36.40
The
consul in his reply reminded the tribune that he did not receive Liguria as his
province nor was it with the Ligurians that he had been at war, nor was it
over the Ligurians that he asked for a triumph. Q. Minucius would, he felt
quite sure, soon subjugate them, and then he would ask for a triumph and it
would be granted him because it would be well deserved. He (the speaker)
was asking for a triumph over the Boii after defeating them in battle,
depriving them of their camp, receiving the submission of the entire nation
two days after the battle, and bringing away a number of hostages as a
guarantee of peace for the future. But a much stronger reason for his request
being granted was the fact that the number of Gauls killed amounted to more
than all the thousands of Boii, to say the least, with which any Roman
general before his time had ever fought. Out of 50,000 men more than half
had fallen, many thousands had been made prisoners, only old men and boys
were left among the Boii. Could then anyone wonder why the victorious
army after leaving not a single active enemy in the province had come to
Rome to grace the consul's triumph? "If," he continued, "the senate wishes
to employ these soldiers in another field, in what way do you think they will
be made more ready to face fresh toils and dangers? By recompensing them
in full for the perils and labours they have already undergone, or by sending
them off with expectations instead of rewards after they have been cheated
of the hopes already formed? As for myself, I had glory enough to last my
lifetime on the day when the senate judged me to be the best and worthiest in
the commonwealth and sent me to receive Mater Idaea. The bust of P.
Scipio Nasica will be sufficiently honoured by bearing that record inscribed
upon it though neither consulship nor triumph were added."
Not only were the senate unanimous in decreeing a triumph, but the
tribune bowed to their authority and withdrew his opposition. So the consul
P. Cornelius triumphed over the Boii. In the triumphal procession armour,
weapons, standards and booty of all descriptions, including bronze vases,
were carried in Gaulish wagons. There were also borne in the procession
1471 golden torques, 247 pounds of gold, 2340 pounds of silver, partly in
bars, partly wrought, not inartistically, into native vessels, and 23,400 silver
denarii. To each of the soldiers who marched behind his chariot he gave as
largesse 125 ases, twice as much to each centurion, and three times as much
to each of the horsemen. The next day the Assembly met, and in his speech
he gave an account of his campaign and dwelt on the injustice of their
tribune in trying to involve him in a war which was outside his province, and
so rob him of the fruits of the victory which he had won. At the close of his
speech he released his men from their military oath and discharged them.
