[45.1] The Romans, resenting this defeat, for which they blamed Postumius, one of the consuls, resolved to make an expedition against the territory of the Sabines speedily with all their forces; they were not only eager to retrieve the shameful and unexpected defeat they had received, but were also angered at the very insolent and haughty embassy that had recently come to them from the enemy. [2] For, as if already victorious and having it in their power to take Rome without any trouble if the Romans refused to do as they commanded, they had ordered them to grant a return to the Tarquinii, to yield the leadership to the Sabines, and to establish such a form of government and such laws as the conquerors should prescribe. Replying to the ambassadors, they bade them report to their general council that the Romans commanded the Sabines to lay down their arms, to deliver up their cities to them, and to be subject to them once more as they had been before, and after they had complied with these demands, then to come and stand trial for the injuries and damage they had done them in their former incursions, if they desired to obtain peace and friendship: and in case they refused to carry out these orders, they might expect to see the war soon brought home to their cities. [3] Such demands having been given and received, both sides equipped themselves with everything necessary for the war and led out their forces. The Sabines brought the flower of their youth out of every city armed with splendid weapons; and the Romans drew out all their forces not only from the city but also from the fortresses, looking upon those above the military age and the multitude of domestic servants as a sufficient guard for both the city and the fortresses in the country. [4] And the two armies, approaching each other, pitched their camps a little distance apart near the city of eretum, which belongs to the Sabine nation.
[46.1] When each side observed the enemy’s condition, of which they judged by the size of the camps and the information given by prisoners, the Sabines were inspired with confidence and felt contempt for the small numbers of the enemy, while the Romans were seized with fear by reason of the multitude of their opponents. But they took courage and entertained no small hopes of victory because of various omens sent to them by the gods, and particularly from a final portent which they saw when they were about to array themselves for battle. [2] It was as follows: From the javelins that were fixed in the ground beside their tents (these javelins are Roman weapons which they hurl and having pointed iron heads, not less than three feet in length, projecting straight forward from one end, and with the iron they are as long as spears of moderate length) — from these javelins flames issued forth round the tips of the heads and the glare extended through the whole camp like that of torches and lasted a great part of the night. [3] From this portent they concluded, as the interpreters of prodigies informed them and as was not difficult for anyone to conjecture, that Heaven was portending to them a speedy and brilliant victory, because, as we know, everything yields to fire and there is nothing that is not consumed by it. And inasmuch as this fire issued from defensive weapons, they came out with great boldness from their camp, and engaging the Sabines, fought, few in number, with enemies many times superior, placing their reliance in their own good courage. Besides, their long experience joined to their willingness to undergo toil encouraged them to despise every danger. [4] First, then, Postumius, who commanded the left wing, desiring to repair his former defeat, forced back the enemy’s right, taking no thought for his own life in comparison with gaining the victory, but, like those who are mad and court death, hurling himself into the midst of his enemies. Then those also with Menenius on the other wing, though they were already in distress and being forced to give ground, when they found that the forces under Postumius were victorious over those who confronted them, took courage and advanced against the enemy. And now, as both their wings gave way, the Sabines were utterly routed. [5] For not even those who were posted in the centre of the line, when once their flanks were left bare, stood their ground any longer, but being hard pressed by the Roman horse that charged them in separate troops, they were driven back. And when they all fled toward their entrenchments, the Romans pursued them, and entering with them, captured both camps. All that saved the army of the enemy from being totally destroyed was that night came on and their defeat happened in their own land. For those who fled got safely home more easily because of their familiarity with the country.
