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  XIX

  In the year following, Valerius Marcus and Otacilius being consuls, great deeds were achieved by the Romans in Sicily. The Tauromenitani, Catanians, and fifty cities more, were received into alliance. In the third year the war against Hiero in Sicily was brought to an end. He, with all the Syracusan nobility, prevailed upon the Romans to grant them peace, paying down two hundred talents of silver. The Africans were defeated in Sicily, and a triumph over them granted at Rome a second time.

  XX

  In the fifth year of the Punic war, which was carried on against the Africans, the Romans first fought by sea, in the consulate of Caius Duilius and Cnaeus Cornelius Asina, having provided themselves with vessels armed with beaks, which they term Liburnian galleys. The consul Cornelius fell a victim to treachery.12 Duilius, joining battle, defeated the commander of the Carthaginians, took thirty-one of their ships, sunk fourteen, took seven thousand of the enemy prisoners, and slew three thousand; nor was there ever a victory more gratifying to the Romans, for they were now not only invincible by land, but eminently powerful at sea.

  In the consulship of Caius Aquilius Florus and Lucius Scipio, Scipio laid waste Corsica and Sardinia, carried away several thousand captives from thence, and obtained a triumph.

  XXI

  When Lucius Manlius Vulso and Marcus Attilius Regulus were consuls, war was carried over into Africa against Hamilcar the general of the Carthaginians. A naval engagement was fought, and the Carthaginian utterly defeated, for he retired with the loss of sixty four of his ships. The Romans lost only twenty-two; and, having then crossed over into Africa, they compelled Clypea, the first city at which they arrived in Africa, to surrender. The consuls then advanced as far as Carthage; and, having laid waste many places, Manlius returned victorious to Rome, and brought with him twenty-seven thousand prisoners. Attilius Regulus remained in Africa. He drew up his army against the Africans; and, fighting at the same time against three Carthaginian generals, came off victorious, killed eighteen thousand of the enemy, took five thousand prisoners, with eighteen elephants, and received seventy-four cities into alliance. The vanquished Carthaginians then sued to the Romans for peace, which Regulus refusing to grant, except upon the hardest conditions, the Africans sought aid from the Lacedaemonians, and, under a leader named Xantippus, who had been sent them by the Lacedaemonians, Regulus, the Roman general, was overthrown with a desperate slaughter; for two thousand men only escaped of all the Roman army; five hundred, with their commander Regulus, were taken prisoners, thirty thousand slain, and Regulus himself thrown into prison.

  XXII

  In the consulship of Marcus Aemilius Paulus and Servius Fulvius Nobilior, both the Roman consuls set sail for Africa, with a fleet of three hundred ships. They first overcame the Africans in a sea-fight; Aemilius the consul sunk a hundred and four of the enemy’s ships, took thirty, with the soldiers in them, killed or took prisoners fifteen thousand of the enemy, and enriched his own army with much plunder; and Africa would then have been subdued, but that so great a famine took place that the army could not continue there any longer. The consuls, as they were returning with their victorious fleet, suffered shipwreck on the coast of Sicily, and so violent was the storm, that out of four hundred and sixty-four ships, eighty could scarcely be saved; nor was so great a tempest at sea ever heard of at any period. The Romans, notwithstanding, soon refitted two hundred ships, nor was their spirit at all broken by their loss.

  XXIII

  Cnaeus Servilius Caepio and Caius Sempronius Blaesus, when consuls, set out for Africa with two hundred and sixty ships, and took several cities. As they were returning with a great booty, they suffered shipwreck; and, as these successive calamities annoyed the Romans, the senate in consequence decreed that wars by sea should be given up, and that only sixty ships should be kept for the defence of Italy.

  XXIV

  In the consulship of Lucius Caecilius Metellus and Caius Furius Pacilus, Metellus defeated a general of the Africans in Sicily, who came against him with a hundred and thirty elephants and a numerous army, slew twenty thousand of the enemy, took six and twenty elephants, collected the rest, which were dispersed, with the aid of the Numidians whom he had to assist him, and brought them to Rome in a vast procession, filling all the roads with elephants, to the number of a hundred and thirty.

