Livy's History of Rome: Book 38
Arraignment of Scipio Africanus
38.1
Whilst the war was
going on in Asia, even Aetolia did not remain free from disturbance. The
Athamanians were the cause of the trouble. After the expulsion of
Amynander, the country was held down by the governors whom Philip had
established and provided with troops, and their arbitrary and lawless rule
made the people feel keenly the disappearance of their king. He was
spending his time of exile in Aetolia, and the letters of his friends and their
description of the condition of Athamania led him to hope that he might
recover his crown. He sent messengers to Argithea, their capital, to inform
their leaders that if he were fully assured of the sympathies of his
compatriots, he would obtain assistance from the Aetolians and enter the
country with the members of the Aetolian council and their captain-general,
Nicander. When he saw that they were prepared for all eventualities, he told
them at very short notice the day on which he intended to enter Athamania
with an army. The movement against the Macedonians was begun by four
men; they each selected six comrades, then feeling no confidence in so small
a number, which was more adapted to conceal than to execute their project,
they doubled the number of their fellow-conspirators. Having thus grown to
fifty-two, they formed themselves into four parties; one was to make for
Heraclea, a second for Tetraphylia where the royal treasure used to be kept,
the third was to go to Theudoria, and the fourth to Argithea. They had all
agreed to show themselves in the forums without making any disturbance, as
though they had come on private business, and on a fixed day they were to
raise the populations in the different cities and expel the Macedonian
garrisons from their citadels. When the day came and Amynander was on the
frontier with 1000 Aetolians, the Macedonian garrisons were simultaneously
driven out of the four cities, and letters were sent to all the other cities
urging them to shake themselves free from the tyranny of Philip and win
back their ancestral and legitimate monarchy. The Macedonians were
expelled from all parts of the country. Xeno, the commandant of the garrison
in Theium, intercepted the message sent to that city, and by seizing the
citadel was able to stand a siege for a few days. At last that place, too,
surrendered to Amynander, and the whole of Athamania, with the exception
of the fort of Athenaeum, which lay close to the frontier of Macedonia, was
now in his power.
38.2
On
hearing of the revolution in Athamania, Philip started off with a force of
6000 men, and after an extraordinarily rapid march arrived at Gomphi. Here
he left the greater part of his army, who were unable to keep up such long
marches, and went on with 2000 men to Athenaeum, the one place that had
been retained by his troops. From here he tried to secure some of the places
nearest to him, but he soon found that they were all hostile, and accordingly
he returned to Gomphi. Re-entering Athamania with the whole of his force,
he sent Xeno forward with 1000 infantry to seize Ethopia, a good position
for commanding Argithea. When Philip saw that his men were in occupation
of the place, he encamped near the temple of Jupiter Acraeus. Here he was
detained a whole day by a terrible storm; the next day he decided to advance
against Argithea. Whilst his men were on the march they suddenly caught
sight of the Athamanians running up to some high ground which commanded
their line of march. At this sight the leading ranks halted and there was
confusion throughout the column, as the men all asked themselves what
would happen if the column went down into the valley where it was
commanded by those heights. Philip wanted to push rapidly through the
pass, but the confusion that had been caused compelled him to recall the
head of the column and order them to counter-march along the way they had
come. At first the Athamanians followed them quietly at some distance, but
when the Aetolians had joined them, they left it to them to harass the
enemy's rear while they themselves closed in on their flank, and some making
a short cut through country they were familiar with, seized the head of the
pass. The confusion amongst the Macedonians was such that their recrossing
of the river resembled a precipitate flight rather than an orderly march, and
they left many men and arms behind. Here the pursuit stopped and the
Macedonians got back safely to Gomphi and from there withdrew into
Macedonia. The Athamanians and Aetolians mustered from all sides round
Ethopia with the object of expelling Xeno and his 1000 Macedonians.
Feeling their position to be insecure they left Ethopia and took up a position
on higher and more precipitous ground. The Athamanians, however, found
out the approaches, attacked them from several different points and drove
them from the heights. Scattered in flight and unable to find their way
through pathless thickets and over rocky ground with which they were
unfamiliar, they were killed or made prisoners, many in their panic fell down
the cliffs, and only a very few succeeded in making their escape with Xeno
to the king. Subsequently a truce was arranged for the burial of those who
had fallen.
38.3
His
crown recovered, Amynander sent a delegation to the senate and another to
the Scipios, who were staying at Ephesus after the battle with Antiochus. He
asked to be allowed to remain on a peaceful footing with Rome, and in
excusing himself for having sought the aid of the Aetolians in winning back
his ancestral throne, threw the whole responsibility for the war on Philip.
From Athamania the Aetolians marched into Amphilochia, and the voluntary
surrender of the majority of the population made them masters of the whole
country. After recovering Amphilochia which had formerly belonged to
them, they invaded Aperantia, hoping for equal success, and this State also
to a large extent surrendered without offering any resistance. The Dolopians
had never been under Aetolia; they had formed part of Philip's dominions. At
first they flew to arms, but when they learnt that the Amphilochians had
joined the Aetolians, that Philip had fled from Athamania and his force had
been cut up, they too revolted from him and joined the Aetolians. With these
States all round them, the Aetolians considered themselves secure on every
side from the Macedonians. But in the midst of their security they received
intelligence of the defeat of Antiochus at the hands of the Romans in Asia,
and not long after, their envoys returned from Rome bringing no hope of
peace and announcing that the consul Fulvius had already landed in Greece
with an army. Appalled at these tidings they begged Rhodes and Athens to
send delegates to Rome so that with the support of these friendly nations
their own petitions which had been lately rejected might find readier access
to the ear of the senate. They then sent their leaders to Rome as their last
hope, having taken no precautions to avoid war until the enemy was almost
in sight. M. Fulvius had now brought his army up to Apollonia and was
consulting the Epirot leaders as to where he should open the campaign. They
thought the best course would be to begin with an attack on Ambracia,
which had by that time joined the Aetolian League. They pointed out that if
the Aetolians came to its relief, the open and level country afforded a
favourable field of battle; if they avoided an engagement, the siege would be
by no means a difficult one as there was abundance of timber in the
neighbourhood for constructing the raised galleries and all the other siege
works; the Aretho, a navigable river and well adapted for transporting all
necessary materials, flowed past the very walls; and in the last place,
summer, the season for active operations, was approaching.
38.4
Induced
by these considerations the consul advanced through Epirus, but when he
came to Ambracia he saw that its siege would be a serious undertaking.
Ambracia lies at the foot of a rugged eminence which the natives call
Perranthes. The city on the side where the wall skirts the river and the plain
looks to the west; the citadel built on the hill lies to the east. The Aretho,
which rises in Athamania, falls into the gulf named after the city -the
Ambracian Gulf. In addition to the protection afforded by the river on the
one side and the hill on the other, the city was enclosed by a strong wall
more than four miles in circumference. Fulvius constructed two entrenched
camps at a short distance from each other in the direction of the plain and
one fort on a height over against the citadel, and made preparations for
connecting the whole by a rampart and fosse, so that those shut up in the city
would not be able to leave it, nor would it be possible to introduce succours
from outside. When the news of the siege of Ambracia reached them, the
Aetolian national council assembled at Stratus, on the summons of Nicander,
their captain-general. Their first intention was to march thither with all their
forces and raise the siege, but when they found that a great part of the city
was already invested and that the Epirot camp was fixed on the level ground
the other side the river, they divided their forces. Eupolemus with 1000 light
infantry succeeded in entering the city at a point where the lines were not yet
closed. Nicander intended to make a night attack with the rest of the troops
upon the Epirot camp, as the Romans would find it difficult to come to their
assistance with the river between them. On second thoughts, however, the
risk seemed too great in case the Romans took the alarm and endangered his
retreat, so he marched away and ravaged Acarnania.
38.5
The lines
of investment were at length closed and the siege works which the consul
was preparing to bring up against the walls completed. He now commenced
an assault from five different points. On the side of the city overlooking the
plain where the approach was easiest he brought up three siege-engines, at
equal distances from each other, at a place called the Pyrrheum, another near
the Aesculapium, and the fifth against the citadel. As he shook the walls with
the battering-rams and sheared off the parapet by scythe blades fixed on long
poles the defenders were dismayed at the sight and at the terrific noise of the
blows delivered by the rams, but when they saw that the walls were still
standing, their courage revived and they hammered the rams by means of
swing beams with heavy masses of lead, large stones and stout beams of
wood; they dragged with iron grapples the poles with the scythe blades
inside the walls and broke off the blades. Their night attacks on the parties
guarding the engines, and sorties by day against the outposts, spread alarm
on the other side. While this was the state of things in Ambracia the
Aetolians had returned from their plundering raid to Stratus. Here Nicander
hit upon a bold stroke by which he hoped to raise the siege. His intention
was to introduce a certain Nicodamus into the city with 500 Aetolians, and
he fixed the night and the hour at which an attack was to be made from the
city on the hostile works directed against the Pyrrheum whilst he himself
threatened the Roman camp. By this double attack, all the more alarming
because made in the night, he hoped to secure a brilliant success. Nicander
moved forward in the dead of the night and after passing some of the
advanced posts unobserved and forcing his way through others by a
determined onslaught, climbed over the lines connecting the different works
and penetrated into the city. His arrival raised the hopes of the besieged and
emboldened them to attempt any adventure however hazardous. When the
appointed night arrived he made a sudden attack on the works. His attempt
did not meet with a corresponding success, for no attack was made from
outside, either because the Aetolian commander was afraid to move or
because he deemed it more important to carry assistance to the
Amphilochians, who had been lately won over and whom Philip's son
Perseus, who had been sent to recover Dolopia and Amphilochia, was
attacking with his utmost strength.
38.6
As stated
above, the Roman engines were directed against the Pyrrheum at three
separate points, and against each of these the Aetolians were making
simultaneous attacks, though not with the same weapons or the same force.
Some went up with lighted torches, others carried tow and pitch and
fire-darts; the whole of their line was lit up by the flames. At the first onset
they overwhelmed many of the guards; then when the noise of the tumult
and clamour reached the camp, the consul gave the signal and the Romans,
seizing their weapons, poured out of all the gates to help their comrades.
Only at one point was there a real fight between sword and fire; at the two
others the Aetolians after attempting, rather than sustaining, a conflict
retreated without effecting anything. A desperate struggle raged in one
quarter; here the two generals, Eupolemus and Nicodamus, at the head of
their respective divisions urged on the combatants and encouraged them with
the almost certain hope of Nicander's coming up as he had promised and
taking the enemy in the rear. This hope for some time kept up their spirits,
but when they failed to receive the agreed signal from their comrades and
found that the numbers of the enemy were increasing, their courage waned
and at last they gave up the attempt, and finding their retreat almost cut off,
fled in disorder back to the city. They succeeded, however, in setting some
of the siege-works on fire after losing considerably more than they had
themselves killed of the enemy. If the preconcerted plan of operations had
been successful, there is no doubt that at least one section of the siege-works
would have been carried with a great slaughter of the Romans. The
Ambracians and Aetolians in the city not only abandoned all further attempts
that night, but during the remainder of the siege showed themselves much
less enterprising, as they felt they had been betrayed. No more sorties were
made against the enemy's posts; they confined themselves to fighting in
comparative safety from the walls and towers.
38.7
When
Perseus heard that the Aetolians were approaching, he raised the siege of the
city which he was attacking and, after devastating their fields, left
Amphilochia and returned to Macedonia. The Aetolians, too, were called
away by the ravages which were being committed on their sea-board.
Pleuratus, king of the Illyrians, had sailed into the Gulf of Corinth with sixty
ships, reinforced by the Aetolian vessels from Patrae, and was devastating
the maritime districts of Aetolia. A force of 1000 Aetolians was despatched
against him and by taking direct roads they were able to meet him at
whatever point his fleet had, in its cruising in and out of the indented coast,
tried to effect a landing. At Ambracia the Romans had battered down the
walls in several places and partially laid bare the city, but they could not
force their way into it. As fast as the wall was destroyed a new one was
raised in its place and the citizens stood in arms on the fallen masonry to bar
all approach. Finding that he was making very little progress by direct
assault, the consul decided to construct a secret passage underground after
first covering the place whence it started with vineae. Working day and night
they succeeded for a considerable time in escaping the observation of the
enemy, not only whilst they were digging but also whilst carrying away the
earth. Suddenly the sight of a conspicuous mound of soil gave the townsmen
an indication of what was going on. To avert the danger of the wall being
undermined and a way into the city being thrown open, they began to run a
trench inside the wall in the direction of the place covered with vineae. When
they had excavated as low as the bottom of the secret passage would
probably be, they remained perfectly silent, and by placing their ears against
different places in the side of the trench they caught the sound of the enemy
diggers. As soon as they heard this they broke through straight into the
tunnel. There was no difficulty in doing this, for they quickly found
themselves in an open space where the wall had been underpinned with
timber props by the enemy.1 As the trench and tunnel now opened into one
another the two parties of diggers commenced a fight with their digging
tools. Very soon armed bodies came up on both sides and an underground
battle began in the dark. The besieged closed up the tunnel in one place by
stretching a screen of goats' hair across and improvising barricades, and they
adopted a novel device against the enemy which was small but effective. A
hole was bored through the bottom of a cask in which an iron pipe was
inserted. and an iron cover perforated with several holes was prepared to fit
the other end. The cask was then filled with light feathers, the cover fastened
on, and through the holes some long spears -the so-called "sarissae" -were
inserted to keep off the enemy. The cask was now placed with its head
towards the tunnel and a light was placed amongst the feathers which were
blown into a blaze by a pair of smith's bellows inserted in the pipe. The
tunnel was soon filled with a dense smoke, rendered all the more pungent
from the horrid smell of the burning feathers, and hardly a man could endure
it.
38.8
Whilst
this was the state of things in Ambracia, the Aetolians decided to open
negotiations with the consul. In view of the fact that on one side Ambracia
was undergoing a siege, on another the coast was being threatened by a
hostile fleet, whilst on the third side Amphilochia and Dolopia were being
harried by the Macedonians, and that the Aetolians were not strong enough
to confront their various enemies collectively, the captain-general convened
a meeting of the Aetolian League and consulted the national leaders as to
what was to be done. They were unanimously of opinion that they must sue
for peace, on equal terms, if possible; failing that, on any terms, if they were
not intolerable. It was in reliance upon Antiochus, they said, that they had
undertaken the war; now that Antiochus had been worsted both on land and
sea and driven beyond the Taurus almost to the ends of the world, what
hope was there of sustaining the war? Phaeneas and Damoteles must take
such steps as they thought best in the interests of Aetolia, and consistent
with their own honour, for what counsel, what choice had their fortunes left
them? Furnished with these instructions, the envoys implored the consul to
spare the city and to take pity on a nation which had once been an ally and
had been driven to madness -they would not say by their wrongs, but at all
events, by the wretched conditions under which they lived. The punishment
they deserved for their share in the war with Antiochus ought not to
outweigh the services they had rendered in the war against Philip. At that
time no great gratitude had been shown them; they ought not now to pay an
excessive penalty. The consul told them in reply that the Aetolians had
frequently asked for peace, but seldom with the honest intention of keeping
it. They must follow the example of Antiochus whom they had dragged into
the war. He had ceded not only those few cities whose liberty had been the
cause of quarrel, but the whole of Asia on this side the Taurus -a rich and
fertile realm. He, the consul, would not listen to any proposals unless the
Aetolians laid down their arms. They must first give up their arms and all
their horses; then they must pay 1000 talents; half the sum to be paid down
at once, if they wished to have peace. And in addition to these terms it must
be stipulated in the treaty that they would have the same friends and the
same enemies as Rome.
38.9
The
envoys felt these to be onerous terms, and as they knew the fierce and fickle
temper of their countrymen they left without giving any decided answer.
