The History of Rome Volume III Part 10

At last, reproaching the enemy with cowardice, they pa.s.sed over into the territory of Sicyon, and, sailing round Achaia, laid waste the whole coast. As the enemy, while thus employed, spread themselves about too widely and too carelessly, (the usual consequence of too much confidence,) Nicostratus conceived hopes of attacking them by surprise. He therefore sent secret directions to all the neighbouring states, as to what day, and what number from each state, should a.s.semble in arms at Apelaurus, a place in the territory of Stymphalia.

All being in readiness at the time appointed, he marched thence immediately; and, without the knowledge of any one as to what he was contemplating, came by night through the territory of the Phliasians to Cleone. He had with him five thousand foot, of whom * * * * * * [1]

were light-armed, and three hundred horse; with this force he waited there, having despatched scouts to watch on what quarter the enemy should make their irregular inroads.

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

15. Androsthenes, utterly ignorant of all these proceedings, set out from Corinth, and encamped on the Nemea, a river running between the confines of Corinth and Sicyon. Here, dismissing one half of his troops, he divided the remainder into three parts, and ordered all the cavalry 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 soon as Nicostratus received intelligence of this at Cleone, he instantly sent forward a numerous detachment of mercenaries, to seize a pa.s.s at the entrance into the territory of Corinth; and he himself quickly followed, with his troops in two columns, the cavalry proceeding before the head of each, as advanced guards. In one column marched the mercenary soldiers and light infantry; in the other, the s.h.i.+eld-bearers of the Achaeans and other states, who composed the princ.i.p.al strength of the army. Both infantry and cavalry were now within a small distance of the camp, and some of the Thracians had attacked parties of the enemy, who were straggling and scattered over the country, when the sudden alarm reached their tents. The commander was thrown into the utmost perplexity; for, having never had a sight of the Achaeans, except occasionally on the hills before Sicyon, when they did not venture to come down into the plains, he had never imagined that they would come so far as Cleone. He ordered the stragglers to be recalled by sound of trumpet; commanded the soldiers to take arms with all haste; and, marching out of the gate at the head of thin battalions, drew up his line on the bank of the river. His other troops, having scarcely had time to be collected and formed, did not withstand the enemy's first onset; the Macedonians had surrounded their standards in by far the greatest numbers, and now kept the prospect of victory a long time doubtful. At length, being left exposed by the flight of the rest, and pressed by two bodies of the enemy on different sides, by the light infantry on their flank, and by the s.h.i.+eld-bearers and targeteers in front, and seeing victory declare against them, they at first gave ground; soon after, being vigorously pushed, they turned their backs; and most of them, throwing away their arms and having lost all hope of defending their camp, made the best of their way to Corinth. Nicostratus sent the mercenaries in pursuit of these; and the auxiliary Thracians against the party employed in ravaging the lands of Sicyon: occasioned great carnage in both instances, greater almost than occurred in the battle itself. Of those who had been ravaging Pellene and Phlius, some, returning to their camp, ignorant of all that had happened, and without any regular order, fell in with the advanced guards of the enemy, where they expected their own. Others, from the bustle which they perceived, suspecting what was really the case, fled and dispersed themselves in such a manner, that, as they wandered up and down, they were cut off by the very peasants. There fell, on that day, one thousand five hundred: three hundred were made prisoners. All Achaia was thus relieved from their great alarm.

16. Before the battle at Cynoscephalae, Lucius Quinctius had invited to Corcyra some chiefs of the Acarnanians, the only state in Greece which had continued to maintain its alliance with the Macedonians; and there made some kind of scheme for a change of measures. Two causes, princ.i.p.ally, had retained them in friends.h.i.+p with the king: one was a principle of honour, natural to that nation; the other, their fear and hatred of the Aetolians. A general a.s.sembly was summoned to meet at Leucas; but neither did all the states of Acarnania come thither, nor were those who did attend agreed in opinion. However, the magistrates and leading men prevailed so far, as to get a decree pa.s.sed, thus privately, for joining in alliance with the Romans. This gave great offence to those who had not been present; and, in this ferment of the nation, Androcles and Echedemus, two men of distinction among the Acarnanians, being commissioned by Philip, had influence enough in the a.s.sembly, not only to obtain the repeal of the decree for an alliance with Rome, but also the condemnation, on a charge of treason, of Archesilaus and Bianor, both men of the first rank in Acarnania, who had been the advisers of that measure; and to deprive Zeuxidas, the praetor, of his office, for having put it to the vote. The persons condemned took a course apparently desperate, but successful in the issue: for, while their friends advised them to yield to the necessity of the occasion, and withdraw to Corcyra, to the Romans, they resolved to present themselves to the mult.i.tude; and either, by that act, to mollify their resentment, or endure whatever might befall them. When they had introduced themselves into a full a.s.sembly, at first, a murmur arose, expressive of surprise; but presently silence took place, partly from respect to their former dignity, partly from commiseration of their present situation. Having been also permitted the liberty of speaking, at first they addressed the a.s.sembly in a suppliant manner; but, in the progress of their discourse, when they came to refute the charges made against them, they spoke with that degree of confidence which innocence inspires. At last, they even ventured to utter some complaints, and to charge the proceedings against them with injustice and cruelty; and this had such an effect on the minds of all present, that, with one consent, they annulled all the decrees pa.s.sed against them. Nevertheless, they came to a resolution, to renounce the friends.h.i.+p of the Romans, and return to the alliance with Philip.

