The History of Rome; Books Nine to Twenty Six - Titus Livius
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9. Titus Otacilius, vociferating in the most furious manner, that his
object was to continue in the consulship, the consul ordered the
lictors to go to him, and as he had not entered the city, but had
proceeded directly without halting from his march to the Campus
Martius, admonished him that the axes were in the fasces which were
carried before him. The prerogative century proceeded to vote a second
time, when Quintus Fabius Maximus for the fourth time, and Marcus
Marcellus for the third time, were created consuls. The other
centuries voted for the same persons without any variation. One
praetor, likewise, Quintus Fulvius Flaccus, was re-elected; the other
new ones who were chosen, were Titus Otacilius Crassus a second time,
Quintus Fabius, son of the consul, who was at that time curule aedile,
and Publius Cornelius Lentulus. The election of the praetors
completed, a decree of the senate was passed, that Quintus Fulvius
should have the city department out of the ordinary course, and that
he in preference to any other should command in the city while the
consuls were absent in the war. Great floods happened twice during
this year, and the Tiber overflowed the fields, with great demolition
of houses and destruction of men and cattle. In the fifth year of the
second Punic war Quintus Fabius Maximus for the fourth time, and
Marcus Claudius Marcellus for the third time, entering upon their
office, drew the attention of the state upon them in a more than
ordinary degree, for there had not been two such consuls now for many
years. The old men observed, that thus Maximus Rullus and Publius
Decius were declared consuls for conducting the Gallic war; that thus
afterwards Papirius and Carvilius were appointed to that office
against the Samnites, the Bruttians, and the Lucanian with the
Tarentine people. Marcellus, who was with the army, was created consul
in his absence; to Fabius, who was present and held the election
himself, the office was continued. The critical state of affairs, the
exigencies of the war, and the danger which threatened the state,
prevented any one from looking narrowly into the precedent, or
suspecting that the consul was actuated by an excessive love of
command; on the contrary, they applauded his magnanimity in that when
he knew the state was in want of a general of the greatest ability,
and that he was himself confessedly such an one, he thought less of
the personal odium which might arise out of the transaction, than of
the good of the state.
10. On the day on which the consuls entered on their office, the
senate was assembled in the Capitol, and in the first place a decree
was passed to the effect that the consuls should draw lots, and settle
between themselves which should hold the election for the creation of
censors, before they proceeded to join the army. Next, all those who
had the command of armies were continued in their offices, and ordered
to remain in their provinces; Tiberius Gracchus at Luceria, where he
was with an army of volunteer slaves; Caius Terentius Varro in the
Picenian, and Manius Pomponius in the Gallic territory. Of the
praetors of the former year, it was settled that Quintus Mucius should
have the government of Sardinia as propraetor, Marcus Valerius the
command of the sea-coast near Brundusium, watchful against all the
movements of Philip, king of the Macedonians. To Publius Cornelius
Lentulus, the praetor, the province of Sicily was assigned. Titus
Otacilius received the same fleet which he had employed the year
before against the Carthaginians. Many prodigies were reported to have
happened this year, which increased in proportion as they were
believed by the credulous and superstitious. That crows had built a
nest within the temple of Juno Sospita at Lanuvium; that a green
palm-tree had taken fire in Apulia; that a pool at Mantua, formed by
the overflowing of the river Mincius, had assumed the appearance of
blood; that it had rained chalk at Cales, and blood at Rome in the
cattle market; that a fountain under ground in the Istrian street had
discharged so violent a stream of water, that rolling along with the
impetuosity of a torrent, it carried away the butts and casks which
were near it; that the public court in the Capitol had been struck by
lightning; also the temple of Vulcan in the Campus Martius, a nut-tree
in the Sabine territory, a wall and gate at Gabii. Now other miracles
were published: that the spear of Mars at Praeneste moved forward of
its own accord; that in Sicily an ox had spoken; that a child in the
womb of its mother cried out Io Triumphe! in the country of the
Marrucinians; at Spoletum, that a woman was transformed into a man; at
Hadria, that an altar, with appearances as of men surrounding it in
white clothing, was seen in the heavens. Nay, even in the city of Rome
itself, after a swarm of bees had been seen in the forum, some persons
roused the citizens to arms, affirming that they saw armed legions on
the Janiculum; but those who were on the Janiculum at the time,
declared that they had seen no person there besides the usual
cultivators of the hill. These prodigies were expiated by victims of
the larger kind, according to the response of the aruspices; and a
supplication was ordered to all the deities who had shrines at Rome.
