The History of Rome

Chapter 37

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31. In answer to these things the Roman general spoke nearly to the following effect: "I was aware that it was in consequence of the expectation of your arrival, that the Carthaginians violated the existing faith of the truce and broke off all hope of a peace. Nor, indeed, do you conceal the fact; inasmuch as you artfully withdraw from the former conditions of peace every concession except what relates to those things which have for a long time been in our own power. But as it is your object, that your countrymen should be sensible how great a burden they are relieved from by your means, so it is inc.u.mbent upon me to endeavour that they may not receive, as the reward of their perfidy, the concessions which they formerly stipulated, by expunging them now from the conditions of the peace.

Though you do not deserve to be allowed the same conditions as before, you now request even to be benefited by your treachery. Neither did our fathers first make war respecting Sicily, nor did we respecting Spain. In the former case the danger which threatened our allies the Mamertines, and in the present the destruction of Saguntum, girded us with just and pious arms. That you were the aggressors, both you yourselves confess, and the G.o.ds are witnesses, who determined the issue of the former war, and who are now determining and will determine the issue of the present according to right and justice. As to myself, I am not forgetful of the instability of human affairs, but consider the influence of fortune, and am well aware that all our measures are liable to a thousand casualties. But as I should acknowledge that my conduct would savour of insolence and oppression, if I rejected you on your coming in person to solicit peace, before I crossed over into Africa, you voluntarily retiring from Italy, and after you had embarked your troops; so now, when I have dragged you into Africa almost by manual force, notwithstanding your resistance and evasions, I am not bound to treat you with any respect. Wherefore, if in addition to those stipulations on which it was considered that a peace would at that time have been agreed upon, and what they are you are informed, a compensation is proposed for having seized our ships, together with their stores, during a truce, and for the violence offered to our amba.s.sadors, I shall then have matter to lay before my council. But if these things also appear oppressive, prepare for war, since you could not brook the conditions of peace." Thus, without effecting an accommodation, when they had returned from the conference to their armies, they informed them that words had been bandied to no purpose, that the question must be decided by arms, and that they must accept that fortune which the G.o.ds a.s.signed them.

32. When they had arrived at their camps, they both issued orders that their soldiers should get their arms in readiness, and prepare their minds for the final contest; in which, if fortune should favour them, they would continue victorious, not for a single day, but for ever.

"Before to-morrow night," they said, "they would know whether Rome or Carthage should give laws to the world; and that neither Africa nor Italy, but the whole world, would be the prize of victory. That the dangers which threatened those who had the misfortune to be defeated, were proportioned to the rewards of the victors." For the Romans had not any place of refuge in an unknown and foreign land, and immediate destruction seemed to await Carthage, if the troops which formed her last reliance were defeated. To this important contest, the day following, two generals, by far the most renowned of any, and belonging to two of the most powerful nations in the world, advanced, either to crown or overthrow, on that day, the many honours they had previously acquired. Their minds, therefore, were agitated with the opposite feelings of hope and fear; and while they contemplated at one time their own troops, at another those of their enemy, estimating their powers more by sight than by reason, they saw in them at once the grounds for joy and grief. Those circ.u.mstances which did not occur to the troops themselves spontaneously, their generals suggested by their admonitions and exhortations. The Carthaginian recounted his achievements in the land of Italy during sixteen years the many Roman generals and armies annihilated, reminding each individually of the honours he had acquired as he came to any soldier who had obtained distinction in any of his battles. Scipio referred to Spain, the recent battles in Africa and the enemy"s own confession, that they could not through fear but solicit peace, nor could they, through their inveterate perfidy, abide by it. In addition to this he gave what turn he pleased to his conference with Hannibal, which was held in private, and was therefore open to misrepresentation. He augured success that the G.o.ds had exhibited the same omens to them on going out to battle on the present occasion, as they had to their fathers when they fought at the islands Aegates. He told them that the termination of the war, and their hardships, had arrived; that they had within their grasp the spoils of Carthage, and the power of returning home to their country, their parents, their children, their wives, and their household G.o.ds. He delivered these observations with a body so erect, and with a countenance so full of exultation, that one would have supposed that he had already conquered. He then drew up his troops, posting the hastati in front, the principes behind them, and closing his rear line with the triarii.

33. He did not draw up his cohorts in close order, but each before their respective standards; placing the companies at some distance from each other, so as to leave a s.p.a.ce through which the elephants of the enemy pa.s.sing might not at all break their ranks. Laelius, whom he had employed before as lieutenant-general, but this year as quaestor, by special appointment, according to a decree of the senate, he posted with the Italian cavalry in the left wing, Masinissa and the Numidians in the right. The open s.p.a.ces between the companies of those in the van he filled with velites, which then formed the Roman light-armed troops, with an injunction, that on the charge of the elephants they should either retire behind the files, which extended in a right line, or, running to the right and left and placing themselves by the side of those in the van, afford a pa.s.sage by which the elephants might rush in between weapons on both sides. Hannibal, in order to terrify the enemy, drew up his elephants in front, and he had eighty of them, being more than he had ever had in any battle; behind these his Ligurian and Gallic auxiliaries, with Balearians and Moors intermixed.

In the second line he placed the Carthaginians, Africans, and a legion of Macedonians; then, leaving a moderate interval, he formed a reserve of Italian troops, consisting princ.i.p.ally of Bruttians, more of whom had followed him on his departure from Italy by compulsion and necessity than by choice. His cavalry also he placed in the wings, the Carthaginian occupying the right, the Numidian the left. Various were the means of exhortation employed in an army consisting of a mixture of so many different kinds of men; men differing in language, customs laws, arms, dress, and appearance, and in the motives for serving.

To the auxiliaries, the prospect both of their present pay, and many times more from the spoils, was held out. The Gauls were stimulated by their peculiar and inherent animosity against the Romans. To the Ligurians the hope was held out of enjoying the fertile plains of Italy, and quitting their rugged mountains, if victorious. The Moors and Numidians were terrified with subjection to the government of Masinissa, which he would exercise with despotic severity. Different grounds of hope and fear were represented to different persons. The view of the Carthaginians was directed to the walls of their city, their household G.o.ds, the sepulchres of their ancestors, their children and parents, and their trembling wives; they were told, that either the destruction of their city and slavery or the empire of the world awaited them; that there was nothing intermediate which they could hope for or fear. While the general was thus busily employed among the Carthaginians, and the captains of the respective nations among their countrymen, most of them employing interpreters among troops intermixed with those of different nations, the trumpets and cornets of the Romans sounded; and such a clamour arose, that the elephants, especially those in the left wing, turned round upon their own party, the Moors and Numidians. Masinissa had no difficulty in increasing the alarm of the terrified enemy, and deprived them of the aid of their cavalry in that wing. A few, however, of the beasts which were driven against the enemy, and were not turned back through fear, made great havoc among the ranks of the velites, though not without receiving many wounds themselves; for when the velites, retiring to the companies, had made way for the elephants, that they might not be trampled down, they discharged their darts at them, exposed as they were to wounds on both sides, those in the van also keeping up a continual discharge of javelins; until, driven out of the Roman line by the weapons which fell upon them from all quarters, these elephants also put to flight even the cavalry of the Carthaginians posted in their right wing. Laelius, when he saw the enemy in disorder, struck additional terror into them in their confusion.

