The History of Rome; Books Nine to Twenty Six - Titus Livius
Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48
35. While such was the state of affairs at Rome, the Etrurians had
laid siege to Sutrium, and the consul Fabius, as he was marching along
the foot of the mountains, with a design to succour the allies, and
attempt the enemy's works, if it were by any means practicable, was
met by their army prepared for battle. As the wide-extended plain
below showed the greatness of their force, the consul, in order to
remedy his deficiency in point of number, by advantage of the ground,
changed the direction of his route a little towards the hills, where
the way was rugged and covered with stones, and then formed his
troops, facing the enemy. The Etrurians, thinking of nothing but their
numbers, on which alone they depended, commence the fight with such
haste and eagerness, that, in order to come the sooner to a close
engagement, they threw away their javelins, drew their swords, rushing
against the enemy. On the other side, the Romans poured down on them,
sometimes javelins, and sometimes stones which the place abundantly
supplied; so that whilst the blows on their shields and helmets
confused even those whom they did not wound, (it was neither an easy
matter to come to close quarters, nor had they missive weapons with
which to fight at a distance,) when there was nothing now to protect
them whilst standing and exposed to the blows, some even giving way,
and the whole line wavering and unsteady the spearmen and the first
rank, renewing the shout, rush on them with drawn swords. This attack
the Etrurians could not withstand, but, facing about, fled
precipitately towards their camp; when the Roman cavalry, getting
before them by galloping obliquely across the plain, threw themselves
in the way of their flight, on which they quitted the road, and bent
their course to the mountains. From thence, in a body, almost without
arms, and debilitated with wounds, they made their way into the
Ciminian forest. The Romans, having slain in many thousands of the
Etrurians, and taken thirty-eight military standards, took also
possession of their camp, together with a vast quantity of spoil. They
then began to consider of pursuing the enemy.
36. The Ciminian forest was in those days deemed as impassable and
frightful as the German forests have been in latter times; not even
any trader having ever attempted to pass it. Hardly any, besides the
general himself, showed boldness enough to enter it; the others had
not the remembrance of the disaster at Caudium effaced from their
mind. On this, of those who were present, Marcus Fabius, the consul's
brother, (some say Caeso, others Caius Claudius, born of the same
mother with the consul,) undertook to go and explore the country, and
to bring them in a short time an account of every particular. Being
educated at Caere, where he had friends, he was perfectly acquainted
with the Etrurian language. I have seen it affirmed, that, in those
times, the Roman youth were commonly instructed in the Etrurian
learning, as they are now in the Greek: but it is more probable, that
there was something very extraordinary in the person who acted so
daringly a counterfeit part, and mixed among the enemy. It is said,
that his only attendant was a slave, who had been bred up with him,
and who was therefore not ignorant of the same language. They received
no further instructions at their departure, than a summary description
of the country through which they were to pass; to this was added the
names of the principal men in the several states, to prevent their
being at a loss in conversation, and from being discovered by making
some mistake. They set out in the dress of shepherds, armed with
rustic weapons, bills, and two short javelins each. But neither their
speaking the language of the country, nor the fashion of their dress
and arms, concealed them so effectually, as the incredible
circumstance of a stranger's passing the Ciminian forest. They are
said to have penetrated as far as the Camertian district of the
Umbrians: there the Romans ventured to own who they were, and being
introduced to the senate, treated with them, in the name of the
consul, about an alliance and friendship; and after being entertained
with courteous hospitality, were desired to acquaint the Romans, that
if they came into those countries, there should be provisions in
readiness for the troops sufficient for thirty days, and that they
should find the youth of the Camertian Umbrians prepared in arms to
obey their commands. When this information was brought to the consul,
he sent forward the baggage at the first watch, ordering the legions
to march in the rear of it. He himself staid behind with the cavalry,
and the next day, as soon as light appeared, rode up to the posts of
the enemy, which had been stationed on the outside of the forest; and,
when he had detained them there for a sufficient length of time, he
retired to his camp, and marching out by the opposite gate, overtook
the main body of the army before night. At the first light, on the
following day, he had gained the summit of Mount Ciminius, from whence
having a view of the opulent plains of Etruria, he let loose his
soldiers upon them. When a vast booty had been driven off, some
tumultuary cohorts of Etrurian peasants, hastily collected by the
principal inhabitants of the district, met the Romans; but in such
disorderly array, that these rescuers of the prey were near becoming
wholly a prey themselves. These being slain or put to flight, and the
country laid waste to a great extent, the Romans returned to their
camp victorious, and enriched with plenty of every kind. It happened
that, in the mean time, five deputies, with two plebeian tribunes, had
come hither, to charge Fabius, in the name of the senate, not to
attempt to pass the Ciminian forest. These, rejoicing that they had
arrived too late to prevent the expedition, returned to Rome with the
news of its success.