17. These decrees were pa.s.sed at Leucas, the capital of Acarnania, the place where all the states usually met in council. As soon, therefore, as the news of this sudden change reached the lieutenant-general Flamininus, in Corcyra, he instantly set sail with the fleet for Leucas; and coming to an anchor at a place called Heraeus, advanced thence towards the walls with every kind of machine used in the attacking of cities; supposing that the first appearance of danger might bend the minds of the inhabitants to submission. But seeing no prospect of effecting any thing, except by force, he began to erect towers and sheds, and to bring up the battering-rams to the walls. The whole of Acarnania, being situated between Aetolia and Epirus, faces towards the west and the Sicilian sea. Leucadia, now an island, separated from Acarnania by a shallow strait which was dug by the hand, was then a peninsula, united on its eastern side to Acarnania by a narrow isthmus: this isthmus was about five hundred paces in length, and in breadth not above one hundred and twenty. At the entrance of this narrow neck stands Leucas, stretching up part of a hill which faces the east and Acarnania: the lower part of the town is level, lying along the sea, which divides Leucadia from Acarnania. Thus it lies open to attacks, both from the sea and from the land; for the channel is more like a marsh than a sea, and all the adjacent ground is solid enough to render the construction of works easy. In many places, therefore, at once the walls fell down, either undermined, or demolished by the ram. But the spirit of the besieged was as invincible as the town itself was favourably situated for the besiegers: night and day they employed themselves busily in repairing the shattered parts of the wall; and, stopping up the breaches that were made, fought the enemy with great spirit, and showed a wish to defend the walls by their arms rather than themselves by the walls.

And they would certainly have protracted the siege to a length unexpected by the Romans, had not some exiles of Italian birth, who resided in Leucas, admitted a band of soldiers into the citadel: notwithstanding which, when those troops ran down from the higher ground with great tumult and uproar, the Leucadians, drawing up in a body in the forum, withstood them for a considerable time in regular fight. Meanwhile the walls were scaled in many places; and the besiegers, climbing over the rubbish, entered the town through the breaches. And now the lieutenant-general himself surrounded the combatants with a powerful force. Being thus hemmed in, many were slain, 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 the lieutenant-general.

18. About this time, fortune, depressing the same party in every quarter at once, the Rhodians, in order to recover from Phillip the tract on the continent called Peraea, which had been in possession of their ancestors, sent thither their praetor, Pausistratus, with eight hundred Achaean foot, and about one thousand nine hundred men, made up of auxiliaries of various nations. These were Gauls, Nisuetans, Pisuetans, Tamians Areans from Africa, and Laodiceans from Asia. With this force Pausistratus seized by surprise Tendeba, in the territory of Stratonice, a place exceedingly convenient for his purpose, without the knowledge of the king's troops who had held it. A reinforcement of one thousand Achaean foot and one hundred horse, called out for the same expedition, came up at the very time, under a commander called Theoxenus. Dinocrates, the king's general, with design to recover the fort, marched his army first to Tendeba, and then to another fort called Astragon, which also stood in the territory of Stratonice.

Then, calling in all the garrisons, which were scattered in many different places, and the Thessalian auxiliaries from Stratonice itself, he led them on to Alabanda, where the enemy lay. The Rhodians were no way averse from a battle, and the camps being pitched near each other both parties immediately came into the field. Dinocrates placed five hundred Macedonians on his right wing, and the Agrians on his left; the centre he formed of the troops which he had drawn together out of the garrisons of the forts; these were mostly Carians; and he covered the flanks with the cavalry, and the Cretan and Thracian auxiliaries. The Rhodians had on the right wing the Achaeans; on the left mercenary soldiers; and in the centre a chosen band of infantry, a body of auxiliaries composed of troops of various nations.

The cavalry and what light infantry they had, were posted on the wings. During that day both armies remained on the banks of a rivulet, which ran between them, and, after discharging a few javelins, they retired 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 three thousand infantry on each side, and about one hundred horse: but they were not only on an equality with respect to numbers, and the kind of arms which they used, but they also fought with equal spirit and equal hopes. First, the Achaeans crossing the rivulet, made an attack on the Agrians; then the whole line pa.s.sed the river, almost at full speed.

The fight continued doubtful a long time: the Achaeans, one thousand in number, drove back the four hundred from their position. Then the left wing giving way, all exerted themselves against the right. On the Macedonians no impression could be made, so long as their phalanx preserved its order, each man clinging as it were to another: but when, in consequence of their flank being left exposed, they endeavoured to turn their spears against the enemy, who were advancing upon that side, they immediately broke their ranks. This first caused disorder among themselves; they then turned their backs, and at last, throwing away their arms, and flying with precipitation, made the best of their way to Bargylii. To the same place Dinocrates also made his escape. 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, that city would have been gained without a contest; but the opportunity for effecting this was neglected, and the time wasted in taking possession of the forts and villages in Peraea. In the mean time, the courage of the troops in garrison at Stratonice revived; and shortly after, Dinocrates, with the troops which had escaped from the battle, came into the town, which, after that, was besieged and a.s.saulted without effect; nor could it be reduced until a long time after that, when Antiochus 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 the power of his kingdom, shaken as at that time it was, had pa.s.sed the frontiers, and were spreading devastation through the upper parts of Macedonia: on which, though he was hard pressed in almost every quarter of the globe, fortune on all occasions defeating his measures and those of his friends, yet, thinking it more intolerable than death to be expelled from the possession of Macedonia, he made hasty levies through the cities of his dominions; and, with six thousand foot and five hundred horse, defeated the enemy by a surprise near Stobi in Paeonia. Great numbers were killed in the fight, and greater numbers of those who were scattered about in quest of plunder. As to such as found a road open for flight, without having even tried the chance of an engagement, they hastened back to their own country. After this enterprise executed with a degree of success beyond what he met in the rest of his attempts, and which raised the drooping courage of his people, he retired to Thessalonica. Seasonable as was the termination of the Punic war, in extricating the Romans from the danger of a quarrel with Philip, the recent triumph over Philip happened still more opportunely, when Antiochus, in Syria, was already making preparations for hostilities. For besides that it was easier to wage war against them separately than if both had combined their forces together, Spain had a little before this time, risen in arms in great commotion Antiochus, though he had in the preceding summer reduced under his power all the states in Coele-Syria belonging to Ptolemy, and retired into winter quarters at Antioch, yet allowed himself no relaxation from the exertions of the summer. For resolving to exert the whole strength of his kingdom, he collected a most powerful force, both naval and military; and in the beginning of spring, sending forward by land his two sons, Ardues and Mithridates, at the head of the army, with orders to wait for him at Sardis, he himself set out by sea with a fleet of one hundred decked s.h.i.+ps, besides two hundred lighter vessels, barks and fly-boats, designing to attempt the reduction of all the cities under the dominion of Ptolemy along the whole coast of Caria and Cilicia; and, at the same time, to aid Philip with an army and s.h.i.+ps, for as yet that war had not been brought to a conclusion.

