A Smaller History of Rome Part 5

FIRST SAMNITE WAR, B.C. 343-341.--The Romans commenced the war by sending two consular armies against the Samnites; and the first battle between the rival nations was fought at the foot of Mount Gaurus, which lies about three miles from c.u.mae. The Samnites were defeated with great loss; and it has been justly remarked that this battle may be regarded as one of the most memorable in history, since it was a kind of omen of the ultimate issue of the great contest which had now begun between the Samnites and Romans for the sovereignty of Italy. The Romans gained two other decisive victories, and both consuls entered the city in triumph.

But two causes prevented the Romans from prosecuting their success. In the first place, the Roman army, which had been wintering in Capua, rose in open mutiny; and the poorer Plebeians in the city, who were oppressed by debt, left Rome and joined the mutineers. In the second place, the increasing disaffection of the Latins warned the Romans to husband their resources for another and more terrible struggle. The Romans, therefore, abandoning the Sidicini and Campanians, concluded a treaty of peace and alliance with the Samnites in B.C. 341, so that in the great Latin war, which broke out in the following year, the Samnites fought on the side of the Romans.

THE LATIN WAR, B.C. 340-338.--The Latins had, as already stated, renewed their league with Rome in B.C. 356, and consequently their troops had fought along with the Romans in the war against the Samnites. But the increasing power of Rome excited their alarm; and it became evident to them that, though nominally on a footing of equality, they were, in reality, becoming subject to Rome. This feeling was confirmed by the treaty of alliance which the Romans had formed with the Samnites. The Latins, therefore, determined to bring matters to a crisis, and sent two Praetors, who were their chief magistrates, to propose to the Romans that the two nations should henceforth form one state; that half of the state should consist of Latins, and that one of the two Consuls should be chosen from Latium. These requests excited the greatest indignation at Rome, and were rejected with the utmost scorn. The Senate met in the Temple of Jupiter, in the Capitol, to receive the Latin deputation, and, after hearing their proposals, the Consul, T. Manlius Torquatus, the same who had slain the Gaul in single combat, declared that, if the Republic should cowardly yield to these demands, he would come into the senate-house sword in hand and cut down the first Latin he saw there.

The tale goes on to say that in the discussion which followed, when both parties were excited by anger, the Latin Praetor defied the Roman Jupiter; that thereupon an awful peal of thunder shook the building; and that, as the impious man hurried down the steps from the temple, he fell from top to bottom, and lay there a corpse.

War was now declared, and the most vigorous efforts were made on both sides. The contest was to decide whether Rome should become a Latin town, or the Latins be subject to Rome. The Romans had elected to the consuls.h.i.+p two of their most distinguished men. The Patrician Consul was, as already mentioned, T. Manlius Torquatus; his Plebeian colleague was P. Decius Mus, who had gained great renown in the recent war against the Samnites. The two Consuls marched through Samnium into Campania, and threatened Capua, thus leaving Rome exposed to the attacks of the Latins. But the Consuls foresaw that the Latins would not abandon Capua, their great acquisition; and the event proved their wisdom. The contest was thus withdrawn from the territory of Rome and transferred to Campania, where the Romans could receive a.s.sistance from the neighboring country of their Samnite allies. It was at the foot of Mount Vesuvius that the two armies met, and here the battle was fought which decided the contest. It was like a civil war. The soldiers of the two armies spoke the same language, had fought by each others' sides, and were well known to one another. Under these circ.u.mstances, the Consuls published a proclamation that no Roman should engage in single combat with a Latin on pain of death. But the son of Torquatus, provoked by the insults of a Tusculan officer, accepted his challenge, slew his adversary, and carried the b.l.o.o.d.y spoils in triumph to his father. The Consul had within him the heart of Brutus; he would not pardon this breach of discipline, and ordered the unhappy youth to be beheaded by the lictor in the presence of the a.s.sembled army.

