BOOK XXXIX.

Marcus Æmilius, the consul, having subdued the Ligurians, made a road from Placentia as far as Ariminum, and connected it with the Flaminian way. The commencement of luxury, introduced by the Asiatic army, is related. All the Ligurians who dwell on the hither side of the Apennines were subdued. The Bacchanalia, a Grecian sacred ceremony, held at night, a hot-bed of every vice, after having become a conspiracy including great numbers, were discovered by one of the consuls and suppressed, while many of those concerned were punished. Lucius Quinctius Flamininus, the brother of Titus, was expelled the senate, by the censors Lucius Valerius Flaccus and Marcus Porcius Cato, who was most distinguished in the arts of war and peace, for the following reason: because when, as consul, he had held the province of Gaul, he slew with his own hand a certain Gaul, at the request of Philip, a Carthaginian, his noble minion; or, as some have stated, because he had beheaded a condemned criminal at the request of a courtesan of Placentia, with whom he was desperately in love. The speech of Marcus Cato against him is still extant. Scipio died at Liternum. And, as if fortune destined for the same period the death of the two most distinguished men of the day, Hannibal committed suicide by taking poison, when he was on the point of being given up to the Romans by Prusias, king of Bithynia, to whom he had fled for refuge on the defeat of Antiochus: the Romans had sent Titus Quinctius Flamininus to demand Hannibal. Philopœmen likewise, the general of the Achæans, a most distinguished man, after having fallen into the hands of the Messenians in war, was put to death by poison. Colonies are planted at Potentia, Pisaurus, Modena, and Parma. This book contains in addition the success over the Celtiberians, and the commencement and cause of the Macedonian war; the origin of which proceeded from the following source: Philip was dissatisfied that his kingdom was being diminished by the Romans, and because he was compelled to withdraw his garrisons from Thrace and other places.

1 While these things are done at Rome, (if they were truly transacted in this year,) both the consuls were employed in the war with the Ligurians. This enemy seemed born for the purpose of preserving military discipline among the Romans, during the intervals between important wars; nor was any province better calculated to form a soldier to active valour. For Asia, from the enticing pleasures of its cities, the abundance of every production both of land and sea, the unwarlike temper of the enemy, and the wealth of its princes, made Roman armies rich, rather than brave. Under the command of Cneius Manlius, particularly, the troops were kept in a state of idleness and licentiousness. Therefore, in Thrace, a passage somewhat more difficult, and a more vigorous enemy, checked them with severe loss. Whereas in Liguria there was every circumstance that could invigorate the courage of soldiers; the country mountainous and rugged, so that even the taking possession of unoccupied posts, and much more the dislodging of an enemy from those already in possession, was attended with much labour; the roads hilly, narrow, and exposed to ambuscades; the enemy light, active, and energetic in their motions, so as to allow no season or place to be quiet or secure; the necessary attack on the strong forts with much toil and danger; and the country so poor as to constrain the soldier to a sparing mode of living, while it afforded but a small share of booty. Accordingly, no sutler followed the army, no long train of baggage horses extended its line of march, nothing was to be seen but arms, and men having all their hopes in their arms. Nor was either subject or cause for hostilities with them ever wanting; because on account of their poverty at home they made frequent incursions on the territories of their neighbours; they did not. however, fight a battle which could decide the entire war.

2 The consul, Caius Flaminius, after several successful battles against the Frinian Ligurians in their own country, received the submission of that tribe, and ordered them to deliver up their arms; as they did not give them up honourably, and were reproved for their behaviour, who abandoned their villages, and fled to the mountain called Auginus, whither the consul immediately followed them. A part of the enemy again betook themselves to flight; and, running with precipitate haste, the greatest part without arms, over pathless tracts and rocky precipices, they escaped to places where an enemy could not follow them. Thus they got away beyond the Apennine; the rest, who remained in the camp, were surrounded and reduced by assault. The legions were then led over the Apennine; then the enemy, assisted by the height of the mountain, which they had occupied at first, stood on their defence; but, in a little time, submitted. Their arms were then sought for with greater care and all taken from them. The war was then transferred to the Apuan tribe of Ligurians, who had made so many incursions into the territory of Pisa and Bononia, that it could not be cultivated. These being entirely subdued, the consul restored peace to the neighbourhood. And, as he had effected the security of the province from the war, he made a road from Bononia to Anetium, that he might not keep the soldiers in a state of idleness. The other consul, Marcus Æmilius, ravaged with fire and sword the lands of the Ligurians, together with their villages that stood in the plains, while the inhabitants remained posted on two mountains, Ballista and Suismontium. He then attacked those who were on the mountains, harassed them for some time in skirmishes, and, at last, compelled them to come to an engagement, and utterly defeated them in a regular battle: in which he vowed a temple to Diana. Having now reduced all on this side of the Apennine, he marched against those on the other side of that mountain; among whom were the Brinian tribe, which had not been attacked by Flaminius: Æmilius subdued them all, stripped them of their arms, and obliged the multitude to come down from the mountains into the plains. The Ligurians being brought to a state of peace, he led his army into the Gallic territory, and drew a road from Placentia to Ariminum, to meet that made by Flaminius. During the last engagement, when he fought a pitched battle with the Ligurians, he vowed a temple to Imperial Juno. Such were the transactions of this year in Liguria.

3 In Gaul, the prætor, Marcus Furius, seeking a pretext for war in the midst of peace, deprived, the unoffending Cænomanians of their arms. The Cænomanians complained of this to the senate at Rome, and were by them referred to the consul Æmilius, whom the senate authorized to examine into and determine the cause; after a warm contest with the prætor they gained their cause. The prætor was ordered to restore their arms to the Cænomanians, and quit the province.

The senate afterwards gave audience to envoys of the Latin confederation, who had come, in great numbers, from all parts of Latium. On their complaint that a great multitude of their citizens had been removed to Rome, and had been assessed there in the survey; a commission was given to Quintus Terentius Culleo, the prætor, to make inquiry after such persons; and on the allies proving that those persons themselves, or their fathers, had been assessed in the surveys of their states in the censorship of Caius Claudius and Marcus Livius, or at some time subsequent to their censorship, he was ordered to compel all such to return to the several states wherein they had been so rated. In consequence of this inquiry, twelve thousand Latins returned home; as the multitude of foreigners even then burdened the city.

4 Before the consuls came home to Rome, Marcus Fulvius, the proconsul, returned from Ætolia. He, when he had as usual recited to the senate, in the temple of Apollo, the services which he had performed in Ætolia and Cephallenia, then requested of the fathers, that, in consideration of his having conducted the business of the public with good fortune and success, they would think proper to order public thanks to be offered to the immortal gods, and to decree a triumph to him. Marcus Abutius, a tribune of the commons, gave notice, that, if any thing were determined on that subject before the arrival of Marcus Æmilius, he would enter his protest: for “the consul intended to oppose that measure; and, at his setting out for his province, had given him a charge to keep the discussion of it open until he should come home. That Fulvius would suffer a loss of nothing but time; for, notwithstanding the presence of the consul, the senate would determine according to their own wishes.” Fulvius replied, that, “even if the quarrel subsisting between him and Marcus Æmilius was unknown to the world, or with what overbearing, and, in some measure, tyrannical rancour, that man prosecuted his enmity; yet it was insufferable, that the absence of the consul should both obstruct the worship of the immortal gods, and delay a triumph merited and due; that a commander, after performing signal services, and his victorious army with its booty and prisoners, should remain outside the gates, until a consul, who purposely delayed abroad, should be pleased to return to Rome. But, in the present case, when the animosity between him and the consul was most notorious, what fair dealing could any one expect from a man who procured clandestinely, in a thin house, and lodged in the treasury, a decree of the senate, that “it did not appear that Ambracia was taken by force:” a town which was attacked with mounds and engines; where, after the works were burned, others were constructed anew; where a fight was carried on around the walls for fifteen days, both above and under ground; where, from the first dawn, when the soldiers mounted the walls, a battle, for a long time doubtful, lasted until night; and where more than three thousand of the enemy were killed? Then, again, what a malicious misrepresentation did he make to the pontiffs, of the temples of the immortal gods being plundered in a captured city! If it were allowable that Rome should be decorated with the ornaments of Syracuse, and other conquered places, then the laws of war must lose their force in the case of Ambracia alone, among conquered towns. For his part, he besought the conscript fathers, and requested the tribunes, not to suffer him to become a subject of derision to a most haughty enemy.”