34. The Carthaginian line was deprived of the cavalry on both sides, when the infantry, who were now not a match for the Romans in confidence or strength, engaged. In addition to this there was one circ.u.mstance, trifling in itself, but at the same time producing important consequences in the action. On the part of the Romans the shout was uniform, and on that account louder and more terrific; while the voices of the enemy, consisting as they did of many nations of different languages, were dissonant. The Romans used the stationary kind of fight, pressing upon the enemy with their own weight and that of their arms; but on the other side there was more of skirmishing and rapid movement than force. Accordingly, on the first charge, the Romans immediately drove back the line of their opponents; then pushing them with their elbows and the bosses of their shields, and pressing forward into the places from which they had pushed them, they advanced a considerable s.p.a.ce, as though there had been no one to resist them, those who formed the rear urging forward those in front when they perceived the line of the enemy giving way; which circ.u.mstance itself gave great additional force in repelling them. On the side of the enemy, the second line, consisting of the Africans and Carthaginians, were so far from supporting the first line when giving ground, that, on the contrary, they even retired, lest their enemy, by slaying those who made a firm resistance, should penetrate to themselves also. Accordingly, the auxiliaries suddenly turned their backs, and facing about upon their own party, fled, some of them into the second line, while others slew those who did not receive them into their ranks, since before they did not support them, and now refused to receive them. And now there were, in a manner, two contests going on together, the Carthaginians being compelled to fight at once with the enemy and with their own party. Not even then, however, did they receive into their line the terrified and exasperated troops; but, closing their ranks, drove them out of the scene of action to the wings and the surrounding plain, lest they should mingle these soldiers, terrified with defeat and wounds, with that part of their line which was firm and fresh. But such a heap of men and arms had filled the s.p.a.ce in which the auxiliaries a little while ago had stood, that it was almost more difficult to pa.s.s through it than through a close line of troops. The spearmen, therefore, who formed the front line, pursuing the enemy as each could find a way through the heap of arms and men, and streams of blood, threw into complete disorder the battalions and companies. The standards also of the principes had begun to waver when they saw the line before them driven from their ground. Scipio, perceiving this, promptly ordered the signal to be given for the spearmen to retreat, and, having taken his wounded into the rear, brought the principes and triarii to the wings, in order that the line of spearmen in the centre might be more strong and secure. Thus a fresh and renewed battle commenced, inasmuch as they had penetrated to their real antagonists, men equal to them in the nature of their arms, in their experience in war, in the fame of their achievements, and the greatness of their hopes and fears. But the Romans were superior both in numbers and courage, for they had now routed both the cavalry and the elephants, and having already defeated the front line, were fighting against the second.

35. Laelius and Masinissa, who had pursued the routed cavalry through a considerable s.p.a.ce, returning very opportunely, charged the rear of the enemy"s line. This attack of the cavalry at length routed them.

Many of them, being surrounded, were slain in the field; and many, dispersed in flight through the open plain around, were slain on all hands, as the cavalry were in possession of every part. Of the Carthaginians and their allies, above twenty thousand were slain on that day; about an equal number were captured, with a hundred and thirty-three military standards, and eleven elephants. Of the victors as many as two thousand fell. Hannibal, slipping off during the confusion, with a few hors.e.m.e.n came to Adrumetum, not quitting the field till he had tried every expedient both in the battle and before the engagement; having, according to the admission of Scipio, and every one skilled in military science, acquired the fame of having marshalled his troops on that day with singular judgment. He placed his elephants in the front, in order that their desultory attack, and insupportable violence, might prevent the Romans from following their standards, and preserving their ranks, on which they placed their princ.i.p.al dependence. Then he posted his auxiliaries before the line of Carthaginians, in order that men who were made up of the refuse of all nations and who were not bound by honour but by gain, might not have any retreat open to them in case they fled; at the same time that the first ardour and impetuosity might be exhausted upon them, and, if they could render no other service, that the weapons of the enemy might be blunted in wounding them. Next he placed the Carthaginian and African soldiers, on whom he placed all his hopes, in order that, being equal to the enemy in every other respect, they might have the advantage of them, inasmuch as, being fresh and unimpaired in strength themselves, they would fight with those who were fatigued and wounded.

The Italians he removed into the rear, separating them also by an intervening s.p.a.ce, as he knew not, with certainty, whether they were friends or enemies. Hannibal, after performing this as it were his last work of valour, fled to Adrumetum, whence, having been summoned to Carthage, he returned thither in the six and thirtieth year after he had left it when a boy; and confessed in the senate-house that he was defeated, not only in the battle, but in the war, and that there was no hope of safety in any thing but in obtaining peace.

36. Immediately after the battle, Scipio, having taken and plundered the enemy"s camp, returned to the sea and his ships, with an immense booty, news having reached him that Publius Lentulus had arrived at Utica with fifty men of war, and a hundred transports laden with every kind of stores. Concluding that he ought to bring before Carthage every thing which could increase the consternation already existing there, after sending Laelius to Rome to report his victory, he ordered Cneius Octavius to conduct the legions thither by land; and, setting out himself from Utica with the fresh fleet of Lentulus, added to his former one, made for the harbour of Carthage. When he had arrived within a short distance, he was met by a Carthaginian ship decked with fillets and branches of olive. There were ten deputies, the leading men in the state, sent at the instance of Hannibal to solicit peace; to whom, when they had come up to the stern of the general"s ship, holding out the badges of suppliants, entreating and imploring the protection and compa.s.sion of Scipio, the only answer given was, that they must come to Tunes, to which place he would move his camp. After taking a view of the site of Carthage, not so much for the sake of acquainting himself with it for any present object, as to dispirit the enemy, he returned to Utica, having recalled Octavius to the same place. As they were proceeding thence to Tunes, they received intelligence that Vermina, the son of Syphax, with a greater number of horse than foot, was coming to the a.s.sistance of the Carthaginians.

