History of Rome, books 1-10

Some authorities assert that the consul Minucius was carried back to the camp severely wounded and died there, and that M. Fulvius was made consul in his place, and after taking over the command of Minucius' army effected the capture of Bovianum.

During the year Sora, Arpinum, and Cesennia were recovered from the Samnites The great statue of Hercules was also set up and dedicated in the Capitol.

P. Sulpicius Saverrio and P. Sempronius Sophus were the next consuls. During their consulship the Samnites, anxious for either a termination or at least a suspension of hostilities, sent envoys to Rome to sue for peace.

In spite of their submissive attitude they did not meet with a very favourable reception. The reply they received was to the effect that if the Samnites had not often made proposals for peace while they were actually preparing for war negotiations might possibly have been entered into, but now as their words had proved worthless the question must be decided by their deeds.

They were informed that the consul P. Sempronius would shortly be in Samnium with his army, and he would he able to judge accurately whether they were more disposed to peace or to war.

When he had obtained all the information that he wanted he would lay it before the senate; on his return from Samnium the envoys might follow him to Rome.

Wherever Sempronius marched they found the Samnites peaceably disposed and ready to supply them with provisions and stores. The old treaty was therefore restored. From that quarter the Roman arms were turned against their old enemies the Aequi. For many years this nation had remained quiet, disguising their real sentiments under a peaceable attitude.

As long as the Hernicans remained unsubdued the Aequi had frequently co-operated with them in sending help to the Samnites, but after their final subjugation almost the whole of the Aequian nation threw off the mask and openly went over to the enemy. After Rome had renewed the treaty with the Samnites the fetials went on to the Aequi to demand satisfaction.

They were told that their demand was simply regarded as an attempt on the part of the Romans to intimidate them by threats of war into becoming Roman citizens.

How desirable a thing this citizenship was might be seen in the case of the Hernicans who, when allowed to choose, preferred living under their own laws to becoming citizens of Rome. To men who were not allowed which they would prefer, but were made Roman citizens by compulsion, it would be a punishment.

As these opinions were pretty generally expressed in their different councils, the Romans ordered war to be declared against the Aequi.

Both the consuls took the field and selected a position four miles distant from the enemy's camp.

As the Aequi had for many years had no experience of a national war, their army was like a body of irregulars with no properly appointed generals and no discipline or obedience. They were in utter confusion; some were of opinion that they ought to give battle, others thought they ought to confine themselves to defending their camp.

The majority were influenced by the prospect of their fields being devastated and their cities, with their scanty garrisons, being destroyed.

In this diversity of opinions one was given utterance to which put out of sight all care for the common weal and directed each man's regards to his own private interests.

They were advised to abandon their camp at the first watch, carry off all their belongings, and disperse to their respective cities to protect their property behind their walls. This advice met with the warmest approval from all.

Whilst the enemy were thus straggling homewards, the Romans as soon as it was light marched out and formed up in order of battle, and as there was no one to oppose, they went on at a quick march to the enemy's camp.

Here they found no pickets before the gates or on the rampart, none of the noise which is customary in a camp, and fearing from the unusual silence that a surprise was being prepared they came to a halt. At length they climbed over the rampart and found everything deserted.

Then they began to follow up the enemy's footsteps, but as these went in all directions alike, they found themselves going further and further astray. Subsequently they discovered through their scouts what the design of the enemy was, and their cities were successively attacked. Within a fortnight they had stormed and captured thirty-one walled towns. Most of these were sacked and burnt, and the nation of the Aequi was almost exterminated.

A triumph was celebrated over them, and warned by their example the Marrucini, the Marsi, the Paeligni, and the Feretrani sent spokesmen to Rome to sue for peace and friendship. These tribes obtained a treaty with Rome.

It was during this year that Cn. Flavius, the son of a freedman, born in a humble station of life, but a clever plausible man, became curule aedile.

I find in some annalists the statement that at the time of the election of aediles he was acting as apparitor to the aediles, and when he found that the first vote was given in his favour, and was disallowed on the ground that he was a clerk, he laid aside his writing tablet and took an oath that he would not follow that profession.