5 All around were in his favour; and some entreated the tribune to desist, while others sharply reproved his conduct. The speech of his colleague, Tiberius Gracchus, moved him most, that, “for a man in office to prosecute even his own quarrels, was an example of no good tendency; but, that a tribune of the people should take upon himself to be a solicitor in the quarrel of another, was infamous, and highly unworthy of the power and sacred laws of the order to which he belonged. That men ought to love or hate others, approve or disapprove of measures, according to the dictates of their own judgment; but that a tribune ought not to depend on the look or nod of another man, veer about at the movements of another’s will, and make himself a tool to his displeasure; nor remember a private charge, committed to him by Marcus Æmilius, and forget that the tribuneship was a public charge, intrusted to him by the Roman people, for the protection and liberty of private citizens, not to aggrandize the arbitrary power of a consul. His colleague did not seem to consider that this circumstance would be committed to record and posterity: that, of two plebeian tribunes of the same college, one sacrificed his own resentment to the public good, the other prosecuted the resentment of another man which was merely intrusted to him.” When the tribune, overcome by these severe rebukes, had withdrawn from the meeting, a triumph was voted to Marcus Fulvius, on the motion of Servius Sulpicius, the prætor. When he returned thanks to the conscript fathers, he then mentioned, that, “on the day of his taking Ambracia, he had vowed to celebrate the great games in honour of Jupiter the supremely good and great; that a contribution for that purpose had been made to him by the several states, amounting to one hundred and ten pounds’ weight of gold; and he requested them to order that sum to be set apart, out of the money which he was to deposit in the treasury, after being borne in triumph.” The senate ordered the college of pontiffs to be consulted, whether it were necessary that the whole of that sum should be expended on the games: when the pontiffs had answered, that it mattered little to religion what was the expense of the games, the senate gave permission to Fulvius to expend as much as he thought proper, provided he did not exceed eighty thousand sesterces.40 He, at first, intended to celebrate his triumph in the month of January; but, hearing that the consul Æmilius, in consequence of a letter from the tribune Abutius, concerning his waving his protest, was coming in person to Rome, to hinder his triumph, but had been obliged, by sickness to halt on the road, he hastened the time of the celebration, lest he should have more contests about it than he had met in the war. He triumphed over the Ætolians and Cephallenia on the tenth day before the calends of January. There were carried before his chariot, golden crowns to the amount of one hundred and twelve pounds’ weight; of silver, eighty-three thousand pounds; of gold, two hundred and forty-three thousand; of Attic tetradrachms, one hundred and eighteen thousand;41 of the coin called Philippeans, twelve thousand four hundred and twenty-two;42 brazen statues, two hundred and eighty-five; marble statues, two hundred and thirty; arms, weapons, and other spoils in great quantities: besides these, catapultas, ballistas, and engines of every kind; and in the procession were led twenty-seven commanders, either Ætolian and Cephallenian, or belonging to king Antiochus, and left with them. Before he rode into the city, in the Flaminian circus, he presented great numbers of tribunes, præfects, horsemen, centurions, both Romans and allies, with military gifts; to each of the soldiers he distributed out of the booty twenty-five denariuses,43 double to a centurion, triple to a horseman.

6 The time of the election of consuls now approached; and as Marcus Æmilius, to whose lot that business had fallen, could not attend, Caius Flaminius came home to Rome. Spurius Posthumius Albinus and Quintus Marcus Philippus were elected consuls by him. Then were chosen as prætors,—Titus Mænius, Publius Cornelius Sulla, Caius Calpurnius Piso, Marcus Licinius Lucullus, Caius Aurelius Scaurus, and Lucius Quintius Crispinus. At the close of the year, after the magistrates were appointed, on the third day before the nones of March, Cneius Manlius Vulso triumphed over the Gauls inhabiting Asia. The reason of his deferring his triumph so long was, to avoid standing a trial under the Petillian law, during the prætorship of Quintus Terentius Culleo; and the being involved in the ill consequences of the sentence passed on another, that by which Lucius Scipio was condemned; especially as the judges would be more disposed to severity against him than against Scipio, for this reason, because fame had reported, that he, Scipio’s successor, had, by tolerating every description of licentiousness, ruined military discipline, so strictly preserved by his predecessor. Nor were the facts, which were reported to have happened in the province far from the eyes of spectators, the only things that disgraced his character; but still more so, those circumstances which were every day beheld in his soldiers; for by this army returning from Asia was the origin of foreign luxury imported into the city. These men first brought to Rome gilded couches, rich tapestry, with hangings and other works of the loom; and, what were then deemed magnificent furniture, single-footed tables and buffets. At entertainments, likewise, were introduced female players on the harp and timbrel, with buffoons for the diversion of the guests. Their meats also began to be prepared with greater care and cost; while the cook, whom the ancients considered as the meanest of their slaves both in estimation and use, became highly valuable, and what was considered as a servile office began to be considered an art. Nevertheless, those introductions which were then looked on as remarkable were scarcely even the seeds of the future luxury.

7 Cneius Manlius carried in the triumph two hundred golden crowns of twelve pounds’ weight; two hundred and twenty thousand pounds’ weight of silver; two thousand two hundred and three of gold; one hundred and twenty-seven thousand Attic tetradrachms;44 two hundred and fifty thousand cistophoruses;45 sixteen thousand three hundred and twenty golden Philippeans;46 together with abundance of Gallic arms and spoils in chariots. Fifty-two generals of the enemy were led before his car. He distributed to each of his soldiers forty-two denariuses,47 and double that sum to a centurion; to the foot-soldiers double pay, to the horsemen triple. Great numbers of all ranks, whom he had distinguished by gifts, accompanied him. The verses thrown out by the soldiers were of such a kind, that it was quite evident that they were sung to a commander who had been indulgent to them, and courted their affections. It was indeed evident that the triumph was celebrated with a greater degree of favour by the troops, than by the citizens. The friends of Manlius, however, were able to acquire for him the regard of the people also; through whose efforts a decree of the senate was passed, ordering, that “such part of the soldiers’ pay, contributed to the public funds by the people, as was not yet repaid, should be discharged out of that which had been carried in the procession to the treasury.” Accordingly the city prætors, with care and fidelity, paid twenty-five denariuses and a half48 instead of each thousand asses.49 About this time two military tribunes arrived from the two Spains with letters from Caius Atinius and Lucius Manlius, who governed those provinces. From these letters it appeared, that the Celtiberians and Lusitanians were in arms, and ravaging the territories of the allies; the senate, however, deferred all consideration of that business until the new magistrates should come into office. This year, during the celebration of the Roman games which Publius Cornelius Cethegus and Aulus Postumius Albinus exhibited, a pole in the circus, being loosely set in the ground, fell on the statue of Pollentia, and threw it down. The senate moved by such a religious circumstance, voted that one day should be added to the celebration of the games, that two statues should be set up instead of the one, and that one of them, a new statue, should be gilded. The plebeian games were likewise repeated for one day, by the ædiles Caius Sempronius Blæsus and Marcus Furius Luscus.

8 The following year diverted Spurius Postumius Albinus and Quintus Marcius Philippus, from the care of armies, and wars, and provinces, to the punishing of an intestine conpiracy. The prætors cast lots for their provinces, Titus Mænius obtained the city jurisdiction; Marcus Licinius Lucullus, that between citizens and foreigners; Caius Aurelius Scaurus, Sardinia; Publius Cornelius Sulla, Sicily; Lucius Quintius Crispinus, Hither Spain; Caius Calpurnius Piso, Farther Spain. The making inquisition concerning clandestine meetings was decreed to both the consuls. A Greek of mean condition came, first, into Etruria, not with one of the many trades which his nation, of all others the most skilful in the cultivation of the mind and body, has introduced among us, but a low operator in sacrifices, and a soothsayer; nor was he one who, by open religious rites, and by publicly professing his calling and teaching, imbued the minds of his followers with terror, but a priest of secret and nocturnal rites. These mysterious rites were, at first, imparted to a few, but afterwards communicated to great numbers, both men and women. To their religious performances were added the pleasures of wine and feasting, to allure a greater number of proselytes. When wine, lascivious discourse, night, and the intercourse of the sexes had extinguished every sentiment of modesty, then debaucheries of every kind began to be practised, as every person found at hand that sort of enjoyment to which he was disposed by the passion predominant in his nature. Nor were they confined to one species of vice—the promiscuous intercourse of free-born men and women; but from this store-house of villany proceeded false witnesses, counterfeit seals, false evidences, and pretended discoveries. From the same place, too, proceeded poison and secret murders, so that in some cases, even the bodies could not be found for burial. Many of their audacious deeds were brought about by treachery, but most of them by force; it served to conceal the violence, that, on account of the loud shouting, and the noise of drums and cymbals, none of the cries uttered by the persons suffering violation or murder could be heard abroad.

9 The infection of this mischief, like that from the contagion of disease, spread from Etruria to Rome; where, the size of the city affording greater room for such evils, and more means of concealment, cloaked it at first; but information of it was at length brought to the consul, Postumius, principally in the following manner. Publius Æbutius, whose father had held equestrian rank in the army, was left an orphan, and his guardians dying, he was educated under the eye of his mother Duronia, and his stepfather Titus Sempronius Rutilus. Duronia was entirely devoted to her husband; and Sempronius, having managed the guardianship in such a manner that he could not give an account of the property, wished that his ward should be either made away with, or bound to compliance with his will by some strong tie. The Bacchanalian rites were the only way to effect the ruin of the youth. His mother told him, that, “during his sickness, she had made a vow for him, that if he should recover, she would initiate him among the Bacchanalians; that being, through the kindness of the gods, bound by this vow, she wished now to fulfil it; that it was necessary he should preserve chastity for ten days, and on the tenth, after he should have supped and washed himself, she would conduct him into the place of worship.” There was a freedwoman called Hispala Fecenia, a noted courtesan, but deserving of a better lot than the mode of life to which she had been accustomed when very young, and a slave, and by which she had maintained herself since her manumission. As they lived in the same neighbourhood, an intimacy subsisted between her and Æbutius, which was far from being injurious either to the young man’s character or property; for he had been loved and wooed by her unsolicited; and as his friends supplied his wants illiberally, he was supported by the generosity of this woman; nay, to such a length did she go under the influence of her affection, that, on the death of her patron, because she was under the protection of no one, having petitioned the tribunes and prætors for a guardian, when she was making her will, she constituted Æbutius her sole heir.