They wished to discuss the whole position thoroughly with the
captain-general and the national leaders and come to some decision as to
what ought to be done. They were received with clamorous protests and
reproaches. "How long," they were asked, "were they going to let matters
drag on after receiving definite orders to bring back peace at any price?"
Their return journey to Ambracia was a disastrous one. The Acarnanians
with whom they were at war had posted an ambush close to the road on
which they were travelling; they were made prisoners and conducted to
Tyrrhenum for safe keeping. This interrupted the peace negotiations. The
delegates who had been sent from Athens and Rhodes to support the
Aetolians were already with the consul, when Amynander, who had obtained
a safe-conduct, arrived in the Roman camp. He was more concerned for the
city of Ambracia, where he had passed most of his years of exile, than for the
Aetolians. When the consul learnt from them what had happened to the
Aetolian envoys, he sent orders for them to be brought from Tyrrhenum, and
on their arrival the negotiations commenced. Amynander, whose main
interest was in Ambracia, did his utmost to induce the place to surrender. He
approached the walls and held conversations with the leaders, but finding
that he was making no progress, he at last obtained the consul's permission
to enter the city and succeeded by argument and entreaty in persuading them
to place themselves in the hands of the Romans. The Aetolians found a
strong advocate also in C. Valerius, the son of the Valerius Laevinus who
was the first to establish friendly relations with them. He was also
half-brother of the consul.
After stipulating for the safe departure of their auxiliary troops, the
Ambracians opened their gates. Then the Aetolians accepted the following
conditions: They were to pay 500 Euboean talents; 200 at once, the
remaining 300 to be spread over six years; the prisoners and refugees were
to be restored to the Romans; they were not to retain within their League
any city which from the day when T. Quinctius landed in Greece had either
been taken by or entered into friendly relations with the Romans. Although
these conditions were much less onerous than they had expected, they asked
to be allowed to lay them before their council. Here there was a brief debate
on the question of the cities which had been confederated with them. They
felt their loss keenly; it was as though they were being torn from their living
body; nevertheless they were unanimous in deciding that the terms must be
accepted. The Ambracians gave the consul a gold crown 150 lbs. in weight.
The statues in bronze and marble and the paintings with which Ambracia, as
the royal residence of Pyrrhus, had been more richly adorned than any other
city in that part of the world were all carried away, but beyond these nothing
was injured or interfered with.
38.10
The
consul left Ambracia for the interior of Aetolia and fixed his camp at
Amphilochian Argos, twenty-two miles distant from Ambracia. Here the
Aetolian delegates at last arrived, the consul meantime wondering what had
delayed them. On their informing him that the Aetolian Council accepted the
conditions of peace, he told them to go to Rome to appear before the senate;
the Rhodians and Athenians were also allowed to go to plead for them; and
the consul also allowed his brother, C. Valerius, to accompany them. After
their departure be crossed over to Cephallania. In Rome the delegates found
the ears and minds of the leading men preoccupied by the accusations which
Philip had brought against them. Through his representatives, in his
despatches he had asserted that Dolopia, Amphilochia and Athamania had
been wrested from him, and his garrisons and even his son Perseus had been
expelled from Amphilochia. The senate consequently refused to listen to
them. The Rhodians and Athenians, however, obtained a hearing. The
Athenian spokesman, Leon the son of Hicesias, is said to have moved them
by his eloquence. Making use of a common simile he compared the people of
Aetolia to a calm sea which has become agitated by the winds. "As long as
they were faithful to Rome," he said, "their peace-loving temperament kept
them quiet, but when Thoas and Dicaearchus sent a blast from Asia and
Menestas and Damocritas from Europe, then that storm arose which dashed
them against Antiochus as against a rock."
38.11
After a
good deal of rough-handling the Aetolians at last succeeded in getting the
terms of peace settled. They were as follows: "The nation of the Aetolians
shall uphold sincerely and honestly the majesty and dominion of the Roman
people; they shall not suffer to pass through their territories or in any way
assist any army which may be led against the friends and allies of Rome; they
shall count the enemies of Rome as their enemies and bear arms against them
and wage war against them equally with Rome; they shall restore to the
Romans and their allies the deserters, the refugees and the prisoners, save
and except any who have escaped from captivity and returned to their homes
and then been taken captive a second time, and any prisoners from amongst
those who were fighting against Rome at the time when the Aetolians
formed a part of the Roman forces. Of the others, all who are known shall be
handed over without reserve or subterfuge to the magistrates at Corcyra
within 100 days; those who have not then been discovered shall be delivered
up as soon as they are found. The Aetolians shall surrender forty hostages,
such as the consul in his discretion shall choose, not less than twelve or more
than forty years of age. No magistrate or commander of cavalry or public
secretary shall be taken as a hostage, nor any one who has been previously
held as a hostage by the Romans. Cephallania shall be excluded from the
terms of peace." As to the indemnity which they were to pay and the method
of payment, the understanding with the consul held good. If they preferred
to pay it in silver rather than in gold, they might do so provided that ten
silver pieces were taken as the equivalent of one gold piece. "Concerning the
cities, the territories, the populations, which have at any time been
incorporated in the Aetolian League -those of them which have either been
subjugated or voluntarily surrendered to Rome during the consulships of T.
Quinctius, Cneius Domitius, or the consuls which followed them, none of
these must the Aetolians seek to recover. The Oeniadae with the city and the
soil shall belong to the Acarnanians." Such were the terms upon which peace
was concluded with the Aetolians.
38.12
Almost at the very time when M. Fulvius
was thus engaged in Aetolia, the other consul, Cneius Manlius, was warring
in Gallograecia. I will now proceed to narrate the events of this war. The
consul went to Ephesus at the beginning of spring and took over the troops
from L. Scipio. After holding a review of the army he addressed the soldiers.
He began by eulogising their valour in bringing the war with Antiochus to a
close in a single battle, and went on to encourage them to begin a fresh war
against the Gauls. This nation, he reminded them, had gone to the assistance
of Antiochus, and so intractable was their temper that the removal of
Antiochus beyond the Taurus would be useless unless the power of the
Gauls was broken. He concluded his address with a few sincere and
unaffected words about himself. The soldiers were delighted and frequently
applauded him; they looked upon the Gauls as simply a division of
Antiochus' army, and now that the king was overcome they did not think
that there would be much aggressive energy in the Gauls when left to
themselves. Eumenes was in Rome at the time and the consul regarded his
absence as ill-timed, since he was familiar with the country and the
population and was personally interested in the destruction of the power of
the Gauls. The consul sent, therefore, for his brother Attalus, who was at
Pergamum, and pressed him to take his part in the war. Attalus promised on
his own behalf and on that of his subjects to assist him, and was sent back to
muster troops. A few days later the consul advanced from Ephesus and was
met at Magnesia by Attalus with 1000 infantry and 500 cavalry. His brother
Athenaeus was under orders to follow with the rest of the forces, and the
defence of Pergamum was entrusted to men whom he believed to be loyal
subjects of their king. The consul warmly approved of the young man's
action and advanced with the whole of his forces to the Maeander. Here he
entrenched himself, and as the river was unfordable, vessels had to be
collected to carry the army over.
38.13
After
crossing the Maeander they marched to Hiera Come. Here there was a noble
temple to Apollo and an oracular shrine; it is said that the priests delivered
the responses in smooth and graceful verses. From this place, after a two
days' march, they reached the river Harpasus. Here they were met by a
deputation from Alabandi, who came with a request to the consul to compel,
either by his personal authority or his arms, a revolted stronghold to return
to its former allegiance. Here, too, came Eumenes' brother Athenaeus with
the Cretan Leusus and Corragus of Macedonia. They brought with them
1000 infantry drawn from various nationalities and 300 cavalry. The consul
despatched a military tribune with a small force to reduce the stronghold and
it was restored to the people of Alabandi; he himself continuing his march
encamped at Antiochia on the Maeander. This river rises at Celaenae; the
city was once the capital of Phrygia. The population migrated a short
distance from the old city and built a new one, which received the name of
Apamea after Apama, the sister of King Seleucus. The river Marsyas which
rises not far from the sources of the Maeander flows into that river, and the
story goes that it was at Celaenae that Marsyas contested the palm of song
with Apollo. The Maeander rises at the highest part of Celaenae and runs
through the middle of the city. Its course then lies through Caria and Ionia
and it finally empties itself into the bay between Priene and Miletus.
Whilst the consul was in camp at Antiochia, Seleucus the son of
Antiochus came to furnish corn for the army, in pursuance of the treaty
obligation with Scipio. There was a slight difficulty raised in the case of the
auxiliaries under Attalus because Seleucus maintained that Antiochus had
only agreed to supply corn to the Roman soldiers. The dispute was settled by
the firmness of the consul, who sent a tribune from the headquarters tent to
give notice that the Roman soldiers were not to take the corn before the
troops of Attalus had received their share. From Antiochia they marched to a
place called Gordiutichi, and a further three days' march brought them to
Tabae. This place lies within the frontiers of Pisidia, in that part which looks
towards the Pamphylian sea. As this country was unwasted by war, its
population were in a bellicose mood. On this occasion they made a vigorous
attack on the Roman column and at first created some confusion, but when it
became evident that they were outmatched in numbers and in courage and
were driven back to their city, they craved for mercy and offered to
surrender the city. A fine of 25 talents of silver and 10,000 medimni of wheat
was imposed upon them. On these terms they were allowed to surrender.
38.14
Three
days after this they reached the river Casus and advanced to attack the city
of Eriza, which they captured at the first assault. Continuing their march they
came to Thabusion, a fortified place commanding the Indus. This river got
its name from a mahout who was thrown from his elephant. They were now
not far from the city of Cibyra, but no deputation came from Moagetes, the
faithless and cruel tyrant of that city. In order to ascertain his attitude the
consul sent an advance-party of 4000 infantry and 500 cavalry under C.
Helvius. This force was already entering his territory when envoys met them
with the announcement that the tyrant was ready to comply with the consul's
orders. They begged Helvius to enter their territory peaceably and to restrain
his soldiery from plundering their fields; they also brought 15 lbs. of gold
made into a crown. Helvius promised to protect their fields from pillage and
told them to go to the consul. When they had spoken in a similar strain to
him, he replied: "We Romans have received no proofs of goodwill on the
part of the tyrant towards us, and it is a matter of common knowledge that
he is the sort of man whom we ought to think of punishing rather than
treating as a friend." The envoys were greatly perturbed at these words and
simply requested him to accept the golden crown and to allow the tyrant to
visit him in person with liberty to speak and clear himself of suspicions. The
consul gave permission and the next day the tyrant arrived. His dress and his
retinue were hardly equal to those of a private citizen of moderate means; his
language was abject and broken, and he sought to excuse himself by pleading
the poverty of his cities and his dominions. Besides Cibyra he had the city of
Sylleum and a place called Alimne, and out of these cities he promised,
though somewhat doubtfully, to raise 25 talents, but only by robbing himself
and his subjects. "Really," replied the consul, "this trifling is intolerable!
After trying, unblushingly, to fool us through your envoys, you actually keep
up the same effrontery now you are here. You say 25 talents will exhaust
your government. Very well, then, unless you pay down 500 talents in three
days, look out for the plunder of your fields and the investment of your city."
Though appalled by the threat, the tyrant still persisted in his presence of
poverty. Shuffling, whimpering and shedding crocodile tears, he was at last
brought to a fine of 100 talents, and in addition 10,000 medimni of corn. All
this was carried through in six days.
38.15
From
Cibyra the army was led through the district of Sinda, and after crossing the
Caularis formed camp. The following day they marched past the Caralite
marshes and made a halt at Madamprum. On their further advance towards
Lacos the inhabitants fled from the city, and finding it devoid of men but
filled with abundance of every kind, the Romans sacked it. Then they went
on to the sources of the Lysis and the following day reached the Cobulatus.
The Termessians had captured the city of Isionde and were now attacking
the citadel. Shut up within their walls the only hope left to them was help
from the Romans. They sent to the consul to implore his assistance; shut up
in their citadel with their wives and children, they were daily looking forward
to death either by sword or famine. The consul gladly seized the pretext for a
march into Pamphylia, and raised the siege, granting peace to Termessus on
the payment of 50 talents of silver. Aspendus and the other cities in
Pamphylia were treated in the same way. Leaving Pamphylia and resuming
his march he encamped at the river Taurus, and the next day at a place called
Xyline Come. From there he marched continuously till he reached the city of
Cormasa. The next city to this was Dursa, which they found deserted by the
panic-stricken inhabitants, but abundantly supplied with all manner of stores.
On his advance past the marshes a deputation came to him from Lysinoe to
surrender their city. From this point he entered the territory of Sagalassus, a
fertile district rich in all kinds of fruits. Its Pisidian inhabitants are by far the
best soldiers in that part of the world. Their military superiority, the
fruitfulness of their soil, their large population, and the situation of their
exceptionally strong city make them a brave people. As no envoys appeared
when the consul reached their frontiers, he sent out plundering parties into
their fields. At last, as they saw their crops carried off and their cattle driven
away, their stubbornness yielded. The envoys whom they sent agreed to pay
a fine of 50 talents, 20,000 medimni of wheat and an equal amount of barley,
and on these terms they obtained peace. Making a further advance to the
source of the Rhotris he encamped at a village called Acoridos Come. The
next day Seleucus arrived from Apamea. The consul sent the sick and all the
baggage which was not needed to Apamea, and after being supplied with
guides by Seleucus, he marched into the plain of Metropolis, and the next
day to Dyniae in Phrygia. A further advance brought him to Synnada. All the
cities round had been deserted by their inhabitants, and the army was so
heavily laden with the booty from these places that they took a whole day to
traverse the five miles to Old Beudi, as it is called. His next halt was at
Anabura; the day following he encamped at the source of the Alander, and
on the third day at Abassium. As he had now reached the frontiers of the
Tolostobogii he remained encamped for several days.
38.16
A
large body of Gauls, induced either by want of room or desire for plunder
and convinced that none of the nations through whom they intended to pass
was a match for them in arms, marched under the leadership of Brennus into
the country of the Dardani. Here a quarrel arose, and as many as 20,000 of
them left Brennus and went off under two of their chiefs, Lonorius and
Lutarius, into Thrace. Fighting with those who opposed their progress and
exacting tribute from those who asked for peace, they reached Byzantium.
Here they remained for some time in occupation of the coast of the
Propontis, all the cities in that region being tributary to them. When reports
from those acquainted with Asia of the fertility of its soil reached their ears,
they were seized with the desire of crossing over to it, and after capturing
Lysimachia by treachery and making themselves masters of the whole of the
Chersonese, they moved down to the Hellespont. They were all the more
eager to make the passage when they saw that there was only a narrow strait
which separated them, and they sent to Antipater, the governor of the
coastal district, asking him to arrange for their transport. The matter took
longer than they expected, and a fresh quarrel broke out between the chiefs.
Lonorius, with the greater part of the host, returned to Byzantium; Lutarius
took two decked ships and three light barques from some Macedonians who
had been sent by Antipater, ostensibly as negotiators, but really as spies, and
in these vessels he transported one detachment after another, night and day,
until he had carried his whole force across. Not long afterwards, Lonorius,
with the assistance of Nicomedes king of Bithynia, sailed across from
Byzantium. The re-united Gauls assisted Nicomedes in his war against
Ziboetas, who was holding a part of Bithynia, and it was mainly owing to
them that Ziboetas was defeated and the whole of Bithynia brought under
the rule of Nicomedes.
From Bithynia they went further into Asia. Out of the 20,000 men
not more than 10,000 were carrying arms, yet so great was the terror they
inspired in all the nations west of the Taurus, that those who had no
experience of them, as well as those who had come into contact with them,
the most remote as well as their next neighbours, all alike submitted to them.
