The History of Rome; Books Nine to Twenty Six - Titus Livius
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4. The commons being dismissed, the senate was assembled, when the
consuls proposed the consideration of the interruption experienced by
the assembly of the commons, in consequence of the violence and
audacity of the farmers of the revenue. They said, that "Marcus Furius
Camillus, whose banishment was followed by the downfall of the city,
had suffered himself to be condemned by his exasperated countrymen.
That before him, the decemviri, according to whose laws they lived up
to the present day, and afterwards many men of the first rank in the
state, had submitted to have sentence passed upon them by the people.
But Posthumius Pyrgensis had wrested from the Roman people their right
of suffrage, had dissolved the assembly of the commons, had set at
nought the authority of the tribunes, had drawn up a body of men in
battle-array against the Roman people; and seized upon a post, in
order to cut off the tribunes from the commons, and prevent the tribes
being called to give their votes. That the only thing which had
restrained the people from bloodshed and violence, was the forbearance
of the magistrates in giving way for the moment to the fury and
audacity of a few individuals, and suffering themselves and the Roman
people to be overcome; and that no opportunity might be afforded those
who were seeking an occasion of violence, in dissolving, agreeably to
the wish of the defendant himself, that assembly which he was about to
interrupt by force of arms." Observations of this kind having been
urged with a warmth proportioned to the atrocity of the conduct which
called them forth, by all the most respectable persons, and the senate
having passed a decree to the effect that the violence offered was
prejudicial to the state, and a precedent of pernicious tendency,
immediately the Carvilii, tribunes of the people, giving up the action
for a fine, appointed a day on which Posthumius should be tried
capitally, and ordered, that unless he gave bail, he should be
apprehended by the beadle, and carried to prison. Posthumius gave
bail, but did not appear. The tribunes then proposed to the commons,
and the commons resolved, that if Marcus Posthumius did not appear
before the calends of May, and if on being cited on that day he did
not answer, and sufficient cause were not shown why he did not, he
would be adjudged an exile, his goods would be sold, and himself
interdicted from water and fire. They then proceeded to indict
capitally, and demand bail of each of the persons who had been the
promoters of the disorder and riot. At first they threw into prison
those who did not give bail, and afterwards even such as could; upon
which the greater part of them went into exile, to avoid the danger to
which this proceeding exposed them.
5. The knavery of the revenue farmers, and their subsequent audacious
conduct to screen themselves from its effects, thus terminated. An
assembly was then held for the creation of a chief pontiff. The new
pontiff, Marcus Cornelius Cethegus, presided. The election was
contested with the greatest obstinacy by three candidates, Quintus
Fulvius Flaccus, the consul, who had been twice consul before and
censor, Titus Manhus Torquatus, who had himself also been
distinguished by two consulships and the censorship, and Publius
Licinius Ciassus, who was about to stand for the office of curule
aedile. In this contest, the last-mentioned candidate, though a young
man, beat the others, who were his superiors in years, and had filled
offices of honour. Before him there had not been a man for a hundred
and twenty years, except Publius Cornelius Calussa, who had been
created chief pontiff without having sat in the curule chair. Though
the consuls found great difficulty in completing the levy, for in
consequence of the scarcity of young men, it was not easy to procure
enough for the two purposes of forming the new city legions, and
recruiting the old ones, the senate forbade them to desist from the
attempt, and ordered two triumvirates to be appointed, one of which
within, the other without the fiftieth mile from the city, might
ascertain the utmost number of free-born men which were to be found in
the villages, and market towns, and hamlets, and enlist whom they
thought strong enough to bear arms, though they had not attained the
military age. That the tribunes of the people, if they thought proper,
should propose to the people, that such as should take the military
oath being under seventeen years, should be allowed to reckon their
period of service in the same manner as if they had enlisted at
seventeen or older. The two triumvirates, created agreeably to this
decree of the senate, enlisted free-born men throughout the country.