10 As such pledges of mutual love subsisted, and as neither kept any thing secret from the other, the young man, jokingly bid her not be surprised if he separated himself from her for a few nights; as, “on account of a religious duty, to a vow made for his health, he intended to be initiated among the Bacchanalians.” On hearing this, the woman, greatly alarmed, cried out, “May the gods will more favourably!” affirming that “it would be better, both for him and her, to lose their lives than that he should do such a thing:” she then imprecated curses, vengeance, and destruction, on the head of those who advised him to such a step. The young man, surprised both at her expressions and at the violence of her alarm, bid her refrain from curses, for “it was his mother who ordered him to do so, with the approbation of his stepfather.” “Then,” said she, “your stepfather (for perhaps it is not allowable to censure your mother) is in haste to destroy, by that act, your chastity, your character, your hopes, and your life.” To him, now surprised by such language, and inquiring what was the matter, she said, (after imploring the favour and pardon of the gods and goddesses, if, compelled by her regard for him, she disclosed what ought not to be revealed,) that “when in service, she had gone into that place of worship, as an attendant on her mistress; but that, since she had obtained her liberty, she had never once gone near it: that she knew it to be the receptacle of all kinds of debaucheries; that it was well known that, for two years past, no one older than twenty had been initiated there. When any person was introduced he was delivered as a victim to the priests, who led him away to a place resounding with shouts, the sound of music, and the beating of cymbals and drums, lest his cries, while suffering violation, should be heard abroad.” She then entreated and besought him to put an end to that matter in some way or other; and not to plunge himself into a situation, where he must first, suffer, and afterwards commit, every thing that was abominable. Nor did she quit him until the young man gave her his promise to keep himself clear of those rites.

11 When he came home, and his mother made mention of such things pertaining to the ceremony as were to be performed on this day, and on the several following days, he told her that he would not perform any of them, nor did he intend to be initiated. His stepfather was present at this discourse. Immediately the woman observed, that “he could not deprive himself of the company of Hispala for ten nights; that he was so fascinated by the caresses and baneful influence of that serpent, that he retained no respect for his mother or stepfather, or even the gods themselves.” His mother on one side and his stepfather on the other loading him with reproaches, drove him out of the house, assisted by four slaves. The youth on this repaired to his aunt Æbutia, told her the reason of his being turned out by his mother, and the next day, by her advice, gave information of the affair to the consul Postumius, without any witnesses of the interview. The consul dismissed him, with an order to come again on the third day following. In the mean time, he inquired of his mother-in-law Sulpicia, a woman of respectable character, “whether she knew an old matron called Æbutia, who lived on the Aventine hill?” When she had answered that “she knew her well, and that Æbutia was a woman of virtue, and of the ancient purity of morals”; he said that he required a conference with her, and that a messenger should be sent for her to come. Æbutia, on receiving the message, came to Sulpicia’s house, and the consul, soon after, coming in, as if by accident, introduced a conversation about Æbutius, her brother’s son. The tears of the woman burst forth, and she began to lament the unhappy lot of the youth: “who, after being robbed of his property by persons whom it least of all became, was then residing with her, being driven out of doors by his mother, because, being a good youth, (may the gods be propitious to him,)” he refused to be initiated in ceremonies devoted to lewdness, as report goes.

12 The consul, thinking that he had made sufficient inquiries concerning Æbutius, and that his testimony was unquestionable, having dismissed Æbutia, requested his mother-in-law to send again to the Aventine, and bring from that quarter Hispala, a freedwoman, not unknown in that neighbourhood; for there were some queries which he wished to make of her. Hispala being alarmed because she was sent for by a woman of such high rank and respectable character, and being ignorant of the cause, after that she saw the lictors in the porch, the multitude attending on the consul and the consul himself, was very near fainting. The consul led her into a retired part of the house, and, in the presence of his mother-in-law, told her, that “she need not be uneasy, if she could resolve to speak the truth. She might receive a promise of protection either from Sulpicia, a matron of such dignified character, or from himself. That she ought to tell him, what was accustomed to be done at the Bacchanalia, in the nocturnal orgies in the grove of Stimula. When the woman heard this, such terror and trembling of all her limbs seized her, that for a long time she was unable to speak; but recovering, at length she said, that “when she was very young, and a slave, she had been initiated, together with her mistress; but for several years past, since she had obtained her liberty, she knew nothing of what was done there.” The consul commended her so far, as not having denied that she was initiated, but charged her to explain all the rest with the same sincerity; and told her, affirming that she knew nothing further, that “there would not be the same tenderness or pardon extended to her, if she should be convicted by another person, and one who had made a voluntary confession; that there was such a person, who had heard the whole from her, and had given him a full account of it.”

13 The woman, now thinking without a doubt that it must certainly be Æbutius who had discovered the secret, threw herself at Sulpicia’s feet, and at first began to beseech her, “not to let the private conversation of a freedwoman with her lover be turned not only into a serious business, but even capital charge;” declaring that “she had spoken of such things merely to frighten him, and not because she knew any thing of the kind.” On this Postumius, growing angry, said, “she seemed to imagine that then too she was wrangling with her gallant Æbutius, and not that she was speaking in the house of a most respectable matron, and to a consul.” Sulpicia raised her, terrified, from the ground, and while she encouraged her to speak out, at the same time pacified her son-in-law’s anger. At length she took courage, and, having censured severely the perfidy of Æbutius, because he had made such a return for the extraordinary kindness shown to him in that very instance, she declared that “she stood in great dread of the gods, whose secret mysteries she was to divulge; and in much greater dread of the men implicated, who would tear her asunder with their hands if she became an informer. Therefore, she entreated this favour of Sulpicia, and likewise of the consul, that they would send her away to some place out of Italy, where she might pass the remainder of her life in safety.” The consul desired her to be of good spirits, and said that it should be his care that she might live securely in Rome.

Hispala then gave a full account of the origin of the mysteries. “At first,” she said, “those rites were performed by women. No man used to be admitted. They had three stated days in the year on which persons were initiated among the Bacchanalians, in the day-time. The matrons used to be appointed priestesses, in rotation. Paculla Minia, a Campanian, when priestesss, made an alteration in every particular, as if by the direction of the gods. For she first introduced men, who were her own sons, Minucius and Herrenius, both surnamed Cerrinius; changed the time of celebration, from day to night; and, instead of three days in the year, appointed five days of initiation, in each month. From the time that the rites were thus made common, and men were intermixed with women, and the licentious freedom of the night was added, there was nothing wicked, nothing flagitious, that had not been practised among them. There were more frequent pollution of men, with each other, than with women. If any were less patient in submitting to dishonour, or more averse to the commission of vice, they were sacrificed as victims. To think nothing unlawful, was the grand maxim of their religion. The men, as if bereft of reason, uttered predictions, with frantic contortions of their bodies; the women, in the habit of Bacchantes, with their hair dishevelled, and carrying blazing torches, ran down to the Tiber; where, dipping their torches in the water, they drew them up again with the flame unextinguished, being composed of native sulphur and charcoal. They said that those men were carried off by the gods, whom the machines laid hold of and dragged from their view into secret caves. These were such as refused to take the oath of the society, or to associate in their crimes, or to submit to defilement. Their number was exceedingly great now, almost a second state in themselves, and among them were many men and women of noble families. During the last two years it had been a rule, that no person above the age of twenty should be initiated; for they sought for people of such age as made them more liable to suffer deception and personal abuse.”

14 When she had completed her information, she again fell at the consuls knees, and repeated the same entreaties, that he might send her out of the country. The consul requests his mother-in-law to clear some part of the house, into which Hispala might remove; accordingly, an apartment was assigned her in the upper part of it, of which the stairs, opening into the street, were stopped up, and the entrance made from the inner court. Thither all Fecenia’s effects were immediately removed, and her domestics sent for. Æbutius, also, was ordered to remove to the house of one of the consul’s clients.

When both the informers were by these means in his power, Postumius represented the affair to the senate, laying before them the whole circumstance, in due order; the information given to him at first, and the discoveries gained by his inquiries afterwards. Great consternation seized on the senators; not only on the public account, lest such conspiracies and nightly meetings might be productive of secret treachery and mischief, but, likewise, on account of their own particular families, lest some of their relations might be involved in this infamous affair. The senate voted, however, that thanks should be given to the consul because he had investigated the matter with singular diligence, and without exciting any alarm. They then commit to the consuls the holding an inquiry, out of the common course, concerning the Bacchanals and their nocturnal orgies. They order them to take care that the informers, Æbutius and Fecenia, might suffer no injury on that account; and to invite other informers in the matter, by offering rewards. They ordered that the officials in those rites, whether men or women, should be sought for, not only at Rome, but also throughout all the market towns and places of assembly, and be delivered over to the power of the consuls; and also that proclamation should be made in the city of Rome, and published through all Italy, that “no persons initiated in the Bacchanalian rites should presume to come together or assemble on account of those rites, or to perform any such kind of worship;” and above all, that search should be made for those who had assembled or conspired for personal abuse, or for any other flagitious practices. The senate passed these decrees. The consuls directed the curule ædiles to make strict inquiry after all the priests of those mysteries, and to keep such as they could apprehend in custody until their trial; they at the same time charged the plebeian ædiles to take care that no religious ceremonies should be performed in private. To the capital triumvirs the task was assigned to post watches in proper places of the city, and to use vigilance in preventing any meetings by night. In order likewise to guard against fires, five assistants were joined to the triumvirs, so that each might have the charge of the buildings in his own separate district, on this side the Tiber.