They were made up of three tribes, the Tolostobogii, the Trocmi and the
Tectosagi, and in the end they divided the conquered territory of Asia into
three parts, each tribe retaining its own tributary cities. The coast of the
Hellespont was given to the Trocmi, the Tolostobogii took Aeolis and Ionia,
and the Tectosagi received the inland districts. They levied tribute on the
whole of Asia west of the Taurus, but fixed their own settlement on both
sides of the Halys. Such was the terror of their name and the growth of their
numbers that at last even the kings of Syria did not dare to refuse the
payment of tribute. The first man in Asia to refuse was Attalus the father of
Eumenes, and contrary to universal expectation, fortune favoured his
courageous action; he proved himself superior in a pitched battle. The Gauls,
however, were not so far disheartened as to renounce their supremacy in
Asia; their power remained unimpaired down to the war between Antiochus
and Rome. Even then, after the defeat of Antiochus, they quite expected that
owing to their distance from the sea the Romans would not advance so far.
38.17
As it
was this enemy, so much dreaded by all the people in that part of the world,
that was to be met in war, the consul paraded his soldiers and delivered the
following speech to them: "I am quite aware, soldiers, that of all the nations
of Asia the Gauls have the highest military reputation. This fierce people,
after wandering and warring over almost the entire world, have taken up
their abode amongst the gentlest and most peaceable race of men. Their tall
stature, their long red hair, their huge shields, their extraordinarily long
swords; still more, their songs as they enter into battle, their war-whoops
and dances, and the horrible clash of arms as they shake their shields in the
way their fathers did before them -all these things are intended to terrify and
appal. But let those fear them to whom they are strange and startling, such
as the Greeks and Phrygians and Carians. We Romans are familiar with
Gaulish tumults and know how they come to nothing. Once in the old days
when our ancestors met them for the first time, they fled from them at the
Alia; from that time for the last 200 years they have routed and slain them
like so many herds of cattle, and almost more triumphs have been won over
the Gauls than over the rest of the world put together. Our experience has
taught us this -if you withstand their first rush with its wild excitement and
blind fury, their limbs become powerless with sweat and fatigue, their
weapons hang idly; their flabby bodies and, when their fury has spent itself,
their flabby spirits, too, are prostrated by sun and dust and thirst, even
though you did not lift a sword against them. We have made trial of them,
not only legions against legions, but man against man. T. Manlius and M.
Valerius have shown how steady Roman courage can get the better of
Gaulish frenzy. M. Manlius flung down single-handed the Gauls who were
climbing the Capitol. And, besides, those ancestors of ours had to deal with
genuine Gauls bred in their own land; these are degenerates, a mongrel race,
truly what they are called -Gallograeci. Just as in the case of fruits and
cattle, the seed is not so effective in keeping up the strain as the nature of the
soil and climate in which they are reared are in changing it.
"The Macedonians who occupy Alexandria, Seleucia, Babylonia
and their other colonies throughout the world, have degenerated into Syrians
and Parthians and Egyptians. Massilia, situated amongst Gauls, has
contracted something of the temperament of its neighbours. How much of
the rough and stern discipline of Sparta has survived amongst the
Tarentines? Everything grows most vigorously in its own home; when
planted in an alien soil its nature changes and it deteriorates into that from
which it gets its subsistence. As in the battle with Antiochus you slew the
Phrygians in spite of their heavy Gaulish arms, so you will slay them now,
you the victors, they the vanquished. I am more afraid of our gaining too
little glory in this war than of gaining too much. Antiochus has often routed
and scattered them. Do not imagine that it is only wild beasts which preserve
their ferocity when newly-captured but after being fed for some time at the
hands of men grow tame. Nature works in the same way in softening the
savagery of men. Do you suppose that these men are the same as their
fathers and grandfathers were? Driven from their home by want of room they
wandered across the rugged coast of Illyria, and after traversing the whole
length of Paeonia and Thrace and fighting their way through warlike nations
took possession of these countries. After becoming hardened and savage by
all they had to go through, they have found a home in a land which makes
them fat with bountiful supplies of every kind. All the ferocity which they
brought with them has been tamed by a most fertile soil, a most genial
climate and the gentle character of the people amongst whom they have
settled. You, sons of Mars, believe me, will have to be on your guard against
the attractions of Asia and shun them from the very first; such power have
the pleasures of other lands to weaken and destroy your energies, so easily
can the habits and practices of the people round you affect you. It is,
however, fortunate for us that though they cannot oppose you with anything
like the strength they once could, they still enjoy their former reputation
amongst the Greeks. You will therefore gain as much credit with our allies in
conquering as if the Gauls you defeat had retained all the courage of old
days."
38.18
After
dismissing his men he sent messengers to Eposognatus, who was the only
Gaulish chief who had remained friendly to Eumenes and refused assistance
to Antiochus against the Romans. The consul then resumed his advance; on
the first day he reached the Alander and the day after, a village called
Tyscon. Here a deputation arrived from Oroanda begging for peace. They
were ordered to pay 200 talents, and the consul allowed them to return
home and report his demand to their government. From there he marched to
Plitendum, his next halting-place being Alyatti. Here the messengers sent to
Eposognatus returned in company with envoys from the chief, who begged
the consul not to commence hostilities against the Tectosagi, as he would go
to them himself and persuade them to submit. His request was granted. Then
the army entered a tract of country called Axylon. It derives its name from
the character of the soil; not only does it bear nothing in the shape of timber,
but not even brambles or thorn bushes grow here, or anything which can
serve for fuel. The inhabitants use cow-dung instead of wood. Whilst the
Romans were encamped at Cuballum, a fortified place in Gallograecia, a
body of enemy cavalry appeared making a great tumult. Their sudden attack
not only threw the Roman outposts into confusion but caused some losses
amongst them. As the tumult reached the camp, the Roman cavalry hurrying
out from all the gates routed the Gauls and put them to flight, and a
considerable number of the fugitives were slain.
The consul, aware that he was now in the enemy's country,
advanced with caution, keeping his force well together and throwing out
scouting parties. Marching continuously, he came to the river Sangarius, and
as there was no possibility of fording it, he decided to construct a bridge.
The Sangarius rises in the Adoreos range and flowing through Phrygia
mingles its waters with the Tymbris on the frontier of Bithynia, and with its
volume thus increased flows through Bithynia and empties itself into the
Propontis. It is not, however, so remarkable for its size as for the vast
quantity of fish with which it supplies the inhabitants. When the bridge was
completed the army crossed the river and as they were marching along the
bank they were met by the "Galli" or priests of the Mater Magna from
Pessinus with their insignia, who prophesied in mystic and oracular verses
that the goddess was granting the Romans safety and victory in the war and
the sovereignty of the country in which they were. The consul welcomed the
omen and fixed his camp for the night on that very spot. The next day he
arrived at Gordium. This is not a large place but it possesses a widely-known
and much-frequented market; a larger one, in fact, than most inland towns. It
is almost equally distant from three seas, the Hellespont, the Euxine at
Sinope, and the sea which washes the shores of Cilicia, and also adjoins the
territories of several large populations, who for the sake of mutual
commercial advantages have made this their business centre. The Romans
found it deserted, the inhabitants having fled, and stored with goods of every
description. Whilst they were encamped here, envoys from Eposognatus
arrived with the intelligence that he had interviewed the Gaulish chiefs but
could not make them listen to reason. They were abandoning their villages
and farms in the open country, and together with their wives and children
were carrying their portable property and driving their flocks and herds
before them towards Olympus. Here they intended to defend themselves by
arms and their strong position.
38.19
Subsequently, more definite information
was received from Oroanda to the effect that the Tolostobogii had actually
occupied Olympus; that the Tectosagi going in a different direction had
established themselves on another mountain called Magaba, and that the
Trocmi had left their wives and children in the care of the Tectosagi and
gone to the assistance of the Tolostobogii. The chiefs of these three tribes
were Ortiagon, Comboiomarus and Gaulotus. Their main reason for
adopting this mode of warfare was that by holding the principal heights in
the country, provided with everything they might require for an indefinite
period, they hoped to wear out the enemy. They never imagined he would
venture to approach them over such steep and difficult ground; if he did
make the attempt they believed that even a small force would be sufficient to
dislodge him or throw him back in confusion; whilst if he remained inactive
at the foot of the mountain he would be unable to endure the cold and
hunger. Though the height of their position was itself a protection, they drew
a trench and constructed other defences round the peaks on which they were
established. Missile weapons they troubled themselves very little about as
they thought the rocky ground would supply them with plenty of stones.
38.20
As the
consul had anticipated that the fighting would not be at close quarters but
would involve an attack upon positions from a distance, he accumulated a
large quantity of javelins, light infantry spears, arrows and leaden balls and
small stones suitable for hurling from slings. Provided with these missile
weapons, he marched towards Olympus and encamped about four miles'
distance from the mountain. On the morrow he sent Attalus with 500 cavalry
to reconnoitre the ground and the situation of the Gaulish camp. While thus
engaged a body of hostile cavalry, twice as large as his own force, sallied
from their camp and put him to flight; some of his men were killed and
several wounded. The next day the consul went out with the whole of his
cavalry to explore, and as none of the enemy appeared outside their lines he
made the circuit of the mountain in safety. He noticed that towards the south
the ground rose in gentle slopes and was covered with soil; on the north the
cliffs were precipitous and almost vertical. There were only three possible
roads -everywhere else it was inaccessible -the one up the middle of the
mountain free from rocks, and two which were difficult, one on the
south-east and the other on the north-west. After making these observations
he encamped for the day close to the foot of the mountain. The following
day, after he had offered the sacrifices and the first victims had given
favourable omens, he advanced against the enemy. The army was formed
into three divisions; the largest he commanded in person and began the
ascent where it afforded the easiest approach; his brother, L. Manlius, was
ordered to advance from the southeastern side as far as the ground allowed
of his doing so safely, but if he came to a dangerous or precipitous part he
was not to struggle against the difficulties of the path nor try to force his
way over insuperable obstacles. In that case he was to turn and march across
the face of the mountain and unite his division with the one which the consul
was leading. C. Helvius was to work gradually round the lower slopes of the
mountain and then take his division up the north-eastern side. Attalus'
auxiliaries were also formed into three divisions, Attalus himself
accompanying the consul. The cavalry and elephants were left on the level
ground at the bottom, and their commanders were under orders to watch
carefully the progress of the action and render prompt assistance wherever it
was required.
38.21
The
Gauls feeling confident that on two sides they were unassailable directed
their attention to the southern slope. To close all access on this side they sent
4000 men to seize a height which commanded the road, distant rather less
than a mile from their camp, where, as in a fort, they might prevent the
enemy's advance. When they saw this, the Romans made ready for battle.
Somewhat in front of the legions went the velites, the Cretan archers and
slingers and the Tralli and Thracians under Attalus. The heavy infantry
advanced slowly as the ground was steep and they held their shields in front
of them, not because they expected a hand-to-hand contest, but simply to
avoid the missiles. With the discharge of missiles the battle began, and at first
it was fought on even terms as the Gauls had the advantage of their position,
the Romans that of the variety and abundance of their missile weapons. As
the struggle went on, however, it became anything but equal; the shields of
the Gauls though long were not broad enough to cover their bodies, and
being flat also afforded poor protection. Moreover, they had no weapons but
their swords, and as they could not come to close quarters these were
useless. They tried to make use of stones, but as they had not got any ready,
they had to use what each man in his hurry and confusion could lay hands
on, and unaccustomed as they were to these weapons, they could not make
them more effective by either skill or strength. On all sides they were being
hit by the arrows and leaden bullets and javelins which they were powerless
to ward off; blinded by rage and fear they did not see what they were to do,
and they found themselves engaged in the kind of fighting for which they
were least fitted. In close fighting where they can receive and inflict wounds
in turn, their fury stimulates their courage; so when they are being wounded
by missiles flung from a distance by an unseen foe and there is no one against
whom they can make a blind rush, they dash recklessly against their own
comrades like wild beasts that have been speared. Their practice of always
fighting naked makes their wounds more visible, and their bodies are white
and fleshy as they never strip except in battle. Consequently more blood
flowed from them, the open gashes appeared more horrible, and the
whiteness of their bodies showed up the stain of the dark blood. Open
wounds, however, do not trouble them much. Sometimes, where it is a
surface bruise rather than a deep wound, they cut the skin, and even think
that in this way they win greater glory in battle. But when the head of an
arrow has gone in or a leaden bullet buried itself and it tortures them with
what looks like a slight wound and defies all their efforts to get rid of it, they
fling themselves on the ground in shame and fury at so small an injury
threatening to prove fatal. So they were lying about everywhere, and some
who rushed down on their enemy were being pierced with missiles from all
sides; those who got to close quarters the velites slew with their swords.
These soldiers carry a shield three feet long, javelins in their right hand for
use at a distance and a Spanish sword in their belts. When they have to fight
at close quarters they transfer the javelins to their left hands and draw their
swords. Few of the Gauls now survived, and when they found themselves
worsted by the light infantry and the legions coming on, they fled in disorder
back to their camp, which was full of tumult and panic, as the women and
children and other noncombatants were all crowded there together. The
Romans took possession of the heights from which the enemy had fled.
38.22
L.
Manlius and C. Helvius in the meanwhile had marched up as far as the
mountain-side afforded a path, and when they came to a place where it was
impossible to advance they each turned towards the only part which was
accessible, and as though by mutual understanding, they followed the consul
at some distance from each other. Necessity compelled them to adopt now
what would have been the best course at the outset, for over such difficult
ground supports have often proved of the greatest use; when the first line
has been thrown into disorder the second line can shelter them and go into
action fresh and unshaken. When the foremost ranks of the legions had
gained the heights which the light infantry had captured, the consul ordered
his men to rest and recover their breath. He pointed to the bodies of the
Gauls scattered over the ground and said: "If the light infantry could fight as
they have done, what may I not expect from the legions, from those who are
fully armed, from the valour of my bravest soldiers? Surely after the light
infantry have driven the enemy in confusion into their camp, you legionaries
must storm and capture it." During this halt the light infantry had been busy
collecting the missiles which were lying everywhere, in order that they might
have a sufficient supply, and the consul now ordered them to advance. As
they approached the camp, the Gauls, fearing lest their entrenchments should
afford them insufficient protection, were standing in arms in front of the
rampart. They were at once overwhelmed by a general discharge of missiles,
for the greater their numbers and the closer their formation so much more
surely did every weapon find its mark. In a few minutes they were driven
inside their lines, leaving only strong bodies to guard the camp gates. A
heavy shower of missiles was now directed upon the masses in the camp, and
the mingled shrieks of women and children showed that many of them were
hit. Against those who were holding the gates the legionaries hurled their
javelins. They were not wounded by them, but their shields were pierced,
and thus hopelessly entangled together they were not able long to resist the
Roman attack.
38.23
As the
gates were now open, the Gauls fled in every direction from the camp before
the victors burst in. Blindly they dashed along the paths and over places
where there was no path; no precipices, no cliffs stopped them; they feared
nothing but the enemy. Most of them fell headlong from the heights; they
died, maimed and crushed. The consul kept his men from plundering the
captured camp and ordered them to do their best to pursue and harass the
enemy and increase his panic. When the second division under L. Manlius
came up, he forbade them also to enter the camp, and sent them off at once
in pursuit. After placing the prisoners in charge of the military tribunes he
joined in the pursuit, for he believed that the war would be at an end if as
many as possible were killed or made prisoners whilst they were in such a
state of panic. After the consul had gone, C. Helvius came up with his
division, and was unable to restrain his men from plundering the camp, and
so by a most unfair chance the booty went to those who had no share of the
fighting. The cavalry stood for a long time knowing nothing of the battle or
the victory which their comrades had won. Then they rode, wherever their
horses could travel, after the Gauls dispersed round the mountain, and either
killed or took them prisoners.
