Lhomond: De viris illustribus

Proca, rex Albanorum, duos filios, Numitorem et Amulium habuit. Numitori, qui natu major erat, regnum reliquit; sed Amulius, pulso fratre, regnavit, et ut eum sobole privaret, Rheam Sylviam ejus filiam Vestae sacerdotem fecit, quae tamen Romulum et Remum uno partu edidit. Quo cognito, Amulius ipsam in vincula conjecit, parvulos alveo impositos abjecit in Tiberim, qui tunc forte super ripas erat effusus; sed, relabente flumine, eos aqua in sicco reliquit.

Proca, king of the Albans, had two sons, Numitor and Amulius. To Numitor, who was elder by birth, he left the kingdom; but Amulius, with his brother driven out, reigned, and so that he might deprive him of offspring, he made his daughter Rhea Silvia a priestess of Vesta, who nevertheless bore Romulus and Remus in one birth. When this was learned, Amulius cast her into chains, and, the little boys placed in a trough, he threw them into the Tiber, which then by chance had poured out above its banks; but, as the river slipped back, the water left them on dry ground.

Vastae tum in eis locis solitudines erant. Lupa, ut fama traditum est, ad vagitum accurrit, infantes lingua lambit, ubera eorum ori admovit, matremque se gessit. Cum lupa saepius ad parvulos veluti ad catulos reverteretur, Faustulus, pastor regius, rem animadvertit, eos tulit in casam et Accae Laurentiae conjugi dedit educandos.

At that time there were vast solitudes in those places. A she-wolf, as tradition by report has handed down, ran up at the wailing, licked the infants with her tongue, set her teats to their mouths, and bore herself as a mother. When the she-wolf more and more returned to the little ones as if to her cubs, Faustulus, the royal shepherd, noticed the matter, carried them into his hut, and gave them to his spouse Acca Laurentia to be reared.

Qui adulti inter pastores primo ludicris certaminibus vires auxere, deinde, venando saltus peragrare coeperunt, tum latrones a rapina pecorum arcere. Quare eis insidiati sunt latrones, a quibus Remus captus est. Romulus autem vi se defendit.

When they were grown, among the shepherds they first augmented their strength by sporting contests; then, by hunting, they began to traverse the forest-glades, then to ward off the bandits from the rapine of the flocks. Therefore the robbers laid ambushes for them, by whom Remus was captured; but Romulus defended himself by force.

Tunc Faustulus necessitate compulsus indicavit Romulo quis esset ejus avus, quae mater. Romulus statim, armatis pastoribus Albam properavit.

Then Faustulus, compelled by necessity, indicated to Romulus who his grandfather was and who his mother was. Romulus immediately, with the shepherds armed, hastened to Alba.

Interea Remum latrones ad Amulium regem perduxerunt, eum accusantes, quasi Numitoris greges infestare solitus esset; Remus itaque a rege Numitori ad supplicium traditus est: at Numitor, considerato adolescentis vultu, haud procul erat quin nepotem agnosceret. Nam Remus oris lineamentis erat matri simillimus, aetasque tempori expositionis congruebat. Dum ea res animum Numitoris anxium teneret, repente Romulus supervenit, fratrem liberavit, et Amulio interfecto, avum Numitorem in regnum restituit.

Meanwhile the brigands conducted Remus to King Amulius, accusing him, as if he were wont to harry Numitor’s herds; accordingly Remus was handed over by the king to Numitor for punishment: but Numitor, after considering the youth’s countenance, was not far from recognizing his grandson. For Remus was most similar to his mother in the lineaments of his face, and his age was congruent with the time of the exposure. While this matter held Numitor’s mind in anxious suspense, suddenly Romulus arrived, freed his brother, and, Amulius having been slain, restored his grandsire Numitor to the kingdom.

Deinde Romulus et Remus urbem in eisdem locis ubi expositi educatique fuerant condiderunt; sed orta est inter eos contentio uter nomen novae urbi daret, eamque regeret; adhibuere auspicia. Remus prior sex vultures, Romulus postea, sed duodecim, vidit. Sic Romulus augurio victor Romam vocavit; et ut eam prius legibus quam moenibus muniret, edixit ne quis vallum transiliret.

Then Romulus and Remus founded a city in the same places where they had been exposed and reared; but a contention arose between them as to which should give a name to the new city and rule it; they employed the auspices. Remus first saw six vultures, afterward Romulus saw, however, twelve. Thus Romulus, victor by augury, called it Rome; and so that he might fortify it first with laws rather than with walls, he issued an edict that no one should leap over the rampart.

Quod Remus irridens transilivit; eum iratus Romulus interfecit, his increpans verbis: "Sic deinceps malo afficietur quicumque transiliet moenia mea." Ita solus potitus est imperio Romulus.

Which Remus, mocking, leapt over; angry, Romulus killed him, rebuking him with these words: "Thus henceforth whoever leaps over my walls will be punished so." Thus Romulus alone gained possession of the imperium.

ROMULUS, ROMANORUM REX PRIMUS

ROMULUS, THE FIRST KING OF THE ROMANS

Romulus imaginem urbis magis quam urbem fecerat, deerant incolae. Erat in proximo lucus: hunc asylum fecit. Eo statim multitudo latronum pastorumque confugit.

Romulus had made more the image of a city than a city; inhabitants were lacking. There was a grove nearby: he made this an asylum. Thither at once a multitude of brigands and shepherds fled for refuge.

Cum vero ipse et populus uxores non haberent, legatos ad vicinas gentes misit, qui societatem connumbiumque peterent. Nusquam benigne legatio audita est: ludibrium etiam additum: "Quidni feminis quoque asylum aperuistis? Id enim compar foret connubium." Romulus aegritudinem animi dissimulans ludos parat: indici deinde finitimis spectaculum jubet.

But when he himself and the people had no wives, he sent legates to the neighboring peoples to seek alliance and connubium. Nowhere was the legation heard kindly; mockery too was added: "Why did you not open the asylum to women as well? For that would make a matching connubium." Romulus, dissembling the grief of his mind, prepares games; then he orders a spectacle to be announced to the neighbors.

Multi convenere studio etiam videndae novae urbis, maxime Sabini cum liberis et conjugibus. Ubi spectaculi tempus venit, eoque deditae mentes cum oculis erant, tum, dato signo, virgines raptae sunt: et haec fuit statim causa bellorum.

Many came together with eagerness even to see the new city, especially the Sabines with their children and spouses. When the time of the spectacle came, and upon it their minds along with their eyes were fixed, then, the signal having been given, the maidens were snatched away; and this was immediately the cause of wars.

Sabini ob virgines raptas bellum adversus Romanos sumpserunt, et cum Romae appropinquarent, Tarpeiam virginem nacti sunt, quae aquae causa sacrorum hauriendae descenderat. Hujus pater Romanae praeerat arci. Titus Tatius Sabinorum dux Tarpeiae optionem muneris dedit, si exercitum suum in Capitolium perduxisset.

Because of the maidens seized, the Sabines took up war against the Romans, and when they were approaching Rome, they chanced upon the maiden Tarpeia, who had come down for the sake of drawing water for the sacred rites. Her father was in command of the Roman citadel. Titus Tatius, leader of the Sabines, gave Tarpeia the choice of a reward, if she should lead his army into the Capitol.

Illa petiit quod Sabini in sinistris manibus gerebant, videlicet annulos et armillas. Quibus dolose promissis, Tarpeia Sabinos in arcem perduxit, ubi Tatius eam scutis obrui praecepit. Nam et scuta in laevis habuerant.

She asked for what the Sabines were bearing on their left hands, namely rings and armlets. These having been deceitfully promised, Tarpeia led the Sabines into the citadel, where Tatius ordered her to be overwhelmed with shields. For they had their shields on their left arms as well.

Sic impia proditio celeri poena vindicata est.

Thus the impious treachery was avenged with swift punishment.

Romulus adversus Tatium processit, et in eo loco ubi nunc Romanum forum est pugnam conseruit. Primo impetu, vir inter Romanos insignis, nomine Hostilius fortissime dimicans cecidit; cujus interitu consternati Romani fugere coeperunt. Jam Sabini clamitabant: "Vicimus perfidos hospites, imbelles hostes.

Romulus advanced against Tatius, and in that place where now the Roman Forum is he joined battle. At the first onset, a man distinguished among the Romans, by name Hostilius, fighting most bravely, fell; at whose death the Romans, dismayed, began to flee. Now the Sabines were shouting: "We have conquered the perfidious hosts, unwarlike enemies.

Nunc sciunt longe aliud esse virgines rapere, aliud pugnare cum viris." Tunc Romulus arma ad caelum tollens Jovi aedem vovit, et exercitus seu forte seu divinitus restitit. Proelium itaque redintegratur: sed raptae mulieres, crinibus passis, ausae sunt se inter tela volantia inferre; et hinc patres, inde viros deprecatae, pacem conciliarunt.

"Now they know it is one thing to snatch virgins, another to fight with men." Then Romulus, lifting his arms to heaven, vowed a temple to Jupiter, and the army, whether by chance or by divinity, halted. Therefore the battle is renewed: but the abducted women, with hair disheveled, dared to thrust themselves amid the flying missiles; and, pleading with their fathers on this side and with their husbands on that, they reconciled peace.

Romulus cum Tatio foedus percussit, et Sabinos in urbem recepit. Centum ex senioribus elegit quorum consilio omnia ageret, qui ob senilem aetatem Senatus vocati sunt. Tres equitum centurias constituit; plebem in tringinta curias distribuit.

Romulus struck a treaty with Tatius, and admitted the Sabines into the city. He chose a hundred from the elders, by whose counsel he would conduct everything, who, on account of their senile age, were called the Senate. He established three centuries of horsemen; he distributed the plebs into thirty curiae.

His ita ordinatis, cum ad Caprae paludem exercitum lustraret, subito coorta est tempestas cum magno fragore tonitribusque, et Romulus e conspectu ablatus est: eum ad Deos abiisse vulgo creditum est; cui rei fidem fecit Proculus vir nobilis. Orta enim inter patres et plebem seditione, is in concionem processit, et jurejurando affirmavit Romulum a se visum augustiore forma quam fuisset, eumdemque praecipere ut seditionibus abstinerent, et virtutem colerent. Ita Romulus pro Deo cultus, et Quirinus est appellatus.

With these things thus ordered, when he was reviewing the army at the Caprae marsh, suddenly a tempest arose with a great crash and thunders, and Romulus was taken from sight: it was commonly believed that he had gone away to the Gods; to which matter Proculus, a noble man, lent credence. For, a sedition having arisen between the patricians and the plebeians, he went forth into the assembly, and affirmed upon oath that Romulus had been seen by him in a more august form than he had been, and that the same commanded that they abstain from seditions and cultivate virtue. Thus Romulus was worshiped as a God, and was called Quirinus.

NUMA POMPILIUS, ROMANORUM REX SECUNDUS

NUMA POMPILIUS, SECOND KING OF THE ROMANS

Successit Romulo Numa Pompilius vir incluta justitia et religione. Is Curibus oppido Sabinorum accitus est. Cum Romam venisset, ut populum ferum religione molliret, sacra plurima instituit.

Numa Pompilius, a man renowned for justice and religion, succeeded Romulus. He was summoned from Cures, a town of the Sabines. When he had come to Rome, in order to soften the fierce people by religion, he instituted very many sacred rites.

Aram Vestae consecravit, et ignem in ara perpetuo alendum virginibus dedit. Flaminem Jovis sacerdotem creavit, eumque insigni veste et curuli sella ornavit. Duodecim Salios Martis sacerdotes legit, qui ancilia quaedam imperii pignora e caelo ut putabant, delapsa, ferre per urbem, canentes et rite saltantes solebant.

He consecrated the Altar of Vesta, and gave the fire on the altar to be perpetually nourished by virgins. He created the Flamen of Jupiter as priest, and adorned him with a distinguished vesture and a curule seat. He chose 12 Salii, priests of Mars, who were accustomed to carry through the city the ancilia—certain pledges of the imperium—fallen from heaven, as they thought, singing and duly dancing.

Annum in duodecim menses ad cursum lunae descripsit: nefastos fastosque dies fecit: portas Jano gemino aedificavit, ut esset index pacis et belli: nam apertus in armis esse civitatem, clausus vero pacatos circa omnes populos, significabat.

He set down the year into twelve months according to the course of the moon: he established nefast days and fast days: he built gates for Janus the Twin, so that there might be an index of peace and war: for, open, it signified the state to be in arms; closed, that all the surrounding peoples were pacified.

Leges quoque plurimas et utiles tulit Numa. Ut vero majorem institutis suis auctoritatem conciliaret, simulavit sibi cum Dea Aegeria esse colloquia nocturna, ejusque monitu se omnia quae ageret facere. Lucus erat quem medium fons perenni rigabat aqua: eo saepe Numa sine arbitris se inferebat, velut ad congressum Deae: ita omnium animos religione imbuit, ut fides et jusjurandum, non minus quam legum et poenarum metus cives continerent.

Numa also enacted very many and useful laws. And indeed, in order to conciliate greater authority for his institutions, he pretended that he had nocturnal colloquies with the goddess Egeria, and that at her monition he did everything he did. There was a grove, through the middle of which a spring with perennial water ran: into that place Numa often used to enter without witnesses, as if to a congress with the goddess: thus he imbued the minds of all with religion, so that good faith and oath, no less than the fear of laws and penalties, held the citizens in check.

Bellum quidem nullum gessit, sed non minus civitati profuit quam Romulus. Morbo extinctus, in Janiculo monte sepultus est. Ita duo deinceps reges, ille bello, hic pace, civitatem auxerunt.

He indeed waged no war, but benefited the state no less than Romulus. Carried off by disease, he was buried on the Janiculum hill. Thus two kings in succession—that one by war, this one by peace—augmented the state.

Romulus septem et triginta regnavit annos; Numa tres et quadraginta.

Romulus reigned thirty-seven years; Numa forty-three.

TULLUS HOSTILIUS, ROMANORUM REX TERTIUS

TULLUS HOSTILIUS, THIRD KING OF THE ROMANS

Mortuo Numa, Tullus Hostilius rex creatus est. Hic non solum proximo regi dissimilis, sed etiam Romulo ferocior fuit. Eo regnante, bellum inter Albanos et Romanos exortum est.

With Numa dead, Tullus Hostilius was created king. He was not only dissimilar to the previous king, but even more ferocious than Romulus. With him reigning, a war arose between the Albans and the Romans.

Ducibus Hostilio et Suffetio placuit, paucorum manibus fata utriusque populi committi. Erant apud Romanos trigemini Horatii, trigemini quoque apud Albanos Curiatii. Cum eis agunt reges ut pro sua quisque patria dimicent ferro.

To the leaders Hostilius and Suffetius it seemed good that the fates of each people be committed to the hands of a few. Among the Romans there were the Horatian triplets, likewise among the Albans the Curiatian triplets. With them the kings negotiate that each man fight with steel for his own fatherland.

Foedus ictum est ea lege, ut unde victoria, ibi quoque imperium esset. Itaque trigemini arma capiunt, et in medium inter duas acies procedunt. Consederant utrimque duo exercitus.

A treaty was struck on this law: that whence the victory, there also should be the dominion. Therefore the triplets take up arms and proceed into the middle between the two battle lines. The two armies had sat down on either side.

Datur signum, infestisque armis terni juvenes magnorum exercituum animos gerentes concurrunt.

The signal is given, and with hostile arms the three-and-three youths, bearing the spirits of great armies, rush together.

Ut primo concurso increpuere arma, horror ingens spectantes perstrinxit. Consertis deinde manibus, statim duo Romani alius super alium expirantes ceciderunt: tres Albani vulnerati. Ad casum Romanorum conclamavit gaudio exercitus Albanus.

As at the first rush the arms clashed, an immense horror seized the onlookers. Then, with hands joined in close combat, immediately two Romans, one atop the other, fell expiring; the three Albans were wounded. At the fall of the Romans the Alban army shouted with joy.

Romanos jam spes tota deserebat. Unum Horatium tres Curiatii circumsteterant; is quamvis integer, quia tribus impar erat, fugam simulavit, ut singulos per intervalla secuturos separatim aggrederetur. Jam aliquantum spatii ex loco, ubi pugnatum est, aufugerat, cum respiciens vidit unum Curiatium haud procul ab se abesse.

Already all hope was deserting the Romans. The three Curiatii had surrounded the one Horatius; he, although unharmed, because he was unequal to three, simulated flight, so that he might attack them separately as they would follow at intervals. He had already fled some distance from the place where the fight was waged, when, looking back, he saw that one Curiatius was not far from him.

In eum magno impetu redit et dum Albanus exercitus inclamat Curiatiis, ut opem ferant fratri, jam Horatius eum occiderat. Alterum deinde, priusquam tertius posset consequi, interfecit.

He returns against him with great impetus; and while the Alban army cries out to the Curiatii to bear aid to their brother, already Horatius had slain him. Then he killed the second, before the third could overtake.

Jam singuli supererant sed nec spe nec viribus pares. Alterius erat intactum ferro corpus, et geminata victoria ferox animus. Alter fessum vulnere, fessum cursu trahebat corpus.

Now they were left one apiece, but equal neither in hope nor in strength. One had a body untouched by iron, and, with doubled victory, a fierce spirit. The other was dragging his body, weary from the wound, weary from the running.

Nec illud proelium fuit. Romanus exultans male sustinentem arma conficit, jacentemque spoliat. Romani ovantes ac gratulantes Horatium accipiunt, et domum deducunt.

Nor was that a battle. The Roman, exulting, dispatches the one poorly sustaining his arms, and despoils him as he lies. The Romans, ovating and congratulating, receive Horatius and lead him home.

Princeps ibat Horatius, trium fratrum spolia prae se gerens. Cui obvia fuit soror, quae desponsa fuerat uni ex Curiatiis, visoque super humeros fratris paludamento sponsi, quod ipsa confecerat, flere et crines solvere coepit. Movit feroci juveni animum comploratio sororis in tanto gaudio publico: stricto itaque gladio transfigit puellam, simul eam verbis increpans: "Abi hinc cum immaturo amore ad sponsum; oblita fratrum, oblita patriae.

At the front went Horatius, bearing before him the spoils of the three brothers. His sister met him, who had been betrothed to one of the Curiatii, and, when she saw upon her brother’s shoulders the military cloak of her fiancé, which she herself had woven, she began to weep and to loosen her hair. The lamentation of his sister moved the spirit of the fierce young man in the midst of such great public rejoicing: and so, with sword drawn, he pierces the girl, at the same time rebuking her with words: "Go away from here to your bridegroom with your untimely love; forgetful of your brothers, forgetful of your fatherland."

Sic eat quaecumque Romana lugebit hostem."

"Thus may she go, whichever Roman woman will lament the enemy."

Atrox id visum est facinus patribus plebique; quare raptus est in jus Horatius et apud judices condemnatus. Jam acesserat lictor injiciebatque laqueum. Tum Horatius ad populum provocavit.

That seemed an atrocious deed to the Fathers and the plebs; therefore Horatius was seized into court and condemned before the judges. Now the lictor had approached and was casting the noose. Then Horatius appealed to the people.

Interea pater Horatii senex proclamabat filiam suam jure caesam fuisse; et juvenem amplexus, spoliaque Curiatiorum ostentans orabat populum ne se orbum liberis faceret. Non tulit populus patris lacrymas, juvenemque absolvit, magis admiratione virtutis, quam jure causae. Ut tamen caedes manifesta expiaretur, pater, quibusdam sacrificiis peractis, transmisit per viam tigillum, et filium capite adoperto velut sub jugum misit: quod tigillum sororium appellatum est.

Meanwhile the aged father of Horatius was proclaiming that his daughter had been slain by right; and, embracing the youth and ostentatiously displaying the spoils of the Curiatii, he begged the people not to make him bereft of children. The people did not endure the father’s tears, and they acquitted the youth, more from admiration of his virtue than from the justice of the case. Yet, that the manifest slaughter might be expiated, the father, certain sacrifices having been performed, stretched a small beam across the way, and sent his son, with head covered, as if under a yoke: which beam was called the Sister’s Beam.

Non diu pax Albana mansit: nam Suffetius, dux Albanorum, cum invidiosum se apud cives videret quod bellum uno paucorum certamine finisset, ut rem corrigeret, Veientes adversus Romanos concitavit. Ipse ab Tullo in auxilium arcessitus, aciem in collem subduxit, ut fortunam belli experiretur ac sequeretur. Qua re Tullus intellecta, dixit clara voce suo illud jussu Suffetium facere, ut hostes a tergo circumvenirentur.

Not long did the Alban peace remain: for Suffetius, leader of the Albans, when he saw himself odious among the citizens because he had finished the war by a single contest of a few, in order to correct the matter, incited the Veientes against the Romans. He himself, summoned by Tullus for aid, drew up the battle-line onto a hill, so that he might test the fortune of war and follow it. With this matter understood by Tullus, he said in a clear voice that Suffetius was doing that by his own command, so that the enemies might be encircled from the rear.

Quo audito, hostes territi victique sunt. Postera die Suffetius cum ad gratulandum Tulo venisset, jussu illius quadrigis religatus est, et in diversa distractus. Deinde Tullus Albam propter ducis perfidiam diruit, et Albanos Romam transire jussit.

On this being heard, the enemies were terrified and conquered. On the following day, when Suffetius had come to congratulate Tullus, by his order he was bound to four-horse chariots and torn apart in different directions. Then Tullus razed Alba on account of the leader’s perfidy, and ordered the Albans to cross over to Rome.

Roma interim crevit Albae ruinis: duplicatus est civium numerus: mons Caelius urbi additus, et quo frequentius habitaretur, eam sedem Tullus regiae cepit, ibique deinde habitavit. Auctarum virium fiducia elatus bellum Sabinis indixit; pestilentia insecuta est: nulla tamen ab armis quies dabatur. Credebat enim rex bellicosus salubriora militiae quam domi esse juvenum corpora; sed ipse quoque diuturno morbo est implicitus: tunc fracti simul cum corpore sunt spiritus illi feroces, nullique rei deinceps nisi sacris operam dedit.

Rome meanwhile grew by Alba’s ruins: the number of citizens was doubled: the Caelian Mount was added to the city, and, in order that it might be more frequently inhabited, Tullus took that site for the royal residence, and there thereafter he lived. Lifted by confidence in augmented forces, he declared war on the Sabines; a pestilence followed: nevertheless no rest from arms was given. For the warlike king believed the bodies of the young men to be more salubrious in military service than at home; but he himself too was entangled in a long disease: then those fierce spirits were broken together with the body, and thereafter he gave attention to nothing except sacred rites.

Memorant Tullum fulmine ictum cum domo conflagrasse. Tullus magna gloria belli regnavit annos duos et triginta.

They relate that Tullus, struck by a thunderbolt, was consumed in flames along with his house. Tullus reigned, with great glory in war, for thirty-two years.

ANCUS MARCIUS, ROMANORUM REX QUARTUS

ANCUS MARCIUS, THE FOURTH KING OF THE ROMANS

Tullo mortuo, Ancum Marcium regem populus creavit. Numae Pompilii nepos Ancus Marcius erat, aequitate et religione avo similis. Tunc Latini cum quibus Tullo regnante, ictum foedus erat, sustulerunt animos, et incursionem in agrum Romanum fecerunt.

With Tullus dead, the people created Ancus Marcius king. Ancus Marcius, the grandson of Numa Pompilius, was similar to his grandfather in equity and religion. Then the Latins, with whom, while Tullus was reigning, a treaty had been struck, lifted up their spirits and made an incursion into the Roman territory.

Ancus, priusquam eis bellum indiceret, legatum misit qui res repeteret, eumque morem posteri retinuerunt. Id autem hoc modo fiebat. Legatus, ubi ad fines eorum venit, a quibus res repetuntur, capite velato, ait: "Audi, Jupiter; audite, fines hujus populi.

Ancus, before he declared war upon them, sent a legate to demand back the property, and posterity retained that custom. And this was done in this manner. The legate, when he came to the borders of those from whom restitution is demanded, with head veiled, said: "Hear, Jupiter; hear, borders of this people."

Ego sum publicus nuncius populi Romani: verbis meis fides sit." Deinde peragit postulata. Si non deduntur res quas exposcit, hastam in fines hostium emittit, bellumque ita indicit. Legatus qui ea de re mittitur fecialis, ritusque belli indicendi jus fecilae appellatur.

"I am the public nuncio of the Roman people: let there be trust in my words." Then he carries out the demands. If the things which he demands are not given, he casts a spear into the enemy’s borders, and thus declares war. The legate who is sent on that matter is called a Fetial, and the rite of declaring war is called the fetial law is called.

Legato Romano res repetenti superbe responsum est a Latinis; quare bellum hoc modo eis indictum est Ancus exercitu conscripto profectus, Latinos fudit, et oppidis deletis cives Romam traduxit. Cum autem in tanta hominum multitudine facinora clandestina fierent, Ancus carcerem in media urbe ad terrorem increscentis audaciae aedificavit: muro lapideo urbem circumdedit, et Janiculum montem, ponte sublicio in Tiberim facto, urbi conjunxit. Pluribus aliis rebus intra paucos annos confectis, immatura morte praereptus, non potuit praestare qualem promiserat regem.

To the Roman legate demanding restitution, a haughty answer was returned by the Latins; wherefore in this manner war was declared against them. Ancus, with an army conscribed, set out, routed the Latins, and, the towns destroyed, led the citizens across to Rome. But since in so great a multitude of men clandestine crimes were occurring, Ancus built a prison in the middle of the city, as a terror to the increasing audacity: he encircled the city with a stone wall, and joined the Janiculum Mount to the city, the Sublician bridge having been made over the Tiber. With many other things brought to completion within a few years, snatched away by untimely death, he could not provide the kind of king he had promised.

LUCIUS TARQUINIUS, PRISCUS, ROMANORUM REX QUINTUS

LUCIUS TARQUINIUS, PRISCUS, FIFTH KING OF THE ROMANS

Anco regnante, Lucius Tarquinius urbe Tarquinia profectus, cum conjuge et fortunis omnibus Romam commigravit. Additur haec fabula: scilicet ei advenienti aquila pileum sustulit, et super carpentum, ubi Tarquinius sedebat, cum magno clangore volitans, rursus capiti apte reposuit; inde sublimis abiit. Tanaquil conjux auguriorum perita regnum ei portendi intellexit: itaque virum complexa jussit eum alta sperare.

While Ancus was reigning, Lucius Tarquinius, setting out from the city of Tarquinii, migrated to Rome with his wife and all his fortunes. This tale is added: namely, as he was arriving an eagle lifted his pileus (cap), and, flying about with great clangor above the carriage where Tarquinius was sitting, again aptly re-placed it upon his head; then, aloft, it departed. Tanaquil, his consort, skilled in auguries, understood that a kingdom was being portended to him: therefore, embracing her husband, she bade him hope for lofty things.

Has spes cogitationesque secum portantes, urbem ingressi sunt, domicilioque ibi comparato, Tarquinius pecunia et industria dignitatem atque etiam Anci regis familiaritatem consecutus est, a quo tutor liberis relictus regnum intercepit, et ita administravit, quasi jure adeptus fuisset.

Carrying these hopes and thoughts with them, they entered the city, and, a domicile having been secured there, Tarquinius by money and industry attained dignity and even the familiarity of King Ancus; by whom, having been left as guardian to the children, he seized the kingdom, and so administered it as if he had acquired it by right.

Tarquinius Prisicus bellum cum Sabinis gessit, in quo bello equitum centurias numero auxit; nomine mutare non potuit, deterritus, ut ferunt, Accii Navii auctoritate. Accius, ea tempestate augur inclutus, id fieri posse negabat, nisi aves addixissent; iratus rex, in experimentum artis, eum interrogavit fieri ne posset quod ipse mente conceperat: Accius, augurio acto, fieri posse respondit. Atqui hoc, inquit rex, agitabam an cotem illam secare novacula possem.

Tarquinius Prisicus waged war with the Sabines, in which war he increased the centuries of horsemen in number; he could not change the name, deterred, as they report, by the authority of Accius Navius. Accius, at that time an illustrious augur, said that it could not be done unless the birds had given assent; the king, angered, as an experiment of the art, asked him whether that which he had conceived in his mind could be brought to pass: Accius, the augury having been performed, replied that it could be done. But this, said the king, I was debating—whether I could cut that whetstone with a razor.

Potes ergo, inquit augur, et secuisse dicitur. Tarquinius Sabinos vicit, et filium tredecim annorum, quod in proelio hostem percussisset, praetexta et bulla donavit, unde haec ingenuorum puerorum insignia esse coeperunt.

"You can, then," said the augur; and he is said to have cut it. Tarquinius defeated the Sabines, and his son of 13 years, because he had struck an enemy in battle, he bestowed with the praetexta and the bulla, whence these began to be the insignia of freeborn boys.

Supererant duo Anci filii, qui aegre ferentes se paterno regno fraudatos esse, regi paraverunt insidias. Ex pastoribus duos ferocissimos deligunt ad patrandum facinus. Ei, simulata rixa, in vestibulo regiae tumultuantur.

There remained two sons of Ancus, who, taking it ill that they had been defrauded of their paternal kingdom, laid a plot against the king. From among the shepherds they select two most ferocious men to perpetrate the crime. They, with a feigned quarrel, raise a tumult in the vestibule of the royal palace.

Cum eorum clamor penitus in regiam pervenisset, vocati ad regem pergunt. Primo uterque simul vociferari coepit, et certatim alter alteri obstrepere. Cum vero jussi essent invicem dicere, unus ex composito rem orditur; dumque intentus in eum se rex totus averteret, alter elatam securim in ejus caput dejecit, et relicto telo, ambo foras se proripiunt.

When their clamor had penetrated deep into the royal palace, summoned to the king they proceed. At first each began to vociferate at the same time, and, in rivalry, one tried to drown out the other. But when they had been ordered to speak in turn, one, by prearrangement, begins the matter; and while the king, intent upon him, had wholly turned himself toward him, the other brought the raised axe down upon his head, and, leaving the weapon behind, both rush out.

SERVIUS TULLIUS, ROMANORUM REX SEXTUS

SERVIUS TULLIUS, THE SIXTH KING OF THE ROMANS

Servius Tullius matre nobili, sed captiva, natus est. Cum in domo Tarquinii Prisci educaretur, ferunt prodigium visu eventuque mirabile accidisse. Flammae species pueri dormientis caput amplexa est.

Servius Tullius was born of a mother noble, but captive. While he was being reared in the house of Tarquinius Priscus, they say that a prodigy, marvelous in sight and in outcome, occurred. The appearance of flames embraced the head of the sleeping boy.

Hoc viso Tanaquil summam ei dignitatem portendi intellexit; conjugi suasit ut eum non secus ac liberos suos educaret. Is postquam adolevit, a Tarquinio gener assumptus est; et cum Tarquinius occisus esset, Tanaquil, celata ejus morte, populum ex superiori parte aedium allocuta, ait regem, gravi quidem, sed non letali vulnere accepto, petere, ut, interim dum convalescit, Servio Tullio dicto audientes essent. Servius Tullius quasi precario regnare coepit, sed recte imperium administravit.

On seeing this, Tanaquil understood that the highest dignity was being portended to him; she urged her husband to rear him not otherwise than her own children. He, after he grew up, was taken by Tarquinius as a son-in-law; and when Tarquinius had been slain, Tanaquil, his death having been concealed, having addressed the people from the upper part of the house, said that the king, having received a wound severe indeed but not lethal, was requesting that, meanwhile, while he convalesces, they be obedient to Servius Tullius. Servius Tullius began to reign, as it were, by favor, precariously, but he administered the rule rightly.

Servius Tullius aliquod urbi decus addere voluit. Jam tum inclytum erat Dianae Ephesiae fanum. Id communiter a civitatibus Asiae factum fama ferebat.

Servius Tullius wished to add some adornment to the city. Already then the fane of Ephesian Diana was renowned. Report bore that it had been made in common by the cities of Asia.

Itaque Latinorum populis suasit, ut et ipsi Romae fanum Dianae cum populo Romano aedificarent. Quo facto, bos mirae magnitudinis cuidam Latino nata dicitur, et responsum somnio datum eum populum summam imperii habiturum, cujus civis bovem illam immolasset. Latinus bovem ad fanum Dianae deduxit, et causam sacerdoti Romano exposuit.

Accordingly he persuaded the peoples of the Latins that they too at Rome should build a fane of Diana together with the Roman people. This having been done, a bull of wondrous magnitude is said to have been born to a certain Latin, and a response was given in a dream that that people would hold the supreme command, whose citizen should have immolated that bull. The Latin led the bull to the fane of Diana, and set forth the cause to the Roman priest.

Sacerdos callidus dixit eum debere prius vivo flumine manus abluere. Dum Latinus ad Tiberim descendit, sacerdos bovem immolavit. Ita imperium civibus, sibique gloriam vindicavit.

The crafty priest said that he ought first to wash his hands in a living stream. While the Latin went down to the Tiber, the priest immolated the ox. Thus he vindicated the sovereignty for the citizens, and for himself glory.

Servius Tullius filiam alteram ferocem mitem alteram habebat. Duo quoque Tarquinii Prisci filii longe dispares moribus erant: Tullia ferox Tarquinio miti nupserat; Tullia vero mitis Tarquinio feroci; seu mites, seu forte, seu fraude, perierunt: feroces morum similitudo conjunxit. Statim Tarquinius superbus a Tullia incitatus, advocato senatu, regnum paternum repetere coepit: qua re audita, Servius dum ad curiam contendit, jussu Tarquinii gradibus dejectus, et domum refugiens interfectus est.

Servius Tullius had one daughter fierce, the other mild. The two sons also of Tarquinius Priscus were far unlike in morals: Tullia the fierce had married Tarquin the mild; Tullia indeed the mild had married Tarquin the fierce; the mild ones, whether by chance or by fraud, perished: the fierce ones a likeness of manners joined. At once Tarquinius the Proud, incited by Tullia, with the senate called together, began to reclaim the paternal kingship: on hearing this, Servius, while he was hastening to the Curia, by order of Tarquin was thrown down the steps, and, fleeing home, was slain.

Tullia carpento vecta in forum properavit, virum e curia evocavit, et prima regem salutavit: a quo jussa a turba decedere, cum domum rediret, viso patris corpore, mulionem evitantem super ipsum corpus carpentum agere praecepit. Unde vicus ille Sceleratus dictus est. Servius Tullius regnavit annos quatuor et quadraginta.

Tullia, carried by carriage, hastened into the forum, called her husband out from the curia, and was the first to hail him as king: being ordered by him to depart from the crowd, as she was returning home, her father’s body having been seen, she ordered the muleteer, who was avoiding it, to drive the carriage over the body itself. Whence that Vicus Sceleratus was so called. Servius Tullius reigned for 44 years.

TARQUINIUS SUPERBUS, ROMANORUM REX SEPTIMUS ET ULTIMUS

TARQUINIUS SUPERBUS, THE SEVENTH AND LAST KING OF THE ROMANS

Tarquinius Superbus regnum sceleste occupavit. Tamen bello strenuus hostes domuit. Urbem Gabios in potestatem redegit fraude Sexti filii.

Tarquinius Superbus occupied the kingdom wickedly. Yet, strenuous in war, he subdued the enemies. He reduced the city Gabii into his power by the fraud of his son Sextus.

Is cum indigne ferret eam urbem a patre expugnari non posse, ad Gabinos se contulit, patris in se saevitiam querens. Benigne a Gabinis exceptus est, et paulatim eorum benevolentiam fictis blanditiis alliciendo, dux belli electus est. Tum e suis unum ad patrem mittit sciscitatum quidnam se facere vellet.

He, since he was bearing it indignantly that that city could not be taken by storm by his father, betook himself to the Gabini, complaining of his father’s savagery against himself. Kindly received by the Gabini, and little by little, by enticing their benevolence with feigned blandishments, he was elected leader of the war. Then he sends one of his own to his father to inquire what he would wish him to do.

Pater nuncio filii nihil respondit, sed in hortum transiit; ibique inambulans, sequente nuncio, altissima papaverum capita baculo decussit. Nuncius fessus expectando redit Gabios. Sextus, cognito silentio patris simul ac facto, intellexit quid vellet pater.

The father responded nothing to the son’s messenger, but passed into the garden; and there, walking about, with the messenger following, he lopped off with his staff the very tallest heads of the poppies. The messenger, weary from waiting, returns to Gabii. Sextus, once he had recognized both his father’s silence and his deed, understood what his father wished.

Primores civitatis interemit, patrique urbem sine ulla dimicatione tradidit.

He put to death the leading men of the city, and handed the city over to his father without any contest.

Postea Tarquinius Superbus Ardeam urbem oppugnavit. Ibi Tarquinius Collatinus sorore regis natus forte cenabat apud Sextum Tarquinium cum aliis juvenibus regiis. Incidit de uxoribus mentio: cum unusquisque, suam laudaret, placuit experiri.

Afterwards Tarquinius Superbus besieged the city Ardea. There Tarquinius Collatinus, born of the king’s sister, happened to be dining at the house of Sextus Tarquinius with other royal youths. A mention arose about wives: as each one praised his own, it was decided to make a trial.

Itaque equis Romam petunt. Regias nurus in convivio et luxu deprehendant. Pergant inde Collatiam.

Therefore they seek Rome on horseback. They catch the royal daughters-in-law at a banquet and in luxury. From there they proceed to Collatia.

Lucretiam Collatini uxorem inter ancillas in lanificio inveniunt. Ea ergo ceteris praestare judicatur. Paucis interjectis diebus, Sextus Collatiam rediit, et Lucretiae vim attulit.

They find Lucretia, the wife of Collatinus, among the handmaids at wool-working. She therefore is judged to excel the others. With a few days interposed, Sextus returned to Collatia and did violence to Lucretia.

Illa postero die, advocatis patre et conjuge, rem exposuit, et se cultro, quem sub veste texerat, occidit. Conclamant vir paterque, et in exitium regum conjurant. Tarquinio Romam redeunti clausae sunt urbis portae, et exilium indictum.

She, on the next day, having summoned her father and husband, set forth the matter, and with a knife which she had hidden beneath her garment, killed herself. Her husband and father cried out, and swore together for the destruction of the kings. To Tarquin returning to Rome, the city’s gates were closed, and exile was proclaimed.

JUNIUS BRUTUS, ROMANORUM CONSUL PRIMUS

JUNIUS BRUTUS, THE FIRST CONSUL OF THE ROMANS

Junius Brutus, sorore Tarquinii natus, cum eandem fortunam timeret in quam frater inciderat, qui ob divitias et prudentiam fuerat ab avunculo occisus, stultitiam finxit, unde Brutus dictus est. Profectus Delphos cum Tarquinii filiis, quos pater ad Apollinem muneribus honorandum miserat, baculo sambuceo aurum inclusum Deo donum tulit. Peractis deinde mandatis patris, juvenes Apollinem consuluerunt quisnam ex ipsis Romae regnaturus esset.

Junius Brutus, born of the sister of Tarquinius, when he feared the same fortune into which his brother had fallen—who, on account of his riches and prudence, had been slain by his maternal uncle—feigned stupidity, whence he was called Brutus. Having set out to Delphi with the sons of Tarquinius, whom their father had sent to honor Apollo with gifts, he brought to the god, as a gift, gold enclosed in an elder-wood staff. Then, the mandates of their father having been fulfilled, the youths consulted Apollo as to which of them would reign at Rome.

Responsum est eum Romae summam potestatem habiturum, qui primus matrem oscularetur. Tunc Brutus perinde, atque casu prolapsus, terram osculatus est, quod ea communis sit mater omnium mortalium.

The response was that he would hold the supreme power at Rome who should first kiss his mother. Then Brutus, as if having slipped by chance, kissed the earth, because she is the common mother of all mortals.

Expulsis regibus, duo consules creati sunt, Junius Brutus et Tarquinius Collatinus, Lucretiae maritus. At libertas modo parta, per dolum et proditionem paene amissa est. Erant in juventute Romana adolescentes aliquot, sodales Tarquiniorum.

With the kings expelled, two consuls were created, Junius Brutus and Tarquinius Collatinus, the husband of Lucretia. But liberty, only just obtained, was almost lost through deceit and treachery. There were in the Roman youth several adolescents, comrades of the Tarquins.

Hi de accipiendis nocte in urbem regibus colloquuntur, ipsos Bruti consulis filios in societatem consilii assumunt. Sermonem eorum ex servis unus excepit: rem ad consules detulit. Scriptae ad Tarquinium litterae manifestum facinus fecerunt.

These men confer about admitting the kings into the city by night, and they take the very sons of Brutus the consul into partnership of the counsel. One of their slaves intercepted their conversation; he reported the matter to the consuls. Letters written to Tarquin made the crime manifest.

Proditores in vincula conjecti sunt, deinde damnati. Stabant ad palum deligati juvenes nobilissimi, sed prae ceteris liberi consulis omnium in se oculos convertebant. Consules in sedem processere suam, missique lictores nudatos virgis caedunt, securique feriunt.

Traitors were cast into chains, then condemned. The most noble youths stood bound to the stake, but above the rest the consul’s children turned all eyes upon themselves. The consuls proceeded to their seat, and the lictors, sent forth, lash the stripped with rods and strike with the axe.

Supplicii non spectator modo, sed et exactor erat Brutus, qui tunc patrem exuit, ut consulem ageret.

Brutus was not only a spectator of the execution, but also its exactor, who then put off the father, in order to act the consul.

Tarquinius deinde bello, aperto regnum recuperare tentavit. Equitibus praeerat Aruns Tarquinii filius: rex ipse cum legionibus sequebatur. Obviam hosti consules erant.

Then Tarquin tried to recover the kingdom by open war. Aruns, the son of Tarquin, was in command of the cavalry; the king himself was following with the legions. The consuls were going to meet the enemy.

Brutus ad explorandum cum equitatu antecessit. Aruns, ubi Brutum agnovit, inflammatus ira: "Ille est vir, inquit, qui nos patria expulit; en ille nostris decoratus insignibus magnifice incedit." Tum concitat calcaribus equum atque in ipsum consulem dirigit: Brutus avide se certamini offert. Adeo infestis animis concurrerunt ut ambo hasta transfixi ceciderint; fugatus est tamen Tarquinius.

Brutus went on ahead with the cavalry to reconnoiter. Aruns, when he recognized Brutus, inflamed with anger, said: “That is the man who drove us from our fatherland; behold, there he goes, magnificently advancing, adorned with our insignia.” Then he goads his horse with spurs and aims straight at the consul himself; Brutus eagerly offers himself to the combat. So fiercely did they clash with hostile spirits that both, transfixed by the spear, fell; nevertheless Tarquinius was put to flight.

Alter consul Romam triumphans rediit. Bruti collegae funus quanto potuit apparatu fecit Brutum matronae ut parentem anno luxerunt.

The other consul returned to Rome triumphing. He made the funeral of Brutus, his colleague, with as great an apparatus as he could; the matrons mourned Brutus as a parent for a year.

HORATIUS COCLES

Porsenna rex Etruscorum ad restituendum Tarquinios cum infesto exercitu Romam venit. Primo impetu Janiculum cepit. Non usquam alias ante tantus terror Romanos invasit: ex agris in urbem demigrant; urbem ipsam sepiunt praesidiis.

Porsenna, king of the Etruscans, came to Rome with a hostile army to restore the Tarquins. At the first onset he seized the Janiculum. Nowhere else before had so great a terror invaded the Romans: from the fields they migrate into the city; they hedge the city itself about with garrisons.

Alia urbis pars muris, alia Tiberi objecto, tuta videbatur. Pons sublicius iter paene hostibus dedit, nisi unus vir fuisset Horatius Cocles, illo cognomine quod in alio proelio oculum amiserat. Is pro ponte stetit, et aciem hostium solus sustinuit, donec pons a tergo interrumperetur: ipsa audacia obstupefecit hostes; ponte rescisso, armatus in Tiberim desiluit, et incolumis ad suos transnavit.

Another part of the city seemed safe by its walls, another with the Tiber thrown in front as an obstacle. The Sublician Bridge almost gave a way to the enemies, had there not been a single man, Horatius Cocles—by that cognomen because in another battle he had lost an eye. He stood before the bridge and alone sustained the enemies’ line of battle, until the bridge behind was broken off; his very audacity stupefied the foes; the bridge having been cut down, armed he leapt into the Tiber and swam across to his own men unharmed.

Grata erga tantam virtutem civitas fuit; ei tantum agri datum est, quantum una die circumarari potuisset. Statua quoque in comitio posita est.

The commonwealth was grateful toward such great virtue; to him there was given so much land as could be circled by plowing in one day. A statue also was set up in the Comitium.

MUCIUS SCAEVOLA

Cum Porsenna Romam obsideret, Mucius vir Romanae constantiae senatum adiit, et veniam transfugiendi petiit, necem regis repromittens. Accepta potestate, in castra Porsennae venit. Ibi in confertissima turba prope regium tribunal constitit.

When Porsenna was besieging Rome, Mucius, a man of Roman constancy, approached the Senate and asked leave to cross over as a defector, promising the king’s death. With authority granted, he came into Porsenna’s camp. There he took his stand in the most crowded throng near the royal tribunal.

Stipendium tunc forte militibus dabatur: et scriba cum rege pari fere ornatu sedebat. Mucius illum pro rege deceptus occidit. Apprehensus et ad regem pertractus, dextram accenso ad sacrificium foculo injecit; hoc supplicii a rea exigens, quod in caede peccasset.

At that time the stipend was by chance being given to the soldiers, and a scribe sat with the king in nearly equal adornment. Mucius, deceived, killed him instead of the king. Apprehended and dragged to the king, he cast his right hand into a little brazier kindled for sacrifice, exacting this penalty from the accused (himself), because he had sinned in the slaughter.

Attonitus miraculo rex juvenem amoveri ab altaribus jussit. Tum Mucius, quasi beneficium remunerans, ait trecentos, sui similes, adversus eum conjurasse. Qua re ille territus bellum, acceptis obsidibus, deposuit.

Stunned by the miracle, the king ordered the youth to be removed from the altars. Then Mucius, as though remunerating the benefaction, said that three hundred, like himself, had conspired against him. At this, he, terrified, laid down the war, after hostages had been received.

CLAELIA VIRGO

CLAELIA THE VIRGIN

Porsenna Claeliam virginem nobilem inter obsides accepit. Cum ejus castra haud procul ripa Tiberis locata essent, Claelia deceptis custodibus noctu egressa, equum, quem sors dederat, arripuit, et Tiberim trajecit. Quod ubi regi nunciatum est, primo ille incensus ira Romam legatos misit ad Claeliam obsidem reposcendam.

Porsenna received Claelia, a noble maiden, among the hostages. Since his camp had been placed not far from the bank of the Tiber, Claelia, having deceived the guards, went out by night, seized the horse which lot had given her, and crossed the Tiber. When this was reported to the king, at first, inflamed with anger, he sent envoys to Rome to demand Claelia the hostage back.

Romani eam excedere restituerunt. Tum rex virginis virtutem admiratus, eam laudavit, ac parte obsidum donare se dixit, permisitque ut ipsa quos vellet, legeret. Productis obsidibus, Claelia virgines puerosque elegit quorum aetatem injuriae obnoxiam sciebat, et cum eis in patriam rediit.

The Romans returned her to depart. Then the king, admiring the maiden’s virtue, lauded her, and said that he would bestow as a gift a part of the hostages, and he permitted that she herself should choose whom she wished. The hostages having been brought forward, Claelia chose maidens and boys whose age she knew to be liable to injury, and with them she returned to her fatherland.

Romani novam in femina virtutem novo genere honoris, statua equestri, donavere. In summa via sacra, fuit posita virgo insidens equo.

The Romans rewarded the new virtue in a woman with a new kind of honor: an equestrian statue. On the summit of the Sacred Way, there was set up a maiden seated upon a horse.

PUBLIUS VALERIUS PUBLICOLA

Tarquinius Collatinus se consulatu abdicavit, quod invisum esset populo Tarquinii nomen. Itaque consul creatus est Publius Valerius, quo adjutore Brutus reges ejecerat. Hic tamen, quia in locum Bruti mortui alterum consulem non subrogaverat, et domum in alto atque munito loco habebat, in suspicionem regni affectati venit.

Tarquinius Collatinus abdicated the consulship, because the name of Tarquinius was hateful to the people. Therefore Publius Valerius was created consul, with whose aid Brutus had ejected the kings. He, however, because he had not appointed another consul in the place of the deceased Brutus, and kept his house on a high and fortified site, came under suspicion of aiming at kingship.

Quo cognito, apud populum questus est quod de se tale aliquid timuissent, et misit qui domum suam diruerent. Dempsit etiam secures fascibus, eosque in populi concione submisit, quasi major populi quam consulis majestas esset. Gratum id multitudini spectaculum fuit.

When this was known, he complained before the people that they had feared such a thing about him, and he sent men to tear down his own house. He also removed the axes from the fasces, and had them lowered in the people’s assembly, as if the majesty of the people were greater than that of the consul. That spectacle was pleasing to the multitude.

Inde Valerio cognomen Publicolae datum est. Cum quartum consul fuisset, mortuus est adeo pauper, ut funeri sumptus deesset. Collectis a populo nummis est sepultus, et annuo matronarum luctu honoratus.

Thence to Valerius the cognomen Publicola was given. When he had been consul for the fourth time, he died so poor that the expenses for the funeral were lacking. After coins had been collected from the people, he was buried, and he was honored by the annual mourning of the matrons.

FABII TRECENTI SEX

THE THREE HUNDRED AND SIX FABII

Vexabantur incursionibus Veientium Romani. Tum Fabia gens senatum adit. Consul Fabius pro gente loquitur: "Vos alia bella curate: Fabios hostes Veientibus date: istud bellum privato sumptu gerere nobis in animo est." Ei gratiae ingentes actae sunt.

The Romans were harassed by the incursions of the Veientes. Then the Fabian gens approaches the senate. Consul Fabius speaks on behalf of the gens: "You attend to other wars: assign the Fabii as enemies to the Veientes: it is our intention to wage that war at private expense." To him immense thanks were rendered.

Consul e curia egressus, comitante Fabiorum agmine, domum rediit. Manat tota urbe rumor: Fabios ad caelum laudibus ferunt; Fabii postera die arma capiunt. Nunquam exercitus neque minor numero, neque clariore fama et admiratione hominum per urbem incessit.

The consul, having gone out from the Curia, with a marching column of the Fabii accompanying, returned home. The rumor spreads through the whole city: they extol the Fabii to the sky with praises; on the following day the Fabii take up arms. Never did an army march through the city smaller in number, nor of more illustrious fame and in the admiration of men.

Ibant sex et trecenti milites, omnes patricii, omnes unius gentis. Ad Cremeram flumen perveniunt. Is opportunus visus est focus communiendo praesidio.

There went three hundred and six soldiers, all patricians, all of one gens. They reach the river Cremera. That site seemed opportune for fortifying a garrison.

Hostes non semel fusi pacem supplices petunt.

The enemies, more than once routed, seek peace as suppliants.

Veientes pacis impetratae brevi poenituit. Itaque, redintegrato bello, inierunt consilium insidiis ferocem hostem captandi. Multo successu Fabiis audacia crescebat: cum igitur palati passim agros popularentur, pecora a Veientibus obviam acta sunt; ad quae progressi Fabii, in insidias circa ipsum iter locatas delapsi sunt, et omnes ad unum perierunt.

The Veientes soon repented of the peace obtained. Therefore, the war having been renewed, they entered a counsel to capture the ferocious enemy by ambush. With much success, audacity was growing for the Fabii: since, then, having scattered far and wide, they were ravaging the fields, herds were driven by the Veientes to meet them; advancing toward these, the Fabii slipped into ambushes placed around the road itself, and all, to a man, perished.

Dies quo id factum est inter nefastos relatus fuit: porta qua profecti fuerant, Scelerata est appellata. Unus omnino superfuit ex ea gente, qui, propter aetatem impuberem, domi relictus fuerat. Is genus propagavit ad Quintum Fabium Maximum qui Annibalem mora fregit.

The day on which that was done was entered among the nefast (forbidden) days: the gate by which they had set out was called Scelerata. Only one survived at all from that clan, who, because of his underage years, had been left at home. He propagated the line down to Quintus Fabius Maximus, who broke Hannibal by delay.

