of Greece, but by suffering him to pass over again intoHellespontus, and to strengthen himself by seizing the advantageousposts in Greece, they increased the difficulties of the war, andyielded up to the Romans the glory of having conducted and finishedit. 

16. Philip acted with a spirit more becoming a king; for, though hehad found himself unequal to the forces of Attalus and the Rhodians, yet he was not dismayed, even by the Roman war with which he wasthreatened. Sending Philocles, one of his generals, with two thousandfoot and two hundred horse, to ravage the lands of the Athenians, hegave the command of his fleet to Heraclides, to make for Maronea, and marched thither himself by land, with two thousand foot lightlyequipped, and two hundred horse. Maronea he took at the first assault;and afterwards, with a good deal of trouble, got possession of Aenus, which was at last betrayed to him by Ganymede, the lieutenant ofPtolemy. He then seized on other forts, Cypselus, Doriscos, andSerrheus; and, advancing from thence to the Chersonesus, receivedElaeus and Alopeconnesus, which were surrendered by the inhabitants. Callipolis also, and Madytos, were given up to him, with severalforts of but little consequence. The people of Abydus shut their gatesagainst him, not admitting the ambassadors. This siege detained Philipa long time; and it might have been relieved, had not Attalus and theRhodians been dilatory. The king sent only three hundred men for agarrison, and the Rhodians one quadrireme from their fleet, althoughit was lying idle at Tenedos: and afterwards, when the besieged couldwith difficulty hold out any longer, Attalus, going over in person, did nothing more than show them some hope of relief being near, givingno assistance to these his allies either by land or sea. 

17. At first the people of Abydus, by means of engines placed alongthe walls, not only prevented the approaches by land, but annoyed theenemy's ships in their station. Afterwards a part of the wall beingthrown down, and the assailants having penetrated by mines to an innerwall, which had been hastily raised to oppose their entrance, theysent ambassadors to the king about the conditions of the surrenderof the city. They demanded permission to send away the Rhodianquadrireme, with the crew, and the troops of Attalus in the garrison;and that they themselves might depart from the city, each withone suit of apparel. When Philip's answer afforded no hopes ofaccommodation, unless they surrendered at discretion, this repudiationof their embassy so exasperated them, at once through indignation anddespair, that, seized with the same kind of fury which had possessedthe Saguntines, they ordered all the matrons to be shut up in thetemple of Diana, and the free-born youths and virgins, and even theinfants with their nurses, in the place of exercise; the gold andsilver to be carried into the forum; their valuable garments to be puton board the Rhodian ship, and another from Cyzicum, which lay inthe harbour; the priests and victims to be brought, and altars to beerected in the midst. There they appointed a select number, who, assoon as they should see the army of their friends cut off in defendingthe breach, were instantly to slay their wives and children; to throwinto the sea the gold, silver, and apparel that was on board theships, and to set fire to the buildings, public and private: and tothe performance of this deed they were bound by an oath, the priestsrepeating before them the verses of execration. Those who were of anage capable of fighting then swore that they would not leave theirranks alive unless victorious. These, regardful of the gods, (by whomthey had sworn, ) maintained their ground with such obstinacy, thatalthough the night would soon have put a stop to the fight, yet theking, terrified by their fury, first desisted from the fight. Thechief inhabitants, to whom the more shocking part of the plan had beengiven in charge, seeing that few survived the battle, and that thesewere exhausted by fatigue and wounds, sent the priests (having theirheads bound with the fillets of suppliants) at the dawn of the nextday to surrender the city to Philip. 

18. Before the surrender, one of the Roman ambassadors, who had beensent to Alexandria, Marcus Aemilius, being the youngest of them, onthe joint resolution of the three, on hearing of the present siege, came to Philip, and complained of his having made war on Attalus andthe Rhodians; and particularly that he was then besieging Abydus; andon Philip's saying that he had been forced into the war by Attalus andthe Rhodians commencing hostilities against him, --"Did the people ofAbydus, too, " said he, "commence hostilities against you?" To him, whowas unaccustomed to hear truth, this language seemed too arrogant tobe used to a king, and he answered, --"Your youth, the beauty of yourform, and, above all, the name of Roman, render you too presumptuous. However, my first desire is, that you would observe the treaties, andcontinue in peace with me; but if you begin an attack, I am, on mypart, determined to prove that the kingdom and name of the Macedoniansis not less formidable in war than that of the Romans. " Havingdismissed the ambassador in this manner, Philip got possession of thegold and silver which had been thrown together in a heap, but lost hisbooty with respect to prisoners: for such violent frenzy had seizedthe multitude, that, on a sudden, taking up a persuasion that thosewho had fallen in the battle had been treacherously sacrificed, andupbraiding one another with perjury, especially the priests, who wouldsurrender alive to the enemy those persons whom they themselves haddevoted, they all at once ran different ways to put their wives andchildren to death; and then they put an end to their own livesby every possible method. The king, astonished at their madness, restrained the violence of his soldiers, and said, "that he wouldallow the people of Abydus three days to die in;" and, during thisspace, the vanquished perpetrated more deeds of cruelty on themselvesthan the enraged conquerors would have committed; nor did any one ofthem come into his hands alive, except such as chains, or some otherinsuperable restraint, forbade to die. Philip, leaving a garrison inAbydus, returned to his kingdom; and, just when he had been encouragedby the destruction of the people of Abydus to proceed in the waragainst Rome, as Hannibal had been by the destruction of Saguntum, hewas met by couriers, with intelligence that the consul was already inEpirus, and had drawn his land forces to Apollonia, and his fleet toCorcyra, into winter quarters. 

19. In the mean time, the ambassadors who had been sent into Africa, on the affair of Hamilcar, the leader of the Gallic army, receivedfrom the Carthaginians this answer: that "it was not in their powerto do more than to inflict on him the punishment of exile, and toconfiscate his effects; that they had delivered up all the desertersand fugitives, whom, on a diligent inquiry, they had been able todiscover, and would send ambassadors to Rome, to satisfy the senate onthat head. " They sent two hundred thousand measures of wheat toRome, and the same quantity to the army in Macedonia. From thencethe ambassadors proceeded into Numidia, to the king; deliveredto Masinissa the presents and the message according to theirinstructions, and out of two thousand Numidian horsemen, which heoffered, accepted one thousand. Masinissa superintended in personthe embarkation of these, and sent them, with two hundred thousandmeasures of wheat, and the same quantity of barley, into Macedonia. Their third commission was with Vermina. He advanced to meet them asfar as the utmost limits of his kingdom, and left it to themselves toprescribe such conditions of peace as they thought proper, declaring, that "he should consider any peace with the Roman people as just andadvantageous. " The terms were then settled, and he was ordered to sendambassadors to Rome to procure a ratification of the treaty. 

20. About the same time, Lucius Cornelius Lentulus, proconsul, camehome from Spain; and having laid before the senate an account ofhis brave and successful conduct, during the course of many years, demanded that he might be allowed to enter the city in triumph. Thesenate gave their opinion that "his services were, indeed, deservingof a triumph; but that they had no precedent left them by theirancestors of any person enjoying a triumph, who had not performed theservice either of dictator, consul, or praetor; that he had heldthe province of Spain in quality of proconsul, and not of consul, orpraetor. " They determined, however, that he might enter the city inovation. Against this, Tiberius Sempronius Longus, tribune of thepeople, protested, alleging, that such proceedings would be no more inaccordance with the custom of their ancestors, or with any precedent, than the other; but, overcome at length by the unanimous desire ofthe senate, the tribune withdrew his opposition, and Lucius Lentulusentered the city in ovation. He carried to the treasury forty-fourthousand pounds weight of silver, and two thousand four hundred poundsweight of gold. To each of the soldiers he distributed, of the spoil, one hundred and twenty _asses_. [1]

[Footnote 1: 7s. 9d. ]

21. The consular army had, by this time, been conducted from Arretiumto Ariminum, and the five thousand Latin confederates had crossed fromGaul into Etruria. Lucius Furius, therefore, advanced from Ariminum, by forced marches, against the Gauls, who were then besieging Cremona, and pitched his camp at the distance of one mile and a half from theenemy. Furius had an opportunity of performing a splendid exploit, had he, without halting, led his troops directly to attack their camp;scattered hither and thither, they were wandering through the country;and the guard, which they had left, was not sufficiently strong; buthe was apprehensive that his men were too much fatigued by their hastymarch. The Gauls, recalled from the fields by the shouts of theirparty, returned to the camp without seizing the booty within theirreach, and, next day, marched out to offer battle. The Roman did notdecline the combat, but had scarcely time to draw up his forces, sorapidly did the enemy advance to the fight. The right brigade (for hehad the troops of the allies divided into brigades) was placed in thefirst line, the two Roman legions in reserve. Marcus Furius was at thehead of the right brigade, Marcus Caecilius of the legions, and LuciusValerius Flaccus of the cavalry; these were all lieutenant-generals. Two other lieutenant-generals, Cneius Laetorius and Publius Titinnius, the praetor kept near himself, that, with their assistance, he mightobserve and take proper measures against all sudden attempts of theenemy. At first, the Gauls, bending their whole force to one point, were in hopes of being able to overwhelm, and trample under foot, the right brigade, which was in the van; but not succeeding, theyendeavoured to turn round the flanks, and to surround their enemy'sline, which, considering the multitude of their forces, and the smallnumber of the others, seemed easy to be done. On observing this, thepraetor, in order to extend his own line, brought up the two legionsfrom the reserve, and placed them on the right and left of the brigadewhich was engaged in the van; vowing a temple to Jupiter, if he shouldrout the enemy on that day. To Lucius Valerius he gave orders, to makethe horsemen of the two legions on one flank, and the cavalry of theallies on the other, charge the wings of the enemy, and not sufferthem to come round to his rear. At the same time, observing that thecentre of the line of the Gauls was weakened, from having extended thewings, he directed his men to make an attack there in close order, andto break through their ranks. The wings were routed by the cavalry, and, at the same time, the centre by the foot; and suddenly, beingworsted in all parts with great slaughter, the Gauls turned theirbacks, and fled to their camp in hurry and confusion. The cavalrypursued them as they fled; and the legions, coming up in a short timeafter, assaulted the camp, from whence there did not escape so manyas six thousand men. There were slain and taken above thirty-fivethousand, with seventy standards, and above two hundred Gallic waggonsladen with much booty. Hamilcar, the Carthaginian general, fellin that battle, and three distinguished generals of the Gauls. Theprisoners taken at Placentia, to the number of two thousand freemen, were restored to the colony. 

22. This was an important victory, and caused great joy at Rome. Onreceipt of the praetor's letter, a supplication for three days wasdecreed. In that battle, there fell of the Romans and allies twothousand, most of them in the right brigade, against which, in thefirst onset, the most violent efforts of the enemy had been directed. Although the praetor had brought the war almost to a conclusion, yetthe consul, Cneius Aurelius, having finished the business which wasnecessary to be done at Rome, set out for Gaul, and received thevictorious army from the praetor. The other consul, arriving inhis province towards the end of autumn, passed the winter in theneighbourhood of Apollonia. Caius Claudius, and the Roman triremeswhich had been sent to Athens from the fleet that was laid up atCorcyra, as was mentioned above, arriving at Piraeeus, greatly revivedthe hopes of their allies, who were beginning to give way to despair. For not only did those inroads by land cease, which used to bemade from Corinth through Megara, but the ships of the pirates fromChalcis, who had been accustomed to infest both the Athenian sea andcoast, were afraid not only to venture round the promontory of Sunium, but even to trust themselves out of the straits of the Euripus. Inaddition to these came three quadriremes from Rhodes, the Athenianshaving three open ships, which they had equipped for the protection oftheir lands on the coast. While Claudius thought, that if he were ablewith his fleet to give security to the Athenians it was as much ascould be expected at present, a fortunate opportunity was thrown inhis way of accomplishing a much more important enterprise. 

23. Some exiles driven from Chalcis, by ill treatment received fromthe king's party, brought intelligence, that the place might be takenwithout even a contest; for that both the Macedonians, being underno immediate apprehension from an enemy, were straying idly about thecountry; and that the townsmen, depending on the Macedonian garrison, neglected the guard of the city. Claudius, on this authority, set outand though he arrived at Sunium early enough to have sailed forwardto the entrance of the strait of Euboea, yet fearing that, on doublingthe promontory, he might be descried by the enemy, he lay by withthe fleet until night. As soon as it grew dark he began to move, and, favoured by a calm, arrived at Chalcis a little before day; and then, approaching the city, on a side where it was thinly inhabited, witha small party of soldiers, and by means of scaling ladders, he gotpossession of the nearest tower, and the wall on each side; the guardsbeing asleep in some places, and in others no one being on the watch. Thence they advanced to the more populous parts of the town, andhaving slain the sentinels, and broke open a gate, they gave anentrance to the main body of the troops. These immediately spreadthemselves throughout the whole city, and increased the tumult bysetting fire to the buildings round the forum, by which means both thegranaries belonging to the king, and his armoury, with a vast store ofmachines and engines, were reduced to ashes. Then commenced a generalslaughter of those who fled, as well as of those who made resistance;and after having either put to the sword or driven out every one whowas of an age fit to bear arms, (Sopater also, the Acarnanian, whocommanded the garrison, being slain, ) they first collected all thespoils in the forum, and then carried it on board the ships. Theprison, too, was forced open by the Rhodians, and those prisonerswhom Philip had shut up there, as in the safest custody, were set atliberty. They next pulled down and mutilated the statues of the king;and then, on a signal being given for a retreat, re-embarked andreturned to Piraeeus, from whence they had set out. If there hadbeen so large a force of Roman soldiers that Chalcis might have beenretained and the protection of Athens not neglected, Chalcis andEuripus might have been taken from the king;--a most importantadvantage at the commencement of the war. For as the pass ofThermopylae is the principal barrier of Greece by land, so is thestrait of the Euripus by sea. 

24. Philip was then at Demetrias, and as soon as the news arrivedthere of the calamity which had befallen the city of his allies, although it was too late to carry assistance to those who werealready ruined, yet anxious to accomplish what was next to assistance, revenge, he set out instantly with five thousand foot lightlyequipped, and three hundred horse. With a speed almost equal to thatof racing, he hastened to Chalcis, not doubting but that he should beable to surprise the Romans. Being disappointed in this expectation, and having arrived, with no other result than a melancholy view ofthe smoking ruins of that friendly city, (so few being left, thatthey were scarcely sufficient to bury those who had fallen in theconflict, ) with the same rapid haste which he had used in coming, hecrossed the Euripus by the bridge, and led his troops through Boeotiato Athens, in hopes that a similar issue would correspond to a similarattempt. And it would have corresponded, had not a scout, (one ofthose whom the Greeks call day-runners, [1] because they run througha journey of great length in one day, ) descrying from his post ofobservation the king's army in its march, set out at midnightand arrived before them at Athens. The same sleep, and the samenegligence, prevailed there which had proved the ruin of Chalcis afew days before. Roused, however, by the alarming intelligence, thepraetor of the Athenians, and Dioxippus, commander of a cohort ofmercenary auxiliaries, called the soldiers together in the forum, and ordered the trumpets to sound an alarm from the citadel, that allmight be informed of the approach of the enemy. On which the peopleran from all quarters to the gates, and afterwards to the walls. In afew hours after, and still some time before day, Philip approached thecity, and observing a great number of lights, and hearing the noise ofthe men hurrying to and fro, as usual on such an alarm, he halted histroops, and ordered them to sit down and take some rest; resolving touse open force, since his stratagem had not succeeded. Accordinglyhe advanced on the side of Dipylos. This gate, being situated in theprincipal approach of the city, is somewhat larger and wider thanthe rest. Both within and without the streets are wide, so that thetownsmen could form their troops from the forum to the gate, while onthe outside a road of about a mile in length, leading to the schoolof the academy, afforded open room to the foot and horse of the enemy. The Athenians, who had formed their troops within the gate, marchedout with Attalus's garrison, and the cohort of Dioxippus, along thatroad. Which, when Philip observed, thinking that he had the enemy inhis power, and was now about to sate himself with their long wishedfor destruction, (being more incensed against them than any of theGrecian states, ) he exhorted his men to keep their eyes on him duringthe fight, and to take notice, that wherever the king was, therethe standards and the army ought to be. He then spurred on his horseagainst the enemy, animated not only with resentment, but with adesire of gaining honour, for he reckoned it a glorious thing to bebeheld fighting from the walls, which were filled with an immensemultitude, for the purpose of witnessing the engagement. Advancingfar before the line, and with a small body of horse, rushing into themidst of the enemy, he inspired his men with great ardour, and theAthenians equally with terror. Having wounded many with his own hand, both in close fight and with missive weapons, and driven them backwithin the gate, he still pursued them closely; and having madegreater slaughter among them while embarrassed in the narrow pass, rash as the attempt was, he yet had an unmolested retreat, becausethose who were in the towers withheld their weapons lest they shouldhit their friends, who were mingled in confusion among their enemies. The Athenians, after this, confining their troops within the walls, Philip sounded a retreat, and pitched his camp at Cynosarges, a templeof Hercules, and a school surrounded by a grove. But Cynosarges, andLycaeum, and whatever was sacred or pleasant in the neighbourhood ofthe city, he burned to the ground, and levelled not only the houses, but sepulchres, nor was any thing either in divine or human possessionpreserved amidst the violence of his rage. 

[Footnote 1: Hemerodromoi. ]

25. Next day, the gates having at first been shut, and afterwardssuddenly thrown open, in consequence of a body of Attalus's troopsfrom Aegina, and the Romans from Piraeeus, having entered the city, the king removed his camp to the distance of about three miles. Fromthence he proceeded to Eleusis, in hopes of surprising the temple, anda fort which overlooks and surrounds it; but, finding that the watcheshad not been neglected, and that the fleet was coming from Piraeeus tosupport them, he laid aside the design, and led his troops, first toMegara, and then to Corinth; where, on hearing that the council of theAchaeans was then sitting at Argos, he went and joined the assembly, unexpected by the Achaeans. They were at the time consulting about awar against Nabis, tyrant of the Lacedaemonians; who, on the commandbeing transferred from Philopoemen to Cycliades, a general by nomeans his equal, perceiving that the confederates of the Achaeans werefalling off, had renewed the war, was ravaging the territories of hisneighbours, and had become formidable even to the cities. While theywere deliberating what number of men should be raised out of each ofthe states to oppose this enemy, Philip promised that he would relievethem of that care, as far as concerned Nabis and the Lacedaemonians;and that he would not only secure the lands of their allies fromdevastation, but transfer the whole terror of the war on Laconiaitself, by leading his army thither instantly. This discourse beingreceived with general approbation, he added, --"It is but reasonable, however, that while I am employed in protecting your property by myarms, my own should not be deprived of protection; therefore, if youthink proper, provide such a number of troops as will be sufficient tosecure Orcus, Chalcis, and Corinth; that my affairs being in a stateof safety behind me, I may without anxiety make war on Nabis and theLacedaemonians. " The Achaeans were not ignorant of the tendency ofthis so kind promise, and of his proffered assistance against theLacedaemonians; that his purpose was to draw the Achaean youth out ofPeloponnesus as hostages, in order to implicate the nation in a warwith the Romans. Cycliades, the Achaean praetor, thinking that it wasirrelevant to develope the matter by argument, said nothing more thanthat it was not allowable, according to the laws of the Achaeans, totake any matters into consideration except those on which they hadbeen called together: and the decree for levying an army against Nabisbeing passed, he dismissed the assembly, after having presided in itwith much resolution and public spirit, and until that day having beenreckoned among the partisans of the king. Philip, disappointed in ahigh expectation, after having collected a few voluntary soldiers, returned to Corinth, and from thence into the territories of Athens. 

26. In those days in which Philip was in Achaia, Philocles, one of theking's generals, marching from Euboea with two thousand Thracians andMacedonians, in order to lay waste the territories of the Athenians, crossed the forest of Cithaeron opposite to Eleusis. Despatchinghalf of his troops, make depredations in all parts of the country, hehimself lay concealed with the remainder in a place convenient for anambush; in order that, if any attack should be made from the fort atEleusis on his men employed in plundering, he might suddenly fall uponthe enemy unawares, and while they were in disorder. His stratagemdid not escape discovery: wherefore calling back the soldiers, who hadgone different ways in pursuit of booty, and drawing them up in order, he advanced to assault the fort at Eleusis; but being repulsed fromthence with many wounds, he formed a junction with Philip on hisreturn from Achaia. The storming of this fort was also attempted bythe king in person: but the Roman ships coming from Piraeeus, and abody of forces thrown into the fort, compelled him to relinquish thedesign. On this the king, dividing his army, sent Philocles with onepart to Athens, and went himself with the other to Piraeeus; that, while his general, by advancing to the walls and threatening anassault, might keep the Athenians within the city, he might be ableto make himself master of the harbour, when left with only a slightgarrison. But he found the attack of Piraeeus no less difficult thanthat of Eleusis, the same persons for the most part acting in itsdefence. He therefore hastily led his troops to Athens, and beingrepulsed by a sudden sally of both foot and horse, who engaged him inthe narrow ground, enclosed by the half-ruined wall, which, with twoarms, joins Piraeus to Athens, he desisted from the assault of thecity, and, dividing his forces again with Philocles, set out tocomplete the devastation of the country. As, in his former ravages, he had employed himself in levelling the sepulchres round the city, sonow, not to leave any thing unviolated, he ordered the temples ofthe gods, of which they had one consecrated in every village, to bedemolished and burned. The country of Attica afforded ample matterfor the exercise of this barbarous rage: being highly embellished withworks of that kind, having plenty of indigenous marble, and aboundingwith artists of exquisite ingenuity. Nor was he satisfied with merelydestroying the temples themselves, and overthrowing the images, buthe ordered even the stones to be broken, lest, remaining whole, theyshould give stateliness to the ruins; and then, his rage not beingsatiated, but no object remaining on which it could be exercised, heretired from the country of the enemy into Boeotia, without havingperformed in Greece any thing else worth mention. 

27. The consul, Sulpicius, who was at that time encamped; on theriver Apsus, between Apollonia and Dyrrachium, having ordered LuciusApustius, lieutenant-general, thither, sent him with part of theforces to lay waste the enemy's territory. Apustius, after ravagingthe frontiers of Macedonia, and having, at the first assault, takenthe forts of Corragos, Gerrunios, and Orgessos, came to Antipatria, acity situated in a narrow gorge; where, at first inviting theleading men to a conference, he endeavoured to entice them to committhemselves to the good faith of the Romans; but finding that fromconfidence in the size, fortifications, and situation of their city, they paid no regard to his discourse, he attacked the place by forceof arms, and took it by assault: then, putting all the young men todeath, and giving up the entire spoil to his soldiers, he razed thewalls and burned the city. This proceeding spread such terror, thatCodrion, a strong and well-fortified town, surrendered to the Romanswithout a struggle. Leaving a garrison there, he took Ilion by force, a name better known than the town, on account of that of the same namein Asia. As the lieutenant-general was returning to the consul witha great quantity of spoil, Athenagoras, one of the king's generals, falling on his extreme rear, in its passage over a river, threw thehindmost into disorder. On hearing the shouting and tumult, Apustiusrode back in full speed, ordered the troops to face about, and drewthem up in order, arranging the baggage in the centre. The king'stroops could not support the onset of the Roman soldiers, many of themwere slain, and more made prisoners. The lieutenant-general, havingbrought back the army without loss to the consul, was despatchedimmediately to the fleet. 

28. The war commencing thus brilliantly with this successfulexpedition, several petty kings and princes, neighbours of theMacedonians, came to the Roman camp: Pleuratus, son of Scerdilaedus, and Amynander, king of the Athamanians; and from the Dardanians, Bato, son of Longarus. This Longarus had, in his own quarrel, supported awar against Demetrius, father of Philip. To their offers of aid, the consul answered, that he would make use of the assistance of theDardanians, and of Pleuratus, when he should lead his troops intoMacedonia. To Amynander he allotted the part of exciting the Aetoliansto war. To the ambassadors of Attalus, (for they also had come at thesame time, ) he gave directions that the king should wait at Aegina, where he wintered, for the arrival of the Roman fleet; and when joinedby that, he should, as before, harass Philip with attacks by sea. Tothe Rhodians, also, an embassy was sent, to engage them to contributetheir share towards carrying on the war. Nor was Philip, who had bythis time arrived in Macedonia, remiss in his preparations for thecampaign. He sent his son Perseus, then very young, with part of hisforces to block up the pass near Pelagonia, appointing persons out ofthe number of his friends to direct his inexperienced age. Sciathusand Peparethus, no inconsiderable cities, he demolished, lest theyshould become a prey and prize to the enemy's fleet; despatching atthe same time ambassadors to the Aetolians, lest that restless nationmight change sides on the arrival of the Romans. 

29. The assembly of the Aetolians, which they call Panaetolium, wasto meet on a certain day. In order to be present at this, the king'sambassadors hastened their journey, and Lucius Furius Purpureo alsoarrived, deputed by the consul. Ambassadors from the Athenians, likewise, came to this assembly. The Macedonians were first heard, aswith them the latest treaty had been made; and they declared, thatas no change of circumstances had occurred, they had nothing new tointroduce: for the same reasons which had induced them to make peacewith Philip, after experiencing the unprofitableness of an alliancewith the Romans, should engage them to preserve it now that it wasestablished. "Do you rather choose, " said one of the ambassadors, "toimitate the inconsistency, or levity, shall I call it, of the Romans, who ordered this answer to be given to your ambassadors at Rome: 'Why, Aetolians, do you apply to us, when, without our approbation, you havemade peace with Philip?' Yet these same people now require that youshould, in conjunction with them, wage war against Philip. Formerly, too, they pretended that they took arms on your account, and in yourdefence against Philip: now they do not allow you to continue at peacewith him. To assist Messana, they first embarked for Sicily; and asecond time, that they might redeem Syracuse to freedom when oppressedby the Carthaginians. Both Messana and Syracuse, and all Sicily, theyhold in their own possession, and have reduced it into a tributaryprovince under their axes and rods. You imagine, perhaps, that in thesame manner as you hold an assembly at Naupactus, according to yourown laws, under magistrates created by yourselves, at liberty tochoose allies and enemies, and to have peace or war at your ownoption, so the assembly of the states of Sicily is summoned, toSyracuse, or Messana, or Lilybaeum. No, a Roman praetor presides atthe meeting; summoned by his command they assemble; they behold him, attended by his lictors seated on a lofty throne, issuing his haughtyedicts. His rods are ready for their backs, his axes for their necks, and every year they are allotted a different master. Neither oughtthey nor can they, wonder at this, when they see all the cities ofItaly bending under the same yoke, --Rhegium, Tarentum Capua, not tomention those in their own neighbourhood, out of the ruins of whichtheir city of Rome grew into power. Capua indeed subsists, the graveand monument of the Campanian people, that entire people having beeneither cut off or driven into banishment; the mutilated carcass of acity, without senate, without commons, without magistrates; a sort ofprodigy, the leaving which to be inhabited, showed more cruelty thanif it had been utterly destroyed. If foreigners who are separated fromus to a greater distance by their language, manners, and laws, than bythe distance by sea and land, are allowed to get footing here, it ismadness to hope that any thing will continue in its present state. Does the sovereignty of Philip seem in any degree incompatible withyour freedom, who, at a time when he was justly incensed against you, demanded nothing more of you than peace; and at present requires nomore than the observance of the peace which he agreed to? Accustomforeign legions to these countries, and receive the yoke; too late, and in vain, will you look for Philip as an ally, when you shall havethe Roman as a master. Trifling causes occasionally unite and disunitethe Aetolians, Acarnanians, and Macedonians, men speaking the samelanguage. With foreigners, with barbarians, all Greeks have, and everwill have, eternal war: because they are enemies by nature, which isalways the same, and not from causes which change with the times. Mydiscourse shall conclude with the same argument with which it began. Three years since, the same persons, assembled in this same place, determined on peace with the same Philip, contrary to the inclinationsof the same Romans, who now wish that the peace should be broken, after it has been adjusted and ratified. In the subject of yourdeliberation, fortune has made no change; why you should make any, Ido not see. "

30. Next, after the Macedonians, with the consent and at the desireof the Romans, the Athenians were introduced; who, having sufferedgrievously, could, with the greater justice, inveigh against thecruelty and inhumanity of the king. They represented, in a deplorablelight, the miserable devastation and spoliation of their fields;adding, that "they did not complain on account of having, from anenemy, suffered hostile treatment; for there were certain rights ofwar, according to which, as it was just to act, so it was just toendure. Their crops being burned, their houses demolished, theirmen and cattle carried off as spoil, were to be considered rather asmisfortunes to the sufferer than as ill-treatment. But of this theyhad good reason to complain, that he who called the Romans foreignersand barbarians, had himself so atrociously violated all rights, bothdivine and human, as, in his former inroad, to have waged an impiouswar against the infernal gods, in the latter, against those above. That the sepulchres and monuments of all within their country had beendemolished, the graves laid open, and the bones left unprotected bythe soil. There had been several temples, which, in former times, whentheir ancestors dwelt in the country in their separate districts, had been consecrated in each of their little forts and villages, andwhich, even after they were incorporated into one city, they did notneglect or forsake. That around all these temples Philip had scatteredhis destructive flames, and left the images of the gods lying scorchedand mutilated among the prostrated pillars of their fanes. Such ashe had rendered the country of Attica, formerly opulent and adorned, such, if he were suffered, would he render Aetolia and the whole ofGreece. That the mutilation of their own city, also, would have beensimilar, if the Romans had not come to its relief: for he had shownthe same wicked rage against the gods who are the guardians of thecity, and Minerva who presides over the citadel; the same against thetemple of Ceres at Eleusis; the same against Jupiter and Minerva atPiraeeus. In a word, having been repelled by force of arms not onlyfrom their temples, but even from their walls, he had vented his furyon those sacred edifices which were protected by religion alone. Theytherefore entreated and besought the Aetolians, that, compassionatingthe Athenians, and with the immortal gods for their leaders, and, under them, the Romans, who, next to the gods, possessed the greatestpower they would take part in the war. "

31. The Roman ambassador then replied: "The Macedonians first, andafterwards the Athenians, have obliged me to change entirely themethod of my discourse. For, on the one hand, the Macedonians, byaggressively introducing charges against the Romans, when I had comeprepared to make complaint of the injuries committed by Philip againstso many cities in alliance with us, have obliged me to think ofdefence rather than accusation; and, on the other hand, what have theAthenians, after relating his inhuman and impious crimes against thegods both celestial and infernal, left for me, or any one else, whichI can further urge against him. You are to suppose, that the samecomplaints are made by the Cianians, Abydenians, Aeneans, Maronites, Thasians, Parians, Samians, Larissenians, Messenians, on the side ofAchaia; and complaints, still heavier and more grievous, by those whomhe had it more in his power to injure. For as to those proceedingswhich he censures in us, if they are not deserving of honour, I willadmit that they cannot be defended at all. He has objected to us, Rhegium, and Capua, and Syracuse. As to Rhegium, during the warwith Pyrrhus, a legion which, at the earnest request of the Rhegiansthemselves, we had sent thither as a garrison, wickedly possessedthemselves of the city which they had been sent to defend. Did we thenapprove of that deed? or did we exert the force of our arms againstthat guilty legion, until we reduced them under our power; and then, after making them give satisfaction to the allies, by their stripesand the loss of their heads, restore to the Rhegians their city, theirlands, and all their effects, together with their liberty and laws? Tothe Syracusans, when oppressed, and that by foreign tyrants, whichwas a still greater indignity, we lent assistance; and after enduringgreat fatigues in carrying on the siege of so strong a city, bothby land and sea, for almost three years, (although the Syracusansthemselves chose to continue in slavery to the tyrants rather than betaken to us, ) yet, becoming masters of the place, and by exertionof the same force setting it at liberty, we restored it to theinhabitants. At the same time, we do not deny that Sicily is ourprovince, and that the states which sided with the Carthaginians, and, in conjunction with them, waged war against us, pay us tribute andtaxes; on the contrary, we wish that you and all nations should know, that the condition of each is such as it has deserved at our hands:and ought we to repent of the punishment inflicted on the Campanians, of which even they themselves cannot complain? These men, after we hadon their account carried on war against the Samnites for near seventyyears, with great loss on our side; had united them to ourselves, first by treaty, and then by intermarriages, and the relationshipsarising thence; and lastly, by the right of citizenship; yet, in thetime of our adversity, were the first of all the states of Italy whichrevolted to Hannibal, after basely putting our garrison to death, andafterwards, through resentment at being besieged by us, sent Hannibalto attack Rome. If neither their city nor one man of them had beenleft remaining, who could take offence, or consider them as treatedwith more severity than they had deserved? From consciousness ofguilt, greater numbers of them perished by their own hands, than bythe punishments inflicted by us. And while from the rest we took awaythe town and the lands, still we left them a place to dwell in, wesuffered the city which partook not of the guilt to stand uninjured;so that he who should see it this day would find no trace of itshaving been besieged or taken. But why do I speak of Capua, when evento vanquished Carthage we granted peace and liberty? The greatestdanger is, that, by our too great readiness to pardon the conquered, we may encourage others to try the fortune of war against us. Letso much suffice in our defence, and against Philip, whose domesticcrimes, whose parricides and murders of his relations and friends, andwhose lust, more disgraceful to human nature, if possible, than hiscruelty, you, as being nearer to Macedonia, are better acquaintedwith. As to what concerns yourselves, Aetolians, we entered into awar with Philip on your account: you made peace with him withoutconsulting us. Perhaps you will say, that while we were occupiedin the Punic war, you were constrained by fear to accept terms ofpacification, from him who at that time possessed superior power;and that on our side, pressed by more urgent affairs we suspendedour operations in a war which you had laid aside. At present, aswe, having, by the favour of the gods brought the Punic war to aconclusion, have fallen on Macedonia with the whole weight of ourpower, so you have an opportunity offered you of regaining a place inour friendship and alliance, unless you choose to perish with Philip, rather than to conquer with the Romans. "

32. When these things had been said by the ambassador the minds ofall leaning towards the Romans, Damocritus, praetor of the Aetolians, (who, it was reported, had received money from the king, ) assenting inno degree to one party or the other, said, --that "in consultations ofgreat and critical importance, nothing was so injurious as haste. Thatrepentance, indeed, generally followed, and that quickly but yet toolate and unavailing; because designs carried on with precipitationcould not be recalled, nor matters brought back to their originalstate. The time, however, for determining the point underconsideration, which, for his part, he thought should not be tooearly, might yet immediately be fixed in this manner. As it had beenprovided by the laws, that no determination should be made concerningpeace or war, except in the Panaetolic or Pylaic councils; let themimmediately pass a decree, that the praetor, when he chooses to treatrespecting war and peace, may have full authority to summon a council, and that whatever shall be then debated and decreed, shall be, to allintents and purposes, legal and valid, as if it had been transactedin the Panaetolic or Pylaic assembly. " And thus dismissing theambassadors, with the matter undetermined, he said, that thereinhe had acted most prudently for the interest of the state; for theAetolians would have it in their power to join in alliance withwhichever of the parties should be more successful in the war. Suchwere the proceedings in the council of the Aetolians. 

33. Meanwhile Philip was making vigorous preparations for carryingon the war both by sea and land. His naval forces he drew together atDemetrias in Thessaly; supposing that Attalus, and the Roman fleet, would move from Aegina in the beginning of the spring. He gave thecommand of the fleet and of the sea-coast to Heraclides, to whom hehad formerly intrusted it. The equipment of the land forces he tookcare of in person; considering that he had deprived the Romans of twopowerful auxiliaries, the Aetolians on the one side and the Dardanianson the other, by making his son Perseus block up the pass atPelagonia. The consul was employed, not in preparations, but inthe operations of war. He led his army through the country of theDassaretians, conveying the corn untouched which he had brought fromhis winter quarters, for the fields afforded supplies sufficient forthe consumption of the troops. The towns and villages surrendered tohim, some through inclination, others through fear; some were takenby assault, others were found deserted, the barbarians flying to theneighbouring mountains. He fixed a standing camp at Lycus near theriver Bevus, and from thence sent to bring in corn from the magazinesof the Dassaretians. Philip saw the whole country filled withconsternation, and not knowing the designs of the consul, he sent aparty of horse to discover whither he was directing his course. Thesame state of uncertainty possessed the consul; he knew that theking had moved from his winter quarters, but in what direction he hadproceeded he knew not: he also had sent horsemen to gain intelligence. These two parties, having set out from opposite quarters, afterwandering a long time among the Dassaretians, through unknown roads, fell at length into the same track. Neither doubted, as soon as thenoise of men and horses was heard at a distance, that the enemy wasapproaching, therefore, before they came within sight of each other, they got their arms in readiness, nor, when they saw their foe, wasthere any delay in engaging. As they happened to be nearly equal innumber and valour, being picked men on both sides, they fought duringseveral hours with vigour, until fatigue, both of men and horses, putan end to the fight, without deciding the victory. Of the Macedoniansthere fell forty horsemen; of the Romans thirty-five. Still, however, neither did the one party carry back to the king, nor the other to theconsul, any certain information in what quarter the camp of his enemylay. But this was soon made known to them by deserters, whom theirrecklessness of disposition supplies in all wars in sufficient numberto discover the affairs of the contending parties. 

34. Philip, judging that he should make some progress towardsconciliating the affections of his men, and induce them to face dangermore readily on his account, if he bestowed some pains on the burialof the horsemen who fell in that expedition, ordered them to beconveyed into the camp, in order that all might be spectators of thehonours paid them at their funeral. Nothing is so uncertain, or sodifficult to form a judgment of, as the minds of the multitude. Thatwhich seems calculated to increase their alacrity, in exertions ofevery sort, often creates in them fear and inactivity. Accordingly, those who, being always accustomed to fight with Greeks and Illyrians, had only seen wounds made with javelins and arrows, seldom even bylances, came to behold bodies dismembered by the Spanish sword, somewith their arms lopped off, with the shoulder or the neck entirely cutthrough, heads severed from the trunk, and the bowels laid open, withother frightful exhibitions of wounds: they therefore perceived, withhorror, against what weapons and what men they were to fight. Even theking himself was seized with apprehensions, having never yet engagedthe Romans in a regular battle. Wherefore, recalling his son, and theguard posted at the pass of Pelagonia, in order to strengthen hisarmy by the addition of those troops, he thereby opened a passage intoMacedonia for Pleuratus and the Dardanians. Then, taking desertersfor guides, he marched towards the enemy with twenty thousand footand four thousand horse, and at the distance of somewhat more than athousand paces from the Roman camp, and near Ithacus, he fortified ahill with a trench and rampart. From this place, taking a view of theRoman station in the valley beneath, he is said to have been struckwith admiration, both at the general appearance of the camp, and theregular disposition of each particular part; then with the dispositionof the tents, and the intervals of the passages; and to have declared, that, certainly, that could not be regarded by any as the camp ofbarbarians. For two days, the consul and the king, each waitingfor the other's making some attempt, kept their troops within theramparts. On the third day, the Roman led out all his forces, andoffered battle. 

35. But the king, not daring to risk so hastily a general engagement, sent four hundred Trallians, who are a tribe of the Illyrians, as wehave said in another place, and three hundred Cretans; adding tothis body of infantry an equal number of horse, under the command ofAthenagoras, one of his nobles honoured with the purple, to make anattack on the enemy's cavalry. When these troops arrived within alittle more than five hundred paces, the Romans sent out the lightinfantry, and two cohorts of horse, that both cavalry and infantrymight be equal in number to the Macedonians. The king's troopsexpected that the method of fighting would be such as they had beenaccustomed to; that the horsemen, pursuing and retreating alternately, would at one time use their weapons, at another time turn their backs;that the agility of the Illyrians would be serviceable for excursionsand sudden attacks, and that the Cretans might discharge their arrowsagainst the enemy, as they advanced eagerly to the charge. But theonset of the Romans, which was not more vigorous than persevering, entirely disconcerted this method of fighting: for the light infantry, as if they were fighting with their whole line of battle, afterdischarging their javelins, carried on a close fight with theirswords; and the horsemen, when they had once made a charge, stoppingtheir horses, fought, some on horseback, while others dismounted andintermixed themselves with the foot. By this means neither were theking's cavalry, who were unaccustomed to a steady fight, a matchfor the others; nor were the infantry, who were only skirmishing andirregular troops, and were besides but half covered with the kindof harness which they used, at all equal to the Roman infantry, whocarried a sword and buckler, and were furnished with proper armour, both to defend themselves and to annoy the enemy: nor did they sustainthe combat, but fled to their camp, trusting entirely to their speedfor safety. 

36. After an interval of one day, the king, resolving to make anattack with all his forces of cavalry and light-armed infantry, had, during the night, placed in ambush, in a convenient place between thetwo camps, a body of targeteers, whom they call Peltastae, and givenorders to Athenagoras and the cavalry, if they found they had theadvantage in the open fight, to pursue their success; if otherwise, that they should retreat leisurely, and by that means draw on theenemy to the place where the ambush lay. The cavalry accordinglydid retreat; but the officers of the body of targeteers, by bringingforward their men before the time, and not waiting for the signal, asthey ought, lost an opportunity of performing considerable service. The Romans, having gained the victory in open fight, and also escapedthe danger of the ambuscade, retired to their camp. Next day theconsul marched out with all his forces, and offered battle, placinghis elephants in the front of the foremost battalions. Of thisresource the Romans then for the first time availed themselves; havinga number of them which had been taken in the Punic war. Finding thatthe enemy kept himself quiet behind his intrenchments, headvanced close up to them, upbraiding him with cowardice; and as, notwithstanding, no opportunity of an engagement was afforded, theconsul, considering how dangerous foraging must be while the campslay so near each other, where the cavalry were ready at any moment toattack the soldiers, when dispersed through the country, removed hiscamp to a place called Ortholophus, distant about eight miles, whereby reason of the intervening distance he could forage with moresafety. While the Romans were collecting corn in the adjacent fields, the king kept his men within the trenches, in order to increase boththe negligence and confidence of the enemy. But, when he saw themscattered, he set out with all his cavalry, and the auxiliary Cretans, and marching with such speed that the swiftest footmen could, byrunning, but just keep up with the horse, he planted his standardsbetween the camp of the Romans and their foragers. Then, dividingthe forces, he sent one part of them in quest of the marauders, withorders to leave not one alive; with the other, he himself halted, andplaced guards on the roads through which the enemy seemed likely tofly back to their camp. And now carnage and flight prevailed in alldirections, and no intelligence of the misfortune had yet reached theRoman camp, because those who fled towards the camp fell in with theguards, which the king had stationed to intercept them, and greaternumbers were slain by those who were placed in the roads, than bythose who had been sent out to attack them. At length, a few effectedtheir escape, through the midst of the enemy's posts, but were sofilled with terror, that they excited a general consternation in thecamp, rather than brought intelligible information. 

37. The consul, ordering the cavalry to carry aid to those who were indanger, in the best manner they could, drew out the legions fromthe camp, and led them drawn up in a square towards the enemy. Thecavalry, taking different ways through the fields, missed the road, being deceived by the various shouts raised in several quarters. Someof them met with the enemy, and battles began in many places at once. The hottest part of the action was at the station where the kingcommanded; for the guard there was, in numbers both of horse and foot, almost a complete army; and, as they were posted on the middle road, the greatest number of the Romans fell in with them. The Macedonianshad also the advantage in this, that the king himself was present toencourage them; and the Cretan auxiliaries, fighting in goodorder, and in a state of preparation, against troops disorderedand irregular, wounded many at a distance, where no such danger wasapprehended. If they had acted with prudence in the pursuit, theywould have secured an advantage of great importance, not only inregard to the glory of the present contest, but to the generalinterest of the war; but, greedy of slaughter, and following with toomuch eagerness, they fell in with the advanced cohorts of the Romansunder the military tribunes. The horsemen who were flying, as soon asthey saw the ensigns of their friends, faced about against the enemy, now in disorder; so that in a moment's time the fortune of the battlewas changed, those now turning their backs who had lately been thepursuers. Many were slain in close fight, many in the pursuit; nor wasit by the sword alone that they perished; several, being driven intomorasses, were, together with their horses, swallowed up in thedeep mud. The king himself was in danger; for his horse falling, inconsequence of a wound, threw him headlong to the ground, and he verynarrowly escaped being overpowered while prostrate. He owed his safetyto a trooper, who instantly leaped down and mounted the affrightedking on his horse; himself, as he could not on foot keep up with theflying horsemen, was slain by the enemy, who had collected about theplace where Philip fell. The king, in his desperate flight, rode aboutamong the morasses, some of which were easily passed, and others not;at length, when most men despaired of his ever escaping in safety, he arrived in safety at his camp. Two hundred Macedonian horsemenperished in that action; about one hundred were taken: eighty horses, richly caparisoned, were led off the field; at the same time thespoils of arms were also carried off. 

38. There were some who found fault with the king, as guilty ofrashness on that day; and with the consul, for want of energy. ForPhilip, they say, on his part, ought to have avoided coming toaction, knowing that in a few days the enemy, having exhausted all theadjacent country, must be reduced to the extremity of want; and thatthe consul, after having routed the Macedonian cavalry and lightinfantry, and nearly taken the king himself, ought to have led on histroops directly to the enemy's camp, where, dismayed as they were, they would have made no stand, and that he might have finished the warin a moment's time. This, like most other matters, was easier to betalked about than to be done. For, if the king had brought the wholeof his infantry into the engagement, then, indeed, during the tumult, and while, vanquished and struck with dismay, they fled from the fieldinto their intrenchments, (and even continued their flight from thenceon seeing the victorious enemy mounting the ramparts, ) the king mighthave been deprived of his camp. But as some forces of infantry hadremained in the camp, fresh and free from fatigue, with outpostsbefore the gates, and guard properly disposed, what would he have donebut imitated the rashness of which the king had just now been guilty, by pursuing the routed horse? On the other side, the king's firstplan of an attack on the foragers, while dispersed through the fields, would not have been a subject of censure, could he have satisfiedhimself with a moderate degree of success: and it is the lesssurprising that he should have made a trial of fortune, as there wasa report, that Pleuratus and the Dardanians had set out from home withvery numerous forces, and had already passed into Macedonia; so thatif he should be surrounded on all sides by these forces, there wasreason to think that the Roman might put an end to the war withoutstirring from his seat. Philip, however, considered, that after hiscavalry had been defeated in two engagements, he could with much lesssafety continue in the same post; accordingly, wishing to remove fromthence, and, at the same time, to keep the enemy in ignorance of hisdesign, he sent a herald to the consul a little before sun-set, todemand a truce for the purpose of burying the horsemen; and thusimposing on him, he began his march in silence, about the secondwatch, leaving a number of fires in all parts of his camp. 

39. The consul was now taking refreshment, when he was told that theherald had arrived, and on what business; he gave him no other answer, than that he should be admitted to an audience early the next morning:by which means Philip gained what he wanted--the length of that night, and part of the following day, during which he might get the start onhis march. He directed his route towards the mountains, a road whichhe knew the Romans with their heavy baggage would not attempt. Theconsul, having, at the first light, dismissed the herald with a grantof a truce, in a short time after discovered that the enemy hadgone off; but not knowing what course to take in pursuit of them, he remained in the same camp for several days, which he employed incollecting forage. He then marched to Stubera, and brought thither, from Pelagonia, the corn that was in the fields. From thence headvanced to Pluvina, not having yet discovered to what quarter theMacedonian had bent his course. Philip, having at first fixed his campat Bryanium, marched thence through cross-roads, and gave a suddenalarm to the enemy. The Romans, on this, removed from Pluvina, andpitched their camp near the river Osphagus. The king also sat downat a small distance, forming his intrenchment on the bank of a riverwhich the inhabitants call Erigonus. Having there received certaininformation that the Romans intended to proceed to Eordaea, he marchedaway before them, in order to take possession of the defiles, andprevent the enemy from making their way, where the roads are confinedin narrow straits. There, with great haste, he fortified some placeswith a rampart, others with a trench, others with stones heaped upinstead of walls, others with trees laid across, according as thesituation required, or as materials lay convenient; and thus a road, in its own nature difficult, he rendered, as he imagined, impregnableby the works which he drew across every pass. The adjoining ground, being mostly covered with woods, was exceedingly incommodious to thephalanx of the Macedonians, which is of no manner of use, except whenthey extend their very long spears before their shields, forming asit were a palisade; to perform which, they require an open plain. TheThracians, too, were embarrassed by their lances, which also are ofa great length, and were entangled among the branches that stoodin their way on every side. The body of Cretans alone was notunserviceable; and yet even these, though, in case of an attack madeon them, they could to good purpose discharge their arrows againstthe horses or riders, where they were open to a wound, yet against theRoman shields they could do nothing, because they had neither strengthsufficient to pierce through them, nor was there any part exposed atwhich they could aim. Perceiving, therefore, that kind of weapon tobe useless, they annoyed the enemy with stones, which lay in plenty inall parts of the valley: the strokes made by these on their shields, with greater noise than injury, for a short time retarded the advanceof the Romans; but quickly disregarding these missiles also, some, closing their shields in form of a tortoise, forced their way throughthe enemy in front; others having, by a short circuit, gained thesummit of the hill, dislodged the dismayed Macedonians from theirguards and posts, and even slew the greater part of them, theirretreat being embarrassed by the difficulties of the ground. 

40. Thus, with less opposition than they had expected to meet, thedefiles were passed, and they came to Eordaea; then, having laid wastethe whole country, the consul withdrew into Elimea. From thencehe made an irruption into Orestis, and attacked the city Celetrum, situated in a peninsula: a lake surrounds the walls; and there is butone entrance from the main land along a narrow isthmus. Relying ontheir situation, the townsmen at first shut the gates, and refusedto submit; but afterwards, when they saw the troops in motion, andadvancing in the tortoise method, and the isthmus covered by the enemymarching in, they surrendered in terror rather than hazard a struggle. From Celetrum he advanced into the country of the Dassaretians, tookthe city Pelium by storm, carried off the slaves with the rest of thespoil, and discharging the freemen without ransom, restored thecity to them, after placing a strong garrison in it, for it was veryconveniently situated for making inroads into Macedonia. Having thustraversed the enemy's country, the consul led back his forces intothose parts which were already reduced to obedience near Apollonia, from whence the campaign had commenced. Philip's attention had beendrawn to other quarters by the Aetolians, Athamanians, and Dardanians:so many were the wars that started up on different sides of him. Against the Dardanians, who were now retiring out of Macedonia, hesent Athenagoras with the light infantry and the greater part of thecavalry, and ordered him to hang on their rear as they retreated; and, by cutting off their hindmost troops, make them more cautious for thefuture of leading out their armies from home. As to the Aetolians, Damocritus, their praetor, the same who at Naupactum had persuadedthem to defer passing a decree concerning the war, had in the nextmeeting roused them to arms, after the report of the battle betweenthe cavalry at Ortholophus; the irruption of the Dardanians and ofPleuratus, with the Illyrians, into Macedonia; of the arrival of theRoman fleet, too, at Oreus; and that Macedonia, besides being beset onall sides by so many nations, was in danger of being invested by seaalso. 

41. These reasons had brought back Damocritus and the Aetolians to theinterest of the Romans. Marching out, therefore, in conjunction withAmynander, king of the Athamanians, they laid siege to Cercinium. Theinhabitants here had shut their gates, whether of their own choice orby compulsion is unknown, as they had a garrison of the king's troops. However, in a few days Cercinium was taken and burned; and after greatslaughter had been made, those who survived, both freemen and slaves, were carried off amongst other spoil. This caused such terror, as madeall those who dwelt round the lake Baebius abandon their cities andfly to the mountains: and the Aetolians, in the absence of booty, turned away from thence, and proceeded into Perrhaebia. There theytook Cyretiae by storm and sacked it unmercifully. The inhabitants ofMallaea, making a voluntary submission, were received into alliance. From Perrhaebia, Amynander advised to march to Gomphi, because thatcity lies close to Athamania, and there was reason to think that itmight be reduced without any great difficulty. But the Aetolians, for the sake of plunder, directed their march to the rich plains ofThessaly. Amynander following, though he did not approve either oftheir careless method of carrying on their depredations, or of theirpitching their camp in any place which chance presented, withoutchoice, and without taking any care to fortify it. Therefore, lesttheir rashness and negligence might be the cause of some misfortuneto himself and his troops, when he saw them forming their camp in lowgrounds, under the city Phecadus, he took possession, with his owntroops, of an eminence about five hundred paces distant, which couldbe rendered secure by a slight fortification. The Aetolians seemed tohave forgotten that they were in an enemy's country, excepting thatthey continued to plunder, some straggling about half-armed, othersspending whole days and nights alike in drinking and sleeping in thecamp, neglecting even to fix guards, when Philip unexpectedly cameupon them. His approach being announced by those who had fled out ofthe fields in a fright, Damocritus and the rest of the officers werethrown into great confusion. It happened to be mid-day, and when mostof the men after a hearty meal lay fast asleep. Their officersroused them, however, as fast as possible; ordered them to take arms;despatched some to recall those who were straggling through the fieldsin search of plunder; and so violent was their hurry, that many ofthe horsemen went out without their swords, and but few of them puton their corslets. After marching out in this precipitate manner, (thewhole horse and foot scarcely making up six hundred, ) they met theking's cavalry, superior in number, in spirit, and in arms. They were, therefore, routed at the first charge; and having scarcely attemptedresistance, returned to the camp in shameful flight. Several wereslain; and some taken, having been cut off from the main body of thefugitives. 

42. Philip, when his troops had advanced almost to the rampart, ordered a retreat to be sounded, because both men and horses werefatigued, not so much by the action, as at once by the length of theirmarch, and the extraordinary celerity with which they had made it. He therefore despatched the horsemen by troops, and the companies oflight infantry in turn, to procure water and take refreshment. Therest he kept on guard, under arms, waiting for the main body of theinfantry, which had marched with less expedition, on account of theweight of their armour. As soon as these arrived, they also wereordered to fix their standards, and, laying down their arms beforethem, to take food in haste; sending two, or at most three, out ofeach company, to provide water. In the mean time the cavalry and lightinfantry stood in order, and ready, in case the enemy should makeany movement. The Aetolians, as if resolved to defend theirfortifications, (the multitude which had been scattered about thefields having, by this time, returned to the camp, ) posted bodiesof armed men at the gates, and on the rampart, and from this safesituation looked with a degree of confidence on the enemy, as long asthey continued quiet. But, as soon as the troops of the Macedoniansbegan to move, and to advance to the rampart, in order of battle, andready for an assault, they all quickly abandoned their posts, andfled through the opposite part of the camp, to the eminence where theAthamanians were stationed. During their flight in this confusion, many of the Aetolians were slain, and many made prisoners. Philipdoubted not that, had there been daylight enough remaining, he shouldhave been able to make himself master of the camp of the Athamaniansalso; but the day having been spent in the fight, and in plunderingthe camp afterwards, he sat down under the eminence, in the adjacentplain, determined to attack the enemy at the first dawn of thefollowing day. But the Aetolians, under the same apprehensions whichhad made them desert their camp, dispersed, and fled during thefollowing night. Amynander was of the greatest service; for, by hisdirections, the Athamanians, who were acquainted with the roads, conducted them into Aetolia, whilst the Macedonians pursued themover the highest mountains, through unknown paths. In this disorderlyflight, a few, missing their way, fell into the hands of theMacedonian horsemen, whom Philip, at the earliest dawn, on seeing theeminence abandoned, had sent to harass the marching body of the enemy. 

43. About the same time also Athenagoras, one of the king's generals, overtaking the Dardanians in their retreat homeward, at first threwtheir rear into disorder; but these unexpectedly facing about, andforming their line, the fight became like a regular engagement. Whenthe Dardanians began again to advance, the Macedonian cavalry andlight infantry harassed those who had no troops of that kind to aidthem, and were, besides, burdened with unwieldy arms. The ground, too, favoured the assailants: very few were slain, but many wounded; nonewere taken, because they rarely quit their ranks, but both fight andretreat in a close body. Thus Philip, having checked the proceedingsof those two nations by these well-timed expeditions, gainedreparation for the damages sustained from the operations of theRomans; the enterprise being as spirited as the issue was successful. An occurrence which accidentally happened to him lessened the numberof his enemies on the side of Aetolia. Scopas, a man of considerableinfluence in his own country, having been sent from Alexandria by kingPtolemy, with a great sum of gold, hired and carried away to Egypt sixthousand foot and four hundred horse; nor would he have suffered oneof the young Aetolians to remain at home, had not Damocritus, (it isnot easy to say, whether out of zeal for the good of the nation, orout of opposition to Scopas, for not having secured his interest bypresents, ) by sometimes reminding them of the war which threatenedthem, at other times, of the solitary condition in which they wouldbe, detained some of them at home by severe reproaches. Such were theactions of the Romans, and of Philip, during that summer. 

44. In the beginning of the same summer, the fleet under LuciusApustius, lieutenant-general, setting sail from Corcyra, and passingby Malea, formed a junction with king Attalus, off Scyllaeum, whichlies in the district of Hermione. The Athenian state, which had fora long time, through fear, restrained their animosity against Philipwithin some bounds, in the expectation of approaching aid affordedthem, gave full scope to it all. There are never wanting in that cityorators, who are ready on every occasion to inflame the people; akind of men, who, in all free states, and more particularly in thatof Athens, where eloquence flourishes in the highest degree, aremaintained by the favour of the multitude. These immediately proposeda decree, and the commons passed it, that "all the statues and imagesof Philip, with their inscriptions, and likewise those of all hisancestors, male and female, should be taken down and destroyed; thatthe festal days, solemnities, and priests, which had been institutedin honour of him or of his predecessors, should all be abolished;and that even the ground where any such statue had been set up, and inscribed to his honour, should be held abominable. " And it wasresolved, that, "for the future, nothing which ought to be erected ordedicated in a place of purity should be there erected; and that thepublic priests, as often as they should pray for the people of Athens, for their allies, armies, and fleets, so often should they uttercurses and execrations against Philip, his offspring, his kingdom, his forces by sea and land, and the whole race and name of theMacedonians. " It was added to the decree, that, "if any person infuture should make any proposal tending to throw disgrace and ignominyon Philip, the people of Athens would ratify it in its fullest extent:if, on the contrary, any one should, by word or deed, endeavour tolessen his ignominy, or to do him honour, that whoever slew him whoshould have so said or done, should be justified in so doing. " Lastly, a clause was annexed, that "all the decrees, formerly passed againstthe Pisistratidae, should be in full force against Philip. " Thus theAthenians waged war against Philip with writings and with words, inwhich alone their power consisted. 

45. Attalus and the Romans, having, from Hermione, proceeded first toPiraeus, and staid there a few days, after being loaded with decreesof the Athenians, (in which the honours paid to their allies were asextravagant as the expressions of their resentment against their enemyhad been, ) sailed from Piraeus to Andros, and, coming to an anchor inthe harbour called Gaureleos, sent persons to sound the inclinationsof the townsmen, whether they chose voluntarily to surrender theircity, rather than run the hazard of an assault. On their answering, that they were not at their own disposal, but that the citadelwas occupied by the king's troops, Attalus and the Romanlieutenant-general, landing their forces, with every thing requisitefor attacking towns, made their approaches to the city on differentsides. The Roman standards and arms, which they had never seen before, together with the spirit of the soldiers, so briskly approachingthe walls, were particularly terrifying to the Greeks. A retreat wasimmediately made into the citadel, and the enemy took possession ofthe city. After holding out for two days in the citadel, relying moreon the strength of the place than on their arms, on the third boththey and the garrison surrendered the city and citadel, on conditionof their being transported to Delium in Boeotia, and being each ofthem allowed a single suit of apparel. The island was yielded up bythe Romans to king Attalus; the spoil, and the ornaments of the city, they themselves carried off. Attalus, desirous that the island, ofwhich he had got possession, might not be quite deserted, persuadedalmost all the Macedonians, and several of the Andrians, toremain there: and, in some time after, those who, according to thecapitulation, had been transported to Delium, were induced to returnfrom thence by the promises made them by the king, in which they weredisposed the more readily to confide, by the ardent affection whichthey felt for their native country. From Andros they passed over toCythnus; there they spent several days, to no purpose, in assaultingthe city; when, at length, finding it scarcely worth the trouble, theydeparted. At Prasiae, a place on the main land of Attica, twenty barksof the Issaeans joined the Roman fleet. These were sent to ravage thelands of the Carystians, the rest of the fleet lying at Geraestus, anoted harbour in Euboea, until the Issaeans returned from Carystus:on which, setting sail all together, and steering their course throughthe open sea, until they passed by Scyrus, they arrived at the islandof Icus. Being detained there for a few days by a violent northerlywind, as soon as the weather was fair, they passed over to Sciathus, a city which had been lately plundered and desolated by Philip. Thesoldiers, spreading themselves over the country, brought back to theships corn and what other kinds of provisions could be of use to them. Plunder there was none, nor had the Greeks deserved to be plundered. Directing their course thence to Cassandrea, they first came toMendis, a village on the coast of that state; and, intending fromthence to double the promontory, and bring round the fleet to the verywalls of the city, a violent tempest arising, they were near beingburied in the waves. However, after being dispersed, and a great partof the ships having lost their rigging, they escaped on shore. Thisstorm at sea was an omen of the kind of success which they wereto meet on land; for, after collecting their vessels together, andlanding their forces, having made an assault on the city, they wererepulsed with many wounds, there being a strong garrison of theking's troops in the place. Being thus obliged to retreat withoutaccomplishing their design, they passed over to Canastrum in Pallene, and from thence, doubling the promontory of Torona, conducted thefleet to Acanthus. There they first laid waste the country, thenstormed the city itself, and plundered it. They proceeded no farther, for their ships were now heavily laden with booty, but went back toSciathus, and from Sciathus to Euboea, whence they had first set out. 

46. Leaving the fleet there, they entered the Malian bay with tenlight ships, in order to confer with the Aetolians on the method ofconducting the war. Sipyrrhicas, the Aetolian, was at the head of theembassy that came to Heraclea, to hold a consultation with the kingand the Roman lieutenant-general. They demanded of Attalus, that, in pursuance of the treaty, he should supply them with one thousandsoldiers, which number he had engaged for on condition of their takingpart in the war against Philip. This was refused to the Aetolians, because on their part they had formerly showed themselves unwilling tomarch out to ravage Macedonia, at a time when Philip, being employednear Pergamus in destroying by fire every thing sacred and profane, they might have compelled him to retire from thence, in order topreserve his own territories. Thus, instead of aid, the Aetolians weredismissed with hopes, the Romans making them large promises. Apustiuswith Attalus returned to the ships, where they began to concertmeasures for the siege of Oreus. This city was well secured byfortifications; and also, as an attempt had formerly been made onit, by a strong garrison. After the taking of Andros, twenty Rhodianships, all decked vessels, had formed a junction with them, under thecommand of Agesimbrotus. This squadron they sent to the station offZelasium, a promontory of Isthmia, very conveniently situate beyondDemetrias, in order that, if the ships of the Macedonians shouldattempt any movement, they might act as a defensive force. Heraclides, the king's admiral, kept his fleet there, rather with a view of layinghold of any advantage which the negligence of the enemy might affordhim, than with a design of attempting any thing by open force. TheRomans and king Attalus carried on their attacks against Oreus ondifferent sides; the Romans against the citadel next to the sea, theking's troops against the lower part of the town, lying between thetwo citadels, where the city is also divided by a wall. As their postswere different, so were their methods of attack: the Romans made theirapproaches by means of covered galleries, applying also the ram tothe walls; the king's troops, by throwing in weapons with the balista, catapulta, and every other kind of engine, and stones also of immenseweight. They formed mines, too, and made use of every expedient, which, on trial, had been found useful in the former siege. On theother side, not only did more Macedonians protect the town and thecitadels, than on the former occasion, but they exerted themselveswith greater spirit, in consequence of the reprimands which they hadreceived from the king for the misconduct they had committed, and alsofrom remembrance both of his threats and promises with regard to thefuture. Thus, when time was being consumed there, contrary to theirexpectation, and there was more hope from a siege and works than froma sudden assault, the lieutenant-general thought that in the mean timesome other business might be accomplished; wherefore, leaving such anumber of men as seemed sufficient to finish the works, he passed overto the nearest part of the continent, and, arriving unexpectedly, madehimself master of Larissa, except the citadel, --not that celebratedcity in Thessaly, but another, which they call Cremaste. Attalus alsosurprised Aegeleos, where nothing was less apprehended than such anenterprise during the siege of another city. The works at Oreus hadnow begun to take effect, while the garrison within were almost spentwith unremitted toil, (keeping watch both by day and night, ) and alsowith wounds. Part of the wall, being loosened by the strokes of theram, had fallen down in many places; and the Romans, during the night, broke into the citadel through the breach which lay over the harbour. Attalus, likewise, at the first light, on a signal given from thecitadel by the Romans, himself also assaulted the city, where greatpart of the walls had been levelled; on which the garrison andtownsmen fled into the other citadel, and a surrender was made twodays after. The city fell to the king, the prisoners to the Romans. 

47. The autumnal equinox now approached, and the Euboean gulf, calledCoela, is reckoned dangerous by mariners. Choosing, therefore, toremove thence before the winter storms came on, they returned toPiraeus, from whence they had set out for the campaign. Apustius, leaving there thirty ships, sailed by Malea to Corcyra. The king wasdelayed during the celebration of the mysteries of Ceres, that hemight assist at the solemnities, immediately after which he alsoretired into Asia, sending home Agesimbrotus and the Rhodians. Such, during that summer, were the proceedings, by sea and land, ofthe Roman consul and lieutenant-general, aided by Attalus and theRhodians, against Philip and his allies. The other consul, CaiusAurelius, on coming into his province and finding the war therealready brought to a conclusion, did not dissemble his resentmentagainst the praetor, for having proceeded to action in his absence;wherefore, sending him away to Etruria, he led on the legions into theenemy's country, and, by laying it waste, carried on the war with morespoil than glory. Lucius Furius, finding nothing in Etruria thatcould give him employment, and at the same time intent on obtaining atriumph for his success against the Gauls, which he considered wouldbe more easily accomplished in the absence of the consul, who enviedand was enraged against him, came to Rome unexpectedly, and called ameeting of the senate in the temple of Bellona; where, after makinga recital of the services which he had performed, he demanded to beallowed to enter the city in triumph. 

48. With a great part of the senate he prevailed, owing to privateinterest and the importance of his services. The elder part refusedhim a triumph, both "because the army, with which he had acted, belonged to another; and because he had left his province throughan ambitious desire of snatching that opportunity of procuring atriumph, --but that he had taken this course without any precedent. "The senators of consular rank particularly insisted, that "he oughtto have waited for the consul; for that he might, by pitching his campnear the city, and thereby securing the colony without coming to anengagement, have protracted the affair until his arrival; and that, what the praetor had not done, the senate ought to do; they shouldwait for the consul. After hearing the business discussed by theconsul and praetor in their presence, they would be able, morecorrectly, to form judgment on the case. " Great part were of opinion, that the senate ought to consider nothing but the service performed, and whether he had performed it while in office, and under his ownauspices. For, "when of two colonies, which had been opposed, asbarriers, to restrain the tumultuous inroads of the Gauls, one hadbeen already sacked and burned, the flames being ready to spread (asif from an adjoining house) to the other colony, which lay so near, what ought the praetor to have done? For if it was improper to enteron any action without the consul, then the senate had acted wrongin giving the army to the praetor; because, if they chose that thebusiness should be performed, not under the praetor's auspices, butthe consul's, they might have limited the decree in such a manner, that not the praetor, but the consul, should manage it; or else theconsul had acted wrong, who, after ordering the army to remove fromEtruria into Gaul, did not meet it at Ariminum, in order to be presentat operations, which were not allowed to be performed without him. Butthe exigencies of war do not wait for the delays and procrastinationsof commanders; and battles must be sometimes fought, not becausecommanders choose it, but because the enemy compels it. The fightitself, and the issue of the fight, is what ought to be regarded now. The enemy were routed and slain, their camp taken and plundered, the colony relieved from a siege, the prisoners taken from the othercolony recovered and restored to their friends, and an end put to thewar in one battle. And not only men rejoiced at this victory, but theimmortal gods also had supplications paid to them, for the space ofthree days, on account of the business of the state having been wiselyand successfully, not rashly and unfortunately, conducted by LuciusFurius, praetor. Besides, the Gallic wars were, by some fatality, destined to the Furian family. "

49. By means of discourses of this kind, made by him and his friends, the interest of the praetor, who was present, prevailed over thedignity of the absent consul, and the majority decreed a triumph toLucius Furius. Lucius Furius, praetor, during his office, triumphedover the Gauls. He carried into the treasury three hundred and twentythousand _asses_, [1] and one hundred and seventy thousand pounds'weight of silver. There were neither any prisoners led before hischariot, nor spoils carried before him, nor did any soldiers followhim. It appeared that every thing, except the victory, belonged tothe consul. The games which Publius Scipio had vowed when consul inAfrica, were then celebrated, in a magnificent manner and with respectto the lands for his soldiers, it was decreed, that whatever numberof years each of them had served in Spain or in Africa, he should, for every year, receive two acres; and that ten commissioners shoulddistribute that land. Three commissioners were then appointed to fillup the number of colonists at Venusia, because the strength of thatcolony had been reduced in the war with Hannibal: Caius TerentiusVarro, Titus Quintius Flamininus, Publius Cornelius, son of CneiusScipio, enrolled the colonists for Venusia. During the same year, Caius Cornelius Cethegus, who in the capacity of proconsul commandedin Spain, routed a numerous army of the enemy in the territory ofSedeta; in which battle, it is said, that fifteen thousand Spaniardswere slain, and seventy-eight military standards taken. The consulCaius Aurelius, on returning from his province to Rome to hold theelections, made heavy complaints, not on the subject on which they hadsupposed he would, that the senate had not waited for his coming, norallowed him an opportunity of arguing the matter with the praetor;but, that "the senate had decreed a triumph in such a manner, withouthearing the report of any one of those who had taken part in the war, except the person who was to enjoy the triumph: that their ancestorshad made it a rule that the lieutenant-generals, the militarytribunes, the centurions, and even the soldiers, should be presentat the triumph, in order that the Roman people might ascertain thereality of his exploits, to whom so high an honour was paid. " Now, ofthat army which fought with the Gauls, had any one soldier, or even asoldier's servant, been present, of whom the senate could inquire howmuch of truth or falsehood was in the praetor's narrative? He thenappointed a day for the elections, at which were chosen consuls, Lucius Cornelius Lentulus and Publius Villius Tappulus. The praetorswere then appointed, Lucius Quintius Flamininus, Lucius ValeriusFlaccus, Lucius Villius Tappulus, and Cneius Baebius Tamphilus. 

