23.4
The
senate had to thank Pacuvius for its life, and it was much more under his
control than under that of the populace. By common consent he now
wielded supreme power and needed no armed support. Henceforth the
senators, forgetting their rank and independence, flattered the populace,
saluted them courteously, invited them as guests, received them at
sumptuous banquets, undertook their cases, always appeared on their side,
and when they were trying suits they always decided the actions in a way to
secure the favour of the mob. In fact, the proceedings in the senate were
exactly as though it had been a popular assembly. The city had always been
disposed to luxury and extravagance, not only through the weakness of the
character of its citizens, but also through the superabundance of the means
of enjoyment and the incitements to every kind of pleasure which land or sea
could furnish, and now, owing to the obsequiousness of the nobility and the
licence of the populace, it was becoming so demoralised that the sensuality
and extravagance which prevailed exceeded all bounds. They treated the
laws, the magistrates, the senate with equal contempt, and now after the
defeat of Cannae they began to feel contempt for the one thing which they
had hitherto held in some respect -the power of Rome. The only
circumstances which prevented them from immediately revolting were the
old established right of intermarriage which had led to many of their
illustrious and powerful families becoming connected with Rome and the fact
that several citizens were serving with the Romans. The strongest tie of this
nature was the presence of three hundred cavalry, from the noblest families
in Capua, in Sicily, whither they had been specially sent by the Roman
authorities to garrison the island. The parents and relatives of these troopers
succeeded after much difficulty in getting envoys sent to the Roman consul.