15 After despatching these officers to their several employments, the consuls mounted the rostrum; and, having summoned an assembly of the people, one of the consuls, when he had finished the solemn form of prayer which the magistrates are accustomed to pronounce before they address the people, proceeded thus: “Romans, to no former assembly was this solemn supplication to the gods more suitable or even more necessary: as it serves to remind you, that these are the deities whom your forefathers pointed out as the objects of your worship, veneration, and prayers: and not those which infatuated men’s minds with corrupt and foreign modes of religion, and drove them, as if goaded by the furies, to every lust and every vice. I am at a loss to know what I should conceal, or how far I ought to speak out; for I dread lest, if I leave you ignorant of any particular, I should give room for carelessness, or if I disclose the whole, that I should too much awaken your fears. Whatever I shall say, be assured that it is less than the magnitude and atrociousness of the affair would justify: exertions will be used by us that it may be sufficient to set us properly on our guard. That the Bacchanalian rites have subsisted for some time past in every country in Italy, and are at present performed in many parts of this city also, I am sure you must have been informed, not only by report, but by the nightly noises and horrid yells that resound through the whole city; but still you are ignorant of the nature of that business. Part of you think it is some kind of worship of the gods; others, some excusable sport and amusement, and that, whatever it may be, it concerns but a few. As regards the number, if I tell you that they are many thousands, that you would be immediately terrified to excess is a necessary consequence; unless I further acquaint you who and what sort of persons they are. First, then, a great part of them are women, and this was the source of the evil; the rest are males, but nearly resembling women; actors and pathics in the vilest lewdness; night revellers, driven frantic by wine, noise of instruments, and clamours. The conspiracy, as yet, has no strength; but it has abundant means of acquiring strength, for they are becoming more numerous every day. Your ancestors would not allow that you should ever assemble casually, without some good reason; that is, either when the standard was erected on the Janiculum, and the army led out on occasion of elections; or when the tribunes proclaimed a meeting of the commons, or some of the magistrates summoned you to it. And they judged it necessary, that wherever a multitude was, there should be a lawful governor of that multitude present. Of what kind do you suppose are the meetings of these people? In the first place, held in the night, and in the next, composed promiscuously of men and women. If you knew at what ages the males are initiated, you would feel not only pity but also shame for them. Romans, can you think youths initiated, under such oaths as theirs, are fit to be made soldiers? That arms should be intrusted with wretches brought out of that temple of obscenity? Shall these, contaminated with their own foul debaucheries and those of others, be champions for the chastity of your wives and children?

16 “But the mischief were less, if they were only effeminated by their practices; of that the disgrace would chiefly affect themselves; if they refrained their hands from outrage, and their thoughts from fraud. But never was there in the state an evil of so great magnitude, or one that extended to so many persons or so many acts of wickedness. Whatever deeds of villany have, during late years, been committed through lust; whatever, through fraud; whatever, through violence; they have all, be assured, proceeded from that association alone. They have not yet perpetrated all the crimes for which they combined. The impious assembly at present confines itself to outrages on private citizens; because it has not yet acquired force sufficient to crush the commonwealth: but the evil increases and spreads daily; it is already too great for the private ranks of life to contain it, and aims Us views at the body of the state. Unless you take timely precautions, Romans, their nightly assembly may become as large as this, held in open day, and legally summoned by a consul. Now they one by one dread you collected together in the assembly; presently, when you shall have separated and retired to your several dwellings, in town and country, they will again come together, and will hold a consultation on the means of their own safety, and, at the same time, of your destruction. Thus united, they will cause terror to every one of you. Each of you, therefore, ought to pray that his kindred may have behaved with wisdom and prudence; and if lust, if madness, has dragged any of them into that abyss, to consider such a person as the relation of those with whom he has conspired for every disgraceful and reckless act, and not as one of your own. I am not secure, lest some, even of yourselves, may have erred through mistake; for nothing is more deceptive in appearance than false religion. When the authority of the gods is held out as a pretext to cover vice, fear enters our minds, lest, in punishing the crimes of men, we may violate some divine right connected therewith. Numberless decisions of the pontiffs, decrees of the senate, and even answers of the aruspices, free you from religious scruples of this character. How often in the ages of our fathers was it given in charge to the magistrates, to prohibit the performance of any foreign religious rites; to banish strolling sacrificers and soothsayers from the forum, the circus, and the city; to search for, and burn, books of divination; and to abolish every mode of sacrificing that was not conformable to the Roman practice! For they, completely versed in every divine and human law, maintained, that nothing tended so strongly to the subversion of religion as sacrifice, when we offered it not after the institutions of our forefathers, but after foreign customs. Thus much I thought necessary to mention to you beforehand, that no vain scruple might disturb your minds when you should see us demolishing the places resorted to by the Bacchanalians, and dispersing their impious assemblies. We shall do all these things with the favour and approbation of the gods; who, because they were indignant that their divinity was dishonoured by those people’s lusts and crimes, have drawn forth their proceedings from hidden darkness into the open light; and who have directed them to be exposed, not that they may escape with impunity, but in order that they may be punished and suppressed. The senate have committed to me and my colleague, an inquisition extraordinary concerning that affair. What is requisite to be done by ourselves, in person, we will do with energy. The charge of posting watches through the city, during the night, we have committed to the inferior magistrates; and, for your parts, it is incumbent on you to execute vigorously whatever duties are assigned you, and in the several places where each will be placed, to perform whatever orders you shall receive, and to use your best endeavours that no danger or tumult may arise from the treachery of the party involved in the guilt.”

17 They then ordered the decrees of the senate to be read, and published a reward for any discoverer who should bring any of the guilty before them, or give information against any of the absent, adding, that “if any person accused should fly”, they would limit a certain day upon which, if he did not answer when summoned, he would be condemned in his absence; and if any one should be charged who was out of Italy, they would allow him a longer time, if he should wish to come and make his defence.” They then issued an edict, that “no person whatever should presume to buy or sell any thing for the purpose of leaving the country; or to receive or conceal, or by any means aid the fugitives.” On the assembly being dismissed, great terror spread throughout the city; nor was it confined merely within the walls, or to the Roman territory, for every where throughout the whole of Italy alarm began to be felt, when the letters from the guest-friends were received, concerning the decree of the senate, and what passed in the assembly, and the edict of the consuls. During the night, which succeeded the day in which the affair was made public, great numbers, attempting to fly, were seized, and brought back by the triumvirs, who had posted guards at all the gates; and informations were lodged against many, some of whom, both men and women, put themselves to death. Above seven thousand men and women are said to have taken the oath of the association. But it appeared that the heads of the conspiracy were the two Catinii, Marcus and Caius, Roman plebeians; Lucius Opiturnius, a Faliscian; and Minius Cerrinius, a Campanian: that from these proceeded all their criminal practices, and that these, were the chief priests and founders of the sect. Care was taken that they should be apprehended as soon as possible. They were brought before the consuls, and, confessing their guilt, caused no delay to the ends of justice.

18 But so great were the numbers that fled from the city, that because the lawsuits and property of many persons were going to ruin, the prætors, Titus Mænius and Marcus Licinius, were obliged, under the direction of the senate, to adjourn their courts for thirty days, until the inquiries should be finished by the consuls. The same deserted state of the law-courts, since the persons, against whom charges were brought, did not appear to answer, nor could be found in Rome, necessitated the consuls to make a circuit of the country towns, and there to make their inquisitions and hold the trials. Those who, as it appeared, had been only initiated, and had made after the priest, and in the most solemn form, the prescribed imprecations, in which the accursed conspiracy for the perpetration of every crime and lust was contained, but who had not themselves committed, or compelled others to commit, any of those acts to which they were bound by the oath,—all such they left in prison. But those who had forcibly committed personal defilements or murders, or were stained with the guilt of false evidence, counterfeit seals, forged wills, or other frauds, all these they punished with death. A greater number were executed than thrown into prison; indeed, the multitude of men and women who suffered in both ways, was very considerable. The consuls delivered the women, who were condemned, to their relations, or to those under whose guardianship they were, that they might inflict the punishment in private; but if there did not appear any proper person of the kind to execute the sentence, the punishment was inflicted in public. A charge was then given to demolish all the places where the Bacchanalians had held their meetings; first, in Rome, and then throughout all Italy; excepting those wherein should be found some ancient altar, or consecrated statue. With regard to the future, the senate passed a decree, “that no Bacchanalian rites should be celebrated in Rome or in Italy:” and ordering that, “in case any person should believe some such kind of worship incumbent on him, and necessary; and that he could not, without offence to religion, and incurring guilt, omit it, he should represent this to the city prætor, and the prætor should lay the business before the senate. If permission were granted by the senate, when not less than one hundred members were present, then he might perform those rites, provided that no more than five persons should be present at the sacrifice, and that they should have no common stock of money, nor any president of the ceremonies, nor priest.”

