CHAPTER IX.
FROM THE CONCLUSION OF THE SAMNITE WAR TO THE SUBJUGATION OF ITALY. B.C. 290-265.
Ten years elapsed from the conclusion of the third Samnite war to the arrival of Pyrrhus in Italy. During this time the Etruscans and Gauls renewed the war in the north, but were defeated with great slaughter near the Lake Vadimo. This decisive battle appears to have completely crushed the Etruscan power; and it inflicted so severe a blow upon the Gauls that we hear no more of their ravages for the next sixty years.
In the south the Lucanians also rose against Rome. The extension of the Roman dominion in the south of the peninsula had brought the state into connection with the Greek cities, which at one period were so numerous and powerful as to give to this part of Italy the name of Magna Græcia.[25] Many of these cities had now fallen into decay through internal dissensions and the conquests of the Lucanians and other Sabellian tribes; but Tarentum, originally a Lacedæmonian colony, still maintained her former power and splendor. The Tarentines naturally regarded with extreme jealousy the progress of the Roman arms in the south of Italy, and had secretly instigated the Etruscans and Lucanians to form a new coalition against Rome. But the immediate cause of the war between the Lucanians and Romans was the assistance which the latter had rendered to the Greek city of Thurii. Being attacked by the Lucanians, the Thurians applied to Rome for aid, and the Consul C. Fabricius not only relieved Thurii, but defeated the Lucanians and their allies in several engagements (B.C. 252). Upon the departure of Fabricius a Roman garrison was left in Thurii. The only mode now of maintaining communication between Rome and Thurii was by sea; but this was virtually forbidden by a treaty which the Romans had made with Tarentum nearly twenty years before, in which treaty it was stipulated that no Roman ships of war should pass the Lacinian promontory. But circumstances were now changed, and the Senate determined that their vessels should no longer be debarred from the Gulf of Tarentum. There was a small squadron of ten ships in those seas under the command of L. Valerius; and one day, when the Tarentines were assembled in the theatre, which looked over the sea, they saw the Roman squadron sailing toward their harbor. This open violation of the treaty seemed a premeditated insult, and a demagogue urged the people to take summary vengeance. They rushed down to the harbor, quickly manned some ships, and gained an easy victory over the small Roman squadron. Only half made their escape, four were sunk, one taken, and Valerius himself killed. After this the Tarentines marched against Thurii, compelled the inhabitants to dismiss the Roman garrison, and then plundered the town.
The Senate sent an embassy to Tarentum to complain of these outrages and to demand satisfaction. L. Postumius, who was at the head of the embassy, was introduced with his colleagues into the theatre, to state to the assembled people the demands of the Roman Senate. He began to address them in Greek, but his mistakes in the language were received with peals of laughter from the thoughtless mob. Unable to obtain a hearing, much less an answer, Postumius was leaving the theatre, when a drunken buffoon rushed up to him and sullied his white robe in the most disgusting manner. The whole theatre rang with shouts of laughter and clapping of hands, which became louder and louder when Postumius held up his sullied robe and showed it to the people. "Laugh on now," he cried, "but this robe shall be washed in torrents of your blood."
War was now inevitable. The luxurious Tarentines sent an embassy to Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, begging him, in the name of all the Italian Greeks, to cross over into Italy in order to conduct the war against the Romans. They told him that they only wanted a general, and that all the nations of Southern Italy would flock to his standard. Pyrrhus needed no persuasion to engage in an enterprise which realized the earliest dreams of his ambition. The conquest of Italy would naturally lead to the sovereignty of Sicily and Africa, and he would then be able to return to Greece with the united forces of the West to overcome his rivals and reign as master of the world. But as he would not trust the success of his enterprise to the valor and fidelity of Italian troops, he began to make preparations to carry over a powerful army. Meantime he sent Milo, one of his generals, with a detachment of 3000 men, to garrison the citadel of Tarentum. Pyrrhus himself crossed over from Epirus toward the end of B.C. 281, taking with him 20,000 foot, 3000 horse, and 20 elephants.
Upon reaching Tarentum he began to make preparations to carry on the war with activity. The Tarentines soon found they had obtained a master rather than an ally. He shut up the theatre and all other public places, and compelled their young men to serve in his ranks. Notwithstanding all his activity, the Romans were first in the field. The Consul M. Valerius Lævinus marched into Lucania; but as the army of Pyrrhus was inferior to that of the Romans, he attempted to gain time by negotiation in order that he might be joined by his Italian allies. He accordingly wrote to the Consul, offering to arbitrate between Rome and the Italian states; but Lævinus bluntly told him to mind his own business and retire to Epirus. Fearing to remain inactive any longer, although he was not yet joined by his allies, Pyrrhus marched out against the Romans with his own troops and the Tarentines. He took up his position between the towns of Pandosia and Heraclea, on the River Siris. The Romans, who were encamped on the other side of the river, were the first to begin the battle. They crossed the river, and were immediately attacked by the cavalry of Pyrrhus, who led them to the charge in person, and distinguished himself as usual by the most daring acts of valor. The Romans, however, bravely sustained the attack; and Pyrrhus, finding that his cavalry could not decide the day, ordered his infantry to advance. The battle was still contested most furiously: seven times did both armies advance and retreat; and it was not till Pyrrhus brought forward his elephants, which bore down every thing before them, that the Romans took to flight, leaving their camp to the conqueror (B.C. 280).
