The Rise of Rome (Penguin Classics)
Page 64
29. After he had put affairs in good order, Aemilius said farewell to the Greeks, and he exhorted the Macedonians to remember that their freedom was the gift of the Romans, which they could preserve through lawfulness and concord. He then marched against Epirus,129 for he had received a senatorial decree instructing him to enrich the soldiers who had fought with him in the battle against Perseus at the expense of the cities130 in that region. He wished to attack all the cities at once, suddenly, when no one was expecting it, so he summoned from each city its ten leading men, whom he ordered to bring back to him, on a fixed day, all the silver and gold they had in their houses and temples. He sent along, with each of these men, a military guard under the command of an officer, whose ostensible mission was to search out and take possession of the money. But when the appointed day arrived, at one and the same time these men set about overrunning and pillaging the cities, and in a single hour 150,000 people were enslaved and seventy cities were sacked. And yet, out of all this devastation and ruin, each soldier received no more than 11 drachmas as his share, while all mankind shuddered in horror at the outcome of this war, in which an entire nation was carved to bits so that each Roman soldier could receive so meagre a profit.131
30. After he had executed the senate’s decree, a duty which was entirely contrary to his mild and just nature, Aemilius went down to Oricum.132 From there he crossed over to Italy, along with the army, and he sailed up the River Tiber in the royal galley, which had sixteen banks of oars and was richly adorned with captured arms as well as cloths of red and purple, which incited the Romans to go outside the city as if they were attending a festival and were enjoying in advance the spectacle of a triumphal procession, following along the banks while the splashing oars gently carried the ship upstream.
Aemilius’ soldiers, however, gazed covetously at the royal treasures, on the grounds that they had not received as much as they believed they deserved, and for this reason they were secretly angry and felt bitter towards Aemilius, while openly they accused him of having been oppressive and tyrannical when commanding them. They were entirely hostile to his desire for a triumph.133 When this came to the attention of Servius Galba,134 who was an enemy of Aemilius, although he had been one of his military tribunes, he was emboldened to declare in public that Aemilius should not be awarded a triumph. He also spread among the soldiers many false accusations against their general, which only exacerbated the anger they already felt, and then asked the tribunes of the people for another day in which to continue his recriminations, inasmuch as the present one was insufficient because there remained only four hours of daylight. The tribunes, however, ordered him to speak, if he had anything he wanted to say, and so he began to deliver a lengthy speech, full of invective, which used up the remainder of the day. At nightfall, the tribunes adjourned the assembly, but the soldiers, whose brazenness had now been amplified, rushed to join Galba, formed themselves into a unit and proceeded to occupy the Capitol135 before dawn, for it was there that the tribunes of the people were planning to hold the assembly.136
31. As soon as it was daybreak, the voting commenced, and, as the first tribe was voting against the triumph, the news of what was happening was brought down to the rest of the people and to the senate. The multitude, although sorely grieved at this insult to Aemilius, could do nothing137 but cry out helplessly, whereas the leading men of the senate roared against this outrage, exhorting one another to attack the insolent licence of the soldiers, which would soon descend to every form of lawlessness and violence – if nothing were done to prevent their depriving Aemilius Paullus of the honours of his victory. And so they pushed their way through the crowd and climbed the Capitol in a body, where they instructed the tribunes of the people to halt the voting until they had finished what they wanted to say to the public.