A part of his infantry, with all the cavalry, having attacked them on their march on the first day of the Saturnalia, routed the Numidians with little opposition; and as every way by which they could escape in flight was blocked up, for the cavalry surrounded them on all sides, fifteen thousand men were slain, twelve hundred were taken alive, with fifteen hundred Numidian horses, and seventy-two military standards.

The prince himself fled from the field with a few attendants during the confusion. The camp was then pitched near Tunes in the same place as before, and thirty amba.s.sadors came to Scipio from Carthage. These behaved in a manner even more calculated to excite compa.s.sion than the former, in proportion as their situation was more pressing; but from the recollection of their recent perfidy, they were heard with considerably less pity. In the council, though all were impelled by just resentment to demolish Carthage, yet, when they reflected upon the magnitude of the undertaking, and the length of time which would be consumed in the siege of so well fortified and strong a city, while Scipio himself was uneasy in consequence of the expectation of a successor, who would come in for the glory of having terminated the war, though it was accomplished already by the exertions and danger of another, the minds of all were inclined to peace.

37. The next day the amba.s.sadors being called in again, and with many rebukes for their perfidy, warned that, instructed by so many disasters, they would at length believe in the existence of the G.o.ds, and the obligation of an oath, these conditions of the peace were stated to them: "That they should enjoy their liberty and live under their own laws; that they should possess such cities and territories as they had enjoyed before the war, and with the same boundaries, and that the Romans should on that day desist from devastation. That they should restore to the Romans all deserters and fugitives, giving up all their ships of war except ten triremes, with such tamed elephants as they had, and that they should not tame any more. That they should not carry on war in or out of Africa without the permission of the Roman people. That they should make rest.i.tution to Masinissa, and form a league with him. That they should furnish corn, and pay for the auxiliaries until the amba.s.sadors had returned from Rome. That they should pay ten thousand talents of silver, in equal annual instalments distributed over fifty years. That they should give a hundred hostages, according to the pleasure of Scipio, not younger than fourteen nor older than thirty. That he would grant them a truce on condition that the transports, together with their cargoes, which had been seized during the former truce, were restored. Otherwise they would have no truce, nor any hope of a peace." When the amba.s.sadors who were ordered to bear these conditions home reported them in an a.s.sembly, and Gisgo had stood forth to dissuade them from the terms, and was being listened to by the mult.i.tude, who were at once indisposed for peace and unfit for war, Hannibal, indignant that such language should be held and listened to at such a juncture, laid hold of Gisgo with his own hand, and dragged him from his elevated position. This unusual sight in a free state having raised a murmur among the people, the soldier, disconcerted at the liberties which the citizens took, thus addressed them: "Having left you when nine years old, I have returned after a lapse of thirty-six years. I flatter myself I am well acquainted with the qualifications of a soldier, having been instructed in them from my childhood, sometimes by my own situation, and sometimes by that of my country. The privileges, the laws, and customs of the city and the forum you ought to teach me."

Having thus apologized for his indiscretion, he discoursed largely concerning the peace, showing how inoppressive the terms were, and how necessary it was. The greatest difficulty was, that of the ships which had been seized during the truce nothing was to be found except the ships themselves: nor was it easy to collect the property, because those who were charged with having it were opposed to the peace. It was resolved that the ships should be restored, and that the men at least should be looked up; and as to whatever else was missing, that it should be left to Scipio to put a value upon it, and that the Carthaginians should make compensation accordingly in money. There are those who say that Hannibal went from the field of battle to the sea-coast; whence he immediately sailed in a ship, which he had ready for the purpose, to king Antiochus; and that when Scipio demanded above every thing that Hannibal should be given up to him, answer was made that Hannibal was not in Africa.

38. After the amba.s.sadors returned to Scipio, the quaestors were ordered to give in an account, made out from the public registers, of the public property which had been in the ships; and the owners to make a return of the private property. For the amount of the value twenty-five thousand pounds of silver were required to be paid down; and a truce for three months was granted to the Carthaginians. It was added, that during the time of the truce they should not send amba.s.sadors any where else than to Rome; and that, whatever amba.s.sadors came to Carthage, they should not dismiss them before informing the Roman general who they were, and what they sought. With the Carthaginian amba.s.sadors, Lucius Veturius Philo, Marcus Marcius Ralla, and Lucius Scipio, brother of the general, were sent to Rome.

At the time in which these events took place, the supplies sent from Sicily and Sardinia produced such cheapness of provisions, that the merchant gave up the corn to the mariners for their freight. At Rome alarm was excited at the first intelligence of the renewal of hostilities by the Carthaginians; and Tiberius Claudius was directed to conduct the fleet with speed into Sicily, and cross over from that place into Africa. The other consul, Marcus Servilius, was directed to stay at the city until the state of affairs in Africa was ascertained.

Tiberius Claudius, the consul, proceeded slowly with every thing connected with the equipment and sailing of the fleet, because the senate had decided that it should be left to Scipio, rather than to the consul, to determine the conditions on which the peace should be granted. The accounts also of prodigies which arrived just at the time of the news of the revival of the war, had occasioned great alarm.

At c.u.mae the orb of the sun seemed diminished, and a shower of stones fell; and in the territory of Veliternum the earth sank in great chasms, and trees were swallowed up in the cavities. At Aricia the forum and the shops around it, at Frusino a wall in several places, and a gate, were struck by lightning; and in the Palatium a shower of stones fell. The latter prodigy, according to the custom handed down by tradition, was expiated by a nine days" sacred rite; the rest with victims of the larger sort. Amid these events an unusually great rising of the waters was converted into a prodigy; for the Tiber overflowed its banks to such a degree, that as the circus was under water, the Apollinarian games were got up near the temple of Venus Erycina, without the Colline gate. However, the weather suddenly clearing up on the very day of the celebration, the procession, which had begun to move at the Colline gate, was recalled and transferred to the circus, on its being known that the water had retired thence. The joy of the people and the attraction of the games were increased by the restoration of this solemn spectacle to its proper scene.