20. The Rhodians, out of a faithful attachment to the Roman people, and an affection for the whole race of the Greeks have performed many honourable exploits, both on land and sea: but never was their gallantry more eminently conspicuous than on this occasion, when, nowise dismayed at the formidable magnitude of the impending war, they sent amba.s.sadors to tell the king, that he should not double the tribute of Cheledoniae, which is a promontory of Cilicia, rendered famous by an ancient treaty between the Athenians and the king of Persia; that if he did not confine his fleet and army to that boundary, they would meet him there and oppose not out of any ill will, but because they would not suffice to join Philip and obstruct the Romans, who were resisting liberty to Greece. At this time Antiochus was pus.h.i.+ng 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 taken Selinus; 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 not expect. Here an audience was given to the amba.s.sadors of the Rhodians, and although the purport of their emba.s.sy was such as might kindle pa.s.sion in the breast of a king, yet he stifled his resentment, and answered, that "he would send amba.s.sadors to Rhodes, and would give them instructions to renew the old treaties, made by him and his predecessors, with that state; and to a.s.sure them, that they need not be alarmed at his approach; that it would involve no injury or fraud either to them or their allies; for that he was not about to violate the friends.h.i.+p subsisting between himself and the Romans, both his own late emba.s.sy to that people, and the senate's answers and decrees, so honourable to him, were a sufficient evidence." Just at that time his amba.s.sadors happened to have returned from Rome, where they had been heard and dismissed with courtesy, as the juncture required; the event of the war with Philip being yet uncertain. While the king's amba.s.sadors were haranguing to the above purpose, in an a.s.sembly of the people at Rhodes, a courier arrived with an account of the battle at Cynoscephalae having finally decided the fate of the war.

Having received this intelligence, the Rhodians, now freed from all apprehensions of danger from Philip, resolved to oppose Antiochus with their fleet. Nor did they neglect another object that required their attention; the protection of the freedom of the cities in alliance with Ptolemy, which were threatened with war by Antiochus. For, some they a.s.sisted with men, others by forewarning them of the enemy's designs; by which means they enabled the Cauneans, Mindians, Halicarna.s.sians, and Samians to preserve their liberty. It were needless to attempt enumerating all the transactions as they occurred in that quarter, when I am scarcely equal to the task of recounting those which immediately concern the war in which Rome was engaged.

21. At this time king Attalus, having fallen sick at Thebes, had been carried thence to Pergamus, died at the age of seventy-one after he had reigned forty-four years. To this man fortune had given nothing which could inspire hopes of a throne except riches. By a prudent, and, at the same time, a splendid use of these, he begat, in himself first, and then in others, an opinion, that he was not undeserving of a crown. Afterwards, having in one battle utterly defeated the Gauls, which nation was then the more terrible to Asia, as having but lately made its appearance there, he a.s.sumed the t.i.tle of king, and ever after exhibited a spirit equal to the dignity of that name. He governed his subjects with the most perfect justice, and observed an unvarying fidelity towards his allies; gentle and bountiful to his friends; affectionate to his wife and four sons, who survived him; and he left his government established on such solid and firm foundations, that the possession of it descended to the third generation. While this was the posture of affairs in Asia, Greece, and Macedonia, the war with Philip being scarcely ended, and the peace certainly not yet perfected, a desperate insurrection took place in the Farther Spain.

Marcus Helvius was governor of that province. He informed the senate by letter, that "two chieftains, Colca and Luscinus, were in arms; that Colca was joined by seventeen towns, and Luscinus by the powerful cities of Carmo and Bardo; and that the people of the whole sea-coast, who had not yet manifested their disposition, were ready to rise on the first motion of their neighbours." On this letter being read by Marcus Sergius, city praetor, the senate decreed, that, as soon as the election of praetors should be finished, the one to whose lot the government of Spain fell should, without delay, consult the senate respecting the commotions in that province.

22. About the same time the consuls came home to Rome, and, on their holding a meeting of the senate in the temple of Bellona, and demanding a triumph, in consideration of their successes in the war, Caius Atinius Labeo, and Caius Ursanius, plebeian tribunes, insisted that "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 government of one province, Italy; and that, through the course of their administration, his colleague and himself had been united in sentiments and in counsels; to which Cornelius added, that, when the Boians were pa.s.sing the Po, to a.s.sist the Insubrians and Caenomanians against him, they were forced to return to defend their own country, from his colleague ravaging their towns and lands. In reply the tribunes acknowledged, that the services performed in the war by Cornelius were so great, that "no more doubt could be entertained respecting his triumph than respecting the ascribing of glory to the immortal G.o.ds." Nevertheless they insisted, that "neither he nor any other member of the community should possess such power and influence as to be able, after obtaining the honour that was due to himself, to bestow the same distinction on a colleague, who immodestly demanded what he had not deserved. The exploits of Quintus Minucius in Liguria were trifling skirmishes, scarcely deserving mention; and in Gaul he had lost great numbers of soldiers." They mentioned even military tribunes, t.i.tus Juvencius and Cneius Labeo, of the fourth legion, the plebeian tribune's brother, who had fallen in unsuccessful conflict, together with many other brave men, both citizens and allies: and they a.s.serted, that "pretended surrenders of a few towns and villages, fabricated for the occasion, had been made, without any pledge of fidelity being taken." These altercations between the consuls and tribunes lasted two days: at last the consuls, overcome by the obstinacy of the tribunes, proposed their claims separately.

