Complete Works of Velleius Paterculus
Page 4
Returning, from a short absence, into the city, in the consulate of Manius Aquilius and Caius Sempronius, a hundred and fifty-eight years ago, after his two consulships and two triumphs, and after having removed two objects of terror to his country, he was found one morning dead in his bed, and marks of strangulation were observed on his neck. Yet concerning the death of great a man no inquiry was made; and the body of him by whose services Rome had raised her head above the world, was carried to its burial-place with the head veiled6. Whether he died a natural death, as most people think, or came to his end, as some have asserted, by treachery, he certainly passed a life of such honour that it is eclipsed by none before his time except that of his grandfather. He died at about fifty-four years of age. If any one questions this, let him look back to Scipio’s first consulship, to which he was elected at the age of thirty-six, and doubt no more.
V
Before the destruction of Numantia, the military efforts of Decimus Brutus in Spain had been remarkable; so that, having made his way though all the nations of that country, subdued vast multitudes of men, and a great number of cities, and visited places of which the names had scarcely been heard, he merited the surname of Gallæcus. A few years before him, military obedience, under Quintus Macedonicus, was enforced in that country with such severity that, while he was besieging a city named Contrebia, he ordered five legionary cohorts, which had been repulsed in an attack on a very steep place, to mount it again immediately. Though all the soldiers made their wills in preparation for action, as if going to certain destruction, the obstinate general was not deterred from his purpose, and saw his men return with victory, whom he had sent out in expectation of death. So great was the effect of shame blended with fear, and of hope springing from despair. He gained much credit for courage and strictness; but Fabius Æmilianus showed in Spain the most noble example of discipline.
VI
After an interval of ten years, the same rage which had animated Tiberius Gracchus, seized his brother Caius, who, resembling him in all his virtues as well as in his want of judgment, was in abilities and eloquence far his superior; and who, though he might, without the least anxiety of mind, have become the very first man in the state, yet, prompted by a desire either of revenging his brother’s death, or of preparing a way for himself to regal power, he entered on a tribuneship of similar character to that of his brother, forming projects, however, much more extensive and influential. He designed to extend the civic franchise to all the Italians, as far almost as the Alps; to divide the lands, and to prohibit every citizen from possessing more than five hundred acres; a restriction which had once been enjoined by the Licinian law. He likewise wished to lay new taxes on imported goods, to fill the provinces with new colonies, to transfer the privilege of being judges7 from the senators to the knights, and to distribute corn to the populace; in short, he was resolved to leave nothing quiet and undisturbed, nothing in the condition in which he found it. He even procured himself to be re-elected tribune. But the consul Lucius Opimius, who in his prætorship had demolished Fregellæ, attacked him with an armed force, and put him to death, and together with him Fulvius Flaccus, a man who had been consul, and had triumphed, but was equally inclined to noxious measures; and whom Gaius Gracchus had nominated a commissioner in the room of his brother Tiberius, and associated with himself to be a sharer in his king-like power. One particular in Opimius’s conduct is mentioned deserving of reprobation, namely, that he offered a reward for the head, not merely of Gracchus, but of any turbulent Roman citizen, promising its weight in gold. Flaccus, while he was collecting a party in arms on the Aventine, with intent to make resistance, was killed, together with his elder son; Gracchus, attempting to escape, and being nearly overtaken by a party sent by Opimius, held out his neck to Euporus his slave, who slew himself with the same fortitude with which he relieved his master. Pomponius, a Roman knight, showed on that day a singular degree of attachment to Gracchus; for, like Cocles, he withstood his enemies on the bridge, and then run himself through with his sword. The body of Caius Gracchus, with great barbarity on the part of the victors, was thrown into the Tiber, as had previously been the case with that of Tiberius.
