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45.1
The heralds of victory travelled to Rome with the utmost possible speed,
but on their arrival they found that the rejoicings over it had forestalled
them. Four days after the battle, while the Games were going on in the
Campus Martius, a whispered rumour suddenly spread amongst the whole concourse
of spectators to the effect that a battle had taken place in Macedonia
resulting in the utter defeat of the king. Then the rumour grew louder
until at last cheers and applause arose as though definite tidings of victory
had been brought to them. The magistrates were taken by surprise and enquired
who had started this sudden outburst of joy. As no one could be found the
excitement produced by what they had taken for a certainty calmed down,
but still they were convinced that it was a happy omen, which was subsequently
verified by the arrival of the authentic messengers. They were delighted
quite as much at their prognostications proving true as at the victory
itself. A second outburst amongst the crowd in the Circus is recorded.
On 17th September, the second day of the Roman Games, whilst the consul
was mounting the stand to start the chariots, a despatch-bearer who said
that he had come from Macedonia handed him a despatch wreathed in laurel.
After the chariots were started he mounted his own and, riding across the
course to the raised benches where the spectators were seated, held up
the laurelled despatch for the people to see. On catching sight of it,
the populace, regardless of the races, ran down into the middle of the
Circus. The consul called the senate together there and after obtaining
their sanction, read the despatch to the onlookers in their seats. He announced
that his colleague Lucius Aemilius had fought a decisive battle with Perseus,
that the Macedonian army had been routed and cut to pieces, that the king
with a few of his followers was a fugitive, and that all the cities of
Macedonia had passed under the power of Rome. On hearing this, cheers and
frantic applause broke out; most of the men deserted the Games and went
home to carry the joyful news to their wives and children. This was thirteen
days after the battle had been fought in Macedonia.
45.2
The following day there was a meeting of the senate in the senate-house,
and a decree was made ordering public thanksgivings. The senators also
passed a resolution that, with the exception of the regular soldiers and
the seamen of the fleet the consul should disband those who had taken the
military oath to him. The question of the disbandment of the soldiers and
seamen was postponed until the arrival of the deputation from L. Aemilius,
by whom the despatch-bearer had been sent on in advance. On 25th September,
about 8 A.M., they entered the City. A vast crowd had gone out to meet
them at various points and accompany them back to the City. Carrying the
throng along with them they made their way to the Forum, and from there
to the senate-house. The senate happened to be in session, and the consul
brought them into the House. They were detained there for some time whilst
they described the strength of the king's troops, both horse and foot,
the numbers of those killed and those taken prisoners, the small cost at
which such a slaughter of the enemy had been made, and the panic in which
the king had fled. They thought he would probably make for Samothrace,
and they informed the senate that the fleet was ready to take up the pursuit;
he could not escape either by land or sea. Shortly afterwards they were
conducted to the Assembly, where they made much the same statement, and
the rejoicings were renewed on the consul giving notice that all the sacred
buildings were opened, and every one was to go from the Assembly and offer,
each for himself, his thanks to the gods. All the temples throughout the
City were filled with crowds of women as well as men. The senators were
recalled to the senate-house and made a decree that, in consideration of
the glorious victory won by L. Aemilius, thanksgivings should be offered
at all the shrines for five days, and the victims sacrificed were to be
full-grown animals. Orders were given that the ships which were lying in
the Tiber fully equipped for service, to be sent to Macedonia should occasion
arise, were to be hauled up and placed in dock; the crews were to receive
a year's pay and be discharged, as also all who had taken the military
oath to the consul. In addition to these the troops in Corcyra, Brundisium
and the coast of the Hadriatic, or in the district of Larinum-an army had
been distributed in all these places as a reserve for C. Licinius to take
to the support of his colleague, should it become necessary-were ordered
to be disbanded. A five days' thanksgiving was proclaimed before the Assembly,
to commence on 26th September.
45.3
The two commissioners who had been sent to Illyria reported on their return
that the Illyrian army had been destroyed and Gentius taken prisoner, and
that Illyria had made formal submission to Rome. For these successes, gained
under the leadership and auspices of L. Anicius, the praetor, the senate
ordered a three days' thanksgiving. A second celebration of the Latin Festival
was proclaimed by the consul for 10th-12th November. Some writers assert
that the envoys from Rhodes who were still in Rome were summoned before
the senate after the announcement of the victory, as if to expose them
and their stupid arrogance to ridicule. Agepolis, their leader, is reported
to have declared that they had been sent by the government of Rhodes to
make peace between Perseus and the Romans because that war was burdensome
and hurtful to the whole of Greece and an expensive and unprofitable one
to the Romans themselves. Now that the war had ended otherwise, the Fortune
who presides over Rome had done well to give them an opportunity of congratulating
the Romans on their splendid victory. So far the Rhodians. The senate's
reply was to the effect that it was neither to promote the interests of
Greece nor to save the Roman exchequer that the Rhodians had despatched
that embassy, but solely in the interest of Perseus. Had they really felt
as anxious about these two matters as they pretended to be, the envoys
ought to have been sent at the time when Perseus led his army into Thrace
and went on for two years attacking the cities of Greece, some by actual
investment, others by intimidation; there was no mention of peace made
by the Rhodians then. It was not till they learnt that the mountain defiles
had been crossed and the Romans had invaded Macedonia that they sent their
envoys, their only motive being to save Perseus from the dangers which
were hanging over him. With this reply the envoys were dismissed.
45.4
About this time M. Marcellus, who was on his way home from Spain, captured
the important city of Marcolica, and brought into the treasury 10 pounds'
weight of gold and a quantity of silver amounting to one million sesterces.
The consul Paulus Aemilius was, as I have already said, still in camp at
Sirae, in the Odomantic country, when three persons of mean appearance
brought him a letter from Perseus. On seeing the missive he is said to
have shed tears over the fate that befalls men, for the man who a short
time ago was not contented with his kingdom of Macedonia, but made an attack
on the Dardanians and the Illyrians, and had called out the auxiliary levies
of the Bastarnae-that man had now lost his army, was driven out of his
kingdom a homeless wanderer into a small island where, as a suppliant,
he was protected by the sanctity of the temple, not by any strength which
he possessed. When, however, he read the salutation, "From King Perseus
to the consul Paulus." the man's utter failure to realise his condition
destroyed all feeling of compassion. Consequently, though in the body of
the letter there were appeals for mercy which were anything but kingly,
the messengers were dismissed without any reply either by word of mouth
or in writing. Perseus saw that he must forget his royal title in his defeat,
and a second letter was sent in which he described himself by his personal
name. In this he begged most urgently that some persons might be sent to
him with whom he could confer as to his status and the circumstances in
which he was placed. The three who were sent to him were P. Lentulus, A.
Postumius Albinus and A. Antonius. Nothing resulted from this conference;
Perseus clung desperately to his royal title, and Paulus was determined
that he should place himself and all that he possessed at the mercy of
Rome.
45.5
Meantime the fleet under Cn. Octavius had put in at Samothrace. Octavius
thought that the presence of the fleet would intimidate Perseus, and he
tried to induce him to surrender by appealing to his hopes and fears. An
incident brought about either by accident or design assisted his efforts.
A young man of distinction, L. Atilius, noticed that the people of Samothrace
were holding an assembly, and he requested the magistrates to allow him
to address a few words to the people. Permission being granted, he began:
"My friends and hosts of Samothrace, is it true or false what we have heard,
that this is a consecrated island and that its soil is everywhere sacred
and inviolable?" There was a unanimous response in the affirmative, and
he went on: "Why, then, is it polluted and violated by a murderer stained
with the blood of King Eumenes? And whilst all approach to your sacred
shrines is forbidden to those who do not come with clean hands before commencing
any holy rite, will you allow them to be contaminated by the presence of
a blood-stained assassin?" It was well known through all the cities of
Greece that the murder of Eumenes at Delphi had been attempted and all
but effected by Euander. They were aware that the temple and the whole
of the island lay at the mercy of the Romans, and they felt, too, that
they deserved the reproach. Theondas, their chief magistrate-they give
him the title of "king"-was accordingly sent to Perseus to inform him that
Euander was accused of murder and that courts were established after the
manner of their ancestors to try those who were alleged to have entered
the sacred boundaries with unholy hands. If Euander felt sure that he would
be proved innocent of any capital crime let him appear to defend himself,
but if he did not dare to stand his trial, let him deliver the temple from
a curse end take measures for his personal safety. Perseus called Euander
aside and advised him on no account to undergo a trial; he was no match
for his accusers, either on the merits of the case or in the influence
which he possessed. He was haunted by the fear that if Euander were found
guilty he would bring him in as the instigator of that infamous crime.
What was left for him to do but to die bravely? Euander raised no objection
openly, but after saying that he would rather die by poison than by the
sword, he made preparations for secret flight. On this coming to the king's
ears he was afraid that Euander, by escaping punishment, might bring down
the wrath of the Samothracians upon himself under the belief that he had
connived at his escape. He therefore gave orders for Euander to be put
to death. After the reckless perpetration of this murder he suddenly reflected
that he had beyond any doubt brought upon himself the blood-guiltiness
which had previously rested on Euander. Eumenes had been wounded by Euander
in Delphi, and now he himself had put Euander to death in Samothrace. Thus
he alone was responsible for the profanation of the two holiest temples
in the world by human blood. He averted this terrible charge by bribing
Theondas and inducing him to announce to the people that Euander had taken
his own life.
45.6
However, the commission of such a crime against his one remaining friend,
who had been tested through so many misfortunes and who had been betrayed
because he would not betray his master, alienated all men's sympathies
from him. Each thinking only of himself went over to the Romans, and as
he was left all but alone he was compelled to form plans for flight. There
was a Cretan named Oroandas who was familiar with the coast of Thrace through
his trading journeys. Perseus called upon him to take him on board with
him to Cotys. There was a bay formed by one of the headlands of Samothrace,
named from the adjacent temple of Demeter the Demetrium, and there the
boat was lying. Just after sunset everything required for use, and as much
of the money as could be carried without detection, was put on board. The
king with three who shared his flight went out at midnight through a door
at the back of the house into the garden which was close to his room, and
after climbing the wall with considerable difficulty succeeded in reaching
the shore. Oroandas had only waited till the money was on board, and as
soon as it grew dark weighed anchor and put out to sea for Crete. As no
ship was to be found in the harbour Perseus wandered about for some time
on the shore. At last, dreading the approach of day, he did not dare to
return to his quarters but hid himself in a dark corner on one side of
the temple. The children of the Macedonian nobility who were chosen to
wait on the king used to be known as "the royal pages." These boys had
followed the king in his flight, and even now refused to desert him until
a proclamation was published by order of Cnaeus Octavius, stating that
the royal pages and any other Macedonians who were in Samothrace would,
if they went to the Romans, preserve their personal safety and liberty,
and all their property, both what they had with them and what they had
left in Macedonia. After this pronouncement all went over and reported
themselves to C. Postumius, one of the military tribunes. Ion, the Thessalian,
also gave up the king's little children to Octavius, and now no one was
left with the king except his eldest son Philip. Then Perseus, inveighing
against Fortune and the gods in whose temple he was for refusing all aid
to their suppliants, surrendered himself and his son into the hands of
Octavius. Orders were given for him to be put on board the commander's
ship, together with what remained of the money. The fleet at once sailed
back to Amphipolis. From there Octavius sent the king to the consul's camp,
having previously advised him that the king was being brought to his camp
as a prisoner.
45.7
Paulus regarded the capture of the king as a second victory, as it really
was, and on receiving the news offered sacrifices. He then called his council
together and read the praetor's despatch to them. Q. Aelius Tubero was
sent to meet the king, the rest were ordered to remain together at the
headquarters tent. Never has so great a crowd been brought together at
any other sight. In the time of our fathers Syphax was brought as a captive
monarch into the Roman camp. But he is not to be compared with Perseus
in respect either of his own renown or that of his nation, and besides,
he had only played a subordinate part in the Punic War, as Gentius had
done in the Macedonian. Whereas Perseus was the head and supreme director
of the war; and not only were all eyes drawn to him through his own reputation
and that of his father and grandfather and others to whom he was allied
by blood relationship, but he was heir to the glory of Philip and Alexander
the Great, who raised the Macedonian Empire to a supreme position in the
world. Perseus entered the camp in mourning garb without a single attendant
to make him more pitiable by sharing his misfortunes. His only companion
was his son. Owing to the crowd who surrounded him he was unable to make
any progress until the consul sent his lictors to clear a passage for him
to the headquarters tent. After asking the rest to keep their seats the
consul went forward a few steps and held out his hand to the king as he
entered, and when he was going to prostrate himself he raised him to his
feet and would not allow him to embrace his knees as a suppliant. Once
inside the tent, he bade him take his seat facing the members of the council.