23. To Cneius Cornelius a triumph was unanimously decreed: and the inhabitants of Placentia and Cremona added to the applause bestowed on the consul, by returning him thanks, and mentioning, to his honour, that they had been delivered by him from a siege; and that very many of them, when in the hands of the enemy, had been rescued from captivity. Quintus Minucius just tried how the proposal of his claim would be received, and finding the whole senate averse from it, declared, that by the authority of his office of consul, and pursuant to the example of many ill.u.s.trious men, he would triumph on the Alban mount. Caius Cornelius, being yet in office, triumphed over the Insubrian and Caenomanian Gauls. He produced a great number of military standards, and earned in the procession abundance of Gallic spoils in captured chariots. Many Gauls of distinction were led before his chariot, and along with them, some writers say, Hamilcar, the Carthaginian general. But what, more than all, attracted the eyes of the public, was a crowd of Cremonian and Placentian colonists, with caps of liberty on their heads, following his chariot. He carried in his triumph two hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred _a.s.ses_,[1] and of silver denarii, stamped with a chariot, seventy-nine thousand.[2] He distributed to each of his soldiers seventy _a.s.ses_,[3] to a horseman and a centurion double that sum.

Quintus Minucius, consul, triumphed on the Alban mount, over the Ligurian and Boian Gauls. Although this triumph was less respectable, in regard to the place and the fame of his exploits, and because all knew the expense was not issued from the treasury; yet, in regard of the number of standards, chariots, and spoils, it was nearly equal to the other. The amount of the money also was nearly equal. Two hundred and fifty-four thousand _a.s.ses_[4] were conveyed to the treasury, and of silver denarii, stamped with a chariot, fifty-three thousand two hundred.[5] He likewise gave to the soldiers, hors.e.m.e.n, and centurions, 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 persons chosen were Lucius Furius Purpureo and Marcus Claudius Marcellus.

Next day, the following were elected praetors; Quintus Fabius Buteo, Tiberius Semp.r.o.nius Longus, Quintus Minucius Thermus, Manius Acilius Glabrio, Lucius Apustius Fullo, and Caius Laelius. Toward the close of this year, a letter came from t.i.tus Quinctius, with information that he had fought a pitched battle with Philip in Thessaly, and that the army of the enemy had been routed and put to flight. This letter was read by Sergius, the praetor, first in the senate, and then, by the direction of the fathers, in a general a.s.sembly; and supplications of five days' continuance were decreed on account of those successes.

Soon after arrived the amba.s.sadors, both from t.i.tus Quinctius and from the king. The Macedonians were conducted out of the city to the Villa Publica, where lodgings and every other accommodation were provided for them, and an audience of the senate was given them in the temple of Bellona. Not many words pa.s.sed; for the Macedonians declared, that whatever terms the senate should prescribe, the king was ready to comply with them. It was decreed, that, conformably to ancient practice, ten amba.s.sadors should be appointed, and that, in council with them, the general, t.i.tus Quinctius, should grant terms of peace to Philip; and a clause was added, that, in the number of these amba.s.sadors, should be Publius Sulpicius and Publius Villius, who in their consuls.h.i.+p had held the province of Macedonia. On the same day the inhabitants of Oossa having presented a pet.i.tion, praying that the number of their colonists might be enlarged; an order was accordingly pa.s.sed, that one thousand should be added to the list, with a provision, that no persons should be admitted into that number who, at any time since the consulate of Publius Cornelius and Tiberius Semp.r.o.nius, had been partisans of the enemy.

25. This year the Roman games were exhibited in the circus, and on the stage, by the curule aediles, Publius Cornelius Scipio and Cneius Manlius Vulso, with an unusual degree of splendour, and were beheld with 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 brazen statues, to Ceres, Liber, and Libera. Lucius Furius and Marcus Claudius Marcellus, having entered on the consuls.h.i.+p, when the distribution of the provinces came to be agitated, and the senate appeared disposed to vote Italy the province of both, exerted themselves to get that of Macedonia put to the lot along with Italy.

Marcellus, who of the two was the more eager for that province, by a.s.sertions that the peace was merely a feigned and delusive one, and that, if the army were withdrawn thence, the king would renew the war, caused some perplexity in the minds of the senate. The consuls would probably have carried the point, had not Quintus Marcius Rex and Caius Antinius Labeo, plebeian tribunes, declared, that they would enter their protest, unless they were allowed, before any further proceeding, to take the sense of the people, whether it was their will and order that peace be concluded with Philip. This question was put to the people in the Capitol, and every one of the thirty-five tribes voted on the affirmative side. The public found the greater reason to rejoice at the ratification of the peace with Macedonia, as melancholy news was brought from Spain; and a letter was made public, announcing that "the proconsul, Caius Semp.r.o.nius Tudita.n.u.s, had been defeated in battle in the Hither Spain; that his army had been utterly routed and dispersed, and several men of distinction slain in the fight. That Tudita.n.u.s, having been grievously wounded, and carried out of the field, expired soon after." Italy was decreed the province of both consuls, in which they were to employ the same legions which the preceding consuls had; and they were to raise four new legions, two for the city, and two to be in readiness to be sent whithersoever the senate should direct. t.i.tus Quinctius Flamininus was ordered to continue in the government of his province, with the army of two legions, then on the spot. The former prolongation of his command was deemed sufficient.