This battle taught Pyrrhus the difficulty of the enterprise he had undertaken. Before the engagement, when he saw the Romans forming their line as they crossed the river, he said to his officers, "In war, at any rate, these barbarians are not barbarous;" and afterward, as he saw the Roman dead lying upon the field with all their wounds in front, he exclaimed, "If these were my soldiers, or if I were their general, we should conquer the world." And, though his loss had been inferior to that of the Romans, still so large a number of his officers and best troops had fallen, that he said, "Another such victory, and I must return to Epirus alone." He therefore resolved to avail himself of this victory to conclude, if possible, an advantageous peace. He sent his minister Cineas to Rome with the proposal that the Romans should recognize the independence of the Greeks in Italy, restore to the Samnites, Lucanians, Apulians, and Bruttians all the possessions which they had lost in war, and make peace with himself and the Tarentines. As soon as peace was concluded on these terms he promised to return all the Roman prisoners without ransom. Cineas, whose persuasive eloquence was said to have won more towns for Pyrrhus than his arms, neglected no means to induce the Romans to accept these terms. The prospects of the Republic seemed so dark and threatening that many members of the Senate thought it would be more prudent to comply with the demands of the king; and this party would probably have carried the day had it not been for the patriotic speech of the aged Ap. Claudius Caucus, who denounced the idea of a peace with a victorious foe with such effect that the Senate declined the proposals of the king, and commanded Cineas to quit Rome the same day.
Cineas returned to Pyrrhus, and told him he must hope for nothing from negotiation; that the city was like a temple of the gods, and the Senate an assembly of kings. Pyrrhus now advanced by rapid marches toward Rome, ravaging the country as he went along, and without encountering any serious opposition. He at length arrived at Præneste, which fell into his hands. He was now only 24 miles from Rome, and his outposts advanced six miles farther. Another march would have brought him under the walls of the city; but at this moment he learned that peace was concluded with the Etruscans, and that the other Consul had returned with his army to Rome. All hope of compelling the Romans to accept the peace was now gone, and he therefore resolved to retreat. He retired slowly into Campania, and from thence withdrew into winter quarters to Tarentum.
As soon as the armies were quartered for the winter, the Romans sent an embassy to Pyrrhus to negotiate the ransom or exchange of prisoners. The embassadors were received by Pyrrhus in the most distinguished manner; and his interviews with C. Fabricius, who was at the head of the embassy, form one of the most famous stories in Roman history. Fabricius was a fine specimen of the sturdy Roman character. He cultivated his farm with his own hands, and, like his contemporary Curius, was celebrated for his incorruptible integrity. The king attempted in vain to work upon his cupidity and his fears. He steadily refused the large sums of money offered by Pyrrhus; and when an elephant, concealed behind him by a curtain, waved his trunk over his head, Fabricius remained unmoved. Such respect did his conduct inspire, that Pyrrhus attempted to persuade him to enter into his service and accompany him to Greece. The object of the embassy failed. The king refused to exchange the prisoners; but, to show them his trust in their honor, he allowed them to go to Rome in order to celebrate the Saturnalia, stipulating that they were to return to Tarentum if the Senate would not accept the terms which he had previously offered through Cineas. The Senate remained firm in their resolve, and all the prisoners returned to Pyrrhus, the punishment of death having been denounced against those who should remain in the city.
In the following year (B.C. 279) the war was renewed, and a battle was fought near Asculum. The Romans fled to their camp, which was so near to the field of battle that not more than 6000 fell, while Pyrrhus lost more than half this number. The victory yielded Pyrrhus little or no advantage, and he was obliged to retire to Tarentum for the winter without effecting any thing more during the campaign. In the last battle, as well as in the former, the brunt of the action had fallen almost exclusively upon his Greek troops; and the state of Greece, which this year was overrun by the Gauls, made it hopeless for him to expect any re-enforcements from Epirus. He was therefore unwilling to hazard his surviving Greeks by another campaign with the Romans, and accordingly lent a ready ear to the invitations of the Greeks in Sicily, who begged him to come to their assistance against the Carthaginians. It was necessary, however, first to suspend hostilities with the Romans, who were likewise anxious to get rid of so formidable an opponent, that they might complete the subjugation of Southern Italy without farther interruption. When both parties had the same wishes it was not difficult to find a fair pretext for bringing the war to a conclusion. This was afforded at the beginning of the following year (B.C. 278) by one of the servants of Pyrrhus deserting to the Romans, and proposing to the Consuls to poison his master. They sent back the deserter to the king, saying that they abhorred a victory gained by treason. Thereupon Pyrrhus, to show his gratitude, sent Cineas to Rome with all the Roman prisoners, without ransom and without conditions; and the Romans granted him a truce.
Leaving Milo with part of his troops in possession of Tarentum, Pyrrhus now crossed over into Sicily. He remained there upward of two years. At first he met with brilliant success, and deprived the Carthaginians of a great part of the island. Subsequently, however, he received a severe repulse in an attempt which he made upon the impregnable town of Lilybæum. The fickle Greeks now began to form cabals and plots against him. This led to retaliation on his part, and he soon became as anxious to abandon the island as he had been before to leave Italy. Accordingly, when his Italian allies again begged him to come to their assistance, he readily complied with their request, and arrived in Italy in the autumn of B.C. 276. His troops were now almost the same in number as when he first landed in Italy, but very different in quality. The faithful Epirots had for the most part fallen, and his present soldiers consisted chiefly of mercenaries, whom he had levied in Italy. One of his first operations was the recovery of Locri, which had revolted to the Romans; and as he here found himself in great difficulties for want of money to pay his troops, he was induced to take possession of the treasures of the Temple of Proserpine in that town; but the ships conveying the money were wrecked. This circumstance deeply affected the mind of Pyrrhus; he ordered the treasures which were saved to be restored to the temple, and from this time became haunted by the idea that the wrath of Proserpine was pursuing him, and dragging him down to ruin.