It was not easy to get at the number of those killed, for the flight
and the carnage extended over all the spurs and ravines of the mountain, and
a great many losing their way had fallen into the deep recesses below; many,
too, were killed in the woods and thickets. Claudius, who states that there
were two battles on Olympus, puts the number of killed at 40,000; Valerius
Antias, who is usually more given to exaggeration, says that there were not
more than 10,000. The prisoners, no doubt, amounted to 40,000, because
they had carried with them a multitude of both sexes and all ages, more like
emigrants than men going to war. The enemy's weapons were gathered into
a heap and burnt, and the consul ordered the troops to collect the rest of the
booty. That portion which was to go to the State he sold; the rest he
distributed with most scrupulous fairness amongst the soldiers. He then
paraded them, and after warmly commending the services which the whole
army had rendered, he conferred rewards on each according to their merit,
especially on Attalus, who was unanimously applauded, for the exemplary
courage and untiring energy which the young prince had shown in facing
toils and dangers was only equalled by his modesty.
38.24
Now
came the campaign against the Tectosagi, and the consul commenced his
advance against them. In a three days' march he reached Ancyra, a city of
importance in that district, and the enemy were only ten miles distant from it.
Whilst he was here in camp a remarkable incident occurred in connection
with a female prisoner. The wife of a chief named Orgiagon, a woman of
exceptional beauty, was with other captives in the custody of a centurion
who was notorious even amongst soldiers for his licentiousness and greed.
At first he made improper proposals to her, but finding that she treated them
with abhorrence, he took advantage of her servile condition and violated her.
Then, to assuage her anger and shame at the outrage, he held out hopes to
her of returning to her friends, but not as a lover would have done without
ransom. He stipulated for a certain weight of gold, and to prevent his men
from knowing anything about it, he allowed her to choose one of the
prisoners and send a message by him to her friends. A spot by the river was
fixed upon where not more than two of her friends were to come with the
gold on the following night and receive her. There happened to be amongst
the prisoners one of her own slaves, and this man was conducted by the
centurion beyond the ramparts as soon as it was dark. The following night
two of her friends and the centurion with his captive met at the place. Whilst
they were showing him the gold, which amounted to an Attic talent -the
sum agreed upon -the woman speaking in her own language ordered them
to draw their swords and cut off the centurion's head while he was counting
out the gold. Wrapping up the murdered man's head in her robe, she took it
to her husband, who had fled home from Olympus. Before embracing him
she flung down the head at his feet, and whilst he was wondering whose
head it could possibly be, or what such an unwomanly act could mean, she
told him about the outrage she had endured and the revenge she had taken
for her violated chastity. It is recorded that by the purity and strictness of her
life she maintained to the very last the honour of a deed so worthy of a
matron.
38.25
Whilst
the consul was in camp at Ancyra he was visited by envoys from the
Tectosagi, who begged him not to advance any further until he had had a
conference with their kings, and assured him that there were no terms of
peace which they would not prefer to war. The next day was fixed for the
interview; the spot selected was one that seemed to be halfway between
Ancyra and the Gaulish camp. The consul went there at the appointed time
with an escort of 500 cavalry, but as not a single Gaul was in sight he
returned to camp. The envoys reappeared and excused the absence of the
chiefs on religious grounds; they promised that some of their principal men
would come, as matters could be equally well transacted with them. The
consul said that he would send Attalus to represent him. Both parties came;
Attalus with an escort of 300 cavalry. The terms of peace were discussed,
but no final result could be reached in the absence of the leaders; so it was
arranged that the consul should meet the chiefs on the following day. The
Gauls had a double object in delaying negotiations; first, to gain time, so that
they might transport their property, which might, they feared, expose them
to danger, across the Halys, together with their wives and children; secondly,
because they were hatching a plot against the consul, who was not taking
any precautions against treachery at the conference. For this purpose they
had selected out of their entire force 1000 men of proved daring, and the
design would have succeeded if fortune had not defended the law of nations
which they intended to violate. The Roman troops were sent to collect
forage and wood near the place of the conference, as this appeared to the
military tribunes to be the safest course, since they would have the consul
and his escort between them and the enemy. Another detachment of 600
mounted men was stationed nearer their camp.
On receiving Attalus' assurance that the kings would come and that
the negotiations could be completed, the consul started from the camp with
the same escort as before. He had ridden nearly five miles and was not far
from the appointed place when he suddenly saw the Gauls coming on at full
gallop with hostile intent. Halting his force and bidding them prepare
themselves and their arms for battle, he met the first charge firmly without
giving ground. Then when the weight of numbers began to tell he slowly
retired, keeping his ranks unbroken, but at last when there was more danger
in remaining on the field than safety in keeping their ranks, they all broke and
fled. Thus scattered they were hard pressed by the Gauls, as they cut them
down, and a large proportion of them would have been destroyed had not
the 600 who were posted to protect the foragers met them in their flight.
They had heard the shouts of alarm amongst their comrades, and hurriedly
getting their weapons and horses ready they came fresh into the fight when it
was almost over. This turned the fortunes of the day. and the panic recoiled
from the defeated on to the conquerors. The Gauls were routed in the first
charge, and as the foragers came running up from the fields, the enemy
found themselves met on every side, with hardly any way of escape open.
The Romans on fresh horses were pursuing those which were tired and
exhausted, and few escaped. No prisoners were taken. By far the greater
number paid the death penalty for their breach of good faith. Furious at this
treachery the Romans advanced in full strength against the enemy the
following day.
38.26
The
consul spent two days in making a close inspection of the natural features of
the mountain that he might be familiar with every detail. The next day, after
taking the auspices and offering the sacrifices, he led out his army. It was
formed into four divisions; two of these he intended to take up the middle of
the mountain, the two others were to ascend the sides and take the Gauls in
both flanks. The dispositions of the enemy were as follows: the Tectosagi
and the Trocmi, who formed his main strength, numbering 50,000 men, held
the centre; the cavalry, 10,000 strong, were dismounted as horses were
useless on that broken ground, and formed the right wing; the Cappadocians
under Ariarathes and the Morzian auxiliaries, in all about 4000, were posted
on the left. The consul placed his light infantry in the first line as he had done
in the battle on Olympus, and took care that they should have an equally
ample supply of weapons at hand. When they approached the enemy all the
features of the former battle were reproduced except that the courage of the
one side was raised by their recent victory and that of the other side
depressed, for the enemy though not yet themselves defeated, looked upon
the defeat of their fellow-countrymen as tantamount to their own. As the
battle began, so it ended in the same way. A perfect cloud of missiles
overwhelmed the Gauls. None durst run forward from his entrenchments lest
he should expose his naked body to the certainty of being hit from all sides,
and whilst they remained standing within their lines in close formation, they
received more wounds the more densely they were packed, as though each
man was specially aimed at. The consul thought that the sight of the
standards of the legions would put the already demoralised Gauls to instant
flight, and accordingly he retired the light infantry and other skirmishers
within the ranks of the legions and ordered an advance.
38.27
The
Gauls, unnerved by the memory of the defeat of the Tolostobogii, exhausted
by their long standing and their wounds, with the javelins sticking in their
bodies, did not wait for the first charge and battle-shout of the Romans.
They fled towards their camp, but few gained the shelter of their
entrenchments; the greater number rushed past them right or left, where-ever
their eagerness to escape carried them. The victors pursued them up to their
camp, slaying them from behind, but once at the camp they stopped in their
eagerness for plunder; no one continued the pursuit. The Gauls held their
ground somewhat longer on the wings, as it took longer to reach them; they
did not, however, wait for the first discharge of missiles. As the consul could
not keep his men from looting the camp, he sent the other two divisions in
instant pursuit. They followed them up for a considerable distance and killed
in all some 8000 men in the flight; there was no attempt at fighting. The
survivors crossed the Halys. A large part of the Roman army passed the
night in the enemy's camp; the rest the consul led back to their own camp.
The day following, the consul counted up the prisoners and the booty; the
amount of the latter was as great as even a nation that was always bent on
rapine, and had for many years held by force of arms all the country west of
the Taurus, could possibly have amassed. After the Gauls had collected from
their scattered flight, most of them wounded, without arms, and stripped of
all their belongings, they sent to the consul to sue for peace. Manlius ordered
them to go to Ephesus. He himself, anxious to get out of the cold district
near the Taurus -it was now the middle of autumn -led his victorious army
back to the coast for their winter quarters.
38.28
During
these operations in Asia things were quiet in the other provinces. In Rome
the censors T. Quinctius Flamininus and M. Claudius Marcellus revised the
roll of senators. P. Scipio Africanus was for the third time selected to lead
the Senate, and only four members were struck off the roll, none of whom
had held any curule office. The censors showed great forbearance also in
revising the list of equites. They contracted for the building of the
substructure on the Capitol over the Aequimelium and also the laying down
of a paved road from the Porta Capena to the temple of Mars. The
Campanians asked the Senate to decide where their census should be taken,
and it was decreed that it should be taken in Rome. There were very heavy
floods this year; on twelve several occasions the Tiber inundated the Campus
Martius and the low-lying parts of the City. After Cn. Manlius had brought
the war against the Gauls in Asia to a close, the other consul, M. Fulvius,
now that the Aetolians were subjugated, sailed across to Cephallania, and
sent round to the various cities in the island to ask them which they preferred
-surrender to the Romans or the chances of war. Fear prevented them all
from refusing to surrender, and they gave the hostages, which the consul
demanded in proportion to their scanty resources. Peace beyond their hopes
had now dawned upon the Cephallanians, when suddenly, for some unknown
reason, one city that of Same, revolted. They said that, as their city occupied
an advantageous position, they were afraid that the Romans might compel
them to live elsewhere. Whether this was an invention on their part, and their
breach of the peace was due to imaginary fears, or whether the matter had
been talked about amongst the Romans and so come to their ears, is quite
uncertain. What is certain is that after giving hostages they closed their
gates, and though the consul sent these hostages to the walls to appeal to the
sympathies of their fellow-citizens and kinsmen, they refused to abandon
their opposition. As no peaceable reply was given, the siege of the city was
begun. The consul had all the siege-engines brought from Ambracia, and the
soldiers rapidly completed what works had to be made. The rams began to
batter the walls in two directions.
38.29
Nothing was left undone by the
Samaeans in the way of defence against siege-works or assaults. Their
method of resistance was mainly two-fold. On the one hand, where the wall
was destroyed they always built a strong one inside close to it, and on the
other they made sudden sorties, at one time against the siege-works, at
another against the outposts. In these actions they generally proved superior.
One method was discovered of keeping them back; a simple one, but worth
mentioning. A hundred slingers were sent for from Aegium, Patrae and
Dymae. These men had been in the habit, as their fathers had before them, of
practicing with their slings, with which they used to hurl into the sea the
round stones lying on the beach. In this way they gained a more accurate and
longer range than the Baliaric slingers. Their slings, too, were not made of a
single strap, like those of the Baliarics and other nations, but they consisted
of three thongs, stiffened by beings sewn together. This prevented the bullet
from flying off at random when the thong was let go; when fixed in the sling
it could be so whirled round as to fly out as though from the string of a bow.
They used to send their stones through rings at a great distance, as targets,
and were thus able to hit not only the head but whatever part of the face they
aimed at. These slings kept the Samaeans from making such frequent or such
daring sorties; so much so in fact that they called to the Achaeans from their
walls and begged them to retire for a time and remain quiet spectators while
they fought with the Roman outposts. Same sustained a siege of four
months. Day by day some of their scanty numbers fell or were wounded, and
the survivors became exhausted in mind and body. At last the Romans
surmounted the wall and forced their way through the citadel which they call
the Cyatis -the city extends on the west down to the sea -and appeared in
the forum. When the Samaeans found that the city was partly captured by
the enemy they took refuge in the larger citadel with their wives and
children. The next day they surrendered; the city was sacked, and the whole
of its population sold into slavery.
38.30
After
settling matters in Cephallania and placing at garrison in Same, the consul
sailed to the Peloponnesus, whither the people of Aegium and the
Lacedaemonians had for some time urged him to go. Either as a concession
to its importance or owing to its convenient situation, Aegium had been the
meeting-place of the Council of the League ever since it had been formed.
This year for the first time Philopoemen tried to do away with this custom,
and was preparing to bring in a law enacting that the Assembly should be
held in each city of the League in turn. Just before the consul's visit the
Damiourgi (the supreme magistrates) of the various States had convened a
meeting of the League at Aegium, whilst Philopoemen the captain-general
had summoned them to Argos. As they would evidently almost all meet
there, the consul, though he was in favour of Aegium, went to Argos. Here
the question was debated, and when he saw that the Assembly were inclined
towards Argos, he gave way. The Lacedaemonians then drew his attention
to their grievances. The main cause of anxiety to their city was the
threatening attitude of the exiles, many of whom were living in forts and
villages which they had seized on the Laconian coast. The Lacedaemonians
chafed under this state of things; they wanted to have access to the sea
somewhere or other in case they wanted to send a mission to Rome or
elsewhere, and also that they might have a free port in which to receive
merchandise and necessaries from abroad. They made an attack by night
upon a maritime village called Las. The villagers and exiles were at first
terror-struck by the unlooked-for attack, but before it was day they collected
in a body and without much difficulty drove the Lacedaemonians out. Then
the whole of the coast took alarm and all the forts and villages and the exiles
who had made their homes there sent a joint appeal to the Achaeans for help.
38.31
From
the first, Philopoemen had championed the cause of the exiles and had
always tried to persuade the Achaeans to abridge the power and influence of
the Lacedaemonians. He now summoned a council to hear the envoys, and
on his initiative a decree was passed in the following terms: "Whereas T.
Quinctius and the Romans have committed to the good faith and protection
of the Achaeans the villages and forts on the coast of Laconia, and whereas
the village of Las has been attacked by the Lacedaemonians who were bound
by treaty not to interfere with them, and blood has been shed there, we
decree that unless the authors and abettors of this outrage are surrendered to
the Achaeans, the treaty shall be held to be broken." A mission was at once
despatched to Lacedaemon to insist on this demand. So arbitrary and
arrogant did it appear in the eyes of the Lacedaemonians that if that city had
been in the position it once held they would undoubtedly have taken up
arms. What they feared most of all was that if they submitted to the yoke so
far as to comply with this initial demand, Philopoemen would carry out the
policy he had long contemplated of handing Lacedaemon to the exiles. In a
frenzy of anger they put to death thirty men who belonged to the party who
were in league with Philopoemen and the exiles, and then passed a decree
denouncing the alliance with the Achaeans and ordering the immediate
despatch of a mission to Cephallania to make a formal surrender of
Lacedaemon to the consul and to Rome, begging him to come to the
Peloponnesus and receive their city into the protection and suzerainty of the
people of Rome.
38.32
When
these proceedings were reported to the Achaeans, all the States of the
League with one consent proclaimed war against the Lacedaemonians.
Winter prevented any immediate operations on a large scale, but their
territories were devastated by bodies of raiders both by land and sea, more in
the fashion of brigandage than of regular warfare. It was this disturbance that
brought the consul to the Peloponnesus, and by his orders a council was
summoned to Elis and the Lacedaemonians were invited to state their case.