37. By this expedition of the consul, the war, instead of being
brought nearer to a conclusion, was only spread to a wider extent: for
all the tract adjacent to the foot of Mount Ciminius had felt his
devastations; and, out of the indignation conceived thereat, had
roused to arms, not only the states of Etruria, but the neighbouring
parts of Umbria. They came therefore to Sutrium, with such a numerous
army as they had never before brought into the field; and not only
ventured to encamp on the outside of the wood, but through their
earnest desire of coming to an engagement as soon as possible, marched
down the plains to offer battle. The troops, being marshalled, stood
at first, for some time, on their own ground, having left a space
sufficient for the Romans to draw up, opposite to them; but perceiving
that the enemy declined fighting, they advanced to the rampart; where,
when they observed that even the advanced guards had retired within
the works, a shout at once was raised around their generals, that they
should order provisions for that day to be brought down to them: "for
they were resolved to remain there under arms; and either in the
night, or, at all events, at the dawn of day, to attack the enemy's
camp." The Roman troops, though not less eager for action, were
restrained by the commands of the general. About the tenth hour, the
consul ordered his men a repast; and gave directions that they should
be ready in arms, at whatever time of the day or night he should give
the signal. He then addressed a few words to them; spoke in high terms
of the wars of the Samnites, and disparagingly of the Etrurians, who
"were not," he said, "as an enemy to be compared with other enemies,
nor as a numerous force, with others in point of numbers. Besides, he
had an engine at work, as they should find in due time; at present it
was of importance to keep it secret." By these hints he intimated that
the enemy was circumvented in order to raise the courage of his men,
damped by the superiority of the enemy's force; and, from their not
having fortified the post where they lay, the insinuation of a
stratagem formed against them seemed the more credible. After
refreshing themselves, they consigned themselves to rest, and being
roused without noise, about the fourth watch, took arms. Axes are
distributed among the servants following the army, to tear down the
rampart and fill up the trench. The line was formed within the works,
and some chosen cohorts posted close to the gates. Then, a little
before day, which in summer nights is the time of the profoundest
sleep, the signal being given, the rampart was levelled, and the
troops rushing forth, fell upon the enemy, who were every where
stretched at their length. Some were put to death before they could
stir; others half asleep, in their beds; the greatest part, while they
ran in confusion to arms; few, in short, had time afforded them to arm
themselves; and these, who followed no particular leader, nor orders,
were quickly routed by the Romans and pursued by the Roman horse. They
fled different ways; to the camp and to the woods. The latter afforded
the safer refuge; for the former, being situated in a plain, was taken
the same day. The gold and silver was ordered to be brought to the
consul; the rest of the spoil was given to the soldiers. On that day,
sixty thousand of the enemy were slain or taken. Some affirm, that
this famous battle was fought on the farther side of the Ciminian
forest, at Perusia; and that the public had been under great dread,
lest the army might be enclosed in such a dangerous pass, and
overpowered by a general combination of the Etrurians and Umbrians.
But on whatever spot it was fought, it is certain that the Roman power
prevailed; and, in consequence thereof, ambassadors from Perusia,
Cortona, and Arretium, which were then among the principal states of
Etruria, soliciting a peace and alliance with the Romans, obtained a
truce for thirty years.
38. During these transactions in Etruria, the other consul, Caius
Marcius Rutilus, took Allifae by storm from the Samnites; and many of
their forts, and smaller towns, were either destroyed by his arms, or
surrendered without being injured. About the same time also, the Roman
fleet, having sailed to Campania, under Publius Cornelius, to whom the
senate had given the command on the sea-coast, put into Pompeii.
Immediately on landing, the soldiers of the fleet set out to ravage
the country about Nuceria: and after they had quickly laid waste the
parts which lay nearest, and whence they could have returned to the
ships with safety, they were allured by the temptation of plunder, as
it often happens, to advance too far, and thereby roused the enemy
against them. While they rambled about the country, they met no
opposition, though they might have been cut off to a man; but as they
were returning, in a careless manner, the peasants overtook them, not
far from the ships, stripped them of the booty, and even slew a great
part of them. Those who escaped were driven in confusion to the ships.