  After these misfortunes, the Carthaginians entreated Regulus, the Roman general whom they had taken, to go to Rome, procure them peace from the Romans, and effect an exchange of prisoners.

  XXV

  Regulus, on arriving at Rome, and being conducted into the senate, would do nothing in the character of a Roman, declaring that, “from the day when he fell into the hands of the Africans, he had ceased to be a Roman.” For this reason he both repelled his wife from embracing him, and gave his advice to the Romans, that “peace should not be made with the Carthaginians; for that they, dispirited by so many losses, had no hope left; and that, with respect to himself, he was not of such importance, that so many thousand captives should be restored on his account alone, old as he was, and for the sake of the few Romans who had been taken prisoners.” He accordingly carried his point, for no one would listen to the Carthaginians, when they applied for peace. He himself returned to Carthage, telling the Romans, when they offered to detain him at Rome, that he would not stay in a city, in which, after living in captivity among the Africans, it was impossible for him to retain the dignity of an honourable citizen. Returning therefore to Africa, he was put to death with torture of every description,

  XXVI

  When Publius Claudius Pulcher and Caius Junius were consuls, Claudius fought in opposition to the auspices. and was defeated by the Carthaginians; for, out of two hundred and twenty ships, he escaped with only thirty; ninety, together with their men, were taken, the rest sunk, and twenty thousand men made prisoners. The other consul also lost his fleet by shipwreck, but was able to save his troops, as the shore was close at hand.

  XXVII

  In the consulate of Caius Lutatius Catulus and Aulus Posthumius Albinus, in the twenty-third year of the Punic war, the conduct of the war against the Africans was committed to Catulus. He set sail for Sicily with three hundred ships. The Africans fitted out four hundred against him. Lutatius Catulus embarked in an infirm state of health, having been wounded in a previous battle. An encounter took place opposite Lilybaeum, a city of Sicily, with the greatest valour on the part of the Romans, for seventy-three of the Carthaginian ships were taken, and a hundred and twenty-five sunk; thirty-two thousand of the enemy were made prisoners, and thirteen thousand slain; and a vast sum in gold and silver fell into the hands of the Romans. Of the Roman fleet twelve ships were sunk The battle was fought on the 10th of March. The Carthaginians immediately sued for peace, and peace was granted them. The Roman prisoners who were in the hands of the Carthaginians were restored; the Carthaginians also requested permission to redeem such of the Africans as the Romans kept in captivity. The senate decided that those who were state prisoners should be restored without ransom; but that those who were in the hands of private persons should return to Carthage on the payment of a sum to their owners; and that such payment should be made from the public treasury, rather than by the Carthaginians.

  XXVIII

  Quintus Lutatius and Aulius Manlius, being created consuls, made war upon the Falisci, formerly a powerful people of Italy, which war the consuls in conjunction brought to a termination within six days after they took the field; fifteen thousand of the enemy were slain, and peace was granted to the rest, but half their land was taken from them.

  ENDNOTES.

  1 Infames. They all suffered some sort of degradation. Those who had been in the cavalry were made to serve in the infantry, and those who had been in the infantry were sent among the slingers. See Val. Max. ii. 7, 15.

  BOOK III

  Ptolemy, king of Egypt, declines the aid offered him by the Romans against Antiochus; Hiero, king of Sicily, comes to see the games at Rome, I
. — War with the Ligurians; the Carthaginians think of resuming hostilities, but are pacified, II. — Peace throughout the dominions of Rome, III. — The Illyrian war, IV. — Disasters of the Gauls that invaded Italy, V. VI. — The second Punic war, VII.-XXIII.

  I

  The Punic war being now ended, after having been protracted though three and twenty years, the Romans, who were now distinguished by transcendent glory, sent ambassadors to Ptolemy, king of Egypt, with offers of assistance; for Antiochus, king of Syria, had made war upon him. He returned thanks to the Romans, but declined their aid, the struggle being now over. About the same time. Hiero, the most powerful king of Sicily, visited Rome to witness the games, and distributed two hundred thousand modii1 of wheat among the people.