26. The praetors then cast lots for their provinces. Lucius Apustius Fullo obtained the city jurisdiction; Manius Acilius Glabrio, that between natives and foreigners; Quintus Fabius Buteo, Farther Spain; Quintus Minucius Thermus, Hither Spain; Caius Laelius, Sicily; Tiberius Semp.r.o.nius Longus, Sardinia. To Quintus Fabius Buteo and Quintus Minucius, to whom the government of the two Spains had fallen, it was decreed, that the consuls, out of the four legions raised by them, should give one each whichever they thought fit, together with four thousand foot and three hundred horse of the allies and Latin confederates; and those praetors were ordered to repair to their provinces at the earliest possible time. This war in Spain broke out in the fifth year after the former had been ended, together with the Punic war. The Spaniards now, for the first time, had taken arms in their 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 Roman knight, on the road to Sabinia, had been killed by lightning, together with his horse. The temple of Feronia, in the Capenatian district, had been struck by lightning. At the temple of Moneta, the shafts of two spears had taken fire and burned. A wolf, coming in through the Esquiline gate, and running through the most frequented part of the city, down into the forum, pa.s.sed thence through the Tuscan and Maelian streets; and scarcely receiving a stroke, made its escape out of the Capenian gate. These prodigies were expiated with victims of the larger kinds.

27. About the same time Cneius Cornelius Lentulus, who had held the government of Hither Spain before Semp.r.o.nius Tudita.n.u.s, entered the city in ovation, pursuant to a decree of the senate, and carried in the procession one thousand five hundred and fifteen pounds' weight of gold, twenty thousand of silver; and in coin, thirty-four thousand five hundred and fifty denarii.[1] Lucius Stretinius, from the Farther Spain, without making any pretensions to a triumph, carried into the treasury fifty thousand pounds' weight of silver; and out of the spoils taken, built two arches in the cattle-market, at the fronts of the temple of Fortune and Mother Matuta, and one in the great Circus; and on these arches placed gilded statues. These were the princ.i.p.al occurrences during the winter. At this time Quinctius was in winter quarters at Elatia. Among many requests, made to him by the allies, was that of the Boeotians, namely, that their countrymen, who had served in the army with Philip, might be restored to them. With this Quinctius readily complied; not because he thought them very deserving, but that, as king Antiochus was already suspected, he judged it advisable to conciliate every state in favour of the Roman interest. It quickly appeared how very little grat.i.tude existed among the Boeotians; for they not only sent persons to give thanks to Philip for the restoration of their fellows, as if that favour had been conferred on them by him, and not by Quinctius and the Romans; but, at the next election, raised to the office of Boeotarch a man named Brachyllas, for no other reason than because he had been commander of the Boeotians serving in the army of Philip; pa.s.sing by Zeuxippus, Pisistratus, and the others, who had promoted the alliance with Rome.

These men were both offended at the present and alarmed about the future consequences: for if such things were done when a Roman army lay almost at their gates, what would become of them when the Romans should have gone away to Italy, and Philip, from a situation so near, should support his own a.s.sociates, and vent his resentment on those who 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, to take off Brachyllas, who was the princ.i.p.al leader of the faction which favoured the king; and they chose an opportunity for the deed, when, after having been at a public feast, he was returning to his house inebriated, and accompanied by some of his debauched companions, who, for the sake of merriment, had been admitted to the crowded entertainment. He was surrounded and a.s.sa.s.sinated by six men, of whom three were Italians and three Aetolians. His companions fled, crying out for help; and a great uproar ensued among the people, who ran up and down, through all parts of the city, with lights; but the a.s.sa.s.sins made their escape through the nearest gate. At the first dawn, a full a.s.sembly was called together in the theatre, by the voice of a crier, as if in consequence of a previous appointment.

Many openly clamoured that Brachyllas was killed by those detestable wretches who accompanied him; but their private conjectures pointed to Zeuxippus, as author of the murder. It was resolved, however, that those who had been in company with him should be seized and examined in their presence. While they were under examination, Zeuxippus, with his usual composure, came into the a.s.sembly, for the purpose of averting the charge from himself; yet said, that people were mistaken in supposing that so daring a murder was the act of such effeminate wretches as those who were charged with it, urging many plausible arguments to the same purpose. By which behaviour he led several to believe, that, if he were conscious of guilt, he would never have presented himself before the mult.i.tude, or, without being challenged by any, have made any mention of the murder. Others were convinced that he intended, by thus unblus.h.i.+ngly exposing himself to the charge, to throw off all suspicion from himself. Soon after, those men who were innocent were put to the torture; and, taking the universal opinion as having the effect of evidence, they named Zeuxippus and Pisistratus; but they produced no proof to show that they knew any thing of the matter. Zeuxippus, however, accompanied by a man named Stratonidas, fled by night to Tanagra; alarmed by his own conscience rather than by the a.s.sertion of men who were privy to no one circ.u.mstance of the affair. Pisistratus, despising the informers, remained at Thebes. A slave of Zeuxippus had carried messages backwards and forwards, and had been intrusted with the management of the whole business. From this man Pisistratus dreaded a discovery; and by that very dread forced him, against his will, to make one. He sent a letter to Zeuxippus, desiring him to "put out of the way the slave who was privy to their crime; for he did not believe him as well qualified for the concealment of the fact as he was for the perpetration of it." He ordered the bearer of this letter to deliver it to Zeuxippus as soon as possible; but he, not finding an opportunity of meeting him, put it into the hands of the very slave in question, whom he believed to be the most faithful to his master of any; and added, that it came from Pisistratus respecting a matter of the utmost consequence to Zeuxippus. Struck by consciousness of guilt, the slave after promising to deliver the letter, immediately opened it; and, on reading the contents, fled in a fright to Thebes and laid the information before the magistrate. Zeuxippus, alarmed by the flight of his slave, withdrew to Athens, where he thought he might live in exile with greater safety. Pisistratus, after being examined several times by torture, was put to death.