19 Another decree connected with this was then made, on a motion of the consul, Quintus Marcius, that “the business respecting the persons who had served the consuls as informers should be proposed to the senate in its original form, when Spurius Postumius should have finished his inquiries, and returned to Rome.” They voted that Minius Cerrinius, the Campanian, should be sent to Ardea, to be kept in custody there; and that a caution should be given to the magistrates of that city, to guard him with more than ordinary care, so as to prevent not only his escaping, but his having an opportunity of committing suicide. Spurius Postumius some time after came to Rome, and on his proposing the question, concerning the reward to be given to Publius Æbutius and Hispala Fecenia, because the Bacchanalian ceremonies were discovered by their exertions, the senate passed a vote, that “the city quæstors should give to each of them, out of the public treasury, one hundred thousand asses;50 and that the consuls should desire the plebeian tribunes to propose to the commons as soon as convenient, that the campaigns of Publius Æbutius should be considered as served, that he should not become a soldier against his wishes, nor should any censor assign him a horse51 at the public charge.” They voted also, that “Hispala Fecenia should enjoy the privileges of alienating her property by gift or deed; of marrying out of her rank, and of choosing a guardian, as if a husband had conferred them by will; that she should be at liberty to wed a man of honourable birth, and that there should be no disgrace or ignominy to him who should marry her; and that the consuls and prætors then in office, and their successors, should take care that no injury should be offered to that woman, and that she might live in safety. That the senate wished, and thought proper, that all these things should be so ordered.”—All these particulars were proposed to the commons, and executed, according to the vote of the senate; and full permission was given to the consuls to determine respecting the impunity and rewards of the other informers.

20 Quintus Marcius, having completed the inquiries in his district, prepared at length to proceed into the province of Liguria, for the service of which he received a supply of three thousand Roman foot and one hundred and fifty horse, with five thousand Latin foot and two hundred horse. The same province, and the same numbers of horse and foot, had been voted to his colleague, and they received the armies which, during the preceding year, the consuls, Caius Flaminius and Marcus Æmilius, had commanded. They were also ordered, by a decree of the senate, to raise two new legions, and they demanded from the allies and Latins twenty thousand foot and one thousand three hundred horse; besides, they levied three thousand Roman foot and two hundred horse. It was resolved that all this army, except the legions, should be led to reinforce the army in Spain. The consuls, therefore, while they themselves were engaged in the inquisitions, appointed Titus Mænius to hold the levy. When the trials were finished, Quintus Marcius first marched against the Apuan Ligurians. While he pursued these into very remote fastnesses, which had always served them as lurking-places and receptacles, he was surrounded in a disadvantageous position, a narrow defile which the enemy had previously seized. Here four thousand soldiers fell, and three standards of the second legion, with eleven ensigns of the Latin allies, were taken; abundance of arms were likewise lost, which were thrown away by the men in every direction, because they impeded their flight through the woody paths. The Ligurians ceased to pursue, sooner than the Romans to fly. As soon as the consul had effected his escape out of the enemy’s territories, he disbanded the troops, in the country of their friends, in order that the greatness of the loss sustained might not appear. But he could not obliterate all memorial of his misconduct; for the pass, from which the Ligurians put him to flight, has been called the Marcian pass.

21 A little before this intelligence from the war in Liguria was made public, a letter from Spain was read to them, which brought joy mingled with grief. Caius Atinius, who, two years before, had gone to that province in quality of prætor, fought in the territory of Asta a pitched battle with the Lusitanians. About six thousand of the enemy were killed, the rest routed, driven from the field, and their camp taken. He then led his legions to attack the town of Asta, which he took with little more trouble than he met at the camp; but, having been wounded whilst he was approaching the walls too incautiously, he died in a few days from the effects of the wound. When the letter was read, acquainting them with the proprætor’s death, the senate voted, that a courier should be sent to overtake the prætor, Caius Calpurnius, at the port of Luna, and inform him, that the senate thought proper that he should hasten his journey lest the province should be without a governor. The person who was sent reached Luna on the fourth day, but Calpurnius had set out some days before. In Hither Spain, Lucius Manlius Acidinus, who had come into that province at the same time when Caius Atinius came into his, fought a battle with the Celtiberians. They quitted the field, the victory being undecided with the exception of this, that the Celtiberians removed their camp from that quarter on the following night: permission was thus afforded to the Romans to bury their dead, and collect the spoils. In a few days after, the Celtiberians, having gathered a large army, attacked the Romans, near the town of Calaguris. Nothing is recorded respecting the cause that rendered them weaker after their numbers were increased, but they were defeated in the battle; twelve thousand of their men were killed, more than two thousand taken, and the Roman army got possession of their camp, and had not a successor, by his arrival, checked the career of the conqueror, the Celtiberians would have been completely subdued. Both the new prætors drew off their armies into winter quarters.

22 During the time in which this intelligence was announced from Spain, the games called Taurilia52 were celebrated, during two days, on a religious account. Then Marcus Fulvius exhibited games, which he had vowed in the Ætolian war, and which lasted ten days. Many artists, out of respect to him, came from Greece on the occasion; and now, for the first time, the Romans had an opportunity of seeing contests of wrestlers; they were also presented with a hunt of lions and panthers; the games were celebrated with almost the variety and abundance of the present age. The nine days’ solemnity succeeded, because showers of stones had fallen, for three days, in Picenum; and fires from heaven were said to have arisen in various places, and singed the clothes of many persons by slight flashes. By order of the pontiffs, a supplication, of one day’s continuance, was added because the temple of Ops, in the Capitol, was struck by lightning. The consuls sacrificed victims of the larger kinds, and purified the city. At the same time, an account was brought from Umbria, of a hermaphrodite, twelve years old, being found there. The consuls wishing to get rid of the prodigy, as it was a fearful omen, ordered that it should be removed instantly out of the Roman territory, and put to death. During this year, a body of Transalpine Gauls came into Venetia, without committing depredation or hostility, and pitched on a spot for building a town, not far from that where Aquileia now stands. Ambassadors were sent from Rome, over the Alps, on this business, and to them an answer was given that “they had not emigrated by the authority of their state, nor did their countrymen know what they were doing in Italy.” About this time Lucius Scipio celebrated games, which he said he had vowed during the war with Antiochus; they lasted ten days, and the money was contributed for the purpose by the kings and states of Asia. Valerius Antias asserts, that, after his condemnation, and the sale of his effects, he was sent as ambassador into Asia, to adjust disputes between the kings Antiochus and Eumenes; that there the money was contributed for him, and actors collected through Asia: and that after his embassy, the subject of those games (of which he had made no mention after the war, in which he asserted that they had been vowed) was at length introduced in the senate-house.

23 As the year was now drawing to a conclusion, Quintus Marcius, then abroad, was soon to go out of office. Spurius Postumius, after having conducted the inquisitions with the utmost care and propriety, held the elections. Appius Claudius Pulcher and Marcus Sempronius Tuditanus were chosen consuls. Next day, Publius Cornelius Cethegus, Aulus Postumius Albinus, Caius Afranius Stellio, Caius Atilius Serranus Lucius Postumius Tempsanus, and Marcus Claudius Marcellus were elected prætors. Towards the close of the year, because the consul Spurius Postumius reported that in travelling along the coasts of Italy, for the purpose of holding the inquisitions, he had found two colonies deserted, Sipontum on the upper sea, and Buxentum on the lower; in pursuance of a decree of the senate, Lucius Scribonus Libo, Marcus Tuccius, and Cneius Bebius Tamphilus, were appointed commissioners for conducting colonies thither, by Titus Mænius, city prætor. The war with king Perseus and the Macedonians, which was impending, has not derived its origin from what most persons imagine, nor from Perseus himself. The preliminary steps were taken by Philip, and, if he had lived some time longer, he would himself have carried on that war. When the conditions of peace were imposed on him, when he was vanquished, one particular chagrined him more than all the rest; this was because the liberty of wreaking his vengeance on such of the Macedonians as had revolted from him in the course of the war, was taken from him by the senate; although, because Quintius had left that point undetermined, when lie was adjusting the articles of pacification, he had not despaired of the possibility of obtaining it. Afterwards, on the defeat of Antiochus at Thermopylæ, the armies being separated at the time when the consul Acilius carried on the siege of Heraclea, and Philip besieged Lamia, because he was ordered to retire from the walls of Lamia, as soon as Heraclea was taken, and the town was surrendered to the Romans, he was grievously offended with this circumstance. The consul, indeed, in some measure, soothed his resentment; for, when he was hastening to Naupactum, where the Ætolians had re-assembled after their flight, he gave Philip permission to make war on Amynander and Athamania; and to annex to his dominions the cities which the Ætolians had taken from the Thessalians. Without much difficulty, he expelled Amynander from Athamania, and got possession of several cities. He also reduced under his dominion the city of Demetrias, a place of great strength, and convenient in every respect; with the whole of the Magnesian state. Afterwards, finding that several cities in Thrace, through an abuse of the liberty which they had lately acquired, and to which they had not been accustomed, were distracted by dissensions among their leading men, he, by uniting himself to the parties that were worsted in their disputes with their countrymen, made himself master of them all.