The following year (B.C. 274) closed the career of Pyrrhus in Italy. The Consul M'. Curius marched into Samnium, and his colleague into Lucania. Pyrrhus advanced against Curius, who was encamped in the neighborhood of Beneventum, and resolved to fight with him before he was joined by his colleague. As Curius did not wish to risk a battle with his own army alone, Pyrrhus planned a night-attack upon his camp. But he miscalculated the time and the distance; the torches burnt out, the men missed their way, and it was already broad daylight when he reached the heights above the Roman camp. Still their arrival was quite unexpected; but, as a battle was now inevitable, Curius led out his men. The troops of Pyrrhus, exhausted by fatigue, were easily put to the rout; two elephants were killed and eight more taken. Encouraged by this success, Curius no longer hesitated to meet the king in the open plain, and gained a decisive victory. Pyrrhus arrived at Tarentum with only a few horsemen. Shortly afterward he crossed over to Greece, leaving Milo with a garrison at Tarentum. Two years afterward he perished in an attack upon Argos, ingloriously slain by a tile hurled by a woman from the roof of a house.
The departure of Pyrrhus left the Lucanians and other Italian tribes exposed to the full power of Rome. They nevertheless continued the hopeless struggle a little longer; but in B.C. 272 Tarentum fell into the hands of Rome, and in a few years afterward every nation in Italy, to the south of the Macra and the Rubicon, owned the supremacy of Rome. She had now become one of the first powers in the ancient world. The defeat of Pyrrhus attracted the attention of the nations of the East; and in B.C. 273, Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, sent an embassy to Rome, and concluded a treaty with the Republic.
The dominion which Rome had acquired by her arms was confirmed by her policy. She pursued the same system which she had adopted upon the subjugation of Latium, keeping the cities isolated from one another, but at the same time allowing them to manage their own affairs. The population of Italy was divided into three classes. Cives Romani, Nomen Latinum, and Socii.
I. CIVES ROMANI, or ROMAN CITIZENS.—These consisted: (1.) Of the citizens of the thirty-three Tribes into which the Roman territory was now divided, and which extended north of the Tiber a little beyond Veii, and southward as far as the Liris; though even in this district there were some towns, such as Tibur and Prænesté, which did not possess the Roman franchise. (2.) Of the citizens of Roman colonies planted in different parts of Italy. (3.) Of the citizens of municipal towns upon whom the Roman franchise was conferred. In some cases the Roman franchise was granted without the right of voting in the Comitia (civitas sine suffragio), but in course of time this right also was generally conceded.
II. NOMEN LATINUM, or the LATIN NAME.—This term was applied to the colonies founded by Rome which did not enjoy the rights of Roman citizenship, and which stood in the same position with regard to the Roman state as had been formerly occupied by the cities of the Latin League. The name originated at a period when colonies were actually sent out in common by the Romans and Latins, but similar colonies continued to be founded by the Romans alone long after the extinction of the Latin League. In fact, the majority of the colonies planted by Rome were of this kind, the Roman citizens who took part in them voluntarily resigning their citizenship, in consideration of the grants of land which they obtained. But the citizen of any Latin colony might emigrate to Rome, and be enrolled in one of the Roman tribes, provided he had held a magistracy in his native town. These Latin colonies—the Nomen Latinum—were some of the most flourishing towns in Italy.
III. SOCII, or ALLIES, included the rest of Italy. Each of the towns which had been conquered by Rome had formed a treaty (fœdus) with the latter, which determined their rights and duties. These treaties were of various kinds, some securing nominal independence to the towns, and others reducing them to absolute subjection.
The political changes in Rome itself, from the time of the Latin wars, have been already in great part anticipated. Appius Claudius, afterward named Cæcus, or the Blind, introduced a dangerous innovation in the constitution during the Second Samnite War. Slavery existed at Rome, as among the other nations of antiquity; and as many slaves, from various causes, acquired their liberty, there gradually sprung up at Rome a large and indigent population of servile origin. These Freedmen were Roman citizens, but they could only be enrolled in the four city-tribes, so that, however numerous they might become, they could influence only the votes of four tribes. Appius Claudius, in his Censorship (B.C. 312), when making out the lists of citizens, allowed the Freedmen to enroll themselves in any tribe they pleased; but this dangerous innovation was abolished by the Censors Q. Fabius Maximus and P. Decius Mus (B.C. 304), who restored all the Freedmen to the four city-tribes. The Censorship of Appius is, however, memorable for the great public works which he executed. He made the great military road called the Appian Way (Via Appia), leading from Rome to Capua, a distance of 120 miles, which long afterward was continued across the Apennines to Brundusium. He also executed the first of the great aqueducts (Aqua Appia) which supplied Rome with such an abundance of water.
Cn. Flavius, the son of a Freedman, and Secretary to Appius Claudius, divulged the forms and times to be observed in legal proceedings. These the Patricians had hitherto kept secret; they alone knew the days when the courts would be held, and the technical pleadings according to which all actions must proceed. But Flavius, having become acquainted with these secrets, by means of his patron, published in a book a list of the formularies to be observed in the several kinds of actions, and also set up in the forum a whited tablet containing a list of all the days on which the courts could be held. In spite of his ignominious birth, he was made a Senator by Appius Claudius, and was elected Curule Ædile by the people.