[Footnote 1: 1033l. 6s. 8d. ]

50. During that year provisions were remarkably cheap. The curuleaediles, Marcus Claudius Marcellus and Sextus Aelius Paetus, distributed among the people a vast quantity of corn, brought fromAfrica, at the rate of two _asses_ a peck. They also celebrated theRoman games in a magnificent manner, repeating them a second day; anderected in the treasury five brazen statues out of the money paid asfines. The plebeian games were thrice repeated entire, by the aediles, Lucius Terentius Massa, and Cneius Baebius Tamphilus, who was electedpraetor. There were also funeral games exhibited that year in theforum, for the space of four days, on occasion of the death of MarcusValerius Laevinus, by his sons Publius and Marcus, who gave also ashow of gladiators, in which twenty-five pairs fought. Marcus AureliusCotta, one of the decemviri of the sacred books, died, and ManiusAcilius Glabrio was substituted in his room. It happened that both thecurule aediles, who had been created at the elections, were personswho could not immediately undertake the office: for Caius CorneliusCethegus was elected in his absence, when he was occupying Spainas his province; and Caius Valerius Flaccus, who was present, beingflamen Dialis, could not take the oath of observing the laws; and noperson was allowed to hold any office longer than five days withouttaking the oath. Flaccus petitioned to be excused from complying withthe law, on which the senate decreed, that if the aedile produced aperson approved of by the consuls, who would take the oath for him, the consuls, if they thought proper, should make application to thetribunes, that it might be proposed to the people. Lucius ValeriusFlaccus, praetor elect, was produced to swear for his brother. Thetribunes proposed to the commons, and the commons ordered that thisshould be as if the aedile himself had sworn. With regard to the otheraedile, likewise, an order of the commons was made. On the tribunesputting the question, what two persons they chose should go and takethe command of the armies in Spain, in order that Caius Cornelius, curule aedile, might come home to execute his office, and that LuciusManlius Acidinus might, after many years, retire from the province;the commons ordered Cneius Cornelius Lentulus and Lucius Stertinius, proconsuls, to command in Spain. 

BOOK XXXII. 

 _Successes of Titus Quinctius Flamininus against Philip; and of his brother Lucius with the fleet, assisted by Attalus and the Rhodians. Treaty of friendship with the Achaeans. Conspiracy of the slaves discovered and suppressed. The number of the praetors augmented to six. Defeat of the Insubrian Gauls by Cornelius Cethegus. Treaty of friendship with Nabis, tyrant of Lacedaemon. Capture of several cities in Macedonia_. 

1. The consuls and praetors, having entered upon office on the idesof March, cast lots for the provinces. Italy fell to Lucius CorneliusLentulus, Macedonia to Publius Villius. Of the praetors, the cityjurisdiction fell to Lucius Quinctius, Ariminum to Cneius Baebius, Sicily to Lucius Valerius, Sardinia to Lucius Villius. The consulLentulus was ordered to levy new legions; Villius, to receive the armyfrom Publius Sulpicius; and, to complete its number, power was givenhim to raise as many men as he thought proper. To the praetor Baebiuswere decreed the legions which Caius Aurelius, late consul, hadcommanded, with directions that he should keep them in their presentsituation, until the consul should come with the new army to supplytheir place; and that, on his arriving in Gaul, all the soldiers whohad served out their time should be sent home, except five thousandof the allies, which would be sufficient to protect the province roundAriminum. The command was continued to the praetors of the formeryear; to Cneius Sergius, that he might superintend the distribution ofland to the soldiers who had served for many years in Spain, Sicily, and Sardinia; to Quintus Minucius, that he might finish the inquiriesconcerning the conspiracies in Bruttium, which, while praetor, he hadmanaged with care and fidelity. That he should also send to Locri, tosuffer punishment, those who had been convicted of sacrilege, andwho were then in chains at Rome; and that he should take care, thatwhatever had been carried away from the temple of Proserpine should bereplaced with expiations. The Latin festival was repeated in pursuanceof a decree of the pontiffs, because ambassadors from Ardea hadcomplained to the senate, that during the said solemnity they had notbeen supplied with meat as usual on the Alban mount. From Suessa anaccount was brought, that two of the gates, and the wall between them, had been struck with lightning. Messengers from Formiae related, thatthe temple of Jupiter had also been struck by lightning; from Ostia, likewise, news came of the like accident having happened to the templeof Jupiter there; it was said, too, that the temples of Apollo andSancus, at Veliternum, were struck in like manner; and that in thetemple of Hercules, hair had grown (on the statue). A letter wasreceived from Quintus Minucius, propraetor, from Bruttium, that a foalhad been born with five feet, and three chickens with three feeteach. Afterwards a letter was brought from Macedonia, from PubliusSulpicius, proconsul, in which, among other matters, it was mentioned, that a laurel tree had sprung up on the poop of a ship of war. Onoccasion of the former prodigies, the senate had voted, that theconsuls should offer sacrifices with the greater victims to such godsas they thought proper. On account of the last prodigy, alone, thearuspices were called before the senate, and, in pursuance oftheir answer, the people were ordered by proclamation to performa supplication for one day, and worship was solemnized at all theshrines. 

2. This year, the Carthaginians brought to Rome the first paymentof the silver imposed on them as a tribute; and the quaestors havingreported, that it was not of the proper standard, and that, on theassay, it wanted a fourth part, they made up the deficiency with moneyborrowed at Rome. On their requesting that the senate would be pleasedto order their hostages to be restored to them, a hundred weregiven up, and hopes were held out with relation to the rest, if theyremained in fidelity (to the treaty). They then further requested, that the remaining hostages might be removed from Norba, where theywere ill accommodated, to some other place, and they were permittedto remove to Signia and Ferentinum. The request of the people of Gadeswas likewise complied with: that a governor should not be sent totheir city; being contrary to what had been agreed with them by LuciusMarcius Septimus, when they came under the protection of the Romanpeople. Deputies from Narnia, complaining that they had not their duenumber of settlers, and that several who were not of their community, had crept in among them, and were conducting themselves ascolonists, Lucius Cornelius, the consul, was ordered to appoint threecommissioners to adjust those matters. The three appointed were, Publius and Sextus Aelius, both surnamed Paetus, and Caius CorneliusLentulus. The favour granted to the Narnians, of filling up theirnumber of colonists, was refused to the people of Cossa, who appliedfor it. 

3. The consuls, having finished the business that was to be done atRome, set out for their provinces. Publius Villius, on coming intoMacedonia, found the soldiers in a violent mutiny, which hadbeen previously excited, and not sufficiently repressed at thecommencement. They were the two thousand who, after Hannibal had beenvanquished, had been transported from Africa to Sicily, and then, in about a year after, into Macedonia, as volunteers; they denied, however, that this was done with their consent, affirming, that "theyhad been put on board the ships, by the tribunes, contrary to theirremonstrances; but, in what manner soever they had become engaged inthat service, whether it had been voluntarily undertaken or imposed onthem, the time of it was now expired, and it was reasonable that someend should be put to their warfare. For many years they had not seenItaly, but had grown old under arms in Sicily, Africa, and Macedonia;they were now, in short, worn out with labour and fatigue, and wereexhausted of their blood by the many wounds they had received. " Theconsul told them, that "the grounds on which they demanded theirdischarge, appeared to him to be reasonable, if the demand had beenmade in a moderate manner; but that neither that, nor any otherground, was a justifying cause of mutiny. Wherefore, if they werecontented to adhere to their standards, and obey orders, he wouldwrite to the senate concerning their release; and that whatthey desired would more easily be obtained by moderation than byturbulence. "

4. At this time, Philip was pushing on the siege of Thaumaci, with theutmost vigour, by means of mounds and engines, and was ready tobring up the ram to the walls, when he was obliged to relinquish theundertaking by the sudden arrival of the Aetolians, who, under thecommand of Archidamus, having made their way into the town between theposts of the Macedonians, never ceased, day or night, making continualsallies, sometimes against the guards, sometimes against the works ofthe besiegers. They were at the same time favoured by the very natureof the place: for Thaumaci stands near the road from Thermopylae, andthe Malian bay as you go through Lamia, on a lofty eminence, hangingimmediately over the narrow pass which the Thessalians call Caela. [1]After passing through the craggy grounds of Thessaly, the roads arerendered intricate by the windings of the valleys, and on the nearapproach to the city, such an immense plain opens at once to view, like a vast sea, that the eye can scarcely reach the bounds ofthe expanse beneath From this surprising prospect it was calledThaumaci. [2] The city itself is secured, not only by the height of itssituation, but by its standing on a rock, the stone of which had beencut away on all sides. These difficulties, and the prize not appearingsufficient to recompense so much toil and danger, caused Philip todesist from the attempt. The winter also was approaching; he thereforeretired from thence, and led back his troops into winter quarters, inMacedonia. 

[Footnote 1: Hollows]

[Footnote 2: From _thumazein_, to wonder. ]

5. There, whilst others, glad of any interval of rest, consigned bothbody and mind to repose, Philip, in proportion as the season of theyear had relieved him from the incessant fatigues of marching andfighting, found his care and anxiety increase the more, when he turnedhis thoughts towards the general issue of the war. He dreaded, notonly his enemies, who pressed him hard by land and sea, but also thedispositions, sometimes of his allies, at others of his own subjects, lest the former might be induced, by hopes of friendship with theRomans, to revolt, and the Macedonians themselves be seized with adesire of innovation. Wherefore, he despatched ambassadors to theAchaeans, both to require their oath, (for it had been made an articleof their agreement that they should take an oath prescribed by Philipevery year, ) and at the same time to restore to them Orchomenes, Heraea, and Triphylia. To the Eleans he delivered up Aliphera; whichcity, they insisted, had never belonged to Triphylia, but ought to berestored to them, having been one of those that were incorporated bythe council of the Arcadians for the founding of Megalopolis. Thesemeasures had the effect of strengthening his connexion with theAchaeans. The affections of the Macedonians he conciliated by histreatment of Heraclides: for, finding that his having countenancedthis man had been the cause to him of the utmost unpopularity, hecharged him with a number of crimes, and threw him into chains, tothe great joy of the people. It was now, if at any time, that he madepreparations for the war with especial energy. He exercised boththe Macedonian and mercenary troops in arms, and in the beginning ofspring sent Athenagoras, with all the foreign auxiliaries and whatlight-armed troops there were, through Epirus into Chaonia, to seizethe pass at Antigonia, which the Greeks called Stena. He followed, ina few days, with the heavy troops: and having viewed every situationin the country, he judged that the most advantageous post forfortifying himself was on the river Aous. This river runs in a narrowvale, between two mountains, one of which the natives call Aeropus, and the other Asnaus, affording a passage of very little breadth alongthe bank. He ordered Athenagoras, with the light infantry, to takepossession of Asnaus, and to fortify it. His own camp he pitched onAeropus. Those places where the rocks were steep, were defended byguards of a few soldiers only; the less secure he strengthened, somewith trenches, some with ramparts, and others with towers. A greatnumber of engines, also, were disposed in proper places, that, bymeans of weapons thrown from these, they might keep the enemy ata distance. The royal pavilion was pitched on the outside of therampart, on the most conspicuous eminence, in order, by this show ofconfidence, to dishearten the foe, and raise the hopes of his own men. 

6. The consul having received intelligence from Charopus of Epirus, on what pass the king had taken his position with his army, as soonas the spring began to open, left Corcyra, where he had passed thewinter, and, sailing over to the continent, led on his army againstthe enemy. When he came within about five miles of the king's camp, leaving the legions in a strong post, he went forward in person withsome light troops, to view the nature of the country; and, on the dayfollowing, held a council, in order to determine whether he shouldattempt a passage through the defiles occupied by the enemy, notwithstanding the great labour and danger which the proposalinvolved, or lead round his forces by the same road through whichSulpicius had penetrated into Macedonia the year before. Thedeliberations on this question had lasted several days, when newsarrived, that Titus Quinctius had been elected consul; that he hadobtained, by lot, Macedonia as his province; and that, hastening hisjourney, he had already come over to Corcyra. Valerius Antias says, that Villius marched into the defile, and that, as he could notproceed straight forward, because every pass was occupied by the king, he followed the course of a valley, through the middle of which theriver Aous flows, and having hastily constructed a bridge, passed overto the bank where the king's camp was, and fought a battle with him;that the king was routed and driven out of his camp; that twelvethousand of the enemy were killed, and two thousand two hundred taken, together with a hundred and thirty-two military standards, and twohundred and thirty horses. He adds, that, during the battle, a templewas vowed to Jupiter in case of success. The other historians, bothGreek and Latin, (all those at least whose accounts I have read, )affirm that nothing memorable was done by Villius, and that TitusQuinctius, the consul who succeeded him, received from him a war whichhad yet to be commenced. 

7. During the time of these transactions in Macedonia, the otherconsul, Lucius Lentulus, who had stayed at Rome, held an assemblyfor the election of censors. Out of many illustrious men who stoodcandidates, were chosen Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus and PubliusAelius Paetus. These, acting together in perfect harmony, read thelist of the senate, without passing a censure on any one member; theyalso let to farm the port-duties at Capua, and at Puteoli, and of thefort situate were the city now stands; enrolling for this latter placethree hundred colonists, that being the number fixed by the senate;they also sold the lands of Capua, which lie at the foot of MountTifata. About the same time, Lucius Manlius Acidinus, on his returnfrom Spain, was hindered from entering the city in ovation by MarcusPortius Laeca, plebeian tribune, notwithstanding he had obtainedpermission of the senate: coming, then, into the city in a privatecharacter, he conveyed to the treasury one thousand two hundredpounds' weight of silver, and about thirty pounds' weight of gold. During this year, Cneius Baebius Tamphilus, who had succeeded to thegovernment of the province of Gaul, in the room of Caius Aurelius, consul of the year preceding, having, without proper caution, enteredthe territories of the Insubrian Gauls, was surprised with almost thewhole of his army. He lost above six thousand six hundred men, --sogreat a loss was received from a war which had now ceased to be anobject of apprehension. This event called away the consul, LuciusLentulus, from the city; who, arriving in the province, which wasfilled with confusion, and taking the command of the army, which hefound dispirited by its defeat, severely reprimanded the praetor, andordered him to quit the province and return to Rome. Neither did theconsul himself perform any considerable service, being called home topreside at the elections, which were obstructed by Marcus Fulvius andManius Curius, plebeian tribunes, who wished to hinder Titus QuinctiusFlamininus from standing candidate for the consulship, after passingthrough the office of quaestor. They alleged, that "the aedileship andpraetorship were now held in contempt, and that the nobility did notmake their way to the consulship through the regular gradations ofoffices, thus affording a trial of themselves; but, passing over theintermediate steps, pushed at once from the lowest to the highest. "From a dispute in the Field of Mars, the affair was brought beforethe senate, where it was voted, "that when a person sued for any post, which by the laws he was permitted to hold, the people had the rightof choosing whoever they thought proper. " To this decision of thesenate the tribunes submitted, and thereupon Sextus Aelius Paetus andTitus Quinctius Flamininus were elected consuls. Then was held theelection of praetors. The persons chosen were, Lucius CorneliusMerula, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, Marcus Porcius Cato, and CaiusHelvius, who had been plebeian aediles. By these the plebeian gameswere repeated, and, on occasion of the games, a feast of Jupiter wascelebrated. The curule aediles, also, Caius Valerius Flaccus, who wasflamen of Jupiter, and Caius Cornelius Cethegus, celebrated the Romangames with great magnificence. Servius and Caius Sulpicius Galba, pontiffs, died this year; in their room were substituted MarcusAemilius Lepidus and Cneius Cornelius Scipio, as pontiffs. 

8. The new consuls, Sextus Aelius Paetus and Titus QuinctiusFlamininus, on assuming the administration, convened the senate inthe Capitol, and the fathers decreed, that "the consuls should settlebetween themselves or cast lots for the provinces, Macedonia andItaly. That he to whom Macedonia fell should enlist, as a supplementto the legions, three thousand Roman footmen and three hundred horse, and also five thousand footmen and five hundred horsemen belonging tothe Latin confederacy. " The army assigned to the other consul was toconsist entirely of newly-raised men. Lucius Lentulus, consul ofthe preceding year, was continued in command, and was ordered not todepart from the province, nor to remove the old army, until the consulshould arrive with the new legions. The consuls cast lots for theprovinces, and Italy fell to Aelius, Macedonia to Quintius. Ofthe praetors, the lots gave to Lucius Cornelius Merula the cityjurisdiction; to Marcus Claudius, Sicily; to Marcus Porcius, Sardinia;and to Caius Helvius, Gaul. The levying of troops was then begun, forbesides the consular armies, the praetors had been ordered also toenlist men: for Marcellus, in Sicily, four thousand foot and threehundred horse of the Latin confederates; for Cato, in Sardinia, threethousand foot and two hundred horse of the same class of soldiers;with directions, that both these praetors, on their arrival in theirprovinces, should disband the veterans, both foot and horse. Theconsuls then introduced to the senate ambassadors from king Attalus. These, after representing that their king gave every assistance to theRoman arms on land and sea, with his fleet and all his forces, andhad up to that day executed with zeal and obedience every order ofthe consuls, added, that "they feared it would not be in his power tocontinue so to do by reason of king Antiochus, for that Antiochus hadinvaded the kingdom of Attalus, when destitute of protective forcesby sea and land. That Attalus, therefore, entreated the conscriptfathers, if they chose to employ his army and navy in the Macedonianwar, then to send a body of forces to protect his territories; or ifthat were not agreeable, to allow him to go home to defend his ownpossessions, with his fleet and troops. " The following answer wasordered to be given to the ambassadors: that "it was a cause ofgratitude to the senate that Attalus had assisted the Roman commanderswith his fleet and other forces. That they would neither send succoursto Attalus, against Antiochus, the ally and friend of the Romanpeople; nor would they detain the auxiliary troops longer than wouldbe convenient to the king. That it was ever a constant rule with theRoman people, to use the aid of others so far only as was agreeable tothe will of those who gave it; and even to leave the commencement andthe termination of that aid at the discretion of those who desiredthat the Romans should be benefited by their help. That they wouldsend ambassadors to Antiochus, to represent to him, that Attalus, withhis fleet and army, were, at the present, employed by the Roman peopleagainst Philip, their common enemy; and that Antiochus would do thatwhich was gratifying to the senate if he abstained from the kingdom ofAttalus and desisted from the war; for that it was much to be wished, that kings who were allies and friends to the Roman people shouldmaintain friendship between themselves also. "

9. When the consul Titus Quinctius had finished the levies, in makingwhich he chose principally such as had served in Spain or Africa, thatis, soldiers of approved courage, and when hastening to set forwardto his province, he was delayed by reports of prodigies, and theexpiations of them. There had been struck by lightning the publicroad at Veii, a temple of Jupiter at Lanuvium, a temple of Herculesat Ardea, with a wall and towers at Capua, also the edifice which iscalled Alba. At Arretium, the sky appeared as on fire; at Velitrae, the earth, to the extent of three acres, sunk down so as to form avast chasm. From Suessa Aurunca, an account was brought of a lambborn with two heads; from Sinuessa, of a swine with a human head. Onoccasion of these ill omens, a supplication of one day's continuancewas performed; the consuls gave their attention to divine services, and, as soon as the gods were appeased, set out for their provinces. Aelius, accompanied by Caius Helvius, praetor, went into Gaul, wherehe put under the command of the praetor the army which he receivedfrom Lucius Lentulus, and which he ought to have disbanded, intendingto carry on his own operations with the new troops, which he hadbrought with him; but he effected nothing worth recording. The otherconsul, Titus Quinctius, setting sail from Brundusium earlier than hadbeen usual with former consuls, reached Corcyra, with, eight thousandfoot and eight hundred horse. From this place, he passed over, in aquinquereme, to the nearest part of Epirus, and proceeded, by longjourneys, to the Roman camp. Here, having dismissed Villius, andwaiting a few days, until the forces from Corcyra should come up andjoin him, he held a council, to determine whether he should endeavourto force his way straight forward through the camp of the enemy; orwhether, without attempting an enterprise of so great difficulty anddanger, he should not rather take a circuitous and safe road, so as topenetrate into Macedonia by the country of the Dassaretians and Lycus. The latter plan would have been adopted, had he not feared that, inremoving to a greater distance from the sea, the enemy might slip outof his hands; and that if the king should resolve to secure himself inthe woods and wilds, as he had done before, the summer might be spunout without any thing being effected. It was therefore determined, bethe event what it might, to attack the enemy in their present post, disadvantageous as it was. But they more easily resolved on thismeasure, than devised any safe or certain method of accomplishing it. 

10. Forty days were passed in view of the enemy, without making anykind of effort. Hence Philip conceived hopes of bringing about atreaty of peace, through the mediation of the people of Epirus; and acouncil, which was held for the purpose, having appointed Pausanias, the praetor, and Alexander, the master of the horse, as negotiators, they brought the consul and the king to a conference, on the banksof the river Aous, where the channel was narrowest. The sum of theconsul's demands was, that the king should withdraw his troops fromthe territories of the several states; that, to those whose lands andcities he had plundered, he should restore such of their effects ascould be found; and that the value of the rest should be estimated bya fair arbitration. Philip answered, that "the cases of the severalstates differed widely from each other. That such as he himself hadseized on, he would set at liberty; but he would not divest himselfof the hereditary and just possessions which had been conveyed downto him from his ancestors. If those states, with whom hostilities hadbeen carried on, complained of any losses in the war, he was readyto submit the matter to the arbitration of any state with whom bothparties were at peace. " To this the consul replied, that "the businessrequired neither judge nor arbitrator: for to whom was it not evidentthat every injurious consequence of the war was to be imputed to himwho first took up arms. And in this case Philip, unprovoked by any, had first commenced hostilities against all. " When they next beganto treat of those nations which were to be set at liberty, theconsul named, first, the Thessalians: on which the king, fired withindignation, exclaimed, "What harsher terms, Titus Quinctius, couldyou impose on me if I were vanquished?" With these words he retiredhastily from the conference, and they were with difficulty restrainedby the river which separated them from assaulting each other withmissile weapons. On the following day many skirmishes took placebetween parties sallying from the outposts, in a plain sufficientlywide for the purpose. Afterwards the king's troops drew back intonarrow and rocky places, whither the Romans, keenly eager forfighting, penetrated also. These had in their favour order andmilitary discipline, while their arms were of a kind well calculatedfor protecting their persons. In favour of the enemy were theadvantage of ground, and their balistas and catapultas disposed onalmost every rock as on walls. After many wounds given and receivedon both sides, and numbers being slain, as in a regular engagement, darkness put an end to the fight. 

11. While matters were in this state, a herdsman, sent by Charopus, prince of the Epirots, was brought to the consul. He said, that "beingaccustomed to feed his herd in the forest, then occupied by the king'scamp, he knew every winding and path in the neighbouring mountains;and that if the consul thought proper to send some troops with him, hewould lead them by a road, neither dangerous nor difficult, to a spotover the enemy's head. " When the consul heard these things, he sent toCharopus to inquire if he considered that confidence might be placedin the rustic in so important a matter. Charopus ordered an answerto be returned, that he should give just so much credit to this man'saccount, as should still leave every thing rather in his own powerthan in that of the other. Though the consul rather wished thandared to give the intelligence full belief, and though his mind waspossessed by mingled emotions of joy and fear, yet being moved by theconfidence due to Charopus, he resolved to put to trial the prospectthat was held out to him. In order to prevent all suspicion of thematter, during the two following days he carried on attacks againstthe enemy without intermission, drawing out troops against them inevery quarter, and sending up fresh men to relieve the wearied. Then, selecting four thousand foot and three hundred horse, he put themunder the command of a military tribune, with directions to advancethe horse as far as the nature of the ground allowed; and when theycame to places impassable to cavalry, then to post them in some plain;that the infantry should proceed by the road which the guide wouldshow, and that when, according to his promise, they arrived on theheight over the enemy's head, then they should give a signal by smoke, but raise no shout, until the tribune should have reason to thinkthat, in consequence of the signal received from him, the battle wasbegun. He ordered that the march should take place by night, (the moonshining through the whole of it, ) and employ the day in taking foodand rest. The most liberal promises were made to the guide, providedhe fulfilled his engagement; he bound him, nevertheless, and deliveredhim to the tribune. Having thus sent off this detachment, the Romangeneral exerted himself only the more vigorously in every part to makehimself master of the posts of the enemy. 

12. On the third day, the Roman party made the signal by smoke, tonotify that they had gained possession of the eminence to which theyhad been directed; and then the consul, dividing his forces into threeparts, marched up with the main strength of his army, through a valleyin the middle, and made the wings on right and left advance tothe camp of the enemy. Nor did these advance to meet him with lessalacrity. The Roman soldiers, in the ardour of their courage, longmaintained the fight on the outside of their works, for they had nosmall superiority in bravery, in skill, and in the nature of theirarms; but when the king's troops, after many of them were woundedand slain, retreated into places secured either by intrenchments orsituation, the danger reverted on the Romans, who pushed forward, inconsiderately, into disadvantageous grounds and defiles, outof which a retreat was difficult. Nor would they have extricatedthemselves without suffering for their rashness, had not theMacedonians, first, by a shout heard in their rear, and then by anattack begun on that quarter, been utterly dismayed and confounded atthe unforeseen danger. Some betook themselves to a hasty flight: some, keeping their stand, rather because they could find no way for flightthan that they possessed spirit to support the engagement, were cutoff by the Romans, who pressed them hard both on front and rear. Theirwhole army might have been destroyed, had the victors continued theirpursuit of the fugitives; but the cavalry were obstructed by thenarrowness of the passes and the ruggedness of the ground; and theinfantry, by the weight of their armour. The king at first fled withprecipitation, and without looking behind him; but afterwards, whenhe had proceeded as far as five miles, he began, from recollecting theunevenness of the road, to suspect, (what was really the case, )that the enemy could not follow him; and halting, he despatched hisattendants through all the hills and valleys to collect the stragglerstogether. His loss was not more than two thousand men. The rest of hisarmy, coming to one spot, as if they had followed some signal, marchedoff, in a compact body, towards Thessaly. The Romans, after havingpursued the enemy as far as they could with safety, killing such asthey overtook, and despoiling the slain, seized and plundered theking's camp; which, even when it had no defenders, was difficultof access. The following night they were lodged within their owntrenches. 

13. Next day, the consul pursued the enemy through the same defilesthrough which the river winds its way among the valleys. The kingcame on the first day to the camp of Pyrrhus, a place so called inTriphylia, a district of Melotis; and on the following day he reachedMount Lingos, an immense march for his army, but his fear impelledhim. This ridge of mountains belongs to Epirus, and stretches alongbetween Macedonia and Thessaly; the side next to Thessaly faces theeast, that next to Macedonia the north. These hills are thicklyclad with woods, and on their summits have open plains and perennialstreams. Here Philip remained encamped for several days, being unableto determine whether he should continue his retreat until he arrivedin his own dominions, or whether he might venture back into Thessaly. At length, his decision leaned to leading down his army into Thessaly;and, going by the shortest roads to Tricca, he made hasty excursionsfrom thence to all the cities within his reach. The inhabitants whowere able to accompany him he summoned from their habitations, andburned the towns, allowing the owners to take with them such of theireffects as they were able to carry; the rest became the prey of thesoldiers; nor was there any kind of cruelty which they could havesuffered from an enemy, that they did not suffer from these theirconfederates. These acts were painful to Philip even while he executedthem; but as the country was soon to become the property of the foe, he wished to rescue out of it at least the persons of his allies. Inthis manner were ravaged the towns of Phacium, Iresiae, Euhydrium, Eretria, and Palaepharsalus. On his coming to Pherae, the gates wereshut against him, and as it would necessarily occasion a considerabledelay if he attempted to take it by force, and as he could not sparetime, he dropped the design, and crossed over the mountains intoMacedonia; for he had received intelligence, that the Aetolians toowere marching towards him. These, on hearing of the battle fought onthe banks of the river of Aous, first laid waste the nearest tractsround Sperchia, and Long Come, as they call it, and then, passingover into Thessaly, got possession of Cymine and Angeae at the firstassault. From Metropolis they were repulsed by the inhabitants, who, while a part of their army was plundering the country, assembled in abody to defend the city. Afterwards, making an attempt on Callithera, they were attacked by the townsmen in a like manner; but withstoodtheir onset with more steadiness, drove back into the town the partywhich had sallied, and content with that success, as they had noprospect whatever of taking the place by storm, retired. They thentook by assault and sacked the towns of Theuma and Calathas. Acharraethey gained by surrender. Xyniae, through similar apprehensions, wasabandoned by the inhabitants. These having forsaken their homes, andgoing together in a body, fell in with a party which was being marchedto Thaumacus for the purpose of protecting their foragers; all ofwhom, an irregular and unarmed multitude, incapable of any resistance, were put to the sword by the troops. The deserted town of Xyniaewas plundered. The Aetolians then took Cyphara, a fort convenientlysituated on the confines of Dolopia. All this the Aetolians performedwithin the space of a few days. 

14. Nor did Amynander and the Athamanians, when they heard of thevictory obtained by the Romans, continue inactive. Amynander, havinglittle confidence in his own troops, requested a slight auxiliaryforce from the consul; and then advancing towards Gomphi, he stormedon his march a place called Pheca, situate between that town and thenarrow pass which separates Thessaly from Athamania. He then attackedGomphi, and though the inhabitants defended it for several days withthe utmost vigour, yet, as soon as he had raised the scaling laddersto the walls, the same apprehension (which had operated on others) atlength compelled them to surrender. This capture of Gomphi spreadthe greatest consternation among the Thessalians: their fortresses ofArgenta, Pherinus, Thimarus, Lisinae, Stimon, and Lampsussurrendered, one after another, with several other garrisons equallyinconsiderable. While the Athamanians and Aetolians, delivered fromfear of the Macedonians, converted to their own profit the fruits ofanother's victory; and Thessaly, ravaged by three armies at once, knewnot which to believe its foe or its friend; the consul marched on, through the pass which the enemy's flight had left open, into thecountry of Epirus. Though he well knew which party the Epirots, excepting their prince Charopus, were disposed to favour, yet as hesaw that, even from the motive of atoning for past behaviour, theyobeyed his orders with diligence, he regulated his treatment of themby the standard of their present rather than of their former temper, and by this readiness to pardon conciliated their affection for thefuture. Then, sending orders to Corcyra for the transport ships tocome into the Ambrician bay, he advanced by moderate marches, and onthe fourth day pitched his camp on Mount Cercetius. Hither he orderedAmynander to come with his auxiliary troops; not so much as beingin want of his forces, as that he might avail himself of them as hisguides into Thessaly. With the same purpose, many volunteers of theEpirots also were admitted into the corps of auxiliaries. 

15. Of the cities of Thessaly, the first which he attacked wasPhaloria. The garrison here consisted of two thousand Macedonians, who at first resisted with the utmost vigour so far as their arms andfortifications could protect them. The assault was carried on withoutintermission or relaxation either by day or by night, because theconsul thought that it would have a powerful effect on the spirits ofthe rest of the Thessalians, if the first who made trial of theRoman strength were unable to withstand it; and this at the sametime subdued the obstinacy of the Macedonians. On the reduction ofPhaloria, deputies came from Metropolis and Piera, surrendering thosecities. To them, on their petition, pardon was granted: Phaloria wassacked, and burned. He then proceeded to Aeginium; but finding thisplace so circumstanced, that, even with a moderate garrison, it wassafe, after discharging a few weapons against the nearest advancedguard he directed his march towards the territory of Gomphi; andthence descended into the plains of Thessaly. His army was now in wantof every thing, because he had spared the lands of the Epirots; hetherefore despatched messengers to learn whether the transports hadreached Leucas and the Ambracian bay; sending the cohorts, in turn, to Ambracia for corn. Now, the road from Gomphi to Ambracia, althoughdifficult and embarrassed, is very short; so that in a few days, provisions having been conveyed from the sea, his camp was filled withan abundant supply of all necessaries. He then marched to Atrax, whichis about ten miles from Larissa, on the river Peneus. The inhabitantscame originally from Perrhaebia. The Thessalians, here, were notin the least alarmed at the first coming of the Romans; and Philip, although he durst not himself advance into Thessaly, yet, keeping hisstationary camp in the vale of Tempe, whenever any place was attemptedby the enemy, he sent up reinforcements as occasion required. 

16. About the time that Quinctius first pitched his camp opposite toPhilip's, at the entrance of Epirus, Lucius, the consul's brother, whom the senate had commissioned both to the naval command and to thegovernment of the coast, sailed over with two quinqueremes to Corcyra;and when he learned that the fleet had departed thence, thinking thatno delay ought to be incurred, he followed, and overtook it at theisland of Zama. Here he dismissed Lucius Apustius, in whose room hehad been appointed, and then proceeded to Malea, but at a slow rate, being obliged, for the most part, to tow the vessels which accompaniedhim with provisions. From Malea, after ordering the rest to followwith all possible expedition, himself, with three light quinqueremes, hastened forward to the Piraeus, and took under his command the shipsleft there by Lucius Apustius, lieutenant-general, for the protectionof Athens. At the same time, two fleets set sail from Asia; one oftwenty-four quinqueremes, under king Attalus; the other belongingto the Rhodians, consisting of twenty decked ships, and commanded byAgesimbrotus. These fleets, joining near the island of Andros, sailedfor Euboea, which was separated from them only by a narrow strait. They first ravaged the lands belonging to Carystus; but, judging thatcity too strong, in consequence of a reinforcement hastily sent fromChalcis, they bent their course to Eretria. Lucius Quinctius also, onhearing of the arrival of king Attalus, came thither with the shipswhich had lain at the Piraeus; having left orders, that his own shipsshould, as they arrived, follow him to Euboea. The siege of Eretriawas now pushed forward with the utmost vigour; for the three combinedfleets carried machines and engines, of all sorts, for the demolitionof towns, and the adjacent country offered abundance of timber forthe construction of new works. At the beginning the townsmen defendedtheir walls with a good degree of spirit; afterwards, when they feltthe effects of fatigue, a great many being likewise wounded, and apart of the wall demolished by the enemy's works, they became disposedto capitulate. But they had a garrison of Macedonians, of whom theystood in no less dread than of the Romans; and Philocles, the king'sgeneral, sent frequent messages from Chalcis, that he would bring themsuccour in due time, if they could hold out the siege. The hope ofthis, in conjunction with their fears, obliged them to protract thetime longer than was consistent either with their wishes or theirstrength. However, having learned soon after that Philocles had beenrepulsed in the attempt, and forced to fly back, in disorder, toChalcis, they instantly sent deputies to Attalus, to beg pardon andprotection. While intent on the prospect of peace, they executed withless energy the duties of war, and kept armed guards in that quarteronly where the breach had been made in the wall, neglecting all therest; Quinctius made an assault by night on the side where itwas least apprehended, and carried the town by scalade. The wholemultitude of the townsmen, with their wives and children, fled intothe citadel, but soon after surrendered themselves prisoners. Thequantity of money, of gold and silver, taken was not great. Of statuesand pictures, the works of ancient artists, and other ornaments ofthat kind, a greater number was found than was proportionate either tothe size of the city, or its opulence in other particulars. 

17. The design on Carystus was then resumed, and the fleets sailedthither; on which the whole body of the inhabitants, before the troopswere disembarked, deserted the city and fled into the citadel, whencethey sent deputies to beg protection from the Roman general. To thetownspeople life and liberty were immediately granted; and it wasordered, that the Macedonians should pay a ransom of three hundreddrachmas[1] a head, deliver up their arms, and quit the country. Afterbeing ransomed for the said amount, they were transported, unarmed, toBoeotia. The combined fleets having, in the space of a few days, taken these two important cities of Euboea, sailed round Sunium, apromontory of Attica, and steered their course to Cenchreae, the grandmart of the Corinthians. In the mean time, the consul found the siegeof Atrax more tedious and severe than had been universally expected, and the enemy resisted in the way which they had least anticipated. Hehad supposed that the whole of the trouble would be in demolishing thewall, and that if he could once open a passage for his soldiers intothe city, the consequence would then be, the flight and slaughter ofthe enemy, as usually happens on the capture of towns. But when, on abreach being made in the wall by the rams, and when the soldiers, bymounting over the ruins, had entered the place, this proved onlythe beginning, as it were, of an unusual and fresh labour. For theMacedonians in garrison, who were both chosen men and many in number, supposing that they would be entitled to extraordinary honour if theyshould maintain the defence of the city by means of arms and courage, rather than by the help of walls, formed themselves in a compact body, strengthening their line by an uncommon number of files in depth. These, when they saw the Romans entering by the breaches, drovethem back, so that they were entangled among the rubbish, andwith difficulty could effect a retreat. This gave the consul greatuneasiness; for he considered such a disgrace, not merely as itretarded the reduction of a single city, but as likely to affectmaterially the whole process of the war, which in general depends muchon the influence of events in themselves unimportant. Having thereforecleared the ground, which was heaped up with the rubbish of thehalf-ruined wall, he brought up a tower of extraordinary height, consisting of many stories, and which carried a great number ofsoldiers. He likewise sent up the cohorts in strong bodies one afteranother, to force their way, if possible, through the wedge of theMacedonians, which is called a phalanx. But in such a confined space, (for the wall was thrown down to no great extent, ) the enemy had theadvantage, both in the kind of weapons which they used, and in themanner of fighting. When the Macedonians, in close array, stretchedout before them their long spears against the target fence which wasformed by the close position of their antagonists' shields, and whenthe Romans, after discharging their javelins without effect, drewtheir swords, these could neither press on to a closer combat, nor cutoff the heads of the spears; and if they did cut or break off any, the shaft, being sharp at the part where it was broken, filled upits place among the points of those which were unbroken, in a kind ofpalisade. Besides this, the parts of the wall still standing renderedboth the flanks of the Macedonians secure, who were not obliged, either in retreating or in advancing to an attack, to pass througha long space, which generally occasions disorder in the ranks. Anaccidental circumstance also helped to confirm their courage: for asthe tower was moved along a bank of not sufficiently solid soil, oneof the wheels sinking into a rut, made the tower lean in such a mannerthat it appeared to the enemy as if falling, and threw the soldiersposted on it into consternation and affright. 

[Footnote 1: 9l. 13s. 9d. ]

18. As none of his attempts met any success, the consul was veryunwilling to allow such a comparison to be exhibited between the twoclasses of soldiery and their respective weapons; at the same time, hecould neither see any prospect of reducing the place speedily, nor anymeans of subsisting in winter, at such a distance from the sea, andin regions desolated by the calamities of war. He therefore raised thesiege; and as, along the whole coast of Acarnania and Aetolia, therewas no port capable of containing all the transports that broughtsupplies to the army, nor any place which afforded lodgings to thelegions, he pitched on Anticyra, in Phocis on the Corinthian gulf, asmost commodiously situated for his purpose. There the legions wouldbe at no great distance from Thessaly, and the places belonging tothe enemy; while they would have in front Peloponnesus, separated fromthem by a narrow sea; on their rear, Aetolia and Acarnania; and ontheir sides, Locris and Boeotia. Phanotea in Phocis he took withoutresistance at the first assault. The siege of Anticyra gave him notmuch delay. Then Ambrysus and Hyampolis were taken. Daulis, beingsituated on a lofty eminence, could not be reduced either by scaladeor works: he therefore provoked the garrison, by missile weapons, tomake sallies from out the town. Then by flying at one time, pursuingat another, and engaging in slight skirmishes, he led them into such adegree of carelessness, and such a contempt of him, that at length theRomans, mixing with them as they ran back, entered by the gates, and stormed the town. Six other fortresses in Phocis, of littleconsequence, came into his hands, through fear rather than by force ofarms. Elatia shut its gates, and the inhabitants seemed determinednot to admit within their walls either the army or the general of theRomans, unless compelled by force. 

19. While the consul was employed in the siege of Elatia, a prospectopened to him of effecting a business of much more importance; namely, of drawing away the Achaeans from their alliance with Philip to thatof the Romans. Cycliades, the head of the faction that favoured theinterest of Philip, they had now banished; and Aristaenus, who wishedfor a union between his countrymen and the Romans, was praetor. TheRoman fleet, with Attalus and the Rhodians, lay at Cenchreae, and werepreparing to lay siege to Corinth with their whole combined force. Theconsul therefore judged it prudent, that, before they entered onthat affair, ambassadors should be sent to the Achaean state, withassurances, that if they came over from the king to the side of theRomans, the latter would consign Corinth to them, and annex it tothe old confederacy of their nation. Accordingly, by the consul'sdirection, ambassadors were sent to the Achaeans, by his brotherLucius Quinctius, by Attalus, and by the Rhodians and Athenians--ageneral assembly being summoned to meet at Sicyon to give themaudience. Now, the state of feeling of the Achaeans was by no meansuniform. Nabis the Lacedaemonian, their constant and inveterate enemy, was the object of their dread; they dreaded the arms of the Romans;they were under obligations to the Macedonians, for services bothof ancient and recent date; but the king himself, on account of hisperfidy and cruelty, they looked upon with jealous fear, and notjudging from the behaviour which he then assumed for the time, theyknew that, on the conclusion of the war, they should find him a moretyrannical master. So that every one of them was not only at a losswhat opinion he should support in the senate of his own particularstate, or in the general diets of the nation; but, even when theydeliberated within themselves, they could not, with any certainty, determine what they ought to wish, or what to prefer. Such was theunsettled state of mind of the members of the assembly, when theambassadors were introduced and liberty of speaking afforded them. TheRoman ambassador, Lucius Calpurnius, spoke first; next the ambassadorsof king Attalus; after them those of the Rhodians; and then Philip's. The Athenians were heard the last, that they might refute thediscourses of the Macedonians. These inveighed against the king withthe greatest acrimony of any, for no others had suffered from him somany and so severe hardships. So great a number of speeches of theambassadors succeeding each other took up the whole of the day; andabout sun-set the council was adjourned. 

20. Next day the council was convened again; and when the magistrates, according to the custom of the Greeks, gave leave, by their herald, to any person who chose to offer advice, not one stood forth; but theysat a long time, looking on each other in silence. It was no wonderthat men, revolving in their minds matters of such contradictorynatures, and who found themselves puzzled and confounded, should beinvolved in additional perplexity by the speeches continued throughthe whole preceding day; in which the difficulties, on all sides, were brought into view, and stated in their full force. At lengthAristaenus, the praetor of the Achaeans, not to dismiss the councilwithout any business being introduced, said:--"Achaeans, where arenow those violent disputes, in which, at your feasts and meetings, whenever mention was made of Philip and the Romans, you scarcelyrefrained from blows? Now, in a general assembly, summoned on thatsingle business, when you have heard the arguments of the ambassadorson both sides, when the magistrates demand your opinions, when theherald calls you to declare your sentiments, you are struck dumb. Although your concern for the common safety be insufficient fordetermining the matter, cannot the party zeal which has attached youto one side or the other extort a word from any one of you? especiallywhen none is so obtuse as not to perceive, that the time for declaringand recommending what each either wishes or thinks most advisable, must be at the present moment; that is, before we make any decree. When a decree shall have been once passed, every man even such aspreviously may have disapproved the measure, must then support itas good and salutary. " These persuasions of the praetor, so far fromprevailing on any one person to declare his opinion, did not excite, in all that numerous assembly, collected out of so many states, somuch as a murmur or a whisper. 

21. Then the praetor, Aristaenus, again spoke as follows:--"Chiefs ofAchaea, you are not more at a loss for advice, than you are for words;but every one is unwilling to promote the interest of the public ata risk of danger to himself. Were I in a private character, perhaps Itoo should be silent; but, as praetor, it is my duty to declare, thatI see evidently, either that an audience of the council ought not tohave been accorded to the ambassadors, or that they ought not tobe dismissed from it without an answer. Yet how can I give them ananswer, unless by a decree of yours? And, since not one of you whohave been called to this assembly either chooses or dares to makeknown his sentiments, let us examine (as if they were opinionsproposed to our consideration) the speeches of the ambassadorsdelivered yesterday; supposing the speakers not to have required whatwas useful to themselves, but to have recommended what they thoughtmost conducive to our advantage. The Romans, the Rhodians and Attalus, request an alliance and friendship with us; and they demand to beassisted by us in the war in which they are now engaged againstPhilip. Philip reminds us of our league with him, and of theobligation of our oath; he requires only, that we declare ourselves onhis side; and says, he will be satisfied if we do not intermeddle inthe operations of the war. Does not the reason occur to the mind ofany one of you why those, who are not yet our allies, require morethan he who is? This arises not from modesty in Philip, nor fromthe want of it in the Romans. It is fortune, which, while it bestowsconfidence to requisitions on one side, precludes it on the other. Wesee nothing belonging to Philip but his ambassador: the Roman fleetlies at Cenchreae, exhibiting to our view the spoils of the citiesof Euboea. We behold the consul and his legions, at the distance of asmall tract of sea, overrunning Phocis and Locris. You were surprisedat Philip's ambassador, Cleomedon, showing such diffidence yesterdayin his application to us to take arms on the side of the king againstthe Romans. But if we, in pursuance of the same treaty and oath, thesacredness of which he inculcated on us, were to ask of him, thatPhilip should protect us, both from Nabis and his Lacedaemonians, andalso from the Romans, he would be utterly unable to find, not only aforce with which to protect us, but even an answer to return. As muchso in truth as was Philip himself, who endeavoured, by promises ofwaging war against Nabis, to draw away our youth into Euboea; butfinding that we would neither decree such assistance to him, norchoose to be embroiled in a war with Rome, forgot that allianceon which he now lays such stress, and left us to Nabis and theLacedaemonians to be spoiled and plundered. Besides, to me thearguments of Cleomedon appeared utterly inconsistent. He made light ofthe war with the Romans; and asserted, that the issue of it would besimilar to that of the former, which they waged against Philip. Ifsuch the case, why does he, at a distance, solicit our assistance;rather than come hither in person, and defend us, his old allies, bothfrom Nabis and from the Romans? Us, do I say? Why, on this showing, has he suffered Eretria and Carystus to be taken? Why so many citiesof Thessaly? Why Locris and Phocis? Why does he at present sufferElatia to be besieged? Did he, either through compulsion, or fear, orchoice, quit the straits of Epirus, and those impregnable fastnesseson the river Aous; and why, abandoning the pass which he wasoccupying, did he retire altogether into his own kingdom? If of hisown will he gave up so many allies to the ravages of the enemy, whatobjection can he make to these allies consulting for their own safety?If through fear, he ought to pardon the like fear in us. If he retireddefeated by force of arms, let me ask you, Cleomedon, shall we, Achaeans, be able to withstand the Roman arms, which you, Macedonians, have not withstood? Are we to give credit to your assertion, that theRomans do not employ, in the present war, greater forces or greaterstrength than they did in the former, rather than regard the factsthemselves? In the first instance, they aided the Aetolians with afleet; they sent not to the war either a consul as commander, or aconsular army. The maritime cities of Philip's allies were in terrorand confusion; but the inland places were so secure against the Romanarms, that Philip ravaged the country of the Aetolians, while they invain implored succour from those arms. Whereas, in the present case, the Romans, after bringing to a final conclusion the Punic war, whichthey had supported for sixteen years in the bowels, as it were, ofItaly, sent not auxiliaries to the Aetolians in their quarrels, but, being themselves principals, made a hostile invasion on Macedonia withland and sea forces at once. Their third consul is now pushing forwardthe war with the utmost vigour. Sulpicius, engaging the king withinthe territory of Macedonia itself, has overthrown and put him toflight; and afterwards despoiled the most opulent part of his kingdom. Then, again, when he was in possession of the strait of Epirus, where, from the nature of the ground, his fortifications, and the strengthof his army, he thought himself secure, Quinctius drove him out of hiscamp; pursued him, as he fled into Thessaly; and, almost in the viewof Philip himself, stormed the royal garrisons and the cities ofhis allies. Supposing that there were no truth in what the Athenianambassadors mentioned yesterday, respecting the cruelty, avarice, andlust of the king; supposing the crimes committed, in the country ofAttica, against the gods, celestial and infernal, concerned us notall; that we had less to complain of than what the people of Cius andAbydos, who are far distant from us, have endured: let us then, ifyou please, forget even our own wounds; let the murders and ravagescommitted at Messana, and in the heart of Peloponnesus, the killing ofhis host Garitenes at Cyparissia, almost in the very midst of a feast, in contempt of laws divine and human; the murder of the two Aratusesof Sicyon, father and son, though he was wont to call the unfortunateold man his parent; his carrying away the son's wife into Macedoniafor the gratification of his vicious appetites, and all his violationsof virgins and matrons;--let all these, I say, be consigned tooblivion. Let us suppose our business were not with Philip, throughdread of whose cruelty you are all thus struck dumb; for what othercause could keep you silent, when you have been summoned to a council?Let us imagine that we are treating with Antigonus, a prince of thegreatest mildness and equity, to whose kindness we have all beenhighly indebted; would he require us to perform what at the time wasimpossible? Peloponnesus is a peninsula, united to the continent bythe narrow passage of an isthmus particularly exposed and open to theattacks of naval armaments. Now, if a hundred decked ships, and fiftylighter open ones, and thirty Issean barks, shall begin to lay wasteour coasts, and attack the cities which stand exposed, almost on thevery shore, shall we then retreat into the inland towns, as if we werenot afflicted with an intestine war, though in truth it is ranklingin our very bowels? When Nabis and the Lacedaemonians by land, and theRoman fleet by sea, shall press us, whence must I implore the supportdue from the king's alliance, whence the succours of the Macedonians?Shall we ourselves, with our own arms, defend, against the Romanforces, the cities that will be attacked? Truly, in the former war, we defended Dymae excellently well! The calamities of others affordus abundant examples; let us not seek how we may render ourselves anexample to others. Do not, because the Romans voluntarily desire yourfriendship, contemn that which you ought to have prayed for, nay, laboured with all your might to obtain. But, it is insinuated, thatthey are impelled by fear, in a country to which they are strangers;and that, wishing to shelter themselves under your assistance, theyhave recourse to your alliance in the hope of being admitted into yourharbours, and of there finding supplies of provisions. Now, at seathey are absolute masters; and instantly reduce to subjection everyplace at which they land. What they request, they have power toenforce. Because they wish to treat you with tenderness they do notallow you to take steps that must lead you to ruin. Cleomedon latelypointed out, as the middle and safest way, to remain inactive, andabstain from taking up arms But that is not a middle way; it is no wayat all. For, besides the necessity of either embracing or rejectingthe Roman alliance, what other consequence can ensue from suchconduct, than that, while we show no steady attachment to eitherside, as if we waited the event with design to adapt our counsels tofortune, we shall become the prey of the conqueror? Contemn not then, when it is spontaneously offered to your acceptance, what you ought tohave solicited with your warmest prayers. The free option betweenthe two, which you have this day, you will not always have. The sameopportunity will not last long, nor will it frequently recur. You havelong wished to deliver yourselves out of the hands of Philip, althoughyou have not dared to make the attempt. Those have now crossed thesea, with large fleets and armies, who are able to rescue you to astate of freedom, without any trouble or danger to yourselves. If youreject such persons as allies, you can scarcely be of sane mind; butyou must unavoidably have to deal with them, either as allies or asenemies. "

22. This speech of the praetor was followed by a general murmur; somedeclaring their approbation, and others vehemently rebuking those whodid so. And now, not only individuals, but whole states were engagedin altercation among themselves; and at length among the magistrates, called Demiurgi, who are ten in number, the dispute was taken up withas much warmth as among the multitude. Five of them declared, thatthey would propose the question concerning an alliance with Rome, and would take the votes on it; while five insisted, that it had beenprovided by law that neither the magistrates should have power topropose nor the council to pass any decree injurious to the alliancewith Philip. This day, also, was spent in contention, and thereremained now but one day more of the regular time of sitting; for, according to the rule, the decree must be passed on the third day: andas that approached, the zeal of the parties was kindled into such aflame, that scarcely did parents refrain from offering violence totheir own sons. There was present a man of Pallene, named Rhisiasus, whose son, Memnon, was a demiurgus, and was of that party whichopposed the reading of the decree and taking the votes. This man, fora long time, entreated his son to allow the Achaeans to take propermeasures for their common safety, and not, by his obstinacy, to bringruin on the whole nation; but, finding that his entreaties had noeffect, he swore that he would treat him, not as a son, but as anenemy, and would put him to death with his own hand. By these threatshe forced him, next day, to join the party that voted for the questionbeing proposed. These, having now become the majority, proposed thequestion accordingly, while almost every one of the states, openlyapproving the measure, showed plainly on which side they would vote. Whereupon the Dymaeans, Megalopolitans, with several of the Argives, rose up, and withdrew from the council; which step excited neitherwonder nor disapprobation. For when, in the memory of theirgrandfathers, the Megalopolitans had been expelled their country bythe Lacedaemonians, Antigonus had reinstated them in their nativeresidence; and, at a later period, when Dymae was taken and sacked bythe Roman troops, Philip ordered that the inhabitants, wherever theywere in servitude, should be ransomed, and not only restored them totheir liberty, but their country. As to the Argives, besides believingthat the royal family of Macedonia derived its origin from them, thegreater part were attached to Philip by personal acts of kindnessand familiar friendship. For these reasons, when the council appeareddisposed to order an alliance to be concluded with Rome, theywithdrew; and their secession was readily excused, in consideration ofthe many and recent obligations by which they were bound to the kingof Macedon. 

23. The rest of the Achaean states, on their opinions being demanded, ratified, by an immediate decree, the alliance with Attalus and theRhodians. That with the Romans, as it could not be perfected withoutan order from the people, they deferred until such time as ambassadorscould be sent to Rome. For the present, it was resolved, that threeambassadors should be sent to Lucius Quinctius; and that the wholeforce of the Achaeans should be brought up to Corinth, which cityQuinctius, after taking Cenchreae, was then besieging. The Achaeansaccordingly pitched their camp opposite to the gate that leads toSicyon. The Romans made their approaches on the side of the city whichfaces Cenchreae; Attalus having drawn his army across the isthmus, towards Lechaeum, the port on the opposite sea. At first, they did notpush forward their operations with any great degree of vigour, becausethey had hopes of a dissension breaking out between the townsmen andthe king's troops. But afterwards, learning that they all were ofone mind; that the Macedonians exerted themselves as if in defence oftheir common country; and that the Corinthians submitted to theorders of Androsthenes, commander of the garrison, as if he were theircountryman, and elected by their own suffrages; the assailants hadno other hopes but in force, arms, and their works. They thereforebrought up their mounds to the walls, though by very difficultapproaches. On that side where the Romans attacked, their ram haddemolished a considerable part of the wall; and the Macedonians havingrun together to defend the place thus stripped of its works, a furiousconflict ensued between themselves and the Romans. At first, byreason of the enemy's superiority in number, the Romans were quicklyrepulsed; but being joined by the auxiliary troops of Attalus and theAchaeans, they restored the fight to an equality; so that there wasno doubt that they would easily drive the Macedonians and Greeks fromtheir ground. But there were in the town a great multitude of Italiandeserters; some of whom, having been in Hannibal's army, had, throughfear of being punished by the Romans, followed Philip; others, havingbeen sailors, had lately quitted the fleets, and gone over, in hopesof more honourable employment: despair of safety, therefore, in caseof the Romans getting the better, inflamed these to a degree whichmight rather be called madness than courage. Opposite to Sicyon is thepromontory of Juno Acraea, as she is called, stretching out into themain, the passage to Corinth being about seven miles. To this placePhilocles, one of the king's generals, led, through Boeotia, fifteenhundred soldiers; and there were barks from Corinth ready to takethese troops on board, and carry them over to Lechaeum. Attalus, onthis, advised to burn the works, and raise the siege immediately;Quinctius was for persisting more obstinately in the attempt. However, when he saw the king's troops posted at the gates, and that thesallies of the besieged could not easily be withstood, he came overto the opinion of Attalus. Thus, their design proving fruitless, theydismissed the Achaeans, and returned to their ships. Attalus steeredto Piraeus, the Romans to Corcyra. 

24. While the naval forces were thus employed, the consul, havingencamped before Elatia, in Phocis, first endeavoured, by conferringwith the principal inhabitants, to bring them over, and by their meansto effect his purpose; but on their answering that they had nothing intheir power, because the king's troops were more numerous and strongerthan the townsmen, he assaulted the city on all sides at once witharms and engines. A battering-ram having been brought up, shattereda part of the wall that reached from one tower to another, and thisfalling with a prodigious noise and crash, left much of the townexposed. On this a Roman cohort made an assault through the breach, while at the same time the townsmen, quitting their several posts, ran together from all parts to the place, which was endangered by theattack of the enemy. At the same time others of the Romans climbedover the ruins of the wall, and brought up scaling-ladders to theparts that were standing. As the conflict attracted the eyes andattention of the enemy to one particular spot, the walls were scaledin several places, by which means the soldiers easily entered thetown. The noise and tumult which ensued so terrified the enemy, thatquitting the place, which they had crowded together to defend, they all fled in panic to the citadel, accompanied by the unarmedmultitude. The consul having thus become master of the town, gaveit up to be plundered, and then sent messengers into the citadel, offering the king's troops their lives, on condition of their layingdown their arms, and departing. To the Elatians he offered theirliberty; which terms being agreed to, in a few days after he gotpossession of the citadel. 

25. In consequence of Philocles, the king's general, coming intoAchaia, not only Corinth was delivered from the siege, but the cityof Argos was betrayed into his hands by some of the principalinhabitants, after they had first sounded the minds of the populace. They had a custom, that, on the first day of assembly, their praetors, for the omen's sake, should pronounce the names, Jupiter, Apollo, andHercules; in addition to which, a rule had been made, that, along withthese they should join the name of king Philip. After the conclusionof the alliance with the Romans, the herald did not make thataddition; on which a murmur spread through the multitude, who wouldadd the name of Philip, and insisting that the respect, due by law, should be paid as before; until at length the name was given outamidst universal approbation. On the encouragement afforded by thisfavourable disposition, Philocles was invited, who seized in the nighta strong post called Larissa, seated on a hill which overhangs thecity, and in which he placed a garrison. At the dawn of day, however, and as he was proceeding in order of battle to the forum, at the footof the hill he was met by a line of troops, drawn up to oppose him. This was a body of Achaeans, lately posted there, consisting ofabout five hundred young men, selected out of all the states. Theircommander was Aenesidemus, of Dymae. The king's general sent a personto recommend to them to evacuate the city, because they were not amatch for the townsmen alone, who held the same sentiments as theMacedonians; much less when these were joined by the Macedonians, whomeven the Romans had not withstood at Corinth. This at first had noeffect, either on the commander, or his men: and when they, soonafter, perceived the Argives also in arms, coming, in a greatbody, from the opposite side, perceiving that their destruction wasinevitable, they yet seemed determined to run every hazard, if theirleader would persevere. But Aenesidemus, unwilling that the flower ofthe Achaean youth should be lost, together with the city, made termswith Philocles, that they should have liberty to retire, while himselfremained armed with a few of his dependents, in the position which hehad occupied. To a person sent by Philocles to inquire what he meant, he only answered, standing with his shield held out before him, that he meant to die in arms in defence of the city intrusted to hischarge. Philocles then ordered some Thracians to throw their javelinsat him and his attendants; and they were all put to death. Thus, notwithstanding the alliance concluded by the Achaeans with theRomans, two of their cities, and those of the greatest consequence, Argos and Corinth, were still in the hands of Philip. Such were theservices performed during that summer by the land and sea forces ofRome employed in Greece. 

26. In Gaul, the consul Sextus Aelius did nothing worth mention, though he had two armies in the province: one, which he had retainedunder their standards, although it ought to have been disbanded; andof this, which had served under Lucius Cornelius, proconsul, he hadgiven the command to Caius Helvius, the praetor: the other he hadbrought with him into the province. He spent nearly the whole summerin compelling the people of Cremona and Placentia to return to theircolonies, from whence they had been driven to various places by thecalamities of war. While Gaul, beyond expectation, remained quietthrough the whole year, an insurrection of the slaves was very neartaking place in the neighbourhood of the city. The hostages, givenby the Carthaginians, were kept in custody at Setia: as they werethe children of the principal families, they were attended by a greatmultitude of slaves; to this number many were added, in consequenceof the late African war, and by the Setians themselves having bought, from among the spoil, several of those which had been captured. Havingconspired together, they sent some of their number to engage in thecause the slaves of the country round Setia, and then those at Norbaand Circeii. When every thing was fully prepared, they determined, during the games which were soon to be solemnized at thefirst-mentioned place, to attack the people while intent on theshow, and when Setia had been taken in the midst of the slaughter andunexpected turmoil, then to seize on Norba and Circeii. Information ofthis atrocious plot was brought to Rome, to Lucius Cornelius Merula, the city praetor. Two slaves came to him before daylight, anddisclosed to him in order the whole proceedings and intentions ofthe conspirators. The praetor, ordering them to be guarded in his ownhouse, summoned a meeting of the senate; and having laid before themthe information of the discoverers, he was ordered to go himself tothe spot, and examine into and crush the conspiracy. Setting out, accordingly, with five lieutenant-generals, he compelled such as hefound in the country to take the military oath, to arm, and followhim. Having by this tumultuary kind of levy armed about two thousandmen, while all were ignorant of his destination, he came to Setia. There the leaders of the conspiracy were instantly apprehended; onwhich, the remainder fled from the city; but parties were sent throughthe country to search them out. The services of the two who made thediscovery, and of one free person employed, were highly meritorious. The senate ordered a present to the latter of a hundred thousand_asses_;[1] to the slaves, twenty-five thousand _asses_[2] each, andtheir freedom. The price was paid to their owners out of the treasury. Not long after, intelligence was received, that other slaves, belonging to the remains of the conspiracy, had formed a design ofseizing Praeneste. The praetor, Lucius Cornelius, went thither, andinflicted punishment on near five hundred persons concerned inthat wicked scheme. The public were under apprehensions that theCarthaginian hostages and prisoners fomented these plots: watcheswere, therefore, kept at Rome in all the streets, which the inferiormagistrates were ordered to go round and inspect; while the triumvirsof the prison, called the Quarry, were to keep a stricter guard thanusual. Circular letters were also sent by the praetor to all the Latinstates, directing that the hostages should be confined within doors, and not at any time allowed the liberty of going into public; and thatthe prisoners should be kept bound with fetters, of not less thanten pounds weight, and confined in no other place of custody than thecommon jail. 

[Footnote 1: 322l. 18s. 4d. ]

[Footnote 2: 80l. 14s. 7d. ]

27. In this year, ambassadors from king Attalus made an offering, inthe Capitol, of a golden crown of two hundred and fifty-six pounds'weight, and returned thanks to the senate, because Antiochus, influenced by the authority of the Romans, had withdrawn his troopsout of the territories of Attalus. During the same summer, two hundredhorsemen, ten elephants, and two hundred thousand pecks of wheat, arrived from king Masinissa for the army in Greece. From Sicily also, and Sardinia, large supplies of provisions were sent, with clothingfor the troops. Sicily was then governed by Marcus Marcellus, Sardiniaby Marcus Porcius Cato, a man of acknowledged integrity and purityof conduct, but deemed too severe in punishing usury. He drove theusurers entirely out of the island; and restricted or abolished thecontributions, usually paid by the allies, for maintaining the dignityof the praetors. The consul, Sextus Aelius, coming home from Gaul toRome to hold the elections, elected consuls, Caius Cornelius Cethegusand Quintus Minucius Rufus. Two days after was held the electionof praetors; and this year, for the first time, six praetors wereappointed, in consequence of the increase of the provinces, and theextension of the bounds of the empire. The persons elected were, Lucius Manlius Vulso, Caius Sempronius Tuditanus, Marcus SergiusSilus, Marcus Helvius, Marcus Minucius Rufus, and Lucius Atilius. Ofthese Sempronius and Helvius were, at the time, plebeian aediles. Thecurule aediles were Quintus Minucius Thermus and Tiberius SemproniusLongus. The Roman games were four times repeated during this year. 

28. On Caius Cornelius and Quintus Minucius becoming consuls, thefirst business of all was the arrangement of the provinces of theconsuls and praetors. Those of the praetors were the first settled, because that could be transacted by the lots. The city jurisdictionfell to Sergius; the foreign to Minucius; Atilius obtained Sardinia;Manlius, Sicily; Sempronius, the Hither Spain; and Helvius, theFarther. When the consuls were preparing to cast lots for Italy andMacedonia, Lucius Oppius and Quintus Fulvius, plebeian tribunes, stoodin their way, alleging, that "Macedonia was a very distant province, and that the principal cause which had hitherto retarded the progressof the war, was, that when it was scarcely entered upon, and just atthe commencement of operations, the former consul was always recalled. This was the fourth year since the declaration of war againstMacedonia. The greater part of one year Sulpicius spent in seeking theking and his army; Villius, on the point of engaging the enemy, wasrecalled without any thing having been done. Quinctius was detainedat Rome, for the greater part of his year, by business respectingreligion; nevertheless, he had so conducted affairs, that had he comeearlier into the province, or had the cold season been at a greaterdistance, he might have put an end to hostilities. He was then justgoing into winter quarters; but, it was stated that he had brought thewar into such a state, that if he were not prevented by a intercessor, he seemed likely to complete it in the course of the ensuing summer. "By such arguments the tribunes so far prevailed, that the consulsdeclared that they would abide by the directions of the senate, if thetribunes would agree to do the same. Both parties having, accordingly, left the consultation perfectly free, a decree was passed, appointingthe two consuls to the government of the province of Italy. TitusQuinctius was continued in command, until a successor should accedeby a decree of the senate. To each, two legions were decreed; andthey were ordered, with these, to carry on the war with the CisalpineGauls, who had revolted from the Romans. A reinforcement of fivethousand foot and three hundred horse was ordered to be sent intoMacedonia to Quinctius, together with three thousand seamen. LuciusQuinctius Flamininus was continued in the command of the fleet. Toeach of the praetors for the two Spains were granted eight thousandfoot, of the allies and Latins, and four hundred horse; so that theymight discharge the veteran troops in their provinces. They werefurther directed to fix the bounds which should divide the hither fromthe farther province. Two additional lieutenant-generals were sent tothe army in Macedonia, Publius Sulpicius and Publius Villius, who hadbeen consuls in that province. 

29. It was thought necessary, that before the consuls and praetorswent abroad, some prodigies should be expiated. For the temples ofVulcan and Summanus, [1] at Rome, and a wall and a gate at Fregellae, had been struck by lightning. At Frusino, light had shone forth duringthe night. At Asculum, a lamb had been born with two heads and fivefeet. At Formiae, two wolves entering the town had torn severalpersons who fell in their way; and, at Rome, a wolf had made its way, not only into the city, but into the Capitol. Caius Acilius, plebeiantribune, caused an order to be passed, that five colonies should beled out to the sea-coast; two to the mouths of the rivers Vulturnusand Liternus; one to Puteoli and one to the fort of Salernum. To thesewas added Buxentum. To each colony three hundred families were orderedto be sent. The commissioners appointed to conduct them thither, andwho were to hold the office for three years, were Marcus ServiliusGeminus, Quintus Minucius Thermus, and Tiberius Sempronius Longus. Assoon as the levies, and such other business, religious and civil, asrequired their personal attendance, was finished, both the consuls setout for Gaul. Cornelius took the direct road towards the Insubrians, who were then in arms, and had been joined by the Caenomanians. Quintus Minucius turned his route to the left side of Italy, andleading away his army to the lower sea, to Genoa, opened the campaignwith an invasion of Liguria. Two towns, Clastidium and Litubium, bothbelonging to the Ligurians, and two states of the same nation, Celelaand Cerdicium, surrendered to him. And now, all the states on thisside of the Po, except the Boians among the Gauls and the Ilvatiansamong the Ligurians, were reduced to submission: no less, it is said, than fifteen towns and twenty thousand men surrendered themselves. Hethen led his legions into the territory of the Boians. 

[Footnote 1: Pluto, Summus Mamum. ]

30. The Boian army had, not very long before, crossed the Po andjoined the Insubrians and Caenomanians; for, having heard that theconsuls intended to act with their forces united, they wished toincrease their own strength by this junction. But when informationreached them that one of the consuls was ravaging the country of theBoians, a dispute instantly arose. The Boians demanded, that all, inconjunction, should carry succour to those who were attacked; whilethe Insubrians positively refused to leave their country defenceless. In consequence of this dissension, the armies separated; the Boianswent to defend their own territory, and the Insubrians, with theCaenomanians, encamped on the banks of the river Mincius. About fivemiles below this spot, the consul Cornelius pitched his camp closeto the same river. Sending emissaries hence into the villages of theCaenomanians, and to Brixia, the capital of their tribe, he learnedwith certainty that their young men had taken arms without theapprobation of the elders; and that the Caenomanians had not joinedin the revolt of the Insubrians by any public authority. On whichhe invited to him the principal of the natives, and endeavoured tocontrive and concert with them that the Caenomanians should separatefrom the Insubrians; and either march away and return home, or comeover to the side of the Romans. This he was not able to effect; butso far, he received solemn assurances that, in case of a battle, theywould either stand inactive, or, should any occasion offer, would evenassist the Romans. The Insubrians knew not that such an agreementhad been concluded, but they harboured in their minds some kind ofsuspicion, that the fidelity of their confederates was wavering. Wherefore, in forming their troops for battle, not daring to intrusteither wing to them, lest, if they should treacherously give ground, they might cause a total defeat, they placed them in reserve behindthe line. At the beginning of the fight, the consul vowed a temple toJuno Sospita, provided the enemy should, on that day, be routedand driven from the field; on which the soldiers raised a shout, declaring, that they would insure to their commander the completionof his vow, and at the same time an attack was made on the enemy. TheInsubrians did not stand even the first onset. Some writers affirm, that the Caenomanians, falling on their rear during the heat of theengagement, caused as much disorder there as prevailed in their front:and that, thus assailed on both sides, thirty-five thousand of themwere slain, five thousand seven hundred taken prisoners, among whomwas Hamilcar, a Carthaginian general, who had been the cause of thewar; and that a hundred and thirty military standards and above twohundred waggons were taken. On this, the towns of the Gauls, which hadjoined in the revolt of the Insubrians, surrendered to the Romans. 

31. The other consul, Minucius, had at first traversed the territoriesof the Boians, with wide-spread ravaging parties; but afterwards, whenthat people left the Insubrians, and came home to defend their ownproperty, he kept his men within their camp, expecting to come to aregular engagement with the enemy. Nor would the Boians have declineda battle, if their spirits had not been depressed by hearing of thedefeat of the Insubrians. Upon this, deserting their commander andtheir camp, they dispersed themselves through the several towns, eachwishing to take care of his own effects. Thus they changed the enemy'smethod of carrying on the war: for, no longer hoping to decide thematter by a single battle, he began again to lay waste the lands, burn the houses, and storm the villages. At this time, Clastidiumwas burned, and the legions were led thence against the IlvatianLigurians, who alone refused to submit. That state, also, on learningthat the Insubrians had been defeated in battle, and the Boians soterrified that they had not dared to try the fortune of an engagement, made a submission. Letters from the consuls, containing accountsof their successes, came from Gaul to Rome at the same time. MarcusSergius, city praetor, read them in the senate, and afterwards, bydirection of the fathers, in an assembly of the people; on which asupplication, of four days' continuance, was decreed. 

