ceteraque gravissime, notum enim vobis carmen est, et tamen ipsius Appi exstat oratio. Atque haec ille egit septemdecim annis post alterum consulatum, {10} c.u.m inter duos consulatus anni decem interfuissent censorque ante superiorem consulatum fuisset, ex quo intelligitur Pyrrhi bello grandem sane fuisse. . . . Quattuor robustos filios, quinque filias, tantam domum, tantas clientelas Appius regebat et caecus {15} et senex; intentum enim animum tamquam arc.u.m habebat nec languescens succ.u.mbebat senectuti. Tenebat non modo auctoritatem, sed etiam imperium in suos: metuebant servi, verebantur liberi, carum omnes habebant; vigebat in illo animus {20} patrius et disciplina.
CICERO, _De Senectute_, ---- 16, 37.
[Linenotes: 1. +Appi Claudi.+ This was the Appius Claudius whose Censorship, 312 B.C., was famous for his great public works, the +Via Appia+, the great South road of Rome, and the +Aqua Appia+, an aqueduct which brought water to Rome a distance of eight miles; and also for his measure (corresponding to a Parliamentary Reform Bill) admitting freedmen as full citizens by enrolling them in Tribes.
2-9. +tamen is ... exstat oratio.+ When the Senate was about to yield to the persuasive eloquence of Cineas, the envoy of Pyrrhus, he had himself led into the Senate-house to make the speech which turned the scale against the invader.
4. +versibus persecutus est+ = _has followed out in the lines_.
J. S. R.
7. +viai+ (= _viae_ old genit.) = i. _quo viae_, cf. _ubi terrarum_, or ii. _sese flexere viae_, a Greek genitive.
9-10. +haec ille egit+ = _he made this speech_.
14-15. +tantam ... clientelas+ = _a large household_, _a large number of dependents_; +clientelas = clientes+.
16. +intentum+ (_in + tendo_) = _on the stretch_. Cf. opposite _remissus_.
19-21. +metuebant ... disciplina+ = _his slaves feared him, his children stood in awe of him, yet all held him dear; in him ancestral spirit and principles_ (+disciplina+) _were strong_.
--J. S. Reid.]
+The Speech of Appius Claudius.+ For the substance of the Speech, _see_ Plutarch, _Pyrrhus_, xi.
D44
THE WAR WITH THE TARENTINES AND PYRRHUS. (4)
A. _The Battle of Asculum, 279 B.C._
In Apulia deinde apud Asculum melius dimicatum est Curio Fabricioque consulibus. Iam quippe terror[26] beluarum exoleverat, et Gaius Numicius quartae legionis hastatus unius proboscide abscisa mori posse beluas ostenderat. Itaque in ipsas pila congesta sunt {5} et in turres vibratae faces tota hostium agmina ardentibus ruinis operuerunt. Nec alius cladi finis fuit quam nox dirimeret, postremusque fugientium rex ipse a satellitibus umero saucius in armis suis referretur. {10}
[Footnote 26: Cf. p. 100, ll. 17-20.]
[[Selection D41: "inusitata ... elephantorum forma"]
[Linenotes: 1. +Asculum+, a town in Apulia on the borders of Samnium, between Beneventum and Ca.n.u.sium.
3. +exoleverat+ = _had grown less_ (lit. _had grown out of use_).
6. +in turres vibratae faces+ = _firebrands hurled against their towers_.
8. +dirimeret+ = _separated_ (the combatants).]
B. _The Battle near Beneventum, 275 B.C._
Lucaniae suprema pugna sub Arusinis, quos vocant, campis ducibus isdem quibus superius; sed tum tota victoria. Exitum, quem datura virtus fuit, casus dedit. Nam provectis in primam aciem rursus elephantis unum ex his pullum adacti in caput teli {15} gravis ictus avert.i.t; qui c.u.m per stragem suorum recurrens stridore quereretur, mater agnovit et quasi vindicaret exsiluit, tum omnia circa quasi hostilia gravi mole permiscuit. Ac sic eaedem ferae, quae primam victoriam abstulerunt, secundam parem {20} fecerunt, tertiam sine controversia tradiderunt.
FLORUS, I. xviii. 9-13.
[Linenotes: 11-12. +Lucaniae ... campis.+ The Battle was fought near Beneventum (orig. +Male-+_ventum_, perhaps from _male + ventus_ on account of its unwholesome air) in Samnium on the Via Appia, E. of Capua.
15-16. +unum ex his ... avert.i.t+ = _the heavy stroke of a weapon driven home_ (+adacti+) _into the head of a young elephant_ (+pullum+) _made it turn aside_.
19. +gravi mole+ = _with her unwieldy bulk_.]
+The Battle of Asculum.+ It is clear that Pyrrhus was again victorious, but the Romans were able to retire into their fortified camp, and so lost fewer men than at Heraclea.