At the same time a letter from Marcellus from Sicily, respecting the
petition of the troops who served with Publius Lentulus, was read in
the senate. These troops were the relics of the disaster at Cannae,
and had been sent out of the way into Sicily, as has been mentioned
before, on an understanding that they should not be brought home
before the conclusion of the Carthaginian war.
6. With the permission of Lentulus, these men sent the most
distinguished of the cavalry and centurions, and a select body of the
legionary infantry, as ambassadors to Marcellus, to his winter
quarters. Having obtained leave to speak, one of them thus addressed
him: "We should have approached you, Marcus Marcellus, when consul in
Italy, as soon as that decree of the senate was passed respecting us,
which, though not unjust, was certainly severe, had we not hoped, that
being sent into a province which was in a state of disorder in
consequence of the death of its kings, to carry on an arduous war
against the Sicilians and Carthaginians together, we should make
atonement to the state by our blood and wounds, in the same manner as,
within the memory of our fathers, those who were taken prisoners by
Pyrrhus at Heraclea, made atonement by fighting against the same
Pyrrhus. And yet, for what fault of ours, conscript fathers, did you
then, or do you now, feel displeasure towards us; for when I look upon
you, Marcus Marcellus, I seem to behold both the consuls and the whole
body of the senate; and had you been our consul at Cannae, a better
fate would have attended the state as well as ourselves. Permit me, I
entreat you, before I complain of the hardship of our situation, to
clear ourselves of the guilt with which we are charged. If it was
neither by the anger of the gods, nor by fate, according to whose laws
the course of human affairs is unalterably fixed, but by misconduct
that we were undone at Cannae; but whose was that misconduct; the
soldiers', or that of their generals? For my own part, I, as a
soldier, will never say a word of my commander, particularly when I
know that he received the thanks of the senate for not having
despaired of the state; and who has been continued in command through
every year since his flight from Cannae. We have heard that others
also who survived that disaster, who were military tribunes, solicit
and fill offices of honour, and have the command of provinces. Do you
then, conscript fathers, pardon yourselves and your children, while
you exercise severity towards such insignificant persons as we are? It
was no disgrace to a consul and other leading persons in the state, to
fly when no other hope remained; and did you send your soldiers into
the field as persons who must of necessity die there? At the Allia
nearly the whole army fled; at the Caudine Forks the troops delivered
up their arms to the enemy, without even making an effort; not to
mention other disgraceful defeats of our armies. Yet, so far from any
mark of infamy being sought for, which might be fixed upon these
troops, the city of Rome was recovered by means of those very troops
who had fled to Veii from the Allia; and the Caudine legions, which
had returned to Rome without their arms, being sent back armed to
Samnium, brought under the yoke that very enemy who had exulted in the
disgrace which, in this instance, attached to them. But is there a man
who can bring a charge of cowardice or running away against the army
which fought at Cannae, where more than fifty thousand men fell; from
whence the consul fled with only seventy horsemen; where not a man
survived, except perchance those whom the enemy left, being wearied
with killing? When the proposal to ransom the prisoners was negatived,
we were the objects of general commendation, because we reserved
ourselves for the service of the state; because we returned to the
consul to Venusia, and exhibited an appearance of a regular army. Now
we are in a worse condition than those who were taken prisoners in the
time of our fathers; for they only had their arms, the nature of their
service, and the place where they might pitch their tents in the camp
altered; all which, however, they got restored by one service rendered
to the state, and by one successful battle. Not one of them was sent
away into banishment; not one was deprived of the hope of completing
the period of his service; in short, an enemy was assigned to them,
fighting with whom they might at once terminate their life or their
disgrace. We, to whom nothing can be objected, except that it is owing
to us that any Roman soldier has survived the battle of Cannae, are
removed far away, not only from our country and Italy, but even from
an enemy; where we may grow old in exile, where we can have no hope or
opportunity of obliterating our disgrace, of appeasing the indignation
of our countrymen, or, in short, of obtaining an honourable death. We
seek neither to have our ignominy terminated, nor our virtue rewarded,
we only ask to be allowed to make trial of our courage, and to
exercise our virtue. We seek for labour and danger that we may
discharge the duty of men and soldiers. A war is carrying on in
Sicily, now for the second year, with the utmost vigour on both sides.