AULUS POSTHUMIUS DICTATOR

AULUS POSTHUMIUS, DICTATOR

Tarquinius ejectus ad Mamilium Tusculanum generum suum confugerat: cum ille Romanos graviter urgeret, nova Romae dignitas creata est quae Dictatura appellata est, major quam consulatus. Tunc creatus est magister equitum, qui dictatori etiam obsequeretur. Aulus Posthumius dictator factus, cum hostibus apud Regillum lacum conflixit, ubi cum victoria nutaret, magister equitum equis frenos detrahi jussit, ut irrevocabili impetu ferrentur: itaque et aciem Latinorum fuderunt, et castra ceperunt.

Tarquinius, driven out, fled for refuge to Mamilius of Tusculum, his son-in-law; when that man pressed the Romans heavily, a new dignity at Rome was created, which was called the Dictatorship, greater than the consulship. Then a Master of the Horse was created, who was also to obey the dictator. Aulus Posthumius, made dictator, engaged the enemies near Lake Regillus, where, as the victory wavered, the Master of the Horse ordered the reins to be taken off the horses, so that they might be carried in with an irrevocable charge: and so they routed the battle-line of the Latins and captured the camp.

Tarquinius Cumas se contulisse dicitur, in eaque urbe senio et aegritudine esse confectus.

Tarquinius is said to have betaken himself to Cumae, and in that city to have been worn out by old age and sickness.

MENENIUS AGRIPPA

Menenius Agrippa concordiam inter patres plebemque restituit: nam cum plebs a patribus secessisset, quod tributum et militiam non toleraret, Agrippa vir facundus, ad plebem missus est; qui intromissus in castra nihil aliud quam narrasse fertur: "Olim humani artus, cum ventrem otiosum cernerent, ab eo discordarunt, conspiraruntque ne manus ad os cibum ferrent, nec os acciperet datum, nec dentes conficerent. At dum ventrem domare volunt, ipsi quoque defecerunt, totumque corpus ad extremam tabem venit: inde apparuit ventris haud segne ministerium esse, eumque acceptos cibos per omnia membra disserere, et cum eo in gratiam redierunt. Sic senatus et populus quasi unum corpus discordia pereunt concordia valent."

Menenius Agrippa restored concord between the senators and the plebs: for when the plebs had seceded from the senators, because it would not tolerate the tribute and the military service, Agrippa, a man eloquent, was sent to the plebs; who, admitted into the camp, is reported to have told nothing else than this: "Once upon a time the human limbs, when they saw the belly idle, fell out with it, and conspired that the hands should not carry food to the mouth, nor the mouth receive what was given, nor the teeth make it ready. But while they wished to tame the belly, they themselves also failed, and the whole body came to utter wasting: then it appeared that the service of the belly was by no means sluggish, and that it distributes the foods received through all the members, and they returned into grace with it. Thus the senate and the people, as if one body, perish by discord, are strong by concord."

Hac fabula, Menenius flexit hominum mentes: plebs in urbem regressa est. Creavit tamen tribunos, qui libertatem suam adversus nobilitatis superbiam defenderent. Paulo post mortuus est Menenius, vir omni vita pariter patribus ac plebi carus; post restitutam civium concordiam carior plebi factus.

By this fable, Menenius bent the minds of men: the plebs returned to the city. Nevertheless, the plebs created tribunes, who might defend their liberty against the arrogance of the nobility. A little later Menenius died, a man in his whole life equally dear to the patricians and to the plebs; after the concord of the citizens had been restored, he became dearer to the plebs. </

Is tamen in tanta paupertate decessit, ut eum populus collatis quadrantibus sepeliret, locum sepulcro senatus publice daret. Potest consolari pauperes Menenius, sed multo magis docere locupletes, quam non sit necessaria solidam laudem cupienti nimis anxia divitiarum comparatio.

He nevertheless departed in such great poverty that the people, with quarter-coins pooled, buried him, and the senate publicly granted a place for the tomb. Menenius can console the poor, but much more can he teach the wealthy how an overly anxious accumulation of riches is not necessary for one who desires solid praise.

QUINCTIUS CINCINNATUS

Aequi consulem Minucium atque exercitum ejus circumcessos tenebant: id ubi Romae nunciatum est, tantus pavor, tanta trepidatio fuit, quanta si urbem ipsam, non castra, hostes obsiderent: cum autem in altero consule parum esse praesidii videretur, dictatorem dici placuit, qui rem afflictam restitueret. Quinctius Cincinnatus, omnium consensu, dictator est dictus. Ille spes unica imperii Romani trans Tiberim quatuor jugerum colebat agrum.

The Aequians were holding the consul Minucius and his army, surrounded; when that was announced at Rome, there was such great fear, such consternation, as if the enemies were besieging the city itself, not the camp: and since in the other consul there seemed to be too little protection, it was decided that a dictator be named, who would restore the afflicted situation. Quinctius Cincinnatus, by the consensus of all, was named dictator. He, the sole hope of the Roman imperium, was cultivating across the Tiber four iugera of field.

Ad quem missi legati nudum eum arantem offenderint. Salute data invicem redditaque, Quinctius togam propere e tugurio proferre uxorem Raciliam jussit, ut senatus mandata togatus audiret.

To whom, when legates had been sent, they found him plowing stripped. The greeting having been given and returned in turn, Quinctius ordered his wife Racilia to bring out a toga quickly from the hut, so that, clad in the toga, he might hear the mandates of the Senate.

Postquam absterso pulvere ac sudore, toga indutus processit Quinctius, dictatorem eum legati gratulantes consalutant, quantus terror in exercitu sit exponunt. Quinctius igitur Romam venit, et antecedentibus litoribus domum deductus est. Postero die profectus, caesis hostibus, exercitum Romanum liberavit.

After the dust and sweat were wiped away and Quinctius, clad in the toga, stepped forth, the legates, congratulating him, hailed him as dictator and set forth how great the terror was in the army. Quinctius therefore came to Rome, and, with the lictors going before, was escorted home. On the next day, having set out, the enemies having been cut down, he freed the Roman army.

Urbem triumphant ingressus est. Ducti ante currum hostium duces, militaria signia praelata: secutus est exercitus praeda onustus; epulae instructae ante omnium domos. Quinctius sexto decimo die dictatura, quam in sex menses acceperat, se abdicavit, et ad boves rediit triumphalis agricola.

He entered the city in triumph. The leaders of the enemies were led before the chariot, the military standards borne in front; the army followed, laden with booty; banquets were set out before everyone’s houses. Quinctius on the 16th day abdicated the dictatorship, which he had accepted for 6 months, and the triumphal agriculturist returned to his oxen.

CAIUS MARCIUS CORIOLANUS

GAIUS MARCIUS CORIOLANUS

Caius Marcius gentis patriciae, a captis Coriolis urbe Volscorum Coriolanus dictus est. Patre orbatus adhuc puer sub matris tutela adolevit. Sortitus erat a natura nobiles ad laudem impetus; sed quia doctrina non accessit, irae impotens, obstinataeque pervicaciae fuit.

Caius Marcius, of the patrician gens, from Corioli having been taken— a city of the Volsci— was called Coriolanus. Bereft of his father while still a boy, he grew up under his mother’s tutelage. He had by nature been allotted noble impulses toward laud; but since doctrine did not accompany them, he was unbridled in anger and of obstinate pervicacity.

Cum prima stipendia facere coepisset adolescens, e multis proeliis quibus interfuit nunquam rediit, nisi donatus coroni aliove militari praemio. In omni vitae ratione nihil aliud sibi proponebat quam ut matri placeret: cumque illa audiret filium laudari, aut corona donari videret, tum demum felicem se putabat. Ea oblectanda et colenda satiari non poterat.

When, as an adolescent, he began to do his first stipends, from the many battles in which he took part he never returned unless he had been presented with a crown or some other military premium. In every plan of life he proposed nothing else to himself than to please his mother; and whenever she heard her son being praised, or saw him being endowed with a crown, then at last she reckoned herself happy. In gratifying and honoring her he could not be sated.

Illa cupiente, uxorem duxit: illius in aedibus cum uxore habitavit.

With her desiring it, he took a wife: in her house he lived with his wife.

Coriolanum, post victoriam ejus opera maxime partam, Posthumius consul apud milites laudavit: eum militaribus donis onerare voluit; agri centum jugera, decem captivos, totidem ornatos equos, centum boves et argenti pondus quantum sustinere potuisset, offerebat. Coriolanus vero nihil ex his omnibus accepit, praeter unius hospitis captivi salutem et equum. Consul factus, gravi annona advectum e Sicilia frumentum magno pretio, dandum populo curavit, ut plebs agros, non seditiones coleret.

Coriolanus, after a victory chiefly achieved by his effort, was praised before the soldiers by Postumius the consul: he wished to load him with military gifts; he was offering a hundred iugera of land, ten captives, as many caparisoned horses, a hundred oxen, and a weight of silver as much as he could carry. Coriolanus, however, accepted nothing of all these, except the safety of one guest‑friend who was a captive, and a horse. Having been made consul, when the corn‑supply was grievously dear, he took care that grain brought in from Sicily at a great price be given to the people, so that the plebs might cultivate fields, not seditions.

Qua de causa damnatus ad Volscos concessit, eosque adversus Romanos concitavit. Imperator a Volscis factus, ad quartum ab urbe lapidem castra posuit, et agrum Romanum est populatus.

For which cause, condemned, he withdrew to the Volsci, and incited them against the Romans. Made general by the Volsci, he pitched camp at the fourth milestone from the city, and laid waste the Roman countryside.

Missi sunt Roma ad Coriolanum oratores de pace, sed atrox responsum retulerunt; iterum deinde missi, ne in castra quidem recepti sunt. Sacerdotes quoque suis infulis velati ad eum iverunt supplices, nec magis animum ejus flexerunt: stupebat senatus, trepidabat populus, viri pariter ac mulieres exitium imminens lamentabantur. Tum Veturia Coriolani mater, et Volumnia uxor duos parvos filios secum trahens, castra hostium petierunt.

Envoys for peace were sent from Rome to Coriolanus, but they brought back an atrocious answer; then, sent again, they were not even admitted into the camp. The priests also, veiled with their own fillets, went to him as suppliants, nor did they any more bend his mind: the Senate was stupefied, the people were in alarm, men and women alike were lamenting the impending destruction. Then Veturia, Coriolanus’s mother, and Volumnia, his wife, bringing with her two small sons, made for the enemy camp.

Ubi matrem aspexit Coriolanus: "O patria inquit, vicisti iram meam admotis matris meae precibus, cui tuam in me injuriam condono." Complexus inde suos castra movit, et exercitum ex agro Romano abduxit. Coriolanus postea a Volscis, ut proditor, occisus dicitur.

When Coriolanus beheld his mother: "O fatherland," he says, "you have vanquished my ire by the proffered prayers of my mother, to whom I pardon your injury against me." Then, having embraced his own, he moved the camp and led the army away from the Roman territory. Coriolanus afterwards is said to have been slain by the Volscians, as a traitor.

LUCIUS VIRGINIUS CENTURIO

LUCIUS VIRGINIUS CENTURION

Anno trecentesimo ab urbe condita, pro duobus consulibus decemviri creati sunt, qui allatas e Graecia leges populo proponerent. Unus ex eis Appius Claudius virginem plebeiam adamavit, quam cum Appius non posset pretio ac spe pellicere, clienti suo negotium dedit, ut eam in servitutem deposceret: facile victurus cum ipse esset et accusator et judex. Lucius Virginius puellae pater tunc aberat militiae causa.

In the 300th year from the founding of the city, in place of the two consuls, decemvirs were created, to propose to the people the laws brought from Greece. One of them, Appius Claudius, fell in love with a plebeian maiden, whom, since Appius could not allure by price and promise, he assigned the business to his client to demand her into slavery: about to win easily, since he himself would be both accuser and judge. Lucius Virginius, the girl’s father, was then absent for the sake of military service.

Cliens igitur virgini venienti in forum injecit manum, affirmans suam esse servam: eam sequi se jubet; ni faciat, minatur se cunctantem vi abstracturum. Pavida puella stupente, ad clamorem nutricis fit concursus. Cum ille puellam non posset abducere eam, vocat in jus ipso Appio judice.

Therefore the client, as the maiden came into the forum, laid hand upon her, affirming that she was his slave: he orders her to follow him; if she does not, he threatens that, if she hesitates, he will drag her away by force. As the frightened girl stood stupefied, at the nurse’s outcry there is a concourse. Since he could not carry the girl off, he calls her into court, with Appius himself as judge.

Interea missi nuncii ad Virginium properant. Is prima luce Romam advenit, cum jam civitas in foro expectatione erecta staret. Virginius statim in foruni lacrymabundus et civium opem implorans filiam suam deducit.

Meanwhile, messengers who had been sent hasten to Virginius. He arrives at Rome at first light, when already the citizenry was standing in the forum, erect with expectation. Virginius at once, tearful and imploring the help of the citizens, leads his daughter forward.

Appius obstinatum gerens animum in tribunal ascendit, et Virginiam clienti suo addixit. Tum pater, ubi nihil usquam auxilii vidit; "Quaeso, inquit, Appi, ignosce patrio dolori, sine me filiam ultimo alloqui." Data venia, pater filiam in secretum abducit. Ab lanio cultrum arripit, et pectus puellae transfigit.

Appius, bearing a stubborn mind, ascended the tribunal and adjudged Virginia to his client. Then the father, when he saw help nowhere, said: "I beg, Appius, pardon a paternal grief; allow me to address my daughter for the last time." Permission having been granted, the father led his daughter aside into a secret place. From a butcher he snatched a knife and pierced the girl’s breast.

Tum ferro sibi viam facit, et respersus cruore ad exercitum profugit. Concitatus exercitus montem Aventinum occupavit; decem tribunos militum creavit; decemviros magistratu se abdicare coegit, eosque omnes aut morte aut exitio mulctavit: ipse Appius Claudius in carcere necatus est.

Then with iron he made himself a way, and, spattered with gore, fled to the army. The aroused army occupied the Aventine Mount; it created ten tribunes of soldiers; it compelled the decemvirs to abdicate from the magistracy, and mulcted them all either with death or with ruin: Appius Claudius himself was slain in prison.

CAIUS LICINIUS STOLO

GAIUS LICINIUS STOLO

Fabius Ambustus ex duabus filiabus majorem Aulo Sulpitio patricio, minorem Licinio Stoloni plebeio, conjugem dedit. Aulus Sulpitius tribunus militum erat potestate consulari. Cum in ejus domo sorores Fabiae inter se tempus sermonibus tererent, forte incidit ut Sulpitius de foro domum se reciperet, et ejus lictor forem, ut mos est, virga percuteret; minor Fabia moris ejus insueta id expavit: risus sorori fuit miranti sororem id ignorare.

Fabius Ambustus, from two daughters, gave the elder as a spouse to Aulus Sulpicius, a patrician, the younger to Licinius Stolo, a plebeian. Aulus Sulpicius was a military tribune with consular power. While in his house the Fabian sisters were spending time among themselves in conversations, it chanced that Sulpicius was returning home from the forum, and his lictor struck the door with a rod, as is the custom; the younger Fabia, unaccustomed to that custom, was frightened at it: it was a laugh to her sister, marveling that her sister did not know it.

Confusam eam cum pater vidisset, sciscitanti confessa est eam esse causam doloris, quod viro plebeio juncta esset. Consolatur filiam Ambustus, polliceturque eosdem honores domi propediem visuram quos apud sororem videat. Inde consilia inire coepit cum genero, qui, ubi tribunatum plebis aggressus est, legem tulit ut alter consul ex plebe crearetur.

When her father had seen her confounded, upon his inquiring she confessed that this was the cause of her grief: that she had been joined to a plebeian husband. Ambustus consoles his daughter, and promises that she will very soon see at home the same honors as she sees with her sister. Then he began to enter into counsels with his son‑in‑law, who, when he had entered upon the tribunate of the plebs, carried a law that one consul be created from the plebs.

Lex resistentibus patribus lata tamen est, et primus Licinius Stolo consul e plebe factus.

The law, though the patricians resisted, was nevertheless carried, and Licinius Stolo was made the first consul from the plebs.

MARCUS FURIUS CAMILLUS

Cum Marcus Furius Camillus urbem Falerios obsideret, ludi magister plurimos et nobilissimos inde pueros, velut ambulandi gratia, eductos, in castra Romanorum perduxit: quibus Camillo traditis, non erat dubium quin Falisci, deposito bello, sese Romanis dedituri essent; sed Camillus perfidiam proditoris detestatus: "Non ad similem tui inquit, venisti; sunt belli sicut et pacis jura: arma habemus non adversus eam aetatem cui etiam captis urbibus parcitur, sed adversas armatos qui castra Romana oppugnaverunt." Denudari deinde ludi magistrum jussit, eum manibus post tergum alligatis in urbem reducendum pueris tradidit, virgasque eis dedit, quibus euntem verberarent. Statim Falisci, beneficio magis quam armis victi, portas Romanis aperuerunt.

When Marcus Furius Camillus was besieging the city of Falerii, the schoolmaster led out from there very many and most noble boys, as if for the sake of walking, and brought them into the camp of the Romans: with these handed over to Camillus, there was no doubt that the Falisci, war laid aside, would surrender themselves to the Romans; but Camillus, detesting the perfidy of the betrayer: "You have not come to one like yourself," he says; "there are laws of war just as of peace: we have arms not against that age to which mercy is shown even when cities are taken, but against armed adversaries who have assaulted the Roman camp." Then he ordered the schoolmaster to be stripped, and, with his hands bound behind his back, he handed him over to the boys to be led back into the city, and he gave them rods with which they might beat him as he went. Immediately the Falisci, conquered more by beneficence than by arms, opened their gates to the Romans.

Camillus post multa in patriam merita judicio populi damnatus exsulatum abiit. Urbe egrediens ab Diis precatus esse dicitur, ut si innoxio sibi ea injuria fieret, desiderium sui facerent ingratae patriae quamprimum: neque multo postea res evenit. Nam Galli Senones Clusium Etruriae oppidum obsederunt.

Camillus, after many services to his fatherland, condemned by the judgment of the people, departed into exile. Leaving the city, he is said to have prayed to the gods that, if that injury were done to him, being innocent, they would make his ungrateful fatherland feel longing for him as soon as possible; nor long afterward did the thing come to pass. For the Gauls, the Senones, besieged Clusium, a town of Etruria.

Clusini novo bello exterriti ab Romanis auxilium petierunt. Missi sunt Roma tres legati, qui Gallos monerent ut ab oppugnatione desisterent. Ex his legatis unus contra jus gentium in aciem processit, et ducem Senonum interfecit.

The Clusines, terrified by a new war, sought aid from the Romans. Three legates were sent from Rome to warn the Gauls to desist from the siege. Of these legates, one, against the law of nations, advanced into the battle-line and slew the leader of the Senones.

Qua re commoti Galli, petitis in deditionem legatis nec impetratis, ad urbem venerunt et exercitum Romanum apud Alliam fluvium ceciderunt die decimo sexto calendas augusti: qui dies inter nefastos relatus, Alliensis dictus est.

Stirred by this, the Gauls—when the surrender of the envoys had been demanded and not obtained—came to the city and cut down the Roman army at the river Allia on the 16th day before the Kalends of August; which day, entered among the ill‑omened days, was called the Allian day.

Galli victores paulo ante solis occasum ad urbem Romam perveniunt. Postquam hostes adesse nunciatum est, juventus Romana duce Manlio in arcem conscendit; seniores vero domos ingressi adventum Gallorum obstinato ad mortem animo expectabant. Qui inter eos curules magistratus gesserant, ornati honorum insignibus in vestibulis aedium eburneis sellis insedere ut cum venisset hostis, in sua dignitate morerentur.

The Gauls, victors, arrived at the city of Rome a little before the setting of the sun. After it was announced that the enemy was at hand, the Roman youth, under the leadership of Manlius, ascended into the citadel; but the elders, having entered their homes, were awaiting the arrival of the Gauls with a mind obstinate unto death. Those who among them had held curule magistracies, adorned with the insignia of their honors, sat down in the vestibules of their houses on ivory chairs, so that, when the enemy came, they might die in their own dignity.

Interim Galli domos patentes ingressi vident viros ornatu et vultus maiestate Diis simillimos: cum Galli ad eos veluti simulacra, conversi starent, unus ex his senibus dicitur Gallo barbam suam permulcenti scipionem eburneum in caput incussisse. Iratus Gallus eum occidit: ab eo initium caedis ortum est. Deinde ceteri omnes in sedibus suis trucidati sunt.

Meanwhile the Gauls, entering the standing-open houses, see men in adornment and in the majesty of visage most similar to the gods: when the Gauls, turned toward them as if to simulacra, were standing, one of these old men is said to have struck with his ivory staff upon the head a Gaul who was stroking his beard. The Gaul, enraged, killed him: from that the beginning of the slaughter arose. Then all the others were butchered in their seats.

Galli deinde impetum facere in arcem statuunt. Primo, militem qui tentaret viam praemiserunt. Tum nocte sublustri sublevantes invicem et trahentes alii alios in summum saxum evaserunt, tanto silentio ut non solum custodes fallerent, sed ne canes quidem, sollicitum animal excitarent.

Then the Gauls resolve to make an attack on the citadel. First, they sent forward a soldier to try the way. Then, in the dim starlight of night, lifting one another in turn and pulling one another, they gained the top of the rock with such silence that they deceived not only the guards, but did not even rouse the dogs, a vigilant creature.

Anseres non fefellere, quibus in summa inopia Romani abstinuerant, quia aves erant Junoni sacrae; quae res Romanis saluti fuit. Namque clangore anserum alarumque crepitu excitus, Manlius vir bello egregius, ceteros ad arma vocans Gallos ascendentes dejecit: unde mos iste incessit ut solemni pompa, canis in furca suffixus feratur; anser vero velut triumphans in lectica et veste stragula gestetur.

The geese did not fail, from whom in the utmost want the Romans had abstained, because the birds were sacred to Juno; which thing was for the Romans a salvation. For, roused by the clangor of the geese and the crepitus of wings, Manlius, a man outstanding in war, calling the rest to arms, cast down the Gauls who were ascending: whence that custom arose that, in solemn pomp, a dog fixed upon a fork is carried; but a goose, as if triumphing, is borne in a litter and with a coverlet.

Tunc consensu omnium placuit ab exilio Camillum acciri; missi igitur ad eum legati ipseque dictator absens dictus est. Interim fames utrumque exercitum urgebat: at, ne Galli putarent Romanos ea necessitate ad deditionem cogi, multis locis de Capitolio panis jactatus est in hostium stationes. Ea re adducti sunt Galli ut haud magna mercede obsidionem relinquerent.

Then by the consent of all it was resolved that Camillus be summoned back from exile; therefore legates were sent to him, and he himself was named dictator while absent. Meanwhile famine was pressing both armies: but, lest the Gauls think the Romans were being driven to surrender by that necessity, in many places bread was cast down from the Capitol into the enemy stations. By this matter the Gauls were induced to leave the siege for no great price.

Pactum est pretium mille pondo auri. Nondum omni auro appenso Camillus dictator intervenit, collectis Romani exercitus reliquiis; auferri aurum de medio jubet, denunciatque Gallis ut se ad proelium expediant. Instruit deinde aciem, et Gallos internecione occidit.

A pact was made for a price of a thousand pounds of gold. Not yet had all the gold been weighed out when Camillus the dictator intervened, after gathering the remnants of the Roman army; he orders the gold to be removed from the midst, and gives notice to the Gauls to ready themselves for battle. Then he arrays the battle line, and kills the Gauls with extermination.

Ne nuncius quidem cladis relictus est. Dictator, recuperati, ex hostibus patria, triumphans urbem ingressus est, et a militibus parens patriae, conditorque alter urbis appellatus est.

Not even a messenger of the disaster was left. The Dictator, the fatherland having been recovered from the enemies, entered the city in triumph, and by the soldiers was called father of the fatherland and a second founder of the city.

TITUS MANLIUS TORQUATUS

Titus Manlius ob ingenii et linguae tarditatem a patre rus relegatus fuerat. Cum audisset patri diem dictam esse a Pomponio tribuno plebis, cepit consilium rudis quidem et agrestis animi, sed pietate laudabile. Cultro succinctus mane in urbem, atque a porta confestim ad Pomponium pergit: introductus cultrum stringit, et super lectum Pomponii stans, se eum transfixurum minatur, nisi ab incoepta accusatione desistat.

Titus Manlius, on account of tardity of mind and tongue, had been relegated to the countryside by his father. When he heard that a day had been named for his father by Pomponius, tribune of the plebs, he took a counsel—indeed of a rude and rustic spirit, but laudable for piety. Girt with a knife, early in the morning into the city he goes, and straightway from the gate to Pomponius: admitted, he draws the knife, and, standing over Pomponius’s couch, he threatens that he will transfix him unless he desist from the commenced accusation.

Pavidus tribunus, quippe qui cerneret ferrum ante oculos micare, accusationem demisit. Ea res adolescenti honori fuit, quod animum ejus acerbitas paterna a pietate non avertisset, ideoque eodem anno tribunus militum factus est.

The timorous tribune, since he saw the steel flashing before his eyes, dropped the accusation. This matter was an honor to the adolescent, because his spirit had not been turned away from piety by paternal harshness, and so in the same year he was made tribune of the soldiers.

Cum postea Galli ad tertium lapidem trans Anionem fluvium castra posuissent, exercitus Romanus ab urbe profectus est, et in citeriore ripa fluvii constitit. Pons in medio erat: tunc Gallus eximii corporis magnitudine in vacuum pontem processit, et quam maxima voce potuit: "Quem nunc, inquit, Roma fortissimum habet, is procedat ad pugnam, ut eventus ostendat utra gens bello sit melior " Diu inter primores juvenum Romanorum silentium fuit. Tum Titus Manlius ex statione ad imperatorem pergit: "Injussu tuo, inquit, imperator, extra ordinem nunquam pugnaverim, non, si certam victoriam videam.

When afterwards the Gauls had pitched camp at the third milestone across the Anio river, the Roman army set out from the city, and took position on the nearer bank of the river. A bridge was between: then a Gaul, of exceptional magnitude of body, advanced onto the empty bridge, and in as loud a voice as he could: "Whom now, he said, Rome holds as the bravest, let him advance to the combat, that the outcome may show which nation is better in war " For a long time there was silence among the foremost of the Roman youths. Then Titus Manlius goes from his station to the commander: "Without your order, commander, I would never fight out of the ranks, not even if I should see a certain victory.

Si tu permittis, volo isti belluae ostendere me ex ea familia ortum esse, quae Gallorum agmen ex rupe Tarpeia deturbavit. Cui imperator: Macte virtute, inquit, Tite Manli, esto: perge, et nomen Romanum invictum praesta." Armant deinde juvenem aequales scutum capit, Hispano cingitur gladio ad propiorem pugnam habili. Expectabat eum Gallus solide laetus et linguam ab irrisu exerens.

If you permit, I wish to show that brute that I am sprung from that family which drove the column of the Gauls down from the Tarpeian rock." To him the emperor: "Well done in virtue, Titus Manlius; be it so: proceed, and exhibit the Roman name unconquered." Then his peers arm the youth; he takes up a shield, he is girded with a Spanish sword, handy for closer combat. The Gaul was awaiting him, sturdily elated, and sticking out his tongue in derision.

Ubi constitere inter duas acies, Gallus ensem cum ingenti sonitu in arma Manlii dejecit. Manlius vero insinuavit sese inter corpus et arma Galli, atque uno et altero ictu ventrem transfodit: jacenti torquem detraxit, quem cruore respersum collo circumdedit suo. Defixerat pavor cum admiratione Gallos; Romani alacres obviam militi suo progrediuntur, et gratulantes laudantesque ad imperatorem perducunt.

When they halted between the two battle-lines, the Gaul cast his sword with an immense crash upon Manlius’s arms. But Manlius insinuated himself between the Gaul’s body and armor, and with one and a second stroke pierced his belly; from the fallen man he stripped the torque, which, spattered with gore, he placed around his own neck. Fear together with admiration had transfixed the Gauls; the Romans, with alacrity, advance to meet their soldier, and, congratulating and praising him, lead him to the emperor.

Manlius inde Torquati nomen accepit.

Manlius then accepted the name Torquatus.

Idem Manlius, postea consul factus bello Latino ut disciplinam militarem restitueret, edixit ne quis extra ordinem in hostes pugnaret. Forte filius ejus accessit prope stationem hostium: is qui Latino equitatui praeerat ubi consulis filium agnovit, "Visne, inquit, congredi mecum ut singularis proelii eventu cernatur quantam eques Latinus Romano praestet?" Movit ferocem animum juvenis seu ira, seu detractandi certaminis pudor. Oblitus itaque imperii paterni in certamen ruit, et Latinum ex equo excussum transfixit, spoliisque lectis in castra ad patrem venit.

The same Manlius, later made consul, in the Latin War, in order to restore military discipline, issued an edict that no one should fight against the enemy out of order. By chance his son approached near the enemy’s station; the man who was in command of the Latin cavalry, when he recognized the consul’s son, said, “Do you wish to engage with me, that by the outcome of a single combat it may be discerned how much a Latin eques excels a Roman?” The young man’s fierce spirit was moved, whether by anger, or by the shame of drawing back from the contest. Therefore, forgetful of his father’s command, he rushed into the encounter, and, having thrown the Latin from his horse, transfixed him; and with the spoils gathered he came into the camp to his father.

Extemplo filium aversatus consul milites classico advocat: qui postquam frequentes convenere: "Quandoquidem inquit, tu, fili, contra imperium consulis pugnasti oportet ut disciplinam poena tua restituas. Triste exemplum, sed in posterum salubre juventuti eris. "I, lictor, deliga ad palum." Metu omnes obstupuere; sed postquam cervice caesa fusus est cruor, in questus et lamenta erupere.

At once, the consul, having turned away from his son, summons the soldiers by the trumpet-call: who, after they had assembled in throngs: "Since, he says, you, my son, have fought against the command of the consul, it is fitting that by your punishment you restore discipline. A sad example, but for the future you will be salutary to the youth. "Go, lictor, bind him to the stake." All were struck dumb with fear; but after, when the neck had been cut and the blood had flowed out, they burst forth into complaints and lamentations.

Manlio Romam redeunti seniores tantum obviam exierunt: juventus et tunc eum et omni deinde vita exsecrata est.

To Manlius returning to Rome, the seniors only went out to meet him: the youth both then and for all the rest of his life execrated him.

PUBLIUS DECIUS PUBLIUS

Decius sub Valerio consule tribunus militum fuit. Cum exercitus Romanus in angustiis clausus esset, Decius conspexit editum collem imminentem hostium castris. Accepto praesidio verticem occupavit, hostes terruit, et spatium consuli dedit ad subducendum agmen in aequiorem locum.

Decius under the consul Valerius was a military tribune. When the Roman army was shut in in straits, Decius caught sight of a raised hill overhanging the enemies’ camp. Having received a detachment, he seized the summit, terrified the enemies, and gave the consul space to draw off the column into a more level place.

Ipse intempesta nocte per medias hostium custodias somno oppressas incolumis evasit. Quare ab exercitu donatus est corona civica, quae dabatur ei qui obsidione cives liberasset. Consul fuit bello Latino cum Manlio Torquato.

He himself, in the dead of night, through the midst of the enemy’s watches, oppressed by sleep, escaped unscathed. Wherefore he was endowed by the army with the civic crown, which was given to him who had liberated citizens from a siege. He was consul in the Latin war with Manlius Torquatus.

Tunc cum utrique consuli somnio obvenisset eum populum victorem fore, cujus dux in proelio cecidisset, convenit inter eos, ut is cujus cornu in acie laboraret, Diis se Manibus devoveret: inclinante sua parte, Decius se et hostes Diis Manibus devovit. Armatus in equum insiluit, ac se in medios hostes immisit. Corruit obrutus telis, et victoriam suis reliquit.

Then, when to each consul by a dream it had fallen that that people would be the victor whose leader had fallen in battle, it was agreed between them that he whose wing in the battle-line was laboring should devote himself to the Divine Manes: his own side inclining, Decius devoted himself and the enemies to the Divine Manes. Armed, he leapt onto his horse, and hurled himself into the midst of the enemies. He fell, overwhelmed with weapons, and left the victory to his own.

VALERIUS CORVINUS

Bello Gallico, cum Romani in stationibus quieti tempus tererent, Gallus quidam magnitudine atque armis insignis ante alios progressus est; quatiensque scutum hasta, cum silentium fecisset, unum e Romanis per interpretem provocavit, qui secum ferro decernere, Marcus erat Valerius tribunus militum adolescens, qui prius sciscitatus consulis voluntatem, in medium armatus processit: tunc res visu mirabilis accidisse fertur; nam cum jam manum consereret Valerius, repente in galea ejus corvus insedit in hostem versus. Ales non solum captam semel sedem tenuit, sed quotiescumque certamen initum est, levans se alis, os oculosque Galli rostro et unguibus appetiit. Hostem territum talis prodigii visu, oculisque simul ac mente turbatum Valerius obtruncat.

In the Gallic War, when the Romans, at ease in their pickets, were passing the time quietly, a certain Gaul, distinguished by his size and arms, advanced before the others; and, shaking his shield with his spear, when he had made silence, he challenged, through an interpreter, one of the Romans to decide with him by the sword. Marcus Valerius was a young tribune of the soldiers, who, after first inquiring the consul’s will, advanced armed into the midst: then a thing marvelous to behold is reported to have happened; for when Valerius was now joining hand-to-hand battle, suddenly a raven settled upon his helmet, turned toward the enemy. The bird not only held the seat once taken, but, as often as the contest was engaged, lifting itself with its wings, it assailed the Gaul’s mouth and eyes with beak and talons. The enemy, terrified at the sight of such a prodigy and disturbed in his eyes as well as his mind, Valerius cuts down.

Corvus e conspectu elatus orientem petit. Inde Valerius Corvinus dictus est.

The raven, lifted out of sight, made for the east. From this he was called Valerius Corvinus.

Valerius Corvinus annos tres et viginti natus consul creatus, Samnites bis proelio fudit. Non alias dux militi carior fuit, quia nullus militi familiarior. Omnia inter infimos militum munia haud gravate obibat.

Valerius Corvinus, at the age of 23, was created consul; he routed the Samnites twice in battle. Never was a leader dearer to the soldiery, because none was more familiar to the soldier. He performed without reluctance all the duties among the lowest of the soldiers.

In ludo etiam militari, cum velocitatis viriumque certamina inter se aequales ineunt, Valerius ipse cum eis certabat, nec quemquam aspernabatur parem qui se offerret. Semper comis et eodem vultu seu vinceret, seu vinceretur. Cum postea in exercitu orta esset gravis seditio, parsque militum a ceteris defecisset, et ducem sibi fecisset, adversus eos Valerius dictator missus est: qui ubi in conspectum venit, benigne milites allocutus, extemplo omnium iras permulsit, seditionemque compressit: adeo hominum animos conciliat comitas affabilitasque sermonis!

In the military exercise as well, when contests of velocity and of strength are undertaken among peers, Valerius himself competed with them, nor did he spurn any equal who offered himself. Always affable and with the same countenance whether he conquered or was conquered. When afterward a serious sedition had arisen in the army, and a part of the soldiers had defected from the rest and had made a leader for themselves, Valerius was sent as dictator against them: and when he came into sight, having kindly addressed the soldiers, he immediately soothed the wrath of all and suppressed the sedition: so greatly do courtesy and the affability of speech conciliate the minds of men!

SPURIUS POSTHUMIUS

Spurius Posthumius consul cum bellum adversus Samnites gereret, a Pontio Thelesino duce hostium in insidias inductus est: is namque simulatos transfugas misit qui Romanos monerent Luceriam Apuliae urbem a Samnitibus obsideri. Non erat dubium quin Romani Lucerinis bonis ad fidelibus sociis opem ferrent. Luceriam duae viae ducebant, altera longior et tutior, altera brevior et periculosior.

Spurius Postumius, consul, when he was waging war against the Samnites, was led into an ambush by Pontius Thelesinus, the enemies’ leader: for he sent feigned deserters to warn the Romans that Luceria, a city of Apulia, was being besieged by the Samnites. There was no doubt that the Romans would bring aid to the Lucerini, good and faithful allies. Two roads led to Luceria, one longer and safer, the other shorter and more perilous.

Festinatio breviorem elegit. Itaque cum in insidias venissent, qui locus Furculae Caudinae vocabatur, et fraus hostilis apparuisset, retro viam qua venerant repetunt; at eam hostium praesidio clausam inveniunt: sistunt igitur gradum, et omni spe evadendi adempta, intuentes alii alios diu immobiles silent; deinde erumpunt in querelas adversas duces, quorum temeritate in eum locum erant adducti. Ita noctem tum cibi, tum quietis immemores traduxerunt.

Haste chose the shorter route. And so, when they had come into the ambush, a place which was called the Caudine Forks, and the hostile fraud had become apparent, they turn back to the road by which they had come; but they find it closed by a garrison of the enemy: therefore they halt their step, and, with all hope of escaping taken away, gazing one at another, for a long time, motionless, they are silent; then they burst forth into complaints against the leaders, by whose temerity they had been led into that place. Thus they passed the night unmindful both of food and of rest.

Nec Samnites ipsi quid sibi faciendum in re tam laeta sciebant. Pontius accitum patrem Herennium rogavit quid fieri placeret. Is, ubi audivit inter duos saltus clausum esse exercitum Romanum, dixit aut omnes esse occidendos, ut vires frangerentur, aut omnes dimittendos, esse incolumes, ut beneficio obligarentur.

Nor did the Samnites themselves know what was to be done for themselves in so joyful a situation. Pontius, having summoned his father Herennius, asked what it would be pleasing to do. He, when he heard that the Roman army was shut in between two passes, said that either all must be slain, so that their forces might be broken, or all must be dismissed unharmed, so that they might be obligated by a benefaction.

Neutra sententia accepta fuit: interea Romani necessitate victi legatos mittunt qui pacem petant. Pax concessa est ea lege ut omnes sub jugum traducerentur. Itaque paludamenta consulibus detracta, ipsique primi sub jugum missi, deinde singulae legiones: circumstabant armati hostes exprobrantes illudentesque, Romanis e saltu egressis lux ipsa morte tristior fuit: pudor fugere colloquia et coetus hominum cogebat.

Neither opinion was accepted; meanwhile the Romans, conquered by necessity, send legates to seek peace. Peace was granted on this condition, that all should be led under the yoke. And so the military cloaks were stripped from the consuls, and they themselves were the first sent under the yoke, then the legions one by one; the armed enemies stood around, upbraiding and mocking; for the Romans, once they had gone out from the defile, the very daylight was sadder than death; shame compelled them to flee conversations and gatherings of men.

Sero Romam ingressi sunt et se in suis quisque aedibus abdiderunt. Deliberante senatu de pace Caudina, Posthumius sententiam dicere jussus: "Turpi sponsione, inquit, qua me obstrinxi, non tenetur populus Romanus, quando ejus injussu facta est; nec quidquam ex ea praeter corpus meum debetur Samnitibus. Eis dedite me nudum vinctumque: in me unum saeviant; exsolvam religione populum." Senatus hanc animi magnitudinem admiratus Posthumium laudavit, ejusque sententiam secutus est.

Late did they enter Rome and each hid himself in his own house. While the senate was deliberating about the Caudine peace, Postumius, ordered to speak his opinion, said: "By the disgraceful sponsion, by which I bound myself, the Roman people is not held, since it was done without their order; nor is anything from it owed to the Samnites beyond my body. Surrender me to them, naked and bound: let them rage against me alone; I will release the people from religious obligation." The senate, admiring this greatness of spirit, praised Postumius and followed his opinion.

Traditus est igitur Posthumius fecialibus, qui eum ad Samnites ducerent. Vestis ei detracta; manus post tergum vinctae sunt; cumque apparitor, verecundia maiestatis, Posthumium laxe vinciret: " Quin tu, inquit ipse Posthumius, adducis lorum, ut justa fiat deditio?" Tum ubi in coetum Samnitium venit, facta deditione, Posthumius fecialis femur genu, quanta potuit vi percussit et clara voce ait se Samnitem civem esse, illum legatum: fecialem a se contra jus gentium violatum; eo justius bellum adversus Samnites fore. Accepta non fuit Samnitibus ista deditio, Posthumiusque in castra Romana inviolatus rediit.

Therefore Postumius was handed over to the fetials, to lead him to the Samnites. His garment was stripped off; his hands were bound behind his back; and when the apparitor, out of reverence for his majesty, was binding Postumius loosely: “Why don’t you,” said Postumius himself, “draw the strap tight, so that the surrender be just?” Then, when he came into the assembly of the Samnites, the surrender having been performed, Postumius struck the fetial’s thigh with his knee with all the force he could, and in a clear voice said that he himself was a Samnite citizen, that man an ambassador; that the fetial had been violated by him contrary to the law of nations; and that for that reason the war against the Samnites would be all the more just. That surrender was not accepted by the Samnites, and Postumius returned unharmed to the Roman camp.

LUCIUS PAPIRIUS CURSOR

Lucius Papirius, cum dictatorem se adversis ominibus contra Samnites profectum esse sensisset, ad auspicia repetenda Romam regressus est, ac prius Quinto Fabio magistro equitum edixit ut sese loco teneret neu absente se manum cum hoste consereret. Fabius post dictatoris profectionem, opportunitate ductus acie cum Samnitibus conflixit. Neque melius res geri potuisset, si adfuisset dictator.

Lucius Papirius, when he had sensed that, under adverse omens, he had set out as dictator against the Samnites, returned to Rome to repeat the auspices, and first he issued an edict to Quintus Fabius, the master of the cavalry, that he should hold his position and not, with himself absent, join battle with the enemy. Fabius, after the dictator’s departure, led by opportunity, engaged the Samnites in line of battle. Nor could the matter have been conducted better, even if the dictator had been present.

Non miles duci, non dux militi defuit. Viginti millia hostium eo die caesa traduntur. Haud multo post dictator advenit plenus minarum iraeque Statim advocata concione spoliari magistrum equitum, virgasque ac secures expediri jussit.

Neither did the soldier fail the leader, nor the leader the soldier. Twenty thousand of the enemy are handed down as having been cut down on that day. Not long after, the dictator arrived, full of threats and wrath; immediately, with an assembly called, he ordered the Master of Horse to be stripped, and the rods and axes to be made ready.

Tam Fabius militum fidem implorare coepit. Clamor in tota concione est ortus: alibi preces, alibi minae audiebantur. Itaque es in posterum diem est dilata.

Then Fabius began to implore the soldiers’ fidelity. A clamor arose in the whole assembly: in some places entreaties, in others threats were heard. And so the matter was deferred to the following day.

Magister equitum noctu clam ex castris Romam profugit, quem dictator ipse secutus est. Vocato senatu iterata contentio est; prehendi Fabium Papirius jussit. Tum Fabii pater ad populum provocavit.

The Master of Horse by night secretly fled from the camp to Rome, whom the dictator himself followed. With the senate convened, the contention was renewed; Papirius ordered Fabius to be seized. Then the father of Fabius appealed to the people.

Populus Romanus ad preces et obtestationem versus, oravit dictatorem ut veniam adolescentiae Fabii daret. Ipse adolescens ejusque pater procumbere ad genus dictatoris coepeerunt, iramque deprecari. Tot precibus cessit Papirius.

The Roman people, turned to prayers and obtestation, implored the dictator to grant pardon for Fabius’s youth. The youth himself and his father began to prostrate themselves at the dictator’s knees, and to deprecate his anger. To so many prayers Papirius yielded.

Is fuit vir non animi solum vigore, sed etiam corporis viribus excellens. Praecipua pedum pernicitas inerat, quae cognomen etiam dedit. Idem comis et iocorum studiosus.

He was a man excelling not in the vigor of mind alone, but also in the strengths of the body. A preeminent fleetness of feet was in him, which even gave him a cognomen. He likewise was courteous and fond of jests.

Quadam die inambulans ante tabernaculum, praetorem Praenestinum, qui per timorem segnius suos in proelium duxerat, vocari jussit, et postquam cum graviter increpuit: "Lictor, expedi, inquit, secures," et cum praetorem vidisset metu mortis attonitum: "Agedum, lictor, inquit, exscinde radicem hanc incommodam ambulantibus." Deinde praetorem mulcta dicta dimisit.

On a certain day, walking about before the tent, he ordered the Praenestine praetor, who through fear had led his men more sluggishly into battle, to be summoned; and after he had gravely rebuked him: “Lictor, bring out the axes,” he said; and when he saw the praetor stunned by fear of death: “Come then, lictor,” he said, “cut out this root, troublesome to walkers.” Then he dismissed the praetor with a fine declared.

PUBLIUS VALERIUS LAEVINUS

Tarentinis quod Romanorum legatis injuriam fecissent, bellum indictum est. Quibus auxilio venit Pyrrhus, rex Epirotarum qui genus ab Achille ducebat. Contra Pyrrhum missus est consul Laevinus, qui, cum exploratores regis cepisset, jussit eos per castra Romana circumduci, tumque incolumes dimitti, ut ea quae vidissent Pyrrho renuntiarent.

Because the Tarentines had committed an injury against the legates of the Romans, war was declared. To their aid came Pyrrhus, king of the Epirotes, who traced his lineage from Achilles. Against Pyrrhus the consul Laevinus was sent, who, when he had seized the king’s scouts, ordered them to be led around through the Roman camp, and then to be dismissed unharmed, so that they might report to Pyrrhus the things they had seen.

Mox commissa pugna, cum jam hostes pedem referrent, rex elephantos in Romanorum agmen agi jussit; tuncque mutata est proelii fortuna. Romanos vastorum corporum moles, terribilisque superadstantium armatorum species turbavit. Equi etiam ad conspectum et odorem belluarum exterriti, sessores aut excutiebant, aut secum in fugam abripiebant.

Soon, the battle having been joined, when now the enemies were yielding ground, the king ordered the elephants to be driven into the Roman column; and then the fortune of the battle was changed. The mass of the vast bodies and the terrible aspect of the armed men standing above threw the Romans into disorder. The horses too, terrified at the sight and smell of the beasts, either were casting off their riders, or were carrying them off with themselves into flight.

Nox proelio finem fecit.

Night put an end to the battle.

Pyrrhus captivos Romanos summo honore habuit; occisos sepelivit, quos cum adverso vulnere et truci vultu etiam mortuos jacere cerneret, manus ad caelum tulisse dicitur cum hac voce. "Ego talibus viris brevi orbem terrarum subegissem." Deinde ad urbem Romam magnis itineribus contendit: omnia igne et ferro vastavit, ad vicesimum ab urbe lapidem castra posuit. Pyrrho obviam venit Laevinus cum novo exercitu; quo viso rex ait sibi eamdem adversus Romanos esse fortunam, quam Herculi adversus hydram, cui tot capita renascebantur, quot praecisa fuerant: deinde in Campaniam se recepit; missos a senatu de redimendis captivis legatos honorifice excepit; captivos sine pretio reddidit, ut Romani, cognita jam ejus virtute, cognoscerent etiam liberalitatem.

Pyrrhus held the Roman captives in the highest honor; he buried the slain, and when he saw that even in death they lay with a wound in front and a grim countenance, he is said to have raised his hands to heaven with this utterance: "With such men I would in a short time have subdued the world." Then he hastened toward the city of Rome by great marches: he laid all waste with fire and iron, and pitched camp at the twentieth milestone from the city. Laevinus came to meet Pyrrhus with a new army; at the sight of this the king said that his fortune against the Romans was the same as Hercules’s against the Hydra, to which as many heads were reborn as had been cut off: then he withdrew into Campania; the legates sent by the Senate for ransoming the captives he received honorably; he returned the captives without a price, so that the Romans, now acquainted with his virtue, might also recognize his liberality.

Erat Pyrrho utpote magno et forti viro mitis ac placabilis animus. Solet enim magni animi comes esse clementia: ejus humanitatem experti sunt Tarentini: ei scilicet, cum sero intellexissent se pro socio dominum accepisse, sortem suam liberis vocibus querebantur, et de Pyrrho multa temere effutiebant, maxime ubi vino incaluerant. Itaque arcessiti ad regem sunt nonnulli, qui de eo in convivio proterve locuti fuerant; sed periculum simplex confessio culpae discussit.

Pyrrhus had, as befitted a great and strong man, a mild and placable spirit. For clemency is wont to be the companion of a great spirit: the Tarentines experienced his humanity: namely they, when they had too late understood that they had received a master instead of an ally, were complaining of their lot with free voices, and were rashly babbling many things about Pyrrhus, especially when they had grown warm with wine. And so several were summoned to the king, who had spoken insolently about him at a banquet; but the danger the simple confession of guilt dispelled.

Nam cum rex percontatus fuisset an ea quae ad aures suas pervenerant, dixissent? "Et haec diximus, inquiunt, rex; et nisi vinum defecisset, longe plura et graviora dicturi fuimus." Pyrrhus qui malebat vini, quam hominum eam culpam videri, subridens eos dimisit. Pyrrhus igitur, cum putaret sibi gloriosum fore pacem et foedus cum Romanis post victoriam facere, Romam misit legatum Cineam, qui pacem aequis conditionibus proponeret.

For when the king had inquired whether they had said the things that had come to his ears, “We said these things too, say they, O king; and unless the wine had failed, we would have said far more and graver things.” Pyrrhus, who preferred that fault to seem the wine’s rather than men’s, smiling dismissed them. Pyrrhus therefore, since he thought it would be glorious for himself to make peace and a foedus with the Romans after victory, sent to Rome the legate Cineas, to propose peace on equitable conditions.

Erat is regi familiaris magnaque apud eum gratia valebat. Dicere solebat Pyrrhus se plures urbes Cineae eloquentia, quam armorum vi, expugnasse. Cineas tamen regiam cupiditatem non adulabatur: nam cum in sermone Pyrrhus ei sua consilia aperiret, dixissetque se velle Italiam ditioni suae subjicere, respondit Cineas: "Superatis Romanis, quid agere destinas, O rex?" Italiae vicina est Sicilia, inquit Pyrrhus, nec difficile erit eam armis occupare.

He was familiar with the king and stood in great favor with him. Pyrrhus used to say that he had taken more cities by the eloquence of Cineas than by the force of arms. Cineas, however, did not flatter royal ambition: for when in conversation Pyrrhus laid open to him his counsels, and had said that he wished to subject Italy to his dominion, Cineas replied: "Once the Romans are overcome, what do you intend to do, O king?" "Sicily is neighboring to Italy," said Pyrrhus, "nor will it be difficult to seize it by arms."

Tunc Cineas: "Occupata Sicilia, quid postea acturus es?" Rex qui nondum Cineae mentem perspiciebat: In Africam, inquit, trajicere mihi animus est. Pergit Cineas: "Quid deinde, O rex?" Tum denique, Mi Cinea, ait Pyrrhus, nos quieti dabimus dulcique otio fruemur. "Quin tu, respondit Cineas, isto otio jam nunc frueris?"

Then Cineas: "With Sicily occupied, what are you going to do afterward?" The king, who did not yet see through Cineas’s mind, said: "Into Africa I intend to cross." Cineas continues: "What then, O king?" Then at last, "My Cineas," says Pyrrhus, "we will give ourselves to rest and enjoy sweet otium." "Why do you not," replied Cineas, "enjoy that same otium right now?"

Romam itaque venit Cineas, et domos principum cum ingentibus donis circumibat. Nusquam vero receptus est. Non a viris solum, sed et a mulieribus spreta ejus munera.

And so Cineas came to Rome, and he went around the houses of the leading men with enormous gifts. Nowhere, however, was he received. His gifts were spurned not by men only, but even by women.