24 By these means the king’s wrath against the Romans was appeased for the present; but he never abandoned the project of collecting such a force during peace, as would enable him to maintain a war, whenever the fortunate occasion should be offered. He augmented the revenues of his kingdom, not only out of the produce of the lands and the port duties, but also he worked the mines, both the old ones which had been neglected, and new ones which he opened in many places. Then, (in order to restore the former degree of population, which had been diminished by the calamities of war,) he not only caused an increase in the offspring of that generation, by compelling every one to marry and rear children; but he transplanted a great multitude of Thracians into Macedonia, and, during a long suspension of arms, he employed the utmost assiduity in augmenting, by every possible means, the strength of his kingdom. Causes afterward occurred, which served to revive his animosity against the Romans. Complaints made by the Thessalians and Perrhæbians, of his holding possession of their towns, and, by ambassadors from king Eumenes, of his having forcibly seized the cities of Thrace, and transplanted great numbers of their people into Macedonia, had been received in such a manner as plainly evinced that they were not thought unworthy of attention. What made the greatest impression on the senate, was, their having been informed, that Philip aimed at the possession of Ænus and Maronea; as to the Thessalians, they regarded them less. Ambassadors came, likewise, from the Athamanians, complaining not of the loss of a part of their territory, nor of encroachment on their frontier,—but that all Athamania had been brought under the dominion and jurisdiction of the king. Exiles from Maronea also appeared, who had been expelled by the king’s troops, for having supported the cause of liberty; who reported, that not only Maronea, but Ænus too, was held in subjection by him. Ambassadors came from Philip to defend his conduct, who asserted, that, nothing bad been done without permission from the Roman commanders. That “the states of the Thessalians, Perrhæbians, and Magnesians, and the nation of the Athamanians, with Amynander, had all been engaged in the same cause with the Ætolians. That after the expulsion of king Antiochus, the consul, being himself busy in reducing the towns of Ætolia, had named Philip to subdue those states, and they remained subject to him in consequence of their being conquered by his arms.” The senate, too, that they might not make any decision concerning the king in his absence, sent Quintus Cascilius Metellus, Marcus Bæebius Tamphilus, and Tiberius Sempronius, ambassadors to adjust those disputes. Previous to their arrival, a convention of all those states who had disputes with the king, was summoned to meet at Tempe in Thessaly.

25 When all were seated there, (the Roman ambassadors in the character of arbitrators, the Thessalians, Perrhæbians, and Athamanians professedly as accusers, and Philip as defendant, to hear the accusations brought against him,) those who were the heads of the embassies, according to their several tempers, their favour, or their hatred towards the king, spoke, some with acrimony, others with mildness. Philippopolis, Trica, Phaloria, Eurymenæ, and the other towns in their neighbourhood, became the subject of dispute. The point in controversy was, whether these towns were the property of the Thessalians, when they were forcibly taken from them, and held by the Ætolians, (for from these it was acknowledged that Philip had received them,) or whether they were originally belonging to the Ætolians: Acilius having granted them to the king, on the condition that “they had been the property of the Ætolians; and if they had sided with the Ætolians of their own free will, and not compelled by violence and arms.” The question in regard to the towns of the Perrhæbians and Magnesians turned on the same points; for the Ætolians, by holding possession of them occasionally, had confused the rights of all. To these particulars, which were matter of discussion, the complaints of the Thessalians were added, that “if these towns were now restored to them, they would come into their hands in a state of desolation, and depopulated; for besides the loss of inhabitants through the casualties of war, Philip had carried away five hundred of their young men of the first rank into Macedonia, and abused their labour by employing them in servile offices; and had taken pains to render useless whatever he should be compelled to restore to the Thessalians. That Thebes in Phthiotis was the only sea-port they had, which formerly produced much profit and advantage to the inhabitants of Thessaly; but that Philip, having collected there a number of ships of burthen, made them steer their course past Thebes to Demetrias, and turned thither the whole commerce by sea. That he did not now scruple to offer violence, even to ambassadors, who, by the law of nations, are every where held inviolable, but had laid an ambush for theirs who were going to Titus Quintius, that the Thessalians were in consequence seized with such dread, that not one of them, even in their own states, or in the general assemblies of the nation, ventured to open his lips. For the Romans, the defenders of their liberty, were far distant; and a severe master close at their side, debarring them from using the kindness of the Romans. If speech were not free, what else could be said to be so: at present, through confidence in the protection of the ambassadors, they uttered their groans rather than words; but, unless the Romans would take some precautions that both the fears of the Greeks bordering on Macedonia and the arrogance of Philip should be abated, his having been conquered, and their being set at liberty, would prove utterly fruitless. Like a restive, unmanageable horse, he required to be cheeked with a strong bridle.” These bitter expressions were used by the last speakers among them; those who spoke before having endeavoured by mildness to mitigate his resentment; requesting of him “that he should pardon persons pleading in defence of their liberty; that he should, laying aside the harshness of a master, generally display himself an ally and friend; that he should imitate the Roman people, who wished to unite their allies to them by the ties of affection, rather than of fear.” When the Thessalians had finished, the Perrhæbians pleaded that Gonnocondylos, to which Philip had given the name of Olympias, belonged to Perrhæbia, and ought to be restored to them; and the same demand was made with respect to Malœa, and Ericinium. The Athamanians claimed a restoration of liberty, and the forts Athenæus and Pœtneus.

26 Philip began his discourse also with complaints, that he might maintain the appearance of an accuser rather than of a defendant. He complained that “the Thessalians had taken by force of arms, Menelais in Dolopia, a town belonging to his dominions; likewise, Petra in Pieria was taken by the same Thessalians and the Perrhæbians; that they had reduced under their government Xyniæ, which unquestionably belonged to Ætolia; and that Parachelois, which was under Athamania, was, without any just claim, subjected to the jurisdiction of the Thessalians. As to the charges brought against him, concerning an ambush laid for ambassadors, and of sea-ports being frequented or deserted, the one was quite ridiculous, (as if he were to account for what harbours merchants or sailors should frequent,) and the other the constant tenor of his conduct rejected with scorn. During a number of years, ambassadors had never ceased carrying complaints against him, sometimes to the Roman generals, at others to Rome to the senate. Which of them had ever been injured, even in words? They said, indeed, that an ambush was once laid for some who were going to Quintius, but they are silent in regard to consequences. Such were the accusations of men searching for false imputations, because they had no truth on their side.” He said, that “the Thessalians, insolently and wantonly, abused the indulgence of the Roman people, too greedily drinking, as it were, strong draughts of liberty after a long thirst; and thus, in the manner of slaves lately set free, made trial of their voices and tongues, and prided themselves in invectives and railings against their masters.” Then, hurried on by passion, he added, that “his sun had not set yet;” which expression, not only the Thessalians, but the Romans also, took as a menace to themselves; and when a murmur of displeasure followed his words, and was at length hushed, he replied to the ambassadors of the Perrhæbians and Athamanians, “that the cases of the cities of which they had spoken were the same. The consul Acilius and the Romans gave them to him, when they were the property of enemies. If the donors chose to resume what they had given, he knew he must submit, but in that case they would, for the gratification of inconstant and unprofitable allies, do injury to a more useful and more faithful friend. For no favour produced less permanent gratitude than the gift of liberty, especially among people who were ready to corrupt it by using it badly.” After examining the merits of the cause, the ambassadors pronounced their judgment, that “the Macedonian garrisons should be withdrawn from the cities in question, and that the kingdom of Macedonia should be limited by its ancient boundaries. That with regard to the injuries which both parties complained of being done to them, it would be requisite to institute some compact for the attainment of justice, in order to decide the controversies between those states and the Macedonians.”

27 The king being grievously offended, the ambassadors proceeded thence to Thessalonica, to give a hearing to the business concerning the cities of Thrace. Here the ambassadors of Eumenes said, that “if the Romans wished that Ænus and Maronea should be independent, the king felt ashamed to say more, than to recommend it to them to leave those people free in fact, and not in words; nor to suffer their kindness to be intercepted by another. But if they had not so much concern for the states situated in Thrace, it was much more reasonable that Eumenes should possess, as the rewards of war, the places which had been under the dominion of Antiochus, than Philip; and that, either on account of his father Attalus’s deserts in the war, waged by the Roman people against Philip himself, or on account of his own, because he had shared all the toils and dangers on land and sea, during the war with Antiochus. Besides, he had the previous judgment of the ten ambassadors to that purpose; who, when they granted the Chersonesus and Lysimachia, surely yielded at the same time Ænus and Maronea; which, even from the proximity of situation, were but a sort of appendage to the larger gift. For, as to Philip, by what merits towards the Roman people, or what right of dominion, had he put garrisons into those places, which were at so great a distance from the borders of Macedonia? They then desired that the Romans would order the Maronites to be called, from whom they would receive more positive information of the condition of those cities.” The Maronite ambassadors being called in, declared, that “not in one spot of the city, as in other garrisoned towns, but in every quarter of it, there was a party of the king’s troops, and that Maronea was full of Macedonians; in consequence of which, the favourites of the king domineered over the rest; they alone had liberty of speaking, either in the senate or assemblies of the people. All posts of eminence they assumed to themselves, or conferred on whom they thought proper. That the most deserving persons, who had a regard for liberty and for the laws, were either expelled their country, and in exile, or remained in silence, dishonoured and subjected to men of the worst description.” They added also a few words respecting their right to the frontier places, affirming, that “Quintus Fabius Labeo, when he was in that country, had fixed as a boundary line to Philip, the old royal road leading to Paroreia, in Thrace, which in no place leads towards the sea; and that Philip afterwards drew a new one in another direction, in order to include the cities and lands of the Maronites.”

