Book 6-41 - History of Rome by Livy

41.1

. . . It was said that he called to arms the fighting men whom his father had kept in peace, and that he was very popular with them, as they were eager for plunder. The consul held a council of war to discuss the Histrian campaign. Some thought it ought to be undertaken at once before the enemy had time to get his forces together; others considered that the senate ought first to be consulted. The opinion in favour of prompt action prevailed. From Aquileia, the consul advanced to the Timavus Lake close to the sea. C. Furius, one of the two naval commanders, sailed there with ten ships. He and his colleague were to act against the Illyrian fleet and protect the coasts of the Upper Sea with twenty ships. Their joint command pivoted on Ancona; L. Cornelius had the defence of the coast to the right as far as Tarentum, and C. Furius to the left as far as Aquileia. The ten ships under Furius had been sent to the nearest harbour on Histrian territory, together with cargo ships and a large amount of supplies. The consul followed them with the legions and fixed his camp about five miles from the sea. A busy market soon sprang up in the harbour, and all supplies were carried up from the sea to the camp. To render this more secure, pickets were posted on every side of the camp. On the side facing Histria the emergency cohort from Placentia was posted permanently; M. Aebutius, one of the military tribunes, was ordered to take two maniples from the second legion to the river bank between the camp and the sea to protect the watering-parties; two other military tribunes, L. and C. Aelius, took the third legion along the road leading to Aquileia to protect the foraging and wood-cutting troops. In that direction lay the camp of the Gauls about a mile distant. and in their chief's absence Catemelus was in command. They did not number more than 3000 armed men.

41.2

As soon as the Roman army began to move towards the Timavus, the Histri took up a position in concealment behind a hill and followed it while on the march, carefully watching for every opportunity; nothing that happened on sea or land escaped their notice. When they saw that only weak pickets were posted in front of the camp and that between the camp and the sea there was a crowd of unarmed traders busy with their traffic and without any protection either on the land side or towards the sea, they made a simultaneous attack on the pickets, the Placentian cohort and the maniples of the second legion. Their movements were at first concealed by an early morning fog. As this began to disperse under the warm rays of the sun, the sunshine struggling fitfully through made everything, as it generally does, look larger to the beholder. In this way the Romans were deceived, as the hostile army appeared larger than it really was. The men from both the pickets fled in a great tumult to the camp. The terror they spread here was greater than the alarm in which they had fled, for they could not explain why they had fled, nor could they give any answer to those who questioned them. Shouts were heard from the gates, as there were no outposts there to make any resistance, and the crowding together of the soldiers, who were falling over each other in the fog, made it impossible to know whether the enemy were inside the camp or not. One voice was heard amongst the cries, calling "To the sea!" and this chance cry started by one individual resounded everywhere throughout the camp. They began to run down to the sea, as though acting under orders; at first in small bodies, some with arms, most of them without; then in larger numbers, till at last nearly every man had gone, including the consul himself. He was quite powerless to rally the fugitives; his commands, his authority, his expostulations were all fruitless. The only officer who remained was M. Licinius Strabo, a military tribune attached to the second legion, who had left him with three maniples in their flight. The Histri made their attack on the empty camp, and after finding no armed resistance, came upon him as he was forming and encouraging his men in the headquarters tent. The fight was a more stubborn one than might have been expected from the fewness of the defenders, and did not come to an end until the tribune and all round him had fallen. After overturning the headquarters tent and plundering everything in it, the enemy went on to the quaestor's tent, the forum, and the via quintana. Here they found an abundant supply of everything laid out in readiness, and in the quaestor's tent couches arranged for a meal. The chieftain lay down and began to feast himself; soon all the others, oblivious of any armed enemy, did the same, and being unused to such good fare, loaded themselves greedily with wine and food.

41.3

Things wore a very different aspect among the Romans. There was confusion both on land and sea. The marines struck their tents and hurriedly carried back on board the stores which had been landed on the beach; the soldiers rushed in panic to the boats at the water's edge; some of the sailors, afraid of their boats being overcrowded, tried to stop the crowd; others pushed their boats off into deep water. This resulted in a struggle, and soon a regular fight began between the soldiers and the sailors-with bloodshed on both sides-until at the consul's orders the fleet was withdrawn to some distance from the land. Then he began to separate those who had arms from those who were without any. There were hardly 1200 out of the whole number who were still armed; very few of the cavalry were found to have brought away their horses with them; the rest were a disorderly mob like so many sutlers and camp-followers, certain to fall a prey to the enemy, if the enemy had had any idea of fighting. At last, word was sent to recall the third legion and the Gaulish contingent, and the troops posted round the camp began to come in determined to recover the camp and remove the stain of disgrace. The military tribunes of the third legion ordered the loads of wood and fodder to be thrown off the baggage animals, and commanded the centurions to place the older men in couples on the mules which had been relieved of their loads, and the cavalry were each to take one of the younger men with them on their horses. They told their men that it would be a most glorious thing for their legion if, by their own valour, they recovered the camp which had been lost through the faintheartedness of the second legion. And it easily could be recovered if the barbarians were suddenly surprised in the midst of their plundering; the camp could be recaptured just as it had been captured. His words of encouragement were listened to eagerly by the soldiers, the standards rapidly went forward, and the legionaries followed without a moment's delay. The first, however, to approach the rampart were the consul and the troops he was bringing from the sea. The first tribune of the second legion, with the view of encouraging his men, pointed out to them that if the barbarians had intended to hold the camp by the same arms by which they had taken it, they would, first of all, have followed up their enemy in his flight from his camp to the sea, and then they would have stationed pickets in front of their rampart. They were in all probability lying sunk in wine and slumber.