When all voting ceased and there was silence, Marcus Servilius,138 a man of consular rank, who had slain twenty-three opponents in single combat, came forward. He said that he now understood, better than ever before, how great a commander Aemilius Paullus was, when he saw how disobedient and wicked the army was which Aemilius had used in winning such great and glorious victories, and he was astonished that the people could delight in triumphs over Illyrians and Libyans139 and yet deny themselves the spectacle of a living king of Macedon and of the glories of Alexander and Philip, which had now been despoiled by Roman arms. ‘Is it not a strange thing’, he said, ‘how previously, when an unsubstantiated rumour of victory reached the city,140 you offered sacrifices to the gods and prayed that you would soon see the proof of this report, whereas now that your general has returned bearing true victory, you deprive the gods of honour and yourselves of joy, as if you feared beholding the immense scale of his achievement, or felt pity for your enemy? And yet it would be a better thing to dispense with the triumph because you pity your enemy than because you envy your general. However,’ he continued, ‘you have allowed your malice to become so intense that a man,141 whose body is not only unscarred but is kept sleek by his delicate and effeminate lifestyle, dares to speak about leadership and about triumphs – to those of us who have learned from our own wounds how to distinguish a brave general from a cowardly one.’ And with these words he tore open his garment and exhibited on his chest an incredible number of scars. He then turned around to uncover certain parts of his body that are deemed inappropriate to expose in public, and confronting Galba he said, ‘You may laugh at these scars, but I take pride in them in the presence of my fellow-citizens, in whose defence I got them by constant riding, day and night. But proceed! Take these men off to vote. I too shall come down and, following along beside them all, learn which of them are wicked and ungrateful men who, when waging war, prefer to be commanded by demagogues instead of real generals.’
32. This speech, they say, affected the soldiers so powerfully that they changed their minds and a triumph for Aemilius was ratified by all the tribes. And, we are told, it was conducted as follows. The people erected seating for horse racing in the theatres (the Romans call these circuses); they also erected seating in the forum, and they occupied any other part of the city that afforded a view of the procession, which they watched while adorned in fresh garments. Every temple was opened and filled with wreaths and incense. Numerous lictors and their assistants restrained the crowds, which thronged into the middle of the procession’s route and rushed here and there, as they tried to keep the streets open and clear. Three days were devoted to celebrating the triumph,142 the first of which was barely long enough to exhibit all the captured statues, paintings and colossal figures, which were carried on 250 wagons. On the next day, the most beautiful and precious of the Macedonian arms were carried through the city on many carts. The freshly polished bronze and iron of these weapons shone brightly, and they were carefully and artfully arranged in such a way that they appeared to be piled into random heaps, helmets lying next to shields and breastplates on top of greaves, while Cretan light shields, Thracian wicker shields and quivers were all mixed together with bridles for horses, and unsheathed swords stuck out from the piles, along with pikes which had also been planted there. All the arms were packed lightly enough that, as they were carried along, they struck each other and gave out a harsh and frightening sound, and, even though they were the spoils of a conquered enemy, it was unnerving to look at them. After the carts filled with arms there came 3,000 men bearing coined silver in 750 containers, each of which held 3 talents and was carried by four men, while still other men carried silver mixing bowls, drinking horns, drinking bowls and cups, each of which was well exhibited and each of which was extraordinary both in its size and in the depth of its enchasing.
33. Early in the morning of the third day, trumpeters led the way, but, instead of music suitable for a solemn procession or a parade, it was the call used by the Romans to rouse themselves for battle. Next came 120 well-nourished oxen, each with gilded horns and arrayed with fillets and wreaths; these were being led to their sacrifice by young men wearing apro
ns with purple borders, who were attended by boys carrying gold and silver libation cups. After these came men bearing the gold coinage, which, like the silver, was distributed into containers holding 3 talents: there were seventy-seven of these containers in number. Following these were the men who bore the sacred bowl, which Aemilius had ordered to be made of 10 talents of gold and decorated with precious gems, then men displaying the Antigonid, Seleucid and Thericlean bowls,143 and all the golden tableware that had belonged to Perseus. These were followed by the chariot of Perseus, which carried his arms as well as his diadem, which lay upon his arms. Then, after a small interval, the children of the king were led along as slaves, and with them were a crowd of nurses, teachers and tutors, all in tears and all stretching forth their hand to the spectators, teaching the children how to beg and supplicate. There were two boys and one girl, and they were too young to appreciate the gravity of their misfortune, but, because one day their lack of awareness would cease, they evoked even stronger pity, and consequently Perseus was almost unnoticed as he walked along. In their pity, the Romans instead kept their eyes fixed upon the children, and many wept, and all of them felt a mixture of pleasure and pain at the spectacle, until the children had passed.