39. The consul Claudius, having set out at length from the city, was placed in the most imminent danger by a violent tempest, which overtook him between the ports of Cosa and Laurentum. Having reached Populonii, where he waited till the remainder of the tempest had spent itself, he crossed over to the island Ilva. From Ilva he went to Corsica, and from Corsica to Sardinia. Here, while sailing round the Montes Insani, a tempest much more violent in itself, and in a more dangerous situation, dispersed his fleet. Many of his ships were shattered and stripped of their rigging, and some were wrecked. His fleet thus weatherbeaten and shattered arrived at Carales, where the winter came on while the ships were drawn on sh.o.r.e and refitted. The year having elapsed, and no one proposing to continue him in command, Tiberius Claudius brought back his fleet to Rome in a private capacity. Marcus Servilius set out for his province, having nominated Caius Servilius Geminus as dictator, that he might not be recalled to the city to hold the elections. The dictator appointed Publius Aelius Paetus master of the horse. It frequently happened, that the elections could not be held on account of bad weather, though the days were fixed for them; and, therefore, as the magistrates of the former year retired from their offices on the day before the ides of March, and fresh ones were not appointed to succeed them, the state was without curule magistrates. Lucius Manlius Torquatus, a pontiff, died this year. Caius Sulpicius Galba was elected in his room. The Roman games were thrice repeated by the curule aediles, Lucius Licinius Lucullus and Quintus Fulvius. Some scribes and runners belonging to the aediles were found, on the testimony of an informer, to have privately conveyed money out of the treasury, and were condemned, not without disgrace to the aedile Lucullus. Publius Aelius Tubero and Lucius Laetorius, plebeian aediles, on account of some informality in their creation, abdicated their office, after having celebrated the games, and the banquet on occasion of the games, in honour of Jupiter, and after having placed in the Capitol three statues made out of silver paid as fines. The dictator and master of the horse celebrated the games in honour of Ceres, in conformity with a decree of the senate.

40. The Roman, together with the Carthaginian amba.s.sadors, having arrived at Rome from Africa, the senate was a.s.sembled at the temple of Bellona; when Lucius Veturius Philo stated, to the great joy of the senate, that a battle had been fought with Hannibal, which was decisive of the fate of the Carthaginians, and that a period was at length put to that calamitous war. He added what formed a small accession to their successes, that Vermina, the son of Syphax, had been vanquished. He was then ordered to go forth to the public a.s.sembly, and impart the joyful tidings to the people. Then, a thanksgiving having been appointed, all the temples in the city were thrown open, and supplications for three days were decreed. The amba.s.sadors of the Carthaginians, and those of king Philip, for they also had arrived, requesting an audience of the senate, answer was made by the dictator, by order of the fathers, that the new consuls would give them an audience. The elections were then held. The consuls elected were Cneius Cornelius Lentulus and Publius Aelius Paetus.

The praetors elected were Marcus Junius Pennus, to whose lot the city jurisdiction fell, Marcus Valerius Falto, who received Bruttium, Marcus Fabius Buteo, who received Sardinia, and Publius Aelius Tubero, who received Sicily. It was the pleasure of the senate that nothing should be done respecting the provinces of the consuls, till the amba.s.sadors of king Philip and the Carthaginians had been heard; for they foresaw the termination of one war and the commencement of another. Cneius Lentulus, the consul, was inflamed with a strong desire to have the province of Africa, looking forward to an easy victory if there was still war, or, if it was on the point of being concluded, to the glory of having it terminated in his consulate. He therefore refused to allow any business to be transacted before the province of Africa was a.s.signed him; his colleague, who was a moderate and prudent man, giving up his claim to it, for he clearly saw that a contest with Scipio for that honour would be not only unjust but unequal. Quintus Minucius Thermus, and Manius Acilius Glabrio, tribunes of the people, said that Cneius Cornelius was endeavouring to effect the same object which had been attempted in vain by the consul Tiberius Claudius the former year. That, by the direction of the senate, it had been proposed to the people to decide whom they wished to have the command in Africa, and all the thirty-five tribes had concurred in a.s.signing that command to Publius Scipio. After many discussions, both in the senate and popular a.s.sembly, it was at length determined to leave it to the senate. The fathers, therefore, on oath, for so it had been agreed, voted, that as to the provinces, the consuls should settle between themselves, or determine by lots, which of them should have Italy, and which a fleet of fifty ships. That he to whose lot the fleet fell should sail to Sicily, and if peace could not be concluded with the Carthaginians, that he should cross over into Africa. That the consul should act by sea, and Scipio by land, with the same right of command as heretofore. If an agreement should be come to, as to the terms of the peace, that then the plebeian tribunes should consult the commons as to whether they ordered the consul or Publius Scipio to grant the peace; and if the victorious army was to be brought home out of Africa, whom they ordered to bring it. That if they ordered that the peace should be granted by Publius Scipio, and that the army should be brought home likewise by him, then the consul should not pa.s.s out of Sicily into Africa. That the other consul, to whose lot Italy fell, should receive two legions from Marcus s.e.xtius the praetor.

41. Publius Scipio was continued in command in the province of Africa, with the armies which he then had. To the praetor Marcus Valerius Falto the two legions in Bruttium, which Caius Livius had commanded the preceding year, were a.s.signed. Publius Aelius, the praetor, was to receive two legions in Sicily from Cneius Tremellius. To Marcus Fabius was a.s.signed one legion, which Publius Lentulus, propraetor, had commanded, to be employed in Sardinia; Marcus Servilius, the consul of the former year, was continued in command in Etruria, with his own two legions likewise. As to Spain, it appeared that Lucius Cornelius Lentulus and Lucius Manlius Acidinus had been there for now several years. It was resolved, therefore, that the consuls should make application to the plebeian tribunes to take the opinion of the people, if they thought proper, as to whom they ordered to have command in Spain; that the person so ordered should form one legion of Roman soldiers out of the two armies, and also fifteen cohorts of the allies of the Latin confederacy, with which he should occupy the province. That Lucius Cornelius Lentulus and Lucius Manlius Acidinus should convey the old soldiers into Italy. To Cornelius, the consul, was a.s.signed a fleet of fifty ships formed out of the two fleets, one of which was under Cneius Octavius in Africa, the other employed in protecting the coast of Sicily, under Publius Villius. He was to select such ships as he pleased. That Publius Scipio should still have the forty ships of war which he before had, or if he wished that Cneius Octavius should command it, as he had commanded a fleet there before, that Octavius should be continued in command for a year as propraetor; but if he appointed Laelius to the command of it, Octavius should retire to Rome, and bring with him the ships which the consul did not want. To Marcus Fabius also ten men of war were a.s.signed for Sardinia. The consuls were directed to enlist two city legions, so that the operations of the state might be carried on this year with fourteen legions, and one hundred men of war.