41.4

He thereupon ordered his standard-bearer, A. Baeculonius, a man noted for his courage, to go forward with his standard. Baeculonius replied that if they would follow him and his standard they would help him to do so all the more quickly. He then flung the standard with all his might over the rampart and was the first to pass through the camp gate. On another side of the camp the two Aelii, Titus and Caius, came up with the cavalry of the third legion. They were almost immediately followed by the men mounted on the baggage animals, and then the consul with the whole of the army. A few of the Histri who had taken only a moderate amount of wine were careful to escape; for the rest, sleep was prolonged into death, and the Romans recovered all their property intact. save the wine and food which had been consumed. Even the sick who had been left in the camp, finding their comrades inside the rampart, seized their arms and inflicted great slaughter. A cavalryman, C. Popilius Sabellus, distinguished himself especially in this way. He had been left behind with a wounded foot and he slew by far the greatest number of the enemy. As many as 8000 of the Histri were killed, not one prisoner was taken, rage and shame made the Romans indifferent to booty. The King of the Histri, however, drunk as he was, was carried off hurriedly from the table and lifted by his men on to a horse and so escaped. Two hundred and thirty-seven of the victors perished; more fell in the morning rout than in the recapture of the camp.

41.5

Cn. and L. Gavilius Novellus were coming with supplies from Aquileia, and unaware of what had happened, very nearly entered the camp while it was in the possession of the Histrians. They left their goods and fled back to Aquileia, spreading alarm and tumult not only in that city, but in Rome itself. Reports reached the City, true so far as they told of the capture of the camp by the enemy and the flight of the defenders, but rumours also filled the City to the effect that all was lost and the entire army annihilated. As usual in times of tumult and alarm, an extraordinary levy was ordered in the City and throughout the length and breadth of Italy. Two legions of Roman citizens were called up, and from the Latin allies 10,000 infantry with a complement of 500 cavalry were raised. The consul, M. Junius, was ordered to go to Gaul and requisition from the communities in that province as many soldiers as they could each supply. It was decreed that the praetor Tiberius Claudius should give notice to the men of the fourth legion, the 5000 allied troops and the 250 cavalry to muster at Pisae, and that he should be responsible for the defence of that province in the consul's absence. M. Titinius received instructions to order the first legion and the same number of allied infantry to assemble at Ariminum. Nero, wearing his paludamentum, left for Pisae; Titinius, after sending C. Cassius, one of the military tribunes, to take command of the legion at Ariminum, arrived at Aquileia. There he was informed that the army was safe, and at once sent a despatch to Rome to allay the tumult and alarm. He then sent back the contingents which he had requisitioned in Gaul and went to rejoin his colleague. There was great rejoicing in Rome at the unlooked-for news, all enrolment of troops was suspended and those who had already taken the military oath were released from its obligations. The army at Ariminum which had been suffering from the pestilence was disbanded and sent home. The Histrians were encamped in great strength not far from the consul's camp, and when they heard that the other consul had arrived with a fresh army they everywhere dispersed to their cities. The consuls took the legions back to Aquileia for their winter quarters.

41.6

After the Histrian disturbance had at last quieted down, the senate passed a resolution that the consuls should arrange which of them was to come to Rome for the election. Two tribunes of the plebs, Licinius Nerva and C. Papirius Turdus, attacked Manlius in his absence and brought forward a motion that he should not retain his command after the Ides of March-the consuls had already had their administrations extended for a year-in order that he might be brought to trial immediately on quitting office. Their colleague, Q. Aelius, opposed the motion and after long and violent disputes prevented it from being carried. On their return from Spain, Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus and L. Postumius Albinus were received by the senate in the temple of Bellona. They gave a report of their administration and asked that honours should be paid to the immortal gods. News came from T. Aebutius, commanding in Sardinia, of a serious disturbance in that island. The Ilienses, in conjunction with the Balari, had invaded the province which was at peace, and owing to the weakened condition of the army, a large number of men having been carried off by the pestilence, no resistance could be offered. Envoys from Sardinia came with the same tale; they implored the senate to send assistance to the cities at all events; it was too late to save the fields.

It was left to the consuls to decide what reply should be given to these envoys and to deal with the whole state of things in Sardinia. An equally tragic story was told by the Lycians, who had come to complain of the cruel tyranny of the Rhodians, under whose government they had been placed by L. Cornelius Scipio. They had been formerly under Antiochus and they assured the senate that their subjection under the king was glorious liberty compared with their present condition. It was not political oppression only under which they were suffering, but absolute slavery; they, their wives and children were the victims of violence; their oppressors vented their rage on their persons and their backs, their good name was besmirched and dishonoured, their condition rendered detestable in order that their tyrants might openly assert a legal right over them and reduce them to the status of slaves bought with money. Moved by this recital, the senate gave the Lycians a letter to hand to the Rhodians, intimating that it was not the pleasure of the senate that either the Lycians or any other men born free should be handed over as slaves to the Rhodians or any one else. The Lycians possessed the same rights under the suzerainty and protection of Rhodes that friendly states possessed under the suzerainty of Rome.

41.7

The two commanders in Spain now celebrated their triumph; first, Sempronius Gracchus for his victory over the Celtiberi and their allies, and on the following day L. Postumius over the Lusitanians and the adjacent tribes. In Gracchus' procession were borne 40,000 pounds of silver, in that of Postumius 20,000. Each of the legionaries received 25 denarii, the centurions twice and the cavalry three times as much, and the allied troops received the same. The consul, M. Junius, came about this time to Rome for the elections. Two tribunes of the plebs, Papirius and Licinius, put a multitude of questions to him in the senate about what had happened in Histria, and then they brought him before the Assembly. The consul explained that he had not been in that province more than eleven days and he, like them, only knew by report what had happened in his absence. Then they asked "why in that case A. Manlius had not come to Rome, rather than Junius, that he might explain to the people of Rome why he had left the province of Gaul, which had been allotted to him, for Histria. When did the senate make a decree or the Assembly an order for that war? 'Well,' you may say, 'granting that the war was undertaken on his personal responsibility, still it was conducted with courage and prudence.' On the contrary it is impossible to say whether its inception is the more flagitious or its conduct the more reckless. Two pickets were surprised by the Histrians, a Roman camp was taken and what troops were in the camp were cut to pieces; all the rest threw away their arms and fled in disorder to the sea and the ships, the consul himself above all. He will have to account for all this as an ordinary citizen, since he will not do so as consul."