Licinius Macer, however, attempts to show that he had given up the clerk's business for some time as he had been a tribune of the plebs, and had also twice held office as a triumvir, the first time as a triumvir nocturnus, and afterwards as one of the three commissioners for settling a

colony. However this may be, there is no question that he maintained a defiant attitude towards the nobles, who regarded his lowly origin with

contempt. He made public the legal forms and processes which had been hidden away in the closets of the pontiffs; he exhibited a calendar written on whitened boards in the Forum, on which were marked the days on which legal proceedings were allowed; to the intense disgust of the nobility he dedicated the temple of Concord on the

Vulcanal. At this function the Pontifex Maximus, Cornelius Barbatus, was compelled by the unanimous voice of the people to recite the usual form of devotion in spite of his insistence that in accordance with ancestral usage none but a consul or a commander-in-chief could dedicate a

temple. It was in consequence of this that the senate authorised a measure to be submitted to the people providing that no one should presume to dedicate a

temple or an altar without being ordered to do so by the senate or by a majority of the tribunes of the plebs. I will relate an incident, trivial enough in itself, but affording a striking proof of the way in which the liberties of the plebs were asserted against the insolent presumption of the

nobility. Flavius went to visit his colleague, who was ill. Several young nobles who were sitting in the room had agreed not to rise when he entered, on which he ordered his curule chair to be brought, and from that seat of dignity calmly surveyed his enemies, who were filled with unutterable

disgust. The elevation of Flavius to the aedileship was, however, the work of a party in the Forum who had gained their power during the censorship of Appius

Claudius. For Appius had been the first to pollute the senate by electing into it the sons of freedmen, and when no one recognised the validity of these elections and he failed to secure in the Senate-house the influence which he had sought to gain in the City, he corrupted both the Assembly of Tribes and the Assembly of Centuries by distributing the dregs of the populace amongst all the

tribes. Such deep indignation was aroused by the election of Flavius that most of the nobles laid aside their gold rings and military decorations as a sign of

mourning. From that time the citizens were divided into two parties; the uncorrupted part of the people, who favoured and supported men of integrity and patriotism, were aiming at one thing, the "mob of the Forum" were aiming at something

else. This state of things lasted until Q. Fabius and P. Decius were made censors. Q. Fabius, for the sake of concord, and at the same time to prevent the elections from being controlled by the lowest of the populace, threw the whole of the citizens of the lowest class —the “mob of the Forum” —into four tribes and called them “the City

Tribes.” Out of gratitude for his action, it is said, he received an epithet which he had not gained by all his victories, but which was now conferred upon him for the wisdom he had shown in thus adjusting the orders in the State — the cognomen “Maximus.” It is stated that he also instituted the annual parade of the cavalry on July 5.

During the consulship of L. Genucius and Ser. Cornelius there was almost a complete respite from foreign wars. Colonists were settled at Sora and Alba.

The latter was in the country of the Aequi; 6000 colonists were settled there. Sora had been a Volscian town, but the Samnites had occupied it; 4000 men were sent there.

The right of citizenship was conferred this year upon the Arpinates and the Trebulans. The Frusinates were mulcted in a third of their territory, for it had been ascertained that they were the instigators of the Hernican revolt. The senate decreed that the consuls should hold an inquiry, and the ringleaders were scourged and beheaded.

However, in order that the Romans might not pass a whole year without any military operations, a small expeditionary force was sent into Umbria. A certain cave was reported to be the rendezvous of a body of freebooters, and from this hiding-place they made armed excursions into the surrounding country.

The Roman troops entered this cave, and many of them were wounded, mostly by stones, owing to the darkness of the place. At length they discovered another entrance, for there was a passage right through the cave, and both mouths of the cavern were filled up with wood.

This was set on fire, and, stifled by the smoke, the bandits, in trying to escape, rushed into the flames and 2000 perished. M. Livius Denter and M. Aurelius were the new consuls, and during their year of office hostilities were resumed by the Aequi.

They resented the planting within their borders of a colony which was to be a stronghold of Roman power, and they made a desperate effort to capture it, but were beaten off by the colonists.

In their weakened condition it seemed almost incredible that the Aequi could have begun war, relying solely upon themselves, and the fear of an indefinitely extended war necessitated the appointment of a Dictator. C. Junius Bubulcus was nominated, and he took the field, with M. Titinius as Master of the Horse.

In the very first battle he crushed the Aequi, and a week later he returned in triumph to the City. Whilst Dictator he dedicated the temple of Salus which he had vowed as consul and the con- struction of which he had contracted for when censor.