In the night before the battle a vision appeared to each Consul, announcing that the general of one side and the army of the other were doomed to destruction. Both agreed that the one whose wing first began to waver should devote himself and the army of the enemy to the G.o.ds of the lower world. Decius commanded the left wing; and when it began to give way, he resolved to fulfill his vow. Calling the Pontifex Maximus, he repeated after him the form of words by which he devoted himself and the army of the enemy to the G.o.ds of the dead and the mother earth; then leaping upon his horse, he rushed into the thickest of the fight, and was slain. The Romans gained a signal victory. Scarcely a fourth part of the Latins escaped (B.C. 340).

This victory made the Romans masters of Campania, and the Latins did not dare to meet them again in the field. The war continued two years longer, each city confining itself to the defense of its own walls, and hoping to receive help from others in case of an attack. But upon the capture of Pedum in B.C. 338 all the Latins laid down their arms, and garrisons were placed in their towns. The Romans were now absolute masters of Latium, and their great object was to prevent the Latin cities from forming any union again. For this purpose not only were all general a.s.semblies forbidden, but, in order to keep the cities completely isolated, the citizens of one town could not marry or make a legal contract of bargain or sale with another.[24] Tibur and Praeneste, the two most powerful cities of the League, which had taken the most active part in the war, were deprived of a portion of their land, but were allowed to retain a nominal independence, preserving their own laws, and renewing from time to time their treaties with Rome. The inhabitants of several other towns, such as Tusculum and Lanuvium, received the Roman franchise; their territory was incorporated in that of the Republic; and two new tribes were created to carry these arrangements into effect. Many of the most distinguished Romans sprung from these Latin towns.

Twelve years elapsed between the subjugation of Latium and the commencement of the Second Samnite War. During this time the Roman arms continued to make steady progress. One of their most important conquests was that of the Volscian town of Privernum in B.C. 329, from which time the Volscians, so long the formidable enemies of Rome, disappear as an independent nation. The extension of the Roman power naturally awakened the jealousy of the Samnites; and the a.s.sistance rendered by them to the Greek cities of Palaeopolis and Neapolis was the immediate occasion of the Second Samnite War. These two cities were colonies of the neighboring c.u.mae, and were situated only five miles from each other. The position of Palaeopolis, or the "Old City," is uncertain; but Neapolis, or the "New City," stands on the site of a part of the modern Naples.

The Romans declared war against the two cities in B.C. 327, and sent the Consul Q. Publilius Philo to reduce them to subjection. The Greek colonists had previously formed an alliance with the Samnites, and now received powerful Samnite garrisons. Publilius encamped between the cities; and as he did not succeed in taking them before his year of office expired, he was continued in the command with the t.i.tle of _Proconsul_, the first time that this office was created. At the beginning of the following year Palaeopolis was taken; and Neapolis only escaped the same fate by concluding an alliance with the Romans.

Meanwhile the Romans had declared war against the Samnites.

SECOND OR GREAT SAMNITE WAR, B.C. 326-304.--The Second Samnite War lasted 22 years, and was by far the most important of the three wars which this people waged with Rome. During the first five years (B.C.

326-322) the Roman arms were generally successful. The Samnites became so disheartened that they sued for peace, but obtained only a truce for a year. It was during this period that the well-known quarrel took place between L. Papirius Cursor and Q. Fabius Maximus, the two most celebrated Roman generals of the time, who constantly led the armies of the Republic to victory. In B.C. 325 L. Papirius was Dictator, and Q.