11. The ceremonies which were intended to propitiate the gods being
completed, the consuls took the sense of the senate on the state of
the nation, the conduct of the war, what troops should be employed,
and where they were severally to act. It was resolved that eighteen
legions should be engaged in the war; that the consuls should take two
each; that two should be employed in each of the provinces of Gaul,
Sicily, and Sardinia; that Quintus Fabius, the praetor, should have
the command of two in Apulia, and Tiberius Gracchus of two legions of
volunteer slaves in the neighbourhood of Luceria; that one each should
be left for Caius Terentius, the proconsul, for Picenum, and to Marcus
Valerius for the fleet off Brundusium, and two for the protection of
the city. To complete this number of legions six fresh ones were to be
enlisted, which the consuls were ordered to raise as soon as possible;
and also to prepare the fleet, so that, together with the ships which
were stationed off the coasts of Calabria, it might amount that year
to one hundred and fifty men of war. The levy completed, and the
hundred new ships launched, Quintus Fabius held the election for the
creation of censors, when Marcus Atilius Regulus and Publius Furius
Philus were chosen. A rumour prevailing that war had broken out in
Sicily, Titus Otacilius was ordered to proceed thither with his fleet;
but as there was a deficiency of sailors, the consuls, in conformity
with a decree of the senate, published an order that those persons who
themselves or whose fathers had been rated in the censorship of Lucius
Aemilius and Caius Flaminius, at from fifty to one hundred thousand
_asses_, or whose property had since reached that amount, should
furnish one sailor and six months' pay; from one to three hundred
thousand, three sailors with a year's pay; from three hundred thousand
to a million, five sailors; above one million, seven sailors; that
senators should furnish eight sailors with a year's pay. The sailors
furnished according to this proclamation being armed and equipped by
their masters, embarked with cooked provisions for thirty days. Then
first it happened that the Roman fleet was manned at the expense of
individuals.
12. These unusually great preparations alarmed the Campanians
particularly, lest the Romans should commence the year's campaign with
the siege of Capua. They therefore sent ambassadors to Hannibal, to
implore him to bring his army to Capua, and tell him that new armies
were levying at Rome for the purpose of besieging it; and that there
was not any city the defection of which had excited more hostile
feelings. As they announced this with so much fear, Hannibal concluded
he must make haste lest the Romans should get there before him; and
setting out from Arpi, took up his position in his old camp at Tifata,
above Capua. Leaving his Numidians and Spaniards for the protection
both of the camp and Capua, he went down thence with the rest of his
troops to the lake Avernus on the pretence of performing sacrifice,
but in reality to make an attempt upon Puteoli and the garrison in it.
Maximus, on receiving intelligence that Hannibal had set out from
Arpi, and was returning to Campania, went back to his army, pursuing
his journey without intermission by night or by day. He also ordered
Tiberius Gracchus to bring up his troops from Luceria to Beneventum,
and Quintus Fabius the praetor, the son of the consul, to go to
Luceria in the room of Gracchus. At the same time the two praetors set
out for Sicily, Publius Cornelius to join his army, Otacilius to take
the command of the sea-coast and the fleet; the rest also proceeded to
their respective provinces, and those who were continued in command
remained in the same countries as in the former year.
