The Rise of Rome (Penguin Classics)

by Plutarch

  8. The senate, however, decreed that a new distribution of spoils would not take place, for that would have been difficult. Instead, anyone who had received any share of the plunder should, under oath, restore to the public one tenth of it. This resulted in a good deal of rancour as well as real hardship among the soldiers, who were poor men who had worked hard, and yet were now forced to return a rather large portion of what they had gained and had already spent. Camillus, when he was assaulted by popular protests over this, had no better excuse to offer than an embarrassing admission that he had forgotten his vow. For their part, the soldiers complained bitterly that although Camillus had once made a vow to tithe his enemy’s goods, he was now paying the tithe out of the property of his fellow-citizens.

  Each man nevertheless brought in his due portion, and it was decreed that a massive golden bowl should be made and sent to Delphi. Gold, however, was scarce in the city, and this left the magistrates with the problem of coming up with a way of acquiring it. Then the women of the city, after due deliberation, contributed their golden jewellery for use in making the offering, and all told this amounted to 8 talents of gold.29 In order to honour these women appropriately, the senate decreed that, whenever a woman died, a funeral oration should be pronounced for her, just as is done in the case of men. For until that time it was not the custom, when a woman died, to deliver a public encomium.30 The senate then chose three of the noblest men31 of the city as ambassadors to the oracle and sent them off in a war ship, well manned and sumptuously adorned in the array of a religious festival.

  Now storm and calm alike are dangers at sea, and it so happened that everyone on this voyage came close to destruction, when suddenly, outside of all expectation, they escaped from their peril. For as they were passing near the Aeolian islands, and the wind died down, the people of Lipara launched several triremes against them, fearing they were pirates.32 The Romans pleaded with them and lifted their hands in supplication, and on account of this the Liparians did not ram their ship but instead took it in tow and brought it into their harbour, where they announced that the Romans’ goods and persons were to be sold on the grounds they were pirates. In the end the Liparians agreed to release the Romans, but persuading them took a great deal of effort, and this was credited to the courage and influence of a single man, Timesitheus, the Liparians general. Afterwards, he launched his own ships, accompanied the Romans on their voyage and assisted them in their dedication33 of the bowl. For all these favours he was rightly honoured by the Romans.34

  9. Now, when the tribunes of the people began once more to press for the law dividing the city, at that very juncture war broke out against the Faliscans and this event allowed the leading men to hold assemblies to deal with the new crisis. Because the Romans were facing circumstances that required a general whose authority and reputation had been proven by experience,35 they elected Camillus, along with five others, as consular tribunes. After the elections, Camillus took command of the army and invaded the territory of the Faliscans. There he laid siege to Falerii, a well-fortified city amply equipped with all that was needed for waging war. He was fully aware that capturing this city would require a good deal of effort and time. In truth, however, it was his desire to keep the Romans occupied and, by so doing, distract them. In this way he could prevent them from remaining idle at home or becoming adherents of the tribunes of the people and thus lapsing into factional strife. Indeed, this was a remedy that the Romans were experts in applying, as if they were physicians, in order to discharge upsetting humours from the state.36

  10. The Falerians took little account of the siege, so confident were they in the strength of their city, which was fortified on all sides. As a result, apart from the men who defended the walls, everyone strolled the streets of the city in ordinary clothes, and their sons continued to attend school and were routinely led along by their teacher outside the walls, where they walked about and took their exercise. Now, it was the custom of the Falerians, like the Greeks, to employ a single teacher for many pupils, for they wished their sons, from the very start, to associate with one another and be brought up in one another’s company. But this teacher came up with a scheme to betray the Falerians by exploiting his pupils. Every day he led them out beyond the city wall, at first only a little, and, after they had exercised, he led them back inside. Then, little by little, he led them farther and farther out, until the practice became so familiar that the boys grew fearless, as if there were no danger. Finally, he led them to the Romans’ outposts, where he handed them over to the enemy and demanded that he be led to Camillus. This was done and, when he was standing before the general, he told him that, although he was the teacher and supervisor of these children, he preferred gaining Camillus’ favour to fulfilling his legitimate responsibilities: this is why he had come, in order to deliver the city by surrendering its sons. As Camillus listened, however, this deed struck him as vile. Turning to his companions, he said, ‘War is harsh, and it is waged with grievous injustice and violence. But there exist certain laws that, even in war, good men will not violate, and we must not pursue victory so eagerly that we fail to flee any obligations incurred through wicked and impious actions.’ The truly great general, Camillus went on to say, wages war in the confidence of his native valour: he does not rely on another man’s baseness. He then ordered his slaves to tear off the teacher’s clothing, bind his hands behind his back and give rods and whips to the boys, so that they might punish this traitor as they drove him back into the city.