42. Then the business relating to the amba.s.sadors of Philip and the Carthaginians was considered. It was resolved that the Macedonians should be brought before the senate first. Their address comprehended a variety of subjects, being employed partly in clearing themselves from the charges relative to the depredations committed against the allies, which the deputies sent to the king from Rome had brought against them; and partly in preferring accusations themselves against the allies of the Roman people, but particularly against Marcus Aurelius, whom they inveighed against with much greater acrimony; for they said that, being one of the three amba.s.sadors sent to them, he had staid behind, and levying soldiers, had a.s.sailed them with hostilities contrary to the league, and frequently fought pitched battles with their prefects; and partly in preferring a request that the Macedonians and their general, Sopater, who had served in the army of Hannibal for hire, and having been made prisoners were kept in bondage, should be restored to them. In opposition to these things Marcus Furius, who had been sent from Macedonia for the express purpose by Aurelius, thus argued: he said, "that Aurelius, having been left behind, lest the allies of the Roman people, wearied by devastations and injuries, should revolt to the king, had not gone beyond the boundaries of the allies; but had taken measures to prevent plundering parties from crossing over into their lands with impunity.

That Sopater was one of those who wore purple, and was related to the king; that he had been lately sent into Africa with four thousand Macedonians and a sum of money to a.s.sist Hannibal and the Carthaginians." The Macedonians, on being interrogated on these points, proceeded to answer in a subtle and evasive manner; but without waiting for the conclusion of their reply they were told, "that the king was seeking occasion for war, and that if he persisted he would soon obtain his object. That the treaty had been doubly violated by him, both by offering insults to the allies of the Roman people, by a.s.saulting them with hostilities and arms, and also by aiding their enemies with auxiliaries and money. That Publius Scipio was deemed to have acted properly and regularly in keeping in chains, as enemies, those who had been made prisoners while bearing arms against the Romans; and that Marcus Aurelius had consulted the interest of the state, and the senate were thankful to him for it, in protecting the allies of the Roman people by arms, since he could not do it by the obligation of the treaty." The Macedonian amba.s.sadors having been dismissed with this unpleasant answer, the Carthaginian amba.s.sadors were called. On observing their ages and dignified appearance, for they were by far the first men of the state, all promptly declared their conviction, that now they were sincere in their desire to effect a peace. Hasdrubal, however, surnamed by his countrymen Haedus, who had invariably recommended peace, and was opposed to the Barcine faction, was regarded with greater interest than the rest. On these accounts the greater weight was attached to him when transferring the blame of the war from the state at large to the cupidity of a few. After a speech of varied character, in which he sometimes refuted the charges which had been brought, at other times admitted some, lest by impudently denying what was manifestly true their forgiveness might be the more difficult; and then, even admonishing the conscript fathers to be guided by the rules of decorum and moderation in their prosperity, he said, that if the Carthaginians had listened to himself and Hanno, and had been disposed to make a proper use of circ.u.mstances, they would themselves have dictated terms of peace, instead of begging it as they now did. That it rarely happened that good fortune and a sound judgment were bestowed upon men at the same time. That the Roman people were therefore invincible, because when successful they forgot not the maxims of wisdom and prudence; and indeed it would have been matter of astonishment did they act otherwise. That those persons to whom success was a new and uncommon thing, proceeded to a pitch of madness in their ungoverned transports in consequence of their not being accustomed to it. That to the Roman people the joy arising from victory was a matter of common occurrence, and was now almost become old-fashioned. That they had extended their empire more by sparing the vanquished than by conquering. The language employed by the others was of a nature more calculated to excite compa.s.sion; they represented from what a height of power the Carthaginian affairs had fallen. That nothing, besides the walls of Carthage, remained to those who a little time ago held almost the whole world in subjection by their arms; that, shut up within these, they could see nothing any where on sea or land which owned their authority. That they would retain possession of their city itself and their household G.o.ds only, in case the Roman people should refrain from venting their indignation upon these, which is all that remains for them to do. When it was manifest that the fathers were moved by compa.s.sion, it is said that one of the senators, violently incensed at the perfidy of the Carthaginians, immediately asked with a loud voice, by what G.o.ds they would swear in striking the league, since they had broken their faith with those by whom they swore in striking the former one? By those same, replied Hasdrubal, who have shown such determined hostility to the violators of treaties.

43. The minds of all being disposed to peace, Cneius Lentulus, whose province the fleet was, protested against the decree of the senate.

Upon this, Manius Acilius and Quintus Minucius, tribunes of the people, put the question to the people, whether they willed and ordered that the senate should decree that peace should be made with the Carthaginians? whom they ordered to grant that peace, and whom to conduct the army out of Africa? All the tribes ordered respecting the peace according as the question had been put. That Publius Scipio should grant the peace, and that he also should conduct the army home. Agreeably to this order, the senate decreed that Publius Scipio, acting according to the opinion of the ten deputies, should make peace with the Carthaginian people on what terms he pleased. The Carthaginians then returned thanks to the senate, and requested that they might be allowed to enter the city and converse with their countrymen who had been made prisoners and were in custody of the state; observing, that some of them were their relations and friends, and men of rank, and some, persons to whom they were charged with messages from their relations. Having obtained these requests, they again asked permission to ransom such of them as they pleased; when they were desired to give in their names. Having given in a list of about two hundred, a decree of the senate was pa.s.sed to the effect, that the Carthaginian amba.s.sadors should be allowed to take away into Africa to Publius Cornelius Scipio two hundred of the Carthaginian prisoners, selecting whom they pleased; and that they should convey to him a message, that if the peace were concluded, he should restore them to the Carthaginians without ransom. The heralds being; ordered to go into Africa to strike the league, at their own desire the senate pa.s.sed a decree that they should take with them flint stones of their own, and vervain of their own; that the Roman praetor should command them to strike the league, and that they should demand of him herbs.

The description of herb usually given to the heralds is taken from the Capitol. Thus the Carthaginians, being allowed to depart from Rome, when they had gone into Africa to Scipio concluded the peace on the terms before mentioned. They delivered up their men-of-war, their elephants, deserters, fugitives, and four thousand prisoners, among whom was Quintus Terentius Culleo, a senator. The ships he ordered to be taken out into the main and burnt. Some say there were five hundred of every description of those which are worked with oars, and that the sudden sight of these, when burning, occasioned as deep a sensation of grief to the Carthaginians as if Carthage had been in flames. The measures adopted respecting the deserters were more severe than those respecting the fugitives. Those who were of the Latin confederacy were decapitated; the Romans were crucified.