The Carthaginians are storming some cities, the Romans others, armies
of infantry and horse are engaging in battle, at Syracuse the war is
prosecuted by sea and by land. We hear distinctly the shout of the
combatants, and the din of arms, while we ourselves lie inactive and
unemployed, as if we had neither hands nor arms. The consul,
Sempronius has now fought many pitched battles with the enemy with
legions of slaves. They receive as the fruits of their exertion their
liberty, and the rights of citizens. Let us at least be employed by
you as slaves purchased for the service of this war, let us be allowed
to combat with the enemy and acquire our freedom by fighting. Do you
wish to make trial of our valour by sea, by land, in a pitched battle,
or in the assault of towns? We ask as our portion all those
enterprises which present the greatest difficulty and danger, that
what ought to have been done at Cannae may be done as soon as
possible, for the whole of our subsequent lives has been doomed to
ignominy."
7. At the conclusion of this speech they prostrated themselves at the
knees of Marcellus. Marcellus replied, that the question was neither
within his authority nor his power, that he would, however, write to
the senate, and be guided in every thing he did by the judgment of the
fathers. This letter was brought to the new consuls, and by them read
in the senate, and, on the question being put relative to this letter,
they decreed, "that the senate saw no reason why the interests of the
republic should be intrusted to the hands of soldiers who had deserted
then comrades, in battle, at Cannae. If Marcus Marcellus, the
proconsul, thought otherwise, that he should act as he deemed
consistent with the good of the republic and his own honour, with this
proviso, however, that none of these men should be exempt from
service, nor be presented with any military reward in consideration of
valour, or be conveyed back to Italy, while the enemy was in that
country." After this, agreeably to the decree of the senate, and the
order of the people, an election was held by the city praetor, at
which five commissioners were created for the purpose of repairing the
walls and turrets, and two sets of triumviri, one to search for the
property belonging to the temples, and to register the offerings, the
other for repairing the temples of Fortune and Mother Matuta within
the Carmental gate, and also that of Hope without the gate, which had
been destroyed by fire the year before. Dreadful storms occurred at
this time. It rained stones for two days without intermission in the
Alban mount. Many places were struck by lightning; two buildings in
the Capitol, the rampart in the camp above Suessula in many places,
and two of the men on guard were killed. A wall and certain towers at
Cannae were not only struck with lightning, but demolished. At Reate,
a vast rock was seen to fly about; the sun appeared unusually red and
blood-like. On account of these prodigies there was a supplication for
one day, and the consuls employed themselves for several days in
sacred rites; at the same time there was a sacred rite performed
through nine days. An accidental circumstance which occurred at a
distance, hastened the revolt of Tarentum, which had now for a long
time been the object of the hopes of Hannibal and of the suspicion of
the Romans. Phileas, a native of Tarentum, who had been a long time at
Rome under the pretence of an embassy, being a man of a restless mind,
and ill brooking that inactive state in which he considered that his
powers had been for too long a time sinking into imbecility,
discovered for himself a means of access to the Tarentine hostages.
They were kept in the court of the temple of Liberty, and guarded with
less care, because it was neither the interest of themselves nor of
their state to escape from the Romans. By corrupting two of the
keepers of the temple, he was enabled to hold frequent conferences
with them, at which he solicited them to come into this design; and
having brought them out of their place of confinement as soon as it
was dark, he became the companion of their clandestine flight, and got
clear away. As soon as day dawned, the news of their escape spread
through the city, and a party sent in pursuit, having seized them all
at Tarracina, brought them back. They were led into the Comitium, and
after being scourged with rods, with the approbation of the people,
were thrown down from the rock.