[47.1] The next day the consuls, after burning their own dead, gathered up the spoils (there were even found some arms belonging to the living, which they had thrown away in their flight) and carried off the captives, whom they had taken in considerable numbers, and the booty, in addition to the plunder taken by the soldiers. This booty having been sold at public auction, all the citizens received back the amount of the contributions which they had severally paid for the equipment of the expedition. Thus the consuls, having gained a most glorious victory, returned home. [2] They were both honoured with triumphs by the senate, Menenius with the greater and more honourable kind, entering the city in a royal chariot, and Postumius with the lesser and inferior triumph which they call ouastês or “ovation,” perverting the name, which is Greek, to an unintelligible form. For it was originally called euastês, from what actually took place, according to both my own conjecture and what I find stated in many native histories, the senate, as Licinius relates, [3] having then first introduced this sort of triumph. It differs from the other, first, in this, that the general who triumphs in the manner called the ovation enters the city on foot, followed by the army, and not in a chariot like the other; and, in the next place, because he does not don the embroidered robe decorated with gold, with which the other is adorned, nor does he have the golden crown, but is clad in a white toga bordered with purple, the native dress of the consuls and praetors, and wears a crown of laurel; he is also inferior to the other in not holding a sceptre, but everything else is the same. [4] The reason why this inferior honour was decreed to Postumius, though he had distinguished himself more than any man in the last engagement, was the severe and shameful defeat he had suffered earlier, in the sortie he made against the enemy, in which he not only lost many of his men, but narrowly escaped being taken prisoner himself together with the troops that had survived that rout.
[48.1] In the consulship of these men Publius Valerius, surnamed Publicola, fell sick and died, a man esteemed superior to all the Romans of his time in every virtue. I need not relate all the achievements of this man which he deserves to be both admired and remembered, because most of them have been already narrated in the beginning of this Book; but I think I should not omit one thing which most deserves admiration of all that can be said in his praise and has not yet been mentioned. For I look upon it as the greatest duty of the historian not only to relate the military achievements of illustrious generals and any excellent and salutary measures that they have devised and put into practice for the benefit of their states, but also to note their private lives, whether they have lived with moderation and self-control and in strict adherence to the traditions of their country. [2] This man, then, though he had been one of the first four patricians who expelled the kings and confiscated their fortunes, though he had been invested four times with the consular power, had been victorious in two wars to greatest consequence and celebrated triumphs for both — the first time for his victory over the Tyrrhenian nation and the second time for that over the Sabines — and though he had such opportunities for amassing riches, which none could have traduced as shameful and wrong, nevertheless was not overcome by avarice, the vice which enslaves all men and forces them to act unworthily; but he continued to live on the small estate he had inherited from his ancestors, leading a life of self-control and frugality superior to every desire, and with his small means he brought up his children in a manner worthy of their birth, making it plain to all men that he is rich, not who possesses many things, but who requires few. [3] A sure and incontestable proof of the frugality he had shown during his whole lifetime was the poverty that was revealed after his death. For in his whole estate he
did not leave enough even to provide for his funeral and burial in such a manner as became a man of his dignity, but his relations were intending to carry his body out of the city in a shabby manner, and as one would that of an ordinary man, to be burned and buried. The senate, however, learning how impoverished they were, decreed that the expenses of his burial should be defrayed from the public treasury, and appointed a place in the city near the Forum, at the foot of the Velia, where his body was burned and buried, an honour paid to him alone of all the illustrious men down to my time. This place is, as it were, sacred and dedicated to his posterity as a place of burial, an advantage greater than any wealth or royalty, if one measures happiness, not by shameful pleasures, but by the standard of honour. [4] Thus Valerius Publicola, who had aimed at the acquisition of nothing more than wanted supply his necessary wants, was honoured by his country with a splendid funeral, like one of the richest kings. And all the Roman matrons with one consent, mourned for him during a whole year, as they had done for Junius Brutus, by laying aside both their gold and purple; for thus it is the custom for them to mourn after the funeral rites of their nearest relations.