Introductus deinde in curiam, cum regis virtutem propensumque in Romanos animum verbis extolleret, et de conditionum aequitate dissereret, sententia senatus ad pacem et foedus faciendum inclinabat; tum Appius Claudius senex et caecus in curiam lectica deferri se jussit, ibique gravissima oratione pacem dissuasit: itaque responsum Pyrrho a senatu est eum, donec Italia excessisset, pacem cum Romanis habere non posse. Senatus quoque vetuit captivos omnes, quos Pyrrhus reddiderat, ad veterem statum redire priusquam bina hostium spolia retulissent. Quare legatus ad regem reversus est: quo cum Pyrrhus quaereret qualem Romam comperisset, respondit urbem sibi templum senatum vero consessum regum esse visum.

Then, introduced into the Curia, when he was exalting in words the king’s virtue and his mind inclined toward the Romans, and was discoursing about the equity of the conditions, the judgment of the senate was inclining to make peace and a treaty; then Appius Claudius, aged and blind, ordered himself to be carried into the Curia on a litter, and there by a most weighty oration dissuaded peace: and so it was answered to Pyrrhus by the senate that he could not have peace with the Romans until he had departed from Italy. The senate also forbade all the captives whom Pyrrhus had returned to go back to their former status before they had each borne back two spoils of the enemy. Wherefore the legate returned to the king: and when Pyrrhus asked what sort of Rome he had found, he replied that the city had seemed to him a temple, but the senate truly an assembly of kings.

CAIUS FABRICIUS

GAIUS FABRICIUS

Caius Fabricius unus fuit ex legatis qui ad Pyrrhum de captivis redimendis venerant. Cujus postquam audivit Pyrrhus magnum esse apud Romanos nomen ut viri boni et bello egregii, sed admodum pauperis, cum prae ceteris benigne habuit, eique munera atque aurum ob. tulit. Omnia Fabricius repudiavit.

Caius Fabricius was one of the legates who had come to Pyrrhus about redeeming captives. After Pyrrhus heard that his name was great among the Romans as that of a good man and outstanding in war, but exceedingly poor, he treated him more benignly than the rest, and offered him gifts and gold. Fabricius repudiated all.

Postero die cum illum Pyrrhus vellet exterrere conspectu subito elephantis, imperavit suis ut bellua post aulaeum admoveretur Fabricio secum colloquenti. Quod ubi factum est, signo dato remotoque aulaeo repente bellua stridorem horrendum emisit, et proboscidem super Fabricii caput suspendit. At ille placidus subrisit, Pyrrhoque dixit: "Non me hodie magis tua commovet bellua, quam heri tuum aurum pellexit."

On the next day, when Pyrrhus wished to terrify him by the sudden sight of elephants, he ordered his men that the beast be brought up behind the curtain while he was conversing with Fabricius. When this was done, the signal having been given and the curtain removed, suddenly the beast emitted a horrendous screech, and hung its proboscis over Fabricius’s head. But he, calm, smiled, and said to Pyrrhus: "Your beast moves me no more today than yesterday your gold enticed me."

Fabricii virtutem admiratus Pyrrhus, illum secreto invitavit ut patriam desereret, secumque vellet vivere, quarta etiam regni sui parte oblata; cui Fabricius respondit: "Si me virum bonum judicas, cur me vis corrumpere? Sin vero malum, cur me ambis?" Anno interjecto, omni spe pacis inter Pyrrhum et Romanos conciliandae ablata, Fabricius consul factus, contra eum missus est. Cumque vicina castra ipse et rex haberent, medicus regis nocte ad Fabricium venit, eique pollicitus est, si praemium sibi proposuisset, se Pyrrhum veneno necaturum.

Admiring Fabricius’s virtue, Pyrrhus invited him in secret to desert his fatherland and to be willing to live with him, with even a fourth part of his kingdom offered; to which Fabricius replied: "If you judge me a good man, why do you wish to corrupt me? But if a bad one, why do you court me?" After a year had intervened, with every hope of reconciling peace between Pyrrhus and the Romans removed, Fabricius, made consul, was sent against him. And when he and the king had neighboring camps, the king’s physician came by night to Fabricius and promised him, if he would set a reward for him, that he would kill Pyrrhus with poison.

Hunc Fabricius vinctum reduci jussit ad dominum, et Pyrrho dici quae contra caput ejus medicus spopondisset. Tunc rex admiratus eum dixisse fertur: "Ille est Fabricius qui difficilius ab honestate, quam sol a suo cursu posset averti."

This man Fabricius ordered to be led back bound to his master, and that it be told to Pyrrhus what the physician had pledged against his head (i.e., life). Then the king, admiring him, is reported to have said: "This is Fabricius who could more difficultly be turned away from honesty than the sun from its course."

Cum Fabricius apud Pyrrhum legatus esset, Cineam audivit narrantem esse quemdam Athenis, qui se sapientem profiteretur, eumdemque dicere omnia quae faceremus ad voluptatem se referenda. Tunc Fabricium exclamasse ferunt: " Utinam id hostibus nostris persuadeatur, quo facilius vinci possint, cum se voluptatibus dederint!" Nihil magis ab ejus vita alienum quam voluptas et luxus. Tota ejus supellex argentea salino uno constabat, et patella ad usum sacrorum, quae tamen ipsa corneo pediculo sustinebatur.

When Fabricius was a legate with Pyrrhus, he heard Cineas telling that there was a certain man at Athens who professed himself a sage, and the same saying that all the things we do must be referred to pleasure. Then they report that Fabricius exclaimed: " Would that this be persuaded to our enemies, so that they might more easily be conquered, when they have given themselves over to pleasures!" Nothing was more alien to his life than pleasure and luxury. His whole silver household-gear consisted of a single salt-cellar, and a patella for sacred use, which nevertheless itself was supported by a little horn foot.

Cenabat ad focum radices et herbas, quas in agro repurgando vulserat, cum legati a Samnitibus ad eum venerunt, magnamque ei pecuniam obtulerunt; quibus respondit: "Quandiu cupi ditatibus imperare potero, nihil mihi ista pecunia opus erit: hanc ad illos reportate qui ea indigent."

He was dining at the hearth on roots and herbs, which he had torn up while cleansing the field, when envoys from the Samnites came to him and offered him a great sum of money; to whom he replied: "So long as I am able to command my desires, I shall have no need of that money: carry it back to those who need it."

Caius Fabricius cum Rufino viro nobili simultatem gerebat ob morum dissimilitudinem, cum ille pecuniae contemptor esset, hic vero avarus et furax existimaretur. Quia tamen Rufinus egregie fortis ac bonus imperator erat, magnumque et grave bellum imminere videbatur, Fabricius auctor fuit, ut Rufinus consul crearetur: cumque is deinde Fabricio gratias ageret, quod se homo inimicus consulem fecisset: "Nihil est, inquit Fabricius, quod mihi gratias agas, si malui compilari quam venire." Eumdem postea Fabricius censor factus senatu movit, quod argenti facti decem pondo haberet. Fabricius omnem vitam in gloriosa paupertate exegit, adeoque inops decessit, ut unde dos filiarum expediretur non reliquerit.

Caius Fabricius was carrying on an enmity with Rufinus, a noble man, on account of a dissimilarity of character, since the former was a despiser of money, but the latter was deemed avaricious and thievish. Because, however, Rufinus was remarkably brave and a good general, and a great and grave war seemed to be impending, Fabricius was the proposer that Rufinus be created consul: and when thereafter he gave thanks to Fabricius, because the man, though an enemy, had made him consul: "It is nothing," said Fabricius, "for which you should give me thanks, if I preferred to be plundered rather than to be sold." The same man afterwards Fabricius, having been made censor, removed from the senate, because he had ten pounds of wrought silver. Fabricius passed his whole life in glorious poverty, and died so indigent that he left nothing from which the dowry of his daughters might be provided.

Senatus patris sibi partes desumpsit, et datis ex communi aerario dotibus eas collocavit.

The Senate assumed for itself the father’s part, and, dowries given from the common treasury, settled them in marriage.

MANIUS CURIUS

Manius Curius contra Samnites profectus eos ingenibus proeliis vicit concione ait. Romam regressus in concione ait "Tantum agri cepi, ut solitudo futura fuerit, nisi tantum hominum cepissem: tantum porro hominum cepi, ut fame perituri fuerint, nisi tantam agri cepissem." Ex tam opulenta victoris, adeo ditari noluit, ut quam a malevolis interversae pecuniae argueretur, gutto ligneo, quo uti ad sacrificia consueverat, in medium prolato juraverit se nihil amplius de praeda hostili in domum suam intulisse. Legatis Samnitum aurum offerentibus, cum ipse rapas in foco torreret, "Malo, inquit, haec in fictilibus meis esse, et aurum habentibus imperare." Agri captivi septena jugera populo viritim divisit: cumque ei senatus jugera quinquaginta assignaret, plus accipere noluit, quam singulis fuerat datum, dixitque malum esse civem, cui non idem quod aliis satis esse posset.

Manius Curius, having set out against the Samnites, defeated them in mighty battles; in an assembly he said. Returning to Rome, in the assembly he said, "So much land did I seize, that there would have been solitude, had I not seized so many men; and so many men, moreover, did I seize, that they would have perished by famine, had I not seized so much land." From so opulent a condition as victor, he was so unwilling to be enriched that, when he was accused by the malevolent of embezzled money, having produced into the midst a wooden cruet, which he was accustomed to use for sacrifices, he swore that he had brought nothing from the enemy booty into his house. When envoys of the Samnites offered gold, while he himself was roasting turnips on the hearth, he said, "I prefer that these be in my earthenware, and to command those who have gold." Of the captured land he distributed seven iugera apiece to the people, man by man; and when the senate assigned fifty iugera to him, he was unwilling to accept more than had been given to individuals, and said that he was a bad citizen for whom that which was enough for others could not be enough.

Postea Curius consul creatus adversus Pyrrhum missus est: cumque ea de causa delectum haberet, et juniores taedio belli nomina non darent, conjectis in sortem omnibus tribubus, primum nomen urna extractum citari jussit. Cum adolescens non responderet, bona ejus hastae subjecit. Tunc ille ad tribunos plebis cucurrit, de injuria sibi facta graviter querens, eorumque opem implorans.

Afterwards Curius, having been created consul, was sent against Pyrrhus; and since for that cause he was holding a levy, and the younger men, through tedium of war, would not give their names, with all the tribes cast into the lot, he ordered the first name drawn from the urn to be summoned. When the adolescent did not answer, he subjected his goods to the spear (i.e., put them up for auction). Then he ran to the tribunes of the plebs, grievously complaining of the injury done to him, and imploring their aid.

At Curius et bona ejus et ipsum quoque vendidit, dixitque non esse reipublicae opus eo cive qui parere nesciret: neque tribuni plebis adolescenti auxilio fuerunt; posteaque res in consuetudinem abiit, ut delectu rite acto qui militiam detractaret, in servitutem venderetur. Hoc terrore ceteri adacti nomina promptius dederunt.

But Curius sold both his property and himself as well, and said that the commonwealth had no need of that citizen who did not know how to obey; nor were the tribunes of the plebs a help to the adolescent; and afterwards the matter passed into custom, that, with the levy duly held, whoever shirked military service was sold into servitude. By this terror the rest, driven thereto, gave in their names more promptly.

His copiis Curius Pyrrhi exercitum cecidit, deque eo rege triumphavit. Insignem triumphum fecerunt quatuor elephanti cum turribus suis tum primum Romae visi. Victus rex in Epirum reversus est; sed relicto in urbe Tarentina praesidio fidem sui reditus fecerat.

With these forces, Curius struck down Pyrrhus’s army, and he triumphed over that king. A distinguished triumph was made by four elephants with their towers, then for the first time seen at Rome. The defeated king returned to Epirus; but, having left a garrison in the city of Tarentum, he had given a pledge of his return.

Itaque cum bellum renovaturus putaretur, Manium Curium iterum consulem fieri placuit; sed inopinata mors regis Romanos metu liberavit. Pyrrhus enim, dum Argos oppugnat, urbem jam ingressus, a juvene quodam Argivo lancea leviter vulneratus est: mater adolescentis anus paupercula cum aliis mulieribus e tecto domus proelium spectabat; quae, cum vidisset Pyrrhum in auctorem vulneris suo magno impetu ferri, periculo filii sui commota protinus tegulam corripuit, et utraque manu in caput regis dejecit.

Accordingly, when he was thought about to renew the war, it was decided that Manius Curius should be made consul again; but the unexpected death of the king freed the Romans from fear. For Pyrrhus, while he was attacking Argos, having already entered the city, was lightly wounded by a certain Argive youth with a lance: the mother of the adolescent, a poor little old woman, with other women was watching the battle from the roof of the house; who, when she had seen Pyrrhus being borne with great force against the author of the wound, moved by the peril of her son immediately snatched up a roof-tile, and with both hands cast it down upon the king’s head.

PRIMUM BELLUM PUNICUM

THE FIRST PUNIC WAR

APPIUS CLAUDIUS CAUDEX

Appio Claudio consule coeptum est primum adversus Poenos bellum. Cum Messanam Siciliae urbem Carthaginienses et Hiero rex Syracusanus obsiderent, Appius Claudius ad Messanam liberandam missus est. Consul primo ad explorandos hostes nave piscatoria, trajecit fretum inter Italiam et Siciliam interjectum.

With Appius Claudius as consul, the first war against the Carthaginians was begun. When the Carthaginians and Hiero, king of the Syracusans, were besieging Messana, a city of Sicily, Appius Claudius was sent to free Messana. The consul first, to explore the enemy, crossed by a fishing-boat the strait interposed between Italy and Sicily.

Ad quem venerunt nuncii ab Hannone Poenorum duce, hortantes ad pacem conservandam. Cum vero consul nullas conditiones admitteret, nisi Poeni ab oppugnatione desisterent, iratus Hanno exclamavit se non esse passurum Romanos vel manus in mari Siculo abluere. Non tamen potuit prohibere quin Claudius in Siciliam legionem traduceret, et Poenos Messana, expelleret.

To him there came envoys from Hanno, the Punic commander, exhorting to the preservation of peace. But when the consul would admit no terms unless the Poeni desisted from the assault, the enraged Hanno exclaimed that he would not allow the Romans even to wash their hands in the Sicilian Sea. Nevertheless, he could not prevent Claudius from leading a legion across into Sicily and from expelling the Poeni from Messana.

Deinde Hiero apud Syracusas victus est. Qui eo periculo territus Romanorum amicitiam petiit, et in eorum societate postea constanter permansit.

Then Hiero was defeated at Syracuse. Frightened by that peril, he sought the friendship of the Romans, and afterwards remained steadfastly in their society (alliance).

CAIUS DUILIUS

Caius Duilius Poenos navali proelio primus devicit. Is cum videret naves Romanas a Punicis velocitate superari, manus ferreas, quas corvos vocavere, instituit. Ea machina Romanis magno usui fuit nam injectis illis corvis hostilem navem apprehendebant, deinde superjecto ponte in eam insiliebant, et gladio velut in pugna terrestri dimicabant; unde Romanis, qui robore praestabant facilis victoria fuit.

Caius Duilius was the first to defeat the Carthaginians in a naval battle. When he saw that the Roman ships were outmatched by the Punic ones in speed, he devised iron hands, which they called “crows” (corvi). That machine was of great use to the Romans; for, when those crows were hurled in, they would seize the enemy ship, then, a gangway having been thrown over, they leaped onto it, and with the sword they fought as if in a terrestrial battle; whence for the Romans, who excelled in strength, the victory was easy.

Inter pugnandum triginta hostium naves captae sunt, tredecim mersae. Duilius victor Romam reversus est, et primus navalem triumphum egit. Nulla victoria Romanis gratior fuit, quod invicti terra jam etiam mari plurimum possent.

During the fighting, thirty enemy ships were captured, thirteen were sunk. Duilius, victorious, returned to Rome and was the first to celebrate a naval triumph. No victory was more pleasing to the Romans, because, unconquered on land, now also at sea they could wield great power.

Itaque Duilio concessum est ut per omnem vitam praelucente funali et praecinente tibicine a cena publice rediret.

Therefore it was conceded to Duilius that for his whole life he would return publicly from dinner with a torchlight shining before him and a piper playing in front.

Annibal dux classis Punicae e navi, quae jam capienda erat, in scapham saltu se demisit, et Romanorum manus effugit. Veritus autem ne in patria classis amissae poenas daret, civium offensam astutia avertit: nam ex illa infelici pugna priusquam cladis nuncius domum perveniret, quemdam ex amicis Carthaginem misit; qui curiam ingressus: Vos, inquit, consulit Annibal, cum dux Romanorum magnis copiis maritimis instructus advenerit, an cum eo confligere debeat? Acclamavit universus senatus: "Non est dubium quin confligendum sit." Tum ille: "Fecit, inquit, et victus est." Ita non potuerunt factum damnare quod ipsi fieri debuisse judicaverant.

Hannibal, commander of the Punic fleet, from the ship which was now about to be taken, dropped himself by a leap into a skiff and escaped the hands of the Romans. Fearing, however, lest in his homeland he should pay the penalties for the fleet that had been lost, he averted the offense of the citizens by astuteness: for from that unlucky battle, before the nuncio of the calamity could reach home, he sent a certain friend to Carthage; who, having entered the curia, said: Hannibal consults you, since the leader of the Romans, equipped with great maritime forces, has arrived, whether he ought to engage with him? The entire Senate shouted: "There is no doubt that he must engage." Then he: "He has done so, and he has been defeated." Thus they could not condemn the deed which they themselves had judged ought to be done.

Sic Annibal victus crucis supplicium effugit: nam eo poenae genere dux, re male gesta, apud Poenos afficiebatur.

Thus Hannibal, vanquished, escaped the punishment of the cross: for by that kind of penalty, among the Carthaginians, a general, when the affair had been ill-managed, was afflicted.

AULUS ATTILIUS CALATINUS

Attilius Calatinus consul paucis navibus magnam Poenorum classem superavit: sed postea cum temere exercitum in vallem iniquam duxisset, ab hostibus circumventus est. Romanos eximia virtus Calpurnii tribuni militum servavit. Is enim ad consulem accessit eique: "Censeo, inquit, jubeas milites quadringentos ire ad hanc rupem inter medios hostes editam atque asperam, eamque occupare.

Attilius Calatinus, consul, with a few ships overcame a great Punic fleet: but afterwards, when he had rashly led the army into an unfavorable valley, he was surrounded by the enemies. The Romans were saved by the exceptional virtue/valor of Calpurnius, military tribune. For he approached the consul and said to him: "I am of the opinion," says he, "that you should order four hundred soldiers to go to this rock, standing up amid the very enemies and rugged, and to seize it.

Futurum enim profecto est ut hostes properent ad occursandum nostris militibus, atque ita circa eam rupem atrox pugna fiat: at tu interea tempus habebis exercitus ex loco infesto educendi. Alia nisi haec salutis via nulla est." Respondit consul: "Fidum quidem et providum hoc consilium videtur; sed quisnam erit qui ducat quadringentos illos milites ad eum locum?" - "Si alium, inquit Calpurnius, neminem reperis, me ad hoc consilium perficiendum uti potes. Ego hanc tibi et reipublicae animam do."

For it will assuredly come to pass that the enemies will hasten to encounter our soldiers, and so around that rock a fierce and atrocious battle will be made: but you meanwhile will have time for leading the army out from the dangerous place. There is no other road of safety except this." The consul replied: "This counsel indeed seems faithful and provident; but who will there be to lead those four hundred soldiers to that place?" - "If you find no one else," said Calpurnius, "you can use me for bringing this counsel to completion. I give this life to you and to the Republic."

Consul tribuno gratias egit et quadringentos milites dedit. Quos Calpurnius admonens quem in locum deduceret, et quo consilio: "Moriamur, inquit, commilitones, et morte nostra eripiamus ex obsidione circumventas legiones." Omnes nulla spe evadendi, sed amore laudis accensi proficiscuntur. Mirati sunt primo hostes eam militum manum ad se venire.

The consul gave thanks to the tribune and assigned four hundred soldiers. Calpurnius, admonishing them to what place he would lead them and with what plan, said: "Let us die, fellow-soldiers, and by our death let us snatch the legions, hemmed in by a siege, from their blockade." All, with no hope of escaping but inflamed by love of praise, set out. At first the enemies marveled to see that band of soldiers coming toward them.

Deinde ubi cognitum est eos ad illam rupem obtinendam iter intendere, adversus illos arma verterunt. Romani repugnant: fit proelium diu anceps. Tandem superat multitudo: quadringenti omnes perfossi gladiis aut missilibus operti cadunt.

Then, when it was learned that they were directing their march to secure that crag, they turned their arms against them. The Romans fight back: a battle arises, for a long time undecided. At length the multitude prevails: all four hundred, pierced through by swords or buried beneath missiles, fall.

Consul interim, dum ea pugna fit, se in loca edita et tuta subducit.

Meanwhile the consul, while that battle is taking place, withdraws himself into elevated and safe positions.

Virtuti par fuit Calpurnii fortuna: nam ita evenit ut, cum multis locis saucius factus esset, nullum tamen in capite vulnus acciperet. Inter mortuos multis confossus vulneribus, sed adhuc spirans inventus est: convaluit, saepeque postea operam reipublicae strenuam navavit. Ei merces egregii facinoris data est corona graminea, qua nulla nobilior corona fuit in praemium virtutis belliciae apud populum terrarum principem, et quae ab universo exercitu servato decerni solebat.

Calpurnius’s fortune was equal to his virtue: for it so befell that, although he had been made wounded in many places, nevertheless he received no wound in the head. Found among the dead, pierced through with many wounds but still breathing, he recovered, and often afterwards rendered strenuous service to the Republic. To him, as the recompense of his distinguished deed, was given the grass crown, than which no crown was more noble as a prize of military valor among the people who were the ruler of the world, and which used to be decreed when the entire army had been saved.

MARCUS ATILIUS REGULUS

Marcus Regulus Poenos magna clade affecit. Tunc ad eum Hanno Carthaginiensis venit quasi de pace acturus, sed revera ut tempus traheret, donec novae copiae ex Africa advenirent. Is ubi ad consulem accessit, exortus est clamor, auditaque vox: idem huic faciendum esse quod paucis ante annis Cornelio Romano a Poenis factum fuerat.

Marcus Regulus afflicted the Punics with a great disaster. Then to him Hanno the Carthaginian came as if about to negotiate concerning peace, but in reality to drag out time, until new forces from Africa should arrive. When he approached the consul, a clamor arose, and a voice was heard: that the same thing ought to be done to this man which a few years before had been done by the Poeni to the Roman Cornelius.

Cornelius porro per fraudem veluti in colloquium evocatus a Poenis comprehensus fuerat, et in vincula conjectus. Jam Hanno timere incipiebat, sed periculum callido dicto avertit. "Hoc vos, inquit, si feceritis, nihilo eritis Afris meliores." Consul tacere jussit eos qui par pari referri volebant, et conveniens gravitati Romanae responsum dedit: "Isto te metu, Hanno, fides Romana liberat." De pace non convenit, quia nec Poenus serio agebat, et consul victoriam quam pacem malebat.

Cornelius, moreover, had been, through fraud, as if summoned into a colloquy, apprehended by the Poeni and cast into bonds. Already Hanno began to fear, but he averted the peril by a crafty dictum: “If you do this, you will be in no respect better than the Africans.” The consul ordered to be silent those who wished like to be repaid with like, and gave a response befitting Roman gravitas: “From that fear, Hanno, Roman fides frees you.” It did not come to an agreement about peace, because neither was the Carthaginian dealing seriously, and the consul preferred victory to peace.

Regulus deinde in Africam primus Romanorum ducum trajecit. Clypeam urbem et trecenta castella expugnavit: neque cum hominibus tantum, sed etiam cum monstris dimicavit. Nam cum apud flumen Bagradam castra haberet, anguis mirae magnitudinis exercitum Romanum vexabat: multos milites ingenti ore corripuit; plures caudae verbere elisit; nonnullos ipso pestilentis halitus afflatu exanimavit.

Regulus then crossed over into Africa, the first of the Roman generals to do so. He stormed the city of Clypea and three hundred forts: nor did he fight with men only, but even with monsters. For when he had his camp by the river Bagradas, a serpent of wondrous magnitude was harassing the Roman army: it seized many soldiers with its huge mouth; more it dashed to death with the lash of its tail; some it exanimated by the very afflatus of its pestilential breath.

Neque is telorum ictu perforari poterat; quippe qui durissima squamarum lorica omnia tela facile repelleret. Confugiendum fuit ad machinas, et advectis balistis, tanquam arx quaedam munita dejiciendus hostis fuit. Tandem saxorum pondere oppressus jacuit; sed cruore suo flumen et vicinam regionem infecit, Romanosque castra movere coegit.

Nor could he be perforated by the strike of missiles; since his very hard cuirass of scales easily repelled all weapons. Resort had to be made to the machines, and with ballistae brought up, the enemy had to be cast down as though some fortified citadel. At length, oppressed by the weight of stones, he lay low; but with his own gore he infected the river and the neighboring region, and compelled the Romans to move their camp.

Corium belluae centum et viginti pedes longum Romam misit Regulus.

Regulus sent to Rome the hide of the beast, one hundred and twenty feet long.

Regulo ob res bene gestas imperium in annum proximum prorogatum est. Quod ubi cognovit Regulus, scripsit senatui villicum suum in agello, quem septem jugerum habebat, mortuum esse, et servum occasionem nactum aufugisse ablato instrumento rustico, indeoque petere se ut sibi successor in Africam mitteretur, ne deserto agro non esset unde uxor et liberi alerentur. Senatus, acceptis litteris, res quas Regulus amiserat publica pecunia redimi jussit: agellum colendum locavit, et alimenta conjugi ac liberis praebuit.

On account of well-conducted deeds, Regulus’s imperium was prorogued into the next year. When Regulus learned this, he wrote to the Senate that his steward on the smallholding, which had seven iugera, had died, and that a slave, having found an opportunity, had run off with the rustic instruments; and therefore he requested that a successor be sent to him into Africa, lest, if the field were left deserted, there should be no means by which his wife and children might be supported. The Senate, upon receiving the letters, ordered the things which Regulus had lost to be redeemed with public money; arranged for the little field to be cultivated; and provided sustenance for his spouse and children.

Regulus deinde crebris proeliis Carthaginiensium opes contudit, eosque pacem petere coegit, quam cum Regulus nollet nisi durissimis conditionibus dare, illi a Lacedaemoniis auxilium petierunt.

Regulus then, by frequent battles, crushed the resources of the Carthaginians and compelled them to seek peace; and since Regulus was unwilling to grant it except on the harshest conditions, they sought assistance from the Lacedaemonians.

Lacedaemonii Xantippum virum belli peritissimum Carthaginiensibus miserunt, a quo Regulus victus est ultima pernicie: duo tantum millia hominum ex omni Romano exercitu remanserunt: Regulus ipse captus, et in carcerem conjectus est. Deinde Romam de permutandis captivis dato jurejurando missus est, ut, si non impetrasset, rediret ipse Carthaginem: qui cum Romam venisset, inductus in senatum mandata exposuit, et primum ne sententiam diceret recusavit, causatus se, quoniam in hostium potestatem venisset, jam non esse senatorem. Jussus tamen sententiam aperire, negavit esse utile captivos Poenos reddi, quia adolescentes essent et boni duces, ipse vero jam confectus senectute: cujus cum valuisset auctoritas, captivi retenti sunt.

The Lacedaemonians sent Xanthippus, a man most skilled in war, to the Carthaginians, by whom Regulus was defeated with utter ruin: only two thousand men out of the whole Roman army remained; Regulus himself was captured and thrown into prison. Then he was sent to Rome concerning the exchanging of captives, having been given an oath, that, if he did not obtain it, he himself would return to Carthage: when he had come to Rome, led into the senate he set forth his mandates, and at first he refused to pronounce an opinion, alleging that, since he had come into the power of the enemies, he was now not a senator. Nevertheless, ordered to disclose his opinion, he denied that it was useful to return the Punic captives, because they were young men and good leaders, whereas he himself was now worn out by old age: and when his authority had prevailed, the captives were retained.

Regulus deinde cum retineretur a propinquis et amicis, tamen Carthaginem rediit: neque vero tunc ignorabat se ad crudelissimum hostem et ad exquisita supplicia proficisci; sed jusjurandum conservandum putavit. Reversum Carthaginienses omni cruciatu necaverunt: palpebris enim resectis aliquandiu in loco tenebricoso tenuerunt; deinde cum sol esset ardentissimus, repente eductum intueri caelum coegerunt; postremo in arcam ligneam incluserunt, in qua undique clavi praeacuti eminebant. Ita dum fessum corpus, quocumque inclinaret, stimulis ferreis confoditur, vigiliis et dolore continuo extinctus est.

Regulus then, although he was being held back by kinsmen and friends, nevertheless returned to Carthage; nor indeed did he then ignore that he was setting out to a most cruel enemy and to exquisite torments; but he thought the oath must be preserved. The Carthaginians, upon his return, killed him with every cruciation: for, his eyelids having been cut off, they kept him for some time in a tenebrous place; then, when the sun was most ardent, suddenly, having led him out, they forced him to gaze upon the sky; finally they shut him into a wooden chest, in which on all sides very-sharp nails were projecting. Thus, while his weary body, wherever it inclined, was stabbed through by iron goads, he was extinguished by wakefulness and continuous pain.

Hic fuit Atilii Reguli exitus ipsa quoque vita, licet per maximam gloriam diu acta, clarior et illustrior.

This was the end of Atilius Regulus, more renowned and more illustrious even than his life itself, although it had been conducted for a long time through the greatest glory.

APPIUS CLAUDIUS PULCHER

Appius Claudius vir stultae temeritatis, consul adversus Poenos profectus est. Priorum ducum consili palam reprehendebat, seque, quo die hostem vidisset bellum perfecturum esse jactitabat. Antequam navale proelium committeret, auspicia habuit: cumque pullarius ei nunciasset pullos non exire e cavea neque vesci irridens jussit eos in aquam mergi, ut saltem biberent, quoniam esse nollent.

Appius Claudius, a man of foolish temerity, as consul set out against the Carthaginians. He was openly blaming the counsel of earlier commanders, and was boasting that, on the very day he should see the enemy, he would perfect the war. Before he engaged in a naval battle, he took the auspices; and when the keeper of the sacred chickens announced to him that the chicks would not come out of the cage nor feed, jeering, he ordered them to be plunged into the water, so that at least they might drink, since they were unwilling to eat.

Quo facto militum animos vana religio incessit: commisso deinde proelio, magna clades a Romanis accepta est; quorum octo millia caesa sunt, viginti millia capta. Quare Claudius a populo condemnatus est: ea res calamitati fuit etiam Claudiae consulis sorori; nam cum illa a ludis publicis rediens turba premeretur, dixit: "Utinam frater meus viveret, classemque iterum duceret," significans optare se ut nimis magna civium frequentia minueretur. Ob istam vocem impiam Claudia quoque damnata est.

With this done, an empty superstition assailed the spirits of the soldiers: then, the battle having been joined, a great calamity was incurred by the Romans; of them 8,000 were slaughtered, 20,000 captured. Therefore Claudius was condemned by the people: that matter was a calamity also for Claudia, the consul’s sister; for when she, returning from the public games, was pressed by the crowd, she said: "Would that my brother were alive, and would lead the fleet again," indicating that she desired that the too-great thronging of the citizens be lessened. On account of that impious utterance Claudia too was condemned.

CAIUS LUTATIUS

GAIUS LUTATIUS

Caius Lutatius consul finem primo bello Punico imposuit. Ei in Siciliam advenienti nunciatum est maximam classem Poenorum ex Africi venire: erant autem quadringentae naves onustae commeatu quem ad exercitum portabant, cui in Sicilia praeerat Amilcar Carthagininensis. Dux classis Hanno nobilis Poenus cui animus erat naves onere levare, easque deinde acceptis ab Amilcare delectis viris complere.

Caius Lutatius, consul, imposed an end to the First Punic War. To him arriving in Sicily it was announced that a very great fleet of the Carthaginians was coming from Africa: there were, moreover, four hundred ships laden with commissariat supplies which they were carrying to the army, which in Sicily was commanded by Hamilcar the Carthaginian. The commander of the fleet was Hanno, a noble Punic man, whose intention was to lighten the ships of their burden, and then, after receiving selected men from Hamilcar, to fill them up.

At Lutatius optimum ratus praevertere Hannonis adventum, et cum classe gravi suisque oneribus impedita confligere, adversus eum ad Aegates insulas cursum intendit: nec longa fuit victoriae mora; nam omnes Carthaginiensium naves brevi aut captae aut depressae sunt. Ingens fuit praeda: Poeni victi pacem postularunt, quae eis hac conditione concessa est, ut omnibus insulis quae sunt inter Italiam et Africam decederent, et certum populo Romano vectigal per viginti annos penderent.

But Lutatius, thinking it best to forestall Hanno’s arrival and to engage with a fleet heavy and hindered by its own burdens, directed his course against him to the Aegates islands: nor was the delay of victory long; for all the ships of the Carthaginians were shortly either captured or sunk. Vast was the booty: the Poeni, defeated, asked for peace, which was granted to them on this condition, that they withdraw from all the islands which are between Italy and Africa, and pay a fixed tribute to the Roman people for twenty years.

SECUNDUM BELLUM PUNICUM

THE SECOND PUNIC WAR

QUINTUS FABIUS MAXIMUS

Annibal, Amilcaris filius, novem annos natus, a patre aris admotus, odium in Romanos perenne juravit. Quae res maxime videtur concitasse secundum bellum Punicum. Nam, Hamilcare mortuo, Annibal causam belli quaerens, Saguntum, urbem Romanis foederatam, evertit.

Hannibal, son of Hamilcar, at nine years of age, having been brought by his father to the altars, swore a perpetual hatred against the Romans. This thing seems most of all to have stirred up the Second Punic War. For, Hamilcar having died, Hannibal, seeking a cause for war, overthrew Saguntum, a city federated with the Romans.

Quapropter Roma missi sunt Carthaginem legati, qui populi Romani querimonias deferrent, et Annibalem mali auctorem sibi dedi postularent. Tergiversantibus Poenis, Quintus Fabius legationis princeps, sinu ex toga facto: "Hic ego, inquit, porto bellum pacemque; utrum placet, sumite." Poenis bellum succlamantibus, Fabius, excussa toga, bellum dare se dixit. Poeni accipere se responderunt, et quo acciperent animo, eodem se gesturos.

Wherefore envoys were sent from Rome to Carthage to carry the complaints of the Roman people and to demand that Hannibal, the author of the mischief, be handed over to them. The Carthaginians prevaricating, Quintus Fabius, chief of the legation, with a lap made from his toga, said: “Here I carry war and peace; whichever pleases, take.” As the Carthaginians shouted for war, Fabius, shaking out the toga, said that he was giving war. The Carthaginians replied that they accepted it, and that with the spirit with which they accepted it, in the same they would conduct themselves.

Annibal, superatis Pyrenaei et Alpium jugis, in Italiam venit. Publium Scipionem apud Ticinum amnem, Sempronium apud Trebiam, Flaminium apud Trasimenum profligavit. Adversus hostem toties victorem missus, Quintus Fabius dictator, Annibalis impetum mora fregit; namque pristinis edoctus cladibus, belli rationem mutavit.

Hannibal, the passes of the Pyrenees and the Alps having been overcome, came into Italy. He routed Publius Scipio at the river Ticinus, Sempronius at the Trebia, and Flaminius at Trasimene. Sent against an enemy so often a victor, Quintus Fabius the dictator broke Hannibal’s impetus by delay; for, educated by former disasters, he changed the method of the war.

Per loca alta exercitum ducebat, neque ullo loco fortunae se committebat: castris, nisi quantum necessitas cogeret, tenebatur miles. Dux neque occasioni rei bene cogeret gerendae deerat, si qua ab hoste daretur, neque ullam ipse hosti dabat.Frumentatum exeunti Annibali opportunus aderat, agmen carpens, palentes excipiens. Ita ex levibus proeliis superior discessit, militemque coepit minus jam aut virtutis suae aut fortunae poenitere.

He was leading the army through high places, and in no place did he commit himself to Fortune: the soldiery was held to the camp, except in so far as necessity compelled. The leader neither failed an occasion for the matter to be well conducted, if any were offered by the enemy, nor did he himself give any to the enemy. When Hannibal was going out to forage, he was opportunely at hand, plucking at the column and intercepting the stragglers. Thus from light skirmishes he withdrew the superior, and he began to make the soldier now regret less either his own virtue or his Fortune.

His artibus Annibalem Fabius in agro Falerno incluserat; sed ille callidus sine ullo exercitus detrimento se expedivit. Nempe arida sarmenta boum cornibus alligavit, eaque principio noctis incendit: metus flammae relucentis ex capite boves velut stimulatos furore agebat. Hi ergo accensis cornibus per montes, per silvas huc illuc discurrebant.

By these arts Fabius had enclosed Hannibal in the Falernian field; but that crafty man extricated himself without any detriment to his army. Namely, he bound dry brushwood to the horns of oxen, and at the beginning of the night set it on fire: the fear of the flame relucent from their head drove the oxen, as if goaded by frenzy. These, therefore, with their horns ignited, ran hither and thither through the mountains, through the forests.

Romani, qui ad speculandum concurrerant, miraculo attoniti constiterunt: ipse Fabius insidias esse ratus, militem extra vallum egredi vetuit. Interea Annibal ex angustiis evasit. Dein Annibal, ut Fabio apud suos crearet invidiam, agrum ejus, omnibus circa vastatis, intactum reliquit; at Fabius omnem ab se suspicionem propulsavit: nam eumdem agrum vendidit, ejusque pretio captivos Romanos redemit.

The Romans, who had run together to reconnoiter, stood thunderstruck at the miracle; Fabius himself, thinking it to be an ambush, forbade the troops to go out beyond the rampart. Meanwhile Annibal escaped from the straits. Then Annibal, in order to create envy against Fabius among his own men, left his field, when all the lands around had been laid waste, untouched; but Fabius repelled all suspicion from himself: for he sold that same field, and with its price ransomed the Roman captives.

Haud grata tamen erat Romanis Fabii cunctatio; eumque pro cauto timidum, pro considerato segnem vocitabant. Augebat invidiam Minucius magister equitum dictatorem criminando illum in ducendo bello tempus terere, quo diutius in magistratu esset, solusque et Romae et in exercitu imperium haberet. His sermonibus accensa plebs dictarori magistrum equitum imperio aequavit.

Not pleasing, however, to the Romans was Fabius’s delaying; and they kept calling him timid instead of cautious, sluggish instead of considerate. Minucius, the Master of Horse, increased the ill-will by accusing the dictator of wasting time in conducting the war, so that he might be longer in office and have sole command both at Rome and in the army. The plebs, inflamed by these speeches, made the Master of Horse equal to the dictator in command.

Quam injuriam aequo animo tulit Fabius, exercitumque suum cum Minucio divisit. Cum postea Minucius temere proelium commisisset, ei periclitanti auxilio venit Fabius. Cujus subito adventu compressus Annibal receptui cecinit, palam confessus abs se Minucium, a Fabio se victum esse.

That injury Fabius bore with equanimity, and he divided his army with Minucius. When afterwards Minucius had rashly engaged battle, Fabius came with aid to him in peril. By whose sudden advent Hannibal, being checked, sounded the retreat, openly confessing that Minucius had been conquered by himself, and that he himself had been conquered by Fabius.

Eum quoque ex acie redeuntem dixisse ferunt: "Nubes ista quae sedere in jugis montium solebat, tandem cum procella imbrem dedit." Minucius periculo liberatus Fabium, cui salutem debebat, patrem appellavit, eique deinceps parere non abnuit.

They report that he too, returning from the battle-line, said: "That cloud which was wont to sit on the ridges of the mountains has at last, with a squall, given rain." Minucius, liberated from peril, called Fabius, to whom he owed his safety, father, and thereafter did not refuse to obey him.

Postea Annibal Tarento per proditionem potitus est. In eam rem tredecim fere juvenes nobiles Tarentini conspiraverant. Hi nocte per speciem venandi urbe egressi ad Annibalem, qui haud procul castra habebat, venerunt.

Afterwards Hannibal got possession of Tarentum by treachery. For this purpose about thirteen noble youths of Tarentum had conspired. These, at night, under the guise of hunting, went out of the city and came to Hannibal, who had his camp not far off.

Eos laudavit Annibal, monuitque ut redeuntes pascentia Carthaginiensium pecora ad urbem agerent, et praedam veluti ex hoste factam praefecto et custodibus portarum donarent. Id iterum saepiusque ab eis factum, eoque consuetudinis adducta res est, ut quocumque noctis tempore dedissent signum, porta urbis aperiretur. Tunc Annibal eos nocte media cum decem millibus hominum delectis secutus est.

Hannibal lauded them, and admonished that, as they returned, they should drive to the city the Carthaginians’ grazing herds, and should present the plunder, as though taken from an enemy, to the prefect and the custodians of the gates. This, done again and again by them, and the matter being brought by custom to such a point, came to this: that at whatever time of night they gave the signal, the gate of the city would be opened. Then Hannibal followed them at midnight with 10,000 chosen men.

Ubi portae appropinquarunt, nota juvenum vox vigilem excitavit. Duo primi inferebant aprum vasti corporis. Vigil incautus, dum belluae magnitudinem miratur, venabulo occisus est.

When they approached the gates, the familiar voice of the youths roused the watchman. The first two were bringing in a boar of vast body. The incautious watchman, while he marvels at the magnitude of the beast, was slain by a hunting-spear.

Ingressi Poeni ceteros vigiles sopitos obtruncant. Tum Annibal cum suo agmine ingreditur. Romani passim trucidantur.

Having entered, the Punics cut down the other watchmen as they slept. Then Hannibal enters with his column. The Romans are slaughtered everywhere.

Livius Salinator Romanorum praefectus, cum eis, qui caedi superfuerant, in arcem confugit.

Livius Salinator, prefect of the Romans, with those who had survived the slaughter, fled into the citadel.

Profectus igitur Fabius ad recipiendum Tarentum, urbem obsidione cinxit. Romanos plurimum adjuvit res levis momenti. Praefectus praesidii Tarentini deperiebat amore mulierculae cujus frater in exercitu Fabii erat.

Therefore Fabius, having set out to recover Tarentum, encircled the city with a siege. The Romans were helped very greatly by a matter of slight moment. The prefect of the Tarentine garrison was wasting away with love for a young woman, whose brother was in Fabius’s army.

Miles, jubente Fabio, pro perfugi Tarentum transiit, ac per sororem praefecto conciliatus, eum ad tradendam urbem perpulit. Fabius vigilia prima accessit ad eam partem muri quam praefectus custodiebat. Eo adjuvante, Romani muros inscenderunt.

The soldier, by Fabius’s order, crossed over to Tarentum as a deserter, and, through his sister, having been conciliated to the prefect, he prevailed upon him to hand over the city. Fabius, at the first watch, approached that part of the wall which the prefect was guarding. With him aiding, the Romans ascended the walls.

Inde proxima porta refracta Fabius cum exercitu intravit. Annibal, auditi Tarenti oppugnatione, ad opem ferendam festinavit; cumque ei esset nunciatum urbem captam esse. "Et Romani, inquit, suum Annibalem habent: eadem qua ceperamus, arte Tarentum amisimus." Cum postea Livius Salinator coram Fabio gloriaretur quod arcem Tarentinam retinuisset, diceretque eum sua opera Tarentum recepisse.

Thence, the nearest gate having been broken open, Fabius entered with the army. Hannibal, on hearing of the assault on Tarentum, hastened to bring aid; and when it had been announced to him that the city had been taken, he said, "And the Romans have their own Hannibal: by the same art by which we had taken it, we lost Tarentum." When later Livius Salinator was boasting in Fabius’s presence that he had held the Tarentine citadel, and was saying that he had recovered Tarentum by his agency.

"Certe, respondit Fabius, Tarentum nunquam recepissem nisi tu perdidisses."

"Certainly," replied Fabius, "I would never have recovered Tarentum, unless you had lost it."

Quintus Fabius jam senex filio suo consuli legatus fuit; cumque in ejus castra veniret, filius obviam patri progressus est; duodecim lictores pro more anteibant. Equo vehebatur senex, nec appropinquante consule descendit. Jam ex lictoribus undecim verecundia paternae majestatis taciti praeterierant.

Quintus Fabius, now an old man, was legate to his son, the consul; and when he came into his camp, the son advanced to meet his father; twelve lictors, according to custom, were going before. The old man was riding a horse, nor, with the consul approaching, did he dismount. Already eleven of the lictors, out of reverence for the paternal majesty, had silently passed by.

Quod cum consul animadvertisset, proximum lictorem jussit inclamare Fabio patri ut ex equo descenderet. Pater tum desiliens: "Non ego, fili, inquit, tuum imperium contempsi, sed experiri volui an scires consulem agere." Ad summam senectutem vixit Fabius Maximus, dignus tanto cognomine. Cautior quam promptior habitus est; sed insita ejus ingenio prudentia, bello quod tum gerebatur, aptissima erat.

When the consul had noticed this, he ordered the nearest lictor to call out to Fabius the father that he should dismount from his horse. Then the father, leaping down: “I did not, my son,” he said, “despise your imperium, but I wished to test whether you knew how to act as consul.” Fabius Maximus lived to the very height of old age, worthy of so great a cognomen. He was held to be more cautious than prompt; but the prudence inborn in his nature was most apt for the war which was then being waged.

Nemini dubium est quin rem Romanam cunctando restituerit.

No one doubts that he restored the Roman commonwealth by delaying.

PAULUS AEMILIUS ET TERENTIUS VARRO

PAULUS AEMILIUS AND TERENTIUS VARRO

Annibal in Apuliam pervenerat. Adversus eum Roma profecti sunt duo consules Paulus Aemilius et Terentius Varro. Paulo solers Fabii cunctatio magis placebat.

Hannibal had arrived in Apulia. Against him there set out from Rome the two consuls, Paulus Aemilius and Terentius Varro. To Paulus, the clever cunctation of Fabius was more pleasing.

Varro autem ferox et temerarius acriora sequebatur consilia.Ambo apud vicum, qui Cannae appellabatur, castra posuerunt. lbi insitam Varronis te meritatem fortuna aliquo levium proeliorum successis aluerat: itaque invito collega aciem instruxit et signum pugnae dedit. Victus caesusque est Romanus exercitus.

Varro, however, ferocious and temerarious, was following more aggressive counsels. Both near the village which was called Cannae, they pitched camp. There fortune had nourished Varro’s inborn temerity by some successes of light skirmishes: and so, with his colleague unwilling, he drew up the battle line and gave the signal of battle. The Roman army was defeated and cut down.

Nusquam graviori vulnere afflicta est respublica. Paulus Aemilius telis obrutus cecidit: quem cum media in pugna oppletum cruore conspexit quidam tribunus militum: "Cape, inquit, hunc equum, et fuge, Aemili. Quin tu potius, respondit Paulus, abi, nuncia patribus ut urbem muniant, ac priusquam hostis victor adveniat, praesidiis firment: tu me patere in hac militum meorum strage expirare." Alter consul cum paucis equitibus fugit.

Nowhere was the commonwealth afflicted by a graver wound. Paulus Aemilius, overwhelmed by missiles, fell; whom, when in the midst of the battle a certain tribune of soldiers saw, covered with gore, “Take,” he said, “this horse, and flee, Aemilius.” “Nay, you rather,” replied Paulus, “go, announce to the Fathers that they fortify the city, and, before the victorious enemy arrives, strengthen it with garrisons: allow me to expire in this slaughter of my soldiers.” The other consul fled with a few horsemen.

Annibali victori cum ceteri gratularentur, suaderentque ut quietem ipse sumeret, et fessis militibus daret, unus ex ejus praefectis Maharbal, minime cessandum ratus, Annibalem hortabatur ut statim Romam pergeret, die quinto victor in Capitolio epulaturus. cumque Annibali illud consilium non probaretur, Maharbal adjecit: "Vincere scis, Annibal, sed victoria uti nescis." Mora hujus diei satis creditur saluti fuisse urbi et imperio. Postero die, ubi primum illuxit, ad spolia legenda Poeni insistunt.

While the rest were congratulating Hannibal as victor, and advising that he take rest himself and grant it to the weary soldiers, one of his prefects, Maharbal, thinking there should by no means be any delay, was urging Hannibal to march straight to Rome, to be feasting as victor on the Capitol on the fifth day. And when that counsel did not meet with Hannibal’s approval, Maharbal added: “You know how to conquer, Hannibal, but you do not know how to use the victory.” The delay of this day is believed to have been enough for the safety of the city and the empire. On the next day, as soon as it grew light, the Punic forces set to gathering the spoils.

Jacebant tot Romanorum millia ut missi fuerint Carthaginem tres modii annulorum, qui ex digitis equitum et senatorum detracti fuerant. Dein Annibal in Campaniam divertit, cujus deliciis et ipse et exercitus ardor elanguit.

So many thousands of Romans lay dead that three modii of rings, which had been stripped from the fingers of the equestrians and senators, were sent to Carthage. Then Hannibal turned aside into Campania, whose delights made languish the ardor both of himself and of the army.

Numquam tantum pavoris Romae fuit, quantum ubi acceptae cladis nuncius advenit. Neque tamen ulla pacis mentio facta est; imo Varroni calamitatis auctori obviam itum est, et gratiae ab omnibus ordinibus actae, quod de republica non desperasset: qui si Carthaginiensium dux fuisset, temeritatis poenas omni supplicio dedisset. Dum Annibal Capuae segniter et otiose ageret, Romani interim respirare coeperunt.

Never was there so much fear at Rome as when the messenger of the received defeat arrived. Nor, however, was any mention of peace made; rather, they went to meet Varro, the author of the calamity, and thanks were given by all the orders, because he had not despaired of the Republic: he who, if he had been a leader of the Carthaginians, would have paid the penalties of temerity with every punishment. While Hannibal was acting sluggishly and idly at Capua, the Romans meanwhile began to breathe again.

Arma non erant; detracta sunt templis et porticibus vetera hostium spolia. Egebat aerarium: opes suas senatus libens in medium protulit, patrumque exemplum imitati sunt equites. Deerant milites: nomina dederunt quidam adhuc praetextati, id est, juniores annis septemdecim, qui satis virium ad ferenda arma habere videbantur: empti sunt publice et armati servi.

Arms were not at hand; they were taken down from the temples and porticoes—the ancient spoils of the enemies. The treasury was needy: the Senate willingly brought its wealth into the common stock, and the knights imitated the example of the fathers. Soldiers were lacking: some, still praetextati, that is, youths of seventeen years, who seemed to have sufficient strength to bear arms, gave in their names; slaves were bought at public expense and armed.

Id magis placuit quam captivos, licet minore pretio, redimere.

This pleased more than to redeem the captives, though at a lesser price.

Cum Annibal redimendi sui copiam captivis Romanis fecisset, decem ex ipsis Romam ea de re missi sunt; nec pignus aliud fidei ab eis postulavit Annibal, quam ut jurarent, se, si non impetrassent, in castra redituros. Eos senatus non censuit redimendos cum id parva pecunia fieri potuisset, ut militibus Romanis insitum esset aut vincere aut mori. Unus ex eis legatis e castris egressus, velut aliquid oblitus paulo post reversus fuerat in castra, deinde comites ante noctem assecutus fuerat.

Since Hannibal had given the Roman captives the opportunity of ransoming themselves, ten of them were sent to Rome on that matter; nor did Hannibal demand any other pledge of good faith from them than that they should swear that, if they did not obtain it, they would return to the camp. The senate judged them not to be ransomed, although it could have been done for a small sum of money, so that it might be ingrained in Roman soldiers either to conquer or to die. One of these envoys, after going out from the camp, as though having forgotten something, shortly afterward had returned into the camp, and then had overtaken his companions before night.

Is ergo, re non impetrata, domum abiit. Reditu enim in castra se liberatum esse jurejurando interpretabatur. Quod ubi innotuit, jussit senatus illum comprehendi, et vinctum duci ad Annibalem.

Therefore he, the matter not obtained, went home. For he interpreted that by a return into the camp he had been released from his oath. When this became known, the senate ordered that man to be seized and, bound, to be led to Hannibal.

Ea res Annibalis audaciam maxime fregit, quod senatus populusque Romanus rebus afflictis tam excelso esset animo.

This matter most of all broke Hannibal’s audacity, because the Senate and People of Rome, with their affairs afflicted, were of so exalted a spirit.