VII
Such was the latter part of the lives, and such the deaths, of the sons of Tiberius Gracchus, the grandsons of Publius Scipio Africanus, men who made a bad use of the best talents, and who died while their mother, the daughter of Africanus, was still alive. Had these men fixed their desires on any degree of eminence compatible with civil liberty, (whatever it was that they sought to gain by their turbulent proceedings,) the public would have granted it without an effort on their part. To the severity before mentioned, was added an act of unparalleled barbarity. A youth of uncommon beauty, in the eighteenth year of his age, son of Fulvius Flaccus, but innocent of his father’s offences, being sent to negotiate terms of accommodation, was ordered to be put to death by Opimius. A Tuscan soothsayer, his friend, seeing the lad weep as he was dragged to prison, said to him, “Why do you not rather act thus?” And immediately dashing his head against a stone pillar at the prison-door, beat out his brains, and expired.
Examinations of the friends and clients of the Gracchi were soon after held, and with great severity. Hence, when Opimius, who, in other matters was upright and respected, was afterwards condemned on a trial before the people, no commiseration was shown him by his countrymen, through their recollection of his former want of feeling. The same general odium afterwards deservedly crushed, under trials before the people, Rutilius and Popillius, who, being consuls at the time, had acted cruelly towards the friends of Tiberius Gracchus. Amongst affairs of such importance I shall mention one of which the knowledge is of little consequence. This is the Opimius, from whom, when he was consul, the celebrated Opimian wine was named. That there is none of it at present may be inferred from the distance of time, for between his consulate and yours, Marcus Vinicius, a hundred and fifty-one years have elapsed. The conduct of Opimius met the less approbation, because his object was revenge from personal enmity; and his severity seemed to have been inflicted to satisfy, not public justice, but private hatred.
VIII
[Soon after, in the consulate of Marcius and Porcius, the colony of Narbo Marcius was settled8.] Let the strictness of judicial proceedings in those times be here recorded. Caius Cato, who had been consul, and who was grandson of Marcus Cato, and son of the sister of Africanus, was convicted of extortion committed in Macedonia, and fined eighteen sestertia9; for judges then considered the inclination of the man to dishonesty rather than the magnitude of the offence, and estimated deeds, in general, by intention, regarding rather what had been done than to how great an extent. About the same time, the two Metelli, brothers, triumphed on one day. Another instance of distinction not less honourable, and hitherto unparalleled, was, that the two sons of Fulvius Flaccus, him who had taken Capua, were joined together in the consulship. One of them indeed had been adopted, and received into the family of Manlius Acidinus. As to the two Metelli, who were censors together, they were cousins-german, not brothers; the circumstance of two full brothers being united in office fell to the lot of none but the Scipios10. At this time the Cimbri and Teutones came across the Rhine, and soon made themselves notorious by the calamities that they brought on us and on themselves. At the same time, there was celebrated a brilliant triumph of Minucius, him who built the porticos now so much admired, over the Scordisci.
IX
During this period flourished those eminent orators Scipio Æmilianus, Lælius, Servius Galba, the two Gracchi, Caius Fannius, Papirius Carbo, and, above all, Lucius Crassus and Marcus Antonius. Nor must we omit Metellus Numidicus, or Scaurus. These, in time as well as genius, were followed by Caius Cæsar Strabo and Publius Sulpicius. As to Quintus Mucius, he was more noted for his knowledge of the law than for eloquence. During the same age appeared the bright genius of Afranius in comedy, and those of Pacuvius and Attius in tragedy; geniuses who rise into competition with the s
pirit of the Greeks. Then were displayed, too, the powers of Ennius11, who claims for his works an honourable place with theirs; for, though they wrote with more correctness, he seems to have had the greater share of energy. A distinguished name was likewise acquired by Lucilius, who in the Numantine war had served in the cavalry under Publius Africanus. At the same time Jugurtha and Marius, then both young, learned in the same camp under Africanus that skill which they were afterwards to practise in opposite camps. Sisenna the historian was then young, but some years after, at a more advanced age, published his history of the civil wars, and those of Sylla. Cœlius was prior to Sisenna: coeval with him were Rutilius, Claudius Quadrigarius, and Valerius Antias. We must not, however, forget that Pomponius lived in this age, a writer admired for his thoughts, though rude in language, and chiefly deserving notice for the novelty of what he invented12.