44. The last peace with the Carthaginians was made forty years before this, in the consulate of Quintus Lutatius and Aulus Manlius. The war commenced twenty-three years afterwards, in the consulate of Publius Cornelius and Tiberius Semp.r.o.nius. It was concluded in the seventeenth year, in the consulate of Cneius Cornelius and Publius Aelius Paetus.

It is related that Scipio frequently said afterwards, that first the ambition of Tiberius Claudius, and afterwards of Cneius Cornelius, were the causes which prevented his terminating the war by the destruction of Carthage. The Carthaginians, finding difficulty in raising the first sum of money to be paid, as their finances were exhausted by a protracted war, and in consequence great lamentation and grief arising in the senate-house, it is said that Hannibal was observed laughing; and when Hasdrubal Haedus rebuked him for laughing amid the public grief, when he himself was the occasion of the tears which were shed, he said: "If, as the expression of the countenance is discerned by the sight, so the inward feelings of the mind could be distinguished, it would clearly appear to you that that laughter which you censure came from a heart not elated with joy, but frantic with misfortunes. And yet it is not so ill-timed as those absurd and inconsistent tears of yours. Then you ought to have wept, when our arms were taken from us, our ships burnt, and we were forbidden to engage in foreign wars, for that was the wound by which we fell. Nor is it just that you should suppose that the measures which the Romans have adopted towards you have been dictated by animosity. No great state can remain at rest long together. If it has no enemy abroad it finds one at home, in the same manner as over-robust bodies seem secure from external causes, but are enc.u.mbered with their own strength. So far, forsooth, we are affected with the public calamities as they reach our private affairs; nor is there any circ.u.mstance attending them which is felt more acutely than the loss of money.

Accordingly, when the spoils were torn down from vanquished Carthage, when you beheld her left unarmed and defenceless amid so many armed nations of Africa, none heaved a sigh. Now, because a tribute is to be levied from private property, you lament with one accord, as though at the funeral of the state. How much do I dread lest you should soon be made sensible that you have shed tears this day for the lightest of your misfortunes!" Such were the sentiments which Hannibal delivered to the Carthaginians. Scipio, having summoned an a.s.sembly, presented Masinissa, in addition to his paternal dominions, with the town of Cirta, and the other cities and territories which had pa.s.sed from the kingdom of Syphax into the possession of the Romans. He ordered Cneius Octavius to conduct the fleet to Sicily and deliver it to Cneius Cornelius the consul, and directed the Carthaginian amba.s.sadors to go to Rome, that the arrangements he had made, with the advice of the ten deputies, might be ratified by the sanction of the fathers and the order of the people.

45. Peace having been established by sea and land, he embarked his troops and crossed over to Lilybaeum in Sicily; whence, having sent a great part of his soldiers by ships, he himself proceeded through Italy, which was rejoicing, not less on account of the peace than the victory; while not only the inhabitants of the cities poured out to show him honour, but crowds of rustics thronged the roads. He arrived at Rome and entered the city in a triumph of unparalleled splendour.

He brought into the treasury one hundred and twenty-three thousand pounds of silver. He distributed to each of his soldiers four hundred a.s.ses out of the spoils. By the death of Syphax, which took place but a short time before at Tibur, whither he had been removed from Alba, a diminution was occasioned in the interest of the pageant rather than in the glory of him who triumphed. His death, however, was attended with circ.u.mstances which produced a strong sensation, for he was buried at the public expense. Polybius, an author by no means to be despised, a.s.serts that this king was led in the triumph. Quintus Terentius Culleo followed Scipio in his triumph with a cap of liberty on his head, and during the remainder of his life treated him with the respect due to him as the author of his freedom. I have not been able to ascertain whether the partiality of the soldiers or the favour of the people fixed upon him the surname of Africa.n.u.s, or whether in the same manner as Felix was applied to Sulla, and Magnus to Pompey, in the memory of our fathers, it originated in the flattery of his friends. He was, doubtless, the first general who was distinguished by a name derived from the nation which he had conquered. Afterwards, in imitation of his example, some, by no means his equals in his victories, affixed splendid inscriptions on their statues and gave honourable surnames to their families.

BOOK x.x.xI.

_Renewal of the war with Philip, king of Macedon. Successes of Publius Sulpicius, consul, who had the conduct of that war.

The Abydenians, besieged by Philip, put themselves to death, together with their wives and children. Lucius Furius, praetor, defeats the Insubrian Gauls who had revolted; and Hamilcar, who stirred up the insurrection, is slain, with thirty-five thousand men. Further operations of Sulpicius, Attalus, and the Rhodians against Philip_.

1. It is delightful even to me to have come to the end of the Punic war, as if I myself had borne a share of the toil and danger. For though it by no means becomes a person, who has ventured to promise an entire history of all the Roman affairs, to be fatigued by any particular parts of so extensive a work; yet when I reflect that sixty-three years (for so many there are from the first Punic war to the end of the second) have occupied as many of my volumes, as the four hundred and eighty-seven years, from the building of the city to the consulate of Appius Claudius, who first made war on the Carthaginians, I plainly perceive that, like those who, tempted by the shallows near the sh.o.r.e, walk into the sea, the farther I advance, I am carried, as it were, into a greater depth and abyss; and that my work almost increases on my hands which seemed to be diminished by the completion of each of its earlier portions. The peace with Carthage was quickly followed by a war with Macedonia: a war, not to be compared to the former, indeed, either in danger, or in the abilities of the commander, or the valour of the soldiers; but almost more remarkable with regard to the renown of their former kings, the ancient fame of that nation, and the vast extent of their empire, in which they had formerly comprehended a large part of Europe, and the greater part of Asia. The contest with Philip, which had begun about ten years before, had been intermitted for the three last years; the Aetolians having been the occasion both of the war and the peace. The entreaties of the Athenians whom, having ravaged their lands, Philip had driven into their city, excited the Romans to a renewal of the war, left, as they were, disengaged by the Carthaginian peace, and incensed against him as well for his treacherous negotiation of peace with the Aetolians and the other allies in that region, as on account of the auxiliaries sent by him with money into Africa to Hannibal and the Carthaginians.

2. About the same time, amba.s.sadors arrived both from king Attalus, and from the Rhodians, with information that the Macedonian was tampering with the states of Asia. To these emba.s.sies an answer was given, that the senate would give attention to the affairs of Asia.