  II

  In the consulship of Lucius Cornelius Lentulus and Fulvius Flaccus, in whose time Hiero came to Rome, war was carried on, within the limits of Italy, against the Ligurians, and a triumph obtained over them. The Carthaginians, too, at the same time, attempted to renew the war, soliciting the Sardinians, who, by an article of the peace, were bound to submit to the Romans, to rebel. A deputation, however, of the Carthaginians came to Rome, and obtained peace.

  III

  Under the consulate of Titus Manlius Torquatus and Caius Attilius Bulbus, a triumph was obtained over the Sardinians; and, peace being concluded on all sides, the Romans had now no war on their hands, a circumstance which had happened to them but once before since the building of the city, in the reign of Numa Pompilius.

  IV

  Lucius Posthumius Albinus and Cnaeus Fulvius Centumalus, when consuls, conducted a war against the Illyrians; and, having taken many of their towns, reduced their kings to a surrender, and it was then for the first time that a triumph was celebrated over the Illyrians.

  V

  When Lucius Aemilius was consul, a vast force of the Gauls crossed the Alps; but all Italy united in favour of the Romans; and it is recorded by Fabius the historian, who was present in that war, that there were eight hundred thousand men ready for the contest. Affairs, however, were brought to a successful termination by the consul alone; forty thousand of the enemy were killed, and a triumph decreed to Aemilius.

  VI

  A few years after, a battle was fought with the Gauls within the borders of Italy, and an end put to the war, in the consulship of Marcus Claudius Marcellus and Cnaeus Cornelius Scipio. Marcellus took the field with a small body of horse, and slew the king of the Gauls, Viridomarus, with his own hand. Afterwards, in conjunction with his colleague, he cut to pieces a numerous army of the Gauls, stormed Milan, and carried off a vast booty to Rome. Marcellus, at his triumph, bore the spoils of the Gaul, fixed upon a pole on his shoulders.

  VII

  In the consulate of Marcus Minucius Rufus and Publius Cornelius, war was made upon the Istrians, because they had plundered some ships of the Romans, which were bringing a supply of corn, and they were entirely subdued.

  In the same year the second Punic war was commenced against the Romans by Hannibal, general of the Carthaginians, who, in the twentieth year of his age, proceeded to besiege Saguntum, a city of Spain, in alliance with the Romans, having assembled for that purpose an army of fifty thousand foot and twenty thousand horse. The Romans warned him, by deputies sent for the purpose, to desist from hostilities, but he refused them audience. The Romans sent also to Carthage, requiring that orders should be sent to Hannibal, not to make war on the allies of the Roman people; but the reply made by the Carthaginians promised no compliance. The Saguntines in the meantime, worn out with famine, were taken by Hannibal, and put to death with the utmost cruelty.

  VIII

  Publius Cornelius Scipio then went with an army into Spain, and Tiberius Sempronius into Sicily. War was declared against the Carthaginians. Hannibal, leaving his brother Hasdrubal in Spain, passed the Pyrenees, and made a way over the Alps, which, in that part, were previously impassable. He is said to have brought into Italy eighty thousand foot, twenty thousand horse, and thirty-seven elephants. Numbers of the Ligurians and Gauls joined him on his march. Sempronius Gracchus, hearing of Hannibal’s arrival in Italy, conveyed over his army from Sicily to Ariminum.

  IX

  The first to meet Hannibal was Publius Cornelius Scipio; a battle being commenced, and his troops put to flight, he retired wounded into his camp. Sempronius Gracchus also came to an engagement with him near the river Trebia, and he too was defeated. Numbers in Italy submitted to Hannibal; who, marching from thence into Tuscany, encountered the consul Flaminius. Flaminius himself he cut off; and twenty-five thousand of the Romans were slain; the rest saved themselves by flight. Quintus Fabius Maximus was afterwards sent by the Romans to oppose Hannibal. This general, by avoiding an engagement, checked his impetuosity; and soon after, finding a favourable opportunity, defeated him.