45.8
The first question put to him was what wrongs had he suffered which compelled
him to commence war against Rome in such an aggressive temper and so imperil
his own existence and that of his kingdom? Whilst all were waiting for
his answer, he kept his eyes fixed on the ground and wept for some time
in silence. Then the consul continued: "Had you received the crown in your
youth I should be the less surprised at your not knowing what weight Rome
possesses either as a friend or an enemy. But now, after having been associated
with your father in his war against us and in the peace which followed,
and which you well remember we kept with perfect good faith towards him,
what could have been your object in choosing war rather than peace with
those whose strength you have felt in war and whose fidelity you have experienced
in peace?" He made no reply to either the question or the charge. Then
the consul said: "Well, however this may have been brought about, whether
through the blindness of human nature or through chance, or through the
decree of Fate, keep a stout heart. The clemency of the people of Rome,
which has been shown in the misfortunes of many kings and nations, affords
you not only a hope, but a tolerably certain guarantee of your personal
safety." He said this in Greek to Perseus, and then turning to the council
he said in Latin, "You see a striking example of the mutability of human
affairs. Especially to you younger men am I now speaking-it does not become
us, therefore, in the hour of prosperity to form any aggressive designs
against anyone, or to trust the fortune of the moment, for it is uncertain
what the evening will bring. He only will prove himself a man whose spirit
is not elated by the breath of prosperity nor broken by the blasts of adversity."
When the council had broken up, the custody of the king was entrusted to
Q. Aelius. On that day he was invited to dine with the council, and every
mark of honour was shown to him which could be shown to any one in his
position.
45.9
After this the army went into winter quarters. Amphipolis took in the greater
portion. The rest were disposed in the neighbouring cities. Such was the
end of the war which had for four successive years been waged between the
Romans and Perseus, and the end, too, of a kingdom long renowned through
the whole of Asia and most of Europe. From Caranus, the first king, twenty
monarchs are enumerated down to Perseus. He received the crown in the consulship
of L. Fulvius and L. Manlius, and was recognised as king by the senate
when M. Junius and A. Manlius were the consuls. His reign lasted eleven
years. The nation of the Macedonians was almost unknown to fame down to
the time of Philip, the son of Amyntas. From that time it began to extend
under his rule, but it still confined itself within the limits of Europe,
embracing the whole of Greece and portions of Thrace and Illyria. Then
it overflowed into Asia and during the thirteen years of Alexander's reign
he first brought under his power the whole of the Persian dominions, the
extent of which was almost illimitable, and then he traversed Arabia and
India up to where the Red Sea washes the remotest frontiers of the world.
In those days the empire of Macedonia was the greatest in the world, but
after Alexander's death it was broken up into numerous kingdoms, each man
grasping at power for himself until its strength was exhausted by internal
conflicts, and it sank from the highest pinnacle of prosperity to its final
disappearance. It stood for about 150 years.
45.10
When the news of the victory of Rome had spread into Asia, Antenor, who
was lying with a fleet of swift ships at Phanae, left that place for Cassandrea.
C. Popilius was at Delos to escort the supply ships destined for Macedonia,
and when he learnt that the war in Macedonia was at an end and that the
enemy vessels had left their station he sent home the ships of the allies
which were under his command and set sail for Egypt to carry out the mission
with which he was charged. He was anxious to meet Antiochus, if possible,
before he approached the walls of Alexandria. Coasting along the shores
of Asia the commissioners arrived at Loryma, a harbour little more than
twenty miles from Rhodes and facing the city. Here some of the leading
Rhodians had come to meet them-for by this time the news of the victory
had been carried to Rhodes-and begged them to break their journey at Rhodes.
They said that it deeply concerned the good name and safety of their city
that the commissioners should find out for themselves what had been going
on and what was going on at the time, and should carry back to Rome what
they had personally ascertained and not simply empty rumours. For a long
time they refused, but at last consented to a brief interruption of their
voyage for the sake of an allied city. After they had entered Rhodes, these
same men persuaded them to appear before their assembly. The appearance
of the commissioners increased rather than allayed the fears of the citizens.
Popilius brought up all the hostile speeches and acts of which they had
been guilty during the war, whether individually or collectively. Being
a man of fierce temper, he made the matters he spoke about appear still
more heinous by his angry expression and the sternness of his voice. So
though the citizens had given him no personal offence, they could gather
from the embittered tone of one Roman senator what the feelings of the
senate as a whole were towards them. The address of C. Decimius was much
more moderate. With regard to most of the things that Popilius had mentioned,
he said that the blame did not rest with the people, but with a few agitators
who had stirred up the mob, and, winning their votes by bribery, had passed
decrees filled with flattery of the king, and had been the means of those
embassies being sent to him which had caused the Rhodians as much shame
as regret. All this, if the people were sound at heart, would recoil on
the heads of the guilty parties. His words were loudly applauded, for he
not only exculpated the great body of the citizens, but he fastened the
guilt on those who were really responsible for the mischief. When, therefore,
their leaders spoke in reply, those of them who tried to explain away the
charges which Popilius had made were not listened to with anything like
the approval which greeted those who agreed with Decimius that the authors
of the evil should be made to atone for the evil they had done. A decree
was at once passed that those who were convicted of having spoken or acted
in favour of Perseus against the Romans should be sentenced to death. Some
had left the city before the Romans came, others took their own lives.
The commissioners did not stay beyond five days in Rhodes, and then went
on to Alexandria. Their departure did not make the Rhodians any the more
slack in commencing the trials under the decree passed when the commissioners
were present; the mildness of Decimius did quite as much to strengthen
their resolution to see the thing through as the severity of Popilius.
45.11
(Livy takes up the history from Book 24.19) Antiochus was now master of
the rest of Egypt, but after his check before Alexandria he retired from
its walls. The elder Ptolemy, whose restoration to his throne Antiochus
pretended was his sole object in invading Egypt was left at Memphis, and
Antiochus withdrew his army into Syria, prepared to attack whichever brother
should prove victorious. Ptolemy was quite aware of his intention, and
hoped that by playing upon his brother's fears and holding out the prospect
of a siege he might possibly, with the active assistance of his sister
and the acquiescence of his brother's friends, be admitted into Alexandria.
He began a correspondence with his sister and his brother's friends, and
continued to write to them until he had come to terms with them. What made
him suspicious of Antiochus was that after handing over the rest of Egypt
he had left a strong garrison in Pelusium. It was obvious that Antiochus
was holding the key of Egypt in order to make a fresh invasion whenever
he chose, and for Ptolemy to engage in intestine strife with his brother
would prove to be his ruin, since, even if victorious, he would be no match
for Antiochus after an exhausting war. These wise reflections met with
the approval of his brother and his friends, and his sister helped him
very largely by her advice and her appeals to the brother. So peace was
made, and he was admitted into Alexandria with everybody's consent; even
the populace manifested no opposition, though they had suffered severely
both during the investment and after the retirement of the enemy, as no
supplies were being brought in from the rest of Egypt. This ought to have
given the liveliest satisfaction to Antiochus, had his motive for bringing
his army into Egypt really been the restoration of Ptolemy. For this was
the pretext he alleged in all his communications to the cities of Greece
and Asia, and in his replies to their deputations. But he was so intensely
annoyed at what had happened that he began to make preparations for war
in a much more aggressive and ruthless temper against the two brothers
than he had previously shown against the one. He at once sent his fleet
to Cyprus, and in the first days of spring set his army in motion for Egypt
and advanced into Coelo-Syria. When near Rhinocolura he was met by envoys
from Ptolemy, who thanked him for the recovery of his ancestral crown and
begged him to protect the boon he had conferred and to say clearly what
he wanted rather than attack him as an enemy by force of arms after being
his friend. Antiochus replied that he would not recall his fleet or withdraw
his army on any other conditions than the cession of Cyprus and of Pelusium
and the surrounding country at the mouth of the Nile. He further fixed
a day by which he was to receive a reply stating the acceptance of the
conditions.
45.12
When the time for the suspension of hostilities had elapsed he marched
through the desert of Arabia, while his fleet was sailing up the mouth
of the Nile to Pelusium. After receiving the submission of the inhabitants
of Memphis and of the rest of the Egyptian people, some submitting voluntarily,
others under threats, he marched by easy stages towards Alexandria. After
crossing the river at Eleusis, about four miles from Alexandria, he was
met by the Roman commissioners, to whom he gave a friendly greeting and
held out his hand to Popilius. Popilius, however, placed in his hand the
tablets on which was written the decree of the senate and told him first
of all to read that. After reading it through he said he would call his
friends into council and consider what he ought to do. Popilius, stern
and imperious as ever, drew a circle round the king with the stick he was
carrying and said, "Before you step out of that circle give me a reply
to lay before the senate." For a few moments he hesitated, astounded at
such a peremptory order, and at last replied, "I will do what the senate
thinks right." Not till then did Popilius extend his hand to the king as
to a friend and ally. Antiochus evacuated Egypt at the appointed date,
and the commissioners exerted their authority to establish a lasting concord
between the brothers, as they had as yet hardly made peace with each other.
They then sailed to Cyprus and sent home the fleet of Antiochus which had
defeated the Egyptian ships in a naval engagement. The work of the commissioners
won great renown amongst the nations, for it was undoubtedly owing to this
that Egypt had been rescued out of the hands of Antiochus and the crown
restored to the Ptolemaic dynasty. Whilst one of the consuls for the year
had signalised his consulship by a famous victory, the other remained in
comparative obscurity because he had no opportunity of distinguishing himself.
At the outset, in fixing the day for the muster of his legions, he did
so in a place where the auspices had not been taken. The matter was referred
to the augurs, who announced that the proceeding was invalid. After his
departure into Gaul he selected a spot near the Macrian Plain at the foot
of Mount Sicimina and Papinus for his standing camp and then went into
winter quarters in the same neighbourhood with the troops of the Latin
allies; the Roman legions owing to the informality in appointing the day
for their assembling, remained in Rome. The praetors, with the exception
of C. Papirius Corbo, went to their respective provinces. Sardinia had
been allotted to him, but the senate decided that he should exercise the
alien jurisdiction in Rome, for this, too, the ballot had assigned to him.
45.13
The commissioners who had been sent to Antiochus returned to Rome, and
Popilius informed the senate that the differences between the kings had
been adjusted and the army had returned to Syria. Afterwards envoys from
the monarchs themselves arrived. Those from Antiochus assured the senate
that their king regarded the peace which the senate had imposed as preferable
to any victory, and had obeyed the instructions of the Roman commissioners
just as though they had been the commands of the gods. They then offered
their congratulations on the victory, which they said the king would have
done his utmost to further had any orders been given him to that effect.
The envoys from Ptolemy returned thanks in the name of the king and Cleopatra;
they were more indebted to the senate and people of Rome than to their
parents or to the immortal gods, for it was through them that they had
been delivered from the miseries of a siege and had recovered the throne
when it was all but lost. The senate replied that Antiochus had done what
was right and proper in obeying the commissioners, and this was a source
of gratification to the senate and citizens of Rome; as regards the Egyptian
monarchs, Ptolemy and Cleopatra, whatever benefit and advantage had been
gained through their action was a cause of rejoicing to the senate, and
they would make it their business to see that the two monarchs should always
look upon the people of Rome as the most secure and trustworthy protectors
of their kingdom. C. Papirius was charged with the task of sending the
customary presents to the envoys.
Their departure was followed by the arrival of deputations from Pisae
and Luna, who had a dispute. The Pisans complained that they had been expelled
from their territory by the Roman colonists; those from Luna asseverated
that the land in question had been assigned to them by the commissioners
who settled the colony. The senate sent five commissioners to investigate
the facts and fix the boundaries-namely, Q. Fabius Buteo, P. Cornelius
Blasio, T. Sempronius Musca, L. Naevius Balbus and C. Apuleius Saturninus.
A joint deputation from Eumenes and the brothers Attalus and Athenaeus
also came to offer their congratulations on the victory. Masgaba, the son
of Masinissa, had landed at Puteoli, and the quaestor L. Manlius was sent
with a sum of money to meet him and conduct him to Rome at the expense
of the State. Immediately on his arrival in Rome the senate granted him
an audience. The young prince spoke in such a way as to make the matter
of his speech still more welcome by the way he put it. He stated the force
of cavalry and infantry, the number of elephants, the quantity of corn
which his father had sent to Macedonia during the last four years. Two
things made him blush; one was that the senate through their ambassadors
had requested him instead of commanding him to furnish what was necessary
for the war, the other was that they had sent money to pay for the corn.