Fabius his Master of the Horse. Recalled to Rome by some defect in the auspices, the Dictator left the army in charge of Fabius, but with strict orders not to venture upon an engagement. Compelled or provoked by the growing boldness of the enemy, Fabius attacked and defeated them with great loss. But this victory was no extenuation for his offense in the eyes of the Dictator. Papirius hastened back to the camp, burning with indignation that his commands had been disobeyed, and ordered his lictors to seize Fabius and put him to death. The soldiers, whom Fabius had led to victory, rose in his defense; and in the night he escaped to Rome, to implore the protection of the Senate. He was stating the case to the Fathers, when Papirius entered the senate-house, followed by his lictors, and demanded that the offender should be given up for execution. But the Senate, the people, and the aged father of Maximus interceded so strongly for his life, that the Dictator was obliged to give way and to grant an ungracious pardon.

The year's truce had not expired when the Samnites again took up arms, and for the next seven years (B.C. 321-315) the balance of success inclined to their side. This appears to have been mainly owing to the military abilities of their general C. Pontius, who deserves to be ranked among the chief men of antiquity. In the first year of his command he inflicted upon the Romans one of the severest blows they ever sustained in the whole course of their history.

In B.C. 321 the two Consuls, T. Veturius and Sp. Postumius, marched into Samnium by the road from Capua to Beneventum. Near the town of Caudium they entered the celebrated pa.s.s called the CAUDINE FORKS (Furculae Caudinae). It consisted of two narrow defiles or gorges, between which was a tolerably s.p.a.cious plain, but shut in on each side by mountains.

The Romans, thinking the Samnites to be far distant, had marched through the first pa.s.s and the plain; but when they came to the second they found it blocked up by works and trunks of trees, so as to be quite impa.s.sable. Retracing their steps to the pa.s.s by which they had entered, they found that the enemy had meantime taken possession of this also. They were thus blocked up at either end, and, after making vain attempts to force their way through, were obliged to surrender at discretion. Thus both Consuls and four legions fell into the hands of the Samnites. C. Pontius made a merciful use of his victory. He agreed to dismiss them in safety upon their promising to restore the ancient alliance on equal terms between the two nations, and to give up all the places which they had conquered during the war. The Consuls and the other superior officers swore to these terms in the name of the Republic, and six hundred Roman knights were given as hostages. The whole Roman army was now allowed to depart, and each Roman soldier marched out singly under the yoke.

When the news of this disaster reached Rome the Senate refused to ratify the peace, and resolved that the two Consuls and all the officers who had sworn to the peace should be delivered up to the Samnites as persons who had deceived them. They were conducted to Caudium by a Fetialis; and when they appeared before the tribunal of C. Pontius, Postumius, with superst.i.tious folly, struck the Fetialis with his foot, saying that he was now a Samnite citizen, and that war might be renewed with justice by the Romans, since a Samnite had insulted the sacred envoy of the Roman people. But Pontius refused to accept the persons who were thus offered, and told them, if they wished to nullify the treaty, to send back the army to the Caudine Forks. Thus Postumius and his companions returned to Rome, and the 600 knights were alone left in the hands of the Samnites.

The disaster of Caudium shook the fate of many of the Roman allies, and the fortune of war was for some years in favor of the Samnites. But in B.C. 314 the tide of success again turned, and the decisive victory of the Consuls in that year opened the way into the heart of Samnium. From this time the Romans were uniformly successful; and it seemed probable that the war was drawing to a close, when the Etruscans created a powerful diversion by declaring war against Rome in B.C. 311. But the energy and ability of Q. Fabius Maximus averted this new danger. He boldly carried the war into the very heart of Etruria, and gained a decisive victory over the forces of the League. The Samnites also were repeatedly defeated; and after the capture of Bovianum, the chief city of the Pentri, they were compelled to sue for peace. It was granted them in B.C. 304, on condition of their acknowledging the supremacy of Rome.

At the conclusion of the Second Samnite War the aequians and Hernicans were reduced to subjection after a brief struggle. A part of the aequian territory was incorporated in that of Rome by the addition of two new tribes, and two colonies were planted in the other portion. The Marsi, Marrucini, Peligni, and other nations of Central Italy, entered into a league with the Romans on equal terms. Thus, in B.C. 300, the power of Rome seemed firmly established in Central Italy. But this very power awakened the jealousy of the surrounding nations, and the Samnites exerted themselves to form a new and formidable coalition. The Etruscans and Umbrians agreed to make war against Rome, and called in the a.s.sistance of the Senonian Gauls.