8. The severity of this punishment exasperated the inhabitants of two
of the most distinguished Greek states in Italy, not only publicly as
communities, but privately as individuals, according as each was
connected, either by relationship or friendship, with those who had
been so disgracefully put to death. Of these about thirteen noble
Tarentine youths formed a conspiracy, the chief of whom were Nico and
Philemenus. Concluding that it would be right to confer with Hannibal
before they took any step, they went to him, having been allowed to go
out of the city by night on pretence of hunting. When they were now
not far from the camp, all the rest hid themselves in a wood by the
road side; but Nico and Philemenus, proceeding to the advanced guard,
were seized, and at their own request brought before Hannibal. Having
laid before him the motives of their plan, and the object they had in
view, they received the highest commendation, and were loaded with
promises; and that their countrymen might believe that they had gone
out of the city to obtain plunder, they were desired to drive to the
city some cattle of the Carthaginians which had been sent out to
graze. A promise was given them that they might do this without danger
or interruption. The booty of the young men attracted notice, and less
astonishment was therefore felt that they should frequently repeat the
attempt. At a second meeting with Hannibal they entered into a solemn
engagement, that the Tarentines should be free, enjoying their own
laws, and all their rights uninterfered with; that they should neither
pay any tribute to the Carthaginians, nor receive a garrison against
their will; that their present garrison should be delivered up to the
Carthaginians. These points being agreed upon, Philemenus then began
to repeat more frequently his customary practice of going out and
returning to the city followed by his dogs, and furnished with the
other requisites for hunting; for he was remarkable for his fondness
of hunting; and generally bringing home something which he had
captured or taken away from the enemy, who had purposely placed it in
his way he presented it to the commander or the guards of the gates.
They supposed that he preferred going and returning by night through
fear of the enemy. After this practice had become so familiar, that at
whatever time of the night he gave a signal, by whistling, the gate
was opened, Hannibal thought that it was now time to put the plan in
execution. He was at the distance of three days' journey, and to
diminish the wonder which would be felt at his keeping his camp fixed
in one and the same place so long, he feigned himself ill. Even to the
Romans who formed the garrison of Tarentum, his protracted inactivity
had ceased to be an object of suspicion.
9. But after he determined to proceed to Tarentum, selecting from his
infantry and cavalry ten thousand men, whom, from activity of body,
and lightness of arms, he judged best adapted for the expedition, he
began his march in the fourth watch of the night; and sending in
advance about eighty Numidian horsemen, ordered them to scour the
country on each side of the road, and narrowly examine every place,
lest any of the rustics who might have observed his army at a distance
should escape; to bring back those who were got before, and kill those
whom they met, that they might appear to the neighbouring inhabitants
to be a plundering party, rather than a regular army. Hannibal
himself, marching at a rapid pace, pitched his camp about fifteen
miles from Tarentum; and without telling his soldiers even there, what
was their destination, he only called them together and admonished
them to march all of them in the road, and not to suffer any one to
turn aside or deviate from the line; and above all, that they would be
on the watch, so as to catch the word of command, and not do any thing
without the order of their leaders; that in due time he would issue
his commands as to what he wished to be done. About the same hour a
rumour reached Tarentum, that a few Numidian horsemen were devastating
the fields, and had terrified the rustics through a wide extent of
country; at which intelligence the Roman praefect took no further step
than to order a division of his cavalry to go out the following day at
sunrise to check the depredations of the enemy; and so far was he from
directing his attention to any thing else on this account, that on the
contrary, this excursion of the Numidians was a proof to him that
Hannibal and his army had not moved from his camp. Early in the night
Hannibal put his troops in motion, and Philemenus, with his customary
burden of prey taken in hunting, was his guide. The rest of the
conspirators waited the accomplishment of what had been concerted; and
the agreement was, that Philemenus, while bringing in his prey through
the small gate by which he was accustomed to pass, should introduce
some armed men, while Hannibal in another quarter approached the gate
called Temenis, which faced the east, in that quarter which was
towards the continent, near the tombs which were within the walls.