During the year a fleet of Greek ships under the command of the Lacedaemonian Cleonymus sailed to the shores of Italy and captured the city of Thuriae in the Sallentine country.

The consul, Aemilius, was sent to meet this enemy, and in one battle he routed him and drove him to his ships.

Thuriae was restored to its former inhabitants, and peace was established in the Sallentine territory. In some annalists I find it stated that the Dictator, Junius Bubulcus, was sent into that country, and that Cleonymus left Italy to avoid a conflict with the Romans.

He sailed round the promontory of Brundisium, and was carried up the Adriatic, where he had on his left the harbourless shores of Italy and on his right the countries occupied by the Illyrians, the Liburnians, and the Histrians, savage tribes chiefly notorious for their acts of piracy.

He dreaded the possibility of falling in with these, and consequently directed his course inland until he reached the coasts of the Veneti. Here he landed a small party to explore the neighbourhood. The information they brought back was to the effect that there was a narrow beach, and on crossing it they found lagoons which were affected by the tide; beyond these level cultivated country was visible, and in the further distance hills could be seen.

At no great distance was the mouth of a river deep enough to allow of ships being brought up and safely anchored —this was the Meduacus.

On hearing this he ordered the fleet to make for that river and sail up-stream. As the river channel did not admit the passage of his largest ships, the bulk of his troops went up in the lighter vessels and came to a populous district belonging to the maritime villages of the Patavii, who inhabit that coast.

After leaving a few to guard the ships they landed, seized the villages, burnt the houses, and carried off the men and cattle as booty.

Their eagerness for plunder led them too far from their ships. The people of Patavium were obliged to be always under arms owing to their neighbours, the Gauls, and when they heard what was going on, they divided their forces into two armies.

One of these was to proceed to the district where the invaders were reported to be carrying on their depredations; the other was to go by a different route, to avoid meeting any of the plunderers, to where the ships were anchored, about fourteen miles from the town. The latter attacked the ships, and after killing those who resisted them, they compelled the terrified sailors to take their vessels over to the opposite bank.

The other army had been equally successful against the plunderers, who in their flight to their ships were intercepted by the Veneti, and, hemmed in between the two armies, were cut to pieces.

Some of the prisoners informed their captors that King Cleonymus, with his fleet, was only three miles distant. The prisoners were sent to the nearest village for safe-keeping, and some of the defenders got into their river boats, which were flatbottomed to allow of their passing over the shallows in the lagoons, whilst others manned the vessels they had captured and sailed down the river.

When they reached the Greek fleet they surrounded the large ships, which were afraid to stir and dreaded unknown waters more than the enemy, and pursued them to the mouth of the river. Some which in the confused fighting had run aground were captured and burnt.

After this victory they returned. Failing to effect a successful landing in any part of the Adriatic, Cleonymus sailed away with barely a fifth part of his fleet undamaged.

There are many still living who have seen the beaks of the ships and the spoils of the Lacedaemonians hung up in the old temple of Juno in Patavium, and the anniversary of that battle is celebrated by a sham fight of ships on the river which flows through the town.

The Vestinians had requested to be placed on the footing of a friendly State, and a treaty was made with them this year.

Subsequently several incidents created alarm in Rome. Intelligence was received of the renewal of hostilities by the Etruscans, owing to disturbances in Arretium. The powerful house of the Cilnii had created widespread jealousy through their enormous wealth, and an attempt was made to expel them from the city. The Marsi also were giving trouble, for a body of 4000 colonists had been sent to Carseoli, and they were prevented by force from occupying the place.

In view of this threatening aspect of affairs, M. Valerius Maximus was nominated Dictator, and he named M. Aemilius Paulus Master of the Horse.

I think that this is more probable than that Q. Fabius was made Master of the Horse and, therefore, in a subordinate position to Valerius, in spite of his age and the offices he had held;

but I am quite prepared to admit that the error arose from the cognomen Maximus, common to both men. The Dictator took the field and routed the Marsi in one battle. After compelling them to seek shelter in their fortified cities, he took Milionia, Plestina, and Fresilia within a few days.

The Marsi were compelled to surrender a portion of their territory, and then the old treaty with Rome was renewed. The war was now turned against the Etruscans, and an unfor- tunate incident occurred during this campaign.