32. It was by this time winter; and while Titus Quinctius, after thereduction of Elatia, had his winter quarters distributed in Phocis andLocris, a violent dissension broke out at Opus. One faction invitedto their assistance the Aetolians who were nearest at hand; the other, the Romans. The Aetolians arrived first; but the other party, whichwas the more powerful, refused them admittance, and, despatching acourier to the Roman general, held the city until his arrival. Thecitadel was possessed by a garrison belonging to the king, and theycould not be prevailed on to retire from thence, either by the threatsof the people of Opus, or by the authority of the Roman consul'scommands. What prevented their being immediately attacked was, thearrival of an envoy from the king, to solicit the appointing of a timeand place for a conference. This was granted to the king with greatreluctance; not that Quinctius did not wish to see war concluded underhis own auspices, partly by arms, and partly by negotiation: for heknew not, yet, whether one of the new consuls would be sent out as hissuccessor, or whether he should be continued in the command; a pointwhich he had charged his friends and relations to labour for withall their might. But he thought that a conference would answer thispurpose; that it would put it in his power to give matters a turntowards war, in case he remained in the province, or towards peace, if he were to be removed. They chose for the meeting a part of thesea-shore, in the Malian gulf, near Nicaea. Thither Philip came fromDemetrias, with five barks and one ship of war: he was accompanied bysome principal Macedonians, and an Achaean exile, name Cycliades, aman of considerable note. With the Roman general, were king Amynander, Dionysidorus, ambassador from king Attalus, Agesimbrotus, commanderof the Rhodian fleet, Phaeneas, praetor of the Aetolians, and twoAchaeans, Aristaenus and Xenophon. Attended by these, the Romangeneral advanced to the brink of the shore, when the king had comeforward to the prow of his vessel, as it lay at anchor; and said, "Ifyou will come on the shore, we shall mutually speak and hear withmore convenience. " This the king refused; and on Quinctius asking him, "Whom do you fear?" With the haughty spirit of royalty, he replied, "Fear I have none, but of the immortal gods; but I have no confidencein the faith of those whom I see about you, and least of all in theAetolians. " "That danger, " said the Roman, "is equal to all in commonwho confer with an enemy, if no confidence subsists. " "But, TitusQuinctius, " replied the king, "if treachery be intended, the prizes ofperfidy are not equal, namely, Philip and Phaeneas. For it will notbe so difficult for the Aetolians to find another praetor, as for theMacedonians to find another king in my place. "--Silence then ensued. 

33. The Roman expected that he who solicited the conference shouldopen it; and the king thought that he who was to prescribe, not he whoreceived, terms of peace, ought to begin the conference. At length theRoman said, that "his discourse should be very simple; for hewould only mention those articles, without which there could be noconditions of peace. These were, that the king should withdraw hisgarrisons from all the cities of Greece. That he should deliver upto the allies of the Roman people the prisoners and deserters; shouldrestore to the Romans those places in Illyricum of which he hadpossessed himself by force, since the peace concluded in Epirus; andto Ptolemy, king of Egypt, the cities which he had seized since thedeath of Ptolemy Philopater. " These were the terms which he required, on behalf of himself and the Roman people: but it was proper that thedemands of the allies, also, should be heard. The ambassador of kingAttalus demanded "restitution of the ships and prisoners taken inthe sea-fight at Cius; and that Nicephorium, and the temple of Venus, which Philip had pillaged and defaced, should be restored as thoughthey had not been injured. " The Rhodians laid claim to Peraea, a tracton the continent, lying opposite to their island, which from earlytimes had been under their jurisdiction; and they required that "thegarrisons should be withdrawn from Tassus, Bargylii, and Euroma, andfrom Sestus and Abydos on the Hellespont; that Perinthus should berestored to the Byzantians, in right of their ancient title, andthat all the sea-port towns and harbours of Asia should be free. "The Achaeans demanded the restoration of Corinth and Argos. Phaeneasnearly repeated the demands made by the Romans, that the troops shouldwithdraw out of Greece, and the Aetolians be put in possession of thecities which had formerly been under their dominion. He was followedby Alexander, a man of eminence among the Aetolians, and, consideringhis country, not uneloquent. He said, that "he had long kept silence, not because he expected that any business would be effected in thatconference, but because he was unwilling to interrupt any of theallies in their discourse. " He asserted, that "Philip was neithertreating for peace with sincerity; and that he had never waged warwith true courage, at any time: that in negotiating, he was insidiousand fradulent; while in war he never fought on equal ground, norengaged in regular battles; but, skulking about, burned and pillagedtowns, and, when worsted, destroyed the prizes of victory. But not inthat manner did the ancient kings of Macedon behave; they decided thefate of the war in the field, and spared the towns as far as they wereable, in order to possess the more opulent empire. For what sort ofconduct was it, to destroy the objects for the possession of which thecontest was waged, and thereby leave nothing to himself but fighting?Philip had, in the last year, desolated more cities of his alliesin Thessaly, than all the enemies that Thessaly ever had. On theAetolians themselves he had made greater depredations, when he was inalliance with them, than since he became their enemy. He had seizedon Lysimachia, after dislodging the praetor and garrison of theAetolians. Cius also, a city belonging to their government, he razedfrom the foundation. With the same injustice he held possession ofThebes in Phthiotis, of Echinus, Larissa, and Pharsalus. "

34. Philip, provoked by this discourse of Alexander, pushed his shipnearer to the land, that he might be the better heard, and began tospeak with much violence, particularly against the Aetolians. ButPhaeneas, interrupting him, said that "the business depended not uponwords; he must either conquer in war, or submit to his superiors. ""That, indeed, is evident, " said Philip, "even to the blind, "reflecting on Phaeneas, who had a disorder in his eyes: for he wasnaturally fonder of such pleasantries than became a king; and even inthe midst of serious business, did not sufficiently restrain himselffrom ridicule. He then began to express great indignation at the"Aetolians assuming as much importance as the Romans, and insistingon his evacuating Greece; people who could not even tell what were itsboundaries. For, of Aetolia itself, a large proportion, consisting ofthe Agraeans, Apodeotians, and Amphilochians, was no part of Greece. Have they just ground of complaint against me for not refraining fromwar with their allies, when themselves, from the earliest period, follow, as an established rule, the practice of suffering their youngmen to carry arms against those allies, withholding only the publicauthority of the state; while very frequently contending armies haveAetolian auxiliaries on both sides? I did not seize on Cius by force, but assisted my friend and ally, Prusias, who was besieging it, andLysimachia I rescued from the Thracians. But since necessity divertedmy attention from the guarding of it to this present war, theThracians have possession of it. So much for the Aetolians. To Attalusand the Rhodians I in justice owe nothing; for not to me, but tothemselves, is the commencement of hostilities to be attributed. However, out of respect to the Romans, I will restore Peraea to theRhodians, and to Attalus his ships, and such prisoners as can befound. As to what concerns Nicephorium, and the temple of Venus, whatother answer can I make to those who require their restoration, thanthat I will take on myself the trouble and expense of replantingthem--the only way in which woods and groves which have been cut downcan be restored, --since it is thought fit that, between kings, suchkinds of demands should be made and answered. " The last part of hisspeech was directed to the Achaeans, wherein he enumerated, first, thekindnesses of Antigonus; then, his own towards their nation, desiringthem to consider the decrees themselves had passed concerning him, which comprehended every kind of honour, divine and human; and tothese he added their late decree, by which they had confirmed theresolution of deserting him. He inveighed bitterly against theirperfidy, but told them, that nevertheless he would give them backArgos. "With regard to Corinth, he would consult with the Romangeneral; and would, at the same time, inquire from him, whether hethought it right, that he (Philip) should evacuate only those citieswhich, being captured by himself, were held by the right of war; orthose, also, which he had received from his ancestors. "

35. The Achaeans and Aetolians were preparing to answer, but, as thesun was near setting, the conference was adjourned to the next day;and Philip returned to his station whence he came, the Romans andallies to their camp. On the following day, Quinctius repaired toNicaea, which was the place agreed on, at the appointed time; butneither Philip, nor any messenger from him, came for several hours. Atlength, when they began to despair of his coming, his ships suddenlyappeared. He said, that "the terms enjoined were so severe andhumiliating, that, not knowing what to determine, he had spent the dayin deliberation. " But the general opinion was, that he had purposelydelayed the business until late, that the Achaeans and Aetolians mightnot have time to answer him: and this opinion he himself confirmed, bydesiring that time might not be consumed in altercation, and, to bringthe affair to some conclusion, that the others should retire, andleave him to converse with the Roman general. For some time this wasnot admitted, lest the allies should appear to be excluded from theconference. Afterwards, on his persisting in his desire, the Romangeneral, with the consent of all, taking with him Appius Claudius, a military tribune, advanced to the brink of the coast, and the restretired. The king, with the two persons whom he had brought the daybefore, came on shore, where they conversed a considerable time inprivate. What account of their proceedings Philip gave to his peopleis not well known: what Quinctius told the allies was, that "Philipwas willing to cede to the Romans the whole coast of Illyricum, andto give up the deserters and prisoners, if there were any. That heconsented to restore to Attalus his ships, and the seamen taken withthem; and to the Rhodians the tract which they call Peraea. That herefused to evacuate Iassus and Bargylii. To the Aetolians he was readyto restore Pharsalus and Larissa; Thebes he would not restore: andthat he would give back to the Achaeans the possession, not only ofArgos, but of Corinth also. " This arrangement pleased none of theparties; neither those to whom the concessions were to be made, northose to whom they were refused; "for on that plan, " they said, "morewould be lost than gained; nor could the grounds of contention ever beremoved, but by his withdrawing his forces from every part of Greece. "

36. These expressions, delivered with eagerness and vehemence by everyone in the assembly, reached the ears of Philip, though he stood at adistance. He therefore requested of Quinctius, that the whole businessmight be deferred until the next day; and then he would, positively, either prevail on the allies, or suffer himself to be prevailed on bythem. The shore at Thronium was appointed for their meeting, and therethey assembled early. Philip began with entreating Quinctius, and allwho were present, not to harbour such sentiments as must embarrassa negotiation of peace; and then desired time, while he could sendambassadors to Rome, to the senate, declaring, that "he would eitherobtain a peace on the terms mentioned, or would accept whatever termsthe senate should prescribe. " None by any means approved of this; theysaid, he only sought a delay, and leisure to collect his strength. But Quinctius observed, "that such an objection would have beenwell founded, if it were then summer and a season fit for action; asmatters stood, and the winter being just at hand, nothing wouldbe lost by allowing him time to send ambassadors. For, without theauthority of the senate, no agreement which they might conclude withthe king would be valid; and besides, they would by this means havean opportunity, while the winter itself would necessarily causea suspension of arms, to learn the authoritative decision of thesenate. " The other chiefs of the allies came over to this opinion: anda cessation of hostilities for two months being granted, they resolvedthat each of their states should send an ambassador with the necessaryinformation to the senate, and in order that it should not be deceivedby the misrepresentations of Philip. To the above agreement for atruce, was added an article, that all the king's troops should beimmediately withdrawn from Phocis and Locris. With the ambassadors ofthe allies, Quinctius sent Amynander, king of Athamania; and, to adda degree of splendour to the embassy, a deputation from himself, composed of Quintus Fabius, the son of his wife's sister, QuintusFulvius, and Appius Claudius. 

37. On their arrival at Rome, the ambassadors of the allies wereadmitted to audience before those of the king. Their discourse, ingeneral, was filled up with invectives against Philip. What producedthe greatest effect on the minds of the senate was, that, by pointingout the relative situations of the lands and seas in that part ofthe world, they made it manifest to every one, that if the king heldDemetrias in Thessaly, Chalcis in Euboea, and Corinth in Achaia, Greece could not be free; and they added, that Philip himself, withnot more insolence than truth, used to call these the fetters ofGreece. The king's ambassadors were then introduced, and when theywere beginning a long harangue, a short question cut shorttheir discourse:--Whether he was willing to yield up the threeabove-mentioned cities? They answered, that they had received nospecific instructions on that head: on which they were dismissed, the negotiation being left unsettled. Full authority was given toQuinctius to determine every thing relative to war and peace. As thisdemonstrated clearly that the senate were not weary of the war, sohe, who was more earnestly desirous of conquest than of peace, neverafterwards consented to a conference with Philip; and even gave himnotice that he would not admit any embassy from him, unless it camewith information that he was retiring from the whole of Greece. 

38. Philip now perceived that he must decide the matter in thefield, and collect his strength about him from all quarters. Beingparticularly uneasy in respect to the cities of Achaia, a countryso distant from him, and also of Argos, even more, indeed, than ofCorinth, he resolved, as the most advisable method, to put the formerinto the hands of Nabis, tyrant of Lacedaemon, in trust, as it were, on the terms, that if he should prove successful in the war, Nabisshould re-deliver it to him; if any misfortune should happen, heshould keep it himself. Accordingly, he wrote to Philocles, who hadthe command in Corinth and Argos, to have a meeting with the tyrant. Philocles, besides coming with a valuable present, added to thatpledge of future friendship between the king and the tyrant, that itwas Philip's wish to unite his daughters in marriage to the sons ofNabis. The tyrant, at first, refused to receive the city on any otherconditions than that of being invited to its protection by a decreeof the Argives themselves: but afterwards, hearing that in a fullassembly they had treated the name of the tyrant not only with scorn, but even with abhorrence, he thought he had now a sufficient excusefor plundering them, and he accordingly desired Philocles to give himpossession of the place as soon as he pleased. Nabis was admitted intothe city in the night, without the privity of any of the inhabitants, and, at the first light, seized on the higher parts of it, and shutthe gates. A few of the principal people having made their escape, during the first confusion, the properties of all who were absent wereseized as booty: those who were present were stripped of their goldand silver, and loaded with exorbitant contributions. Such as paidthese readily were discharged, without personal insult and lacerationof their bodies; but such as were suspected of hiding or reservingany of their effects, were mangled and tortured like slaves. He thensummoned an assembly, in which he promulgated two measures; one foran abolition of debts, the other for a distribution of the land, inshares, to each man--two fire-brands in the hands of those who weredesirous of revolution, for inflaming the populace against the higherranks. 

39. The tyrant, when he had the city of Argos in his power, neverconsidering from whom or on what conditions he had received it, sentambassadors to Elatia, to Quinctius, and to Attalus, in his winterquarters at Aegina, to tell them, that "he was in possession of Argos;and that if Quinctius would come hither, and consult with him, hehad no doubt but that every thing might be adjusted between them. "Quinctius, in order that he might deprive Philip of that stronghold, along with the rest, consented to come; accordingly, sending a messageto Attalus, to leave Aegina, and meet him at Sicyon, he set sail fromAnticyra with ten quinqueremes, which his brother, Lucius Quinctius, happened to have brought a little before from his winter station atCorcyra, and passed over to Sicyon. Attalus was there before him, who, representing that the tyrant ought to come to the Roman general, notthe general to the tyrant, brought Quinctius over to his opinion, which was, that he should not enter the city of Argos. Not far fromit, however, was a place called Mycenica; and there the parties agreedto meet. Quinctius came, with his brother and a few military tribunes;Attalus, with his royal retinue; and Nicostratus the praetor of theAchaeans, with a few of the auxiliary officers: and they there foundNabis waiting with his whole army. He advanced, armed, and attendedby his armed guards, almost to the middle of the interjacent plain;Quinctius unarmed, with his brother and two military tribunes; theking was accompanied by one of his nobles, and the praetor of theAchaeans, unarmed likewise. The tyrant, when he saw the king and theRoman general unarmed, opened the conference, with apologizing forhaving come to the meeting armed himself, and surrounded with armedmen. "He had no apprehensions, " he said, "from them; but only fromthe Argive exiles. " When they then began to treat of the conditions oftheir friendship, the Roman made two demands: one, that the war withthe Achaeans should be put an end to; the other, that he should sendhim aid against Philip. He promised the aid required; but, instead ofa peace with the Achaeans, a cessation of hostilities was obtained, tolast until the war with Philip should be concluded. 

40. A debate concerning the Argives, also, was set on foot by kingAttalus, who charged Nabis with holding their city by force, whichwas put into his hands by the treachery of Philocles; while Nabisinsisted, that he had been invited by the Argives themselves to affordthem protection. The king required a general assembly of the Argivesto be convened, that the truth of that matter might be known. Tothis the tyrant did not object; but the king alleged, that theLacedaemonian troops ought to be withdrawn from the city, in orderto render the assembly free; and that the people should be leftat liberty to declare their real sentiments. The tyrant refusedto withdraw them, and the debate produced no effect. To the Romangeneral, six hundred Cretans were given by Nabis, who agreed with thepraetor of the Achaeans to a cessation of arms for four months, and thus they departed from the conference. Quinctius proceeded toCorinth, advancing to the gates with the cohort of Cretans, in orderthat it might be evident to Philocles, the governor of the city, thatthe tyrant had deserted the cause of Philip. Philocles himself cameout to confer with the Roman general; and, on the latter exhortinghim to change sides immediately, and surrender the city he answered insuch a manner as showed an inclination rather to defer than to refusethe matter. From Corinth, Quinctius sailed over to Anticyra, andsent his brother thence, to sound the disposition of the people ofAcarnania. Attalus went from Argos to Sicyon. Here, on one side, thestate added new honours to those formerly paid to the king; and, onthe other, the king, besides having on a former occasion, redeemed forthem, at a vast expense, a piece of land sacred to Apollo, unwillingto pass by the city of his friends and allies without a token ofmunificence, made them a present of ten talents of silver, [1] and tenthousand bushels of corn, and then returned to Cenchreae to his fleet. Nabis, leaving a strong garrison at Argos, returned to Lacedaemon;and, as he himself had pillaged the men, he sent his wife to Argosto pillage the women. She invited the females to her house, sometimessingly, and sometimes several together, who were united by familyconnexion; and partly by fair speeches, partly by threats, strippedthem, not only of their gold, but, at last, even of their garments, and every article of female attire. 

[Footnote 1: 1937l. 10s. ]

BOOK XXXIII. 

 _Titus Quinctius Flamininus, proconsul, gains a decisive victory over Philip at Cynoscephalae. Caius Sempronius Tuditanus, praetor, cut off by the Celtiberians. Death of Attalus, at Pergamus. Peace granted to Philip, and liberty to Greece. Lucius Furius Purpureo and Marcus Claudius Marcellus, consuls, subdue the Boian and Insubrian Gauls. Triumph of Marcellus. Hannibal, alarmed at an embassy from Rome concerning him, flies to Antiochus, king of Syria, who was preparing to make war on the Romans_. 

1. Such were the occurrences of the winter. In the beginning ofspring, Quinctius, having summoned Attalus to Elatia, and beinganxious to bring under his authority the nation of the Boeotians, whohad until then been wavering in their dispositions, marched throughPhocis, and pitched his camp at the distance of five miles fromThebes, the capital of Boeotia. Next day, attended by one company ofsoldiers, and by Attalus, together with the ambassadors, who had cometo him in great numbers from all quarters, he proceeded towards thecity, having ordered the spearmen of two legions, being twothousand men, to follow him at the distance of a mile. About midway, Antiphilus, praetor of the Boeotians, met him: the rest of the peoplestood on the walls, watching the arrival of the king and the Romangeneral. Few arms and few soldiers appeared around them--the hollowroads, and the valleys concealing from view the spearmen, who followedat a distance. When Quinctius drew near the city, he slackened hispace, as if with intention to salute the multitude, who came out tomeet him; but the real motive of his delaying was, that the spearmenmight come up. The townsmen pushed forward, in a crowd, before thelictors, not perceiving the band of soldiers who were following themclose, until they arrived at the general's quarters. Then, supposingthe city betrayed and taken, through the treachery of Antiphilus, their praetor, they were all struck with astonishment and dismay. It was now evident that no room was left to the Boeotians for a freediscussion of measures in the assembly, which was summoned for thefollowing day. However, they concealed their grief, which it wouldhave been both vain and unsafe to have discovered. 

2. When the assembly met, Attalus first rose to speak, and he beganhis discourse with a recital of the kindnesses conferred by hisancestors and himself on the Greeks in general, and on the Boeotiansin particular. But, being now too old and infirm to bear the exertionof speaking in public, he lost his voice and fell; and for some time, while they were carrying him to his apartments, (for he was deprivedof the use of one half of his limbs, ) the proceedings of the assemblywere for a short time suspended. Then Aristaenus spoke on the part ofthe Achaeans, and was listened to with the greater attention, becausehe recommended to the Boeotians no other measures than those which hehad recommended to the Achaeans. A few words were added by Quinctius, extolling the good faith rather than the arms and power of the Romans. A resolution was then proposed, by Dicaearchus of Plataea, for forminga treaty of friendship with the Roman people, which was read; and noone daring to offer any opposition, it was received and passed by thesuffrages of all the states of Boeotia. When the assembly broke up, Quinctius made no longer stay at Thebes than the sudden accidentto Attalus made necessary. When it appeared that the force of thedisorder had not brought the king's life into any immediate danger, but had only occasioned a weakness in his limbs, he left him there, to use the necessary means for recovery, and returned to Elatia, fromwhence he had come. Having now brought the Boeotians, as formerlythe Achaeans, to join in the confederacy, while all places were leftbehind him in a state of tranquillity and safety, he bent his wholeattention towards Philip, and the remaining business of the war. 

3. Philip, on his part, as his ambassadors had brought no hopes ofpeace from Rome, resolved, as soon as spring began, to levy soldiersthrough every town in his dominions: but he found a great scarcity ofyoung men; for successive wars, through several generations, had verymuch exhausted the Macedonians, and, even in the course of his ownreign great numbers had fallen, in the naval engagements with theRhodians and Attalus, and in those on land with the Romans. Mereyouths, therefore, from the age of sixteen, were enlisted; and eventhose who had served out their time, provided they had any remains ofstrength, were recalled to their standards. Having, by these means, filled up the numbers of his army about the vernal equinox, he drewtogether all his forces to Dius: he encamped them there in a fixedpost; and, exercising the soldiers every day, waited for the enemy. About the same time Quinctius left Elatia, and came by Thronium andScarphea to Thermopylae. There he held an assembly of the Aetolians, which had been summoned to meet at Heraclea, to determine with whatnumber of auxiliaries they should follow the Roman general to the war. On the third day, having learned the determination of the allies, he proceeded from Heraclea to Xyniae; and, pitching his camp on theconfines between the Aenians and Thessalians, waited for the Aetolianauxiliaries. The Aetolians occasioned no delay. Six hundred foot andfour hundred horse, under the command of Phaeneas, speedily joinedhim; and then Quinctius, to show plainly what he had waited for, immediately decamped. On passing into the country of Phthiotis, hewas joined by five hundred Cretans of Gortynium, whose commander wasCydantes, with three hundred Apollonians, armed nearly in the samemanner; and not long after, by Amynander, with one thousand twohundred Athamanian foot. 

4. Philip, being informed of the departure of the Romans from Elatia, and considering that, on the approaching contest, his kingdom wasat hazard, thought it advisable to make an encouraging speech tohis soldiers; in which, after he had expatiated on many topics oftenalluded to before, respecting the virtues of their ancestors, and themilitary fame of the Macedonians, he touched particularly on thoseconsiderations which at the time threw the greatest damp on theirspirits, and on those by which they might be animated to some degreeof confidence. To the defeat thrice suffered at the narrow passesnear the river Aous, by the phalanx of the Macedonians, he opposedthe repulse given by main force to the Romans at Atrax: and even withrespect to the former case, when they had not maintained possessionof the pass leading into Epirus, he said, "the first fault was to beimputed to those who had been negligent in keeping the guards; andthe second, to the light infantry and mercenaries in the time of theengagement; but that, as to the phalanx of the Macedonians, it hadstood firm on that occasion; and would for ever remain invincible, onequal ground, and in regular fight. " This body consisted of sixteenthousand men, the prime strength of the army, and of the kingdom. Besides these, he had two thousand targeteers, called Peltastae;of Thracians, and Illyrians of the tribe called Trallians, the likenumber of two thousand; and of hired auxiliaries, collected out ofvarious nations, about one thousand; and two thousand horse. With thisforce the king waited for the enemy. The Romans had nearly an equalnumber; in cavalry alone they had a superiority, by the addition ofthe Aetolians. 

5. Quinctius, having decamped to Thebes in Phthiotis, and havingreceived encouragement to hope that the city would be betrayed to himby Timon, a leading man in the state, came up close to the walls withonly a small number of cavalry and some light infantry. So entirelywere his expectations disappointed, that he was not only obliged tomaintain a fight with the enemy who sallied out against him, but wouldhave incurred a fearful conflict had not both infantry and cavalrybeen called out hastily from the camp, and come up in time. Notmeeting with that success which he had too inconsiderately expected, he desisted from any further attempt to take the city at present. Hehad received certain information of the king being in Thessaly; butas he had not yet discovered into what part of it he had come, he senthis soldiers round the country, with orders to cut timber and preparepalisades. Both Macedonians and Greeks had palisades; but the latterhad not adopted the most convenient mode of using them, eitherwith respect to carriage, or for the purpose of strengthening theirfortifications. They cut trees both too large and too full of branchesfor a soldier to carry easily along with his arms: and after theyhad fenced their camp with a line of these, the demolition of theirpalisade was no difficult matter; for the trunks of large treesappearing to view, with great intervals between them, and the numerousand strong shoots affording the hand a good hold, two, or at mostthree young men, uniting their efforts, used to pull out one tree, which, being removed, a breach was opened as wide as a gate, and therewas nothing at hand with which it could be stopped up. But the Romanscut light stakes, mostly of one fork, with three, or at the most fourbranches; so that a soldier, with his arms slung at his back, canconveniently carry several of them together; and then they stick themdown so closely, and interweave the branches in such a manner, thatit cannot be seen to what main stem any branch belongs; besides which, the boughs are so sharp, and wrought so intimately with each other, as to leave no room for a hand to be thrust between; consequently anenemy cannot lay hold of any thing capable of being dragged out, or, if that could be done, could he draw out the branches thusintertwined, and which mutually bind each other. And even if, byaccident, one should be pulled out, it leaves but a small opening, which is very easily filled up. 

6. Next day Quinctius, causing his men to carry palisades with them, that they might be ready to encamp on any spot, marched forward ashort way, and took post about six miles from Pherae; whence he sentscouts to discover in what part of Thessaly the king was, and whatappeared to be his intention. Philip was then near Larissa, and assoon as he learnt that the Roman general had removed from Thebes, being equally impatient for a decisive engagement, he proceededtowards the enemy, and pitched his camp about four miles from Pherae. On the day following, some light troops went out from both camps, toseize on certain hills, which over looked the city. When, nearly atequal distance from summit which was intended to be seized, they camewithin sight of each other, they halted; and sending messengers totheir respective camps for directions, how they were to proceed onthis unexpected meeting with the enemy, waited their return in quiet. For that day, they were recalled to their camps, without havingcommenced any engagement. On the following day, there was a battlebetween the cavalry, near the same hills, in which the Aetoliansbore no small part; and in which the king's troops were defeated, and driven into their camp. Both parties were greatly impeded inthe action, by the ground being thickly planted with trees; by thegardens, of which there were many in a place so near the city; and bythe roads being enclosed between walls, and in some places shut up. The commanders, therefore, were equally desirous of removing out ofthat quarter; and, as if by a preconcerted scheme, they both directedtheir route to Scotussa: Philip with the hope of getting a supply ofcorn there; the Roman intending to get before the enemy and destroythe crops. The armies marched the whole day without having sight ofeach other in any place, the view being intercepted by a continuedrange of hills between them. The Romans encamped at Eretria, inPhthiotis; Philip, on the river Onchestus. But though Philip lay atMelambius, in the territory of Scotussa, and Quinctius near Thetidium, in Pharsalia, neither party knew with any certainty where hisantagonist was. On the third day, there first fell a violent rain, which was succeeded by darkness equal to that of night, and thisconfined the Romans to their camp, through fear of an ambuscade. 

7. Philip, intent on hastening his march, and in no degree deterred bythe clouds, which after the rain lowered over the face of the country, ordered his troops to march: and yet so thick a fog had obscured theday, that neither the standard-bearers could see the road, nor thesoldiers the standards; so that all, led blindly by the shouts ofuncertain guides, fell into disorder, like men wandering by night. When they had passed over the hills called Cynoscephalae, wherethey set a strong guard of foot and horse, they pitched their camp. Although the Roman general staid at Thetidium, yet he detatched troopsof horse and one thousand foot, to find out where the enemy lay;warning them, however, to beware of ambuscades, which the darkness ofthe day would cover, even in an open country. When these arrived atthe hills, where the enemy's guard was posted, struck with mutualfear, both parties stood, as if deprived of the power of motion. Theythen sent back messengers to their respective commanders; and when thefirst surprise subsided, they proceeded to action without more delay. The fight was begun by small advanced parties; and afterwards thenumbers of the combatants were increased by reinforcements of men, whosupported those who gave way. In this contest the Romans, being farinferior to their adversaries, sent message after message to thegeneral, that they were being overpowered; on which he hastily sentfive hundred horse and two thousand foot, mostly Aetolians, under thecommand of two military tribunes, who relieved them, and restored thefight. The Macedonians, distressed in turn by this change of fortune, sent to beg succour from their king; but as, on account of the generaldarkness from the fog, he had expected nothing less, on that day, thana battle, and had therefore sent a great number of men, of every kind, to forage, he was, for a considerable time, in great perplexity, andunable to form a resolution. Subsequently, as the messengers stillcontinued to urge him, and the covering of clouds was now removedfrom the tops of the mountains, and the Macedonian party was in view, having been driven up to the highest summit, and trusting for safetyrather to the nature of the ground than to their arms, he thought itnecessary, at all events, to hazard the whole, in order to preventthe loss of a part, for want of support; and, accordingly, he sentup Athenagoras, general of the mercenary soldiers, with all theauxiliaries, except the Thracians, joined by the Macedonian andThessalian cavalry. On their arrival, the Romans were forced from thetop of the hill, and did not face about until they came to the levelplain. The principal support which saved them from being driven downin disorderly flight, was the Aetolian horsemen. The Aetolianswere then by far the best cavalry in Greece; in infantry, they weresurpassed by some of their neighbours. 

8. This affair was represented as more successful than the advantagegained in the battle could warrant; for people came, one afteranother, and calling out that the Romans were flying in a panic; sothat, though reluctant and hesitating declaring it a rash proceeding, and that he liked not either place or the time, yet he was prevailedupon to draw out his whole force to battle. The Roman general did thesame, induced by necessity, rather than by the favourableness of theoccasion. Leaving the right wing as a reserve, having the elephantsposted in front, he, with the left, and all the right infantry, advanced against the enemy; at the same time reminding his men, that"they were going to fight the same Macedonians whom they had fought inthe passes of Epirus, fenced, as they were, with mountains and rivers, and whom, after conquering the natural difficulties of the ground, they had dislodged and vanquished; the same, whom they had beforedefeated under the command of Publius Sulpicius, when they opposedtheir passage to Eordaea. That the kingdom of Macedonia had beenhitherto supported by its reputation, not by real strength; and thateven that reputation had, at length, vanished. " Quinctius soon reachedhis troops, who stood in the bottom of the valley; and they, on thearrival of their general and the army, renewed the fight, and, makinga vigorous onset, compelled the enemy again to turn their backs. Philip, with the targeteers, and the right wing of infantry, (the mainstrength of the Macedonian army, called by them the phalanx, ) advancedat a quick pace, having ordered Nicanor, one of his courtiers, tobring up the rest of his forces with all speed. At first, on reachingthe top of the hill, from a few arms and bodies lying there, heperceived that there had been an engagement on the spot, and that theRomans had been repulsed from it. When he likewise saw the fight nowgoing on close to the enemy's works, he was elated with excessivedelight; but presently, observing his men flying back, and that thepanic was on the other side, he was much embarrassed, and hesitatedfor some time, whether he should cause his troops to retire into thecamp. Then, as the enemy approached, he was sensible that his party, besides the losses which they suffered as they fled, must be entirelylost, if not speedily succoured; and as, by this time, even a retreatwould be unsafe, he found himself compelled to put all to hazard, before he was joined by the other division of his forces. He placedthe cavalry and light infantry that had been engaged, on the rightwing; and ordered the targeteers, and the phalanx of Macedonians, to lay aside their spears, which their great length renderedunserviceable, and to manage the business with their swords: at thesame time, that his line might not be easily broken, he lessened theextent of the front one half, and doubled the files within so that itmight be deeper than it was broad. He ordered them also to close theirfiles, so that man might join with man and arms with arms. 

9. Quinctius, having received among the standards and ranks those whohad been engaged with the enemy, gave the signal by sound of trumpet. It is said, that such a shout was raised, as was seldom heard at thebeginning of any battle; for it happened, that both armies shoutedat once; not only the troops then engaged, but also the reserves, andthose who were just then coming into the field. The king, fightingfrom the higher ground, had the better on the right wing, by meanschiefly of the advantage of situation. On the left, all was disorderand confusion; particularly when that division of the phalanx, whichhad marched in the rear, was coming up. The centre stood intent on thefight as on a spectacle which in no way concerned them. The phalanx, just arrived (a column rather than a line of battle, and fitter fora march than for a fight, ) had scarcely mounted the top of the hill:before these could form, Quinctius, though he saw his men in the leftwing giving way, charged the enemy furiously, first driving on theelephants against them, for he judged that one part being routedwould draw the rest after. The affair was no longer doubtful. TheMacedonians, repelled by the first shock of the elephants, instantlyturned their backs; and the rest, as had been foreseen, followed themin their retreat. Then, one of the military tribunes, forming hisdesign in the instant, took with him twenty companies of men; leftthat part of the army which was evidently victorious; and making asmall circuit, fell on the rear of the enemy's right wing. Any armywhatever, thus charged from the rear, must have been thrown intoconfusion. But to that confusion which under such circumstances wouldbe common to all armies, there was in this case an additional cause. The phalanx of the Macedonians, being heavy, could not readily faceabout; nor would they have been suffered to do it by their adversariesin front, who, although they gave way to them a little before, on thisnew occasion pressed them vigorously. Besides, they lay underanother inconvenience in respect of the ground; for, by pursuing theretreating enemy down the face of the hill, they had left the top tothe party who came round on their rear. Thus attacked on both sides, they were exposed for some time to great slaughter, and then betookthemselves to flight, most of them throwing away their arms. 

10. Philip, with a small party of horse and foot, ascended a hillsomewhat higher than the rest, to take a view of the situation of histroops on the left. Then, when he saw them flying in confusion, andall the hills around glittering with Roman standards and arms, he withdrew from the field. Ouinctius, as he was pressing on theretreating enemy, observed the Macedonians suddenly raising up theirspears, and not knowing what they meant thereby, he ordered thetroops to halt. Then, on being told that this was the practice of theMacedonians when surrendering themselves prisoners, he was disposedto spare the vanquished; but the troops, not being apprized, either ofthe enemy having ceased fighting, or of the general's intention, madea charge on them, and the foremost having been cut down, the restdispersed themselves and fled. Philip hastened in disorderly flightto Tempè, and there halted one day at Gonni, to pick up any whomight have survived the battle. The victorious Romans rushed into theMacedonian camp with hopes of spoil, but found it, for the most part, plundered already by the Aetolians. Eight thousand of the enemy werekilled on that day, five thousand taken. Of the victors, about sevenhundred fell. If any credit is to be attached to Valerius Antias, whoon every occasion exaggerates numbers enormously, the killed of theenemy on that day amounted to forty thousand; the prisoners taken, (inwhich article the deviation from truth is less extravagant, ) to fivethousand seven hundred, with two hundred and forty-nine militarystandards. Claudius also asserts that thirty-two thousand of the enemywere slain, and four thousand three hundred taken. We have notgiven entire credit, even to the smallest of those numbers, but havefollowed Polybius, a safe authority with respect to all the Romanaffairs, but especially those which were transacted in Greece. 

11. Philip having collected, after the flight, such as, having beenscattered by the various chances of the battle, had followed hissteps, and having sent people to Larissa to burn the records of thekingdom, lest they should fall into the hands of the enemy, retiredinto Macedonia. Quinctius set up to sale a part of the prisoners andbooty, and part he bestowed on the soldiers; and then proceeded toLarissa, without having yet received any certain intelligence to whatquarter Philip had betaken himself, or what were his designs. To thisplace came a herald from the king, apparently to obtain a truce, untilthose who had fallen in battle should be removed and buried, but inreality to request permission to send ambassadors. Both were obtainedfrom the Roman general; who, besides, added this message to the king, "not to be too much dejected. " This expression gave much offence, particularly to the Aetolians, who were become very assuming, and whocomplained, that "the general was quite altered by success. Before thebattle, he was accustomed to transact all business, whether great orsmall, in concert with the allies; but they had, now, no share inany of his counsels; he conducted all affairs entirely by his ownjudgment; and was even seeking an occasion of ingratiating himselfpersonally with Philip, in order that, after the Aetolians hadlaboured through all hardships and difficulties of the war, the Romanmight assume to himself all the merit and all the fruits of a peace. "Certain it is, that he had treated them with less respect thanformerly, but they did not know why they were thus slighted. Theyimagined that he was actuated by an expectation of presents from theking, though he was of a spirit incapable of yielding to any suchpassion of the mind; but he was, with good reason, displeased at theAetolians, on account of their insatiable greediness for plunder, and of their arrogance in assuming to themselves the honour ofthe victory--a claim so ill founded, as to offend the ears of all. Besides, he foresaw that, if Philip were removed out of the way, and the strength of the kingdom of Macedonia entirely broken, theAetolians would necessarily be regarded as the masters of Greece. For these reasons, he intentionally did many things to lessen theirimportance and reputation in the judgment of the other states. 

12. A truce for fifteen days was granted to the Macedonians, and aconference with the king himself appointed. Before the day arrived onwhich this was to be held, the Roman general called a council of theallies, and desired their opinions respecting the terms of peace, proper to be prescribed. Amynander, king of Athamania, delivered hisopinion in a few words; that "the conditions of peace ought to beadjusted in such a manner, as that Greece might have sufficient power, even without the interference of the Romans, to maintain the peace, and also its own liberty. " The address of the Aetolians was moreharsh; for after a few introductory observations on the justice andpropriety of the Roman general's conduct, in communicating his plansof peace to those who had acted with him as allies in the war, theyinsisted, "that he was utterly mistaken, if he supposed that hecould leave the peace with the Romans, or the liberty of Greece, on apermanent footing, unless Philip was either put to death or banishedfrom his kingdom; both which he could easily accomplish, if he choseto pursue his present success. " Quinctius, in reply, said, that "theAetolians, in giving such advice, attended not either to the maxims ofthe Roman policy, or to the consistency of their own conduct. For, in all the former councils and conferences, wherein the conditions ofpeace were discussed, they never once urged the pushing of the war tothe utter ruin of the Macedonian: and, as to the Romans, besides thatthey had, from the earliest periods, observed the maxim of sparing thevanquished, they had lately given a signal proof of their clemencyin the peace granted to Hannibal and the Carthaginians. But, notto insist on the case of the Carthaginians, how often had theconfederates met Philip himself in conference, yet that it had neverbeen urged that he should resign his kingdom: and, because he hadbeen defeated in battle, was that a reason that their animosity shouldbecome implacable? Against an armed foe, men ought to engage withhostile resentment; towards the vanquished, the loftiest spirit wasever the most merciful. The kings of Macedonia were thought to bedangerous to the liberty of Greece. Suppose that kingdom and nationextirpated, the Thracians, Illyrians, and in time the Gauls, (nationsunsubjugated and savage, ) would pour themselves into Macedonia first, and then into Greece. That they should not, by removing inconvenienceswhich lay nearest, open a passage to others greater and moregrievous. " Here he was interrupted by Phaeneas, praetor of theAetolians, who solemnly declared, that "if Philip escaped now, hewould soon raise a new and more dangerous war. " On which Quinctiussaid, --"Cease wrangling, when you ought to deliberate. The king shallbe bound down by such conditions as will not leave it in his power toraise a war. "

13. The convention was then adjourned; and next day, the king cameto the pass at the entrance of Tempè, the place appointed for aconference; and the third day following was fixed for introducing himto a full assembly of the Romans and allies. On this occasion Philip, with great prudence, intentionally avoided the mention of any of thoseconditions, without which peace could not be obtained, rather thansuffer them to be extorted after discussion; and declared, that he wasready to comply with all the articles which, in the former conference, were either prescribed by the Romans or demanded by the allies; and toleave all other matters to the determination of the senate. Althoughhe seemed to have hereby precluded every objection, even from themost inveterate of his enemies, yet, all the rest remaining silent, Phaeneas, the Aetolian, said to him, --"What! Philip, do you at lastrestore to us Pharsalus and Larissa, with Cremaste, Echinus, andThebes in Phthiotis?" On Philip answering, that "he would give noobstruction to their retaking the possession of them, " a disputearose between the Roman general and the Aetolians about Thebes; forQuinctius affirmed, that it became the property of the Roman people bythe laws of war; because when, before the commencement of hostilities, he marched his army thither, and invited the inhabitants tofriendship, they, although at full liberty to renounce the king'sparty, yet preferred an alliance with Philip to one with Rome. Phaeneas alleged, that, in consideration of their being confederatesin the war, it was reasonable, that whatever the Aetolians possessedbefore it began, should be restored; and that, besides, there was, inthe first treaty, a provisional clause of that purport, by which thespoils of war, of every kind that could be carried or driven, were tobelong to the Romans; and that the lands and captured cities shouldfall to the Aetolians. "Yourselves, " replied Quinctius, "annulled theconditions of that treaty, at the time when ye deserted us, and madepeace with Philip; but supposing it still remained in force, yet thatclause could affect only captured cities. Now, the states of Thessalysubmitted to us by a voluntary act of their own. "--These words wereheard by their allies with universal approbation; but to theAetolians they were both highly displeasing at the present, and provedafterwards the cause of a war, and of many great disasters attendingit. The terms settled with Philip were, that he should give hisson Demetrius, and some of his friends, as hostages; should pay twohundred talents[1] and send ambassadors to Rome, respecting the otherarticles: for which purpose there should be a cessation of arms forfour months. An engagement was entered into, that, in case the senateshould refuse to conclude a treaty, his money and hostages shouldbe returned to Philip. It is said, that one of the principal reasonswhich made the Roman general wish to expedite the conclusion of apeace, was, that he had received certain information of Antiochusintending to commence hostilities, and to pass over into Europe. 

[Footnote 1: 38, 750l. ]

14. About the same time, and, as some writers say, on the same day, the Achaeans defeated Androsthenes, the king's commander, in a generalengagement near Corinth. Philip, intending to use this city as acitadel, to awe the states of Greece, had invited the principalinhabitants to a conference, under pretence of agreeing with them asto the number of horsemen which the Corinthians could supply towardsthe war, and these he detained as hostages. Besides the force alreadythere, consisting of five hundred Macedonians and eight hundredauxiliaries of various kinds, he had sent thither one thousandMacedonians, one thousand two hundred Illyrians, and of Thracians andCretans (for these served in both the opposite armies) eight hundred. To these were added Botians, Thessalians, and Acarnanians, to theamount of one thousand, all carrying bucklers; with as many of theyoung Corinthians themselves, as filled up the number of six thousandmen under arms, --a force which inspired Androsthenes with a confidentwish to decide the matter in the field. Nicostratus, praetor of theAchaeans, was at Sicyon, with two thousand foot and one hundred horse;but seeing himself so inferior, both in the number and kind oftroops, he did not go outside the walls: the king's forces, in variousexcursions, were ravaging the lands of Pellene, Phliasus, and Cleone. At last, reproaching the enemy with cowardice, they passed over intothe territory of Sicyon, and, sailing round Achaia, laid waste thewhole coast. As the enemy, while thus employed, spread themselvesabout too widely and too carelessly, (the usual consequence of toomuch confidence, ) Nicostratus conceived hopes of attacking them bysurprise. He therefore sent secret directions to all the neighbouringstates, as to what day, and what number from each state, shouldassemble in arms at Apelaurus, a place in the territory of Stymphalia. All being in readiness at the time appointed, he marched thenceimmediately; and, without the knowledge of any one as to what he wascontemplating, came by night through the territory of the Phliasiansto Cleone. He had with him five thousand foot, of whom * * * * * * [1]were light-armed, and three hundred horse; with this force he waitedthere, having despatched scouts to watch on what quarter the enemyshould make their irregular inroads. 

[Footnote 1: In the original, the number is omitted, or lost. ]

15. Androsthenes, utterly ignorant of all these proceedings, set outfrom Corinth, and encamped on the Nemea, a river running betweenthe confines of Corinth and Sicyon. Here, dismissing one half of histroops, he divided the remainder into three parts, and ordered all thecavalry of each part to march in separate divisions, and ravage, at the same time, the territories of Pellene, Sicyon, and Phlius. Accordingly, the three divisions set out by different roads. As soonas Nicostratus received intelligence of this at Cleone, he instantlysent forward a numerous detachment of mercenaries, to seize a passat the entrance into the territory of Corinth; and he himself quicklyfollowed, with his troops in two columns, the cavalry proceedingbefore the head of each, as advanced guards. In one column marchedthe mercenary soldiers and light infantry; in the other, theshield-bearers of the Achaeans and other states, who composed theprincipal strength of the army. Both infantry and cavalry were nowwithin a small distance of the camp, and some of the Thracians hadattacked parties of the enemy, who were straggling and scattered overthe country, when the sudden alarm reached their tents. The commanderwas thrown into the utmost perplexity; for, having never had a sightof the Achaeans, except occasionally on the hills before Sicyon, when they did not venture to come down into the plains, he hadnever imagined that they would come so far as Cleone. He ordered thestragglers to be recalled by sound of trumpet; commanded the soldiersto take arms with all haste; and, marching out of the gate at the headof thin battalions, drew up his line on the bank of the river. Hisother troops, having scarcely had time to be collected and formed, didnot withstand the enemy's first onset; the Macedonians had surroundedtheir standards in by far the greatest numbers, and now kept theprospect of victory a long time doubtful. At length, being leftexposed by the flight of the rest, and pressed by two bodies of theenemy on different sides, by the light infantry on their flank, and bythe shield-bearers and targeteers in front, and seeing victory declareagainst them, they at first gave ground; soon after, being vigorouslypushed, they turned their backs; and most of them, throwing away theirarms and having lost all hope of defending their camp, made the bestof their way to Corinth. Nicostratus sent the mercenaries in pursuitof these; and the auxiliary Thracians against the party employedin ravaging the lands of Sicyon: occasioned great carnage in bothinstances, greater almost than occurred in the battle itself. Of thosewho had been ravaging Pellene and Phlius, some, returning to theircamp, ignorant of all that had happened, and without any regularorder, fell in with the advanced guards of the enemy, where theyexpected their own. Others, from the bustle which they perceived, suspecting what was really the case, fled and dispersed themselves insuch a manner, that, as they wandered up and down, they were cutoff by the very peasants. There fell, on that day, one thousandfive hundred: three hundred were made prisoners. All Achaia was thusrelieved from their great alarm. 

16. Before the battle at Cynoscephalae, Lucius Quinctius had invitedto Corcyra some chiefs of the Acarnanians, the only state in Greecewhich had continued to maintain its alliance with the Macedonians; andthere made some kind of scheme for a change of measures. Two causes, principally, had retained them in friendship with the king: one was aprinciple of honour, natural to that nation; the other, their fear andhatred of the Aetolians. A general assembly was summoned to meet atLeucas; but neither did all the states of Acarnania come thither, norwere those who did attend agreed in opinion. However, the magistratesand leading men prevailed so far, as to get a decree passed, thusprivately, for joining in alliance with the Romans. This gave greatoffence to those who had not been present; and, in this ferment ofthe nation, Androcles and Echedemus, two men of distinction among theAcarnanians, being commissioned by Philip, had influence enough in theassembly, not only to obtain the repeal of the decree for an alliancewith Rome, but also the condemnation, on a charge of treason, ofArchesilaus and Bianor, both men of the first rank in Acarnania, whohad been the advisers of that measure; and to deprive Zeuxidas, thepraetor, of his office, for having put it to the vote. The personscondemned took a course apparently desperate, but successful in theissue: for, while their friends advised them to yield to the necessityof the occasion, and withdraw to Corcyra, to the Romans, they resolvedto present themselves to the multitude; and either, by that act, tomollify their resentment, or endure whatever might befall them. Whenthey had introduced themselves into a full assembly, at first, amurmur arose, expressive of surprise; but presently silence tookplace, partly from respect to their former dignity, partly fromcommiseration of their present situation. Having been also permittedthe liberty of speaking, at first they addressed the assembly in asuppliant manner; but, in the progress of their discourse, when theycame to refute the charges made against them, they spoke with thatdegree of confidence which innocence inspires. At last, they evenventured to utter some complaints, and to charge the proceedingsagainst them with injustice and cruelty; and this had such an effecton the minds of all present, that, with one consent, they annulledall the decrees passed against them. Nevertheless, they came to aresolution, to renounce the friendship of the Romans, and return tothe alliance with Philip. 

17. These decrees were passed at Leucas, the capital of Acarnania, theplace where all the states usually met in council. As soon, therefore, as the news of this sudden change reached the lieutenant-generalFlamininus, in Corcyra, he instantly set sail with the fleet forLeucas; and coming to an anchor at a place called Heraeus, advancedthence towards the walls with every kind of machine used in theattacking of cities; supposing that the first appearance of dangermight bend the minds of the inhabitants to submission. But seeing noprospect of effecting any thing, except by force, he began to erecttowers and sheds, and to bring up the battering-rams to the walls. Thewhole of Acarnania, being situated between Aetolia and Epirus, facestowards the west and the Sicilian sea. Leucadia, now an island, separated from Acarnania by a shallow strait which was dug by thehand, was then a peninsula, united on its eastern side to Acarnania bya narrow isthmus: this isthmus was about five hundred paces in length, and in breadth not above one hundred and twenty. At the entrance ofthis narrow neck stands Leucas, stretching up part of a hill whichfaces the east and Acarnania: the lower part of the town is level, lying along the sea, which divides Leucadia from Acarnania. Thus itlies open to attacks, both from the sea and from the land; for thechannel is more like a marsh than a sea, and all the adjacent groundis solid enough to render the construction of works easy. In manyplaces, therefore, at once the walls fell down, either undermined, or demolished by the ram. But the spirit of the besieged was asinvincible as the town itself was favourably situated for thebesiegers: night and day they employed themselves busily in repairingthe shattered parts of the wall; and, stopping up the breaches thatwere made, fought the enemy with great spirit, and showed a wish todefend the walls by their arms rather than themselves by the walls. And they would certainly have protracted the siege to a lengthunexpected by the Romans, had not some exiles of Italian birth, whoresided in Leucas, admitted a band of soldiers into the citadel:notwithstanding which, when those troops ran down from the higherground with great tumult and uproar, the Leucadians, drawing up in abody in the forum, withstood them for a considerable time in regularfight. Meanwhile the walls were scaled in many places; and thebesiegers, climbing over the rubbish, entered the town through thebreaches. And now the lieutenant-general himself surrounded thecombatants with a powerful force. Being thus hemmed in, many wereslain, the rest laid down their arms and surrendered to the conqueror. In a few days after, on hearing of the battle at Cynoscephalae, all the states of Acarnania made their submission to thelieutenant-general. 

18. About this time, fortune, depressing the same party in everyquarter at once, the Rhodians, in order to recover from Phillip thetract on the continent called Peraea, which had been in possession oftheir ancestors, sent thither their praetor, Pausistratus, with eighthundred Achaean foot, and about one thousand nine hundred men, madeup of auxiliaries of various nations. These were Gauls, Nisuetans, Pisuetans, Tamians Areans from Africa, and Laodiceans from Asia. Withthis force Pausistratus seized by surprise Tendeba, in the territoryof Stratonice, a place exceedingly convenient for his purpose, withoutthe knowledge of the king's troops who had held it. A reinforcementof one thousand Achaean foot and one hundred horse, called out for thesame expedition, came up at the very time, under a commander calledTheoxenus. Dinocrates, the king's general, with design to recoverthe fort, marched his army first to Tendeba, and then to another fortcalled Astragon, which also stood in the territory of Stratonice. Then, calling in all the garrisons, which were scattered in manydifferent places, and the Thessalian auxiliaries from Stratoniceitself, he led them on to Alabanda, where the enemy lay. The Rhodianswere no way averse from a battle, and the camps being pitched neareach other both parties immediately came into the field. Dinocratesplaced five hundred Macedonians on his right wing, and the Agrianson his left; the centre he formed of the troops which he had drawntogether out of the garrisons of the forts; these were mostly Carians;and he covered the flanks with the cavalry, and the Cretan andThracian auxiliaries. The Rhodians had on the right wing the Achaeans;on the left mercenary soldiers; and in the centre a chosen band ofinfantry, a body of auxiliaries composed of troops of various nations. The cavalry and what light infantry they had, were posted on thewings. During that day both armies remained on the banks of a rivulet, which ran between them, and, after discharging a few javelins, theyretired into their camps. Next day, being drawn up in the same order, they fought a more important battle than could have been expected, considering the numbers engaged; for there were not more than threethousand infantry on each side, and about one hundred horse: but theywere not only on an equality with respect to numbers, and the kind ofarms which they used, but they also fought with equal spirit and equalhopes. First, the Achaeans crossing the rivulet, made an attack on theAgrians; then the whole line passed the river, almost at full speed. The fight continued doubtful a long time: the Achaeans, one thousandin number, drove back the four hundred from their position. Then theleft wing giving way, all exerted themselves against the right. Onthe Macedonians no impression could be made, so long as their phalanxpreserved its order, each man clinging as it were to another:but when, in consequence of their flank being left exposed, theyendeavoured to turn their spears against the enemy, who were advancingupon that side, they immediately broke their ranks. This first causeddisorder among themselves; they then turned their backs, and at last, throwing away their arms, and flying with precipitation, made the bestof their way to Bargylii. To the same place Dinocrates also made hisescape. The Rhodians continued the pursuit as long as the day lasted, and then retired to their camp. There is every reason to believe, that, if the victors had proceeded with speed to Stratonice, thatcity would have been gained without a contest; but the opportunity foreffecting this was neglected, and the time wasted in taking possessionof the forts and villages in Peraea. In the mean time, the courageof the troops in garrison at Stratonice revived; and shortly after, Dinocrates, with the troops which had escaped from the battle, cameinto the town, which, after that, was besieged and assaulted withouteffect; nor could it be reduced until a long time after that, whenAntiochus took it. Such were the events that took place in Thessaly, in Achaia, and in Asia, all about the same time. 

19. Philip was informed that the Dardanians, in contempt of thepower of his kingdom, shaken as at that time it was, had passed thefrontiers, and were spreading devastation through the upper partsof Macedonia: on which, though he was hard pressed in almost everyquarter of the globe, fortune on all occasions defeating his measuresand those of his friends, yet, thinking it more intolerable than deathto be expelled from the possession of Macedonia, he made hasty leviesthrough the cities of his dominions; and, with six thousand foot andfive hundred horse, defeated the enemy by a surprise near Stobi inPaeonia. Great numbers were killed in the fight, and greater numbersof those who were scattered about in quest of plunder. As to such asfound a road open for flight, without having even tried the chanceof an engagement, they hastened back to their own country. After thisenterprise executed with a degree of success beyond what he met inthe rest of his attempts, and which raised the drooping courage of hispeople, he retired to Thessalonica. Seasonable as was the terminationof the Punic war, in extricating the Romans from the danger of aquarrel with Philip, the recent triumph over Philip happened stillmore opportunely, when Antiochus, in Syria, was already makingpreparations for hostilities. For besides that it was easier to wagewar against them separately than if both had combined their forcestogether, Spain had a little before this time, risen in arms in greatcommotion Antiochus, though he had in the preceding summer reducedunder his power all the states in Coele-Syria belonging to Ptolemy, and retired into winter quarters at Antioch, yet allowed himself norelaxation from the exertions of the summer. For resolving to exertthe whole strength of his kingdom, he collected a most powerful force, both naval and military; and in the beginning of spring, sendingforward by land his two sons, Ardues and Mithridates, at the head ofthe army, with orders to wait for him at Sardis, he himself set outby sea with a fleet of one hundred decked ships, besides two hundredlighter vessels, barks and fly-boats, designing to attempt thereduction of all the cities under the dominion of Ptolemy along thewhole coast of Caria and Cilicia; and, at the same time, to aid Philipwith an army and ships, for as yet that war had not been brought to aconclusion. 

20. The Rhodians, out of a faithful attachment to the Roman people, and an affection for the whole race of the Greeks have performedmany honourable exploits, both on land and sea: but never was theirgallantry more eminently conspicuous than on this occasion, when, nowise dismayed at the formidable magnitude of the impending war, they sent ambassadors to tell the king, that he should not double thetribute of Cheledoniae, which is a promontory of Cilicia, renderedfamous by an ancient treaty between the Athenians and the kingof Persia; that if he did not confine his fleet and army to thatboundary, they would meet him there and oppose not out of any illwill, but because they would not suffice to join Philip and obstructthe Romans, who were resisting liberty to Greece. At this timeAntiochus was pushing the siege of Coracesium with his works; for, after he had possession of Zephyrium, Solae, Aphrodisias, and Corycus;and doubling Anemurium, another promontory of Cilicia, had takenSelinus; when all these, and the other fortresses on that coast, had, either through fear or inclination, submitted without resistance, Coracesium shut its gates, and gave him a delay which he did notexpect. Here an audience was given to the ambassadors of the Rhodians, and although the purport of their embassy was such as might kindlepassion in the breast of a king, yet he stifled his resentment, andanswered, that "he would send ambassadors to Rhodes, and would givethem instructions to renew the old treaties, made by him and hispredecessors, with that state; and to assure them, that they need notbe alarmed at his approach; that it would involve no injury or fraudeither to them or their allies; for that he was not about to violatethe friendship subsisting between himself and the Romans, both his ownlate embassy to that people, and the senate's answers and decrees, sohonourable to him, were a sufficient evidence. " Just at that time hisambassadors happened to have returned from Rome, where they had beenheard and dismissed with courtesy, as the juncture required; theevent of the war with Philip being yet uncertain. While the king'sambassadors were haranguing to the above purpose, in an assembly ofthe people at Rhodes, a courier arrived with an account of the battleat Cynoscephalae having finally decided the fate of the war. Having received this intelligence, the Rhodians, now freed from allapprehensions of danger from Philip, resolved to oppose Antiochus withtheir fleet. Nor did they neglect another object that required theirattention; the protection of the freedom of the cities in alliancewith Ptolemy, which were threatened with war by Antiochus. For, somethey assisted with men, others by forewarning them of the enemy'sdesigns; by which means they enabled the Cauneans, Mindians, Halicarnassians, and Samians to preserve their liberty. It wereneedless to attempt enumerating all the transactions as they occurredin that quarter, when I am scarcely equal to the task of recountingthose which immediately concern the war in which Rome was engaged. 

21. At this time king Attalus, having fallen sick at Thebes, had beencarried thence to Pergamus, died at the age of seventy-one after hehad reigned forty-four years. To this man fortune had given nothingwhich could inspire hopes of a throne except riches. By a prudent, and, at the same time, a splendid use of these, he begat, in himselffirst, and then in others, an opinion, that he was not undeserving ofa crown. Afterwards, having in one battle utterly defeated the Gauls, which nation was then the more terrible to Asia, as having but latelymade its appearance there, he assumed the title of king, and everafter exhibited a spirit equal to the dignity of that name. Hegoverned his subjects with the most perfect justice, and observed anunvarying fidelity towards his allies; gentle and bountiful to hisfriends; affectionate to his wife and four sons, who survived him; andhe left his government established on such solid and firm foundations, that the possession of it descended to the third generation. Whilethis was the posture of affairs in Asia, Greece, and Macedonia, thewar with Philip being scarcely ended, and the peace certainly not yetperfected, a desperate insurrection took place in the Farther Spain. Marcus Helvius was governor of that province. He informed the senateby letter, that "two chieftains, Colca and Luscinus, were in arms;that Colca was joined by seventeen towns, and Luscinus by the powerfulcities of Carmo and Bardo; and that the people of the whole sea-coast, who had not yet manifested their disposition, were ready to rise onthe first motion of their neighbours. " On this letter being read byMarcus Sergius, city praetor, the senate decreed, that, as soon asthe election of praetors should be finished, the one to whose lot thegovernment of Spain fell should, without delay, consult the senaterespecting the commotions in that province. 

22. About the same time the consuls came home to Rome, and, ontheir holding a meeting of the senate in the temple of Bellona, anddemanding a triumph, in consideration of their successes in the war, Caius Atinius Labeo, and Caius Ursanius, plebeian tribunes, insistedthat "the consuls should propose their claims of a triumph separately, for they would not suffer the question to be put on both jointly, lest equal honours might be conferred where the merits were unequal. "Minucius urged, that they had both been appointed to the governmentof one province, Italy; and that, through the course of theiradministration, his colleague and himself had been united insentiments and in counsels; to which Cornelius added, that, when theBoians were passing the Po, to assist the Insubrians and Caenomaniansagainst him, they were forced to return to defend their own country, from his colleague ravaging their towns and lands. In reply thetribunes acknowledged, that the services performed in the war byCornelius were so great, that "no more doubt could be entertainedrespecting his triumph than respecting the ascribing of glory to theimmortal gods. " Nevertheless they insisted, that "neither he nor anyother member of the community should possess such power and influenceas to be able, after obtaining the honour that was due to himself, tobestow the same distinction on a colleague, who immodestly demandedwhat he had not deserved. The exploits of Quintus Minucius in Liguriawere trifling skirmishes, scarcely deserving mention; and in Gaulhe had lost great numbers of soldiers. " They mentioned even militarytribunes, Titus Juvencius and Cneius Labeo, of the fourth legion, theplebeian tribune's brother, who had fallen in unsuccessful conflict, together with many other brave men, both citizens and allies: andthey asserted, that "pretended surrenders of a few towns and villages, fabricated for the occasion, had been made, without any pledge offidelity being taken. " These altercations between the consuls andtribunes lasted two days: at last the consuls, overcome by theobstinacy of the tribunes, proposed their claims separately. 

23. To Cneius Cornelius a triumph was unanimously decreed: and theinhabitants of Placentia and Cremona added to the applause bestowedon the consul, by returning him thanks, and mentioning, to his honour, that they had been delivered by him from a siege; and that verymany of them, when in the hands of the enemy, had been rescued fromcaptivity. Quintus Minucius just tried how the proposal of his claimwould be received, and finding the whole senate averse from it, declared, that by the authority of his office of consul, and pursuantto the example of many illustrious men, he would triumph on theAlban mount. Caius Cornelius, being yet in office, triumphed overthe Insubrian and Caenomanian Gauls. He produced a great number ofmilitary standards, and earned in the procession abundance of Gallicspoils in captured chariots. Many Gauls of distinction were led beforehis chariot, and along with them, some writers say, Hamilcar, theCarthaginian general. But what, more than all, attracted the eyes ofthe public, was a crowd of Cremonian and Placentian colonists, withcaps of liberty on their heads, following his chariot. He carriedin his triumph two hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred_asses_, [1] and of silver denarii, stamped with a chariot, seventy-nine thousand. [2] He distributed to each of his soldiersseventy _asses_, [3] to a horseman and a centurion double that sum. Quintus Minucius, consul, triumphed on the Alban mount, over theLigurian and Boian Gauls. Although this triumph was less respectable, in regard to the place and the fame of his exploits, and because allknew the expense was not issued from the treasury; yet, in regard ofthe number of standards, chariots, and spoils, it was nearly equal tothe other. The amount of the money also was nearly equal. Two hundredand fifty-four thousand _asses_[4] were conveyed to the treasury, andof silver denarii, stamped with a chariot, fifty-three thousandtwo hundred. [5] He likewise gave to the soldiers, horsemen, andcenturions, severally, the same sums that his colleague had given. 

[Footnote 1: 766l. 18s. 6-1/2d]

[Footnote 2: 2551l. 0s. 10d]

[Footnote 3: 4s. 6-1/2d]

[Footnote 4: 820l. 4s. 2d]

[Footnote 5: 1717l. 18s. 4d]

24. After the triumph, the election of consuls came on. The personschosen were Lucius Furius Purpureo and Marcus Claudius Marcellus. Next day, the following were elected praetors; Quintus Fabius Buteo, Tiberius Sempronius Longus, Quintus Minucius Thermus, Manius AciliusGlabrio, Lucius Apustius Fullo, and Caius Laelius. Toward the close ofthis year, a letter came from Titus Quinctius, with information thathe had fought a pitched battle with Philip in Thessaly, and that thearmy of the enemy had been routed and put to flight. This letter wasread by Sergius, the praetor, first in the senate, and then, by thedirection of the fathers, in a general assembly; and supplicationsof five days' continuance were decreed on account of those successes. Soon after arrived the ambassadors, both from Titus Quinctius and fromthe king. The Macedonians were conducted out of the city to the VillaPublica, where lodgings and every other accommodation were providedfor them, and an audience of the senate was given them in the templeof Bellona. Not many words passed; for the Macedonians declared, thatwhatever terms the senate should prescribe, the king was readyto comply with them. It was decreed, that, conformably to ancientpractice, ten ambassadors should be appointed, and that, in councilwith them, the general, Titus Quinctius, should grant terms of peaceto Philip; and a clause was added, that, in the number of theseambassadors, should be Publius Sulpicius and Publius Villius, who intheir consulship had held the province of Macedonia. On the same daythe inhabitants of Oossa having presented a petition, praying that thenumber of their colonists might be enlarged; an order was accordinglypassed, that one thousand should be added to the list, with aprovision, that no persons should be admitted into that number who, at any time since the consulate of Publius Cornelius and TiberiusSempronius, had been partisans of the enemy. 

25. This year the Roman games were exhibited in the circus, and onthe stage, by the curule aediles, Publius Cornelius Scipio and CneiusManlius Vulso, with an unusual degree of splendour, and were beheldwith the greater delight, in consequence of the late successes in war. They were thrice repeated entire, and the plebeian games seven times. These were exhibited by Manius Acilius Glabrio and Caius Laelius, who also, out of the money arising from fines, erected three brazenstatues, to Ceres, Liber, and Libera. Lucius Furius and MarcusClaudius Marcellus, having entered on the consulship, when thedistribution of the provinces came to be agitated, and the senateappeared disposed to vote Italy the province of both, exertedthemselves to get that of Macedonia put to the lot along with Italy. Marcellus, who of the two was the more eager for that province, byassertions that the peace was merely a feigned and delusive one, andthat, if the army were withdrawn thence, the king would renew the war, caused some perplexity in the minds of the senate. The consuls wouldprobably have carried the point, had not Quintus Marcius Rex and CaiusAntinius Labeo, plebeian tribunes, declared, that they wouldenter their protest, unless they were allowed, before any furtherproceeding, to take the sense of the people, whether it was their willand order that peace be concluded with Philip. This question was putto the people in the Capitol, and every one of the thirty-five tribesvoted on the affirmative side. The public found the greater reason torejoice at the ratification of the peace with Macedonia, as melancholynews was brought from Spain; and a letter was made public, announcingthat "the proconsul, Caius Sempronius Tuditanus, had been defeated inbattle in the Hither Spain; that his army had been utterly routed anddispersed, and several men of distinction slain in the fight. ThatTuditanus, having been grievously wounded, and carried out of thefield, expired soon after. " Italy was decreed the province of bothconsuls, in which they were to employ the same legions which thepreceding consuls had; and they were to raise four new legions, twofor the city, and two to be in readiness to be sent whithersoeverthe senate should direct. Titus Quinctius Flamininus was orderedto continue in the government of his province, with the army of twolegions, then on the spot. The former prolongation of his command wasdeemed sufficient. 

26. The praetors then cast lots for their provinces. Lucius ApustiusFullo obtained the city jurisdiction; Manius Acilius Glabrio, thatbetween natives and foreigners; Quintus Fabius Buteo, Farther Spain;Quintus Minucius Thermus, Hither Spain; Caius Laelius, Sicily;Tiberius Sempronius Longus, Sardinia. To Quintus Fabius Buteo andQuintus Minucius, to whom the government of the two Spains had fallen, it was decreed, that the consuls, out of the four legions raised bythem, should give one each whichever they thought fit, together withfour thousand foot and three hundred horse of the allies and Latinconfederates; and those praetors were ordered to repair to theirprovinces at the earliest possible time. This war in Spain broke outin the fifth year after the former had been ended, together with thePunic war. The Spaniards now, for the first time, had taken arms intheir own name, unconnected with any Carthaginian army or general. Before the consuls stirred from the city, however, they were ordered, as usual, to expiate the reported prodigies. Publius Villius, a Romanknight, on the road to Sabinia, had been killed by lightning, togetherwith his horse. The temple of Feronia, in the Capenatian district, hadbeen struck by lightning. At the temple of Moneta, the shafts oftwo spears had taken fire and burned. A wolf, coming in through theEsquiline gate, and running through the most frequented part ofthe city, down into the forum, passed thence through the Tuscan andMaelian streets; and scarcely receiving a stroke, made its escape outof the Capenian gate. These prodigies were expiated with victims ofthe larger kinds. 

27. About the same time Cneius Cornelius Lentulus, who had held thegovernment of Hither Spain before Sempronius Tuditanus, entered thecity in ovation, pursuant to a decree of the senate, and carried inthe procession one thousand five hundred and fifteen pounds' weightof gold, twenty thousand of silver; and in coin, thirty-four thousandfive hundred and fifty denarii. [1] Lucius Stretinius, from the FartherSpain, without making any pretensions to a triumph, carried intothe treasury fifty thousand pounds' weight of silver; and out of thespoils taken, built two arches in the cattle-market, at the fronts ofthe temple of Fortune and Mother Matuta, and one in the great Circus;and on these arches placed gilded statues. These were the principaloccurrences during the winter. At this time Quinctius was in winterquarters at Elatia. Among many requests, made to him by the allies, was that of the Boeotians, namely, that their countrymen, who hadserved in the army with Philip, might be restored to them. Withthis Quinctius readily complied; not because he thought them verydeserving, but that, as king Antiochus was already suspected, hejudged it advisable to conciliate every state in favour of the Romaninterest. It quickly appeared how very little gratitude existed amongthe Boeotians; for they not only sent persons to give thanks to Philipfor the restoration of their fellows, as if that favour had beenconferred on them by him, and not by Quinctius and the Romans; but, at the next election, raised to the office of Boeotarch a man namedBrachyllas, for no other reason than because he had been commanderof the Boeotians serving in the army of Philip; passing by Zeuxippus, Pisistratus, and the others, who had promoted the alliance with Rome. These men were both offended at the present and alarmed about thefuture consequences: for if such things were done when a Roman armylay almost at their gates, what would become of them when the Romansshould have gone away to Italy, and Philip, from a situation so near, should support his own associates, and vent his resentment on thosewho had been of the opposite party?

[Footnote 1: 1115l. 13s. 3-1/2d. ]

28. It was resolved, while they had the Roman army near at hand, totake off Brachyllas, who was the principal leader of the faction whichfavoured the king; and they chose an opportunity for the deed, when, after having been at a public feast, he was returning to his houseinebriated, and accompanied by some of his debauched companions, who, for the sake of merriment, had been admitted to the crowdedentertainment. He was surrounded and assassinated by six men, of whomthree were Italians and three Aetolians. His companions fled, cryingout for help; and a great uproar ensued among the people, who ranup and down, through all parts of the city, with lights; but theassassins made their escape through the nearest gate. At the firstdawn, a full assembly was called together in the theatre, by thevoice of a crier, as if in consequence of a previous appointment. Many openly clamoured that Brachyllas was killed by those detestablewretches who accompanied him; but their private conjectures pointedto Zeuxippus, as author of the murder. It was resolved, however, thatthose who had been in company with him should be seized and examinedin their presence. While they were under examination, Zeuxippus, with his usual composure, came into the assembly, for the purpose ofaverting the charge from himself; yet said, that people were mistakenin supposing that so daring a murder was the act of such effeminatewretches as those who were charged with it, urging many plausiblearguments to the same purpose. By which behaviour he led several tobelieve, that, if he were conscious of guilt, he would never havepresented himself before the multitude, or, without being challengedby any, have made any mention of the murder. Others were convincedthat he intended, by thus unblushingly exposing himself to the charge, to throw off all suspicion from himself. Soon after, those men whowere innocent were put to the torture; and, taking the universalopinion as having the effect of evidence, they named Zeuxippus andPisistratus; but they produced no proof to show that they knew anything of the matter. Zeuxippus, however, accompanied by a man namedStratonidas, fled by night to Tanagra; alarmed by his own consciencerather than by the assertion of men who were privy to no onecircumstance of the affair. Pisistratus, despising the informers, remained at Thebes. A slave of Zeuxippus had carried messagesbackwards and forwards, and had been intrusted with the management ofthe whole business. From this man Pisistratus dreaded a discovery; andby that very dread forced him, against his will, to make one. He senta letter to Zeuxippus, desiring him to "put out of the way the slavewho was privy to their crime; for he did not believe him aswell qualified for the concealment of the fact as he was for theperpetration of it. " He ordered the bearer of this letter todeliver it to Zeuxippus as soon as possible; but he, not finding anopportunity of meeting him, put it into the hands of the very slavein question, whom he believed to be the most faithful to his master ofany; and added, that it came from Pisistratus respecting a matter ofthe utmost consequence to Zeuxippus. Struck by consciousness of guilt, the slave after promising to deliver the letter, immediately openedit; and, on reading the contents, fled in a fright to Thebes andlaid the information before the magistrate. Zeuxippus, alarmed by theflight of his slave, withdrew to Athens, where he thought he mightlive in exile with greater safety. Pisistratus, after being examinedseveral times by torture, was put to death. 