As Fabius' having marched through the Ciminian forest had occasioned
violent apprehensions at Rome, so it had excited joy in proportion
among the enemy in Samnium: they talked of the Roman army being pent
up, and surrounded; and of the Caudine forks, as a model of their
defeat. "Those people," they said, "ever greedy after further
acquisitions, were now brought into inextricable difficulties, hemmed
in, not more effectually by the arms of their enemy, than by the
disadvantage of the ground." Their joy was even mingled with a degree
of envy, because fortune, as they thought, had transferred the glory
of finishing the Roman war, from the Samnites to the Etrurians: they
hastened, therefore, with their whole collected force, to crush the
consul Caius Marcius; resolving, if he did not give them an
opportunity of fighting, to proceed, through the territories of the
Marsians and Sabines, into Etruria. The consul met them, and a battle
was fought with great fury on both sides, but without a decisive
issue. Although both parties suffered severely, yet the discredit of
defeat fell on the Romans, because several of equestrian rank, some
military tribunes, with one lieutenant-general, had fallen; and, what
was more remarkable than all, the consul himself was wounded. On
account of this event, exaggerated by report as is usual, the senate
became greatly alarmed, so that they resolved on having a dictator
nominated. No one entertained a doubt that the nomination would light
on Papirius Cursor, who was then universally deemed to possess the
greatest abilities as a commander: but they could not be certain,
either that a message might be conveyed with safety into Samnium,
where all was in a state of hostility, or that the consul Marcius was
alive. The other consul, Fabius, was at enmity with Papirius, on his
own account; and lest this resentment might prove an obstacle to the
public good, the senate voted that deputies of consular rank should be
sent to him, who, uniting their own influence to that of government,
might prevail on him to drop, for the sake of his country, all
remembrance of private animosities. When the deputies, having come to
Fabius, delivered to him the decree of the senate, adding such
arguments as were suitable to their instructions, the consul, casting
his eyes towards the ground, retired in silence, leaving them in
uncertainty what part he intended to act. Then, in the silent time of
the night, according to the established custom, he nominated Lucius
Papirius dictator. When the deputies returned him thanks, for so very
meritoriously subduing his passion, he still persevered in obstinate
silence, and dismissed them without any answer, or mention of what he
had done: a proof that he felt an extraordinary degree of resentment,
which had been suppressed within his breast. Papirius appointed Caius
Junius Bubulcus master of the horse; and, as he was proceeding in an
assembly of the Curiae [Footnote: The _comitia curiata_, or
assemblies of the curiae, alone had the power of conferring military
command; no magistrate, therefore, could assume the command without
the previous order of their assembly. In time, this came to be a mere
matter of form; yet the practice always continued to be observed.] to
get an order passed respecting the command of the army, an unlucky
omen obliged him to adjourn it; for the Curia which was to vote first,
happened to be the Faucian, remarkably distinguished by two disasters,
the taking of the city, and the Caudine peace; the same Curia having
voted first in those years in which the said events are found.
Licinius Macer supposes this Curia ominous, also, on account of a
third misfortune, that which was experienced at the Cremera.
39. Next day the dictator, taking the auspices anew, obtained the
order, and, marching out at the head of the legions, lately raised on
the alarm occasioned by the army passing the Ciminian forest, came to
Longula; where having received the old troops of the consul Marcius,
he led on his forces to battle; nor did the enemy seem to decline the
combat. However, they stood drawn up for battle and under arms, until
night came on; neither side choosing to begin the fray. After this,
they continued a considerable time encamped near each other, without
coming to action; neither diffident of their own strength, nor
despising the adversary. Meanwhile matters went on actively in
Etruria; for a decisive battle was fought with the Umbrians, in which
the enemy was routed, but lost not many men, for they did not maintain
the fight with the vigour with which they began it. Besides this the
Etrurians, having raised an army under the sanctions of the devoting
law, each man choosing another, came to an engagement at the Cape of
Vadimon, with more numerous forces, and, at the same time, with
greater spirit than they had ever shown before. The battle was fought
with such animosity that no javelins were thrown by either party:
swords alone were made use of; and the fury of the combatants was
still higher inflamed by the long-continued contest; so that it
appeared to the Romans as if they were disputing, not with Etrurians,
whom they had so often conquered, but with a new race. Not the
semblance of giving ground appeared in any part; the first lines fell;
and lest the standards should be exposed, without defence, the second
lines were formed in their place. At length, even the men forming the
last reserves were called into action; and to such an extremity of
difficulty and danger had they come, that the Roman cavalry
dismounted, and pressed forward, through heaps of arms and bodies, to
the front ranks of the infantry. These starting up a new army, as it
were, among men now exhausted, disordered the battalions of the
Etrurians; and the rest, weak as their condition was, seconding their
assault, broke at last through the enemy's ranks. Their obstinacy then
began to give way: some companies quitted their posts, and, as soon as
they once turned their backs, betook themselves to more decided
flight. That day first broke the strength of the Etrurians, now grown
exuberant through a long course of prosperity; all the flower of their
men were cut off in the field, and in the same assault their camp was
seized and sacked.