Masinissa, he said, had not forgotten that it was to the Romans that he
owed his kingdom and the subsequent extension of it; he was quite contented
with enjoying the usufruct of it and was fully aware that the proprietary
remained with those who gave it to him. He thought it only right that they
should take and not ask or pay for the produce of the soil which they had
given. What was over and above the requirements of the people of Rome would
be amply sufficient for him. He then informed the senate that after leaving
his father with these instructions he was overtaken by mounted messengers
who informed him of the final defeat of Macedonia and brought an order
for him to offer his father's congratulations to the senate, and to say
that he was so rejoiced at this that he wished to go to Rome and offer
sacrifices and thanksgivings in the Capitol if the senate would give him
permission.
45.14
In reply the prince was told that Masinissa had acted as became an honourable
and grateful man in enhancing the value and dignity of benefits which were
justly due to him. The people of Rome had received from him loyal and powerful
assistance in the Punic War, and it was through their good offices that
he had gained his crown. In this equal interchange of benefits he had subsequently
rendered every possible assistance in the successive wars against three
kings. It was not surprising that the victory of Rome should give the king
pleasure, seeing how he had associated his own fortunes and those of his
kingdom with the cause of Rome. Let him offer his thanksgivings for the
victory to the gods at home; his son would do this for him in Rome. He
had done quite enough in offering congratulations in his own and his father's
name. The senate did not think it would be to the interest of Rome for
him to leave his kingdom and come away from Africa, especially as he would
gain no advantage by it. The quaestor received instructions to spend 100
pounds of silver in presents for the prince, to escort him to Puteoli and
defray all his expenses as long as he was in Italy, and also to hire two
vessels in which he and his suite were to be conveyed to Africa. Presents
of apparel were made to all his attendants, including the slaves. Not long
after a communication was received from Misagenes, the second son of Masinissa,
stating that after Perseus' defeat he had been sent by L. Paulus with his
cavalry back to Africa, that the fleet had been scattered during the voyage
in the Hadriatic, and that he had been carried down to Brundisium and was
ill. L. Stertinius was sent to Brundisium with presents of equal value
to those given to his brother in Rome, and was instructed to place a house
at his disposal.
. . . .
45.15
The freedmen had been distributed amongst the four City tribes, those being
excepted who had a son of their own more than five years old, those they
ordered to be registered where they had been assessed at the last census,
and also all who possessed a farm or farms more than 30,000 sesterces in
value, these were given the right of being registered in the local tribes.
Notwithstanding these reservations Claudius insisted that without an order
of the people the suffrage could not be taken away from an individual freedman,
much less from the order as a whole. For though the censor could remove
him from his tribe, which simply meant ordering him to change his tribe,
he had no power to remove him from all the thirty-five tribes; that meant
depriving him of his citizenship and personal freedom, not deciding where
he was to be registered, but excluding him from the list of citizens altogether.
This was the question at issue between them. At last they made a compromise.
Out of the four City tribes they decided to choose one by lot, publicly
in the Hall of Liberty, into which all who had ever been slaves should
be incorporated. The lot fell upon the Esquiline tribe, and Tiberius Gracchus
announced that it was decided that all the freedmen should be enrolled
in that tribe. This action of the censors was greatly appreciated by the
senate, and a vote of thanks was accorded to Sempronius for his perseverance
in carrying so wise a measure and to Claudius for not opposing it. More
names were struck off the senatorial roll than had been the case under
former censors, and also off the register of the equites. Both censors
concurred in removing them from their tribes, and no one who was branded
by the one had the stigma effaced by the other. They requested that their
term of office-eighteen months-might be extended to allow of the repair
of buildings and the completion of the works for which they had placed
contracts, but a tribune of the plebs, Cneius Tremellius, interposed his
veto because he had been chosen for the senate. During this year C. Cicereius
dedicated the temple of Monata on the Alban Mount, five years after he
had vowed it, and L. Postumius Albinus was inaugurated as a Flamen of Mars.
45.16
When the new consuls, Q. Aelius and M. Junius, brought up in the senate
the allocations of the provinces, the House decided that Spain should again
form two provinces-during the Macedonian war it had only formed one-and
that L. Paulus and L. Anicius should continue to hold Macedonia and Illyria
until, in concert with the commissioners, they had settled the confusion
caused by the war and given the disturbed countries a constitution other
than the monarchical. Pisae and Gaul were allotted to the consuls, each
to be held with two legions and 400 cavalry. The result of the balloting
among the praetors was that the civic jurisdiction fell to Q. Cassius,
the alien to M. Juventius Thalna, Sicily to Ti. Claudius Nero, Hither Spain
to Cneius Fulvius, and Further Spain to C. Licinius Nerva. Sardinia had
fallen to A. Manlius Torquatus, but he was unable to go to his province
as he was detained by the enquiry into criminal cases which the senate
had ordered. The senate was next consulted as to various portents which
had been announced. The temple of the Penates in Velia had been struck
by lightning, as had also the two gates and a portion of the wall at Minervium.
At Anagnia there had been a shower of earth, and at Lanuvium a blazing
torch had been seen in the heavens. M. Valerius, who was farming some of
the State land at Calatia, reported that blood had trickled from his hearth
for three days and two nights. Mainly on account of this latter portent
the keepers were ordered to consult the Sacred Books, and they announced
special intercessions for one day and a sacrifice of fifty goats in the
Forum. In expiation of the other portents there were special intercessions
at all the shrines for a second day, sacrifices of full-grown victims,
and the lustration of the City. Further, with the purpose of doing honour
to the immortal gods, the senate made the following decree: "Whereas our
enemies have been overcome, and Macedonia and Illyria have passed under
the power of the people of Rome, gifts should be presented at all the shrines
equal to those which had been offered after the defeat of Antiochus in
the consulship of Appius Claudius and M. Sempronius." Q. Cassius and M.
Juventius were to see that these offerings were made.
45.17
Then the commissioners were appointed who were to advise L. Paulus and
L. Anicius as to the settlement of the conquered provinces. The senate
decreed ten for Macedonia and five for Illyria. Those for Macedonia were
first selected. They were A. Postumius Luscus, C. Claudius (both of them
had been censors), Q. Fabius Labeo, . . . C. Licinius Crassus, who had
been Paulus' colleague in the consulship and was at the time in command
of Gaul, his proconsulship having been extended. These were all ex-consuls,
and there were added to their number Cn. Domitius Ahenobarbus, Servius
Cornelius Sulla, L. Junius, T. Numisius Tarquiniensis and A. Terentius
Varro. The five who were to act as commissioners for the settlement of
Illyria were P. Aelius Ligus (an ex-consul), C. Cicereius and Cnaeus Baebius
Tamphilus-the latter had been praetor the last year, Cicereius several
years previously-P. Terentius Tuscivicanus and P. Manlius. The consuls
were advised by the senate to arrange or ballot for their provinces as
soon as possible, as one of them would have to succeed C. Licinius in Gaul,
in consequence of his appointment as commissioner. They balloted, and Pisae
fell to M. Junius. He decided before leaving for his province to introduce
to the senate the various deputations who had come from all quarters to
Rome to offer their congratulations. Q. Aelius had Gaul allotted to him.
Although the fifteen commissioners were men of such standing that it could
reasonably be hoped that the generals acting on their advice would form
no decisions unworthy of the clemency or the honour of Rome, the main principles
of the settlement were nevertheless discussed in the senate in order that
the commissioners might carry them in outline to the commanders.
45.18
First of all it was resolved that the Macedonians and Illyrians should
be free peoples, so that it might be clear to all the world that the arms
of Rome did not carry slavery to the free, but on the contrary freedom
to the enslaved; and also that amongst those nations which enjoyed liberty,
the security and permanence of their liberty rested under the protection
of Rome, whilst on the other hand those who lived under the rule of kings
might be led to believe that their kings were all the more just and merciful
through the respect they felt for Rome, and if ever their sovereigns began
war, the issue of the war would bring victory to Rome and liberty to the
people. It was also resolved to abolish all contracts for working the mines
of Macedonia, which afforded a considerable revenue, and also all leases
of the royal domains; these could not be carried on without the tax-farmer,
and wherever the tax-farmer flourished either the law lost its authority
or the subjects their liberty. Nor were the Macedonians able to work them
themselves, for where those in charge found plunder ready to their hand
there were never lacking causes for quarrels and riots. The national council
was suppressed, lest some unprincipled flatterer of the mob should turn
the safe and reasonable liberty which had been granted into a dangerous
and fatal licence. Macedonia was to be divided into four cantons, each
to have its own council, and the tribute to Rome was to be half what they
had been accustomed to pay to the king. The same regulations were made
in the case of Illyria. The other measures were left to the generals and
commissioners, as they would be dealing with matters on the spot and would
be able to make more definite arrangements.
45.19
Amongst the numerous deputations from kings and free States and communities
Attalus, the brother of Eumenes, attracted all men's eyes and thoughts.
He was received by the men who had taken part with him in the war with
as hearty a welcome as though Eumenes himself had come. Two objects had
brought him to Rome, to all appearance honourable ones; one was to offer
congratulations on the victory which he had himself helped to win, the
other was to complain of an inroad of the Gauls and a defeat which he had
sustained and which seriously threatened his kingdom. But he was also cherishing
secret hopes of receiving from the senate benefits and rewards which could
hardly fall to his lot without injuring his relations with his brother.
There were certain men in Rome, evil counsellors, who encouraged his ambitions.
These men made him believe that the prevailing opinion in Rome with regard
to Attalus and Eumenes was that the one was a sure friend to the Romans,
the other was regarded as a man whom neither the Romans nor Perseus could
trust as an ally. It was difficult, therefore, to decide whether the requests
he made on his own behalf or those through which he might seek to damage
his brother would be the more likely to gain the consent of the senate,
so bent were they as a body on granting everything to Attalus and denying
everything to Eumenes. Attalus, as the event showed, was one of those men
who try to gain all that their hopes promise them; but in his case the
wise admonitions of a friend put a curb, so to speak, on a temper which
was becoming wanton through popularity. There was in his suite a physician
called Stratus; Eumenes, who felt uneasy, had sent him specially to Rome
to watch his brother's conduct, and if he saw him becoming disloyal to
his brother, to give him sound and faithful advice. Stratus found that
he had to deal with ears already preoccupied and feelings already tampered
with, but he seized favourable moments for conversing with him, and in
these interviews he restored a position which had become almost hopeless.
He represented to him that different kingdoms had grown strong through
different causes; their kingdom was a new one, not based upon age-long
power; it stood through brotherly harmony; the royal title and the crown
are borne by one, but all his brothers reign with him. Who would not regard
Attalus, the next in age, as a king, not only because he sees him in such
a powerful position now, but also because the day is near when he will
ascend the throne owing to the age and weakness of Eumenes, who has no
legitimate son? (He had not yet acknowledged the one who succeeded him.)
What advantage would there be in trying to gain by violent means what would
shortly come to him of its own accord? A fresh storm had burst on the realm
in an invasion of the Gauls which could with difficulty be withstood even
by the combined and harmonious efforts of the two monarchs. "If, however,
in addition to a foreign foe there was domestic strife, resistance would
be impossible, and all that would be gained would be that your brother
would lose the crown before his death and you would destroy all hopes of
your succeeding him. Even assuming that to save the kingdom for your brother
and to wrest it from him were both things you could boast about, still
the preservation of the kingdom and the proof it would afford of your brotherly
affection would be the more commendable and praiseworthy. But as a matter
of fact the one alternative is detestable and is next door to parricide;
why then should there be any doubt as to which course to take? Are you
going to try and secure a part of the kingdom or deprive your brother of
the whole? If the former, then, your power being divided, you would be
both weakened and exposed to every possible injury and outrage. If the
latter, are you prepared to send your elder brother into private life or
into banishment, old and infirm as he is, and at last to a lonely exile's
death? For, without recalling the legendary stories of unnatural brothers,
what a signal warning is given in the fate of Perseus, who laid at the
feet of his conqueror the diadem stained with his brother's blood which
he had seized in the temple at Samothrace, as though the gods who witnessed
the murder were now exacting the penalty. The very men who are goading
you on, not because they are friendly to you, but because they are enemies
to Eumenes, will themselves applaud your affection and constancy if you
maintain your loyalty to your brother to the end."