  X

  In the five hundred and fortieth year from the foundation of the city, Lucius Aemilius and Publius Terentius Varro were sent against Hannibal, and took the place of Fabius, who forewarned both the consuls, that they could conquer Hannibal, who was a bold and energetic leader, only by declining a pitched battle with him. But an engagement being brought on, through the impetuosity of the consul Varro, in opposition to his colleague, near a village called Cannae, in Apulia, both the consuls were defeated by Hannibal. In this battle three thousand of the Africans fell, and a great part of Hannibal’s army were wounded. The Romans, however, never received so severe a blow at any period of the Punic wars; for the consul Aemilius Paulus was killed; twenty officers of consular and praetorian rank, thirty senators, and three hundred others of noble descent, were taken or slain, as well as forty thousand foot-soldiers, and three thousand five hundred horse. During all these calamities, however, not one of the Romans deigned to speak of peace. A number of slaves were set free and made soldiers, a measure never before adopted.

  XI

  After this battle, several cities of Italy, which had been subject to the Romans, went over to Hannibal. Hannibal made proposals to the Romans concerning the redemption of the prisoners, but the senate replied, that “such citizens as would suffer themselves to be taken with arms in their hands were of no value to them.” Hannibal then put them all to death with various tortures, and sent three modii of gold rings to Carthage, which he had taken from the fingers of Roman knights, senators, and soldiers. In the meantime, Hasdrubal, the brother of Hannibal, who had remained in Spain with a numerous army, in order to reduce all that country under the dominion of the Africans, was defeated there by the two Scipios, the Roman generals, and lost thirty-five thousand men in the battle; of these ten thousand were made prisoners, and twenty-five thousand slain. Upon this, twelve thousand foot, four thousand horse, and twenty elephants were sent to him by the Carthaginians to reinforce his army.

  XII

  In the fourth year after Hannibal’s arrival in Italy, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, one of the consuls, engaged him with success at Nola, a city of Campania. But Hannibal possessed himself of several of the Roman cities in Apulia, Calabria, and the country of the Bruttii. About this time also Philip, king of Macedonia, sent ambassadors to him, offering him assistance against the Romans, on condition that, when he had subdued them, he, in turn, should receive assistance from Hannibal against the Greeks. But Philip’s ambassadors being taken, and the affair thus discovered, the Romans ordered Marcus Valerius Laevinus to proceed to Macedonia, and Titus Manlius, as proconsul, into Sardinia; for that island also, at the solicitation of Hannibal, had revolted from the Romans.

  XIII

  Thus war was carried on at the same time in four different places; in Italy, against Hannibal; in Spain, against Hasdrubal his brother; in Macedonia, against Philip; in Sardinia, against the Sardinians and another Hasdrubal, also a Carthaginian. Hasdrubal was taken alive by Titus Manlius the proconsul, who had been sent into Sardinia; twelve thousand of his men were slain, fifteen hundred made prisoners, and Sardinia brought under subjection to the Romans. Manlius, bei
ng thus successful, brought Hasdrubal and his other prisoners to Rome. In the meantime, Philip also was defeated by Laevinus in Macedonia, and Hasdrubal and Mago, a third brother of Hannibal, by the Scipios in Spain.

  XIV

  In the tenth year after Hannibal’s arrival in Italy, in the consulship of Publius Sulpicius and Cnaeus Fulvius, Hannibal advanced within four miles of Rome, and his cavalry rode up to the very gates; but soon after, through fear of the consuls, who were coming upon him with an army, he withdrew into Campania. In Spain, the two Scipios, who had been victorious for many years, were killed by his brother Hasdrubal; the army however remained in full strength, for the generals had been ensnared rather by accident than the valour of the enemy. About this time, also, a great part of Sicily, which the Africans had begun to appropriate, was recovered by the consul Marcellus, and vast spoil brought to Rome from the celebrated city of Syracuse. In Macedonia, Laevinus made an alliance with Philip, and several of the Grecian states, as well as with Attalus, king of Asia; and. proceeding afterwards to Sicily, took Hanno, a general of the Carthaginians, at the city of Agrigentum, together with the town itself, and sent him with other noble prisoners to Rome. Forty cities he obliged to surrender; twenty-six he carried by storm. Thus all Sicily being recovered, and Macedonia humbled, he returned with great glory to Rome. In Italy, Hannibal, attacking Cnaeus Fulvius, one of the consuls, by surprise, cut him off, together with eight thousand of his men.