Delphi Complete Works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 79)

by Dionysius of Halicarnassus

  [5] King Tullus, after letting the following winter pass, led out his army once more against the Fidenates at the beginning of spring. These had publicly received no assistance whatever from any of the cities in alliance with them, but some mercenaries had resorted to them from many places, and relying upon these, they were emboldened to come out from their city; then, after arraying themselves for battle and slaying many in the struggle that ensued and losing even more of their own men, they were again shut up inside the town. [6] And when Tullus had surrounded the city with palisades and ditches and reduced those within to the last extremity, they were obliged to surrender themselves to the king upon his own terms. Having in this manner become master of the city, Tullus put to death the authors of the revolt, but released all the rest, leaving them in the enjoyment of all their possessions in the same manner as before and restoring to them their previous form of government. He then disbanded his army, and returning to Rome, rendered to the gods the trophy-bearing procession and sacrifices of thanksgiving, this being the second triumph he celebrated.

  [32.1] After this war another arose against the Romans on the part of the Sabine nation, the beginning and occasion of which was this. There is a sanctuary, honoured in common by the Sabines and the Latins, that is held in the greatest reverence and is dedicated to a goddess named Feronia; some of those who translate the name into Greek call her Anthophoros or “Flower Bearer,” others Philostephanos or “Lover of Garlands,” and still others Persephonê. To this sanctuary people used to resort from the neighbouring cities on the appointed days of festival, many of them performing vows and offering sacrifice to the goddess and many with the purpose of trafficking during the festive gathering as merchants, artisans and husbandmen; and here were held fairs more celebrated than in any other places in Italy. [2] At this festival some Romans of considerable importance happened to be present on a certain occasion and were seized by some of the Sabines, who imprisoned them and robbed them of their money. And when an embassy was sent concerning them, the Sabines refused to give any satisfaction, but retained both the persons and the money of the men whom they had seized, and in their turn accused the Romans of having received the fugitives of the Sabines by establishing a sacred asylum (of which I gave an account in the preceding Book). [3] As a result of these accusations the two nations became involved in war, and when both had taken the field with large forces a pitched battle occurred between them; and both sides continued to fight with equal fortunes until night parted them, leaving the victory in doubt. During the following days both of them, upon learning the number of the slain and wounded, were unwilling to hazard another battle but left their camps and retired.

  [4] They let that year pass without further action, and then, having increased their forces, they again marched out against one another and near the city of Eretum, distant one hundred and sixty stades from Rome, engaged in a battle in which many fell on both sides. And when that battle also continued doubtful for a long time, Tullus, lifting his hands to heaven, made a vow to the gods that if he conquered the Sabines that day he would institute public festivals in honour of Saturn and Ops (the Romans celebrate them every year after they have gathered in all the fruits of the earth) and would double the number of the Salii, as they are called. These are youths of noble families who at appointed times dance, fully armed, to the sound of the flute and sing certain traditional hymns, as I have explained in the preceding Book. [5] After this vow the Romans were filled with a kind of confidence and, like fresh troops falling on those that are exhausted, they at last broke the enemy’s line in the late afternoon and forced the first ranks to begin flight. Then, pursuing them as they fled to their camp, they cut down many more round the trenches, and even then did not turn back, but having stayed there the following night and cleared the ramparts of their defenders, they made themselves masters of the camp. [6] After this action they ravaged as much of the territory of the Sabines as they wished, but when no one any longer came out against them to protect the country, they returned home. Because of this victory the king triumphed a third time; and not long afterwards, when the Sabines sent ambassadors, he put an end to the war, having first received from them the captives that they had taken in their foraging expeditions, together with the deserters, and levied the penalty which the Roman senate, estimating the damage at a certain sum of money, had imposed upon them for the cattle, the beasts of burden and the other effects that they had taken from the husbandmen.

  [33.1] Although the Sabines had ended the war upon these conditions and had set up pillars in their temples on which the terms of the treaty were inscribed, nevertheless, as soon as the Romans were engaged in a war not likely to be soon terminated against the cities of the Latins, who had all united against them, for reasons which I shall presently mention, they welcomed the situation and forgot those oaths and the treaty as much as if they never had been made. And thinking that they now had a favourable opportunity to recover from the Romans many times as much money as they had paid them, they went out, at first in small numbers and secretly, and plundered the neighbouring country; [2] but afterwards many met together and in an open manner, and since their first attempt had turned out as they wished and no assistance had come to the defence of the husbandmen, they despised their enemies and proposed to march even on Rome itself, for which purpose they were gathering an army out of every city. They also made overtures to the cities of the Latins with regard to an alliance, [3] but were not able to conclude a treaty of friendship and alliance with that nation. For Tullus, being informed of their intention, made a truce with the Latins and determined to march against the Sabines; and to this end he armed all the forces of the Romans, which since he had annexed the Alban state, were double the number they had been before, and sent to his other allies for all the troops they could furnish. [4] The Sabines, too, had already assembled their army, and when the two forces drew near one another they encamped near a place called the Knaves’ Wood, leaving a small interval between them. The next day they engaged and the fight continued doubtful for a long time; but at length, in the late afternoon, the Sabines gave way, unable to stand before the Roman horse, and many of them were slain in the flight. The Romans stripped the spoils from the dead, plundered their camp and ravaged the best part of the country, after which they returned home. This was the outcome of the war that occurred between the Romans and the Sabines in the reign of Tullus.