45.20
These arguments prevailed with Attalus. Accordingly, when introduced to
the senate he offered his congratulations on the victory, and alluded to
the services, such as they were, which he and his brothers had rendered.
He then described the serious unrest among the Gauls which had brought
about a revolt and begged the senate to send envoys to them with sufficient
influence and authority to induce them to lay down their arms. Having carried
out his instructions so far as they affected the welfare of the kingdom,
he asked that Aenus and Maronea might be assigned to him. So, to the disappointment
of those who supposed that after bringing charges against his brother he
would ask for the kingdom to be divided between them, he left the senate-house.
Seldom at any time has either king or private citizen been listened to
with such universal pleasure and approval; all honours and gifts were showered
upon him during his stay, and his departure was witnessed by large crowds.
Amongst the numerous delegations from Greece the one from Rhodes excited
the greatest interest. They appeared in white garments as befitted their
mission of congratulation, and indeed if they had shown themselves in mourning
it might have looked as though they were lamenting the fall of Perseus.
When the consul, M. Junius, consulted the senate as to whether they would
grant them free quarters and hospitality and an audience, the House decided
that the obligations of hospitality should not be discharged in their case.
The envoys meanwhile were standing in the Comitium, and when the consul
came out of the senate-house they told him that they had come to offer
their congratulations on the victory and to rebut the accusations of treason,
and they begged that the senate would grant them an audience. The consul
told them plainly that it was to friends and allies that the Romans were
wont to give a hospitable welcome and grant an audience of the senate.
The conduct of the Rhodians during the war had not been such that they
deserved to be counted amongst the friends and allies of Rome. On hearing
this, they all prostrated themselves to the ground and implored the consul
and all who were present not to think it just and right that the new charges
which were falsely made against them should outweigh their services in
the past, services to which the Romans themselves could testify. They lost
no time in putting on mourning garments and visiting the residences of
the principal men, whom they implored not to condemn them without a hearing.
45.21
M. Juventius Thalna, who was the praetor in charge of the alien jurisdiction,
was inciting the populace against the Rhodians and had proposed a resolution
that war should be declared against Rhodes, and that one of the magistrates
for the year should be chosen to command the fleet, hoping that he himself
would be appointed. Two of the tribunes of the plebs, M. Antonius and M.
Pomponius, opposed this proceeding. The praetor himself had acted in defiance
of precedent, for he was making the proposal on his own initiative without
consulting the senate or informing the consuls of the question he was going
to put, viz. whether it was the will and order of the people of Rome that
war should be declared against Rhodes. Hitherto the senate had always been
consulted on the question of war, and then, if the senate gave their sanction,
the question was submitted to the popular Assembly. The tribunes of the
plebs, too, were in the wrong, because the traditional usage was that no
one should veto a measure until the citizens had had the opportunity of
speaking for or against it. Hence it had very frequently happened that
those who had asserted that they would not interpose their veto did interpose
after the opponents of the measure had made them aware of its defects,
whilst on the other hand those who had come prepared to veto a measure
were convinced by the arguments of its supporters and withdrew their veto.
On this occasion the praetors and the tribunes vied with each other as
to who could act most precipitately; the tribunes forestalled the praetor
by interposing their veto before the right time . . .
45.22
". . . So far it is a question whether we have or have not been guilty
of any offence; all the penalty, the humiliation we are suffering from
already. In the past, when we visited Rome after the Carthaginians were
defeated, after Philip and Antiochus had been overcome, we went from our
quarters where we were the guests of the State to offer our congratulations
in the senate house, and from there we went up to the Capitol with gifts
for your gods. Now we have come away from a miserable inn where we could
hardly get admittance, ordered as we are to remain outside the City almost
as though we were enemies. In this squalid plight we have come into the
Roman senate-house-we Rhodians to whom not long ago you granted the provinces
of Lycia and Caria, and upon whom you have bestowed the greatest distinctions
and rewards. According to what we hear, you are ordaining that the Macedonians
and Illyrians shall be free peoples, though before they went to war with
you they were in servitude-not that we envy any one's good fortunes, on
the contrary we recognise the clemency of Rome-but the Rhodians simply
remained quiet, and are you going to convert friends into enemies by this
proposed war? Surely you are the same Romans who make it your boast that
your wars are successful because they are just, and pride yourselves not
so much upon bringing them to a close as victors as upon never beginning
them without just cause. The attack on Messana in Sicily made the Carthaginians
your enemy; his attack on Athens, his attempt to enslave Greece, the assistance
rendered to Hannibal in money and troops made Philip your enemy. Antiochus,
on the invitation of the Aetolians, who were your enemies, sailed in person
with his fleet from Asia to Greece, seized Demetrias, Chalcis and the Pass
of Thermopylae and tried to dispossess you of your empire. Your grounds
for the war with Perseus were the attacks on your allies, or the murder
of the princes and leading men in different communities and nationalities.
What pretext or justification will there be for our ruin, if we are to
perish? So far I do not make any difference between the case of our city
as a whole and that of our fellow-citizens Polyaratus and Dino and the
others whom we have brought with us to deliver up to you. Suppose all we
Rhodians were equally guilty, what charge would be brought against us with
regard to this war? You say we took the side of Perseus, and just as in
the wars against Philip and Antiochus we stood by you against those monarchs,
so now we stood by the king against you. Ask the commanders of your fleets
in Asia, C. Livius, L. Aemilius Regillus, how we were wont to help our
allies and with what energy we prosecuted the war. Your ships never fought
without us to help you; we fought single-handed at Samos and a second time
off Pamphylia against Hannibal, who was in command. And this victory was
all the more glorious for us because after losing a large proportion of
our ships and the flower of our youth in the defeat at Samos, we were not
daunted even by that disaster, and we met the king's fleet on its way from
Syria. I am not recounting these incidents in a spirit of boasting-our
present circumstances forbid that-but to remind you how the Rhodians have
been accustomed to help their allies.
45.23
"After the final defeat of Philip and of Antiochus we received the most
splendid rewards from you. If the good fortune which, through the kindness
of heaven and your own courage, is now yours had fallen to the lot of Perseus
and we had gone to Macedonia to meet the victorious king and ask him for
rewards, what could we possibly say for ourselves? That he had received
assistance from us in money or corn? Or in naval and military contingents?
Or that we had held any fortified position for him? Or that we had fought
any battles for him either under his generals or on our own account? If
he were to ask where our soldiers were supplying his garrison or our ships
joining his fleet, we should, perhaps, make the same defence before the
victor that we are now making before you. This is what we have gained by
sending envoys to both parties to urge peace-we have won the gratitude
of neither, and from one side we have incurred suspicion and danger. And
yet Perseus truly might bring a charge against us which you, senators,
cannot bring. At the outset of the war we sent a deputation to promise
assistance with whatever was needful for the war, and to assure you that
everything was in readiness, our naval forces, our munitions of war, our
fighting men, just as in the former wars. It was owing to you that we did
not supply them; whatever the reason was, you refused our assistance. So
then not only did we show no hostility to you, but we were not lacking
in our duty as faithful allies, though you prohibited us from discharging
it.
"Some one may say, 'What then? Has nothing been done or said in your
City which you disapproved of and which was such as to give just offence
to the people of Rome?' I am not here now to defend what has been done-I
am not so mad-but I shall draw a distinction between the cause of the State
as a whole and the guilty conduct of individual citizens. There is no State
which does not at some time possess bad citizens and at all times an ignorant
populace. I have heard that even amongst you there have been men who made
their way by flattering the mob, and that there have occasionally been
secessions of the plebs when the government was no longer in your hands.
If these things could happen in so well-ordered a State as this, can any
one feel surprised that there have been amongst us a few men who in their
desire to win the friendship of the king have led our plebs astray by their
evil counsels? All the same, they did not effect anything more than make
us slacken in our duty. I will not pass over what is the most serious charge
brought against us with regard to this war. We sent embassies to you and
to Perseus simultaneously to urge peace. This unfortunate policy has been,
as we have heard, held up as abject folly by a furious orator, who it is
admitted spoke in such a tone that he might have been C. Popilius, your
envoy, whom you commissioned to dissuade Antiochus and Ptolemy from war.
Still, whether we are to call it arrogance or folly, our policy towards
you was the same as towards Perseus.
"States, like individuals, have their distinctive characters, some are
hot-tempered, others bold and enterprising; some are of a timid disposition,
others more prone to sensual indulgence. The people of Athens are generally
reported to be quick and impulsive and venture upon enterprises beyond
their strength: the Lacedaemonians are said to be slow in action and only
with difficulty are they brought to engage in undertakings in which they
feel perfectly safe. I quite admit that Asia as a whole produces somewhat
empty heads and that the language of my countrymen is somewhat inflated
because we fancy ourselves superior to our neighbours. This in itself is
due more to the honours which you have judged us worthy to receive than
to any strength which we ourselves possessed. Surely that embassy was sufficiently
chastised when it was dismissed without any reply. If the humiliation then
inflicted was not enough, this embassy, at all events, with its piteous
and suppliant appeal will be an adequate atonement for an even more peremptory
set of negotiators than that one was. Arrogance, especially in language,
is bitterly resented by hot-tempered people and laughed at by sensible
people, particularly when shown by inferiors towards a superior, but no
one has ever regarded it as a capital offence. Possibly some one imagined
that the Rhodians felt a contempt for the Romans. Some men even abuse the
gods in presumptuous language, but we do not hear of any one being struck
by lightning for it.
45.24
"If no hostile act can be imputed to us, if the pompous language of our
envoy, offensive as it was to listen to, did not merit the destruction
of our city, what is there left from which we have to clear ourselves?
I hear, senators, that you are discussing the amount of the fine which
is to be imposed upon us for our unspoken wishes. It is alleged that our
sympathies were with the king and that we should have preferred to see
him victorious, so, some of you think we ought to be punished by war, others
hold that while that was our wish we ought not on that account to be punished.
In no State has it been laid down either by traditional usage or by positive
enactment that whoever wishes the destruction of an enemy, but does nothing
to bring it about, shall still suffer capital punishment. To those of you
who are for freeing us from the penalty though not from the charge we are
grateful; we assert this principle for ourselves-if, as is alleged, this
was the universal wish, we do not distinguish between will and deed, we
are all involved. If some of our leaders were on your side and others on
the side of the king, I do not ask that the supporters of the king should
enjoy immunity on account of us who were on your side; what I do ask is
that we should not perish on account of them. You are not more angry with
them than our State itself is, and, knowing this, most of them have either
fled or taken their own lives; others whom we have found guilty will be
in your hands, senators. Though the conduct of the rest of us during the
war has merited no gratitude, it certainly has not merited punishment.
Let the accumulation of our former services outweigh this failure in our
duty. During these late years you have been engaged in war with three kings;
let not the fact that we gave no assistance in one war count more against
us than the fact that we fought for you in two wars counts for us. Let
Philip, Antiochus and Perseus stand for three separate verdicts; two acquit
us, one is so doubtful as to be adverse. If they were our judges we should
be pronounced guilty; you, senators, are now acting as judges as to whether
Rhodes is to remain in the world or be utterly blotted out. The question
before you is not one of war; you can commence one, but you cannot continue
it, since not a single Rhodian is going to bear arms against you. If you
persist in nursing your wrath against us we shall ask for time to carry
the tidings of this fatal embassy home. All of us every free person, every
man and woman in Rhodes, will go on board our ships with all the money
we possess, and bidding farewell to our national and our household gods,
we shall come to Rome. All the gold and silver belonging to the State,
all that individual citizens possess, will be placed in a heap on the Comitium,
on the threshold of your senate-house, and we shall deliver up ourselves,
our wives and children to you, prepared to suffer whatever may be in store
for us. Far removed from our eyes, let our city be plundered and burnt.
The Romans have it in their power to judge the Rhodians to be public enemies,
we too can pass some judgment on ourselves; we shall never judge ourselves
to be your enemies, nor will we commit a single hostile act, even if we
have to suffer everything that you can inflict upon us."
45.25
Such was the speech. At its close they all again prostrated themselves,
waving their suppliant olive branches to and fro. At last they rose and
left the senate-house. Then the senators were asked to state their view.