29. This murder exasperated the Thebans, and all the Boeotians, to themost rancorous animosity against the Romans, for they considered thatZeuxippus, one of the first men of the nation, had not been partyto such a crime without the instigation of the Roman general. Torecommence a war, they had neither strength nor a leader; but they hadrecourse to private massacres, as being next to war, and cut off manyof the soldiers, some as they came to lodge in their houses, others asthey wandered about their winter quarters, or were on leave of absencefor various purposes. Some were killed on the roads by parties lyingin wait in lurking-places; others were seduced and carried away toinns, which were left uninhabited, and there put to death. At lastthey committed these crimes, not merely out of hatred, but likewisefrom a desire of booty; for the soldiers on furlough generally carriedmoney in their purses for the purpose of trading. At first a few at atime, afterwards greater numbers used to be missed, until all Boeotiabecame notorious for those practices, and a soldier went beyond thebounds of the camp with more timidity than into an enemy's country. Quinctius then sent deputies round the states, to make inquiryconcerning the murders committed. The greatest number of murders werefound to have been committed about the lake called Copais; there thebodies were dug out of the mud, and drawn up out of the marsh, havinghad earthen jars or stones tied to them, so as to be dragged to thebottom by the weight. Many deeds of this sort were discovered to havebeen perpetrated at Acrphia and Coronea. Quinctius at first insistedthat the persons guilty should be given up to him, and that, for fivehundred soldiers, (for so many had been cut off, ) the Botians shouldpay five hundred talents. [1] Neither of these requisitions beingcomplied with, and the states only making verbal apologies, declaring, that none of those acts had been authorized by the public; Quinctiusfirst sent ambassadors to Athens and Achaia, to satisfy the allies, that the war which he was about to make on the Botians was conformableto justice and piety; and then, ordering Publius Claudius tomarch with one-half of the troops to Acrphia, he himself, withthe remainder, invested Coronea; and these two bodies' marching bydifferent roads from Elatia, laid waste all the country through whichthey passed. The Botians, dismayed by these losses, while every placewas filled with fugitives, and while the terror became universal, sentambassadors to the camp; and as these were refused admittance, theAchaeans and Athenians came to their assistance. The Achaeans had thegreater influence as intercessors; inasmuch as they were resolved, incase they could not procure peace for the Botians, to join them inthe war. Through the mediation of the Achaeans, however, the Botiansobtained admission and an audience of the Roman general; who, orderingthem to deliver up the guilty, and to pay thirty talents[2] as a fine, granted them peace, and raised the siege. 

[Footnote 1: 96, 875l. ]

[Footnote 2: 5821l. 10s. ]

30. A few days after this, the ten ambassadors arrived from Rome, in pursuance of whose counsel, peace was granted to Philip on thefollowing conditions: "That all the Grecian states, as well those inAsia as those in Europe, should enjoy liberty, and their own laws:That from such of them as had been in the possession of Philip, heshould withdraw his garrisons, particularly from the following placesin Asia; Euromus, Pedasi, Bargylii, Iassus, Myrina, Abydus; and fromThasus and Perinthus, for it was determined that these likewise shouldbe free: That with respect to the freedom of Cius, Quinctius shouldwrite to Prusias, king of Bithynia, the resolutions of the senate, andof the ten ambassadors: That Philip should return to the Romansthe prisoners and deserters, and deliver up all his decked ships, excepting five and the royal galley, --of a size almost unmanageable, being moved by sixteen banks of oars: That he should not keep morethan five hundred soldiers, nor any elephant: That he should not wagewar beyond the bounds of Macedonia without permission from the senate:That he should pay to the Roman people one thousand talents:[1] onehalf at present, the other by instalments, within ten years. " ValeriusAntias writes, that there was imposed on him an annual tribute of fourthousand pounds' weight of silver, for ten years, and an immediatepayment of twenty thousand pounds' weight. The same author says thatan article was expressly inserted, that he should not make war onEumenes, Attalus's son, who had lately come to the throne. For theperformance of these conditions hostages were received, among whomwas Demetrius, Philip's son. Valerius Antias adds, that the island ofAegina, and the elephants, were given as a present to Attalus, who wasabsent; to the Rhodians, Stratonice, and other cities of Caria whichhad been in the possession of Philip; and to the Athenians, theislands of Paros, Imbros, Delos, and Scyros. 

[Footnote 1: 193, 750l. ]

31. While all the other states of Greece expressed their approbationof these terms of peace, the Aetolians alone, in private murmurs, madesevere strictures on the determination of the ten ambassadors. Theysaid, "it consisted merely of an empty piece of writing varnished overwith a fallacious appearance of liberty. For why should some citiesbe put into the hands of the Romans without being named, while otherswere particularized, and ordered to be enfranchised without suchconsignment; unless the intent was, that those in Asia, which, fromtheir distant situation, were more secure from danger, should be free;but those in Greece, not being even mentioned by name, should bemade their property: Corinth, Chalcis, and Oreum; with Eretria, andDemetrias. " Nor was this charge entirely without foundation: for therewas some hesitation with respect to Corinth, Chalcis, and Demetrias;because, in the decree of the senate in pursuance of which the tenambassadors had been sent from Rome, all Greece and Asia, except thesethree, were expressly ordered to be set at liberty; but, with regardto these, ambassadors were instructed, that, whatever measures theexigencies of the state might render expedient, they should determineto pursue in conformity to the public good and their own honour. KingAntiochus was one of whom they did not doubt that, so soon as he wassatisfied that his forces were adequate, he would cross over intoEurope; and they were unwilling to let these cities, the possessionof which would be so advantageous to him, lie open to his occupation. Quinctius, with the ten ambassadors, sailed from Elatia to Anticyra, and thence to Corinth. Here the plans they had laid down respectingthe liberation of Greece were discussed for about three days in acouncil of the ten ambassadors. Quinctius frequently urged, that"every part of Greece ought to be set at liberty, if they wishedto refute the cavils of the Aetolians; if they wished, that sincereaffection and respect for the Roman nation should be universallyentertained; or if they wished to convince the world that they hadcrossed the sea with the design of liberating Greece, and not oftransferring the sovereignty of it from Philip to themselves. " TheMacedonians alleged nothing in opposition to the arguments made use ofin favour of the freedom of the cities; but "they thought it safer forthose cities themselves that they should remain, for a time, under theprotection of Roman garrisons, than be obliged to receive Antiochusfor a master in the room of Philip. " Their final determination was, that "Corinth be restored to the Achaeans, but that a Roman garrisonshould continue in the citadel; and that Chalcis and Demetrias beretained, until their apprehensions respecting Antiochus shouldcease. "

32. The stated solemnity of the Isthmian games was at hand. These haveever been attended by very numerous meetings, as well on account ofthe universal fondness entertained by this nation for exhibitions ofskill in arts of every kind, as well as of contests in strengthand swiftness of foot; as also, because of the convenience of thelocality, which furnishes commercial advantages of all kinds by itstwo opposite seas, and by which it had obtained the character of arendezvous for all the population of Asia and Greece. But on thisoccasion, all were led thither not only for their ordinary purposes, but by an eager curiosity to learn what was thenceforward to be thestate of Greece, and what their own condition; while many at the sametime not only formed opinions within themselves but uttered theirconjectures in conversation. Scarcely any supposed that the Romans, victorious as they were, would withdraw from the whole of Greece. They took their seats, as spectators; and a herald, preceded bya trumpeter, according to custom, advanced into the centre of thetheatre, where notice of the commencement of the games is usuallymade, in a solemn form of words. Silence being commanded by sound oftrumpet, he uttered aloud the following proclamation: THE SENATE ANDPEOPLE OF ROME, AND TITUS QUINCTIUS, THEIR GENERAL, HAVING SUBDUEDKING PHILIP AND THE MACEDONIANS, DO HEREBY ORDER, THAT THE FOLLOWINGSTATES BE FREE, INDEPENDENT, AND RULED BY THEIR OWN LAWS: THECORINTHIANS, PHOCIANS, AND ALL THE LOCRIANS; THE ISLAND OF EUBOEA, AND THE MAGNESIANS; THE THESSALIANS, PERRHAEBIANS, AND THE ACHAEANS OFPHTHIOTIS. He then read a list of all the states which had been undersubjection to king Philip. The joy occasioned by hearing these wordsof the herald was so great, that the people's minds were unable toconceive the matter at once. Scarcely could they believe that they hadheard them; and they looked at each other, marvelling as at theempty illusion of a dream. Each inquired of his neighbours about whatimmediately concerned himself, altogether distrusting the evidenceof his own ears. As everyone desired not only to hear, but to see themessenger of liberty, the herald was called out again; and he againrepeated the proclamation. When they were thus assured of the realityof the joyful tidings, they raised such a shout, and clapping ofhands, and repeated them so often, as clearly to show that of allblessings none is more grateful to the multitude than liberty. Thegames were then proceeded through with hurry; for neither the thoughtsnor eyes of any attended to the exhibitions, so entirely had thesingle passion of joy pre-occupied their minds, as to exclude thesense of all other pleasures. 

33. But, when the games were finished, every one eagerly passedtowards the Roman general; so that by the crowd rushing to onespot, all wishing to come near him, and to touch his right hand, andthrowing garlands and ribands, he was in some degree of danger. He wasthen about thirty-three years of age; and besides the vigour of youth, the grateful sensations excited by so eminent a harvest of glory, increased his strength. Nor was the general exultation exhausted inthe presence of all the assembly, but, through the space of many days, was continually revived by sentiments and expressions of gratitude. "There was a nation in the world, " they said, "which, at its ownexpense, with its own labour, and at its own risk, waged wars for theliberty of others. And this was performed, not merely for contiguousstates, or near neighbours, or for countries that made parts of thesame continent; but they even crossed the seas for the purpose, thatno unlawful power should subsist on the face of the whole earth; butthat justice, right, and law should every where have sovereign sway. By one sentence, pronounced by a herald all the cities of Greece andAsia had been set at liberty. To have conceived hopes of this, argueda daring spirit; to have carried it into effect, was a proof of themost consummate bravery and good fortune. "

34. Quinctius and the ten ambassadors then gave audience to theembassies of the several kings, nations, and states. First of all, theambassadors of king Antiochus were called. Their proceedings, here, were nearly the same as at Rome; a mere display of words unsupportedby facts. But the answer given them was not ambiguous as formerly, during the uncertainty of affairs, and while Philip was unsubdued; forthe king was required in express terms to evacuate the cities ofAsia, which had been in possession either of Philip or Ptolemy; not tomeddle with the free cities, or ever take arms against them, and tobe in a state of peace and equality with all the cities of Greecewherever they might be. Above all it was insisted on, that he shouldneither come himself into Europe, nor transport an army thither. The king's ambassadors being dismissed, a general convention ofthe nations and states was immediately held; and the business wasdespatched with the greater expedition, because the resolutions of theten ambassadors mentioned the several states by name. To the peopleof Orestis, a district of Macedonia, in consideration of their havingbeen the first who came over from the side of the king, their ownlaws were granted. The Magnesians, Perrhaebians, and Dolopians werelikewise declared free. To the nation of the Thessalians, besidesthe enjoyment of liberty, the Achaean part of Phthiotis was granted, excepting Phthiotian Thebes and Pharsalus. The Aetolians, demandingthat Pharsalus and Leucas should be restored to them in conformityto the treaty, were referred to the senate: but the council united tothese, by authority of a decree, Phocis and Locris, places which hadformerly been annexed to them. Corinth, Triphylia, and Heraea, another city of Peloponnesus, were restored to the Achaeans. The tenambassadors were inclined to give Oreum and Eretria to king Eumenes, son of Attalus; but Quinctius dissenting, the matter came under thedetermination of the senate, and the senate declared those citiesfree; adding to them Carystus. Lycus and Parthinia, Illyrian states, each of which had been under subjection to Philip, were given toPleuratus. Amynander was ordered to retain possession of the forts, which he had taken from Philip during the war. 

35. When the convention broke up, the ten ambassadors, dividing thebusiness among them, set out by different routes to give liberty tothe several cities within their respective districts. Publius Lentuluswent to Bargylii; Lucius Stertinius, to Hephaestia, Thasus, andthe cities of Thrace; Publius Villius and Lucius Terentius to kingAntiochus; and Cneius Cornelius to Philip. The last of these, afterexecuting his commission with respect to smaller matters, askedPhilip, whether he was disposed to listen to advice, not only usefulbut highly salutary. To which the king answered that he was, and wouldgive him thanks besides, if he mentioned any thing conducive to hisadvantage. He then earnestly recommended to him, since he had obtainedpeace with the Romans, to send ambassadors to Rome to solicit theiralliance and friendship; lest, in case of Antiochus pursuing anyhostile measure, he might be suspected of having lain in wait andseized the opportunity of the times for reviving hostilities. Thismeeting with Philip was at Tempè in Thessaly; and on his answeringthat he would send ambassadors without delay, Cornelius proceeded toThermopylae, where all the states of Greece are accustomed to meetin general assembly on certain stated days. This is called the Pylaicassembly. Here he admonished the Aetolians, in particular, constantlyand firmly to cultivate the friendship of the Roman people; but someof the principal of these interrupted him with complaints, that thedisposition of the Romans towards their nation was not the same sincethe victory, that it had been during the war; while others censuredthem with greater boldness, and in a reproachful manner asserted, that "without the aid of the Aetolians, the Romans could neither haveconquered Philip, nor even have made good their passage into Greece. "To such discourses the Roman forbore giving an answer, lest thematter might end in an altercation, and only said, that if they sentambassadors to Rome, every thing that was reasonable would be grantedto them. Accordingly, they passed a decree for such mission, agreeablyto his direction. --In this manner was the war with Philip concluded. 

36. While these transactions passed in Greece, Macedonia, and Asia, a conspiracy among the slaves had well nigh made Etruria an hostileprovince. To examine into and suppress this, Manius Acilius thepraetor, whose province was the administration of justice betweennatives and foreigners, was sent at the head of one of the two citylegions. A number of them, who were by this time formed in a body, hereduced by force of arms, killing and taking many. Some, who had beenthe ringleaders of the conspiracy, he scourged with rods and thencrucified; some he returned to their masters. The consuls repairedto their provinces. Just as Marcellus entered the frontiers of theBoians, and while his men were fatigued with marching the wholelength of the day, and as he was pitching his camp on a rising ground, Corolam, a chieftain of the Boians, attacked him with a very numerousforce, and slew three thousand of his men: several persons ofdistinction fell in that tumultuary engagement; amongst others, Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus and Marcus Junius Silanus, praefects ofthe allies; and Aulus Ogulnius and Publius Claudius, military tribunesin the second legion. The Romans, not withstanding, had courage enoughto finish the fortification of their camp, and to defend it, in spiteof an assault made on it by the enemy, elated by their success in thefield. Marcellus remained for some time in the same post, until hecould tend the wounded, and revive the spirits of his men after sucha disheartening blow. The Boians, a nation remarkably impatient ofdelay, and quickly disgusted at a state of inaction, separated, andwithdrew to their several forts and villages. Marcellus then, suddenlycrossing the Po, led his legions into the territory of Comum, wherethe Insubrians, after rousing the people of the country to arms, layencamped. The fierce Boian Gauls attacked him on his march, and theyfirst onset was so vigorous, as to make a considerable impression onhis van. On perceiving which, and fearing lest, if his men once gaveway, they would be dislodged, he brought up a cohort of Marsiansagainst the enemy, and ordered every troop of the Latin cavalry tocharge them. The first and second charges of these having checked theenemy in their furious attack, the other troops in the Roman line, resuming courage, advanced briskly on the foe. The Gauls no longermaintained the contest, but turned their backs and fled in confusion. Valerius Antias relates, that in that battle above forty thousand menwere killed, five hundred and seven military standards taken, withfour hundred and thirty-two chariots, and a great number of goldchains, one of which, of great weight, Claudius says, was deposited asan offering to Jupiter, in his temple in the Capitol. The camp of theGauls was taken and plundered the same day; and the town of Comum wasreduced in a few days after. In a little time, twenty-eight forts cameover to the consul. There is a doubt among writers, whether the consulled his legions first against the Boians, or against the Insubrians;so as to determine, whether the successful battle obliterated thedisgrace of the defeat, or whether the victory obtained at Comum wastarnished by the disaster incurred among the Boii. 

37. Soon after those matters had passed with such variety of fortune, Lucius Furius Purpureo, the other consul, came into the country of theBoians, through the Sappinian tribe. He proceeded almost to the fortof Mutilus, when, beginning to apprehend that he might be enclosedbetween the Boians and Ligurians, he marched back by the road by whichhe came; and, making a long circuit, through an open and thereforesafe country, arrived at the camp of his colleague. After thisjunction of their forces, they overran the territory of the Boians, spreading devastation as far as the city of Felsina. This city, withthe other fortresses, and almost all the Boians, excepting only theyoung men who kept arms in their hands for the sake of plunder, andhad at that time withdrawn into remote woods, made submission. Thearmy was then led away against the Ligurians. The Boians thought thatthe Romans, as they were supposed to be at a great distance, would bethe more careless in keeping their army together, and thereby affordan opportunity of attacking them unawares: with this expectation, they followed them by secret paths through the forests. They did notovertake them: and therefore, passing the Po suddenly in ships, theyravaged all the country of the Laevans and Libuans; whence, as theywere returning with the spoil of the country, they fell in with theRoman army on the borders of Liguria. A battle was begun with morespeed, and with greater fury, than if the parties had met with theirminds prepared, and at an appointed time and place. On this occasionit appeared to what degree of violence anger can stimulate men; forthe Romans fought with such a desire of slaughter, rather than ofvictory, that they scarcely left one of the enemy to carry the news oftheir defeat. On account of these successes, when the letters ofthe consuls were brought to Rome, a supplication for three days wasdecreed. Soon after, Marcellus came to Rome, and had a triumph decreedhim by an unanimous vote of the senate. He triumphed, while in office, over the Insubrians and Comans. The prospect of a triumph overthe Boians he left to his colleague, because his own arms had beenunfortunate in that country; those of his colleague, successful. Large quantities of spoils, taken from the enemy, were carried in theprocession in captured chariots, and many military standards; also, three hundred and twenty thousand _asses_ of brass, [1] two hundredand thirty-four thousand of silver denarii, [2] stamped with a chariot. Eighty _asses_[3] were bestowed on each foot soldier, and thrice thatvalue on each horseman and centurion. 

[Footnote 1: 1033l. 6s. 8d. ]

[Footnote 2: 2331l. 2s. 6d. ]

[Footnote 3: 5s. 2-1/4d. ]

38. During that year, king Antiochus, after having spent the winterat Ephesus, took measures for reducing, under his dominion, all thecities of Asia, which had formerly been members of the empire. As tothe rest, being either situated in plains, or having neither walls, arms, nor men in whom they could confide, he supposed they would, without difficulty, receive the yoke. But Smyrna and Lampsacus openlyasserted their independence: yet there was a danger that if what theyclaimed were conceded to these, the rest of the cities in Aetolia andIonia would follow the example of Smyrna; and those on the Hellespontthat of Lampsacus. Wherefore he sent an army from Ephesus to investSmyrna; and ordered the troops, which were at Abydos, to leave thereonly a small garrison, and to go and lay siege to Lampsacus. Nor didhe only alarm them by an exhibition of force. By sending ambassadors, to make gentle remonstrances, and reprove the rashness and obstinacyof their conduct, he endeavoured to give them hopes that they mightsoon obtain the object of their wishes; but not until it should appearclearly, both to themselves and to all the world, that they had gainedtheir liberty through the kindness of the king, and not by any violentefforts of their own. In answer to which, they said, that "Antiochusought neither to be surprised nor displeased, if they did not verypatiently suffer the establishment of their liberty to be deferred toa distant period. " He himself, with his fleet, set sail from Ephesusin the beginning of spring, and steered towards the Hellespont. Hisarmy he transported to Madytus, a city in the Chersonese, and therejoined his land and sea forces together. The inhabitants having shuttheir gates, he surrounded the walls with his troops; and when he wasjust bringing up his machines to the walls, a capitulation was enteredinto. This diffused such fear through the inhabitants of Sestus andthe other cities of the Chersonese, as induced them to submit. Hethen came, with the whole of his united forces, by land and sea, toLysimachia; which finding deserted, and almost buried in ruins, (forthe Thracians had, a few years before, taken, sacked, and burnedit, ) he conceived a wish to rebuild a city so celebrated, and socommodiously situated. Accordingly, extending his care to every objectat once, he set about repairing the walls and houses, ransomed someof the Lysimachians who were in captivity, sought out and brought homeothers, who had fled and dispersed themselves through the Chersoneseand Hellespontus, enrolled new colonists, whom he invited by prospectsof advantages, and used every means to repeople it fully. At the sametime, that all fear of the Thracians might be removed, he went, inperson, with one half of the land forces, to lay waste the nearestprovinces of Thrace; leaving the other half, and all the crews of theships, employed in the repairs of the city. 

39. About this time Lucius Cornelius, who had been commissioned by thesenate to accommodate the differences between the kings Antiochus andPtolemy, stopped at Selymbria; and, of the ten ambassadors, PubliusLentulus from Bargylii, and Publius Villius and Lucius Terentius fromThasus, came to Lysimachia. Hither came, likewise, Lucius Corneliusfrom Selymbria, and a few days after Antiochus from Thrace. His firstmeeting with the ambassadors, and an invitation which he afterwardsgave them, were friendly and hospitable; but when the businessintrusted to them and the present state of Asia, came to be treatedof, the minds of both parties were exasperated. The Romans did notscruple to declare, that every one of his proceedings, from the timewhen he set sail from Syria, was displeasing to the senate; and theyrequired restitution to be made, to Ptolemy, of all the cities whichhad been under his dominion. "For, as to what related to the citieswhich had been in the possession of Philip, and which Antiochus, taking advantage of a season when Philip's attention was turned to thewar with Rome, had seized into his own hands, it would surely be anintolerable hardship, if the Romans were to have undergone such toilsand dangers, on land and sea, for so many years, and Antiochus toappropriate to himself the prizes of the war. But, though his cominginto Asia might be passed over unnoticed by the Romans, as a matternot pertaining to them, yet when he proceeded so far as to pass overinto Europe with all his land and naval forces, how much was thisshort of open war with the Romans? Doubtless, had he even passed intoItaly, he would deny that intention. But the Romans would not wait togive him an opportunity of doing so. "

40. To this the king replied, that "he wondered how it was, that theRomans were in the habit of diligently inquiring what ought to be doneby king Antiochus; but never considered how far they themselves oughtto advance on land or sea. Asia was no concernment of the Romans, inany shape; nor had they any more right to inquire what Antiochus didin Asia, than Antiochus had to inquire what the Roman people did inItaly. With respect to Ptolemy, from whom they complained that citieshad been taken, there was a friendly connexion subsisting between himand Ptolemy, and he was taking measures to effect speedily a connexionof affinity also; neither had he sought to acquire any spoils from themisfortunes of Philip, nor had he come into Europe against the Romans, _but to recover the cities and lands of the Chersonese, which, havingbeen the property of Lysimachus_, [1] he considered as part of his owndominion; because, when Lysimachus was subdued, all things belongingto him became, by the right of conquest, the property of Seleucus. That, at times, when his predecessors were occupied by cares ofdifferent kinds, Ptolemy first, and afterwards Philip, usurping therights of others, possessed themselves of several of these places, butwho could doubt that the Chersonese and the nearest parts of Thracebelonged to Lysimachus? To restore these to their ancient state, wasthe intent of his coming, and to build Lysimachia anew, (it havingbeen destroyed by an inroad of the Thracians, ) in order that his son, Seleucus, might have it for the seat of his empire. "

[Footnote 1: Here is a chasm in the original, which is supplied fromPolybius. ]

41. These disputes had been carried on for several days, when a rumourreached them, but without any sufficiently certain authority, thatPtolemy was dead; which prevented the conferences coming to any issue:for both parties made a secret of their having heard it; and LuciusCornelius, who was charged with the embassy to the two kings, Antiochus and Ptolemy, requested to be allowed a short space of time, in which he could have a meeting with the latter; because he wishedto arrive in Egypt before any change of measures should take placein consequence of the new succession to the crown: while Antiochusbelieved that Egypt would be his own, if at that time he should takepossession of it. Wherefore, having dismissed the Romans, and lefthis son Seleucus, with the land forces, to finish the rebuilding ofLysimachia, as he had intended to do, he sailed, with his whole fleet, to Ephesus; sent ambassadors to Quinctius to treat with him about analliance, assuring him that the king would attempt no innovations, and then, coasting along the shore of Asia, proceeded to Lycia. Havinglearned at Patarae that Ptolemy was living, he dropped the design ofsailing to Egypt, but nevertheless steered towards Cyprus; and, whenhe had passed the promontory of Chelidonium, was detained some littletime in Pamphylia, near the river Eurymedon, by a mutiny among hisrowers. When he had sailed thence as far as the headlands, as they arecalled, of Sarus, such a dreadful storm arose as almost buried himand his whole fleet in the deep. Many ships were broken to pieces, andmany cast on shore; many swallowed so entirely in the sea, that notone man of their crews escaped to land. Great numbers of his menperished on this occasion; not only persons of mean rank, rowers andsoldiers, but even of his particular friends in high stations. When hehad collected the relics of the general wreck, being in no capacity ofmaking an attempt on Cyprus, he returned to Seleucia, with a far lessnumerous force than he had set out with. Here he ordered the shipsto be hauled ashore, for the winter was now at hand, and proceeded toAntioch, where he intended to pass the winter. --In this posture stoodthe affairs of the kings. 

42. At Rome, in this year, for the first time, were created officescalled _triumviri epulones_;[1] these were Caius Licinius Lucullus, who, as tribune, had proposed the law for their creation, PubliusManlius, and Publius Porcius Laeca. These triumvirs, as well asthe pontiffs, were allowed by law the privilege of wearing thepurple-bordered gown. The body of the pontiffs had this year a warmdispute with the city quaestors, Quintus Fabius Labeo and LuciusAurelius. Money was wanted; an order having been passed for making thelast payment to private persons of that which had been raised for thesupport of the war; and the quaestors demanded it from the augurs andpontiffs, because they had not contributed their share while thewar subsisted. The priests in vain appealed to the tribunes; and thecontribution was exacted for every year in which they had not paid. During the same year two pontiffs died, and others were substitutedin their room: Marcus Marcellus, the consul, in the room of CaiusSempronius Tuditanus, who had been a praetor in Spain; and LuciusValerius, in the room of Marcus Cornelius Cethegus. An augur also, Quintius Fabius Maximus, died very young, before he had attained toany public office; but no augur was appointed in his place during thatyear. The consular election was then held by the consul Marcellus. Thepersons chosen were, Lucius Valerius Flaccus and Marcus Porcius Cato. Then were elected praetors, Caius Fabricius Luscinus, Caius AtiniusLabeo, Cneius Manlius Vulso, Appius Claudius Nero, Publius Manlius, and Publius Porcius Laeca. The curule aediles, Marcus Fulvius Nobiliorand Caius Flaminius, made a distribution to the people of one millionpecks of wheat, at the price of two asses. This corn the Sicilians hadbrought to Rome, out of respect to Caius Flaminius and his father;and he gave share of the credit to his colleague. The Roman gameswere solemnized with magnificence, and exhibited thrice entire. Theplebeian aediles, Cneius Domitius Aenobarbus and Caius Scribonius, chief curio, brought many farmers of the public pastures to trialbefore the people. Three of these were convicted; and out of the moneyaccruing from fines imposed on them, they built a temple of Faunus inthe island. The plebeian games were exhibited for two days, and therewas a feast on occasion of the games. 

[Footnote 1: It was their office to regulate the feasts of the gods. ]

43. Lucius Valerius Flaccus and Marcus Porcius, on the ides of March, the day of their entering into office, consulted the senate respectingthe provinces; who resolved, that "whereas the war in Spain was grownso formidable, as to require a consular army and commander; it wastheir opinion, therefore, that the consuls should either settlebetween themselves, or cast lots, for Hither Spain and Italy astheir provinces. That he to whom Spain fell should carry with him twolegions, five thousand of the Latin confederates, and five hundredhorse; together with a fleet of twenty ships of war. That the otherconsul should raise two legions; for these would be sufficient tomaintain tranquillity in the province of Gaul, as the spirits of theInsubrians and Boians had been broken the year before. " The lots gaveSpain to Cato, and Italy to Valerius. The praetors then cast lotsfor their provinces: to Caius Fabricius Luscinus fell the cityjurisdiction; Caius Atinius Labeo obtained the foreign; Cneius ManliusVulso, Sicily; Appius Claudius Nero, Farther Spain; Publius PorciusLaeca, Pisa, in order that he might be at the back of the Ligurians;and Publius Manlius was sent into Hither Spain, as an assistant tothe consul. Quinctius was continued in command for the year, asapprehensions were entertained, not only of Antiochus and theAetolians, but likewise of Nabis, tyrant of Lacedaemon; and it wasordered that he should have two legions, for which, if there was anynecessity for a further supply, the consuls were ordered to raiserecruits, and send them into Macedonia. Appius Claudius was permittedto raise, in addition to the legion which Quintius Fabius hadcommanded, two thousand foot and two hundred horse. The like number ofnew-raised foot and horse was assigned to Publius Manlius for HitherSpain; and the legion was given to him which had been under thecommand of Minucius, the praetor. To Publius Porcius Laeca, forEtruria, near Pisa, were decreed two thousand foot and five hundredhorse, out of the army in Gaul. Sempronius Longus was continued incommand in Sardinia. 

44. The provinces being thus distributed, the consuls, before theirdeparture from the city, were ordered, in accordance with a decreeof the pontiffs, to proclaim a sacred spring, which Aulus CorneliusMammula, praetor, had vowed in pursuance of a vote of the senate, andan order of the people, in the consulate of Cneius Servilius and CaiusFlaminius. It was celebrated twenty-one years after the vow had beenmade. About the same time, Caius Claudius Pulcher, son of Appius, was chosen and inaugurated into the office of augur, in the room ofQuintus Fabius Maximus, who died the year before. While people, ingeneral, wondered that, though Spain had arisen in arms, they wereneglecting the war, a letter was brought from Quintus Minucius, announcing "that he had fought a pitched battle with the Spanishgenerals, Budar and Besasis, near the town of Tura, and had gained thevictory: that twelve thousand of the enemy were slain; their general, Budar, taken; and the rest routed and dispersed. " After the reading ofthis letter less alarm prevailed with respect to Spain, where a veryformidable war had been apprehended. The whole anxiety of the publicwas directed towards king Antiochus, especially after the arrivalof the ten ambassadors. These, after relating the proceedings withPhilip, and the conditions on which peace had been granted him, gaveinformation, that "there still subsisted a war of no less magnitude tobe waged with Antiochus; that he had come over into Europe with a verynumerous fleet and a powerful army; that, had not a delusive prospectof an opportunity of invading Egypt, raised by a more delusive rumour, diverted him to another quarter, all Greece would have quickly beeninvolved in the flames of war. Nor would even the Aetolians remainquiet, a race as well restless by nature as full of anger against theRomans. That, besides, there was another evil, of a most dangerousnature, lurking in the bowels of Greece: Nabis, tyrant at presentof Lacedaemon, but who would soon if suffered, become tyrant ofall Greece, equalling in avarice and cruelty all the tyrants mostremarkable in history. For, if he were allowed to keep possession ofArgos, which served as a citadel commanding the Peloponnesus, when theRoman armies should be brought home to Italy, Greece would have beenin vain delivered out of bondage to Philip; because, instead of thatking, who, supposing no other difference, resided at a distance, shewould have for a master, a tyrant, close to her side. "

45. On this intelligence being received from men of such respectableauthority, and who had, besides, examined into all the matters whichwere reported, the senate, although they deemed the business relatingto Antiochus the more important, yet, as the king had, for somereason or other, gone home into Syria, they thought that the affairrespecting the tyrant ought to be more promptly attended to. Afterdebating, for a long time, whether they should judge the grounds whichthey had at present sufficient whereon a declaration of war should bedecreed, or whether they should empower Titus Quinctius to act, in thecase respecting Nabis the Lacedaemonian, in such manner as he shouldjudge conducive to the public interest; they left it in his hands. Forthey thought the business of such a nature, that whether expedited ordelayed, it could not very materially affect the general interestof the Roman people. It was deemed more important to endeavour todiscover what line of conduct Hannibal and the Carthaginians wouldpursue, in case of a war breaking out with Antiochus. Persons of thefaction which opposed Hannibal wrote continually to their severalfriends, among the principal men in Rome, that "messages and letterswere sent by Hannibal to Antiochus, and that envoys came secretly fromthe king to him. That, as some wild beasts can never be tamed, sothe disposition of this man was irreclaimable and implacable. Thathe sometimes complained, that the state was debilitated by ease andindolence, and lulled by sloth into a lethargy, from which nothingcould rouse it but the sound of arms. " These accounts were deemedprobable, when people recollected the former war, which had not morebeen carried on than at first set on foot by the efforts of thatsingle man. Besides, he had by a recent act provoked the resentment ofmany men in power. 

46. The order of judges possessed, at that time, absolute power inCarthage; and this was owing chiefly to their holding the officeduring life. The property, character, and life of every man was intheir disposal. He who incurred the displeasure of one of that order, found an enemy in every one of them; nor were accusers wanting in acourt where the justices were disposed to condemn. While they werein possession of this despotism, (for they did not exercise theirexorbitant power constitutionally, ) Hannibal was elected praetor andhe summoned the quaestor before him. The quaestor disregarded thesummons, for he was of the opposite faction; and besides, as thepractice was that, after the quaestorship men were advanced into theorder of judges, the most powerful of all, he already assumed a spiritsuited to the powers which he was shortly to possess. Hannibal, highlyoffended Hereat, sent an officer to apprehend the quaestor; and, bringing him forth into an assembly of the people, he made heavycharges not against him alone, but on the whole order of judges; inconsequence of whose arrogance and power neither the magistracy northe laws availed any thing. Then perceiving that his discourse waswith willing ears attended to, and that the conduct of those men wasincompatible with the freedom of the lowest classes, he proposed alaw, and procured it to be enacted, that the "judges should beelected annually; and that no person should hold the office two yearssuccessively. " But, whatever degree of favour he acquired amongthe commons by this proceeding, he roused, in a great part of thenobility, an equal degree of resentment. To this he added another act, which, while it was for the advantage of the people, provoked personalenmity against himself. The public revenues were partly wasted throughneglect, partly embezzled, and divided among some leading men andmagistrates; insomuch, that there was not money sufficient for theregular annual payment of the tribute to the Romans, so that privatepersons seemed to be threatened with a heavy tax. 

47. When Hannibal had informed himself of the amount of the revenuesarising from taxes and port duties, for what purposes they wereissued from the treasury, what proportion of them was consumed bythe ordinary expenses of the state, and how much was alienated byembezzlement; he asserted in an assembly of the people, that ifpayment were enforced of the residuary funds, the taxes might beremitted to the subjects; and that the state would still be richenough to pay the tribute to the Romans: which assertion he provedto be true. But now those persons who, for several years past, hadmaintained themselves by plundering the public, were greatly enraged;as if this were ravishing from them their own property, and not asdragging out of their hands their ill-gotten spoil. Accordingly, theyinstigated the Romans against Hannibal, who were seeking a pretextfor indulging their hatred against him. A strenuous opposition was, however, for a long time made to this by Scipio Africanus, whothought it highly unbecoming the dignity of the Roman people to makethemselves a party in the animosities and charges against Hannibal;to interpose the public authority among factions of the Carthaginians, not deeming it sufficient to have conquered that commander in thefield, but to become as it were his prosecutors[1] in a judicialprocess, and preferring an action against him. Yet at length the pointwas carried, that an embassy should be sent to Carthage to representto the senate there, that Hannibal, in concert with king Antiochus, was forming plans for kindling a war. Three ambassadors were sent, Caius Servilius, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, and Quintus TerentiusCulleo. These, when they had arrived at Carthage, by the advice ofHannibal's enemies, ordered, that any who inquired the cause oftheir coming should be told, that they came to determine the disputessubsisting between the Carthaginians and Masinissa, king of Numidia;and this was generally believed. But Hannibal was not ignorant that hewas the sole object aimed at by the Romans; and that, though theyhad granted peace to the Carthaginians, their war against him, individually, remained irreconcilable. He therefore determined togive way to fortune and the times; and having already made everypreparation for flight, he showed himself that day in the forum, inorder to guard against suspicion; and, as soon as it grew dark, wentin his common dress to one of the gates, with his two attendants, whoknew nothing of his intention. 

[Footnote 1: _Subscribere actioni_ is to join the prosecutor as anassistant; and the prosecutors were obliged _calumniam jurare_, toswear that they did not carry on the prosecution through malice, ora vexatious design. Scipio, therefore, means to reprobate theinterference of the Roman state, which could bring it into thesituation of a common prosecutor in a court of justice. ]

48. Finding horses in readiness at a spot where he had ordered, hetraversed by night a district which the Africans denominated Byzacium, and arrived, in the morning of the following day, at a castle of hisown between Acholla and Thapsus. There a ship, ready fitted out andfurnished with rowers, took him on board. In this manner did Hanniballeave Africa, lamenting the misfortunes of his country oftener thanhis own. He sailed over, the same day, to the island of Cercina, wherehe found in the port a number of merchant ships, belonging to thePhoenicians, with their cargoes; and on landing was surrounded by aconcourse of people, who came to pay their respects to him; on whichhe gave orders that, in answer to any inquiries, it should be saidthat he had been sent as ambassador to Tyre. Fearing, however, lestsome of these ships might sail in the night to Thapsus or Adrumetum, and carry information of his having been seen at Cercina, he ordereda sacrifice to be prepared, and the masters of the ships, with themerchants, to be invited to the entertainment, and that the sails andyards should be collected out of the ships to form a shade on shorefor the company at supper, as it happened to be the middle of summer. The feast of the day was as sumptuous, and well attended, as the timeand circumstances allowed; and the entertainment was prolonged, withplenty of wine, until late in the night. As soon as Hannibal saw anopportunity of escaping the notice of those who were in the harbour, he set sail. The rest were fast asleep, nor was it early, next day, when they arose from their sleep, full of the illness of intoxication;and then, when it was too late, they set about replacing the sails inthe ships, and fitting up the rigging, which employed several hours. At Carthage, those who were accustomed to visit Hannibal met in acrowd, at the porch of his house; and when it was publicly known thathe was not to be found, the whole multitude assembled in the forum, eager to gain intelligence of the man who was considered as the firstin the state. Some surmised that he had fled, as the case was; others, that he had been put to death through the treachery of the Romans;and there was visible in the expression of their countenances, thatvariety which might naturally be expected in a state divided intofactions, whereof each supported a different interest. At lengthintelligence was brought, that he had been seen at Cercina. 

49 The Roman ambassadors represented to the council, that "proof hadbeen laid before the senate at Rome, that formerly king Philip hadbeen moved, principally by the instigation of Hannibal, to make war onthe Roman people; and that lately, Hannibal had, besides, sent lettersand messages to king Antiochus, that he had entered into plans fordriving Carthage to revolt, and that he had now gone no whither but toking Antiochus. That he was a man who would never be content, untilhe had excited war in every part of the globe. That such conduct oughtnot to be suffered to pass with impunity, if the Carthaginians wishedto convince the Roman people that none of those things were donewith their consent, or with the approbation of the state. " TheCarthaginians answered, that they were ready to do whatever the Romansrequired them. 

Hannibal, after a prosperous voyage, arrived at Tyre; where, as a manillustrated by every description of honours, he was received by thosefounders of Carthage, as if in a second native country, and here hestaid a few days. He then sailed to Antioch; where, hearing that theking had already left the place, he procured an interview with hisson, who was celebrating the solemnity of the games at Daphne, andwho treated him with much kindness; after which, he set sail withoutdelay. At Ephesus, he overtook the king, who was still hesitating inhis mind, and undetermined respecting a war with Rome: but thearrival of Hannibal proved an incentive of no small efficacy to theprosecution of that design. At the same time, the inclinations of theAetolians also were alienated from the Roman alliance in consequenceof the senate having referred to Quinctius their ambassadors, whodemanded Pharsalus and Leucas, and some other cities, in conformitywith the first treaty. 

BOOK XXXIV. 

 _The Oppian law, respecting the dress of the women, after much debate, repealed, notwithstanding it was strenuously supported by Marcus Porcius Cato, the consul. The consul's successes in Spain. Titus Quinctius Flamininus finishes the war with the Lacedaemonians and the tyrant Nabis; makes peace with them, and restores liberty to Argos. Separate seats at the public games, for the first time, appointed for the senator. Colonies sent forth. Marcus Porcius Cato triumphs on account of his successes in Spain. Further successes in Spain against the Boians and Insubrian Gauls. Titus Quinctius Flamininus, having subdued Philip, king of Macedonia, and Nabis, the Lacedaemonian tyrant, and restored all Greece to freedom, triumphs for three days. Carthaginian ambassadors bring intelligence of the hostile designs of Antiochus and Hannibal. _

1. Amid the serious concerns of important wars, either scarcelybrought to a close or impending, an incident intervened, trivialindeed to be mentioned, but which, through the zeal of the partiesconcerned, issued in a violent contest. Marcus Fundanius and LuciusValerius, plebeian tribunes, proposed to the people the repealing ofthe Oppian law. This law, which had been introduced by Caius Oppias, plebeian tribune, in the consulate of Quintus Fabius and TiberiusSempronius, during the heat of the Punic war, enacted that "no womanshould possess more than half an ounce of gold, or wear a garment ofvarious colours, or ride in a carriage drawn by horses, in a city, or any town, or any place nearer thereto than one mile; except onoccasion of some public religious solemnity. " Marcus and PubliusJunius Brutus, plebeian tribunes, supported the Oppian law, anddeclared, that they would never suffer it to be repealed; whilemany of the nobility stood forth to argue for and against the motionproposed. The Capitol was filled with crowds, who favoured or opposedthe law; nor could the matrons be kept at home, either by advice orshame, nor even by the commands of their husbands; but beset everystreet and pass in the city, beseeching the men as they went down tothe forum, that in the present flourishing state of the commonwealth, when the private fortune of all was daily increasing they would sufferthe women to have their former ornaments of dress restored. Thisthrong of women increased daily, for they arrived even from thecountry towns and villages; and they had at length the boldness tocome up to the consuls, praetors, and magistrates, to urge theirrequest. One of the consuls, however, they found especiallyinexorable--Marcus Porcius Cato, who, in support of the law proposedto be repealed, spoke to this effect:--

2. "If, Romans, every individual among us had made it a rule tomaintain the prerogative and authority of a husband with respect tohis own wife, we should have less trouble with the whole sex. But now, our privileges, overpowered at home by female contumacy, are, evenhere in the forum, spurned and trodden under foot; and because we areunable to withstand each separately, we now dread their collectivebody. I was accustomed to think it a fabulous and fictitious tale, that, in a certain island, the whole race of males was utterlyextirpated by a conspiracy of the women. But the utmost danger may beapprehended equally from either sex, if you suffer cabals, assemblies, and secret consultations to be held: scarcely, indeed, can Idetermine, in my own mind, whether the act itself, or the precedentthat it affords, is of more pernicious tendency. The latter of thesemore particularly concerns us consuls, and the other magistrates:the former, yourselves, my fellow-citizens. For, whether the measureproposed to your consideration be profitable to the state or not, isto be determined by you, who are about to go to the vote. As to theoutrageous behaviour of these women, whether it be merely an act oftheir own, or owing to your instigations, Marcus Fundanius and LuciusValerius, it unquestionably implies culpable conduct in magistrates. Iknow not whether it reflects greater disgrace on you, tribunes, or onthe consuls: on you certainly, if you have, on the present occasion, brought these women hither for the purpose of raising tribunitianseditions; on us, if we suffer laws to be imposed on us by a secessionof women, as was done formerly by that of the common people. It wasnot without painful emotions of shame, that I, just now, made my wayinto the forum through the midst of a band of women. Had I not beenrestrained by respect for the modesty and dignity of some individualsamong them, rather than of the whole number, and been unwilling thatthey should be seen rebuked by a consul, I should have said to them, 'What sort of practice is this, of running out into public, besettingthe streets, and addressing other women's husbands? Could noteach have made the same request to her husband at home? Are yourblandishments more seducing in public than in private; and with otherwomen's husbands, than with your own? Although if the modesty ofmatrons confined them within the limits of their own rights, it didnot become you, even at home, to concern yourselves about what lawsmight be passed or repealed here. ' Our ancestors thought it notproper that women should perform any, even private business, withouta director; but that they should be ever under the control of parents, brothers, or husbands. We, it seems, suffer them, now, to interfere inthe management of state affairs, and to introduce themselves into theforum, into general assemblies, and into assemblies of election. For, what are they doing, at this moment, in your streets and lanes? What, but arguing, some in support of the motion of the plebeian tribunes;others, for the repeal of the law? Will you give the reins to theirintractable nature, and their uncontrolled passions, and then expectthat themselves should set bounds to their licentiousness, when youhave failed to do so? This is the smallest of the injunctions laid onthem by usage or the laws, all which women bear with impatience: theylong for liberty; or rather, to speak the truth, for unbounded freedomin every particular. For what will they not attempt, if they now comeoff victorious?

3. "Recollect all the institutions respecting the sex, by whichour forefathers restrained their undue freedom, and by which theysubjected them to their husbands; and yet, even with the help of allthese restrictions, you can scarcely keep them within bounds. If, then, you suffer them to throw these off one by one, to tear them allasunder, and, at last, to be set on an equal footing with yourselves, can you imagine that they will be any longer tolerable by you? Themoment they have arrived at an equality with you, they will havebecome your superiors. But, forsooth, they only object to any newlaw being made against them: they mean to deprecate, not justice, but severity. Nay, their wish is, that a law which you have admitted, established by your suffrages, and confirmed by the practice andexperience of so many years to be beneficial, should now be repealed;that is, that, by abolishing one law, you should weaken all therest. No law perfectly suits the convenience of every member of thecommunity: the only consideration is, whether, upon the whole, it beprofitable to the greater part. If because a law proves obnoxious toa private individual, that circumstance should destroy and sweep itaway, to what purpose is it for the community to enact general laws, which those, with reference to whom they were passed, could presentlyrepeal? I should like, however, to hear what this important affairis which has induced the matrons thus to run out into public in thisexcited manner, scarcely restraining from pushing into the forum andthe assembly of the people. Is it to solicit that their parents, theirhusbands, children, and brothers may be ransomed from captivityunder Hannibal? By no means: and far be ever from the commonwealth sounfortunate a situation. Yet, even when such was the case, you refusedthis to their prayers. But it is not duty, nor solicitude for theirfriends; it is religion that has collected them together. Theyare about to receive the Idaean Mother, coming out of Phrygia fromPessinus! What motive, that even common decency will allow to bementioned, is pretended for this female insurrection? Why, say they, that we may shine in gold and purple; that, both on festal and commondays, we may ride through the city in our chariots, triumphing overvanquished and abrogated law, after having captured and wrested fromyou your suffrages; and that there may be no bounds to our expensesand our luxury. 

4. "Often have you heard me complain of the profuse expenses of thewomen--often of those of the men; and that not only of men in privatestations, but of the magistrates: and that the state was endangered bytwo opposite vices, luxury and avarice; those pests, which havebeen the ruin of all great empires. These I dread the more, as thecircumstances of the commonwealth grow daily more prosperous andhappy; as the empire increases; as we have now passed over into Greeceand Asia, places abounding with every kind of temptation that caninflame the passions; and as we have begun to handle even royaltreasures: so much the more do I fear that these matters will bringus into captivity, rather than we them. Believe me, those statues fromSyracuse were brought into this city with hostile effect. I alreadyhear too many commending and admiring the decorations of Athens andCorinth, and ridiculing the earthen images of our Roman gods thatstand on the fronts of their temples. For my part I prefer thesegods, --propitious as they are, and I hope will continue to be, ifwe allow them to remain in their own mansions. In the memory ofour fathers, Pyrrhus, by his ambassador Cineas, made trial of thedispositions, not only of our men, but of our women also, by offers ofpresents: at that time the Oppian law, for restraining female luxury, had not been made; and yet not one woman accepted a present. What, think you, was the reason? That for which our ancestors made noprovision by law on this subject: there was no luxury existing whichneeded to be restrained. As diseases must necessarily be known beforetheir remedies, so passions come into being before the laws whichprescribe limits to them. What called forth the Licinian law, restricting estates to five hundred acres, but the unbounded desirefor enlarging estates? What the Cincian law, concerning gifts andpresents, but that the plebeians[1] had become vassals and tributariesto the senate? It is not therefore in any degree surprising, that nowant of the Oppian law, or of any other, to limit the expenses of thewomen, was felt at that time, when they refused to receive gold andpurple that was thrown in their way, and offered to their acceptance. If Cineas were now to go round the city with his presents, he wouldfind numbers of women standing in the public streets to receive them. There are some passions, the causes or motives of which I can noway account for. For that that should not be lawful for you whichis permitted to another, may perhaps naturally excite some degree ofshame or indignation; yet, when the dress of all is alike, why shouldany one of you fear, lest she should not be an object of observation?Of all kinds of shame, the worst, surely, is the being ashamed offrugality or of poverty; but the law relieves you with regard to both;since that which you have not it is unlawful for you to possess. Thisequalization, says the rich matron, is the very thing that I cannotendure. Why do not I make a figure, distinguished with gold andpurple? Why is the poverty of others concealed under this cover ofa law, so that it should be thought that, if the law permitted, theywould have such things as they are not now able to procure? Romans, do you wish to excite among your wives an emulation of this sort, that the rich should wish to have what no other can have; and thatthe poor, lest they should be despised as such should extend theirexpenses beyond their means? Be assured, that when a woman once beginsto be ashamed of what she ought not to be ashamed of, she will not beashamed of what she ought. She who can, will purchase out of her ownpurse; she who cannot, will ask her husband. Unhappy is the husband, both he who complies with the request, and he who does not; for whathe will not give himself, he will see given by another. Now, theyopenly solicit favours from other women's husbands; and, what is more, solicit a law and votes. From some they obtain them; although, withregard to yourself, your property, or your children, they would beinexorable. So soon as the law shall cease to limit the expenses ofyour wife, you yourself will never be able to do so. Do not supposethat the matter will hereafter be in the same state in which it wasbefore the law was made on the subject. It is safer that a wicked manshould even never be accused, than that he should be acquitted; andluxury, if it had never been meddled with, would be more tolerablethan it will be, now, like a wild beast, irritated by having beenchained, and then let loose. My opinion is, that the Oppian law ought, on no account, to be repealed. Whatever determination you may come to, I pray all the gods to prosper it. "

[Footnote 1: Previous to the passing of the Cincian law, about tenyears before this time, the advocates who pleaded in the courtsreceived fees and presents: and as all or most of these were senators, the plebeians are here represented as tributary to the senate. By theabove law they were forbidden to receive either fees or presents. ]

5. After him the plebeian tribunes, who had declared their intentionof protesting, added a few words to the same purport. Then LuciusValerius spoke thus in support of the measure which he himself hadintroduced:--"If private persons only had stood forth to argue for andagainst the proposition which we have submitted to your consideration, I for my part, thinking enough to have been said on both sides, wouldhave waited in silence for your determination. But since a person ofmost respectable judgment, the consul, Marcus Porcius, has reprobatedour motion, not only by the influence of his opinion, which, had hesaid nothing, would carry very great weight, but also in a long andcareful discourse, it becomes necessary to say a few words in answer. He has spent more words in rebuking the matrons, than in arguingagainst the measure proposed; and even went so far as to mention adoubt, whether the matrons had committed the conduct which he censuredin them spontaneously or at our instigation. I shall defend themeasure, not ourselves: for the consul threw out those insinuationsagainst us, rather for argument's sake than as a serious charge. He has made use of the terms cabal and sedition; and, sometimes, secession of the women: because the matrons had requested of you, inthe public streets, that, in this time of peace, when the commonwealthis flourishing and happy, you would repeal a law that was made againstthem during a war, and in times of distress. I know that these andother similar strong expressions, for the purpose of exaggeration, areeasily found; and, mild as Marcus Cato is in his disposition, yet inhis speeches he is not only vehement, but sometimes even austere. Whatnew thing, let me ask, have the matrons done in coming out into publicin a body on an occasion which nearly concerns themselves? Havethey never before appeared in public? I will turn over your ownAntiquities, [1] and quote them against you. Hear, now how often theyhave done the same, and always to the advantage of the public. In theearliest period of our history, even in the reign of Romulus, when theCapitol had been taken by the Sabines, and a pitched battle was foughtin the forum, was not the fight stopped by the interposition of thematrons between the two armies? When, after the expulsion of thekings, the legions of the Volscians, under the command of MarciusCoriolanus, were encamped at the fifth stone, did not the matrons turnaway that army, which would have overwhelmed this city? Again, whenRome was taken by the Gauls, whence was the city ransomed? Did notthe matrons, by unanimous agreement, bring their gold into the publictreasury? In the late war, not to go back to remote antiquity, whenthere was a want of money, did not the funds of the widows supply thetreasury? And when even new gods were invited hither to the relief ofour distressed affairs, did not the matrons go out in a body to thesea-shore to receive the Idaean Mother? The cases, you will say, aredissimilar. It is not my purpose to produce similar instances; it issufficient that I clear these women of having done any thing new. Now, what nobody wondered at their doing in cases which concerned all incommon, both men and women, can we wonder at their doing in a casepeculiarly affecting themselves? But what have they done? We haveproud ears, truly, if, though masters disdain not the prayers ofslaves, we are offended at being asked a favour by honourable women. 

[Footnote 1: Alluding to a treatise by Cato, upon the antiquities ofItaly, entitled "Origines, " which is the word used here by Valerius. ]

6. "I come now to the question in debate, with respect to which theconsul's argument is twofold: for, first, he is displeased at thethought of any law whatever being repealed; and then, particularly, of that law which was made to restrain female luxury. His formerargument, in support of the laws in general, appeared highly becomingof a consul; and that on the latter, against luxury, was quiteconformable to the rigid strictness of his morals. There is, therefore, a danger lest, unless I shall show what, on each subject, was inconclusive, you may probably be led away by error. For whileI acknowledge, that of those laws which are instituted, not for anyparticular time, but for eternity, on account of their perpetualutility, not one ought to be repealed; unless either experience evinceit to be useless, or some state of the public affairs render it so; Isee, at the same time, that those laws which particular seasons haverequired, are mortal, (if I may use the term, ) and changeable with thetimes. Those made in peace are generally repealed by war; those madein war, by peace; as in the management of a ship, some implements areuseful in good weather, others in bad. As these two kinds are thusdistinct in their nature, of which kind does that law appear to bewhich we now propose to repeal? Is it an ancient law of the kings, coeval with the city itself? Or, what is next to that, was it writtenin the twelve tables by the decemvirs, appointed to form a code oflaws? Is it one, without which our ancestors thought that the honourof the female sex could not be preserved? and, therefore, have we alsoreason to fear, that, together with it, we should repeal the modestyand chastity of our females? Now, is there a man among you who doesnot know that this is a new law, passed not more than twenty yearsago, in the consulate of Quintus Fabius and Tiberius Sempronius? Andas, without it, our matrons sustained, for such a number of years, the most virtuous characters, what danger is there of their abandoningthemselves to luxury on its being repealed? For, if that law had beenpassed for the purpose of setting a limit to the passions of the sex, there would be reason to fear lest the repeal of it might operate asan incitement to them. But the real reason of its being passed, the time itself will show Hannibal was then in Italy, victorious atCannae: he already held possession of Tarentum, of Arpi, of Capua, andseemed ready to bring up his army to the city of Rome. Our allieshad deserted us. We had neither soldiers to fill up the legions, norseamen to man the fleet, nor money in the treasury. Slaves, who wereto be employed as soldiers, were purchased on condition of their pricebeing paid to the owners at the end of the war. The farmers of therevenues had declared, that they would contract to supply corn andother matters, which the exigencies of the war required, to be paidfor at the same time. We gave up our slaves to the oar, in numbersproportioned to our properties, and paid them out of our own incomes. All our gold and silver, in imitation of the example given by thesenators, we dedicated to the use of the public. Widows and minorslodged their money in the treasury. It was provided by law that weshould not keep in our houses more than a certain quantity of wroughtgold or silver, or more than a certain sum of coined silver or brass. At such a time as this, were the matrons so eagerly engaged inluxury and dress, that the Oppian law was requisite to repress suchpractices; when the senate, because the sacrifice of Ceres had beenomitted, in consequence of all the matrons being in mourning, orderedthe mourning to end in thirty days? Who does not clearly see, thatthe poverty and distress of the state, requiring that every privateperson's money should be converted to the use of the public, enactedthat law, with intent that it should remain in force so long only asthe cause of enacting the law should remain? For if all the decreesof the senate and orders of the people, which were then made to answerthe necessities of the times, are to be of perpetual obligation, whydo we refund their money to private persons? Why do we contract forpublic works for ready money? Why are not slaves brought to serve inthe army? Why do not we, private subjects, supply rowers as we didthen?

7. "Shall, then, every other class of people, every individual, feelthe improvement in the condition of the state; and shall our wivesalone reap none of the fruits of the public peace and tranquillity?Shall we men have the use of purple, wearing the purple-bordered gownin magistracies and priests' offices? Shall our children wear gownsbordered with purple? Shall we allow the privilege of wearing the togapraetexta to the magistrates of the colonies and borough towns, andto the very lowest of them here at Rome, the superintendents of thestreets; and not only of wearing such an ornament of distinction whilealive, but of being buried with it when dead; and shall we interdictthe use of purple to women alone? And when you, the husband, may wearpurple in your great coat, will you not suffer your wife to have apurple mantle? Shall your horse be more splendidly caparisoned thanyour wife is clothed? But with respect to purple, which will be wornout and consumed, I can see an unjust, indeed, but still a sort ofreason, for parsimony; but with respect to gold, in which, exceptingthe price of the workmanship, there is no waste, what objection canthere be? It rather serves as a reserve fund for both public andprivate exigencies, as you have already experienced. He says therewill be no emulation between individuals, when no one is possessedof it. But, in truth, it will be a source of grief and indignation toall, when they see those ornaments allowed to the wives of the Latinconfederates of which they themselves have been deprived; when theysee those riding through the city in their carriages, and decoratedwith gold and purple, while they are obliged to follow on foot, asif the seat of empire were in the country of the others, not in theirown. This would hurt the feelings even of men, and what do you thinkmust be its effect on those of weak women, whom even trifles candisturb? Neither offices of state, nor of the priesthood, nortriumphs, nor badges of distinction, nor military presents, norspoils, can fall to their share. Elegance of appearance, andornaments, and dress, these are the women's badges of distinction; inthese they delight and glory; these our ancestors called the women'sworld. What else do they lay aside when in mourning, except their goldand purple? And what else do they resume when the mourning is over?How do they distinguish themselves on occasion of public thanksgivingsand supplications, but by adding unusual splendour of dress? But then, (it may be said, ) if you repeal the Oppian law, should you choose toprohibit any of those particulars which the law at present prohibits, you will not have it in your power; your daughters, wives, and eventhe sisters of some, will be less under control. The bondage ofwomen is never shaken off without the loss of their friends; and theythemselves look with horror on that freedom which is purchased withthe condition of the widow or the orphan. Their wish is, that theirdress should be under your regulation, not under that of the law; andit ought to be your wish to hold them in control and guardianship, notin bondage; and to prefer the title of father or husband to that ofmaster. The consul just now made use of some invidious terms, callingit a female sedition and secession; because, I suppose, there isdanger of their seizing the sacred mount, as formerly the angryplebeians did; or the Aventine. Their feeble nature must submitto whatever you think proper to enjoin; and, the greater power youpossess, the more moderate ought you to be in the exercise of yourauthority. "

8. Although all these considerations had been urged against the motionand in its favour, the women next day poured out into public in muchgreater numbers, and in a body beset the doors of the tribunes who hadprotested against the measure of their colleagues; nor did they retireuntil this intervention was withdrawn. There was then no further doubtbut that every one of the tribes would vote for the repeal of the law. Thus was this law annulled, in the twentieth year after it hadbeen made. The consul Marcus Porcius, as soon as the Oppian law wasabolished, sailed immediately, with twenty-five ships of war, of whichfive belonged to the allies, to the port of Luna, where he ordered thetroops to assemble; and having sent an edict along the sea-coast, tocollect ships of every description, at his departure from Luna he leftorders that they should follow him to the harbour of Pyrenaeus, ashe intended to proceed thence against the enemy with his collectivefleet. They accordingly, after sailing by the Ligurian mountains andthe Gallic bay, congregated together on the day appointed. From thencethey went to Rhoda, and forcibly dislodged a garrison of Spaniardsthat were in that fortress. From Rhoda they proceeded with afavourable wind to Emporiae, and there landed all the forces, excepting the crews of the ships. 

9. At that time, as at present, Emporiae consisted of two towns, separated by a wall. One was inhabited by Greeks from Phocaea, whencethe Massilians also derive their origin; the other by Spaniards. TheGreek town, being open towards the sea, had but a small extent ofwall, not above four hundred paces in circuit; but the Spanish town, being farther back from the sea, had a wall three thousand paces incircumference. A third kind of inhabitants was added by the deifiedCaesar settling a Roman colony there, after the final defeat of thesons of Pompey. At present they are all incorporated in one mass; theSpaniards first, and, at length, the Greeks; having been adoptedinto the Roman citizenship. Whoever had, at that period, observed theGreeks exposed on one side to the open sea, and on the other to theSpaniards, a fierce and warlike race, would have wondered by whatcause they were preserved. Deficient in strength, they guarded againstdanger by regular discipline; of which, among even more powerfulpeople, the best preservative is fear. That part of the wall whichfaced the country, they kept strongly fortified, having but one gate, at which some one of the magistrates was continually on guard. Duringthe night, a third part of the citizens kept watch on the walls, posting their watches, and going their rounds, not merely from theforce of custom, or in compliance with the law, but with as muchvigilance as if an enemy were at their gates. They never admittedany Spaniard into the city, nor did they go outside the walls withoutprecaution. The passage to the sea was open to every one: but, throughthe gate, next to the Spanish town, none ever passed, but in a largebody; these were generally the third division, which had watched onthe walls the preceding night. The cause of their going out was this:the Spaniards, ignorant of maritime affairs, were fond of traffickingwith them, and glad of an opportunity of purchasing, for their ownuse, the foreign goods, which the others imported in their ships; and, at the same time, of finding a market for the produce of their lands. The desire of this mutual intercourse caused the Spanish town to befreely open to the Greeks. They were thus the more protected as beingsheltered under the friendship of the Romans, which they cultivatedwith as much cordial zeal, though not possessed of equal resources, as the Massilians. On this account they received the consul, and hisarmy, with kindness and cordiality. Cato staid there a few days, untilhe could learn what force the enemy had, and where they lay; and, notto be idle during even that short delay, he spent the whole time inexercising his men. It happened to be the season of the year whenthe Spaniards had the corn in their barns. He therefore orderedthe purveyors not to purchase any corn, and sent them home to Rome, saying, that the war would maintain itself. Then, setting out fromEmporiae, he laid waste the lands of the enemy with fire and sword, spreading terror and flight through the whole country. 

10. At the same time, as Marcus Helvius was going home from FartherSpain, with an escort of six thousand men, given him by the praetor, Appius Claudius, the Celtiberians, with a very numerous force, methim near the city of Illiturgi. Valerius says, that they had twentythousand effective men; that twelve thousand of them were killed, thetown of Illiturgi taken, and all the adult males put to the sword. Helvius, soon after, arrived at the camp of Cato; and as the regionwas now free from enemies, he sent back the escort to Farther Spain, and proceeded to Rome, where, on account of his successful services, he entered the city with an ovation. He carried into the treasury, ofsilver bullion, fourteen thousand pounds' weight; of coined, seventeenthousand and twenty-three denarii;[1] and Oscan[2] denarii, onehundred and twenty thousand four hundred and thirty-eight. [3] Thereason for which the senate refused him a triumph was, because hefought under the auspices, and in the province, of another. He hadreturned, moreover, two years after the expiration of his office, because after he had resigned the government of the province toQuintus Minucius, he was detained there during the succeeding year, by a severe and tedious sickness he therefore entered the city inovation, only two months before his successor, Quintus Minucius, enjoyed a triumph. The latter also brought into the treasurythirty-four thousand eight hundred pounds' weight of silver, seventy-eight thousand denarii, [4] and of Oscan denarii two hundredand seventy-eight thousand. [5]

[Footnote 1: 549l. 14s. ]

[Footnote 2: Osca, now Huesca, was a city in Spain, remarkable forsilver mine near it. ]

[Footnote 3: 659l. 11s. 9-1/2d. ]

[Footnote 4: 2430l. 11s. 3d. ]

[Footnote 5: 8889l. 6s. 9d. ]

11. Meanwhile, in Spain, the consul lay encamped at a small distancefrom Emporiae. Thither came three ambassadors from Bilistages, chieftain of the Ilergetians, one of whom was his son, representing, that "their fortresses were besieged and that they had no hopesof being able to hold out, unless the Roman troops came to theirassistance. Three thousand men, " they said, "would be sufficient;" andthey added, that, "if such a force came to their aid, the enemy wouldnot keep their ground. " To this the consul answered, that "he wastruly concerned for their danger and their fears; but that he had byno means so great an amount of forces, as that, while there lay in hisneighbourhood such a powerful force of the enemy, with whom he dailyexpected a general engagement, he could safely diminish his strengthby dividing his troops. " The ambassadors, on hearing this, threwthemselves at the consul's feet, and with tears conjured him "notto forsake them at such a perilous juncture. For, if rejected by theRomans, to whom could they apply? They had no other allies, no otherhope on earth. They might have escaped the present hazard, if they hadconsented to forfeit their faith, and to conspire with the rest; butno menaces, no appearances of danger, had been able to shake theirconstancy, because they hoped to find in the Romans abundant succourand support. If there was no further prospect of this, if it wasrefused them by the consul, they called gods and men to witness, thatreluctantly and under compulsion they must change sides, to avoid suchsufferings as the Saguntines had undergone; and that they would perishtogether with the other states of Spain, rather than alone. "

12. They were thus dismissed on that day without any positive answer. During the following night, the consul's thoughts were greatlyperplexed and divided. He was unwilling to abandon these allies, yetequally so to diminish his army, which might either oblige him todecline a battle, or occasion danger in an engagement. He was firmlyresolved, however, not to lessen his forces, lest he should in themean time suffer some disgrace from the enemy; and therefore hejudged it expedient, instead of real succour, to hold out hopes to theallies. For he considered that, in many cases, but especially in war, mere appearances have had all the effect of realities; and thata person, under a firm persuasion that he can command resources, virtually has them; that by that very confidence he was insured in hishopes and efforts. Next day he told the ambassadors, that "althoughhe was afraid to lend a part of his forces to others, and so to weakenhis own, yet that he was giving more attention to their circumstancesand danger than to his own. " He then gave orders to the third partof the soldiers of every cohort, to make haste and prepare victuals, which they were to carry with them on board ships, and that thevessels should be got in readiness against the third day. He desiredtwo of the ambassadors to carry an account of these proceedings toBilistages and the Ilergetians; but, by kind treatment and presents, he prevailed on the chieftain's son to remain with him. Theambassadors did not leave the place until they saw the troops embarkedon board the ships; then reporting this at home as a matter ofcertainty, they spread, not only among their own people, but likewiseamong the enemy, a confident assurance of the approach of Romansuccours. 

13. The consul, when a specious appearance had been sufficientlyexhibited, ordered the soldiers to be recalled from the ships; and, asthe season of the year now approached when it would be proper to enteron action, he pitched a winter camp at the distance of three milesfrom Emporiae. From this post he frequently led out his troops toravage the enemy's country; sometimes to one quarter, sometimes toanother, as opportunity offered, leaving only a small guard in thecamp. They generally began their march in the night, that they mightproceed as far as possible from the camp, and surprise the enemyunawares; and this practice disciplined the new-raised soldiers, andgreat numbers of the enemy were cut off; so that they no longer daredto venture beyond the walls of their forts. When he had made himselfthoroughly acquainted with the temper of the enemy, and of his ownmen, he ordered the tribunes and the praefects, with all the horsemenand centurions, to be called together, and addressed them thus: "Thetime is arrived, which you have often wished for, when you might havean opportunity of displaying your valour. Hitherto you have waged warrather as marauders than as regular troops; you shall now meet yourenemies hand to hand, in regular fight. Henceforward you will haveit in your power, instead of pillaging country places, to exhaust thetreasures of cities. Our fathers, at a time when the Carthaginianshad in Spain both commanders and armies, and had themselves neithercommander nor soldiers there, nevertheless insisted on its being anarticle of treaty, that the river Iberus should be the boundary oftheir empire. Now, when two praetors of the Romans, when a consul, andthree armies are employed in Spain, and, for near ten years past, noCarthaginian has been in either of its provinces, yet we have lostthat empire on the hither side of the Iberus. This it is your duty torecover by your valour and arms; and to compel this nation, which isin a state rather of giddy insurrection than of steady warfare, toreceive again the yoke which it has shaken off. " After thus generallyexhorting them, he gave notice, that he intended to march by night tothe enemy's camp; and then dismissed them to take refreshment. 