MARCUS CLAUDIUS MARCELLUS

Claudius Marcellus praetor Annibalem vinci posse primus docuit. Cum enim ad Nolam Annibal accessisset, spe urbis per proditionem recipiendae, Marcellus instructa ante urbis portam acie cum eo conflixit, et Poenos fudit. Pulsus Annibal exercitum ad Caslilinum parvam Campaniae urbem duxit.

Claudius Marcellus, praetor, was the first to show that Hannibal could be conquered. For when Hannibal had approached Nola, in the hope of recovering the city through treachery, Marcellus, with the battle-line drawn up before the city gate, engaged with him and routed the Punic forces. Repulsed, Hannibal led his army to Caslilinum, a small city of Campania.

Parvum erat in ea praesidium et tamen penuria frumenti efficiebat ut nimium hominum esse videretur. Annibal primo cives verbis benignis ad portas aperiendas coepit allicere: deinde cum in fide Romana perstarent, moliri portas el claustra refringere parat. Tam ex urbe ingenti cum tumultu erumpunt cohortes duae intus instructae, stragemque Poenorum faciunt.

The garrison in it was small, and yet the penury of grain made it seem that there were too many men. Hannibal at first began to allure the citizens with benign words to open the gates; then, when they persisted in Roman fidelity, he prepares to set to work upon the gates and to break the bars. At that, from the city, with immense tumult, two cohorts drawn up within burst forth, and they make a slaughter of the Punics.

Pudor Annibalemab incoepto avertit. Italique relicto circa Casilinum praesidio ne omissa res videretur, ipse in hiberna Capuam concessit, partemque majorem hiemis exercitum in tectis habuit.

Shame turned Hannibal from his undertaking. And, with a garrison left around Casilinum so that the matter might not seem abandoned, he himself withdrew to winter quarters at Capua, and for the greater part of the winter he kept the army under roofs.

Mitescente jam hieme, Annibal Casilinum rediit, ubi obsidio continuata oppidanos ad ultimum inopiae adduxerat. Marcellum cupientem obsessis ferre auxilium Vulturnus amnis inflatus aquis tenebat; at Gracchus, qui cum equitatu Romano Casilino assidebat, farre ex agris undique convecto complura dolia implevit, deinde nuncium ad magistratum Casilinum misit, ut exciperet dolia quae amnis deferret. Insequenti nocte dolia medio missa amne defluxerunt.

With the winter now softening, Hannibal returned to Casilinum, where the siege, being continued, had brought the townspeople to the last extremity of want. The river Vulturnus, swollen with waters, was holding back Marcellus, who desired to bear aid to the besieged; but Gracchus, who was encamped beside Casilinum with the Roman cavalry, filled several casks with far (spelt) gathered from the fields on every side, then sent a messenger to the magistrate at Casilinum, to take up the casks which the river would carry down. On the following night the casks, sent into midstream, flowed down.

Aequaliter inter omnes frumentum divisum: id postero quoque die ac tertio factum est. Re detecta, Annibal, catena per medium flumen injecta, intercepit dolia. Tum nuces a Romanis sparsae, quae aqua defluente Casilinum deferebantur, et cratibus excipiebantur.

Aequally the grain was divided among all: this was done on the following day also and on the third. The matter having been detected, Hannibal, a chain thrown across the middle of the river, intercepted the casks. Then nuts were scattered by the Romans, which, as the water flowed down, were carried to Casilinum, and were caught with wickerwork lattices.

Eo commeatu sociorum necessitas aliquandiu sublevata est.

By that supply, the necessity of the allies was for some time alleviated.

Postremo ad id ventum est inopiae, ut Casilinates lora manderent detractasque scutis pelles, quas fervida molliebant aqua, nec muribus aliove animali abstinuerunt. Quidam ex his avarus murem captum maluit ducentis denariis vendere, quam eo ipse vesci, leniendae famis gratia. Utrique venditori nempe et emptori, sors merita obtigit nam avaro fame consumpto non licuit sui pecuniae frui; emptor vero cibo comparato vixit.

At last it came to such want that the Casilinates chewed straps and hides pulled from shields, which they softened with fervid water, nor did they abstain from mice or from any other animal. One of these, an avaricious man, preferred to sell a captured mouse for 200 denarii rather than to feed on it himself, for the sake of alleviating hunger. And to both—seller and buyer—a merited lot befell: for the miser, consumed by hunger, was not permitted to enjoy his own money; but the buyer, having procured food, lived.

Tandem omne herbarum radicumque genus infimis aggeribus muri eruerunt; et cum hostes locum exarassent, Casilinates raporum semen injecerunt. Miratus Annibal exclamavit: Eone, usque dum ea nascantur, ad Casilinum sessurus sum! Et qui nullam antea pactionem auribus admiserat, tum demum aequas deditionis conditiones non repudiavit.

At length they dug up every kind of herbs and roots from the lowest embankments of the wall; and when the enemies had ploughed up the place, the Casilinates cast in seed of turnips. Amazed, Hannibal exclaimed: “Is it so? Am I going to sit at Casilinum until these grow!” And he who had previously admitted no compact to his ears then at last did not repudiate equitable conditions of surrender.

Postea cum Sicilia a Romanis ad Poenos defecisset, Marcellus consul creatus Syracusas, urbem Siciliae nobilissimam, oppugnavit. Diuturna fuit obsidio; nec eam nisi post tres annos cepit Marcellus. Item confecisset celerius nisi unus homo ea tempestate Syracusis fuisset.

Afterwards, when Sicily had defected from the Romans to the Carthaginians, Marcellus, created consul, attacked Syracuse, the most noble city of Sicily. The siege was long; nor did Marcellus take it until after three years. Likewise, he would have completed it more quickly, if one man had not been in Syracuse at that time.

Is erat Archimedes, mirabilis inventor machinarum, quibus omnia Romanorum opera brevi disturbabat. Captis Syracusis, Marcellus eximia hominis prudentia delectatus, utcapiti illius parceretur edixit. Archimedes, dum in pulvere quasdam formas describeret attentius, patriam suam captam esse non senserat.

He was Archimedes, a marvelous inventor of machines, with which he was in short order disrupting all the works of the Romans. With Syracuse taken, Marcellus, delighted by the man’s exceptional prudence, decreed that his head be spared. Archimedes, while more attentively drawing certain forms in the dust, had not perceived that his fatherland had been captured.

Miles praedandi causa a in domum ejus irrupit, et minantis voce quisnam esset eum interrogavit. Archimedes propter cupiditatem illud investigandi quod requirebat, non respondit. Qua propter a, milite obtruncatus est.

A soldier, for the sake of plundering, burst into his house, and with a threatening voice asked him who he was. Archimedes, on account of the cupidity of investigating what he was seeking, did not respond. Wherefore, he was cut down by the soldier.

Ejus mortem aegre tulit Marcellus, sepulturaeque curam habuit.

Marcellus bore his death with difficulty, and took care for the sepulture.

Marcellus, recepta Sicilia, cum ad urbem venisset, postulavit ut sibi triumphanti Romam inire liceret. Id non impetravit; sed tantum ut ovans ingrederetur. Pridie injussu senatus in monte Albano triumphavit; inde ovans multam prae se praedam in urbem intulit.

Marcellus, with Sicily retaken, when he had come to the city, asked that it be permitted him to enter Rome in triumph. This he did not obtain; but only that he should enter in an ovation. On the day before, without the senate’s order, he triumphed on the Alban Mount; thence, as ovans, he carried much booty before him into the city.

Cum simulacro captarum Syracusarum perlata sunt multa urbis ornamenta, nobiliaque signa quibus abundabant Syracusae; quae omnia ad aedem Honoris atque Virtutis contulit; nihil in suis aedibus, nihil in hortis posuit. In sequenti anno iterum Annibalem missus est. Tumulus erat inter Punica et Romana castra, quem occupare Marcellus cupiebat; at prius locum ipse explorare voluit.

Together with a simulacrum of captured Syracuse, many ornaments of the city were borne along, and noble statues with which Syracuse abounded; all of which he consigned to the temple of Honor and Virtue; he set nothing in his own house, nothing in his gardens. In the following year he was sent against Hannibal again. There was a mound between the Punic and the Roman camps, which Marcellus desired to seize; but first he wished to explore the place himself.

Eo cum paucis equitibus proficiscitur; sed in insidias delapsus est, et lancea transfixus occubuit. Annibal inventum Marcelli corpus magnifice sepeliri jussit.

Thither he sets out with a few horsemen; but having slipped into an ambush, and transfixed by a lance, he died. Hannibal ordered the found body of Marcellus to be buried magnificently.

CLAUDIUS NERO ET MARCUS LIVIUS SALINATOR

CLAUDIUS NERO AND MARCUS LIVIUS SALINATOR

Asdrubal frater Annibalis ex Hispania, profectus cum ingentibus copiis in Italiam trajicere parabat. Actum erat de imperio Romano, si jungere so Annibali potuisset. Itaque Roma profecti sunt duo consules Claudius Nero et Livius Salinator; hic in Galliam Cisalpinam, ut Asdrubali ad Alpibus descendenti occurreret, ille vero in Apuliam, ut Annibali se opponeret.

Hasdrubal, brother of Hannibal, from Spain, having set out, was preparing to cross into Italy with immense forces. It would have been all over with the Roman imperium, if he had been able to join himself to Hannibal. Accordingly from Rome set out the two consuls, Claudius Nero and Livius Salinator: the former into Cisalpine Gaul, to meet Hasdrubal as he was descending from the Alps; the latter into Apulia, to oppose himself to Hannibal.

Fuerant Livio cum Nerone veteres inimicitiae tamen ubi ei collega datus est, injuriae quamgravissimam acceperat oblitus est; et amicitiam cum eo junxit, ne propter privatam discordiam respublica male administraretur. Ea gratiae reconciliatione laetus senatus digredientes in provincias consules prosecutus est. Eiporro id in mente habebant, ut uterque in sua provincia hostem contineret, neque conjungi aut conferre in unum vires pateretur.

There had been old enmities between Livius and Nero; yet when a colleague was given to him, he forgot the most grievous injuries he had received, and he joined amity with him, lest, on account of private discord, the republic be badly administered. The senate, glad at this reconciliation of favor, escorted the consuls as they departed to their provinces. They, moreover, had this in mind: that each should contain the enemy in his own province, and should not allow him to be conjoined or to bring together his forces into one.

Inter haec Asdrubal Italiam ingressus, quatuor equites cum litteris ad Annibalem misit: qui capti ad Neronem sunt perducti. Consul, cognito Asdrubalis consilio, audendum aliquid improvisum ratus, cum delectis copiis profectus est nocte, et inscio Annibale, paene totam Italiam emensus sex dierum spatio ad castra Livii pervenit, amboque collatis signis Asdrubalem apud Senam vicerunt. Caesa sunt eo proelio quinquaginta sex hostium millia.

Meanwhile Hasdrubal, having entered Italy, sent four horsemen with letters to Hannibal; they were captured and led to Nero. The consul, once Hasdrubal’s plan was learned, thinking that something unforeseen must be dared, set out by night with chosen forces and, Hannibal being unaware, having traversed nearly all Italy within the space of six days, came to the camp of Livius; and the two, with standards joined, defeated Hasdrubal near Sena. In that battle fifty-six thousand of the enemy were cut down.

lpse Asdrubal, netantae cladi superesset, concitato equo se in cohortem Romanam immisit, ibique pugnans cecidit. Nero ea nocte, quae pugnam secuta est, pari celeritate qua venerat, in castra sua rediit, antequam Annibal eum discessissesentiret. Caput Asdrubalis, quod servatum cum cura attulerat, projici ante hostium stationes jussit.

Asdrubal himself, lest he survive so great a slaughter, with his horse spurred on hurled himself into a Roman cohort, and there, fighting, fell. Nero that night, which followed the battle, with equal celerity with which he had come, returned to his camp, before Annibal perceived that he had withdrawn. He ordered the head of Asdrubal, which he had brought, preserved with care, to be cast before the enemy outposts.

Annibal, viso fratris occisi capite, dixisse fertur: "Agnosco fortunam Carthaginis."

Hannibal, on seeing the head of his slain brother, is said to have said: "I recognize the fortune of Carthage."

PUBLIUS CORNELIUS SCIPIO AFRICANUS

Publius Cornelius Scipio nondum annos pueritiae egressus patrem singulari virtute servavit: nam cum is in pugna. apud Ticinum contra Annibalem commissa graviter vulneratus esset, et in hostium manus jamjam venturus esset, filius, interjecto corpore, Poenis irruentibus se opposuit, et patrem periculo liberavit. Quae pietas Scipioni postea Aedilitatem petenti favorem populi conciliavit; cum obsisterent tribuni plebis negantes rationem ejus esse habendam, quod nondum ad petendum legitima aetas esset: "Si me, inquit Scipio, omnes quirites aedilem facere volunt, satis annorum habeo." Tanto inde favore ad suffragia itum est, ut tribuni incepto destiterint.

Publius Cornelius Scipio, not yet having passed the years of boyhood, saved his father by singular virtue: for when he, in the battle joined at the Ticinus against Hannibal, had been grievously wounded and was just about to come into the hands of the enemy, the son, by interposing his body, set himself against the Punics rushing in, and freed his father from peril. This piety afterward procured for Scipio the favor of the people when he was seeking the Aedileship; when the tribunes of the plebs opposed, saying that his candidacy ought not to be considered, because he was not yet of the legitimate age for seeking office: “If,” said Scipio, “all the Quirites wish to make me aedile, I have years enough.” Thence the vote proceeded with such favor that the tribunes desisted from their undertaking.

Post cladem Cannensem, Romani exercitus reliquiae Canusium perfugerant: cumque ibi tribuni militum quatuor essent, tamen omnium consensu ad Publium Scipionem admodum adolescentem summa imperii delata est. Tunc Scipioni nunciatum est nobiles quosdam juvenes de Italia deserenda conspirare. Statim in hospitium Metelli, quiconspirationis erat princeps, se contulit Scipio; cumque concilium ibi juvenum de quibus allatum erat, invenisset, stricto super capita consultantium gladio.

After the Cannae disaster, the remnants of the Roman army fled for refuge to Canusium; and although there were four tribunes of the soldiers there, nonetheless by the consensus of all the supreme imperium was conferred upon Publius Scipio, a very young man. Then it was announced to Scipio that certain noble youths were conspiring to desert Italy. Immediately Scipio betook himself into the lodging of Metellus, who was the princeps of the conspiracy; and when he had found there a council of the youths about whom it had been reported, with a sword drawn over the heads of those deliberating.

"Jurate, inquit, vos neque rempublicam populi Romani deserturos, neque alium civem Romanum deserere passuros; qui non juraverit, in se hunc gladium strictum esse sciat." Haud secus pavidi, quam si victorem Annibalem cernerent, jurant omnes, custodiendosque semetipsos Scipioni tradunt.

"Swear," he says, "that you will neither desert the republic of the Roman People, nor allow any other Roman citizen to be deserted; let whoever has not sworn know that this sword, drawn, is against him." No less fearful than if they were beholding Hannibal victorious, all swear, and they hand themselves over to Scipio to be guarded.

Cum Romani duas clades in Hispania accepissent, duoque ibi summi imperatores cecidissent, placuit exercitum augeri, eoque proconsulem mitti; nec tamen quem mitterent satis constabat. Ea de re indicta sunt comitia. Primo populus exspectabat, ut qui se tanto dignos imperio crederent, nomina profiterentur; sed nemo audebat illud imperium suscipere.

When the Romans had suffered two defeats in Spain, and two supreme commanders had fallen there, it was decided that the army be augmented, and that a proconsul be sent there; nor, however, was it sufficiently settled whom they should send. On this matter the comitia were proclaimed. At first the people were waiting for those who believed themselves worthy of so great a command to declare their names; but no one dared to undertake that command.

Moesta itaque civitas erat, et prope consilii inops. Subito Cornelius Scipio quatuor et viginti ferme annos natus, professus est se petere, et in superiore, unde conspici posset, loco constitit: in quem omnium ora conversa sunt. Deinde ad unum omnes Scipionem in Hispania, proconsulem esse jusserunt.

Thus the city was mournful, and nearly bereft of counsel. Suddenly Cornelius Scipio, nearly twenty-four years old, professed that he sought the office, and took his stand in a higher place, whence he could be seen; and to it the faces of all were turned. Then, all to a man, they ordered that Scipio be proconsul in Spain.

At postquam animorumimpetus resedit, populum Romanum coepit facti poenitere. Aetati Scipionis maxime diffidebant. Quod ubi animadvertit Scipio, advocata concione, ita magno elatoque animo disseruit de bello quod gerendum erat, uthomines cura liberaverit, speque certa impleverit.

But after the impetus of their spirits subsided, the Roman people began to repent of the deed. They most distrusted Scipio’s age. When Scipio perceived this, with a public assembly convened, with a great and exalted spirit he discoursed about the war that had to be waged, so that he freed the people from care and filled them with sure hope.

Profectus igitur in Hispaniam Scipio Carthaginem novam, qua die venit, expugnavit. Eo congestae erant omnes paene Africae et Hispaniae opes, quibus potitus est. Inter captivos ad eum adducta est eximiae formae adulta virgo.

Therefore, having set out into Spain, Scipio took by storm New Carthage on the very day he arrived. There had been heaped up there nearly all the wealth of Africa and Spain, which he gained possession of. Among the captives there was brought to him a maiden of exceptional beauty, full-grown.

Postquam comperit eam illustri loco inter Celtiberos natam, principique ejus gentis adolescenti desponsam fuisse, arcessitis parentibus et sponso eam reddidit. Parentes virginis qui ad eam redimendam satis magnum auri pondusattulerant Scipionem orabant ut id ab se donum reciperet. Scipio aurum poni ante pedes jussit vocatoque ad se virginis sponso: "Super dotem, inquit quam accepturus a socero es, haec tibi a me dotalia dona accedent"; aurumque tollere ac sibi habere jussit.

After he learned that she had been born of illustrious rank among the Celtiberians, and had been betrothed to the adolescent prince of that nation, with her parents and betrothed summoned he returned her. The maiden’s parents, who had brought a sufficiently great weight of gold to redeem her, begged Scipio to receive that from them as a gift. Scipio ordered the gold to be placed before his feet and, having called to himself the maiden’s betrothed, said: "Over and above the dowry which you are going to receive from your father-in-law, these dotal gifts from me shall accrue to you"; and he ordered him to take up the gold and keep it for himself.

llle domum reversus, ad referendam Scipioni gratiam, Celtiberos Romanis conciliavit.

He, on returning home, to render gratitude to Scipio, conciliated the Celtiberians to the Romans.

Deinde Scipio Asdrubalem victum ex Hispania expulit. Castris hostium potitus, omnem praedam militibus concessit: captivos Hispanos sine pretio domum dimisit. Afros vero vendi jussit.

Then Scipio expelled Hasdrubal, conquered, from Spain. Having gotten possession of the enemy camp, he granted all the booty to the soldiers: he sent the Spanish captives home without price. But he ordered the Africans to be sold.

Erat inter eos puer adultus regii generis forma insigni, quem percunctatus est Scipio quis et cujas esset, et cur id aetatis in castris fuisset? Respondit puer: "Numida sum; Massivam populares vocant: orbus a patre relictus apud avum maternum Numidiae regem educatus sum: cum avunculo Masinissa, qui nuper subsidio Carthaginiensibus venit, in Hispaniam trajeci; prohibitus propter aetatem a Masinissa ante proelium inii. Eo die quo pugnatum est cum Romanis, inscio avunculo, clam armisequoque sumpto in aciem exivi: prolapso equo, captus sum a Romanis." Scipio eum interrogavit velletne ad avunculum reverti?

There was among them a grown youth of royal lineage, remarkable in form, whom Scipio asked who and of what country he was, and why, at that age, he had been in the camp? The youth replied: "I am a Numidian; the commons call me Massiva: left fatherless, I was brought up by my maternal grandfather, the king of Numidia: with my uncle Masinissa, who recently came as succor to the Carthaginians, I crossed over into Hispania; I was prevented by Masinissa, on account of my age, from entering the battle before the engagement. On the day on which it was fought with the Romans, my uncle not knowing, secretly, having taken up arms and a horse, I went out into the battle-line: my horse having fallen, I was captured by the Romans." Scipio asked him whether he wished to return to his uncle?

Id vero cupere se dixit puer, effusis gaudio lacrymis. Tam Scipio eum annulo aureo et equo ornato donavit, datisque, qui tuto deducerent, equitibus dimisit.

The boy said that he indeed desired that, tears poured out for joy. Then Scipio presented him with a golden ring and a caparisoned horse, and, having provided horsemen to conduct him safely, sent him away.

Cum Publius Cornelius Scipio se erga Hispanos clementer gessisset, circumfusa multitudo eum regem ingenti consensu appellavit; at Scipio, silentio per praeconem facto, dixit: Nomen imperatoris, quo me mei milites appellarunt, mihi maximum est: regium nomen alibi magnum, Romae intolerabile est. Si id amplissimum judicatis quod regale est, vobis licet existimare regalem in me esse animum; sed oro vos ut a regis appellatione abstineatis. Sensere etiam barbari magnitudinem animi, qua Scipio id aspernabatur quod ceteri mortales admirantur et concupiscunt.

When Publius Cornelius Scipio had conducted himself clemently toward the Spaniards, the surrounding multitude hailed him as king with vast consensus; but Scipio, a silence having been made by the herald, said: The name of commander, by which my own soldiers have called me, is to me the greatest: the royal name is great elsewhere; at Rome it is intolerable. If you judge that to be most ample which is royal, you may esteem that there is a regal spirit in me; but I beg you to abstain from the appellation of king. Even the barbarians sensed the greatness of spirit with which Scipio spurned that which other mortals admire and covet.

Scipio, recepta Hispania, cum jam bellum in ipsam Africam transferre meditaretur, conciliandos prius regum et gentium animos existimavit. Syphacem Maurorum regem primum tentare statuit. Eum regem totius Africa opulentissimum magno usui sibi fore sperabat.

Scipio, Spain having been recovered, when he was now meditating to transfer the war into Africa itself, judged that the goodwill of kings and nations must first be conciliated. He decided to try Syphax, king of the Moors, first. He hoped that that king, the most opulent of all Africa, would be of great use to himself.

Itaque legatum cum donis ad eum misit. Syphax amicitiamRomanorum se accipere annuit, sed fidem nec dare nec accipere nisi cum ipso coram duce Romano voluit. Scipio igitur in Africam trajecit.

Therefore he sent a legate to him with gifts. Syphax assented to accept the friendship of the Romans, but he wished neither to give nor to receive a pledge of good faith except face-to-face with the Roman leader himself. Scipio therefore crossed over into Africa.

Forte incidit ut eo ipso tempore Asdrubal ad eumdem portum appelleret, Syphacis amicitiam pariter petiturus. Uterque a rege in hospitium invitatus. Cenatum simul apud regem est, et eodem lecto Scipio atque Asdrubal accubuerunt.

By chance it happened that at that very time Hasdrubal put in at that same port, likewise about to seek Syphax’s friendship. Each was invited by the king into hospitality. They dined together at the king’s, and on the same couch Scipio and Hasdrubal reclined.

Tanta autem inerat comitas Scipioni, ut non Syphacem modo sed etiam hostem infensissimum Asdrubalem sibi conciliaverit. Scipio, foedere icto cum Syphace, in Hispaniam ad exercitum rediit.

So great a comity was in Scipio, that he won over not Syphax only but even the most hostile enemy, Asdrubal, to himself. Scipio, a treaty having been struck with Syphax, returned into Spain to the army.

Masinissa quoque amicitiam cum Scipione jungere jamdudum cupiebat. Quare ad eum tres Numidarum principesmisit, ad tempus locumque colloquio statuendum. Duos pro obsidibus retineri a Scipione voluit, remisso tertio, qui Masinissam in locum constitutum adduceret.

Masinissa also had long since desired to join amity with Scipio. Therefore he sent to him three princes of the Numidians, for appointing a time and place for a colloquy. He wished that two should be retained by Scipio as hostages, the third being sent back, to conduct Masinissa to the appointed place.

Scipio et Masinissa cum paucis in colloquium venerunt. Ceperat jam ante Masinissam ex fama rerum gestarum admiratio viri, sed major praesentis veneratio cepit: erat enim in vultu multa majestas; accedebat promissa caesaries, habitusque corporis non cultus munditiis, sed virilis vere ac militaris, et florens juventa. Prope attonitus ipso congressu Numida gratias de filio fratris remisso agit: affirmat se ex eo tempore eam quaesivisse occasionem, quam tandem oblatam non omiserat; cupere se illi et populo Romano operam navare.

Scipio and Masinissa came to a colloquy with a few attendants. Masinissa had already before conceived, from the fame of his deeds, an admiration of the man, but a greater veneration of him present seized him: for there was in his countenance much majesty; there was added a flowing caesaries (long hair), and a bearing of body not groomed with niceties, but truly manly and military, and blooming with youth. The Numidian, almost thunderstruck by the encounter itself, gives thanks for the brother’s son sent back; he affirms that from that time he had sought that opportunity which at length, once offered, he had not let slip; that he desires to render service to him and to the Roman people.

Laetus eum Scipio audivit, atque in societatem recepit.

Scipio heard him gladly, and received him into alliance.

Scipio deinde Romam rediit, et ante annos consul factus est. Ei Sicilia provincia decreta est, permissumque est ut in Africam inde trajiceret. Qui cum vellet ex fortissimis peditibus Romanis trecentorum equitum numerum complere, nec posset illos statim armis et equis instruere, id prudenti consilio perfecit.

Scipio then returned to Rome, and was made consul before the legal age. To him Sicily was decreed as his province, and it was permitted that from there he should cross over into Africa. He, when he wished from the bravest Roman foot-soldiers to complete the number of three hundred horsemen, and could not at once equip them with arms and horses, accomplished that by prudent counsel.

Trecentos juvenes ex omni Sicilia nobilissimos et ditissimos legit, velut eos ad oppugnandam Carthaginem secum ducturus, eosque jussit quam celerrime arma et equos expedire. Edicto imperatoris paruerunt juvenes, sed longinquum et grave bellum reformidabant. Tunc Scipio remisit illis istam expeditionem, si arma et equos militibus Romanis vellent tradere.

He selected from all Sicily three hundred youths, most noble and most wealthy, as though he were going to lead them with him to assault Carthage, and he ordered them to get their arms and horses ready as swiftly as possible. The youths obeyed the edict of the general, but they dreaded a long and grievous war. Then Scipio excused them from that expedition, if they were willing to hand over the arms and horses to the Roman soldiers.

Laeti conditionem acceperunt juvenes Siculi. Ita Scipio sine publica impensa suos instruxit ornavitque equites.

The Sicilian youths accepted the condition gladly. Thus Scipio, without public expense, equipped and adorned his horsemen.

Tunc Scipio ex Sicilia in Africam vento secundo profectus est. Tantus erat militum ardor, ut non ad bellum duci viderentur, sed ad certa victoriae praemia. Celeriter naves e conspectu Siciliae ablatae sunt, conspectaque brevi Africae littora.

Then Scipio set out from Sicily into Africa with a favorable wind. So great was the soldiers’ ardor that they seemed to be led not to war, but to the sure prizes of victory. Quickly the ships were borne out of the sight of Sicily, and soon the shores of Africa were seen.

Expositis copiis, Scipio in proximis tumulis castra metatus est. lbi speculatores hostium in castris deprehensos et ad se perductos nec supplicio affecit, nec de consiliis ac viribus Paenorum percontatus est; sed circa omnes Romani exercitus manipulos curavit deducendos: dein interrogavit an ea satis considerassent quae jussi erant speculari; tum, prandio dato, eos incolumes dimisit. Qua sui fiducia prius animos hostium, quam arma contudit.

With the troops disembarked, Scipio pitched camp on the nearest hills. There, when enemy speculators had been caught in the camp and brought to him, he neither subjected them to punishment nor inquired about the counsels and forces of the Punics; rather, he took care to have all the maniples of the Roman army led past on every side. Then he asked whether they had sufficiently considered what they had been ordered to spy out; afterward, a meal having been given, he dismissed them unharmed. By such confidence in himself he shattered the spirits of the enemy before their arms.

Scipioni in Africam advenienti Masinissa se conjunxit cum parva, equitum turma. Syphax vero a Romanis ad Poenos defecerat. Asdrubal Poenorum dux Syphaxque se Scipioni opposuerunt: at Scipio utriusque castra una nocte perrupit et incendit.

To Scipio arriving in Africa, Masinissa joined himself with a small squadron of cavalry. But Syphax had defected from the Romans to the Punics. Hasdrubal, leader of the Punics, and Syphax set themselves against Scipio: but Scipio, in a single night, broke through and burned the camps of both.

Syphax ipse captus est, et vivus ad Scipionem pertractus. Quem cum in castra Romana adduci nunciatum esset, omnis, velut ad spectaculum triumphi, multitudo effusa est: praecedebat is vinctus; sequebatur nobilium Numidarum turba. Movebat omnes fortuna viri, cujus amicitiam olim Scipio petierat.

Syphax himself was captured, and alive was brought to Scipio. When it was announced that he was being led into the Roman camp, the entire multitude poured forth, as if to a spectacle of triumph: he, bound, went before; a throng of noble Numidians followed. The fortune of the man moved everyone, whose friendship Scipio had once sought.

Regem aliosque captivos Romam misit Scipio: Masinissam, qui egregie rem Romanam adjuverat, aurea corona donavit.

Scipio sent the king and the other captives to Rome; Masinissa, who had excellently aided the Roman cause, he endowed with a golden crown.

Haec clades Carthaginiensibus tantum terroris intulit, ut Annibalem ex Italia ad tuendam patriam revocaverint: qui frendens gemensque ac vix lacrymis temperans, mandatis paruit. Respexit saepe Italiae littora, semet accusans quod non exercitum victorem statim a pugna Cannensi Romam duxisset. Jam Zamam venerat Annibal (quae urbs quinque dierum iter a Carthagine abest), inde nuncium ad Scipionem misit, ut colloquendi secum potestatem faceret.

This disaster brought upon the Carthaginians so much terror that they recalled Hannibal from Italy to defend the fatherland: he, gnashing and groaning and scarcely restraining his tears, obeyed the mandates. He often looked back at the shores of Italy, accusing himself because he had not led the victorious army straight to Rome immediately after the battle of Cannae. Already Hannibal had come to Zama (which city is a five days’ journey distant from Carthage); from there he sent a messenger to Scipio, to grant permission for a colloquy with himself.

Colloquium haud abnuit Scipio. Dies locusque constituitur. Itaque congressi sunt duo clarissimi suae aetatis duces.

Scipio did not refuse the colloquy. The day and the place were appointed. And so the two most illustrious leaders of their age met.

Steterunt aliquandiu mutua admiratione defixi. Cum vero de conditionibus pacis inter illos non convenisset, ad suos se receperunt renunciantes armis rem esse dirimendam. Proelium commissum est, victusque Annibal cum quatuor tantum equitibus fugit.

They stood for some time, transfixed in mutual admiration. But when, in truth, there had been no agreement between them about the conditions of peace, they returned to their own, declaring that the matter must be decided by arms. A battle was joined, and Hannibal, defeated, fled with only four horsemen.

Carthaginienses metu perculsi, ad petendam pacem oratores mittunt triginta seniorum principes: qui ubi in castra Romana venerunt, more adulantium procubuere. Conveniens oratio tam humili adulationi fuit. Veniam civitati petebant non culpam purgantes, sed initium culpae in Annibalem transferentes.

The Carthaginians, smitten with fear, sent envoys—thirty leaders among the elders—to seek peace: who, when they came into the Roman camp, prostrated themselves in the manner of flatterers. A speech befitting such abject adulation followed. They were asking pardon for the city, not purging the fault, but transferring the origin of the blame onto Hannibal.

Victis leges imposuit Scipio. Legati, cum nullas conditiones recusarent, Romam profecti sunt, ut quae a Scipione pacta essent, ea patrum ac populiauctoritate confirmarentur. Ita pace terra marique parta, Scipio, exercitu in naves imposito, Romam reversus est.

Scipio imposed laws upon the vanquished. The legates, since they refused no conditions, set out to Rome, in order that the things which had been agreed by Scipio might be confirmed by the authority of the Fathers and the People. Thus, peace having been obtained on land and sea, Scipio, the army embarked on ships, returned to Rome.

Ad quem advenientem concursus ingens factus est. Effusa non ex urbibus modo, sed etiam ex agris turba vias obsidebat. Scipio inter gratulantium plausus triumpho omnium clarissimo urbem est invectus, primusque nomine victae se gentis est nobilitatus, Africanusque appellatus.

As he was arriving, a huge concourse was made. A crowd, poured out not only from the cities but even from the fields, was besieging the roads. Scipio, amid the applause of the congratulating, was borne into the city in the most illustrious triumph of all, and he was the first to be ennobled by the name of the conquered nation, and was called Africanus.

Annibal a Scipione victus, suisque invisus, ad Antiochum Syriae regem confugit, eumque hostem Romanis fecit. Missi sunt Roma legati ad Antiochum, in quibus erat Scipio Africanus, qui cum Annibale collocutus, ab eo quaesivit quem fuisse maximum imperatorem crederet? Respondit Annibal Alexandrum Macedonum regem maximum sibi videri, quod parva manu innumerabiles exercitus fudisset.

Hannibal, defeated by Scipio and hated by his own, fled to Antiochus, king of Syria, and made him an enemy to the Romans. Legates were sent from Rome to Antiochus, among whom was Scipio Africanus, who, having conferred with Hannibal, asked him whom he believed had been the greatest general? Hannibal replied that Alexander, king of the Macedonians, seemed to him the greatest, because with a small force he had routed innumerable armies.

Interroganti deinde quem secundum poneret; Pyrrhum, inquit, quod primus castra metari docuit, nemoque illo elegantius loca cepit, et praesidia disposuit. Sciscitanti demum quem tertium duceret, semetipsum dixit. Tum ridens Scipio: Quidnam, inquit, igitur tu diceres, si me vicisses?

Then, to the one asking whom he would place second; “Pyrrhus,” he said, “because he first taught how to measure out a camp, and no one more elegantly took positions and disposed the garrisons than he.” Finally, to the one inquiring whom he would lead as third, he said “myself.” Then Scipio, laughing: “What, then,” he said, “would you say, if you had defeated me?”

"Me vero, respondit Annibal, et ante Alexandrum et ante Pyrrhum et ante alios omnes posuissem." Ita improviso assentationis genere, Scipionem e grege imperatorum velut inaestimabilem secernebat.

"As for me indeed, replied Hannibal, I would have placed you before Alexander and before Pyrrhus and before all others." Thus, by an unforeseen kind of assentation, he was separating Scipio out from the rank of commanders as, as it were, inestimable.

Decreto adversas Antiochum bello, cum Syria provincia obvenisset Lucio Scipioni, quia parum in eo putabatur esse animi, parum roboris, senatus belli hujus gerendi curam mandari volebat collegae ejus Caio Laelio. Surrexit tunc Scipio Africanus frater major Lucii Scipionis, et illam familiae ignominiam deprecatus est: dixit in fratre suo summam esse virtutem, summum consilium, seque ei legatum fore promisit; quod cum ab eo esset dictum, nihil est de Lucii Scipionis provincia commutatum: itaque frater natu major minori legatus in Asia profectus est, et tandiu eum consilio operaque adjuvit, donec ei triumphum et cognomen Asiatici peperisset.

With a war decreed against Antiochus, when the province of Syria had fallen to Lucius Scipio, because he was thought to have in him too little spirit, too little robustness, the senate wished the care of conducting this war to be entrusted to his colleague Gaius Laelius. Then Scipio Africanus, the elder brother of Lucius Scipio, rose and pleaded against that ignominy to the family: he said that in his brother there was the highest virtue, the highest counsel, and he promised that he himself would be his legate; and when this had been said by him, nothing of Lucius Scipio’s province was altered: and so the elder brother set out to Asia as legate to the younger, and he aided him by counsel and by work for so long, until he had procured for him a triumph and the cognomen “Asiaticus.”

Eodem bello filius Scipionis Africani captus fuit, et ad Antiochum deductus. Benigne et comiter adolescentem rex habuit, quamvis ab ejus patre tunc finibus imperii pelleretur. Cum deinde pacem Antiochus a Romanis peteret, legatus ejus Publium Scipionem adiit; eique filium sine pretio redditurum regem dixit, si per eum pacem impetrasset.

In the same war the son of Scipio Africanus was captured and led to Antiochus. Kindly and courteously the king treated the adolescent, although he was then being driven from the borders of his empire by that youth’s father. When thereafter Antiochus was suing for peace from the Romans, his legate approached Publius Scipio; and told him that the king would return his son without price, if through him he should obtain peace.

Cui Scipio respondit: "Abi, nuncia regi me pro tanto munere gratias agere; sed nunc aliam gratiam non possum referre, quam ut ei suadeam bello absistere, nullamque pacis conditionem recusare." Pax non convenit; Antiochus tamen Scipioni filium remisit, tantique viri majestatem venerari, quam dolorem ulcisci maluit.

To this Scipio replied: "Go, announce to the king that I give thanks for so great a gift; but now I cannot return any other favor than to advise him to desist from war, and to refuse no condition of peace." Peace was not agreed; Antiochus, however, sent back to Scipio his son, and chose rather to venerate the majesty of so great a man than to avenge his injury.

Victo Antiocho, cum praedae Asiaticae ratio a duobus, Scipionibus reposceretur, Africanus prolatum a fratre discerpsit librum, quo acceptae et expensae summae continebantur, indignatus scilicet ea de re dubitari quae sub ipso legato administrata fuisset, et ad eum modum verba fecit: "Non est quod quaeratis, patres conscripti, an parvam pecuniam in aerarium retulerim, qui antea illud Punice auro repleverim, neque mea innocentia potest in dubium vocari. Cum Africam totam potestati vestrae subjecerim, nihil ex ea praeter cognomen retuli. Non igitur me punicae, non fratrem meum Asiaticae gazae avarum reddiderunt; sed uterque nostrum magis invidia quam pecunia,est onustus." Tum constantem defensionem Scipionis universus senatus comprobavit.

With Antiochus conquered, when the account of the Asiatic booty was being demanded from the two, the Scipios, Africanus tore up the book produced by his brother, in which the sums received and expended were contained, indignant, of course, that there should be doubt about a matter which had been administered under himself as legate, and after this manner he spoke: "There is no reason for you to inquire, Conscript Fathers, whether I have paid a small sum into the treasury, I who earlier filled it with Punic gold; nor can my innocence be called into doubt. Since I have subjected all Africa to your power, I have brought back nothing from it except the cognomen. Therefore neither the Punic nor, in my brother’s case, the Asiatic treasure has made us greedy; but each of us is laden more with envy than with money." Then the whole senate approved Scipio’s steadfast defense.

Deinde Scipioni Africano duo tribuni plebis diem dixerunt quasi praeda ex Antiocho capta, aerarium fraudasset: ubi causae dicendae dies venit, Scipio magna hominum frequentia in forum est deductus. Jussus causam dicere, sine ulla criminis mentione, magnificam orationem de rebus a se gestis habuit. "Hac die, inquit, Carthaginem vici: eamus in Capitolium, et Diis supplicemus." E foro statim in Capitolium ascendit.

Then two tribunes of the plebs appointed a day for Scipio Africanus, as if he had defrauded the treasury with the booty taken from Antiochus: when the day for pleading the case came, Scipio was led into the forum with a great concourse of people. Ordered to plead the case, without any mention of the charge, he delivered a magnificent oration about the deeds accomplished by himself. “On this day,” he said, “I conquered Carthage: let us go up to the Capitol, and let us make supplication to the gods.” From the forum he immediately ascended to the Capitol.

Simul se universa concio ab accusatoribus avertit, et secuta Scipionem est, nec quisquam praeter praeconem, qui reum citabat, cum tribunis mansit. Celebratior is dies favore hominum fuit, quam quo triumphans de Syphace rege et Carthaginiensibus urbemest ingressus. Inde, ne amplius tribunitiis injuriis vexaretur, in Literninam villam concessit, ubi reliquam egit aetatem sine urbis desiderio.

At once the entire assembly turned itself away from the accusers and followed Scipio, and no one remained with the tribunes except the herald, who was citing the defendant. That day was more celebrated by the favor of men than the day on which, triumphing over King Syphax and the Carthaginians, he entered the city. Thence, lest he be vexed further by tribunician injuries, he withdrew to his villa at Liternum, where he spent the remainder of his life without longing for the city.

Cum Scipio Africanus Liternii degeret, complures praedonum duces ad eum videndum forte confluxerunt. Scipio eos ad vim faciendam venire ratus, praesidium servorum in tecto collocavit, aliaque parabat quae ad eos repellendos opus erant. Quod ubi praedones animadverterunt, abjectis armis, januae appropinquant, nunciantque se non vitae ejus hostes, sed virtutis admiratores venisse conspectum tanti viri expetentes; proinde ne gravaretur se spectandum praebere.

While Scipio Africanus was living at Liternum, several leaders of pirates chanced to flock together to see him. Scipio, thinking that they had come to use force, stationed a guard of his slaves on the roof, and was preparing other things which were needed to repel them. When the pirates noticed this, with their arms thrown down, they approach the door and announce that they have come not as enemies of his life, but as admirers of his virtue, seeking the sight of so great a man; therefore let him not be unwilling to offer himself to be looked upon.

Id postquam audivit Scipio, fores reserari eosque introduci jussit. Illi postes januae tanquam religiosissimam aram venerati, cupide Scipionis dexteram apprehenderunt, ac diu deosculati sunt: deinde positis ante vestibulum donis, laeti quod Scipionem videre contigisset, domum reverterunt. Paulo post mortuus est Scipio, moriensque ab uxore petiit ne corpus suum Romam referretur.

After Scipio heard that, he ordered the doors to be unbarred and them to be brought in. They, having venerated the doorposts as a most sacred altar, eagerly grasped Scipio’s right hand and for a long time kissed it; then, after placing gifts before the vestibule, glad that it had befallen them to see Scipio, they returned home. A little afterward Scipio died, and as he was dying he asked of his wife that his body not be carried back to Rome.

LUCIUS SCIPIO ASIATICUS

Lucius Scipio frater Africani infirmo erat corpore; tamen consul, legato fratre, contra Antiochum missus est. Cum in Asiam advenisset, ad duo ferme millia ab hoste castra posuit. Antiochus coepit aciem instruere, nec Scipio detrectavit certamen.

Lucius Scipio, the brother of Africanus, was of infirm body; nevertheless, as consul, with his brother as legate, he was sent against Antiochus. When he had arrived in Asia, he pitched camp about two miles from the enemy. Antiochus began to draw up the battle line, nor did Scipio decline the contest.

Cum autem duae acies in conspectu essent, coorta nebula caliginem dedit, quae nihil admodum Romanis, eadem plurimum regiis nocuit; nam humor gladios aut pila Romanorum non hebetabat; arcus vero quibus Antiochi milites utebantur, fundasque et jaculorum amenta emollierat. Itaque fusus est regis exercitus fugatusque. Ipse Antiochus, cum paucis fugiens, in Lydiam concessit.

When, however, the two battle-lines were within sight, a rising mist gave a caliginous gloom, which did nothing at all to the Romans, but greatly harmed the king’s troops; for the moisture did not blunt the Romans’ swords or javelins, but it had softened the bows which Antiochus’s soldiers used, and the slings and the thongs of the javelins. And so the king’s army was routed and put to flight. Antiochus himself, fleeing with a few, withdrew into Lydia.

Tam Asiae urbes victori se dediderunt. Lucius Scipio Romam reversus, ingenti gloria triumphavit, et Asiatici cognomen accepit.

Then the cities of Asia surrendered themselves to the victor. Lucius Scipio, having returned to Rome, triumphed with immense glory, and received the cognomen Asiaticus.

Postea Lucius Scipio simul cum fratre accusatus est acceptae ab Antiocho pecuniae, et quamvis contenderet omnem praedam in aerarium fuisse illatam, damnatus tamen est et in carcerem duci coeptus. Tunc Tiberius Gracchus, licet Scipionis inimicus, dixit sibi quidem esse cum Scipione simultatem, nec se quidquam gratiae quaerendae causa facere; sed non passurum Lucium Scipionem in carcere atque in vinculis esse, jussitque eum dimitti. Gratiae ingentes a senatu actae sunt Tiberio Graccho, quod rempublicam privatis simultatibus potiorem habuisset.

Afterwards Lucius Scipio, together with his brother, was accused of having accepted money from Antiochus; and although he asserted that all the booty had been brought into the treasury, nevertheless he was condemned and began to be led into prison. Then Tiberius Gracchus, although an enemy of Scipio, said that indeed he had a feud with Scipio, nor was he doing anything for the sake of courting favor; but that he would not allow Lucius Scipio to be in prison and in bonds, and he ordered him to be released. Vast thanks were rendered by the senate to Tiberius Gracchus, because he had held the commonwealth as weightier than private feuds.

Missi deinde quaestores in domum Scipionis nullum pecuniae regiae vestigium repererunt. Lucio Scipioni collata est ab amicis propinquisque ea pecunia qua mulctatus fuerat; eam vero Scipio noluit accipere.

Then quaestors sent to Scipio’s house found no trace of royal money. To Lucius Scipio there was contributed by his friends and relatives that sum with which he had been mulcted; but Scipio did not wish to accept it.

PUBLIUS SCIPIO NASICA

Publius Scipio Nasica patrui Scipionis Africani filius, cum adolescens aedilitatem peteret, manumque cujusdam civis Romani rustico opere duratam, more candidatorum, apprehendisset, jocans interrogavit eum, num manibus solitus esset ambulare: quod dictum a circumstantibus exceptum ad populum manavit, causamque repulsae Scipioni attulit. Namque omnes rusticae tribus paupertatem sibi ab eo exprobratam judicantes, iram suam adversus contumeliosum ejus dicterium exercuerunt. Quae repulsa nobilis adolescentis ingenium ab insolentia revocavit, eumque magnum et utilem civem fecit.

Publius Scipio Nasica, son of the uncle of Scipio Africanus, when as an adolescent he was seeking the aedileship, and, in the manner of candidates, had grasped the hand of a certain Roman citizen, hardened by rustic work, jesting asked him whether he was accustomed to walk with his hands: which saying, caught up by the bystanders, spread to the people, and brought Scipio the cause of an electoral repulse. For all the rural tribes, judging that poverty had been cast in their teeth by him, vented their anger against his contumelious quip. This repulse called back the talent of the noble adolescent from insolence, and made him a great and useful citizen.

Cum Annibal Italiam devastaret, responsum ab oraculo editum esse ferunt: hostem Italia pelli vincique posse, si mater Idaea a Pessinunte Romam advecta foret, et hospitio apud civem optimum reciperetur. Legati ea de re ad Attalum Pergami regem missi sunt. Is legatos comiter acceptos Pessinuntem deduxit.

When Hannibal was devastating Italy, they report that a response was issued by the oracle: that the enemy could be expelled from Italy and vanquished, if the Idaean Mother were conveyed from Pessinus to Rome and were received with hospitality at the house of the best citizen. Legates on that matter were sent to Attalus, king of Pergamum. He, having courteously received the legates, conducted them to Pessinus.

Quaerendus deinde fuit vir qui eam rite hospitio exciperet. Publium Scipionem Nasicam senatus judicavit virum esse in tota civitate optimum. Idem consul imperatoris nomen a militibus, et triumphum a senatu oblatum recusavit, dixitque satis gloriae sibi in omnem vitam eo die quaesitum esse, quo vir optimus a senatu judicatus fuerat: hoc titulo, etsi nec consulatus, nec triumphus addatur, satis honoratam publii Scipionis Nasicae imaginem fore.

Then a man had to be sought who would duly receive her with hospitium. The senate adjudged Publius Scipio Nasica to be the best man in the whole city. The same man refused the name of Imperator from the soldiers and a triumph offered by the senate, and said that enough glory had been obtained for himself for his whole life on that day on which he had been judged by the senate the best man: by this title, even if neither the consulship nor a triumph be added, the image of Publius Scipio Nasica would be sufficiently honored.

Scipio Nasica censor factus, gravem se ac severum praebuit. Cum equitum censum ageret, equitem quemdam vidit obeso et pingui corpore, equum vero ejus strigosum et macilentum. "Quidnam causae est, inquit censor, cur sis tu, quam equus pinguior?" - "Quoniam, respondit eques, ego me ipse curo, equum vero servus." Minus verecundum visum est responsum, itaque graviter objurgatus eques, et mulcta damnatus.

Scipio Nasica, having been made censor, showed himself grave and severe. When he was conducting the census of the equites, he saw a certain equestrian with an obese and plump body, but his horse rough-coated and emaciated. “What is the reason,” said the censor, “why you are fatter than the horse?” — “Because,” replied the equestrian, “I take care of myself, but a slave takes care of the horse.” The reply seemed less modest; and so the horseman was severely rebuked and condemned to a mulct.

Idem Scipio Nasica cum Ennio poeta vivebat conjunctissime. Cum ad eum venisset, eique ab ostio quaerenti ancilla dixisset Ennium domi non esse, Nasica sensit illam domini jussu dixisse, et illum intus esse. Paucis post diebus cum ad Nasicam venisset Ennius, et eum a janua quaereret, exclamavit ipse Nasica se domi non esse.

The same Scipio Nasica lived most intimately with the poet Ennius. When he had come to him, and the maidservant, to him inquiring at the doorway, had said that Ennius was not at home, Nasica perceived that she had said it by her master’s order, and that he was inside. A few days later, when Ennius had come to Nasica and was asking for him at the door, Nasica himself exclaimed that he was not at home.

Tum Ennius: "Quid! ego non cognosco, inquit, vocem tuam?" Hic Nasica: "Homo es impudens: ego cum te quaererem, ancillae tuae credidi te domi non esse; tu non mihi credis ipsi."

Then Ennius: "What! Do I not recognize your voice?" Here Nasica: "You are an impudent man: when I was seeking you, I believed your maidservant that you were not at home; you do not believe me myself."

MARCUS PORCIUS CATO

Marcus Porcius Cato ortus municipio Tusculo, adolescentulus priusquam honoribus operam daret, rure in praediis paternis versatus est, deinde Romam demigravit, et in foro esse coepit. Primum stipendium meruit annorum decem septemque, Quinto Fabio consule, cui postea semper adhaesit. Inde castra secutus est Claudii Neronis, ejusque opera magni aestimata est in proelio apud Senam, quo cecidit Asdrubal frater Annibalis.

Marcus Porcius Cato, born in the municipium of Tusculum, as a very young adolescent, before he applied himself to public honors, spent time in the countryside on his paternal estates; then he removed to Rome, and began to be in the Forum. He earned his first stipend at the age of 17, when Quintus Fabius was consul, to whom afterward he always adhered. Thence he followed the camp of Claudius Nero, and his service was greatly esteemed in the battle near Sena, in which Hasdrubal, the brother of Hannibal, fell.

Ab adolescentia frugalitatem temperantiamque coluit. Pellibus haedinis pro stragula veste utebatur; eodem cibo quo milites vescebatur; aquam in bellicis expeditionibus potabat; si nimio aestu torqueretur, acetum; si vires deficerent, paululum vilis vini.

From adolescence he cultivated frugality and temperance. He used goat-skins as bedding; he ate the same food as the soldiers; on military expeditions he drank water; if he were tormented by excessive heat, vinegar; if his strength failed, a little cheap wine.

Quaestor Scipioni Africano obtigit, et cum eo parum amice vixit. Nam parcimoniae amans haud probabat sumptus, quos Scipio faciebat. Quare, eo relicto, Romam rediit, ibique Scipionis vitam palam et aperte re reprehendit, quasi militarem disciplinam corrumperet.

The quaestorship with Scipio Africanus fell to him by lot, and with him he lived on not very friendly terms. For, being a lover of parsimony, he did not approve the expenditures that Scipio was making. Wherefore, leaving him behind, he returned to Rome, and there he openly and plainly reprehended Scipio’s manner of life, as though he were corrupting military discipline.