The bitterest opponents of the Rhodians were those who as consuls or praetors
or staff officers had taken part in the war. The one who did most to help
them was M. Porcius Cato, who though naturally stern and inflexible acted
on this occasion the part of a lenient and conciliatory senator. I will
not insert a specimen of his fluency and eloquence by transcribing his
speech, it is extant in the Fifth Book of his Origines. The reply made
to the Rhodians was to the effect that they would neither be declared enemies
nor allowed to remain as allies. The leaders of the deputation were Philocrates
and Astymedes. Some of the delegates decided to accompany Philocrates back
to Rhodes with the report of the proceedings, others elected to remain
in Rome with Astymedes so that they could find out what was going on and
inform their countrymen. For the time being they were only required to
withdraw their governors from Lycia and Caria. This would in itself have
created a painful impression, but as they were relieved from the apprehension
of a worse evil, that of war, the announcement was received with joy. They
at once decreed a crown of 20,000 gold pieces in value and sent it to Theaetetus,
the commandant of the fleet, for him to carry it to Rome. They wished him
to press for an alliance with Rome, but in such a way that the terms would
not be submitted to the people, nor reduced to writing, because in case
he was unsuccessful the failure would be all the more humiliating. It was
the sole prerogative of the commandant of the fleet to act in these matters
without any formal decree being made. For all those years they had maintained
friendly relations with Rome without binding themselves by an express treaty
of alliance, their only reason being that they did not wish to preclude
the kings from all hopes of their assistance should it ever be needed,
nor themselves from the advantage to be derived from the bounty and good
fortune of those monarchs. Under present circumstances it seemed especially
desirable that an alliance should be formed, not to give them additional
security against other nations-for they feared none but the Romans-but
to make them less suspected by the Romans themselves. Just at this time
the Caunians revolted from them and the Mylasensians seized the towns of
the Euromensians. The Rhodian government was not so broken in spirit as
not to become aware that if Lycia and Caria had been taken from them by
Rome the other subject countries would either win their freedom by revolt
or be seized by their neighbours, and they themselves would be shut up
in a small and unfertile island which was quite incapable of supporting
the population of so large a city. A body of troops was accordingly despatched
to the disaffected districts and reduced the Caunians to submission, though
they had summoned help from the Cibyratae. They also defeated in an action
near Orthosia the Mylasensians and Alabandians who had joined forces to
wrest from them the province of Euromos.
45.26
While these various events were taking place in Caria, Macedonia and Rome,
L. Anicius was campaigning in Illyria. After receiving the submission of
King Gentius, as stated above, he placed a garrison in Scodra, the capital,
with Gabinius in command, and others in Rhizon and Olcinium, cities well
adapted for the purpose, under C. Licinius. He then advanced with the rest
of his army into Epirus. The first city to surrender to him here was Phanota,
where the whole population streamed out to meet him with fillets of supplication
round their brows. He garrisoned the place and marched into Molossia. All
the towns with four exceptions made their surrender. Those who stood out
were Passaron, Tecmon, Phylace and Horreum. The first to be attacked was
Passaron. Antinous and Theodotus were the leaders in this city. They had
distinguished themselves by their support of Perseus and their hatred of
the Romans; it was through them that the whole nation had revolted from
Rome. Knowing that the guilt rested on them personally and hopeless of
obtaining pardon, they shut the gates that they might be buried in the
general ruin of their country, and appealed to the inhabitants to prefer
death to servitude. No one ventured to open his lips against such powerful
men. At last a certain Theodotus, a young man of noble birth, whose dread
of the Romans proved stronger than his fear of his chiefs, exclaimed, "What
madness possesses you that you should make the whole body of citizens accessories
to the guilt of two men? I have often heard tell of men who have met death
on behalf of their country; these are the first who have been found to
think it right that their country should perish for their sake. Why do
we not open our gates and accept the sovereignty which the whole world
has accepted?" As he said this the whole multitude followed him, Antinous
and Theodotus rushed against the nearest outpost of the enemy and died
of the wounds they had invited, the city surrendered to the Romans. At
Tecmon the chief magistrate was equally defiant and closed the gates. He
was put to death and the place surrendered. Neither Phylace nor Horreum
stood a siege.
When Epirus was finally pacified and the army distributed amongst the
cities suitable for their winter quarters Anicius returned to Scodra, where
the five commissioners had arrived from Rome. Here he summoned the chief
magistrates from all parts of the province to a conference. Ascending the
tribunal, he made the following announcement as agreed upon with the commissioners:
"It is the order of the senate and people of Rome that the Illyrians shall
be a free nation. I shall withdraw my garrisons from all your towns, citadels
and forts. The Issenses, the Taulantii, the Pirustae of Dassaretia, the
cities of Rhizon and Olcinium, shall be not only free politically, but
exempt from all tribute, because they revolted to the Romans whilst Gentius
was still in power. Similar exemption is also granted to the Daorsei, because
they deserted Caravantius and went over fully armed to the Romans. The
people of Scodra, Dassara, and Selepeta will have half the tribute imposed
upon them that they paid to the king." He then announced a threefold division
of Illyria. One has been mentioned already; the second comprised the whole
country up to Lake Libeatus; the third included the Agravonites, the Rhizonites,
the Olciniates and the settlers on their borders. After laying down this
constitution for Illyria he returned to Passaron in Epirus for the winter.
45.27
During these proceedings in Illyria, Paulus, prior to the arrival of the
ten commissioners, sent his son Q. Maximus, who had now returned from Rome,
to sack the cities of Aeginium and Agassae, the latter because after surrendering
to the consul Marcius and voluntarily asking for an alliance it had again
revolted to Perseus. The offence of the people of Aeginium was of a novel
character. They did not attach any credence to the report of the Roman
victory, and killed some of the soldiers who had entered the town. L. Postumius
was also sent to sack the city of Aeniae because the inhabitants had shown
greater obstinacy than the surrounding cities. Autumn was approaching and
the consul decided to utilise this season for making a tour through Greece
and visiting objects to which the fame that reaches our ears lends a grandeur
which the eye fails to discern. He placed C. Sulpicius Galbus in charge
of the camp and set out with a small escort, his son Scipio and Athenaeus,
Eumenes' brother, riding on either side of him. Passing through Thessaly
he made his way to Delphi, the world-famed oracle. Here he offered sacrifices
to Apollo and some unfinished columns in the vestibule on which it had
been intended to place statues of Perseus he set apart for statues of himself
in commemoration of his victory. He also visited the temple of Jupiter
Trophonius at Lebadia and saw the mouth of the cavern into which those
who consult the oracle descended. There is a temple here dedicated to Jupiter
and Hercynna, and he offered sacrifices to these deities. He then went
on to Chalcis to see the Euripus and the bridge which connects the large
island of Euboea with the mainland. From there he crossed to Aulis, a distance
of three miles, and viewed the harbour, famous as the anchorage of Agamemnon's
thousand ships, and also the temple of Diana, at whose altar the renowned
"king of kings" sacrificed his daughter that his fleet might have a favourable
voyage to Troy. He then went on to Oropus, where an ancient bard is worshipped
as a god and his venerable temple is delightfully situated amidst fountains
and brooks. From there he proceeded to Athens. This city is full of the
traditions of its ancient glory, but it nevertheless possesses many things
worth seeing-the citadel, the harbour, the walls connecting the city with
the Piraeus and the dockyards; memorials of great commanders, statues of
gods and men, splendidly wrought in every kind of material and every form
of art.
45.28
After sacrificing to Minerva, the tutelary deity in the Acropolis, he left
for Corinth, which he reached on the following day. At that time, before
its destruction, it was a glorious city. The citadel and the Isthmus presented
a striking spectacle-the citadel inside the walls rising to a great height,
with streams flowing everywhere, and the Isthmus separating by a narrow
belt of land two seas, one to the east and the other to the west. Sicyon
and Argos were the next places visited, both of them famous cities; and
next to them Epidaurus, not so wealthy as those, but celebrated for the
splendid temple of Aesculapius, five miles distant from the city, filled
at the present day with the relics and vestiges of the offerings which
then enriched it, offerings made to the god by the sick as a grateful reward
for their recovery. From there he went on to Lacedaemon, a city memorable,
not for the magnificence of its buildings, but for its discipline and its
institutions. Passing through Megalopolis he went up to Olympia. Here among
the different objects which attracted his attention, he was deeply impressed
as he gazed on Jupiter, standing as it were before him, and he gave orders
for a sacrifice to be prepared on an ampler scale than usual, just as if
he were going to sacrifice in the Capitol.
In this progress through Greece he was careful to avoid doing anything
that might alarm those who were friends of Rome, and therefore he made
no enquiry into the sentiments entertained by communities as a whole or
by individual citizens during the war with Perseus. On his return to Demetrias
he was met by a crowd of Aetolians dressed in mourning. On his asking with
some surprise what the matter was, they told him that five hundred and
fifty of their principal citizens had been put to death by Lyciscus and
Tisippus, after they had placed round the senate-house a cordon of Roman
soldiers sent by A. Baebius, the commandant of the garrison. Others they
had sent into exile, and they were keeping the property of those who had
been killed as well as of those who had been banished. He sent orders for
those who were accused to await him at Amphipolis. He met Cnaeus Octavius
at Demetrias, and while he was there a report reached him that the ten
commissioners had landed in Greece, and laying aside all other business
he proceeded to Apollonia. Through the slackness of his guard Perseus had
been able to get away from Amphipolis and met Aemilius at Apollonia-it
is only a day's journey. Aemilius is said to have spoken to him in a kindly
tone, but when he arrived in the camp at Amphipolis he severely censured
C. Sulpicius, in the first place because he had allowed Perseus to wander
so far away in the province and secondly because he had shown such indulgence
to his soldiers that he allowed them to remove the tiles from the city
walls in order to roof their winter huts. He ordered the tiles to be taken
back and the uncovered places to be restored to their former condition.
Perseus and his elder son Philip were handed over to A. Postumius to be
kept under guard; Aemilius treated the daughter and the younger son, who
had been brought from Samothrace, with every mark of respect and kindness.
45.29
Aemilius gave notice for the councils of ten from all the cities to assemble
at Amphipolis and to bring with them all archives and documents wherever
they were deposited, and all the money due to the royal treasury. When
the day arrived he advanced to the tribunal, where he took his seat with
the ten commissioners, surrounded by a vast concourse of Macedonians. Though
they were accustomed to the display of royal power, this novel assertion
of authority filled them with fear; the tribunal, the clearing of the approach
to it through the mass of people, the herald, the apparitor, all these
were strange to their eyes and ears and might even have appalled allies
of Rome, to say nothing of a vanquished enemy. After the herald had called
for silence Paulus, speaking in Latin, explained the arrangements decided
upon by the senate and by himself in concert with the ten commissioners;
Cnaeus Octavius, who was also present, translated the address into Greek.
First of all it was laid down that the Macedonians were to be a free people,
possessing their cities and fields as before, enjoying their own laws and
customs and electing their annual magistrates. They were to pay to Rome
half the tribute which they had been paying to the king. Secondly, Macedonia
was to be broken up into four separate cantons. The first would embrace
the district between the Strymon and the Nessus, and in addition, beyond
the Nessus to the east, the forts, towns and villages which Perseus had
held, with the exception of Aenus, Maronea and Abdera, and beyond the Strymon
to the west the whole of Bisaltica together with Heraclea, which district
the natives call Sintice. The second canton would be bounded on the east
by the Strymon, exclusive of Sintice, Heraclea and Bisaltica; and on the
west by the Axius, including the Paeonians, who dwelt to the east of the
Axius. The third division would be the district enclosed between the Axius
on the east and the Peneus on the west; the Bora range shuts it in on the
north. This canton was increased by the addition of the part of Paeonia
which extends westwards beyond the Axius; Edessa and Beroea were assigned
to this division. The fourth canton lay on the other side of the Bora range,
bordering Illyria on the one side and Epirus on the other.
Aemilius then designated the capital cities where the councils were
to be held in the different cantons; Amphipolis was fixed for the first,
Thessalonica for the second, Pella for the third, and Pelagonia for the
fourth. There the councils for each canton were to be summoned, the tribute
deposited, and the annual magistrates elected. His next announcement was
that all intermarriage between the inhabitants of the different cantons
was forbidden, as also the possession of land or houses in more than one
canton. The gold and silver mines were not allowed to be worked, but permission
was given in the case of the iron and copper mines. Those working the mines
would have to pay one half of the royalty which they had paid to the king.
The use of imported salt was also forbidden. The Dardanians were laying
claim to Paeonia on the ground that it once belonged to them, and they
had a common frontier; the consul told them in reply that he was granting
political liberty to all who had been under the rule of Perseus. As he
had refused them Paeonia he granted them the right to purchase salt and
ordered the third canton to carry its salt to Stobi, fixing, at the same
time, the price at which it was to be sold. He forbade the Macedonians
either to cut timber for ship-building themselves or to allow others to
do so. He gave permission to those cantons whose frontiers were contiguous
to those of the barbarians to maintain armed forces on their borders.