40. Equal danger, and an issue equally glorious, soon after attended
the war with the Samnites; who, besides their many preparations for
the field, made their army to glitter with new decorations of their
armour. Their troops were in two divisions, one of which had their
shields embossed with gold, the other with silver. The shape of the
shield was this; broad at the middle to cover the breast and
shoulders, the summit being flat, sloping off gradually so as to
become pointed below, that it might be wielded with ease; a loose coat
of mail also served as a protection for the breast, and the left leg
was covered with a greave; their helmets were adorned with plumes, to
add to the appearance of their stature. The golden-armed soldiers wore
tunics of various colours; the silver-armed, of white linen. To the
latter the right wing was assigned; the former took post on the left.
The Romans had been apprized of these splendid accoutrements, and had
been taught by their commanders, that "a soldier ought to be rough;
not decorated with gold and silver, but placing his confidence in his
sword. That matters of this kind were in reality spoil rather than
armour; glittering before action, but soon becoming disfigured amid
blood and wounds. That the brightest ornament of a soldier was valour;
that all those trinkets would follow victory, and that those rich
enemies would be valuable prizes to the conquerors, however poor."
Cursor, having animated his men with these observations, led them on
to battle. He took post himself on the right wing, he gave the command
of the left to the master of the horse. As soon as they engaged, the
struggle between the two armies became desperate, while it was no less
so between the dictator and the master of the horse, on which wing
victory should first show itself. It happened that Junius first, with
the left wing, made the right of the enemy give way; this consisted of
men devoted after the custom of Samnites, and on that account
distinguished by white garments and armour of equal whiteness. Junius,
saying "he would sacrifice these to Pluto," pressed forward,
disordered their ranks, and made an evident impression on their line:
which being perceived by the dictator, he exclaimed, "Shall the
victory begin on the left wing, and shall the right, the dictator's
own troops, only second the arms of others, and not claim the greatest
share of the victory?" This spurred on the soldiers: nor did the
cavalry yield to the infantry in bravery, nor the ardour of
lieutenants-general to that of the commanders. Marcius Valerius from
the right wing, and Publius Decius from the left, both men of consular
rank, rode off to the cavalry, posted on the extremities of the line,
and, exhorting them to join in putting in for a share of the honour,
charged the enemy on the flanks. When the addition of this new alarm
assailed the enemies' troops on both sides, and the Roman legions,
having renewed the shout to confound the enemy, rushed on, they began
to fly. And now the plains were quickly filled with heaps of bodies
and splendid armour. At first, their camp received the dismayed
Samnites; but they did not long retain even the possession of that:
before night it was taken, plundered, and burnt. The dictator
triumphed, in pursuance of a decree of the senate; and the most
splendid spectacle by far, of any in his procession, was the captured
arms: so magnificent were they deemed, that the shields, adorned with
gold, were distributed among the owners of the silver shops, to serve
as embellishments to the forum. Hence, it is said, arose the custom of
the forum being decorated by the aediles, when the grand processions
are made on occasion of the great games. The Romans, indeed, converted
these extraordinary arms to the honour of the gods: but the
Campanians, out of pride, and in hatred of the Samnites, gave them as
ornaments to their gladiators, who used to be exhibited as a show at
their feasts, and whom they distinguished by the name of Samnites.