  [34.1] The cities of the Latins now became at odds with the Romans for the first time, being unwilling after the razing of the Albans’ city to yield the leadership to the Romans who had destroyed it. It seems that when fifteen years had passed after the destruction of Alba the Roman king, sending embassies to the thirty cities which had been at once colonies and subjects of Alba, summoned them to obey the orders of the Romans, inasmuch as the Romans had succeeded to the Alban’s supremacy over the Latin race as well as to everything else that the Albans had possessed. He pointed out that there were two methods of acquisition by which men became masters of what had belonged to others, one the result of compulsion, the other of choice, and that the Romans had by both these methods acquired the supremacy over the cities which the Albans had held. [2] For when the Albans had become enemies of the Romans, the latter had conquered them by arms, and after the others had lost their own city the Romans had given them a share in theirs, so that it was but reasonable that the Albans both perforce and voluntarily should yield to the Romans the sovereignty they had exercised over their subjects. [3] The Latin cities gave no answer separately to the ambassadors, but in a general assembly of the whole nation held at Ferentinum they passed a vote not to yield the sovereignty to the Romans, and immediately chose two generals, Ancus Publicius of the city of Cora and Spusius Vecilius of Lavinium, and invested them with absolute power with regard to both peace and war. [4] These were the causes of the war between the Romans and their kinsmen, a war that lasted for five years and was carried on more or less like a civil war and after the ancient fashion. For,
as they never engaged in pitched battles with all their forces ranged against all those of the foe, no great disaster occurred nor any wholesale slaughter, and none of their cities went through the experience of being razed or enslaved or suffer any other irreparable calamity as the result of being captured in war; but making incursions into one another’s country when the corn was ripe, they foraged it, and them returning home with their armies, exchanged prisoners. [5] However, one city of the Latin nation called Medullia, which earlier had become a colony of the Romans in the reign of Romulus, as I stated in the preceding Book, and had revolted again to their countrymen, was brought to terms after a siege by the Roman king and persuaded not to revolt for the future; but no other of the calamities which wars bring in their train was felt by either side at that time. Accordingly, as the Romans were eager for peace, a treaty was readily concluded that left no rancour.

  [35.1] These were the achievements performed during his reign by King Tullus Hostilius, a man worthy of exceptional praise for his boldness in war and his prudence in the face of danger, but, above both these qualifications, because, though he was not precipitate in entering upon a war, when he was once engaged in it he steadily pursued it until he had the upper hand in every way over his adversaries. After he had reigned thirty-two years he lost his life when his house caught fire, and with him his wife and children and all his household perished in the flames. [2] Some say that his house was set on fire by a thunderbolt, Heaven having become angered at his neglect of some sacred rites (for they say that in his reign some ancestral sacrifices were omitted and that he introduced others that were foreign to the Romans), but the majority state that the disaster was due to human treachery and ascribe it to Marcius, who ruled the state after him. [3] For they say that this man, who was the son of Numa Pompilius’ daughter, was indignant at being in a private station himself, though of royal descent, and seeing that Tullus had children growing up, he suspected very strongly that upon the death of Tullus the kingdom would fall to them. With these thoughts in mind, they say, he had long since formed a plot against the king, and had many of the Romans aiding him to gain the sovereignty; and being a friend of Tullus and one of his closest confidants, he was watching for a suitable opportunity to appear for making his attack. [4] Accordingly, when Tullus proposed to perform a certain sacrifice at home which he wished only his near relations to know about and that day chanced to be very stormy, with rain and sleet and darkness, so that those who were upon guard before the house had left their station, Marcius, looking upon this as a favourable opportunity, entered the house together with his friends, who had swords under their garments, and having killed the king and his children and all the rest whom he encountered, he set fire to the house in several places, and after doing this spread the report that the fire had been due to a thunderbolt. [5] But for my part I do not accept this story, regarding it as neither true nor plausible, but I subscribe rather to the former account, believing that Tullus met with this end by the judgment of Heaven. For, in the first place, it is improbable that the undertaking in which so many were concerned could have been kept secret, and, besides, the author of it could not be certain that after the death of Hostilius the Romans would choose him as king of the state; furthermore, even if men were loyal to him and steadfast, yet it was unlikely that the gods would act with an ignorance resembling that of men. [6] For after the tribes had given their votes, it would be necessary that the gods, by auspicious omens, should sanction the awarding of the kingdom to him; and which of the gods or other divinities was going to permit a man who was impure and stained with the unjust murder of so many persons to approach the altars, begin the sacrifices, and perform the other religious ceremonies? I, then, for these reasons do not attribute the catastrophe to the treachery of men, but to the will of Heaven; however, let everyone judge as he pleases.