29. This murder exasperated the Thebans, and all the Boeotians, to the most rancorous animosity against the Romans, for they considered that Zeuxippus, one of the first men of the nation, had not been party to such a crime without the instigation of the Roman general. To recommence a war, they had neither strength nor a leader; but they had recourse to private ma.s.sacres, as being next to war, and cut off many of the soldiers, some as they came to lodge in their houses, others as they wandered about their winter quarters, or were on leave of absence for various purposes. Some were killed on the roads by parties lying in wait in lurking-places; others were seduced and carried away to inns, which were left uninhabited, and there put to death. At last they committed these crimes, not merely out of hatred, but likewise from a desire of booty; for the soldiers on furlough generally carried money in their purses for the purpose of trading. At first a few at a time, afterwards greater numbers used to be missed, until all Boeotia became notorious for those practices, and a soldier went beyond the bounds of the camp with more timidity than into an enemy's country.

Quinctius then sent deputies round the states, to make inquiry concerning the murders committed. The greatest number of murders were found to have been committed about the lake called Copais; there the bodies were dug out of the mud, and drawn up out of the marsh, having had earthen jars or stones tied to them, so as to be dragged to the bottom by the weight. Many deeds of this sort were discovered to have been perpetrated at Acrphia and Coronea. Quinctius at first insisted that the persons guilty should be given up to him, and that, for five hundred soldiers, (for so many had been cut off,) the Botians should pay five hundred talents.[1] Neither of these requisitions being complied with, and the states only making verbal apologies, declaring, that none of those acts had been authorized by the public; Quinctius first sent amba.s.sadors to Athens and Achaia, to satisfy the allies, that the war which he was about to make on the Botians was conformable to justice and piety; and then, ordering Publius Claudius to march with one-half of the troops to Acrphia, he himself, with the remainder, invested Coronea; and these two bodies' marching by different roads from Elatia, laid waste all the country through which they pa.s.sed. The Botians, dismayed by these losses, while every place was filled with fugitives, and while the terror became universal, sent amba.s.sadors to the camp; and as these were refused admittance, the Achaeans and Athenians came to their a.s.sistance. The Achaeans had the greater influence as intercessors; inasmuch as they were resolved, in case they could not procure peace for the Botians, to join them in the war. Through the mediation of the Achaeans, however, the Botians obtained admission and an audience of the Roman general; who, ordering them 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 amba.s.sadors arrived from Rome, in pursuance of whose counsel, peace was granted to Philip on the following conditions: "That all the Grecian states, as well those in Asia as those in Europe, should enjoy liberty, and their own laws: That from such of them as had been in the possession of Philip, he should withdraw his garrisons, particularly from the following places in Asia; Euromus, Pedasi, Bargylii, Ia.s.sus, Myrina, Abydus; and from Thasus and Perinthus, for it was determined that these likewise should be free: That with respect to the freedom of Cius, Quinctius should write to Prusias, king of Bithynia, the resolutions of the senate, and of the ten amba.s.sadors: That Philip should return to the Romans the prisoners and deserters, and deliver up all his decked s.h.i.+ps, excepting five and the royal galley,--of a size almost unmanageable, being moved by sixteen banks of oars: That he should not keep more than five hundred soldiers, nor any elephant: That he should not wage war beyond the bounds of Macedonia without permission from the senate: That he should pay to the Roman people one thousand talents:[1] one half at present, the other by instalments, within ten years." Valerius Antias writes, that there was imposed on him an annual tribute of four thousand pounds' weight of silver, for ten years, and an immediate payment of twenty thousand pounds' weight. The same author says that an article was expressly inserted, that he should not make war on Eumenes, Attalus's son, who had lately come to the throne. For the performance of these conditions hostages were received, among whom was Demetrius, Philip's son. Valerius Antias adds, that the island of Aegina, and the elephants, were given as a present to Attalus, who was absent; to the Rhodians, Stratonice, and other cities of Caria which had been in the possession of Philip; and to the Athenians, the islands of Paros, Imbros, Delos, and Scyros.

[Footnote 1: 193,750l.]

31. While all the other states of Greece expressed their approbation of these terms of peace, the Aetolians alone, in private murmurs, made severe strictures on the determination of the ten amba.s.sadors. They said, "it consisted merely of an empty piece of writing varnished over with a fallacious appearance of liberty. For why should some cities be put into the hands of the Romans without being named, while others were particularized, and ordered to be enfranchised without such consignment; unless the intent was, that those in Asia, which, from their distant situation, were more secure from danger, should be free; but those in Greece, not being even mentioned by name, should be made their property: Corinth, Chalcis, and Oreum; with Eretria, and Demetrias." Nor was this charge entirely without foundation: for there was some hesitation with respect to Corinth, Chalcis, and Demetrias; because, in the decree of the senate in pursuance of which the ten amba.s.sadors had been sent from Rome, all Greece and Asia, except these three, were expressly ordered to be set at liberty; but, with regard to these, amba.s.sadors were instructed, that, whatever measures the exigencies of the state might render expedient, they should determine to pursue in conformity to the public good and their own honour. King Antiochus was one of whom they did not doubt that, so soon as he was satisfied that his forces were adequate, he would cross over into Europe; and they were unwilling to let these cities, the possession of which would be so advantageous to him, lie open to his occupation.

Quinctius, with the ten amba.s.sadors, sailed from Elatia to Anticyra, and thence to Corinth. Here the plans they had laid down respecting the liberation of Greece were discussed for about three days in a council of the ten amba.s.sadors. Quinctius frequently urged, that "every part of Greece ought to be set at liberty, if they wished to refute the cavils of the Aetolians; if they wished, that sincere affection and respect for the Roman nation should be universally entertained; or if they wished to convince the world that they had crossed the sea with the design of liberating Greece, and not of transferring the sovereignty of it from Philip to themselves." The Macedonians alleged nothing in opposition to the arguments made use of in favour of the freedom of the cities; but "they thought it safer for those cities themselves that they should remain, for a time, under the protection of Roman garrisons, than be obliged to receive Antiochus for a master in the room of Philip." Their final determination was, that "Corinth be restored to the Achaeans, but that a Roman garrison should continue in the citadel; and that Chalcis and Demetrias be retained, until their apprehensions respecting Antiochus should cease."