34. Behind the children and their attendants came Perseus himself, clad in a dark cloak and wearing Macedonian boots and appearing utterly confused and bewildered by the great disaster he had suffered. He, too, was accompanied by a retinue of friends and associates, whose faces were heavy with grief, but, because their tearful expressions were always fixed upon Perseus, this led the spectators to believe that it was his misfortune which they lamented and that they cared little about their own fates.
Perseus, by contrast, had sent a message to Aemilius in which he pleaded that he not be led in the procession but instead be excluded from the triumph. Aemilius, however, in apparent mockery of Perseus’ cowardice and fear of death, said, ‘But this is the one thing that was in his power before, and remains so now, should he wish it’, indicating that the king might choose death in preference to disgrace. But the coward could not bring himself to do that, and instead, unmanned by uncertain hopes, was reduced to being a part of the plunder.
Next in order after Perseus came 400 golden wreaths, which various cities had sent, along with their embassies, to Aemilius as prizes for his victory. Then came Aemilius himself, mounted on a magnificently adorned chariot. Although he was a man worth seeing even without such elaborate trappings of power, he wore a purple robe sprinkled with gold and in his right hand he held a spray of laurel. His entire army also carried sprays of laurel, as they followed the chariot of their general in their units and companies, all the while singing, sometimes traditional songs mixed with jests, sometimes hymns of victory and in praise of the achievements of Aemilius, who was admired and esteemed by everyone, and was envied by no one who was good. Perhaps, however, there exists a divinity whose role it is to diminish our prosperity, whenever it becomes exceedingly great, and add complexity to a mortal’s life, so that it is not unmixed with evils or left altogether free from misfortune, so that instead, as Homer says, they seem to fare best whose fortunes tip the scale now in one direction, now in the other.144
35. For Aemilius had four sons, two of whom had been adopted by other families, as I have already said,145 namely Scipio and Fabius, and two who were still boys, the children of his second wife, whom he kept at home. One of these boys died five days before Aemilius celebrated his triumph (he was only fourteen years old), and the other (who was only twelve), died three days after the triumph, so there was no one in Rome who was not affected by their father’s grief, but, quite the contrary, everyone shuddered in horror at the savagery of Fortune, which had, without compunction, brought such great sorrow into a house filled with pride and joy and thank-offerings, and had mixed lamentations and weeping with hymns of victory and triumphs.
36. Aemilius, however, because he correctly understood that men need bravery and courage not only in the face of arms and pikes but also against every assault of Fortune, adjusted and arranged the mixed circumstances of his life so that the bad was obscured by the good and his private affairs by his public responsibilities, and thus he neither debased the grandeur nor sullied the dignity of his victory. The first to die of his sons he buried and immediately thereafter celebrated his triumph, as I have said. And when, after his triumph, his second son died, he assembled the Roman people and addressed them,146 not as a man who sought comfort but rather as one who sought to comfort his fellow-citizens in their grief over his misfortune. He said that he had never been afraid of anything mortal men might do to him, but, in so far as the gods were concerned, he had always feared Fortune, believing that she was completely untrustworthy and variable; and inasmuch as, during this war, she had attended his actions like a favourable wind, he had expected a change and a reversal. ‘For in only one day,’ he said, ‘I crossed the Ionian Sea from Brundisium and landed at Corcyra; from there, in five days, I came to Delphi and made sacrifice to the god; and again, in another five days, I took command of the army in Macedon; after completing the traditional lustrations, I immediately commenced military operations and in fifteen further days brought the war to its glorious conclusion.147 Still, I distrusted Fortune, because my affairs were moving so smoothly, and, when there was no longer anything to fear because there was no longer any risk of an attack by the enemy, I become even more afraid, during my voyage home, of a reversal in divine favour on account of my good fortune, for I was carrying back to Rome a large and victorious army, spoils and royal prisoners. Indeed, even when I had reached you in safety and saw the city filled with delight and pride and thank-offerings, still I remained suspicious of Fortune, knowing that she never bestows on mortals blessings that are at once great and unmixed – and unenvied by the gods. And my soul remained in agony, owing to this fear and my anxiety for the future of this city, until I was struck by this terrible misfortune to my own house and, during days that were consecrated to the gods, busied myself instead with the successive funerals of my two noble sons, who were my sole heirs. Now, consequently, I no longer feel threatened by the danger that I had regarded as the most serious one – and I am confident, for I believe that Fortune will hereafter remain your reliable and salutary ally, because she has taken me and my sufferings as sufficient retribution to the gods for our successes, and has made the man who celebrated a triumph no less conspicuous an illustration of human frailty than the man who was led in one – except that Perseus, though he was conquered, has his children, whereas Aemilius, his conqueror, has lost his.’