The discussion soon became a heated quarrel, which the consul put an end
to. He was anxious to befriend both sides and after giving a reply which
committed him to nothing, warned them both to abstain from hostilities until
their representatives had appeared before the Senate. Both sides sent
delegates to Rome; the Lacedaemonian exiles entrusted their cause to the
Achaeans. The leaders of the Achaean embassy were Diophanes and
Lycortas, both natives of Megalopolis. They were opposed to one another in
their political views and the speeches they delivered showed a similar
divergence. Diophanes was for leaving the decision on every point to the
Senate as they would settle the matters in dispute between the Achaeans and
the Lacedaemonians in the best possible way. Lycortas, acting on
instructions from Philopoemen, claimed the right of the Achaeans to execute
their decree in accordance with the treaty and their laws, and pleaded that as
the Senate had been the instrument of their freedom, so they should preserve
that freedom for them undiminished and unimpaired. At that time the
Achaeans stood high in Roman esteem; it was, however, decided that the
position of the Lacedaemonians should be in no way changed. The reply of
the senate was so ambiguous that while the Achaeans assumed that they had
a free hand with regard to Lacedaemon, the Lacedaemonians interpreted it
to mean that the Achaeans had not gained all they asked for.
38.33
The
Achaeans made a most unscrupulous use of the permission which they
considered to have been granted them. Philopoemen was still in office and in
the first days of spring he called out the army and fixed his camp on
Lacedaemonian territory. Then he sent to demand the authors of the revolt,
and promised that if the city would surrender them it should remain at peace,
and the men themselves should suffer no injury until their case had been
heard. Fear kept the rest silent; those who had been named declared their
willingness to go, as they had received from Philopoemen's emissaries a
guarantee that they would be safe from violence until they had pleaded their
cause. Others, men of high position, went with them to support their friends
and also because they considered their cause to be the cause of the State.
Never before had the Achaeans brought the exiles with them on to
Lacedaemonian soil, because they thought that nothing would do more to
estrange their fellow-countrymen from them, but now they were almost in
the forefront of the whole army. When the Lacedaemonians came to the gate
of the camp the exiles met them in a body. At first they assailed them with
insults; then passions became heated on both sides, and the more ferocious
of the exiles made an attack upon the Lacedaemonians. Whilst these were
appealing to the gods and the pledged word of Philopoemen's emissaries,
and he and his emissaries were keeping back the crowd and protecting the
Lacedaemonians and preventing some from actually manacling them, a large
crowd collected and the disturbance increased. The Achaeans ran up to see
what was going on, and the exiles, protesting loudly about the sufferings
they had endured, implored their help and told them if they let this
opportunity slip they would never again have such a favourable one. "The
treaty which had been solemnly published in the Capitol at Olympia and in
the citadel at Athens had been set at nought by these men, and before we are
bound by another treaty the guilty must be punished." This language excited
the crowd, and one man shouted out "Kill them." On this they flung stones at
them, and seventeen men who had been thrown into chains during the tumult
were killed. On the following day sixty-three were arrested whom
Philopoemen had protected from violence, not that he was concerned for
their safety, but because he did not want them to perish before the day of
trial. Victims to the fury of the mob, they spoke but little and that to deaf
ears. All were found guilty and handed over for punishment.
38.34
Having thus terrorised the
Lacedaemonians, they sent them peremptory orders: first, that they must
destroy their walls; secondly, that all the foreign mercenaries who had served
under the tyrants must depart from the land of Laconia; thirdly, that all the
slaves whom the tyrants had set free, and of whom there was a large number,
must leave by a certain day; any who remained the Achaeans would have the
right to carry off and sell; lastly, they must abrogate the laws and customs of
Lycurgus and accustom themselves to the laws and institutions of the
Achaeans, as in this way they would form one body and unite more easily in
a common policy. With none of these demands did they comply more readily
than with that demanding the destruction of their walls, and none roused
such bitter feeling as that demanding the restoration of the exiles. A decree
for their restoration was passed in the Council of the Achaeans at Tegea, and
it was stated that the foreign mercenaries had been disbanded, and that the
"naturalised Lacedaemonians," for so they designated the slaves set free by
the tyrants, had left the city and dispersed into the surrounding country. On
receiving this intelligence it was decided that before the army was
demobilised the captain-general should go with a light force and arrest those
people and sell them as lawfully acquired booty. Many were thus caught and
sold. With the money thus raised the colonnade at Megalopolis, which the
Lacedaemonians had destroyed, was at the suggestion of the Achaeans
restored. This city also won back the territory of Belbina, which the tyrants
of Lacedaemon had wrongfully taken possession of; this was in pursuance of
an old decree made by the Achaeans during the reign of Philip the son of
Amyntas. Through these measures the city of Lacedaemon lost the sinews of
her strength, and was for a long time at the mercy of the Achaeans. No loss,
however, affected her more deeply than the loss of the discipline of
Lycurgus, which they had maintained for 800 years.
38.35
After
the meeting of the Council in which the dispute between the Achaeans and
the Lacedaemonians took place before the consul, M. Fulvius returned to
Rome for the purpose of conducting the elections, as the year was now
drawing to a close. M. Aemilius Lepidus, one of the candidates, was a
personal enemy of his, and he refused to allow any votes to be cast for him.
The consuls elected were M. Valerius Messala and C. Livius Salinator. The
praetors elected were Q. Marcius Philippus, M. Claudius Marcellus, C.
Stertinius, C. Atinius, P. Claudius Pulcher and L. Manlius Acidinus. When
the elections were over it was decided that M. Fulvius should return to his
army and command, and an extension of office was granted to him and to his
colleague Cn. Manlius. This year P. Cornelius, as directed by the Keepers of
the Sacred Books, placed a statue of Hercules and a chariot with six horses,
all gilded, in the Capitol. The inscription stated that it had been given by a
consul. Twelve gilt shields were also hung there by the curule aediles P.
Claudius Pulcher and Servius Sulpicius Gallus out of the fines levied on corn
factors who had been holding back their grain. Another had been convicted
at the instance of the plebeian aedile, on two separate charges, and with this
fine he provided two gilt statues. His colleague A. Caecilius had not
prosecuted any one. The Roman Games were exhibited three times, the
Plebeian Games five times. Immediately on entering into office on the Ides of
March the new consuls consulted the senate on the policy to be pursued in
the provinces and the armies. No change was made with regard to Aetolia or
Asia. Pisa and Liguria were assigned to one consul, Gaul to the other. They
were instructed to come to a mutual arrangement, or failing that to ballot, as
to which province each should take, and each was to raise afresh army of
two Roman legions and 15,000 foot and 1200 cavalry from the Italian allies.
Liguria fell to Messala; Gaul to Salinator. Then the praetors balloted for
their commands. The City jurisdiction fell to M. Claudius; the alien to P.
Claudius; Sicily to Q. Marcius; Sardinia to C. Stertinius; Hither Spain to L.
Manlius; and Further Spain to C. Atinius.
38.36
In the
case of the armies abroad it was settled that the legions in Gaul which had
been under C. Laelius should be transferred to the propraetor M. Tuccius for
service in Bruttium. The army in Sicily was to be disbanded, and the fleet
lying there M. Sempronius the propraetor was to bring back to Rome. It was
decreed that the legion stationed in each of the two Spanish provinces should
remain there, and the praetors were each to take with them 3000 infantry
and 200 cavalry drawn from the allies as reinforcements. Before the new
magistrates left for their provinces, special intercessions for three days were
ordered on the authority of the Keepers of the Sacred Books to be offered at
all the cross-roads owing to a darkness which came over in broad daylight
between the third and fourth hours. Sacrifices were also enjoined for nine
days in consequence of a shower of stones on the Aventine. The Campanians
had been obliged by a decree of the senate passed the year before to have
their census taken in Rome as it had previously been uncertain where they
ought to be enrolled. They now requested that they might be allowed to
marry women who were Roman citizenesses, and that any who had already
done so might hold themselves to be lawfully married, and that children
already born might be regarded as legitimate and capable of inheriting
property. Both requests were granted. One of the tribunes of the plebs, C.
Valerius Tappo, brought forward a proposal granting the full franchise to the
citizens of the municipal boroughs of Formiae, Fundi and Arpinum. They had
hitherto enjoyed the citizenship without the power of voting. This motion
was opposed by four of the tribunes on the ground that it had not received
the sanction of the senate, but on being informed that it rested with the
people and not the senate to confer the franchise on whom they chose, they
abandoned their opposition. The citizens of Formiae and Fundi were
authorised to vote in the Aemilian tribe, and those of Arpinum in the
Cornelian. In these tribes, therefore, they were for the first time enrolled by
virtue of the plebiscite, passed on the motion of Valerius. The censor M.
Claudius Marcellus, to whom the ballot gave precedence over T. Quinctius,
closed the lustrum. The census gave the number of citizens as 258,318. After
these matters were settled the consuls left for their provinces.
38.37
During
this winter Cn. Manlius, who was passing the season in Asia first as consul
and then as proconsul, was visited by deputations from all the cities and
nationalities west of the Taurus. Whilst the Romans regarded their victory
over Antiochus as a more notable one than their subsequent victory over the
Gauls, their Asiatic allies rejoiced more over the latter than the former.
Subjection to the king was a much easier thing to bear than the ferocity of
the ruthless barbarians and the terror which haunted them from one day to
another, for they never knew in what direction that ferocity might sweep
them like a storm upon plundering and devastating raids. They had regained
their liberty through the repulse of Antiochus and their peace through the
subjugation of the Gauls, and now they brought to the consul not only their
congratulations and thanks but also golden crowns, each according to their
ability. Delegates came, too, from Antiochus and even from the Gauls
themselves to learn the conditions of peace. Ariarathes also sent envoys from
Cappadocia to sue for forgiveness and offer a pecuniary atonement for his
offence in assisting Antiochus. He was ordered to pay 600 talents of silver
and the Gauls were told that when Eumenes arrived they would have the
conditions of peace given to them. The delegations from the various cities
were dismissed with gracious replies and went away even happier than they
had come. Those from Antiochus received instructions to convey money and
corn into Pamphylia, as agreed with L. Scipio, as the consul was going there
with his army.
At the beginning of spring, therefore, after performing the
lustrations on behalf of his army, he commenced his march, and after eight
days reached Apamea. Here he remained encamped for three days, and then
advanced into Pamphylia where he had ordered the king's envoys to deposit
the money and the corn. He received 1500 talents of silver which were taken
to Apamea; the corn was distributed amongst the soldiers. From there he
advanced to Perga, the only city in that country which was held by a garrison
of the king's troops. On his approach he was met by the commandant who
asked for a respite of thirty days that he might consult Antiochus about
surrendering the city. He was allowed the interval and on the thirtieth day
the garrison evacuated the place. Whilst the consul was at Perga he sent his
brother L. Manlius with a force of 4000 men to Oroanda to exact the rest of
the money which, according to the stipulation, was to be paid. On learning
that Eumenes and the ten commissioners from Rome had arrived at Ephesus,
he led his army back to Apamea and ordered the envoys from Antiochus to
follow him.
38.38
Here
the treaty as settled by the ten commissioners was drawn up. The substance
of it was as follows: "There shall be peace and amity between King
Antiochus and the Roman people on these terms and conditions: The king
shall not suffer any army purposing to levy war on the Roman people or their
allies to pass through the borders of his kingdom or of any subject to him,
nor shall he assist it with provisions or in any other way whatever. The
Romans and their allies shall act in like manner towards Antiochus and those
under his sway. Antiochus shall have no right to levy war upon those who
dwell in the islands, or to sail across to Europe. He shall withdraw from all
the cities, lands, villages and forts west of the Taurus as far as the Halys and
extending from the lowlands of the Taurus up to the range which stretches
towards Lycaonia. He shall not carry any arms from the aforesaid towns and
lands and forts from which he withdraws; if he has carried any away he shall
duly restore them to whatever place they belong. He shall not reclaim any
soldier or any other person whatever from the kingdom of Eumenes. If any
citizens belonging to the cities which are passing from under his rule are with
Antiochus or within the boundaries of his realm, they shall all return to
Apamea by a certain day; if any of Antiochus' subjects are with the Romans
and their allies they shall be at liberty to depart or to remain. He shall restore
to the Romans and their allies the slaves, whether fugitives or prisoners of
war, or any free man who has been taken captive or is a deserter. He shall
give up his elephants and not procure any more. He shall likewise make over
his ships of war and all their tackle, nor shall he possess more than ten light
decked ships, none of which may be propelled by more than thirty oars, and
no smaller ones for use in any war which he may undertake. He shall not
take his ships west of the headlands of the Calycadnus or the Sorpedon, save
only such ships as shall carry money or tribute or envoys or hostages.
Antiochus shall not have the right to hire mercenary troops from those
nations which shall be under the suzerainty of Rome nor to accept them even
as volunteers. Such houses and buildings as belonged to the Rhodians and
their allies within the dominions of Antiochus shall be held by them on the
same right as before the war. If any moneys are due to them they shall have
the same right to exact them, if aught has been taken from them, they shall
have the right of search and recovery. Whatever cities amongst those that
are to be surrendered they hold as a gift from Antiochus; he shall withdraw
the garrisons from them and provide for their due surrender. He shall pay
12,000 Attic talents of sterling silver in equal instalments over twelve years -the talent shall weigh not less than 80 Roman pounds -and 540,000 modii of
wheat. To King Eumenes he shall pay 350 talents within five years, and in
place of corn its value in money, 127 talents. He shall give twenty hostages
to the Romans and exchange them for others in three years, that none may
be less than eighteen or more than forty-five years of age. If any of the allies
of Rome shall wantonly and without provocation make war on Antiochus, he
shall have the right to repel them by force of arms, always providing that he
shall not hold any city by right of war or receive it into friendship and amity.
Disputes shall be determined before a judicial tribunal, or if both parties shall
so will it, by war." There was an additional clause dealing with the surrender
of Hannibal, Thoas and Mnasilochus, as well as Eubulidas and Philo of
Chalcidaea, and also a proviso that if it should afterwards be decided to add
to, or repeal, or alter any of the articles, that should be done without
impairing the validity of the treaty.
38.39
The
consul took the oath to observe the treaty, and Q. Minucius Thermus and L.
Manlius who happened to have just returned from Oroanda went to demand
the oath from the king. The consul also sent written instructions to Q. Fabius
Labeo, who was in command of the fleet, to proceed forthwith to Patara and
break up or burn all the king's ships which were stationed there. Fifty decked
ships were thus either broken up or burnt. During this voyage he retook
Telmessus, where the inhabitants had been greatly alarmed at the sudden
appearance of the fleet. Leaving Lycia he continued his voyage, and sailing
through the Archipelago he landed in Greece, and stayed a few days at
Athens, waiting for the ships which he had ordered to follow him from
Ephesus. As soon as they entered the Peiraeus he returned with the entire
fleet to Italy. Amongst the things which were to be taken from Antiochus
were his elephants, and these Cn. Manlius presented to Eumenes. He then
commenced an investigation into the circumstances of the different cities,
many of which were in a state of confusion owing to the political changes.
Ariarathes had about this time betrothed his daughter to Eumenes, and
owing to the latter's good offices half the indemnity demanded from him was
remitted.
When the investigation into the circumstances and position of the
different cities was completed, the ten commissioners decided each case
upon its merits. Those which had been tributary to Antiochus but whose
sympathies had been with Rome were granted immunity from all tribute.
Those who had sided with Antiochus or paid tribute to Attalus were all
ordered to pay tribute to Eumenes. The natives of Colophon who were living
at Notium, together with the inhabitants of Cymae and Mylasa, were also
specially named as receiving immunity. To Clazomenae was given the island
of Drymussa, as well as immunity. They restored to the Milesians the
so-called "sacred ground," and the inhabitants of Ilium received Rhoeteum
and Gergithus as additions to their territory not so much on account of
services recently rendered as in recognition of its being the original home,
and for the same reason Dardanus was granted its liberty. Chios, Zmyrna and
Erythrae in return for their conspicuous loyalty in the war received a grant of
territory and were treated with especial honour. The territory which the
Phoceans had held before the war was restored to them, and they were
allowed to enjoy their old constitution. The grants made to Rhodes under a
former decree were confirmed; these included Lycia and Caria as far as the
Maeander, with the exception of Telmessus. The dominions of Eumenes
were enlarged by the addition of the European Chersonesus and Lysimachia,
the forts, villages and territory within the limits of Antiochus' rule; in Asia
the two Phrygias, the one on the Hellespont, the other called "Greater
Phrygia"; Mysia which Prusias had taken from him was restored as well as
Lycaonia, Milyas and Lydia, and the cities of Tralles, Ephesus and
Telmessus, which were specially named. With regard to Pamphylia a
difficulty arose between Eumenes and the envoys of Antiochus, as part of it
lies on one side the Taurus and part on the other, and the matter was
referred to the senate.