CHAPTER X.
THE FIRST PUNIC WAR. B.C. 264-241.
Rome, now mistress of Italy, entered upon a long and arduous straggle with Carthage, which ruled without a rival the western waters of the Mediterranean. This great and powerful city was founded by the Phœnicians[26] of Tyre in B.C. 814, according to the common chronology. Its inhabitants were consequently a branch of the Semitic race, to which the Hebrews also belonged. Carthage rose to greatness by her commerce, and gradually extended her empire over the whole of the north of Africa, from the Straits of Hercules to the borders of Cyrene. Her Libyan subjects she treated with extreme harshness, and hence they were always ready to revolt against her so soon as a foreign enemy appeared upon her soil.
The two chief magistrates at Carthage were elected annually out of a few of the chief families, and were called Suffetes.[27] There was a Senate of Three Hundred members, and also a smaller Council of One Hundred, of which the latter were the most powerful, holding office for life, and exercising an almost sovereign sway over the other authorities in the state. The government was a complete oligarchy; and a few old, rich, and powerful families divided among themselves the influence and power of the state. These great families were often opposed to each other in bitter feuds, but concurred in treating with contempt the mass of the people.
In her foreign wars Carthage depended upon mercenary troops, which her great wealth enabled her to procure in abundance from Spain, Italy, and Greece, as well as from Libya. Sardinia and Corsica were among her earliest conquests, and Sicily was also one of the first objects of her military enterprise. The Phœnician colonies in this island came under her dominion as the power of Tyre declined; and having thus obtained a firm footing in Sicily, she carried on a long struggle for the supremacy with the Greek cities. It was here that she came into contact with the Roman arms. The relations of Rome and Carthage had hitherto been peaceful, and a treaty, concluded between the two states in the first years of the Roman republic, had been renewed more than once. But the extension of Roman dominion had excited the jealousy of Carthage, and Rome began to turn longing eyes to the fair island at the foot of her empire. It was evident that a struggle was not far distant, and Pyrrhus could not help exclaiming, as he quitted Sicily, "How fine a battle-field are we leaving to the Romans and Carthaginians!"
The city of Messana, situated on the straits which divide Sicily from Italy, was occupied at this time by the Mamertini. They were a body of Campanian mercenaries, chiefly of Sabellian origin, who had served under Agathocles, and after the death of that tyrant (B.C. 289) were marched to Messana, in order to be transported to Italy. Being hospitably received within the city, they suddenly rose against the inhabitants, massacred the male population, and made themselves masters of their wives and property. They now took the name of Mamertini, or "Children of Mars," from Mamers, a Sabellian name for that deity. They rapidly extended their power over a considerable portion of the north of Sicily, and were formidable enemies to Syracuse. Hiero, having become king of Syracuse, determined to destroy this nest of robbers, advanced against them with a large army, defeated them in battle, and shut them up within Messana. The Mamertines were obliged to look out for help; one party wished to appeal to the Carthaginians, and the other to invoke the assistance of Rome. The latter ultimately prevailed, and an embassy was sent to implore immediate aid. The temptation was strong, for the occupation of Messana by a Carthaginian garrison might prove dangerous to the tranquillity of Italy. Still the Senate hesitated; for only six years before Hiero had assisted the Romans in punishing the Campanian mercenaries, who had seized Rhegium in the same way as the Mamertines had made themselves masters of Messana. The voice of justice prevailed, and the Senate declined the proposal. But the Consuls, thirsting for glory, called together the popular assembly, who eagerly voted that the Mamertines should be assisted; in other words, that the Carthaginians should not be allowed to obtain possession of Messana. The Consul App. Claudius, the son of the blind Censor, was to lead an army into Sicily. But during this delay the Carthaginian party in Messana had obtained the ascendency, and Hanno, with a Carthaginian garrison, had been admitted into the citadel. Hiero had concluded peace with the Mamertines through the mediation of the Carthaginians, so that there was no longer even a pretext for the interference of the Romans. But a legate of the Consul App. Claudius, having crossed to Sicily, persuaded the Mamertines to expel the Carthaginian garrison. Hiero and the Carthaginians now proceeded to lay siege to Messana by sea and land, and the Romans no longer hesitated to declare war against Carthage. Such was the commencement of the first Punic War (B.C. 264).
The Carthaginians commanded the sea with a powerful fleet, while the Romans had no ships of war worthy of the name. But the Consul App. Claudius, having contrived to elude the Carthaginian squadron, landed near the town of Messana, and defeated in succession the forces of Syracuse and Carthage. In the following year (263) the Romans followed up their success against Hiero. The two Consuls advanced to the walls of Syracuse, ravaging the territory of the city and capturing many of its dependent towns. The king became alarmed at the success of the Romans; and thinking that they would prove more powerful than the Carthaginians, he concluded a peace with Rome. From this time till his death, a period of nearly fifty years, Hiero remained the firm and steadfast ally of the Romans.
The Romans, now freed from the hostility of Syracuse, laid siege to Agrigentum, the second of the Greek cities in Sicily, which had espoused the cause of the Carthaginians at the commencement of the war. The siege lasted seven months, and numbers perished on both sides. But at length the Romans gained a decisive victory over the Carthaginian army which had been sent to raise the siege, and obtained possession of the town (B.C. 262).