41.8

Then came the elections. The new consuls were C. Claudius Pulcher and Ti. Sempronius Gracchus, and the new praetors, P. Aelius Tubero (for the second time), C. Quinctius Flamininus, C. Numisius, L. Mummius, Cnaeus Cornelius Scipio and C. Valerius Laevinus. Tubero received the civic jurisdiction, Quinctius the alien. Sicily fell to Numisius, and Sardinia to Mummius; the latter, however, owing to the magnitude of the war, was made a consular province. Gaul was divided into two provinces and allotted to Scipio and Laevinus. On the Ides of March, when Sempronius and Claudius entered upon office, the provinces of Sardinia and Histria and the instigators of war in those provinces were only informally discussed. On the following day, the Sardinian deputation, who had been referred to the new consuls, and L. Minucius Thermus, who had been second in command with the consul Manlius in Histria, appeared before the senate, and after the information they gave, the senate realised what a state of war existed in those provinces. Delegates from the Latin allies, after numberless appeals to the censors and the late consuls, were at length admitted to an audience of the senate, and their statement made a great impression. The gist of their complaint was that their citizens who were on the Roman register had migrated in great numbers to the City, and if this were allowed it would come to pass in a very few lustra that the towns and fields would be deserted and incapable of furnishing any men for the army. The Samnites and Paeligni stated that 4000 families had gone from them to Fregellae, but they were not diminishing their contingents, nor were the Fregellans increasing theirs. The practice of individuals changing their citizenship led to two kinds of fraud. The law allowed those amongst the Latin allies who chose, to become Roman citizens if they left male progeny behind in the old home. This law was abused to the injury of the allies and of the Roman people. For in order to avoid any male descendants being left at home, they gave their children as slaves to some Roman or other, on condition that they should be manumitted, and as freedmen become citizens, whilst on the other hand those who had no male descendants became Roman citizens. Subsequently, even this legal presence was brushed aside. In defiance of law and without any male descendants they migrated to Rome and were placed on the City register. The delegates asked that this might be stopped for the future, and that those who had migrated should be ordered to return to their homes. They asked further that a law might be passed making it illegal for any person to adopt or manumit any one with the view of changing his citizenship, and also require those who had become Roman citizens by this means to renounce their citizenship. The senate granted these requests.

41.9

The senate then decreed that the provinces which were in a state of war-Sardinia and Histria-should be assigned to the consuls. Two legions were ordered to be raised for Sardinia, each consisting of 5200 infantry and 300 cavalry; the Latin allies were to supply 12,000 infantry and 600 cavalry. In case the consul wished to take ships from the dockyard, ten quinqueremes were placed at his disposal. The same strength of infantry and cavalry was decreed for Histria as for Sardinia. The consuls also received instructions to despatch a force of one legion with its complement of cavalry and 5000 infantry and 250 cavalry from the allies to M. Titinius in Spain. Before the consuls balloted for their provinces various portents were reported. A stone fell from the sky into the grove of Mars in the Crustumerian district; on Roman land a boy was born without all his limbs, and a four-footed snake was seen; at Capua numerous buildings in the forum were struck by lightning; at Puteoli two shops had been set on fire by a similar stroke. While these were being reported, a wolf entered the City by the Colline Gate in broad daylight and was chased till it escaped through the Esquiline Gate, amidst great excitement on the part of its pursuers. In consequence of these portents the consuls sacrificed full-grown victims, and there were special intercessions at all the shrines for one day. When the religious rites had been duly performed the consuls drew for their provinces. Histria fell to Claudius, Sardinia to Sempronius. Then, in accordance with the resolution of the senate, the consul C. Claudius carried a measure in which it was ordered that those of the Latin allies who themselves or whose ancestors had been registered among the Latin allies during the censorship of M. Claudius and T. Quinctius or subsequently, should all return to their cities before November 1. The praetor L. Mummius was charged to enquire into the cases of those who had not returned by that date. In addition to this new law, and the consul's edict enforcing it, a resolution was passed by the senate ordering that whenever any one of them was manumitted and publicly declared to be free, the dictator, consul, interrex, censor or praetor for the time being should put the manumitter on his oath that he was not doing it for the purpose of altering his citizenship; in case he refused to take the oath the senate would declare the manumission invalid. This resolution was to guide all future proceedings.

41.10

M. Junius and A. Manlius, the ex-consuls who had been in winter quarters at Aquileia, led their army into Histria at the commencement of spring. They carried their ravages far and wide, and the Histrians were animated much more by indignation and rage at the loss of their property than by any certain hope that they would be strong enough to meet two consular armies. From all the tribes their fighting men collected into a hastily levied tumultuary force, and they displayed much more impetuosity in beginning a battle than steadfastness in keeping it up. Four thousand of them fell on the field; the rest abandoned all resistance and dispersed to their cities. From these cities delegates were sent to the Roman camp to sue for peace, and on being required to give hostages they sent them. When this became known in Rome through despatches from the proconsuls, C. Claudius, fearing lest this success should rob him of his province and his army, went off post-haste to his province without offering the customary prayers, unattended by his lictors and in the dead of night, his colleague being the only one who was aware of his intention. His conduct after his arrival was more ill-advised even than the way in which he had started for his province. Addressing the assembled troops, he taunted Manlius with his flight from the camp, to the intense annoyance of the soldiers, since it was they who began the flight, and then he attacked M. Junius for associating himself with his colleague's disgrace, and ended by ordering them both to quit the province. They promised that they would obey his order as soon as he had made his departure from the City in the traditional way, after the customary prayers in the Capitol, and attended by his lictors in their official dress. Claudius, beside himself with rage, called the official who was acting as quaestor to Manlius to bring fetters, and threatened to send both Manlius and Junius in chains to Rome. This officer also ignored the consul's authority, and their determination not to obey was strengthened by the way the army supported their commanders and resented the conduct of Claudius. At last the consul, overborne by the insults and jeers of individual soldiers, and the ridicule (for they actually laughed at him) of the whole army, returned to Aquileia in the same vessel in which he had come. From there he sent word to his colleague to warn that portion of the new levies which had been raised for service in Histria to assemble at Aquileia, so that nothing might detain him in Rome or prevent him from leaving the City, with due formalities, offering the customary prayers and wearing the paludamentum. His colleague carried out his instructions and ordered the troops to assemble at an early date at Aquileia. Claudius almost overtook his letter. On his arrival he convened the Assembly and laid before it the case of Manlius and Junius. His stay in Rome only lasted three days, and then, in full state with lictors and paludamentum, after offering up prayers in the Capitol, he departed for his province with quite as much precipitancy as before.