Dictitabat illum cum pallio et crepidis solitum ambulare in Gymnasio, palaestrae operam dare, militum licentiae indulgere. Quod crimen non verbo, sed facto diluit Scipio. Nam cum ea de re legati Roma Syracusas missi essent, Scipio exercitum omnem eo convenire et classem expedire jussit, tanquam dimicandum eo die terra marique cum Carthaginiensibus esset, postridie, legatis inspectantibus, pugnae simulacrum exhibuit.

He kept asserting that that man was accustomed to walk with a cloak and sandals in the Gymnasium, to devote effort to the palaestra, and to indulge the licentia of the soldiers. Scipio washed away that charge not by word, but by deed. For when envoys had been sent from Rome to Syracuse on that matter, Scipio ordered the whole army to assemble there and the fleet to be made ready, as though on that day there must be combat by land and sea with the Carthaginians; on the next day, with the envoys looking on, he put on display a simulacrum of battle.

Tam eis armamentaria, horrea, omnemque belli apparatum ostendit. Reversi Romam legati, omnia apud exercitum Scipionis praeclare se habere renuntiarunt.

Thus he showed them the armories, the granaries, and the entire apparatus of war. The legates, having returned to Rome, reported that everything with Scipio’s army was in excellent order.

Eadem asperitate Cato matronarum luxum insectatus est. Scilicet in medio ardore belli Punici, Oppius tribunus plebis legem tulerat, qua vetabantur mulieres Romanae plus semuncia auri habere, vestimento varii coloris uti, et juncto vehiculo in urbe vehi. Confecto autem bello, et florente republica, matronae pristina ornamenta sibi reddi postulabant; omnes vias urbis obsidebant, virosque ad forum descendentes orabant, ut legem Oppiam, abrogarent.

With the same asperity Cato assailed the luxury of the matrons. Namely, in the midst of the heat of the Punic War, Oppius, tribune of the plebs, had carried a law by which Roman women were forbidden to have more than a half-ounce of gold, to use clothing of varied color, and to be conveyed in the city in a yoked vehicle. But with the war finished, and the commonwealth flourishing, the matrons demanded that their former ornaments be restored to them; they were blockading all the streets of the city, and were begging the men as they went down to the forum to abrogate the Oppian law.

Quibus acerrime restitit Cato, sed frustra; nam lex fuit abrogata.

Cato resisted these most sharply, but in vain; for the law was abrogated.

Cato creatus consul, in Hispaniam adversas Celtiberos profectus est. Quos acri proelio vicit, et ad deditionem compulit: eo in bello Cato cum ultimis militum parcimonia vigiliis et labore certavit, nec in quemquam gravius severiusque imperium exercuit, quam in semetipsum. Cum Hispanos ad defectionem pronos videret, cavendum judicavit ne deinceps rebellare possent.

Cato, created consul, set out into Spain against the Celtiberians. Whom he conquered in a sharp battle and compelled to surrender: in that war Cato vied with the very lowest of the soldiers in parsimony, vigils, and labor, nor did he exercise a graver and more severe command over anyone than over himself. When he saw the Spaniards prone to defection, he judged that it must be guarded against, lest thereafter they be able to rebel.

Id autem effecturus sibi videbatur, si eorum muros dirueret. Sed veritus ne, si id universis civitatibus imperaret communi edicto, non obtemperarent, scripsit ad singulas separatim ut muros diruerent, epistolasque omnibus simul eodemque die reddendas curavit. Cum unaquaeque sibi soli imperari putaret, universae paruerunt.

He seemed likely to accomplish that if he demolished their walls. But fearing that, if he commanded this to all the cities by a common edict, they would not obey, he wrote to each one separately to tear down their walls, and took care that the letters be delivered to all at the same time and on the same day. Since each thought that the command was given to itself alone, all obeyed.

Cato Romam reversus de Hispania triumphavit.

Cato, having returned to Rome from Spain, triumphed.

Postea Cato censor factus, severe ei praefuit potestati. Nam, et in complures nobiles animadvertit, et imprimis Lucium Flaminium virum consularem senatu movit. Cui inter alia facinora illud objecit.

Afterwards Cato, made censor, presided over that authority with severity. For he took punitive notice also of several nobles, and especially he removed Lucius Flaminius, a man of consular rank, from the senate. Against him, among other misdeeds, he charged that incident.

Cum esset in Gallia Flaminius, mulierem, cujus amore deperibat, ad cenam vocavit, eique forte inter cenandum dixit multos capitis damnatos in vinculis esse, quos securi percussurus esset. Tum illa negavit se unquam vidisse quemquam securi ferientem, et pervelle id videre. Statim Flaminius unum ex his, qui in carcere detinebantur, adduci jussit, et ipse securi percussit.

While Flaminius was in Gaul, he invited to dinner a woman with whose love he was wasting away; and by chance, while dining, he said to her that many condemned on a capital charge were in chains, whom he was going to strike with the axe. Then she denied that she had ever seen anyone being struck with an axe, and she very much wished to see that. Straightway Flaminius ordered one of those who were being held in prison to be brought in, and he himself struck him with the axe.

Tam perditam libidinem eo magis notandam putavit Cato, quod cum probro privato conjungeret imperii dedecus. Quid enim crudelius quam inter pocula et dapes ad spectaculum mulieris humanam victimam mactare, et mensam cruore respergere?

Cato thought so abandoned a lust all the more to be marked for censure, because he joined to a private reproach a disgrace to the imperium. For what, indeed, is more cruel than, amid cups and banquets, to slaughter a human victim for a woman’s spectacle, and to besprinkle the table with gore?

Cum in senatu de tertio Punico bello ageretur, Cato jam senex delendam Carthaginem censuit, negavitque ea stante salvam esse posse rempublicam. Cum autem id, contradicente Scipione Nasica, non facile patribus persuaderet, deinceps quoties de re aliqua sententiam dixit in senatu, addidit semper: "Hoc censeo, et Carthaginem esse delendam." Tandem in curiam intulit ficum praecocem, et excussa toga effudit: cujus cum pulchritudinem patres admirarentur, interrogavit eos Cato quandonam ex arbore lectam putarent? Illis ficum recentem videri affirmantibus: "Atqui, inquit, tertio abhinc die scitote decerptam esse Carthagine; tam prope ab hoste absumus." Movit ea res patrum animos, et bellum Carthaginiensibus indictum est.

When in the Senate the Third Punic War was being debated, Cato, now an old man, judged that Carthage must be destroyed, and he denied that, with it standing, the Republic could be safe. But since, Scipio Nasica contradicting, he did not easily persuade the Fathers, thereafter, whenever he gave his opinion in the Senate about any matter, he always added: "This I opine, and that Carthage must be destroyed." At length he brought into the Curia a precocious fig, and, his toga shaken out, he poured it forth; and when the Fathers admired its beauty, Cato asked them when they thought it had been picked from the tree. When they affirmed that the fig seemed fresh: "And yet," he said, "know that three days ago it was plucked at Carthage; so near are we to the enemy." That matter moved the Fathers’ minds, and war was declared upon the Carthaginians.

Fuit Cato ut senator egregius, ita bonus pater: cum ei natus esset filius, nullis negotiis nisi publicis impediebatur quominus adesset matri infantem abluenti et fasciis involventi. Illa enim proprio lacte filium alebat. Ubi aliquid intelligere potuit puer, eum pater ipse in literis instituit, licet idoneum et eruditum domi servum haberet.

Cato was, as an outstanding senator, so also a good father: when a son had been born to him, he was impeded by no business except public business from being present to the mother as she washed the infant and wrapped him in swaddling-bands. For she nourished her son with her own milk. When the boy was able to understand something, the father himself instructed him in letters, although he had at home a suitable and erudite slave.

Nolebat enim servum filio maledicere, vel aurem vellicare, si tardior in discendo esset; neque etiam filium tanti beneficii, hoc est doctrinae, debitorem esse servo. Ipse itaque ejus ludi magister, ipse legum doctor, ipse lanista fuit. Conscripsit manu sua, grandibus literis historias, ut etiam in paterna domo ante oculos proposita haberet veterum instituta et exempla.

For he did not wish a slave to speak ill to his son, or to tweak his ear, if he were slower in learning; nor yet that his son be a debtor for so great a benefit, that is, of doctrine, to a slave. Therefore he himself was his schoolmaster, he himself a teacher of laws, he himself a lanista (trainer). He wrote with his own hand, in large letters, histories, so that even in the paternal house he might have, set before his eyes, the institutes and examples of the ancients.

Cum postea Catonis filius in exercitu Pompili tiro militaret, et Pompilio visum esset unam dimittere legionem, Catonis quoque filium dimisit; sed cum is amore pugnandi in exercitu remansisset, Cato pater ad Pompilium scripsit, ut, si filium pateretur in exercitu remanere, secundo eum obligaret militiae sacramento, quia, priore amisso, cum hostibus jure pugnare non poterat. Exstat quoque Catonis patris ad filium epistola, in qua scribit se audivisse eum missum factum esse a Pompilio imperatore monetque eum ut caveat ne proelium ineat. Negat enim jus esse, qui miles non sit, eum pugnare cum hoste.

When afterward Cato’s son, as a tyro, was serving in Pompilius’s army, and it seemed good to Pompilius to dismiss one legion, he dismissed Cato’s son as well; but when he, from a love of fighting, had remained in the army, Cato the father wrote to Pompilius that, if he permitted his son to remain in the army, he should obligate him by a second military sacrament, because, the former having been lost, he could not by right fight with the enemy. There also exists a letter of Cato the father to his son, in which he writes that he has heard that he was discharged by the imperator Pompilius, and he warns him to beware lest he enter battle. For he denies that it is a right that one who is not a soldier should fight with the foe.

Agricultura plurimum delectabatur Cato, malebatque agrorum et pecorum fructu, quam foenore ditescere. Cum ab eo quaereretur quid maxime in re familiari expediret. Respondit, bene pascere.

Cato took very great delight in agriculture, and he preferred to grow rich by the fruit of fields and herds rather than by usury. When he was asked what was most expedient in household affairs, he replied: to pasture well.

Quid secundum? Satis bene pascere. Quid tertium?

What second? To graze well enough. What third?

Male pascere. Quid quartum? Arare.

To pasture badly. What fourth? To plow.

Et cum ille qui quaesierat dixisset, quid foenerari? Tum Cato: "Quid, inquit, hominem occidere?" Scripsit ipse villas suas, ne tectorio quidem fuisse perlitas, atque postea addidit: "Neque mihi aedificatio neque vas, neque vestimentum ullum est pretiosum; si quid est, quo uti possim, utor; si non est, facile careo. Suo quemque uti et frui per me licet: mihi vitio quidam vertunt, quod multis egeo; at ego illis vitio tribuo, quod nequeunt egere."

And when the one who had asked said, "What about foenerating, lending at interest?" then Cato: "What," said he, "about killing a man?" He himself wrote that his villas had not even been coated with plaster, and afterward he added: "Neither building nor any vessel nor any garment is precious to me; if there is something that I can use, I use it; if there is not, I easily do without. So far as I am concerned, it is permitted for each person to use and enjoy what is his own: some impute it to me as a fault that I lack many things; but I impute it as a fault to them that they cannot be in want."

Injuriarum patientissimus fuit Cato. Cum ei causam agenti, protervus quidam, pingui saliva quantum poterat attracta, in frontem mediam inspuisset, tulit hoc leniter: "Et ego, inquit, o homo! affirmabo falli eos qui te negant os habere." Ab alio homine improbo contumeliis proscissus: "Iniqua, inquit, tecum mihi est pugna: tu enim probra facile audis, et dicis libenter; mihi vero et dicere ingratum, et audire insolitum." Dicere solebat acerbos inimicos melius de quibusdam mereri quam eos amicos qui dulces videantur; illos enim saepe verum dicere, hos nunquam.

Cato was most patient of injuries. When, as he was pleading a case, a certain insolent fellow, having drawn up as much thick saliva as he could, spat into the middle of his forehead, he bore this mildly: “And I,” he said, “O man! will affirm that they are mistaken who deny that you have a mouth.” Being hacked at with contumelies by another wicked man, he said: “Unequal is the fight between you and me: for you easily listen to reproaches and gladly speak them; but for me, to speak them is distasteful, and to hear them is unusual.” He used to say that acerbic enemies do better by certain men than those friends who seem sweet; for the former often speak the truth, the latter never.

Cato ab adolescentia usque ad extremam aetatem inimicitias, reipublicae causa, suscipere non destitit: ipse a multis accusatus, non modo nullum existimationis detrimentum fecit, sed, quoad vixit, virtutum laude crevit. Quartum et octogesimum annum agens, ab inimicis capitali crimine accusatus suam ipse causam peroravit, nec quisquam, aut memoriam ejus tardiorem, aut lateris firmitatem imminutam, aut os haesitatione impeditum animadvertit. Non ilium enervavit, nec afflixit senectus: ea aetate aderat amicis, veniebat in senatum frequens.

Cato from adolescence up to extreme old age did not cease to undertake enmities for the sake of the commonwealth: he himself, accused by many, not only suffered no detriment of reputation, but, as long as he lived, grew in the praise of virtues. Being in his eighty-fourth year, accused by enemies on a capital charge, he pleaded his own case through, nor did anyone observe either his memory slower, or the firmness of his chest impaired, or his mouth impeded by hesitation. Old age neither enervated nor afflicted that man: at that age he was present to his friends, he came into the senate frequently.

Graecas etiam literas senex didicit. Quando obreperet senectus, vix intellexit. Sensim sine sensu aetas ingravescebat; nec subito fracta est, sed diuturnitate quasi extincta.

He even learned Greek letters as an old man. He scarcely realized when old age was creeping upon him. Little by little, imperceptibly, age was growing heavy; nor was he suddenly broken, but by long duration, as if extinguished.

Annos quinque et octoginta natus excessit e vita.

At the age of eighty-five he departed from life.

TITUS QUINCTIUS FLAMINIUS

Titus Quinctius Flaminius filius ejus, qui apud Trasimenum periit, consul missus est adversus Philippum Macedonum regem, qui Annibalem pecunia et copiis juverat, Atheniensesque populi Romani socios armis lacessiverat. Contraxerant autem bellum cum Philippo Athenienses haudquaquam digna causa. Duo juvenes Acarnanes non initiati templum Cereris cum cetera turba ingressi sunt.

Titus Quinctius Flaminius, the son of the one who perished at Trasimene, was sent as consul against Philip, king of the Macedonians, who had aided Hannibal with money and forces, and had provoked the Athenians, allies of the Roman people, with arms. The Athenians, however, had entered into war with Philip for by no means a worthy cause. Two young Acarnanians, not initiated, entered the temple of Ceres with the rest of the crowd.

Facile eos sermo prodidit. Perducti ad antistites templi, etsi manifestum erat eos per errorem ingressos, tanquam ob infandum scelus interfecti sunt: Acarnanes suorum nece commoti, ad vindicandos illos auxilium a Philippo petierunt, qui terram Atticam igne ferroque vastavit, urbes complures cepit, Athenas ipsas oppugnavit.

Their speech easily betrayed them. Led to the priests of the temple, although it was manifest that they had entered by error, they were killed as if on account of an unspeakable crime. The Acarnanians, stirred by the slaughter of their own, to avenge them sought aid from Philip, who laid waste the Attic land with fire and sword, took numerous cities, and besieged Athens itself.

Quinctius exercitu conscripto maturius quam soliti erant priores consules profectus, in Graeciam magnis itineribus contendit. Tunc caduceator ab rege venit, locum ac tempus colloquendi postulans. Flaminius victoriae quam pacis avidior, tamen ad constitutum tempus venit in colloquium, postulavitque ut Philippus omni Graecia decederet.

Quinctius, the army having been conscripted, set out earlier than the former consuls were accustomed, and hastened into Greece by great marches. Then a herald from the king came, requesting a place and time for a colloquy. Flaminius, more eager for victory than for peace, nevertheless came to the conference at the appointed time, and demanded that Philip withdraw from all Greece.

Accensus indignatione rex exclamavit: "Quid victo imperares gravius, Tite Quincti?" Et cum quidam ex circumstantibus oculis aeger adjecisset, aut bello vincendum, aut melioribus parendum esse. "Apparet id quidem, inquit Philippus, etiam caeco", jocans in ejus valetudinem oculorum. Erat quippe Philippus dicacior natura, quam regem decet, et ne inter seria quidem satis risu temperans.

Inflamed with indignation, the king exclaimed: "What would you command more harshly for one defeated, Titus Quinctius?" And when a certain one of the bystanders, ailing in the eyes, had added that either one must be victorious in war or must obey one’s betters, Philip said, "That is apparent, indeed, even to a blind man," joking at his ailment of the eyes. For Philip was by nature more facetious than befits a king, and not even amid serious matters did he sufficiently restrain his laughter.

Dein, re infecta, se ex colloquio proripuit. Eum Flaminius bis proelio fudit castrisque exuit.

Then, with the matter undone, he tore himself away from the conference. Flaminius routed him twice in battle and stripped him of his camp.

Quinctius Flaminius Graeciae veterem statum reddidit ut legibus suis viveret, et antiqua libertate frueretur. Aderat ludorum Isthmiorum tempus, ad quod spectaculum Graecia universa convenerat. Tam praeco in mediam arenam processit, tubaque silentio facto, haec verba pronunciavit: "Senatus, populusque Romanus et Titus Quinctius Flaminius imperator, Philippo rege et Macedonibus devictis, omnes Graeciae civitates liberas esse jubet." Audita voce praeconis, majus gaudium fuit, quam quantum homines possent capere: vix satis credebat se quisque audivisse, alii alios intuebantur mirabundi revocatus praeco, cum unusquisque non audire tantum, sed videre etiam libertatis suae nuncium averet, iterum pronunciavit eadem.

Quinctius Flaminius restored Greece to its old status, that it might live by its own laws and enjoy its ancient liberty. The time of the Isthmian games was at hand, to which spectacle all Greece had come together. Then the herald advanced into the middle of the arena, and, a hush having been made by the trumpet, pronounced these words: "The Senate and People of Rome and Titus Quinctius Flaminius, commander, with King Philip and the Macedonians defeated, order all the cities of Greece to be free." Upon hearing the herald’s voice, there was a joy greater than human beings could contain: scarcely did each man believe he had truly heard; they gazed at one another in wonder; the herald, having been called back—since each desired not only to hear, but also to see the messenger of his liberty—pronounced the same words again.

Tum tantus clamor ortus est, ut certo constet aves, quae supervolabant, attonitas paventesque decidisse.

Then so great a clamor arose, that it stands certain that the birds which were flying overhead, stunned and panic-stricken, fell down.

Quinctio Flaminio triumphus a Senatu decretus est. Postea cum Prusias Bithyniae rex legatos Romam mississet, casu accidit ut legati apud Flaminium cenarent atque ibi de Annibale mentione facta, ex his unus diceret eum in Prusiae regno esse. Id postero die Flaminius senatui detulit.

A triumph was decreed by the Senate for Quinctius Flaminius. Afterwards, when Prusias, king of Bithynia, had sent legates to Rome, it happened by chance that the legates dined with Flaminius; and there, mention of Hannibal having been made, one of them said that he was in the kingdom of Prusias. This, on the following day, Flaminius reported to the Senate.

Patres, qui, vivo Annibale, nunquam metu vacui erant, legatos in Bithyniam miserunt, in his Flaminium, qui Annibalem sibi dedi poscerent. A primo colloquio Flaminii, ad domum Annibalis custodiendam, milites a rege missi sunt. Annibal septem exitus e domo fecerat, ut semper aliquod iter fugae praeparatum haberet.

The Fathers, who, with Hannibal alive, were never void of fear, sent legates to Bithynia, among them Flamininus, to demand that Hannibal be surrendered to them. From the first colloquy of Flamininus, soldiers were sent by the king to guard Hannibal’s house. Hannibal had made seven exits from the house, so that he might always have some route of flight prepared.

Postquam nunciatum est ei milites regios in vestibulo esse, conatus est postico occulto fugere: ubi vero id quoque obseptum sensit, et omnia clausa esse, hausto, quod sub annuli gemma habebat, veneno absumptus est.

After it was announced to him that the royal soldiers were in the vestibule, he attempted to flee by the hidden postern: but when he perceived that this too was blocked, and that everything was closed, having drunk the poison which he kept beneath the gem of his ring, he perished.

LUCIUS PAULUS AEMILIUS MACEDONICUS

Paulus Aemilius ejus qui ad Cannas cecidit filius erat. Consul sortitus est Macedoniam provinciam, in qua Perseus Philippi filius paterni in Romanos odii haeres bellum renovaverat. Cum adversus Perseum profecturus esset, et domum suam ad vesperum rediret, filiolam suam Tertiam, quae tunc erat admodum parva, osculans, animadvertit tristiculam: "Quid est, inquit, mea Tertia, quid tristis es?" - "Mi pater, inquit illa, Perse periit." (Erat autem mortua catella eo nomine). Tum ille arctius puellam complexus: "Accipio omen, inquit, mea filia." Ita ex fortuito dicto quasi spem certam clarissimi triumphi animo praesumpsit.

Paulus Aemilius was the son of him who fell at Cannae. As consul he drew by lot the province of Macedonia, in which Perseus, son of Philip, heir of his paternal hatred against the Romans, had renewed the war. When he was about to set out against Perseus, and returned to his home toward evening, kissing his little daughter Tertia, who then was very small, he noticed her somewhat sad: "What is it," he said, "my Tertia, why are you sad?" - "My father," she said, "Perse has perished." (A little dog by that name had died.) Then he, embracing the girl more tightly: "I accept the omen," said he, "my daughter." Thus from the fortuitous saying he anticipated in his mind, as it were, the sure hope of a most illustrious triumph.

Ingressus deinde Macedoniam recta ad hostem perrexit.

Having then entered Macedonia, he proceeded straight to the enemy.

Cum duae acies in conspectu essent, Sulpicius Gallus, tribunus militum, Romanum exercitum magno metu liberavit. Is enim, cum lunae defectionem nocte sequenti futuram praesciret, ad concionem vocatis militibus dixit: "Nocte proxima, ne quis id pro portento accipiat, ab hora secunda usque ad quartam luna defectura est. Id, quia naturali ordine et statis fit temporibus, et sciri ante et praedici potest.

When the two battle-lines were in sight, Sulpicius Gallus, a tribune of the soldiers, freed the Roman army from great fear. For he, since he foreknew that a lunar eclipse would occur on the following night, with the soldiers called to an assembly, said: "On the next night, so that no one may take it as a portent, from the second hour up to the fourth the moon will be eclipsed. This, because it happens by a natural order and at fixed times, can both be known beforehand and predicted.

Itaque, quemadmodum nemo miratur lunam nunc pleno orbe, nunc senescentem exiguo cornu fulgere, sic mirum non est eam obscurari, quando umbra terrae conditur." Quapropter Romanos non movit illa defectio; Macedones vero eadem, ut triste prodigium, terruit.

"Therefore, just as no one marvels that the moon now shines with a full orb, now, waning, with a slight horn, so it is not a wonder that she is obscured, when she is covered by the earth’s shadow." Accordingly that eclipse did not move the Romans; the Macedonians, however, the same, as a sad portent, it terrified.

Paulus Aemilius cum Perseo acerrime dimicavit tertio nonas septembris. Macedonum exercitus caesus fugatusque est: rex ipse cum paucis fugit. Fugientes persecutus est Aemilius usque ad initium noctis.

Paulus Aemilius fought most fiercely with Perseus on September 3. The army of the Macedonians was cut down and put to flight: the king himself fled with a few. Aemilius pursued the fugitives up to the beginning of night.

Tum se in castra victor recepit. Reversum gravis cura angebat quod filium in castris non invenisset. Is erat Publius Scipio, postea Africanus deleta Carthagine appellatus, qui decimum septimum tunc annum agens, dum acrius sequitur hostes, in partem aliam turba abreptus fuerat.

Then, victorious, he withdrew into the camp. On his return, a grievous care tormented him because he had not found his son in the camp. This was Publius Scipio, afterwards called Africanus after Carthage was destroyed, who, then in his seventeenth year, while more keenly pursuing the enemy, had been carried off by the throng into another quarter.

Media tandem nocte in castra rediit. Tunc, recepto sospite filio, pater tantae victoriae gaudium sensit. Victus Perseus in templum confugerat, ibique in angulo obscuro delitescebat: deprehensus, et cum filio natu maximo ad consulem perductus est.

At last in the middle of the night he returned to the camp. Then, with his son received safe and sound, the father felt the joy of so great a victory. Perseus, defeated, had taken refuge in a temple, and there in a dark corner he was lurking; apprehended, he was conducted to the consul with his eldest son.

Perseus pulla veste amictus castra ingressus est. Non alias ad ullum spectaculum tanta multitudo occurrit. Rex captivus progredi prae turba non poterat, donec consul lictores misit, qui submovendo circumfusos iter ad praetorium facerent.

Perseus, cloaked in a dark (mourning) garment, entered the camp. At no other time did so great a multitude run to any spectacle. The captive king could not advance because of the crowd, until the consul sent the lictors, who, by driving back those thronging around, made a way to the praetorium.

Paulus Aemilius, ubi audivit Perseum adesse, consurrexit, progressusque paulum introeunti regi manum porrexit: ad genua procumbentem erexit; introductum in tabernaculum suo lateri assidere jussit. Deinde eum interrogavit qua inductus injuria bellum contra populum Romanum tam infesto animo suscepisset? Rex, nullo dato responso, terram intuens diu flevit.

Paulus Aemilius, when he heard that Perseus was present, rose, and having advanced a little, extended his hand to the king as he entered: as he fell at his knees he raised him up; when he had been brought into the tent he ordered him to sit at his side. Then he asked him, induced by what injury, he had undertaken war against the Roman people with so hostile a mind? The king, giving no answer, gazing at the ground, wept for a long time.

Tum consul: "Bonum, inquit, animum habe: populi Romani clementia non modo spem tibi, sed prope certam fiduciam salutis praebet."

Then the consul: "Have good courage," he said, "the clemency of the Roman people offers to you not only hope, but almost a certain confidence of safety."

Postquam Perseum consolatus est Paulus Amilius sermonem ad circumstantes Romanos convertit: "Videtis, inquit, exemplum insigne mutationis rerum humanarum: vobis haec praecipue dico, juvenes; ideo neminem decet in quemquam superbe agere, nec praesenti credere fortunae." Eo die Perseus a consule ad cenam invitatus est, et alius omnis ei honos habitus est, qui haberi in tali fortuna, poterat. Deinde cum ad consulem multarum gentium legati gratulandi causa venissent Paulus Aemilius ludos magno apparatu fecit, lautumque convivium paravit: qua in re curam et diligentiam adhibebat, dicere solitus et convivium instruere et ludos parare viri ejusdem esse, qui sciret bello vincere.

After he had consoled Perseus, Paulus Amilius turned his discourse to the Romans standing around: "You see," he said, "a remarkable exemplar of the mutation of human affairs: to you above all I speak, young men; for this reason it befits no one to act arrogantly toward anyone, nor to trust in present fortune." On that day Perseus was invited by the consul to dinner, and every other honor was paid to him that could be paid in such a condition. Then, when envoys of many nations had come to the consul for the sake of congratulation, Paulus Aemilius made games with great apparatus, and prepared a sumptuous convivium: in which matter he applied care and diligence, being wont to say that both to furnish a banquet and to prepare games belonged to the same man who knew how to conquer in war.

Confecto bello, Paulus Aemilius regia nave ad urbem est subvectus. Completae erant omnes Tiberis ripae obviam effusa multitudine. Fuit ejus triumphus omnium longe magnificentissimus.

With the war concluded, Paulus Aemilius was borne up to the city on the regal ship. All the banks of the Tiber were filled, a multitude poured out to meet him. His triumph was by far the most magnificent of all.

Populus, exstructis per forum tabulatis in modum theatrorum, spectavit in candidis togis. Aperta templa omnia et sertis coronata thure fumabant. In tres dies distributa est pompa spectaculi.

The people, with platforms erected throughout the Forum in the manner of theaters, watched in white togas. All the temples, opened and wreathed with garlands, smoked with incense. The procession of the spectacle was distributed over three days.

Primus dies vix suffecit transvehendis signis tabulisque; sequenti die translata aunt arma, galeae, scuta, loricae, pharetrae, argentum aurumque. Tertio die, primo statim mane ducere agmen coepere tibicines, non festos solemnium pomparum modos, sed bellicum sonantes, quasi in aciem procedendum foret. Deinde agebantur pingues cornibus auratis et vittis redimiti boves centum et viginti.

The first day scarcely sufficed for conveying the standards and paintings; on the following day the arms were transported—helmets, shields, cuirasses, quivers, silver and gold. On the third day, straightway at first light, the pipers began to lead the column, sounding not the festive modes of solemn pomps, but a warlike strain, as if it had to proceed into the battle line. Then there were driven fat oxen, with horns gilded and wreathed with fillets, one hundred and twenty.

Sequebantur Persei liberi, comitante educatorum et magistrorum turba qui manus ad spectatores cum lacrymis miserabiliter tendebant, et pueros docebant implorandam suppliciter victoris populi misericordiam. Pone filios incedebat cum uxore Perseus stupenti et attonito similis. Inde quadringentae coronae aureae portabantur, ab omnibus fere Graeciae civitatibus dono missae.

The children of Perseus followed, with a throng of tutors and teachers accompanying, who with tears pitiably stretched out their hands to the spectators, and were teaching the boys to implore suppliantly the mercy of the victorious people. Behind the sons Perseus advanced with his wife, like one stupefied and thunderstruck. Then four hundred golden crowns were carried, sent as a gift by almost all the cities of Greece.

Postremo ipse in curru Paulus auro purpuraque fulgens eminebat, qui magnam cum dignitate alia corporis, tum senecta ipsa majestatem prae se ferebat. Post currum inter alios illustres viros filii duo Aemilii; deinde equites turmatim, et cohortes peditum suis quaeque ordinibus. Paulo a senatu et a plebe concessum est ut in ludis Circensibus veste triumphali uteretur, eique cognomen Macedonici inditum.

Finally Paulus himself, gleaming with gold and purple, stood out high in his chariot, who bore before him great majesty both from the other dignity of his body and from old age itself. After the chariot, among other illustrious men, came Aemilius’s two sons; then the horsemen by squadrons, and the cohorts of foot-soldiers, each in their own ranks. To Paulus it was granted by the senate and the plebs to wear the triumphal robe at the Circensian games, and the cognomen “Macedonicus” was bestowed upon him.

Tantae huic laetitiae gravis dolor admixtus est. Nam Paulus Aemilius, duobus filiis in adoptionem datis, duos tantum nominis haeredes domi retinuerat. Ex his minor ferme duodecim annos natus, quinque diebus ante triumphum patris, major autem triduo post triumphum decessit.

To this so great joy a grave sorrow was admixed. For Paulus Aemilius, with two sons given into adoption, had retained at home only two heirs of the name. Of these the younger, nearly twelve years old, died five days before his father’s triumph, but the elder departed three days after the triumph.

Erat porro Aemilius liberorum amantissimus; eos erudiendos curaverat non solum Romana veteri disciplina, sed etiam Graecis literis. Optimos adhibuerat magistros, eorumque exercitiis omnibus ipse interfuerat, cum eum respublica alio non vocaret. Eum tamen casum fortiter tulit, et in oratione, quam de rebus a se gestis apud populum habuit: "Optavi, inquit, ut si quid adversi immineret ad expiandam nimiam felicitatem, id in domum meam potius quam in rempublicam recideret.

Moreover, Aemilius was most loving of his children; he had taken care that they be educated not only in the old Roman discipline, but also in Greek letters. He had employed the best masters, and he himself had been present at all their exercises, whenever the commonwealth did not call him elsewhere. Yet he bore that mischance bravely, and in the oration which he delivered before the people about the deeds achieved by himself: "I have wished," he said, "that if anything adverse were impending to expiate excessive felicity, it should fall upon my house rather than upon the commonwealth."

Nemo jam ex tot liberis superest, qui Pauli Aemilii nomen ferat; sed hanc privatam calamitatem vestra felicitas, et secunda fortuna publica consolatur."

"Now no one out of so many children survives to bear the name of Paulus Aemilius; but this private calamity your felicity, and the prosperous public fortune, consoles."

Paulus Aemilius omni Macedonum gaza, quae fuit maxima, potitus erat: tantam in aerarium populi Romani pecuniam invexerat, ut unius imperatoris praeda finem attulerit tributorum; at hic non modo nihil ex thesauris regiis concupivit, sed ne ipse quidem spectare eos dignatus est. Per alios homines cuncta administravit, nec quidquam in domum suam intulit, praeter memoriam nominis sempiternam: mortuus est adeo pauper, ut dos ejus uxori, nisi vendito, quem unum reliquerat, fundo, non potuerit exsolvi. Exsequiae ejus non tam auro et ebore, quam omnium benevolentia et studio fuerunt insignes.

Paulus Aemilius had gotten possession of all the treasure of the Macedonians, which was the greatest: he had brought so much money into the aerarium of the Roman people that the booty of a single commander brought an end to tributes; yet this man not only coveted nothing from the royal treasures, but did not even deign to look upon them himself. Through other men he administered everything, and he brought nothing into his own house, except the everlasting memory of his name: he died so poor that the dowry for his wife could not be paid, unless, by selling the farm—the only one he had left—it could be discharged. His exequies were distinguished not so much by gold and ivory as by the goodwill and zeal of all.

Macedoniae principes, qui tunc Romae erant legationis nomine, humeros suos funebri lecto sponte subjecerunt. Quem enim in bello ob virtutem timuerant, eumdem in pace ob justitiam diligebant.

The princes of Macedonia, who then were at Rome in the name of a legation, of their own accord put their shoulders beneath the funeral bier. For him whom they had feared in war on account of his virtue, the same in peace they loved for his justice.

CAIUS POPILIUS LAENAS

Paulo Aemilio consule, Romam venerunt legati a Ptolemaeo rege Aegypti, qui, pulso fratre majore, Alexandriam tenebat. Nam Antiochus rex Syriae, per speciem reducendi in regnum majoris Ptolemaei, Aegyptum invadere conabatur. Jam navali proelio vicerat minorem Ptolemaeum, et Alexandriam obsidebat; nec procul abesse videbatur quin regno opulentissimo potiretur, Legati sordidati, barba et capillo promisso, cum ramis oleae ingressi curiam procubuerunt.

With Paulus Aemilius as consul, legates came to Rome from King Ptolemy of Egypt, who, his elder brother having been driven out, was holding Alexandria. For Antiochus, king of Syria, under the pretext of restoring the elder Ptolemy to the kingdom, was attempting to invade Egypt. He had already defeated the younger Ptolemy in a naval battle and was besieging Alexandria; nor did it seem far off that he would gain possession of the most opulent kingdom. The legates, clad in sordid garments, with beard and hair grown long, entered the senate-house with olive branches and fell prostrate.

Oratio fuit etiam miserabilior quam habitus. Orabant senatum ut opem regno Aegypti ferret. Moti patres legatorum precibus, extemplo legationem miserunt, cujus princeps Caius Popilius Laenas, ad bellum inter fratres componendum.

Their oration was even more miserable than their appearance. They begged the Senate to bring aid to the kingdom of Egypt. Moved by the envoys’ entreaties, the Fathers at once sent a legation, whose chief was Caius Popilius Laenas, to compose the war between the brothers.

Jussus est Popilius adire prius Antiochum, deinde Ptolemaeum, eisque denunciare ut bello absisterent: qui secus fecisset, eum pro hoste a senatu habitum iri.

Popilius was ordered to approach Antiochus first, then Ptolemy, and to denounce to them that they should desist from war: whoever should have done otherwise would be held as an enemy by the senate.

Prope Alexandriam Antiocho occurrerunt legati, quos advenientes Antiochus amice salutavit, et Popilio dextram porrexit; at Popilius suam regi noluit porrigere, sed tabellas, in quibus erat senatusconsultum, ei tradidit, atque statim legere jussit. Quibus perlectis, Antiochus dixit se, adhibitis amicis, consideraturum quid faciendum sibi esset. Indignatus Popilius, quod rex aliquam moram interponeret, virga, quam manu gerebat, regem circumscripsit; ac: "Prius, ait, quam hoc circulo excedas, da responsum, quod senatui referam." Obstupefactus Antiochus, cum parumper haesitasset: "Faciam, inquit, quod censet senatus." Tum demum Popilius dextram regi tanquam socio et amico porrexit.

Near Alexandria the legates met Antiochus, whom, as they arrived, Antiochus greeted in a friendly manner and extended his right hand to Popilius; but Popilius was unwilling to extend his to the king, and handed him the tablets in which was the senatorial decree, and at once ordered him to read. When these had been read through, Antiochus said that, his friends having been called in, he would consider what he ought to do. Indignant that the king was interposing any delay, Popilius, with the rod which he was carrying in his hand, drew a circle around the king; and said: “Before you go out of this circle, give an answer which I may report to the senate.” Astonished, Antiochus, after he had hesitated a little: “I will do,” he said, “what the senate judges.” Then at last Popilius extended his right hand to the king as to an ally and friend.

Eadem die, cum Antiochus excessisset Aegypto, legati concordiam inter fratres auctoritate sua firmaverunt. Clara ea legatio fuit, quod Egyptus Antiocho adempta, redditumque regnum patrium stirpi Ptolemaei fuerat.

On the same day, when Antiochus had withdrawn from Egypt, the legates by their own authority confirmed the concord between the brothers. That legation was illustrious, because Egypt had been taken from Antiochus, and the paternal kingdom had been restored to the stock of Ptolemy.

PUBLIUS SCIPIO AEMILIANUS

Publius Scipio Aemilianus Pauli Macedonici filius, adoptione Scipionis Africani nepos, a tenera aetate Graecis literis a Polybio praestantis ingenii viro eruditus est. Ex ejus doctrina tantos fructus tulit, ut non modo aequales suos, sed etiam majores natu omni virtutum genere superaret. Temperantiae et continentiae laudem ante omnia comparare studuit, quod quidem tunc difficile erat.

Publius Scipio Aemilianus, son of Paulus Macedonicus, by adoption grandson of Scipio Africanus, from a tender age was educated in Greek letters by Polybius, a man of preeminent genius. From his instruction he bore such fruits that he surpassed not only his peers but even his elders in every kind of virtue. He strove before all to acquire the praise of temperance and continence, which indeed was difficult at that time.

Mirum enim est quo impetu ad libidines et epulas juvenes Romani et tempore ferrentur. At Scipio contrarium vitae institutum secutus, publicam modestiae et continentiae famam est adeptus. Polybium semper domi militiaeque secum habuit: semper inter arma ac studio versatus; aut corpus periculis, aut animum disciplinis exercuit.

For it is a marvel with what impulse toward lusts and banquets the Roman youths at that time were carried away. But Scipio, having followed the contrary regimen of life, acquired a public reputation for modesty and continence. He always had Polybius with him at home and in military service; always engaged among arms and in study; he exercised either his body with dangers, or his mind with disciplines.

Scipio Aemilianus primum in Hispania, Lucullo duce, militavit; eoque in bello egregia fuit ejus opera. Nam rex quidam barbarus mirae proceritatis splendidis armis ornatus, saepe Romanos provocabat, si quis singulari certamine secum vellet congredi. Cumque nemo contra eum exire auderet, suam Romanis ignaviam cum irrisu et ludibrio exprobrabat.

Scipio Aemilianus first served in Spain, with Lucullus as commander; and in that war his service was outstanding. For a certain barbarian king of wondrous tallness, adorned with splendid arms, often challenged the Romans, if anyone wished to meet with him in single combat. And since no one dared to go out against him, he charged the Romans with their own cowardice, with derision and mockery.

Non tulit indignitatem rei Scipio, progressusque ad hostem, conserta pugna eum prostravit, pari Romanorum laetitia et hostium terrore, quod ingentis corporis virum ipse exiguae staturae dejecisset. Scipio multo majus etiam adiit periculum in expugnatione urbis, quam tunc obsidebant Romani: nam ipse primus murum conscendit, viamque aliis militibus aperuit. Ob haec praeclare gesta, Lucullus dux juvenem pro concione laudatum murali corona donavit.

Scipio did not bear the indignity of the matter, and, having advanced to the enemy, with the fight joined he laid him low, with equal joy of the Romans and terror of the enemies, because he, a man of huge body, had been cast down by one of very small stature. Scipio undertook even a much greater danger in the storming of a city which the Romans were then besieging: for he himself was the first to scale the wall, and he opened a way for the other soldiers. On account of these deeds performed excellently, the leader Lucullus, before the assembly, after praising the youth, bestowed on him the mural crown.

TERTIUM BELLUM PUNICUM

THE THIRD PUNIC WAR

Tertio bello Punico, cum clarum esset Scipionis nomen, juvenis adhuc factus est consul, eique Africa provincia extra sortem data est, ut quam urbem avus ejus concusserat, eam nepos evertere. Tunc enim Romani suadente Catone, deliberatum habebant Carthaginem diruere. Carthaginiensibus igitur imperatum est ut, si salvi esse vellent, ex urbe migrarent, sedemque alio in loco, a mari remoto, constituerent.

In the Third Punic War, when the name of Scipio was illustrious, he, still a youth, was made consul, and to him the province of Africa was given outside the lot, so that the city which his grandfather had shaken, the grandson might overthrow. For then the Romans, with Cato advising, had it resolved to raze Carthage. Therefore it was commanded to the Carthaginians that, if they wished to be safe, they should migrate out of the city and establish a seat in another place, removed from the sea.

Quod ubi Carthagine auditum est, ortus statim est ululatus ingens, clamorque bellum esse gerendum, satiusque esse extrema omnia pati, quam patriam relinquere. Cum vero neque naves neque arma haberent, in usum novae classis tecta domosque resciderunt; aurum et argentum pro aere ferroque conflatum est; viri, feminae, pueri, senes simul operi instabant: non die, non noctu labor intermissus. Ancillas primo totonderunt, ut ex earum crinibus funes facerent; mox etiam matronae ipsae capillos suos ad eumdem usum contulerunt.

As soon as this was heard at Carthage, there arose straightway a mighty ululation, and a clamor that war must be waged, and that it was more preferable to endure every extreme than to abandon the fatherland. But since they had neither ships nor arms, they cut down roofs and houses for the use of a new fleet; gold and silver were melted down in place of bronze and iron; men, women, boys, and old men alike pressed upon the work: the labor was intermitted neither by day nor by night. They first sheared the maidservants, to make ropes from their hair; soon even the matrons themselves contributed their own hair to the same use.

Scipio exercitum ad Carthaginem admovit, eamque oppugnare coepit: quae urbs, quanquam summa vi defenderetur, tandem expugnata est. Rebus desperatis, quadraginta millia hominum se victori tradiderunt. Dux ipse Asdrubal inscia uxore, ad genua Scipionis cum ramis oleae supplex procubuit.

Scipio brought his army up to Carthage, and began to assault it: which city, although it was defended with utmost force, was at length taken by storm. With affairs despaired of, forty thousand men surrendered themselves to the victor. The leader himself, Hasdrubal, his wife being unaware, prostrated himself as a suppliant at the knees of Scipio with olive-branches.

Cum vero ejus uxor se a viro relictam vidisset, diris omnibus eum devovit; tum duobus liberis dextra laevaque comprehensis, a culmine domus se in medium flagrantis urbis incendium immisit. Deleta Carthagine, Scipio victor Romam reversus est. Splendidum egit triumphum, Africanusque est appellatus.

But when his wife saw that she had been left by her husband, she devoted him to all dire curses; then, with her two children grasped to right and left, from the summit of the house she plunged herself into the midst of the conflagration of the flaming city. Carthage having been destroyed, Scipio, as victor, returned to Rome. He celebrated a splendid triumph, and was called Africanus.

Ita cognomen Africani Carthago capta Scipioni majori, eadem eversa Scipioni minori peperit.

Thus Carthage, captured, brought forth the cognomen Africanus for Scipio the elder; the same, overthrown, for Scipio the younger.

Postea Scipio iterum consul creatus, contra Numatinos in Hispaniam profectus est. Ibi multiplex clades priorum ducum inscitia a Romanis accepta fuerat. Scipio, ubi primum advenit, corruptum licentia exercitum ad pristinam disciplinam revocavit.

Afterwards Scipio, created consul again, set out into Spain against the Numantines. There multiple disasters had been incurred by the Romans through the ignorance of earlier leaders. Scipio, as soon as he arrived, recalled the army, corrupted by license, to its former discipline.

Omnia deliciarum instrumenta castris ejecit. Qui miles extra ordinem fuisset deprehensus, eum virgis caedebat: jumenta omnia vendi jussit, ne oneribus portandis usui essent: militem quemque triginta dierum frumentum ac septenos vallos ferre coegit. Cuidam propter onus aegre incedenti dixit: "Cum te gladio vallare sciveris, tunc vallum ferre desinito." Ita redacto in disciplinam exercitu, urbem Numantiam obsedit.

He cast out of the camp all the instruments of luxury. Any soldier who had been caught outside the ranks he would beat with rods: he ordered all the beasts of burden to be sold, lest they be of use for carrying loads: he compelled each soldier to carry grain for thirty days and seven stakes apiece. To a certain man advancing with difficulty on account of the load he said: "When you have learned to wall yourself with the sword, then stop carrying a stake." Thus, the army having been brought back into discipline, he besieged the city of Numantia.

Numantini fame adacti, se ipsi trucidaverunt. Captam urbem Scipio delevit, et de ea triumphavit.

Driven by hunger, the Numantines slaughtered themselves. Scipio destroyed the captured city and triumphed over it.

Scipio censor fuit cum Mummio viro nobili, sed segniore. Tribu movit quemdam, qui ordines ducens proelio non interfuerat. Cumque ille quaereret cur notaretur, qui custodiae causa in castris remansisset, Scipio respondit: "Non amo nimium diligentes." Equum ademit adolescenti, qui in obsidione Carthaginis, vocatis ad cenam amicis, diripiendam sub figura urbis Carthaginis placentam in mensa posuerat: quaerentique causam: "Quia, inquit Scipio, me prior Carthaginem diripuisti." Contra Mummius Scipionis collega neque ipse notabat quemquam, et notatos a collega, quos poterat, ignominiae eximebat.

Scipio was censor with Mummius, a noble man, but more sluggish. He removed a certain man from his tribe, who, though leading the ranks, had not been present at the battle. And when that man asked why he was being marked, he who had remained in camp for the sake of guard-duty, Scipio replied: "I do not like the excessively diligent." He took away the horse from an adolescent who, during the siege of Carthage, having invited friends to dinner, had set upon the table a cake, under the likeness of the city of Carthage, to be plundered; and when he asked the reason: "Because," said Scipio, "you plundered Carthage before me." By contrast, Mummius, Scipio’s colleague, neither himself marked anyone, and those marked by his colleague, whom he could, he exempted from ignominy.

Unde Scipio, cum ei cupienti censuram ex majestate reipublicae gerere impedimento esset Mummii segnities, in senatu ait: "Utinam mihi collegam dedissetis, aut non dedissetis!"

Whence Scipio, when, as he desired to conduct the censorship in accordance with the majesty of the Republic, the sluggishness of Mummius was a hindrance to him, said in the Senate: "Would that you had given me a colleague, or had not given me one!"

In Scipione Aemiliano etiam multa privatae vitae dicta factaque celebrantur. Caio Laelio familiariter usus est. Ferunt cum eo Scipionem saepe rusticatum fuisse, eosque incredibiliter repuerascere solitos esse, cum rus ex urbe, tanquam e vinculis evolavissent.

In the case of Scipio Aemilianus, too, many sayings and deeds of private life are celebrated. He associated familiarly with Gaius Laelius. They say that Scipio often went rusticating with him, and that they were wont, incredibly, to become boys again, when they had flown to the countryside from the city, as if out of chains.

Vix audeo dicere de tantis viris; sed ita narratur conchas eos ad litus maris legere consuevisse, et ad omnem animi remissionem ludumque descendere. Mortuo Paulo Aemilio, Scipio cum fratre haeres relictus animum vere fraternum in eum ostendit; nam universam ei haereditatem tradidit quod illum videret re familiari minus quam se instructum. Pariter, defuncta matre, omnia bona materna sororibus concessit, quanquam nulla pars haereditatis ad eas lege pertineret.

I scarcely dare to speak about such great men; but thus it is narrated that they were accustomed to gather shells on the sea‑shore, and to descend to every relaxation of mind and to play. When Paulus Aemilius died, Scipio, left as heir together with his brother, showed toward him a truly fraternal spirit; for he handed over to him the entire inheritance, because he saw that he was less well equipped than himself in family resources. Likewise, with their mother deceased, he conceded all the maternal goods to his sisters, although by law no part of the inheritance pertained to them.

Cum in concione interrogaretur quid sentiret de morte Tiberii Gracchi, qui populi favorem pravis largitionibus captaverat, palam respondit cum jure caesum videri. Quo responso exacerbata concio acclamavit; tum Scipio clamorem ortum a vili plebecula animadvertens: "Taceant, inquit, quibus Italia noverca est, non mater." Cum magis etiam obstreperet populus, ille vultu constanti: "Hostium, inquit, armatorum toties clamore non territus, qui possum vestro moveri?" Tunc constantia et auctoritate viri perculsa plebs conticuit. Deinde quasi vim sibi mox inferendam animo praesagiret, malam sibi rependi gratiam laborum pro republica susceptorum ab ingratis civibus questus est.

When in an assembly he was asked what he thought about the death of Tiberius Gracchus, who had captured the people’s favor by corrupt largesses, he openly replied that he seemed to have been slain with right. At this reply the assembly, exacerbated, shouted; then Scipio, noticing the clamor arisen from the base plebeian rabble, said: “Let them be silent, for whom Italy is a stepmother, not a mother.” When the people made even more noise, he, with a steadfast countenance, said: “So often not terrified by the shouting of armed enemies, how can I be moved by yours?” Then the plebs, struck by the constancy and authority of the man, fell silent. Then, as if his mind were presaging that violence would soon be brought against him, he complained that ill thanks were being repaid to him for the labors undertaken for the Republic by ungrateful citizens.

Maxima patrum frequentia domum deductus est.

He was escorted home with the greatest attendance of the Fathers.

Postridie quam domum se validus receperat, Scipio repente in lectulo exanimis est inventus. De tanti viri morte nulla habita est quaestio, ejusque corpus velato capite est elatum, ne livor in ore appareret. Metellus, licet Scipionis inimicus, hanc necem adeo graviter tulit, ut, ea audita in forum advolaverit, ibique moesto vultu clamaverit: "Concurrite, cives; moenia urbis nostrae eversa sunt: Scipioni intra suos penates quiescenti nefaria vis illata est." Idem Metellus filios suos jussit funebri ejus lecto humeros subjicere, eisque dixit: "Nunquam a vobis id officium majori viro praestari poterit." Scipionis patrimonium tam exiguum fuit, ut triginta duas libras argenti, duas et selibram auri tantum reliquerit.

On the day after he had withdrawn home in good health, Scipio was suddenly found lifeless on his little couch. No inquiry was held about the death of so great a man, and his body was carried out with his head veiled, lest a bruise appear on his face. Metellus, although an enemy of Scipio, took this killing so gravely that, on hearing it, he rushed to the forum, and there with a mournful countenance cried out: "Rally, citizens; the walls of our city have been overthrown: to Scipio, resting within his own Penates, nefarious violence has been done." The same Metellus ordered his sons to put their shoulders under his funeral bed, and said to them: "Never will that duty be able to be rendered by you to a greater man." Scipio’s patrimony was so scant that he left only thirty-two pounds of silver, and two and a half pounds of gold.

Cum duo consules, quorum alter inops erat, alter autem avarus, in senatu contenderent uter in Hispaniam ad bellum gerendum mitteretur, ac magna inter patres esset dissensio, rogatus sententiam Scipio Aemilianus: "Neutrum, inquit, mihi mitti placet; quia alter nihil habet; alteri nihil est satis." Scilicet ad rem bene gerendam judicabat pariter abesse debere et inopiam et avaritiam. Alioquin maxime verendum est ne publicum munus quaestui habeatur, et praeda communis in privatum imperatoris lucrum convertatur. Longe ab hac culpa alienus fuit Scipio; nam post duos consulatus et totidem triumphos officio legationis fungens, septem tantum servos secum duxit.