45.30
This pronouncement made on the first day of the conference called forth
mixed feelings in the audience. The unhoped-for boon of political liberty
and the lightening of the annual tribute were a great relief to them, but
the prohibition of mutual intercourse between the different cantons seemed
to them like the rending asunder of their country, like an animal deprived
of its limbs, where each limb is necessary to all the rest so ignorant
were they of the size of Macedonia, how easily it lent itself to division
and how self-contained each part was in itself. The first section includes
the Bisaltae, a nation of warriors living on the other side of the Nessus
and around the Strymon and contains many special kinds of fruit and minerals
and the city of Amphipolis, which is so conveniently situated, commanding
as it does all approaches from the east. Then again, the second division
comprises the populous cities of Thessalonica and Cassandrea and also the
rich corn-growing district of Pallene. Facilities for sea-borne traffic
are afforded by numerous harbours: some at Torone under Mount Athos, and
at Aenea and Acanthus, others facing Thessaly and Euboea, and others again
easily accessible from the Hellespont. The third canton includes the famous
cities of Edessa, Beroea and Pella, the warlike tribe of the Vettii and
also a large population of Gauls and Illyrians who are devoted to husbandry.
The fourth canton is peopled by the Eordaei the Lyncestae and the Pelagones,
and there are also the three cities of Atintania, Tymphaei, and Elimiotis.
The whole of this strip of country is cold and unkindly and difficult of
cultivation, and the character of the peasants corresponds to that of their
country. Their barbarian neighbours make them still more ferocious by sometimes
familiarising them with war, and in times of peace introducing their own
rites and customs. In this division of Macedonia, therefore, each separate
portion had its own distinctive advantages
45.31
After the constitution of Macedonia had been thus announced, and the consul
had declared his intention of providing a code of laws, the Aetolians were
summoned to appear. The enquiry was directed more to find out who had been
in favour of the Romans and who in favour of the king than to discover
which party had inflicted and which had suffered wrongs. The murderers
were acquitted, the exiles and the slain were alike considered to have
deserved their fate; the only one found guilty was A. Baebius because he
had allowed his soldiers to be the instruments of the massacre. This result
of the case of the Aetolians had the effect of inflating the adherents
of the Roman party in all the communities and peoples of Greece to an insupportable
pitch of insolence, and whenever there was any suspicion of having favoured
the king their opponents were trampled in the dust. The leaders in the
various cities fell into three classes; two of these consisted of men who,
whilst insinuating themselves into the confidence of the Romans on the
one hand or the king on the other, aggrandised themselves at the expense
of their fellow-citizens, the third class sought to defend their liberties
and their laws by opposing both the others. The greater the affection which
their compatriots felt for them at home, the less were they appreciated
abroad. Elated by the success of the Romans, the supporters of that party
were in sole possession of the magistracies and the sole representatives
of their States. Numbers of these men came from the Peloponnesus, from
Boeotia, and the other national councils in Greece to be present at the
congress, and they filled the ears of the commissioners with their charges.
They averred that the supporters of Perseus included not only those who
in a spirit of idle vanity openly boasted that they were his friends and
intimates, but a far more numerous body who had secretly espoused his cause,
and under the pretext of defending their liberties had everywhere induced
the councils to act in direct hostility to Rome. The loyalty of the different
States could only be maintained by crushing these parties and strengthening
the authority of those whose sole aim was to support the power of Rome.
A list of names was furnished by these men, and letters from the commander
were despatched to Acarnania, Aetolia, Epirus and Boeotia, ordering those
named to follow him to Rome to make their defence. Two of the commissioners,
C. Claudius and Cnaeus Domitius, went in person to Achaia to publish this
order. There were two reasons for this. One was their belief that the self-confidence
and high spirit of the Achaeans would prevent their obeying the order,
and possibly Callicrates and the other informers might even be in danger
of their lives. The other was that while letters from the leaders in other
States had been discovered in the royal archives, none had been found from
the Achaeans, and the charges against them lacked proof. After the Aetolians
had withdrawn, the Acarnanian deputation was called in. In their case no
change was made beyond the removal of Leucas as a member of their league.
Then the commissioners extended the scope of this enquiry as far as Asia.
Labeo was sent to destroy the city of Antissa in the island of Lesbos,
and transfer the inhabitants to Methymna, the reason for this step being
that they had admitted the king's naval commander, Antenor, into their
harbour and helped him with supplies while he was cruising off Lesbos.
Two of their leaders were beheaded: Andronicus, the son of Andronicus,
an Aetolian, because he had followed his father and borne arms against
Rome, and Neo, a Theban, who had been the prime agent in their forming
an alliance with Perseus
45.32
The congress of the Macedonians which had been interrupted by these proceedings
was again convened. First of all the status of Macedonia was defined. Senators,
who were known as "synedri," were to be elected to form a council for the
administration of government. Then a list was read out of the names of
those Macedonian leaders who it was decided were to go in advance to Italy
with all their children over fifteen years of age. At first glance this
seemed a cruel measure, but it soon became apparent to the Macedonians
that it was done to protect their liberties. The names on the list were
those of the friends and court nobles of the king, the generals of his
armies, the commanders of his ships and garrisons accustomed to servile
submission towards him and dictatorial insolence towards others. Some were
exceedingly wealthy others whose fortunes did not equal theirs lived quite
as extravagantly; their table and dress were on a regal scale they had
no idea of citizenship, and were incapable of submission to law or to a
liberty equal for all. Every one, therefore, who had been employed in the
king's service, even those who had been sent as envoys, were ordered to
leave Macedonia and proceed to Italy, and whoever refused obedience was
threatened with death. The laws which Aemilius gave to the Macedonians
had been so carefully and considerately drawn up that he might be thought
to be giving them not to vanquished enemies but to allies who had rendered
good service, and not even after a long practical experience-the only safe
guide in legislative reform-have they been found to need amendment. After
attending to these more serious matters he celebrated the Games, for which
preparations had been going on for a long time, with great splendour. Notice
of them had been sent to the cities of Asia and to the kings, and during
his tour in Greece Aemilius had informed the leading men about them. There
was a gathering of artistes proficient in every kind of scenic display,
a vast assemblage of athletes from all parts of the world, and horses that
had won many races. There were also civic deputations with their animals
for sacrifice; everything, in fact, which usually formed a part of these
exhibitions in honour both of gods and men. The performances were so good
that not only the magnificence of the spectacle but the skill shown in
its display were universally admired; the Romans were not in those days
adepts at these exhibitions. The same care was taken over the rich banquets
which were prepared for the civic deputations. A remark of the consul's
was often quoted, that, the man who knew how to win a war had also to furnish
entertainment and prepare Games for the conquered.
45.33
When all the performances were ended and the bronze targes had been put
on board the ships, the rest of the spoils were collected into enormous
heaps. Then the commander offered up prayers to Mars and Minerva and Lua
Mater and the other deities to whom the spoils taken from the enemy must
be solemnly dedicated. He then applied a torch to the heap and the military
tribunes standing round each cast a brand on the pile. It is a noteworthy
fact that in this great meeting of Europe and Asia, where a multitude had
been drawn together from every part of the world, some to offer congratulations,
some to see the spectacle, where such great naval and military forces were
assembled, there was nevertheless such abundance of everything and provisions
were so cheap that the general out of this abundance made gifts to individuals,
to cities, and even to whole nations, sufficient not only for their use
at the time, but enough for them to take home with them. The spectators
were not more interested in the scenic representations and the athletic
contests and chariot races than they were in the display of the spoils
from Macedonia. These were all laid out to view-statues, pictures, woven
fabrics, articles in gold, silver, bronze and ivory wrought with consummate
care, all of which had been found in the palace, where they had not been
intended, like those which filled the palace at Alexandria, for a moment's
ornament but for constant and lasting use. They were all placed on board
the fleet under the charge of Cnaeus Octavius to be transported to Rome.
After taking a friendly leave of the various deputations Paulus crossed
the Strymon and fixed his camp a mile distant from Amphipolis. A five days'
further march brought him to Pella. Marching past the city he arrived at
a place called Spilaeum, where he stayed two days. During his stay he sent
P. Nasica and his son Q. Maximus to ravage that part of Illyria from which
assistance had been sent to Perseus and afterwards to meet him at Oricum.
He himself took the road to Epirus and after a fifteen days' march reached
Passaron.
45.34
Anicius' camp was not far away, and the consul sent a letter telling him
not to be disturbed at what was going on, for the senate had made a grant
to his army of the plunder from those cities in Epirus which had gone over
to Perseus. Centurions were sent to each of the cities to say that they
had come to bring away the garrisons in order that the Epirots should be
free as the Macedonians were free. The town councillors in each community
were sent for and warned to have the gold and silver brought out into some
public place, and cohorts were ordered to visit all the cities. Those who
were to go to the more distant places started before those who were to
go to the nearer ones, and they all reached their destination on the same
day. The military tribunes had received instructions as to what they were
to do. All the silver and gold had been collected together in the morning,
and at ten o'clock the signal was given to the soldiers to sack the cities.
So great was the amount of booty secured that 400 denarii were distributed
to each cavalryman and 200 to each foot soldier, and 150,000 human beings
were carried off. Then the walls of the plundered cities, some seventy
in number, were destroyed, the booty sold and the proceeds furnished the
above-mentioned sum for the troops. Paulus went down to the seaport of
Oricum, but his soldiers were far from satisfied; they resented being excluded
from all share in the plunder of the palace, as though they had not taken
any part in the Macedonian war. At Oricum he found the troops which had
been sent off with Scipio Nasica and Q. Maximus, and after seeing his army
on board sailed back to Italy. A few days later Anicius, who had been meeting
the representatives of the rest of the Epirots, ordered those of their
leaders whose case he had reserved for the senate to follow him to Italy.
He then waited for the ships which had been used to transport the army
from Macedonia, and on their arrival he too returned to Italy.
During these occurrences in Macedonia and Epirus the mission which had
been sent in company with Attalus to put a stop to the war between the
Gauls and Eumenes landed in Asia. A truce had been arranged for the winter;
the Gauls had gone home and the king had retired into winter quarters at
Pergamum, where he had been seriously ill. The beginning of spring had
drawn the Gauls from their homes and they had gone as far as Synnada, while
Eumenes had assembled at Sardis an army drawn from every quarter of his
kingdom. When the Romans who were there had ascertained that the Gauls
were at Synnada they decided to proceed thither and interview Solovetius,
the Gaulish leader; Attalus accompanied them, but they decided that he
should not enter the Gaulish camp lest there should be an angry debate.
P. Licinius had a conversation with their leader, and brought back word
that all attempts to persuade him only made him more defiant; he expressed
his astonishment that whilst the representations of the Roman commissioners
succeeded in allaying the strife between such powerful monarchs as Antiochus
and Ptolemy, they had no weight whatever with the Gauls.
45.35
The captive monarchs Perseus and Gentius, with their children, were the
first to be brought to Rome as prisoners; a host of prisoners followed
them. These were succeeded by the Macedonians and the leading men of Greece
who had received orders to go to Rome. In the case of these latter the
summons embraced not only those at home, but also any who were reported
to be with Antiochus or Ptolemy. A few days later Paulus himself sailed
up the Tiber to the City in the king's ship, a vessel of enormous size
propelled by sixteen banks of oars and adorned with the spoils of Macedonia
in the shape of glittering armour and embroidered fabrics which belonged
to the king. The river banks were crowded with multitudes who had streamed
out to greet his arrival. Anicius and Octavius, with their fleet, arrived
shortly afterwards. A triumph for all three was decreed by the senate,
and the praetor Q. Cassius was instructed to arrange with the tribunes
of the plebs that they should propose a resolution to the Assembly that
on the day when they entered the City in triumph they should retain their
full military powers. Men of mediocre ability escape envy, it generally
aims its shafts at the highest. No hesitation was felt about allowing Anicius
and Octavius a triumph; Paulus, with whom they would have blushed to compare
themselves, was the mark for calumny. He had maintained the ancient discipline
amongst his men; he had given the soldiers much less booty than they had
hoped considering Perseus' immense wealth; had he satisfied their demands
they would have left nothing for the treasury. The whole of the army in
Macedonia were incensed against their commander, and intended to give very
little support to the resolution. Servius Sulpicius Galba, who had served
in Macedonia as military tribune in the second legion and who had a private
grievance against his commander, had gone about personally amongst the
men and through the soldiers of his own legion had solicited and spurred
on the rest to come in force and vote against the resolution, they would
then have their revenge upon their despotic and niggardly general. "The
City plebs would follow the lead of the soldiers. He forsooth had not the
power to give the soldiers money! The soldiers, however, had the power
to confer honour. He must not hope to reap the fruit of a gratitude which
he had not earned."