When he drew near to the gate, Hannibal raised a fire according to
agreement, which made a blaze; the same signal was returned by Nico,
and the fires were extinguished on both sides. Hannibal led his troops
on in silence to the gate. Nico suddenly fell upon the guards while
asleep, slew them in their beds, and opened the gate. Hannibal then
entered with his infantry, ordering his cavalry to stay behind, that
they might be able to bring their assistance wherever it was required
without obstruction. Philemenus also in another quarter approached the
small gate by which he was accustomed to pass and re-pass. His voice,
which was well known, for he said he could scarcely bear the weight of
the huge beast he had gotten, and his signal, which had now become
familiar, having roused the guard, the small gate was opened. Two
youths carrying in a boar, Philemenus himself followed, with a
huntsman, unencumbered, and while the attention of the guard was
incautiously turned upon those who carried the boar, in consequence of
its astonishing size, he transfixed him with a hunting spear. About
thirty armed men then entering, slew the rest of the guards, and broke
open the adjoining gate, when a body of troops, in regular array,
instantly rushed in. Being conducted hence in silence to the forum,
they joined Hannibal. The Carthaginian then sent the Tarentines, with
two thousand Gauls formed into three divisions, in different
directions through the city, with orders to occupy the most frequented
streets. A confusion arising, the Romans were put to the sword on all
hands. The townsmen were spared; but in order to insure this, he
instructed the Tarentine youths, when they saw any of their friends at
a distance, to bid them be quiet and silent, and be of good courage.
10. The tumult and clamour was now such as usually takes place in a
captured city, but no man knew for certain what was the occasion. The
Tarentines supposed that the Romans had suddenly risen to plunder the
city. To the Romans it appeared, that some commotion had been set on
foot by the townsmen with a treacherous design. The praefect, who was
awakened at the first alarm, escaped to the port, whence getting into
a boat he was conveyed round to the citadel. The sound of a trumpet
also from the theatre excited alarm; for it was a Roman trumpet,
prepared by the conspirators for this very purpose; and as it was
blown unskilfully by a Grecian, it could not be ascertained who gave
the signal, or to whom it was given. At dawn of the day, the Romans
recognised the Carthaginian and Gallic arms, which removed all doubt;
and the Greeks, seeing the bodies of slain Romans spread about in all
directions, perceived that the city had been taken by Hannibal. When
the light had increased, so that they could discriminate with greater
certainty, and the Romans who survived the carnage had taken refuge in
the citadel, the tumult now beginning to subside a little, Hannibal
gave orders to assemble the Tarentines without their arms. All of them
attended the assembly, except those who had accompanied the Romans in
their retreat to the citadel, to share every fortune with them. Here
Hannibal having addressed the Tarentines in terms of kindness, and
appealed to the services he had rendered to those of their countrymen
whom he had captured at the Trasimenus and at Cannae, and having at
the same time inveighed against the haughty domination of the Romans,
desired that they would every one of them retire to their respective
houses, and inscribe their names upon their doors; declaring, that he
should give orders that those houses which had not the names written
upon them should be plundered. That if any man should write his name
upon the house of a Roman, (and the Romans occupied houses by
themselves,) he should treat him as an enemy. Having dismissed the
assembly, and the names inscribed upon the doors having made it easy
to distinguish the house of an enemy from that of a friend, on a
signal given, the troops ran in every direction to plunder the
lodgings of the Romans, and a considerable booty was found.