41.11

A few days before his arrival Junius and Manlius began a determined attack on the town of Nesactium, to which place the chiefs of the Histri, with their king, Aepulo, had retired. Claudius brought up the two newly-raised legions, and after disbanding the old army with its generals, invested the town and proceeded to attack it with the vineae. There was a river flowing past the town which impeded the assailants and furnished water to the Histrians. After many days' work he diverted this river into a new channel, and the cutting off of their water-supply as though by a miracle greatly alarmed the natives. Even then they had no thought of suing for peace; they made up their minds to murder their women and children, and that this horrid deed might be a spectacle to the enemy, they butchered them openly on the walls and then flung them down. Amidst the shrieks of the women and children and the unspeakable horrors of the massacre, the Romans surmounted the walls and entered the town. When the king heard the terrified cries of those who fled, and understood from the tumult that the place was taken, he stabbed himself that he might not be taken alive. The rest were either killed or made prisoners. This was followed by the storming and destruction of two other towns, Mutila and Faveria. The booty, considering the poverty of the natives, surpassed expectations, and the whole of it was given to the soldiers; 5632 persons were sold as slaves. The prime instigators of the war were scourged and beheaded. The extermination of these three towns and the death of the king led to peace throughout Histria; all the tribes made their submission and gave hostages.

41.12

Just after the Histrian war had come to an end the Ligurians began to hold councils of war. Tiberius Claudius, who had been praetor the previous year and was now acting as proconsul, was in command of Pisae with one legion He reported the movement in Liguria to the senate, and they decided to send his despatch on to C. Claudius, for the other consul had landed in Sardinia, and they authorised him to transfer his army, if he thought it advisable now that Histria was quiet, to Liguria. After receiving the consul's report of his operations in Histria a two days' thanksgiving was decreed. The other consul, Tiberius Sempronius, was equally successful in Sardinia. He marched into the Ilian country, and finding a large body of Balari had come to the assistance of the Ilians, he fought a pitched battle with the two tribes. The enemy were routed, put to flight and driven out of their camp, 12,000 men being killed. The consul ordered all the arms to be collected on the following day and thrown into one heap. He then burnt them as an offering to Vulcan. The victorious army retired into winter quarters in the friendly cities. On receipt of Tiberius Claudius' despatch and the instructions of the senate, Caius Claudius led his legions into Liguria. The enemy had come down into the plains and was encamped by the river Scultenna. A battle took place there; 15,000 were killed and over 700 were made prisoners, either on the battlefield or in the camp-for this was stormed-and 51 military standards taken. The Ligurians who survived this slaughter fled to the mountains, and no resistance was met with anywhere by the consul as he traversed the level country plundering and devastating their fields. After winning victories over two nations and reducing two provinces to submission during his year of office-a thing which very few have done-Claudius returned to Rome.

41.13

Some portents were reported this year. Near Crustumerium an osprey cut a sacred stone with its beak; in Campania a heifer spoke; a brazen image of a cow in Syracuse was mounted by a bull which had strayed from the herd. Special intercessions were offered on the spot at Crustumerium, and the heifer in Campania was to be kept at the public cost. The portent at Syracuse was expiated by sacrifices to the deities who were named by the haruspices. One of the pontiffs, M. Claudius Marcellus, died this year. He had been consul and also censor. His son, M. Marcellus, was appointed pontiff in his place. Two thousand Roman citizens were settled as colonists at Luna under the supervision of P. Aelius, M. Aemilius Lepidus and Cnaeus Sicinius. Fifty-one and a half jugera were allotted to each colonist. The land had been taken from the Ligurians; it had previously been in the possession of the Etruscans.

41.14

After his return to the City the consul C. Claudius made his report to the senate of his victories in Histria and Liguria, and at his request, a triumph was decreed to him. Whilst still in office he celebrated a double triumph over the two nations. In the procession were carried 307,000 denarii and 85,702 "victoriati." To each legionary were given fifteen denarii, double the amount to the centurions, and treble to the cavalry. The allied troops received only half as much, and by way of showing their anger, they followed the victor's chariot in silence. Whilst the new consuls were each sacrificing an ox to Jupiter on the day of their entering upon office, the victim which Q. Petilius was sacrificing was defective; there was no head to the liver visible. He reported this to the senate, and they ordered him to go on sacrificing until the victim gave a favourable omen. The provinces were then discussed, and the senate decreed that Pisae and Liguria should be the consular provinces, and the one to whom the ballot gave Pisae was ordered to return and hold the elections when the time for them arrived. They further decreed that the consuls should raise two new legions and 300 cavalry with each, and from the Latin allies 10,000 infantry and 600 cavalry. Ti. Claudius retained his command till the new consul arrived in his province.