[49.1] The next year Spurius Cassius, surnamed Vecellinus, and Opiter Verginius Tricostus were appointed consuls. In their consulship the war with the Sabines was ended by one of them, Spurius, after a hard battle fought near the city of Cures; in this battle about 10,300 Sabines were killed and nearly 4000 taken prisoners. [2] Overwhelmed by this final misfortune, the Sabines sent ambassadors to the consul to treat for peace. Then, upon being referred to the senate by Cassius, they came to Rome, and after many entreaties obtained with difficulty a reconciliation and termination of the war by giving, not only as much grain to the army as Cassius ordered, but also a certain sum of money per man and ten thousand acres of land under cultivation. [3] Spurius Cassius celebrated a triumph for his victory in this war; but the other consul, Verginius, led an expedition against the city of Cameria, which had withdrawn from its alliance with the Romans during this war. He took half the other army with him, telling no one whither he was marching, and covered the distance during the night, in order that he might fall upon the inhabitants while they were unprepared and unapprised of his approach; and so it fell out. [4] For he was already close to their walls, without having been discovered by anybody, just as day was breaking; and before encamping he brought up battering-rams and scaling ladders, and made use of every device used in sieges. The Camerini were astounded at his sudden arrival and some of them thought they ought to open the gates and receive the consul, while others insisted upon defending themselves with all their power and not permitting the enemy to enter the city; and while this confusion and dissension prevailed, the consul, having broken down the gates and scaled the lowest parts of the ramparts by means of ladders, took the city by storm. [5] That day and the following night he permitted his men to pillage the town; but the next day he ordered the prisoners to be brought together in one place, and having put to death all the authors of the revolt, he sold the rest of the people and razed the city.
[50.1] In the seventieth Olympiad (the one in which Niceas of Opus in Locris won the foot-race), Smyrus being archon at Athens, Postumus Cominius and Titus Larcius took over the consulship. In their year of office the cities of the Latins withdrew from the friendship of the Romans, Octavius Mamilius, the son-in-law of Tarquinius, having prevailed upon the most prominent men of every city, partly by promises of gifts and partly by entreaties, to assist in restoring the exiles. [2] And a general assembly was held of all the cities that were wont to meet at Ferentinum except Rome (for this was the only city they had not notified as usual to be present), at which the cities were to give their votes concerning war, to choose generals, and to consider the other preparations. [3] Now it happened that at this time Marcus valerius, a man of consular rank, had been sent as ambassador by the Romans to the neighbouring cities to ask them not to begin any revolt; for some of their people sent out by the men in power were plundering the neighbouring fields and doing great injury to the Roman husbandmen. This man, upon learning that the general assembly of the cities was being held so that all might give their votes concerning the war, came to the assembly; and requesting of the presidents leave to speak, he said that he had been sent as ambassador by the commonwealth to the cities that were sending out the bands of robbers, to ask of them that they would seek out the men who were guilty of these wrongs and deliver them up to be punished according to the provision which they had laid down in the treaty when they entered into their league of friendship, and also to demand that they take care for the future that no fresh offence should occur to disrupt their friendship and kinship. [4] But, observing that all the cities had met together in order to declare war against the Romans — a purpose which he recognized, not only from many other evidences, but particularly because the Romans were the only persons they had not notified to be present at the assembly, although it was stipulated in the treaty that all the cities of the Latin race should be represented at the general assemblies when summoned by the presidents — he said he wondered what provocation or what cause of complaint against the commonwealth had caused the deputies to omit Rome from the cities they had invited to the assembly, when she ought to have been the first of all to be represented and the first to be asked her opinion, inasmuch as she held the leadership of the nation, which she had received from them with their own consent in return for many great benefits she had conferred upon them.