X
Let us here record a severe act of the censors Cassius Longinus and Cæpio, who, a hundred and fifty-five years ago, summoned before them an augur, Æmilius Lepidus, because he rented a house at six sestertia13. At present, if any person lived at so low a rent, he would scarcely be acknowledged as a senator: so soon do people proceed from the reasonable to the unreasonable, from the unreasonable to the vicious, from the vicious to the extravagant. During this period a remarkable victory was gained by Domitius over the Arverni, and another by Fabius over the Allobroges. Fabius, who was grandson of Paulus, acquired from his success the surname of Allobrogicus. Here we may observe a peculiar kind of happiness attending the Domitian family, which was highly distinguished, though confined to a small number. Before the present Cnæus Domitius, a youth of most remarkable goodness of disposition, there were seven of that family, the only sons of their respective parents, who all arrived at a consulship and priesthood, and almost all at the honours of a triumph.
XI
The Jugurthine war was then conducted by Quintus Metellus, a commander inferior to no one of the age. Under him acted, as lieutenant-general, Caius Marius, whom we mentioned above, a man of mean birth, coarse and rough in his manners, but of strict temperance14, who, in proportion as he was excellent in war, was fatal to peace. He was immoderately eager for glory, his ambition was insatiable, his passions ungovernable, so that he was never at rest. By disseminating, through farmers of the revenue, and others who traded in Africa, insinuations against Metellus, as being dilatory in his operations, and purposely protracting the war to the third year, as well as invectives against the natural pride of the nobles, and their ambition to continue in posts of power, he succeeded, after obtaining leave of absence to come to Rome, in procuring his election to the consulship, and getting the management of the war, now nearly terminated by Metellus, who had twice routed Jugurtha in the field, intrusted to himself. Nevertheless, the triumph of Metellus was exceedingly magnificent, and the surname of Numidicus, which he had well earned by his merits in the field, was conferred upon him. As we previously noticed the splendid fortune of the Domitian family, we may here mention that of the Cæcilian, for within about twelve years of this time there were above twelve Metelli either consuls or censors, or who enjoyed triumphs. Hence it would appear that the fortune of families, like that of cities and empires, flourishes, fades, and decays.
XII
Caius Marius, at this early time, had Lucius Sylla connected with him in quality of quæstor, as if from some precaution of the fates15, and having sent him ambassador to king Bocchus, received, through his means, king Jugurtha as a prisoner; an event which took place a hundred and thirty-eight years ago. Being elected consul a second time, and returning to Rome, he led Jugurtha in triumph on the first of January, the day on which his second consulship commenced. As the overwhelming force of the German tribes, the Cimbri and Teutones mentioned above, had vanquished and put to flight in Gaul the consuls Cæpio and Manlius, as well as Carbo and Silanus previously, and had dispersed their armies, and killed Aurelius Scaurus the consul, as well as other leaders of great reputation, the Roman people deemed that no commander was better qualified than Marius to repel such formidable enemies. Thenceforward consulships multiplied on him. His third was spent in preparations for the war, and in the same year Cnæus Domitius, a tribune of the people, got a law passed, that the people should appoint priests, who were formerly elected by the sacerdotal body. In his fourth he engaged the Teutones, at Aquæ Sextiæ, beyond the Alps, and in two successive days slew a hundred and fifty thousand of them, and utterly reduced their nation. In his fifth, he himself, and the proconsul Quintus Lutatius Catulus, met the Cimbri on what are called the Raudian plains, on this side of the Alps, and put an end to the war by a most successful battle, killing or taking above a hundred thousand men. By these victories Marius seems to have deserved that his country should not regret his birth; and to have made amends by his services for the evils that he brought upon it. The sixth was conferred on him as a reward for his merits. Yet must not this consulship be defrauded of its due share of praise, for, during the course of it, the consul repressed, with an armed force, the excesses of Servilius, Glaucia, and Saturninus Apuleius, who, maintaining themselves in office, were inflicting deep wounds on the constitution, and dispersing the assemblies of the people with violence and bloodshed; and he at last put those pestilent disturbers to death in the Curia Hostilia16.