14. At midnight, after having given his attention to the auspices, hebegan his march, that he might take possession of such ground as hechose, before the enemy should observe him. Having led his troopsbeyond their camp, he formed them in order of battle, and at the firstlight sent three cohorts close to their very ramparts. The barbarians, surprised at the Romans appearing on their rear, ran hastily to arms. In the mean time, the consul observed to his men, "Soldiers, you haveno room for hope, but in your own courage; and I have, purposely, taken care that it should be so. The enemy are between us and ourcamp; behind us is an enemy's country. What is most honourable, islikewise safest; namely, to place all our hopes in our own valour. "He then ordered the cohorts to retreat, in order to draw out thebarbarians by the appearance of flight. Every thing happened as he hadexpected. The enemy, thinking that the Romans retired through fear, rushed out of the gate, and filled the whole space between theirown camp and the line of their adversaries. While they were hastilymarshalling their troops, the consul, who had all his in readiness, and in regular array, attacked them when in disorder. He caused thecavalry from both wings to advance first to the charge: but those onthe right were immediately repulsed, and, retiring in disorder, spreadconfusion among the infantry also. On seeing this, the consul orderedtwo chosen cohorts to march round the right flank of the enemy, andshow themselves on their rear, before the two lines of infantry couldclose. The alarm which this gave the enemy, which had been thrown toa disadvantage by the cowardice of the Roman horse, restored the fightto an equality. But such a panic had taken possession of both thecavalry and infantry of the right wing, that the consul laid hold ofseveral with his own hand, and turned them about with their faces tothe enemy. As long as the fight was carried on with missile weapons, success was doubtful; and on the right wing, where the disorder andflight had first began, the Romans with difficulty kept their ground. On their left wing, the barbarians were both hard pressed in in front;and looked back, with timidity, at the cohorts that threatened theirrear. But when, after discharging their iron darts and large javelins, they drew their swords, the battle, in a manner, began anew. They wereno longer wounded by random blows from a distance, but, closing footto foot, placed all their hope in courage and strength. 

15. When the consul's men were now spent with fatigue, he reanimatedtheir courage by bringing up into the fight some subsidiary cohortsfrom the second line. These formed a new front, and being freshthemselves, and with fresh weapons attacking the wearied enemy inthe form of a wedge, by a furious onset they first forced their waythrough them; and then, when they were once broken, scattered them andput them to flight. They returned towards their camp across the fieldswith all the speed they could make. When Cato saw the rout becomegeneral, he rode back to the second legion, which had been posted inreserve, and ordered the standards to be borne before it, and that itshould advance in quick motion, and attack the camp of the enemy. Ifany of them, through too much eagerness, pushed forward beyond hisrank, he himself rode up and struck them with his javelin, and alsoordered the tribunes and centurions to chastise them. By this time thecamp of the enemy was attacked, though the Romans were kept off fromthe works by stones, poles, and weapons of every sort. But, on thearrival of the fresh legion, the assailants assumed new courage, andthe enemy fought with redoubled fury in defence of their rampart. Theconsul attentively examined every place himself, that he might breakin at that quarter where he saw the weakest resistance. At a gate onthe left, he observed that the guard was thin, and thither he led thefirst-rank men and spearmen of the second legion. The party postedat the gate were not able to withstand their assault; while the rest, seeing the enemy within the rampart, abandoned the defence of thecamp, and threw away their standards and arms. Great numbers werekilled at the gates, being stopped in the narrow passages by thethrong of their own men; and the soldiers of the second legion cut offthe hindmost, while the rest were plundering the camp. According tothe account of Valerius Antias, there were above forty thousand ofthe enemy killed on that day. Cato himself, who was certainly nodisparager of his own merits, says that a great many were killed, buthe specifies no number. 

16. The conduct of Cato on that day is judged deserving ofcommendation in three particulars. First, in leading round his army sofar from his camp and fleet, as to fight the battle in the very middleof the enemy, that his men might look for no safety but in theircourage. Secondly, in throwing the cohorts on the enemy's rear. Thirdly, in ordering the second legion, when all the rest weredisordered by the eagerness of their pursuit, to advance at a fullpace to the gate of the camp, in compact and regular order under theirstandards. He delayed not to improve his victory; but having sounded aretreat, and brought back his men laden with spoil, he allowed them afew hours of the night for rest; and then led them out to ravage thecountry. They spread their depredations the wider, as the enemy weredispersed in their flight; and this circumstance, no less than thedefeat of the preceding day, obliged the Spaniards of Emporiae, and those of their neighbourhood, to make a submission. Many also, belonging to other states, who had made their escape to Emporiae, surrendered; all of whom the consul received with kindness, and afterrefreshing them with victuals and wine, dismissed to their severalhomes. He quickly decamped thence, and wherever the army proceeded onits march, he was met by ambassadors, surrendering their respectivestates; so that, by the time when he arrived at Tarraco, all Spain onthis side of the Ebro was in a state of perfect subjection; and theRoman prisoners, and those of their allies and the Latin confederates, who by various chances had fallen into the hands of the enemies inSpain, were brought back by the barbarians, as an offering to theconsul. A rumour afterwards spread abroad, that Cato intended to leadhis army into Turditania; and it was given out, with equal falsehood, that he meant to proceed to the remote inhabitants of the mountains. On this groundless, unauthenticated report, seven forts of theBergistans revolted; but the Roman, marching thither, reduced themto subjection without any battle worthy of narration. Not very longafter, when the consul returned to Tarraco, and before he removedto any other place, the same persons revolted again. They wereagain subdued; but, on this second reduction, met not the same mildtreatment; they were all sold by auction, that they might not anyoftener disturb the peace. 

17. In the mean time, the praetor, Publius Manlius, having receivedthe army from Quintius Minucius, whom he had succeeded, and joined toit the old army of Appius Claudius Nero, from Farther Spain, marchedinto Turditania. Of all the Spaniards, the Turditanians are reckonedthe least warlike; nevertheless, relying on their great numbers, theywent to oppose the march of the Romans. The cavalry, having been sentforward, at once broke their line; and with the infantry there washardly any conflict. The veteran soldiers, well acquainted with theenemy and their manner of fighting, effectually decided the battle. This engagement, however, did not terminate the war. The Turdulanshired ten thousand Celtiberians, and prepared to carry on the war withforeign troops. The consul, meanwhile, alarmed at the rebellion ofthe Bergistans, and suspecting that the other states would act inlike manner when occasion offered, took away their arms from all theSpaniards on this side of the Iberus; which proceeding affected themso deeply, that many laid violent hands on themselves; this fiercerace considering that, without arms, life was of no value. When thiswas reported to the consul, he summoned before him the senators ofevery one of the states, to whom he spoke thus: "It is not more ourinterest than it is your own, that you should not rebel; since yourinsurrections have, hitherto, always drawn more mi fortune on theSpaniards than labour on the Roman armies. To prevent such thingshappening in future, I know but one method, which is, to put it outof your power to rebel. I wish to effect this in the gentlest way, andthat you would assist me therein with your advice. I will follow nonewith greater pleasure than what yourselves shall offer. " They allremaining silent, he told them that he would give them a few days'time to consider the matter. When, on being called together, even inthe second meeting, they uttered not a word, in one day he razed thewalls of all their fortresses; and marching against those who had notyet submitted, he received in every country, as he passed through, the submission of all the neighbouring states. Segestica alone, animportant and opulent city, he reduced by works and engines. 

18. Cato had greater difficulties to surmount, in subduing the enemy, than had those commanders who came first into Spain; for this reason, that the Spaniards, through disgust at the Carthaginian government, came over to their side; whereas he had the task of enforcing theirsubmission to slavery, in a manner, after they had been in fullenjoyment of liberty. Besides, he found the whole province in astate of commotion; insomuch, that some were in arms, and others werecompelled to join in the revolt by being besieged, nor would theyhave been able to hold out any longer if they had not received timelysuccour. But so vigorous was the spirit and capacity of the consul, that there was no kind of business, whether great or small, which hedid not himself attend to and perform; and he not only planned andordered, but generally executed in person such measures as wereexpedient; nor did he practise a more strict and rigorous disciplineover any one than over himself. In spare diet, watching, and labour, he vied with the meanest of his soldiers; nor, excepting the honour ofhis post, and the command, had he any peculiar distinction above therest of the army. 

19. The Celtiberians, summoned forth by the enemy for hire, as abovementioned, rendered the war in Turditania more difficult to thepraetor, Publius Manlius. The consul, therefore, in compliance with aletter from the praetor, led his legions thither. The Celtiberiansand Turditanians were lying in separate camps at the approach ofthe Romans, who began immediately to skirmish with the Turditanians, making attacks on their advanced guards; and they constantly cameoff victorious from every engagement, however rashly undertaken. Theconsul ordered some military tribunes to enter into a conference withthe Celtiberians, and to offer them their choice of three proposals:first, to come over, if they wished it, to the Romans, and receivedouble the pay for which they had agreed with the Turditanians: thesecond, to depart to their own homes, on receiving assurance, underthe sanction of the public faith, that it should not operate to theirinjury that they had joined the enemies of the Romans: the third was, that, if they were absolutely determined on war, they should appoint aday and place to decide the matter with him by arms. The Celtiberiansdesired a day's time for consideration; and an assembly was held, butin great confusion, from the Turditanians mingling in it, so that noresolution could be come to. Although it was uncertain whetherthere was to be war or peace with the Celtiberians, the Romans, nevertheless, just as though the latter were determined on, broughtprovisions from the lands and forts of the enemy, and soon venturedto go within their fortifications, relying on private truces, asthey would on a common intercourse established by authority. When theconsul found that he could not entice the enemy to a battle, he firstled out a number of cohorts, lightly accoutred, in regular order, toravage a part of the country which was yet unhurt; then hearing thatall the baggage of the Celtiberians was deposited at Saguntia, he proceeded thither to attack that town, but was unable, notwithstanding, to provoke them to stir. Paying, therefore, his owntroops and those of Minucius, he left the bulk of his army in thepraetor's camp, and, with seven cohorts, returned to the Iberus. 

20. With that small force he took several towns. The Sidetonians, Ausetanians, and Suessetanians came over to his side. The Lacetanians, a remote and wild nation, still remained in arms; partly through theirnatural ferocity, and partly through consciousness of guilt, in havinglaid waste, by sudden incursions, the country of the allies, while theconsul and his army were employed in the war with the Turditanians. He therefore marched to attack their capital, not only with the Romancohorts, but also with the troops of the allies, who were justlyincensed against them. The town was stretched out into considerablelength, but had not proportionable breadth. At the distance of aboutfour hundred paces from it he halted, and leaving there a partycomposed of chosen cohorts, he charged them not to stir from that spotuntil he himself should come to them; and then he led round the restof the men to the farther side of the town. The greater part of hisauxiliary troops were Suessetanians, and these he ordered to advanceand assault the wall. The Lacetanians, knowing their arms andstandards, and remembering how often they had themselves, withimpunity, committed every kind of outrage and insult in theirterritory, how often defeated and routed them in pitched battles, hastily threw open a gate, and all, in one body, rushed out againstthem. The Suessetanians scarcely stood their shout, much less theironset; and the consul, on seeing this happen, just as he had foreseen, galloped back under the enemy's wall to his cohorts, brought them upquickly to that part of the city where all was silence and solitude, in consequence of the Lacetanians having sallied out on theSuessetanians, and took possession of every part of it before theLacetanians returned; who, having nothing now left but their arms, soon surrendered themselves also. 

21. The conqueror marched thence, without delay, to the fort ofVergium. This was, almost entirely, a receptacle of robbers andplunderers, and thence incursions were made on the peaceable partsof the province. One of the principal inhabitants deserted out ofthe place to the consul, and endeavoured to excuse himself and hiscountrymen; alleging, that "the management of affairs was not in theirhands; for the robbers, having gained admittance, had reduced thefort entirely under their own power. " The consul ordered him to returnhome, and pretend some plausible reason for having been absent; andthen, "when he should see him advancing to the walls, and the robbersintent on defending the city, to seize the citadel with such men asfavoured his party. " This was executed according to his directions. The double alarm, from the Romans scaling the walls in front, and thecitadel being seized on their rear, at once entirely confounded thebarbarians. The consul, having taken possession of the place, ordered, that those who had secured the citadel should, with their relations, be set at liberty, and enjoy their property, the rest of the nativeshe commanded the quaestor to sell; and he put the robbers to death. Having restored quiet in the province, he settled the iron and silvermines on such a footing, that they produced a large revenue; and, inconsequence of the regulations then made, the province daily increasedin riches. On account of these services performed in Spain, the senatedecreed a supplication for three days. 

22. During this summer, the other consul, Lucius Valerius Flaccus, fought a pitched battle with a body of the Boians in Gaul, near theforest of Litanae, and gained a complete victory. Eight thousandof the Gauls are said to have been slain; the rest, desisting fromfurther opposition, retired quietly to their several villages andlands. During the remainder of the summer, the consul kept his armynear the Po, at Placentia and Cremona, and repaired the buildings inthese cities which had been demolished in the war. While the affairsof Italy and Spain were in this posture, Titus Quinctius had spent thewinter in Greece, in such a manner, that excepting the Aetolians, whoneither had gained rewards of victory adequate to their hopes, norwere capable of being long contented with a state of quiet, allGreece, being in full enjoyment of the blessings of peace and liberty, were highly pleased with their present state; and they admirednot more the Roman general's bravery in arms, than his temperance, justice, and moderation in victory. And now a decree of the senatewas brought to him, containing a denunciation of war against Nabisthe Lacedaemonian. On reading it, Quinctius summoned a convention ofdeputies from all the allied states, to be held, on a certain day, atCorinth. Whither when many persons of the first rank came together, from all quarters, forming a very full assembly, from which even theAetolians were not absent, he addressed them in this manner:--"TheRomans and Greeks, in the war which they waged against Philip, wereunited in affections and councils, and they had each no less theirseparate reasons for entering into it. For he had violated friendshipwith the Romans; first by aiding our enemies, the Carthaginians; andthen by attacking our allies here: and, towards you, his conduct wassuch, that even if we had been willing to forget our own injuries, those offered by him to you would have constituted a sufficientoccasion of war. But the business to be considered this day hasrelation wholly to yourselves: for the subject which I propose to yourconsideration is, whether you choose to suffer Argos, which, as youknow, has been seized by Nabis, to remain under his dominion; orwhether you judge it reasonable, that a city of such high reputationand antiquity, seated in the centre of Greece, should be restored toliberty, and placed in the same state with the rest of the cities ofPeloponnesus and of Greece. This question, as you see, merely respectsyourselves; it concerns not the Romans in any decree, excepting sofar as the one city being left in subjection to tyranny hinders theirglory, in having liberated Greece, from being full and complete. If, however, you are not moved by regard for that city, nor by theexample, nor by the danger of the contagion of that evil spreadingwider, we, for our parts, shall rest content. On this subject I desireyour opinions, resolved to abide by whatever the majority of you shalldetermine. "

23. After the address of the Roman general, the several deputiesproceeded to give their opinions. The ambassador of the Atheniansextolled, to the utmost of his power, and expressed the greatestgratitude for the kindness of the Romans towards Greece, "in having, when applied to for assistance, brought them succours against Philip;and now, without being applied to, voluntarily offering assistanceagainst the tyrant Nabis. " He at the same time severely censuredthe conduct of some, who, in their discourses, "depreciated thosekindnesses, and propagated evil surmises of the future, when it wouldbetter become them rather to return thanks for the past. " It wasevident that this was pointed at the Aetolians: wherefore Alexander, deputy of that nation, having first inveighed against the Athenians, who, having formerly been the most strenuous supporters of liberty, now betrayed the general cause, for the sake of recommendingthemselves by flattery. He then complained that "the Achaeans, formerly soldiers of Philip, and lately, on the decline of hisfortune, deserters from him, had regained possession of Corinth, andwere so acting as that they might acquire Argos; while the Aetolians, who had first opposed their arms to Philip, who had always beenallies of the Romans, and who had stipulated by treaty, that, on theMacedonian being conquered, the lands and cities should be theirs, were defrauded of Echinus and Pharsalus. " He charged the Romans withinsincerity, because, "while they put forth empty professions ofestablishing liberty, they held possession of Demetrias and Chalcisby their garrisons; though, when Philip hesitated to withdraw hisgarrisons from those places, they always urged against him that theGrecians would never be free while Demetrias, Chalcis, and Corinthwere in the hands of the others. And, lastly, that they named Argosand Nabis merely as a pretext for remaining in Greece, and keepingtheir armies there. Let them carry away their legions to Italy;and the Aetolians were ready to undertake, either that Nabis shouldvoluntarily withdraw his forces from Argos, on terms; or they wouldcompel him by force of arms to comply with the unanimous judgment ofGreece. "

24. This arrogant speech called up, first, Aristaenus, praetor of theAchaeans, who said:--"Forbid it, Jupiter, supremely good and great, and imperial Juno, the tutelar deity of Argos, that that city shouldbe staked as a prize between the Lacedaemonian tyrant and the Aetolianplunderers, under such unhappy circumstances, that its being retakenby you should be productive of more calamitous consequences than itscapture by him. Titus Quinctius, the sea lying between us, does notsecure us from those robbers; what then will become of us, should theyprocure themselves a stronghold in the centre of Peloponnesus? Theyhave nothing Grecian but the language, as they have nothing human butthe shape. They live under customs and rites more brutally savage thanany barbarians, nay, than wild beasts themselves. Wherefore, Romans, we beseech you, not only to recover Argos from Nabis, but also toestablish the affairs of Greece on such a footing, as to leave thesecountries adequately secured from the robberies of the Aetolians. " Therest concurring in these censures on the Aetolians, the Roman generalsaid, that "he had himself intended to have answered them, but thathe perceived all so highly incensed against those people, that thegeneral resentment required rather to be appeased than irritated. Satisfied, therefore, with the sentiments entertained of the Romans, and of the Aetolians, he would simply put this question: What was thegeneral opinion concerning war with Nabis, in case of his refusing torestore Argos to the Achaeans?" When all had pronounced for war, herecommended to them, to send in their shares of auxiliary troops, eachstate in proportion to its ability. He even sent an ambassador to theAetolians; rather to make them disclose their sentiments, which wasthe actual result, than with any hope of obtaining their concurrence. He gave orders to the military tribunes, to bring up the army fromElatia. To the ambassadors of Antiochus, who, at this time, proposedto treat of an alliance, he answered, that "he could say nothing onthe subject in the absence of the ten ambassadors. They must go toRome, and apply to the senate. "

25. As soon as the troops arrived from Elatia, Quinctius set out tolead them towards Argos. When near Cleonae he was met by the praetor, Aristaenus, with ten thousand Achaean foot and one thousand horse; andhaving joined forces, they pitched their camp at a small distance fromthence. Next day they marched down into the plains of Argos, andfixed their post about four miles from that city. The commander of theLacedaemonian garrison was Pythagoras, the tyrant's son-in-law, andhis wife's brother; who, on the approach of the Romans, posted strongguards in both the citadels, for Argos has two, and in every otherplace that was commodious for defence, or exposed to danger. But, while thus employed, he could by no means dissemble the dread inspiredby the approach of the Romans; and, to the alarm from abroad, wasadded an insurrection within. There was an Argive, named Damocles, a youth of more spirit than prudence, who held conversations, withproper persons, on a design of expelling the garrison; at first, withthe precaution of imposing an oath, but afterwards, through hiseager desire to add strength to the conspiracy, he estimated people'ssincerity with too little caution. While he was in conference withhis accomplices, an officer, sent by the commander of the garrison, summoned him to appear before him, and he perceived that his designwas betrayed; on which, exhorting the conspirators, who were present, to take arms with him, rather than be tortured to death, he went onwith a few companions towards the forum, crying out to all who wishedthe preservation of the state, to follow him as the vindicator andauthor of their liberty. He could prevail on none to join him; forthey saw no prospect of any attainable advantage, and much less anysufficiently powerful support. While he exclaimed in this manner, theLacedaemonians surrounded him and his party, and put them to death. Many others were afterwards seized, the greater part of whom wereexecuted, and the remaining few thrown into prison. During thefollowing night, great numbers, letting themselves down from the wallsby ropes, came over to the Romans. 

26. As these men affirmed, that if the Roman army had been at thegates, this commotion would not have ended without effect; and that, if the camp was brought nearer, the Argives would not remain inactive;Quinctius sent some horsemen and infantry, lightly accoutred, who, meeting at the Cylarabis, a place of exercise, less than three hundredpaces from the city, a party of Lacedaemonians, who sallied out of agate, engaged them, and, without much difficulty, drove them back intothe town; and the Roman general encamped on the very spot where thebattle had been fought. There he passed one day, on the look-out ifany new commotion might arise; but perceiving that the inhabitantswere quite depressed by fear, he called a council concerning thebesieging of Argos. All the deputies of Greece, except Aristaenus, were of one opinion, that, as that city was the sole object of thewar, with it the war should commence. This was by no means agreeableto Quinctius; but he listened, with evident marks of approbation, to Aristaenus, arguing in opposition to the joint opinion of allthe rest; while he himself added, that "as the war was undertaken infavour of the Argives, against the tyrant, what could be less properthan to leave the enemy in quiet, and lay siege to Argos? For hispart, he was resolved to point his arms against the main object of thewar, Lacedaemon and the tyrant. " He then dismissed the meeting, andsent out light-armed cohorts to collect forage. Whatever was ripe inthe adjacent country, they reaped, and brought together; and whatwas green they trod down and destroyed, that the enemy might notsubsequently get it. He then proceeded over Mount Parthenius, and, passing by Tegaea, encamped on the third day at Caryae; where hewaited for the auxiliary troops of the allies, before he entered theenemy's territory. Fifteen hundred Macedonians came from Philip, andfour hundred horsemen of the Thessalians; and now the Roman generalhad no occasion to wait for more auxiliaries, having abundance; but hewas obliged to stop for supplies of provisions, which he had orderedthe neighbouring cities to furnish. He was joined also by a powerfulnaval force; Lucius Quinctius had already come from Leucas, with fortyships; eighteen ships of war had arrived from the Rhodians; and kingEumenes was cruising among the Cyclades, with ten decked ships, thirtybarks, and smaller vessels of various sorts. Of the Lacedaemoniansthemselves, also, a great many, who had been driven from home by thecruelty of the tyrants, came into the Roman camp, in hopes of beingreinstated in their country; for the number was very great of thosewho had been banished by the several despots, during many generationssince they first got Lacedaemon into their power. The principal personamong the exiles was Agesipolis, to whom the sovereignty of Lacedaemonbelonged in right of his birth; but who had been driven out when aninfant by Lycurgus, after the death of Cleomenes, who was the firsttyrant of Lacedaemon. 

27. Although Nabis was enclosed between such powerful armaments onland and sea, and, on a comparative view of his own and his enemy'sstrength, could scarcely conceive any degree of hope; yet he did notdesist from the war, but brought, from Crete, a thousand chosen youngmen of that country in addition to a thousand whom he had before; hehad, besides, under arms, three thousand mercenary soldiers, and tenthousand of his countrymen, with the peasants, who belonged to thefortresses. He fortified the city with a ditch and rampart; and lestany intestine commotion should arise, curbed the people's spirits byfear, punishing them with extreme severity, as he could not hope forgood wishes towards a tyrant. As he had his suspicions respecting someof the citizens, he drew out all his forces to a field called Dromos, (the course, ) and ordered the Lacedaemonians to be called to anassembly without their arms. He then formed a line of armed men roundthe place where they were assembled, observing briefly, "that he oughtto be excused, if, at such a juncture, he feared and guarded againstevery thing that might happen; and that, if the present state ofaffairs subjected any to suspicion, it was their advantage to beprevented from attempting any design, rather than to be punishedfor attempting it: he therefore intended, " he said, "to keep certainpersons in custody, until the storm, which then threatened, shouldhave passed over; and would discharge them as soon as the enemy shouldhave been driven away, from whom the danger would be less, when properprecaution was taken against internal treachery. " He then ordered thenames of about eighty of the principal young men to be called over, and as each answered to his name, he put them in custody. On the nightfollowing, they were all put to death. Some of the Helotes, a race ofrustics, who have been feudal vassals even from the earliest times, being charged with an intention to desert, they were driven withstripes through all the streets, and put to death. The terror whichthis excited so confounded the multitude, as to deter them fromall attempts to effect a revolution. He kept his forces within thefortifications, knowing that he was not a match for the enemy in thefield; and, besides, he was afraid to leave the city, while all men'sminds were in a state of such suspense and uncertainty. 

28. Quinctius, when all his preparations were now sufficiently made, decamped; and, on the second day, came to Sellasia, on the riverOenus, on the spot where it is said Antigonus, king of Macedonia, fought a pitched battle with Cleomenes, tyrant of Lacedaemon. Beingtold that the ascent from thence was difficult, and the passes narrow, he made a short circuit by the mountains, sending forward a party tomake a road, and came, by a tolerably broad and open passage, to theriver Eurotas, where it flows almost immediately under the walls ofthe city. Here, the tyrant's auxiliary troops attacked the Romans, while they were forming their camp, together with Quinctius himself, (who, with a division of cavalry and light troops, had advanced beyondthe rest, ) and threw them into a state of alarm and confusion; notexpecting any thing of the kind, as no one had opposed them throughouttheir whole march, and they had passed, as it were, through a friendlyterritory. The disorder lasted a considerable time, the infantrycalling for aid on the cavalry, and the cavalry on the infantry, eachhaving but little confidence in himself. At length, the foremost ranksof the legions came up; and no sooner had the cohorts of the vanguardtaken part in the fight, than those who had lately been an object ofdread were driven back in terror into the city. The Romans, retiringso far from the wall as to be out of the reach of weapons, stood therefor some time in battle-array; and then, none of the enemy coming outagainst them, retired to their camp. Next day Quinctius led on hisarmy in regular order along the bank of the river, passed the city, tothe foot of the mountain of Menelaus, the legionary cohorts marchingin front, and the cavalry and light infantry bringing up the rear. Nabis kept his mercenary troops, on whom he placed his whole reliance, in readiness, and drawn up in a body, within the walls, intending toattack the rear of the enemy; and, as soon as the last of their troopspassed by, these rushed out of the town, from several places at once, with as great fury as the day before. The rear was commanded by AppiusClaudius, who having beforehand prepared his men to expect such anevent, that it might not come upon them unawares, instantly madehis troops face about, and presented an entire front to the enemy. Aregular engagement, therefore, took place, as if two complete lineshad encountered, and it lasted a considerable time; but at lengthNabis's troops betook themselves to flight, which would have beenattended with less dismay and danger, if they had not been closelypressed by the Achaeans, who were well acquainted with the ground. These made dreadful havoc, and dispersing them entirely, obligedthe greater part to throw away their arms. Quinctius encamped nearAmyclae; and afterwards, when he had utterly laid waste all thepleasant and thickly inhabited country round the city, not one of theenemy venturing out of the gates, he removed his camp to the riverEurotas. From thence he ravaged the valley lying under Taygetus, andthe country reaching as far as the sea. 

29. About the same time, Lucius Quinctius got possession of the townson the sea-coast; of some, by their voluntary surrender; of others, byfear or force. Then, learning that the Lacedaemonians made Gythium therepository of all their naval stores, and that the Roman camp was atno great distance from the sea, he resolved to attack that townwith his whole force. It was, at that time, a place of considerablestrength; well furnished with great numbers of native inhabitants andsettlers from other parts, and with every kind of warlike stores. Veryseasonably for Quinctius, when commencing an enterprise of no easynature, king Eumenes and the Rhodian fleet came to his assistance. Thevast multitude of seamen, collected out of the three fleets, finishedin a few days all the works requisite for the siege of a city sostrongly fortified, both on the land side and on that next the sea. Covered galleries were soon brought up; the wall was undermined, and, at the same time, shaken with battering rams. By the frequent shocksgiven with these, one of the towers was thrown down, and, by its fall, the adjoining wall on each side was laid flat. The Romans, on this, attempted to force in, both on the side next the port, to which theapproach was more level than to the rest, hoping to divert the enemy'sattention from the more open passage, and, at the same time, to enterthe breach caused by the falling of the wall. They were near effectingtheir design of penetrating into the town, when the assault wassuspended by the prospect which was held out of the surrender ofthe city. This however, was subsequently dissipated. Dexagoridas andGorgopas commanded there, with equal authority. Dexagoridas had sentto the Roman general a message that he would give up the city; and, after the time and the mode of proceeding had been agreed on, hewas slain as a traitor by Gorgopas, and the defence of the city wasmaintained with redoubled vigour by this single commander. The furtherprosecution of the siege would have been much more difficult, had notTitus Quinctius arrived with a body of four thousand chosen men. Heshowed his army in order of battle, on the brow of a hill at a smalldistance from the city; and, on the other side, Lucius Quinctius pliedthe enemy hard with his engines, both on the quarter of the sea, andof the land; on which Gorgopas was compelled to adopt that proceeding, which, in the case of another, he had punished with death. Afterstipulating for liberty to carry away the soldiers whom he had thereas a garrison, he surrendered the city to Quinctius. Previous to thesurrender of Gythium, Pythagoras, who had been left as commanderat Argos, having intrusted the defence of the city to Timocrates ofPellene, with a thousand mercenary soldiers, and two thousand Argives, came to Lacedaemon and joined Nabis. 

30. Although Nabis had been greatly alarmed at the first arrival ofthe Roman fleet, and the surrender of the towns on the sea-coast, yet, as long as Gythium was held by his troops he had quieted hisapprehensions with that scanty hope; but when he heard that Gythium, too, was given up to the Romans, and saw that he had no room for anykind of hope on the land, where every place round was in the handsof the enemy, and that he was totally excluded from the sea, heconsidered that he must yield to fortune. He first sent a messengerinto the Roman camp, to learn whether permission would be given tosend ambassadors. This being consented to, Pythagoras came to thegeneral, with no other commission than to propose a conference betweenthat commander and the tyrant. A council was summoned on the proposal, and every one present agreeing in opinion that a conference shouldbe granted, a time and place were appointed. They came, with moderateescorts, to some hills in the interjacent ground; and leaving theircohorts there, in posts open to the view of both parties, they wentdown to the place of meeting; Nabis attended by a select party of hisbody-guards; Quinctius by his brother, king Eumenes, Sosilaus, theRhodian, Aristaenus, praetor of the Achaeans, and a few militarytribunes. 

31. Then the tyrant, having the choice given him either to speak firstor to listen, began thus: "Titus Quinctius, and you who are present, if I could collect from my own reflections the reason of your havingeither declared or actually made war against me, I should have waitedin silence the issue of my destiny. But in the present state ofthings, I could not repress my desire of knowing, before I am ruined, the cause for which my ruin is resolved on. And in truth, if youwere such men as the Carthaginians are represented to be, --men whoconsidered the obligation of faith, pledged in alliances, as in nodegree sacred, I should not wonder if you were the less scrupulouswith respect to your conduct towards me. But, instead of that, when Ilook at you, I perceive that you are Romans: men who allow treaties tobe the most solemn of religious acts, and faith, pledged therein, the strongest of human ties. Then, when I look back at myself, I amconfident I am one who, as a member of the community, am, in commonwith the rest of the Lacedaemonians, included in a treaty subsistingwith you, of very ancient date; and likewise have, lately, during thewar with Philip, concluded anew, in my own name, a personal friendshipand alliance with you. But it appears I have violated and cancelledthat treaty, by holding possession of the city of Argos. In whatmanner shall I defend this? By the consideration of the fact, or ofthe time. The consideration of the fact furnishes me with a twofolddefence: for, in the first place, in consequence of an invitation fromthe inhabitants themselves, and of their voluntary act of surrender, I accepted the possession of that city, and did not seize it by force. In the next place, I accepted it, when the city was in league withPhilip, not in alliance with you. Then the consideration of the timeacquits me, inasmuch as when I was in actual possession of Argos, thealliance was entered into between you and me, and you stipulated thatI should send you aid against Philip, not that I should withdraw mygarrison from that city. In this dispute, therefore, so far as itrelates to Argos, I have unquestionably the advantage, both fromthe equity of the proceeding, as I gained possession of a city whichbelonged not to you, but to your enemy; and as I gained it by its ownvoluntary act, and not by forcible compulsion; and also from your ownacknowledgment; since, in the articles of our alliance, you leftArgos to me. But then, the name of tyrant, and my conduct, are strongobjections against me: that I call forth slaves to a state of freedom;that I carry out the indigent part of the populace, and give themsettlements in lands. With respect to the title by which I am styled, I can answer thus: That, let me be what I may, I am the same now thatI was at the time when you yourself, Titus Quinctius, concluded analliance with me. I remember, that I was then styled king by you;now, I see, I am called tyrant. If, therefore, I had since alteredthe style of my office, I might have an account to render of myfickleness: as you choose to alter it, that account should be renderedby you. As to what relates to the augmenting the number of thepopulace, by giving liberty to slaves, and the distribution of landsto the needy; on this head, too, I might defend myself by a referenceto time: These measures, of what complexion soever they are, I hadpractised before you formed friendship with me, and received my aidin the war against Philip. But, if I did these same things, at thismoment, I would not say to you, how did I thereby injure you, orviolate the friendship subsisting between us? but that, in so doing, I acted agreeably to the practice and institutions of my ancestors. Do not estimate what is done at Lacedaemon by the standard of your ownlaws and constitution. There is no necessity for comparing particularinstitutions: you are guided in your choice of a horseman, by thequantity of his property; in your choice of a foot soldier, by thequantity of his property; and your plan is, that a few should aboundin wealth, and that the body of the people should be in subjectionto them. Our lawgiver did not choose that the administration ofgovernment should be in the hands of a few, such as you call a senate;or that this or that order of citizens should have a superiorityover the rest: but he considered that, by equalizing the property anddignity of all, he should multiply the number of those who were tobear arms for their country. I acknowledge that I have enlarged onthese matters, beyond what consists with the conciseness customarywith my countrymen, and that the sum of the whole might be comprisedin few words: that, since I first commenced a friendship with you, Ihave given you no just cause to repent it. "

32. The Roman general answered: "We never contracted any friendshipor alliance with you, but with Pelops, the right and lawful king ofLacedaemon: whose authority, while the Carthaginian, Gallic, andother wars, succeeding one another, kept us constantly employed, the tyrants, who after him held Lacedaemon under forced subjection, usurped into their own hands, as did you also during the late warwith Macedonia. For what could be less fitting, than that we, who werewaging war against Philip, in favour of the liberty of Greece, shouldcontract friendship with a tyrant, and a tyrant the most cruel andviolent towards his subjects that ever existed? But, even supposingthat you had not either seized or held Argos by iniquitous means, itwould be incumbent on us, when we are giving liberty to all Greece, toreinstate Lacedaemon also in its ancient freedom, and the enjoyment ofits own laws, which you just now spoke of, as if you were a rivalof Lycurgus. Shall we take pains to make Philip's garrisons evacuateTassus and Bargylii; and shall we leave Lacedaemon and Argos, thosetwo most illustrious cities, formerly the lights of Greece, underyour feet, that their continuance in bondage may tarnish our title ofdeliverers of Greece? But the Argives took part with Philip: we excuseyou from taking any concern in that cause, so that you need not beangry with them on our behalf. We have received sufficient proof, thatthe guilt of that proceeding is chargeable on two only, or, at most, three persons, and not on the state; just, indeed, as in the case ofthe invitation given to you and to your army, and your reception intothe citadel, not one step was taken by public authority. We know, that the Thessalians, Phocians, and Locrians, with unanimous consent, joined in espousing the cause of Philip; yet we have given liberty tothem in common with the rest of Greece. How then can you suppose weshall conduct ourselves towards the Argives, who are acquitted ofhaving publicly authorized misconduct? You said, that your invitingslaves to liberty, and the distribution of lands among the indigent, were objected to you as crimes; and crimes, surely, they are, of nosmall magnitude. But what are they in comparison with those atrociousdeeds, that are daily perpetrated by you and your adherents, incontinual succession? Show us a free assembly of the people, either atArgos or Lacedaemon, if you wish to hear a true recital of the crimesof the most abandoned tyranny. To omit all other instances of olderdate, what a massacre did your son-in-law, Pythagoras, make at Argosalmost before my eyes! What another did you yourself perpetrate, whenI was nearly within the confines of the Lacedaemonians! Now, giveorders, that the persons whom you took out of the midst of anassembly, and committed to prison, after declaring, in the hearing ofall your countrymen, that you would keep them in custody, be producedin their chains, that their wretched parents may know that those arealive, for whom, under a false impression, they are mourning. Well, but you say, though all these things were so, Romans, how do theyconcern you? Can you say this to the deliverers of Greece; to peoplewho crossed the sea, and have maintained a war on sea and land, toeffect its deliverance? Still you tell us, you have not directlyviolated the alliance, or the friendship established between us. Howmany instances must I produce of your having done so? But I will notgo into long detail; I will bring the matter to a short issue. Bywhat acts is friendship violated? Most effectually by these two:by treating our friends as foes; and by uniting yourself with ourenemies. Each of these has been done by you. For Messene, which hadbeen united to us in friendship, by one and the same bond of alliancewith Lacedaemon, you, while professing yourself our ally, reduced tosubjection by force of arms, though you knew it was in alliance withus; and you contracted with Philip, our professed enemy, not onlyan alliance, but even an affinity, through the intervention of hisgeneral, Philocles: and waging actual war against us, with yourpiratical ships, you made the sea round Malea unsafe, and you capturedand slew more Roman citizens almost than Philip himself; and to ourships conveying provisions to our armies the coast of Macedonia itselfwas less dangerous, than the promontory of Malea. Cease, therefore, tovaunt your good faith, and the obligations of treaties; and, droppinga popular style of discourse, speak as a tyrant, and as an enemy. "

33. Aristaenus then began, at first to advise, and afterwards evento beseech Nabis, while it was yet in his power, and he had theopportunity, to consider what was best for himself and his interests. He then mentioned the names of several tyrants in the neighbouringstates who had resigned their authority, and restored liberty to theirpeople, and afterwards spent among their fellow citizens not onlya secure but an honoured old age. These observations having beenreciprocally made and listened to, the approach of night broke up theconference. Next day Nabis said, that he was willing to cede Argos, and withdraw his garrison, since such was the desire of the Romans, and to deliver up the prisoners and deserters; and if they demandedany thing further, he requested that they would set it down inwriting, that he might deliberate on it with his friends. Thus thetyrant gained time for consultation; and Quinctius also, on his part, called a council, to which he summoned the chiefs of the allies. Thegreatest part were of opinion, that "they ought to persevere in thewar, and that the tyrant should be altogether got rid of; otherwisethe liberty of Greece would never be secure. That it would have beenmuch better never to have entered on the war than to drop it after itwas begun; for this would be a kind of approbation of his tyrannicalusurpation, and which would establish him more firmly, as giving thecountenance of the Roman people to his ill-acquired authority, andthat he would quickly spirit up many in other states to plot againstthe liberty of their countrymen. " The wishes of the general himselftended rather to peace; for he saw that, as the enemy was shut up inthe town, nothing remained but a siege, and that must be very tedious. For it was not Gythium that they must besiege, though even that placehad been gained by capitulation, not by assault; but Lacedaemon, acity most powerful in men and arms. The only hope which theycould have formed was, that, on the first approach of their army, dissensions and insurrections might have been raised within: but, though the standards had been seen to advance almost to the gates, not one person had stirred. To this he added, that "Villius theambassador, returning from Antiochus, brought intelligence, that thepeace was an unsound one; and that the king had come over into Europewith a much more powerful armament by sea and land than before. Now, if the army should be engaged in the siege of Lacedaemon, with whatother forces could the war be maintained against a king of his greatpower and strength?" These arguments he urged openly; but beneath allthis there lay a concealed anxiety lest one of the new consulsshould be appointed to the province of Greece; and then the honour ofterminating the war, in which he had proceeded so far, must be yieldedto a successor. 

34. Finding that he could not, by opposition, make any alterationin the sentiments of the allies, by pretending to go over to theiropinion, he led them all into a concurrence in his plan. "Be it so, "said he, "and may success attend us: let us lay siege to Lacedaemon, since that is your choice. However, as a business so slow in itsprogress, as you know the besieging of cities to be, very often wearsout the patience of the besiegers sooner than that of the besieged, you ought at once to make up your minds to this, that we must pass thewinter under the walls of Lacedaemon. If this delay involved only toiland danger, I would recommend to you to prepare your minds and bodiesto support these. But, in the present case, vast expenses also willbe requisite for the construction of works, for machines and engines, sufficient for the siege of so great a city, and for procuring storesof provisions for the winter to serve you and us: therefore, toprevent your being suddenly disconcerted, or shamefully deserting anenterprise which you had engaged in, I think it will be necessary foryou to write home to your respective states, and learn what degree ofspirit and of strength each possesses. Of auxiliary troops I have asufficient number, and to spare; but the more numerous we are, themore numerous will be our wants. The country of the enemy has nothingleft but the naked soil. Besides, the winter is at hand, which willrender it difficult to convey what we may stand in need of fromdistant places. " This speech first turned their thoughts to thedomestic evils prevailing in their several states; the indolence ofthose who remained at home; the envy and misrepresentations to whichthose who were serving abroad were liable; that a state of freedomwas a difficult one in which to procure unanimity; the want of publicfunds, and people's backwardness to contribute out of their privateproperty. Their inclinations being thus suddenly changed, they gavefull power to the general, to do whatever he judged conducive to thegeneral interest of the Roman people and their allies. 

35. Then Quinctius, consulting only his lieutenant-generals andmilitary tribunes, drew up the following conditions on which peaceshould be made with the tyrant: "That there should be a suspension ofarms for six months, between Nabis on one part, and the Romans, kingEumenes, and the Rhodians on the other. That Titus Quinctius and Nabisshould immediately send ambassadors to Rome, in order that the peacemight be ratified by authority of the senate. That, whatever day awritten copy of these conditions should be delivered to Nabis, on thatday should the armistice commence; and, within ten days after, hisgarrisons should be withdrawn from Argos, and all other towns inthe territory of the Argives; all which towns should be entirelyevacuated, restored to freedom, and delivered to the Romans. That noslave, whether belonging to the king, the public, or a private person, be removed out of any of them; and if any had been removed before, that they be faithfully restored to their owners. That he shouldreturn the ships, which he had taken from the maritime states; andshould not have any other than two barks; and these to be navigatedwith no more than sixteen oars. That he should restore to all thestates in alliance with the Roman people, the prisoners and desertersin his hands; and to the Messenians, all the effects that could bediscovered, and which their possessors could own. That he should, likewise, restore to the exiled Lacedaemonians their children, andtheir wives, who chose to follow their husbands; provided that nowoman should be obliged, against her will, to go with her husband intoexile. That such of the mercenary soldiers of Nabis as had desertedhim, and gone either to their own countries or to the Romans, shouldhave all their effects faithfully returned to them. That he shouldhold possession of no city in the island of Crete; and that such aswere then in his possession should be given up to the Romans. Thathe should not form any alliance, or wage war, with any of the Cretanstates, or with any other. That he should withdraw all his garrisonsfrom those cities, which he should give up, and which had putthemselves, and their country, under the dominion and protection ofthe Roman people; and should take care that, in future, he shouldrestrain both himself and his subjects from molesting them. That heshould not build any town or fort in his own, or any other territory. That, to secure the performance of these conditions, he should givefive hostages, such as the Roman general should choose, and amongthem his own son: and should pay, at present, one hundred talents ofsilver; and fifty talents, annually, for eight years. "

36. These articles were put into writing, and sent into Lacedaemon, the camp having been removed, and brought nearer to the town. Thetyrant saw nothing in them that gave him much satisfaction, exceptingthat, beyond his hopes, no mention had been made of bringing back theexiles. But what mortified him most of all, was, the depriving him ofhis shipping, and of the maritime towns: for the sea had been a sourceof great profit to him; his piratical vessels having continuallyinfested the whole coast from the promontory of Malea. Besides, hefound in the young men of those towns recruits for his army, who madeby far the best of his soldiers. Though he discussed those conditionsin private with his confidential friends, yet, as the ministers in thecourts of kings, faithless in other respects, are particularly sowith respect to the concealing of secrets, rumour soon made themall public. The public, in general, expressed not so great adisapprobation of the whole of the terms, as did individuals, of thearticles particularly affecting themselves. Those who had the wivesof the exiles in marriage, or had possessed themselves of any of theirproperty, were provoked, as if they were to lose what was their own, and not to make restitution of what belonged to others. The slaves, who had been set at liberty by the tyrant, perceived plainly, not onlythat their enfranchisement would be annulled, but that their servitudewould be much more severe than it had been before, when they shouldbe again put under the power of their incensed masters. The mercenarysoldiers were dissatisfied, because, in consequence of a peace, theirpay would cease; and they knew also, that they could not return amongtheir own countrymen, who detested not tyrants more than they didtheir abettors. 

37. They at first spoke of these matters, in their circles, withmurmurs of discontent; and afterwards, suddenly ran to arms. Fromwhich tumultuous proceeding, the tyrant perceived that the passionsof the multitude were of themselves sufficiently inflamed, andimmediately ordered a general assembly to be summoned. Here heexplained to them the terms which the Romans strove to impose, towhich he falsely added others, more severe and humiliating. While, on the mention of each particular, sometimes the whole assembly, sometimes different parties, raised a shout of disapprobation, heasked them, "What answer they wished him to give; or what they wouldhave him do?" On which all, as it were with one voice, cried out, "Togive no answer, to continue the war;" and they began, as is commonwith a multitude, every one to encourage the rest, to keep up theirspirits, and cherish good hopes, observing, that "fortune favours thebrave. " Animated by these expressions, the tyrant assured them, thatAntiochus, and the Aetolians, would come to their assistance; andthat he had, in the mean time, resources abundantly sufficient for themaintenance of a siege. The very mention of peace had vanished fromthe minds of all, and unable to contain themselves longer in quiet, they ran out in parties against the advanced guards of the enemy. The sally of these few skirmishers, and the weapons which they threw, immediately removed all doubt from the Romans that the war was tocontinue. During the four following days, several slight encounterstook place, at first without any decisive result; but, on the fifthday after, in a kind of regular engagement, the Lacedaemonianswere beaten back into the town, in such a panic, that several Romansoldiers, pressing close on the rear of the fugitives, entered thecity through open spaces, not secured with a wall, of which, at thattime, there were several. 

38. Then Quinctius, having, by this repulse, effectually checked thesallies of the enemy, and being fully convinced that he had now noalternative, but must besiege the city, sent persons to bring up allthe marine forces from Gythium; and, in the mean time, rode himself, with some military tribunes, round the walls, to take a view of thesituation of the place. In former times, Sparta had no wall; of late, the tyrants had built walls in the places where the ground Was openand level; but the higher places, and those more difficult of access, they secured by placing guards of soldiers instead of fortifications. When he had sufficiently examined every circumstance, having resolvedon making a general assault, he surrounded the city with all hisforces, the number of which, Romans and allies, horse and foot, navaland land forces, all together, amounted to fifty thousand men. Some brought scaling-ladders, some fire-brands, some other matters, wherewith they might not only assail the enemy, but strike terror. Theorders were, that on raising the shout, all should advance at once, inorder that the Lacedaemonians, being alarmed at the same time in everyquarter, might be at a loss where, first, to make head, or whither tobring aid. The main force of his army he formed in three divisions, and ordered one to attack on the side of the Phoebeum, another on thatof the Dictynneum, and the third near a place called Heptagoniae, allwhich are open places without walls. Though surrounded on all sides bysuch a violent alarm, the tyrant, at first, attentive to every suddenshout and hasty message, either ran up himself, or sent others, wherever the greatest danger pressed; but, afterwards, he was sostunned by the horror and confusion that prevailed all around, as tobecome incapable either of giving proper directions, or of hearingwhat was said, and to lose, not only his judgment, but almost hisreason. 

39. For some time the Lacedaemonians maintained their ground againstthe Romans, in the narrow passes; and three armies, on each side, fought, at one time, in different places. Afterwards, when the heat ofthe contest increased, the contest was, by no means, an equal one: forthe Lacedaemonians fought with missile arms, against which the Romansoldiers, by means of their large shields, easily defended themselves, and many of their blows either missed, or were very weak; for, thenarrowness of the place causing them to be closely crowded together, they neither had room to discharge their weapons with a previous run, which gives great force to them, nor clear and steady footing whilethey made their throw Of those, therefore, discharged against thefront of the Romans, none pierced their bodies, few even theirshields; but several were wounded by those who surrounded them fromhigher places. And presently, when they advanced a little, they werehurt unawares, both with javelins, and tiles also thrown from the topsof the houses. On this they raised their shields over their heads;and joining them so close together as to leave no room for injury fromsuch random casts, or even for the insertion of a javelin, by a handwithin reach, they pressed forward under cover of this tortoise fence. For some time the narrow streets, being thronged with a multitude oftheir own soldiers, and also of the enemy, considerably retarded theprogress of the Romans; but when once, by gradually pushing back theenemy, they gained the wider streets of the city, the impetuosity oftheir attack could no longer be withstood. While the Lacedaemonians, having turned their backs, fled precipitately to the higher places, Nabis, being utterly confounded, as if the town were already taken, began to look about for a way to make his escape. Pythagoras, while inother respects he displayed the spirit and conduct of a general, wasnow the sole means of saving the city from being taken. For he orderedthe buildings nearest to the wall to be set on fire; and these beinginstantly in a blaze, those who, on another occasion, would havebrought help to extinguish the fire, now helping to increase it, theroofs tumbled on the Romans; and not only fragments of the tiles, butalso the half-burned timber, reached the soldiers: the flames spreadwide, and the smoke caused a degree of terror even greater than thedanger. In consequence, the Romans who were without the city, andwere just then making the principal attack, retired from the wall;and those who were within, fearing lest the fire, rising behind them, should put it out of their power to rejoin the rest of the army, beganto retreat. Whereupon Quinctius, seeing how matters stood, ordered ageneral retreat to be sounded. --Thus, being at length recalled from acity which they had nearly taken, they returned to their camp. 

40. Quinctius, conceiving greater hopes from the fears of the enemythan from the immediate effect of his operations, kept them in acontinual alarm during the three succeeding days; sometimes harassingthem with assaults, sometimes enclosing several places with works, so as to leave no passage open for flight. These menaces had such aneffect on the tyrant that he again sent Pythagoras to solicit peace. Quinctius, at first, rejected him with disdain, ordering him to quitthe camp; but afterwards, on his suppliant entreaties, and throwinghimself at his feet, he admitted him to an audience. The purport ofhis discourse, at first, was, an offer of implicit submission to thewill of the Romans; but this availed nothing, being considered asnugatory and indecisive. The business was, at length, brought to thisissue, that a truce should be made on the conditions delivered inwriting a few days before, and the money and hostages were accordinglyreceived. While the tyrant was kept shut up by the siege, the Argives, receiving frequent accounts, one after another, that Lacedaemon was onthe point of being taken, and having themselves resumed courage onthe departure of Pythagoras, with the strongest part of his garrison, looked now with contempt on the small number remaining in the citadel;and, being headed by a person named Archippus, drove the garrisonout. They gave Timocrates, of Pellene, leave to retire, with solemnassurance of sparing his life, in consideration of the mildnesswhich he had shown in his government. In the midst of this rejoicing, Quinctius arrived, after having granted peace to the tyrant, dismissedEumenes and the Rhodians from Lacedaemon, and sent back his brother, Lucius Quinctius, to the fleet. 

41. The Nemaean games, the most celebrated of all the festivals, andtheir most splendid public spectacle, had been omitted, at the regulartime, on account of the disasters of the war: the state now, in thefulness of their joy, ordered them to be celebrated on the arrival ofthe Roman general and his army; and appointed the general, himself, president of the games. There were many circumstances which heightenedtheir happiness: their countrymen, whom Pythagoras, lately, and, before that, Nabis, had carried away, were brought home fromLacedaemon; those who on the discovery of the conspiracy byPythagoras, and when the massacre was already begun, had fled fromhome, now returned; they saw their liberty restored, after a longinterval, and beheld, in their city, the Romans, the authors of itsrestoration, whose only view, in making war on the tyrant, was thesupport of their interest. The freedom of the Argives was, also, solemnly announced, by the voice of a herald, on the very day of theNemaean games. Whatever pleasure the Achaeans felt on Argos beingreinstated in the general council of Achaia, it was, in a greatmeasure, alloyed by Lacedaemon being left in slavery, and the tyrantclose at their side. As to the Aetolians, they loudly railed at thatmeasure in every meeting. They remarked, that "the war with Philip wasnot ended until he evacuated all the cities of Greece. But Lacedaemonwas left to the tyrant, while the lawful king, who had been, at thetime, in the Roman camp, and others, the noblest of the citizens, mustlive in exile: so that the Roman nation was become a partisan of Nabisin his tyranny. " Quinctius led back his army to Elatia, whence he hadset out to the Spartan war. Some writers say, that the tyrant's methodof carrying on hostilities was not by sallies from the city, but thathe encamped in the face of the Romans; and that, after he had declinedfighting a long time, waiting for succours from the Aetolians, he wasforced to come to an engagement, by an attack which the Romans made onhis foragers, when, being defeated in that battle, and beaten out ofhis camp, he sued for peace, after fifteen thousand of his men hadbeen killed, and more than four thousand made prisoners. 

42. Nearly at the same time, arrived at Rome a letter from TitusQuinctius, with an account of his proceedings at Lacedaemon; andanother, out of Spain, from Marcus Porcius, the consul; whereupon thesenate decreed a supplication, for three days, in the name of each. The other consul, Lucius Valerius, as his province had remained quietsince the defeat of the Boians at the wood of Litana, came home toRome to hold the elections. Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, asecond time, and Tiberius Sempronius Longus, were elected consuls. Thefathers of these two had been consuls in the first year of the secondPunic war. The election of praetors was then held, and the choicefell on Publius Cornelius Scipio, two Cneius Corneliuses, Merendaand Blasio, Cneius Domitius Aenobarbus, Sextus Digitius, and TitusJuvencius Thalna. As soon as the elections were finished, the consulreturned to his province. The inhabitants of Ferentinum, this year, laid claim to a privilege unheard of before; that Latins, giving intheir names for a Roman colony, should be deemed citizens of Rome. Some colonists, who had given in their names for Puteoli, Salernum, and Buxentum, assumed, on that ground, the character of Romancitizens; but the senate determined that they were not. 

43. In the beginning of the year, wherein Publius Scipio Africanus, a second time, and Tiberius Sempronius Longus were consuls, twoambassadors from the tyrant Nabis came to Rome. The senate gave themaudience in the temple of Apollo, outside the city. They entreatedthat a peace might be concluded on the terms settled with Quinctius, and obtained their request. When the question was put concerning theprovinces, the majority of the senate were of opinion, that as thewars in Spain and Macedonia were at an end, Italy should be theprovince of both the consuls; but Scipio contended that one consul wassufficient for Italy, and that Macedonia ought to be decreed to theother; that "there was every reason to apprehend a dangerous war withAntiochus, for he had already, of his own accord, come into Europe;and how did they suppose he would act in future, when he should beencouraged to a war, on one hand, by the Aetolians, avowed enemiesof their state, and stimulated, on the other, by Hannibal, a generalfamous for his victories over the Romans?" While the consularprovinces were in dispute, the praetors cast lots for theirs. The cityjurisdiction fell to Cneius Domitius; the foreign, to Titus Juvencius:Farther Spain, to Publius Cornelius; Hither Spain, to Sextus Digitius;Sicily, to Cneius Cornelius Blasio; Sardinia, to Cneius CorneliusMerenda. It was resolved, that no new army should be sent intoMacedonia, but that the one which was there should be brought home toItaly by Quinctius, and disbanded; that the army which was in Spain, under Marcus Porcius Cato, should likewise be disbanded; that Italyshould be the province of both the consuls, and that they shouldraise two city legions; so that, after the disbanding of the armies, mentioned in the resolution of the senate, there should be in alleight Roman legions. 

44. A sacred spring had been celebrated, in the preceding year, duringthe consulate of Marcus Porcius and Lucius Valerius; but PubliusLicinius, one of the pontiffs, having made a report, first, tothe college of pontiffs, and afterwards, under the sanction of thecollege, to the senate, that it had not been duly performed, theyresolved, that it should be celebrated anew, under the direction ofthe pontiffs; and that the great games, vowed together with it, shouldbe exhibited at the same expense which was customary; that the sacredspring should be deemed to comprehend all the cattle born between thecalends of March and the day preceding the calends of May, in the yearof the consulate of Publius Cornelius Scipio and Tiberius SemproniusLongus. Then followed the election of censors. Sextus Aelius Paetus, and Caius Cornelius Cethegus, being created censors, named as princeof the senate the consul Publius Scipio, whom the former censorslikewise had appointed. They passed by only three senators in thewhole, none of whom had enjoyed the honour of a curule office. Theyobtained, on another account, the highest degree of credit with thatbody; for, at the celebration of the Roman games, they ordered thecurule aediles to set apart places for the senators, distinct fromthose of the people, whereas, hitherto, all the spectators used to sitpromiscuously. Of the knights, also, very few were deprived of theirhorses; nor was severity shown towards any rank of men. The galleryof the temple of Liberty, and the Villa Publica, were repaired andenlarged by the same censors. The sacred spring, and the votive games, were celebrated, pursuant to the vow of Servius Sulpicius Galba, whenconsul. While every one's thoughts were engaged by the shows thenexhibited, Quintus Pleminius, who, for the many crimes against godsand men committed by him at Locri, had been thrown into prison, procured men who were to set fire by night to several parts ofthe city at once, in order that, while the town was thrown intoconsternation by this nocturnal disturbance, the prison might bebroken open. But this plot was disclosed by some of the accomplices, and the affair was laid before the senate. Pleminius was thrown into alower dungeon, and there put to death. 

45. In this year colonies of Roman citizens were settled at Puteoli, Vulturnum, and Liternum; three hundred men in each place. Colonies ofRoman citizens were likewise established at Salernum and Buxentum. The lands allotted to them had formerly belonged to the Campanians. Tiberius Sempronius Longus, who was then consul, Marcus Servilius, andQuintus Minucius Thermus, were the triumviri who settled the colony. Other commissioners also, Decius Junius Brutus, Marcus BaebiusTamphilus, and Marcus Helvius, led a colony of Roman citizens toSipontum, into a district which had belonged to the Arpinians. ToTempsa, likewise, and to Croto, colonies of Roman citizens were ledout. The lands of Tempsa had been taken from the Bruttians, who hadformerly expelled the Greeks from them. Croto was possessed by Greeks. In ordering these establishments, there were named, for Croto, --CneiusOctavius, Lucius Aemilius Paullus, and Caius Pletorius; forTempsa, --Lucius Cornelius Merula, and Caius Salonius. Severalprodigies were observed at Rome that year, and others reported, fromother places. In the forum, comitium, and Capitol, drops of blood wereseen, and several showers of earth fell, and the head of Vulcan wassurrounded with a blaze of fire. It was reported that a stream of milkran in the river at Interamna; that, in some reputable families atAriminum, children were born without eyes and nose; and one, in theterritory of Picenum, that had neither hands nor feet. These prodigieswere expiated according to an order of the pontiffs; and thenine days' festival was celebrated, because the Hadrians had sentintelligence that a shower of stones had fallen in their fields. 

46. In Gaul, Lucius Valerius Flaccus, proconsul, in a pitched battlenear Mediolanum, completely overthrew the Insubrian Gauls, and theBoians; who, under the command of Dorulacus, had crossed the Po, torouse the Insubrians to arms. Ten thousand of the enemy were slain. About this time his colleague, Marcus Porcius Cato, triumphed overSpain. He carried in the procession twenty-five thousand pounds'weight of unwrought silver, one hundred and three thousand silverdenarii, [1] five hundred and forty of Oscan silver, [2] and onethousand four hundred pounds' weight of gold. Out of the booty, he distributed to each of his soldiers two hundred and seventy_asses_;[3] and three times that amount to each horseman. TiberiusSempronius, consul, proceeding to his province, led his legions, first, into the territory of the Boians. At this time Boiorix theirchieftain, with his two brothers, after having drawn out the wholenation into the field to renew the war, pitched his camp in the opencountry, that it might be evident that he was prepared to fight incase the enemy should pass the frontiers. When the consul understoodwhat a numerous force and what a degree of resolution the enemy had, he sent an express to his colleague, requesting him, "if he thoughtproper, to hasten to join him;" adding, that "he would act on thedefensive, and defer engaging in battle, until his arrival. " The samereason which made the consul wish to decline an action, inducedthe Gauls, whose spirits were raised by the backwardness of theirantagonists, to bring it on as soon as possible, that they mightfinish the affair before the two consuls should unite their forces. However, during two days, they did nothing more than stand inreadiness for battle, if any should come out against them. On thethird, they advanced furiously to the rampart, and assaulted the campon every side at once. The consul immediately ordered his men to takearms, and kept them quiet, under arms, for some time; both to add tothe foolish confidence of the enemy, and to arrange his troops at thegates, through which each party was to sally out. The two legions wereordered to march by the two principal gates; but, in the very pass ofthe gates, the Gauls opposed them in such close bodies as to stop upthe way. The fight was maintained a long time in these narrow passes;nor were their hands or swords much employed in the business, butpushing with their shields and bodies, they pressed against eachother, the Romans struggling to force their standards beyond thegates, the Gauls, to break into the camp, or, at least, to hinder theRomans from issuing forth. However, neither party could make the leastimpression on the other, until Quintus Victorius, a first centurion, and Caius Atinius, a military tribune, the former of the second, the latter of the fourth legion, had taken a course often tried indesperate conflicts; snatching the standards from the officers whocarried them, and throwing them among the enemy. In the struggle torecover the standards, the men of the second legion first made theirway out of the gate. 

[Footnote 1: 397l. 17s. 6d. ]

[Footnote 2: 17l. 8s. 9d. ]

[Footnote 3: 17s. 5-1/2d. ]

47. These were now fighting on the outside of the rampart, the fourthlegion still entangled in the gate, when a new alarm arose on theopposite side of the camp. The Gauls had broke in by the Quaestoriangate, and had slain the quaestor, Lucius Postumius, surnamed Tympanus, with Marcus Atinius and Publius Sempronius, praefects of the allies, who made an obstinate resistance; and also, near two hundred soldiers. The camp in that part had been taken, when a cohort of those who arecalled Extraordinaries, having been sent by the consul to defend theQuaestorian gate, killed some who had got within the rampart, droveout the rest, and opposed others who were attempting to breakin. About the same time, the fourth legion, and two cohorts ofExtraordinaries, burst out of the gate; and thus there were threebattles, in different places, round the camp; while the various kindsof shouts raised by them, called off the attention of the combatantsfrom their own immediate conflict to the uncertain casualties whichthreatened their friends. The battle was maintained until mid-day withequal strength, and with nearly equal hopes. At length, the fatigueand heat so far got the better of the soft relaxed bodies of theGauls, who are incapable of enduring thirst, as to make most of themgive up the fight; and the few who stood their ground, were attackedby the Romans, routed, and driven to their camp. The consul then gavethe signal for retreat, on which the greater part retired; but some, eager to continue the fight, and hoping to get possession of the camp, pressed forward to the rampart, on which the Gauls, despising theirsmall number, rushed out in a body. The Romans were then routed inturn, and compelled, by their own fear and dismay, to retreat to theircamp, which they had refused to do at the command of their general. Thus now flight and now victory alternated on both sides. The Gauls, however, had eleven thousand killed, the Romans but five thousand. TheGauls retreated into the heart of their country, and the consul ledhis legions to Placentia. Some writers say, that Scipio, after joininghis forces to those of his colleague, overran and plundered thecountry of the Boians and Ligurians, as far as the woods and marshessuffered him to proceed; others, that, without having effected anything material, he returned to Rome to hold the elections. 

48. Titus Quinctius passed the entire winter season of this year atElatia, where he had established the winter quarters of his army, inadjusting political arrangements, and reversing the measures which hadbeen introduced in the several states under the arbitrary dominationof Philip and his deputies, who crushed the rights and liberties ofothers, in order to augment the power of those who formed a factionin their favour. Early in the spring he came to Corinth, where he hadsummoned a general convention. Ambassadors having attended from everyone of the states, so as to form a numerous assembly, he addressedthem in a long speech, in which, beginning from the first commencementof friendship between the Romans and the nation of the Greeks, heenumerated the proceedings of the commanders who had been in Macedoniabefore him, and likewise his own. His whole narration was heard withthe warmest approbation, except when he came to make mention ofNabis; and then they expressed their opinion, that it was utterlyinconsistent with the character of the deliverer of Greece to haveleft seated, in the centre of one of its most respectable states, a tyrant, who was not only insupportable to his own country, but aterror to all the states in his neighbourhood. Whereupon Quinctius, not unacquainted with this tendency of their feelings, freelyacknowledged, that "if the business could have been accomplishedwithout the entire destruction of Lacedaemon, no mention of peace withthe tyrant ought ever to have been listened to; but that, when it wasnot possible to crush him otherwise than by the utter ruin of thismost important city, it was judged more eligible to leave the tyrantin a state of debility, stripped of almost every kind of power to doinjury to any, than to suffer the city, which must have perished inthe very process of its delivery being effectuated, to sink underremedies too violent for it to support. "

49. To the recital of matters past, he subjoined, that "his intentionwas to depart shortly for Italy, and to carry with him all his troops;that they should hear, within ten days, of the garrisons havingevacuated Demetrias; and that Chalcis, the citadel of Corinth, shouldbe before their own eyes evacuated to the Achaeans: that all the worldmight know whose habit it was to deceive, that of the Romans or theAetolians, who had spread insinuations, that the cause of liberty hadbeen unwisely intrusted to the Romans, and that they had only receivedas their masters the Romans in exchange for the Macedonians. But theywere men who never scrupled what they either said or did. The rest ofthe nations he advised to form their estimate of friends from deeds, not from words; and to satisfy themselves whom they ought to trust, and against whom they ought to be on their guard; to use their libertywith moderation: for, when regulated by prudence, it was productiveof happiness both to individuals and to states; but, when pushed toexcess, it became not only obnoxious to others, but to the possessorsof it themselves an unbridled and headstrong impulse. He recommended, that those at the head of affairs, and all the several ranks of menin each particular state, should cultivate harmony between themselves;and that all should direct their views to the general interest of thewhole. For, while they acted in concert, no king or tyrant would besufficiently powerful against them: but discord and dissension gaveevery advantage to those who might plot against them; as theparty worsted in a domestic dispute generally join themselves withforeigners, rather than submit to a countryman of their own. He thenexhorted them, as the arms of others had procured their liberty, andthe good faith of foreigners had restored it to them, to apply nowtheir own diligent care to the watching and guarding of it; thatthe Roman people might perceive that those on whom they had bestowedliberty were deserving of it, and that their kindness had not been illplaced. "

50. On hearing these admonitions, such as parental tenderness mightdictate, every one present shed tears of joy; and they affected hisfeelings to such a degree as to interrupt his discourse. For sometime a confused noise prevailed, from those who were expressing theirapprobation of his words, and charging each other to treasure up thoseexpressions in their minds and hearts, as if they had been uttered byan oracle. Then silence ensuing, he requested of them to make diligentsearch for such Roman citizens as were in servitude among them, and tosend them into Thessaly to him, within two months; observing, that"it would not be honourable to themselves, that, in a land restoredto liberty, its deliverers should remain in servitude. " To this allexclaimed with acclamations that they returned him thanks on thisaccount in addition to others, that they had been reminded of thedischarge of a duty so indispensably incumbent on their gratitude. There was a vast number of these who had been made prisoners in thePunic war, and sold by Hannibal when their countrymen refused toransom them. That they were very numerous, is proved by what Polybiussays, that this business cost the Achaeans one hundred talents, [1]though they had fixed the price to be paid for each captive, to theowner, so low as five hundred denarii. [2] For, at that rate, therewere one thousand two hundred in Achaia. Calculate now, in proportionto this, how many were probably in all Greece. 

[Footnote 1: 19, 375l. ]

[Footnote 2: 16l. 2s. 11d. ]

51. Before the convention broke up, they saw the garrison march downfrom the citadel of Corinth, proceed forward to the gate, and depart. The general followed them, accompanied by the whole assembly, who, with loud acclamations, blessed him as their preserver and deliverer. At length, taking leave of these, and dismissing them, he returned toElatia by the same road through which he came. He thence sent AppiusClaudius, lieutenant-general, with all the troops, ordering him tomarch through Thessaly and Epirus, and to wait for him at Oricum, whence he intended to embark the army for Italy. He also wrote to hisbrother, Lucius Quinctius, lieutenant-general, and commander of thefleet, to collect thither transport ships from all the coasts ofGreece. He himself proceeded to Chalcis; and, after sending awaythe garrisons, not only from that city, but likewise from Oreum andEretria, he held there a congress of the Euboean states, whom hereminded of the condition in which he had found their affairs, and ofthat in which he was leaving them; and then dismissed the assembly. Hethen proceeded to Demetrias, and removed the garrison. Accompanied byall the citizens, as at Corinth and Chalcis, he pursued his route intoThessaly, where the states were not only to be set at liberty, butalso to be reduced from a state of utter anarchy and confusion intosome tolerable order; for they had been thrown into confusion, not only through the faults of the times, and the violence andlicentiousness of royalty, but also through the restless dispositionof the nation, who, from the earliest times, even to our days, have never conducted any election, or assembly, or council, withoutdissensions and tumult. He chose both senators and judges, withregard, principally, to their property, and made that party the mostpowerful in the state to whom it was most important that all thingsshould be tranquil and secure. 

52. When he had completed these regulations in Thessaly, he went on, through Epirus, to Oricum, whence he intended to take his passage. From Oricum all the troops were transported to Brundusium. From thisplace to the city, they passed the whole length of Italy, in a manner, like a triumph; the captured effects which they brought with themforming a train as large as that of the troops themselves. When theyarrived at Rome, the senate assembled outside the city, to receivefrom Quinctius a recital of his services; and, with high satisfaction, a well-merited triumph was decreed him. His triumph lasted three days. On the first day were carried in procession, armour, weapons, brazenand marble statues of which he had taken greater numbers from Philipthan from the states of Greece. On the second, gold and silverwrought, unwrought, and coined. Of unwrought silver, there wereeighteen thousand pounds' weight; and of wrought, two hundred andseventy thousand; consisting of many vessels of various sorts, most ofthem engraved, and several of exquisite workmanship; also a great manyothers made of brass; and besides these, ten shields of silver. Thecoined silver amounted to eighty-four thousand of the Attic coin, called Tetradrachmus, containing each of silver about the weight offour denarii. [1] Of gold there were three thousand seven hundred andfourteen pounds, and one shield wholly of gold: and of the gold coincalled Philippics, fourteen thousand five hundred and fourteen. [2]On the third day were carried golden crowns, presented by the severalstates, in number one hundred and fourteen; then the victims. Beforehis chariot went many illustrious persons, captives and hostages, among whom were Demetrius, son of king Philip, and Armenes, aLacedaemonian, son of the tyrant Nabis. Then Quinctius himself rodeinto the city, followed by a numerous body of soldiers, as thewhole army had been brought home from the province. Among these hedistributed two hundred and fifty _asses_[3] to each footman, doubleto a centurion, triple to a horseman. Those who had been redeemed fromcaptivity added to the grandeur of the procession, walking after himwith their heads shaven. 

[Footnote 1: 10, 849l. 18s. ]

[Footnote 2: 936l. 10s. ]

[Footnote 3: 16s. 1-1/4d. ]

53. In the latter part of this year Quintus Aelius Tubero, plebeiantribune, in pursuance of a decree of the senate, proposed to thepeople, and the people ordered, that "two Latin colonies should besettled, one in Bruttium, the other in the territory of Thurium. " Formaking these settlements commissioners were appointed, who were tohold the office for three years; for Bruttium, Quintus Naevius, MarcusMinucius Rufus, and Marcus Furius Crassipes; and for the districtof Thurium, Cneius Manlius, Quintus Aelius, and Lucius Apustius. Theassemblies of election to these two appointments were held in theCapitol by Cneius Domitius, city praetor. Several temples werededicated this year: one of Juno Sospita, in the herb market, vowedand contracted for four years before, in the time of the Gallicwar, by Cneius Cornelius, consul; and the same person, now censor, performed the dedication. Another of Faunus, the building of whichhad been agreed for two years before, and a fund formed for it out offines estreated by the aediles, Caius Scribonius and Cneius Domitius;the latter of whom, now city praetor, dedicated it. Quintus MarciusRalla, constituted commissioner for the purpose, dedicated the templeof Fortuna Primigenia, on the Quirinal Hill. Publius Sempronius Sophushad vowed this temple ten years before, in the Punic war; and, beingafterwards censor, had employed persons to build it. Caius Servilius, duumvir, also dedicated a temple of Jupiter, in the island. Thishad been vowed in the Gallic war, six years before, by LuciusFurius Purpureo, who afterwards, when consul, contracted for thebuilding. --Such were the transactions of that year. 