When two consuls, of whom one was indigent and the other avaricious, were contending in the senate as to which should be sent into Spain to wage the war, and there was great dissension among the fathers, Scipio Aemilianus, asked for his opinion, said: "It does not please me that either be sent; because the one has nothing; for the other, nothing is enough." Clearly, for conducting the matter well he judged that both want and avarice ought equally to be absent. Otherwise, it is especially to be feared lest a public office be held for profit, and the common booty be converted into the private gain of the commander. Far removed from this fault was Scipio; for after two consulships and as many triumphs, discharging the office of a legation, he took only seven slaves with him.

E Carthaginis et Numantiae spoliis comparare plures certe potuerat; sed nihilo locupletior Carthagine eversa fuit, quam ante. Itaque cum per populi Romani socios et exteras nationes iter faceret, non mancipia ejus, sed victoriae numerabantur, nec quantum auri et argenti, sed quantum dignitatis atque gloriae secum ferret, aestimabatur.

From the spoils of Carthage and Numantia he could certainly have acquired more; but he was by no means richer, after Carthage was overthrown, than before. Therefore, when he traveled through the allies of the Roman people and foreign nations, it was not his slaves but his victories that were counted, and not how much gold and silver he carried with him was assessed, but how much dignity and glory he bore along.

TIBERIUS GRACCHUS ET CAIUS GRACCHUS

TIBERIUS GRACCHUS AND GAIUS GRACCHUS

Tiberius Gracchus et Caius Gracchus Scipionis Africani ex filia nepotes erant. Horum adolescentia bonis artibus et magna omnium spe floruit. Ad egregiam quippe indolem accedebat optima educatio.

Tiberius Gracchus and Caius Gracchus were grandsons of Scipio Africanus through his daughter. Their adolescence flourished in good arts and with the great hope of all. For to an excellent inborn disposition there was added the best education.

Exstant Corneliae matris epistolae, quibus apparet eos non solum in gremio matris educatos fuisse, sed etiam ab ea sermonis elegantiam hausisse. Maximum matronis ornamentum esse liberos bene institutos merito putabat sapientissima illa mulier: cum Campana matrona, apud illam hospita, ornamenta sua, quae erant illa aetate pretiosissima, ostentaret ei muliebriter, Cornelia traxit eam sermone, quousque a schola redirent liberi; quos reversos hospitae exhibens: "En haec, inquit, mea ornamenta". Nihil quidem istis adolescentibus neque a natura neque a doctrina defuit; sed ambo rempublicam, quam tueri potuissent, impie perturbare maluerunt.

Letters of their mother Cornelia are extant, from which it appears that they were not only educated in their mother’s lap, but also drew from her an elegance of speech. She, that most wise woman, rightly thought that the greatest ornament for matrons is children well-instituted: when a Campanian matron, a guest with her, was displaying her ornaments to her, in womanly fashion—ornaments which in that age were most precious—Cornelia drew her on with conversation until the children returned from school; and presenting them, once they had returned, to the guest: “Behold,” she said, “these are my ornaments.” Indeed, nothing was lacking to those adolescents, neither from nature nor from doctrine; but both preferred impiously to disturb the Republic, which they could have protected.

Tiberius Gracchus, cum esset tribunus plebis, a senatu descivit: populi favorem profusis largitionibus sibi conciliavit; agros plebi dividebat, dabat civitatem omnibus Italicis; provincias novis coloniis replebat: quibus rebus viam sibi ad regnum parare videbatur. Quare convocati patres deliberabant quidnam faciendum esset. Tiberius in Capitolium venit, manum ad caput referens; quo signo salutem suam populo commendabat: hoc nobilitas ita accepit quasi diadema posceret.

Tiberius Gracchus, when he was tribune of the plebs, defected from the Senate: by lavish largesses he won for himself the favor of the people; he was dividing fields to the plebs, he was granting citizenship to all the Italians; he was filling the provinces with new colonies: by these measures he seemed to be preparing a road for himself to kingship. Therefore the Fathers, having been convened, deliberated what should be done. Tiberius came into the Capitol, bringing his hand to his head; by which sign he was commending his safety to the people: the nobility took this as though he were demanding a diadem.

Tum Scipio Nasica, cum esset consobrinus Tiberii Gracchi, patriam cognationi praetulit, sublataque dextera proclamavit: Qui rempublicam salvam esse volunt me sequantur; dein Gracchum fugientem persecutus in eum irruit, suaque manu eum interfecit. Mortui Tiberii corpus in flumen projectum est.

Then Scipio Nasica, although he was the cousin of Tiberius Gracchus, preferred the fatherland to kinship, and, with his right hand raised, he proclaimed: “Let those who wish the Republic to be safe follow me”; then, having pursued Gracchus as he fled, he rushed upon him, and with his own hand killed him. The corpse of the dead Tiberius was cast into the river.

Caium Gracchum idem furor, qui fratrem Tiberium, invasit: seu vindicandae fraternae necis, seu comparandae regiae potentiae causa, vix tribunatum adeptus est, cum pessima coepit inire consilia: maximas largitiones fecit; aerarium effudit; legem de frumento plebi dividendo tulit. Perniciosis Gracchi consiliis, quanta poterant contentione, obsistebant omnes boni, in quibus maxime Piso vir consularis. Is cum multa contra legem frumentariam dixisset, lege tamen lata, ad frumentum cum ceteris accipiendum venit; Gracchus animadvertit in concione Pisonem stantem; eum sic compellavit, audiente populo Romano.

The same fury that attacked his brother Tiberius seized Gaius Gracchus: whether for the sake of avenging his brother’s murder, or for the purpose of acquiring regal power, scarcely had he obtained the tribunate when he began to enter upon the worst plans: he made the greatest largesses; he poured out the treasury; he proposed a law for distributing grain to the plebs. Against Gracchus’s pernicious plans, with as much contention as they could, all the good men were resisting, among whom most of all Piso, a consular man. He, when he had said many things against the grain law, yet, the law having been passed, came to receive grain along with the others; Gracchus noticed Piso standing in the assembly; he addressed him thus, with the Roman people listening.

"Qui tibi constas, Piso, cum ea lege frumentum petas quam dissuasisti?" Cui Piso: "Nolim quidem, Grache, inquit, mea bona tibi viritim dividere liceat: sed si facias, partem petam." Quo responso aperte declaravit vir gravis et sapiens lege quam tulerat Gracchus patrimonium publicum dissipari.

"Do you keep yourself consistent, Piso, when you seek grain by that law which you dissuaded?" To this Piso: "I would not, indeed, Gracchus," said he, "wish it to be allowed to you to divide my goods man by man; but if you do it, I will ask for a share." By this reply the serious and wise man openly declared that by the law which Gracchus had carried the public patrimony was being dissipated.

Decretum a senatu latum est, ut videret consul Opimius ne quid detrimenti respublica caperet; quod decretum, nisi in maximo discrimine, ferri non solebat. Caius Gracchus, armata familia, Aventinum occupaverat. Quamobrem consul, vocato ad arma populo, Caium aggressus est qui pulsus, dum a templo Dianae desilit, talum intorsit, et cum jam a satellitibus Opimii comprehenderetur, jugulum servo praebuit, qui dominum et mox semetipsum super domini corpus interemit.

A decree was passed by the senate, that the consul Opimius should see to it that the republic take no detriment; which decree was not wont to be carried save in the greatest crisis. Gaius Gracchus, with his household armed, had occupied the Aventine. Wherefore the consul, the people having been called to arms, attacked Gaius, who, driven back, while he was leaping down from the temple of Diana, twisted his ankle; and when now he was being seized by the satellites of Opimius, he offered his throat to a slave, who slew his master, and soon himself as well upon his master’s body.

Consul promiserat se pro capite Gracchi aurum repensurum esse; quare Septimuleius quidam lancea praefixum Caii caput attulit, eique aequale auri pondus persolutum est. Aiunt etiam illum prius cervice perforata, cerebroque exempto, plumbum infudisse, quo gravius efficeretur.

The consul had promised that he would weigh out gold for the head of Gracchus; wherefore a certain Septimuleius brought the head of Caius fixed on a spear, and an equal weight of gold was paid to him. They say also that he, after first piercing the neck and removing the brain, poured in lead, so that it might be made heavier.

Occiso Tiberio Graccho, cum senatus consulibus mandasset ut in eos qui cum Tiberio consenserant animadverteretur, Blosius quidam Tiberii amicus pro se deprecatum venit; hancque, ut sibi ignosceretur, causam afferebat, quod tanti Gracchum fecisset, at quidquid ille vellet, sibi faciendtim putaret. Tum consul: "Quid? ait, si te in Capitolium faces ferre vellet, obsecuturusne voluntati illius fuisses propter istam quam jactas familiaritatem?" - "Nunquam, inquit Blosius, id quidem voluisset; sed, si voluisset, paruissem." Nefaria est ista vox; nulla enim est excusatio peccati, si amici causa peccaveris.

With Tiberius Gracchus slain, when the senate had instructed the consuls that punishment be taken against those who had agreed with Tiberius, a certain Blosius, a friend of Tiberius, came to plead on his own behalf; and he was bringing forward this reason, that he had valued Gracchus so highly that whatever he wished, he thought must be done by himself. Then the consul: "What? said he, if he had wished you to carry torches into the Capitol, would you, on account of that familiarity which you vaunt, have complied with his will?" - "Never, said Blosius, he would not indeed have wished that; but, if he had wished it, I would have obeyed." That utterance is nefarious; for there is no excuse of sin, if you have sinned for the sake of a friend.

LUCIUS MUMMIUS ACHAICUS

Cum Corinthii adversus Romanos rebellassent, eorumque legatis injuriam fecissent, Lucius Mummius consul, conscripto exercitu, Corinthum profectus est. Corinthii, veluti nihil negotii bello Romano suscepissent omnia neglexerant. Praedam, non proelium cogitantes, vehicula duxerant ad spolia Romanorum reportanda.

When the Corinthians had rebelled against the Romans and had done injury to their legates, Lucius Mummius, the consul, having conscripted an army, set out for Corinth. The Corinthians, as though they had undertaken no business in a Roman war, had neglected everything. Thinking of plunder, not of battle, they had brought wagons to carry back the spoils of the Romans.

Conjuges liberosque ad spectaculum certaminis in montibus posuerunt. Quam vecordiam celerrima poena consecuta est; nam proelio ante oculos suorum commisso caesi, lugubre his spectaculum et gravem luctus memoriam reliquerunt. Conjuges et liberi eorum de spectatoribus captivi facti praeda victorum fuere.

They placed their spouses and children on the mountains for the spectacle of the contest. This madness was followed by a most swift punishment; for, the battle having been commenced before the eyes of their own, they were cut down, and they left to these a lugubrious spectacle and a weighty memory of mourning. Their spouses and children, from among the spectators, were made captives and became the booty of the victors.

Urbs ipsa Corinthus direpta primum, deinde tuba praecinente diruta est: populus omnis sub corona venditus; dux eorum victus domum refugit eamque incendit; conjugem interfecit, et in ignem praecipitavit; ipse veneno interiit.

The city of Corinth itself was first plundered, then, with the trumpet sounding the prelude, was razed: the entire people were sold under the crown; their leader, defeated, fled home and set it ablaze; he slew his wife and hurled her into the fire; he himself perished by poison.

Erat Corinthi magna vis signorum tabularumque pretiosarum, quibus Mummius urbem et totam replevit Italiam nihil vero in domum suam intulit: sed harum rerum adeo rudis et ignarus erat Mummius, at, cum eas tabulas Romam portandas locaret, edixerit conducentibus, si eas perdidissent, novas esse reddituros. Una eximii pictoris tabella ludentibus alea militibus alvei vicem praestitit. Quae tabella deinde, cum praeda venderetur, ab Attalo rege sex millibus nummorum empta est.

At Corinth there was a great quantity of statues and of precious panels, with which Mummius filled the city and all Italy; but he brought nothing into his own house. Yet Mummius was so rude and ignorant of these matters that, when he contracted for those panels to be carried to Rome, he declared to the contractors that, if they lost them, they would provide new ones. One little panel by an eminent painter, while soldiers were playing at dice, served in place of a board. This panel afterwards, when the booty was being sold, was bought by King Attalus for six thousand coins.

Mummius pretium admiratus, ex alieno judicio pulchritudinem tabellae suspicatus est, atque venditionem rescidit et tabellam jussit Romam deferri.

Mummius, amazed at the price, suspected the pulchritude of the panel from another’s judgment, and he rescinded the sale and ordered the panel to be carried to Rome.

QUINTUS METELLUS MACEDONICUS

Quintus Metellus a domita Macedonia dictus Macedonicus missus est adversas pseudo-Philippum, hominem humili loco natum qui se Persei regis filium mentiebatur, eaque fraude Macedoniam occupaverat. Fabulam autem hujusmodi finxerat: praedicabat se ex Perseo rege ortum, et ab eo fidei cuiusdam viri Cretensis commissum, ut in belli casus, quod tunc ille cum Romanis gerebat, aliquod veluti semen stirpis regiae reservaretur; datum ei insuper libellum signo Persei impressum, quem puero traderet, cum ad puberem aetatem venisset. Mortuo Perseo, se Adrumeti educatum usque ad duodecimum aetatis annum, ignarum fuisse generis sui, eumque existimavisse patrem a quo educaretur.

Quintus Metellus, called Macedonicus from Macedonia subdued, was sent against the pseudo-Philip, a man born of humble station who was falsely claiming himself to be the son of King Perseus, and by that fraud had occupied Macedonia. Moreover, he had fashioned a fable of this sort: he proclaimed himself sprung from King Perseus and entrusted to the trust of a certain Cretan man, so that, against the chances of war—which Perseus was then waging with the Romans—some, as it were, seed of the royal stock might be preserved; that there had been given to him besides a little document stamped with Perseus’s signet, which the man was to hand over to the boy when he had come to the age of puberty. With Perseus dead, he said he had been brought up at Hadrumetum until the twelfth year of his age, ignorant of his lineage, and that he had supposed the man by whom he was being raised to be his father.

Ab eo tandem morti proximo detectam fuisse originem suam, sibique libellum traditum. Erat praeterea juveni forma, quae Persei filium non dedeceret. Hunc Metellus bis proelio fudit, et die triumphi ante currum egit.

That by him at last, when he was nearest to death, his origin had been uncovered, and the booklet had been handed over to him. Moreover, the youth had a form which would not have disgraced the son of Perseus. Metellus routed him twice in battle, and on the day of his triumph he led him before his chariot.

Postea Quintus Metellus bellum in Hispania contra Celtiberos gessit; et cum urbem, quae erat caput gentis obsideret, jamque admota machina, partem muri, quae sola convelli poterat brevi dijecturus videretur, humanitatem certae victoriae praetulit. Vir quidam in obsessa civitate nobilis, nomine Rethogenes, ad Metellum transierat, relictis in oppido filiis. Irati cives Rethogenis filios Machinae ictibus objecerunt.

Afterwards Quintus Metellus waged war in Spain against the Celtiberians; and when he was besieging a city which was the capital of the nation, and now, with the siege-machine brought up, he seemed about shortly to demolish that part of the wall which alone could be torn away, he preferred humanity to assured victory. A certain man in the besieged community, noble, by name Rethogenes, had gone over to Metellus, having left his sons in the town. The citizens, enraged, exposed the sons of Rethogenes to the blows of the machine.

Nihil motus periculo filiorum pater hortabatur Metellum ut ne oppugnatione desisteret; at Metellus obsidionem maluit solvere, quam pueros in conspectu patris crudeli nece interfici: atque hujus mansuetudinis fructum tulit; namque multae aliae urbes admiratione hujus facti se sponte ei dediderunt.

Not at all moved by the peril of his sons, the father urged Metellus not to desist from the assault; but Metellus preferred to dissolve the siege rather than that the boys be slain with a cruel death in the sight of their father: and he reaped the fruit of this mansuetude; for many other cities, in admiration of this deed, surrendered themselves to him of their own accord.

Metellus, cum urbem Contebriam viribus expugnare non posset, ad fallendum hostem convertit animum, et viam reperit qua propositum ad exitum perduceret. Itinera magno impetu ingrediebatur, deinde alias atque alias regiones petebat: modo hos occupabat montes, modo ad illos transgrediebatur. Cum interim et suis et hostibus ignota esset causa cur sic sua mutaret consilia, a quodam amico interrogatus quid ita incertum belli genus sequeretur: Absiste, inquit Metellus, ista quaerere; namque tunicam meam exurerem, si eam consilium meum scire existimarem.

Metellus, when he could not take the city Contebria by force, converted his mind to deceiving the enemy, and found a way by which he might lead his purpose to an outcome. He would enter upon marches with great impetus, then he would seek other and yet other regions: now he was occupying these mountains, now he was crossing over to those. While meanwhile the reason was unknown both to his own men and to the enemy why he was thus changing his counsels, when interrogated by a certain friend why he was following so uncertain a genus of war: “Cease,” said Metellus, “to ask those things; for I would burn my tunic, if I thought that it knew my plan.”

Postquam vero et exercitum suum ignorantia et, hostes errore implicavit, cum alio cursum direxisset, subito ad Contebriam reflexit, eamque inopinatam et attonitam oppressit.

After indeed he entangled both his own army in ignorance and the enemy in error, when he had directed his course elsewhere, he suddenly turned back to Contebria and overpowered it, taken unawares and stunned.

Raram Metelli Macedonici felicitatem multi scriptores concelebrant: ea quidem ipsi omnia contigerunt, qua beatam vitam videntur efficere. Fortuna eum nasci voluit in urbe terrarum principe: parentes nobilissimos dedit; adjecit animi eximias dotes et corporis vires, quae tolerandis laboribus sufficere possent; multa decora in ejus domum congessit: nam cum ipse consul, censor etiam augurque fuisset, et triumphasset, tres filios consules vidit, e quibus unum etiam et censorem et triumphantem quartum autem praetorem; tres quoque filias bene nuptas. Hunc autem vitae cursum consentaneus finis excepit; nam Metellum ultimae senectutis spatio defunctum, et leni mortis genere inter oscula complexusque natorum extinctum filii et generi humeris suis, per urbem sustulerunt, et rogo imposuerunt.

Many writers celebrate the rare felicity of Metellus Macedonicus: to him indeed there befell all those things which seem to make a blessed life. Fortune willed him to be born in the world’s chief city; she gave most noble parents; she added exceptional endowments of mind and strengths of body, which could suffice for enduring labors; she piled many honors into his house: for since he himself had been consul, and also censor and augur, and had celebrated a triumph, he saw three sons consuls, of whom one also both censor and triumphant, and a fourth a praetor; as well as three daughters well married. And a consentaneous end befell this course of life; for Metellus, having completed the span of utmost old age, and, by a gentle kind of death, having been extinguished amid the kisses and embraces of his offspring, his sons and sons-in-law on their own shoulders carried him through the city and set him on the pyre.

QUINTUS METULLUS NUMIDICUS

Quintus Metellus consul cum Jugurtha Numidarum rege bellum gessit: is a Micipsa adoptatus, duos ejus filios fratres suos interfecerat, ut solus Numidiae imperio potiretur. Micipsa in amicitia et societate populi Romani semper permanserat. Postquam igitur Romae cognitum est nefarium Jugurthae scelus, placuit illud ulcisci.

Quintus Metellus, consul, waged war with Jugurtha, king of the Numidians: he, adopted by Micipsa, had slain his two sons—his own brothers—in order that he alone might obtain the imperium of Numidia. Micipsa had always remained in the friendship and alliance of the Roman People. After, therefore, the nefarious crime of Jugurtha was learned at Rome, it was decided to avenge it.

Metellus cum exercitu in Africam navigavit, et cum hoste manus conseruit. Qua in parte Jugurtha affuit; ibi aliquandiu certatum est, neque hic ullum boni ducis aut militis officium praetermisit. Ceteri vero ejus milites primo congressu pulsi fugatique sunt; Jugurtha in oppidum munitum perfugit.

Metellus with the army sailed to Africa, and joined battle with the foe. In that engagement Jugurtha was present; there for some time there was contest, nor did this man omit any duty of a good leader or soldier. But the rest of Jugurtha’s soldiers, at the first encounter, were routed and put to flight; Jugurtha fled for refuge into a fortified town.

Paucis post diebus Metellus eum insecutus, iterum proelio fudit: Numidiam vastavit, urbes amplas et munitissimas cepit; quae victoria ei nomen Numidici fecit.

A few days later, Metellus, having pursued him, routed him again in battle: he laid waste Numidia, captured ample and most strongly fortified cities; which victory gave him the surname Numidicus.

Postea Quintus Metellus censor factus est, ejusque egregia fuit censura, et omnis vita plena gravitatis. Cum ab inimicis accusatus, causam de pecuniis repetundis diceret, et ipsius tabulae circumferrentur judicibus inspiciendae, nemo ex illis fuit qui non removeret oculos, et se totum averteret, ne quisquam dubitare videretur verumne an falsum esset quod ille retulerat in tabulas. Cum Saturninus tribunus plebis legem senatus majestati adversam et reipublicae perniciosam tulisset, Metellus in eam legem jurare noluit, eaque de causa in exilium actus est.

Afterwards Quintus Metellus was made censor, and his censorship was outstanding, and his whole life full of gravitas. When, accused by enemies, he was pleading a case on a charge of extortion, and his own account-books were being carried around to the judges to be inspected, there was none of them who did not remove his eyes and turn himself entirely away, lest anyone seem to doubt whether what he had entered in the ledgers was true or false. When Saturninus, tribune of the plebs, had proposed a law adverse to the majesty of the senate and pernicious to the commonwealth, Metellus refused to swear to that law, and for that reason was driven into exile.

Honestum Rhodi secessum invenit ibique litteris operam dedit. Ita vir fortissimus de civitate maluit decedere, quam de sententia, eique salus patriae dulcior quam conspectus fuit.

He found an honorable retreat at Rhodes and there he applied himself to letters. Thus a most valiant man preferred to depart from the state rather than from his sentiment, and to him the safety of the fatherland was dearer than his own being seen.

Metelli filius precibus et lacrymis a populo impetravit ut pater ab exilio revocaretur. Is forte ludos spectabat, cum ei redditae sunt litterae, quibus scriptum erat, maximo senatus et populi consensu, reditum illi in patriam datum esse. Nihil eo nuncio moveri visus est: non prius e theatro abiit, quam spectaculum ederetur; non laetitiam suam proxime sedentibus ulla ex parte ostendit, sed summum gaudium intra se continuit, parique vultu in exilium abiit, et fuit restitutus; adeo moderatum inter secundas et adversas res gessit animum!

Metellus’s son, by prayers and tears, obtained from the people that his father be recalled from exile. He by chance was watching the games, when letters were delivered to him, in which it was written that, by the greatest consensus of the senate and the people, a return for him to the fatherland had been granted. He seemed to be moved in no way by that announcement: he did not leave the theater before the spectacle was presented; he did not in any part show his joy to those sitting nearest, but contained his highest joy within himself; and with an equal countenance he both went into exile and was restored—so moderated a mind did he bear amid prosperous and adverse affairs!

Tantus vero ad eum advenientem concursus est factus, ut dies totus consumptus sit in gratulationibus illum ad portam urbis excipientium; inde in Capitolium ascendentem, et lares repetentem universa propemodum civitas deduxit.

So great indeed a concourse was made as he arrived, that the whole day was consumed in the congratulations of those receiving him at the gate of the city; from there the almost entire citizenry escorted him as he ascended to the Capitol and returned to his household gods (Lares).

MARCUS AEMILIUS SCAURUS

Marcus Aemilius Scaurus nobili familia ortus est, sed paupere. Nam pater ejus, quamvis patricius, ob rei familiaris inopiam carbonarium negotium exercuisse dicitur. Filius ipse dubitavit primo utrum honores peteret, an argentarium faceret; sed cum eloquentia valeret, ex ea gloriam et opes peperit.

Marcus Aemilius Scaurus was born from a noble family, but a poor one. For his father, although a patrician, is said, on account of want of family property, to have carried on the charcoal trade. The son himself at first hesitated whether to seek honors, or to go into banking; but since he was strong in eloquence, from it he won glory and opulence.

Consul factus, severum se pro tuenda militari disciplina praebuit; disciplinae exemplum admiratione dignum referebat ipse in eis libris quos de vita sua scripserat. Cum in eo loco ubi posuerat castra, arbor esset maturis fructibus onusta, postridie abeunte exercitu, arbor intactis fructibus relicta est. Idem Publio Decio praetori, quod se transeunte sederet et assurgere jussus non paruisset, vestem scidit, sellam fregit, et ne quis ad eum in jus iret, edixit.

Made consul, he showed himself severe for the safeguarding of military discipline; he himself recounted in those books which he had written on his life an example of discipline worthy of admiration. When, in that place where he had pitched camp, there was a tree laden with ripe fruits, on the next day, as the army was departing, the tree was left with its fruits untouched. Likewise, upon Publius Decius, praetor, because he was sitting as he passed by and, when ordered to rise, had not complied, he tore his garment, broke his chair, and issued an edict that no one should go to law against him.

Marcus Scaurus, ut in tuenda militari disciplina, sic in punienda filii sui ingnavia fuit severus. Cum enim in quodam proelio Romani equites pulsi, deserto imperatore, Romam pavide repeterent, in quibus erat ipse Scauri filius, misit pater, qui ei dicerent se libentius occursurum esse filii in acie interfecti ossibus, quam visurum reducem reum tam turpis fugae, ideoque conspectum irati patris degeneri filio esse vitandum, si quid verecundiae in animo superesset. Non tulit juvenis.

Marcus Scaurus, as in maintaining military discipline, so also in punishing the ignavia of his own son, was severe. For when in a certain battle the Roman cavalry, routed, with the commander abandoned, were fearfully making their way back to Rome—among whom was Scaurus’s own son—the father sent men to tell him that he would more willingly meet the bones of a son slain in the battle line than see him returning as a defendant guilty of so base a flight; and therefore that the sight of an angry father must be avoided by the degenerate son, if any sense of shame remained in his mind. The young man did not endure it.

ignominiae dolorem et moerore confectus interiit.

overcome by the pain of ignominy and by grief, he perished.

Marcus Scaurus, cum esset summa senectute et adversa valetudine, pristinum animi vigorem retinuit. Varius quidam patria Hispanus, vetus Scauri inimicus, senem opprimere conatus est. Accusabat eum acceptae ab hostibus pecuniae ad prodendam rempublicam.

Marcus Scaurus, although he was in extreme old age and in adverse health, retained his pristine vigor of spirit. A certain Varius, by country a Spaniard, an old enemy of Scaurus, attempted to oppress the old man. He accused him of money accepted from the enemy to betray the Republic.

Scaurus nobilissimis juvenibus innixus descendit in forum, dataque respondendi facultate, paucis verbis ita causam egit: "Varius Hispanus ait Marcum Scaurum senatus principem ab hoste corruptum esse, et populi Romani imperium prodidisse; Marcus vero Scaurus princeps senatus, negat se esse huic culpae affinem: testis nemo est; utri vos potius credendum putatis?" Qua dicti gravitat periculum intentatum propulsavit: nam statim populus accusatorem ab illa actione depulit.

Scaurus, leaning upon the noblest youths, descended into the forum, and, the faculty of replying having been granted, in few words he thus pleaded his case: "Varius the Spaniard says that Marcus Scaurus, princeps of the senate, has been corrupted by the enemy and has betrayed the imperium of the Roman people; but Marcus Scaurus, princeps of the senate, denies that he is party to this guilt: there is no witness; to which of us do you think credence ought rather to be given?" By the gravity of this utterance he repelled the threatened peril: for immediately the people drove the accuser from that action.

PUBLIUS RUTILIUS RUFUS

Publius Rutilius Rufus vitae innocentia enituit: cum nemo esset in civitate illo integrior, omni honore dignus est habitus, et consul factus. Cum eum amicus quidam rem injustam aliquando rogaret, et Rutilius constanter negaret, indignatus amicus dixit: "Quid igitur mihi opus est tua amicitia, si quod rogo non facis?" - "Immo, respondit Rutilius, quid mihi tua, si propter te aliquid inhoneste facere me oporteat?" Sciebat quippe vir sanctus tam contra officium esse amico tribuere quod aequum non sit, quam non tribuere id quod recte possimus; atque si forte amici a nobis postulent quae honesta non sunt. religionem et fidem esse amicitiae anteponendam.

Publius Rutilius Rufus shone forth by innocence of life: since there was no one in the state more upright than he, he was held worthy of every honor, and was made consul. When a certain friend once asked him for an unjust matter, and Rutilius steadfastly refused, the friend, indignant, said: "What need, then, have I of your friendship, if you do not do what I ask?" - "Nay rather," replied Rutilius, "what need have I of yours, if on your account it should be necessary for me to do something dishonorably?" For the saintly man knew that it is as much against duty to grant to a friend what is not equitable as not to grant what we can rightly; and that, if perchance friends ask from us things that are not honorable, religion and faith are to be set before friendship.

Rutilius tamen in invidiam equitum Romanorum venit quod ab eorum injuriis Asiam, cui tunc praeerat, defendisset: quare ab eis repetundarum accusatus est. Rutilius, innocentia fretus senatoris insignia non deposuit; judicibus non supplicavit: ne ornatius quidem causam suam dici voluit, quam simplex veritatis ratio ferebat; itaque damnatus est, et Mitylenas exsulatum abiit. Illi Asiam petenti omnes hujus provinciae civitates legatos miserunt.

Rutilius, nevertheless, fell into the ill-will of the Roman equestrians because he had defended Asia, which he then presided over, from their injuries: wherefore he was accused by them on a charge of extortions. Relying on his innocence, Rutilius did not lay aside the insignia of a senator; he did not supplicate the judges: he did not even wish his case to be pleaded more ornately than the simple reasoning of truth permitted; and so he was condemned, and he went into exile to Mytilene. As he made for Asia, all the cities of this province sent legates to him.

Hospitio eum, opibus, omni auxilio juverunt. Cum Rutilium quidam consolaretur, et diceret instare arma civilia, brevique futurum ut omnes exsules reverterentur: "Quid tibi, inquit Rutilius, mali feci, ut mihi pejorem reditum optares, quam exitum? Malo patria meo exilio erubescat, quam reditu maereat."

They aided him with hospitality, with resources, with every assistance. When someone was consoling Rutilius and said that civil war was impending, and that before long it would come to pass that all exiles would return: “What harm have I done to you,” said Rutilius, “that you would wish for me a return worse than my exit? I prefer that my fatherland blush at my exile rather than mourn at my return.”

MARCUS LIVIUS DRUSUS

Marcus Livius Drusus patre consulari genitus, relictum sibi patrimonium profusis largitionibus dissipavit, adeo ut ipse profiteretur nemini se ad largiendum quidquam reliquisse praeter caelum et coenum. Unde cum pecunia egeret, multa contra dignitatem fecit. Tribunus plebis primo senatus causam suscepit; sed audax et vehemens, ut propositum assequeretur, leges perniciosas tulit: quibus cum Philippus consul obsisteret, ei Drusus in comitio ita collum obtorsit, ut plurimus sanguis efflueret e naribus; vique addita contumelia, non cruorem, sed muriam de turdis esse dixit.

Marcus Livius Drusus, born of a consular father, dissipated the patrimony left to him by profuse largesses, to such a degree that he himself professed he had left himself nothing to give in largess to anyone except the sky and the mud. Whence, when he was in want of money, he did many things against his dignity. As tribune of the plebs he at first took up the cause of the senate; but, bold and vehement, in order to attain his purpose, he proposed pernicious laws: and when the consul Philippus opposed them, Drusus in the Comitium so twisted his neck that a very great amount of blood flowed from his nostrils; and, with an insult added to the violence, he said it was not blood, but brine from thrushes.

Philippus enim deliciarum amans turdorumque imprimis edax habebatur. Alium etiam virum consularem eisdem legibus pariter adversantem ait Drusus se de saxo Tarpeio praecipitaturum.

For Philippus was regarded as a lover of delicacies and, above all, edacious of thrushes. Drusus also said that he would hurl headlong from the Tarpeian Rock another man of consular rank who was likewise opposing the same laws.

Nec observantior erga senatum fuit Drusus. Nam cum senatus ad eum misisset ut in curiam veniret: "Quare, inquit Drusus, non ipse senatus ad me venit in Hostiliam propinquam Rostris?" Paruitque tribuno senatus: quibus rebus factum est ut Drusus nec senatui, nec plebi placeret. Unde cum e foro magna hominum frequentia stipaus rediret, in atrio domus suae cultello percussus est; cultellus lateri ejus affixus relictus est, auctor vero necis in turba latuit: Drusus intra paucas horas decessit.

Nor was Drusus more observant toward the senate. For when the senate had sent to him that he should come into the Curia, “Why,” said Drusus, “does not the senate itself come to me into the Hostilia, near the Rostra?” And the senate obeyed the tribune; by which things it came about that Drusus pleased neither the senate nor the plebs. Whence, when he was returning from the forum, thronged with a great multitude of people, he was struck in the atrium of his house with a small knife; the small knife was left fastened to his side, but the perpetrator of the killing hid in the crowd: Drusus died within a few hours.

Quem ne morti quidem proximum ea deseruit superbia, quae eum in exitium impulerat; cum extremum jam redderet spiritum, circumstantium multitudinem intuens: "Ecquando, inquit, amici, similem mei civem habebit respublica?"

Not even when nearest to death did that pride desert him, which had driven him to his ruin; as he was now giving up his last breath, gazing upon the multitude standing around: "When, friends, will the republic have a citizen like me?"

Hunc vitae finem habuit juvenis clarissimus quidem, sed quem sua semper inquietum ac turbulentum fecerat ambitio: ipse queri solitus est sibi uni, ne puero quidem, ferias unquam contigisse; nam adhuc praetextatus per ambitionem coepit reos judicibus commendare: laudantur tamen Drusi quaedam facta dictaque. Cum Philippo consuli insidiae pararentur, ejusque vita in maximo esset periculo, Drusus, re cognita, Philippum licet inimicum monuit ut sibi caveret. Extat etiam Drusi vox egregia: cum enim domum aedificaret, promitteretque architectus, si quinque talenta sibi darentur, ita se eam aedificaturum ut nemo in eam despicere posset: "Immo, inquit Drusus, decem dabo, si eam ita componas ut quidquid agam non a vicinis tantum, sed ab omnibus etiam civivus possit perspici."

This end of life had a most illustrious young man, indeed, but one whom his own ambition had always made unquiet and turbulent: he himself was wont to complain that to him alone, not even when a boy, had holidays ever fallen; for while still in the praetexta, out of ambition he began to commend defendants to the judges. Nevertheless, certain deeds and sayings of Drusus are praised. When a plot was being prepared against the consul Philippus, and his life was in the greatest peril, Drusus, the matter learned, warned Philippus—though an enemy—to beware. There exists also an excellent saying of Drusus: for when he was building a house, and the architect promised that, if five talents were given him, he would build it in such a way that no one could look down into it, “Nay rather,” said Drusus, “I will give ten, if you so contrive it that whatever I do can be seen not only by the neighbors, but by all the citizens as well.”

CAIUS MARIUS

GAIUS MARIUS

Caius Marius humili loco natus militiae tirocinium in Hispania duce Scipione posuit; erat imprimis Scipioni carus ob singularem virtutem, et impigram ad pericula et labores alacritatem. Scipio, cum inspicere voluisset quemadmodum ab unoquoque equi curarentur, Marii equum validum et bene curatum invenit: quam diligentiam imperator plurimum laudavit. Quadam die cum forte post cenam Scipio cum amicis colloqueretur, dixissetque aliquis, si quid Scipioni accidisset, ecquemnam alium similem imperatorem habitura esset respublica?

Caius Marius, born from a humble station, began his military apprenticeship in Spain under Scipio as leader; he was especially dear to Scipio on account of his singular virtue, and his indefatigable alacrity toward dangers and labors. Scipio, when he had wished to inspect how the horses were cared for by each man, found Marius’s horse sturdy and well cared for: the general praised that diligence most highly. One day, when by chance after dinner Scipio was conversing with friends, and someone had said, if anything should happen to Scipio, what other similar commander would the commonwealth have?

Scipio, percusso leniter Marii humero, "Fortassis istum", inquit. Quo dicto excitatus Marius dignos rebus, quas postea gessit, spiritus concepit.

Scipio, with Marius’s shoulder lightly struck, said, "Perhaps this one." At that word, Marius, stirred, conceived spirits worthy of the things which he afterwards carried out.

Marius legatus Metello in Numidia, criminando eum adeptus est consulatum, et in ejus locum suffectus. Bellum Jugurthinum a Metello prospere coeptum confecit. Jugurtha ad Getulos profugerat, eorumque regem Bocchum adversus Romanos concitaverat.

Marius, legate to Metellus in Numidia, by accusing him obtained the consulship, and was appointed suffect in his place. He completed the Jugurthine war, which had been begun prosperously by Metellus. Jugurtha had fled to the Getulians, and had incited their king Bocchus against the Romans.

Marius Getulos et Bocchum agressus fudit. Castellum in excelsa rupe positum, ubi regii thesauri erant, non sine multo labore expugnavit. Bocchus bello defessus legatos ad Marium misit, pacem orantes.

Marius, having attacked the Getulians and Bocchus, routed them. A castellum set on a lofty crag, where the royal treasures were, he took by storm, not without much labor. Bocchus, wearied by war, sent legates to Marius, beseeching peace.

Sylla quaestor a Mario ad regem remissus, qui Boccho persuasit ut Jugurtham Romanis traderet. Jugurtha igitur vinctus ad Marium deductus est, quem Marius triumphans ante currum egit, et in carcerem coenosum inclusit, quo cum Jugurtha veste detracta ingrederetur, os diduxit ridentis in modum et stupens similisque desipienti exclamavit: "Proh! quam frigidum est vestrum balneum!"

Sulla, quaestor, sent back by Marius to the king, persuaded Bocchus to deliver Jugurtha to the Romans. Therefore Jugurtha, bound, was led to Marius, whom Marius, triumphing, drove before his chariot, and enclosed him in a muddy prison; and when Jugurtha, with his garment stripped off, was entering it, he opened his mouth wide in the manner of one laughing and, stupefied and like one out of his wits, exclaimed: "Ah! how cold is your bath!"

Marius post expeditionem Numidicam iterum consul creatus est, eique bellum contra Cimbros et Teutones decretum est. Hi novi hostes ab extremis Germaniae finibus profugi, novas sedes quaerebant. Gallia exclusi, in Italiam transgressi sunt; nec primum impetum barbarorum tres duces Romani sustinuerant; sed Marius primo Teutones sub ipsis Alpium radicibus assecutus proelio oppressit: vallem fluviumque medium hostes tenebant, unde militibus Romanis nulla aquae copia: aucta necessitate virtus causa victoriae fuit; namque Marius sitim metuentibus ait digitum protendens: "Viri estis: en illic aquam habebitis." Itaque tam acriter pugnatum est, tantaque caedes hostium fuit, ut Romani victores de cruento flumine non plus aquae biberent, quam sanguinis barbarorum.

Marius, after the Numidian expedition, was made consul again, and to him war against the Cimbri and the Teutones was decreed. These new enemies, fugitives from the farthest borders of Germany, were seeking new seats. Shut out from Gaul, they crossed into Italy; nor had three Roman commanders withstood the first onset of the barbarians; but Marius, having first overtaken the Teutones beneath the very roots of the Alps, crushed them in battle: the enemies held a valley and the river down the middle, whence for the Roman soldiers there was no supply of water: with the necessity increased, valor was the cause of victory; for Marius, to those fearing thirst, said, stretching out his finger: "You are men: see, there you will have water." And so the fighting was so sharp, and so great the slaughter of the enemies, that the victorious Romans drank from the bloody river no more water than blood of the barbarians.

Deletis Teutonibus Caius Marius in Cimbros convertitur: hi ex alia parte Italiam ingressi, Athesim flumen non ponte nec navibus, sed ingesta obrutum sylva transiluerant; quibus occurrit Marius. Tum Cimbri legatos ad consulem miserunt, agros sibi suisque fratribus postulantes. Ignorabant scilicet Teutonum cladem.

With the Teutones wiped out, Gaius Marius turns against the Cimbri: these, having entered Italy from another side, had leaped across the river Athesis not by bridge nor by ships, but by a forest thrown in and piled up; Marius met them. Then the Cimbri sent legates to the consul, demanding lands for themselves and for their brothers. They were, of course, unaware of the Teutones’ defeat.

Cum Marius ab eis quaesivisset quos illi fratres dicerent; Teutones nominaverunt. Ridens Marius: "Omittite, inquit, fratres; tenent hi acceptam a nobis terram aeternumque tenebunt." Legati sensere se ludibrio haberi, ultionemque Mario minati sunt, statim atque Teutones advenissent. "Atqui adsunt, inquit Marius, decetque vos hinc non discedere, nisi salutatis vestris fratribus." Tum vinctos adduci jussit Teutonum duces qui, in proelio capti fuerant.

When Marius had asked them whom they called brothers; they named the Teutones. Smiling, Marius: "Leave off about the brothers," said he; "these men hold the land received from us and will hold it forever." The legates perceived that they were being made a mockery, and they threatened Marius with vengeance as soon as the Teutones arrived. "But indeed they are here," said Marius, "and it befits you not to depart hence, unless you salute your brothers." Then he ordered the leaders of the Teutones, who had been captured in the battle, to be brought in bound.

His rebus auditis, Cimbri castris egressi ad pugnam prodierunt. Marius aciem ita instituit, ut pulvis in oculos et ora hostium ferretur. Incredibili strage prostrata est illa Cimbrorum multitudo.

With these things having been heard, the Cimbri, having gone out from their camp, advanced to battle. Marius arranged the battle line in such a way that dust was carried into the eyes and mouths of the enemy. By an incredible slaughter that multitude of the Cimbri was laid low.

Caesa traduntur centum et octoginta hominum millia. Nec minor cum uxoribus pugna, quam cum viris fuit: illae enim objectis undique plaustris altae desuper, quasi e turribus, pugnabant lanceis contisque. Victae tamen legationem ad Marium miserunt libertatem orantes, quam cum non impetrassent, suffocatis elisisque infantibus, aut mutuis concidere vulneribus, aut vinculo, e crinibus suis facto, ab arboribus jugisque plaustrorum subrectis pependerunt.

It is reported that 180 thousand human beings were cut down. Nor was the battle with the wives less than with the men: for, with wagons set up on every side as obstacles, raised on high and fighting from above, as if from towers, they fought with lances and pikes. Defeated, however, they sent a delegation to Marius, begging for liberty; and when they did not obtain it, with their infants suffocated and dashed to pieces, they either fell by mutual wounds, or, by a bond made from their own hair, they hung from trees and from the yokes of the wagons that had been raised up.

Ferant unam conspectam fuisse quae pedibus suis duos filios, seipsam vero ex arbore suspenderat.

They report that one was seen who had hanged her two sons by their feet, but had hanged herself from a tree.

PRIMUM CIVILE BELLUM

THE FIRST CIVIL WAR

Tunc Romae primum civile bellum ortum est. Cum enim Sylla consul contra Mithridatem regem Ponti missus fuisset, ei Marius illud imperium eripuit, fecitque ut loco Syllae imperator crearetur; qua re commotus Sylla cum exercitu Romam venit, eam armis occupavit, Mariumque expulit. Marius in palude aliquandiu delituit; sed ibi paulo post deprehensus, et, ut erat, nudo corpore caenoque oblitus, injecto in collum loro raptus est, et in custodiam conjectus.

Then at Rome the first civil war arose. For when Sulla, consul, had been sent against Mithridates, king of Pontus, Marius snatched that imperium (command) from him, and brought it about that in place of Sulla a commander was created; at which matter stirred, Sulla came to Rome with the army, occupied it by arms, and drove out Marius. Marius hid for some time in a marsh; but there, a little after, he was caught, and, just as he was, with body naked and smeared with mud, a thong cast upon his neck, he was dragged off and thrown into custody.

Missus etiam est ad eum occidendum servus publicus, natione Cimber, quem Marius vultus majestate deterruit. Cum enim hominem ad se gladio stricto venientem vidisset: "Tune, inquit, Marium audebis occidere?" Ille attonitus ac tremens, abjecto ferro, fugit. Marius postea, ab eis etiam, qui prius eum occidere voluerant, e carcere emissus est.

Also there was sent to kill him a public slave, a Cimbrian by nation, whom Marius deterred by the majesty of his countenance. For when he saw the man coming to him with sword drawn, “Will you,” said he, “dare to kill Marius?” He, astonished and trembling, having thrown down the iron, fled. Marius afterward was released from prison even by those who previously had wished to kill him.

Marius accepta navicula in Africam trajecit, et in agrum Carthaginiensem pervenit. Ibi cum in locis solitariis sederet, venit ad eum lictor Sextilii praetoris, qui hanc provinciam administrabat. Marius ab eo, quem nunquam laeserat, aliquod humanitatis officium exspectabat; at lictor decedere eum provincia jussit, nisi vellet in se animadverti.

Marius, having taken a little boat, crossed over into Africa, and arrived in the Carthaginian countryside. There, as he was sitting in solitary places, there came to him a lictor of the praetor Sextilius, who was administering that province. From him, whom he had never injured, Marius was expecting some office of humanity; but the lictor ordered him to depart from the province, unless he wished measures to be taken against himself.

Torvis oculis eum intuens Marius nullum dabat responsum. Interrogavit igitur eum lictor, ecquid praetori vellet renuntiari. Cui Marius: "Abi, inquit, nuntia te vidisse Caium Marium in Carthaginis magnae ruinis sedentem." Duplici exemplo insigni eum admonebat de inconstantia rerum humanarum, cum et urbis maximae excidium, et viri clarissimi casum ob oculos poneret.

Gazing at him with grim eyes, Marius gave no response. Therefore the lictor asked him whether he wished anything to be reported to the praetor. To this Marius: "Go," he said, "announce that you have seen Gaius Marius sitting amid the ruins of great Carthage." By a twofold, signal example he admonished him concerning the inconstancy of human affairs, since he set before his eyes both the destruction of a very great city and the fall of a most renowned man.

Profecto ad bellum Mithridaticum Sylla, in Italiam rediit Marius efferatus magis calamitate quam domitus. Cum exercitu Romam ingressus, eam caedibus et rapinis vastavit; omnes adversae factionis nobiles variis suppliciorum generibus affecit: quinque dies, totidemque noctes ista scelerum omnium duravit licentia. Hoc tempore admiranda sane fuit populi Romani abstinentia: cum enim Marius objecisset domos occisorum diripiendas, nemo fuit qui ullam ex his rem attingeret; quae populi misericordia erat tacita quaedam Marii crudelitatis vituperatio.

When Sulla had set out for the Mithridatic war, Marius returned into Italy, made more ferocious by his calamity than tamed. Having entered Rome with an army, he laid it waste with slaughters and rapine; he afflicted all the nobles of the opposing faction with various kinds of punishments: for five days, and just as many nights, that license of all crimes endured. At this time truly admirable was the restraint of the Roman people: for when Marius had offered up the houses of the slain to be plundered, there was no one who would touch anything of these; which compassion of the people was a certain silent censure of Marius’s cruelty.

Tandem Marius senio et laboribus confectus in morbum incidit, et ingenti omnium laetitia vitam finivit. Cujus viri si expendantur cum virtutibus vitia, haud facile dictu erit utrum in bello hostibus, an in otio civibus fuerit infestior: quam enim rempublicam contra hostes virtute servaverat, eam togatus ambitione evertit.

At length Marius, worn out by senility and labors, fell into disease, and with the ingent joy of all he finished his life. If the vices of this man be weighed with his virtues, it will hardly be easy to say whether he was more hostile to enemies in war, or to citizens in leisure: for the commonwealth which he had saved against enemies by virtue, that same one, as a man in the toga, he overturned by ambition.

Erat Mario ingenuarum artium et liberalium studiorum contemptor animus. Cum aedem Honoris de manubus hostium vovisset, spreta peregrinorum marmorum nobilitate artificumque Graecorum peritia, eam vulgari lapide per artificem Romanum curavit aedificandam. Graecas etiam litteras aspernabatur, quod, inquiebat, suis doctoribus parum ad virtutem prodessent; ad idem fortis, validus et adversus dolorem confirmatus.

Marius had a mind contemptuous of the noble arts and liberal studies. When he had vowed a temple of Honor from the spoils of enemies, spurning the nobility of foreign marbles and the expertise of Greek craftsmen, he took care to have it built of common stone by a Roman artisan. He also scorned Greek letters, because, he said, they profited too little toward virtue even for their own teachers; likewise he was brave, strong, and steeled against pain.

Cum ei varices in crure secarentur, vetuit se a alligari. Acrem tamen fuisse doloris morsum ipse ostendit; nam medico alterum crus postulanti noluit praebere, quod majorem esse remedii quam morbi dolorem judicaret.

When varices on his leg were being cut, he forbade himself to be bound. Yet he himself showed that the bite of the pain was sharp; for when the physician demanded the other leg, he refused to offer it, because he judged the pain of the remedy to be greater than that of the disease.

LUCIUS CORNELIUS SYLLA

LUCIUS CORNELIUS SULLA

Lucius Cornelius Sylla patricio genere natus, bello Jugurthino quaestor Marii fuit. Vitam antea ludo, vino, libidineque inquinatam duxerat; quapropter Marius moleste tulit quod, sibi gravissimum bellum gerenti, tam delicatus quaestor sorte obtigisset Ejusdem tamen, postquam in Africam venit, virtus enituit. Bello Cimbrico legatus consulis bonam operam navavit.

Lucius Cornelius Sulla, born of patrician stock, was quaestor to Marius in the Jugurthine war. He had previously led a life stained by gaming, wine, and lust; wherefore Marius took it ill that, as he was conducting a most grievous war, so delicate a quaestor had fallen to him by lot. Of this same man, however, after he came into Africa, his virtue shone forth. In the Cimbrian war, as legate of the consul, he rendered good service.

Consul ipse deinde factus, pulso in exsilium Mario, adversus Mithridatem profectus est; ac primum illius regis praefectos duobus proeliis profligavit; dein transgressus in Asiam, Mithridatem ipsum fudit, et oppressisset, nisi adversus Marium festinans, qualemcumque pacem maluisset componere. Mithridatem tamen pecunia multavit; Asia aliisque provinciis, quas occupaverat, decedere coegit, eumque paternis finibus contentum esse jussit.

Then, he himself made consul, with Marius driven into exile, set out against Mithridates; and at first he routed that king’s prefects in two battles; then, having crossed into Asia, he put Mithridates himself to flight, and would have crushed him, had he not, hastening against Marius, preferred to compose whatever sort of peace. Nevertheless he mulcted Mithridates in money; he compelled him to withdraw from Asia and the other provinces which he had occupied, and ordered him to be content with his paternal boundaries.

Sylla propter motus urbanos cum victore exercitu Romam properavit. Eos qui Mario favebant omnes superavit: nihil illa victoria fuit crudelius. Sylla dictator creatus novo et inaudito exemplo tabulam proscriptionis proposuit, qua nomina eorum qui occidendi essent continebantur: cumque omnium esset orta indignatio, postridie plura etiam adjecit nomma.

Sylla, on account of urban disturbances, hastened to Rome with a victorious army. He overcame all those who favored Marius: nothing was more cruel than that victory. Sylla, created dictator, by a new and unheard-of example posted a tablet of proscription, on which were contained the names of those who were to be killed: and when the indignation of all had arisen, on the next day he even added more names.

Ingens caesorum fuit multitudo. Saevitiae causam avaritia etiam praebuit, multoque plures propter divitias, quam propter odium victoris necati sunt. Civis quidam innoxius, cui fundus in agro Albano erat, legens proscriptorum nomina, se quoque adscriptum vidit: "Vae, inquit, misero mihi; me fundus Albanus persequitur!" Neque longe progressus, a quodam agnitus et percussus est.

There was a huge multitude of the slain. Avarice also provided a cause for savagery, and many more were killed on account of riches than on account of the victor’s hatred. A certain harmless citizen, who had a farm in the Alban countryside, reading the names of the proscribed, saw himself also inscribed: “Alas,” he said, “wretched me; my Alban estate is pursuing me!” And not having gone far, he was recognized by a certain person and struck down.