THIRD SAMNITE WAR, B.C. 298-290.--As soon as the Etruscans and Umbrians were engaged with Rome, the Samnites invaded Lucania. The Lucanians invoked the a.s.sistance of the Romans, who forthwith declared war against the Samnites. The Republic had now to contend at one and the same time against the Etruscans, Umbrians, Gauls, and Samnites; but she carried on the struggle with the utmost energy, attacking the Etruscans, Umbrians, and Gauls in the north, and the Samnites in the south. At length, in B.C. 295, the Samnites joined their confederates in Umbria. In this country, near the town of Sentinum, a desperate battle was fought, which decided the fortune of the war. The two Roman Consuls were the aged Q.

Fabius Maximus and P. Decius Mus. The victory was long doubtful. The wing commanded by Decius was giving way before the terrible onset of the Gauls, when he determined to imitate the example of his father, and to devote himself and the enemy to destruction. His death gave fresh courage to his men, and Fabius gained a complete and decisive victory.

Gellius Egnatius, the Samnite general, who had taken the most active part in forming the coalition, was slain. But, though the League was thus broken up, the Samnites continued the struggle for five years longer. During this period C. Pontius, who had defeated the Romans at the Caudine Forks, again appeared, after twenty-seven years, as the leader of the Samnites, but was defeated by Q. Fabius Maximus with great loss and taken prisoner. Being carried to Rome, he was put to death as the triumphal car of the victor ascended the Capitol (B.C. 292). This shameful act has been justly branded as one of the greatest stains on the Roman annals. Two years afterward the Samnites were unable to continue any longer the hopeless struggle, and became the subjects of Rome. The third and last Samnite war was brought to a close in B.C. 290.

[Footnote 24: According to the Roman expression, the _Jus Connubii_ and _Jus Commercii_ were forbidden.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Coin of Pyrrhus.]

CHAPTER IX.

FROM THE CONCLUSION OF THE SAMNITE WAR TO THE SUBJUGATION OF ITALY. B.C.

290-265.

Ten years elapsed from the conclusion of the third Samnite war to the arrival of Pyrrhus in Italy. During this time the Etruscans and Gauls renewed the war in the north, but were defeated with great slaughter near the Lake Vadimo. This decisive battle appears to have completely crushed the Etruscan power; and it inflicted so severe a blow upon the Gauls that we hear no more of their ravages for the next sixty years.

In the south the Lucanians also rose against Rome. The extension of the Roman dominion in the south of the peninsula had brought the state into connection with the Greek cities, which at one period were so numerous and powerful as to give to this part of Italy the name of Magna Graecia.[25] Many of these cities had now fallen into decay through internal dissensions and the conquests of the Lucanians and other Sabellian tribes; but Tarentum, originally a Lacedaemonian colony, still maintained her former power and splendor. The Tarentines naturally regarded with extreme jealousy the progress of the Roman arms in the south of Italy, and had secretly instigated the Etruscans and Lucanians to form a new coalition against Rome. But the immediate cause of the war between the Lucanians and Romans was the a.s.sistance which the latter had rendered to the Greek city of Thurii. Being attacked by the Lucanians, the Thurians applied to Rome for aid, and the Consul C. Fabricius not only relieved Thurii, but defeated the Lucanians and their allies in several engagements (B.C. 252). Upon the departure of Fabricius a Roman garrison was left in Thurii. The only mode now of maintaining communication between Rome and Thurii was by sea; but this was virtually forbidden by a treaty which the Romans had made with Tarentum nearly twenty years before, in which treaty it was stipulated that no Roman s.h.i.+ps of war should pa.s.s the Lacinian promontory. But circ.u.mstances were now changed, and the Senate determined that their vessels should no longer be debarred from the Gulf of Tarentum. There was a small squadron of ten s.h.i.+ps in those seas under the command of L. Valerius; and one day, when the Tarentines were a.s.sembled in the theatre, which looked over the sea, they saw the Roman squadron sailing toward their harbor.