45.36
In this angry mood they assembled in the Capitol. When Tiberius Sempronius
put the resolution and the citizens were at liberty to speak, not a single
person came forward to support it, as though it was taken for granted that
it would be carried. Suddenly Servius Galba came forward and said that
it was now four o'clock in the afternoon and there was not sufficient time
for him to give his reasons why they should refuse the order for P. Aemilius
to enjoy a triumph; he requested the tribunes of the plebs to adjourn the
Assembly to the following day and commence the discussion in the morning,
as he would need an entire day to state his case. The tribunes told him
to say what he wanted to say there and then. His speech lasted till nightfall.
He reminded his audience how all military tasks had been ruthlessly imposed,
how there had been more labour, more danger incurred than circumstances
required; but on the other hand, when it came to rewards and distinctions
everything was cut down; if such generals were to have their way warfare
would become more rough and repulsive to those engaged in it, and even
when victory came it would bring neither profit nor honour. The Macedonians
were better off than the Roman soldiers were. If they came in force the
next day to vote against the resolution the men in power would understand
that the general has not everything in his own hands, the soldiers too
have something in their hands. Excited by this language, the soldiers crowded
into the Capitol in such numbers that there was no room for any one else
to give his vote. When the tribes who were first called upon were beginning
to vote against the proposal, the chiefs of the City hurried to the Capitol
and exclaimed loudly against such an unworthy proceeding. Lucius Paulus,
they said, the victor in so great a war, was being robbed of his triumph,
the commanders were being placed at the mercy of a licentious and grasping
soldiery. Political corruption had already been the cause of too many crimes;
what would happen if the soldiers were made the lords and masters of their
commanders? Each did his utmost to shower reproaches on Galba. The tumult
was at last allayed, and M. Servilius who had been consul and Master of
the Horse begged the tribunes to commence the proceedings afresh and give
him an opportunity of addressing the people. The tribunes retired to deliberate,
and out of deference to the authority of the leaders of the State, prepared
to go through the business from the beginning, and announced their intention
of calling upon the tribes who had already voted to vote again after M.
Servilius and any other citizens had stated their views.
45.37
Then Servilius began: "How great a commander L. Aemilius has shown himself
may be estimated, if by nothing else, at all events by this simple fact,
that though he had in his camp such mutinous and fickle soldiers, and a
man so notorious for his impulsiveness and power of rousing a multitude
bent on mischief by his eloquence, yet he never had a mutiny in his camp.
The same stern exercise of authority, which they now detest, kept them
as a united body. Held fast by the ancient discipline, they neither uttered
a seditious word nor acted in a seditious way. As to Servilius Galba, if
he wished to make his first essay, and give us a specimen of his eloquence
by accusing L. Paulus, he ought not to have stood in the way of his triumph,
if for no other reason at least for this, that the senate had judged it
just and right. He ought to have waited till the morrow of his triumph,
when he would see him as a private citizen and would be able to indict
him before a magistrate, or at a later time, as soon as he himself had
taken up the duties of a magistrate, he could impeach his enemy and prosecute
him before the Assembly. In that way Lucius Paulus would have been rewarded
by a triumph for having done his duty in conducting a war so gloriously,
and would have been punished for anything he had done unworthy of his former
reputation and his newly-acquired glory. But see! He could not say anything
against his conduct as a citizen or his character as a man, so he tried
to besmirch his reputation. Yesterday afternoon he asked for a whole day
in which to bring his accusations against L. Paulus; he took up what was
left of the day-four hours-with his speech. What man has ever been placed
upon his trial, so steeped in guilt that the crimes of his life could not
be recounted in that number of hours? What, however, did he bring up which
L. Paulus, were he on his trial, would wish to deny?
"Let some one picture to himself for a moment two assemblies, the one
made up of the soldiers who served in Macedonia, the other free from prejudice,
with a judgment unwarped by either partiality or aversion-the whole of
the people of Rome sitting as judges. Suppose the defendant were first
brought before the assembly of civilians clad in their peaceful togas.
What would you say, Servilius Galba, before the Quirites of Rome? You said
yesterday: 'Your outpost duty was too arduous, too much of a strain; the
inspection of the night watches was too inconsiderate and incessant; you
did heavier fatigue duty than formerly, when the commander himself went
round and inspected. You had a march, and then went straight into battle
on the same day, and even after you had won the victory, you were not allowed
any rest; you were instantly sent in pursuit of the enemy. It was within
his power to make you rich by distributing the plunder; he is going to
carry the royal wealth in his triumphal procession and then put it into
the treasury.' This sort of talk has a certain sting in it to goad on men
who think that sufficient deference has not been shown to their licence
and avarice. But it would have no influence with the people of Rome. They
might not remember the old-time stories, and those which they have heard
from their fathers, the defeats incurred by commanders who wished to be
popular, and the victories won by stern and strict discipline; but they
have not at all events forgotten the last Punic war, the difference between
M. Minucius, the Master of the Horse, and Q. Fabius Maximus, the Dictator.
So it is quite clear that the accuser would not have had a word to say,
and any defence by Paulus would have been superfluous. "Now let us pass
to the other assembly. I think I shall call you 'soldiers,' and not 'Quirites,'
if that title can at least call up a blush and evoke in you a feeling of
shame for the way you have insulted your commander.
45.38
"While I fancy myself addressing the army, I am in a very different state
of mind from what I was in a few moments ago, when my words were addressed
to the citizens. What do you say, soldiers? Is there a single man in Rome
besides Perseus who would object to a triumph over the Macedonians, and
you do not tear him in pieces with the same arms with which you conquered
the Macedonians? The man who prevents you from entering the City in triumph
would have prevented you, had it been in his power, from winning the war.
You are mistaken, soldiers, if you think that a triumph is an honour to
the general alone, and not to the soldiers also, and to the whole people
of Rome. It is not the glory of Paulus alone that is at stake here-many
who failed to obtain the senate's sanction have triumphed on the Alban
Mount; no one can snatch from Paulus the glory of bringing the Macedonian
war to a close any more than he could deprive C. Lutatius of his glory
in the first Punic war, or P. Cornelius of his glory in the second. A triumph
will not diminish or enhance L. Paulus' greatness as a commander-it is
the fair fame of the soldiers and the people of Rome that is in question.
Take care that this action be not looked upon as an instance of jealousy
and ingratitude towards all our noblest citizens, copying the example of
the Athenians, who persecuted their foremost men because they were jealous
of their greatness. Enough wrong was done by your ancestors in the case
of Camillus, whom they treated with injustice-it was, however, before he
rescued the City from the Gauls-enough, too, by yourselves in the case
of P. Africanus. We must blush with shame when we remember that the domicile
and home of the man who subjugated Africa was at Liternum; that it is at
Liternum we are shown his tomb. If the glory of L. Paulus is on a par with
theirs, do not let the injustice you are showing to him equal what was
shown to them. Let us begin then by effacing this infamy so ugly in the
eyes of other nations, so disastrous to our own people; for who would wish
to resemble either Africanus or Paulus in a community which was ungrateful
and hostile to its good citizens? If there were no question of disgrace,
if it were only one of glory, what triumph, pray, does not bring with it
a glory in which every Roman has a share? All those triumphs over the Gauls,
all those over the Spaniards; all those over the Carthaginians, are they
spoken of as the triumphs of the commanders only, and not rather of the
people of Rome as a whole? As it was not over Pyrrhus or Hannibal personally
but over the Epirots and the Carthaginians, so it was not Manlius Curius
or P. Cornelius alone who celebrated them but the Romans. Especially is
this true of the soldiers. With their laurel wreaths, each wearing his
decorations, they shout their 'Io Triumphe' and make their progress through
the City, hymning their commander's praises. If at any time the soldiers
have not been brought back from the province for their triumph they murmur,
yet even then they consider that they are taking their part in it because
it was by their hands that the victory was won. If any one were to ask
you soldiers for what object you were brought back to Italy and not disbanded
as soon as the province was brought into order; why you have come to Rome
in your thousands and under your standards; why you remain here and do
not disperse each of you to your homes; what answer would you give except
that you want to appear in the triumph? You, at all events, ought to wish
to be seen as victors.
45.39
"Triumphs have been celebrated over Philip, this man's father, and over
Antiochus; both were on the throne at the time. Shall there be no triumph
over Perseus carried off as a prisoner and brought here with his children?
Now, if while Anicius and Octavius were ascending the Capitol in their
chariot, clad in gold and purple, L. Paulus standing as an ordinary citizen
in the crowd were to ask them: 'Whom do you, L. Anicius and Cn. Octavius,
think more deserving of a triumph, me or yourselves?' I think they would
for very shame descend from their chariot and hand over their insignia
of triumph to him. Would you rather, Quirites, see Gentius led in triumph
than Perseus? Would you rather see a triumph over an episode of the war
than over the war itself? The legions from Illyria will enter the City
in triumph wearing their laurel wreaths; so will the seamen of the fleet.
Are the legions from Macedonia going to watch the triumph of others after
their own has been denied? What will become of the royal booty, the spoils
of such a rich victory? Where will the many thousands of arms and armour
stripped from the bodies of the slain be stored? Are they to be sent back
to Macedonia? Where are the statues of gold and marble and ivory to go,
the paintings, the embroidery, the mass of gold and silver plate, the immense
sum of money that belonged to the king? Will they be carried away to the
treasury by night as though they were the proceeds of a robbery? Yes, and
the greatest spectacle of all, a monarch once most famous and most wealthy,
now a prisoner, where is he to be shown to the victorious people? Most
of us remember the crowds that gathered to see the captive king Syphax,
who played a subordinate part in the Punic war; Perseus, a captive monarch,
and his sons Philip and Alexander-names borne by mighty monarchs-are they
to be kept out of the sight of the citizens? All men's eyes are yearning
to watch L. Paulus, consul now for the second time, the conqueror of Greece,
entering the city in his chariot. It was for this that we made him consul
that he might bring to an end a war which to our infinite shame had been
dragging on for four years. Are we going to deny a triumph to the man to
whom, when the ballot had allotted him the province, we destined with prescient
minds victory and a triumph, as we watched him leave the City? Are we going
to defraud not him alone but the gods as well? Your ancestors invoked them
when they started upon any great enterprise, and they invoked them also
when they had carried it through. When a consul or a praetor goes to his
province with his lictors, wearing the paludamentum, he recites prayers
in the Capitol; when the war is over and he returns as victor in triumph
to the Capitol, he carries up the gifts which are their due to the same
deities to whom he offered the prayers. Not the least important part of
the procession is the victims which precede the chariot, so that all may
see that the commander is coming back to offer thanks to the gods for the
successes they have vouchsafed to the commonwealth. All those victims which
he has destined for his triumphal procession you had better go and sacrifice
for yourselves, each where and when he chooses. Are those solemn banquets
to which the senators sit down, not in any private house nor in any unconsecrated
public building, but in the Capitol itself-are they, I ask, intended to
gratify men or to honour the gods, and are you going to interfere with
them at the bidding of Servius Galba? Will the City gates be closed against
L. Paulus' triumph? Is Perseus, the king of the Macedonians, with his children
and all the other prisoners, the spoils of Macedonia, to be left in the
Circus Flaminius? Is L. Paulus to go to his house like an ordinary citizen
returning home from the country, whilst you, centurion and legionary, march
wearing the decorations which Paulus has bestowed upon you?
"Listen to the decree of the senate, rather than to the romancing of
Servius Galba. Listen to this that I am saying, rather than to him. He
has learnt nothing but speech-making, and that only to insult and calumniate.
I have fought three-and-twenty times in answer to challenges; from all
whom I encountered I carried off the spoils. My body is covered with honourable
scars, every one received in front." It is said that he then stripped himself
and explained in what war each had been received. While making this display
he uncovered what ought to be concealed, and a swelling in the groin evoked
laughter amongst those nearest to him. He then continued: "This which you
are laughing at I got from sitting on horseback night and day, and I am
no more ashamed of this than of my other scars; it has never hindered me
from serving the commonwealth faithfully, either at home or on the field
of battle. As an old soldier I have often shown this body of mine, hacked
with the sword, to the young ones. Let Galba strip and show his smooth
skin with not a scar upon it. "Tribunes, call back, if you please, the
tribes to vote . . . ."