41.15

While this business was being transacted in the senate, Cnaeus Cornelius was called out by an apparitor, and left the House. On his return he was visibly perturbed, and explained that the liver of the ox which he had sacrificed had disappeared. When the victimarius reported this to him he did not believe it, and he ordered the water in which the entrails were being boiled to be poured out from the cauldron. He saw every other portion of the victim complete, but in some unaccountable way the liver had been consumed. The senators were much alarmed at this ominous incident, and their alarm was intensified by the other consul's statement that after the appearance of the defective liver he had sacrificed three oxen in succession without getting any favourable indication. The senate ordered them both to go on sacrificing until the omens were favourable. It is said that favourable omens were at last observed in the case of all the other deities, but not in the case of Salus, to whom Petilius was sacrificing.

The consuls and praetors now balloted for their provinces. Pisae fell to Cnaeus Cornelius, Liguria to Petilius, the City jurisdiction to L. Papirius Maso, the alien to M. Aburius. M. Cornelius Scipio Maluginensis had Further Spain, and L. Aquilius Gallus received Sardinia. Two asked to be excused from going to their provinces. M. Popilius alleged as a reason for his not going to Sardinia that Gracchus was pacifying that province and that the praetor T. Aebutius was, by direction of the senate, helping him in this task. It was, he said, most inconvenient for a line of policy to be interrupted when its success mainly depends upon its continuance in the same hands. During the transfer of authority and the time required by the new man to learn the condition of affairs before taking any action, many an opportunity of achieving success is lost. The senate allowed his excuse. P. Licinius Crassus, to whom Hither Spain had fallen, alleged that he was prevented by his religious duties. However, he was ordered either to go or to take an oath before the Assembly that he was prevented by his religious duties. When the case of P. Licinius had been settled in this way, M. Cornelius Scipio asked them to accept his oath also, that he might not have to go to Further Spain. These two praetors both took the same oath. M. Titinius and T. Fonteius, who were in charge of that province as proconsuls, were ordered to remain in Spain with the same authority as before and reinforcements were to be sent to them-3000 Roman citizens and 200 cavalry, with 5000 infantry and 300 cavalry from the allies.

Whilst men's minds were thus filled with religious fears, fresh portents were announced. At Tusculum a burning brand was seen in the sky; at Gabii the temple of Apollo and several private buildings were struck by lightning, as also were the wall and one of the gates at Graviscae. The senate ordered such measures to be taken as the pontiffs should direct. During this time, whilst the two consuls were pre-occupied with matters of religion, and then the death of one of them and the duty thrown upon the other of electing his successor, and also of presiding at the Latin Festival, created further delay, C. Claudius brought his army up to Mutina, which the Ligurians had taken the year before. After a three days' assault he recaptured the place and restored it to the colonists; 8000 Ligurians were killed inside the walls. He promptly sent a despatch to Rome in which he gave an account of his operations and boasted that owing to his good fortune and ability there was no longer any enemy to Rome on this side the Alps, and that a considerable quantity of land had been acquired which could be distributed amongst many thousands of colonists.

41.17

After many successful actions Ti. Sempronius finally subjugated Sardinia; 15,000 natives were killed and all the revolting tribes were forced into submission. Those who had before paid the tax had now to pay double; the rest paid in corn. After peace was established in the province and hostages taken from all parts of the island-230 in all-a deputation was sent to Rome to announce the subjection of the island and to ask the senate that honours should be paid to the immortal gods for the success achieved under the leadership and auspices of Ti. Sempronius, and that he himself might be allowed to bring away his army with him when he left the province. The senate received the deputation with their report in the temple of Apollo and decreed a two days' thanksgiving; the consuls were also ordered to offer forty sacrifices of the larger victims. Ti. Sempronius was to remain in the province with his army as proconsul. The election to fill the vacancy in the consulship took place on the appointed day, August 3. C. Valerius Laevinus was chosen as colleague to Q. Petilius and was to enter upon his consulship at once. He had long been anxious to obtain a province and most opportunely for his wishes a despatch reached Rome saying that the Ligurians had begun another war. On receipt of this intelligence the senate ordered his immediate departure, and he left the City, wearing the paludamentum, on August 5. The third legion was ordered to join C. Claudius in Gaul and the fleet commanders were instructed to proceed to Pisae, making a circuit of the Ligurian littoral and creating alarm in the coastal districts. Q. Petilius had previously fixed the date for the muster of the army at Pisae. C. Claudius, on hearing that the Ligurians were renewing hostilities, raised an emergency force in addition to the troops he had with him, and marched to the frontiers of Liguria.

41.18

The enemy had not forgotten that it was C. Claudius who had defeated and routed them at the Scultenna, and they prepared to defend themselves against a force of which they had had so unhappy an experience more by the strength of their position than by their arms. With this object they occupied two mountain heights, Letum and Ballista, and enclosed them with a wall. Some who were too late in getting away from their fields were caught and 1500 of them perished; the rest kept to the mountains. But they were not too much cowed to forget their native savagery, and they glutted their cruelty upon what they had taken at Mutina. The prisoners were put to death amid horrible tortures; the cattle were killed in their temples as an act of butchery rather than of sacrifice. When they were satiated with the slaughter of living things they turned to the destruction of inanimate objects and dashed against the walls vessels of every description, though made for use more than for ornament. Q. Petilius did not want the war to be brought to a close while he was absent and sent written instructions to C. Claudius to come to him in Gaul with his army, saying that he should expect him at the Campi Macri. On receiving the despatch C. Claudius left Liguria and handed over his army to the consul at the Campi Macri. A few days later the other consul, C. Valerius, arrived. Here, before the two armies separated, a lustration was completed for them both. As the consuls had settled not to make a combined attack on the enemy, they drew lots to decide in which direction each should advance. It was generally understood that Valerius cast his lot under proper auspices. In the case of Petilius the augurs declared afterwards that he had been at fault, for after the lottery had been taken into the sacred enclosure he remained outside, whereas he ought to have gone in himself .