The first three years of the war had already made the Romans masters of the greater part of Sicily. But the coasts of Italy were exposed to the ravages of the Carthaginian fleet, and the Romans saw that they could not hope to bring the war to a successful termination so long as Carthage was mistress of the sea. They had only a small number of triremes, galleys with three banks of oars, and were quite unable to cope with the quinqueremes, or large vessels with five banks of oars, of which the Carthaginian navy consisted. The Senate, with characteristic energy, determined to build a fleet of these larger vessels. A Carthaginian quinquereme, which had been wrecked upon the coast of Italy, served as a model; and in the short space of sixty days from the time the trees were felled, 130 ships were launched. While the ships were building, the rowers were trained on scaffolds placed upon the land like benches of ships at sea. We can not but feel astonished at the daring of the Romans, who, with ships thus hastily and clumsily built, and with crews imperfectly trained, sailed to attack the navy of the first maritime state in the world. This was in the fifth year of the war (B.C. 260). One of the Consuls, Cn. Cornelius, first put to sea with only 17 ships, but was surprised near Lipara, and taken prisoner with the whole of his squadron. His colleague, C. Duilius, now took the command of the rest of the fleet. He saw that the only means of conquering the Carthaginians by sea was to deprive them of all the advantages of manœuvring, and to take their ships by boarding. For this purpose, every ship was provided with a boarding-bridge 36 feet in length, which was pulled up by a rope and fastened to a mast in the fore part of the ship. As soon as an enemy's ship came near enough, the rope was loosened, the bridge fell down, and became fastened by means of an iron spike in its under side. The boarders then poured down the bridge into the enemy's ship. Thus prepared, Duilius boldly sailed out to meet the fleet of the enemy. He found them off the Sicilian coast, near Mylæ. The Carthaginians hastened to the fight as if to a triumph, but their ships were rapidly seized by the boarding-bridges, and when it came to a close fight their crews were no match for the veteran soldiers of Rome. The victory of Duilius was complete. Thirty-one of the enemy's ships were taken, and fourteen destroyed; the rest only saved themselves by an ignominious flight. On his return to Rome, Duilius celebrated a magnificent triumph. Public honors were conferred upon him; he was to be escorted home in the evening from banquets by the light of torches and the sound of the flute, and a column adorned with the beaks of the conquered ships, and thence called the Columna Rostrata, was set up in the forum.[28]
For the next few years the war languished, and nothing of importance was effected on either side; but in the ninth year of the struggle (B.C. 256) the Romans resolved by strenuous exertions to bring it to a conclusion. They therefore made preparations for invading Africa with a great force. The two Consuls, M. Atilius Regulus and L. Manlius, set sail with 330 ships, took the legions on board in Sicily, and then put out to sea in order to cross over to Africa. The Carthaginian fleet, consisting of 350 ships, met them near Ecnomus, on the southern coast of Sicily. The battle which ensued was the greatest sea-fight that the ancient world had yet seen. The boarding-bridges of the Romans again annihilated all the advantages of maritime skill. Their victory was decisive. They lost only 24 ships, while they destroyed 30 of the enemy's vessels, and took 64 with all their crews. The passage to Africa was now clear, and the remainder of the Carthaginian fleet hastened home to defend the capital. The Romans landed near the town of Clupea, or Aspis, which they took, and there established their head-quarters. From thence they laid waste the Carthaginian territory with fire and sword, and collected an immense booty from the defenseless country. On the approach of winter, Manlius, one of the Consuls, by order of the Senate, returned to Rome with half of the army, while Regulus remained with the other half to prosecute the war. He carried on his operations with the utmost vigor, and was greatly assisted by the incompetency of the Carthaginian generals. The enemy had collected a considerable force, which they intrusted to three commanders, Hasdrubal, Bostar, and Hamilcar; but these generals avoided the plains, where their cavalry and elephants would have given them an advantage over the Roman army, and withdrew into the mountains. There they were attacked by Regulus, and utterly defeated with great loss; 15,000 men were killed in battle, and 5000 men, with 18 elephants, were taken. The Carthaginian troops retired within the walls of the capital, and Regulus now overran the country without opposition. Many towns fell into the power of the Romans, and among others Tunis, which was at the distance of only 20 miles from Carthage. The Numidians took the opportunity of recovering their independence, and their roving bands completed the devastation of the country. The Carthaginians, in despair, sent a herald to Regulus to solicit peace; but the Roman general, intoxicated with success, would only grant it on such intolerable terms that the Carthaginians resolved to continue the war and hold out to the last. In the midst of their distress and alarm, succor came to them from an unexpected quarter. Among the Greek mercenaries who had lately arrived at Carthage was a Lacedæmonian of the name of Xanthippus. He pointed out to the Carthaginians that their defeats were owing to the incompetency of their generals, and not to the superiority of the Roman arms; and he inspired such confidence in the government, that he was forthwith placed at the head of their troops. Relying on his 4000 cavalry and 100 elephants, Xanthippus boldly marched into the open country to meet the enemy, though his forces were very inferior in number to the Romans. Regulus readily accepted battle thus offered; but it ended in his total overthrow. Thirty thousand Romans were slain; scarcely 2000 escaped to Clupea, and Regulus himself, with 500 more, was taken prisoner. This was in the year B.C. 255.
Another disaster awaited the Romans in this year. Their fleet, which had been sent to Africa to carry off the remains of the army of Regulus, had not only succeeded in their object, but had gained a victory over the Carthaginian fleet. They were returning home when they were overtaken off Camarina, in Sicily, by a fearful storm. Nearly the entire fleet was destroyed, and the coast was strewed for miles with wrecks and corpses.