13. While Hannibal was at the lake Avernus, five noble youths came to
him from Tarentum. They had been made prisoners partly at the lake
Trasimenus, and partly at Cannae, and had been sent home by the
Carthaginian with the same civility which he had shown towards all the
Roman allies. They stated to him that, impressed with gratitude for
his favours, they had succeeded in inducing a large portion of the
Tarentine youth to prefer his alliance and friendship to that of the
Romans; and that they were sent by their countrymen as ambassadors to
request Hannibal to bring his forces nearer to Tarentum; that if his
standards and camp were within sight of Tarentum, that city would be
delivered into his hands without delay; that the commons were under
the influence of the youth, and the state of Tarentum in the hands of
the commons. Hannibal after bestowing the highest commendations upon
them, and loading them with immense promises, bid them return home to
mature their plans, saying that he would be there in due time. With
these hopes, the Tarentines were dismissed. Hannibal had himself
conceived the strongest desire of getting possession of Tarentum. He
saw that it was a city opulent and celebrated, on the coast, and lying
conveniently over against Macedonia. And that as the Romans were in
possession of Brundusium, king Philip would make for this port if he
crossed over into Italy. Having completed the sacrifice for which he
came, and during his stay there laid waste the territory of Cumae as
far as the promontory of Misenum, he suddenly marched his troops
thence to Puteoli to surprise the Roman garrison there. It consisted
of six thousand men, and the place was secured not only by its natural
situation, but by works also. The Carthaginian having waited there
three days, and attempted the garrison in every quarter, without any
success, proceeded thence to devastate the territory of Naples,
influenced by resentment more than the hope of getting possession of
the place. The commons of Nola, who had been long disaffected to the
Romans and at enmity with their own senate, moved into the
neighbouring fields on his approach; and in conformity with this
movement ambassadors came to invite Hannibal to join them, bringing
with them a positive assurance that the city would be surrendered to
him. The consul, Marcellus, who had been called in by the nobles,
anticipated their attempt. In one day he had reached Suessula from
Cales, though the river Vulturnus had delayed him crossing; and from
thence the ensuing night introduced into Nola for the protection of
the senate, six thousand foot and three hundred horse. The
dilatoriness of Hannibal was in proportion to the expedition which the
consul used in every thing he did in order to preoccupy Nola. Having
twice already made the attempt unsuccessfully, he was slower to place
confidence in the Nolans.
14. During the same time, the consul, Fabius, came to attempt
Casilinum, which was occupied by a Carthaginian garrison; and, as if
by concert, Hanno approached Beneventum on one side from the
Bruttians, with a large body of foot and horse, while on the other
side Gracchus approached it from Luceria. The latter entered the town
first. Then, hearing that Hanno had pitched his camp three miles from
the city, at the river Calor, and from thence was laying waste the
country, he himself marched without the walls, and pitching his camp
about a mile from the enemy, harangued his soldiers. The legions he
had consisted for the most part of volunteer slaves, who chose rather
to earn their liberty silently by another year's service, than demand
it openly. The general, however, on quitting his winter quarters, had
perceived that the troops murmured, asking when the time would arrive
that they should serve as free citizens. He had written to the senate,
stating not so much what they wanted as what they had deserved; he
said they had served him with fidelity and courage up to that day, and
that they wanted nothing but liberty, to bring them up to the model of
complete soldiers. Permission was given him to act in the business as
he thought for the interest of the state, and, accordingly, before he
engaged with the enemy, he declared that the time was now arrived for
obtaining that liberty which they had so long hoped for; that on the
following day he should fight a pitched battle on a level and open
plain, in which the contest would be decided by valour only, without
any fear of ambuscade. The man who should bring back the head of an
enemy, he would instantly order to be set free; but that he would
punish, in a manner suited to a slave, the man who should quit his
post; that every man's fortune was in his own hands; that not he
himself alone would authorize their enfranchisement, but the consul,
Marcus Marcellus, and the whole body of the fathers, who, on being
consulted by him on the subject, had left the matter to his disposal.
He then read the letter of the consul and the decree of the senate, on
which they raised a general shout of approbation, demanded to be led
to battle, and vehemently urged him to give the signal forthwith.
Gracchus broke up the assembly, after proclaiming the battle for the
following day. The soldiers, highly delighted, particularly those
whose enfranchisement was to be the reward of one day's prowess,
employed the remaining time in getting ready their arms.
15. The next day, as soon as the trumpets began to sound, they were
the first to assemble at the general's tent, armed and ready for
action. When the sun had risen, Gracchus led out his troops to the
field of battle; nor did the enemy delay to engage him. His troops
consisted of seventeen thousand infantry, principally Bruttians and
Lucanians, with twelve hundred horse, among which were very few
Italians, almost all the rest being Numidians and Moors. The contest
was fierce and protracted. For four hours neither side had the
advantage, nor did any other circumstance more impede the Romans, than
that the heads of their enemies were made the price of their liberty.
For when each man had gallantly slain his enemy, first, he lost time
in cutting off his head, which was done with difficulty amid the crowd
and confusion, and secondly, all the bravest troops ceased to be
engaged in fight, as their right hands were employed in holding the
heads; and thus the battle was left to be sustained by the inactive
and cowardly. But when the military tribunes reported to Gracchus that
the soldiers were employed not in wounding any of the enemy who were
standing, but in mangling those who were prostrate, their right hands
being occupied in holding the heads of men instead of their swords, he
promptly ordered a signal to be given that they should throw down the
heads and charge the enemy; that they had given evident and signal
proofs of valour, and that the liberty of such brave men was certain.