54. Publius Scipio came home from his province of Gaul to choose newconsuls. The consular comitia were accordingly held, in which LuciusCornelius Merula and Quintus Minucius Thermus were chosen. Nextday were chosen praetors, Lucius Cornelius Scipio, Marcus FulviusNobilior, Caius Scribonius, Marcus Valerius Messala, Lucius PorciusLicinus, and Caius Flaminius. The curule aediles of this year, CaiusAtilius Serranus and Lucius Scribonius, first exhibited the Megalesiantheatrical games. At the Roman games, celebrated by these aediles, thesenators, for the first time, sat separate from the people, which, asevery innovation usually does, gave occasion to various observations. Some considered this as "an honour, shown at length to that mostrespectable body, and which ought to have been done long before;"while others contended, that "every addition made to the grandeur ofthe senate was a diminution of the dignity of the people; and that allsuch distinctions as set the orders of the state at a distance fromeach other, were equally subversive of liberty and concord. Duringfive hundred and fifty-eight years, " they asserted, "all thespectators had sat promiscuously: what reason then had now occurred, on a sudden, that should make the senators disdain to have the commonsintermixed with them in the theatre, or make the rich disdain the poorman as a fellow-spectator? It was an unprecedented gratificationof pride and over-bearing vanity, never even desired, and neverinstituted, by the senate of any other nation. " It is said, that evenAfricanus himself at last became sorry for having proposed that matterin his consulship: so difficult is it to bring people to approve ofany alteration of ancient customs; they are always naturally disposedto adhere to old practices, except those which experience evidentlycondemns. 

55. In the beginning of the year, which was the consulate of LuciusCornelius and Quintus Minucius, such frequent reports of earthquakeswere brought, that people grew weary, not only of the matter itself, but of the religious rites enjoined in consequence; for neither couldthe senate be convened, nor the business of the public be transacted, the consuls were so constantly employed in sacrifices and expiations. At last, the decemvirs were ordered to consult the books; and, inpursuance of their answer, a supplication was performed during threedays. People offered prayers at all the shrines, with garlandson their heads; and an order was published, that all the personsbelonging to one family should pay their worship together; and theconsuls, by direction of the senate, published an edict, that, on anyday whereon religious rites should be ordered, in consequence of thereport of an earthquake, no person should report another earthquakeon that day. Then the consuls first, and afterwards the praetors, castlots for their provinces. Cornelius obtained Gaul; Minucius, Liguria;Caius Scribonius, the city jurisdiction; Marcus Valerius, the foreign;Lucius Cornelius, Sicily; Lucius Porcius, Sardinia; Caius Flaminius, Hither Spain; and Marcus Fulvius, Farther Spain. 

56. While the consuls supposed that, for that year, they should haveno employment of a military kind, a letter was brought from MarcusCincius, who was commander at Pisae, announcing, that "twenty thousandarmed Ligurians, in consequence of a conspiracy of that whole nation, formed in the meetings of their several districts, had first wastedthe lands of Luna, and then, passing through the territory of Pisae, had overrun the whole sea-coast. " In consequence of this intelligence, the consul Minucius, whose province Liguria was, by direction ofthe senate, mounted the rostrum, and published orders, that "the twolegions, enlisted the year before, should, on the tenth day from that, attend him at Arretium;" and mentioned his intention of levying twolegions for the city in their stead. He likewise gave notice to themagistrates and ambassadors of such of the allies, and of the Latinconfederates, as were bound to furnish soldiers, to attend him in theCapitol. Of these he wrote out a list, amounting to fifteen thousandfoot and five hundred horse, proportioning the contingent of eachstate to the number of its young men, and ordered those present togo directly from the spot to the gate of the city; and, in order toexpedite the business, to proceed to raise the men. To Fulvius andFlaminius were assigned, to each three thousand Roman foot, and areinforcement of one hundred horse, with five thousand foot of theLatin allies, and two hundred horse; and orders were given to thosepraetors, to disband the old troops immediately on their arrival intheir provinces. Although great numbers of the soldiers belonging tothe city legions had made application to the plebeian tribunes, totake cognizance of the cases of such men as claimed exemption from theservice, on account either of having served out their time, or of badhealth; yet a letter from Tiberius Sempronius banished all thoughts ofsuch proceeding; for in this it was announced that "fifteen thousandof the Ligurians had come into the lands of Placentia, and wasted themwith fire and sword, to the very walls of that city and the bank ofthe Po; and that the Boian nation were looking out for an occasion torebel. " In consequence of this information, the senate passed a vote, that "there was a Gallic tumult subsisting, and that it would beimproper for the plebeian tribunes to take cognizance of the claimsof the soldiers, so as to prevent their attending, pursuant to theproclamation;" and they added an order, that the Latin confederates, who had served in the army of Publius Cornelius and TiberiusSempronius, and had been discharged by those consuls, shouldre-assemble, on whatever day and in whatever place of Etruria theconsul Lucius Cornelius should appoint; and that the consul LuciusCornelius, on his way to his province, should enlist, arm, and carrywith him all such persons as he should think fit, in the several townsand countries through which he was to pass, and should have authorityto discharge such of them, and at such times, as he might judgeproper. 

57. After the consuls had finished the levies, and were gone to theirprovinces, Titus Quinctius demanded, that "the senate should receivean account of the regulations which he in concert with the tenambassadors, had settled; and, if they thought proper, ratify them bytheir authority. " He told them, that "they would accomplish this themore easily, if they were first to give audience to the ambassadors, who had come from all parts of Greece, and a great part of Asia, andto those from the two kings. " These embassies were introduced to thesenate by the city praetor, Caius Scribonius, and all received kindanswers. As the discussion of the affair with Antiochus required toomuch time, it was referred to the ten ambassadors, some of whom hadconferred with the king in Asia, or at Lysimachia. Directions weregiven to Titus Quinctius, that, in conjunction with these, he shouldlisten to the representations of the king's ambassadors, and shouldgive them such answer as comported with the dignity and interestof the Roman people. At the head of the embassy were Menippus andHegesianax; the former of whom said, that "he could not conceive whatintricacy there was in the business of their embassy, as they camesimply to ask friendship, and conclude an alliance. Now, there werethree kinds of treaties, by which kings and states formed friendshipswith each other: one, when terms were dictated to a people vanquishedin war; for after all their possessions have been surrendered to himwho has proved superior in war, he has the sole power of judging anddetermining what portion of them the vanquished shall hold, and ofwhat they shall be deprived. The second, when parties, equallymatched in war, conclude a treaty of peace and friendship on termsof equality; for then demands are proposed and restitution made, reciprocally, in a convention; and if, in consequence of the war, confusion has arisen with respect to any parts of their properties, the matter is adjusted on the footing either of ancient right orof the mutual convenience of the parties. The third kind was, whenparties who had never been foes, met to form a friendly union by asocial treaty: these neither dictate nor receive terms, for that isthe case between a victor and a party vanquished. As Antiochus cameunder this last description, he wondered, he said, that the Romansshould think it becoming to dictate terms to him; as to which of thecities of Asia they chose should be free and independent, which shouldbe tributary, and which of them the king's troops and the king himselfshould be prohibited to enter. That a peace of this kind mightbe ratified with Philip, who was their enemy, but not a treaty ofalliance with Antiochus, their friend. "

58. To this Quinctius answered: "Since you choose to dealmethodically, and enumerate the several modes of contractingalliances, I also will lay down two conditions, without which you maytell your king, that there are no means of contracting any friendshipwith the Roman people. One, that, he does not choose that we shouldconcern ourselves in the affairs of the cities in Asia, he musthimself keep entirely out of Europe. The other, that if he doesnot confine himself within the limits of Asia, but passes over intoEurope, the Romans will think themselves at full liberty to maintainthe friendships which they have already formed with the states ofAsia, and also to contract new ones. " On this Hegesianax exclaimed, that "this proposition was unworthy to be listened to, as itstendency was to exclude Antiochus from the cities of Thrace andthe Chersonese, --places which his great-grandfather, Seleucus, hadacquired with great honour, after vanquishing Lysimachus in war andkilling him in battle, and had left to his successors; and part ofwhich, after they had been seized by the Thracians, Antiochus had, with equal honour, recovered by force of arms; as well as others whichhad been deserted, --as Lysimachia, for instance, he had repeopled, bycalling home the inhabitants;--and several, which had been destroyedby fire, and buried in ruins, he had rebuilt at a vast expense. Whatkind of resemblance was there, then, in the cases of Antiochus beingejected from possessions so acquired and so recovered; and of theRomans refraining from intermeddling with Asia, which had never beentheirs? Antiochus wished to obtain the friendship of the Romans; butso that its acquisition would be to his honour, and not to his shame. "In reply to this, Quinctius said, --"Since we are deliberating on whatwould be honourable, and which, indeed with a people who held thefirst rank among the nations of the world, and with so great a king, ought to be the sole, or at least the primary object of regard; tellme, I pray you, which do you think more honourable, to wish to giveliberty to all the Grecian cities in every part of the world; or tomake them slaves and vassals? Since Antiochus thinks it conduciveto his glory, to reduce to slavery those cities, which hisgreat-grandfather held by the right of arms, but which his grandfatheror father never occupied as their property while the Roman people, having undertaken the patronage of the liberty of the Greeks, deem itincumbent on their faith and constancy not to abandon it. As theyhave delivered Greece from Philip, so they have it in contemplationto deliver, from Antiochus, all the states of Asia which are of theGrecian race. For colonies were not sent into Aeolia and Ionia to beenslaved to kings; but with design to increase the population, and topropagate that ancient race in every part of the globe. "

59. When Hegesianax hesitated, and could not deny, that the causeof liberty carried a more honourable semblance than that of slavery, Publius Sulpicius, who was the eldest of the ten ambassadors, said, --"Let us cut the matter short. Choose one of the two conditionsclearly propounded just now by Quinctius; or deem it superfluous tonegotiate about an alliance. " But Menippus replied, "We neither will, nor can, accede to any proposition by which the dominions ofAntiochus would be diminished. " Next day, Quinctius brought into thesenate-house all the ambassadors of Greece and Asia, in order thatthey might learn the dispositions entertained by the Roman people, andby Antiochus, towards the Grecian states. He then acquainted them withhis own demands, and those of the king; and desired them to "assuretheir respective states, that the same disinterested zeal and courage, which the Roman people had displayed in defence of their libertyagainst the encroachments of Philip, they would, likewise, exertagainst those of Antiochus, if he should refuse to retire out ofEurope. " On this, Menippus earnestly besought Quinctius and thesenate, "not to be hasty in forming their determination, which, in itseffects, might disturb the peace of the whole world; to take timeto themselves, and allow the king time for consideration; that, wheninformed of the conditions proposed, he would consider them, andeither obtain some relaxation in the terms, or accede to them for thesake of peace. " Accordingly, the business was deferred entire; anda resolution passed, that the same ambassadors should be sent to theking who had attended him at Lysimachia, --Publius Sulpicius, PubliusVillius, and Publius Aelius. 

60. Scarcely had these begun their journey, when ambassadors fromCarthage brought information, that Antiochus was evidently preparingfor war, and that Hannibal was employed in his service; which gavereason to fear, that a Punic war might break out at the same time. Hannibal, on leaving his own country, had gone to Antiochus, as wasmentioned before, and was held by the king in high estimation, notso much for his other qualifications, as because, to a person who hadlong been revolving schemes for a war with Rome, there could not beany fitter participator of his counsels on such a subject. His opinionwas always one and the same, that the war should be carried on inItaly: because "Italy would supply a foreign enemy both with men andprovisions; but, if it were left in quiet, and the Roman people wereallowed to employ the strength and forces of Italy, in making warbeyond the limits of that country, no king or nation would be able tocope with them. " He demanded, for himself, one hundred decked ships, ten thousand foot, and one thousand horse. "With this force, " he said, "he would first repair to Africa; and he had confident hopes, that heshould be able to prevail on the Carthaginians to revive hostilities. If they should hesitate, he would raise a war against the Romans insome part of Italy. That the king ought to cross over into Europe withall the rest of his force, and keep his army in some part of Greece;not to pass over immediately into Italy, but to be in readiness to doso; which would sufficiently conduce to the imposing character and thereported magnitude of the war. "

61. When he had brought the king to agree in his opinion, he judged itnecessary to predispose the minds of his countrymen to the same;but he durst not send a letter, lest it might, by some accident, beintercepted, and his plans by that means, be discovered. He had foundat Ephesus a Tyrian called Aristo, and in several less importantcommissions, had discovered him to possess a good degree of ingenuity. This man he now loaded with presents and promises of rewards whichwere confirmed by the king himself, and sent him to Carthage withmessages. He told him the names of the persons whom it was necessarythat he should see, and furnished him with secret tokens, by whichthey would know, with certainty, that the messages came from him. Onthis Aristo's appearing at Carthage, the reason of his coming was notdiscovered by Hannibal's friends sooner than by his enemies. At first, the subject was bruited about in their circles and at their tables;and at last some persons declared in the senate that "the banishmentof Hannibal answered no purpose, if while resident in anothercountry, he was still able to propagate designs for changingthe administration, and disturbing the quiet of the state by hisintrigues. That a Tyrian stranger, named Aristo, had come with acommission from Hannibal and king Antiochus; that certain men dailyheld secret conferences with him, and were concocting that in private, the consequences of which would soon break out, to the ruin of thepublic. " This produced a general outcry, that "Aristo ought to besummoned, and examined respecting the reason of his coming; and if hedid not disclose it, to be sent to Rome, with ambassadors accompanyinghim: that they had already suffered enough of punishment in atonementof the headstrong rashness of one individual; that the faults ofprivate citizens should be at their own risk, and the state should bepreserved free, not only from guilt, but even from the suspicion ofit. " Aristo, being summoned, contended for his innocence; and urged, as his strongest defence, that he had brought no letter to any personwhatever: but he gave no satisfactory reason for his coming, andwas chiefly embarrassed by the fact which they urged, that he hadconversed solely with men of the Barcine faction. A warm debateensued; some earnestly pressing, that he should be immediately seizedas a spy, and kept in custody; while others insisted, that therewere not sufficient grounds for such violent measures; that "puttingstrangers into confinement, without reason, was a step that afforded abad precedent; for that the same would happen to the Carthaginians atTyre, and other marts, where they frequently traded. " The questionwas adjourned on that day. Aristo practised on the Carthaginiansa Carthaginian artifice; for having early in the evening hung up awritten tablet, in the most frequented place of the city, over thetribunal where the magistrates daily sat, he went on board his ship atthe third watch, and fled. Next day, when the suffetes had taken theirseats to administer justice, the tablet was observed, taken down, and read. Its contents were, that "Aristo came not with a privatecommission to any person, but with a public one to the elders;" bythis name they called the senate. The imputation being thus thrownon the state, less pains were taken in searching into the suspicionsharboured of a few individuals: however, it was determined, thatambassadors should be sent to Rome, to represent the affair to theconsuls and the senate, and, at the same time, to complain of theinjuries received from Masinissa. 

62. When Masinissa observed that the Carthaginians were looked on withjealousy by others, and were full of dissensions among themselves; thenobles being suspected by the senate, on account of their conferenceswith Aristo, and the senate by the people, in consequence of theinformation given by the same Aristo, he thought that, at such aconjuncture, he might successfully encroach on their rights; andaccordingly he laid waste their country along the sea-coast, andcompelled several cities, which were tributary to the Carthaginians, to pay their taxes to him. This tract they call Emporia; it forms theshore of the lesser Syrtis, and has a fertile soil; one of its citiesis Leptis, which paid a tribute to the Carthaginians of a talent aday. At this time, Masinissa not only ravaged that whole tract, but, with respect to a considerable part of it, disputed the right ofpossession with the Carthaginians; and when he learned that they weresending to Rome, both to justify their conduct, and, at the same time, to make complaints of him, he likewise sent ambassadors to Rome, toload them with suspicions, and to discuss the right to the taxes. The Carthaginians were heard first, and their account of the Tyrianstranger gave the senate no small uneasiness, as they dreaded beinginvolved in war with Antiochus and the Carthaginians at the same time. What contributed chiefly to strengthen a suspicion of evil designs, was, that though they had resolved to seize Aristo, and send him toRome, they had not placed a guard either on himself or his ship. Thenbegan the controversy with the king's ambassadors, on the claims ofthe territory in dispute. The Carthaginians supported their cause bya boundary claim, urging that "It must belong to them, as being withinthe limits which Scipio, after conquering the country, had fixed asthe boundaries which should be under Carthaginian rule; and also, bythe acknowledgment of the king, who, when he was going in pursuit ofAphir, a fugitive from his kingdom, then hovering about Cyrene, witha party of Numidians, had solicited as a favour a passage throughthat very district, as being confessedly a part of the Carthaginiandominions. " The Numidians insisted, "that they were guilty ofmisrepresentation with respect to the limits fixed by Scipio; and if aperson chose to recur to the real origin of their property, what titlehad the Carthaginians to call any land in Africa their own: foreignersand strangers, to whom had been granted precariously, for the purposeof building a city, as much ground as they could encompass with thecuttings of a bull's hide? Whatever acquisitions they had made beyondByrsa, their original settlement, they held by fraud and violence;for, in relation to the land in question, so far were they from beingable to prove uninterrupted possession, from the time when it wasfirst acquired, that they cannot even prove that they ever possessedit for any considerable time. As occasions offered, sometimes they, sometimes the kings of Numidia, had held the dominion of it; andthe possession of it had always been held by the party which had thegreatest armed force. They requested the senate to suffer thematter to remain on the same footing on which it stood before theCarthaginians became enemies to the Romans, or the king of Numidiatheir friend and ally; and not to interfere, so as to hinder whicheverparty was able, from keeping possession. "--The senate resolved to tellthe ambassadors of both parties, that they would send persons intoAfrica to determine the present controversy between the people ofCarthage and the king. They accordingly sent Publius Scipio Africanus, Caius Cornelius Cethegus, and Marcus Minucius Rufus; who, afterviewing the ground, and hearing what could be said on both sides, leftevery thing in suspense, their opinions inclining neither to oneside nor the other. Whether they acted in this manner from their ownjudgment, or because they had been so instructed, is by no means socertain as it is, that as affairs were circumstanced, it was highlyexpedient to leave the dispute undecided: for, had the case beenotherwise, Scipio alone, either from his own knowledge of thebusiness, or the influence which he possessed, and to which he hada just claim on both parties, could, with a nod, have ended thecontroversy. 

BOOK XXXV. 

 _Publius Scipio Africanus sent as ambassador to Antiochus; has a conversation with Hannibal at Ephesus. Preparations of the Romans for war with Antiochus. Nabis, the tyrant of Lacedaemon, instigated by the Aetolians, makes war on the Achaeans; is put to death by a party of the Aetolians. The Aetolians, violating the treaty of friendship with the Romans, invite Antiochus, who comes, with a small force, into Greece, and, in conjunction with them, takes several towns, and the whole island of Euboea. The Achaeans declare war against Antiochus and the Aetolians. _

1. In the beginning of the same year, Sextus Digitius, praetor in theHither Spain, fought with those states which, after the departure ofMarcus Cato, had, in great numbers, recommenced hostilities, numerousbattles, but none deserving of particular mention; and all sounfavourable to him, that he scarcely delivered to his successor halfthe number of men that he had received. In consequence of this, everystate in Spain would certainly have resumed new courage, had notthe other praetor, Publius Cornelius Scipio, son of Cneius, beensuccessful in several engagements on the other side of the Iberus;and, by these means, diffused such a general terror, that no less thanfifty towns came over to his side. These exploits Scipio performedin his praetorship. Afterwards, when propraetor, as the Lusitanians, after ravaging the farther Province, were returning home, with animmense booty, he attacked them on their march, and continued theengagement from the third hour of the day to the eighth, before anyadvantage was gained on either side. He was inferior to the enemy innumber of men, but he had the advantage of them in other respects:with his troops formed in a compact body he attacked a long train, encumbered with multitudes of cattle; and with his soldiers fresh, engaged men, fatigued by a long march; for the enemy had set out atthe third watch, and besides travelling the remainder of the night, had continued their route to the third hour of the day; nor had theybeen allowed any rest, as the battle immediately succeeded the toilof the march. Wherefore, though at the beginning they retained somevigour of body and spirits, and, at first, threw the Romans intodisorder, yet, after some time, the fight became equal. In thiscritical situation the propraetor made a vow to celebrate games inhonour of Jupiter, in case he should defeat and cut off the enemy. TheRomans then made a more vigorous push, and the Lusitanians gave way, and, in a little time, turned their backs. As the victors pursued thembriskly, no less than twelve thousand of them were slain, and fivehundred and forty taken prisoners, most of whom were horsemen. Therewere taken, besides, a hundred and thirty-four military standards. Ofthe Roman army, but seventy-three men were lost. The battle was foughtat a small distance from the city of Ilipa. Thither Publius Corneliusled back his victorious army, amply enriched with spoil; all which wasexposed to view under the walls of the town, and permission givento the owners to claim their effects. The remainder was put into thehands of the quaestor to be sold, and the money produced by the salewas distributed among the soldiers. 

2. At the time when these occurrences happened in Spain, CaiusFlaminius, the praetor, had not yet set out from Rome: therefore theseevents, as well prosperous as adverse, were reported by himself andhis friends in the strongest representations; and he laboured topersuade the senate, that, as a very formidable war had blazed out inhis province, and he was likely to receive from Sextus Digitius a verysmall remnant of an army, and that, too, terrified and disheartenedthey ought to decree one of the city legions to him, in order that, when he should have united to it the soldiers levied by himself, pursuant to the decree of the senate, he might select from the wholenumber six thousand five hundred foot and three hundred horse. Hesaid, that "with such a legion as that, (for very little confidencecould be placed on the troops of Sextus Digitius, ) he would conductthe war. " But the elder part of the senate insisted, that "decrees ofthe senate were not to be passed in consequence of rumours fabricatedby private persons for the gratification of magistrates; and that nointelligence should be deemed authentic except it were either writtenby the praetors, from their provinces, or brought by their deputies. If there was a tumultuous commotion in Spain, they advised a vote, that tumultuary soldiers should be levied by the praetor in some othercountry than Italy. " The senate's intention was that such descriptionof men should be raised in Spain. Valerius Antias says, that CaiusFlaminius sailed to Sicily for the purpose of levying troops, andthat, on his voyage thence to Spain, being driven by a storm toAfrica, he enlisted there many stragglers who had belonged to thearmy of Publius Africanus; and that, to the levies made in those twoprovinces, he added a third in Spain. 

3. In Italy the war, commenced by the Ligurians, grew daily moreformidable. They now invested Pisae, with an army of forty thousandmen; for multitudes flocked to them continually, led by the reportsof the war and the expectation of booty. The consul, Minucius, cameto Arretium, on the day which he had fixed for the assembling of thetroops. Thence he led them, in order of battle, towards Pisae; andthough the enemy had removed their camp to the other side of theriver, at a distance of no more than three miles from the place, theconsul marched into the city, which evidently owed its preservation tohis coming. Next day he also encamped on the other side of the river, about a mile from the enemy; and by slight skirmishes protected thelands of the allies from their depredations. He did not think itprudent to hazard a general engagement, because his troops were raw, composed of many different kinds of men, and not yet so well knownamong themselves that they could rely on one another. The Liguriansdepended so much on their numbers, that they not only came out andoffered battle, willing to risk every thing on the issue of it; but, from their superfluity of men, they sent out many parties along thefrontiers to plunder; and whenever a large quantity of cattle, andother prey, was collected, there was an escort always in readiness toconvey it to their forts and towns. 

4. While the operations remained at a stand at Pisae, the otherconsul, Lucius Cornelius Merula, led his army through the extremeborders of the Ligurians, into the territory of the Boians, where themode of proceeding was quite the reverse of that which took place inthe war of Liguria. The consul took the field; the enemy refused tofight; and the Romans, when no one would come out against them, wentout in parties to plunder, while the Boians chose to let their countrybe laid waste with impunity rather than venture an engagement indefence of it. When all places were completely ravaged with fireand sword, the consul quitted the enemy's lands, and marched towardsMutina, in a careless manner, as through a pacific population. TheBoians, when they learned that the enemy had withdrawn beyondtheir frontiers, followed him as secretly as possible, watching anopportunity for an ambuscade; and, having gone by his camp in thenight, took possession of a defile through which the Romans wereto pass. But as they were not able to effect this with sufficientsecrecy, the consul, who usually began his march late in the night, now waited until day, lest, in the disorderly fight likely to ensue, darkness might increase the confusion; and though he did not stirbefore it was light, yet he sent forward a troop of horse to explorethe country. When intelligence was brought by them of the number andsituation of the enemy, he ordered the baggage to be heaped togetherin the centre, and the veterans to throw up a rampart round it;and then, with the rest of the army in order of battle, he advancedtowards the enemy. The Gauls did the same, when they found that theirstratagem was detected, and that they were to engage in a fair andregular battle, where success must depend on valour alone. 

5. The battle began about the second hour. The left brigade of theallies, and the Extraordinaries, fought in the first line, and werecommanded by two lieutenant-generals of consular dignity, MarcusMarcellus and Tiberius Sempronius, who had been consul the yearbefore. The present consul was sometimes employed in the front ofthe line, sometimes in keeping back the legions in reserve, that theymight not, through eagerness for fighting, come up to the attack untilthe signal was given. He ordered the two Minucii, Quintus and Publius, military tribunes, to lead off the cavalry on the legions into openground, at some distance from the line; and "when he should give themthe signal, to charge the enemy through the clear space. " While he wasthus employed, a message came from Tiberius Sempronius Longus, thatthe Extraordinaries could not support the onset of the Gauls; thatgreat numbers had already fallen; and that partly through weariness, partly through fear, the ardour of the survivors was much abated. Herecommended it therefore to the consul, if he thought proper, to sendup one or other of the two legions, before the army suffered disgrace. The second legion was accordingly sent, and the Extraordinaries wereordered to retire. By the legion coming up, with its men fresh, and the ranks complete in their numbers, the fight was renewed withvigour. The left wing was withdrawn out of the action, and the righttook its place in the van. The intense heat of the sun discomposedthe Gauls, whose bodies were very ill qualified to endure it:nevertheless, keeping their ranks close, and leaning sometimes on eachother, sometimes on their bucklers, they withstood the attack ofthe Romans; which, when the consul observed, in order to break theirranks, he ordered Caius Livius Salinator, commander of the alliedcavalry, to charge them at full speed, and the legionary cavalryto remain in reserve. This tempest of cavalry first confused anddisordered, and at length entirely broke the line of the Gauls; yet itdid not make them fly. That was prevented by their officers, who, whenthey quitted their posts, struck them on the back with their spears, and compelled them to return to their ranks: but the allied cavalry, riding in among them, did not suffer them to recover their order. The consul exhorted his soldiers to "continue their efforts a littlelonger, for victory was within their reach; to press the enemy, whilethey saw them disordered and dismayed; for, if they were suffered torecover their ranks, they would enter on a fresh battle with doubtfulsuccess. " He ordered the standard-bearers to advance with thestandards, and then, all exerting themselves at once, they at lengthforced the enemy to give way. As soon as they turned their backs, andfled precipitately oh every side, the legionary cavalry was sent inpursuit of them. On that day, fourteen thousand of the Boians wereslain; one thousand and ninety-two taken--as were seven hundred andtwenty-one horsemen, and three of their commanders, with two hundredand twelve military standards, and sixty-three chariots. Nor did theRomans gain the victory without loss of blood: of themselves, or theirallies, were lost above five thousand men, twenty-three centurions, four prefects of the allies, and two military tribunes of the secondlegion, Marcus Genucius and Marcus Marcius. 

6. Letters from both the consuls arrived at Rome nearly at the sametime. That of Lucius Cornelius gave an account of the battle foughtwith the Boians at Mutina; that of Quintus Minucius, from Pisae, mentioned, that "the holding of the elections had fallen to his lot, but that affairs in Liguria were in so uncertain a position, thathe could not depart thence without bringing ruin on the allies, andmaterial injury on the commonwealth. He therefore advised that, if thesenate thought proper, they should direct his colleague (as his warwas decided) to return to Rome for the elections. He said if Corneliusshould object to this, because that employment had not fallen to hislot, he would certainly do whatever the senate should order; but hebegged them to consider again and again whether it would not be moreto the advantage of the republic, that an interregnum should takeplace, than that the province should be left by him in such a state. "The senate gave directions to Caius Scribonius to send two deputies ofsenatorian rank to the consul, Lucius Cornelius, to communicate to himthe letter sent by his colleague to the senate, and to acquaint him, that if he did not come to Rome to elect new magistrates, the senatewere resolved, rather than Quintus Minucius should be called away froma war, in which no progress had been made, to suffer an interregnum totake place. The deputies sent brought back his answer, that hewould come to Rome, to elect new magistrates. The letter of LuciusCornelius, which contained an account of the battle with theBoians, occasioned a debate in the senate; for Marcus Claudius, lieutenant-general, in private letters to many of the senators, hadwritten, "that they might thank the fortune of the Roman people, andthe bravery of the soldiers, that the affair had been successful. Thatthe conduct of the consul had been the cause of a great many menbeing lost, and of the enemy's army, for the annihilation of which anopportunity had been offered, having made its escape. That what madethe loss of men the greater was, the reinforcements, necessary tosupport them when distressed, coming up too late from the reserve;and that, what enabled the enemy to slip out of their hands was, thesignal being given too tardily to the legionary cavalry, and theirnot being allowed to pursue the fugitives. " It was agreed, that noresolution should be hastily passed on the subject; and the discussionwas accordingly adjourned to a fuller meeting. 

7. Another concern also pressed upon them, namely, that the publicwas heavily distressed by usurious practices; and although avarice hadbeen restricted by many laws respecting usury, yet a fraudulent coursehad been adopted--that of transferring the securities to subjects ofsome of the allied states, who were not bound by those laws, by whichmeans usurers overwhelmed their debtors by unlimited interest. Onconsidering of the best method for putting a stop to this evil thesenate decreed, that a certain day should be fixed on for it, thenext approaching festival of the infernal deities; and that any ofthe allies who should from that day lend money to the Roman citizens, should register the transaction; and that all proceedings respectingsuch money, lent after that day, should be regulated by the laws ofwhichever of the two states the debtor should choose. In some timeafter, when the great amount of debt, contracted through this kind offraud, was discovered by means of the registries, Marcus Sempronius, plebeian tribune, by direction of the senate, proposed to the people, and the people ordered, that the laws relative to money lent betweenRoman citizens and subjects of any of the allied states, or Latinconfederacy, should be the same as those between Roman citizens. Suchwere the transactions in Italy, civil and military. In Spain the warwas far from being so formidable as the exaggerations of report hadrepresented it. In Hither Spain, Caius Flaminius took the town ofIlucia, in the country of the Oretanians, and then marched his armyinto winter quarters. Several engagements took place during thewinter, but none deserving of particular mention, directed againstincursions of robbers rather than of the enemy; and yet with varioussuccess, and not without the loss of some men. More important serviceswere performed by Marcus Fulvius. He fought a pitched battle near thetown of Toletum, against the Vaccaeans, Vectonians, and Celtiberians;routed and dispersed their combined forces, and took prisoner theirking, Hilermus. 

8. While this passed in Spain, the day of election was drawingnear. Lucius Cornelius, therefore, the consul, left Marcus Claudius, lieutenant-general, in command of the army and came to Rome. Afterrepresenting in the senate the services which he had performed, andthe present state of the province, he expostulated with the conscriptfathers on their not having ordered a thanksgiving to the immortalgods when so great a war was so happily terminated by one successfulbattle; and then demanded, that they would at the same time decree asupplication and a triumph. But, before the question was put, QuintusMetellus, who had been consul and dictator, said, that, "letters hadbeen brought at the same time from the consul, Lucius Cornelius, to the senate, and from Marcus Marcellus, to a great part of thesenators; which letters contradicted each other, and for that reasonthe consideration of the business had been adjourned, in order that itmight be debated when the writers of those letters should he present. He had expected, therefore, that the consul, who knew that thelieutenant-general had written something to his disadvantage, would, when he himself was obliged to come, have brought him with himto Rome; especially, as the command of the army would, with morepropriety, have been committed to Tiberius Sempronius, who alreadypossessed authority, than to the lieutenant-general. As the casestood at present, it appeared as if the latter was kept out of the waydesignedly, lest he might assert in person the same things which hehad written in his letters; and, face to face, either substantiatehis charges, or, if he had alleged any thing untrue, be convicted ofmisrepresentation, until the truth should be clearly discovered. Forthis reason he was of opinion, that the senate should not, at present, assent to either of the decrees demanded by the consul. " When he, however, persisted with undiminished energy in putting the question, that a thanksgiving should be ordered, and himself allowed to rideinto the city in triumph; the plebeian tribunes, Marcus and CaiusTitinius, declared, that they would enter their protest, if the senatepassed any decree on the subject. 

9. In the preceding year, Sextus Aelius Paetus and Caius CorneliusCethegus were created censors. Cornelius now closed the lustrum. Thenumber of citizens rated was a hundred and forty-three thousand sevenhundred and four. Extraordinary quantities of rain fell in thisyear, and the Tiber overflowed the lower parts of the city; andsome buildings near the Flumentan gate were even laid in ruins. TheCoelimontan gate was struck by lightning, as was the wall on each sideof it, in several places. At Aricia, Lanuvium, and on the Aventine, showers of stones fell. From Capua, a report was brought that a verylarge swarm of wasps flew into the forum, and settled on the temple ofMars; that they had been carefully collected, and burnt. On account ofthese prodigies, the decemvirs were ordered to consult the books; thenine days' festival was celebrated, a supplication proclaimed, andthe city purified. At the same time, Marcus Porcius Cato dedicated achapel to Maiden Victory, near the temple of Victory, two years afterhe had vowed it. During this year, a Latin colony was establishedin the Thurian territory by commissioners appointed for the purpose, Cneius Manlius Vulso, Lucius Apustius Fullo, and Quintus AeliusTubero, who had proposed the order for its settlement. There went outthither three thousand foot and three hundred horsemen; a very smallnumber in proportion to the extent of the land. Thirty acres mighthave been given to each footman, and sixty to a horseman, but, bythe advice of Apustius, a third part was reserved, that they mightafterwards, when they should judge proper, send out thither a newcolony. The footmen received twenty acres each, the horsemen forty. 

10. The year was now near a close, and with regard to the electionof consuls, emulation was more fiercely kindled than was ever knownbefore. The candidates, both patrician and plebeian, were many andpowerful: Publius Cornelius Scipio, son to Cneius, and who hadlately come home from Spain, having performed great exploits; LuciusQuinctius Flamininus, who had commanded the fleet in Greece; andCneius Manlius Vulso; these were the patricians. Then there were, ofplebeian rank, Caius Laelius, Cneius Domitius, Caius Livius Salinator, and Manius Acilius. The eyes of all men were turned on Quinctius andCornelius; for, being both patricians, they sued for one place; andthey were both of them recommended by high and recent renown in war. Above every thing else, the brothers of the candidates, the twomost illustrious generals of the age, increased the violence of thestruggle. Scipio's fame was the more splendid, and in proportion toits greater splendour, the more obnoxious to envy. That of Quinctiuswas the most recent, as he had triumphed in the course of that verysame year. Besides, the former had now for almost ten years beencontinually in people's sight; which circumstance, by the mere effectof satiety, causes great characters to be less revered. He had beena second time consul after the final defeat of Hannibal, and alsocensor. All Quinctius's claims to the favour of the public were freshand new; since his triumph, he had neither asked nor received anythingfrom the people; "he solicited, " he said, "in favour of his ownbrother, not of a half-brother; in favour of his lieutenant-general, and partner in the administration of the war; his brother havingconducted the operations by sea, while he did the same on land. " Bythese arguments he carried his point. His brother was preferred to thebrother of Africanus, though supported by the whole Cornelian family, and while one of the same family presided at the election, andnotwithstanding the very honourable testimony given by the senate, inhis favour, when it adjudged him to be the best man in the state: andas such, appointed him to receive the Idaean Mother into the city, when she was brought from Pessinus. Lucius Quinctius and CneiusDomitius Ahenobarbus were elected consuls; so that, not even withrespect to the plebeian consul, could Africanus prevail; for heemployed his interest in favour of Caius Laelius. Next day wereelected praetors, Lucius Scribonius Libo, Marcus Fulvius Centumalus, Aulus Atilius Serranus, Marcus Baebius Tamphilus, Lucius ValeriusTappus, and Quintus Salonius Sarra. The aedileship of this year washighly distinguished, namely, that of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus andLucius Aemilius Paulus. They prosecuted to conviction many of thefarmers of the public pastures, and with the money accruing fromthe fines, placed gilded shields in the upper part of the templeof Jupiter. They built one colonnade, on the outside of the gateTergemina, to which they added a wharf on the Tiber: and another, reaching from the Frontinal gate to the altar of Mars, to serve as apassage into the field of Mars. 

11. For a long time, nothing worth recording had occurred in Liguria;but, towards the end of this year, the Roman affairs there were twicebrought into great peril; for the consul's camp, being assaulted, waswith difficulty preserved; and a short time after, as the Roman armywas marching through a defile, the Ligurians seized on the openingthrough which they were to pass. The consul, when he found thatpassage stopped up, faced about, resolved to return: but the entrancebehind, also, was occupied by a party of the enemy, and the disasterof Caudium not only occurred to the memory of the Romans, but was in amanner represented to their eyes. The consul had, among his auxiliarytroops, about eight hundred Numidian horsemen, whose commandingofficer undertook to force a passage with his troops, on whicheverside the consul should choose. He only desired to be told on whichpart the greater number of villages lay, for on them he meant to makean attack; and the first thing he intended doing was, to set fire tothe houses, in order that the alarm, which this should occasion, mightinduce the Ligurians to quit their posts in the defile, and hasten todifferent quarters to carry assistance to their friends. The consulhighly commended him, and gave him assurance of ample rewards. TheNumidians mounted their horses, and began to ride up to the advancedposts of the enemy, but without making any attack. Nothing couldappear, on the first view, more contemptible. Both men and horses wereof a small size and thin make, the riders unaccoutred and unarmed, excepting that they carried javelins in their hands; and the horseswithout bridles, and awkward in their gait, running with their necksstiff and their heads stretched out. The contempt, conceived fromtheir appearance, they took pains to increase; sometimes falling fromtheir horses, and making themselves objects of derision and ridicule. The consequence was, that the enemy, who at first had been alert, andready on their posts, in case of an attack, now, for the most part, laid aside their arms, and sitting down amused themselves with lookingat them. The Numidians often rode up, then galloped back, but stillcontrived to get nearer to the pass, as if they were unable to managetheir horses, and were carried away against their will. At last, setting spurs to them, they broke out through the midst of the enemy'sposts, and getting into the open country, set fire to all the housesnear the road. They then set fire to the nearest village, while theyravaged all around with fire and sword. At first the sight of thesmoke, then the shouts of the affrighted inhabitants, at last the oldpeople and children, who fled for shelter, created great disorder inthe camp. In consequence of which the whole of their army, withoutplan, and without command, ran off, each to take care of his own;the camp was in a moment deserted; and the consul delivered from theblockade, made good his march to the place whither he intended to go. 

12. But neither the Boians nor the Spaniards, with whom they had beenat war during that year, were such bitter and inveterate foes to theRomans as the nation of the Aetolians. These, after the departure ofthe Roman armies from Greece, had, for some time, entertained hopesthat Antiochus would come and take possession of Europe, withoutopposition; and that neither Philip nor Nabis would continue quiet. But seeing no active measures begun, in any quarter, they resolved, lest their designs might be damped by delay, to create some agitationand disturbance; and, with this view, they summoned a general assemblyat Naupactum. Here Thoas, their praetor, after complaining of theinjurious behaviour of the Romans, and the present state of Aetolia, and asserting, that "of all the nations and states of Greece, they hadbeen most unhonoured, after the victory which they themselves had beenthe means of obtaining, " moved, that ambassadors should be sent toeach of the kings; not only to sound their dispositions, but, by suchincentives as suited the temper of each, to urge them to a warwith Rome. Damocritus was sent to Nabis, Nicander to Philip, andDicaearchus, the praetor's brother, to Antiochus. To the Lacedaemoniantyrant Damocritus represented, that, "by the maritime cities beingtaken from him, his government was left enervated; for from them hehad drawn his soldiers, as well as his ships and seamen. He was nowpent up almost within the walls of his capital, while he saw theAchaeans domineering over the whole Peloponnesus. Never would he haveanother opportunity of recovering his rights, if he suffered the onethat now offered to pass by. There was no Roman army in Greece, norwould the Romans deem Gythium, or the other towns on the coast ofLaconia, sufficient cause for transporting their legions a secondtime into that country. " These arguments were used for the purpose ofprovoking the passions of Nabis; in order that when Antiochus shouldcome into Greece, the other, conscious of having infringed the treatyof amity with Rome, by injuries offered to its allies, might unitehimself with him. Nicander excited Philip, by arguments somewhatsimilar; and he had more copious matter for discourse, as the kinghad been degraded from a more elevated state than the tyrant, andmore possessions also had been taken from him. In addition to this, heintroduced the ancient renown of the Macedonian kings, and the wholeworld pervaded by the victorious marches of that nation. "The planwhich he proposed, " he said, "was free from any danger, either in thecommencement or in the issue. For he did not advise that Philip shouldstir until Antiochus should have come into Greece with an army; and, considering that, without the aid of Antiochus, he had maintained awar so long against the combined forces of the Romans and Aetolians, with what possible force could the Romans withstand him, when joinedby Antiochus, and supported by the aid of the Aetolians, who, on theformer occasion, were more dangerous enemies than the Romans?" Headded the circumstance of Hannibal being general; "a man born a foeto the Romans, who had slain greater numbers, both of their commandersand soldiers, than were left surviving. " Such were the representationsof Nicander to Philip. Dicaearchus addressed other arguments toAntiochus. In the first place, he told him, that "the spoils of Philipbelonged to the Romans, but the victory over him to the Aetolians;that none other than the Aetolians had afforded to the Romansadmittance into Greece, and that the same people supplied them withthe strength which enabled them to conquer. " He next set forth thenumerous forces, both horse and foot, which they were willing tofurnish to Antiochus, for the purpose of the war; what quarters theywould assign to his land armament, what harbours for his naval forces. He then asserted whatever falsehoods he pleased, respecting Philipand Nabis; that "both were ready to recommence hostilities, and wouldgreedily lay hold on the first opportunity of recovering what theyhad lost in war. " Thus did the Aetolians labour, in every part of theworld, to stir up war against the Romans. The kings, however, eithertook no steps in it or took them too late. 

13. Nabis immediately despatched emissaries through all the towns onthe coast, to sow dissensions among the inhabitants: some of the menin power he brought over to his party by presents; others, who morefirmly adhered to the alliance with Rome, he put to death. The chargeof protecting all the Lacedaemonians on the coast, had been committedby Titus Quinctius to the Achaeans; they therefore instantly sentambassadors to the tyrant, to remind him of his treaty with theRomans, and to warn him against violating a peace which he had soearnestly sued for. They also sent succours to Gythium which hehad already besieged, and ambassadors to Rome to make known thesetransactions. King Antiochus having, this winter, solemnized thenuptials of his daughter with Ptolemy king of Egypt, at Raphia, inPhoenicia, returned thence to Antioch, and came, towards the end ofthe season, through Cilicia, after passing Mount Taurus, to the cityof Ephesus. Early in the spring, he sent his son Antiochus thence intoSyria, to guard the remote frontiers of his dominions, lest duringhis absence, any commotion might arise behind him; and then he marchedhimself, with all his land forces, to attack the Pisidians, inhabitingthe country near Sida. At this time, Publius Sulpicius and PubliusVillius, the Roman ambassadors, who were sent to Antiochus, as abovementioned, having received orders to wait on Eumenes, first came toElaea, and thence went up to Pergamus, for the palace of Eumenes wasthere. Eumenes was very desirous of a war against Antiochus, for hethought that, if peace continued, a king so much superior in powerwould be a troublesome neighbour; but that, in case of hostilities, hewould prove no more a match for the Romans than Philip had been; andthat, either he would be entirely removed out of the way, or, shouldpeace be granted to him, after a defeat he (Eumenes) might reasonablyexpect, that a great deal of what should be taken from Antiochus wouldfall to his own share; so that, in future, he might be very well ableto defend himself against him, without any aid from the Romans; andeven if any misfortune were to happen, it would be better for him, in conjunction with the Romans, to undergo any turn of fortune, than, standing alone, either suffer himself to be ruled by Antiochus, or, onrefusal, be compelled to submission by force of arms. Therefore, withall his influence, and every argument which he could devise, he urgedthe Romans to a war. 

14. Sulpicius, falling sick, staid at Pergamus. Villius, on hearingthat the king was carrying on war in Pisidia, went on to Ephesus, and, during a few days that he halted in that city, took pains to procurefrequent interviews with Hannibal, who happened to be there at thetime, in order to sound his intentions, if possible, and to removehis apprehensions of danger threatening him from the Romans. No otherbusiness, indeed, of any kind was brought forward at these meetings;yet they accidentally produced an important consequence, aseffectually as if it had been intentionally sought; the loweringHannibal in the esteem of the king, and rendering him more obnoxiousto suspicion in every matter. Claudius, following the history writtenin Greek by Acilius, says, that Publius Africanus was employed in thisembassy, and that it was he who conversed with Hannibal at Ephesus. He even relates one of their conversations, in which Scipio askedHannibal, "whom he thought the greatest captain?" and that heanswered, "Alexander, king of Macedonia; because, with a small band, he defeated armies whose numbers were beyond reckoning; and because hehad overrun the remotest regions, the merely visiting of which was athing above human aspiration. " Scipio then asked, "to whom he gave thesecond place?" and he replied, "To Pyrrhus; for he first taught themethod of encamping; and besides, no one ever showed more exquisitejudgment, in choosing his ground, and disposing his posts; while healso possessed the art of conciliating mankind to himself to such adegree, that the nations of Italy wished him, though a foreign prince, to hold the sovereignty among them, rather than the Roman people, whohad so long possessed the dominion of that part of the world. " On hisproceeding to ask, "whom he esteemed the third?" Hannibal replied, "Myself, beyond doubt. " On this Scipio laughed, and added, "What wouldyou have said if you had conquered me?" "Then, " replied the other, "Iwould have placed Hannibal, not only before Alexander and Pyrrhus, but before all other commanders. " This answer, turned with Punicdexterity, and conveying an unexpected kind of flattery, was highlygrateful to Scipio, as it set him apart from the crowd of commanders, as one of incomparable eminence. 

15. From Ephesus, Villius proceeded to Apamea, whither Antiochus, onhearing of the coming of the Roman delegates, came to meet him. Inthis congress, at Apamea, the debates were similar to those whichpassed at Rome, between Quinctius and the king's ambassadors. The newsarriving of the death of Antiochus, the king's son, who, as just nowmentioned, had been sent into Syria, broke off the conference. Therewas great mourning in the court, and excessive regret for this youngman; for he had given such indications of his character as affordedevident proof that, had a longer life been allotted him, he wouldhave displayed the talents of a great and just prince. The more hewas beloved and esteemed by all, the more was his death a subject ofsuspicion, namely, that his father, thinking that his heir trod tooclosely on the heels of his own old age, had him taken off by poison, by some eunuchs, who recommend themselves to kings by the perpetrationof such foul deeds. People mentioned also, as another motive for thatclandestine act of villany, that, as he had given Lysimachia to hisson Seleucus, he had no establishment of the like kind, which hecould give to Antiochus, for the purpose of banishing him also toa distance, under pretext of doing him honour. Nevertheless, anappearance of deep mourning was maintained in the court for severaldays; and the Roman ambassador, lest his presence at that inauspicioustime might be troublesome, retired to Pergamus. The king, dropping theprosecution of the war which he had begun, went back to Ephesus; andthere, keeping himself shut up in the palace, under colour of grief, held secret consultations with a person called Minio, who was hisprincipal favourite. Minio was utterly ignorant of the state of allforeign nations; and, accordingly, estimating the strength of the kingfrom his successes in Syria or Asia, he was confident that Antiochushad not only superiority from the merits of his cause, and that thedemands of the Romans were highly unreasonable; but also, that hewould prove the more powerful in war. As the king wished to avoidfurther debate with the envoys, either because he had found noadvantage to result from the former conference, or because he was toomuch discomposed by recent grief, Minio undertook to say whateverwas requisite for his interest, and persuaded him to invite for thatpurpose the ambassadors from Pergamus. 

16. By this time Sulpicius had recovered his health; both himself andVillius, therefore, came to Ephesus. Minio apologized for the kingnot being present, and the business was entered upon. Then Minio, in astudied speech, said, "I find, Romans, that you profess very speciousintentions, (the liberating of the Grecian states, ) but your actionsdo not accord with your words. You lay down one rule for Antiochus, and follow another yourselves. For, how are the inhabitants of Smyrnaand Lampsacus better entitled to the character of Greeks, than theNeapolitans, Rhegians, and Tarentines, from whom you exact tribute, and ships, in pursuance of a treaty? Why do you send yearly toSyracuse, and other Grecian cities of Sicily, a praetor, vestedwith sovereign power, and attended by his rods and axes? You can, certainly, allege no other reason than this, that, having conqueredthem in war, you imposed these terms on them. Admit, then, on the partof Antiochus, the same reason with respect to Smyrna and Lampsacus, and the cities belonging to Ionia and Aeolia. Conquered by hisancestors, they were subjected to tribute and taxes, and he onlyreclaims an ancient right. I would have you answer him on these heads, if you mean a fair discussion, and do not merely seek a pretence forwar. " Sulpicius answered, "Antiochus has acted with some modestyin choosing that, since no other arguments could be produced in hisfavour, any other person should utter these rather than himself. For, what similarity is there in the cases of those states which youhave brought into comparison? From the Rhegians, Neapolitans, andTarentines we require what they owe us by treaty, in virtue of a rightinvariably exercised, in one uniform course, since they first cameunder our power; a right always asserted, and never intermitted. Now, can you assert, that, as these states have, neither of themselves, nor through any other, ever refused conforming to the treaty, so theAsiatic states, since they once came under the power of Antiochus'sancestors, have been held in uninterrupted possession by your reigningkings; and that some of them have not been subject to the dominion ofPhilip, some to that of Ptolemy; and that others have not, for manyyears, maintained themselves in a state of independence, no onecalling it in question? For, if the circumstance of their having beenonce subject to a foreigner, when crushed under the severity of thetimes, conveys a right to enforce that subjection again after a lapseof so many generations, what can be said of our having deliveredGreece from Philip, but that nothing was accomplished by us; and thathis successors may reclaim Corinth, Chalcis, Demetrias, and the wholenation of Thessaly? But why do I plead the cause of those states, which it would be fitter that both we and the king should hear pleadedby themselves?"

17. He then desired, that the deputies of those states should becalled, for they had been prepared beforehand, and kept in readinessby Eumenes, who reckoned, that every share of strength that shouldbe taken away from Antiochus, would become an accession to his ownkingdom. Many of them were introduced; and, while each enforcedhis own complaints, and sometimes demands, and blended together thereasonable with the unreasonable, they changed the debate into a merealtercation. The ambassadors, therefore, without conceding or carryingany one point, returned to Rome just as they had come, leaving everything in an undecided state. On their departure the king held acouncil, on the subject of a war with Rome, in which each spoke moreviolently than his predecessor; for every one thought, that the morebitterly he inveighed against the Romans, the greater share of favourhe might expect to obtain. One animadverted upon the insolence oftheir demands, in which they presume to impose terms on Antiochus, the greatest king in Asia, as they would on the vanquished Nabis. "Although to Nabis they left absolute power over his own country, and its capital, Lacedaemon, yet it seems to them a matter forindignation, that Smyrna and Lampsacus should yield obedience toAntiochus. "--Others said, that "to so great a monarch, those citieswere but a trivial ground of war, scarcely worth mention; but, thatthe beginning of unjust impositions was always made in the case ofmatters of little consequence; unless, indeed, it could be supposed, that the Persians, when they demanded earth and water from theLacedaemonians, stood in need of a scrap of the land or a draught ofthe water. The proceedings of the Romans, respecting the two cities, were meant as a trial of the same sort. The rest of the states, whenthey saw that two had shaken off the yoke, would go over to the partyof that nation which professed the patronage of liberty. If freedomwas not actually preferable to servitude, yet the hope of betteringtheir circumstances by a change, was more flattering to every one thanany present situation. "

18. There was, in the council, an Acarnanian named Alexander, who hadformerly been a friend of Philip, but had lately left him, to followthe more opulent court of Antiochus. And as being well skilled inthe affairs of Greece, and not unacquainted with the Romans, he wasadmitted by the king into such a degree of intimacy, that he sharedeven in his secret councils. As if the question to be considered werenot, whether there should be war or not, but where and in what mannerit should be carried on, he affirmed, that "he saw an assured prospectof victory, provided the king would pass into Europe and choose somepart of Greece for the seat of war. In the first place, the Aetolians, who lived in the centre of Greece, would be found in arms, readyto take the lead in the most perilous operations. Then, in the twoextremities of Greece, Nabis, on the side of Peloponnesus, would putevery thing in motion, to recover the city of Argos, and the maritimecities, from which he had been expelled by the Romans, and pent upwithin the walls of Lacedaemon: while, on the side of Macedonia, Philip would be ready for the field the moment he heard the alarmsounded. He knew, " he said, "his spirit, he knew his temper; he knewthat, (as in the case with wild beasts, confined by bars or chains, )for a long time past, he had been revolving the fiercest resentmentsin his breast. He remembered, also, how often, during the war, that prince had prayed to all the gods to grant him Antiochus as anassistant; and, if that prayer were now heard with favour, he wouldnot hesitate an instant to resume his arms. It was only requisite thatthere should be no delay, no procrastination; for success dependedchiefly on securing beforehand commodious posts and proper allies:besides, Hannibal ought to be sent immediately into Africa, in orderto distract the attention of the Romans. "

19. Hannibal was not called to this consultation, having incomesuspected by the king, and not having subsequently been held in anyhonour, on account of his conferences with Villius, and he had notsince shown him any mark of regard. This affront, at first, he borein silence; but afterwards thought it better to take some properopportunity to inquire the reason of the king's suddenly withdrawinghis favour, and to clear himself of blame. Without any preface, heasked the cause of the king's displeasure; and having heard it, said, "Antiochus, when I was yet an infant, my father, Hamilcar, at a timewhen he was offering sacrifice, brought me up to the altars, and mademe take an oath, that I never would be a friend to the Roman people. Under the obligation of this oath, I carried arms against them forthirty-six years; this oath, on peace being made, drove me out of mycountry, and brought me an exile to your court; and this oath shallguide me, should you disappoint my hopes, until I traverse everyquarter of the globe, where I can understand that there are resources, to find out enemies to the Romans. If, therefore, your courtiers haveconceived the idea of ingratiating themselves with you by insinuatingsuspicions of me, let them seek some means of advancing theirreputation otherwise than at my expense. I hate, and am hated by, theRomans. That I speak the truth in this, my father, Hamilcar, andthe gods are witnesses. Whenever, therefore, you shall employ yourthoughts on a plan of waging war with Rome, consider Hannibal as oneof your firmest friends. If circumstances force you to adopt peacefulmeasures, on such a subject employ some one else with whom todeliberate. " This discourse not only affected the king much, but evenreconciled him to Hannibal. They departed from the council with theresolution that the war should be undertaken. 

20. At Rome, people in their conversations anticipated, indeed, Antiochus as an enemy, but they had hitherto prepared nothing for sucha war but their expectations. Italy was decreed the province of boththe consuls, who received directions to settle between themselves, ordraw lots, which of them should preside at the elections of theyear; and it was ordered, that he who should be disengaged from thatbusiness, should hold himself in readiness, in case there should beoccasion, to lead the legions any where out of that country. To thesaid consul, permission was given to levy two new legions, and twentythousand foot, and nine hundred horse, among the allies and Latinconfederates. To the other consul were decreed the two legions whichhad been commanded by Lucius Cornelius, consul of the preceding year;and from the same army, a body of allies and Latins, amounting tofifteen thousand foot and five hundred horse. Quintus Minucius wascontinued in command, with the forces which he then had in Liguria; asa supplement to which, four thousand Roman foot and five hundred horsewere ordered to be enlisted, and five thousand foot and two hundredand fifty horse to be demanded from the allies. The duty of departingfrom Italy, whithersoever the senate should order, fell to CneiusDomitius; Gaul, and the holding the elections, to Lucius Quinctius. The praetors then cast lots for their provinces: to Marcus FulviusCentumalus fell the city jurisdiction; to Lucius Scribonius Libo, the foreign; Lucius Valerius Tappus obtained Sicily; Quintus SaloniusSarra, Sardinia; Marcus Baebius Tamphilus, Hither Spain; and MarcusAtilius Serranus, Farther Spain. But the provinces of the two lastwere changed, first by a decree of the senate, which was afterwardsconfirmed by an order of the people. The fleet and Macedonia wereassigned to Atilius; Bruttium to Baebius. Flaminius and Fulvius werecontinued in command in both the Hither and Farther Spain. To BaebiusTamphilus, for the business of Bruttium, were decreed the two legionswhich had served in the city the year before; and he was ordered todemand from the allies, for the same service, fifteen thousand footand five hundred horse. Atilius was ordered to build thirty ships offive banks of oars: to bring out, from the docks, any old ones thatwere fit for service, and to raise seamen. An order was also given tothe consul, to supply him with two thousand of the allied and Latinfootmen, and a thousand Roman. The destination of these two praetors, and their two armaments, one on land and the other on sea, wasdeclared to be intended against Nabis, who was now carrying on openhostilities against the allies of the Roman people. But it was thoughtproper to wait the return of the ambassadors sent to Antiochus, andthe senate ordered the consul Cneius Domitius not to leave the cityuntil they arrived. 

21. The praetors, Fulvius and Scribonius, whose province was theadministration of justice at Rome, were charged to provide a hundredquinqueremes, besides the fleet which Atilius was to command. Beforethe consul and praetors set out for their provinces, a supplicationwas performed on account of some prodigies. A report was brought fromPicenum, that a goat had produced six kids at a birth. It was saidthat a boy was born at Arretium who had but one hand; that, atAmiternum, a shower of earth fell; a gate and wall at Formiae werestruck by lightning; and, what was more alarming than all, an ox, belonging to the consul, Cneius Domitius, spoke these words, --"Rome, take care of thyself. " To expiate the other prodigies, a supplicationwas performed; the ox was ordered by the aruspices to be carefullypreserved and fed. The Tiber, pouring into the city with moredestructive violence than last year, swept away two bridges, andmany buildings, particularly about the Flumentan gate. A huge rock, loosened from its seat, either by the rains, or by an earthquake soslight that no other effect of it was perceived, tumbled down from theCapitol into the Jugarian street, and buried many people under it. In the country, many parts of which were overflowed, much cattlewas carried away, and a great destruction of farm houses took place. Previous to the arrival of the consul, Lucius Quinctius, in hisprovince Quintus Minucius fought a pitched battle with the Ligurians, in the territory of Pisae, slew nine thousand of the enemy, andputting the rest to flight, drove them within their works, which wereassaulted and defended in an obstinate contest until night came on. During the night, the Ligurians stole away unobserved; and, at thefirst dawn, the Romans took possession of their deserted camp, wherethe quantity of booty found was the less, because the enemy frequentlysent home the spoil taken in the country. Minucius, after this, allowed them no respite. From the territory of Pisae he marched intothat of the Ligurians, and, with fire and sword, utterly destroyedtheir forts and towns, where the Roman soldiers were abundantlyenriched with the spoils of Etruria which the ravagers had sent home. 

22. About this time, the ambassadors, who had been sent to the kings, returned to Rome. As they brought no information of such a natureas called for any immediate declaration of war, (except against theLacedaemonian tyrant, whom the Achaean ambassadors also represented asinvading the sea-coast of Laconia, in breach of treaty, ) Atilius, thepraetor, was sent with the fleet to Greece, for the protection of theallies. It was resolved, that, as there was nothing to be apprehendedfrom Antiochus at present, both the consuls should go to theirprovinces; and, accordingly, Domitius marched into the country of theBoians, by the shorter road, through Ariminum, and Quinctius throughLiguria. The two armies of the consuls, proceeding by these differentroutes, spread devastation wide over the enemy's country. Inconsequence of which, first a few of their horsemen, with theircommanders, then their whole senate, and at last all who possessedeither property or dignity, to the number of one thousand fivehundred, came over and joined the consuls. In both Spains, likewise, success attended the Roman arms during this year. For, in one, CaiusFlaminius, after a siege, took Litabrum, a strong and opulent city, and made prisoner Corribilo, a powerful chieftain; and, in the other, Marcus Fulvius, the proconsul, fought two successful battles, withtwo armies of the enemy. He captured Vescelia and Holo, two townsbelonging to the Spaniards, with many of their forts, and othersspontaneously revolted to him. Then, advancing into the territory ofOretum, and having, there also, taken two cities, Noliba and Cusibis, he proceeded to the river Tagus. Here stood Toletum, a small city, but strong from its situation. While he was besieging this place, a numerous army of Vectonians came to relieve the Toletans, buthe overthrew them in a general engagement, and having defeated theVectonians, took Toletum by means of his works. 

23. At this juncture the wars in which they were actually engaged, caused not so great anxiety in the minds of the senate, as theexpectation of one with Antiochus, which had not yet commenced. Foralthough, through their ambassadors, they had, from time to time, made careful inquiries into every particular, yet rumours, rashlypropagated without authentic foundation, intermixed many falsehoodswith the truth. Among the rest, a report was spread, that Antiochusintended, as soon as he should come into Aetolia, to send a fleetimmediately into Sicily. The senate, therefore, though they hadalready despatched the praetor, Atilius, with a squadron to Greece, yet, considering that not only a military force, but also theinfluence of reputation, would be necessary towards securing theattachment of the allies, they sent into Greece, in quality ofambassadors, Titus Quinctius, Caius Octavius, Cneius Servilius, andPublius Villius; at the same time ordering, in their decree, thatMarcus Baebius should lead forward his legions from Bruttium toTarentum and Brundusium, so that, if occasion required, he mighttransport them thence into Macedonia. They also ordered, that MarcusFulvius, the praetor, should send a fleet of thirty ships to protectthe coast of Sicily; and that, whoever had the direction of thatfleet, should be invested with supreme authority. To this commissionwas appointed Lucius Oppius Salinator, who had been plebeian aedilethe year before. They likewise determined, that the same praetorshould write to his colleague, Lucius Valerius, that "there was reasonto apprehend that the ships of king Antiochus would pass over fromAetolia to Sicily; for which reason the senate judged it proper, that, in addition to the army which he then had, he should enlist tumultuarysoldiers, to the number of twelve thousand foot and four hundredhorse, with which he might be able to defend that coast of hisprovince which lay next to Greece. " This enlistment the praetorcarried on, not only from Sicily, but from the circumjacent islands;and strengthened all the towns on the coast which lay opposite toGreece with garrisons. To the rumours already current, the arrival ofAttalus, the brother of Eumenes, added confirmation, for he broughtintelligence that king Antiochus had crossed the Hellespont withhis army, and that the Aetolians were putting themselves into such aposture, that by the time of his arrival they would be in arms. Thanks were given to Eumenes, in his absence, and to Attalus, whowas present; and there were decreed to him free lodgings and everyaccommodation; that he should be presented with two horses, two suitsof horsemen's armour, vases of silver to a hundred pounds' weight, andof gold to twenty pounds. 

24. As one messenger after another brought intelligence that the warwas on the point of breaking out, it was judged expedient that consulsshould be elected as soon as possible. Wherefore the senate passed adecree, that the praetor, Marcus Fulvius, should instantly despatcha letter to the consul, informing him, that it was the will of thesenate that he should leave the command of the province and army tohis lieutenant-generals, and return to Rome; and that, when on theroad, he should send on before him an edict appointing the assembliesfor the election of consuls. The consul complied with the letter; andhaving sent forward the edict, arrived at Rome. There was, thisyear also, a warm competition, three patricians suing for oneplace: Publius Cornelius Scipio, son to Cneius, who had suffered adisappointment the year before, Lucius Cornelius Scipio, and CneiusManlius Vulso. The consulship was conferred on Publius Scipio, that itmight appear that the honour had only been delayed, and not refused toa person of such character. The plebeian colleague, joined with him, was Manius Acilius Glabrio. Next day were created praetors, LuciusAemilius Paulus, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, Marcus Junius Brutus, AulusCornelius Mammula, Caius Livius, and Lucius Oppius; the two last, both of them, surnamed Salinator. This was the same Oppius whohad conducted the fleet of thirty ships to Sicily. While the newmagistrates were settling the distribution of their provinces, orderswere despatched to Marcus Baebius to pass over, with all his forces, from Brundusium to Epirus, and to keep the army stationed nearApollonia; and Marcus Fulvius, city praetor, was commissioned to buildfifty new quinqueremes. 

25. Such were the precautions taken by the Roman people to guardagainst every attempt of Antiochus. At this time, Nabis did notprocrastinate hostilities, but, with his utmost force, carried on thesiege of Gythium; and, being incensed against the Achaeans, for havingsent succours to the besieged, he ravaged their lands. The Achaeanswould not venture to engage in war, until their ambassadors shouldcome back from Rome, and acquaint them with the sentiments of thesenate: but as soon as these returned, they summoned a council atSicyon, and also sent deputies to Titus Quinctius to ask his advice. In the council, all the members were inclined to vote for an immediatedeclaration of war; but a letter from Titus Quinctius, in which herecommended waiting for the Roman praetor and fleet, caused somehesitation. While some of the principal members persisted in theirfirst opinion, and others argued that they ought to follow the counselof the person to whom they of themselves had applied for advice, the generality waited to hear the sentiments of Philopoemen. He waspraetor of Achaia at the time, and surpassed all his contemporariesboth in wisdom and influence. He first observed, that "it was a wiserule, established among the Achaeans, that their praetor, when heproposed a question concerning war, should not himself declare anopinion:" and then he desired them to "fix their determination amongthemselves as soon as possible;" assuring them, that "their praetorwould faithfully and carefully carry their decrees into execution;and would use his best endeavours, that, as far as depended on humanprudence, they should not repent either of peace or war. " These wordshad more influence in inciting them to war, than if, by openly arguingin favour of it, he had betrayed an eager desire for the managementof it. War was therefore unanimously resolved on: the time and modeof conducting it were left to the praetor without restriction. Philopoemen's own judgment, indeed, besides it being the opinion ofQuinctius, pointed it out as best to wait for the Roman fleet, whichmight succour Gythium by sea; but fearing that the business would notendure delay, and that not only Gythium, but the party which had beensent to protect the city, would fall into the hands of the enemy, hedrew out the ships of the Achaeans. 

26. The tyrant also, with the view of cutting off any supplies thatmight be brought to the besieged by sea, had fitted out a smallsquadron, consisting of only three ships of war, with some barksand cutters, as his former fleet had been given up to the Romans, according to the treaty. In order to try the activity of thesevessels, as they were then new, and, at the same time, to have everything in fit condition for a battle, he put out to sea every day, andexercised both the rowers and marines in mock-fights; for he thoughtthat all his hopes of succeeding in the siege depended on thecircumstance of his cutting off all supplies by sea. The praetor ofthe Achaeans, in respect of skill for conducting operations on land, was equal to any of the most celebrated commanders both in capacityand experience, yet with naval affairs he was quite unacquainted. Being an inhabitant of Arcadia, an inland country, he was ignoranteven of all foreign affairs, excepting that he had once served inCrete as commander of a body of auxiliaries. There was an old ship offour banks of oars, which had been taken eighty years before, as itwas conveying Nicaea, the wife of Craterus, from Naupactum to Corinth. Led by the reputation of this ship, for it had formerly been reckoneda very famous vessel when in the king's fleet, he ordered it, thoughnow quite rotten, and falling asunder through age, to be brought outfrom Aegium. The fleet sailed with this ship at its head, Tiso ofPatrae, the commander, being on board it, when the ships of theLacedaemonians from Gythium came within view. At the first shock, against a new and firm vessel, that old one, which before admitted thewater through every joint, was shattered to pieces, and the whole crewwere made prisoners. On the loss of the commander's ship, the rest ofthe fleet fled as fast as each could by means of its oars. Philopoemenhimself made his escape in a light advice-boat, nor did he stop hisflight until he arrived at Patrae. This untoward event did not in theleast damp the spirit of a man so well versed in military affairs, andwho had experienced so many vicissitudes of fortune. On the contrary, as he had failed of success in the naval line, in which he had noexperience, he even conceived, thence, the greater hopes of succeedingin another, wherein he had acquired knowledge; and he affirmed, thathe would quickly put an end to the tyrant's rejoicing. 

27. Nabis, being both elated by this adventure, and entertaining aconfident hope that he had not now any danger to apprehend from thesea, resolved to shut up the passages on the land also, by partiesstationed in proper posts. With this view, he drew off a third part ofhis forces from the siege of Gythium, and encamped them at Pleiae, aplace which commands both Leucae and Acriae, on the road by which theenemy's army seemed likely to advance. While his quarters were here, and very few of his men had tents, (the generality of them havingformed huts of reeds interwoven, and which they covered with leavesof trees, to serve merely as a shelter, ) Philopoemen, before he camewithin sight, resolved to surprise him by an attack of such a kindas he did not expect. He drew together some small ships in a remotecreek, on the coast of the territory of Argos, and embarked on boardthem a body of light-armed soldiers, mostly targeteers, furnished withslings, javelins, and other light kinds of weapons. He then coastedalong the shore, until he came to a promontory near Nabis's post. Herehe landed; and made his way, by night, through paths with which he waswell acquainted, to Pleiae, and while the sentinels were fast asleep, as being in no immediate apprehension, he set fire to the huts inevery part of the camp. Great numbers perished in the flames beforethey could discover the enemy's arrival, and those who did discoverit could give no assistance; so that nearly the whole was destroyed byfire and sword. From both these means of destruction, however, a verysmall number made their escape, and fled to the principal camp beforeGythium. The enemy having been thus smitten with disaster, Philopoemenforthwith led on his forces to ravage the district of Tripolis, a partof the Lacedaemonian territory, lying next to the frontiers of theMegalopolitans, and carrying off thence a vast number of men andcattle, withdrew before the tyrant could send a force from Gythium toprotect the country. He then collected his whole force at Tegea, towhich place he summoned a council of the Achaeans and their allies;at which were present, also deputies from the Epirots and Acarnanians. Here it was resolved, that as the minds of his men were nowsufficiently recovered from the shame of the disgrace suffered atsea, and those of the enemy dispirited, he should march directly toLacedaemon; for he considered that by this measure alone could theenemy be drawn off from the siege of Gythium. On entering the enemy'scountry, he encamped the first day at Caryae; and, on that very day, Gythium was taken. Ignorant of that event, Philopoemen advanced to theBarbosthenes, a mountain ten miles from Lacedaemon. On the other side, Nabis, after taking possession of Gythium, set out, at the head of abody of light troops, marched hastily by Lacedaemon, and seized on aplace called the Camp of Pyrrhus, which post he did not doubt thatthe Achaeans intended to occupy. From thence he proceeded to meet theenemy. From the length of their train in consequence of the narrownessof the road, they spread over a space of almost five miles. The linewas closed by the cavalry and the greatest part of the auxiliaries, because Philopoemen expected that the tyrant would attack him inthe rear with his mercenary troops, in whom he placed his principalconfidence. Two unforeseen circumstances at once filled him withuneasiness: one, the post at which he aimed being pre-occupied; theother, the enemy having met him in front, where, as the road laythrough very uneven ground, he did not see how the battalions couldadvance without the support of the light troops. 