28 Philip, in his reply to these charges, took quite another course than when lately answering the Thessalians and Perrhæbians, and said:—“My dispute is not now with the Maronites, or with Eumenes, but with you yourselves, Romans, from whom I have long ago seen that I can obtain no justice. The cities of Macedonia, which had revolted from me during a suspension of arms, I thought should in justice be restored to me; not that they would have made any great accession to my dominions, because the towns are small in themselves, and besides, are situated on the extremities of the frontiers; but because the example was of great consequence towards retaining the rest of the Macedonians in their allegiance. This was refused me. In the Ætolian war, I was ordered by the consul, Manius Acilius, to lay siege to Lamia, and when I had there undergone a long course of fatigue in fighting and constructing works, and was on the point of mounting the walls, the consul recalled me from the city when almost in my possession, and compelled me to draw off my troops from it. As some consolation for this hard treatment, I received permission to seize on some forts, rather than cities, of Thessaly, Perrhæbia, and Athamania. These also you yourselves, Quintus Cæcilius, have taken from me a few days ago. The ambassadors of Eumenes, just now, took for granted, it seems, that Eumenes would with more justice than I possess whatever belonged to Antiochus. I judge the matter to be widely different. For Eumenes could not have remained on his throne, unless the Romans had engaged in the war, and not unless they had conquered. Therefore he has received a favour from you, not you from him; whereas, so far were any part of my dominions from being in danger, that, when Antiochus voluntarily offered to purchase my alliance, with three thousand talents and fifty decked ships, guaranteeing to me all the cities of Greece of which I had heretofore been in possession, I rejected that offer. I avowed myself his enemy, even before Manius Acilius brought over an army into Greece. In conjunction with that consul, I supported whatever share of the war he gave me in charge. To the succeeding consul, Lucius Scipio, when he proposed leading his army by land to the Hellespont, I not only gave a passage through my dominions, but also made roads for him, built bridges, supplied him with provisions, and escorted him, not only through Macedon, but likewise through Thrace; where, besides other business, I had to procure peace from the barbarians. In requital of this zeal, not to call it merit, towards you, whether would it be proper in you, Romans, to enlarge and increase my dominions by acts of generosity, or to ravish from me what I possessed, either in my own right or through your kindness. The cities of Macedon, which you acknowledge to have belonged to my kingdom, are not restored. Eumenes comes to plunder me as he would Antiochus, and, if you choose to believe him, covers his most shameless chicanery under the decree of the ten ambassadors, by which principally he can be refuted and convicted. For is it not expressly and plainly set down in that writing, that the Chersonese and Lysimachia are granted to Eumenes; and where are Ænus, Maronea, and the cities of Thrace annexed to it in writing? That which he did not dare even to ask from them, shall he obtain from you, as if under their grant? It is a matter of importance in what light you choose to consider me. If you are resolved to persecute me as an enemy and foe, proceed to act as you have begun: but, if you have any consideration for me as a king in friendship and alliance with you, I must entreat you not to judge me deserving of such injurious treatment.”

29 The king’s discourse made a considerable impression on the ambassadors; they therefore left the matter in suspense, by this indecisive resolution, that “if the cities in question were granted to Eumenes by the decree of the ten ambassadors, they would make no alteration. If Philip subdued them in war, he should, by the laws of war, hold them as the prize of victory. If neither were the case, then their judgment was, that the decision should be referred to the senate; and in order that all things might remain in their original state, the garrisons in those cities should be withdrawn.” These causes, principally, alienated the regard of Philip from the Romans, so that the war naturally seems not set on foot by his son Perseus for any fresh causes, but rather for these causes, bequeathed by the father to the son. At Rome there was hitherto no suspicion of a war with Macedonia. Lucius Manlius, the proconsul, had by this time come home from Spain. On his demanding a triumph from the senate assembled in the temple of Bellona, the greatness of his exploits justified the demand, but precedent opposed it; for it was a rule, established by ancient practice, that no commander, who had not brought home his troops, should triumph, unless he had delivered up the province to his successor, in a state of thorough subjection and tranquillity. An honour of a middling grade was conferred on Manlius, namely, that he should enter the city in ovation. He carried in the procession fifty-two golden crowns, one hundred and twenty-two pounds’ weight of gold, with sixteen thousand three hundred pounds of silver; and announced in the senate, that his quæstor, Quintus Fabius, was bringing ten thousand pounds’ weight of silver, and eighty of gold, and that he would carry it likewise to the treasury. During that year there was a formidable insurrection of the slaves in Apulia. Lucius Postumius, prætor, governed the province of Tarentum, and conducted with much severity inquiries into a conspiracy of peasants, who had infested the roads and public pastures with robberies. Of these, he passed sentence on no less than seven thousand; many of whom made their escape, and on many punishment was inflicted. The consuls, after being long detained in the city by the levies, set out at length for their provinces.

30 This year, Caius Calpurnius and Lucius Quintius, the two prætors in Spain, drew their troops out of winter quarters, at the commencement of spring, and making a junction of them in Bæturia, for they were resolved to proceed in the operations of the campaign with united zeal and harmony, advanced into Carpetania, where the enemy’s camp lay. At a small distance from the towns of Hippo and Toletum, a fight began between the foraging parties, to whom when reinforcements came from both armies from the camps, the entire armies were by degrees drawn out into the field. In this irregular kind of battle, the advantage of the ground and the manner of fighting were in favour of the enemy. The two Roman armies were routed, and driven into their camp; but the enemy did not pursue the dismayed Romans. The Roman prætors, lest their camp should be attacked next day, giving the signal in silence, led away their army in the dead of the following night. At the first dawn, the Spaniards came up to the rampart in battle array, and entered the camp which, beyond their expectation, was deserted, and made prey of whatever had in the hurry and confusion been first left behind; and then, returning to their own station, remained, for a few days, at rest within their camp. Of the Romans and allies, there were killed in the battle and the pursuit, five thousand men, out of whose spoils the enemy furnished themselves with arms. They then advanced to the river Tagus. All the intermediate time the Roman prætors employed in collecting aid from the allied Spanish states, and reviving the spirits of their men after the dismay occasioned by their defeat. When their strength appeared adequate, and the soldiers too called for their enemy, to blot out in vengeance their former disgrace, they pitched their camp at the distance of twelve miles from the river Tagus; but decamping thence at the third watch, and marching with their army in a square, reached the bank of the river at break of day. The enemy’s camp was on a hill at the other side of the river. They immediately led their army across the river where it was fordable in two places, Calpurnius having the command of the right, Quintius of the left. The enemy continued motionless, since they were surprised at the sudden arrival of the Romans, and busy in consultations, when they might have excited confusion among the troops during their hurry in passing the river. In the mean time the Romans brought over all their baggage, and threw it together in a heap, and seeing the enemy, at length, begin to move, and having no time for fortifying a camp, they formed their line of battle. In the centre were placed the fifth legion, serving under Calpurnius, and the eighth, under Quintius, which composed the principal strength of their army. All the way to the enemy’s camp they had an open plain, free from all danger of ambush.

31 When the Spaniards saw the two bodies of Romans, on their side of the river, they rushed suddenly out of the camp, and advanced to battle at full speed, that they might fall upon them before they should unite and put themselves in order. The fight, in the beginning, was urged with great fury; the Spaniards being elated by their late success, and the Roman soldiery inflamed to rage, by a discomfiture to which they were unaccustomed. The centre, consisting of two legions of the greatest bravery, fought with the utmost vigour. The enemy, seeing that they could not be forced from their ground by any other means, resolved to make their attack in form of a wedge; and this body, becoming continually more numerous and more compact, pressed hard on them. When the prætor, Calpurnius, perceived that his line was distressed in this part, he hastily despatched two lieutenants-general, Titus Quintilius Varus and Lucius Juventius Thalna, to animate the courage of the two legions, who were ordered to say, that “all hopes of victory, and of retaining possession of Spain, depended entirely on them. If they should give ground, not a man in that whole army would ever see Italy, no, nor even the farther bank of the Tagus.” He himself, at the head of the cavalry of the two legions, making a small circuit, charged the flank of the wedge, which was pressing upon his centre. Quintius, likewise, with his cavalry, charged the enemy on the other flank; but the horsemen of Calpurnius fought with far greater spirit, while the prætor himself exceeded all others. He was the first that struck down one of the enemy, and he pushed in among the troops in the centre, in such a manner that it was hard to distinguish to which side he belonged. Thus the horse were animated by the extraordinary valour of the prætor, and the infantry by that of the horse. Shame, because they saw the prætor in the midst of the enemy’s weapons, inspired the foremost centurions. They all, therefore, earnestly pressed the standard-bearers, urging them to carry forward the ensigns, and the soldiers to follow with speed. All set up the shout anew, and made an attack as violent as if it were made from the higher ground. Like a flood, therefore, they broke and bore down the enemy in dismay, nor could they be resisted, pouring in one after another, The cavalry pursued the fugitives to their camp, and mixing with the crowd of the runaways, penetrated within the rampart. Here the fight was renewed by the troops left to guard the camp, and the Roman horsemen were obliged to dismount. While they were engaged, the fifth legion came up, and afterwards the rest of the troops joined them with all the speed they could. The Spaniards were cut to pieces in all parts of the camp; not more than four thousand men made their escape. Of these about three thousand, who kept their arms, took possession of a mountain in the neighbourhood, and one thousand, who were in general but half armed, dispersed through the country. This army of the enemy had contained thirty-five thousand men, of whom that very small number survived the battle. One hundred and thirty-three standards were taken. Of the Romans and allies, a few more than six hundred fell; and of the provincial auxiliaries, about one hundred and fifty. The loss of five military tribunes, and a few Roman horsemen, served principally to give the victory the appearance of being a bloody one. The army lodged in the enemy’s camp, as they had not had time to fortify one of their own. Next day the cavalry was praised by Calpurnius in an assembly, and presented with trappings; and he declared publicly, that through their bravery, principally, the enemy had been defeated, and their camp stormed and taken. Quinctius, the other prætor, presented his cavalry also with chains and clasps. A great many centurions also, of both the armies, received gratuities, especially those who were in the centre.