During this year, the consul Fabius fought with the remnants of the
Etrurians at Perusia, which city also had violated the truce, and
gained an easy and decisive victory. He would have taken the town
itself (for he marched up to the walls,) had not deputies come out and
capitulated. Having placed a garrison at Perusia, and sent on before
him to the Roman senate the embassies of Etruria, who solicited
friendship, the consul rode into the city in triumph, for successes
more important than those of the dictator. Besides, a great share of
the honour of reducing the Samnites was attributed to the
lieutenants-general, Publius Decius and Marcius Valerius: whom, at the
next election, the people, with universal consent, declared the one
consul, the other praetor.
41. To Fabius, in consideration of his extraordinary merit in the
conquest of Etruria, the consulship was continued. Decius was
appointed his colleague. Valerius was created praetor a fourth time.
The consuls divided the provinces between them. Etruria fell to
Decius, Samnium to Fabius. The latter, having marched to Nuceria,
rejected the application of the people of Alfaterna, who then sued for
peace, because they had not accepted it when offered, and by force of
arms compelled them to surrender. A battle was fought with the
Samnites; the enemy were overcome without much difficulty: nor would
the memory of that engagement have been preserved, except that in it
the Marsians first appeared in arms against the Romans. The
Pelignians, imitating the defection of the Marsians, met the same
fate. The other consul, Decius, was likewise very successful in his
operations: through terror he compelled the Tarquinians to supply his
army with corn, and to sue for a truce for forty years. He took
several forts from the Volsinians by assault, some of which he
demolished, that they might not serve as receptacles to the enemy, and
by extending his operations through every quarter, diffused such a
dread of his arms, that the whole Etrurian nation sued to the consul
for an alliance: this they did not obtain; but a truce for a year was
granted them. The pay of the Roman army for that year was furnished by
the enemy; and two tunics for each soldier were exacted from them:
this was the purchase of the truce. The tranquillity now established
in Etruria was interrupted by a sudden insurrection of the Umbrians, a
nation which had suffered no injury from the war, except what
inconvenience the country had felt in the passing of the army. These,
by calling into the field all their own young men, and forcing a great
part of the Etrurians to resume their arms, made up such a numerous
force, that speaking of themselves with ostentatious vanity and of the
Romans with contempt, they boasted that they would leave Decius behind
in Etruria, and march away to besiege Rome; which design of theirs
being reported to the consul Decius, he removed by long marches from
Etruria towards their city, and sat down in the district of Pupinia,
in readiness to act according to the intelligence received of the
enemy. Nor was the insurrection of the Umbrians slighted at Rome:
their very threats excited tears among the people, who had
experienced, in the calamities suffered from the Gauls, how insecure a
city they inhabited. Deputies were therefore despatched to the consul
Fabius with directions, that, if he had any respite from the war of
the Samnites, he should with all haste lead his army into Umbria. The
consul obeyed the order, and by forced marches proceeded to Mevania,
where the forces of the Umbrians then lay. The unexpected arrival of
the consul, whom they had believed to be sufficiently employed in
Samnium, far distant from their country, so thoroughly affrighted the
Umbrians, that several advised retiring to their fortified towns;
others, the discontinuing the war. However, one district, called by
themselves Materina, prevailed on the rest not only to retain their
arms, but to come to an immediate engagement. They fell upon Fabius
while he was fortifying his camp. When the consul saw them rushing
impetuously towards his rampart, he called off his men from the work,
and drew them up in the best manner which the nature of the place and
the time allowed; encouraging them by displaying, in honourable and
just terms, the glory which they had acquired, as well in Etruria as
in Samnium, he bade them finish this insignificant appendage to the
Etrurian war, and take vengeance for the impious expressions in which
these people had threatened to attack the city of Rome. Such was the
alacrity of the soldiers on hearing this, that, raising the shout
spontaneously, they interrupted the general's discourse, and, without
waiting for orders, advanced, with the sound of all the trumpets and
cornets, in full speed against the enemy. They made their attack not
as on men, or at least men in arms, but, what must appear wonderful in
the relation, began by snatching the standards out of the hands which
held them; and then, the standard-bearers themselves were dragged to
the consul, and the armed soldiers transferred from the one line to
the other; and wherever resistance was any where made, the business
was performed, not so much with swords, as with their shields, with
the bosses of which, and thrusts of their elbows, they bore down the
foe. The prisoners were more numerous than the slain, and through the
whole line the Umbrians called on each other, with one voice, to lay
down their arms. Thus a surrender was made in the midst of action, by
the first promoters of the war; and on the next and following days,
the other states of the Umbrians also surrendered. The Ocriculans were
admitted to a treaty of friendship on giving security.