  Meanwhile, the Falerians had become aware of the teacher’s treachery and, as one would expect, because of this terrible disaster the city was filled with lamentations. Men and women alike rushed madly to the walls and gates, but, just as they did so, the boys came into view; they were beating their teacher, who was naked and bound, and they were invoking Camillus as their saviour and father and god. As they beheld this marvellous sight, the parents of the boys, along with the rest of the citizenry, were seized with admiration for Camillus’ justice. They quickly held an assembly, after which they dispatched envoys who turned the entire city over to Camillus. Camillus sent them on to Rome, where, standing in the senate, they declared that the Romans, by holding justice in greater honour than victory, had taught them to love defeat more than freedom, not because they believed themselves inferior in might, but rather because they confessed themselves surpassed in virtue. The senate in its turn entrusted Camillus with the authority to make any decisions or arrangements that were required to settle affairs with the Falerians. He took from them a sum of money, established friendship with all the Faliscans, and withdrew from their territory.

  11. The Roman soldiers, however, had been expecting to pillage Falerii, and so, when they returned to Rome empty-handed, began to speak ill of Camillus to their fellow-citizens, denouncing him for his hostility towards the poor and because he begrudged them the spoils of war. In addition, the tribunes of the people once again proposed dividing the city and summoned the people to cast their votes on the matter, and this time it was Camillus who, more than anyone else, took a stand against the preferences of the multitude, for he was in no way inclined to evade public hatred by surrendering his freedom of speech. Because of his resistance, the people voted the law down, but they did so against their will and were so very angry with Camillus that their hostility was not a bit softened by pity when he suffered a grave personal misfortune, for he lost one of his two sons to sickness. He suffered this loss with immoderate grief, for he was by nature a gentle and kind man, and even when a formal indictment was lodged against him, his sorrow kept him at home, where he secluded himself with the women of his household.

  12. Now Camillus’ prosecutor was Lucius Apuleius37 and the charge against him was the theft of Etruscan plunder. And to be sure, certain bronze doors that had been a part of the spoil of Veii were said to have been seen in his house. But in reality the people were exasperated with Camillus and it was obvious they would seize upon any pretext for condemning hi
m. For this reason he assembled his friends and former comrades in arms, of whom there was a considerable number, and he pleaded with them not to allow him to be unjustly condemned on base accusations and mocked by his enemies. After his friends had conferred and deliberated among themselves, they replied that, although they did not think they could aid him during the trial itself, they would nonetheless help him to pay whatever fine was imposed. This he deemed intolerable and resolved in his anger to leave the city and go into exile. So, after embracing his wife and son, he walked silently from his house to the city gate. There he stopped and turned around. Stretching out his hands to the Capitol, he prayed to the gods that, if his banishment was unjust and he was being abused by the insolence and envy of the people, then might the Romans soon repent of it and show to all mankind how much they missed and needed Camillus.

  13. Thus, like Achilles, he laid curses on his fellow-citizens, and then he left the city.38 He was condemned in his absence and fined 15,000 asses, a sum which, when converted into silver, is 1,500 drachmas. For the as was the currency of that time, and a coin worth 10 copper pieces was for this reason called a denarius.39

  Now there is no Roman who does not believe that the prayers of Camillus were followed by an immediate judgement and that he exacted vengeance for the wrong that had been done to him. But this was far from gratifying to him. On the contrary, it was a source of grief. Still, what happened next was memorable and came to be widely known. For retribution struck Rome on a grand scale, when devastation and danger – and disgrace – fell upon the city. Either it was fortune that caused events to turn out this way, or it was the action of one of the gods, who refused to overlook it when virtue was treated so ungratefully.