32. The stated solemnity of the Isthmian games was at hand. These have ever been attended by very numerous meetings, as well on account of the universal fondness entertained by this nation for exhibitions of skill in arts of every kind, as well as of contests in strength and swiftness of foot; as also, because of the convenience of the locality, which furnishes commercial advantages of all kinds by its two opposite seas, and by which it had obtained the character of a rendezvous for all the population of Asia and Greece. But on this occasion, all were led thither not only for their ordinary purposes, but by an eager curiosity to learn what was thenceforward to be the state of Greece, and what their own condition; while many at the same time not only formed opinions within themselves but uttered their conjectures 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 by a trumpeter, according to custom, advanced into the centre of the theatre, where notice of the commencement of the games is usually made, in a solemn form of words. Silence being commanded by sound of trumpet, he uttered aloud the following proclamation: THE SENATE AND PEOPLE OF ROME, AND t.i.tUS QUINCTIUS, THEIR GENERAL, HAVING SUBDUED KING PHILIP AND THE MACEDONIANS, DO HEREBY ORDER, THAT THE FOLLOWING STATES BE FREE, INDEPENDENT, AND RULED BY THEIR OWN LAWS: THE CORINTHIANS, PHOCIANS, AND ALL THE LOCRIANS; THE ISLAND OF EUBOEA, AND THE MAGNESIANS; THE THESSALIANS, PERRHAEBIANS, AND THE ACHAEANS OF PHTHIOTIS. He then read a list of all the states which had been under subjection to king Philip. The joy occasioned by hearing these words of the herald was so great, that the people's minds were unable to conceive the matter at once. Scarcely could they believe that they had heard them; and they looked at each other, marvelling as at the empty illusion of a dream. Each inquired of his neighbours about what immediately concerned himself, altogether distrusting the evidence of his own ears. As everyone desired not only to hear, but to see the messenger of liberty, the herald was called out again; and he again repeated the proclamation. When they were thus a.s.sured of the reality of the joyful tidings, they raised such a shout, and clapping of hands, and repeated them so often, as clearly to show that of all blessings none is more grateful to the mult.i.tude than liberty. The games were then proceeded through with hurry; for neither the thoughts nor eyes of any attended to the exhibitions, so entirely had the single pa.s.sion of joy pre-occupied their minds, as to exclude the sense of all other pleasures.

33. But, when the games were finished, every one eagerly pa.s.sed towards the Roman general; so that by the crowd rus.h.i.+ng to one spot, all wis.h.i.+ng to come near him, and to touch his right hand, and throwing garlands and ribands, he was in some degree of danger. He was then 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 in the presence of all the a.s.sembly, but, through the s.p.a.ce of many days, was continually revived by sentiments and expressions of grat.i.tude.

"There was a nation in the world," they said, "which, at its own expense, with its own labour, and at its own risk, waged wars for the liberty of others. And this was performed, not merely for contiguous states, or near neighbours, or for countries that made parts of the same continent; but they even crossed the seas for the purpose, that no unlawful power should subsist on the face of the whole earth; but that justice, right, and law should every where have sovereign sway.

By one sentence, p.r.o.nounced by a herald all the cities of Greece and Asia had been set at liberty. To have conceived hopes of this, argued a daring spirit; to have carried it into effect, was a proof of the most consummate bravery and good fortune."

34. Quinctius and the ten amba.s.sadors then gave audience to the emba.s.sies of the several kings, nations, and states. First of all, the amba.s.sadors of king Antiochus were called. Their proceedings, here, were nearly the same as at Rome; a mere display of words unsupported by facts. But the answer given them was not ambiguous as formerly, during the uncertainty of affairs, and while Philip was unsubdued; for the king was required in express terms to evacuate the cities of Asia, which had been in possession either of Philip or Ptolemy; not to meddle with the free cities, or ever take arms against them, and to be in a state of peace and equality with all the cities of Greece wherever they might be. Above all it was insisted on, that he should neither come himself into Europe, nor transport an army thither.

The king's amba.s.sadors being dismissed, a general convention of the nations and states was immediately held; and the business was despatched with the greater expedition, because the resolutions of the ten amba.s.sadors mentioned the several states by name. To the people of Orestis, a district of Macedonia, in consideration of their having been the first who came over from the side of the king, their own laws were granted. The Magnesians, Perrhaebians, and Dolopians were likewise declared free. To the nation of the Thessalians, besides the enjoyment of liberty, the Achaean part of Phthiotis was granted, excepting Phthiotian Thebes and Pharsalus. The Aetolians, demanding that Pharsalus and Leucas should be restored to them in conformity to the treaty, were referred to the senate: but the council united to these, by authority of a decree, Phocis and Locris, places which had formerly been annexed to them. Corinth, Triphylia, and Heraea, another city of Peloponnesus, were restored to the Achaeans. The ten amba.s.sadors were inclined to give Oreum and Eretria to king Eumenes, son of Attalus; but Quinctius dissenting, the matter came under the determination of the senate, and the senate declared those cities free; adding to them Carystus. Lycus and Parthinia, Illyrian states, each of which had been under subjection to Philip, were given to Pleuratus. 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 amba.s.sadors, dividing the business among them, set out by different routes to give liberty to the several cities within their respective districts. Publius Lentulus went to Bargylii; Lucius Stertinius, to Hephaestia, Thasus, and the cities of Thrace; Publius Villius and Lucius Terentius to king Antiochus; and Cneius Cornelius to Philip. The last of these, after executing his commission with respect to smaller matters, asked Philip, whether he was disposed to listen to advice, not only useful but highly salutary. To which the king answered that he was, and would give him thanks besides, if he mentioned any thing conducive to his advantage. He then earnestly recommended to him, since he had obtained peace with the Romans, to send amba.s.sadors to Rome to solicit their alliance and friends.h.i.+p; lest, in case of Antiochus pursuing any hostile measure, he might be suspected of having lain in wait and seized the opportunity of the times for reviving hostilities. This meeting with Philip was at Tempe in Thessaly; and on his answering that he would send amba.s.sadors without delay, Cornelius proceeded to Thermopylae, where all the states of Greece are accustomed to meet in general a.s.sembly on certain stated days. This is called the Pylaic a.s.sembly. Here he admonished the Aetolians, in particular, constantly and firmly to cultivate the friends.h.i.+p of the Roman people; but some of the princ.i.p.al of these interrupted him with complaints, that the disposition of the Romans towards their nation was not the same since the victory, that it had been during the war; while others censured them with greater boldness, and in a reproachful manner a.s.serted, that "without the aid of the Aetolians, the Romans could neither have conquered Philip, nor even have made good their pa.s.sage into Greece."