Then the fight was revived, and the cavalry also were sent out against
the enemy. The Numidians engaging them with great bravery, and the
contest between the cavalry being carried on with no less spirit than
that between the infantry, the victory again became doubtful; when,
the generals on both sides vilifying their opponents, the Roman
saying, that their enemies were Bruttians and Lucanians, who had been
so often vanquished and subjugated by their ancestors; the
Carthaginian, that the troops opposed to them were Roman slaves,
soldiers taken out of a workhouse; at last Gracchus exclaimed, that
his men had no ground to hope for liberty unless the enemy were routed
and put to flight that day.
16. These words at length kindled their courage so effectually, and
renewing the shout, as if suddenly changed into other men, they bore
down upon the enemy with such impetuosity that they could not longer
be withstood. First, of the Carthaginians who stood before the
standards; then the standards were thrown into disorder; and lastly
the whole line was compelled to give way. They then turned their backs
downright, and fled precipitately to their camp with such terror and
consternation, that not a man made stand in the gates or on the
rampart; while the Romans, who pursued them so close as to form almost
a part of their body commenced the battle anew, enclosed within the
rampart of the enemy. Here the battle was more bloody as the
combatants had less room to move, from the narrowness of the place in
which they fought. The prisoners too assisted; for snatching up swords
in the confusion, and forming themselves into a body, they slew the
Carthaginians in the rear and prevented their flight. Thus less than
two thousand men out of so large an army, and those principally
cavalry, effected their escape with their commander, all the rest were
slain or taken prisoners. Thirty-eight standards were taken. Of the
victors about two thousand fell. All the booty except that of the
prisoners was given up to the soldiery. Such cattle also as the owners
should identify within thirty days was excepted. When they returned to
their camp loaded with spoil, about four thousand of the volunteer
slaves who had fought with less spirit, and had not joined in breaking
into the enemy's camp, through fear of punishment, took possession of
a hill not far from the camp. Being brought down thence the next day
by a military tribune, it happened that they arrived during an
assembly of the soldiers which Gracchus had called. At this assembly
the proconsul, having first rewarded the veteran soldiers with
military presents, according to the valour displayed, and the service
rendered by each man in the engagement, then observed, with respect to
the volunteer slaves, that he would rather that all should be praised
by him whether deserving it or not, than that any one should be
chastised on that day. I bid you, said he, all be free, and may the
event be attended with advantage, happiness, and prosperity to the
state and to yourselves. These words were followed by the most cordial
acclamations, the soldiers sometimes embracing and congratulating one
another, at other times lifting up their hands to heaven, and praying
that every blessing might attend the Roman people, and Gracchus in
particular; when Gracchus addressed them thus: "Before I had placed
you all on an equal footing with respect to the enjoyment of liberty,
I was unwilling to affix any marks by which the brave and dastardly
soldier might be distinguished. But now the pledge given by the state
being redeemed, lest all distinction between courage and cowardice
should disappear, I shall order that the names of those persons be
laid before me, who, conscious of their dastardly conduct in the
battle, have lately seceded. I shall have them cited before me, when I
shall bind them by an oath, that none of them, except such as shall
have the plea of sickness, will, so long as they serve, take either
meat or drink in any other posture than standing. This penalty you
will bear with patience when you reflect that it is impossible your
cowardice could be marked with a slighter stigma." He then gave the
signal for packing up the baggage; and the soldiers, sporting and
jesting as they drove and carried their booty, returned to Beneventum
in so playful a mood, that they appeared to be returning, not from the
field of battle, but from a feast celebrated on some remarkable
holiday. All the Beneventans pouring out in crowds to meet them at the
gate, embraced, congratulated, and invited the troops to
entertainments. They had all prepared banquets in the courts of their
houses, to which they invited the soldiers, and of which they
entreated Gracchus to allow them to partake. Gracchus gave permission,
with the proviso that they should feast in the public street. Each
person brought every thing out before his door. The volunteers feasted
with caps of liberty on their heads, or filletted with white wool;
some reclining at the tables, others standing, who at once partook of
the repast, and waited upon the rest. It even seemed a fitting
occasion that Gracchus, on his return to Rome, should order a picture
representing the festivities of that day to be executed in the temple
of Liberty, which his father caused to be built on the Aventine out of
money arising from fines, and which his father also dedicated.