  14. The first sign of a great evil to come was the death of the censor Julius,40 for the Romans have a special reverence for the office of censor and they think of it as something sacred. The second sign occurred before the exile of Camillus. Marcus Caedicius41 was a man of no great distinction, but, although he was not a member of the senatorial order, he nonetheless enjoyed a reputation for being fair and kind. He came before the consular tribunes to report a matter he believed worthy of their consideration. He said that, during the previous night, as he was walking along the street called New Way, someone called out to him in a loud voice, yet when he turned he saw no one. However, he then heard a voice that was louder than a mortal’s voice speaking these words: ‘Go, Marcus Caedicius, early in the morning and tell the magistrates that in a short time they should expect the Gauls.’ When they heard this story, however, the consular tribunes treated it like a joke and a source of amusement. It was not long afterwards that Camillus was indicted and withdrew from the city.

  15. The Gauls are a Celtic people,42 and they are said to have abandoned their own country because their numbers were so great that it could no longer sustain them all, which led them to go in search of a new one. They comprised tens of thousands of young warriors, who took with them an even greater number of women and children. Some of them passed over the Rhipaean mountains,43 moving towards the northern ocean, and occupied the remotest parts of Europe, whereas others settled between the Pyrenees and the Alps, near the Senones and the Bituriges,44 and for a long time they lived there. But eventually they discovered a taste for wine,45 when it was first brought to them from Italy. They so marvelled at this drink, and were all of them so transported by the novel pleasure it gave, that they seized their weapons, took along their families and rushed to the Alps, seeking out the land which yielded this extraordinary fruit, as if the rest of the world were barren and savage.

  The man who first brought wine to the Gauls, and so more than anyone else spurred them to invade Italy, is said to have been Arruns, an Etruscan. He was a distinguished man, and not at all of a bad character, but he had experienced the following misfortune. He was guardian to an orphan, who was heir to the richest estate in the city and who was much admired for his beauty. His name was Lucumo. From his youth, Lucumo had lived in Arruns’ household, and when he became a young man he did not leave even then but still pretended to enjoy living with him. In reality, he had corrupted Arruns’ wife, and had been corrupted by her, though they had kept the matter hidden for a long time. When, however, their passion for one another reached such a pitch that they could neither restrain nor conceal their desires, the young man seized the woman, carried her away and openly kept her as his wife. Her husband took this case to court, but he was defeated by Lucumo’s extensive network of friends and by his extravagant outlays of money, and so Arruns left his native city. He then learned about the Gauls, travelled to meet them and led their expedition into Italy.46

  16. The Gauls made their invasion and quickly subdued all the lands which the Etruscans had in ancient times occupied. This territory extended from the Alps down to both seas, the names of which are themselves evidence of Etruscan occupation, for the northern sea, the Adriatic, takes its name from the Etruscan city of Adria,47 while the one in the south is called simply the Etruscan Sea.48 This entire region is rich in trees, enjoys excellent pastures and is well watered by rivers. Within it lay eighteen large and beautiful cities,49 each of them handsomely equipped for profitable industry and luxurious lifestyles. The Gauls took these cities away from the Etruscans and kept them for themselves. But those events took place long ago.50