38.40
After
these articles of peace had been finally settled and accepted, Manlius
proceeded to the Hellespont with the ten commissioners and the whole of his
army. Here he summoned the Gaulish chiefs to meet him and informed them
of the terms upon which they were to keep the peace with Eumenes, and
warned them that they must put a stop to their custom of making armed
forays and confine themselves to the limits of their own territories. He then
collected his ships from the whole extent of the coast, and with the addition
of Eumenes' fleet, which was brought up by his brother Athenaeus, the
consul was able to transport the whole of his force to Europe. The army was
heavily weighted with spoils of every description and its advance
consequently through the Chersonese was at a moderate pace till they
reached Lysimachia. Here they rested for some time in order that their
draught cattle might be as strong and fresh as possible before they entered
Thrace, as they generally dreaded the march through that country. The same
day on which he left Lysimachia the consul reached Melas, and the next day
he arrived at Cypsela. From Cypsela a ten miles' march over broken ground
shut in by forests awaited them. In view of the difficulties of the route the
army was formed into two divisions. One was ordered to march in advance,
the other, at a considerable distance, to bring up the rear. The baggage was
placed between them. This included the wagons carrying the State money
and other valuable booty. Whilst marching through a pass in this order a
body of Thracians drawn from the four tribes of Astii, Caeni, Maduateni and
Coreli, not more than 10,000 in number, occupied each side of the road at its
narrowest part. It was generally thought that this was due to treachery on
Philip's part, that he knew the Romans would return through Thrace and was
also aware of the amount of money they were carrying.
The general was with the first division and the broken and difficult
ground made him anxious. As long as the armed troops were passing
through, the Thracians did not stir, but when they saw that the vanguard had
cleared the narrowest part of the pass and those behind were nowhere near,
they attacked the baggage and the pack animals, and killing the escort began
to loot the wagons, while others led off the horses with their packs. The
cries and shouts were first heard by those behind who had already entered
the pass; then they reached the leading division. From both directions a rush
was made to the centre, and irregular fighting began at several points. The
booty itself exposed the Thracians to slaughter, hampered as they were by
the loads they were carrying, and most of them without arms that they might
have their hands free for pillage. The unfavourable ground on the other hand
exposed the Romans to the barbarians, who ran up through paths they were
familiar with or concealed themselves in the recesses of the rocks. Even the
packs and wagons obstructed the combatants and interfered with the
movements of one side or the other just as it chanced. Here a plunderer fell;
there, one trying to recover the plunder. The fortunes of the battle changed
as first one side and then the other was on favourable or unfavourable
ground; as the courage of each rose or fell; as the numbers preponderated on
either side, some engaged with larger, others with smaller bodies than their
own. Many fell on both sides and night was already coming on when the
Thracians drew off from the fight, not to escape wounds and death, but
because they had as much plunder as they wanted.
38.41
When
they had got clear of the pass, the first division of the Roman army
encamped on open ground near the temple of Bendis. The second remained
in the pass to protect the baggage train which they enclosed with a double
rampart. The next day after reconnoitring the pass, they joined the front
division. The fighting had practically extended the whole length of the pass,
a portion of the pack animals and camp servants had fallen and a
considerable number of soldiers. But the most serious loss was that of the
gallant and energetic Q. Minucius Thermus. In the course of the day they
reached the Hebrus, and from there they marched past a temple to the
Zerynthian Apollo, as the natives call him, into the country of the Aenians.
Another defile near Tempyra had to be crossed, not less precipitous than the
one already surmounted, but as there was no wooded country around it, it
afforded no concealment for an ambush. Another Thracian tribe, the Thrausi,
had assembled here, quite as greedy of plunder, but their movements, as they
tried to block the pass, were visible from afar owing to the bareness of the
landscape. The Romans were very little perturbed as though the ground was
ill-adapted for maneuvering, they saw that they could fight on a proper front
in a regular action. Charging in close order and raising their battle-cry they
drove the enemy from his ground and then put him to flight. The narrowness
of the pass crowded the fugitives together, and there was much slaughter.
The victorious Romans encamped at a village belonging to Maronia
called Sale. The following day, marching through open country, they entered
the plain of Priantae. Here they remained, taking in corn partly from the
country people, who brought it in from their fields, and partly from the ships
of the fleet which were loaded with all sorts of stores and were following
their movements. A day's march brought them to Apollonia and from here,
through the district of Abdera, they arrived at Neapolis. The whole of this
march through the Greek colonies was unmolested, but the other part
through the heart of Thrace, though not actually opposed, demanded caution
both by day and night. When this army traversed the same route under
Scipio they found the Thracians less aggressive; the only reason for this
being that there was less chance of plunder, plunder being their one object.
We are, however, told by Claudius that a body of Thracians, amounting to
some 15,000, sought to oppose Muttines the Numidian, who was
reconnoitring in advance of the main army. There were 400 Numidian
cavalry and a few elephants; the son of Muttines, with 150 picked troopers,
rode through the middle of the enemy, and after Muttines with his elephants
in the centre and his cavalry on the flanks had engaged the enemy, his son
attacked their rear and created such disorder amongst them that they never
got near the main body of infantry. Passing through Macedonia, Cn. Manlius
led his army into Thessaly and finally reached Apollonia. Here he remained
for the winter, as the dangers of a winter voyage were not yet so
contemptible that he could venture to cross.
38.42
It was
almost at the close of the year that the consul M. Valerius came from Liguria
to elect new magistrates. He had done nothing worth mentioning in his
province, and this might have been the reason why he had come at a later
date than usual to conduct the elections. The consular elections were held on
February 18; the new consuls were M. Aemilius Lepidus and C. Flaminius.
The praetors elected on the following day were Ap. Claudius Pulcher, Ser.
Sulpicius Galba, Q. Terentius Culleo, L. Terentius Massiliota, Q. Fulvius
Flaccus, and M. Furius Crassipes. When the elections were over the consuls
asked the senate to settle what provinces were to be assigned to the
praetors. They decreed that there should be two in Rome for the
administration of justice; two outside Italy, namely Sicily and Sardinia; two
in Italy itself, namely Tarentum and Gaul; and the praetors were ordered to
ballot at once for these before they took office. The civic jurisdiction fell to
Ser. Sulpicius, the alien to Q. Terentius, Sicily went to L. Terentius, Sardinia
to Q. Fulvius, Tarentum to Ap. Claudius, and Gaul to M. Furius. During the
year L. Minucius Myrtilus and L. Manlius were charged with having beaten
the Carthaginian ambassadors. They were handed over to them by the fetials
and carried off to Carthage.
There were rumours of a warlike movement on a large scale in
Liguria, which was every day growing more serious. In consequence of this
the senate decreed that both the consuls should have Liguria as their
province. The consul Lepidus opposed this resolution and protested against
both consuls being confined to the valleys of Liguria. M. Fulvius, he said,
and Cn. Manlius had now for two years been acting like kings, the one in
Europe, the other in Asia, as though they had replaced Philip and Antiochus
on their thrones. If it was the pleasure of the senate that there should be
armies in those countries it was more fitting that consuls should command
them than unofficial citizens. They were visiting with all the horrors of war
nations against whom no war had been proclaimed, and selling peace to them
at a price. If it was necessary that armies should occupy those provinces,
then C. Livius and M. Valerius as consuls ought to succeed Fulvius and
Manlius, just as L. Scipio, when consul, succeeded Manius Acilias, and M.
Fulvius and Cn. Manlius, when they became consuls, succeeded L. Scipio.
Now, at all events, seeing that the war in Aetolia was at an end, Asia taken
from Antiochus, and the Gauls subjugated, either consuls ought to be sent to
command consular armies, or the legions brought home and restored to the
republic. After listening to this speech the senate adhered to their decision
that Liguria should be the province of both consuls, and Manlius and Fulvius
were to resign their provinces, bring their armies away and return to Rome.
38.43
M.
Fulvius and M. Aemilius were on bad terms with one another, the main
cause being Aemilius' suspicion that it was owing to Fulvius that he had been
made consul two years later than he ought to have been. In order to stir up
odium against him, he introduced into the senate some delegates from
Ambracia who had been suborned to bring charges against him. They
asserted that while they were at peace and had done all that the former
consuls had required of them and were prepared to show the same obedience
to M. Fulvius, war was declared against them, their fields were ravaged, the
terror created by the bloodshed and pillage reached their city and compelled
them to close their gates. Then they were besieged, their city carried by
storm, and all the horrors of war, fire and slaughter, wreaked upon them,
their homes demolished, their city completely sacked, their wives and
children dragged off into slavery, their goods carried away, and what they
felt most bitterly of all, the temples in the city stripped of their adornments,
the statues of their gods, or rather the gods themselves, torn from their
shrines and carried away. All that was left to the Ambracians were the naked
walls and the columns to receive their worship or hear their supplications
and prayers. Whilst they were stating these grievances the consul, as
previously arranged, questioned them as to other charges, and elicited
answers made with apparent reluctance.
The House was impressed by these statements and the other consul
took up the cause of Fulvius. He pointed out that the Ambracians had taken
an old and outworn course; just in the same way had M. Marcellus been
accused by the Syracusans, and Q. Fulvius by the Campanians. Why might
not the senate allow charges to be brought on similar grounds against T.
Quinctius by Philip, against Manius Acilius and L. Scipio by Antiochus,
against Cn. Manlius by the Gauls, against M. Fulvius himself by the
Aetolians and Cephallanians? "Ambracia," he went on to say, "has been
taken by storm, the statues and temple ornaments have been carried away,
and everything has happened which usually does happen at the capture of
cities. Do you think, senators, that either I, speaking for Fulvius, or M.
Fulvius himself, will deny this? He is going to demand a triumph just because
he has done all this, and will carry in front of his chariot and fasten on the
pillars of his house the captured Ambracia and the statues which he is alleged
to have criminally removed. There is nothing to separate the case of the
Ambracians from that of the Aetolians, the cause of the one is the cause of
the other. My colleague must display his enmity in some other case or if he
prefers the present one, he must keep his Ambracians till Fulvius returns. I
will not allow any decree to be passed in respect of either the Ambracians or
the Aetolians in M. Fulvius' absence."
38.44
Aemilius continued to attack his enemy
and declared that his cunning and malice were notorious, and that Fulvius
would manage to delay matters so as not to come to Rome while his
adversary was consul. Two days were thus wasted in the quarrel between the
consuls. It was clear that while Faminius was present no decision could be
arrived at. Owing to Flaminius' absence through illness, Aemilius seized the
opportunity to move a resolution which the senate adopted. Its purport was
that the Ambracians should have all their property restored to them; they
should be free to live under their own laws; they should impose such harbour
dues and other imposts by land and sea as they desired, provided that the
Romans and their Italian allies were exempt. With regard to the statues and
ornaments which they said had been taken from their temples, it was decided
that after Fulvius' return their ultimate disposal should be referred to the
pontifical college, and what they deemed right would be done. The consul
was not content with this; subsequently in a thinly attended House he got a
clause added to the effect that there was no evidence that Ambracia had been
taken by storm. In consequence of a serious epidemic which ravaged City
and country alike, the Keepers of the Sacred Books decreed that special
sacrifices and intercessions should be offered for three days. Then came the
Latin Festival. When the consuls were free from these religious duties and
had raised what men they required -they both preferred to employ fresh
troops -they left for their province and disbanded all the old troops. After
their departure Cneius Manlius arrived at Rome, and the praetor S. Servilius
convened a meeting of the senate to grant an audience. After giving a report
of what he had done, he asked that in recognition of these services, honours
should be paid to the immortal gods and permission given to him to enter the
City in triumph. The majority of the ten commissioners who had been with
him opposed this demand, especially L. Furius Purpurio and L. Aemilius
Paulus.
38.45
They
had been appointed, they said, to act as commissioners with Cn. Manlius for
the purpose of concluding peace with Antiochus and finally settling the terms
of the treaty which had been outlined by L. Scipio. Cn. Manlius did his
utmost to upset the negotiations and, if he got the chance, to inveigle the
king into his power. When the king became aware of the consul's designs,
though he was frequently invited to a personal interview, he avoided not
only meeting him but even the very sight of him. When the consul was bent
upon crossing the Taurus range, it was with the utmost difficulty that he was
prevented from doing so by the commissioners, who warned him against
tempting the doom foretold in the Sibylline Books for every one who
overpassed the limits fixed by Fate. Nevertheless, he marched his army up
and encamped almost on the summit where the mountain streams flow
opposite ways. When he found that the king's subjects remained perfectly
quiet and that there was nothing to justify hostilities, he led his troops round
against the Gallograeci, a nation against whom no declaration of war had
been made either by the authority of the senate or the order of the people.
Who else would have ever dared to do such a thing? The wars with
Antiochus, Philip, Hannibal and Carthage were fresh in all men's memories;
in every one of these the senate issued its decree and the people their
mandate; envoys had been sent beforehand frequently to demand
satisfaction, and as a final step to declare war. "Which of these
preliminaries," the speaker continued, "has been so observed by you, Cn.
Manlius, as to make us regard that war as waged by the people of Rome and
not simply as a marauding expedition of your own? But were you ever
content with that? Did you march your army straight against those whom
you had elected to regard as your enemies? Did you not on the contrary
make a roundabout march through winding roads, halting at all the
cross-roads in order that in whatever direction Eumenes' brother Attalus
should direct his march, you might follow him like a mercenary captain, you,
a consul with a Roman army? Did you not visit every hole and corner of
Pisidia, Lycaonia, and Phrygia, collecting money from the tyrants and their
officers scattered through the land? What business had you, pray, to interfere
with Oroanda or with other equally unoffending communities? But about this
war, on the strength of which you are seeking a triumph, in what way did
you conduct it? Did you fight on favourable ground, at a time of your own
choosing? You are certainly right in claiming that honours should be paid to
the immortal gods. For in the first place they would not let the army pay the
penalty of its commander's recklessness in making an aggressive war in
defiance of the law of nations, and in the second place they brought against
us wild animals not men.