17. While these events occurred at Beneventum, Hannibal having laid
waste the territory of Naples, moved his camp to Nola. The consul, as
soon as he was aware of his approach, sent for Pemponius the
propraetor, with the troops he had in the camp above Suessula; and
then prepared to meet the enemy and to make no delay in fighting. He
sent out Caius Claudius Nero in the dead of night with the main
strength of the cavalry, through the gate which was farthest removed
from the enemy, with orders to make a circuit so as not to be
observed, and then slowly to follow the enemy as they moved along, and
as soon as he perceived the battle begun, to charge them on the rear.
Whether Nero was prevented from executing these orders by mistaking
the route, or from the shortness of the time, is doubtful. Though he
was absent when the battle was fought, the Romans had unquestionably
the advantage; but as the cavalry did not come up in time, the plan of
the battle which had been agreed upon was disconcerted and Marcellus,
not daring to follow the retiring enemy, gave the signal for retreat
when his soldiers were conquering More than two thousand of the enemy
are said, however, to have fallen on that day; of the Romans, less
than four hundred. Nero, after having fruitlessly wearied both men and
horses, through the day and night, without even having seen the enemy,
returned about sunset; when the consul went so far in reprimanding him
as to assert, that he had been the only obstacle to their retorting on
the enemy the disaster sustained at Cannae. The following day the
Roman came into the field, but the Carthaginian, beaten even by his
own tacit confession, kept within his camp. Giving up all hope of
getting possession of Nola, a thing never attempted without loss,
during the silence of the night of the third day he set out for
Tarentum, which he had better hopes of having betrayed to him.
18. Nor were the Roman affairs administered with less spirit at home
than in the field. The censors being freed from the care of letting
out the erection of public works, from the low state of the treasury,
turned their attention to the regulation of men's morals, and the
chastisement of vices which sprung up during the war, in the same
manner as constitutions broken down by protracted disease, generate
other maladies. In the first place, they cited those persons who,
after the battle of Cannae, were said to have formed a design of
abandoning the commonwealth, and leaving Italy. The chief of these was
Lucius Caecilius Metellus, who happened to be then quaestor. In the
next place, as neither he nor the other persons concerned were able to
exculpate themselves on being ordered to make their defence, they
pronounced them guilty of having used words and discourse prejudicial
to the state, that a conspiracy might be formed for the abandonment of
Italy. After them were cited those persons who showed too much
ingenuity in inventing a method of discharging the obligation of their
oath, namely, such of the prisoners as concluded that the oath which
they had sworn to return, would be fulfilled by their going back
privately to Hannibal's camp, after setting out on their journey. Such
of these and of the above-mentioned as had horses at the public
expense were deprived of them, and all were degraded from their tribes
and disfranchised. Nor was the attention of the censors confined to
the regulation of the senate and the equestrian order. They erased
from the lists of the junior centuries the names of all who had not
served during the last four years, unless they were regularly
exempted, or were prevented by sickness. Those too, amounting to more
than two thousand names, were numbered among the disfranchised, and
were all degraded. To this more gentle stigma affixed by the censors,
a severe decree of the senate was added, to the effect that all those
whom the censor had stigmatized, should serve on foot, and be sent
into Sicily to join the remains of the army of Cannae, a class of
soldiers whose time of service was not to terminate till the enemy was
driven out of Italy. The censors, in consequence of the poverty of the
treasury, having abstained from receiving contracts for the repairs of
the sacred edifices, the furnishing of curule horses, and similar
matters, the persons who had been accustomed to attend auctions of
this description, came to the censors in great numbers, and exhorted
them to "transact all their business and let out the contracts in the
same manner as if there were money in the treasury. That none of them
would ask for money out of the treasury before the war was concluded."
Afterwards the owners of those slaves whom Tiberius Sempronius had
manumitted at Beneventum, came to them, stating that they were sent
for by the public bankers, to receive the price of their slaves, but
that they would not accept of it till the war was concluded. This
disposition on the part of the commons to sustain the impoverished
treasury having manifested itself, the property of minors first, and
then the portions of widows, began to be brought in; the persons who
brought them being persuaded, that their deposit would no where be
more secure and inviolable than under the public faith. If any thing
was bought or laid in for the widows and minors, an order upon the
quaestor was given for it. This liberality in individuals flowed from
the city into the camp also, insomuch that no horseman or centurion
would accept of his pay, and those who would accept it were reproached
with the appellation of mercenary men.