Depulsis prostratisque inimicorum partibus, Sylla Felicem se edicto appellavit: cumque ejus uxor geminos eodem partu tunc edidisset, puerum Faustum puellamque Faustam nominari voluit. Tum repente, contra omnium expectationem, dictaturam deposuit, dimissisque lictoribus, diu in foro deambulavit. Stupebat populus eum privatum videns cujus modo tam formidolosa fuerat potestas: quodque non minus mirandum fuit, sua ei privato non solum salus, sed etiam dignitas constitit, qui cives innumeros occiderat.

With the parties of his enemies beaten back and laid low, Sulla by an edict styled himself “Felix”; and when his wife at that time had borne twins in one delivery, he wished the boy to be named Faustus and the girl Fausta. Then suddenly, contrary to everyone’s expectation, he laid down the dictatorship, and, the lictors having been dismissed, he walked about for a long time in the forum. The people were astounded, seeing him a private man whose power had just now been so formidable; and what was no less to be wondered at, for him as a private citizen not only his safety, but even his dignity, stood firm—he who had slain innumerable citizens.

Unus tantum fuit adolescens qui auderet queri, et recedentem usque ad fores domus maledictis incessere. Cujus injurias Sylla patienti animo tulit; sed domum ingrediens dixit: "Hic adolescens efficiet ne quis posthac tale imperium deponat."

There was only one adolescent who dared to complain, and to assail him with maledictions as he was withdrawing, even up to the doors of the house. Sulla bore his injuries with a patient spirit; but, entering the house, he said: "This adolescent will bring it about that no one hereafter will lay down such imperium."

Sylla deinde in villam profectus, rusticari et venando vitam ducere coepit. Ibi morbe pediculari correptus interiit, vir ingentis animi, cupidus voluptatum, sed gloriae cupidior; litteris graecis atque latinis eruditus, et virorum litteratorum adeo amans, ut sedulitatem etiam mali cujusdam poetae aliquo praemio dignam duxerit: nam cum ille epigramma ipsi obtulisset, jussit Sylla praemium ei statim dari, ea tamen lege ne quid postea scriberet. Ante victoriam laudandus, in eis vero quae secuta sunt nunquam satis vituperandus: urbem enim et Italiam civium sanguine inundavit.

Sylla then, having set out to a villa, began to lead his life rusticating and by hunting. There, seized by a louse-disease, he perished, a man of vast spirit, desirous of pleasures, but more desirous of glory; erudite in Greek and Latin letters, and so a lover of men of letters that he judged even the assiduity of a certain bad poet worthy of some reward: for when that man had offered him an epigram, Sylla ordered a reward to be given to him at once, yet on this condition that he write nothing thereafter. Before the victory, to be praised; but in those things which followed, never enough to be censured: for he inundated the city and Italy with the blood of citizens.

Non solum in vivos saeviit, sed ne mortuis quidem pepercit; nam Caii Marii, cujus, etsi postea inimicus, aliquando tamen quaestor fuerat, erutos cineres in flumen projecit. Qua crudelitate rerum praeclare gestarum gloriam corrupit.

He raged not only against the living, but did not spare even the dead; for the ashes of Gaius Marius—of whom, although later an enemy, he had at one time been quaestor—he dug up and hurled into the river. By that cruelty he corrupted the glory of deeds splendidly accomplished.

LUCIUS LUCULLUS

Lucius Lucullus ingenio, doctrina et virtute claruit. In Asiam quaestor profectus, huic provinciae per multos annos cum laude praefuit. Postea consul factus ad Mithridaticum bellum a senatu missus, opinionem omnium, quae de virtute ejus erat, vicit: nam ab eo laus imperatoria non admodum expectabatur, qui adolescentiam in pacis artibus consumpserat; sed incredibilis quaedam ingenii magnitudo non desideravit tardam et indocilem usus disciplinam.

Lucius Lucullus was illustrious for genius, learning, and virtue. Having set out to Asia as quaestor, he presided over that province for many years with praise. Afterwards, made consul and sent by the Senate to the Mithridatic War, he surpassed the expectation of all that there was concerning his virtue: for imperatorial renown was not much expected from him who had spent his adolescence in the arts of peace; but a certain incredible greatness of genius did not require the slow and unteachable discipline of practice.

Totum iter consumpsit partim in percontando a peritis, partim in rebus gestis legendis. Habebat porro admirabilem quamdam rerum memoriam; unde factum est ut in Asiam doctus imperator venerit, cum esset Roma profectus rei militaris rudis.

He spent the whole journey partly by inquiring of the experienced, partly by reading accounts of deeds. Moreover, he had a certain admirable memory of things; whence it came about that he came into Asia a learned commander, though he had set out from Rome untrained in the military art.

Lucullus eo bello magnas ac memorabiles res gessit: Mithridatem saepe multis locis fudit, Tigranem regum maximum in Armenia vicit, ultimamque bello manum magis noluit imponere, quam non potuit; sed alioqui per omnia laudabilis, et bello paene invictus pecuniae cupidini nimium deditus fuit, quam tamen ideo expetebat, ut deinde per luxuriam effunderet; itaque postquam de Mithridate triumphasset, abjecta omnium rerum cura, coepit delicate ac molliter vivere, otioque et luxu diffluere; magnifice et immenso sumptu villas aedificavit, atque ad earum usum mare ipsum vexavit. Nam in quibusdam locis moles mari injecit, in aliis vero, suffossis montibus, mare in terras induxit; unde eum haud infacete Pompeius vocabat Xerxem togatum. Xerxes enim Persarum rex, cum pontem in Hellesponto fecisset, et ille tempestate ac fluctibus esset disjectus, jussit mari trecentos flagellorum ictus infligi, et compedes dari.

Lucullus in that war achieved great and memorable deeds: he often routed Mithridates in many places, he conquered Tigranes, greatest of kings, in Armenia, and he was rather unwilling to put the finishing hand to the war than unable; but otherwise in all respects praiseworthy, and in war almost unconquered, he was too devoted to cupidity for money, which, however, he sought for this reason, that thereafter he might pour it out in luxury; and so, after he had triumphed over Mithridates, with care for all things cast aside, he began to live delicately and softly, and to be dissolved in leisure and luxury; he built villas magnificently and at immense expense, and for their use he harried the sea itself. For in certain places he cast embankments into the sea, in others indeed, with mountains tunneled through, he led the sea into the lands; whence Pompey, not unwittily, used to call him a toga-clad Xerxes. For Xerxes, king of the Persians, when he had made a bridge on the Hellespont, and it had been torn apart by storm and waves, ordered that three hundred strokes of whips be inflicted upon the sea, and that fetters be put on it.

Habebat Lucullus villam prospectu et ambulatione pulcherrimam, quo cum venisset Pompeius, id unum reprehendit quod ea habitatio esset quidem aestate peramoena, sed hieme minus commoda videretur; cui Lucullus: "Putasne, inquit, me minus sapere quam hirundines, quae adveniente hieme sedem commutant?" Villarum magnificentiae respondebat epularum sumptus: cum aliquando modica ei, utpote soli, cena esset posita, coquum graviter objurgavit, eique excusanti ac dicenti se non debuisse lautum parare convivium, quod nemo esset ad cenam invitatus: "Quid ais, inquit iratus Lucullus, au nesciebas Lucullum hodie cenaturum esse apud Lucullum?"

Lucullus had a villa most beautiful in prospect and in promenade; to which when Pompey had come, he blamed this one thing, that that habitation was indeed very pleasant in summer, but in winter seemed less commodious; to whom Lucullus: "Do you think," said he, "that I am less wise than the swallows, who, with winter approaching, change their seat?" To the magnificence of the villas there corresponded the expense of banquets: when at some time a modest dinner had been set before him, since he was alone, he severely objurgated the cook; and to him excusing himself and saying that he ought not to have prepared a sumptuous banquet, because no one had been invited to dinner: "What are you saying," said the angry Lucullus, "or did you not know that Lucullus was going to dine today at Lucullus's?"

QUINTUS SERTORIUS

Quintus Sertorius ignobili loco natus, prima stipendia bello Cimbrico fecit, in quo honos ei virtutis causa habitus est. In prima adversus Cimbros pugna licet vulneratus, et equo amisso, Rhodanum flumen rapidissimum nando trajecit, lorica et scuto retentis. Egregia etiam fuit ejus opera bello sociali: dum enim nullum periculum refugit, alter ei oculus effossus est; idque ille non dehonestamentum ori, sed ornamentum merito arbitrabatur: dicebat enim cetera bellicae fortitudinis insignia, ut armillas, coronasve, nec semper nec ubique gestari; se vero, quotiescumque in publicum prodiret, suae virtutis pignus, vulnus scilicet ob rempublicam acceptum in ipsa fronte ostentare, nec quemquam sibi occurrere, qui non esset laudum suarum admirator.

Quintus Sertorius, born of ignoble station, performed his first campaigns in the Cimbrian war, in which honor was accorded to him for his valor. In the first battle against the Cimbri, although wounded and with his horse lost, he crossed by swimming the most rapid river Rhone, his cuirass and shield retained. His service also was distinguished in the Social War: for, since he shunned no danger, one eye was gouged out for him; and he judged that not a disfigurement of his face, but an ornament, deservedly: for he used to say that the other insignia of warlike fortitude, such as bracelets or crowns, are not worn always nor everywhere; but that he, whenever he went forth into public, displayed the pledge of his virtue, namely the wound received on behalf of the commonwealth, upon his very brow, and that no one met him who was not an admirer of his praises.

Postquam Sylla ex bello Mithridatico in Italiam reversus, coepit dominari, Sertorius qui partium Marianarum fuerat, in Hispaniam se contulit. Ibi virtutis admiratione et imperandi moderatione Hispanorum simul ac Romanorum, qui in eis locis consederant, animos sibi conciliavit, magnoque exercitu collecto, quos adversus eum Sylla miserat duces profligavit. Missus deinde a Sylla Metellus a Sertorio fusus quoque ac fugatus est.

After Sulla, having returned from the Mithridatic war to Italy, began to dominate, Sertorius, who had been of the Marian party, betook himself to Spain. There, by the admiration of his virtue and by moderation in command, he won over to himself the minds of the Spaniards as well as the Romans who had settled in those regions; and, a great army having been gathered, he overthrew the commanders whom Sulla had sent against him. Then Metellus, sent by Sulla, likewise was routed and put to flight by Sertorius.

Pompeium etiam, qui in Hispaniam venerat ut Metello opem ferret, levibus proeliis lacessivit Sertorius. Is enim non minus cautus quam acer imperator universae dimicationis discrimen vitabat, quod imparem se universo Romanorum exercitui sentiret; interim vero hostem crebris damnis fatigabat.

Sertorius also harassed Pompey, who had come into Spain to bring help to Metellus, with light skirmishes. For he, a commander no less cautious than keen, avoided the hazard of a general engagement, because he felt himself unequal to the entire army of the Romans; meanwhile, however, he wearied the enemy with frequent losses.

Cum aliquando Sertorii milites pugnam inconsulte flagitarent, nec jam eorum impetus posset cohiberi, Sertorius duos in eorum conspectu equos constituit, praevalidum alterum, alterum vero admodum exilem et imbecillum: deinde equi infirmi caudam a robusto juvene totam simul abrumpi jussit; validi autem equi singulos pilos ab imbecillo sene paulatim velli. Irritus adolescentis labor risum omnibus movit; senex autem, quamvis tremula manu, id perfecit quod imperatum sibi fuerat. Cumque milites non satis intelligerent quorsum ea res spectaret, Sertorius ad eos conversus: "Equi caudae, inquit, similis est hostium exercitus: qui partes aggreditur, facile potest opprimere; contra nihil proficiet qui universum conabitur prosternere."

When at some time Sertorius’s soldiers were rashly demanding battle, and now their onrush could no longer be restrained, Sertorius set in their sight two horses, the one very strong, but the other exceedingly slender and feeble; then he ordered the entire tail of the weak horse to be torn off at once by a robust youth, but from the strong horse that single hairs be plucked gradually by a feeble old man. The fruitless labor of the adolescent moved laughter in all; the old man, however, although with a trembling hand, accomplished what had been ordered to him. And when the soldiers did not quite understand whither that matter tended, Sertorius, turned to them, said: "The tail of the horse is like the army of the enemy: he who attacks the parts can easily overwhelm; by contrast, he who will endeavor to prostrate the whole will profit nothing."

Erat Sertorio cerva candida eximiae pulchritudinis, quae ipsi magno usui fuit, ut obsequentiores haberet milites. Hanc Sertorius assuefecerat se vocantem audire et euntem sequi. Dianae donum esse omnibus persuasit, seque ab ea moneri quae facto opus essent.

There was for Sertorius a white hind of exceptional beauty, which was of great use to him, so that he might have the soldiers more obsequious. Sertorius had accustomed this hind to hear him when he called and to follow when he went. He persuaded everyone that it was a gift of Diana, and that he was admonished by her about the things that needed to be done.

Si quid durius vellet imperare, se a cerva monitum praedicabat, statimque libentes parebant. Cerva in quadam hostium incursione amissa est ac periisse credita; quod aegerrime tulit Sertorius. Multis post diebus a quodam homine inventa est.

If he wished to command anything rather harsh, he proclaimed that he had been warned by the hind, and straightway they obeyed willingly. The hind was lost in a certain incursion of the enemy and was believed to have perished; which Sertorius bore most grievously. Many days later she was found by a certain man.

Sertorius eum, qui id sibi nuntiabat, tacere jussit, cervamque repente in locum, ubi jus reddere solebat, immitti. Ipse vultu hilari in publicum progressus, dixit sibi in quiete visam esse cervam, quae perierat, ad se reverti. Tunc emissa ex composito cerva, ubi Sertorium conspexit, laeto saltu ad tribunal fertur, ac dexteram sedentis ore lambit; undo clamor factus, ortaque omnium admiratio est.

Sertorius ordered the one who was announcing it to him to be silent, and that the doe be suddenly sent into the place where he was accustomed to render justice. He himself, with a cheerful countenance, having advanced into the public, said that in sleep the doe, which had perished, had appeared to him to return to him. Then the doe, released by prearrangement, when she caught sight of Sertorius, is borne with a joyful leap to the tribunal, and licks with her mouth the right hand of the one sitting; whence a clamor was made, and the admiration of all arose.

Victus postea a Pompeio Sertorius pristinos mores mutavit, et ad iracundiam deflexit. Multos ob suspicionem proditionis crudeliter interfecit; unde odio esse coepit exercitui. Romani moleste ferebant quod Hispanis magis quam sibi confideret, hosque haberet corporis custodes.

Defeated afterwards by Pompey, Sertorius changed his pristine manners and bent toward irascibility. Many, on suspicion of treachery, he cruelly put to death; whence he began to be hateful to the army. The Romans bore it grievously that he trusted the Spaniards more than themselves, and had these as his bodyguards.

In hac animorum aegritudine non deserebant Sertorium, quem necessarium sibi ducem judicabant, sod eum amare desierant. Deinde in Hispanos quoque saeviit Sertonus, quod ei tributa non tolerarent ipse etiam Sertorius curis jam et laboribus fessus, ad obeunda ducis munia segnior, ad luxum et libidines declinavit. Quare, alienatis omnium animis, jussa imporatoris contemnebantur; tandem facta adversus eum conjuratione, Sortorius in convivio a suis est interfectus.

In this sickness of spirits they did not desert Sertorius, whom they judged a necessary leader for themselves, but they had ceased to love him. Then Sertorius also raged against the Spaniards, because they would not tolerate the tributes; he himself too, already wearied by cares and labors, grew slower to perform a leader’s duties and declined toward luxury and lusts. Wherefore, with everyone’s spirits alienated, the orders of the commander were scorned; at length, a conspiracy having been formed against him, Sertorius was slain at a banquet by his own men.

CNAEUS POMPEIUS MAGNUS

GNAEUS POMPEIUS MAGNUS

Cnaeus Pompeius stirpis senatoriae adolescens, in bello civili se et patrem consilio servavit. Pompeii pater suo exercitui ob avaritiam erat invisus; itaque facta est in eum conspiratio. Terentius quidam, Cnaei Pompeii contubernalis, eum occidendum susceperat, dum alii tabernaculum patris incenderent.

Cnaeus Pompeius, a youth of senatorial stock, in the civil war saved himself and his father by counsel. Pompeius’s father was hated by his own army on account of avarice; and so a conspiracy was made against him. A certain Terentius, a tent-companion (contubernal) of Cnaeus Pompeius, had undertaken to kill him, while others would set the father’s tent on fire.

Quae res juveni Pompeio cenanti nuntiata est. Ipse nihil periculo motus, solito hilarius bibit, et cum Terentio eadem, qua antea, comitate usus est. Deinde cubiculum ingressus, clam subduxit se tentorio, et firmam patri circumposuit custodiam.

This matter was announced to the young Pompeius while he was dining. He himself, not at all moved by the danger, drank more merrily than usual, and used toward Terentius the same courtesy as before. Then, having entered his bedchamber, he secretly withdrew himself from the tent, and placed a strong guard around his father.

Terentius tum districto ense, ad lectum Pompeii accessit, multisque ictibus stragula percussit. Orta mox seditione, Pompeius se in media conjecit agmina, militesque tumultuantes precibus et lacrimis placavit, ac suo duci reconciliavit.

Then Terentius, with sword drawn, approached Pompey’s bed, and with many blows struck the bedclothes. With sedition soon arisen, Pompey threw himself into the midst of the ranks, and appeased the tumultuating soldiers with prayers and tears, and reconciled them to their leader.

Pompeius eodem bello civili partes Syllae secutus, ita egit, ut ab eo maxime diligeretur. Annos tres et viginti natus, ut Syllae auxilio veniret, paterni exercitus reliquias collegit, statimque dux peritus exstitit. Illius magnus apud militem amor, magna apud omnes admiratio fuit; nullus ei labor taedio, nulla defatigatio molestiae erat.

Pompey, in that same civil war, having followed the party of Sulla, conducted himself in such a way that he was most of all esteemed by him. At twenty-three years of age, in order to come to Sulla’s aid, he gathered the remnants of his father’s army, and straightway he stood forth as an expert leader. There was great love for him among the soldiery, great admiration among all; no labor was a tedium to him, no fatigue an annoyance.

Cibi vinique temperans, somni parcus, inter milites corpus exercebat. Cum alacribus saltu, cum velocibus cursu, cum validis lucta certabat. Tum ad Syllam iter intendit, non per loca devia, sed palam incedens, tres hostium exercitus aut fudit, aut sibi adjunxit.

Temperate in food and wine, sparing of sleep, he exercised his body among the soldiers. With the lively in leaping, with the swift in running, with the strong he contended in wrestling. Then he directed his march to Sulla, not through by-ways, but advancing openly, he either routed three armies of the enemy or adjoined them to himself.

Quem ubi Sylla ad se accedere audivit, egregiamque sub signis juventutem aspexit, desiliit ex equo, Pompeiumque salutavit imperatorem: deinceps ei venienti solebat assurgere de sella et caput aperire; quem honorem nemini nisi Pompeio tribuebat.

When Sulla heard that he was approaching him, and saw a distinguished body of youth under the standards, he leaped down from his horse and hailed Pompey as commander: thereafter, when he came, he was accustomed to rise from his seat and to uncover his head; an honor which he bestowed on no one except Pompey.

Postea Pompeius in Siciliam profectus est, ut eam a Carbone Syllae inimico occupatam reciperet. Carbo comprehensus, et ad Pompeium ductus est. Quem Pompeius, postquam acerbe in eum invectus fuisset, ad supplicium duci jussit.

Afterwards Pompeius set out into Sicily, to recover it from Carbo, Sylla’s enemy, by whom it had been occupied. Carbo was apprehended and led to Pompeius. Whom Pompeius, after he had bitterly inveighed against him, ordered to be led to execution.

Tunc ille, qui ter consul fuerat, demisse ac muliebriter mortem extimuit: voce flebili petiit ut sibi alvum levare liceret, sicque brevem miserrimae vitae usuram rapuit, donec miles morae impatiens caput in sordido loco sedentis amputavit. Longe moderatior fuit Pompeius erga Sthenium Siculae cujusdam civitatis principem. Cum enim in eam civitatem animadvertere decrevisset qua sibi adversata fuerat, exclamavit Sthenius, eum inique facturum si ob culpam unius omnes plecteret.

Then he, who had been consul three times, humbly and womanishly dreaded death: in a tearful voice he asked that it be permitted him to relieve his bowels, and thus he snatched a brief lease of his most wretched life, until a soldier, impatient of delay, cut off the head of the man sitting in a filthy place. Far more moderate was Pompey toward Sthenius, the chief of a certain Sicilian city. For when he had decided to proceed punitively against that city because it had opposed him, Sthenius cried out that he would be acting unjustly if, on account of the fault of one, he were to punish all.

Interroganti Pompeio quisnam ille unus esset, "Ego, inquit Sthenius, qui meos cives ad id induxi." Tam libera voce delectatus Pompeius, omnibus et Sthenio ipsi pepercit.

When Pompey asked who that one man was, “I,” said Sthenius, “who led my fellow-citizens to that.” Delighted by so free a voice, Pompey spared everyone and Sthenius himself.

Transgressus inde in Africam Pompeius, Iarbam Numidiae regem, qui Marii partibus favebat, bello persecutus est. Intra dies quadraginta hostem oppressit, et Africam subegit adolescens quattuor et viginti annorum. Tum ei litterae a Sylla redditae sunt, quibus jubebatur exercitum dimittere, et cum una tantum legione successorem exspectare.

Pompey, having crossed over thence into Africa, pursued in war Iarbas, king of Numidia, who was favoring Marius’s party. Within forty days he overwhelmed the enemy, and subdued Africa, a youth of twenty-four years. Then letters were delivered to him from Sulla, in which he was ordered to disband the army and, with only one legion, to await his successor.

Id aegre tulit Pompeius paruit: tamen, et Romam reversus est. Revertenti incredibilis multitudo obviam ivit. Sylla quoque eum laetus excepit, et Magni cognomine appellavit: nihilominus Pompeio triumphum petenti restitit; neque ea re a proposito deterritus est Pompeius; aususque est dicere plures solem orientem adorare, quam occidentem: quo dicto innuebat Syllae potentiam minui, suam vero crescere.

Pompey bore that with difficulty; nevertheless he obeyed, and returned to Rome. As he was returning, an incredible multitude went to meet him. Sylla also received him gladly, and addressed him by the cognomen Magnus; nonetheless he resisted Pompey as he sought a triumph; nor was Pompey by that matter deterred from his purpose; and he even dared to say that more people adore the rising sun than the setting: by which saying he was hinting that Sylla’s power was being diminished, but his own was truly growing.

Ea voce audita, Sylla juvenis constantiam admiratus, exclamavit: Triumphet, triumphet.

On hearing that utterance, Sulla, admiring the young man’s constancy, exclaimed: Let him triumph, let him triumph.

Metello jam seni et bellum in Hispania segnius gerenti collega datus est Pompeius, ibique adversus Sertorium vario eventu dimicavit. In quodam proelio maximum subiit periculum: cum enim in eum vir vasta corporis magnitudine impetum fecisset, Pompeius manum hostis amputavit, sed multis in eum concurrentibus, vulnus in femore accepit, et a suis fugientibus desertus in hostium potestate erat. At praeter spem evasit: illi scilicet equum Pompeii auro phalerisque eximiis instructum ceperant.

Pompey was given as colleague to Metellus, now an old man and waging the war in Spain more sluggishly; and there he fought against Sertorius with various outcome. In a certain battle he underwent the utmost peril: for when a man of vast magnitude of body had made an attack upon him, Pompey amputated the foe’s hand; but as many were running together against him, he received a wound in the thigh, and, deserted by his own who were fleeing, he was in the enemies’ power. Yet beyond hope he escaped: namely, they had seized Pompey’s horse, adorned with gold and with exquisite phalerae.

Dum vero praedam inter se altercantes partiuntur, Pompeius illorum manus effugit. Altero proelio, cum Metellus Pompeio laboranti auxilio venisset, fususque esset Sertorii exercitus, is dixisse fertur: "Nisi ista anus supervenisset, ego hunc puerum verberibus castigatum Romam dimisissem." Metellum anum appellabat, quia is jam senex ad mollem et effeminatam vitam deflexerat. Tandem Sortorio interfecto Pompeius Hispaniam recepit.

Dum vero, while they were partitioning the booty, altercating among themselves, Pompey escaped their hands. In another battle, when Metellus had come as aid to the struggling Pompey, and Sertorius’s army had been routed, he is reported to have said: “Unless that old woman had come upon the scene, I would have sent this boy to Rome, chastised with beatings.” He was calling Metellus an old woman, because he, now an old man, had turned aside to a soft and effeminate life. At length, with Sertorius slain, Pompey recovered Spain.

Cum piratae maria omnia infestarent, et quasdam etiam Italiae urbes diripuissent, ad eos opprimendos, cum imperio extraordinario missus est Pompeius. Nimiae viri potentiae obsistebant quidam ex optimatibus, et imprimis Quintus Catulus; qui cum in contione dixisset esse quidem praeclarum virum Cnaeum Pompeium, sed non esse uni omnia tribuenda, adjecissetque: "Si quid ei acciderit, ecquemnam in ejus locum substituetis?"

When the pirates were infesting all the seas, and had even sacked certain cities of Italy, Pompeius was sent with an extraordinary imperium to suppress them. Some of the Optimates were resisting the excessive power of the man, and especially Quintus Catulus; who, when in an assembly he had said that Gnaeus Pompeius was indeed a very illustrious man, but that everything ought not to be attributed to one person, and had added: "If anything should befall him, whom, pray, will you put in his place?"

Acclamavit universa contio: "Te ipsum, Quinte Catule." Tam honorifico civium testimonio victus Catulus e contione discessit. Pompeius, disposito per omnes maris recessus navium praesidio, brevi terrarum orbem illa peste liberavit; praedones multis locis victos fudit; eosdem in deditionem acceptos in urbibus et agris procul a mari collocavit. Nihil hac victoria celerius; nam intra quadragesimum diem piratas toto mari expulit.

The entire assembly acclaimed: "You yourself, Quintus Catulus." Overcome by so honorable a testimony of the citizens, Catulus departed from the assembly. Pompey, with a guard of ships stationed throughout all the recesses of the sea, in a short time freed the world from that pestilence; he routed the pirates, defeated in many places; the same men, received in surrender, he settled in cities and fields far from the sea. Nothing was swifter than this victory; for within the 40th day he expelled the pirates from the whole sea.

Confecto bello piratico, Cnaeus Pompeius contra Mithridatem profectus est, et in Asiam magna celeritate contendit. Proelium cum rege conserere cupiebat, neque opportuna dabatur pugnandi facultas, quia Mithridates interdiu castris se continebat, noctu vero haud tutum orat congredi cum hoste in locis ignotis. Quadam tamon nocto Mithridatem Pompeius aggressus est.

With the pirate war completed, Cnaeus Pompeius set out against Mithridates, and with great celerity hastened into Asia. He was eager to join battle with the king, yet no opportune opportunity for fighting was afforded, because Mithridates kept himself within the camp by day, while by night, indeed, it was not safe to meet the enemy in unknown places. However, on a certain night Pompeius attacked Mithridates.

Luna magno fuit Romanis adjumento: nam cum eam Romani a tergo haberent, umbrae corporum longius projectae ad primos usque hostium ordines pertinebant; unde decepti regii milites, in umbras tanquam in propinquum hostem tela mittebant. Victus Mithridates in Pontum profugit. Adversus eum filius Pharnaces rebellavit, quia, occisis a patre fratribus, vitae suae ipse timebat.

The Moon was a great help to the Romans: for when the Romans had it at their back, the shadows of their bodies, projected farther, reached even to the foremost ranks of the enemy; whence the royal soldiers, deceived, were hurling missiles into the shadows as though at a nearby foe. Mithridates, defeated, fled into Pontus. Against him his son Pharnaces rebelled, because, with his brothers slain by their father, he himself was afraid for his life.

Mithridates a filio obsessus venenum sumpsit, quod cum tardius subiret, quia adversus venena multis antea medicaminibus corpus firmaverat, a milite Gallo volens interfectus est.

Besieged by his son, Mithridates took poison; but since it entered more slowly—because he had fortified his body against poisons with many medicaments beforehand—he was, willingly, slain by a Gallic soldier.

Pompeius deinde Tigranem Armeniae regem, qui Mithridatis partes secutus fuerat, ad deditionem compulit; quem tamen ad genua procumbentem erexit, benignis verbis recreavit, et in regnum restituit, aeque pulchrum esse judicans et vincere reges et facere. Tandem rebus Asiae compositis in Italiam rediit. Ad urbem venit, non, ut plerique timuerant, armatus, sed demisso exercitu, et tertium triumphum biduo duxit.

Pompey then compelled Tigranes, king of Armenia, who had followed the party of Mithridates, to surrender; yet him, as he was prostrating himself at his knees, he raised up, heartened him with benign words, and restored him to his kingdom, judging it equally fair both to conquer kings and to make them. At length, the affairs of Asia having been settled, he returned to Italy. He came to the city, not, as very many had feared, armed, but with his army dismissed, and he led a third triumph in two days.

Insignis fuit multis novis inusitatisque ornamentis hic triumphus; sed nihil illustrius visum, quam quod tribus triumphis tres orbis partes devictae causam praebuerunt Pompeius enim, quod antea contigerat nemini, primo ex Africa, iterum ex Europa, tertio ex Asia triumphavit, felix opinione hominum futurus, si quem gloriae, eumdem vitae finem habuisset, neque adversam fortunam esset expertus jam senex.

This triumph was distinguished by many new and unaccustomed adornments; but nothing seemed more illustrious than that the three parts of the world, subdued, furnished the occasion for three triumphs: for Pompey—what had previously happened to no one—triumphed first from Africa, again from Europe, third from Asia, destined to be happy in the opinion of men, if he had had the same end of life as of glory, and had not experienced adverse fortune, now an old man.

SECUNDUM CIVILE BELLUM

THE SECOND CIVIL WAR

Postea orta est inter Pompeium et Caesarem gravis dissensio, quod hic superiorem, ille vero parem ferre non posset: et inde bellum civile exarsit. Caesar cum infesto exercitu in Italiam venit. Pompeius relicta urbe ac deinde Italia ipsa, Thessaliam petiit, et cum eo consules senatusque omnis: quem insecutus Caesar apud Pharsaliam acie fudit.

Afterward a grave dissension arose between Pompey and Caesar, because the latter could not endure a superior, while the former could not endure an equal; and thence the civil war blazed forth. Caesar came into Italy with a hostile army. Pompey, the city abandoned and then Italy itself, made for Thessaly, and with him the consuls and the whole senate; whom, having pursued, Caesar routed in battle at Pharsalus.

Victus Pompeius ad Ptolemaeum Alexandriae regem, cui tutor a senatu datus fuerat, profugit; sed ille Pompeium interfici jussit. Latus Pompeii sub oculis uxoris et liberorum mucrone confossum est, caput abscissum, truncus in Nilum conjectus. Dein caput velamine involutum ad Caesarem delatum est, qui eo viso lacrimas fudit, et illud multis pretiosissimisque odoribus cremandum curavit.

Defeated, Pompey fled to Ptolemy, king of Alexandria, to whom a guardian had been assigned by the Senate; but he ordered Pompey to be killed. Pompey’s side, under the eyes of his wife and children, was pierced through by the blade, his head cut off, his trunk cast into the Nile. Then the head, wrapped in a veil, was borne to Caesar, who, on seeing it, shed tears, and took care that it be burned with many and most precious perfumes.

Is fuit viri praestantissimi post tres consulatus et totidem triumphos vitae exitus. Erant in Pompeio multae ac magnae virtutes, ac praecipue admiranda frugalitas. Cum ei aegrotanti praecepisset modicus ut turdum ederet, negarent autem servi eam avem usquam aestivo tempore posse reperiri, nisi apud Lucullum, qui turdos domi saginaret, vetuit Pompeius turdum inde peti, medicoque dixit: "Ergo nisi Lucullus perditus deliciis esset, non viveret Pompeius?" Aliam avem, quae parabilis esset, sibi jussit apponi.

Such was the end of life of a most outstanding man, after three consulships and just as many triumphs. There were in Pompey many and great virtues, and especially an admirable frugality. When, as he was ill, a physician had prescribed that he should eat a thrush, but the slaves said that that bird could nowhere be found in summertime except at Lucullus’s, who fattened thrushes at home, Pompey forbade a thrush to be sought from there, and said to the doctor: “So unless Lucullus were ruined by delicacies, would Pompey not live?” He ordered another bird, which was procurable, to be set before him.

Viris doctis magnum honorem habebat Pompeius. Ex Syria decedens, confecto bello Mithridatico, cum Rhodum venisset, nobilissimum philosophum Posidonium cupiit audire: sed cum is diceretur tunc graviter aegrotare, quod maximis podagrae doloribus cruciabatur, voluit saltem Pompeius eum visere. Mos erat ut, consule aedes aliquas ingressuro, lictor fores virga percuteret, admonens consulem adesse: at Pompeius vetuit fores Posidonii percuti, honoris causa.

Pompey held great honor for learned men. Departing from Syria, the Mithridatic war having been completed, when he had come to Rhodes, he desired to hear the most noble philosopher Posidonius; but since he was then said to be gravely ill, because he was racked by the greatest pains of podagra (gout), Pompey wished at least to visit him. It was the custom that, when a consul was about to enter some house, the lictor would strike the doors with his rod, giving notice that the consul was present; but Pompey forbade the doors of Posidonius to be struck, for the sake of honor.

Quem ut vidit et salutavit, moleste se ferre dixit, quod eum non posset audire. At ille: "Tu vero, inquit, potes, nec committam ut dolor corporis efficiat ut frustra tantus vir ad me venerit." Itaque cubans graviter et copioso disseruit de hoc ipso: nihil esse bonum nisi quod honestum esset, et nihil malum dici posse quod turpe non esset. Cum vero dolor interdum acriter eum pungeret, saepe dixit: "Nihil agis, dolor, quamvis sis molestus; nunquam te esse malum confitebor"

When he saw him and greeted him, he said that he was taking it hard, that he could not hear him. But he: "Indeed you can," he said, "nor will I allow that pain of the body bring it about that so great a man has come to me in vain." Therefore, reclining, he discoursed gravely and copiously about this very thing: that nothing is good except what is honorable, and that nothing can be called evil which is not turpid (base). And when in fact the pain sometimes stabbed him sharply, he often said: "You achieve nothing, Pain, although you are troublesome; never will I confess that you are an evil."

CAIUS JULIUS CAESAR

Caius Julius Caesar nobilissima genitus familia, annum agens sextum et decimum, patrem amisit: paulo post Corneliam duxit uxorem, cujus cum pater esset Syllae inimicus, voluit Sylla Caesarem compellere, ut eam dimitteret; neque id potuit efficere. Ob eam causam Caesar bonis spoliatus, cum etiam ad mortem quaereretur, mutata veste, noctu elapsus est ex urbe, et quanquam tunc quartanae morbo laboraret, prope per singulas noctes latebras commutare cogebatur; sic quoque comprehensus a Syllae liberto, vix data pecunia evasit. Postremo per proximos suos veniam impetravit, diu repugnante Sylla, qui cum deprecantibus ornatissimis viris denegasset, atque illi pertinaciter contenderent, expugnatus tandem dixit eum, quem salvum tantopore cuperent, aliquando optimatum partibus, quas simul defendissent, exitio futurum, multosque in eo puero inesse Marios.

Gaius Julius Caesar, born of a most noble family, at the age of 16 lost his father. A little after he took Cornelia as wife; and since her father was an enemy to Sulla, Sulla wished to compel Caesar to dismiss her; nor could he effect this. For that cause Caesar, despoiled of his goods, and even sought for death, with his clothing changed slipped out of the city by night; and although at that time he was laboring under a quartan fever, he was forced to change hiding-places almost every single night; even so, seized by Sulla’s freedman, he scarcely escaped by money given. At last, through his nearest kin, he obtained pardon, Sulla long resisting; who, when he had denied it to the most adorned (i.e., distinguished) men interceding, and they persisted pertinaciously, at length, overborne, said that the man whom they so greatly desired to preserve would someday be the ruin of the party of the Optimates, which they had defended together, and that in that boy there were many Mariuses.

Caesar, mortuo Sylla et composita seditione civili, Rhodum secedere statuit, ut per otium Apollonio, tunc clarissimo dicendi magistro, operam daret; sed in itinere a piratis captus est, mansitque apud eos quadraginta dies. Ita porro per illud omne spatium se gessit, ut piratis terrori pariter ac venerationi esset; atque ne eis suspicionem ullam daret, qui oculis tantummodo eum custodiebant, nunquam aut nocte, aut die excalceatus est. Interim comites servosque dimiserat ad expediendas pecunias quibus redimeretur.

Caesar, with Sulla dead and the civil sedition composed, decided to withdraw to Rhodes, so that in leisure he might devote his effort to Apollonius, then a most renowned master of speaking; but on the journey he was captured by pirates, and he remained with them for forty days. Moreover, throughout that whole span he conducted himself in such a manner that he was to the pirates alike a terror and a veneration; and lest he give them any suspicion, who were guarding him only with their eyes, he was never unshod either by night or by day. Meanwhile he had sent away his companions and slaves to expedite the monies by which he might be redeemed.

Viginti talenta piratae postulaverant; ille vero quinquaginta daturum se spopondit. Quibus numeratis, expositus est in litore. Caesar liberatus confestim Miletum, quae urbs proxime aberat, properavit; ibique contracta classe stantes adhuc in eodem loco praedones noctu adortus, aliquot naves, mersis aliis, cepit, piratasque ad deditionem redactos eo affecit supplicia quod illis saepe per jocum minatus fuerat dum ab eis detineretur; crucibus illos suffigi jussit.

The pirates had demanded 20 talents; he, however, pledged that he would give 50. When these were counted out, he was set ashore. Caesar, once freed, immediately hastened to Miletus, a city which lay nearest; and there, a fleet having been gathered, attacking by night the freebooters still lingering in the same place, he took several ships, others having been sunk, and the pirates, reduced to surrender, he subjected to the punishment which he had often, in jest, threatened them with while he was detained by them: he ordered them to be fastened to crosses.

Julius Caesar quaestor factus in Hispaniam profectus est; cumque Alpes transiret, et ad conspectum pauperis cujusdam vici comites ejus per jocum inter se disputarent an illic etiam esset ambitioni locus, serio dixit Caesar malle se ibi primum esse quam Romae secundum. Ita animus dominationis avidus a prima aetate regnum concupiscebat, semperque in ore habebat hos Euripidis, Graeci poetae, versus: Nam si violandum est jus; regnandi gratia violandum est: aliis rebus pietatem colas. Cum vero Gades, quod est Hispaniae oppidum, venisset, visa Alexandri Magni imagine, ingemuit, et lacrimas fudit: causam quaerentibus amicis: "Nonne, inquit, idonea dolendi causa est, quod nihildum memorabile gesserim, eam aetatem adeptus qua Alexander jam terrarum orbem subegerat?"

Julius Caesar, having been made quaestor, set out into Spain; and when he was crossing the Alps, and at the sight of a certain poor village his companions, in jest, were disputing among themselves whether there too there were a place for ambition, Caesar said in earnest that he preferred to be first there than second at Rome. Thus a mind avid for domination from his earliest age was coveting kingship, and he always had on his lips these verses of Euripides, a Greek poet: For if right must be violated, for the sake of reigning it must be violated; in other matters cultivate piety. But when he had come to Gades, which is a town of Spain, seeing an image of Alexander the Great, he groaned and shed tears; and to his friends asking the cause, he said: "Is it not an adequate cause for grieving, that I, having as yet done nothing memorable, have attained that age at which Alexander had already subdued the orb of the lands?"

Julius Caesar in captanda plebis gratia, et ambiendis honoribus patrimonium effudit: aere alieno oppressus ipse dicebat sibi opus esse millies sestertium, ut haberet nihil. His artibus consulatum adeptus est; collegaque ei datus Marcus Bibulus, cui Caesaris consilia haud placebant. Inito magistratu, Caesar legem agrariam tulit, hoc est de dividendo egenis civibus agro publico: cui legi cum senatus repugnaret, Caesar rem ad populum detulit.

Julius Caesar, in capturing the favor of the plebs and canvassing for honors, poured out his patrimony; oppressed by debt, he himself used to say that he needed 1,000,000 sesterces, in order that he might have nothing. By these arts he obtained the consulship; and Marcus Bibulus was given to him as colleague, to whom Caesar’s counsels were by no means pleasing. With the magistracy entered, Caesar brought forward an agrarian law, that is, about dividing the public land to needy citizens; and when the senate resisted this law, Caesar referred the matter to the people.

Bibulus collega in forum venit ut legi ferendae obsisteret, sed tanta commota est seditio, ut in caput consulis cophinus stercore plenus effunderetur, fascesque frangerentur. Tandem Bibulus a satellitibus Caesaris foro expulsus, domi se continere per reliquum anni tempus coactus est, curiaque abstinere. Interea unus Caesar omnia ad arbitrium in republica administravit: unde quidam homines faceti, quae eo anno gesta sunt, non ut mos erat, consulibus Caesare et Bibulo acta esse dicebant, sed Julio et Caesare, unum consulem nomine et cognomine pro duobus appellantes.

Bibulus the colleague came into the forum to oppose the carrying of the law, but so great a sedition was stirred up that a basket full of dung was poured upon the head of the consul, and the fasces were broken. At last Bibulus, expelled from the forum by Caesar’s bodyguards, was compelled to keep himself at home for the remainder of the year’s time, and to abstain from the curia. Meanwhile Caesar alone administered everything in the republic at his discretion; whence certain facetious men said that the things which were transacted in that year were done, not, as was the custom, under the consuls Caesar and Bibulus, but under Julius and Caesar, calling a single consul by name and cognomen in place of two.

Julius Caesar functus consulatu, Galliam provinciam sorte obtinuit. Gessit autem novem annis, quibus in imperio fuit, haec fere. Galliam in provinciae Romanae formam redegit; Germanos, qui trans Rhenum incolunt, primus Romanorum ponte fabricato aggressus, maximis affecit cladibus.

Julius Caesar, having discharged the consulship, obtained the province of Gaul by lot. He accomplished, moreover, in the nine years during which he was in command, roughly the following: he reduced Gaul into the form of a Roman province; the Germans, who dwell across the Rhine, he—first among the Romans—after a bridge had been fabricated, attacked, and he afflicted them with very great defeats.

Britannos antea ignotos vicit, eisque pecunias et obsides imperavit; quo in bello multa Caesaris facta egregia narrantur. Inclinante in fugam exercitu, rapuit e manu militis fugientis scutum, et in primam aciem volitans, pugnam restituit. In alio proelio aquiliferum terga vertentem faucibus comprehendit, in contrariam partem retraxit, dexteramque ad hostem protendens: "Quorsum tu, inquit, abis?

He conquered the Britons, previously unknown, and imposed money and hostages upon them; in which war many illustrious deeds of Caesar are recounted. As the army inclined toward flight, he snatched the shield from the hand of a fleeing soldier, and, darting into the front line, restored the fight. In another battle he seized by the throat the eagle-bearer (standard-bearer) who was turning his back, dragged him in the opposite direction, and stretching his right hand toward the enemy: “Whither, he said, are you going?”

Illic sunt cum quibus dimicamus." Quo facto militibus animos addidit.

"There are those with whom we fight." By this deed he added courage to the soldiers.

Caesar cum adhuc in Gallia detineretur, ne imperfecto bello discederet, postulavit ut sibi liceret, quamvis absenti, secundum consulatum petere; quod ei a senatu est negatum. Ea re commotus in Italiam rediit, armis injuriam acceptam vindicaturus, plurimisque urbibus occupatis Brundusium contendit, quo Pompeius consulesque confugerant. Tunc summa audaciae facinus Caesar edidit: a Brundusio Dyrrachium inter oppositas classes gravissima hieme transmisit, cessantibusque copiis quas subsequi jusserat, cum ad eas arcessendas frustra misisset, morae impatiens, castris noctu egreditur, clam solus naviculam conscendit obvoluto capite, ne agnosceretur.

While Caesar was still being detained in Gaul, lest he depart with the war unfinished, he requested that it be permitted to him, although absent, to seek the second consulship; which was denied him by the Senate. Stirred by this matter, he returned into Italy, to vindicate by arms the injury received, and, many cities having been occupied, he hastened to Brundisium, whither Pompey and the consuls had taken refuge. Then Caesar produced a feat of the highest audacity: from Brundisium to Dyrrachium he crossed, between opposing fleets, in the most severe winter; and as the forces which he had ordered to follow were delaying, when he had sent in vain to summon them, impatient of delay, he goes forth from camp by night, secretly alone boards a little skiff with his head wrapped up, lest he be recognized.

Mare adverso vento vehementer flante intumescebat; in altum tamen protinus dirigi navigium jubet; cumque gubernator paene obrutus fluctibus adversae tempestati cederet, "Quid times? ait: Caesarem vehis."

The sea was swelling as an adverse wind blew vehemently; nevertheless he orders the vessel to be directed straight into the deep; and when the helmsman, almost overwhelmed by the waves, was yielding to the adverse tempest, “Why do you fear?” he said: “You are conveying Caesar.”

Deinde Caesar Thessaliam petiit, ubi Pompeium Pharsalico proelio fudit, fugientem persecutus est, eumque in itinere cognovit occisum fuisse. Tum bellum Ptolomaeo Pompeii interfectori intulit, a quo sibi quoque insidias parari videbat; quo victo, Caesar in Pontum transiit, Pharnacemque Mithridatis filium rebellantem aggressus, intra quintum ab adventu diem, quattuor vero quibus in conspectum venerat horis, uno proelio profligavit. Quam victoriae celeritatem inter triumphandum notavit inscripto inter pompae ornamenta trium verborum titulo, "Veni, vidi, vici". Sua deinceps Caesarem ubique comitata est fortuna.

Then Caesar made for Thessaly, where he routed Pompey in the Pharsalic battle, pursued him as he fled, and learned on the journey that he had been slain. Then he brought war against Ptolemy, the murderer of Pompey, by whom he saw ambushes were also being prepared against himself; and, with him conquered, Caesar crossed into Pontus and attacked Pharnaces, the son of Mithridates, rebelling; within the fifth day from his arrival, indeed within four hours from when he had come into view, he crushed him in a single battle. He noted such celerity of victory while triumphing, with a title of three words inscribed among the ornaments of the pomp, "I came, I saw, I conquered." Thereafter Fortune attended Caesar everywhere.

Scipionem et Jubam Numidiae regem, reliquias Pompeianarum partium in Africa refoventes, devicit. Pompeii liberos in Hispania superavit. Clementer usus est victoria, et omnibus qui contra se arma tulerant pepercit.

He defeated Scipio and Juba, king of Numidia, who were reviving the remnants of the Pompeian party in Africa. He overcame Pompey’s children in Hispania. He used victory with clemency, and spared all who had borne arms against him.

Regressus in urbem quinquies triumphavit.

Having returned into the city, he triumphed five times.

Bellis civilibus confectis, Caesar dictator in perpetuum creatus agere insolentius coepit: senatum ad se venientem sedens excepit, et quemdam ut assurgeret monentem irato vultu respexit: cum Antonius, Caesaris in omnibus expeditionibus comes, et tunc in consulatu collega, ei in sella aurea sedenti pro rostris diadema, insigne regium, imponeret, non visus est eo facto offensus. Quare conjuratum est in eum a sexaginta et amplius viris, Cassio et Bruto ducibus conspirationis. Cum igitur Caesar idibus martiis in senatum venisset, assidentem specie officii circumsteterunt, illicoque unus e conjuratis, quasi aliquid rogaturus, propius accessit, renuentique togam ab utroque humero apprehendit.

With the civil wars finished, Caesar, created dictator in perpetuity, began to act more insolently: he received the senate, as it came to him, sitting, and looked back with an angry expression at a certain man who was admonishing him to rise; when Antony, Caesar’s companion in all expeditions and then his colleague in the consulship, placed upon him, as he sat on a golden chair before the rostra, a diadem, a regal insignia, he did not seem offended by that deed. Wherefore a conspiracy was formed against him by sixty and more men, with Cassius and Brutus the leaders of the conspiracy. When therefore Caesar had come into the senate on the Ides of March, they surrounded him as he sat, under a show of duty, and immediately one of the conspirators, as if about to ask for something, approached nearer, and, as he refused, seized his toga by both shoulders.

Deinde clamantem: "Ista quidem vis est", Cassius vulnerat paulo infra jugulum. Caesar Cassii brachium arreptum graphio trajecit, conatusque prosilire aliud vulnus accepit. Cum Marcum Brutum, quem loco filii habebat, in se irruentem vidisset, dixit: "Tu quoque fili mi!" Dein ubi animadvertit undique se strictis pugionibus peti, toga caput obvolvit, atque ita tribus et viginti plagis confossus est.

Then, as he was shouting, "This indeed is violence," Cassius wounds him a little below the throat. Caesar, having seized Cassius’s arm, pierced it with a stylus, and, trying to spring forward, received another wound. When he saw Marcus Brutus, whom he held in the place of a son, rushing upon him, he said: "You too, my son!" Then, when he noticed that from all sides he was being attacked with drawn daggers, he veiled his head with his toga, and thus was pierced with twenty-three wounds.

Erat Caesar excelsa statura, nigris vegetisque oculis, capite calvo: quam calvitii deformitatem aegre ferebat, quod saepe obtrectantium jocis esset obnoxia. Itaque ex omnibus honoribus sibi a senatu populoque decretis non aliud recepit aut usurpavit libentius, quam jus laureae perpetuo gestandae. Eum vini parcissimum fuisse ne inimici quidem negarunt: unde Cato dicere solebat unum ex omnibus Caesarem ad evertendam rempublicam sobrium accessisse.

Caesar was of lofty stature, with black and lively eyes, and with a bald head: which deformity of baldness he bore ill, because it was often obnoxious to the jests of detractors. And so, out of all the honors decreed to him by the senate and the people, he accepted or exercised none more willingly than the right of wearing the laurel perpetually. That he was very sparing of wine not even his enemies denied; whence Cato used to say that, of all men, Caesar alone had approached, sober, to overturn the republic.

Armorum et equitandi peritissimus erat; laboris ultra fidem patiens: in agmine nonnunquam equo, saepius pedibus anteibat, capite detecto, sive sol, sive imber esset. Longissimas vias incredibili celeritate confecit, ita ut persaepe nuntios de se praevenerit, neque eum morabantur flumina, quae vel nando vel innixus inflatis utribus trajiciebat.

He was most skillful in arms and in equitation; enduring toil beyond belief: on the march he would sometimes go ahead on horseback, more often on foot, with head uncovered, whether it was sun or rain. He completed the longest roads with incredible celerity, so that very often he outstripped the messengers about himself, nor did rivers delay him, which he crossed either by swimming or leaning upon inflated skins.

MARCUS CATO UTICENSIS

MARCUS CATO OF UTICA

Marcus Cato, adhuc puer, invictum animi robur ostendit. Cum in domo Drusi avunculi sui educaretur, Latini de civitate impetranda Romam venerunt. Popedius Latinorum princeps, qui Drusi hospes erat, Catonem puerum rogavit ut Latinos apud avunculum adjuvaret.

Marcus Cato, still a boy, displayed an unconquered strength of spirit. While he was being educated in the house of his uncle Drusus, the Latins came to Rome to obtain citizenship. Popedius, the leader of the Latins, who was a guest of Drusus, asked the boy Cato to aid the Latins before his uncle.

Cato vultu constanti negavit id se facturum. Iterum deinde ac saepius interpellatus in proposito perstitit. Tunc Popedius puerum in excelsam aedium partem levatum tenuit, et abjecturum inde se minatus est, nisi precibus obtemperaret; neque hoc metu a sententia eum potuit dimovere.

Cato, with a steadfast countenance, denied that he would do it. Again then and more often, being importuned, he persisted in his purpose. Then Popedius held the boy, lifted to a lofty part of the house, and threatened that he would throw him down from there unless he obeyed the entreaties; nor by this fear could he move him from his resolve.

