Exercises upon the Different Parts of Italian Speech, with References to Veneroni's Grammar / to which is added an abridgement of the Roman history, intended at once to make the learner acquainted with history, and the idiom of the Italian language

CHAP. VII.

(Of the World, 3966—Of Rome, 666.)

Marius, [1]though now [2]broken with [3]age and years, yet being very [4]ambitious of getting [5]employed against Mithridates, could not [6]bear with patience the [7]bestowing that [8]province upon Sylla. [9]Wherefore he [10]prevailed by the [11]means of C. Sulpicius, the tribune of the people, to have it [12]taken from Sylla, and bestowed upon himself. At which Sylla being [13]enraged, [14]seized upon the city, and having [15]slain Sulpicius, [16]obliged Marius to [17]fly. In his [18]absence, Cinna the consul, making a [19]disturbance, was [20]driven out of the city, and being [21]joined by Marius, Carbo, and Sertorius, [22]assaulted Rome; which, having [23]taken, [24]he put a great many of the Romans [25]to the sword. Marius [26]died a natural death the year following.

Sylla having made peace with Mithridates, [27]returned into Italy, and [28]made an end of the civil war in two years time, by the [29]defeat of Carbo, Norbanus, young Marius, and others; and being [30]declared [31]dictator, [32]took off a great many of Marius’s party by means of a [33]proscription. Q. Sertorius [34]retired into Farther Spain, where he [35]held out for some years very [36]valiantly.

Sylla having in the year 675 [37]laid down the [38]dictatorship, died the year following of the [39]lousy [40]disease, in the sixtieth year of his [41]age. After his death, Lepidus the consul, [42]endeavouring to [43]annul the [44]acts of Sylla, was [45]forced out of the city by his [46]colleague Catulus. And the year following [47]advancing up to the city with an [48]army, he was defeated by the same Catulus and Cn. Pompey, and [49]fled into [50]Sardinia, where he [51]fell ill and died. The same Pompey being [52]sent into Spain against Sertorius, [53]performed no important things; but the latter being [54]treacherously [55]slain by his own people, he [56]easily [57]recovered that province in the year 681.

In the mean time the war with Mithridates [58]broke out again, while Sylla was yet living; and after Sylla’s death, Mithridates having [59]entered into an [60]alliance with Sertorius, [61]seized by force of arms upon Bithynia, which Nicomedes at his death in 679, had [62]left to the Roman people. L. Lucullus consul, in 680, [63]went against him, and being very [64]successful both by [65]sea and [66]land, he [67]obliged him to fly, first into [68]Pontus, and soon after to [69]Tigranes in Armenia. Lucullus [70]conquered Pontus, and defeated both the kings who [71]engaged him with an army of two hundred thousand [72]foot and sixty thousand [73]horse, in the year of the city 685. After this, Tigranocerta, the capital of Armenia, and [74]Nisibis, two very great cities, were [75]taken. But this excellent general being [76]forsaken by his men, was [77]obliged to [78]leave the [79]fruit of his [80]toil and [81]victories to Cn. Pompey, in the year 688. He having [82]forced Tigranes to [83]surrender, obliged him to be [84]satisfied with Armenia; and whilst he [85]pursued Mithridates, he [86]added the [87]Iberians and [88]Albanians to the Roman empire, in the year 689. [89]Finally, Mithridates, in the year 691, being [90]every where [91]beaten, [92]thought of [93]flying into [94]Gaul, but being [95]discouraged by the [96]revolt of his son [97]Pharnaces and the army, he [98]slew himself.

Whilst the war with Mithridates was [99]warmly [100]carried on, there [101]broke out another with the [102]slaves, in the year of the city 681. One [103]Spartacus Ænomanus, and [104]Crixus, [105]gladiators, having [106]broken up a [107]school of gladiators at Capua, [108]belonging to Lentulus, and [109]assembled an army of [110]desperadoes, [111]routed the Roman armies several times, but at last were [112]vanquished by Crassus the prætor, and Pompey, in the year 685.

Pompey [113]likewise [114]subdued the [115]pirates, who, at the [116]instigation of Mithridates, [117]infested the seas, having an [118]extraordinary [119]commission [120]for that purpose by the [121]Gabinian law. Whilst Pompey was [122]enlarging the Roman empire [123]abroad, the [124]head of the empire was in no small [125]danger from a [126]conspiracy which [127]Cataline, [128]Lentulus the prætor, [129]Cethegus, and other senators, had [130]entered into, to [131]murder the consul [132]Cicero, and to [133]burn and [134]plunder the city. But their [135]designs were [136]prevented by the [137]vigilance of the consul. Catiline being [138]forced out of the city, [139]repaired to the army, which some of his [140]accomplices had [141]collected. Lentulus, and the rest of the [142]ringleaders of the [143]plot were put to death. This [144]happened in the year 691, and the following year Cataline was [145]defeated by [146]Petreius [147]Antony the proconsul’s [148]lieutenant, and [149]slain in the [150]fight.

The whole [151]world being now almost [152]subdued, the Roman empire was [153]arrived to that [154]grandeur, that it could [155]hardly [156]extend itself farther. No [157]outward [158]force was [159]sufficient to [160]ruin it; it [161]fell by its own [162]power, which was [163]occasioned by the [164]ambition of the [165]leading men, and the civil [166]contests that [167]arose from thence.