38.46
"Do
not suppose, senators, that it is only in their name that the Gallograeci are a
mixed race; it is much more their bodies and minds that have become mixed
and corrupted. If they had been real Gauls like those with whom we have
fought numberless doubtful battles in Italy, would a single man, so far as our
general is concerned, have returned to tell the story? He fought with them
twice. On both occasions he advanced against them at a disadvantage, and
from his lower ground almost placed his line under the enemy's feet, so that,
without discharging their weapons from above, by simply hurling their naked
bodies upon us, they could have overwhelmed us. What, then, occurred to
prevent this? Great is the Fortune of the Roman people, great and terrible its
name! The recent downfall of Hannibal, of Philip, of Antiochus, had almost
stunned the Gauls. With all their huge bulk they were put to flight by slings
and arrows, not a sword in the army was stained by the blood of a Gaul, they
fled away like flocks of birds at the first whirr of our missiles. Yes, but
Fortune also warned us what would have happened to us then, if we had had
a real enemy. On our return march we fell amongst Thracian brigands, and
were killed, put to flight, and stripped of our baggage. Q. Minucius Thermus
fell, together with many brave men, and his loss was much more serious than
that of Cn. Manlius would have been, through whose foolhardiness the
disaster occurred. The army which was bringing home the spoil taken from
Antiochus was dispersed in three sections, the van in one place, the rear in
another, and the baggage in another, and they lay down one night amongst
thickets and lairs of wild beasts. Is it for these exploits that a triumph is
asked for? Supposing no ignominious defeat had been sustained in Thrace,
over what enemy would you seek triumph? Over those, I presume, whom
the senate or the people of Rome had assigned to you as your enemy. On
these terms a triumph was granted to L. Scipio, to Manius Acilius over
Antiochus, to T. Quinctius, a little earlier, over Philip, to P. Africanus over
Hannibal and Carthage and Syphax. And even when the senate has voted for
war, certain minor questions have had to be answered -as to whom the
declaration of war ought to be made, whether in any case to the kings
themselves, or whether it would be sufficient to proclaim it at one of his
frontier garrisons. Do you then, senators, want all these formalities to be
treated with scorn, the solemn procedure of the fetials to be abolished, and
the fetials themselves to be done away with? Suppose all religious scruples -the gods forgive me for saying it! -were cast to the winds and forgetfulness
of the gods took possession of your hearts, should you still think it right that
the senate should not be consulted as to war, or the question referred to the
people whether it was their will and order that war should be waged with the
Gauls? Recently, at all events, when the consuls wanted to have Greece and
Asia as their provinces, you held to your resolution to decree Liguria as their
province, and they submitted to your authority. Deservedly, therefore, will
they ask for a triumph, after their successes, from you under whose authority
they will have achieved them."
38.47
This
was the substance of what Furius and Aemilius said. I understand that
Manlius spoke to the following effect: "Formerly, senators, it was the
tribunes of the plebs who usually opposed those who claimed a triumph. I
am grateful to them for having conceded this much to me, either personally
or in acknowledgment of the greatness of my services, that they not only
showed by their silence their approval of my being thus honoured, but were
even ready, if necessary, to recommend it to the senate. It is amongst the ten
commissioners that I find my opponents, those whom our ancestors assigned
to their commanders for the purpose of gathering the fruits of their victories
and enhancing their glory. L. Furius and L. Aemilius forbid me to enter the
triumphal chariot; they snatch the victor's wreath from my brow; these very
men whom I was going to call as witnesses to what I have done, had the
tribunes opposed my triumph. I envy no man his honours, senators. Only the
other day when the tribunes of the plebs were trying to prevent the triumph
of Q. Fabius Labeo, strong and determined as they were, you overawed
them by your authority. His enemies laid it to his charge, not that he had
fought an unjust war, but that he had never even seen an enemy. Still he
enjoyed his triumph. I, who have fought so many pitched battles with
100,000 of our fiercest enemies, who have killed or taken prisoners 40,000,
who have stormed two of their camps, who have left all the country this side
the Taurus more peaceable than the land of Italy -I am not only being
defrauded of my triumph, but actually have to defend myself before you
against the accusations of my commissioners.
"You have noticed, senators, that they bring a double charge
against me; that I ought not to have made war on the Gauls, and that I
conducted it in a rash and imprudent way. 'The Gauls,' they say, 'were not
hostile to us, but you wantonly attacked them while they were quietly
carrying out your orders.' I am not going to ask you, senators, to judge the
Gauls who inhabit those countries from what you know of the savagery
common to the race, and their deadly hatred to the name of Rome. Keep out
of sight the infamous and hateful character of the race as a whole and judge
those men by themselves. I wish Eumenes, I wish all the cities of Asia were
here, and that you were hearing their complaints rather than the charges I am
bringing. Send commissioners to visit all the cities of Asia and find out which
has delivered them from the heavier thraldom, the removal of Antiochus
beyond the Taurus or the subjugation of the Gauls. Let them bring back
word how often the fields of those people have been devastated, how often
they and all their property have been carried off, with hardly a chance of
ransoming the captives, and knowing that human victims were being
sacrificed and their children immolated. Let me tell you that your allies paid
tribute to the Gauls, and would have been paying it now, though freed from
the rule of Antiochus, if it had not been put a stop to by me.
38.48
"The
greater the distance to which Antiochus was removed, the more tyrannically
did the Gauls lord it over Asia; by his removal you added whatever lands lie
on this side the Taurus to their dominion, not your own. But you say,
'Assuming this to be true, the Gauls once despoiled Delphi, but though it was
the one oracle common to all mankind, and the central spot in the whole
world, the Romans did not on that account declare or commence war against
them.' I should certainly have thought that there was a considerable
difference between the conditions existing when Greece and Asia had not yet
passed under your suzerainty, as far as regards your interest and concern in
their affairs, and the conditions prevailing now; when you have fixed the
Taurus as the frontier of your dominion; when you are giving to the cities
liberty and immunity from tribute; when you are enlarging the territories of
some and depriving others of their land by way of punishment or imposing
tribute: when you are extending, diminishing, giving, taking away kingdoms,
and making it your one care that they shall keep the peace both on land and
sea. Would you consider that the liberty of Asia would not have been secure
had not Antiochus withdrawn his garrisons, which were remaining quietly in
their quarters, and do you suppose that your gifts to Eumenes would be safe
or the cities retain their freedom as long as the armies of the Gauls were
roaming far and wide?
"But why do I use these arguments, as though I had made the
Gauls into enemies and had not found them such already? I appeal to you, L.
Scipio, whose valour and good fortune alike I prayed to the immortal gods -and not in vain -to grant me, when I succeeded to your command; I appeal
to you, P. Scipio, who though subordinate to your brother the consul, still
possessed both with him and the army all the authority of a colleague; and I
ask you whether you know that there were legions of Gauls in the army of
Antiochus; whether you saw that they were posted at either end of his line,
for there his main strength seemed to be; whether you fought with them as
regular enemies, and killed them and brought their spoils home. And yet the
war which the senate had decreed and the people ordered was a war against
Antiochus, not against the Gauls. Yes, but I hold that the decree and order
included those who had formed part of his army, and amongst these -with
the exception of Antiochus with whom Scipio had concluded peace and with
whom you ordered a special treaty to be made -all who bore arms on his
behalf were our enemies. The Gauls above all supported his cause, as did
also some petty kings and tyrants. With the others, however, I made peace
and compelled them to make an expiation for their misdoings proportionate
to the dignity of your empire, and I tried to influence the Gauls, if haply their
innate ferocity could be mitigated. When I saw that they remained
untameable and implacable, I thought they ought to be coerced by force of
arms.
"Now that I have cleared myself of the charge of wanton
aggression, I have to account for my conduct of the war. On this topic I
should feel perfect confidence in my case, even if I were pleading not before
the Romans but before the Carthaginian senate, where it is said that their
generals are crucified, even when successful, if their strategy has been faulty.
But this State has recourse to the gods at the commencement and during the
conduct of all its business, because it will not have those matters which the
gods have approved of open to any man's censure, and when it decrees
special thanksgivings or a triumph, employs the solemn formula: 'Whereas he
has managed the affairs of the Republic with success and good fortune.' If,
then, renouncing all assertion of my own merits as arrogant and
presumptuous, I were to demand on behalf of my own good fortune and that
of my army, in having crushed so powerful a nation without any loss, that
honours should be paid to the immortal gods, and that I, myself, should go
up in triumph to the Capitol, from whence I started after my vows and
prayers had been duly offered, would you refuse this to me and to the
immortal gods as well?
38.49
"But,
they say, I fought on unfavourable ground. Then tell me where I could have
fought at less disadvantage. The enemy had occupied the mountain, they
kept themselves within their lines; surely if I was to win the battle it was
necessary for me to advance against them. How would it have been if they
had been holding a city there and keeping within its walls? Of course, they
must have been attacked. Why, did not Manius Acilius engage Antiochus on
unfavourable ground at Thermopylae? Did not T. Quinctius under similar
conditions dislodge Philip when he was holding the heights above the Aous?
So far I am unable to make out what sort of an enemy they are picturing to
themselves, or in what light they wish you to regard him. If they say that he
has degenerated and become enervated by the attractions and luxuries of
Asia, what risk did we run in attacking him even when we were in a bad
position? If they regard him as formidable, owing to ferocity and physical
strength, do you refuse a triumph for so great a victory? Envy, senators, is
blind and knows no other method than that of disparaging merit and soiling
its honours and rewards. I crave your indulgence, senators, if the necessity of
defending myself against accusations, and not a desire to sound my praises,
has made my speech somewhat long. Was it in my power when marching
through Thrace to make the narrow passes into open country, the broken
road into level ground, the forests into open fields? Could I have made such
dispositions as to prevent the Thracian banditti from concealing themselves
in lurking-places with which they were perfectly familiar, or any of our
baggage from being stolen, or any pack animal from being carried off from
so long a column, or a single man from being wounded, or that gallant
soldier, Q. Minucius, from dying of his wounds? They make a great point of
that sad misfortune, involving as it did the loss of so good a citizen. But the
fact of our two divisions at the front and rear of the column having hemmed
in the barbarians when busy in looting our baggage, after attacking in a
difficult pass on ground wholly against us; the fact that those two divisions
killed or took prisoners many thousands of the enemy on that day and many
more a few days later -if they have been silent as to these facts, are they not
aware that you will know them when the whole army can testify to what I
say? If I had never drawn the sword in Asia, or seen an enemy there, I
should still have deserved a triumph for those two battles in Thrace. But I
have said enough and would only ask for and, I hope, receive your
indulgence for having wearied you by speaking at greater length than I
wished."
38.50
The
attack would that day have prevailed over the defence had they not
protracted the debate to a late hour. When the House rose, the general
opinion was that it would in all likelihood refuse the triumph. The next day
the friends and relatives of Cn. Manlius exerted their utmost efforts, and the
authority of the older senators prevailed. They said that there was no
instance on record of a commander who had brought back his army, after
subjugating a dangerous enemy and reducing his province to order, entering
the city in an unofficial and private capacity without the chariot and laurels
of triumph. The sense of the indignity of such a proceeding was too strong
for the aspersions of his enemies, and a full senate decreed to him a triumph.
All discussion and even recollection of this dispute were lost in the outbreak
of a more serious controversy with a greater and more distinguished man.
We are told on the authority of Valerius Antias that the two Petillii instituted
proceedings against P. Scipio Africanus. Men put different interpretations on
this according to their various dispositions. Some blamed, not the tribunes
only, but the whole body of citizens, for letting such a thing be possible; the
two greatest cities in the world, they said, had proved themselves, almost at
the same time, ungrateful to their foremost men. Rome was the more
ungrateful of the two, for whilst Carthage after her defeat drove the defeated
Hannibal into exile, Rome would banish the victorious Scipio in the hour of
her victory. Others again took the ground that no single citizen should stand
on such an eminence that he could not be required to answer according to
law. Nothing contributed more towards maintaining liberty for all than the
power of putting the most powerful citizen on his trial. What business, it was
asked -not to mention the supreme interests of the State -could be
entrusted to any man, if he had not to render an account for it? If a man
cannot submit to laws which are the same for all, no force which may be
employed against him is unlawful. So the matter was discussed until the day
of trial came. Never before had anyone, even Scipio himself when he was
consul or censor, been surrounded by a greater concourse of people of all
sorts and conditions than on the day when he was conducted into the Forum
to make his defence. When he was called upon to plead, he made no allusion
whatever to the charges brought against him, but spoke of the services he
had rendered in such a lofty tone that it was universally felt that no man had
ever deserved higher or truer praise. He described his actions in the spirit
and temper in which he had performed them, and he was listened to without
any impatience because they were recounted not in self-glorification but in
self-defence.
38.51
In
order to support the charges they were bringing against him, the tribunes
brought up the old story of his luxurious living in his winter quarters in
Syracuse and the disturbance created by Pleminius at Locri. They then went
on to accuse him of having received bribes, more on grounds of suspicion
than by direct proof; they alleged that his son who was taken prisoner was
restored to him without ransom; that Antiochus had in every way tried to
ingratiate himself with Scipio as though peace and war with Rome were
solely in his hands; that Scipio had behaved towards the consul in his
province as dictator rather than subordinate; that he had gone out with no
other object than to make clear to Greece and Asia and all the kings and
nationalities in the East what had long been the settled conviction of Spain
and Gaul and Sicily and Africa, that he alone was the head and mainstay of
Roman sovereignty; that under Scipio's shadow the mistress city of the
world lay sheltered and that his nod took the place of the decrees of the
senate and the orders of the people. No stigma of disgrace could be fastened
upon him, so they did their utmost to excite popular odium against him. As
the speeches went on till night, the proceedings were adjourned. When the
next day for the hearing came, the tribunes took their seats on the Rostra at
daybreak. The defendant was summoned, and passing through the middle of
the Assembly accompanied by a large body of friends and clients, stood
before the Rostra. Silence having been called he spoke as follows:
"Tribunes of the plebs, and you, Quirites, this is the anniversary of
the day on which I fought with success and good fortune a pitched battle
against Hannibal and the Carthaginians. It is therefore only right and fitting
that on this day all pleas and actions should be suspended. I am going at
once to the Capitol and the Citadel to make my devotions to Jupiter Optimus
Maximus, and Juno and Minerva and all the other tutelar deities of the
Capitol and the Citadel, and to offer up thanksgivings to them for having
given me as on this day the wisdom and the strength to do the Republic
exceptional service. Those of you, Quirites, who are at liberty to do so,
come with me. You have always from my seventeenth year down to this
period of my old age advanced me to honours before I was of the age for
them, and I have always forestalled your honours by my services; then pray
now to the gods that you may always have leaders like me." From the Rostra
he went straight up to the Capitol, and the whole Assembly turning their
backs on the tribunes followed him; even the secretaries and apparitors left
the tribunes; there was no one with them except their attendant slaves and
the usher who used to stand at the Rostra and call the defendants. Scipio not
only went up to the Capitol; he visited all the temples throughout the City,
accompanied by the Roman people. The enthusiasm of the citizens and their
recognition of his real greatness made that day almost a more glorious one
for him than when he entered the City in triumph after his victories over
Syphax and the Carthaginians.
38.52
This
splendid day was the last day of brightness for Scipio. He saw before him
envious attacks and contests with the tribunes, and so after a somewhat
lengthy adjournment had been agreed upon, he retired to Liternum, firmly
resolved not to appear in his defence. His spirit was too high, his mind too
great; he had all through held a position too lofty to allow him to accept the
position of a defendant or submit to the humiliation of having to plead his
cause. When the day arrived and his name was called, L. Scipio apologised
for his absence on the ground of ill-health. The prosecuting tribunes did not
accept the excuse and gave out that his refusal to appear was dictated by the
same spirit of pride and arrogance in which he had left the seat of judgment
and the tribunes and the Assembly. Surrounded by the very men whom he
had deprived of the right and liberty of passing sentence upon him, and
dragging them after him like prisoners of war, he had celebrated a triumph
over the people of Rome and had made a secession on that day from the
tribunes to the Capitol. "So now," they continued, "you have the due reward
of your folly; the man at whose instigation and under whose leadership you
deserted us, has now deserted you. So low is our courage falling day by day,
that the man whom seventeen years ago we dared to send tribunes to Sicily
to apprehend, whilst he had an army and a fleet at his command, that man we
dare not now, though he is only a private citizen, fetch from his
country-house to stand his trial." L. Scipio appealed to the tribunes of the
plebs as a body, and they passed the following resolution: "If illness be
pleaded as an excuse, it is our pleasure that this excuse be accepted, and our
colleagues must again adjourn the day of trial." Tiberius Sempronius
Gracchus was one of the tribunes. He was a political opponent of Scipio, and
had forbidden his colleagues to add his name to their resolution. It was
generally expected that he would give a more severe sentence, but he drew
up a resolution in the following terms: "Since L. Scipio has pleaded illness as
the reason for his brother's absence, I hold that to be sufficient excuse, and
will not allow P. Scipio to be put on his trial before his return to Rome; even
then, if he appeals to me, I will support him in any effort to avoid a trial.