This open violation of the treaty seemed a premeditated insult, and a demagogue urged the people to take summary vengeance. They rushed down to the harbor, quickly manned some s.h.i.+ps, and gained an easy victory over the small Roman squadron. Only half made their escape, four were sunk, one taken, and Valerius himself killed. After this the Tarentines marched against Thurii, compelled the inhabitants to dismiss the Roman garrison, and then plundered the town.

The Senate sent an emba.s.sy to Tarentum to complain of these outrages and to demand satisfaction. L. Postumius, who was at the head of the emba.s.sy, was introduced with his colleagues into the theatre, to state to the a.s.sembled people the demands of the Roman Senate. He began to address them in Greek, but his mistakes in the language were received with peals of laughter from the thoughtless mob. Unable to obtain a hearing, much less an answer, Postumius was leaving the theatre, when a drunken buffoon rushed up to him and sullied his white robe in the most disgusting manner. The whole theatre rang with shouts of laughter and clapping of hands, which became louder and louder when Postumius held up his sullied robe and showed it to the people. "Laugh on now," he cried, "but this robe shall be washed in torrents of your blood."

War was now inevitable. The luxurious Tarentines sent an emba.s.sy to Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, begging him, in the name of all the Italian Greeks, to cross over into Italy in order to conduct the war against the Romans. They told him that they only wanted a general, and that all the nations of Southern Italy would flock to his standard. Pyrrhus needed no persuasion to engage in an enterprise which realized the earliest dreams of his ambition. The conquest of Italy would naturally lead to the sovereignty of Sicily and Africa, and he would then be able to return to Greece with the united forces of the West to overcome his rivals and reign as master of the world. But as he would not trust the success of his enterprise to the valor and fidelity of Italian troops, he began to make preparations to carry over a powerful army. Meantime he sent Milo, one of his generals, with a detachment of 3000 men, to garrison the citadel of Tarentum. Pyrrhus himself crossed over from Epirus toward the end of B.C. 281, taking with him 20,000 foot, 3000 horse, and 20 elephants.

Upon reaching Tarentum he began to make preparations to carry on the war with activity. The Tarentines soon found they had obtained a master rather than an ally. He shut up the theatre and all other public places, and compelled their young men to serve in his ranks. Notwithstanding all his activity, the Romans were first in the field. The Consul M. Valerius Laevinus marched into Lucania; but as the army of Pyrrhus was inferior to that of the Romans, he attempted to gain time by negotiation in order that he might be joined by his Italian allies. He accordingly wrote to the Consul, offering to arbitrate between Rome and the Italian states; but Laevinus bluntly told him to mind his own business and retire to Epirus. Fearing to remain inactive any longer, although he was not yet joined by his allies, Pyrrhus marched out against the Romans with his own troops and the Tarentines. He took up his position between the towns of Pandosia and Heraclea, on the River Siris. The Romans, who were encamped on the other side of the river, were the first to begin the battle. They crossed the river, and were immediately attacked by the cavalry of Pyrrhus, who led them to the charge in person, and distinguished himself as usual by the most daring acts of valor. The Romans, however, bravely sustained the attack; and Pyrrhus, finding that his cavalry could not decide the day, ordered his infantry to advance.

The battle was still contested most furiously: seven times did both armies advance and retreat; and it was not till Pyrrhus brought forward his elephants, which bore down every thing before them, that the Romans took to flight, leaving their camp to the conqueror (B.C. 280).