Tunc Popedius exclamasse fertur: "Gratulemur nobis, Latini, hunc esse tam parvum; si enim senator esset, ne sperare quidem jus civitatis nobis liceret."

Then Popedius is said to have exclaimed: "Let us congratulate ourselves, Latins, that this boy is so small; for if he were a senator, it would not even be permitted us to hope for the right of citizenship."

Cato, cum salutandi gratia ad Syllam a paedagogo duceretur, et in atrio cruenta proscriptorum capita vidisset, Syllae crudelitatem exsecratus est; seque eodem esse animo significavit, quo puer alius nomine Cassius, qui tunc publicam scholam cum Fausto Syllae filio frequentabat. Cum enim Faustus proscriptionem paternam in schola laudaret, diceretque se, cum per aetatem posset, eamdem rem esse facturum, ei sodalis gravem colaphum impegit.

Cato, when for the sake of greeting he was being led to Sulla by his pedagogue, and in the atrium had seen the blood-stained heads of the proscribed, execrated Sulla’s cruelty; and he indicated that he was of the same spirit as another boy named Cassius, who at that time was frequenting the public school together with Faustus, the son of Sulla. For when Faustus was praising in school his father’s proscription, and was saying that he, when by age he could, would do the same thing, his companion planted on him a heavy cuff.

Insignis fuit et ad imitandum proponenda Catonis erga fratrem benevolentia. Cum enim interrogaretur quem omnium maxime diligeret, respondit, fratrem. Iterum interrogatus quem secundum maxime diligeret, iterum fratrem respondit.

Cato’s benevolence toward his brother was notable and to be proposed for imitation. For when he was interrogated whom of all he loved most, he responded, his brother. Again interrogated whom he loved second most, again he responded, his brother.

Quaerenti tertio idem responsum dedit, donec ille a percunctando desisteret. Crevit cum aetate ille Catonis in fratrem amor: ab ejus latere non discedebat; ei in omnibus rebus morem gerebat. Annos natus viginti nunquam sine fratre cenaverat, nunquam in forum prodierat, nunquam iter susceperat.

To the one asking a third time he gave the same answer, until that man desisted from questioning. With age that love of Cato toward his brother grew: he did not depart from his side; he deferred to him in all matters. At twenty years of age he had never dined without his brother, never gone forth into the forum, never undertaken a journey.

Diversum tamen erat utriusque ingenium: in utroque probi mores erant, sed Catonis indoles severior.

Yet the temperament of each was diverse: in each there were upright mores, but Cato’s disposition was more severe.

Cato, cum frater, qui erat tribunus militum, ad bellum profectus esset, ne eum desereret, voluntana stipendia fecit. Accidit postea ut Catonis frater in Asiam proficisci cogeretur, et iter faciens in morbum incideret: quod ubi audivit Cato, licet tunc gravis tempestas saeviret, neque parata esse magna navis, solvit e portu Thessalonicae exigua navicula cum duobus tantum amicis tribusque servis, et paene haustus fluctibus tandem praeter spem incolumis evasit. At fratrem modo defunctum vita reperit.

Cato, when his brother, who was a tribune of the soldiers, had set out to war, so that he might not desert him, did volunteer service. It happened afterwards that Cato’s brother was compelled to set out into Asia, and, making the journey, fell into illness: which when Cato heard, although at that time a heavy tempest was raging, nor was a great ship prepared, he set sail from the port of Thessalonica in a tiny little boat with only two friends and three slaves, and, almost swallowed by the waves, at length, beyond hope, he escaped unharmed. But he found his brother only just departed from life.

Tunc questibus et lacrimis totum se tradidit: mortui corpus quam magnificentissimo potuit funere extulit, et marmoreum tumulum exstrui curavit suis impensis. Vela deinde daturus, cum suaderent amici ut fratris reliquias in alio navigio poneret, animam se prius quam illas relicturum respondit, atque ita solvit.

Then with lamentations and tears he gave himself over entirely: he bore forth the body of the dead man with as magnificent a funeral as he could, and took care at his own expense that a marble tomb be built. Then, about to give the sails, when friends were urging him to place his brother’s remains on another ship, he replied that he would sooner leave his soul than them, and thus he cast off.

Cato quaestor in insulam Cyprum missus est ad colligendam Ptolemaei regis pecuniam, a quo populus Romanus haeres institutus fuerat. Integerrima fide eam rem administravit. Summa longe major, quam quisquam sperare potuisset, redacta est.

Cato, as quaestor, was sent to the island Cyprus to collect King Ptolemy’s money, by whom the Roman People had been instituted as heir. He administered that affair with the utmost integrity. A sum far greater than anyone could have hoped was realized.

Fere septem milia talentorum navibus imposuit Cato: atque ut naufragii pericula vitaret, singulis vasis, quibus inclusa erat pecunia, corticem suberis longo funiculo alligavit, ut si forte mersum navigium esset, locum amissae pecuniae cortex supernatans indicaret. Catoni advenienti senatus et tota ferme civitas obviam effusa est, nec erat res triumpho absimilis. Actae sunt Catoni a senatu gratiae, praeturaque illi et jus spectandi ludos praetextato extra ordinem data.

Cato loaded nearly seven thousand talents onto ships: and, in order to avoid the dangers of shipwreck, to each vessel in which the money was enclosed he tied cork of the cork‑oak with a long cord, so that, if by chance the ship were sunk, the floating cork would indicate the place of the lost money. As Cato arrived, the senate and almost the whole city poured out to meet him, nor was the affair unlike a triumph. Thanks were rendered to Cato by the senate, and the praetorship and the right of spectating the games, wearing the purple‑bordered toga, with precedence, were granted to him.

Quem honorem Cato noluit accipere, iniquum esse affirmans sibi decerni quod nulli alii tribueretur.

Which honor Cato did not wish to accept, affirming it to be unjust that there be decreed to himself what would be granted to no other.

Cum Caesar consul legem reipublicae perniciosam tulisset, Cato solus, ceteris exterritis, huic legi obstitit. Iratus Caesar Catonem extrahi curia, et in vincula rapi jussit: at ille nihil de libertate linguae remisit, sed in ipsa ad carcerem via de lege disputabat, civesque commonebat ut talia molientibus adversarentur Catonem sequebantur maesti patres, quorum unus objurgatus a Caesare quod nondum misso senatu discederet: "Malo, inquit, esse cum Catone in carcere, quam tecum in curia." Exspectabat Caesar dum ad humiles preces Cato sese demitteret: quod ubi frustra a se sperari intellexit, pudore victus, unum e tribunis misit qui Catonem dimitteret.

When Caesar, as consul, had carried a law pernicious to the republic, Cato alone, the rest terrified, stood opposed to this law. Angry, Caesar ordered Cato to be dragged from the curia and hauled into chains; but he remitted nothing of the liberty of his tongue, and on the very road to the prison he was disputing about the law, and reminding the citizens to oppose those contriving such things. Sad fathers (senators) were following Cato, one of whom, rebuked by Caesar because he was departing with the senate not yet dismissed, said: “I prefer to be with Cato in prison than with you in the curia.” Caesar was waiting until Cato would lower himself to humble prayers; but when he understood that this was in vain to be hoped from him, conquered by shame, he sent one of the tribunes to release Cato.

Cato Pompeii partes bello civili secutus est, eoque victo exercitus reliquias in Africam cum ingenti itinerum difficultate perduxit. Cum vero ei summum a militibus deferretur imperium, Scipioni, quod vir esset consularis, parere maluit. Scipione etiam devicto, Uticam Africae urbem petivit, ubi filium hortatus est ut clementiam Caesaris experirvetur; ipse vero cenatus deambulavit, et cubitum iturus, artius diutiusque in complexu filii haesit, deinde ingressus cubiculum, ferro sibi ipse mortem conscivit.

Cato followed the party of Pompey in the civil war, and when he was defeated, he led the remnants of the army into Africa with immense difficulty of marches. But when the supreme command was being conferred upon him by the soldiers, he preferred to obey Scipio, because he was a consular man. Scipio also having been defeated, he made for Utica, a city of Africa, where he urged his son to try out Caesar’s clemency; but he himself, having dined, walked about, and when he was about to go to bed, he clung tighter and longer in his son’s embrace; then, entering his bedroom, with a blade he took his own life.

Caesar, audita Catonis morte, dixit illum gloriae suae invidisse, quod sibi laudem servati Catonis eripuisset. Catonis liberos, eisque patrimonium incolume servavit.

Caesar, on hearing of Cato’s death, said that he had envied his glory, because he had snatched from him the praise of a saved Cato. He preserved Cato’s children, and kept their patrimony intact.

MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO

Marcus Tullius Cicero equestri genere, Arpini, quod est Volscorum oppidum, natus est. Ex ejus avis unus verrucam in extremo naso sitam habuit ciceris grano similem, inde cognomen Ciceronis genti inditum. Cum id Marco Tullio a nonnullis probro verteretur: "Dabo operam, inquit, ut istud cognomen nobilissimorum nominum splendorem vincat." Cum eas artes disceret quibus aetas puerilis ad humanitatem solet informari, ingenium ejus ita eluxit, ut eum aequales e schola redeuntes medium, tanquam regem, circumstantes deducerent domum: immo eorum parentes pueri fama commoti, in ludum litterarium ventitabant, ut eum viserent.

Marcus Tullius Cicero, of equestrian stock, was born at Arpinum, which is a town of the Volsci. Of his ancestors one had a wart placed at the tip of his nose, similar to a grain of chickpea (cicer), whence the cognomen “Cicero” was bestowed upon the clan. When that was turned as a reproach against Marcus Tullius by some, he said, “I will take pains that this cognomen may surpass the splendor of the most noble names.” When he was learning those arts by which boyish age is accustomed to be formed to humanity (culture), his natural talent so shone forth that his peers, returning from school, would escort him home in the middle, surrounding him as though a king; nay rather, the parents of those boys, stirred by the boy’s fame, kept coming to the literary school to see him.

Ea res tamen quibusdam rustici et inculti ingenii stomachum movebat, qui ceteros pueros graviter objurgabant quod talem condiscipulo suo honorem tribuerent.

That matter, however, provoked the indignation of certain persons of rustic and uncultivated disposition, who gravely objurgated the other boys because they were bestowing such an honor upon their fellow-student.

Tullius Cicero adolescens eloquentiam et libertatem suam adversus Syllanos ostendit. Chrysogonum quemdam Syllae libertum acriter insectatus est, quod dictatoris potentia fretus in bona civium invadebat. Ex quo veritus invidiam Cicero, Athenas petivit, ubi Antiochum philosophum studiose audivit.

Tullius Cicero, as a young man, displayed his eloquence and his liberty against the Sullans. He sharply attacked a certain Chrysogonus, a freedman of Sulla, because, relying on the dictator’s power, he was invading the property of citizens. For which reason, fearing ill-will, Cicero made for Athens, where he studiously listened to the philosopher Antiochus.

Inde eloquentiae gratia Rhodum se contulit, ubi Molone, rhetore tum disertissimo, magistro usus est. Qui, cum Ciceronem dicentem audivisset, flevisse dicitur, quod praevideret per hunc Graecos a Romanis ingenii et eloquentiae laude superatum iri. Romam reversus, quaestor in Sicilia fuit.

Thence, for the sake of eloquence, he betook himself to Rhodes, where he made use of Molon—at that time a most eloquent rhetor—as his teacher. He, when he had heard Cicero speaking, is said to have wept, because he foresaw that through this man the Greeks would be surpassed by the Romans in the praise of genius and eloquence. Having returned to Rome, he was quaestor in Sicily.

Nullius vero quaestura aut gratior, aut clarior fuit: cum in magna annonae difficultate ingentem frumenti vim inde Romam mitteret, Siculos initio offendit; postea vero ubi diligentiam, justitiam et comitatem ejus experti fuerunt, majores quaestori suo honores, quam ulli unquam praetori detulerunt.

In truth, no quaestorship was either more agreeable or more illustrious: when, in a great difficulty of the grain-supply, he sent from there to Rome an immense quantity of grain, he offended the Sicilians at the outset; but afterwards, when they had experienced his diligence, justice, and comity, they conferred upon their quaestor greater honors than they had ever bestowed upon any praetor.

Cicero consul factus Sergii Catilinae conjurationem singulari virtute, constantia curaque compressit. Is nempe indignatus quod in petitione consulatus repulsam passus esset, et furore amens, cum pluribus viris nobilibus Ciceronem interficere, senatum trucidare, urbem incendere, aerarium diripere constituerat. Quae tam atrox conjuratio a Cicerone detecta est.

Made consul, Cicero suppressed the conjuration of Sergius Catiline with singular virtue, constancy, and care. He, indeed, indignant that he had suffered a repulse in his petition for the consulship, and mad with fury, had resolved, together with several noble men, to kill Cicero, butcher the senate, set the city on fire, and plunder the treasury. Which so atrocious a conjuration was uncovered by Cicero.

Catilina metu consulis Roma ad exercitum, quem paraverat, profugit; socii ejus comprehensi in carcere necati sunt. Senator quidam filium supplicio mortis ipse affecit. Juvenis scilicet ingenio, litteris et forma inter aequales conspicuus, pravo consilio amicitiam Catilinae secutus fuerat, et in castra ejus properabat: quem pater ex medio itinere retractum occidit, his eum verbis increpans: "Non ego te Catilinae adversus patriam, sed patriae adversus Catilinam genui."

Catiline, in fear of the consul, fled from Rome to the army which he had prepared; his associates, having been apprehended, were killed in prison. A certain senator himself inflicted upon his son the punishment of death. The youth, namely, conspicuous among his equals for genius, letters, and form, had, by depraved counsel, followed the friendship of Catiline, and was hastening to his camp: whom his father, drawn back from mid-journey, killed, rebuking him with these words: "I begot you not for Catiline against the fatherland, but for the fatherland against Catiline."

Non ideo Catilina ab incepto destitit, sed infestis signis Romam petens, cum exercitu caesus est. Adeo acriter dimicatum est, ut nemo hostium proelio superfuerit: quem quisque in pugnando ceperat, eum, amissa anima, tegebat locum. Ipse Catilina longe a suis inter eorum quos occiderat cadavera cecidit, morte pulcherrima, si pro patria sua sic occubuisset.

Not for that reason did Catiline desist from his inception, but, seeking Rome with hostile standards, he was cut down with his army. So fiercely was it fought, that none of the enemies survived the battle: the place which each had taken in fighting, that place, with his soul lost, he covered. Catiline himself fell far from his own, among the corpses of those whom he had slain—a most beautiful death, if he had thus fallen for his fatherland.

Senatus populusque Romanus Ciceronem patriae patrem appellavit: ea res tamen Ciceroni postea invidiam creavit, adeo ut abeuntem magistratu verba facere ad populum vetuerit quidam tribunus plebis, quod cives indicta causa damnavisset, sed solitum duntaxat juramentum praestare ei permiserit. Tum Cicero magna voce: "Juro, inquit, rempublicam atque urbem Romam mea unius opera salvam esse": qua voce delectatus populus Romanus et ipse juravit verum esse Ciceronis juramentum.

The Senate and the Roman People styled Cicero the father of the fatherland: nevertheless that matter later created ill will for Cicero, to such a degree that, as he was departing from office, a certain tribune of the plebs forbade him to address the people, because he had condemned citizens with the case not having been pleaded, but permitted him only to perform the customary oath. Then Cicero in a loud voice: "I swear," he said, "that the commonwealth and the city of Rome are safe by my single effort": at which utterance delighted, the Roman People themselves swore that Cicero’s oath was true.

Paucis post annis Cicero reus factus est a Clodio tribuno plebis eadem de causa, quod nempe cives Romanos necavisset. Tunc maestus senatus, tanquam in publico luctu, vestem mutavit. Cicero, cum posset armis salutem suam defendere, maluit urbe cedere, quam sua causa caedem fieri.

A few years later Cicero was made a defendant by Clodius, tribune of the plebs, on the same charge, namely that he had killed Roman citizens. Then the sorrowful Senate, as if in public mourning, changed its attire. Cicero, although he could defend his safety with arms, preferred to withdraw from the city rather than that, on his account, a slaughter be done.

Proficiscentem omnes boni flentes prosecuti sunt. Dein Clodius edictum proposuit, ut Marco Tullio igni et aqua interdiceretur: illius domum et villas incendit; sed vis illa diuturna non fuit: mox enim maximo omnium ordinum studio Cicero in patriam revocatus est. Obviam ei redeunti ab universis itum est.

As he was setting out, all good men, weeping, escorted him. Then Clodius posted an edict, that Marcus Tullius be interdicted from fire and water; he burned that man’s house and villas; but that violence was not long-lasting: for soon, by the greatest zeal of all the orders, Cicero was recalled to the fatherland. Everyone went to meet him as he returned.

Domus ejus publica pecunia restituta est. Postea Cicero Pompeii partes secutus a Caesare victore veniam accepit. Quo interfecto, Octavium haeredem Caesaris fovit atque ornavit, ut eum Antonio rempublicam vexanti opponeret; sed ab illo deinde desertus est et proditus.

His house was restored with public money. Afterwards, Cicero, having followed Pompey’s party, received pardon from Caesar the victor. When he was slain, he fostered and adorned Octavian, Caesar’s heir, so that he might set him in opposition to Antony vexing the republic; but by that man thereafter he was deserted and betrayed.

Antonius, inita cum Octavio societate, Ciceronem jamdiu sibi inimicum proscripsit. Qua re audita, Cicero transversis itineribus fugit in villam quae a mari proxime aberat, indeque navem conscendit, in Macedoniam transiturus. Cum vero jam aliquoties in altum provectum venti adversi retulissent, et ipse jactationem navis pati non posset, regressus ad villam: "Moriar, inquit, in patria saepe servata." Mox adventantibus percussoribus, cum servi parati essent ad dimicandum fortiter, ipse lecticam, qua vehebatur, deponi jussit, eosque quietos pati quod sors iniqua cogeret.

Antony, having entered into an alliance with Octavian, proscribed Cicero, long his enemy. On hearing this, Cicero fled by side-roads to a villa which was nearest to the sea, and from there boarded a ship, intending to cross into Macedonia. But when adverse winds had carried him back several times, though he had already been borne out into the deep, and he himself could not endure the tossing (jactation) of the ship, he returned to the villa: “I shall die,” he said, “in the fatherland often preserved.” Soon, as the assassins were approaching, although the slaves were ready to fight bravely, he himself ordered the litter in which he was being carried to be set down, and bade them, quiet, to endure what an iniquitous lot compelled.

Prominenti ex lectica et immotam cervicem praebenti caput praecisum est. Manus quoque abscissae: caput relatum est ad Antonium, ejusque jussu inter duas manus in rostris positum. Fulvia Antonii uxor, quae se a Cicerone laesam arbitrabatur, caput manibus sumpsit, in genua imposuit, extractamque linguam acu confixit.

As he was protruding from the litter and offering his motionless neck, his head was cut off. His hands also were severed: the head was carried back to Antony, and by his order it was placed on the rostra between the two hands. Fulvia, Antony’s wife, who judged herself wronged by Cicero, took the head in her hands, set it upon her knees, and pierced the extracted tongue with a needle.

Cicero dicax erat, et facetiarum amans, adeo ut ab inimicis solitus sit appellari "Scurra consularis". Cum Lentulum generum suum exiguae staturae hominem vidisset longo gladio accinctum: "Quis, inquit, generum meum ad gladium alligavit?" Matrona quaedam juniorem se, quam erat, simulans dictitabat se triginta tantum annos habere. Cui Cicero: "Verum est, inquit, nam hoc viginti annos audio." Caesar, altero consule mortuo die decembris ultima, Caninium consulem hora septima in reliquam diei partem renuntiaverat: quem cum plerique irent salutatum de more: "Festinemus, inquit Cicero, priusquam abeat magistratu." De eodem Canimo scripsit Cicero: "Fuit mirifica vigilantia Caninius, qui toto suo consulatu somnum non viderit."

Cicero was witty and a lover of witticisms, so much so that he was accustomed by enemies to be called a “Consular Jester.” When he had seen Lentulus, his son-in-law, a man of small stature, girt with a long sword: “Who,” he said, “has tied my son-in-law to a sword?” A certain matron, pretending herself younger than she was, kept saying she had only thirty years. To her Cicero: “It is true,” he said, “for this I have been hearing for twenty years.” Caesar, when the other consul had died on the last day of December, had proclaimed Caninius consul at the seventh hour for the remaining part of the day: and when many were going to greet him in the customary way: “Let us hurry,” said Cicero, “before he goes out of office.” About this same Caninius Cicero wrote: “Caninius was of wondrous vigilance, who in his whole consulship did not behold sleep.”

MARCUS BRUTUS

Marcus Brutus ex illa gente quae Roma Tarquinios ejecerat oriundus, Athenis philosophiam, Rhodi eloquentiam didicit. Sua eum virtus valde commendavit: ejus pater, qui Syllae partibus adversabatur, jussu Pompeii interfectus fuerat; unde Brutus cum eo graves gesserat simultates: bello tamen civili Pompeii causam, quod justior videretur, secutus est, et dolorem suum reipublicae utilitati posthabuit. Victo Pompeio, Brutus a Caesare servatus est, et praetor etiam factus.

Marcus Brutus, sprung from that clan which had cast the Tarquins out of Rome, learned philosophy at Athens, eloquence at Rhodes. His own virtue greatly commended him: his father, who was opposing Sulla’s party, had been slain by order of Pompey; whence Brutus had borne grave enmities with him. Nevertheless, in the civil war he followed the cause of Pompey, because it seemed more just, and he set his own grief after the utility of the republic. Pompey having been conquered, Brutus was spared by Caesar, and was even made praetor.

Postea cum Caesar superbia elatus senatum contemnere, et regnum affectare coepisset, populus jam praesenti statu haud laetus vindicem libertatis requirebat. Subscripsere quidam primi Bruti statuae: "Utinam viveres!" Item ipsius Caesaris statuae: "Brutus quia reges ejecit, primus consul factus est; hic, quia consules ejecit, postremo rex factus est." Inscriptum quoque est Marci Bruti praetoris tribunali: "Dormis, Brute!" Marcus Brutus, cognita populi Romani voluntate, adversus Caesarem conspiravit. Pridie quam Caesar est occisus, Porcia Bruti uxor consilii conscia cultellum tonsorium, quasi unguium resecandorum causa, poposcit, eoque velut forte e manibus elapso se ipsa vulneravit.

Afterwards, when Caesar, elated by pride, began to disdain the senate and to aspire to kingship, the people, by no means happy with the present state, were seeking a vindicator of liberty. Certain men wrote beneath the statue of the first Brutus: "Would that you were alive!" Likewise on Caesar’s own statue: "Brutus, because he cast out kings, was made first consul; this man, because he cast out consuls, was at last made king." It was also inscribed on the tribunal of Marcus Brutus, the praetor: "You sleep, Brutus!" Marcus Brutus, having learned the will of the Roman people, conspired against Caesar. On the day before Caesar was slain, Porcia, the wife of Brutus, privy to the plan, asked for a tonsorial knife, as if for the purpose of trimming nails, and with it, as though it had by chance slipped from her hands, she wounded herself.

Clamore ancillarum vocatus in cubiculum uxoris Brutus objurgare eam coepit, quod tonsoris officium praeripere voluisset; at Porcia ei secreto dixit: "Non casu, sed de industria, mi Brute, hoc mihi vulnus feci: experiri enim volui an satis mihi animi esset ad mortem oppetendam, si tibi propositum ex sententia parum cessisset." Quibus verbis auditis, Brutus ad caelum manus et oculos sustulisse dicitur, et exclamavisse: "Utinam dignus tali conjuge maritus videri possim!"

Called by the outcry of the maidservants into his wife’s bedchamber, Brutus began to objurgate her, because she had wished to snatch away the barber’s office; but Porcia said to him in private: “Not by chance, but deliberately, my Brutus, I made this wound for myself: for I wished to test whether I had enough spirit to meet death, if your purpose should have turned out less according to your wish.” When these words had been heard, Brutus is said to have lifted his hands and eyes to heaven, and to have exclaimed: “Would that I might seem worthy to be the husband of such a consort!”

Interfecto Caesare, Antonius vestem ejus sanginolentam ostentans, populum veluti furore quodam adversus conjuratos inflammavit. Brutus itaque in Macedoniam concessit, ibique apud urbem Philippos adversus Antonium et Octavium dimicavit. Victus acie, cum in tumulum se nocte recepisset, ne in hostium manus veniret, uni comitum latus transfodiendum praebuit.

With Caesar slain, Antony, displaying his blood-stained garment, inflamed the people as if with a certain fury against the conspirators. Therefore Brutus withdrew into Macedonia, and there near the city Philippi he fought against Antony and Octavian. Defeated in the battle-line, when by night he had withdrawn onto a tumulus, lest he fall into the hands of the enemy, he offered his side to one of his companions to be transfixed.

Antonius, viso Bruti cadavere, ei suum injecit purpureum paludamentum, ut in eo sepeliretur. Quod cum postea subreptum audivisset, requiri furem, et ad supplicium duci jussit. Cremati corporis reliquias ad Serviliam Bruti matrem deportandas curavit.

Antony, on seeing the cadaver of Brutus, cast upon him his own purple paludamentum, so that he might be buried in it. When he later heard that it had been stolen, he ordered that the thief be sought out and led to punishment. He took care that the remains of the cremated body be conveyed to Servilia, the mother of Brutus.

Non eadem fuit Octavii erga Brutum moderatio: is enim avulsum Bruti caput Romam ferri jussit, ut Caii Caesaris statuae subjiceretur.

Octavian’s moderation toward Brutus was not the same: for he ordered Brutus’s severed head to be borne to Rome, to be set beneath the statue of Gaius Caesar.

OCTAVIUS CAESAR AUGUSTUS

OCTAVIAN CAESAR AUGUSTUS

Octavius Juliae Caii Caesaris sororis nepos, patrem quadrimus amisit. A majore avunculo adoptatus, eum in Hispaniam profectum secutus est. Deinde ab eo Apolloniam missus est, ut liberalibus studiis vacaret.

Octavius, the grandson of Julia, sister of Gaius Caesar, lost his father when he was four years old. Adopted by his great-uncle, he followed him when he set out for Spain. Then by him he was sent to Apollonia, to devote himself to liberal studies.

Audita avunculi morte, Romam rediit, nomen Caesaris sumpsit, collectoque veteranorum exercitu, opem Decimo Bruto tulit, qui ab Antonio Mutinae obsidebatur. Cum autem urbis aditu prohiberetur, ut Brutum de omnibus rebus certiorem faceret, primo litteras laminis plumbeis inscriptas misit, quae per urinatorem sub aqua fluminis deferebantur; ad id postea columbis usus est: eis nempe diu inclusis et fame affectis litteras ad collum alligabat, easque a proximo moenibus loco emittebat. Columbae lucis cibique avidae, summa aedificia petentes, a Bruto excipiebantur, maxime cum ille disposito quibusdam in locis cibo, columbas illuc devolare instituisset.

Hearing of his uncle’s death, he returned to Rome, assumed the name Caesar, and, a force of veterans having been collected, brought aid to Decimus Brutus, who was being besieged by Antony at Mutina. But when he was prohibited from access to the city, in order to make Brutus certain about all matters, at first he sent letters inscribed on leaden plates, which were carried under the water of the river by a diver; afterward he made use of doves for that purpose: keeping them shut up for a long time and afflicted by hunger, he would tie letters to their necks and release them from a place near the walls. The doves, avid for light and food, seeking the highest edifices, were received by Brutus, especially since he, with food set out in certain places, had trained the doves to fly down there.

Octavius bellum Mutinense duobus proeliis confecit, in quorum altero non ducis modo, sed militis etiam functus est munere: nam aquilifero graviter vulnerato, aquilam humeris subiit, et in castra reportavit. Postea reconciliata cum Antonio gratia, junctisque cum ipso copiis, ut Caii Caesaris necem ulcisceretur, ad urbem hostiliter accessit, inde quadringentos milites ad senatum misit, qui sibi consulatum nomine exercitus deposcerent.

Octavius brought the Mutinan war to an end in two battles, in one of which he fulfilled not only the office of a leader but even that of a soldier: for, when the eagle-bearer was grievously wounded, he took the eagle upon his shoulders and carried it back into the camp. Afterwards, with favor reconciled with Antony, and forces joined with him, in order to avenge the slaying of Gaius Caesar, he approached the city in hostile fashion; from there he sent four hundred soldiers to the Senate, to demand for himself the consulship in the name of the army.

Cunctante senatu, centurio legationis princeps, rejecto sagulo, ostendens gladii capulum, non dubitavit in curia dicere: "Hic faciet, si vos non feceritis." Cui respondisse Ciceronem ferunt: "Si hoc modo petieritis Caesari consulatum, auferetis." Quod dictum ei deinde exitio fuit: invisus enim esse coepit Caesari, quod libertatis esset amantior.

With the senate hesitating, the centurion, chief of the legation, with his little-cloak thrown back, showing the hilt of his sword, did not hesitate to say in the Curia: "This will do it, if you do not do it." They say that Cicero replied to him: "If you seek the consulship for Caesar in this way, you will take it away." That utterance was thereafter to his ruin: for he began to be hated by Caesar, because he was a greater lover of liberty.

Octavius Caesar nondum viginti annos natus consulatum invasit, novamque proscriptionis tabulam proposuit; quae proscriptio Syllana longe crudelior fuit: ne tenerae quidem aetati pepercit. Puerum quemdam nomine Atilium Octavius coegit togam virilem sumere, ut tanquam vir proscriberetur. Atilius, protinus ut e Capitolio descendit, deducentibus ex more amicis, in tabulam relatus est.

Octavius Caesar, not yet twenty years old, seized the consulship, and posted a new proscription-list; which was far more cruel than the Sullan proscription: he spared not even tender age. A certain boy named Atilius Octavius compelled to assume the toga virilis, so that he might be proscribed as though a man. Atilius, immediately as he descended from the Capitol, his friends leading him down according to custom, was entered on the list.

Desertum deinde a comitibus ne mater quidem prae metu recepit. Puer itaque fugit, et in silvis aliquandiu delituit. Cum vero inopiam ferre non posset, e latebris exivit, seque praetereuntibus indicavit, a quibus interfectus est.

Thereafter, deserted by his companions, not even his mother, for fear, received him. The boy therefore fled and for some time lay hidden in the woods. But when he could not bear indigence, he came out from his hiding-places and made himself known to passers-by, by whom he was killed.

Alius puer etiam impubes, dum in ludum litterarium iret, cum paedagogo, qui pro eo corpus objecerat, necatus est.

Another boy, still prepubescent, while he was going to the school of letters, was killed along with his pedagogue, who had thrown his body in front on his behalf.

Octavius, inita cum Antonio societate, Marcum Brutum Caesaris interfectorem bello persecutus est. Quod bellum, quanquam aeger atque invalidus, duplici proelio transegit, quorum priore castris exutus vix fuga evasit; altero victor se gessit acerbius. In nobilissimum quemque captivum saeviit, adjecta etiam supplicio verborum contumelia.

Octavius, having entered into an alliance with Antony, pursued Marcus Brutus, Caesar’s slayer, in war. This war, although ailing and invalid, he brought to an end in a twofold battle, in the first of which, stripped of his camp, he scarcely escaped by flight; in the second, as victor, he conducted himself more bitterly. He raged against each of the most noble captives, with the contumely of words added to the punishment.

Uni suppliciter precanti sepulturam respondit jam illam in volucrum atque ferarum potestate futuram. Ambo erant captivi pater et filius; cum autem Octavius nollet, nisi uni, vitam concedere, eos sortiri jussit utri parceretur. Pater, qui se pro filio ad mortem subeundam obtulerat, occisus est; nec servatus filius, qui prae dolore voluntaria occubuit nece neque ab hoc tristi spectaculo oculos avertit Octavius, sed utrumque spectavit morientem.

To the one begging suppliantly for sepulture he replied that now that would be in the power of birds and of wild beasts. Both were captives, father and son; but when Octavius was unwilling to grant life except to one, he ordered them to draw lots as to which should be spared. The father, who had offered himself to undergo death for his son, was slain; nor was the son saved, who, from grief, met his end by a voluntary death; nor did Octavius turn his eyes away from this sad spectacle, but looked upon both as they were dying.

Octavius ab Antonio iterum abalienatus est, quod is repudiata Octavia sorore, Cleopatram Aegypti reginam duxisset uxorem: quae mulier cum Antonio luxu et deliciis certabat. Gloriata est aliquando se centies sestertium una cena absumpturam. Antonio id fieri posse neganti magnificam apposuit cenam, sed non tanti sumptus quanti promiserat.

Octavius was again alienated from Antony, because he, having repudiated Octavia his sister, had taken Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, as his wife: that woman vied with Antony in luxury and delights. She once boasted that she would consume 10,000,000 sesterces on a single dinner. Antony denying that this could be done, she set forth a magnificent dinner, but not of so great an expense as she had promised.

Irrisa igitur ab Antonio jussit sibi afferri vas aceto plenum: exspectabat Antonius quidnam esset actura. Illa gemmas pretiosissimas auribus appensas habebat; protinus unam detraxit, et aceto dilutam absorbuit. Alteram quoque simili modo parabat absumere, nisi prohibita fuisset.

Therefore, ridiculed by Antony, she ordered a vessel full of vinegar to be brought to her: Antony was waiting to see what she was about to do. She had the most precious gems hanging from her ears; immediately she took one off, and, diluted in vinegar, she swallowed it. The other likewise she was preparing to consume in the same way, unless she had been stopped.

ACTIACA PUGNA

ACTIAN BATTLE

Octavius cum Antonio apud Actium, qui locus in Epiro est, navali proelio dimicavit; victum et fugientem Antonium persecutus, Aegyptum petiit, obsessaque Alexandria, quo Antonius cum Cleopatra confugerat, brevi potitus est. Antonius, desperatis rebus, cum in solio regali sedisset regio diademate cinctus, necem sibi conscivit. Cleopatra vero, quam Octavius magnopere cupiebat vivam comprehendi triumphoque servari, aspidem sibi in cophino inter ficus afferendam curavit, eamque ipsa bracbio applicuit: quod ubi cognovit Octavius, medicos vulneri remedia adhibere jussit.

Octavian fought with Antony at Actium, which place is in Epirus, in a naval battle; pursuing Antony, defeated and in flight, he made for Egypt, and, with Alexandria—whither Antony had fled with Cleopatra—besieged, he shortly gained possession of it. Antony, with matters despaired of, when he had sat upon the royal throne, girded with the royal diadem, brought death upon himself. Cleopatra indeed, whom Octavian greatly desired to be seized alive and preserved for a triumph, arranged for an asp to be brought to her in a basket among figs, and she herself applied it to her arm; and when Octavian learned this, he ordered the physicians to apply remedies to the wound.

Admovit etiam psyllos, qui venenum exsugerent, sed frustra. Cleopatrae mortuae communem cum Antonio sepulturam tribuit.

He also brought in the Psylli, to suck out the venom, but in vain. To the dead Cleopatra he granted a common sepulture with Antony.

Tandem Octavius, hostibus victis, solusque imperio potitus, clementem se exhibuit. Omnia deinceps in eo plena mansuetudinis et humanitatis. Multis ignovit a quibus saepe graviter laesus fuerat, quo in numero fuit Metellus unus ex Antonii praefectis.

At length Octavius, with the enemies conquered, and alone having gained the empire, showed himself clement. Thereafter everything in him was full of mansuetude and humanity. He pardoned many by whom he had often been gravely injured, among whom was Metellus, one of Antony's prefects.

Cum is inter captivos senex squalidus sordidatusque processisset, agnovit eum filius ejus, qui Octavu partes secutus fuerat, statimque exiliens, patrem complexus, sic Octavium allocutus est: "Pater meus hostis tibi fuit; ego miles: non magis ille poenam, quam ego praemium meriti sumus. Aut igitur me propter illum occidi jube, aut illum propter me vivere. Delibera, quaeso, utrum sit moribus tuis convenientius." Octavius postquam paulum addubitavisset, misericordia motus hominem sibi infensissimum propter filii merita servavit.

When among the captives there had come forward an old man, squalid and sordid, his son, who had followed Octavius’s party, recognized him; and immediately leaping up, embracing his father, he thus addressed Octavius: "My father was an enemy to you; I a soldier: no more has he deserved punishment than I have deserved reward. Either therefore order me to be killed on account of him, or him to live on account of me. Deliberate, I beg, which is more congruent with your morals." Octavius, after he had hesitated a little, moved by mercy, spared the man most hostile to himself on account of the son’s merits.

Octavius in Italiam rediit, Romamque triumphans ingressus est. Tum bellis toto orbe compositis, Jani gemini portas sua manu clausit quae tantummodo bis antea clausae fuerant, primo sub Numa rege, iterum post primum Punicum bellum. Tunc omnes praeteritorum malorum obilivio cepit, populusque Romanus praesentis otii laetitia perfruitus est.

Octavius returned into Italy, and entered Rome in triumph. Then, the wars composed throughout the whole world, he closed with his own hand the twin gates of Janus, which had only twice before been closed: first under King Numa, and again after the First Punic War. Then an oblivion of past evils seized all, and the Roman people enjoyed to the full the joy of present leisure.

Octavio maximi honores a senatu delati sunt. Ipse Augustus cognominatus est et in ejus honorem mensis sextilis eodem nomine est appellatus, quod illo mense bellis civilibus finis esset impositus. Equites Romani natalem ejus biduo semper celebrarunt: senatus populusque Romanus universus cognomen Patris patriae maximo consensu ei tribuerunt.

To Octavius the greatest honors were conferred by the Senate. He himself was surnamed Augustus, and in his honor the month Sextilis was called by the same name, because in that month an end had been imposed upon the civil wars. The Roman Equestrians always celebrated his birthday for two days; the Senate and People of Rome as a whole, with the greatest unanimity, bestowed upon him the cognomen Father of the Fatherland.

Augustus prae gaudio lacrimans respondit his verbis: "Compos factus sum votorum meorum; neque aliud mihi optandum est, quam ut hunc consensum vestrum ad ultimum vitae finem videre possim."

Augustus, weeping for joy, answered with these words: "I have obtained the fulfillment of my vows; nor is there anything else for me to be wished, than that I may be able to see this your consensus to the ultimate end of life."

Dictaturam, quam populus magna vi offerebat, Augustus genu nixus dejectaque ab humeris toga, deprecatus est. Domini appellationem semper exhorruit, eamque sibi tribui edicto vetuit, immo de restituenda republica non semel cogitavit; sed reputans et se privatum non sine periculo fore, et rempublicam plurium arbitrio commissum iri, summam retinuit potestatem, id vero studuit, ne quem novi status paeniteret. Bene de eis etiam, quos adversarios expertus fuerat, et sentiebat et loquebatur.

The dictatorship, which the people were offering with great force, Augustus, leaning upon his knee and with his toga cast down from his shoulders, declined. The appellation of “lord” he always shuddered at, and by edict forbade that it be conferred upon himself; nay, about restoring the republic he more than once thought; but, reckoning both that he as a private man would not be without danger, and that the republic would be entrusted to the arbitration of several, he retained the supreme power; this indeed he strove for, that no one should regret the new order. He both thought and spoke well concerning even those whom he had experienced as adversaries.

Legentem aliquando unum e nepotibus invenit; cumque puer territus volumen Ciceronis, quod manu tenebat, veste tegeret, Augustus librum cepit, eoque statim reddito: "Hic vir, inquit, fili mi, doctus fuit et patriae amans."

He once found one of his grandsons reading; and when the boy, terrified, covered with his garment the volume of Cicero which he was holding in his hand, Augustus took the book, and, having at once returned it, said: "This man, my son, was learned and a lover of his fatherland."

Pedibus saepe per urbem incedebat, summaque comitate adeuntes excipiebat: unde cum quidam libellum supplicem porrigens, prae metu et reverentia nunc manum proferret, nunc retraheret: "Putasne, inquit jocans Augustus, assem te elephanto dare?" Eum aliquando convenit veteranus miles, qui vocatus in jus periclitabatur, rogavitque ut sibi adesset. Statim Augustus unum e comitatu suo elegit advocatum, qui litigatorem commendaret. Tum veteranus exclamavit: "At non ego, te periclitante bello Actiaco, vicarium quaesivi, sed ipse pro te pugnavi"; simulque detexit cicatrices.

He would often go on foot through the city, and with the greatest affability he welcomed those who approached: whence, when a certain man, presenting a suppliant libellus (petition), from fear and reverence now would extend his hand, now withdraw it: “Do you think,” said Augustus joking, “that you are giving a penny to an elephant?” A veteran soldier met him once, who, having been summoned into court, was on trial, and he asked that Augustus be present for him. Straightway Augustus chose from his retinue one as an advocate to recommend the litigant. Then the veteran exclaimed: “But I, when you were in peril in the Actian war, did not seek a substitute, but I myself fought for you”; and at the same time he uncovered his scars.

Erubuit Augustus, atque ipse venit in advocationem.

Augustus blushed, and he himself came in as advocate.

Cum post Actiacam victoriam Augustus Romam ingrederetur, occurrit ei inter gratulantes opifex quidam corvum tenens, quem instituerat haec dicere: "Ave, Caesar victor, imperator." Augustus avem officiosam miratus, eam viginti milibus nummorum emit. Socius opificis, ad quem nihil ex illa liberalitate pervenerat, affirmavit Augusto illum habere et alium corvum, quem afferri postulavit. Allatus corvus verba quae didicerat expressit: "Ave, Antoni victor, imperator." Nihil ea re exasperatus Augustus jussit tantummodo corvorum doctorem dividere acceptam mercedem cum contubernali.

When after the Actian victory Augustus was entering Rome, there met him among the congratulators a certain artificer holding a raven, which he had trained to say this: "Hail, Caesar, victor, commander." Augustus, marveling at the obliging bird, bought it for twenty thousand coins. The artificer’s partner, to whom nothing from that liberality had come, asserted to Augustus that he had another raven as well, which he asked to be brought in. When it was brought, the raven uttered the words it had learned: "Hail, Antony, victor, commander." In no way exasperated by this, Augustus only ordered the trainer of the ravens to divide the fee received with his contubernal.

Salutatus similiter a psittaco, emi eum jussit.

Saluted likewise by a parrot, he ordered it to be bought.

Exemplo incitatus sutor quidam, corvum instituit ad parem salutationem; sed, cum parum proficeret, saepe ad avem non respondentem dicebat: "Opera et impensa periit." Tandem corvus coepit proferre dictatam salutationem: qua audita dum transiret, Augustus respondit: "Satis domi talium salutatorum habeo." Tum corvus illa etiam verba adjecit, quibus dominum querentem audire solebat: "Opera et impensa periit"; ad quod Augustus risit, atque avem emi jussit quanti nullam adhuc emerat.

Incited by the example, a certain cobbler trained a crow to a like salutation; but, as he was making little progress, he would often say to the bird not responding: "The work and the expense has perished." At length the crow began to utter the dictated salutation; which, when heard as he was passing by, Augustus replied: "I have enough of such salutators at home." Then the crow added also those words which it was accustomed to hear its master complaining: "The work and the expense has perished"; at which Augustus laughed, and ordered the bird to be bought for a price at which he had as yet bought none.

Solebat quidam Graeculus descendenti e palatio Augusto honorificum aliquod epigramma porrigere. Id cum frustra saepe fecisset, et tamen rursum eumdem facturum Augustus videret, sua manu in charta breve exaravit graecum epigramma, et Graeculo venienti ad se obviam misit. Ille legendo laudare coepit, mirarique tam voce quam vultu, gestuque.

A certain Greekling was accustomed, as Augustus was descending from the palace, to proffer to him some honorific epigram. When he had often done this in vain, and Augustus nevertheless saw that he would again do the same, he with his own hand on paper wrote out a brief Greek epigram, and sent it to meet the Greekling as he was coming toward him. He, on reading it, began to praise and to marvel, as much with his voice as with his face and with his gesture.

Dein cum accessit ad sellam qua Augustus vehebatur, demissa in pauperem crumenam manu, paucos denarios protulit, quos principi daret; dixitque se plus daturum fuisse, si plus habuisset. Secuto omnium risu, Graeculum Augustus vocavit, eique satis grandem pecuniae summam numerari jussit.

Then, when he approached the sedan-chair in which Augustus was being conveyed, with his hand let down into his poor purse, he produced a few denarii to give to the Princeps; and he said that he would have given more, if he had had more. With the laughter of all following, Augustus called the little Greek and ordered a quite large sum of money to be counted out to him.

Augustus fere nulli se invitanti negabat. Exceptus igitur a quodam cena satis parca et paene quotidiana, hoc tantum insusurravit: "Non putabam me tibi esse tam familiarem." Cum aliquando apud Pollionem quemdam cenaret, fregit unus ex servis vas crystallinum: rapi illum protinus Pollio jussit, et ne vulgari morte periret, abjici muraenis, quas ingens piscina continebat. Evasit e manibus puer, et ad pedes Caesaris confugit, non recusans mori, sed rogans ne piscium esca fieret.

Augustus almost never refused anyone who invited him. So, when he was received by a certain man at a dinner quite frugal and almost everyday, he whispered only this: "I did not think myself to be so familiar to you." When once he was dining at a certain Pollio’s, one of the slaves broke a crystal vessel: Pollio ordered him to be seized immediately, and, that he might not perish by a common death, to be thrown to the moray eels, which a huge fishpond contained. The boy escaped from their hands and fled to Caesar’s feet, not refusing to die, but asking that he not become the food of fishes.

Motus novitate crudetitatis Augustus, servi infelicis patrocinium suscepit: cum autem veniam a viro crudeli non impetraret, crystallina vasa ad se afferri jussit; omnia manu sua fregit; servum manumisit, piscinamque compleri praecepit.

Moved by the novelty of the cruelty, Augustus undertook the patronage of the unfortunate slave; but when he did not obtain pardon from the cruel man, he ordered crystalline vessels to be brought to him; with his own hand he broke them all; he manumitted the slave, and he ordered the fish-pond to be filled in.

Augustus in quadam villa aegrotans noctes inquietas agebat, rumpente somnum ejus crebro noctuae cantu; qua molestia cum liberari se vehementer cupere significasset, mites quidam aucupii peritus noctuam prehendendam curavit, vivamque Augusto attulit, spe ingentis praemii; cui Augustus mille nummos dari jussit: at ille minus dignum praemium existimans, dicere ausus est: "Malo ut vivat", et avem dimisit. Imperatori nec ad irascendum causa deerat, nec ad ulciscendum potestas. Hanc tamen injuriam aequo animo tulit Augustus, hominemque impunitum abire passus est.

Augustus, ailing in a certain villa, was passing restless nights, his sleep being broken frequently by the chant of an owl; when he had signified that he very much wished to be freed from this molestation, a certain man, skilled in fowling, took care to apprehend the owl, and brought it alive to Augustus, in hope of a vast premium; to whom Augustus ordered a thousand coins to be given: but he, thinking the reward less worthy, dared to say: "I prefer that it live," and released the bird. For the emperor neither was a cause for becoming angry lacking, nor power for taking vengeance. Nevertheless Augustus bore this injury with an even mind, and allowed the man to go away unpunished.

Augustus amicitias non facile admisit, et admissas constanter retinuit: imprimis familiarem habuit Maecenatem equitem Romanum, qui ea, qua apud principem valebat gratia, ita semper usus est, ut prodesset omnibus quibus posset, noceret nemini. Mira erat ejus ars et libertas in flectendo Augusti animo, cum eum ira incitatum videret. Jus aliquando dicebat Augustus, et multos morte damnaturus videbatur.

Augustus did not easily admit friendships, and those admitted he constantly retained: especially he had Maecenas, a Roman equestrian (knight), as a close intimate, who, with the favor in which he stood with the princeps, always used it in such a way as to benefit all whom he could, to harm no one. Marvelous was his art and freedom in bending Augustus’s mind, whenever he saw him stirred by anger. On one occasion Augustus was pronouncing judgment, and he seemed about to condemn many to death.

Aderat tunc Maecenas, qui circumstantium turbam perrumpere, et ad tribunal propius accedere conatus est; cum id frustra tentasset, in tabella scripsit haec verba: "Surge tandem, carnifex"; eamque tabellam ad Augustum projecit, qua lecta, Augustus statim surrexit, et nemo est morte multatus.

Then Maecenas was present, who tried to break through the crowd of those standing around and to approach the tribunal more closely; when he had attempted that in vain, he wrote these words on a tablet: “Get up at last, executioner,” and he hurled that tablet to Augustus; this having been read, Augustus immediately rose, and no one was punished with death.

Habitavit Augustus in aedibus modicis neque laxitate neque cultu conspicuis, ac per annos amplius quadraginta in eodem cubiculo hieme et aestate mansit. Supellex quoque ejus vix privatae elegantiae erat. Idem tamen Romam, quam pro majestate imperii non satis ornatam invenerat, adeo excoluit, ut jure sit gloriatus marmoream se relinquere, quam lateritiam accepisset.

Augustus lived in modest dwellings, conspicuous neither for spaciousness nor for cultivation of display, and for more than forty years he stayed in the same bedchamber in winter and in summer. His furniture too was scarcely more than of private elegance. Yet the same man so refined and embellished Rome, which he had found not sufficiently adorned for the majesty of the empire, that he rightly boasted he left it marble, which he had received brick.

Raro veste alia usus est quam confecta ab uxore, sorore, filia, neptibusque. Altiuscula erant ejus calceamenta, ut procerior quam erat videretur. Cibi minimi erat atque vulgaris.

He rarely wore any clothing other than that made by his wife, sister, daughter, and granddaughters. His footwear was somewhat elevated, so that he might seem taller than he was. He was a very small eater and of commonplace fare.

Secundarium panem et pisciculos minutos et ficus virides maxime appetebat.

He especially desired second-quality bread, minute little fishes, and green figs.

Augustus non amplius quam septem horas dormiebat, ac ne eas quidem continuas, sed ita ut in illo temporis spatio ter aut quater expergisceretur. Si interruptum somnum recuperare non posset, lectorres arcessebat, donec resumeret. Cum audisset senatorem quemdam, licet aere alieno oppressum, arte et graviter dormire solitum, culcitram ejus magno pretio emit, mirantibus dixit: "Habenda est ad somnum culcitra in qua homo qui tantum debebat dormire potuit."

Augustus slept no more than seven hours, and not even those continuously, but so that in that span of time he would wake three or four times. If he could not recover his interrupted sleep, he would summon readers until he resumed it. When he heard that a certain senator, although oppressed by debt, was accustomed to sleep skillfully and deeply, he bought his mattress at a great price, and, as they wondered, he said: "A mattress must be had for sleep, on which a man who owed so much was able to sleep."

Exercitationes campestres equorum et armorum statim post bella civilia omisit, et ad pilam primo folliculumque transiit: mox animi laxandi causa, modo piscabatur hamo, modo talis nucibusque ludebat cum pueris minutis, quos facie et garrulitate amabiles undique conquirebat. Alea multum delectabatur; idque ei vitio datum est. Tandem afflicta valetudine in Campaniam concessit, ubi remisso ad otium animo, nullo hilaritatis genere abstinuit.

He immediately after the civil wars omitted the field exercises of horses and arms, and passed over to the ball and at first to the little bladder-ball; soon, for the sake of relaxing the mind, at one time he fished with a hook, at another he played at dice and nuts with little boys, whom, lovable for their looks and garrulity, he would gather from everywhere. He took much delight in gaming at dice; and this was imputed to him as a vice. At length, his health being afflicted, he withdrew into Campania, where, his spirit relaxed to leisure, he refrained from no kind of hilarity.

Supremo vitae die, petito speculo, capillum sibi comi jussit; et amicos circumstantes percontatus est num vitae mimum satis commode egisset; adjecit et solitam clausulam: "Edite strepitum, vosque omnes cum gaudio applaudite." Obiit Nolae sextum et septuagesimum annum agens.

On the last day of his life, having called for a mirror, he ordered his hair to be combed; and he asked the friends standing around whether he had played the mime of life quite suitably; he also added the customary clausula: "Give out the noise, and all of you applaud with joy." He died at Nola, being in his 76th year.