The determination with regard to the making war on him, was left open to the consuls, who were then in their provinces. In the mean time, three amba.s.sadors were sent to Ptolemy, king of Egypt, namely, Caius Claudius Nero, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, and Publius Semp.r.o.nius Tudita.n.u.s, to announce their conquest of Hannibal and the Carthaginians; to give thanks to the king for his faithful adherence to his engagements in the time of their distress, when even the nearest allies of the Romans abandoned them; and to request that if, compelled by ill treatment, they should undertake a war with Philip, he would preserve his former disposition towards the Roman people. In Gaul, about this time, the consul, Publius Aelius, having heard that, before his arrival, the Boians had made inroads on the territories of the allies, levied two occasional legions on account of this disturbance; and adding to them four cohorts from his own army, ordered Caius Oppius, the praefect, to march with this tumultuary band through Umbria, (which is called the Sappinian district,) and to invade the territories of the Boians. He himself led his own troops thither openly, over the intervening mountains. Oppius, on entering the same, for some time committed depredations with tolerable success and safety. But afterwards, having pitched on a place near a fort called Mutilum, convenient enough for cutting down the corn, (for the crops were now ripe,) and setting out without having reconnoitred around, and without establishing armed posts of sufficient strength to protect those who were unarmed and intent on their work, he was suddenly surrounded, together with his foragers, by an unexpected invasion of the Gauls. On this, panic and flight seized even on those who were furnished with weapons. Seven thousand men, dispersed through the corn fields, were put to the sword, among whom was the commander himself, Caius Oppius. The rest were driven by terror into the camp; from whence, in consequence of a resolution of the soldiers, they set out on the following night, without any particular commander; and, leaving behind a great part of their baggage, made their way, through woods almost impa.s.sable, to the consul, who returned to Rome without having performed any thing in his province worth notice, except that he ravaged the lands of the Boians, and made a treaty with the Ingaunian Ligurians.

3. The first time he a.s.sembled the senate, it was unanimously ordered that he should propose no other business before that which related to Philip and the complaints of the allies. It was immediately taken into consideration, and a numerous senate decreed, that Publius Aelius, consul, should send such person as he might think proper, vested with command, to receive the fleet which Cneius Octavius was bringing home from Sicily, and pa.s.s over to Macedonia. Accordingly Marcus Valerius Laevinus, propraetor, was sent; and, receiving thirty-eight ships from Cneius Octavius, near Vibo, he sailed to Macedonia, where, when Marcus Aurelius, the amba.s.sador, had come to him and informed him what numerous forces and what large fleets the king had prepared, and how he was arousing the inhabitants to arms, partly by visiting them himself and partly by amba.s.sadors, not only through all the cities of the continent, but even in the islands, (Laevinus was convinced) that the war ought to be undertaken by the Romans with greater vigour; lest, if they were dilatory, Philip might attempt that which had been formerly undertaken by Pyrrhus, who possessed not such large dominions. He therefore desired Aurelius to convey this intelligence by letter to the consuls and to the senate.

4. Towards the end of this year the senate, taking into consideration the lands to be given to the veteran soldiers, who, under the conduct and auspices of Publius Scipio, had finished the war in Africa, decreed that Marcus Tunius, praetor of the city, should, if he thought proper, appoint ten commissioners to survey, and distribute among them, that part of the Samnite and Apulian lands which was the property of the Roman people. For this purpose were appointed, Publius Servilius, Quintus Caecilius Metellus, Caius and Marcus Servilius, both surnamed Geminus, Lucius and Aulus Hostilius Cato, Publius Villius Tappulus, Marcus Fulvius Flaccus, Publius Aelius Paetus, and Quintus Flaminius. At the same time, Publius Aelius presiding at the election of consuls, Publius Sulpicius Galba and Caius Aurelius Cotta were elected. Then were chosen praetors, Quintus Minucius Rufus, Lucius Furius Purpureo, Quintus Fulvius Gillo, Cneius Sergius Plancus.

The Roman stage-games were exhibited, in a sumptuous and elegant manner, by the curule aediles, Lucius Valerius Flaccus, and Lucius Quintius Flaminius, and repeated for two days; and a vast quant.i.ty of corn, which Scipio had sent from Africa, was distributed by them to the people, with strict impartiality and general satisfaction, at the rate of four _a.s.ses_ a peck. The plebeian games were thrice repeated entire by the plebeian aediles, Lucius Apustius Fullo, and Quintus Minucius Rufus; the latter of whom was, from the aedileship, elected praetor. There was also a feast of Jove on occasion of the games.

5. In the year five hundred and fifty-two from the building of the city, Publius Sulpicius Galba and Caius Aurelius being consuls, within a few months after the conclusion of the peace with the Carthaginians, the war was entered upon against king Philip. This was the first business introduced by the consul, Publius Sulpicius, on the ides of March, the day on which, in those times, the consulship commenced; and the senate decreed, that the consul should perform sacrifices with the greater victims, to such G.o.ds as they should judge proper, with prayers to this purpose,--that "the business which the senate and people of Rome had then under deliberation, concerning the state, and the entering on a new war, might issue prosperously and happily to the Roman people, the allies, and the Latin confederacy;" and that, after the sacrifices and prayers, they should consult the senate on the state of public affairs, and the provinces. At this time, very opportunely for exciting their minds to war, the letters were brought from Marcus Aurelius, the amba.s.sador, and Marcus Valerius Laevinus, propraetor. A fresh emba.s.sy, likewise, arrived from the Athenians, to acquaint them that the king was approaching their frontiers, and that in a short time, not only their lands, but their city also, must fall into his hands, unless they received aid from the Romans. When the consuls had made their report, that the sacrifices had been duly performed, and that the G.o.ds had accepted their prayers; that the aruspices had declared that the entrails showed good omens, and that enlargement of territory, victory, and triumph were portended; the letters of Valerius and Aurelius were read, and audience given to the amba.s.sadors of the Athenians. After which, a decree of the senate was pa.s.sed, that thanks should be given to their allies, because, though long solicited, they had not, even when in fear of a siege, renounced their fidelity. With regard to sending a.s.sistance to them, they resolved, that an answer should be given as soon as the consuls should have cast lots for the provinces; and when the consul to whose lot Macedonia fell should have proposed to the people, that war should be declared against Philip, king of the Macedonians.