  [36.1] After the death of Tullus Hostilius, the interreges appointed by the senate according to ancestral usage chose Marcius, surnamed Ancus, king of the state; and when the people had confirmed the decision of the senate and the signs from Heaven were favourable, Marcius, after fulfilling all the customary requirements, entered upon the government in the second year of the thirty-fifth Olympiad (the one in which Sphaerus, a Lacedaemonian, gained the prize), at the time when Damasias held the annual archonship at Athens. [2] This king, finding that many of the religious ceremonies instituted by Numa Pompilius, his maternal grandfather, were being neglected, and seeing the greatest part of the Romans devoted to the pursuit of war and gain and no longer cultivating the land as aforetime, assembled the people and exhorted them to worship the gods once more as they had done in Numa’s reign. He pointed out to them that it was owing to their neglect of the gods that not only many pestilences had fallen upon the city, by which no small part of the population had been destroyed, but also that King Hostilius, who had not shown the proper regard for the gods, had suffered for a long time from a complication of bodily ailments and at last, no longer sound even in his understanding but weakened in mind as well as in body, had come to a pitiable end, both he and his family. [3] He then commended the system of government established by Numa for the Romans as excellent and wise and one which supplied every citizen with daily plenty from the most lawful employments; and he advised them to restore this system once more by applying themselves to agriculture and cattle-breeding and to those occupations that were free from all injustice, and to scorn rapine and violence and the profits accruing from war. [4] By these and similar appeals he inspired in all a great desire both for peaceful tranquillity and for sober industry. After this, he called together the pontiffs, and receiving from them the commentaries on religious rites which Pompilius had composed, he caused them to be transcribed on tablets and exposed in the Forum for everyone to examine. These have since been destroyed by time, for, brazen pillars being not yet in use at that time, the laws and the ordinances concerning religious rites were engraved on oaken boards; but after the expulsion of the kings they were again copied off for the use of the public by Gaius Papirius, a pontiff, who had the superintendence of all religious matters. After Marcius had re-established the religious rites which had fallen into abeyance and turned the idle people to their proper employments, he commended the careful husbandmen and reprimanded those who managed their lands ill as citizens not to be depended on.

  [37.1] While instituting these administrative measures he hoped above all else to pass his whole life free from war and troubles, like his grandfather, but he found his purpose crossed by fortune and, contrary to his inclinations, was forced to become a warrior and to live no part of his life free from danger and turbulence. [2] For at the very time that he entered upon the government and was establishing his tranquil régime the Latins, despising him and looking upon him as incapable of conducting wars through want of courage, sent bands of robbers from each of their cities into the parts of the Roman territory that lay next to them, in consequence of which many of the Romans were suffering injury. [3] And when ambassadors came from the king and summoned them to make satisfaction to the Romans according to the treaty, they alleged that they neither had any knowledge of the robberies complained of, asserting that these had been committed without the general consent of the nation, nor had become accountable to the Romans for anything they did. For they had not made the treaty with them, they say, but with Tullus, and by the death of Tullus their treaty of peace had been terminated. [4] Marcius, therefore, compelled by these reasons and the answers of the Latins, led out an army against them, and laying siege to the city of Politorium, he took it by capitulation before any aid reached the besieged from the other Latins. However, he did not treat the inhabitants with any severity, but, allowing them to retain their possessions, transferred the whole population to Rome and distributed them among the tribes.

  [38.1] The next year, since the Latins had sent settlers to Politorium, which was then uninhabited, and were cultivating the lands of the Politorini, Marcius marched against them with his army. And when
the Latins came outside the walls and drew up in order of battle, he defeated them and took the town a second time; and having burnt the houses and razed the walls, so the enemy might not again use it as a base of operations nor cultivate the land, he led his army home. [2] The next year the Latins marched against the city of Medullia, in which there were Roman colonists, and besieging it, attacked the walls on all sides and took it by storm. At the same time Marcius took Tellenae, a prominent city of the Latins, after he had overcome the inhabitants in a pitched battle and had reduced the place by an assault upon the walls; after which he transferred the prisoners to Rome without taking any of their possessions from them, and set apart for them a place in the city in which to build houses. [3] And when Medullia had been for three years subject to the Latins, he recovered it in the fourth year, after defeating the inhabitants in many great battles. A little later he captured Ficana, a city which he had already taken two years before by capitulation, afterwards transferring all the inhabitants to Rome but doing no other harm to the city — a course in which he seemed to have acted with greater clemency than prudence. [4] For the Latins sent colonists thither and occupying the land of the Ficanenses, they enjoyed its produce themselves; so that Marcius was obliged to lead his army a second time against this city and, after making himself master of it with great difficulty, to burn the houses and raze the walls.