This battle taught Pyrrhus the difficulty of the enterprise he had undertaken. Before the engagement, when he saw the Romans forming their line as they crossed the river, he said to his officers, "In war, at any rate, these barbarians are not barbarous;" and afterward, as he saw the Roman dead lying upon the field with all their wounds in front, he exclaimed, "If these were my soldiers, or if I were their general, we should conquer the world." And, though his loss had been inferior to that of the Romans, still so large a number of his officers and best troops had fallen, that he said, "Another such victory, and I must return to Epirus alone." He therefore resolved to avail himself of this victory to conclude, if possible, an advantageous peace. He sent his minister Cineas to Rome with the proposal that the Romans should recognize the independence of the Greeks in Italy, restore to the Samnites, Lucanians, Apulians, and Bruttians all the possessions which they had lost in war, and make peace with himself and the Tarentines.

As soon as peace was concluded on these terms he promised to return all the Roman prisoners without ransom. Cineas, whose persuasive eloquence was said to have won more towns for Pyrrhus than his arms, neglected no means to induce the Romans to accept these terms. The prospects of the Republic seemed so dark and threatening that many members of the Senate thought it would be more prudent to comply with the demands of the king; and this party would probably have carried the day had it not been for the patriotic speech of the aged Ap. Claudius Caucus, who denounced the idea of a peace with a victorious foe with such effect that the Senate declined the proposals of the king, and commanded Cineas to quit Rome the same day.

Cineas returned to Pyrrhus, and told him he must hope for nothing from negotiation; that the city was like a temple of the G.o.ds, and the Senate an a.s.sembly of kings. Pyrrhus now advanced by rapid marches toward Rome, ravaging the country as he went along, and without encountering any serious opposition. He at length arrived at Praeneste, which fell into his hands. He was now only 24 miles from Rome, and his outposts advanced six miles farther. Another march would have brought him under the walls of the city; but at this moment he learned that peace was concluded with the Etruscans, and that the other Consul had returned with his army to Rome. All hope of compelling the Romans to accept the peace was now gone, and he therefore resolved to retreat. He retired slowly into Campania, and from thence withdrew into winter quarters to Tarentum.

As soon as the armies were quartered for the winter, the Romans sent an emba.s.sy to Pyrrhus to negotiate the ransom or exchange of prisoners. The emba.s.sadors were received by Pyrrhus in the most distinguished manner; and his interviews with C. Fabricius, who was at the head of the emba.s.sy, form one of the most famous stories in Roman history. Fabricius was a fine specimen of the st.u.r.dy Roman character. He cultivated his farm with his own hands, and, like his contemporary Curius, was celebrated for his incorruptible integrity. The king attempted in vain to work upon his cupidity and his fears. He steadily refused the large sums of money offered by Pyrrhus; and when an elephant, concealed behind him by a curtain, waved his trunk over his head, Fabricius remained unmoved. Such respect did his conduct inspire, that Pyrrhus attempted to persuade him to enter into his service and accompany him to Greece. The object of the emba.s.sy failed. The king refused to exchange the prisoners; but, to show them his trust in their honor, he allowed them to go to Rome in order to celebrate the Saturnalia, stipulating that they were to return to Tarentum if the Senate would not accept the terms which he had previously offered through Cineas. The Senate remained firm in their resolve, and all the prisoners returned to Pyrrhus, the punishment of death having been denounced against those who should remain in the city.