Then they started for their respective positions. Petilius fixed his camp fronting the twin heights of Ballista and Letum, which are connected by a continuous ridge. Writers say that whilst he was addressing words of encouragement to his troops, he made the ominous prediction that he would take Letum on that day; the double meaning of the word did not occur to him. He then advanced up the mountain in two divisions. The division which he personally commanded mounted with great spirit, but the enemy forced the other division back, and to restore the battle the consul rode forward and rallied his men. Whilst exposing himself somewhat incautiously in front of the standards, he was struck by a missile and fell. The enemy were not aware of the general's death, and a few of his men who had witnessed it carefully concealed the body, as they felt sure that the victory turned on that. The rest of the troops-infantry and cavalry alike-drove the enemy out of his positions and took the mountain heights without their general; 5000 Ligurians were killed; out of the Roman army 52 fell. In addition to his ill-omened words, to which his death gave a clear significance, it was gathered from what the "pullarius" said that the auspices had been unfavourable and that the consul was not unaware of this.

. . . . . . . . Those skilled in divine and human law said that since the two duly elected consuls for the year had died, one through sickness, the other by the sword, the "consul suffectus" could not rightly hold the election.

When the Dardani found that the Bastarnae were not evacuating their territory as they had hoped, but were becoming every day more aggressive and were receiving assistance from their Thracian neighbours and from the Scordisci, they thought that they ought to attempt some active measures, however hazardous. The whole of their armed force assembled at a town near the camp of the Bastarnae. It was winter and they chose that season on the chance of the Thracians and the Scordisci going back to their own country. It fell out as they expected, and when they learnt that the Bastarnae were left to themselves they divided their forces; one division was to make a frontal attack, the other fetching a circuit was to take the enemy in the rear. The fighting began, however, before they could get round the enemy, and the Dardani were defeated and driven into a city some twelve miles distant from the camp of the Bastarnae. The victors followed them closely and invested the place, feeling pretty confident that they would capture the place the next day either by surrender or by storm. Meanwhile the other division, unaware of the disaster which had overtaken their comrades, seized the camp of the Bastarnae which had been left unguarded.

Several members of the sacerdotal colleges died from the epidemic-the pontiff Cn. Servilius Caepio, father of the praetor; Tiberius Sempronius Longus, a Keeper of the Sacred Books; P. Aelius Paetus, the augur; Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus; C. Atellus Mamilius, the chief curio; and the pontiff M. Sempronius Tuditanus. C. Sulpicius Galba was elected pontiff in place of Caepio . . . in place of Tuditanus. The new augurs were T. Veturius Gracchus Sempronianus in place of Gracchus, and Q. Aelius Paetus in place of P. Aelius. C. Sempronius Longus was appointed a Keeper of the Sacred Books, and C. Scribonius Curio was made chief curio. As the pestilence continued unabated the senate decided that the Keepers should consult the Sacred Books. In accordance with their decree there were special intercessions for one day, and the people, gathered together in the Forum, made a solemn vow, in words dictated by Marcius Philippus, that if disease and pestilence were banished from Roman soil they would keep two days as solemn holy days and days of special intercession. In the district of Veii a boy was born with two heads; at Sinuessa a child with only one hand; at Ariminum a girl was born with teeth; a rainbow spanned the temple of Saturn in the Forum in broad daylight and under a cloudless sky, three suns shone at the same time, and in the same night many meteors glided through the sky. The people of Caene declared that a crested snake covered with golden spots had appeared in the town, and it was generally believed that an ox had spoken in the Capuan district.

41.22

The commission who had gone to Carthage, after interviewing Masinissa, returned on June 7. They had been more accurately informed as to what was going on in Carthage by the king than by the Carthaginians themselves. It was an ascertained fact, so they asserted, that envoys from Perseus had gone to Carthage, and that the senate there had given them audience at a nocturnal session in the temple of Aesculapius. Masinissa had stated that envoys had been sent from Carthage to Macedonia, and this the Carthaginians did not directly deny. The Roman senate decided that they too must send envoys to Macedonia. Three were sent-C. Laelius, M. Valerius Messala, and Sextus Digitius. A certain section of the Dolopes refused to obey Perseus' orders and appealed from him to the Romans to settle the differences between them. He advanced against them with an army and reduced the whole nation to complete submission. Then he crossed Mount Oeta and went up to Delphi to consult the oracle about religious matters which were disquieting his mind. His sudden appearance in the middle of Greece created general alarm, not only amongst the neighbouring States, but in Asia as well, where information of what was happening was hurriedly sent to Eumenes. Perseus did not stay more than three days at Delphi, and passing through Phthiotis, Achaia and Thessaly, returned to his kingdom without damaging or injuring the districts through which he passed. Nor did he consider it sufficient to conciliate those States through which his route lay; he sent either letters or envoys to the different Greek peoples, asking them to dismiss from their minds the hostile feelings which had existed between them and his father. They were not, he urged, so bitter that they could not, and ought not, to be put an end to in his case. As far as he was concerned there was nothing to disturb their relations or to prevent the growth of an honest and sincere friendship. With the Achaeans, especially, he was anxious to find some way of ingratiating himself.