  17. It was not long after Camillus’ exile that the Gauls began campaigning against the Etruscan city of Clusium51 and put it under siege. The Clusians then appealed to the Romans for assistance, asking them to send ambassadors and letters on their behalf to the barbarians. Three men of the Fabii52 were sent, each of whom enjoyed high rank and distinction. The Gauls received these men courteously, in deference to the name of Rome, and suspended their assault against the city’s walls while they conferred with them. The Gauls were asked what injury they had suffered at the hands of the Clusians that led them to attack their city, at which Brennus, the king of the Gauls, laughed and said, ‘The Clusians wrong us in this: though they are able to farm only a small parcel of land, they nevertheless insist on possessing a great deal of it and they refuse to share any of it with us, although we are strangers, many in number and poor. You too, Romans, have suffered similar wrongs, formerly at the hands of the Albans, the Fidenates53 and the Ardeates,54 and more recently from the Veientines, Capenates and many of the Faliscans and Volscians: if they refuse to share their goods with you, you wage war against them, enslave them, pillage their cities and raze them to the ground. Not that you do anything cruel or unjust acting in this way. On the contrary, you are obeying the most ancient of all laws, which awards to the strong the possessions of the weak, a principle that begins with the divine and extends to the beasts of the field, for it is in the nature even of these creatures for the strong to dominate the weak.55 Therefore do not pity the Clusians, whom we are besieging, lest you teach the Gauls to become kind and compassionate to those who are oppressed by you.’

  This speech made it clear to the Romans that there was no coming to terms with Brennus, and so they went into Clusium, where they encouraged the soldiers and roused them to join in a sally against the barbarians. They did this because they wished either to test the valour of the Clusian soldiers or to exhibit their own. The Clusians then erupted from their city and fighting was soon raging just outside the city walls. At that moment one of the Fabii, Quintus Ambustus, charged his horse against a Gaul, a man of great and noble stature, who was riding far in front of the others. Ambustus was not recognized at first, owing to the quickness of the fight and his shining armour, which hid his face. But when he had prevailed in combat, throwing the Gaul from his horse, and was stripping the man of his armour, Brennus recognized him and called upon the gods to be witnesses how, contrary to the common laws and practices of all mankind, which are holy and just, this man had come to him as an ambassador and yet was now engaged in making war. He stopped fighting immediately and let the Clusians alone, leading his army against Rome instead. Because he did not wish it to
appear that the Gauls actually welcomed this injury and were simply looking for a pretext for war, Brennus sent ahead a demand that Quintus Ambustus be handed over for punishment. In the meantime he continued his advance, though he moved slowly.

  18. When the senate met in Rome, many denounced Fabius,56 especially the priests called Fetiales, who invoked religious scruples as they urged the senate to lay the guilt for what had been done on the one man who was responsible, thereby freeing everyone else from the stain of his sacrilege. These Fetiales were established by Numa Pompilius, the most mild and just of kings, as the protectors of peace: it was their role to render judgements and decisions as to the grounds on which the Romans could justly make war.57 The senate referred this matter to the people, before whom the priests unanimously condemned Fabius for what he had done. But the multitude regarded religion with such scorn and contempt that they elected this same Fabius consular tribune – along with his brothers. When the Gauls learned of this, they were furious. They allowed nothing to slow them down as they advanced against Rome with all possible speed. The sheer numbers of the Gauls, their dazzling equipment, their fierce violence, all inspired terror wherever they came, and because of this everyone in their path believed that their lands were already as good as lost and that their cities would soon be captured. Contrary to all expectation, however, the Gauls did them no harm. They did not even take anything from their fields. As they passed near the cities on their way, they proclaimed that they were marching against Rome and that the Romans were their only enemies: all others they regarded as friends.

  Against this barbarian onslaught, the consular tribunes led the Romans forth to battle. In so far as numbers were concerned, they were not inferior, for there were no fewer than 40,000 soldiers on the Roman side. Most of them, however, were untrained and were handling arms for the first time. Moreover, they had neglected their religious practices, for they did not offer sacrifices in order to find good omens, nor did they consult the diviners, as was fitting before the perils of battle.58 Still, what most of all upset their actions was having too many men in command. Before this time, when confronted with less critical struggles, they had often chosen a single leader, called a dictator, because they realized how it is a real advantage, in the midst of a dangerous crisis, for everyone to obey the judgement of one man possessing absolute authority and jurisdiction. And the unfair treatment that Camillus had received did just as much harm, for it was now felt to be dangerous to exercise command unless one curried the favour of the public.