+The Battle of Beneventum.+ Pyrrhus, in his attempt to storm the entrenched camp of Curius Dentatus, was obliged to fight on unfavourable ground. The result was a total defeat, and no choice was left him but to give up the unequal contest.
D45
THE WAR WITH THE TARENTINES AND PYRRHUS. (5)
_Death of Pyrrhus, 272 B.C._
_In praise of a great General._
Repulsus ab Spartanis Pyrrhus Argos pet.i.t: ibi, dum Antigonum in urbe clausum expugnare conatur, inter confertissimos violentissime dimicans, saxo de muris ictus occiditur. Caput eius Antigono refertur, qui victoria mitius usus filium eius Helenum {5} c.u.m Epirotis sibi deditum in regnum remisit, eique insepulti patris ossa in patriam referenda tradidit.
Satis constans inter omnes auctores fama est, nullum nec eius nec superioris aetatis regem comparandum Pyrrho fuisse, raroque non inter reges {10} tantum, verum etiam inter ill.u.s.tres viros, aut vitae sanctioris aut iust.i.tiae probatioris visum fuisse: scientiam certe rei militaris in illo viro tantam fuisse, ut c.u.m adversus Lysimachum, Demetrium, Antigonum, tantos reges, bella gesserit, invictus {15} semper fuerit: Illyriorum quoque, Siculorum Romanorumque et Carthaginiensium bellis numquam inferior, plerumque etiam victor exst.i.terit; qui patriam certe suam angustam ign.o.bilemque fama rerum gestarum et claritate nominis sui toto orbe {20} ill.u.s.trem reddiderit.
JUSTINUS, xxv. 5.
[Linenotes: 1-4. +Repulsus ab Spartanis ... occiditur.+ At the invitation of Cleonymus, who had been excluded from the throne of Sparta, Pyrrhus undertook and failed in a desperate attack on the city. He then turned against Argos, to wrest it from Antigonus Gonatas of Macedonia, and was. .h.i.t _by a tile thrown from a roof by a woman_.[27] As he lay helpless on the ground he was recognised and murdered.
8. +Satis constans fama+ = _a tolerably unanimous opinion_.
12. +iust.i.tiae probatioris+ = _of more eminent_ (lit. _tested_) _justice_.
14. +Lysimachum+, one of Alexander"s generals. About 286 B.C. King of Macedonia and Asia Minor.
+Demetrium+, surnamed _Poliorcetes_ (_stormer of cities_), son of Antigonus, King of Asia (one of Alexander"s generals).
16-17. +Siculorum bellis.+ During the years 280-276 B.C. Pyrrhus made himself master of all Sicily with the exception of the Carthaginian stronghold of Lilybaeum.]
[Footnote 27: Cf. the death of Abimelech before Thebez, Judges ix. 53.]
+Character of Pyrrhus.+ "He was not only one of the ablest generals and princes, but amiable also as a man, and worthy of our sympathy and respect." --Ihne.
+Why he failed.+ "From lack of accurate information he wholly underestimated the power of Rome. Here was the great error in his calculation, an error for which he can hardly be held responsible."
--Ihne.
+Reference.+ Plutarch, _Pyrrhus_.
D46
THE WAR WITH THE TARENTINES AND PYRRHUS. (6)
_Manius Curius Dentatus, an old-time Roman._
A. Possum persequi permulta oblectamenta rerum rusticarum, sed ea ipsa quae dixi sentio fuisse longiora. Ignoscetis autem, nam et studio rerum rusticarum provectus sum, et senectus est natura loquacior, ne ab omnibus eam vitiis videar vindicare. {5} Ergo in hac vita M". Curius, c.u.m de Samnitibus, de Sabinis, de Pyrrho triumphavisset, consumpsit extremum tempus aetatis; cuius quidem ego villam contemplans, abest enim non longe a me, admirari satis non possum vel hominis ipsius continentiam {10} vel temporum disciplinam. Curio ad foc.u.m sedenti magnum auri pondus Samnites c.u.m attulissent, repudiati sunt: non enim aurum habere praeclarum sibi videri dixit, sed eis qui haberent aurum imperare.
CICERO, _De Senectute_, ---- 55-56.
+Context.+ The speaker is Cato the Censor, 184 B.C., the founder of Latin Prose, whose manual of Agriculture, +de Re Rustica+, is still extant.
[Linenotes: 1. +Possum persequi+ = _I might follow out_.
+oblectamenta+ = _amus.e.m.e.nts_ (cf. _de-lecto_, _delight_).
4. +provectus sum+ = _I have been carried away_. --J. S. Reid.
8. +extremum tempus aetatis+ = _the closing season of his life_.
9. +a me+ (= +a mea villa+) = _from my country-house_.
11. +disciplinam+ = _morals_ (lit. _teaching_).