In the following year (B.C. 279) the war was renewed, and a battle was fought near Asculum. The Romans fled to their camp, which was so near to the field of battle that not more than 6000 fell, while Pyrrhus lost more than half this number. The victory yielded Pyrrhus little or no advantage, and he was obliged to retire to Tarentum for the winter without effecting any thing more during the campaign. In the last battle, as well as in the former, the brunt of the action had fallen almost exclusively upon his Greek troops; and the state of Greece, which this year was overrun by the Gauls, made it hopeless for him to expect any re-enforcements from Epirus. He was therefore unwilling to hazard his surviving Greeks by another campaign with the Romans, and accordingly lent a ready ear to the invitations of the Greeks in Sicily, who begged him to come to their a.s.sistance against the Carthaginians. It was necessary, however, first to suspend hostilities with the Romans, who were likewise anxious to get rid of so formidable an opponent, that they might complete the subjugation of Southern Italy without farther interruption. When both parties had the same wishes it was not difficult to find a fair pretext for bringing the war to a conclusion. This was afforded at the beginning of the following year (B.C. 278) by one of the servants of Pyrrhus deserting to the Romans, and proposing to the Consuls to poison his master. They sent back the deserter to the king, saying that they abhorred a victory gained by treason. Thereupon Pyrrhus, to show his grat.i.tude, sent Cineas to Rome with all the Roman prisoners, without ransom and without conditions; and the Romans granted him a truce.

Leaving Milo with part of his troops in possession of Tarentum, Pyrrhus now crossed over into Sicily. He remained there upward of two years. At first he met with brilliant success, and deprived the Carthaginians of a great part of the island. Subsequently, however, he received a severe repulse in an attempt which he made upon the impregnable town of Lilybaeum. The fickle Greeks now began to form cabals and plots against him. This led to retaliation on his part, and he soon became as anxious to abandon the island as he had been before to leave Italy. Accordingly, when his Italian allies again begged him to come to their a.s.sistance, he readily complied with their request, and arrived in Italy in the autumn of B.C. 276. His troops were now almost the same in number as when he first landed in Italy, but very different in quality. The faithful Epirots had for the most part fallen, and his present soldiers consisted chiefly of mercenaries, whom he had levied in Italy. One of his first operations was the recovery of Locri, which had revolted to the Romans; and as he here found himself in great difficulties for want of money to pay his troops, he was induced to take possession of the treasures of the Temple of Proserpine in that town; but the s.h.i.+ps conveying the money were wrecked. This circ.u.mstance deeply affected the mind of Pyrrhus; he ordered the treasures which were saved to be restored to the temple, and from this time became haunted by the idea that the wrath of Proserpine was pursuing him, and dragging him down to ruin.

The following year (B.C. 274) closed the career of Pyrrhus in Italy. The Consul M'. Curius marched into Samnium, and his colleague into Lucania.

Pyrrhus advanced against Curius, who was encamped in the neighborhood of Beneventum, and resolved to fight with him before he was joined by his colleague. As Curius did not wish to risk a battle with his own army alone, Pyrrhus planned a night-attack upon his camp. But he miscalculated the time and the distance; the torches burnt out, the men missed their way, and it was already broad daylight when he reached the heights above the Roman camp. Still their arrival was quite unexpected; but, as a battle was now inevitable, Curius led out his men. The troops of Pyrrhus, exhausted by fatigue, were easily put to the rout; two elephants were killed and eight more taken. Encouraged by this success, Curius no longer hesitated to meet the king in the open plain, and gained a decisive victory. Pyrrhus arrived at Tarentum with only a few hors.e.m.e.n. Shortly afterward he crossed over to Greece, leaving Milo with a garrison at Tarentum. Two years afterward he perished in an attack upon Argos, ingloriously slain by a tile hurled by a woman from the roof of a house.

The departure of Pyrrhus left the Lucanians and other Italian tribes exposed to the full power of Rome. They nevertheless continued the hopeless struggle a little longer; but in B.C. 272 Tarentum fell into the hands of Rome, and in a few years afterward every nation in Italy, to the south of the Macra and the Rubicon, owned the supremacy of Rome.

She had now become one of the first powers in the ancient world. The defeat of Pyrrhus attracted the attention of the nations of the East; and in B.C. 273, Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, sent an emba.s.sy to Rome, and concluded a treaty with the Republic.