C. Cæsar, after the time of his [168]prætorship in the city was [169]expired, [170]obtained the province of Lusitania; and by the great feats he [171]performed there, [172]deserved well the honor of a [173]triumph; but [174]postponed the [175]hopes of that to the [176]consular [177]dignity; for which, [178]while he made all [179]possible [180]interest, Pompey [181]united with Cæsar and Crassus, while Lucullus and some others of the [182]grandees, [183]opposing his [184]acts, which he [185]desired might be [186]ratified by the senate. Thus Cæsar [187]gained the [188]consulship in the year 695, in which he [189]established the acts of Pompey by the senate, and [190]divided the [191]public [192]lands in Campania amongst the [193]citizens. He [194]married his daughter Julia to Pompey, and [195]took Calphurnia, the daughter of [196]Piso [197]as a wife. Having by these [198]arts, and a [199]boundless [200]generosity, [201]gained the [202]favor of all [203]ranks and [204]degrees of men, he [205]procured the province of Gaul, which he [206]governed for nine years; during which time he [207]reduced all Gaul, that is [208]comprehended within the [209]Pyrenean mountains, the [210]Alps, the Rhone, and the [211]Rhine, in the [212]form of a province, and [213]imposed a [214]yearly [215]tribute upon it. He was the first of all the Romans that [216]attacked the [217]Germans [218]beyond the Rhine. He likewise [219]visited the [220]Britons, where [221]none before him had ever [222]come. In this [223]interval, in the year 698, he [224]entered into an [225]association with Pompey and Crassus; by [226]virtue of which he was to have Gaul [227]continued to him. Pompey was to have [228]Spain, and Crassus Syria, in order to a war against the [229]Parthians; to which he [230]accordingly [231]went in the year 699, and the third year after, [232]perished most [233]miserably, with the greater [234]part of his army; after which the Parthians made an [235]irruption into Syria, but were [236]bravely [237]repulsed by Cassius.

After the death of Crassus, Pompey not being able to [238]endure an [239]equal, nor Cæsar a [240]superior, the civil war broke out. Pompey’s [241]party [242]endeavouring to [243]take away from Cæsar both his army and province, as soon as the time of his [244]government should [245]expire; whilst Cæsar’s on the other [246]hand were for [247]treating Pompey [248]in like manner. At last in the year 705, in the [249]consulship of C. Claudius Marcellus, and L. Cornelius Lentulus, the senate, by a [250]vote, obliged Cæsar to [251]disband his army by a certain day. Antonius and Cassius, tribunes of the people, [252]interposing their [253]authority in vain, [254]left the town, and [255]repaired to Cæsar, who [256]advancing his army towards the city, [257]struck such a [258]consternation into Pompey and the rest, that [259]leaving the city [260]without much ado, and [261]shortly after Italy, they [262]passed over into [263]Greece. Cæsar went to Spain, where he [264]vanquished Petreius and Afranius, and [265]forced their armies to [266]surrender [267]prisoners of war. In his [268]return he [269]took [270]Marseilles, and after that was made dictator, to which [271]office he was [272]chosen four times, and at last had it [273]given him for [274]life.

In the year 706, Pompey being [275]defeated by Cæsar in the [276]fields of [277]Pharsalia, went to [278]Egypt, where he was slain by the [279]order of [280]Ptolemy, in the 59th year of his [281]age. Hither Cæsar [282]likewise [283]came the following year, and after a very [284]dangerous [285]rencounter, which he [286]happily [287]accomplished, [288]delivered the [289]kingdom of Egypt to Cleopatra and her brother. In the year following he vanquished Scipio and Cato, with king Juba, in Africa. Cato [290]laid violent hands upon himself at Utica. The year that [291]followed was [292]remarkable for the [293]correction of the [294]calendar and the year. The same year likewise he [295]conquered Pompey’s sons; and the year after was [296]stabbed in the [297]senate house, by a [298]conspiracy of Brutus and Cassius, and some others, in the 56th year of his age.

Besides these [299]convulsions, with which the whole [300]world was [301]shattered, there were some less [302]disturbances [303]happened a little before. [304]Clodius Pulcher being [305]made tribune of the people, [306]banished Cicero, for having [307]condemned the [308]associates of Cataline to death without a [309]trial; which [310]calamity he [311]bore too [312]meanly, and [313]by no means [314]agreeable to the [315]dignity of his past life. But he was [316]recalled the year after by the [317]interposition of Pompey, and Lentulus the consul, and [318]received with the greatest [319]honor. The same Clodius [320]declared [321]Cyprus to [322]belong to the Roman people, and Cato being [323]sent to [324]take possession of it, Ptolemy, king of the [325]island, after first [326]throwing all his [327]money into the sea, [328]prevented his [329]disgrace by a [330]voluntary death. The senate [331]bestowed the [332]prætorship upon Cato at his [333]return, by a [334]vote of the house, without any [335]election; which honor he [336]refused, being [337]desirous to [338]obtain it rather by the [339]free [340]votes of the people. But he was [341]disappointed in his [342]hopes, and Vatinius was [343]preferred to him.