To such discourses the Roman forbore giving an answer, lest the matter might end in an altercation, and only said, that if they sent amba.s.sadors to Rome, every thing that was reasonable would be granted to them. Accordingly, they pa.s.sed a decree for such mission, agreeably to his direction.--In this manner was the war with Philip concluded.

36. While these transactions pa.s.sed in Greece, Macedonia, and Asia, a conspiracy among the slaves had well nigh made Etruria an hostile province. To examine into and suppress this, Manius Acilius the praetor, whose province was the administration of justice between natives and foreigners, was sent at the head of one of the two city legions. A number of them, who were by this time formed in a body, he reduced by force of arms, killing and taking many. Some, who had been the ringleaders of the conspiracy, he scourged with rods and then crucified; some he returned to their masters. The consuls repaired to their provinces. Just as Marcellus entered the frontiers of the Boians, and while his men were fatigued with marching the whole length 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 numerous force, and slew three thousand of his men: several persons of distinction fell in that tumultuary engagement; amongst others, Tiberius Semp.r.o.nius Gracchus and Marcus Junius Sila.n.u.s, praefects of the allies; and Aulus Ogulnius and Publius Claudius, military tribunes in the second legion. The Romans, not withstanding, had courage enough to finish the fortification of their camp, and to defend it, in spite of an a.s.sault made on it by the enemy, elated by their success in the field. Marcellus remained for some time in the same post, until he could tend the wounded, and revive the spirits of his men after such a disheartening blow. The Boians, a nation remarkably impatient of delay, and quickly disgusted at a state of inaction, separated, and withdrew to their several forts and villages. Marcellus then, suddenly crossing the Po, led his legions into the territory of Comum, where the Insubrians, after rousing the people of the country to arms, lay encamped. The fierce Boian Gauls attacked him on his march, and they first onset was so vigorous, as to make a considerable impression on his van. On perceiving which, and fearing lest, if his men once gave way, they would be dislodged, he brought up a cohort of Marsians against the enemy, and ordered every troop of the Latin cavalry to charge them. The first and second charges of these having checked the enemy in their furious attack, the other troops in the Roman line, resuming courage, advanced briskly on the foe. The Gauls no longer maintained the contest, but turned their backs and fled in confusion.

Valerius Antias relates, that in that battle above forty thousand men were killed, five hundred and seven military standards taken, with four hundred and thirty-two chariots, and a great number of gold chains, one of which, of great weight, Claudius says, was deposited as an offering to Jupiter, in his temple in the Capitol. The camp of the Gauls was taken and plundered the same day; and the town of Comum was reduced in a few days after. In a little time, twenty-eight forts came over to the consul. There is a doubt among writers, whether the consul led his legions first against the Boians, or against the Insubrians; so as to determine, whether the successful battle obliterated the disgrace of the defeat, or whether the victory obtained at Comum was tarnished by the disaster incurred among the Boii.

37. Soon after those matters had pa.s.sed with such variety of fortune, Lucius Furius Purpureo, the other consul, came into the country of the Boians, through the Sappinian tribe. He proceeded almost to the fort of Mutilus, when, beginning to apprehend that he might be enclosed between the Boians and Ligurians, he marched back by the road by which he came; and, making a long circuit, through an open and therefore safe country, arrived at the camp of his colleague. After this junction of their forces, they overran the territory of the Boians, spreading devastation as far as the city of Felsina. This city, with the other fortresses, and almost all the Boians, excepting only the young men who kept arms in their hands for the sake of plunder, and had at that time withdrawn into remote woods, made submission. The army was then led away against the Ligurians. The Boians thought that the Romans, as they were supposed to be at a great distance, would be the more careless in keeping their army together, and thereby afford an opportunity of attacking them unawares: with this expectation, they followed them by secret paths through the forests. They did not overtake them: and therefore, pa.s.sing the Po suddenly in s.h.i.+ps, they ravaged all the country of the Laevans and Libuans; whence, as they were returning with the spoil of the country, they fell in with the Roman army on the borders of Liguria. A battle was begun with more speed, and with greater fury, than if the parties had met with their minds prepared, and at an appointed time and place. On this occasion it appeared to what degree of violence anger can stimulate men; for the Romans fought with such a desire of slaughter, rather than of victory, that they scarcely left one of the enemy to carry the news of their defeat. On account of these successes, when the letters of the consuls were brought to Rome, a supplication for three days was decreed. Soon after, Marcellus came to Rome, and had a triumph decreed him by an unanimous vote of the senate. He triumphed, while in office, over the Insubrians and Comans. The prospect of a triumph over the Boians he left to his colleague, because his own arms had been unfortunate in that country; those of his colleague, successful.

Large quant.i.ties of spoils, taken from the enemy, were carried in the procession in captured chariots, and many military standards; also, three hundred and twenty thousand _a.s.ses_ of bra.s.s,[1] two hundred and thirty-four thousand of silver denarii,[2] stamped with a chariot.

Eighty _a.s.ses_[3] were bestowed on each foot soldier, and thrice that value on each horseman and centurion.

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