The Dictator had left the camp for Rome to take the auspices afresh, and the Master of the Horse had gone out to forage. He was surprised and surrounded, and after losing some standards and many of his men, he was driven in disgraceful flight back to his camp.

Such a precipitate flight is contradictory to all that we know of Fabius; for it was his reputation as a soldier that more than anything else justified his epithet of Maximus, and he never forgot the severity of Papirius towards him, and could never have been tempted to fight without the Dictator's orders.

The news of this defeat created a quite unnecessary alarm in Rome. Measures were adopted as though an army had been annihilated;

all legal business was suspended, guards were stationed at the gates, watches were set in the different wards of the City, armour and weapons were stored in readiness on the walls, and every man within the military age was embodied.

When the Dictator returned to the camp he found that, owing to the careful arrangements which the Master of the Horse had made, everything was quieter than he had expected.

The camp had been moved back into a safer position; the cohorts who had lost their standards were punished by being stationed outside the rampart without any tents;

the whole army was eager for battle that they might all the sooner wipe out the stain of their defeat.

Under these circumstances the Dictator at once advanced his camp into the neighbourhood of Rusella. The enemy followed him, and although they felt the utmost confidence in a trial of strength in the open field, they decided to practise stratagem on their enemy, as they had found it so successful before.

At no great distance from the Roman camp were some half-demolished houses belonging to a village which had been burnt when the land was harried.

Some soldiers were concealed in these and cattle were driven past the place in full view of the Roman outposts, who were under the command of a staff-officer, Cnaeus Fulvius. As not a single man left his post to take the bait, one of the drovers, coming up close to the Roman lines, called out to the others who were driving the cattle somewhat slowly away from the ruined cottages to ask them why they were so slow, as they could drive them safely through the middle of the Roman camp.

Some Caerites who were with Fulvius interpreted the words, and all the maniples were extremely indignant at the insult, but they did not dare to move without orders.

He then instructed those who were familiar with the language to notice whether the speech of the herdsmen was more akin to that of rustics or to that of towndwellers. On being told that the accent and personal appearance were too refined for cattle-drovers, he said, “Go and tell them to unmask the ambush they have tried in vain to conceal; the Romans know all, and can now no more be trapped by cunning than they can be vanquished by arms.”

When these words were carried to those who were lying concealed, they suddenly rose from their lurking-place and advanced in order of battle on to the open plain, which afforded a view in all directions.

The advancing line appeared to Fulvius to be too large a body for his men to withstand, and he sent a hasty message to the Dictator to ask for help; in the meantime he met the attack single-handed.

When the message reached the Dictator, he ordered the standards to go forward and the troops to follow.

But everything was done almost more rapidly than the orders were given. The standards were instantly snatched up, and the troops were with difficulty prevented from charging the enemy at a run. They were burning to avenge their recent defeat, and the shouts, becoming continually louder in the battle that was already going on, made them still more excited.

They kept urging each other on, and telling the standard-bearers to march more quickly, but the more haste the Dictator saw them making the more determined was he to check the column and insist upon their marching deliberately.

The Etruscans had been present in their full strength when the battle began. Message after message was sent to the Dictator telling him that all the legions of the Etruscans were taking part in the fight and that his men could no longer hold out against them, whilst he himself from his higher ground saw for himself in what a critical position the outposts were.

As however, he felt quite confident that their commander could still sustain the attack, and as he was himself near enough to save him from all danger of defeat, he decided to wait until the enemy became utterly fatigued, and then to attack him with fresh troops.

Although his own men were advancing so slowly there was now only a moderate distance over which to charge, at all events for cavalry, between the two lines. The standards of the legions were in front, to prevent the enemy from suspecting any sudden or secret manoeuvre, but the Dictator had left intervals in the ranks of infantry through which the cavalry could pass.

The legions raised the battle-shout, and at the same moment the cavalry charged down upon the enemy, who were unprepared for such a hurricane, and a sudden panic set in.

As the outposts, who had been all but cut off, were now relieved at the last moment, they were all allowed a respite from further exertions. The fresh troops took up the fighting, and the result did not long remain in doubt.

The routed enemy sought their camp, and as they retreated before the Romans who were attacking it, they became crowded together in the furthest part.

In trying to escape, they became blocked in the narrow gates, and a good many climbed on to the mound and stockade in the hope of defending themselves on higher ground, or possibly of crossing ramparts and fosse and so escaping.