11. The next day he led his troops to assault the citadel; but seeing
that it was protected by very high rocks towards the sea, which washed
the greater part of it, and formed it into a sort of peninsula, and
towards the city by a wall and ditch, and consequently that it could
not be taken by assault or by works; lest the design to protect the
Tarentines should detain him from the prosecution of more important
objects, and lest the Romans should have the power of sallying from
the citadel whenever they pleased against the Tarentines, if left
without a strong protecting force, he resolved to cut off the
communication between the citadel and city by a rampart; not without a
hope that he might have an opportunity of fighting with the Romans,
when attempting to obstruct the work; and if they should sally forth
too eagerly, that by killing many of them the strength of the garrison
would be so far reduced, that the Tarentines alone would be easily
able to defend themselves from them. After they had begun, the Romans,
suddenly throwing open the gate, rushed in upon the workmen. The guard
stationed before the works allowed itself to be driven back, in order
that their boldness might be increased by success, and that they might
pursue them when driven back, in greater numbers, and to a greater
distance. Then on a signal given, the Carthaginians, whom Hannibal
kept in readiness for this purpose, sprang up on all sides; nor could
the Romans sustain the attack, but were prevented from precipitate
flight by the narrowness of the ground, by impediments occasioned in
some places by the works already commenced, in others by the
preparations for the work. Most of them were driven headlong into the
ditch, and more were killed in the flight than in the battle. After
this the work was commenced without any attempt to obstruct it. A
large ditch was formed, within which a rampart was thrown up. He
prepared also to add a wall at a small distance, and on the same side,
that they might defend themselves from the Romans even without a
garrison. He, however, left them a small force, at once for their
protection and to assist in building the wall. The general himself,
setting out with the rest of his forces, pitched his camp at the river
Galaesus, five miles from the city. Returning from this position to
inspect the work, which had gone on somewhat faster than he had
anticipated, he conceived a hope that the citadel might even be taken
by storm; for it was not protected by an elevated situation as the
other parts were, but placed upon a plain, and separated from the city
only by a wall and ditch. While subjected to an attack from every kind
of military engine and work, a reinforcement sent from Metapontum
inspired the Romans with courage to assault the works of the enemy, by
a sudden attack, under cover of the night. Some of them they threw
down, others they destroyed by fire, and thus there was an end to
Hannibal's attempts against the citadel in that quarter. His only
remaining hope was in a siege; nor did that afford a good prospect of
success, because, occupying a citadel which was placed on a peninsula
and commanded the entrance of the harbour, they had the sea open to
them, while the city, on the contrary, was deprived of any supplies by
sea: and thus the besiegers were in greater danger of want than the
besieged. Hannibal assembled the chief men of the Tarentines, and laid
before them all the present difficulties. He said, "That he could
neither discover any method by which a citadel so well fortified could
be taken, nor could he hope for any favourable result from a siege,
while the enemy was master of the sea; but that if ships could be
obtained, by which the introduction of supplies might be prevented,
the enemy would either immediately evacuate it, or surrender
themselves." The Tarentines agreed with him; but were of opinion, that
"he who gave the advice ought also to assist in carrying it into
execution; for if the Carthaginian ships were brought there from
Sicily, they would be able to effect it; but by what means could their
own ships, shut up as they were in a confined harbour, the mouth of
which was in the command of the enemy, be brought out into the open
sea." "They shall be brought out," said Hannibal. "Many things which
are difficult in themselves, are easily effected by contrivance. You
have a city situated upon a plain; you have level and sufficiently
wide roads extending in every direction. By the road which runs
through the midst of the city from the harbour to the sea I will
convey your ships in waggons without any great difficulty, and the sea
will be ours which the enemy now commands. We will invest the citadel
on one side by sea, on the other by land; nay, rather, in a short
time, we will take it either abandoned by the enemy, or with the enemy
in it." This speech not only inspired hopes of accomplishing the
object, but excited the greatest admiration of the general. Waggons
were immediately collected from every quarter and joined together;
machines were employed to haul the ships on shore, and the road was
prepared, in order that the waggons might run more easily, and thus
the difficulty of passing be diminished. Beasts of burden and men were
next collected, and the work was actively commenced. After the lapse
of a few days, the fleet, equipped and ready for action, sailed round
the citadel, and cast anchor just before the mouth of the harbour.
Such was the state of things at Tarentum, when Hannibal left it and
returned to his winter quarters. Authors, however, are divided as to
whether the defection of the Tarentines took place in the present or
former year. The greater number, and those who, from their age, were
more able to recollect these events, represent it to have occurred in
the present year.