41.23

This nation and the Athenians alone out of all Greece had pushed their animosity so far as to forbid the Macedonians to enter their country. Macedonia had, in consequence, become a refuge for all the runaway slaves from Achaia, for as the Achaeans had closed their frontiers against Macedonia, they could not themselves venture into that kingdom. When Perseus got to know this, he had the runaways arrested and sent a letter . . . "They, too, however, must think out the best means of preventing the flight of slaves in the future." The letter was read at a meeting of their council by Xenophanes, their captain-general, who was anxious to make private interest with the king. Most of those present thought it written in a fair and generous spirit, especially those who were to recover the runaway slaves whom they had given up for lost. Amongst those who believed that the safety of the nation depended upon their keeping their treaty with Rome intact was Callicrates. He made the following speech to the council: "Some look upon this question as of small and trifling importance; I regard it as the greatest and most serious of all under discussion, and, more than that, I consider that it has in one way been decided. For although we have excluded the kings of Macedonia and the Macedonians themselves from our territories, and that decree is still in force forbidding us to admit the envoys and communications of their kings, through which the feelings of some amongst us might be wrongly influenced, nevertheless, we are now listening to the king as though he were addressing us whilst absent, and we are actually giving our approval to his speech. Wild animals mostly reject and shun the food which is placed to deceive them, but we in our blindness are caught by the idle show of a petty boon, and in the hope of recovering some miserable slaves of very little value we are allowing our own liberty to be tampered with and undermined. Who does not see that a way is being sought to lead us to an alliance with the king, and therefore to a breach of the treaty with Rome, with which all our interests are bound up? Unless, indeed, anyone doubts that a war between Perseus and the Romans is inevitable, and that what was expected during Philip's lifetime and interrupted by his death will take place now that he is dead. Philip, as you know, had two sons, Demetrius and Perseus. Demetrius far surpassed his brother in birth on the mother's side, in courage, in ability, in popularity with his countrymen. But Philip had destined the crown as a reward for hatred of the Romans, and he put Demetrius to death for no other offence than his friendship with Rome. Perseus, he knew, would inherit a war with Rome almost before he inherited the crown, and he made him king. What else has he been doing since his father's death but making preparations for war? In the first place he sent the Bastarnae into Dardania creating universal alarm. If they had made their home in that country, Greece would have found them more troublesome neighbours than the Gauls were in Asia. Though his expectations here were frustrated, he did not give up all thoughts of war; rather, to say the truth, he has now commenced war and subjugated the Dolopes by force of arms, and refused to listen to their proposal to refer their differences to the arbitration of Rome. Then he crossed Mount Oeta and, in order to make a sudden appearance in the heart of Greece, went up to Delphi. What do you imagine was his object in thus exercising a right-of-way where none existed? Then he traversed Thessaly. His doing so without inflicting injury on any of those he hated I regard with all the more apprehension as an attempt to win them over. And now he has sent a letter to us with what looks like an act of generosity, and advises us to consider how for the future we may dispense with that generosity, namely, by rescinding the decree by which the Macedonians are kept out of the Peloponnese. This, too, in order that we may once more see the king's ambassadors and the renewal of hospitable relations with his chief men. Before long we shall have the Macedonian armies and the king himself entering the Peloponnese by way of Delphi-narrow is the strait that separates us!-and, finally, we shall find ourselves in the ranks of the Macedonians whenever they take up arms against Rome. I give it as my opinion that we make no fresh decree, but let everything remain just as it is, until it becomes absolutely certain whether these fears of mine are groundless or justified. If the peace between Macedonia and Rome remains unbroken, let there be friendly intercourse between us. For the present it seems to me premature and dangerous to think of altering our policy."

"Now we know that on receiving the crown Perseus was recognised as king by the Roman people; we hear that Roman ambassadors visited the king and were graciously received by him. In my judgment, this points to peace and not to war, nor can the Romans possibly be offended if, as we followed their lead in war, so now we follow them as the authors of peace. I do not see why we alone in all the world should wage a relentless war against the kingdom of Macedonia. Are we so near it as to be open to attack? Are we like the Dolopes, who are the weakest of all the nations that he has subdued? No, quite the contrary. Whether it is through our own strength or through the favour of heaven or owing to the distance which separates us, in any case we are safe. But suppose we lay as open to invasion as the Thessalians and the Aetolians, have we no more interest with the Romans, no stronger claim upon them than the Aetolians, who were not long ago in arms against them, while we have always been their friends and allies? Whatever reciprocal rights exist between the Macedonians and the Aetolians, Thessalians and Epirotes, in fact the whole of Greece, let us also enjoy. Why does this abominable interference with the common rights of humanity exist for us alone? Granting that Philip did something which caused us to make this decree against him when he was in arms and engaged in war, what has Perseus, new to the throne, guiltless of any wrong towards us, effacing by his kindness the enmity aroused against his father-what has Perseus done to make us, alone of all nations, his enemies? I might also urge this point, that the services which the former kings of Macedonia have rendered us have been so great that the injury which Philip has done to us, however great it was, should be forgotten, especially now that he is dead. You know that when the Roman fleet was lying at Cenchreae and the consul with his army was at Elatia, we were assembled in council to decide whether we should follow Philip or the Romans, and the discussion lasted three days. Even if the pressure of immediate danger in no way alienated our feelings from the Romans, there must have been something at least to make our deliberations so lengthy, and this was our long-standing union of interests with Macedonia and the great services which her kings have for many years rendered to us. Let these same motives weigh with us now, not to make us especially his friends, but to prevent us from being especially his enemies. Do not let us make a presence, Callicrates, of seriously discussing a proposal which nobody has brought forward. No one suggests that we should form fresh alliances or draw up a new treaty so as to fetter ourselves with obligations thoughtlessly incurred. Let there be free intercourse between us, a mutual recognition of reciprocal rights; let us not, by closing our own frontiers, shut ourselves off at the same time from the king's dominions; let it not be possible for our runaway slaves to find shelter anywhere. What is there in all this that conflicts with the terms of our treaty with Rome? Why do we make so much of a little matter and throw suspicion upon what is simple and straightforward ? Why do we raise such troubles out of nothing? Why do we make others mistrusted and suspected in order that we ourselves may be free to flatter the Romans? If there is to be war, even Perseus himself entertains no doubt as to our taking the side of Rome. As long as there is peace, let all hostile feelings be suppressed, even if they are not dispelled." Those who had approved of the king's letter were in full agreement with this speech. The leaders were indignant at Perseus not thinking the matter important enough for formal negotiation and making his demand in the few lines of a letter. The discussion was adjourned and no decree was made. Subsequently envoys were sent by the king whilst the council was in session at Megalopolis, and those who feared a breach with Rome took steps to prevent their admission to the council.