XIII
At the end of a few succeeding years, Marcus Livius Drusus entered on the office of tribune; a man of the noblest birth, the greatest eloquence, and the strictest purity of life; but who, in all his undertakings, was more distinguished by ability and good intention than by success. He formed a design of restoring to the senate its ancient dignity, and of transferring from the knights to that body the right of being judges; because when the knights, by the Sempronian laws, were invested with that authority, they had treated with cruel severity many of the most illustrious and most innocent citizens; and in particular had brought to trial for extortion Publius Rutilius, a man distinguished for virtue not only above his own, but above any age, and, to the exceeding great grief of the public, had condemned him to pay a penalty. But in those very efforts which he made in favour of the senate, he found the senate itself opposed to him. For they did not perceive that whatever he brought forward in favour of the plebeians was intended to allure and attract the multitude, in order that, being gratified in smaller matters, they might consent to others of greater importance. Such, indeed, was the fate of Drusus, that the senate favoured the injurious proceedings of his colleagues more than his own excellent designs, rejecting with scorn the honour offered by him, while they submitted patiently to the wrong done them by the others; looking, in short, with envy on his very exalted reputation, and with indulgence on the mean characters of his opponents.
XIV
When such well-intended plans were badly received, the purpose of Drusus was changed, and he resolved to extend the civic franchise to all Italy. As he was taking measures for this purpose, on coming home one day from the forum, surrounded by the immense, disorderly crowd that constantly attended him, he was stabbed in the court-yard of his own house with a knife, which was left sticking in his side, and within a few hours expired. While he was drawing almost his last breath, he uttered an expression, as he looked on the crowd standing round and lamenting over him, very consonant to his inward feelings. “My relations and friends,” said he, “will the Commonwealth ever again have a citizen like me?” Thus ended the life of this illustrious man. One incident which marks the goodness of his disposition must not be omitted. When he was building a house on the Palatine Mount, on the spot where that stands which formerly was Cicero’s, afterwards Censorinus’s, and now belongs to Statilius Sisenna, and the architect offered to construct it in such a manner, than it would be proof against all overlookers, no one being able even to cast a glance into it, “Rather,” replied he, “if you have such skill, construct my house in such a manner, that whatever I do may be seen by all.”
XV
[Among the most pernicious
measures introduced by the laws of Gracchus, I reckon the planting of colonies out of Italy. Such a proceeding our ancestors had so carefully avoided, (because they saw Carthage so much more powerful than its mother city Tyre; Marseilles than Phocæa; Syracuse than Corinth; Cyzicus and Byzantium than Miletus,) that they even called home Roman citizens from the provinces to be registered by the censors in Italy. The first colony planted beyond the limits of Italy was Carthage17.] The death of Drusus hastened the breaking out of the Italian war, which had been gathering to a head during a considerable time before; for in the consulate of Lucius Cæsar and Publius Rutilius, a hundred and twenty years from the present, all Italy took arms against the Romans. This unfortunate insurrection had its origin among the people of Asculum, (who killed Servius a prætor, and Fonteius a lieutenant-general,) and from them it soon spread to the Marsians, and diffused itself through every quarter of the country. As the subsequent sufferings of those people were very severe, so were their demands extremely just; for they claimed the privileges of a country, whose power they supported by their arms; every year, and for every war, they furnished a double number of men, both horse and foot, and yet were not admitted to the privileges of the state, which, by their services, had arrived at that very eminence from which it looked down with disdain on men of the same nation and blood, as aliens and foreigners. This war carried off above three hundred thousand of the flower of Italy. The Roman generals most distinguished in it were, Cnæus Pompey, father of Cnæus Pompey the Great; Caius Marius before mentioned; Lucius Sylla, who was prætor in the preceding year; and Quintus Metellus, son of Numidicus, who deservedly obtained the surname of Pius: for when his father was banished by Lucius Saturninus, a tribune of the people, because he alone refused to swear obedience to his laws, the son, by his dutiful exertions, and with the sanction of the senate, and the approbation of the Roman people, procured his recal. So that Numidicus was not more honoured by his triumphs and distinctions than by the cause of his exile, the exile itself, and his return from it.