[51.1] Following him, the Aricians, having asked leave to speak, accused the Romans of having, though kinsmen, brought upon them the Tyrrhenian war and of having caused all the Latin cities, as far as lay in their power, to be deprived of their liberty by the Tyrrhenians. And King Tarquinius, renewing the treaty of friendship and alliance that he had made with the general council of their cities, asked those cities to fulfil their oaths and restore him to the sovereignty. The exiles also from Fidenae and Cameria, the former lamenting the taking of their city and their own banishment from it, and the latter the enslaving of their countrymen and the razing of their city, exhorted them to declare war. [2] Last of all, Tarquinius’ son-in-law, Mamilius, a man most powerful at that time among the Latins, rose up and inveighed against the Romans in a long speech. And, Valerius answering all his accusations and seeming to have the advantage in the justice of his cause, the deputies spent that day in hearing the accusations and the defences without reaching any conclusion to their deliberations. But on the following day the presidents would no longer admit the Roman ambassadors to the assembly, but gave a hearing to Tarquinius, Mamilius, the Arician, and all the others who wished to make charges against the Romans, and after hearing them all through, they voted that the treaty had been dissolved by the Romans, and gave this answer to the embassy of Valerius: that inasmuch as the Romans had by their acts of injustice dissolved the ties of kinship between them, they would consider at leisure in what manner they ought to punish them.
[3] While this was going on, a conspiracy was formed against the state, numerous slaves having agreed together to seize the heights and to set fire to the city in many places. But, information being given by their accomplices, the gates were immediately closed by the consuls and all the strong places in the city were occupied by the knights. And straightway all those whom the informers declared to have been concerned in the conspiracy were either seized in their houses or brought in from the country, and after being scourged and tortured they were all crucified. These were the events of this consulship.
[52.1] Servius Sulpicius Camerinus and Manius Tullius Longus having taken over the consulship, some of the Fidenates, after sending for soldiers from the Tarquinii, took possession of the citadel at Fidenae, and putting to death some of those who were not of the same mind and banishing others, caused the city to revolt again from the Romans. And when a Roman embassy arrived, they were inclined to treat the men like enemies, but being hindered by the elders from doing so, they drove them out of the city, refusing either to listen
to them or to say anything to them. [2] The Roman senate, being informed of this, did not desire as yet to make war upon the whole nation of the Latins, because they understood that they did not all approve of the resolutions taken by the deputies in the assembly, but that the common people in every city shrank from the war, and that those who demanded that the treaty should remain in force outnumbered those who declared it had been dissolved. But they voted to send one of the consuls, Manius Tullius, against the Fidenates with a large army; and he, having laid waste their country quite unmolested, as none offered to defend it, encamped near the walls and placed guards to prevent the inhabitants from receiving provisions, arms, or any other assistance. [3] The Fidenates, being thus shut up within their walls, sent ambassadors to the cities of the Latins to ask for prompt assistance; whereupon the presidents of the Latins, holding an assembly of the cities and again giving leave to the Tarquinii and to the ambassadors from the besieged to speak, called upon the deputies, beginning with the oldest and the most distinguished, to give their opinion concerning the best way to make war against the Romans. [4] And many speeches having been made, first, concerning the war itself, the most turbulent of the deputies were for restoring the king to power and advised assisting the Fidenates, being desirous of getting into positions of command in the armies and engaging in great undertakings; and this was the case particularly with those who yearned for domination and despotic power in their own cities, in gaining which they expected the assistance of the Tarquinii when these had recovered the sovereignty over the Romans. On the other hand, the men of the greatest means and of the greatest reasonableness maintained that the cities ought to adhere to the treaty and not hastily resort to arms; and these were the most influential with the common people. [5] Those who pressed for war, being thus defeated by the advisers of peace, at last persuaded the assembly to do this much at least — to send ambassadors to Rome to invite and at the same time to advise the commonwealth to receive the Tarquinii and the other exiles upon the terms of impunity and a general amnesty, and after making a covenant concerning these matters, to restore their traditional form of government and to withdraw their army from Fidenae, since the Latins would not permit their kinsmen and friends to be despoiled of their country; and in case the Romans should consent to do neither of these things, they would then deliberate concerning war. [6] They were not unaware that the Romans would consent to neither of these demands, but they desired to have a specious pretence for their hostility, and they expected to win over their opponents in the meantime by courting them and doing them favours. The deputies, having passed this vote and set a year’s time for the Romans in which to deliberate and for themselves to make their preparations, and having appointed such ambassadors as Tarquinius wished, dismissed the assembly.
Delphi Complete Works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 79) Page 46