41.25

While this was going on the Aetolians turned their rage against themselves, and it seemed as though the massacres on both sides would result in the total destruction of the nation. At last both factions, weary of slaughter, sent missions to Rome and approached each other in the hope of re-establishing peace and concord. But these negotiations were rendered fruitless by a fresh outrage which roused all the old passions. The refugees from Hypata, comprising eighty illustrious citizens, who belonged to the party of Proxenus, had been assured of their restoration to their native country under the pledged word of Eupolemus, the chief magistrate. As they were returning home the whole population, including Eupolemus himself, came out to meet them; he gave them a kind greeting and the right hand of friendship. But as they were entering the gates they were all put to death in spite of their appeals to the gods, as witnesses of the pledges given by Eupolemus. After this the war blazed up more fiercely than ever. C. Valerius Laevinus, Ap. Claudius Pulcher, C. Memmius, M. Popilius and L. Canuleius had been sent by the senate to arbitrate between the contending parties. The delegates from both sides appeared before them at Delphi and a keen debate took place, in which Proxenus was considered to have spoken by far the most convincingly and most eloquently. A few days later he was poisoned by his wife Orthobula. She was convicted of the crime and sent into exile. The same madness of party faction was rife among the Cretans. When Q. Minucius, who had been sent with ten ships to settle their disputes, arrived off the island they entertained hopes of peace. There was only a six months' truce, however; after that a still more bitter conflict was kindled. The Lycians were being harassed at this time by the Rhodians. But it is not worth while to narrate in detail these wars which foreign nations waged with each other. The task before me is sufficiently and more than sufficiently heavy of describing the doings of the Romans.

41.26

In Spain the Celtiberi who, after their defeat, had submitted to Ti. Gracchus, remained quiet during M. Titinius' administration. On the arrival of Appius Claudius they resumed hostilities and began by a sudden attack on the Roman camp. The day had hardly dawned when the sentinels on the rampart and the men on outpost duty at the gates caught sight of the enemy advancing in the distance and gave the alarm. Appius Claudius hoisted the signal for action and after addressing a few words to the soldiers made a simultaneous sortie from three gates. The Celtiberi met them as they emerged and for a short time the fighting was equal on both sides, because owing to the confined space the Romans could not all get into action. As soon as they got clear of the rampart they followed those in front of them in a compact mass in order to be able to deploy into line and extend their front to the same length as that of the enemy by whom they were being surrounded. Then they made a sudden charge which the Celtiberi could not withstand. In less than two hours they were defeated; 15,000 were either killed or taken prisoners; 32 standards were captured. The camp was stormed the same day and the war brought to an end. The survivors from the battle dispersed to their various towns. After that they submitted quietly to the authority of Rome.

41.27

Q. Fulvius Flaccus and A. Postumius Albinus were elected censors this year and revised the roll of the senate. M. Aemilius Lepidus, the Pontifex Maximus, was chosen as leader of the House. Nine names were struck off the roll, the most important being those of M. Cornelius, Maluginensis, who had commanded as praetor in Spain two years before, L. Cornelius Scipio, who was at the time exercising the civic and alien jurisdictions, and L. Fulvius the censor's brother, and according to Valerius Antias, co-proprietor with him of the family estate. After the usual prayers and vows the consuls left for their provinces. M. Aemilius was charged by the senate with the task of suppressing the outbreak of the Petavines in Venetia, amongst whom, as their own envoys reported, the strife of rival factions had led to civil wars. The commissioners who had gone to Aetolia to put down similar disturbances brought back word that the frenzy of the nation could not be restrained. The consul's arrival was the salvation of the Petavines, and as he had nothing else to do in his province he returned to Rome.

These censors were the first to make contracts for paving the streets of the City with flints and the roads outside with gravel, and footpaths raised at the sides, and also for the construction of bridges at various points. They furnished the praetors and aediles with a stage, placed the barriers in the Circus and provided egg-shaped balls to mark the number of laps, turning-posts on the course and iron doors for the cages through which the animals were sent into the arena. They also undertook the paving of the ascent from the Forum to the Capitol with flint and the construction of a colonnade from the temple of Saturn to the Capitol, and then on to the senaculum, and beyond that to the senate-house. The market-place outside the Porta Trigemina was paved with stone slabs and enclosed by a palisading; they also repaired the Aemilian colonnade and made a flight of stone steps on the slope leading from the Tiber. Inside the same gate they paved the colonnade leading to the Aventine with flint and made a road from the temple of Venus by the Clivus Publicius. These censors also signed contracts for the erection of walls at Calatia and Auximium, and the money which they received from the sale of portions of the State domain was spent in building shops round the forums in both these places. Postumius gave out that without the orders of the Roman senate or people he would not spend their money, so Fulvius Flaccus, acting alone, built a temple to Jupiter at Pisaurum and at Fundi and brought water to Placentia. He also paved a street at Pisaurum with flint. At Sinuessa he added some suburban residences with aviaries, constructed sewers, enclosed the place with a wall, built colonnades and shops all round the forum, setting up three statues of Janus there. These works contracted for by one of the censors were greatly appreciated by the members of the colony. The censors were strict and painstaking in the regulation of morals; several of the equites were deprived of their horses.

During the year a tablet was placed in the temple of Mater Matuta with this inscription: "Under the auspices and command of the consul Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, the legions of the army of Rome have subjugated Sardinia. In that province there have been 80,000 natives either killed or made prisoners. He was most happy in his administrations; he liberated the allies of Rome; he restored the revenues and brought his army safely home laden with enormous booty. For the second time he entered Rome in triumph. Because of this he has given this tablet as an offering to Jove." There was a representation of the island and pictures of the battles on the tablet. Several gladiatorial exhibitions were given this year, most of them on a small scale; the one given by T. Flamininus far surpassed the rest. On the occasion of his father's death he exhibited this spectacle for four days, and accompanied it with a distribution of meat, a funeral feast, and scenic plays. But even in this magnificent exhibition the total number of men who fought was only seventy-four.

THE HISTORY OF ROME

by Livy (Titus Livius)

Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts (1912)