28. Philopoemen was possessed of an admirable degree of skill andexperience, in conducting a march, and choosing his station; havingmade these points his principal study, not only in times of war, butlikewise during peace. Whenever he was making a journey to any placeand came to a defile where the passage was difficult, it was hispractice, first, to examine the nature of the ground on every side. When journeying alone, he meditated within himself; if he had company, he asked them, "If an enemy should appear in that place, what courseought he to adopt, if they should attack him in front; what, if onthis flank, or on that; what, if on the rear; for he might happen tomeet them while his men were formed with a regular front, or when theywere in the loose order of march, fit only for the road. " He wouldproceed to examine, either in his own mind, or by asking questions, "What ground he himself would choose; what number of soldiers, or whatkind of arms (which was a very material point) he ought to employ;where he should deposit the baggage, where the soldiers' necessaries, where the unarmed multitude; with what number and what kind of troopshe should guard them, and whether it would be better to prosecute hismarch as intended, or to return back by the way he came; what spot, also, he should choose for his camp; how large a space he shouldenclose within the lines; where he could be conveniently suppliedwith water; where a sufficiency of forage and wood could be had; whichwould be his safest road on decamping next day, and in what form thearmy should march?" In such studies and inquiries he had, from hisearly years, so frequently exercised his thoughts, that, on any thingof the kind occurring, no expedient that could be devised was new tohim. On this occasion, he first ordered the army to halt; then sentforward to the van the auxiliary Cretans, and the horsemen calledTarentines, each leading two spare horses; and, ordering the rest ofthe cavalry to follow, he seized on a rock which stood over a rivulet, from which he might be supplied with water. Here he collected togetherall the baggage with all the suttlers and followers of the army, placing a guard of soldiers round them; and then he fortified hiscamp, as the nature of the place required. The pitching of tents insuch rugged and uneven ground was a difficult task. The enemy weredistant not more than five hundred paces. Both drew water from thesame rivulet, under escorts of light troops; but, before any skirmishtook place, as usual between men encamped so near to each other, nightcame on. It was evident, however, that they must, unavoidably, fight next day at the rivulet, in support of the watering parties. Wherefore, during the night, Philopoemen concealed, in a valley remotefrom the view of the enemy, as great a number of targeteers as theplace was capable of hiding. 

29. At break of day, the Cretan light infantry and the Tarentine horsebegan an engagement on the bank of the rivulet. Telemnastus, a Cretan, commanded his countrymen; Lycortas of Megalopolis, the cavalry. Theenemies' watering party also was guarded by Cretan auxiliaries andTarentine horsemen. The fight was, for a considerable time, doubtful, as the troops on both sides were of the same kind and armed alike; butas the contest advanced, the tyrant's auxiliaries gained an advantage, both by their superiority of numbers, and because Philopoemen hadgiven directions to his officers, that, after maintaining the contestfor a short time they should betake themselves to flight, and drawthe enemy on to the place of the ambuscade. The latter, pursuing therunaways, in disorderly haste, through the valley, were most of themwounded and slain, before they discovered their concealed foe. Thetargeteers had posted themselves in such order, as far as the breadthof the valley allowed, that they easily gave a passage to their flyingfriends, through openings in their ranks; then starting up themselves, hale, fresh, and in regular order, they briskly attacked the enemy, whose ranks were broken, who were scattered in confusion, and were, besides, exhausted with fatigue and wounds. The victory was no longerdoubtful; the tyrant's troops instantly turned their backs, and flyingwith much more precipitation than they had pursued, were driven intotheir camp. Great numbers were killed and taken in the pursuit; andthe consternation would have spread through the camp also, had notPhilopoemen ordered a retreat to be sounded; for he dreaded the ground(which was rough and dangerous to advance on without caution) morethan he did the enemy. Judging, both from the issue of the battle andfrom the disposition of the enemy's leader, in what apprehensionhe then was, he sent to him one of the auxiliary soldiers in thecharacter of a deserter, to assure him positively, that the Achaeanshad resolved to advance, next day, to the river Eurotas, which runsalmost close to the walls, in order to intercept his way, so that thetyrant could have no retreat to the city when he required it, and toprevent any provisions being brought thence to the camp; and that theyintended, at the same time, to try whether any could be prevailed onto desert his cause. Although the deserter did not gain entire credit, yet he afforded to one, who was full of apprehensions, a plausiblepretext for leaving his camp. On the day following, he orderedPythagoras, with the auxiliaries and cavalry, to mount guard beforethe rampart; and then, marching out himself with the main body of thearmy, as if intending to offer battle, he ordered them to return withall haste to the city. 

30. When Philopoemen saw their army marching precipitately througha narrow and steep road, he sent all his cavalry, together with theCretan auxiliaries, against the guard of the enemy, stationed in thefront of their camp. These, seeing their adversaries approach, andperceiving that their friends had abandoned them, at first attemptedto retreat within their works; but afterwards, when the whole force ofthe Achaeans advanced in order of battle, they were seized withfear, lest, together with the camp itself, they might be taken; theyresolved, therefore, to follow the body of their army, which, bythis time, had proceeded to a considerable distance in advance. Immediately, the targeteers of the Achaeans assailed and plundered thecamp, and the rest set out in pursuit of the enemy. The road was such, that a body of men, even when undisturbed by any fear of a foe, couldnot, without difficulty, make its way through it. But when an attackwas made on their rear, and the shouts of terror, raised by theaffrighted troops behind, reached to the van, they threw down theirarms, and fled, each for himself, in different directions, into thewoods which lay on each side of the road. In an instant of time, theway was stopped up with heaps of weapons, particularly spears, which, falling mostly with their points towards the pursuers, formed a kindof palisade across the road. Philopoemen ordered the auxiliaries topush forward, whenever they could, in pursuit of the enemy, who wouldfind it a difficult matter, the horsemen particularly, to continuetheir flight; while he himself led away the heavy troops through moreopen ground to the river Eurotas. There he pitched his camp a littlebefore sun-set, and waited for the light troops which he had sentin chase of the enemy. These arrived at the first watch, and broughtintelligence, that Nabis, with a few attendants, had made his way intothe city, and that the rest of his army, unarmed and dispersed, werestraggling through all parts of the woods; whereupon, he ordered themto refresh themselves, while he himself chose out a party of men, who, having come earlier into camp, were by this time, both recruited byfood and a little rest; and, ordering them to carry nothing with thembut their swords, he marched them out directly, and posted them in theroads which led from two of the gates, one towards Pherae, the othertowards the Barbosthenes: for he supposed, that through these theflying enemy would make their retreat. Nor was he mistaken in thatopinion; for the Lacedaemonians, as long as any light remained, retreated through the centre of the woods in the most retired paths. As soon as it grew dusk, and they saw lights in the enemy's camp, theykept themselves in paths concealed from view; but having passed itby, they then thought that all was safe, and came down into the openroads, where they were intercepted by the parties lying in wait; andthere such numbers of them were killed and taken, that of the wholearmy scarcely a fourth part effected their escape. As the tyrant wasnow pent up within the city, Philopoemen employed the greatest partof thirty succeeding days in ravaging the lands of the Lacedaemonians;and then, after greatly reducing, and almost annihilating the strengthof the tyrant, he returned home, while the Achaeans extolled him asequal in the glory of his services to the Roman general, and indeed, so far as regarded the war with Lacedaemon, even deemed him superior. 

31. While the Achaeans and the tyrant were carrying on the war in thismanner, the Roman ambassadors made a circuit through the cities of theallies; being anxious lest the Aetolians might seduce some of themto join the party of Antiochus. They took but little pains, in theirapplications to the Achaeans; because, knowing their animosity againstNabis, they thought that they might be safely relied on with regard toother matters. They went first to Athens, thence to Chalcis, thence toThessaly; and, after addressing the Thessalians, in a full assembly, they directed their route to Demetrias, to which place a council ofthe Magnetians was summoned. There a more studied address required tobe delivered; for a great many of the leading men were disaffected tothe Romans, and entirely devoted to the interests of Antiochus andthe Aetolians; because, at the time when accounts were received thatPhilip's son, who was a hostage, would be restored to him, and thetribute imposed on him remitted, among other groundless reports it hadbeen given out, that the Romans also intended to restore Demetrias tohim. Rather than that should take place, Eurylochus, a deputy of theMagnetians, and others of that faction, wished for a total change ofmeasures to be effected by the coming of Antiochus and the Aetolians. In opposition to those, it was necessary to reason in such a manner, that, in dispelling their mistaken fear, the ambassadors should not, by cutting off his hopes at once, give any disgust to Philip, to whommore importance attached, in all respects, than to the Magnetians. They only observed to the assembly, that, "as Greece in general wasunder an obligation to the Romans for their kindness in restoring itsliberty, so was their state in particular. For there had not onlybeen a garrison of Macedonians in their capital, but a palace had beenbuilt in it, that they might have a master continually before theireyes. But all that had been done would be of no effect, if theAetolians should bring thither Antiochus, and settle him in the abodeof Philip, so that a new and unknown king should be set over them, in the place of an old one, with whom they had been long acquainted. "Their chief magistrate is styled Magnetarch. This office was then heldby Eurylochus, who assuming confidence from this powerful station, openly declared that he and the Magnetians saw no reason to dissembletheir having heard the common report about the restoration ofDemetrias to Philip; to prevent which, the Magnetians were bound toattempt and to hazard every thing; and, in the eagerness of discourse, he was carried to such an inconsiderate length, as to throw out, that, "at that very time Demetrias was only free in appearance; and that, inreality, all things were at the nod of the Romans. " Immediately afterthis expression there was a general murmur of dissent in the assembly;some of whom showed their approbation, others expressed indignation athis presumption, in uttering it. As to Quinctius, he was so inflamedwith anger, that, raising his hands towards heaven, he invoked thegods to witness the ungrateful and perfidious disposition of theMagnetians. This struck terror into the whole assembly; and one of thedeputies, named Zeno, who had acquired a great degree of influence, byhis judicious course of conduct in life, and by having been always anavowed supporter of the interests of the Romans, with tears besoughtQuinctius, and the other ambassadors, "not to impute to the state themadness of an individual. Every man, " he said, "was answerable forhis own absurdities. As to the Magnetians, they were indebted to TitusQuinctius and the Roman people, not only for liberty, but for everything that mankind hold valuable or sacred. By their kindness, theywere in the enjoyment of every blessing, for which they could everpetition the immortal gods; and, if struck with phrensy they wouldsooner vent their fury on their own persons, than violate thefriendship with Rome. "

32. His entreaties were seconded by the prayers of the whole assembly;on which Eurylochus retired hastily from the council, and passing tothe gate through private streets fled away into Aetolia. As to theAetolians, they now gave plainer indications of their intention torevolt every day; and it happened, that at this very time Thoas, oneof their leading men, whom they had sent to Antiochus, returned, andbrought back with him an ambassador from the king, named Menippus. These two, before the council met to give them audience, filled everyone's ears with pompous accounts of the naval and land forces thatwere coming; "a vast army, " they said, "of horse and foot was onits march from India; and, besides, that they were bringing such aquantity of gold and silver, as was sufficient to purchase the Romansthemselves;" which latter circumstance they knew would influencethe multitude more than any thing else. It was easy to foresee whateffects these reports would produce in the council; for the Romanambassadors received information of the arrival of those men, and ofall their proceedings. And although the matter had almost come to arupture, yet Quinctius thought it advisable, that some ambassadorsof the allies should be present in that council, who might remind theAetolians of their alliance with Rome, and who might have the courageto speak with freedom in opposition to the king's ambassador. TheAthenians seemed to be the best qualified for this purpose, byreason of the high reputation of their state, and also from theirlong-standing alliance with the Aetolians. Quinctius, therefore, requested of them to send ambassadors to the Panaetolic council. Atthe first meeting, Thoas made a report of the business of his embassy. After him, Menippus was introduced, who said, that "it would havebeen best for all the Greeks, residing both in Greece and Asia, ifAntiochus could have taken a part in their affairs, while the powerof Philip was yet unbroken; for then every one would have had whatof right belonged to him, and the whole would not have come underthe dominion and absolute disposal of the Romans. But even as mattersstand at present, " said he, "provided you have constancy enough tocarry into effect the measures which you have adopted, Antiochuswill be able, with the assistance of the gods and the alliance of theAetolians, to reinstate the affairs of Greece in their former rankof dignity, notwithstanding the low condition to which they have beenreduced. But this dignity consists in a state of freedom which standsby its own resources, and is not dependent on the will of another. "The Athenians, who were permitted to deliver their sentiments nextafter the king's ambassadors, omitting all mention of Antiochus, reminded the Aetolians of their alliance with Rome, and the benefitsconferred by Titus Quinctius on the whole body of Greece; andadmonished them, "not inconsiderately to break off that connexionby the undue precipitation of their counsels; that passionate andadventurous schemes, however flattering at first view, prove difficultin the execution, and disastrous in the issue; that as the Romanambassadors, and among them Titus Quinctius, were within a smalldistance, it would be better, while all hostilities were as yetuncommenced, to discuss, in conference, any matters in dispute, thanto rouse Europe and Asia to a dreadful war. "

33. The multitude, ever fond of novelty, warmly espoused the cause ofAntiochus, and gave their opinion, that the Romans should not even beadmitted into the council; but, by the influence chiefly of the eldermembers, a vote was passed, that the council should give audienceto the Romans. On being acquainted, by the Athenians, with thisdetermination, Quinctius thought it desirable to go into Aetolia; forhe thought that, "either he should be able to effect some change intheir designs; or that it would be manifest to all mankind, that theblame of the war would lie on the Aetolians, and that the Romanswould be warranted in taking arms by justice, and, in a manner, bynecessity. " On arriving there, Quinctius, in his discourse to thecouncil, began with the first formation of the alliance between theRomans and the Aetolians, and enumerated how many times the faith ofthe treaty had been violated by them. He then enlarged a little onthe rights of the states concerned in the dispute, and added, that, "notwithstanding, if they thought that they had any reasonable demandto make, it would surely be infinitely better to send ambassadors toRome, whether they chose to argue the case or to make a request tothe senate, than that the Roman people should enter the lists withAntiochus, while the Aetolians acted as marshals of the field; notwithout great disturbance to the affairs of the world, and tothe utter ruin of Greece. " That "no people would feel the fatalconsequences of such a war sooner than the first promoters of it. "This prediction of the Roman was disregarded. Thoas, and others ofthe same faction, were then heard with general approbation; and theyprevailed so far, that, without adjourning the meeting, or waiting forthe absence of the Romans, a decree was passed that Antiochus shouldbe invited to vindicate the liberty of Greece, and decide the disputebetween the Aetolians and the Romans. To the insolence of this decree, their praetor, Damocritus, added a personal affront: for on Quinctiusasking him for a copy of the decree, without any respect to thedignity of the person to whom he spoke, he told him, that "he had, atpresent, more pressing business to despatch; but he would shortly givehim the decree, and an answer, in Italy, from his camp on the banksof the Tiber. " Such was the degree of madness which possessed, at thattime, both the nation of the Aetolians and their magistrates. 

34. Quinctius and the ambassadors returned to Corinth. The Aetolians, that they might appear to intend taking every step through Antiochus, and none directly of themselves, and, sitting inactive, to be waitingfor the arrival of the king, though they did not, after the departureof the Romans, hold a council of the whole nation, yet endeavoured, by their Apocleti, (a more confidential council, composed of personsselected from the rest, ) to devise schemes for setting Greece incommotion. It was well known to them all, that in the several statesthe principal people, particularly those of the best characters, weredisposed to maintain the Roman alliance, and well pleased with thepresent state of affairs; but that the populace, and especiallysuch as were not content with their position, wished for a generalrevolution. The Aetolians, at one day's sitting, formed a scheme, the very conception of which argued not only boldness, butimpudence, --that of making themselves masters of Demetrias, Chalcis, and Lacedaemon. One of their principal men was sent to each ofthese places; Thoas to Chalcis, Alexamenus to Lacedaemon, Diodesto Demetrias. This last was assisted by the exile Eurylochus, whoseflight, and the cause of it, have been mentioned above, because therewas no other prospect of his restoration to his country. Eurylochus, by letter, instructed his friends and relations, and those of his ownfaction, to order his wife and children to assume a mourning dress:and, holding the badges of supplicants, to go into a full assembly, and to beseech each individual, and the whole body, not to suffera man, who was innocent and uncondemned, to grow old in exile. The simple-minded were moved by compassion; the ill-disposed andseditious, by the hope of seeing all things thrown into confusion, inconsequence of the tumults which the Aetolians would excite; and everyone voted for his being recalled. These preparatory measures beingeffected, Diocles, at that time general of the horse, with all thecavalry, set out under pretext of escorting to his home the exile, who was his guest. Having, during that day and the following night, marched an extraordinary length of way, and arrived within six milesof the city at the first dawn, he chose out three troops, at the headof which he went on before the rest of the cavalry, whom he ordered tofollow. When he came near the gate he made all his men dismount, andlead their horses by the reins, without keeping their ranks, but liketravellers on a journey, in order that they might appear to be theretinue of the general, rather than a military force. Here he left onetroop at the gate, lest the cavalry, who were coming up, might be shutout; and then, holding Eurylochus by the hand, conducted him to hishouse through the middle of the city and the forum, and through crowdswho met and congratulated him. In a little time the city was filledwith horsemen, and convenient posts were seized; and then parties weresent to the houses of persons of the opposite faction, to put them todeath. In this manner Demetrias fell into the hands of the Aetolians. 

35. At Lacedaemon, the city was not to be attempted by force, but thetyrant to be entrapped by stratagem. For though he had been strippedof the maritime towns by the Romans, and afterwards shut up within thewalls of his city by the Achaeans, they supposed that whoever took thefirst opportunity of killing him would engross the whole thanks of theLacedaemonians. The pretence which they had for sending to him, was, that he had long solicited assistance from them, since, by theiradvice, he had renewed the war. A thousand foot were put under thecommand of Alexamenus, with thirty horsemen, chosen from among theyouth. These received a charge from Damocritus, the praetor, in theselect council of the nation, mentioned above, "not to suppose thatthey were sent to a war with the Achaeans; or even on other business, which any one might ascertain to himself from his own conjectures. Whatever sudden enterprise circumstances might direct Alexamenus toundertake, that (however unexpected, rash, or daring) they were tohold themselves in readiness to execute with implicit obedience;and should understand that to be the matter, for the sole purposeof effecting which they had been sent abroad. " With these men, thuspre-instructed, Alexamenus came to the tyrant, and, immediately onapproaching him, filled him with hopes; telling him, that "Antiochushad already come over into Europe; that he would shortly be in Greece, and would cover the lands and seas with men and arms; that the Romanswould find that they had not Philip to deal with: that the numbers ofthe horsemen, footmen, and ships, could not be reckoned; and that thetrain of elephants, by their mere appearance, would effectually dauntthe enemy: that the Aetolians were prepared to come to Lacedaemon withtheir entire force, whenever occasion required; but that they wishedto show the king, on his arrival, a numerous body of troops: thatNabis himself, likewise, ought to take care not to suffer his soldiersto be enervated by inaction, and dwelling in houses; but to lead themout, and make them perform their evolutions under arms, which, whileit exercised their bodies, would also rouse their courage; that thelabour would become lighter by practice, and might even be renderednot unpleasing by the affability and kindness of their commander. "Thenceforward, the troops used frequently to be drawn out under thewalls of the city, in a plain near the river Eurotas. The tyrant'slife-guards were generally posted in the centre. He himself, attendedby three horsemen at the most, of whom Alexamenus was commonly one, rode about in front, and went to view both wings to their extremities. On the right wing were the Aetolians; both those who had been beforein his army as auxiliaries, and the thousand who came with Alexamenus. Alexamenus made it his custom to ride about with Nabis through a fewof the ranks, offering such advice as seemed most suitable; then tojoin his own troops in the right wing; and presently after, as ifhaving given the orders which the occasion might require, to return tothe tyrant. But, on the day which he had fixed for the perpetration ofthe deed of death, after accompanying the tyrant for a little time, he withdrew to his own soldiers, and addressed the horsemen, sentfrom home with him, in these words: "Young men, that deed is now tobe dared and done which you were ordered to execute valiantly under myguidance. Have your courage and your hands ready, that none mayfail to second me in whatever he sees me attempt. If any one shallhesitate, and prefer any scheme of his own to mine, let him restassured that there is no return to his home for him. " Horror seizedthem all, and they well remembered the charge which they had receivedat setting out. The tyrant was now coming from the left wing. Alexamenus ordered his horsemen to rest their lances, and keep theireyes fixed on him; and in the mean time he himself recollected hisspirits, which had been discomposed by the meditation of such adesperate attempt. As soon as the tyrant came near, he charged him;and driving his spear through his horse, brought the rider to theground. The horsemen aimed their lances at him as he lay, and aftermany ineffectual strokes against his coat of mail, their points atlength penetrated his body, so that, before relief could be sent fromthe centre, he expired. 

36. Alexamenus, with all the Aetolians, hastened away, to seize on thepalace. Nabis's life-guards were at first struck with horror, theact being perpetrated before their eyes; then, when they observed theAetolian troops leaving the place, they gathered round the tyrant'sbody, where it was left, forming, instead of guardians of his life oravengers of his death, a mere group of spectators. Nor would any onehave stirred, if Alexamenus had immediately called the people to anassembly, and, with his arms laid aside, there made a speech suitableto the occasion, and afterwards kept a good number of Aetolians inarms, without violence being offered to any one. Instead of which, by a fatality which ought to attend all designs founded in treachery, every step was taken that could tend to hasten the destruction ofthose who had committed it. The commander, shut up in the palace, wasted a day and a night in searching out the tyrant's treasures; andthe Aetolians, as if they had stormed the city, of which they wishedto be thought the deliverers, betook themselves to plunder. Theinsolence of their behaviour, and at the same time contempt of theirnumbers, gave the Lacedaemonians courage to assemble in a body, whensome said, that they ought to drive out the Aetolians, and resumetheir liberty, which had been ravished from them at the very time whenit seemed to be restored; others, that, for the sake of appearance, they ought to associate with them some one of the royal family, as thedirector of their efforts. There was a very young boy of that family, named Laconicus, who had been educated with the tyrant's children; himthey mounted on a horse, and taking arms, slew all the Aetolians whomthey met straggling through the city. They then assaulted the palace, where they killed Alexamenus, who, with a small party, attemptedresistance. Others of the Aetolians, who had collected together roundthe Chalciaecon, that is, the brazen temple of Minerva, were cut topieces. A few, throwing away their arms, fled, some to Tegea, othersto Megalopolis, where they were seized by the magistrates, and sold asslaves. Philopoemen, as soon as he heard of the murder of the tyrant, went to Lacedaemon, where, finding all in confusion and consternation, he called together the principal inhabitants, to whom he addressed adiscourse, (such as ought to have been made by Alexamenus, ) and unitedthe Lacedaemonians to the confederacy of the Achaeans. To this theywere the more easily persuaded, because, at that very juncture, AulusAtilius happened to arrive at Gythium with twenty-four quinqueremes. 

37. Meanwhile, Thoas, in his attempt on Chalcis, had by no meansthe same good fortune as Eurylochus had in getting possession ofDemetrias; although, (by the intervention of Euthymidas, a man ofconsiderable consequence, who, after the arrival of Titus Quinctiusand the ambassadors, had been banished by those who adhered to theRoman alliance; and also of Herodorus, who was a merchant of Cios, and who, by means of his wealth, possessed a powerful influence atChalcis, ) he had engaged a party, composed of Euthymidas's faction, tobetray the city into his hands. Euthymidas went from Athens, wherehe had fixed his residence, first to Thebes, and thence to Salganea;Herodorus to Thronium. At a small distance, on the Malian bay, Thoashad two thousand foot and two hundred horse, with as many as thirtylight transport ships. With these vessels, carrying six hundredfootmen, Herodorus was ordered to sail to the island of Atalanta, that, as soon as he should perceive the land forces approaching Aulusand the Euripus, he might pass over from thence to Chalcis; to whichplace Thoas himself led the rest of his forces, marching mostly bynight, and with all possible expedition. 

38. Mictio and Xenoclides, who were now, since the banishment ofEuthymidas, in possession of the supreme power, either of themselvessuspected the matter, or received some information of it, and were atfirst so greatly terrified, that they saw no prospect of safety butin flight; but afterwards, when their fright subsided, and theyconsidered that, by such a step, they would betray and desert not onlytheir country, but the Roman alliance, they applied their minds tothe following plan. It happened that, at that very time, there was asolemn anniversary festival, celebrated at Eretria, in honour of DianaAmarynthis, which was always attended by great numbers, not only ofthe natives, but also of the Carystians: thither they sent envoys tobeseech the Eretrians and Carystians, "as having been born in the sameisle, to compassionate their situation; and, at the same time, toshow their regard to the friendship of Rome: not to suffer Chalcisto become the property of the Aetolians; that if they should possessChalcis they would obtain possession of all Euboea: and to remindthem, that they had found the Macedonians grievous masters, but thatthe Aetolians would be much more intolerable. " The considerationof the Romans chiefly influenced those states, as they had latelyexperienced both their bravery in war, and their justice andliberality in success. Both states, therefore, armed, and sent themain strength of their young men. To these the people of Chalcisintrusted the defence of the walls, and they themselves, with theirwhole force, crossed the Euripus, and encamped at Salganea. From thatplace they despatched, first a herald, and afterwards ambassadors, toask the Aetolians, for what word or act of theirs, friends and alliescame thus to invade them. Thoas, commander of the Aetolians, answered, that "he came not to attack them, but to deliver them from the Romans;that they were fettered at present with a brighter chain indeed, buta much heavier one, than when they had a Macedonian garrison in theircitadel. " The men of Chalcis replied that "they were neither underbondage to any one, nor in need of the protection of any. " Theambassadors then withdrew from the meeting, and returned to theircountrymen. Thoas and the Aetolians (who had no other hopes than ina sudden surprise, and were by no means in a capacity to undertakea regular war, and the siege of a city so well secured against anyattack from the land or the sea) returned home. Euthymidas, on hearingthat his countrymen were encamped at Salganea, and that the Aetolianshad retired, went back from Thebes to Athens. Herodorus, after waitingseveral days at Atalanta, attentively watching for the concertedsignal in vain, sent an advice-boat to learn the cause of thedelay; and, understanding that the enterprise was abandoned by hisassociates, returned to Thronium from whence he had come. 

39. Quinctius, having been informed of these proceedings, came withthe fleet from Corinth, and met Eumenes in the Euripus of Chalcis. It was agreed between them, that king Eumenes should leave there fivehundred of his soldiers, for the purpose of a garrison, and shouldgo himself to Athens. Quinctius proceeded to Demetrias, as he hadpurposed from the first, hoping that the relief of Chalcis would provea strong inducement to the Magnetians to renew the alliance with Rome. And, in order that such of them as favoured his views might have somesupport at hand, he wrote to Eunomus, praetor of the Thessalians, to arm the youth; sending Villius forward to Demetrias, to sound theinclinations of the people: but not with a view to take any step inthe business, unless a considerable number of them were disposed torevive the former treaty of amity. Villius, in a ship of five banks ofoars, came to the mouth of the harbour, and the whole multitude ofthe Magnetians hastened out thither. Villius then asked, whether theychose that he should consider himself as having come to friends, orto enemies? Eurylochus, the Magnetarch, answered, that "he had come tofriends; but desired him not to enter the harbour, but to suffer theMagnetians to live in freedom and harmony; and not to attempt, underthe show of friendly converse, to seduce the minds of the populace. "Then followed an altercation, not a conference, the Roman upbraidingthe Magnetians with ingratitude, and forewarning them of thecalamities impending over them; the multitude, on the other side, clamorously reproaching him, and reviling, sometimes the senate, sometimes Quinctius. Villius, therefore, unable to effect any partof his business, went back to Quinctius, who despatched orders to theThessalian praetor, to lead his troops home, while himself returnedwith his ships to Corinth. 

40. The affairs of Greece, blended with those of Rome, have carried meaway, as it were, out of my course: not that they were in themselvesdeserving of a recital, but because they constituted the causes ofthe war with Antiochus. After the consular election, for thence Idigressed, the consuls, Lucius Quinctius and Cneius Domitius, repairedto their provinces; Quinctius to Liguria, Domitius against the Boians. The Boians kept themselves quiet; nay, the senators, with theirchildren, and the commanding officers of the cavalry, with theirtroops, amounting in all to one thousand five hundred, surrendered tothe consul. The other consul laid waste the country of the Liguriansto a wide extent, and took some forts: in which expeditions he notonly acquired booty of all sorts, together with many prisoners, but healso recovered several of his countrymen, and of the allies, who hadbeen in the hands of the enemy. In this year a colony was settledat Vibo, in pursuance of a decree of the senate and an order ofthe people; three thousand seven hundred footmen, and three hundredhorsemen, went out thither, conducted by the commissioners QuintusNaevius, Marcus Minucius, and Marcus Furius Crassipes. Fifteen acresof ground were assigned to each footman, double that quantity to ahorseman. This land had been last in possession of the Bruttians, whohad taken it from the Greeks. About this time two dreadful causesof alarm happened at Rome, one of which continued long, but was lessactive than the other. An earthquake lasted through thirty-eight days;during all which time there was a total cessation of business, amidstanxiety and fears. On account of this event, a supplication wasperformed of three days' continuance. The other was not a mere fright, but attended with the actual loss of many lives. In consequence of afire breaking out in the cattle-market, the conflagration, amongthe houses near to the Tiber, continued through all that day and thefollowing night, and all the shops, with wares of very great value, were reduced to ashes. 

41. The year was now almost at an end, while the rumours of impendinghostility, and, consequently, the anxiety of the senate, dailyincreased. They therefore set about adjusting the provinces of themagistrates elect, in order that they might be all the more intenton duty. They decreed, that those of the consuls should be Italy, andwhatever other place the senate should vote, for every one knew thata war against Antiochus was now a settled point. That he, to whoselot the latter province fell, should have under his command, --of Romancitizens, four thousand foot and three hundred horse; and of the Latinconfederates, six thousand foot and four hundred horse. The consul, Lucius Quinctius, was ordered to levy these troops, that no delaymight be occasioned, but that the new consul might be able to proceedimmediately to any place which the senate should appoint. Concerningthe provinces of the praetors, also, it was decreed, that the firstlot should comprehend the two jurisdictions, both that betweennatives, and that between them and foreigners; the second should beBruttium; the third, the fleet, to sail wherever the senate shoulddirect; the fourth, Sicily; the fifth, Sardinia; the sixth, FartherSpain. An order was also given to the consul Lucius Quinctius, to levytwo new legions of Roman citizens, and of the allies and Latins twentythousand foot and eight hundred horse. This army they assigned to thepraetor to whom should fall the province of Bruttium. Two temples werededicated this year to Jupiter in the Capitol; one of which had beenvowed by Lucius Furius Purpureo, when praetor during the Gallic war;the other by the same, when consul. Quintus Marcius Ralla, duumvir, dedicated both. Many severe sentences were passed this year onusurers, who were prosecuted, as private persons, by the curuleaediles, Marcus Tuccius and Publius Junius Brutus. Out of the finesimposed on those who were convicted, gilded chariots, with fourhorses, were placed in the recess of Jupiter's temple in the Capitol, over the canopy of the shrine, and also twelve gilded bucklers. Thesame aediles built a portico on the outside of the Triple Gate, in theCarpenters' Square. 

42. While the Romans were busily employed in preparing for a new war, Antiochus, on his part, was not idle. Three cities detained him sometime, Smyrna, Alexandria in Troas, and Lampsacus, which hitherto hehad not been able either to reduce by force, or to persuade into atreaty of amity; and he was unwilling, on going into Europe, to leavethese behind (as enemies). A deliberation also respecting Hannibaloccasioned him further delay. First, the open ships, which theking was to have sent with him to Africa, were slowly prepared, andafterwards a consultation was set on foot whether he ought to be sentat all, chiefly by Thoas the Aetolian; who, after setting all Greecein commotion, came with the account of Demetrias being in the hands ofhis countrymen; and as he had, by false representations concerning theking, and multiplying, in his assertions, the numbers of his forces, exalted the expectations of many in Greece; so now, by the sameartifices, he puffed up the hopes of the king; telling him, that"every one was inviting him with their prayers, and that there wouldbe a general rush to the shore, from which the people could catch aview of the royal fleet. " He even had the audacity to attempt alteringthe king's judgment respecting Hannibal when it was nearly settled. For he alleged, that "the fleet ought not to be weakened by sendingaway any part of it, but that if ships must be sent no person wasless fit for the command than Hannibal, for he was an exile and aCarthaginian, to whom his own circumstances or his disposition mightdaily suggest a thousand new schemes. Then as to his military fame, by which, as by a dowry, he was recommended to notice, it was toosplendid for an officer acting under a king. The king ought to be thegrand object of view; the king ought to appear the sole leader, thesole commander. If Hannibal should lose a fleet or an army the amountof the damage would be the same as if the loss were incurred by anyother general; but should success be obtained, all the honour would beascribed to Hannibal, and not to Antiochus. Besides, if the warshould prove so fortunate as to terminate finally in the defeat of theRomans, could it be expected that Hannibal would live under a king;subject, in short, to an individual; he who could scarcely bearsubjection to his own country? That he had not so conducted himselffrom early youth, having embraced the empire of the globe in his hopesand aspirations, that in his old age he would be likely to endure amaster. The king wanted not Hannibal as a general: as an attendant anda counsellor in the business of the war, he might properly employ him. A moderate use of such abilities would be neither unprofitable nordangerous; but if advantages of the highest nature were sought throughhim, they, probably, would be the destruction both of the giver andthe receiver. "

43. There are no dispositions more prone to envy than those of personswhose mental qualifications are inferior to their birth and rank inlife; because they are indignant both at the merit and the possessionsof another. The design of the expedition, to be commanded by Hannibal, the only one thought of that could be of use, in the beginning of thewar, was immediately laid aside. The king, highly flattered by thedefection of Demetrias from the Romans to the Aetolians, resolved todelay no longer his departure into Greece. Before the fleet weighedanchor he went up from the shore to Ilium, to offer sacrifice toMinerva. Immediately on his return he set sail with forty decked shipsand sixty open ones, followed by two hundred transports, laden withprovisions and warlike stores. He first touched at the island ofImbrus; thence he passed over to Sciathus; whence, after collectingthe ships which had been separated during the voyage, he proceededto Pteleum, toe nearest part of the continent. Here, Eurylochus theMagnetarch, and other principal Magnetians from Demetrias, met him. Being greatly gratified by their numerous appearance, he carried hisfleet the next day into the harbour of their city. At a small distancefrom the town he landed his forces, which consisted of ten thousandfoot, five hundred horse, and six elephants; a force scarcelysufficient to take possession of Greece alone, much less to sustaina war with Rome. The Aetolians, as soon as they were informed ofAntiochus's arrival at Demetrias, convened a general council, andpassed a decree, inviting him into their country. The king had alreadyleft Demetrias, (for he knew that such a decree was to be passed, ) andhad advanced as far as Phalara on the Malian bay. Here the decreewas presented to him, and then he proceeded to Lamia, where he wasreceived by the populace with marks of the warmest attachment, with clapping of hands and shouting, and other signs by which theextravagant joy of the vulgar is testified. 

44. When he came into the council he was introduced by Phaeneas, thepraetor, and other persons of eminence, who, with difficulty, madeway for him through the crowd. Then, silence being ordered, the kingaddressed himself to the assembly. He began with accounting for hishaving come with a force so much smaller than every one had hoped andexpected. "That, " he said, "ought to be deemed the strongest proof ofthe warmth of his good-will towards them; because, though he was notsufficiently prepared in any particular, and though the season was yettoo early for sailing, he had, without hesitation, complied with thecall of their ambassadors, and had believed that when the Aetoliansshould see him among them they would be satisfied that in him, even ifhe were unattended, they might be sure of every kind of support. Buthe would also abundantly fulfil the hopes of those, whose expectationsseemed at present to be disappointed. For as soon as the season of theyear rendered navigation safe, he would cover all Greece with arms, men, and horses, and all its coasts with fleets. He would spareneither expense, nor labour, nor danger, until he should remove theRoman yoke from their necks, and render Greece really free, and theAetolians the first among its states. That, together with the armies, stores of all kinds were to come from Asia. For the present theAetolians ought to take care that his men might be properly suppliedwith corn, and other accommodations, at reasonable rates. "

45. Having addressed them to this purport, and with universalapprobation, the king withdrew. After his departure a warm debateensued between two of the Aetolian chiefs, Phaeneas and Thoas. Phaeneas declared his opinion, that it would be better to employAntiochus, as a mediator of peace, and an umpire respecting thematters in dispute with the Roman people, than as leader in a war. That "his presence and his dignified station would impress the Romanswith awe, more powerfully than his arms. That in many cases men, forthe sake of avoiding war, voluntarily remit pretensions, which forceand arms would never compel them to forego. " Thoas, on the other hand, insisted, that "Phaeneas's motive was not a love of peace, but a wishto embarrass their preparations for war, with the view that, throughthe tediousness of the proceedings, the king's vigour might be relaxedand the Romans gain time to put themselves in readiness. That they hadabundant proof from experience, after so many embassies sent toRome, and so many conferences with Quinctius in person, that nothingreasonable could ever be obtained from the Romans in the way ofnegotiation; and that they would not, until every hope of that sortwas out of sight, have implored the aid of Antiochus. That as he hadappeared among them sooner than any had expected, they ought not tosink into indolence, but rather to petition the king, that since hehad come in person, which was the great point of all, to support therights of Greece, he would also send for his fleets and armies. Forthe king, at the head of an army, might obtain something, but withoutthat could have very little influence with the Romans, either in thecause of the Aetolians, or even in his own. " This opinion was adopted, and the council voted, that the title of general should be conferredon the king. They also nominated thirty distinguished men with whomhe might deliberate on any business which he might think proper. --Thecouncil was then broken up, and all went home to their respectivestates. 

46. Next day the king held a consultation with their select council, respecting the place from whence his operations should commence. Theyjudged it best to make the first trial on Chalcis, which had latelybeen attempted in vain by the Aetolians; and they thought thatthe business required rather expedition than any great exertion orpreparation. Accordingly the king, with a thousand foot, who hadfollowed him from Demetrias, took his route through Phocis; and theAetolian chiefs, going by another road, met at Cheronaea a smallnumber of their young men whom they had called to arms, and thence, inten decked ships, proceeded after him. Antiochus pitched his camp atSalganea, while himself, with the Aetolian chiefs, crossed the Euripusin the ships. When he had advanced a little way from the harbour, themagistrates and other chief men of Chalcis came out before their gate. A small number from each side met to confer together. The Aetolianswarmly recommended to the others, "without violating the friendshipsubsisting between them and the Romans, to receive the king also asa friend and ally; for that he had crossed into Europe not for thepurpose of making war, but of vindicating the liberty of Greece; andof vindicating it in reality, not in words and pretence merely, as theRomans had done. Nothing could be more advantageous to the states ofGreece than to embrace the alliance of both, as they would then bealways secure against ill-treatment from either, under the guaranteeand protection of the other. If they refuse to receive the king, theyought to consider what they would have immediately to suffer; the aidof the Romans being far distant, and Antiochus, whom with their ownstrength they could not possibly resist, in character of an enemy attheir gates. " To this Mictio, one of the Chalcian deputies, answeredthat "he wondered who those people were, for the vindicating of whoseliberty Antiochus had left his own kingdom, and come over into Europe. For his part he knew not any state in Greece which either containeda garrison, or paid tribute to the Romans, or was bound by adisadvantageous treaty, and obliged to submit to terms which it didnot like. The people of Chalcis, therefore, stood not in need, eitherof any assertor of their liberty, which they already enjoyed, or ofany armed protector, since, through the kindness of the Roman people, they were in possession of both liberty and peace. They did not slightthe friendship of the king, nor that of the Aetolians themselves. Thefirst instance of friendship, therefore, that they could give, wouldbe to quit the island and go home; for, as to themselves, they werefully determined not only not to admit them within their walls, butnot even to agree to any alliance, but with the approbation of theRomans. "

47. When an account of this conference was brought to the king, atthe ships where he had staid, he resolved for the present to return toDemetrias; for he had not come to them with a sufficient number ofmen to attempt any thing by force. At Demetrias he held anotherconsultation with the Aetolians, to determine what was next to bedone, as their first effort had proved fruitless. It was agreed thatthey should make trial of the Botians, Achaeans, and Amynander, kingof the Athamanians. The Boeotianan nation they believed to have beendisaffected to the Romans, ever since the death of Brachyllas, and theconsequences which followed it. Philopoemen, chief of the Achaeans, they supposed to hate, and be hated by, Quinctius, in consequence of arivalship for fame in the war of Laconia. Amynander had married Apama, daughter of a Megalopolitan, called Alexander, who, pretending to bedescended from Alexander the Great, had given the names of Philip andAlexander to his two sons, and that of Apama to his daughter; and whenshe was raised to distinction, by her marriage to the king, Philip, the elder of her brothers had followed her into Athamania. Thisman, who happened to be naturally vain, then Aetolians and Antiochuspersuaded to hope (as he was really of the royal family) for thesovereignty of Macedonia, on condition of his prevailing on Amynanderand the Athamanians to join Antiochus; and these empty promisesproduced the intended effect, not only on Philip but likewise onAmynander. 

48. In Achaia, the ambassadors of Antiochus and the Aetolians wereadmitted to an audience of the council at Aegium, in the presence ofTitus Quinctius. The ambassador of Antiochus was heard prior to theAetolians. He, with all that pomp and parade which is common amongthose who are maintained by the wealth of kings, covered, as far asthe empty sound of words could go, both lands and seas (with forces). He said, that "an innumerable body of cavalry was coming over theHellespont into Europe; some of them cased in coats of mail, whom theycall Cataphracti; others discharging arrows on horseback; and, whatrendered it impossible to guard against them, shooting with thesurest aim even when their backs were turned, and their horses in fullretreat. To this army of cavalry, sufficient to crush the forces ofall Europe, collected into one body, " he added another of infantryof many times its number; and to terrify them, repeated the namesof nations scarcely ever heard of before: talking of Dahans, Medes, Elymaeans, and Cadusians. "As to the naval forces, no harboursin Greece were capable of containing them; the right squadron wascomposed of Sidonians and Tyrians; the left of Aradians and Sidetians, from Pamphylia. --nations which none others had ever equalled, eitherin courage, or skill in sea affairs. Then, as to money, and otherrequisites for the support of war, it was needless for him to speak. They themselves knew, that the kingdoms of Asia had always abounded ingold. The Romans, therefore, had not now to deal with Philip, or withHannibal; the one a principal member of a commonwealth, the otherconfined merely to the limits of the kingdom of Macedonia; but withthe great monarch of all Asia, and part of Europe. Nevertheless, though he had come from the remotest bounds of the East to givefreedom to Greece, he did not demand any thing from the Achaeans, thatcould injure the fidelity of their engagements with the Romans, theirformer friends and allies. For he did not require them to take arms onhis side against them; but only, that they should not join themselvesto either party. That, as became common friends, they should wish forpeace to both parties, and not intermeddle in the war. " Archidamus, ambassador of the Aetolians, made nearly the same request: that, aswas their easiest and safest way, they should stand neuter; and, asmere spectators of the war, wait for the decision of the fortunes ofothers, without any hazard to their own interests. He afterwards wasbetrayed, by the intemperance of language, into invectives, sometimesagainst the Romans in general, sometimes against Quinctius himself inparticular; charging them with ingratitude, and upbraiding them, as being indebted to the valour of the Aetolians, not only for thevictory over Philip, but even for their preservation; for, "by theirexertions, both Quinctius himself and his army had been saved. Whatduty of a commander had he ever discharged? He used to see him, indeed, in the field, taking auspices; sacrificing, and offering vows, like an insignificant soothsaying priest; while he himself was, in hisdefence, exposing his person to the weapons of the enemy. "

49. To this Quinctius replied, that "Archidamus had calculated hisdiscourse for the numerous auditors, rather than for the persons towhom it was particularly addressed. For the Achaeans very well knew, that the bold spirit of the Aetolians consisted entirely in words, notin deeds; and was more displayed in their councils and assembliesthan in the field. He had therefore been indifferent concerningthe sentiments of the Achaeans, to whom he and his countrymen wereconscious that they were thoroughly known; and studied to recommendhimself to the king's ambassadors, and, through them, to their absentmaster. But, if any person had been hitherto ignorant of the causewhich had united Antiochus and the Aetolians, it was easy todiscover it from the language of their ambassadors. By the falserepresentations made by both parties, and boasts of strength whichneither possessed, they mutually puffed up each other; and werethemselves puffed up with vain expectations: one party talking ofPhilip being vanquished by them, the Romans being protected by theirvalour, and the rest of what you have just heard; and that you, andthe other states and nations, would follow their party. The king, on the other side, boasting of clouds of horsemen and footmen, and covering the seas with his fleets. The king, " he added, "wasexceedingly like a supper that I remember at the house of my host atChalcis, who is both a man of worth, and an excellent conductor ofa feast. Having been kindly entertained by him at midsummer, when wewondered how he could, at that time of the year, procure such plentyand variety of game, he, not being so vain-glorious as these men, toldus, with a pleasant smile, that the variety was owing to the dressing, and that what appeared to be the flesh of many different wild animals, was entirely of tame swine. This may be aptly applied to the forcesof the king, which were so ostentatiously displayed a while ago; thatthose various kinds of armour, and multitudinous names of nations, never heard of before, Dahans, and Medes, and Caducians, andElymaeans, are nothing more than Syrians, a race possessed of suchgrovelling souls, as to be much fitter for slaves than for soldiers. Iwish, Achaeans, that I could exhibit to your view the rapid excursionsof this mighty monarch from Demetrias; first, to Lamia, to the councilof the Aetolians; then to Chalcis. You should behold, in the royalcamp, about the number of two small legions, and these incomplete. Youshould see the king, now, in a manner begging corn from the Aetolians, to be measured out to his soldiers; then, striving to borrow moneyat interest to pay them; again, standing at the gates of Chalcis, andpresently, on being refused admittance, returning thence into Aetolia, without having effected any thing, except indeed the taking a peep atAulis and the Euripus. Both Antiochus had done wrong in trustingto the Aetolians, and the Aetolians in trusting to the king's vainboastings. For which reason, you ought the less to be deceived bythem, and rather to confide in the tried and approved fidelity of theRomans. For, with respect to your not interfering in the war, whichthey recommend as your best course, nothing, in fact, can be morecontrary to your interest: for then, without gaining thanks or esteem, you will become the prize of the conqueror. "

50. He was thought to have replied to both by no means unsuitably; andthere was no difficulty in bringing an audience, prepossessed in hisfavour, to give their approbation to his discourse. In fact, therewas no debate or doubt started, but all concurred in voting, that thenation of the Achaeans would regard, as their friends or foes, thosewho were judged to be such by the Roman people, and in ordering warto be declared against both Antiochus and the Aetolians. They also, by the direction of Quinctius, sent immediate succours of five hundredmen to Chalcis, and five hundred to the Piraeus; for affairs atAthens were in a state not far from a civil war, in consequence of theendeavours, used by some, to seduce the venal populace, by hopes oflargesses, to take part with Antiochus. But at length Quinctius wascalled thither by those who were of the Roman party; and Apollodorus, the principal adviser of a revolt, being publicly charged therewith byone Leon, was condemned and driven into exile. Thus, from the Achaeansalso, the embassy returned to the king with a discouraging answer. The Boeotians made no definitive reply; they only said, that "whenAntiochus should come into Boeotia, they would then deliberate on themeasures proper to be pursued. " When Antiochus heard, that both theAchaeans and king Eumenes had sent reinforcements to Chalcis, heresolved to act with the utmost expedition, that his troops mightget the start of them, and, if possible, intercept the others as theycame; and he sent thither Menippus with about three thousand soldiers, and Polyxenidas with the whole fleet. In a few days after, he marchedhimself, at the head of six thousand of his own soldiers, and asmaller number of Aetolians, as many as could be collected in haste, out of those who were at Lamia. The five hundred Achaeans, and a smallparty sent by king Eumenes, being guided by Xenoclides, of Chalcis, (the roads being yet open, ) crossed the Euripus, and arrived atChalcis in safety. The Roman soldiers, who were likewise about fivehundred, came, after Menippus had fixed his camp under Salganea, atHermaeus, the place of passage from Boeotia to the island ofEuboea. They had with them Mictio, who had been sent from Chalcis toQuinctius, deputed to solicit that very reinforcement; and when heperceived that the passes were blocked up by the enemy, he quittedthe road to Aulis, and turned away to Delium, with intent to pass overthence to Euboea. 

51. Delium is a temple of Apollo, standing over the sea five milesdistant from Tanagra; and the passage thence, to the nearest part ofEuboea, is less than four miles. As they were in this sacred buildingand grove, sanctified with all that religious awe and those privilegeswhich belong to temples, called by the Greeks asylums, (war not beingyet either proclaimed, or so far commenced as that they had heard ofswords being drawn, or blood shed any where, ) the soldiers in perfecttranquillity, amused themselves, some with viewing the temple andgroves; others with walking about unarmed, on the strand; and a greatpart had gone different ways in quest of wood and forage; when, on asudden, Menippus attacked them in that scattered condition, slew many, and took fifty of them prisoners. Very few made their escape, amongwhom was Mictio, who was received on board a small trading vessel. Though this event caused much grief to Quinctius and the Romans, onaccount of the loss of their men, yet it seemed to add much to thejustification of their cause in making war on Antiochus. Antiochus, when arrived with his army so near as Aulis, sent again to Chalcisa deputation, composed partly of his own people, and partly ofAetolians, to treat on the same grounds as before, but with heavierdenunciations of vengeance: and, notwithstanding all the efforts ofMictio and Xenoclides to the contrary, he easily gained his object, that the gates should be opened to him. Those who adhered to the Romaninterest, on the approach of the king, withdrew from the city. Thesoldiers of the Achaeans, and Eumenes, held Salganea; and the fewRomans, who had escaped, raised, for the security of the place, alittle fort on the Euripus. Menippus laid siege to Salganea, and theking himself to the fort. The Achaeans and Eumenes' soldiers firstsurrendered, on the terms of being allowed to retire in safety. TheRomans defended the Euripus with more obstinacy. But even these, when they were completely invested both by land and sea, and saw themachines and engines prepared for an assault, sustained the siege nolonger. The king, having thus got possession of the capital ofEuboea, the other cities of the island did not even refuse to obeyhis authority; and he seemed to himself to have signalized thecommencement of the war by an important acquisition, in having broughtunder his power so great an island, and so many cities convenientlysituated. 

BOOK XXXVI. 

 _Manius Acilius Glabrio, the consul, aided by king Philip, defeats Antiochus at Thermopylae, and drives him out of Greece; reduces the Aetolians to sue for peace. Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica reduces the Boian Gauls to submission. Sea-fight between the Roman fleet and that of Antiochus, in which the Romans are victorious_. 

1. Publius Cornelius Scipio, son of Cneius, and Manius AciliusGlabrio, the consuls, on their assuming the administration, wereordered by the senate, before they settled any thing respecting theirprovinces, to perform sacrifices, with victims of the greater kinds, at all the shrines, where the Lectisternium was usually celebrated forthe greater part of the year; and to offer prayers, that the businesswhich the state had in contemplation, concerning a new war, mightterminate prosperously and happily for the senate and people of Rome. At every one of those sacrifices, appearances were favourable, andthe propitious omens were found in the first victims. Accordingly, theauspices gave this answer:--That, by this war, the boundaries of theRoman empire would be enlarged; and that victory and triumph wereportended. When this answer was reported, the senate, having theirminds now freed from superstitious fears, ordered this question to beproposed to the people; "Was it their will, and did they order, thatwar should be undertaken against king Antiochus, and all who shouldjoin his party?" And that if that order passed, then the consuls were, if they thought proper, to lay the business entire before the senate. Publius Cornelius got the order passed; and then the senate decreed, that the consuls should cast lots for the provinces of Italy andGreece; that he to whose lot Greece fell, should, in addition to thenumber of soldiers enlisted and raised from the allies by Quinctiusfor that province, pursuant to a decree of the senate, take underhis command that army, which, in the preceding year, Marcus Baebius, praetor, had, by order of the senate, carried over to Macedonia. Permission was also granted him, to receive succours from the allies, out of Italy, if circumstances should so require, provided theirnumber did not exceed five thousand. It was resolved, that LuciusQuinctius, consul of the former year, should be commissioned as alieutenant-general in that war. The other consul, to whom Italy fell, was ordered to carry on the war with the Boians, with whichever heshould choose of the two armies commanded by the consuls of the lastyear; and to send the other to Rome; and these were ordered to be thecity legions, and ready to march to whatever place the senate shoulddirect. 

2. Things being thus adjusted in the senate, excepting the assignmentof his particular province to each of the magistrates, the consulswere ordered to cast lots. Greece fell to Acilius, Italy to Cornelius. The lot of each being now determined, the senate passed a decree, that"inasmuch as the Roman people had, at that time, ordered war tobe declared against king Antiochus, and those who were under hisgovernment, the consuls should command a supplication to be performed, on account of that business; and that Manius Acilius, the consul, should vow the great games to Jupiter, and offerings at all theshrines. " This vow was made by the consul in these words, which weredictated by Publius Licinius, chief pontiff: "If the war, which thepeople has ordered to be undertaken against king Antiochus, shall beconcluded agreeably to the wishes of the senate and people of Rome, then, O Jupiter, the Roman people will, through ten successive days, exhibit the great games in honour of thee, and offerings shall bepresented at all the shrines, of such value as the senate shalldirect. Whatever magistrate shall celebrate those games, and atwhatever time and place, let the celebration be deemed proper, and theofferings rightly and duly made. " The two consuls then proclaimeda supplication for two days. When the consuls had determined theirprovinces by lot, the praetors, likewise, immediately cast lots fortheirs. The two civil jurisdictions fell to Marcus Junius Brutus;Bruttium, to Aulus Cornelius Mammula; Sicily, to Marcus AemiliusLepidus; Sardinia, to Lucius Oppius Salinator; the fleet, to CaiusLivius Salinator; and Farther Spain, to Lucius Aemilius Paullus. Thetroops for these were settled thus:--to Aulus Cornelius were assignedthe new soldiers, raised last year by Lucius Quinctius, the consul, pursuant to the senate's decree; and he was ordered to defend thewhole coast near Tarentum and Brundusium. Lucius Aemilius Paullus wasdirected to take with him into Farther Spain, (to fill up the numbersof the army, which he was to receive from Marcus Fulvius, propraetor, )three thousand new-raised foot and three hundred horse, of whomtwo-thirds should be Latin allies, and the other third Roman citizens. An equal reinforcement was sent to Hither Spain to Caius Flaminius, who was continued in command. Marcus Aemilius Lepidus was ordered toreceive both the province and army from Lucius Valerius, whom he wasto succeed; and, if he thought proper, to retain Lucius Valerius, aspropraetor, in the province, which he was to divide with him in sucha manner, that one division should reach from Agrigentum to Pachynum, and the other from Pachynum to Tyndarium, and the sea-coasts whereofLucius Valerius was to protect with a fleet of twenty ships of war. The same praetor received a charge to levy two-tenths of corn, and totake care that it should be carried to the coast, and thence conveyedinto Greece. Lucius Oppius was likewise commanded to levy a secondtenth in Sardinia; but it was resolved that it should be transported, not into Greece, but to Rome. Caius Livius, the praetor, whose lot wasthe command of the fleet, was ordered to sail, at the earliest timepossible, to Greece with thirty ships, which were ready, and toreceive the other fleet from Atilius. The praetor, Marcus Junius, was commissioned to refit and arm the old ships which were in thedock-yards; and, for this fleet, to enlist the sons of freemen ascrews. 

3. Commissaries were sent into Africa, three to Carthage, and a likenumber to Numidia, to procure corn to be carried into Greece; forwhich the Roman people were to pay the value. And so attentive was thestate to the making of every preparation and provision necessaryfor the carrying on of this war, that the consul, Publius Cornelius, published an edict, that "no senator, nor any who had the privilege ofgiving an opinion in the senate, nor any of the inferior magistrates, should go so far from the city of Rome as that they could not returnthe same day; and that five senators should not be absent from thecity at the same time. " A dispute which arose with the maritimecolonies, for some time retarded Caius Livius, the praetor, whenactively engaged in fitting out the fleet. For, when they wereimpressed for manning the ships, they appealed to the tribunes ofthe people, by whom the cause was referred to the senate. The senate, without one dissenting voice, resolved, that those colonies werenot entitled to exemption from the sea-service. The colonies whichdisputed with the praetor on the subject of exemption were, Ostia, Fregenae, Castrumnovum, Pyrgi, Antium, Tarracina, Minturnae, andSinuessa. The consul, Manius Acilius, then, by direction of thesenate, consulted the college of heralds, "whether a declaration ofwar should be made to Antiochus in person, or whether it would besufficient to declare it at some garrison town; whether they directeda separate declaration against the Aetolians, and whether theiralliance and friendship ought not to be renounced before war wasdeclared. " The heralds answered, that "they had given their judgmentbefore, when they were consulted respecting Philip, that it was of noconsequence whether the declaration were made to himself in person, orat one of his garrisons. That, in their opinion, friendship had beenalready renounced; because, after their ambassadors had so oftendemanded restitution, the Aetolians had not thought proper to makeeither restitution or apology. That these, by their own act, had madea declaration of war against themselves, when they seized, by force, Demetrias, a city in alliance with Rome; when they laid siege toChalcis by land and sea; and brought king Antiochus into Europe, to make war on the Romans. " Every preparatory measure being nowcompleted, the consul, Manius Acilius, issued an edict, thatthe "soldiers enlisted, or raised from among the allies by TitusQuinctius, and who were under orders to go with him to his province;as, likewise, the military tribunes of the first and third legions, should assemble at Brundusium, on the ides of May. [1]" He himself, on the fifth before the nones of May, [2] set out from the city in hismilitary robe of command. At the same time the praetors, likewise, departed for their respective provinces. 

[Footnote 1: 15th May. ]

[Footnote 2: 3rd May. ]

4. A little before this time, ambassadors came to Rome from the twokings, Philip of Macedonia and Ptolemy of Egypt, offering aid ofmen, money, and corn towards the support of the war. From Ptolemy wasbrought a thousand pounds' weight of gold, and twenty thousand pounds'weight of silver. None of this was accepted. Thanks were returned tothe kings. Both of them offered to come, with their whole force, into Aetolia. Ptolemy was excused from that trouble; and Philip'sambassadors were answered, that the senate and people of Rome wouldconsider it as a kindness if he should lend his assistance tothe consul, Manius Acilius. Ambassadors came, likewise from theCarthaginians, and from king Masinissa. The Carthaginians made anoffer of sending a thousand pecks[1] of wheat, and five hundredthousand of barley to the army, and half that quantity to Rome; whichthey requested the Romans to accept from them as a present. Theyalso offered to fit out a fleet at their own expense, and to give in, immediately, the whole amount of the annual tribute-money which theywere bound to pay for many years to come. The ambassadors of Masinissapromised, that their king should send five hundred thousand pecks ofwheat, and three hundred thousand of barley, to the army in Greece, and three hundred thousand of wheat, and two hundred and fiftythousand of barley, to Rome; also five hundred horse, and twentyelephants, to the consul Acilius. The answer given to both, withregard to the corn, was, that the Roman people would make use of it, provided they would receive payment for the same. With regard to thefleet offered by the Carthaginians, no more was accepted than suchships as they owed by treaty; and, as to the money, they were told, that none would be taken before the regular days of payment. 

[Footnote 1: Here is, doubtless, some word dropped in the original;so small a quantity could never have been deemed an object for onepowerful state to offer to another. Commentators suppose it to havebeen _one hundred_ thousand. ]

5. While these things were occurring at Rome, Antiochus, during thewinter season at Chalcis, endeavoured to bring over several of thestates by ambassadors sent among them; while many of their own accordsent deputies to him; as the Epirots, by the general voice of thenation, and the Eleans from Peloponnesus. The Eleans requested aidagainst the Achaeans; for they supposed, that, since the war had beendeclared against Antiochus contrary to their judgment, the Achaeanswould first turn their arms against them. One thousand foot were sentto them, under the command of Euphanes, a Cretan. The embassy of theEpirots showed no mark whatever of a liberal or candid disposition. They wished to ingratiate themselves with the king; but, at thesame time, to avoid giving cause of displeasure to the Romans. Theyrequested him, "not hastily to make them a party in the dispute, exposed, as they were, opposite to Italy, and in the front of Greece, where they must necessarily undergo the first assaults of the Romans. If he himself, with his land and sea forces, could take charge ofEpirus, the inhabitants would eagerly receive him in all their portsand cities. But if circumstances allowed him not to do that, then theyearnestly entreated him not to subject them, naked and defenceless, tothe arms of the Romans. " Their intention in sending him this messageevidently was, that if he declined going into Epirus, which theyrather supposed would be the case, they were not implicated withrelation to the Roman armies, while they sufficiently recommendedthemselves to the king by their willingness to receive him on hiscoming; and that, on the other hand, if he should come, even then theywould have hopes of being pardoned by the Romans, for having yieldedto the strength of a prince who was present among them, withoutwaiting for succour from them, who were so far distant. To this soevasive embassy, as he did not readily think of a proper answer, hereplied, that he would send ambassadors to them to confer upon suchmatters as were of common concernment both to him and them. 

6. Antiochus went himself into Boeotia, holding out ostensiblythose causes of resentment against the Romans which I have alreadymentioned, --the death of Brachyllas, and the attack made by Quinctiuson Coronea, on account of the massacre of the Roman soldiers; whilethe real ones were, that the former excellent policy of that nation, with respect both to public and private concerns, had, for severalgenerations, been on the decline; and that great numbers were in suchcircumstances, that they could not long subsist without some changein affairs. Through multitudes of the principal Boeotians, whoevery where flocked out to meet him, he arrived at Thebes. There, notwithstanding that he had (both at Delium, by the attack made on theRoman troops, and also at Chalcis) already commenced hostilities, byenterprises of neither a trifling nor of a dubious nature, yet, ina general council of the nation, he delivered a speech of the sameimport with that which he delivered in the first conference atChalcis, and that used by his ambassadors in the council of theAchaeans; that "what he required of them was, to form a league offriendship with him, not to declare war against the Romans. " But nota man among them was ignorant of his meaning. However, a decree, disguised under a slight covering of words, was passed in his favouragainst the Romans. After securing this nation also on his side, hereturned to Chalcis; and, having despatched letters, summoning thechief Aetolians to meet him at Demetrias, that he might deliberatewith them on the general plan of operations, he came thither with hisships on the day appointed for the council. Amynander, likewise, was called from Athamania to the consultation; and Hannibal theCarthaginian, who, for a long time before, had not been askedto attend, was present at this assembly. The subject of theirdeliberation was in reference to the Thessalian nation; and every onepresent was of opinion, that their concurrence ought to be sought. The only points on which opinions differed were, that some thought theattempt ought to be made immediately; while others judged it better todefer it for the winter season, which was then about half spent, until the beginning of spring. Some advised to send ambassadors only;others, that the king should go at the head of all his forces, and ifthey hesitated, terrify them into compliance. 

7. Although the present debate turned chiefly on these points, Hannibal, being called on by name to give his opinion, led the king, and those who were present, into the consideration of the generalconduct of the war, by a speech to this effect:--"If I had beenemployed in your councils since we came first into Greece, when youwere consulting about Euboea, the Achaeans, and Boeotians, I wouldhave offered the same advice which I shall offer you this day, whenyour thoughts are employed about the Thessalians. My opinion is, that, above all things, Philip and the Macedonians should by some means orother be brought into a participation in this war. For, as to Euboea, as well as the Boeotians and Thessalians, who can doubt that, havingno strength of their own, they will ever court the power that ispresent; and will make use of the same fear, which governs theircouncils, as an argument for obtaining pardon? That, as soon asthey shall see a Roman army in Greece, they will turn away to thatgovernment to which they have been accustomed? Nor are they to blame, if, when the Romans were at so great a distance, they did not chooseto try your force, and that of your army, who were on the spot. Howmuch more advisable, therefore, and more advantageous would it be, tounite Philip to us, than these; as, if he once embarks in the cause, he will have no room for retreat, and as he will bring with him sucha force, as will not only be an accession to a power at war with Rome, but was able, lately, of itself, to withstand the Romans! With such anally, (I wish to speak without offence, ) how could I harbour a doubtabout the issue; when I should see the very persons through whom theRomans prevailed against Philip, now ready to act against them?The Aetolians, who, as all agree, conquered Philip, will fightin conjunction with Philip against the Romans. Amynander and theAthamanian nation, who, next to the Aetolians, performed the greatestservices in that war, will stand on our side. Philip, at the time whenyou remained inactive, sustained the whole burden of the war. Now, youand he, two of the greatest kings, will, with the force of Asia andEurope, wage war against one state; which, to say nothing of my ownfortune with them, either prosperous or adverse, was certainly, inthe memory of our fathers, unequal to a dispute with a single king ofEpirus; what then, I say, must it be in competition with you two? Butit may be asked. What circumstances induce me to believe that Philipmay be brought to a union with us? First, common utility, which is thestrongest cement of union; and next, you, Aetolians, are yourselvesmy informants. For Thoas, your ambassador, among the other argumentswhich he used to urge, for the purpose of drawing Antiochus intoGreece, always above all things insisted upon this, --that Philipexpressed extreme indignation that the conditions of servitude hadbeen imposed on him under the appearance of conditions of peace:comparing the king's anger to that of a wild beast chained, or shutup, and wishing to break the bars that confined it. Now, if his temperof mind is such, let us loose his chains; let us break these bars, that he may vent, upon the common foe, this anger so long pent up. Butshould our embassy fail of producing any effect on him, let us thentake care, that if we cannot unite him to ourselves, he may not beunited to our enemies. Your son, Seleucus, is at Lysimachia; and if, with the army which he has there, he shall pass through Thrace, andonce begin to make depredations on the nearest parts of Macedonia, hewill effectually divert Philip from carrying aid to the Romans, tothe protection, in the first place, of his own dominions. Such is myopinion respecting Philip. With regard to the general plan of the war, you have, from the beginning, been acquainted with my sentiments: andif my advice had been listened to, the Romans would not now hear thatChalcis in Euboea was taken, and a fort on the Euripus reduced, butthat Etruria, and the whole coast of Liguria and Cisalpine Gaul, werein a blaze of war; and, what is to them the greatest cause of alarm, that Hannibal was in Italy. Even as matters stand at present, Irecommend it to you, to call home all your land and sea forces; letstoreships with provisions follow the fleet; for, as we are here toofew for the exigencies of the war, so are we too many for the scantysupplies of necessaries. When you shall have collected together thewhole of your force, you will divide the fleet, and keep one divisionstationed at Corcyra, that the Romans may not have a clear and safepassage; and the other you will send to that part of the coast ofItaly which is opposite Sardinia and Africa; while you yourselves, with all the land forces, will proceed to the territory of Bullium. Inthis position you will hold the command of all Greece; you will givethe Romans reason to think, that you intend to sail over to Italy;and you will be in readiness so to do, if occasion require. This ismy advice; and though I may not be the most skilful in every kind ofwarfare, yet surely I must have learned, in a long series of both goodand bad fortune, how to wage war against the Romans. For the executionof the measures which I have advised, I promise you my most faithfuland zealous endeavours. Whatever plan you shall consider the best, maythe gods grant it their approbation. "

8. Such, nearly, was the counsel given by Hannibal, which the hearersrather commended at the time, than actually executed. For not onearticle of it was carried into effect, except the sending Polyxenidasto bring over the fleet and army from Asia. Ambassadors were sent toLarissa, to the diet of the Thessalians. The Aetolians and Amynanderappointed a day for the assembling of their troops at Pherae, and theking with his forces came thither immediately. While he waited therefor Amynander and the Aetolians, he sent Philip, the Megalopolitan, with two thousand men, to collect the bones of the Macedonians roundCynoscephalae, where the final battle had been fought with kingPhilip; being advised to this, either in order to gain favour with theMacedonians and draw their displeasure on the king for having lefthis soldiers unburied, or having of himself, through the spirit ofvain-glory incident to kings, conceived such a design, --splendidindeed in appearance, but really insignificant. There is a mount thereformed of the bones which had been scattered about, and were thencollected into one heap. Although this step procured him no thanksfrom the Macedonians, yet it excited the heaviest displeasure ofPhilip; in consequence of which, he who had hitherto intended toregulate his counsels by the fortune of events, now sent instantly amessage to the propraetor, Marcus Baebius, that "Antiochus had madean irruption into Thessaly; that, if he thought proper, he should moveout of his winter quarters, and that he himself would advance to meethim, that they might consider together what was proper to be done. "

9. While Antiochus lay encamped near Pherae, where the Aetoliansand Amynander had joined him, ambassadors came to him from Larissa, desiring to know on account of what acts or words of theirs he hadmade war on the Thessalians; at the same time requesting him towithdraw his army; and that if there seemed to him any necessity forit he would discuss it with them by commissioners. In the mean time, they sent five hundred soldiers, under the command of Hippolochus, toPherae, as a reinforcement; but these, being debarred of access by theking's troops, who blocked up all the roads, retired to Scotussa. Theking answered the Larissan ambassadors in mild terms, that "he cameinto their country, not with a design of making war, but of protectingand establishing the liberty of the Thessalians. " He sent a personto make a similar declaration to the people of Pherae; who, without giving him any answer, sent to the king, in the capacity ofambassador, Pausanias, the first magistrate of their state. He offeredremonstrances of a similar kind with those which had been urged inbehalf of the people of Chalcis, at the first conference, on thestrait of the Euripus, as the cases were similar, and urged some witha greater degree of boldness; on which the king desired that theywould consider seriously before they adopted a resolution, which, while they were overcautious and provident of futurity, would givethem immediate cause of repentance, and then dismissed him. When thePheraeans were acquainted with the result of this embassy, without thesmallest hesitation they determined to endure whatever the fortune ofwar might bring on them, rather than violate their engagements withthe Romans. They accordingly exerted their utmost efforts to providefor the defence of their city; while the king, on his part, resolvedto assail the walls on every side at once; and considering, what wasevidently the case, that it depended on the fate of this city, thefirst which he had besieged, whether he should for the future bedespised or dreaded by the whole nation of the Thessalians, he put inpractice every where all possible means of striking them with terror. The first fury of the assault they supported with great firmness;but in some time, great numbers of their men being either slainor wounded, their resolution began to fail. Having soon beenso reanimated by the rebukes of their leaders, as to resolve onpersevering in their resistance, and having abandoned the exteriorcircle of the wall, as their numbers now began to fail, they withdrewto the interior part of the city, round which had been raised afortification of less extent. At last, being overcome by distress, andfearing that if they were taken by storm they might meet no mercy fromthe conqueror, they capitulated. The king then lost no time; but whilethe alarm was fresh, sent four thousand men against Scotussa, whichsurrendered without delay, observing the recent example of those inPherae; who, at length compelled by sufferings, had done that whichat first they had obstinately refused. Together with the town, Hippolochus and the Larissan garrison were yielded to him, all of whomwere dismissed uninjured by the king; who hoped that such behaviourwould operate powerfully towards conciliating the esteem of theLarissans. 