The dominion which Rome had acquired by her arms was confirmed by her policy. She pursued the same system which she had adopted upon the subjugation of Latium, keeping the cities isolated from one another, but at the same time allowing them to manage their own affairs. The population of Italy was divided into three cla.s.ses. _Cives Romani_, _Nomen Latinum_, and _Socii_.

I. CIVES ROMANI, or ROMAN CITIZENS.--These consisted: (1.) Of the citizens of the thirty-three Tribes into which the Roman territory was now divided, and which extended north of the Tiber a little beyond Veii, and southward as far as the Liris; though even in this district there were some towns, such as Tibur and Praeneste, which did not possess the Roman franchise. (2.) Of the citizens of Roman colonies planted in different parts of Italy. (3.) Of the citizens of munic.i.p.al towns upon whom the Roman franchise was conferred. In some cases the Roman franchise was granted without the right of voting in the Comitia (_civitas sine suffragio_), but in course of time this right also was generally conceded.

II. NOMEN LATINUM, or the LATIN NAME.--This term was applied to the colonies founded by Rome which did not enjoy the rights of Roman citizens.h.i.+p, and which stood in the same position with regard to the Roman state as had been formerly occupied by the cities of the Latin League. The name originated at a period when colonies were actually sent out in common by the Romans and Latins, but similar colonies continued to be founded by the Romans alone long after the extinction of the Latin League. In fact, the majority of the colonies planted by Rome were of this kind, the Roman citizens who took part in them voluntarily resigning their citizens.h.i.+p, in consideration of the grants of land which they obtained. But the citizen of any Latin colony might emigrate to Rome, and be enrolled in one of the Roman tribes, provided he had held a magistracy in his native town. These Latin colonies--the _Nomen Latinum_--were some of the most flouris.h.i.+ng towns in Italy.

III. SOCII, or ALLIES, included the rest of Italy. Each of the towns which had been conquered by Rome had formed a treaty (_foedus_) with the latter, which determined their rights and duties. These treaties were of various kinds, some securing nominal independence to the towns, and others reducing them to absolute subjection.

The political changes in Rome itself, from the time of the Latin wars, have been already in great part antic.i.p.ated. Appius Claudius, afterward named Caecus, or the Blind, introduced a dangerous innovation in the const.i.tution during the Second Samnite War. Slavery existed at Rome, as among the other nations of antiquity; and as many slaves, from various causes, acquired their liberty, there gradually sprung up at Rome a large and indigent population of servile origin. These Freedmen were Roman citizens, but they could only be enrolled in the four city-tribes, so that, however numerous they might become, they could influence only the votes of four tribes. Appius Claudius, in his Censors.h.i.+p (B.C.

312), when making out the lists of citizens, allowed the Freedmen to enroll themselves in any tribe they pleased; but this dangerous innovation was abolished by the Censors Q. Fabius Maximus and P. Decius Mus (B.C. 304), who restored all the Freedmen to the four city-tribes.

The Censors.h.i.+p of Appius is, however, memorable for the great public works which he executed. He made the great military road called the Appian Way (Via Appia), leading from Rome to Capua, a distance of 120 miles, which long afterward was continued across the Apennines to Brundusium. He also executed the first of the great aqueducts (Aqua Appia) which supplied Rome with such an abundance of water.

Cn. Flavius, the son of a Freedman, and Secretary to Appius Claudius, divulged the forms and times to be observed in legal proceedings. These the Patricians had hitherto kept secret; they alone knew the days when the courts would be held, and the technical pleadings according to which all actions must proceed. But Flavius, having become acquainted with these secrets, by means of his patron, published in a book a list of the formularies to be observed in the several kinds of actions, and also set up in the forum a whited tablet containing a list of all the days on which the courts could be held. In spite of his ignominious birth, he was made a Senator by Appius Claudius, and was elected Curule aedile by the people.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Temple of Vesta. (From a Coin.)]

[Footnote 25: See p. 6. (The end of Chapter I.--Transcriber)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Mount Ercta in Sicily.]