The Romans, with undiminished energy, immediately set to work to build a new fleet, and in less than three months 220 ships were ready for sea. But the same fate awaited them. In B.C. 253 the Consuls had ravaged the coasts of Africa, but, on their return, were again surprised by a fearful storm off Cape Palinurus. A hundred and fifty ships were wrecked. This blow, coming so soon after the other, damped the courage even of the Romans; they determined not to rebuild the fleet, and to keep only 60 ships for the defense of the coast of Italy and the protection of the transports.
The war was now confined to Sicily; but, since the defeat of Regulus, the Roman soldiers had been so greatly alarmed by the elephants, that their generals did not venture to attack the Carthaginians. At length, in B.C. 250, the Roman proconsul, L. Metellus, accepted battle under the walls of Panormus, and gained a decisive victory. The Carthaginians lost 20,000 men; 13 of their generals adorned the triumph of Metellus; and 104 elephants were also led in the triumphal procession. This was the most important battle that had been yet fought in Sicily, and had a decisive influence upon the issue of the contest. It so raised the spirits of the Romans that they determined once more to build a fleet of 200 sail. The Carthaginians, on the other hand, were anxious to bring the war to an end, and accordingly sent an embassy to Rome to propose an exchange of prisoners, and to offer terms of peace.
Regulus, who had been now five years in captivity, was allowed to accompany the embassadors, with the promise that he would return to Carthage if their proposals were declined. This embassy is the subject of one of the most celebrated stories in the Roman annals. The orators and poets relate how Regulus at first refused to enter the city as a slave of the Carthaginians; how afterward he would not give his opinion in the Senate, as he had ceased by his captivity to be a member of that illustrious body; how, at length, when induced by his countrymen to speak, he endeavored to dissuade the Senate from assenting to a peace, or even to an exchange of prisoners; and when he saw them wavering, from their desire to redeem him from captivity, how he told them that the Carthaginians had given him a slow poison, which would soon terminate his life; and how, finally, when the Senate, through his influence, refused the offers of the Carthaginians, he firmly resisted all the persuasions of his friends to remain in Rome, and returned to Carthage, where a martyr's death awaited him. It is related that he was placed in a barrel covered over with iron nails, and thus perished. Other writers state, in addition, that, after his eyelids had been cut off, he was first thrown into a dark dungeon, and then suddenly exposed to the full rays of a burning sun. When the news of the barbarous death of Regulus reached Rome, the Senate is said to have given Hamilcar and Bostar, two of the noblest Carthaginian prisoners, to the family of Regulus, who revenged themselves by putting them to death with cruel torments.
Regulus was one of the favorite characters of early Roman story. Not only was he celebrated for his heroism in giving the Senate advice which secured him a martyr's death, but also on account of his frugality and simplicity of life. Like Fabricius and Curius, he lived on his hereditary farm, which he cultivated with his own hands; and subsequent ages loved to tell how he petitioned the Senate for his recall from Africa when he was in the full career of victory, as his farm was going to ruin in his absence, and his family was suffering from want.
The Carthaginian dominion in Sicily was now confined to the northwestern corner of the island, and Lilybæum and Drepanum were the only two towns remaining in their hands. Lilybæum, situated upon a promontory at the western extremity of the island, was the strong-hold of the Carthaginian power; and accordingly the Romans determined to concentrate all their efforts, and to employ the armies of both Consuls in attacking this city. This siege, which is one of the most memorable in ancient history, commenced in B.C. 250, and lasted till the termination of the war. In the second year of the siege (B.C. 249), the Consul P. Claudius, who lay before Lilybæum, formed the design of attacking the Carthaginian fleet in the neighboring harbor of Drepanum. In vain did the auguries warn him. The keeper of the sacred chickens told him that they would not eat. "At any rate," said he, "let them drink;" and he ordered them to be thrown overboard. His impiety met with a meet reward. He was defeated with great loss; 93 of his ships were taken or destroyed, and only 30 escaped. Great was the indignation at Rome. He was recalled by the Senate, ordered to appoint a Dictator, and then to lay down his office. Claudius, in scorn, named M. Claudius Glycias, a son of one of his freedmen. But the Senate would not brook this insult; they deprived the unworthy man of the honor, and appointed in his place A. Atilius Calatinus.
The other Consul, C. Junius, was equally unfortunate. He was sailing along the coasts of Sicily with a convoy of 800 vessels, intended to relieve the wants of the army at Lilybæum, when he was overtaken by one of those terrible storms which had twice before proved so fatal to the Roman fleets. The transports were all dashed to pieces, and of his 105 ships of war only two escaped. Thus the Roman fleet was a third time destroyed. These repeated misfortunes compelled the Romans to abandon any farther attempts to contest the supremacy of the sea.