45.40
Valerius Antias states that all the gold and silver coinage carried in
the procession amounted to 120,000,000 sesterces, but from his own account
of the number of wagons and the weight carried in each, the amount must
undoubtedly have exceeded this. It is also asserted that a second sum equal
to this had been either expended in the war or dispersed by the king during
his flight to Samothrace, and this was all the more surprising, since all
that money had been accumulated during the thirty years from the close
of the war with Philip either as profits from the mines or from other sources
of revenue, so that while Philip was very short of money, Perseus was able
to commence his war with Rome with an overflowing exchequer. Last of all
came Paulus himself, majestic alike in the dignity of his personal presence
and the added dignity of years. Following his chariot were many distinguished
men, amongst them his two sons, Quintus Maximus and Publius Nasica. Then
came the cavalry, troop after troop, and the legionaries, cohort after
cohort. The legionaries were given 100 denarii each, the centurions twice
as much, and the cavalry three times that amount. It is believed that he
would have doubled these grants had they not tried to deprive him of the
honour, or even if they had been grateful for the actual amount which he
did give them.
Perseus, however, was not the only instance during those days of triumph
of sudden changes in the fortunes of men. He, it is true, was led in chains
through the city of his foes in front of his conqueror's chariot, but Paulus,
resplendent in gold and purple, was suffering too. Of the two sons whom
he kept with him as the heirs to his name and his house and to the sacred
rites of his yens-he had parted with two who had been adopted-the younger
one, a boy of about twelve, died five days before his triumph, and the
elder, a boy of fourteen, died three days after it. They ought to have
been riding with their father, wearing the praetexta and anticipating triumphs
similar to his. A few days later M. Antonius, a tribune of the plebs, summoned
a meeting of the Assembly that Aemilius might address it. Following the
practice of other commanders, he gave an account of what he had done. It
was a memorable speech worthy of a Roman leader.
45.41
"Although, Quirites, I do not suppose that you are unaware of the good
fortune and success which have marked my administration, nor of the two
thunderbolts which have within these last few days fallen upon my house,
seeing that you were at one time spectators of my triumph, and at another
were watching the obsequies of my children, still I ask you to allow me
to make a comparison in a befitting spirit between the prosperity of the
republic and my own private fortunes. "On my departure from Italy I ordered
the fleet to leave Brundisium at sunrise. In nine days I brought up at
Corcyra with all my ships. Five days later I offered sacrifice to Apollo
at Delphi on behalf of myself and of your fleets and armies. Four days
brought me from Delphi to the camp, where after taking over the army I
made changes in certain matters that were seriously interfering with the
chances of victory. As the enemy camp was unassailable, and the king could
not be forced into an engagement, I advanced and cleared the pass in spite
of the force posted to defend it, and advanced to Petra. Here I forced
the king to give battle and defeated him. Macedonia submitted, and in a
fortnight I finished a war which for four years the consuls before me had
conducted in such a way that each handed on to his successor a more serious
task than he had received. The fruits of that victory showed themselves
in further successes; the cities of Macedonia made their surrender; the
royal treasure fell into our hands; the king himself was captured with
his children in a temple at Samothrace, almost as though the gods had delivered
him into our power. Even I began to regard my good fortune as something
too great, and therefore distrusted it. I began to fear the perils of the
sea, whilst carrying the royal treasury into Italy and transporting my
victorious army.
"We had a favourable voyage, and after all had reached Italy safely,
and there was nothing more for me to pray for, my one ardent desire was
that in the usual turn of Fortune's wheel the change might affect my house
rather than the commonwealth. I hope, therefore, that its continued prosperity
has been secured by the signal calamity which has overtaken me. As though
in mockery of mortal grief, my triumph intervened between the death of
my two sons. Both Perseus and myself may now be regarded as noteworthy
examples of the lot which awaits men. He, himself a captive, has seen his
children led as captives before him, but still, he has them safe and sound;
I, who have triumphed over him, went from the funeral of one of my sons
in my chariot to the Capitol, and returned to find the other at the point
of death. Out of all my sons, not one remains to bear the name of Lucius
Aemilius Paulus. As though I had a large family, two have been adopted
by the Cornelian and Fabian houses; there is not a Paulus left except myself.
But your happiness and the good fortune of the republic are my consolation
in this ruin of my house." The self-restraint which this speech evinced
made a far greater impression upon his audience than if he had indulged
in tearful laments over his bereavement.
45.42
On December 1, Cn. Octavius celebrated his naval victory over Perseus.
That triumph was without prisoners and without spoil. He gave each member
of the crews seventy-five denarii; to the pilots twice as much; and to
the captains four times as much. A meeting of the senate was then convened,
and the senators decided that Q. Cassius should conduct Perseus and his
son Alexander to Alba to remain there under guard. The king was allowed
to retain his suite, his money, his silver plate and his household effects.
Bithys the son of Cotys, king of the Thracians was sent, together with
the hostages, to Carseoli, to be interned there. The rest of the captives
who had been led in the triumphal procession were to be shut up in prison.
A few days later a deputation from Cotys arrived with a sum of money for
the ransom of his son and the other hostages. They were admitted to an
audience of the senate, and they especially urged that it was not of his
own will that Cotys had assisted Perseus; he had been compelled to give
hostages, and they implored the senate to allow them to be ransomed at
such a figure as the senate should fix. The senate instructed the praetor
to tell them in reply that the senate bore in mind the friendly relations
which had existed between Rome and Cotys and the ancestors of Cotys and
the Thracian nation. The giving of hostages was itself the offence, and
could not be alleged as an excuse, for the Thracians had nothing to fear
from Perseus, even had he kept the peace, much less when he was engaged
in a war with Rome. However, though Cotys had preferred the favour of Perseus
to the friendship of Rome, they would mete out their treatment of him by
what was consistent with their own dignity more than by his deserts; they
would send back his son and the hostages. The beneficent acts of the people
of Rome were gratuitous; they preferred to leave the value of them in the
hearts of those who received them rather than to exact a cash payment for
them. Three commissioners were appointed-T. Quinctius Flamininus, C. Licinius
Nerva and M. Caninius Rebilus-to conduct the hostages back to Thrace, and
each of the Thracian envoys received a present of 2000 ases. Bithys was
taken with the rest of the hostages from Carseoli and sent to his father.
The king's ships, which were larger than had ever been seen before, were
hauled up on to the Campus Martius.
45.43
Whilst the Macedonian triumph was still fresh in men's minds and almost
before their eyes, L. Anicius triumphed on the day of the Quirinalia (Feb.
17) over Gentius and the Illyrians. The spectacle as a whole showed rather
a general resemblance to the triumph of Paulus than a correspondence in
details. The general himself was a smaller man, and people contrasted the
position of the house of Anicius and his authority as praetor with the
high lineage of Aemilius and his rank as consul, and there could be no
comparison between Gentius and Perseus, or between the Illyrians and the
Macedonians, or between the spoils and wealth carried in the two processions,
or the amount of the donative to the soldiers in the two armies. But though
the recent triumph eclipsed this one, it was clear to the onlookers that
in itself it was by no means contemptible. The Illyrians were a nation
formidable both by land and sea, who felt secure in their strong fortified
positions, and Anicius had thoroughly subjugated them in a few days and
captured their king and all his family. Many captured standards were carried
in the procession, together with other spoils, and the furniture of the
palace, 27 pounds of gold, and 19 of silver, besides 13,000 denarii and
120,000 silver pieces of Illyrian coinage. Before his chariot walked Gentius,
with his wife and children, Caravantius his brother, and several Illyrian
nobles. Out of the booty each legionary received 45 denarii, the centurions
twice, and the cavalry three times as much. Anicius gave to the Latin allies
as much as to the Romans, and to the seamen of the fleet as much as the
soldiers received. The soldiers marched more joyously in this triumph,
and the general himself was the subject of many laudatory songs. According
to Antias, 200,000 sesterces were realised from the sale of that booty,
besides the gold and silver deposited in the treasury, but as it is not
clear to me how this sum was realised, I quote his authority instead of
stating it as a fact. By resolution of the senate, Gentius, with his wife
and children and brother, were interned in Spoletium; the rest of the captives
were thrown into prison in Rome. As the Spoletians refused to be responsible
for their safe-keeping, the royal family were transferred to Iguvium. The
remainder of the Illyrian spoils consisted of 220 swift barques. These
Q. Cassius was ordered by the senate to distribute amongst the Corcyraeans,
the Apolloniates and the Dyrrhachians.
45.44
The consuls for the year had done nothing worth recording in Liguria; the
enemy never took the field, so they confined themselves to devastating
the country. They returned to Rome for the elections, and on the first
day M. Claudius Marcellus and C. Sulpicius Galba were elected consuls.
On the following day the election of praetors took place. Those elected
were L. Julius, L. Apuleius Saturninus, A. Licinius Nerva, P. Rutilius
Calvus, P. Quinctilius Varus and M. Fonteius. The provinces assigned to
them were the two home jurisdictions, the two Spanish provinces, Sicily
and Sardinia. This year was an intercalary one, the additional day being
the one following the Terminalia (Feb. 23). One of the augurs, C. Claudius,
died this year; the augurs chose T. Quinctius Flamininus in his place;
Q. Fabius Pictor, a Flamen Quirinalis, also died. During the year Prusias
went to Rome with his son Nicomedes. He entered the City amid a large concourse,
and proceeded through the streets to the tribunal of Q. Cassius the praetor,
surrounded by a crowd of citizens. Addressing the praetor, he said that
he had come to pay reverence to the gods of the City, to salute the senate
and citizens of Rome, and to congratulate them on their victory over Perseus
and Gentius, and the extension of their sway by the subjugation of the
Macedonians and Illyrians. On the praetor informing him that the senate
would grant him an audience on that day, if he wished it, he requested
to be allowed two days in which to visit the temples of the gods and see
the City and pay visits to his hosts and friends. L. Cornelius Scipio,
the quaestor who had been sent to meet him at Capua, was appointed to take
him round, and a house in which he and his suite could find ample accommodation
was hired for him. Three days afterwards he attended a meeting of the senate.
After congratulating them upon the victory, he enumerated his own services
in the war, and asked permission to sacrifice ten full-grown victims in
the Capitol in fulfilment of a vow, and one to Fortune at Praeneste; these
vows had been made for the victory of Rome. He also requested that the
alliance with him might be renewed, and that the district taken from Antiochus,
which, as the Romans had not assigned it to any one, the Gauls had taken
possession of, might be given to him. Lastly, he commended his son to the
care and protection of the senate.
All who had commanded in Macedonia supported his requests, and, with
one exception, they were all granted. With regard to the land, however,
he was told that a commission would be sent to investigate the question
of ownership. If the territory belonged to Rome, and had not been granted
to any one, they should consider that no one was more deserving of the
grant than Prusias. If, however, it should turn out not to have belonged
to Antiochus and had, therefore, never been claimed by Rome, or should
it prove to have been actually granted to the Gauls, Prusias must pardon
them if the people of Rome were unwilling that anything should be granted
to him to the injury of another. To no one can a gift be grateful when
he knows that the giver can take it away whenever he pleases. The senate
accepted the commendation of his son Nicomedes; the care with which the
people of Rome protect the sons of friendly monarchs was shown in the case
of Ptolemy, King of Egypt. With this reply Prusias was dismissed. Presents
of . . . sesterces were ordered to he made to him and 50 pounds of silver
plate. The senate also decided that presents should be made to Nicomedes
of the same value as those made to Masinissa's son Masgaba, and that the
victims for sacrifice and the other requisites, whether he wished to offer
them at Rome or at Praeneste, should be supplied to the king at the public
cost, as in the case of the magistrates. From the fleet at Brundisium twenty
warships were assigned to him for his use. Till the king had reached the
fleet thus presented to him, L Cornelius Scipio was to be his constant
attendant, and was to defray all expenses incurred by him and his suite.
They say that the king was wonderfully delighted with the kindness the
people of Rome had shown towards him. He refused to have any presents purchased
for himself, but he ordered his son to accept what the Roman people gave
him. This is what our historians say about Prusias. Polybius alleges that
the king was unworthy of his regal title; he was in the habit of meeting
the ambassadors who were sent to him with his head shaved, and wearing
a freedman's cap, speaking of himself as the manumitted slave of Rome,
and wearing the distinctive dress of this class on that account. At Rome,
too, when he entered the senate-house, he prostrated himself and kissed
the threshold and called the senators his protecting deities, with other
expressions more degrading to himself than complimentary to those who heard
him. After a stay of not more than thirty days in the City and the neighbourhood
he left for his kingdom. A war in Asia was begun (between Eumenes and the
Gauls) . . .
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