Scipio has by the common consent of gods and men attained such a lofty
position through his own acts and the honours which the Roman people have
conferred upon him, that for him to stand beneath the Rostra as a defendant,
and have to listen to the insults of young men, would be a greater ignominy
for the people of Rome than for him."
38.53
He
followed this up by an indignant speech: Is Scipio, the conqueror of Africa,
to stand at your feet, tribunes? Was it for this that he broke and routed four
armies in Spain under the most famous generals that Carthage possessed?
Was it for this that he captured Syphax and crushed Hannibal, made
Carthage tributary to us, removed Antiochus beyond the Taurus -for his
brother Lucius allowed him to share his glory -was it simply that he might
succumb to the two Petillii, and that you might claim the palm of victory
over Publius Africanus. Will you allow the claim, citizens? Will illustrious
men never either through their own merits or the honours you confer, reach
a safe, and if I may say so, a sacred asylum where their old age may rest, if
not venerated, at least inviolate?" His resolution and the speech which
followed it had their effect upon the other tribunes, even upon the
prosecutors, who said that they would deliberate as to what their right and
duty demanded. After the Assembly broke up, a meeting of the senate was
held. Here a most hearty vote of thanks to Tiberius Gracchus was passed by
the whole order, especially the men of consular rank and the elder senators,
for having placed the interests of the State before his own private feelings,
and the Petillii were taunted with wanting to shine by darkening another's
reputation and enrich themselves by a triumph over Africanus. After this
nothing more was said about proceedings against Scipio. He passed his life
at Liternum without any wish to return to the City, and it is said that on his
death-bed he gave orders that he should be buried and his monument set up
there, so that there might be no funeral rites performed for him by his
ungrateful country. He was an extraordinary man, more distinguished,
however in the arts of war than in those of peace. The earlier part of his life
was more brilliant than the later; as a young man he was constantly engaged
in war; with advancing years the glory of his achievements faded, and there
was nothing to call forth his genius. What additional lustre did his second
consulship confer as compared with his first, or even his censorship? What
further distinction did he gain during his subordinate command in Asia,
rendered useless through bad health and saddened by the misfortune which
overtook his son? Then, again, after his return he was under the necessity of
either standing his trial or of absenting himself from his native city. Still, he
alone won the unique glory of bringing the war with Carthage to a close, the
greatest and most serious war that the Romans have ever waged.
38.54
With
the death of Africanus the courage of his enemies rose. The foremost of
these was M. Porcius Cato, who even during Scipio's lifetime was constantly
belittling his greatness, and it was at his instigation, it was thought, that the
Petillii attacked him whilst he was alive. After his death they introduced into
the Assembly the following motion: "Touching the money which was seized,
confiscated and exacted from Antiochus and his subjects, is it your will and
pleasure, Quirites, that in respect of such money as has not been accounted
for to the State, the City praetor Servius Sulpicius shall consult the senate as
to which of the acting praetors it shall appoint to investigate the matter?"
The two Mummii, Quintus and Lucius, interposed their veto to this proposal;
they considered that where money had not been accounted for to the State, it
was only right and proper that the senate should conduct such investigation
as it always had done previously. The Petillii accused the nobility and the
despotic power which the Scipios possessed over the senate. L. Furius
Purpurio, a man of consular rank, one of the ten commissioners, thought that
the inquiry ought to go further. By way of damaging his enemy Cn. Manlius,
he suggested that it ought to include not only the amount taken from
Antiochus, but all that had been taken from other kings and nations. L.
Scipio, who it was evident would speak more in his own defence than
against the proposal, came forward to oppose it. He protested strongly
against this question being raised after the death of his brother P. Africanus,
of all men the bravest and most illustrious. No public eulogium had been
made over him when he died, but that was not enough, now accusations
must be levelled at him. Even the Carthaginians were content with banishing
Hannibal; the Roman people were not satisfied with the death of Africanus,
but his reputation must be torn to pieces over his tomb, and as an
aggravation of malice, his brother also must be sacrificed. M. Cato
supported the motion; his speech, "Concerning the money of King
Antiochus," is still extant. The weight of his authority deterred the Mummii
from opposing it, and as these withdrew their veto, the proposal was earned
by the unanimous vote of the Tribes.
38.55
Ser.
Sulpicius next consulted the senate as to who was to conduct the inquiry,
and they fixed upon Q. Terentius Culleo. There are some writers who assert
that this praetor was so attached to the family of the Cornelii that at the
funeral -they say he died and was buried in Rome -he preceded the bier
wearing a cap of liberty just as though he were marching in a triumphal
procession, and at the Porta Capena he distributed wine sweetened with
honey to those who followed the body, because amongst the other captives
in Africa he had been delivered by Scipio. Another account is that he was
hostile to the family; that, knowing this, the party opposed to the Scipios
selected him as the one man to conduct the inquiry. However this may be, it
was before this praetor, whether biassed in favour of or against the
defendant, that L. Scipio was at once put on his trial. The names of his
divisional commanders, Aulus and Lucius Hostilius Cato, were also given in
to the praetor, and entered by him, as well as that of the quaestor C. Furius
Aculeo; and that his whole staff might appear to be associated in the
embezzlement, his two secretaries and his marshal were also included.
Lucius Hostilius, the secretaries and the marshal were all acquitted before
Scipio's case was heard. He, together with A. Hostilius and C. Furius, were
found guilty -Scipio, of having received 6000 pounds of gold and 480 of
silver over and above what he had brought into the treasury; and Hostilius
was convicted of having similarly embezzled 80 pounds of gold and 403 of
silver; the quaestor was found guilty of having received 130 pounds of gold
and 200 of silver. These are the amounts I find as stated by Antias. In the
case of L. Scipio, I should prefer to regard these figures as a mistake on the
part of the copyist, rather than a false assertion of the author, for the weight
of the silver was in all probability greater than that of the gold, and the fine
was more likely to be fixed at 400,000 than at 2,400,000 sesterces, especially
as it is stated that this was the sum for which Publius Scipio was asked to
account in the senate. It is also recorded that when he had told his brother
Lucius to fetch his account-book, he tore it up with his own hands while the
senate was looking on, and indignantly protested against an account for
400,000 sesterces being demanded of him after he had brought into the
treasury 2,000,000. He is further stated to have shown the same
self-confidence in demanding the keys of the treasury, when the quaestors
did not venture to bring the money out as against the law, and declaring that
as it was through him it was shut, so he would open it.
38.56
There
are many other details in which writers differ, especially as regards his
closing years, his impeachment, his death, his funeral, and his tomb, so that I
cannot decide what traditions or documents to follow. There is no agreement
as to the prosecutors. . Some say that M. Naevius, others that the Petillii,
initiated the proceedings; nor as to the date when they began, nor the year in
which he died, nor where he was buried. Some say that he died and was
buried in Rome; others say in Liternum. In both places his monument and
statues are shown. At Liternum there was a monument surmounted by a
statue which we have seen lately, and which was overthrown by a storm. At
Rome there are three statues above the monument of the Scipios; two are
said to be those of Publius and Lucius; the third that of the poet Q. Ennius.
Nor is it only the chroniclers who differ; even the speeches, if they are really
those of the men whose they are said to be, viz., P. Scipio and Tiberius
Gracchus, cannot be brought into agreement. The title of Scipio's speech
gives the prosecutor's name as M. Naevius; in the speech itself the name
does not appear; sometimes he describes him as a knave, sometimes as a
trifler. Even the speech of Gracchus makes no mention of the Petillii as the
prosecutors of Africanus, nor of the actual proceedings. Quite another story
will have to be put together to fit this speech of Gracchus, and we shall have
to follow those authorities who aver that at the time when Lucius Scipio was
tried and convicted of having taken bribes from the king, Africanus was
serving in a subordinate command in Etruria and, on hearing of the
misfortune which had befallen his brother, hurried back to Rome. On
learning that his brother was being taken to prison, he went straight to the
Forum, drove off the officer who had charge of him and, his affection for his
brother getting the better of his citizenship, even used violence towards the
tribunes who tried to hold him back.
Gracchus himself complains that in this instance the authority of the
tribunes was successfully defied by a private citizen, and at the end of his
speech where he promises to support Scipio, he adds that it would form a
better precedent were it to appear that the tribunitian and State authority had
been overborne by a tribune of the plebs rather than by a private citizen. But
while he reproaches him bitterly for losing his self-control in this one
outbreak of lawlessness, and censures him for having fallen so far below
himself, he makes up for his censures in recalling the high esteem in which
Scipio was held in the old days for his equable and self-disciplined character.
He reminded his hearers how severely Scipio rebuked the people for wishing
to make him perpetual consul and dictator; how he had prevented them from
raising statues to him in the Comitium, the Rostra, the senate house, and in
the shrine of Jupiter on the Capitol, and how he had prevented a decree from
being passed authorising his image decked in triumphal garb to be borne in
procession from the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. These things, even
if inserted in a public eulogium, would still be a proof of his greatness of soul
in keeping his honours within the limits of ordinary civic life; how much
more so when they are the admissions of an enemy.
38.57
It is
generally understood that the younger of his two daughters was married to
this same Gracchus, and the elder one was certainly disposed of by her father
to P. Cornelius Nasica, but whether it was after her father's death is
uncertain. It is equally uncertain whether the current belief in the following
story is well founded. The story goes that when Gracchus saw that L. Scipio
was on the point of being carried off to prison and that none of his
fellow-tribunes interfered on his behalf, he swore that though his enmity
towards the Scipios was as strong as ever, and he would do nothing to win
his favour, yet he would not look on whilst the brother of Africanus was
being taken to a dungeon into which he had seen Africanus himself taking
kings and commanders. The senate happened to be dining that day in the
Capitol, and rising in a body they begged Scipio to betroth his daughter to
Gracchus there and then. The betrothal having been formally completed in
the presence of the whole gathering, Scipio went home. On meeting his wife,
he told her that he had betrothed their youngest daughter. She was naturally
hurt and indignant at not having been consulted in the disposal of their child,
and observed that even if he were giving her to Tiberius Gracchus, her
mother ought to have had a voice in the matter. Scipio was delighted to find
that they were of one accord, and told her that it was to that man that she
was betrothed. It is right that in the case of so great a man the various
opinions and the different historical statements as to these details should be
noted.
38.58
When
the praetor Q. Terentius had brought the proceedings to a close, Hostilius
and Furius, who had been convicted, gave the required sureties to the City
quaestors. Scipio, who stoutly maintained that the whole of the money he
had received was in the treasury, and that he had none which belonged to the
State, was ordered off to prison. P. Scipio Nasica formally appealed to the
tribunes in a speech full of just and true encomiums on the house of the
Cornelii and particularly on his own family. He pointed out that the two
distinguished men, Cn. and P. Scipio, were the fathers respectively of
himself, and of P. and L. Scipio, who was now being led to prison. These
two men had for many years fought in Spain against numerous armies of
Carthaginians and Spaniards, and had not only added to the glory of Rome,
but after presenting to those two nations an example of Roman moderation
and good faith, had at last given their lives for the commonwealth. It would
have been enough had their glory been kept untarnished for posterity, but P.
Africanus had so far surpassed his father's renown that men believed him to
be sprung from no human parents, but to be of divine origin. As to Lucius
Scipio, whose case was before them, he would pass over all that he had done
as his brother's lieutenant in Spain and Africa, and would remind them that
when he was consul the senate thought him worthy of being entrusted with
Asia and the war with Antiochus as his province, without having recourse to
the ballot. His brother, too, though he had been censor and twice consul, and
graced with a triumph, went to him to serve as his lieutenant in Asia. Whilst
he was there, as though to prevent the greatness and splendour of the
lieutenant from eclipsing the fame of the consul, it so happened that on the
day when Lucius Scipio completely defeated Antiochus in the great battle of
Magnesia, Publius Scipio was several days' journey away, lying ill at Elaea.
The army that Lucius engaged was not less than that which Hannibal
commanded at the battle in Africa. Hannibal who had commanded all
through the Punic war was also among the generals with Antiochus. The
conduct of the war was such that no one could charge even Fortune with
caprice. It is in respect of the peace that the charges are made; the peace is
said to have been sold. If so, the ten commissioners are also involved in the
charge; it was on their advice that the peace was granted. And though out of
those ten men some came forward to accuse Cn. Manlius, not only did they
fail to prove their charge, they were not even able to delay his triumph.
38.59
But in
Scipio's case the very terms of the peace formed the grounds of suspicion as
being too favourable to Antiochus. "His kingdom," they say, "has been left
to him in its entirety; after his defeat he remained in possession of all that had
belonged to him before the war. Though he had a large amount of gold and
silver, none of it has been brought into the treasury; it has all passed into
private hands." Was not the amount of gold and silver borne before all men's
eyes in Lucius Scipio's triumph greater than in any other ten triumphs if it
were all collected together? What am I to say about the limits of the king's
dominions? Antiochus held all Asia and the adjacent parts of Europe; how
great a part of the world that is, stretching from the Taurus to the Aegean,
you all know. This tract of country, more than thirty days' march in length
and, measured from sea to sea, ten days' march in breadth, extending right
up to the Taurus, has been taken from Antiochus. He has been banished to
the most remote corner of the world. What more, pray, could have been
taken from him, even if peace had been granted without any conditions?
After Philip's defeat, Macedonia was left to him as Lacedaemon was to
Nabis, and yet no criminal inquiry was instituted against Quinctius. He had
not Africanus for his brother, whose great reputation ought to have helped
Lucius instead of injuring him by the jealousy it aroused. It was stated in the
trial that the amount of gold and silver brought into Lucius Scipio's house
was greater than could have been realised by the sale of the whole of his
property. Where, then, is that gold and silver and all the benefactions he has
received? Surely this access of fortune must have been in evidence in a house
which is not wasted with extravagance. Yes, but what cannot be got out of
his property, his enemies will get out of his person by insult and torture, in
order that a man so illustrious may be shut up with burglars and highwaymen
in the inmost dungeon and breathe out his life in darkness, and his naked
body flung out of the prison doors. That would not bring a deeper disgrace
upon the house of the Cornelii than upon the whole City of Rome.
38.60
Terentius, in reply, read the resolution
carried by the Petillii, the decision of the senate and the sentence passed
upon L. Scipio. He declared that unless the sum stated in the judgment were
restored to the treasury, there was no other course open to him but to order
him to be arrested and taken to prison. The tribunes retired for consultation
and shortly afterwards C. Fannius, in the name of all his colleagues except
Gracchus, declared that they would not intervene to prevent the praetor
from exercising his authority. T. Gracchus gave his decision thus: He would
not oppose the action of the praetor in recovering the sum in question from
the sale of Lucius Scipio's property, but that as to L. Scipio himself, a man
who had conquered the most prosperous and wealthy monarch in the world;
who had carried the dominion of Rome to the utmost limits of the world;
who had bound King Eumenes, the Rhodians, and so many other cities in
Asia under obligations to Rome; who had led first in triumph, and then to
prison, so many enemy commanders -this man he would not allow to lie in
prison and in chains amongst the enemies of Rome. He then ordered him to
be released. His decision was greeted with such enthusiasm by those who
heard it, and there was such general delight at the news of Scipio's release,
that it seemed hardly possible that these were the same people before whom
the sentence against him had lately been pronounced. The praetor then sent
the quaestors to seize L. Scipio's property in the name of the government.
Not only was there not a vestige of the king's gold to be seen, but the
amount realised was nowhere near the sum named in the judgment. The
relatives and friends and clients of L. Scipio's contributed a sum sufficient, if
he accepted it, to make him even richer than before. He refused to accept
any of it. Everything necessary for him was supplied by his nearest relations.
The ill-will and popular odium against the Scipios had now turned against
the praetor and his assessors and the prosecution.
End of Book 38