About this time a really great man was placed at the head of the Carthaginian army—a man who, at an earlier period of the war, might have brought the struggle to a very different termination. This was the celebrated Hamilcar Barca,[29] the father of the still more celebrated Hannibal. He was still a young man at the time of his appointment to the command in Sicily (B.C. 247). His very first operations were equally daring and successful. Instead of confining himself to the defense of Lilybæum and Drepanum, with which the Carthaginian commanders had been hitherto contented, he made descents upon the coast of Italy, and then suddenly landed on the north of Sicily, and established himself, with his whole army, on a mountain called Herctè (the modern Monte Pellegrino), which overhung the town of Panormus (the modern Palermo), one of the most important of the Roman possessions. Here he maintained himself for nearly three years, to the astonishment alike of friends and foes, and from hence he made continual descents into the enemy's country, and completely prevented them from making any vigorous attacks either upon Lilybæum or Drepanum. All the efforts of the Romans to dislodge him were unsuccessful; and he only quitted Herctè in order to seize Eryx, a town situated upon the mountain of this name, and only six miles from Drepanum. This position he held for two years longer; and the Romans, despairing of driving the Carthaginians out of Sicily so long as they were masters of the sea, resolved to build another fleet. In B.C. 242 the Consul Lutatius Catulus put to sea with a fleet of 200 ships, and in the following year he gained a decisive victory over the Carthaginian fleet, commanded by Hanno, off the group of islands called the Ægates.
This victory gave the Romans the supremacy by sea. Lilybæum, Drepanum, and Eryx might now be reduced by famine. The Carthaginians were weary of the war, and indisposed to make any farther sacrifices. They therefore sent orders to Hamilcar to make peace on the best terms he could. It was at length concluded on the following conditions: that Carthage should evacuate Sicily and the adjoining islands; that she should restore the Roman prisoners without ransom, and should pay the sum of 3200 talents within the space of ten years (B.C. 241). All Sicily, with the exception of the territory of Hiero, now became a portion of the Roman dominions, and was formed into a Province, governed by a Prætor, who was sent annually from Rome.
CHAPTER XI.
EVENTS BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND PUNIC WARS. B.C. 240-210.
Twenty-three years elapsed between the First and Second Punic Wars. The power of Carthage, though crippled, was not destroyed; and Hamilcar returned home, burning with hatred against Rome, and determined to renew the war upon a favorable opportunity. But a new and terrible danger threatened Carthage upon her own soil. The mercenary troops, who had been transported from Sicily to Africa at the conclusion of the war, being unable to obtain their arrears of pay, rose in open mutiny. Their leaders were Spendius, a runaway Campanian slave, and Matho, a Libyan. They were quickly joined by the native Libyans, and brought Carthage almost to the brink of destruction. They laid waste the whole country with fire and sword, made themselves masters of all the towns except the capital, and committed the most frightful atrocities. Carthage owed her safety to the genius and abilities of Hamilcar. The struggle was fierce and sanguinary, but was at length brought to a successful issue, after it had lasted more than three years, by the destruction of all the mercenaries. It was called the War without Peace, or the Inexpiable War (B.C. 238).
The Romans availed themselves of the exhausted condition of Carthage to demand from her the islands of Sardinia and Corsica, and the payment of a farther sum of 1200 talents. The mercenary troops in Sardinia, who had also revolted, had applied to Rome for assistance; and the Senate menaced her rival with war unless she complied with these unjust demands. Resistance was impossible, and Sardinia and Corsica were now formed into a Roman province, governed, like Sicily, by a Prætor sent annually from Rome (B.C. 238). This act of robbery added fresh fuel to the implacable animosity of Hamilcar against the grasping Republic. He now departed for Spain, where for many years he steadily worked to lay the foundation of a new empire, which might not only compensate for the loss of Sicily and Sardinia, but enable him at some time to renew hostilities against Rome.
Rome was now at peace, and in B.C. 235 the Temple of Janus, which had remained open since the days of Numa, was closed for a second time. Two new tribes were added to the Roman territory, thus making their total number thirty-five.
The Temple of Janus did not long remain closed. The Illyrians, who dwelt near the head of the Adriatic upon its eastern side, were a nation of pirates, who ravaged the coasts of this sea. The Senate having sent embassadors to the Illyrian queen, Teuta, to complain of these outrages, she not only refused to attend to their complaints, but caused one of the embassadors to be murdered. War was straightway declared, and a Roman army for the first time crossed the Adriatic (B.C. 229). Demetrius of Pharos, an unprincipled Greek, who was the chief counselor of Teuta, deserted his mistress, and surrendered to the Romans the important island of Corcyra. Teuta was obliged to yield to the Romans every thing they demanded, and promised that the Illyrians should not appear south of Lissa with more than two vessels. The suppression of piracy in the Adriatic was hailed with gratitude by the Grecian states, and deserves notice as the first occasion upon which the Romans were brought into immediate contact with Greece. The Consul Postumius, who had wintered in Illyria, sent envoys to Athens, Corinth, and other Grecian cities, to explain what had been done. The envoys were received with honor, and thanks were returned to Rome (B.C. 228).
The Romans had scarcely brought this trifling war to an end when they became involved in a formidable struggle with their old enemies the Gauls. Since the conquest of the Senones in B.C. 289, and of the Boii in B.C. 283, the Gauls had remained quiet. The Romans had founded the colony of Sena after the subjugation of the Senones; and in B.C. 268 they had still farther strengthened their dominion in those parts by founding the colony of Ariminum. But the greater part of the soil from which the Senones were ejected became Public Land. In B.C. 232 the Tribune C. Flaminius carried an Agrarian Law to the effect that this portion of the public land, known by the name of the "Gallic Land,"[30] should be distributed among the poorer citizens. This alarmed the Boii, who dwelt upon the borders of this district. They invoked the assistance of the powerful tribe of the Insubres, and being joined by them, as well as by large bodies of Gauls from beyond the Alps, they set out for Rome.