32 The consuls, as soon as they had finished the levies, and other business which required to be done at Rome, led the army into their province, Liguria. Sempronius marched from Pisæ against the Apuan Ligurians, and by ravaging their lands, and by burning their villages and forts, he opened that difficult country, as far as the river Macra and the harbour of Luna. The enemy took possession of a mountain which had been the ancient retreat of their forefathers; but the difficulty of access being overcome, they were dislodged by force. Appius Claudius, against the Ingaunian tribe, rivalled in several successful battles the good fortune and bravery of his colleague. He also stormed six of their towns, in which he made many thousand prisoners, beheading forty-three of the chief promoters of the war. The time of the elections now drew near; but Claudius came home to Rome sooner than Sempronius, to whom the business of presiding at the elections had been allotted, because his brother, Publius Claudius, stood candidate for the consulship. His competitors, of patrician rank, were Lucius Æmilius, Quintus Fabius Labeo, and Servius Sulpicius Galba, who had been candidates before, and now renewed their suit, for an honour which was the more justly due to them, owing to their repulses, as it had been refused before. Besides, as it was not lawful that more than one patrician should be appointed, there was a closer contest between the four candidates. The plebeian candidates likewise were men in high esteem. Lucius Porcius, Quintus Terentius Culleo, and Cneius Bæbius Tamphilus; these two had been disappointed, but had cherished hopes of attaining the honour at some future time. Claudius was the only new candidate. Quintus Fabius Labeo and Lucius Porcius Licinus were marked out by public opinion as the successful persons; but Claudius, the consul, unattended by his lictors, canvassed with his brother through all parts of the forum, notwithstanding the loud remonstrances of his opponents and the greater part of the senate, who insisted that “he ought to remember that he was consul of the Roman people, rather than the brother of Publius Claudius. Why should he not rather sit on his tribunal, content himself with presiding, and remain a silent spectator of the business.” Yet he could not be restrained from a display of his immoderate zeal. The election was, also, several times interrupted by contentions between the plebeian tribunes; some of whom struggled hard in opposition to the consul, and others in support of the cause which he favoured. At last, Appius conquered all opposition, so as to set aside Fabius, and bring in his brother. Thus was Publius Claudius Pulcher elected consul, beyond his own, and indeed the general expectation. Lucius Porcius Licinus carried his election also, because the contest among the plebeian candidates was conducted with a decent degree of warmth, and not with the violence of Claudius. Then was held the election of prætors. Caius Decimius Flavus, Publius Sempronius Longus, Publius Cornelius Cethegus, Quintus Nævius Matho, Caius Sempronius Blæsus, and Aulus Terentius Varro, were made prætors. Such were the occurrences at home and abroad of this year, during the consulate of Appius Claudius and Marcus Sempronius.

33 In the beginning of the following year, Publius Claudius and Lucius Porcius, the consuls, when Quintus Cæcilius, Marcus Bæebius, and Tiberius Sempronius, who had been sent to adjust the matters in dispute between the kings, Philip and Eumenes, and the states of the Thessalians, had given an account of their embassy, introduced to the senate ambassadors from those kings and states. On this occasion, the same arguments were repeated by all parties, which had been urged before the ambassadors in Greece. The senate then decreed that a new embassy, the principal man of which was Appius Claudius, should be sent into Macedonia and Greece, to know whether the several states had been restored to the Rhodians, Thessalians, and Perrhæbians. Instructions were given to the same, that the garrisons should be withdrawn, from Ænus and Maronea, and that all the sea-coast of Thrace should be made free and independent of Philip and the Macedonians. They were ordered also to go to Peloponnesus, from which the former ambassadors had departed, leaving affairs in a more unsettled state than they would have been if they had not come thither. For besides other matters, they were even sent away without an answer by the Achæan council, nor was an audience of that body granted to them at their request. When Quintus Cæcilius made a heavy complaint on this subject, and at the same time the Lacedæmonians deplored the demolition of their walls, the carrying off their poor people into Achaia, the selling of them there, and the depriving them of the laws of Lycurgus, by which the nation had been supported unto that time, the Achaians laboured principally to excuse their having refused a meeting of the council by quoting a law which enacted, that a council should not be summoned, except on business of peace or war, or when ambassadors should come from the senate with letters or written instructions. That this kind of excuse should not be made in future, the senate observed to them, that they ought to take care that Roman ambassadors should at all times have an opportunity of applying to their council, in like manner as an audience of the senate was always given to them, at any time when they wished it.

34 After those embassies were dismissed, Philip, being informed that he must yield up the states, and evacuate the towns in question, was highly enraged against all, yet vented his fury on the Maronites in particular. He gave a charge to Onomastus, who had the command of the sea-coast, to put to death the leaders of the opposite party. This man, through the agency of a person called Cassander, a partisan of the king’s, who had resided a long time in Maronea, having introduced Thracians by night, put the inhabitants to the sword, as if the city had been taken by storm. When the Roman ambassadors complained of his acting with such cruelty towards the innocent Maronites, and with such presumption towards the Roman people, in killing, as enemies, those very persons to whom the senate had adjudged the restoration of liberty, he denied that “any of those matters concerned him, or any one belonging to him; that they had quarrelled among themselves, and fought, because some wished to bring over their state to his side, others to that of Eumenes. That they might easily ascertain this; and they had only to ask the Maronites themselves.” For he was confident, that while they were all under the impression of terror, since the late massacre, not one of them would dare to utter a word against him. Appius said, that “a case so clear ought not to be examined into as if it were doubtful. But if he wished to remove the guilt from himself, let him send Onomastus and Cassander, the actors in that business, to Rome, that the senate might examine them.” At first, these words so entirely disconcerted the king, that neither his colour nor his looks remained unchanged; then, after some time, having collected his thoughts, he replied, that “he would send Cassander, who had been in Maronea, if it was their desire: but as to Onomastus, how could that matter affect him, who, so far from being in Maronea, was not even near it?” He was more careful of Onomastus, as a more valued friend, yet he dreaded him much more lest he might make discoveries; because he had, in person, conversed with him on the subject, and he had made him an agent and accomplice in many similar acts. Cassander is supposed to have been taken off, that the truth might not be divulged, by poison administered by persons sent to escort him through Epirus to the sea-coast.

35 The ambassadors departed from the conference with Philip in such a manner that they made it manifest that none of these acts pleased them; and Philip, with a full resolution to have recourse again to arms. Because his strength was as yet insufficient for that purpose, he resolved, in order to procure delay, to send his younger son Demetrius to Rome, to clear him from the above-named charges; and at the same time to deprecate the wrath of the senate. Philip had strong expectations that the young man himself, because he had, while a hostage at Rome, exhibited proofs of a princely disposition, would have a good deal of influence now. Meanwhile, under the pretence of carrying succour to the Byzantians, but in reality with design to strike terror into the chieftains of the Thracians, he marched into their country, utterly defeated them in an engagement, in which he took their commander, Amadocus, prisoner, and then returned to Macedonia, having first despatched emissaries to induce the barbarians, living near the Danube, to make an irruption into Italy. The arrival of the Roman ambassadors, who had been ordered to go from Macedonia into Achaia, was expected in Peloponnesus; and in order that the Achæans might settle their plans of conduct towards them beforehand, their prætor, Lycortas, summoned a general council. Here the affair of the Lacedæmonians was taken into consideration. It was observed that “from enemies, they were turned accusers; and there was reason to fear lest they should prove more formidable, after having been conquered, than when at war: for in it the Achæans had the Romans as allies in their cause; now the same Romans were more favourable to the Lacedæmonians than to the Achæans. Even Areus and Alcibiades, both restored from exile through the kindness of the Achæans, had undertaken an embassy to Rome, in prejudice to a nation to which they were so much obliged; and had used language so severe, that they seemed to have been banished from their country, instead of being restored to it.” A general clamour arose, requiring him to put the question on each of them by name; and as every thing was directed by passion, not by reason, they were condemned to die. In a few days after this the Roman ambassadors arrived, and a council was summoned to meet them at Clitor, in Arcadia.