6. The province of Macedonia fell by lot to Publius Sulpicius; and he proposed to the people to declare, "that they chose and ordered, that on account of the injuries and hostilities committed against the allies of the Roman people, war should be proclaimed against king Philip, and the Macedonians under his government." The province of Italy fell to the lot of the other consul, Aurelius. The praetors then cast lots: to Cneius Sergius Plancus fell the city jurisdiction; to Quintus Fulvius Gillo, Sicily; to Quintus Minucius Rufus, Bruttium; and to Lucius Furius Purpureo, Gaul. At the first meeting of the people, the proposal concerning the Macedonian war was rejected by almost all the tribes. This was done partly spontaneously, as the people were wearied by the length and severity of the late war, and disgusted with toils and dangers; and partly by Quintus Baebius, tribune of the people, who, pursuing the old practice of criminating the patricians, charged them with multiplying wars one after another, so that the people could never enjoy peace. This proceeding the patricians with difficulty brooked, and the tribune was severely reprehended in the senate; where each severally urged the consul to call a new a.s.sembly, for pa.s.sing the proposal; to rebuke the backwardness of the people; and to prove to them how much loss and disgrace the delay of this war would occasion.

7. The consul, having a.s.sembled the people in the field of Mars, before he dismissed the centuries to the vote, required their attention, and addressed them thus: "Citizens, you seem to me not to understand that the question before you is not whether you choose to have peace or war: for Philip, having already commenced hostilities with a formidable force, both on land and sea, allows you not that option. The question is, Whether you must transport your legions to Macedonia, or admit the enemy into Italy? How important the difference is, if you never experienced it before, you certainly did in the late Punic war. For who entertains a doubt, but if, when the Saguntines were besieged, and implored our protection, we had a.s.sisted them with vigour, as our fathers did the Mamertines, we should have averted the whole weight of the war upon Spain; which, by our dilatory proceedings, we suffered to our extreme loss to fall upon Italy? Nor does it admit a doubt, that we confined this same Philip in Macedonia, (after he had entered into an engagement with Hannibal by amba.s.sadors and letters, to cross over into Italy,) by sending Laevinus with a fleet to make war aggressively upon him. And what we did at that time, when we had Hannibal to contend with in Italy, do we hesitate to do now, after Hannibal has been expelled Italy, and the Carthaginians subdued? Suppose that we allow the king to experience the same inactivity on our part, while he is taking Athens, as we suffered Hannibal to experience while he was taking Saguntum: it will not be in the fifth month, as Hannibal came from Saguntum, but on the fifth day after he sets sail from Corinth, that he will arrive in Italy. Perhaps you may not consider Philip as equal to Hannibal; or the Macedonians to the Carthaginians: certainly, however, you will allow him equal to Pyrrhus. Equal, do I say? what a vast superiority has the one man over the other, the one nation over the other! Epirus ever was, and is at this day, deemed but an inconsiderable accession to the kingdom of Macedonia. Philip has the entire Peloponnesus under his dominion; even Argos itself, not more celebrated for its ancient glory than for the death of Pyrrhus. Now compare our situation. How much more nourishing was Italy, how much greater its strength, with so many commanders, so many armies unimpaired, which the Punic war afterwards consumed, when Pyrrhus attacked and shook it, and advanced victorious almost to the Roman capital! and not the Tarentines only, and the inhabitants of that tract of Italy which they call the greater Greece, whom you may suppose to have been led by the similarity of language and name, but the Lucanian, the Bruttian, and the Samnite revolted from us. Do you believe that these would continue quiet and faithful, if Philip should come over to Italy? They subsequently continued faithful, forsooth, during the Punic war! Be a.s.sured those states will never fail to revolt from us, except when there is no one to whom they can go over.

If you had been annoyed at pa.s.sing into Africa, you would this day have had Hannibal and the Carthaginians to contend with in Italy. Let Macedonia, rather than Italy, be the seat of war. Let the cities and lands of the enemy be wasted with fire and sword. We have already found by experience, that our arms are more powerful and more successful abroad than at home. Go to the vote with the blessing of the G.o.ds; and what the senate have voted, do you ratify by your order.

This resolution is recommended to you, not only by your consul, but even by the immortal G.o.ds themselves; who, when I offered sacrifice, and prayed that the issue of this war might be happy and prosperous to me and to the senate, to you and the allies and Latin confederates, to our fleets and armies, portended all joyful and prosperous results."

8. After this speech of Sulpicius, being sent to give their votes, they declared for the war as he had proposed. On which, in pursuance of a decree of the senate, a supplication for three days was proclaimed by the consuls; and prayers were offered to the G.o.ds at all the shrines, that the war which the people had ordered against Philip might turn out well and happily. The consul Sulpicius inquiring of the heralds, whether they would direct the declaration of the war against king Philip to be made to himself in person, or whether it would be sufficient to publish it in the nearest garrison, within the frontiers of his kingdom, they answered, that they would do rightly whichever course they should adopt. The consul received authority from the senate to send any person whom he thought proper, not being a senator, as amba.s.sador, to denounce war against the king. They then arranged for the armies of the consuls and praetors. The consuls were ordered to levy two legions, and to disband the veteran troops. Sulpicius, to whom the management of this new and highly important war had been decreed, was allowed permission to carry with him as many volunteers as he could procure out of the army which Publius Scipio had brought home from Africa; but he was not empowered to take with him any veteran soldier against his will. They ordered that the consul should give to the praetors, Lucius Furius Purpureo and Quintus Minucius Rufus, five thousand of the allies of the Latin confederacy; with which forces they should hold, one, the province of Gaul, the other, Bruttium. Quintus Fulvius Gillo was ordered, in like manner, to select out of the army which Publius Aelius, late consul, had commanded, such as had been the shortest time in the service, until he also made up five thousand of the allies and Latin confederates; that this was to be the protection of the province of Sicily. To Marcus Valerius Falto, who, during the former year, had held the province of Campania, as praetor, the command was continued for a year; in order that he might go over, as propraetor, to Sardinia, and choose out of the army there five thousand of the allies of the Latin confederacy, who had served the fewest campaigns. The consuls were at the same time ordered to levy two legions for the city, which might be sent wherever occasions should require; as there were many states in Italy infected with an attachment to the Carthaginians, which they had formed during the war, and, in consequence, swelling with resentment. The state was to employ during that year six Roman legions.

9. In the midst of the preparations for war, amba.s.sadors came from king Ptolemy, who delivered a message; that "the Athenians had pet.i.tioned the king for aid against Philip; but that although they were their common allies, yet the king would not, except with the sanction of the Roman people, send either fleet or army into Greece, for the purpose of defending or attacking any person. That he would either remain quiet in his kingdom, if the Romans were at leisure to protect their allies; or, if more

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