All Italy was in alarm. The Romans dreaded a repetition of the disaster of the Allia. The Sibylline Books being consulted, declared that Rome must be twice occupied by a foreign foe; whereupon the Senate ordered that two Gauls and a Grecian woman should be buried alive in the forum. The allies eagerly offered men and supplies to meet a danger which was common to the whole peninsula. An army of 150,000 foot and 6000 horse was speedily raised. A decisive battle was fought near Telamon in Etruria. The Gauls were hemmed in between the armies of the two Consuls. As many as 40,000 of their men were slain, and 10,000 taken prisoners (B.C. 225). The Romans followed up their success by invading the country of the Boii, who submitted in the following year (B.C. 224).
In B.C. 223 the Romans for the first time crossed the Po, and the Consul C. Flaminius gained a brilliant victory over the Insubres. The Consuls of the next year, Cn. Cornelius Scipio and M. Claudius Marcellus, continued the war against the Insubres, who called in to their aid a fresh body of Transalpine Gauls. Marcellus slew with his own hand Viridomarus, the chief of the Insubrian Gauls, and thus gained the third Spolia Opima. At the same time Scipio took Mediolanum (Milan), the chief town of the Insubres. This people now submitted without conditions, and the war was brought to an end. To secure their recent conquests, the Romans determined to plant two powerful Latin colonies at Placentia and Cremona, on opposite banks of the Po. These were founded in B.C. 218, and consisted each of 6000 men. The Via Flaminia, a road constructed by C. Flaminius during his consulship (B.C. 220), from Rome to Ariminum, secured the communication with the north of Italy.
While the Romans were engaged in the Gallic wars, the traitor Demetrius of Pharos had usurped the chief power in Illyria, and had ventured upon many acts of piracy. In B.C. 219 the Consul L. Æmilius Paullus crossed the Adriatic, and soon brought this second Illyrian war to an end. Demetrius fled to Philip of Macedon, where we shall shortly afterward see him prompting this king to make war against Rome. The greater part of Illyria was restored to the native chiefs; but the Romans retained possession of Corcyra, and of the important towns of Apollonia and Oricum on the coast.
Meanwhile Hamilcar had been steadily pursuing his conquests in Spain. The subjugation of this country was only a means to an end. His great object, as already stated, was to obtain the means of attacking, and, if possible, crushing that hated rival who had robbed his country of Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica. His implacable animosity against Rome is shown by the well-known tale that, when he crossed over to Spain in B.C. 235, taking with him his son Hannibal, then only nine years old, he made him swear at the altar eternal hostility to Rome. During the eight years that Hamilcar continued in Spain he carried the Carthaginian arms into the heart of the country. While he conquered several states in war, he gained over others by negotiation, and availed himself of their services as allies or mercenaries. He fell in battle in B.C. 229, and was succeeded in the command by his son-in-law Hasdrubal. His plans were ably carried out by his successor. The conciliatory manners of Hasdrubal gained him the affections of the Spaniards; and he consolidated the Carthaginian empire in Spain by the foundation of New Carthage, now Cartagena, in a situation admirably chosen on account of its excellent harbor and easy communication with Africa, as well as from its proximity to the silver mines, which supplied him with the means of paying his troops. The conduct of his warlike enterprises was intrusted to the youthful Hannibal, who had been trained in arms under the eye of his father, and who already displayed that ability for war which made him one of the most celebrated generals in ancient or modern times. The successes of Hamilcar and Hasdrubal could not fail to attract the notice of the Romans, and in B.C. 227 they concluded a treaty with the latter, by which the River Iberus (Ebro) was fixed as the northern boundary of the Carthaginian empire in Spain.
Hasdrubal was assassinated in B.C. 221 by a slave whose master he had put to death. Hannibal had now acquired such a remarkable ascendency over the army that the soldiers unanimously proclaimed him commander-in-chief, and the government at Carthage hastened to ratify an appointment which they had not, in fact, the power to prevent. Hannibal was at this time in the 26th year of his age. There can be no doubt that he already looked forward to the invasion and conquest of Italy as the goal of his ambition; but it was necessary for him first to complete the work which had been so ably begun by his two predecessors, and to establish the Carthaginian power as firmly as possible in Spain. This he accomplished in two campaigns, in the course of which he brought all the nations south of the Iberus into subjection to Carthage.
Early in the spring of B.C. 219 he proceeded to lay siege to Saguntum, a city of Greek origin, founded by the Zacynthians. Though situated to the south of the Iberus, and therefore not included under the protection of the treaty between Hasdrubal and the Romans, Sagantum had concluded an alliance with the latter people. There could be little doubt, therefore, that an attack upon this city would inevitably bring on a war with Rome; but for this Hannibal was prepared, or, rather, it was unquestionably his real object. The immediate pretext of his invasion was the same of which the Romans so often availed themselves—some injury inflicted by the Saguntines upon one of the neighboring tribes, who invoked the assistance of Hannibal. But the resistance of the city was long and desperate, and it was not till after a siege of nearly eight months that he made himself master of the place. During all this period the Romans sent no assistance to their allies. They had, indeed, as soon as they heard of the siege, dispatched embassadors to Hannibal, but he referred them for an answer to the government at home, and they could obtain no satisfaction from the Carthaginians, in whose councils the war-party had now a decided predominance. A second embassy was sent, after the fall of Saguntum, to demand the surrender of Hannibal, in atonement for the breach of the treaty. After much discussion, Q. Fabius, one of the Roman embassadors, holding up a fold of his toga, said, "I carry here peace and war; choose ye which ye will." "Give us which you will," was the reply. "Then take war," said Fabius, letting fall his toga. "We accept the gift," cried the Senators of Carthage. Thus commenced the Second Punic War.