37. This, we are told, is how Aemilius addressed the people, with noble and high-minded words pouring forth from his sincere and honest spirit. As for Perseus, although Aemilius pitied him for his reversal in fortune and earnestly wanted to help him, he could obtain no concession for him except that he be removed from the prison which in Latin is called carcer148 to a clean place where he could more easily live like a human being. Although he was guarded closely, he nonetheless starved himself to death, according to most writers. But a few report that he died in a peculiar and unexpected way. The soldiers responsible for guarding him disapproved of something he did and became angry with him, but, inasmuch as they were unable to harm him or to do him any injury, they did not allow him to sleep: they were very careful to interrupt him whenever he lay down to sleep and resorted to every means of keeping him awake, until he was worn out in this way and died.149 Two of his children also died. But the third, Alexander,150 is said to have become skilled in enchasing and fine metal-work; he also learned to write and speak the Roman language and became a secretary to the magistrates, in which office he proved himself to be accomplished and refined.
38. Writers ascribe Aemilius’ enormous popularity with the people to his achievements in Macedon, because he brought so much money into the public treasury that the people no longer had to pay taxes,151 until the time of Hirtius and Pansa, who were consuls during the first war between Antonius a
nd Caesar.152 A peculiar and extraordinary feature of Aemilius is this: although he enjoyed popular support and was highly honoured by the people, he remained within the aristocratic party and never spoke or acted to win the favour of the masses. Instead, in political matters he always sided with the most distinguished and influential men of the senate.
Years later, Appius cast this fact in the teeth of Scipio Africanus.153 At that time, these men were the leading men in the city and each was a candidate for the censorship. One of them had the senate and the nobles on his side, for this was the traditional political position of the Appii, while the other, who was a great man in his own right, nevertheless always took advantage of the extensive favour and support which the people offered him. And so, when Appius saw Scipio entering the forum accompanied by men who were low-born ex-slaves, men who busied themselves in the forum and had enough influence to gather a mob and force any issue by way of vigorous canvassing or demonstrations, he called out in a loud voice, ‘O Aemilius Paullus, groan beneath the earth when you learn that your son is being conducted to his censorship by Aemilius the auctioneer and Licinius Philonicus.’154 Scipio won the goodwill of the people because in most matters he supported them, whereas Aemilius, although he was a staunch aristocrat, was loved by the masses just as much as anyone who appeared to be a strident demagogue or who curried favour with the masses.
They made this clear when, after all his other honours, they elected him censor,155 which is the most sacred of all the magistracies, and very influential, not least because it examines everyone’s way of life. For it lies within the power of the censors to expel from the senate anyone leading a disgraceful life, and to appoint the leading man in the senate, and to dishonour any licentious young man by depriving him of his horse.156 They also oversee the valuation of properties and the census rolls. And so, the number of citizens registered when Aemilius was in office was 337,452; he appointed, as the leading man in the senate, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus,157 who had already held this privileged position four times, and he expelled only three senators, none of them men of any distinction; and, in the review of the knights, he and his colleague Marcius Philippus158 exercised similar moderation.