10. Having accomplished all this within the space of ten days afterhis arrival at Pherae, he marched with his whole force to Cranon, which he took immediately on his arrival. He then took Cypaera andMetropolis, and the forts which lay around them; and now every townin all that tract was in his power, except Atrax and Gyrton. He nextresolved to lay siege to Larissa, for he thought that (either throughdread inspired by the storming of the other towns, or in considerationof his kindness in dismissing the troops of their garrison, or beingled by the example of so many cities surrendering themselves) theywould not continue longer in their obstinacy. Having ordered theelephants to advance in front of the battalions, for the purpose ofstriking terror, he approached the city with his army in order ofbattle, on which the minds of a great number of the Larissans becameirresolute and perplexed, between their fears of the enemy attheir gates, and their respect for their distant allies. Meantime, Amynander, with the Athamanian troops, seized on Pellinaeus; whileMenippus, with three thousand Aetolian foot and two hundred horse, marched into Perrhaebia, where he took Mallaea and Cyretiae byassault, and ravaged the lands of Tripolis. After executing theseenterprises with despatch, they returned to the king at Larissa justwhen he was holding a council on the method of proceeding with regardto that place. On this occasion there were opposite opinions: for somethought that force should be applied; that there was no time to belost, but that the walls should be immediately attacked with worksand machines on all sides at once; especially as the city stood in aplain, the entrances open, and the approaches every where level. While others represented at one time the strength of the city, greaterbeyond comparison than that of Pherae; at another, the approach ofthe winter season, unfit for any operation of war, much more so forbesieging and assaulting cities. While the king's judgment was insuspense between hope and fear, his courage was raised by ambassadorshappening to arrive just at the time from Pharsalus, to make surrenderof their city. In the mean time Marcus Baebius had a meeting withPhilip in Dassaretia; and, in conformity to their joint opinion, sentAppius Claudius to reinforce Larissa, who, making long marches throughMacedonia, arrived at that summit of the mountains which overhangGonni. The town of Gonni is twenty miles distant from Larissa, standing at the opening of the valley called Tempe. Here, by layingout his camp more widely than his numbers required, and kindling morefires than were necessary, he imposed on the enemy the opinion whichhe wished, that the whole Roman army was there, and king Philip alongwith them. Antiochus, therefore, pretending the near approach ofwinter as his motive, staid but one day longer, then withdrew fromLarissa, and returned to Demetrias. The Aetolians and Athamaniansretired to their respective countries. Appius, although he sawthat, by the siege being raised, the purpose of his commission wasfulfilled, yet resolved to go down to Larissa, to strengthen theresolution of the allies against future contingencies. Thus theLarissans enjoyed a twofold happiness, both because the enemy haddeparted from their country, and because they saw a Roman garrisonwithin their city. 

11. Antiochus went from Demetrias to Chalcis, where he becamecaptivated with a young woman, daughter of Cleoptolemus. When hehad plied her father, who was unwilling to connect himself witha condition in life involving such serious consequences, first bymessages, and afterwards by personal importunities, and had at lengthgained his consent; he celebrated his nuptials in the same manneras if it were a time of profound peace. Forgetting the two importantundertakings in which he was at once engaged, --the war with Rome, andthe liberating of Greece, --he banished every thought of businessfrom his mind, and spent the remainder of winter in feasting and thepleasures connected with wine; and then in sleep, produced ratherby fatigue than by satiety with these things. The same spirit ofdissipation seized all his officers who commanded in the severalwinter quarters, particularly those stationed in Boeotia, and even thecommon men abandoned themselves to the same indulgences; not one ofwhom ever put on his armour, or kept watch or guard, or did anypart of the duty or business of a soldier. When, therefore, in thebeginning of spring, the king came through Phocis to Chaeronea, wherehe had appointed the general assembly of all the troops, he perceivedat once that the soldiers had spent the winter under discipline nomore rigid than that of their commander. He ordered Alexander, anAcarnanian and Menippus, a Macedonian, to lead his forces thenceto Stratum, in Aetolia; and he himself, after offering sacrifice toApollo at Delphi, proceeded to Naupactum. After holding a council ofthe chiefs of Aetolia, he went by the road which leads by Chalcis andLysimachia to Stratum, to meet his army, which was coming alongthe Malian bay. Here Mnasilochus, a man of distinction among theAcarnanians, being bribed by many presents, not only laboured himselfto dispose that nation in favour of the king, but had brought to aconcurrence in the design their praetor, Clytus, who was at that timeinvested with the highest authority. This latter, finding that thepeople of Leucas, the capital of Acarnania, could not be easilyseduced to defection, because they were afraid of the Roman fleets, one under Atilius, and another at Cephallenia, practised an artificeagainst them. He observed in the council, that the inland parts ofAcarnania should be guarded from danger, and that all who were ableto bear arms ought to march out to Medio and Thurium, to prevent thoseplaces from being seized by Antiochus, or the Aetolians; on whichthere were some who said, that there were no necessity for all thepeople to be called out in that hasty manner, for a body of fivehundred men would be sufficient for the purpose. Having got thisnumber of soldiers at his disposal, he placed three hundred ingarrison at Medio, and two hundred at Thurium, with the design thatthey should fall into the hands of the king, and serve hereafter ashostages. 

12. At this time, ambassadors from the king came to Medio, whoseproposal being heard, the assembly began to consider what answershould be returned to the king; when some advised to adhere to thealliance with Rome, and others, not to reject the friendship of theking; but Clitus offered an opinion, which seemed to take a middlecourse between the other two, and which was therefore adopted. Itwas, that ambassadors should be sent to the king, to request of himto allow the people of Medio to deliberate on a subject of such greatimportance in a general assembly of the Acarnanians. Mnasilochus, andsome others of his faction, were studiously included in this embassy;who, sending private messengers to desire the king to bring up hisarmy, wasted time on purpose; so that the ambassadors had scarcely setout, when Antiochus appeared in the territory, and presently at thegates of the city; and, while those who were not concerned in the plotwere all in hurry and confusion, and hastily called the young men toarms, he was conducted into the place by Clitus and Mnasilochus. Oneparty of the citizens now joined him through inclination, and thosewho were of different sentiments were compelled by fear to attend him. He then calmed their apprehensions by a discourse full of mildness;and in the hope of experiencing his clemency, which was reportedabroad, several of the states of Acarnania went over to his side. FromMedio he went to Thurium, whither he had sent on before him the sameMnasilochus, and his colleagues in the embassy. But the detection ofthe treachery practised at Medio rendered the Thurians more cautious, but not more timid. They answered him explicitly, that they would formno new alliance without the approbation of the Romans: they then shuttheir gates, and posted soldiers on the walls. Most seasonably forconfirming the resolution of the Acarnanians, Cneius Octavius, beingsent by Quinctius, and having received a party of men and a few shipsfrom Aulus Postumius, whom Atilius had appointed his lieutenant tocommand at Cephallenia, arrived at Leucas, and filled the allieswith hope; assuring them, that the consul Manius Acilius had alreadycrossed the sea with his legions, and that the Roman camp was inThessaly. As the season of the year, which was by this time favourablefor sailing, strengthened the credibility of this report, the king, after placing a garrison in Medio and borne other towns of Acarnania, retired from Thurium and returned through the cities of Aetolia andPhocis to Chalcis. 

13. About the same time, Marcus Baebius and king Philip, after themeeting which they had in the winter in Dassaretia, when they sentAppius Claudius into Thessaly to raise the siege of Larissa, hadreturned to winter quarters, the season not being sufficientlyadvanced for entering on action; but now in the beginning of spring, they united their forces, and marched into Thessaly. Antiochus wasthen in Acarnania. As soon as they entered that country, Philip laidsiege to Mallaea, in the territory of Perrhaebia, and Baebius, toPhacium. This town of Phacium he took almost at the first attempt, andthen reduced Phaestus with the same rapidity. After this, he retiredto Atrax; and from thence having seized on Cyretiae and Eritium, andplaced garrisons in the places which he had reduced, he again joinedPhilip, who was carrying on the siege of Mallaea. On the arrival ofthe Roman army, the garrison, either awed by its strength, or hopingfor pardon, surrendered themselves, and the combined forces marched, in one body, to recover the towns which had been seized by theAthamanians. These were Aeginium, Ericinum, Gomphi, Silana, Tricca, Meliboea, and Phaloria. Then they invested Pellinaeum, where Philip ofMegalopolis was in garrison, with five hundred foot and forty horse;but before they made an assault, they sent messengers to warn Philipnot to expose himself to the last extremities; to which he answered, with much confidence, that he could intrust himself either to theRomans or the Thessalians, but never would put himself in the power ofthe Macedonian. When it appeared that recourse must be had to force, and that Limnaea might be attacked at the same time; it was agreed, that the king should go against Limnaea, while Baebius staid to carryon the siege of Pellinaeum. 

14. It happened that, just at this time, the consul, Manius Acilius, having crossed the sea with twenty thousand foot, two thousand horse, and fifteen elephants, ordered some military tribunes, chosen forthe purpose, to lead the infantry to Larissa, and he himself withthe cavalry came to Limnaea, to Philip. Immediately on the consul'sarrival a surrender was made without hesitation, and the king'sgarrison, together with the Athamanians, were delivered up. From Limnaea the consul went to Pellinaeum. Here the Athamanianssurrendered first, and afterwards Philip of Megalopolis. King Philip, happening to meet the latter as he was coming out from the town, ordered his attendants, in derision, to salute him with the titleof king; and he himself, coming up to him, with a sneer, highlyunbecoming his own exalted station, addressed him as Brother. Having been brought before the consul he was ordered to be kept inconfinement, and soon after was sent to Rome in chains. All the restof the Athamanians, together with the soldiers of king Antiochus, whohad been in garrison in the towns which surrendered about that time, were delivered over to Philip. They amounted to three thousand men. The consul went thence to Larissa, in order to hold a consultation onthe general plan of operations; and on his way was met by ambassadorsfrom Pieria and Metropolis, with the surrender of those cities. Philip treated the captured, particularly the Athamanians, withgreat kindness, in order that through them he might conciliate theircountrymen; and having hence conceived hopes of getting Athamaniainto his possession, he first sent forward the prisoners to theirrespective states, and then marched his army thither. These also, making mention of the king's clemency and generosity towards them, exerted a powerful influence on the minds of their fellow-countrymen;and Amynander, who, by his presence, had retained many in obedience, through the respect paid to his dignity, began now to dread thathe might be delivered up to Philip, who had been long his professedenemy, or to the Romans, who were justly incensed against him for hislate defection. He, therefore, with his wife and children, quitted thekingdom, and retired to Ambracia. Thus all Athamania came under theauthority and dominion of Philip. The consul delayed a few days atLarissa, for the purpose chiefly of refreshing the horses, which, bythe voyage first, and marching afterwards, had been much harassed andfatigued; and when he had renewed the vigour of his army by a moderateshare of rest, he marched to Cranon. On his way, Pharsalus, Scotussa, and Pherae were surrendered to him, together with the garrisons placedin them by Antiochus. He asked these men whether any of them chose toremain with him; and one thousand having declared themselves willing, he gave them to Philip; the rest he sent back, unarmed, to Demetrias. After this he took Proerna, and the forts adjacent; and then began tomarch forwards toward the Malian bay. When he drew near to the passon which Thaumaci is situated, all the young men of that place, havingtaken arms and quitted the town, placed themselves in ambush in thewoods and roads, and thence, from the higher grounds, made attacks onthe Roman troops as they marched. The consul first sent people totalk with them from a short distance, and deter them from such a madproceeding; but, finding that they persisted in their undertaking, hesent round a tribune, with two companies of soldiers, to cut off theretreat of the men in arms, and took possession of the defencelesscity. The shouting on the capture of the city having been heard frombehind, a great slaughter was made of those who had been in ambuscade, and who fled homewards from all parts of the woods. From Thaumaci theconsul came, on the second day, to the river Spercheus; and, sendingout parties, laid waste the country of the Hypataeans. 

15. During these transactions, Antiochus was at Chalcis; and now, perceiving that he had gained nothing from Greece agreeable, exceptwinter quarters and a disgraceful marriage at Chalcis, he warmlyblamed Thoas, and the fallacious promises of the Aetolians; while headmired Hannibal, not only as a prudent man, but as the predicter ofall those events which were then transpiring. However, that he mightnot still further defeat his inconsiderate enterprise by his owninactivity, he sent requisitions to the Aetolians, to arm alltheir young men, and assemble in a body at Lamia. He himself alsoimmediately led thither about ten thousand foot (the number havingbeen filled up out of the troops which had come after him from Asia)and five hundred horse. Their assembly on this occasion was far lessnumerous than ever before, none attending but the chiefs with a fewof their vassals. These affirmed that they had, with the utmostdiligence, tried every method to bring into the field as great anumber as possible out of their respective states, but that they hadnot prevailed either by argument, persuasion, or authority, againstthose who declined the service. Being disappointed thus on all sides, both by his own people, who delayed in Asia, and by his allies, whodid not fulfil those engagements by which they had prevailed on himto comply with their invitation, the king retired beyond the passof Thermopylae. A range of mountains here divides Greece in the samemanner as Italy is divided by the ridge of the Apennines. Outsidethe strait of Thermopylae, towards the north, lie Epirus, Perrhaebia, Magnesia, Thessaly, the Achaean Phthiotis, and the Malian bay; on theinside, towards the south, the greater part of Aetolia, Acarnania, Phocis, Locris, Boeotia, and the adjacent island of Euboea, theterritory of Attica, which stretches out like a promontory into thesea, and, behind that, the Peloponnesus. This range of mountains, which extends from Leucas and the sea on the west, through Aetolia tothe opposite sea on the east, is so closely covered with thicketsand craggy rocks, that, not to speak of an army, even persons lightlyequipped for travelling can with difficulty find paths through whichthey can pass. The hills at the eastern extremity are called Oeta, andthe highest of them Callidromus; in a valley, at the foot of which, reaching to the Malian bay, is a passage not broader than sixty paces. This is the only military road by which an army can be led, even if itshould not be opposed. The place is therefore called Pylae, the gate;and by some, on account of a warm spring, rising just at the entranceof it, Thermopylae. It is rendered famous by the memorable battleof the Lacedaemonians against the Persians, and by their still moreglorious death. 

16. With a very inferior portion of spirit, Antiochus now pitched hiscamp within the enclosures of this pass, the difficulties of whichhe increased by raising fortifications; and when he had completelystrengthened every part with a double rampart and trench, and, wherever it seemed requisite, with a wall formed of the stones whichlay scattered about in abundance, being very confident that the Romanarmy would never attempt to force a passage there, he sent away onehalf of the four thousand Aetolians, the number that had joined him, to garrison Heraclea, which stood opposite the entrance of the defile, and the other half to Hypata; for he concluded, that the consul wouldundoubtedly attack Heraclea, and he received accounts from many hands, that all the districts round Hypata were being laid waste. The consul, after ravaging the lands of Hypata first, and then those of Heraclea, in both which places the Aetolian detachments proved useless, encampedopposite to the king, in the very entrance of the pass, near thewarm springs; both parties of the Aetolians shutting themselves up inHeraclea. Antiochus, who, before he saw the enemy, thought everyspot perfectly well fortified, and secured by guards, now began toapprehend, that the Romans might discover some paths among the hillsabove, through which they could make their way; for he had heard thatthe Lacedaemonians formerly had been surrounded in that manner by thePersians, and Philip, lately, by the Romans themselves. He thereforedespatched a messenger to the Aetolians at Heraclea, desiring them toafford him so much assistance, at least in the war, as to seize andsecure the tops of the hills, so that the Romans might not be able topass them at any part. When this message was received, a dissensionarose among the Aetolians: some insisted that they ought to obeythe king's orders, and go; others, that they ought to lie still atHeraclea, and wait the issue, whatever it might be; for if the kingshould be defeated by the consul, their forces would be fresh, and inreadiness to carry succour to their own states in the neighbourhood;and if he were victorious, they could pursue the Romans, whilescattered in their flight. Each party not only adhered positively toits own plan, but even carried it into execution; two thousand laystill at Heraclea; and two thousand, divided into three parties, tookpossession of the summits called Callidromus, Rhoduntia, and Tichiuns. 

17. When the consul saw that the heights were possessed by theAetolians, he sent against those posts two men of consular rank, whoacted as lieutenant-generals, with two thousand chosen troops;--LuciusValerius Flaccus against Rhoduntia and Tichiuns, and Marcus PorciusCato against Callidromus. Then, before he led on his forces againstthe enemy, he called them to an assembly, and thus briefly addressedthem: "Soldiers, I see that the greater part of you who were present, of all ranks, are men who served in this same province, under theconduct and auspices of Titus Quinctius. Now, in the Macedonian war, the pass at the river Aous was much more difficult than this beforeus. For this is only a gate, a single passage, formed as it were bynature; every other in the whole tract, between the two seas, beingimpassable. In the former case, there were stronger fortifications, and placed in more advantageous situations. The enemy's army wasboth more numerous, and composed of very superior men; for they wereMacedonians, Thracians, and Illyrians, --all nations of the fiercestspirit; your present opponents are Syrians, and Asiatic Greeks, themost unsteady of men, and born for slavery. The commander, there, wasa king of extraordinary warlike abilities, improved by practice fromhis early youth, in wars against his neighbours, the Thracians andIllyrians, and all the adjoining nations. But this man is one who(to say nothing of his former life) after coming over from Asia intoEurope to make war on the Roman people, has, during the whole lengthof the winter, accomplished no more memorable exploit, than the takinga wife, for passion's sake, out of a private house, and a familyobscure even among its neighbours; and now as a newly married man, surfeited as it were with nuptial feasts, comes out to fight. Hischief reliance and strength was in the Aetolians, --a nation ofall others the most faithless and ungrateful, as you have formerlyexperienced, and as Antiochus now experiences; for they neither joinedhim with numbers, nor could they be kept in the camp; and, besides, they are now in a state of dissension among themselves. Although theyrequested permission to defend Hypata and Heraclea, yet they defendedneither; but one half of them fled to the tops of the mountains, whilethe others shut themselves up in Heraclea. The king himself, plainlyconfessing that, so far from daring to meet us in battle on the levelplain, he durst not even encamp in open ground, has abandoned all thattract in front, which he boasted of having taken from us and Philip, and has hid himself behind the rocks; not even appearing in theopening of the pass, as it is said the Lacedaemonians did formerly, but drawing back his camp completely within it. What difference isthere, as a demonstration of fear, between this and his shuttinghimself up within the walls of a city to stand a siege? But neithershall the straits protect Antiochus, nor the hills which they haveseized, the Aetolians. Sufficient care and precaution have been usedon every quarter, that you shall have nothing to contend with in thefight but the enemy himself. On your parts, you have to consider, thatyou are not fighting merely for the liberty of Greece; although, werethat all, it would be an achievement highly meritorious to deliverthat country now from Antiochus and the Aetolians, which you formerlydelivered from Philip; and that the wealth in the king's camp will notbe the whole prize of your labour; but that the great collection ofstores, daily expected from Ephesus, will likewise become your prey;and also, that you will open a way for the Roman power into Asia andSyria, and all the most opulent realms to the extremity of the East. What then must be the consequence, but that, from Gades to the RedSea, we shall have no limit but the ocean, which encircles in itsembrace the whole orb of the earth; and that all mankind shall regardthe Roman name with a degree of veneration next to that which theypay to the divinities? For the attainment of prizes of such magnitude, prepare a spirit adequate to the occasion, that, to-morrow, with theaid of the gods, we may decide the matter in the field. "

18. After this discourse he dismissed the soldiers, who, before theywent to their repast, got ready their armour and weapons. At the firstdawn, the signal of battle being displayed, the consul formed histroops with a narrow front, adapted to the nature and the straitnessof the ground. When the king saw the enemy's standards in motion, he likewise drew out his forces. He placed in the van, before therampart, a part of his light infantry; and behind them, as a support, close to the fortifications, the main strength of his Macedonians, whom they call Sarissophori. On the left wing of these, at the footof the mountain, he posted a body of javelin-bearers, archers, andslingers; that from the higher ground they might annoy the naked flankof the enemy: and on the right of the Macedonians, to the extremity ofthe works, where the deep morasses and quicksands, stretching thenceto the sea, render the place impassable, the elephants with theirusual guard; in the rear of them, the cavalry; and then, with amoderate interval between, the rest of his forces as a second line. The Macedonians, posted before the rampart, for some time easilywithstood the efforts which the Romans made every where to force apassage; for they received great assistance from those who poured downfrom the higher ground a shower of leaden balls from their slings, and of arrows, and javelins, all together. But afterwards, the enemypressing on with greater and now irresistible force, they were obligedto give ground, and, filing off from the rear, retire within thefortification. Here, by extending their spears before them, theyformed as it were a second rampart, for the rampart itself was of sucha moderate height that, while it afforded to its defenders a highersituation, they at the same time, by the length of their spears, hadthe enemy within reach underneath. Many, inconsiderately approachingthe work, were run through the body; and they must either haveabandoned the attempt and retreated, or have lost very great numbers, had not Marcus Porcius come from the summit of Callidromus, whence hehad dislodged the Aetolians, after killing the greater part of them. These he had surprised, quite unprepared, and mostly asleep, and nowhe appeared on the hill which overlooked the camp. 

19. Flaccus had not met the same good fortune at Tichiuns andRhoduntia; having failed in his attempts to approach those fastnesses. The Macedonians, and others, in the king's camp, as long as, onaccount of the distance, they could distinguish nothing more than abody of men in motion, thought they were the Aetolians, who, on seeingthe fight, were coming to their aid. But when, on a nearer view, theyknew the standards and arms, and thence discovered their mistake, they were all instantly seized with such a panic, that they threw downtheir arms and fled. Both the fortifications retarded the pursuers, and the narrowness of the valley through which the troops had to pass;and, above all, the circumstance that the elephants were on the rearof the enemy. These the infantry could with difficulty pass, and thecavalry could by no means do so, their horses being so frightened, that they threw one another into greater confusion than when inbattle. The plundering of the camp also caused a considerable delay. But, notwithstanding all this, the Romans pursued the enemy that dayas far as Scarphea, killing and taking on the way great numbers bothof men and horses, and also killing such of the elephants as theycould not capture; and then they returned to their camp. This had beenattacked, during the time of the action, by the Aetolians who wereoccupying Heraclea as a garrison, but the enterprise, which certainlyshowed no want of boldness, was not attended with any success. Theconsul, at the third watch of the following night, sent forward hiscavalry in pursuit of the enemy; and, as soon as day appeared, set outat the head of the legions. The king had got far before him, as hedid not halt in his precipitate flight until he came to Elatia. Therehaving collected the survivors of the battle and the retreat, he, witha very small body of half-armed men, betook himself to Chalcis. TheRoman cavalry did not overtake the king himself at Elatia; but theycut off a great part of his soldiers, who either halted throughweariness, or wandered out of the way through mistake, as they fledwithout guides through unknown roads; so that, out of the whole army, not one escaped except five hundred, who kept close about the king;and even of the ten thousand men, whom, on the authority of Polybius, we have mentioned as brought over by the king from Asia, a verytrifling number got off. But what shall we say if we are to believeValerius Antias, who records that there were in the king's army sixtythousand men, of whom forty thousand fell, and above five thousandwere taken, with two hundred and thirty military standards? Of theRomans were slain in the action itself a hundred and fifty; and of theparty that defended themselves against the assault of the Aetolians, not more than fifty. 

20. As the consul was leading his army through Phocis and Boeotia, therevolted states, conscious of their defection, and dreading lest theyshould be exposed as enemies to the ravages of the soldiers, presented themselves at the gates of their cities, with the badges ofsuppliants; but the army proceeded, during the whole time, just as ifthey were in the country of friends, without offering violence of anysort, until they reached the territory of Coronea. Here a statue ofking Antiochus, standing in the temple of Minerva Itonia, kindledtheir indignation, and permission was given to the soldiers toplunder the lands adjacent to the edifice. But the reflection quicklyoccurred, that, as the statue had been erected by a general voteof all the Boeotian states, it was unreasonable to resent it on thesingle district of Coronea. The soldiers were therefore immediatelyrecalled, and the depredations stopped. The Boeotians were onlyreprimanded for their ungrateful behaviour to the Romans in return forsuch great obligations, so recently conferred. At the very time ofthe battle, ten ships belonging to the king, with their commanderIsidorus, lay at anchor near Thronium, in the Malian bay. To themAlexander of Acarnania, being grievously wounded, made his escape, andgave an account of the unfortunate issue of the battle; on whichthe fleet, alarmed at the immediate danger, sailed away in haste toCenaeus in Euboea. There Alexander died, and was buried. Three otherships, which came from Asia to the same port, on hearing the disasterwhich had befallen the army, returned to Ephesus. Isidorus sailed overfrom Cenaeus to Demetrias, supposing that the king might perhaps havedirected his flight thither. About this time Aulus Atilius, commanderof the Roman fleet, intercepted a large convoy of provisions going tothe king, just as they had passed the strait at the island of Andros:some of the ships he sunk, and took many others. Those who were in therear turned their course to Asia. Atilius, with the captured vesselsin his train, sailed back to Piraeus, from whence he had set out, anddistributed a vast quantity of corn among the Athenians and the otherallies in that quarter. 

21. Antiochus, quitting Chalcis before the arrival of the consul, sailed first to Tenus, and thence passed over to Ephesus. When theconsul came to Chalcis, the gates were open to receive him: forAristoteles, who commanded for the king, on hearing of his approach, had withdrawn from the city. The rest of the cities of Euboea alsosubmitted without opposition; and peace being restored all over theisland within the space of a few days, without inflicting punishmenton any city, the army, which had acquired much higher praise formoderation after victory, than even for the victory itself, was ledback to Thermopylae. From this place, the consul despatched MarcusCato to Rome, that through him the senate and people might learn whathad been achieved from unquestionable authority. He set sail fromCreusa, a sea-port belonging to the Thespians, seated at the bottom ofthe Corinthian Gulf, and steered to Patrae, in Achaia. From Patrae, hecoasted along the shores of Aetolia and Acarnania, as far as Corcyra, and thence he passed over to Hydruntum, in Italy. Proceeding hence, with rapid expedition, by land, he arrived on the fifth day at Rome. Having come into the city before day, he went on directly from thegate to Marcus Junius, the praetor, who, at the first dawn, assembledthe senate. Here, Lucius Cornelius Scipio, who had been despatched bythe consul several days before Cato, and on his arrival had heard thatthe latter had outstripped him, and was then in the senate, camein, just as he was giving a recital of the transactions. The twolieutenant-generals were then, by order of the senate, conducted tothe assembly of the people, where they gave the same account, asin the senate, of the services performed in Aetolia. Hereupon asupplication of three days' continuance was decreed, and that thepraetor should offer sacrifice to such of the gods as his judgmentshould direct, with forty victims of the larger kinds. About the sametime, Marcus Fulvius Nobilior, who, two years before, had gone intoFarther Spain, in the office of praetor, entered the city in ovation. He carried in the procession a hundred and thirty thousand silverdenarii, [1] and besides the coin, twelve thousand pounds' weight ofsilver, and a hundred and twenty-seven pounds' weight of gold. 

[Footnote 1: 4097l. 16s. 4d. ]

22. The consul Manius Acilius sent on, from Thermopylae, a message tothe Aetolians in Heraclea, admonishing them, "then at least, after theexperience which they had of the emptiness of the king's professions, to return to their senses; and, by surrendering Heraclea, to endeavourto procure from the senate a pardon for their past madness, or error:that other Grecian states also had, during the present war, revoltedfrom the Romans, to whom they were under the highest obligations; butthat, inasmuch as, after the flight of the king, in reliance upon whomthey had departed from their duty, they had not added obstinacy totheir misbehaviour, they were re-admitted into friendship. In likemanner, although the Aetolians had not followed in the steps of theking, but had invited him, and had been principals in the war, not auxiliaries; nevertheless, if they could bring themselves torepentance they might still insure their safety. " As their answer tothese suggestions showed nothing like a pacific disposition, and itwas evident that the business must be determined by force of arms, andthat, notwithstanding the defeat of the king, the war of Aetoliawas as far from a conclusion as ever, Acilius removed his campfrom Thermopylae to Heraclea; and on the same day rode on horsebackentirely round the walls, in order to acquaint himself with thelocalities of the city. Heraclea is situated at the foot of MountOeta; the town itself is in the plain, but has a citadel overlookingit, which stands on an eminence of considerable height, terminated onall sides by precipices. Having examined every part which he wished tosee, the consul determined to make the attack in four places at once. On the side next the river Asopus, where is also the Gymnasium, hegave the direction of the works and the assault to Lucius Valerius. He assigned to Tiberius Sempronius Longus the attack of a part ofthe suburbs, which was as thickly inhabited as the city itself. Heappointed Marcus Baebius to act on the side opposite the Malian bay, a part where the access was far from easy; and Appius Claudius on theside next to another rivulet, called Melas; opposite to the temple ofDiana. By the vigorous emulation of these the towers, rams, and othermachines used in the besieging of towns, were all completed within afew days. The lands round Heraclea, naturally marshy, and aboundingwith tall trees, furnished timber in abundance for every kind ofwork; and then, as the Aetolians had fled into the city, the desertedsuburbs supplied not only beams and boards, but also bricks andmortar, and stones of every size for all their various occasions. 

23. The Romans carried on the assault upon this city by means of worksmore than by their arms; the Aetolians, on the contrary, maintainedtheir defence by dint of arms. For when the walls were shaken by theram they did not, as is usual, intercept and turn aside the strokesby the help of nooses formed on ropes, but sallied out in large armedbodies, with parties carrying fire, which they threw into the works. They had likewise arched passages through the parapet, for the purposeof making sallies; and when they built up the wall anew, in the roomof any part that was demolished, they left a great number of these, that they might rush out upon the enemy from many places at once. Inseveral days at the beginning, while their strength was unimpaired, they carried on this practice in numerous parties, and with muchspirit, but afterwards in smaller numbers and more languidly. Forthough they had a multiplicity of difficulties to struggle with, whatabove all things utterly consumed their vigour was the want of sleep, as the Romans, having plenty of men, relieved each other regularly intheir posts; while among the Aetolians, their numbers being small, thesame persons had their strength consumed by unremitting labour nightand day. During a space of twenty-four days, without any time beingunemployed in the conflict, their toil was kept up against the attackscarried on by the enemy in four different quarters at once. When theconsul, from computing the time, and from the reports of deserters, judged that the Aetolians were thoroughly fatigued, he adopted thefollowing plan:--At midnight he gave the signal of retreat, anddrawing off all his men at once from the assault, kept them quiet inthe camp until the third hour of the next day. The attacks were thenrenewed, and continued until midnight, when they ceased, until thethird hour of the day following. The Aetolians imagined that theRomans suspended the attack from the same cause by which they feltthemselves distressed, --excessive fatigue. As soon, therefore, asthe signal of retreat was given to the Romans, as if themselves werethereby recalled from duty, every one gladly retired from his post, nor did they again appear in arms on the walls before the third hourof the day. 

24. The consul having put a stop to the assault at midnight, renewedit on three of the sides, at the fourth watch, with the utmost vigour;ordering Tiberius Sempronius, on the fourth, to keep his party alert, and ready to obey his signal; for he concluded assuredly, that in thetumult by night the enemy would all run to those quarters whence theshouting was heard. Of the Aetolians, such as had gone to rest, withdifficulty roused their bodies from sleep, exhausted as they were withfatigue and watching; and such as were still awake, ran in the darkto the places where they heard the noise of fighting. Meanwhile theRomans endeavoured some to climb over the ruins of the walls, throughthe breaches; others, to scale the walls with ladders; while theAetolians hastened in all directions to defend the parts attacked. In one quarter, where the buildings stood outside the city, therewas neither attack nor defence. A party stood ready, waiting for thesignal to make an attack, but there was none within to oppose them. The day now began to dawn, and the consul gave the signal; on whichthe party, without any opposition, made their way into the town; somethrough parts that had been battered, others scaling the walls wherethey were entire. As soon as the Aetolians heard them raise the shout, which denoted the place being taken, they every where forsook theirposts, and fled into the citadel. The victors sacked the city;the consul having given permission, not for the sake of gratifyingresentment or animosity, but that the soldiers, after having beenrestrained from plunder in so many cities captured from the enemy, might at last, in some one place, enjoy the fruits of victory. Aboutmid-day he recalled the troops, and dividing them into two parts, ordered one to be led round by the foot of the mountain to a rock, which was of equal height with the citadel, and seemed as if it hadbeen broken off from it, leaving a hollow between; but the summits ofthese eminences are so nearly contiguous that weapons may be throwninto the citadel from the top of the other. With the other half of thetroops the consul intended to march, up from the city to the citadel, and waited to receive a signal from those who were to mount the rockon the farther side. The Aetolians in the citadel could not supportthe shout of the party which had seized the rock, and the consequentattack of the Romans from the city; for their courage was now broken, and the place was by no means in a condition to hold out a siegeof any continuance; the women, children, and great numbers of otherhelpless people, being crowded together in a fort, which was scarcecapable of containing, much less of affording protection to such amultitude. On the first assault, therefore, they laid down theirarms and submitted. Among the rest was delivered up Damocritus, chiefmagistrate of the Aetolians, who at the beginning of the war, whenTitus Quinctius asked for a copy of the decree passed by the Aetoliansfor inviting Antiochus, told him, that, "in Italy, when the Aetolianswere encamped there, it should be delivered to him. " On account ofthis presumptuous insolence of his, his surrender was a matter ofgreater satisfaction to the victors. 

25. At the same time, while the Romans were employed in the reductionof Heraclea, Philip, by concert, besieged Lamia. He had an interviewwith the consul, as he was returning from Boeotia, at Thermopylae, whither he came to congratulate him and the Roman people on theirsuccesses, and to apologize for his not having taken an active part inthe war, being prevented by sickness; and then they went from thence, by different routes, to lay siege to the two cities at once. Thedistance between these places is about seven miles; and as Lamiastands on high ground, and has an open prospect, particularly towardsthe region of Mount Oeta, the distance seems very short, and everything that passes can be seen from thence. The Romans and Macedonians, with all the emulation of competitors for a prize, employed the utmostexertions, both night and day, either in the works or in fighting; butthe Macedonians encountered greater difficulty on this account, thatthe Romans made their approaches by mounds, covered galleries, andother works, which were all above ground; whereas the Macedoniansworked under ground by mines, and, in that stony soil, often met aflinty rock, which iron could not penetrate. The king, seeing that hisundertaking succeeded but ill, endeavoured, by conversations with theprincipal inhabitants, to prevail on the townspeople to surrender theplace; for he was fully persuaded, that if Heraclea should be takenfirst, the Lamians would then choose to surrender to the Romans ratherthan to him; and that the consul would take to himself the merit ofrelieving them from a siege. Nor was he mistaken in that opinion; forno sooner was Heraclea reduced, than a message came to him to desistfrom the assault; because "it was more reasonable that the Romansoldiers, who had fought the Aetolians in the field, should reap thefruits of the victory. " Thus was Lamia relieved, and the misfortune ofa neighbouring city proved the means of its escaping a like disaster. 

26. A few days before the capture of Heraclea, the Aetolians, havingassembled a council at Hypata, sent ambassadors to Antiochus, amongwhom was Thoas, the same who had been sent on the former occasion. Their instructions were in the first place, to request the king againto assemble his land and marine forces and cross over into Greece;and, in the next place, if any circumstance should detain him, then tosend them supplies of men and money. They were to remind him, that "itconcerned his dignity and his honour, not to abandon his allies; andit likewise concerned the safety of his kingdom, not to leave theRomans at full leisure, after ruining the nation of the Aetolians, to carry their whole force into Asia. " What they said was true, andtherefore made the deeper impression on the king; in consequenceof which, he immediately supplied the ambassadors with the moneyrequisite for the exigencies of the war, and assured them, thathe would send them succours both of troops and ships. One of theambassadors, namely, Thoas, he kept with him, by no means against hiswill, as he hoped that, being present, he might induce the performanceof the king's promises. 

27. But the loss of Heraclea entirely broke the spirits of theAetolians; insomuch that, within a few days after they had sentambassadors into Asia for the purpose of renewing the war, andinviting the king, they threw aside all warlike designs, anddespatched deputies to the consul to sue for peace. When these beganto speak, the consul, interrupting them, said, that he had otherbusiness to attend to at present; and, ordering them to return toHypata, granted them a truce for ten days, sending with them LuciusValerius Flaccus, to whom, he desired, whatever business they intendedto have proposed to himself might be communicated, with any other thatthey thought proper. On their arrival at Hypata, the chiefs of theAetolians held a consultation, at which Flaccus was present, onthe method to be used in treating with the consul. They showed aninclination to begin with addressing themselves wholly to the ancienttreaties, and the services which they had performed to the Romanpeople; on which Flaccus desired them to "speak no more of treaties, which they themselves had violated and annulled. " He told them, that"they might expect more advantage from an acknowledgment of theirfault, and entreaty. For their hopes of safety rested not on themerits of their cause, but on the clemency of the Roman people. That, if they acted in a suppliant manner, he would himself be a solicitorin their favour, both with the consul and with the senate at Rome;for thither also they must send ambassadors. " This appeared to all theonly way to safety: "to submit themselves entirely to the faith of theRomans. For, in that case, the latter would be ashamed to do injury tosuppliants; while themselves would, nevertheless, retain the powerof consulting their own interest, should fortune offer any thing moreadvantageous. "

28. When they came into the consul's presence, Phaeneas, who was atthe head of the embassy, made a long speech, designed to mitigate thewrath of the conqueror by various considerations; and he concludedwith saying, that "the Aetolians surrendered themselves, and allbelonging to them, to the faith of the Roman people. " The consul, onhearing this, said, "Aetolians, consider well whether you will yieldon these terms:" and then Phaeneas produced the decree, in which theconditions were expressly mentioned. "Since then, " said the consul, "you submit in this manner, I demand that, without delay, you deliverup to me Dicaearchus your countryman, Menetas the Epirot, " who had, with an armed force, entered Naupactum, and compelled the inhabitantsto defection; "and also Amynander, with the Athamanian chiefs, bywhose advice you revolted from us. " Phaeneas, almost interrupting theRoman while he was speaking, answered, --"We surrendered ourselves, notinto slavery, but to your faith; and I take it for granted, that, fromnot being sufficiently acquainted with us, you fall into the mistakeof commanding what is inconsistent with the practice of the Greeks. ""Nor in truth, " replied the consul, "do I much concern myself, atpresent, what the Aetolians may think conformable to the practiceof the Greeks; while I, conformably to the practice of the Romans, exercise authority over men, who just now surrendered themselves bya decree of their own, and were, before that, conquered by my arms. Wherefore, unless my commands are quickly complied with, I orderthat you be put in chains. " At the same time he ordered chains tobe brought forth, and the lictors to surround the ambassadors. Thiseffectually subdued the arrogance of Phaeneas and the other Aetolians;and, at length, they became sensible of their situation. Phaeneas thensaid, that "as to himself and his countrymen there present, they knewthat his commands must be obeyed: but it was necessary that a councilof the Aetolians should meet, to pass decrees accordingly; and that, for that purpose, he requested a suspension of arms for ten days. "At the intercession of Flaccus on behalf of the Aetolians, this wasgranted, and they returned to Hypata. When Phaeneas related here, in the select council, called Apocleti, the orders which they hadreceived, and the treatment which they had narrowly escaped; althoughthe chiefs bemoaned their condition, nevertheless they were ofopinion, that the conqueror must be obeyed, and that the Aetoliansshould be summoned, from all their towns, to a general assembly. 

29. But when the assembled multitude heard the same account, theirminds were so highly exasperated, both by the harshness of the orderand the indignity offered, that, even if they had been in a pacifictemper before, the violent impulse of anger which they then felt wouldhave been sufficient to rouse them to war. Their rage was increasedalso by the difficulty of executing what was enjoined on them; for, "how was it possible for them, for instance, to deliver up kingAmynander?" It happened, also, that a favourable prospect seemed toopen to them; for Nicander, returning from king Antiochus at thatjuncture, filled the minds of the people with unfounded assurances, that immense preparations for war were going on both by land and sea. This man, after finishing the business of his embassy, set out on hisreturn to Aetolia; and on the twelfth day after he embarked, reachedPhalara, on the Malian bay. Having conveyed thence to Lamia the moneythat he had brought, he, with a few light troops, directed, in theevening, his course toward Hypata, by known paths, through the countrywhich lay between the Roman and Macedonian camps. Here he fell in withan advanced guard of the Macedonians, and was conducted to the king, whose dinner guests had not yet separated. Philip, being told of hiscoming, received him as a guest, not an enemy; desired him to take aseat, and join the entertainment; and afterwards, when he dismissedthe rest, detained him alone, and told him, that he had nothing tofear for himself. He censured severely the conduct of the Aetolians, in bringing, first the Romans, and afterwards Antiochus, into Greece;designs which originated in a want of judgment, and always recoiledon their own heads. But "he would forget, " he said, "all pasttransactions, which it was easier to blame than to amend; nor would heact in such a manner as to appear to insult their misfortunes. On theother hand, it would become the Aetolians to lay aside, at length, their animosity towards him; and it would become Nicander himself, in his private capacity, to remember that day, on which he had beenpreserved by him. " Having then appointed persons to escort him to aplace of safety, Nicander arrived at Hypata, while his countrymen wereconsulting about the peace with Rome. 

30. Manius Acilius having sold, or given to the soldiers, the bootyfound near Heraclea, and having learned that the counsels adoptedat Hypata were not of a pacific nature, but that the Aetolians hadhastily assembled at Naupactum, with intention to make a stand thereagainst the whole brunt of the war, sent forward Appius Claudius, withfour thousand men, to seize the heights of the mountains, where thepasses were difficult; and he himself, ascending Mount Oeta, offeredsacrifices to Hercules, in the spot called Pyra, [1] because there themortal part of the demi-god was burned. He then set out with the mainbody of the army, and marched all the rest of the way with tolerableease and expedition. But when they came to Corax, a very high mountainbetween Callipolis and Naupactum, great numbers of the beasts ofburden, together with their loads, tumbled down the precipices, andmany of the men were hurt. This clearly showed with how negligent anenemy they had to do, who had not secured so difficult a pass by aguard, and so blocked up the passage; for, even as the case was, thearmy suffered considerably. Hence he marched down to Naupactum; andhaving erected a fort against the citadel, he invested the other partsof the city, dividing his forces according to the situation of thewalls. Nor was the siege likely to prove less difficult and laboriousthan that of Heraclea. 

[Footnote 1: The funeral pile. ]

31. At the same time, the Achaeans laid siege to Messene, inPeloponnesus, because it refused to become a member of their body: forthe two states of Messene and Elis were unconnected with the Achaeanconfederacy, and sympathized with the Aetolians. However, the Eleans, after Antiochus had been driven out of Greece, answered the deputies, sent by the Achaeans, with more moderation: that "when the king'stroops were removed, they would consider what part they should take. "But the Messenians had dismissed the deputies without an answer, andprepared for war. Alarmed, afterwards, at their own situation, when they saw the enemy ravaging their country without control, and pitching their camp close to their city, they sent deputies toChalcis, to Titus Quinctius, the author of their liberty, to acquainthim, that "the Messenians were willing, both to open their gates, and surrender their city, to the Romans, but not to the Achaeans. "On hearing this Quinctius immediately set out, and despatched fromMegalopolis a messenger to Diophanes, praetor of the Achaeans, requiring him to draw off his army instantly from Messene, and to cometo him. Diophanes obeyed the order; raising the siege, he hastenedforward himself before the army, and met Quinctius near Andania, asmall town between Megalopolis and Messene. When he began to explainthe reasons for commencing the siege, Quinctius, gently reproving himfor undertaking a business of that importance without consulting him, ordered him to disband his forces, and not to disturb a peacewhich had been established advantageously to all. He commanded theMessenians to recall the exiles, and to unite themselves to theconfederacy of the Achaeans; and if there were any particulars towhich they chose to object, or any precautions which they judgedrequisite for the future, they might apply to him at Corinth. He thengave directions to Diophanes, to convene immediately a general councilof the Achaeans, that he might settle some business with them. 

32. In this assembly he complained of their having acquired possessionof the island of Zacynthus by unfair means, and demanded that itshould be restored to the Romans. Zacynthus had formerly belonged toPhilip, king of Macedonia, and he had made it over to Amynander, oncondition of his giving him leave to march an army through Athamania, into the upper part of Aetolia, on that expedition wherein hecompelled the Aetolians with dejected spirits to sue for peace. Amynander gave the government of the island to Philip, theMegalopolitan; and afterwards, during the war in which he unitedhimself with Antiochus against the Romans, having called out Philip tothe duties of the campaign, he sent, as his successor, Hierocles, ofAgrigentum. This man, after the flight of Antiochus from Thermopylae, and the expulsion of Amynander from Athamania by Philip, sentemissaries of his own accord to Diophanes, praetor of the Achaeans;and having bargained for a sum of money, delivered over the islandto the Achaeans. This acquisition, made during the war, the Romansclaimed as their own; for they said, that "it was not for Diophanesand the Achaeans that the consul Manius Acilius, and the Romanlegions, fought at Thermopylae. " Diophanes, in answer, sometimesapologized for himself and his nation; sometimes insisted on thejustice of the proceeding. But several of the Achaeans testified thatthey had, from the beginning, disapproved of that business, and theynow blamed the obstinacy of the praetor. Pursuant to their advice, a decree was made, that the affair should be left entirely to thedisposal of Titus Quinctius. As Quinctius was severe to such as madeopposition, so, when complied with, he was easily appeased. Layingaside, therefore, every thing stern in his voice and looks, hesaid, --"If, Achaeans, I thought the possession of that islandadvantageous to you, I would be the first to advise the senate andpeople of Rome to permit you to hold it. But as I see that a tortoise, when collected within its natural covering, is safe against blowsof any kind, and whenever it thrusts out any of its limbs, it feelswhatever it has thus uncovered, weak and liable to every injury: soyou, in like manner, Achaeans, being enclosed on all sides by the sea, can easily unite among yourselves, and maintain by that union allthat is comprehended within the limits of Peloponnesus; but whenever, through ambition of enlarging your possessions, you overstep theselimits, then all that you hold beyond them is naked, and exposedto every attack. " The whole assembly declaring their assent, andDiophanes not daring to give further opposition, Zacynthus was cededto the Romans. 

33. When the consul was on his march to Naupactum, king Philipproposed, that, if it was agreeable to him, he would, in the meantime, retake those cities that had revolted from their alliancewith Rome. Having obtained permission so to do, he, about this time, marched his army to Demetrias, being well aware that great distractionprevailed there; for the garrison, being destitute of all hope ofsuccour since they were abandoned by Antiochus, and having no relianceon the Aetolians, daily and nightly expected the arrival of Philipor the Romans, whom they had most reason to dread, as these were mostjustly incensed against them. There was, in the place, an irregularmultitude of the king's soldiers, a few of whom had been at first leftthere as a garrison, but the greater part had fled thither after thedefeat of his army, most of them without arms, and without eitherstrength or courage sufficient to sustain a siege. Wherefore onPhilip's sending on messengers, to offer them hopes of pardon beingobtainable, they answered, that their gates were open for the king. On his first entrance, several of the chiefs left the city; Eurylochuskilled himself. The soldiers of Antiochus, in conformity to astipulation, were escorted, through Macedonia and Thrace, by a bodyof Macedonians, and conducted to Lysimachia. There were, also, a fewships at Demetrias, under the command of Isidorus, which, togetherwith their commander, were dismissed. Philip then reduced Dolopia, Aperantia, and several cities of Perrhaebia. 

34. While Philip was thus employed, Titus Quinctius, after receivingfrom the Achaean council the cession of Zacynthus, crossed over toNaupactum, which had stood a siege of near two months, but was nowreduced to a desperate condition; and it was supposed, that if itshould be taken by storm, the whole nation of the Aetolians would besunk thereby in utter destruction. But, although he was deservedlyincensed against the Aetolians, from the recollection that they alonehad attempted to depreciate his merits, when he was giving liberty toGreece; and had been in no degree influenced by his advice, whenhe endeavoured, by forewarning them of the events, which had sinceoccurred, to deter them from their mad undertaking: nevertheless, thinking it particularly his business to take care that none ofthe states of Greece which had been liberated by himself should beentirely subverted, he first walked about near the walls, that hemight be easily known by the Aetolians. He was quickly distinguishedby the first advanced guards, and the news spread from rank to rankthat Quinctius was there. On this, the people from all sides ran tothe walls, and eagerly stretching out their hands, all in one jointcry besought Quinctius by name, to assist and save them. Although hewas much affected by these entreaties, yet for that time he madesigns with his hands, that they were to expect no assistance fromhim. However, when he met the consul he accosted him thus:--"ManiusAcilius, are you unapprized of what is passing; or do you know it, and think it immaterial to the interest of the commonwealth?" Thisinflamed the consul with curiosity, and he replied, "But explain whatis your meaning. " Quinctius then said, --"Do you not see that, sincethe defeat of Antiochus, you have been wasting time in besieging twocities, though the year of your command is near expiring; but thatPhilip, who never faced the enemy, or even saw their standards, hasannexed to his dominions such a number, not only of cities, but ofnations, --Athamania, Perrhaebia, Aperantia, Dolopia? But, surely, weare not so deeply interested in diminishing the strength and resourcesof the Aetolians, as in hindering those of Philip from being augmentedbeyond measure; and in you, and your soldiers, not having yet gained, to reward your victory, as many towns as Philip has gained Grecianstates. "

35. The consul assented to these remarks, but a feeling of shamesuggested itself to him--if he should abandon the siege with hispurpose unaccomplished. At length the matter was left entirely to themanagement of Quinctius. He went again to that part of the wallwhence the Aetolians had called to him a little before; and on theirentreating him now, with still greater earnestness, to take compassionon the nation of the Aetolians, he desired that some of them mightcome out to him. Accordingly, Phaeneas himself, with some others ofthe principal men, instantly came and threw themselves at his feet. Hethen said, --"Your condition causes me to restrain my resentment and myreproofs. The events which I foretold have come to pass, and you havenot even this reflection left you, that they have fallen upon youundeservedly. Nevertheless, since fate has, in some manner, destinedme to the office of cherishing the interests of Greece, I will notcease to show kindness even to the unthankful. Send intercessors tothe consul, and let them petition him for a suspension of hostilities, for so long a time as will allow you to send ambassadors to Rome, tosurrender yourselves to the will of the senate. I will intercede, andplead in your favour with the consul. " They did as Quinctius directed;nor did the consul reject their application. He granted them a trucefor a certain time, until the embassy might bring a reply from Rome;and then, raising the siege, he sent his army into Phocis. The consul, with Titus Quinctius, crossed over thence to Aegium, to confer withthe council of the Achaeans about the Eleans, and also the restorationof the Lacedaemonian exiles. But neither was carried into execution, because the Achaeans chose to reserve to themselves the merit ofeffecting the latter; and the Eleans preferred being united to theAchaean confederacy by a voluntary act of their own, rather thanthrough the mediation of the Romans. Ambassadors came hither to theconsul from the Epirots, who, it was well known, had not with honestfidelity maintained the alliance. Although they had not furnishedAntiochus with any soldiers, yet they were charged with havingassisted him with money; and they themselves did not disavow havingsent ambassadors to him. They requested that they might be permittedto continue on the former footing of friendship. To which the consulanswered, that "he did not yet know whether he was to consider them asfriends or foes. The senate must be the judge of that matter. He wouldtherefore take no step in the business, but leave it to be determinedat Rome; and for that purpose he granted them a truce of ninety days. "When the Epirots, who were sent to Rome, addressed the senate, theyrather enumerated hostile acts which they had not committed, thancleared themselves of those laid to their charge; and they receivedsuch an answer that they seemed rather to have obtained pardon thanproved their innocence. About the same time ambassadors fromking Philip were introduced to the senate, and presented hiscongratulations on their late successes. They asked leave to sacrificein the Capitol, and to deposit an offering of gold in the temple ofJupiter supremely good and great. This was granted by the senate, andthey presented a golden crown of a hundred pounds' weight. Thesenate not only answered the ambassadors with kindness, but gavethem Demetrius, Philip's son, who was at Rome as an hostage, to beconducted home to his father. --Such was the conclusion of the warwaged in Greece by the consul Manius Acilius against Antiochus. 

36. The other consul, Publius Cornelius Scipio, who had obtained bylot the province of Gaul, before he set out to the war which was tobe waged against the Boians, demanded of the senate, by a decree, toorder him money for the exhibition of games, which, when acting aspropraetor in Spain, he had vowed at a critical time of a battle. Hisdemand was deemed unprecedented and unreasonable, and they thereforevoted, that "whatever games he had vowed, on his own single judgment, without consulting the senate, he should celebrate out of thespoils, if he had reserved any for the purpose; otherwise, at his ownexpense. " Accordingly, Publius Cornelius exhibited those games throughthe space of ten days. About this time the temple of the great IdaeanMother was dedicated; which deity, on her being brought from Asia, in the consulate of Publius Cornelius Scipio, afterwards surnamedAfricanus, and Publius Lucinius, the above-mentioned Publius Corneliushad conducted from the sea-side to the Palatine. In pursuance of adecree of the senate, Marcus Livius and Caius Claudius, censors, in the consulate of Marcus Cornelius and Publius Sempronius, hadcontracted for the erection of the goddess's temple; and thirteenyears after it had been so contracted for, it was dedicated byMarcus Junius Brutus, and games were celebrated on occasion of itsdedication: in which, according to the account of Valerius Antias, dramatic entertainments were, for the first time, introduced into theMegalesian games. Likewise, Caius Licinius Lucullus, being appointedduumvir, dedicated the temple of Youth in the great circus. Thistemple had been vowed sixteen years before by Marcus Livius, consul, on the day wherein he cut off Hasdrubal and his army; and the sameperson, when censor, in the consulate of Marcus Cornelius and PubliusSempronius, had contracted for the building of it. Games were alsoexhibited on occasion of this consecration, and every thing wasperformed with the greater degree of religious zeal, on account of theimpending war with Antiochus. 

37. At the beginning of the year in which those transactions passed, after Manius Acilius had gone to open the campaign, and while theother consul, Publius Cornelius, yet remained in Rome, two tame oxen, it is said, climbed up by ladders on the tiles of a house in theCarina. The aruspices ordered them to be burned alive, and their ashesto be thrown into the Tiber. It was reported, that several showers ofstones had fallen at Tarracina and Amiternum; that, at Minturnae, the temple of Jupiter, and the shops round the forum, were struck bylightning; that, at Vulturnum, in the mouth of the river, two shipswere struck by lightning, and burnt to ashes. On occasion of theseprodigies, the decemvirs, being ordered by a decree of the senateto consult the Sibylline books, declared, that "a fast ought to beinstituted in honour of Ceres, and the same observed every fifth year;that the nine days' worship ought to be solemnized, and a supplicationfor one day; and that they should observe the supplication, withgarlands on their heads; also that the consul Publius Cornelius shouldsacrifice to such deities, and with such victims, as the decemvirsshould direct. " When he had used every means to avert the wrath of thegods, by duly fulfilling vows and expiating prodigies, the consulwent to his province; and, ordering the proconsul Cneius Domitius todisband his army, and go home to Rome, he marched his own legions intothe territory of the Boians. 

38. Nearly at the same time, the Ligurians, having collected an armyunder the sanction of their devoting law, made an unexpected attack, in the night, on the camp of the proconsul Quintus Minucius. Minuciuskept his troops, until daylight, drawn up within the rampart, and watchful to prevent the enemy from scaling any part of thefortifications At the first light, he made a sally by two gates atonce: but the Ligurians did not, as he had expected, give way to hisfirst onset; on the contrary, they maintained a dubious contest formore than two hours. At last, as other and still other troops came outfrom the camp, and fresh men took the place of those who were weariedin the fight, the Ligurians, who besides other hardships, felt a greatloss of strength from the want of sleep, betook themselves to flight. Above four thousand of the enemy were killed; the Romans and allieslost not quite three hundred. About two months after this, the consulPublius Cornelius fought a pitched battle with the army of the Boianswith extraordinary success. Valerius Antias affirms, that twenty-eightthousand of the enemy were slain, and three thousand four hundredtaken, with a hundred and twenty-four military standards, one thousandtwo hundred and thirty horses, and two hundred and forty-sevenwaggons; and that of the conquerors there fell one thousand fourhundred and eighty-four. Though we may not entirely credit this writerwith respect to the numbers, as in such exaggeration no writer is moreextravagant, yet it is certain that the victory on this occasion wasvery complete; because the enemy's camp was taken, while, immediatelyafter the battle, the Boians surrendered themselves; and because asupplication was decreed by the senate on account of it, and victimsof the greater kinds were sacrificed. About the same time MarcusFulvius Nobilior entered the city in ovation, returning from FartherSpain. He carried with him twelve thousand pounds of silver, onehundred and thirty thousand silver denarii, and one hundred andtwenty-seven pounds of gold. [1]

[Footnote 1: This statement has been made before at the close ofchapter 21, and is probably repeated here through inadvertence. ]

39. The consul, Publius Cornelius, having received hostages from theBoians, punished them so far as to appropriate almost one-half oftheir lands for the use of the Roman people, and into which they mightafterwards, if they chose, send colonies. Then returning home in fullconfidence of a triumph, he dismissed his troops, and ordered themto attend on the day of his triumph at Rome. The next day after hisarrival, he held a meeting of the senate, in the temple of Bellona, when he detailed to them the services he had performed, and demandedto ride through the city in triumph. Publius Sempronius Blaesus, tribune of the people, advised, that "the honour of a triumph shouldnot be refused to Scipio, but postponed. Wars of the Ligurians, " hesaid, "were always united with wars of the Gauls; for these nations, lying so near, sent mutual assistance to each other. If PubliusScipio, after subduing the Boians in battle, had either gone himself, with his victorious army, into the country of the Ligurians, or senta part of his forces to Quintus Minucius, who was detained there, now the third year, by a war which was still undecided, that with theLigurians might have been brought to an end: instead of which, he had, in order to procure a full attendance on his triumph, brought home thetroops, who might have performed most material services to the state;and might do so still, if the senate thought proper, by deferring thistoken of victory, to redeem that which had been omitted through eagerhaste for a triumph. If they would order the consul to return with hislegions into his province, and to give his assistance towards subduingthe Ligurians, (for, unless these were reduced under the dominion andjurisdiction of the Roman people, neither would the Boians everremain quiet, ) there must be either peace or war with both. Whenthe Ligurians should be subdued, Publius Cornelius, in quality ofproconsul, might triumph, a few months later, after the precedent ofmany, who did not attain that honour until the expiration of theiroffice. "

40. To this the consul answered, that "neither had the province ofLiguria fallen to his lot, nor had he waged war with the Ligurians, nor did he demand a triumph over them. He confidently hoped, that ina short time Quintus Minucius, after completing their reduction, woulddemand and obtain a well-deserved triumph. For his part, he demanded atriumph over the Boian Gauls, whom he had conquered in battle and haddriven out of their camp; of whose whole nation he had received anabsolute submission within two days after the fight; and from whomhe had brought home hostages to secure peace in future. But therewas another circumstance, of much greater magnitude: he had slain inbattle so great a number of Gauls, that no commander, before him, evermet in the field so many thousands, at least of the Boians. Out offifty thousand men, more than one-half were killed, and many thousandsmade prisoners; so that the Boians had now remaining only old menand boys. Could it, then, be a matter of surprise to any one, that avictorious army, which had not left one enemy in the province, shouldcome to Rome to attend the triumph of their consul? And if the senateshould choose to employ the services of these troops in anotherprovince also, which of the two kinds of treatment could it besupposed would make them enter on a new course of danger and anotherlaborious enterprise with the greater alacrity; the paying them thereward of their former toils and dangers without defalcation; or, thesending them away, with the prospect, instead of the reality, whenthey had once been disappointed in their first expectation? As towhat concerned himself personally, he had acquired a stock of glorysufficient for his whole life, on that day, when the senate adjudgedhim to be the best man (in the state), and commissioned him to give areception to the Idaean Mother. With this inscription (though neitherconsulship nor triumph were added) the statue of Publius Scipio Nasicawould be sufficiently honoured and dignified. " The unanimous senatenot only gave their vote for the triumph, but by their influenceprevailed on the tribune to desist from his protest. PubliusCornelius, the consul, triumphed over the Boians. In this processionhe carried, on Gallic waggons, arms, standards, and spoils of allsorts; the brazen utensils of the Gauls; and, together with theprisoners of distinction, he led a train of captured horses. Hedeposited in the treasury a thousand four hundred and seventy goldenchains; and besides these, two hundred and forty-five pounds' weightof gold; two thousand three hundred and forty pounds' weight ofsilver, some unwrought, and some formed in vessels of the Gallicfashion, not without beauty; and two hundred and thirty-four thousanddenarii. [1] To the soldiers who followed his chariot, he distributedthree hundred and twenty-five _asses_[2] each, double to a centurion, triple to a horseman. Next day, he summoned an assembly, and afterexpatiating on his own services, and the ill-treatment shown him bythe tribune who wanted to entangle him in a way which did not belongto him, in order to defraud him of the fruits of his success, heabsolved the soldiers of their oath and discharged them. 

[Footnote 1: 7, 523l. 16s. 2d. ]

[Footnote 2: 1l. 4s. 2-1/2d. ]

41. While this passed in Italy, Antiochus was at Ephesus divested ofall concern respecting the war with Rome, as supposing that the Romanshad no intention of coming into Asia; which state of security wasoccasioned by the erroneous opinions or the flattering representationsof the greater part of his friends. Hannibal alone, whose judgmentwas, at that time, the most highly respected by the king, declared, that "he rather wondered the Romans were not already in Asia thanentertained a doubt of their coming. The passage was easier fromGreece to Asia, than from Italy to Greece, and Antiochus constituted amuch more important object than the Aetolians. For the Roman arms werenot less powerful on sea than on land. Their fleet had long beenat Malea, and he had heard that a reinforcement of ships and a newcommander had lately come from Italy, with intent to enter on action. He therefore advised Antiochus not to form to himself vain hopes ofpeace. He must necessarily in a short time maintain a contest with theRomans both by sea and land, in Asia, and for Asia itself; and musteither wrest the power from those who grasped at the empire of theworld, or lose his own dominions. " He seemed to be the only person whocould foresee, and honestly foretell, what was to happen. The king, therefore, with the ships which were equipped and in readiness, sailedto the Chersonesus, in order to strengthen the places there withgarrisons, lest the Romans should happen to come by land. He leftorders with Polyxenidas to fit out the rest of the fleet, and putto sea; and sent out advice-boats among the islands to procureintelligence of every thing that was passing. 

42. When Caius Livius, commander of the Roman fleet, sailed with fiftydecked ships from Rome, he went to Neapolis, where he had appointedthe rendezvous of the undecked ships, which were due by treaty fromthe allies on that coast; and thence he proceeded to Sicily, where, as he sailed through the strait beyond Messana, he was joined by sixCarthaginian ships, sent to his assistance; and then, having collectedthe vessels due from the Rhegians, Locrians, and other allies, whowere bound by the same conditions, he purified the fleet at Lacinium, and put forth into the open sea. On his arrival at Corcyra, which wasthe first Grecian country where he touched, inquiring about the stateof the war, (for all matters in Greece were not yet entirely settled, )and about the Roman fleet, he was told, that the consul and the kingwere posted at the pass of Thermopylae, and that the fleet lay atPiraeus: on which, judging expedition necessary on every account, hesailed directly forward to Peloponnesus. Having on his passage ravagedSamos and Zacynthus, because they favoured the party of the Aetolians, he bent his course to Malea; and, meeting very favourable weather, arrived in a few days at Piraeus, where he joined the old fleet. AtScyllaeum he was met by king Eumenes, with three ships, who hadlong hesitated at Aegina whether he should go home to defend his ownkingdom, on hearing that Antiochus was preparing both marine and landforces at Ephesus; or whether he should unite himself inseparably tothe Romans, on whose destiny his own depended. Aulus Atilius, havingdelivered to his successor twenty-five decked ships, sailed fromPiraeus for Rome. Livius, with eighty-one beaked ships, besides manyothers of inferior rates, some of which were open and furnished withbeaks, others without beaks, fit for advice-boats, crossed over toDelos. 

43. At this time, the consul Acilius was engaged in the siege ofNaupactum. Livius was detained several days at Delos by contrarywinds, for that tract among the Cyclades, which are separated in someplaces by larger straits, in others by smaller, is extremely subjectto storms. Polyxenidas, receiving intelligence from his scout-ships, which were stationed in various places, that the Roman fleet lay atDelos, sent off an express to the king, who, quitting the businessin which he was employed in Hellespontus, and taking with him allthe ships of war, returned to Ephesus with all possible speed, andinstantly called a council to determine whether he should risk anengagement at sea. Polyxenidas affirmed, that no delay should beincurred; "it was particularly requisite so to do, before the fleet ofEumenes and the Rhodian ships should join the Romans; in which case, even, they would scarcely be inferior in number, and in every otherparticular would have a great superiority, by reason of the agility oftheir vessels, and a variety of auxiliary circumstances. For the Romanships, being unskilfully constructed, were slow in their motions; and, besides that, as they were coming to an enemy's coast, they would beheavily laden with provisions; whereas their own, leaving none butfriends in all the countries round, would have nothing on boardbut men and arms. Moreover that their knowledge of the sea, of theadjacent lands, and of the winds, would be greatly in their favour;of all which the Romans being ignorant, would find themselves muchdistressed. " In advising this plan he influenced all, especiallyas the same person who gave the advice was also to carry it intoexecution. Two days only were passed in making preparations; and onthe third, setting sail with a hundred ships, of which seventy haddecks, and the rest were open, but all of the smaller rates, theysteered their course to Phocaea. The king, as he did not intend tobe present in the naval combat, on hearing that the Roman fleet wasapproaching, withdrew to Magnesia, near Sipylus, to collect his landforces, while his ships proceeded to Cyssus, a port of Erythraea, where it was supposed they might with more convenience wait for theenemy. The Romans, as soon as the north wind, which had held forseveral days, ceased, sailed from Delos to Phanae, a port in Chios, opposite the Aegaean sea. They afterwards brought round the fleet tothe city of Chios, and having taken in provisions there, sailed overto Phocaea. Eumenes, who had gone to join his fleet at Elaea, returneda few days after, with twenty-four decked ships, and a greater numberof open ones, to Phocaea, where were the Romans, who were fitting andpreparing themselves for a sea-fight. Then setting sail with a hundredand five decked ships, and about fifty open ones, they were for sometime driven forcibly towards the land, by a north wind blowing acrossits course. The ships were thereby obliged to go, for the most part, singly, one after another, in a thin line; afterwards, when theviolence of the wind abated, they endeavoured to stretch over to theharbour of Corycus, beyond Cyssus. 

44. When intelligence was brought to Polyxenidas that the enemy wereapproaching, he rejoiced at an opportunity of engaging them, and drewout the left squadron towards the open sea, at the same time orderingthe commanders of the ships to extend the right division towards theland; and then advanced to the fight, with his fleet in a regularline of battle. The Roman commander, on seeing this, furled his sails, lowered his masts, and, at the same time adjusting his rigging, waitedfor the ships which were coming up. There were now about thirty in theline; and in order that his left squadron might form a front in likedirection, he hoisted his top-sails, and stretched out into the deep, ordering the others to push forward, between him and the land, againstthe right squadron of the enemy. Eumenes brought up the rear; who, assoon as he saw the bustle of taking down the rigging begin, likewisebrought up his ships with all possible speed. All their ships were bythis time in sight; two Carthaginian vessels, however, which advancedbefore the Romans, came across three belonging to the king. As thenumbers were unequal, two of the king's ships fell upon one, and, inthe first place, swept away the oars from both its sides; the armedmariners then boarded, and killing some of its defenders and throwingothers into the sea, took the ship. The one which had engaged in anequal contest, on seeing her companion taken, before she could besurrounded by the three, fled back to the fleet. Livius, fired withindignation, bore down with the praetorian ship against the enemy. Thetwo which had overpowered the Carthaginian ship, in hopes of the samesuccess against this one, advanced to the attack, on which he orderedthe rowers on both sides to plunge their oars in the water, in orderto hold the ship steady, and to throw grappling-irons into the enemy'svessels as they came up. Having, by these means, rendered the businesssomething like a fight on land, he desired his men to bear in mindthe courage of Romans, and not to regard the slaves of a king as men. Accordingly, this single ship now defeated and captured the two, withmore ease than the two had before taken one. By this time the entirefleets were engaged and intermixed with each other. Eumenes, who hadcome up last, and after the battle was begun, when he saw the leftsquadron of the enemy thrown into disorder by Livius, directed his ownattack against their right, where the contest was yet equal. 

45. In a short time a flight commenced, in the first instance, withthe left squadron: for Polyxenidas, perceiving that he was evidentlyovermatched with respect to the bravery of the men, hoisted histop-sails, and betook himself to flight; and, quickly after, those whohad engaged with Eumenes near the land did the same. The Romans andEumenes pursued with much perseverance, as long as the rowers wereable to hold out, and they had any prospect of annoying the rear ofthe enemy; but finding that the latter, by reason of the lightness andfleetness of their ships, baffled every effort that could be made bytheirs, loaded as they were with provisions, they at length desisted, having taken thirteen ships together with the soldiers and rowers, andsunk ten. Of the Roman fleet, only the one Carthaginian ship, which, at the beginning of the action, had been attacked by two, was lost. Polyxenidas continued his flight, until he got into the harbour ofEphesus. The Romans staid, during the remainder of that day, inthe port from which the king's fleet had sailed out, and on the dayfollowing proceeded in the pursuit. In the midst of their course theywere met by twenty-five Rhodian decked ships, under Pausistratus, thecommander of the fleet, and in conjunction with these followed therunaways to Ephesus, where they stood for some time, in order ofbattle, before the mouth of the harbour. Having thus extorted from theenemy a full confession of their being defeated, and having sent homethe Rhodians and Eumenes, the Romans steered their course to Chios. When they had passed Phaenicus, a port of Erythraea, they cast anchorfor the night; and proceeding next day to the island, came up to thecity itself. After halting here a few days for the purpose chieflyof refreshing the rowers, they sailed over to Phocaea. Here theyleft four quinque remes for the defence of the city, and proceeded toCannae, where, as the winter now approached, the ships were hauled onshore, and surrounded with a trench and rampart. At the close of theyear, the elections were held at Rome, in which were chosen consuls, Lucius Cornelius Scipio and Caius Laelius, from whom all men expectedthe conclusion of the war with Antiochus. Next day were electedpraetors, Marcus Tuccius, Lucius Aurunculeius, Cneius Fulvius, LuciusAemilius, Publius Junius, and Caius Atinius Labeo. 

END OF VOL. III.