[9] (1) At this same period flourished the illustrious orators Scipio Aemilianus and Laelius, Sergius Galba, the two Gracchi, Gaius Fannius, and Carbo Papirius. In this list we must not pass over the names of Metellus Numidicus and Scaurus, and above all of Lucius Crassus and Marcus Antonius. (2) They were followed in time as well as in talents by Gaius Caesar Strabo and Publius Sulpicius. As for Quintus Mucius, he was more famous for his knowledge of jurisprudence than, strictly speaking, for eloquence.
(3) In the same epoch other men of talent were illustrious: Afranius in the writing of native comedy, in tragedy Pacuvius and Accius, a man who rose into competition even with the genius of the Greeks, and made a great place for his own work among theirs, with this distinction, however, that, while they seemed to have more polish, Accius seemed to possess more real blood. (4) The name of Lucilius was also celebrated; he had served as a knight in the Numantine war under Publius Africanus. At the same time, Jugurtha and Marius, both still young men, and serving under the same Africanus, received in the same camp the military training which they were later destined to employ in opposing camps. (5) At this time Sisenna, the author of the Histories, was still a young man. His works on the Civil Wars and the Wars of Sulla were published several years later, when he was a relatively old man. (6) Caelius was earlier than Sisenna, while Rutilius, Claudius Quadrigarius and Valerius Antias were his contemporaries. Let us not forget that at this period lived Pomponius, famed for his subject matter, though untutored in style, and noteworthy for the new kind of composition which he invented.
[10] (1) Let us now go on to note the severity of the censors Cassius Longinus and Caepio, who summoned before them the augur Lepidus Aemilius for renting a house at six thousand sesterces. This was a hundred and fifty-three years ago. Nowadays, if any one takes a residence at so low a rate he is scarcely recognized as a senator. Thus does nature pass from the normal to the perverted, from that to the vicious, and from the vicious to the abyss of extravagance.
(2) At the same period took place the notable victory of Domitius over the Arverni, and of Fabius over the Allobroges. Fabius, who was the grandson of Paulus, received the cognomen of Allobrogicus in commemoration of his victory. I must also note the strange fortune which distinguished the family of the Domitii, the more remarkable in view of the limited number of the family. Before the present Gnaeus Domitius, a man of notable simplicity of life, there have been seven Domitii, all only sons, but they all attained to the consulate and priesthoods and almost all to the distinction of a triumph.
[11] {1} Then followed the Jugurthan war waged under the generalship of Quintus Metellus, a man inferior to no one of his time. His second in command was Gaius Marius, whom we have already mentioned, a man of rustic birth, rough and uncouth, and austere in his life, as excellent a general as he was an evil influence in time of peace, a man of unbounded ambition, insatiable, without self-control, and always an element of unrest. (2) Through the agency of the tax-gatherers and others who were engaged in business in Africa he criticized the delays of Metellus, who was now dragging on the war into its third year, charging him with the haughtiness characteristic of the nobility and with the desire to maintain himself in military commands. Having obtained a furlough he went to Rome, where he succeeded in procuring his election as consul and had the chief command of the war placed in his own hands, although the war had already been practically ended by Metellus, who had twice defeated Jugurtha in battle. The triumph of Metellus was none the less brilliant, and the cognomen of Numidicus earned by his valour was bestowed upon him. (3) As I commented, a short time ago, on the glory of the family of the Domitii, let me now comment upon that of the Caecilii. Within the compass of about twelve years during this period, the Metelli were distinguished by consulships, censorships, or triumph more than twelve times. Thus it is clear that, as in the case of cities and empires, so the fortunes of families flourish, wane, and pass away.
[12] (1) Gaius Marius, even at this time, had Lucius Sulla associated with him as quaestor, as though the fates were trying to avoid subsequent events. He sent Sulla to King Boccus and through him gained possession of Jugurtha, about one hundred and thirty-four years before the present time. He returned to the city as consul designate for the second time, and on the kalends of January, at the inauguration of his second consulship, he led Jugurtha in triumph. (2) Since, as has already been stated, an immense horde of the German races called the Cimbri and the Teutons had defeated and routed the Consuls Caepio and Manlius in Gaul, as before them Carbo and Silanus, had scattered their armies, and had put to death Scaurus Aurelius an ex-consul, and other men of renown, the Roman people was of the opinion that no general was better qualified the repel these mighty enemies than Marius. (3) His consulships then followed each other in succession. The third was consumed in preparation for this war. In this year Gnaeus Domitius, the tribune of the people, passed a law that the priests, who had previously been chosen by their colleagues, should now be elected by the people. (4) In his fourth consulship Marius met the Teutons in battle beyond the Alps in the vicinity of Aquae Sextiae. More than a hundred and fifty thousand of the enemy were slain by him on that day and the day after, and the race of the Teutons was exterminated. (5) In his fifth consulship the consul himself and the proconsul Quintus Lutatius Catulus fought a most successful battle on this side of the Alps on the plain called the Raudian Plain. More than a hundred thousand of the enemy were taken or slain. By this victory Marius seems to have earned some claim upon his country that it should not regret his birth and to have counterbalanced his bad by his good deeds. (6) A sixth consulship was given him in the light of a reward for his services. He must not, however, be deprived of the glory of this consulship, for during this term as consul he restrained by arms the mad acts of Servilius Glaucia and Saturninus Apuleius who were shattering the constitution by continuing in office, and were breaking up the elections with armed violence and bloodshed, and caused these dangerous men to be put to death in the Curia Hostilia.
[13] (1) After an interval of a few years Marcus Livius Drusus entered the tribunate, a man of noble birth, of eloquent tongue and of upright life; but in all his acts, his success was not in keeping with his talents or his good intentions. (2) It was his aim to restore to the senate its ancient prestige, and again to transfer the law courts to that order from the knights. The knights had acquired this prerogative through the legislation of Gracchus, and had treated with severity many noted men who were quite innocent, and, in particular, had brought to trial on a charge of extortion and had condemned, to the great sorrow of all the citizens, Publius Rutilius, one of the best men not only of his age, but of all time. But in these very measures which Livius undertook on behalf of the senate he had an opponent in the senate itself, which failed to see that the proposals he also urged in interest of the plebs were made as a bait and a sop to the populace, that they might, by receiving lesser concessions, permit the passage of more important measures. (3) In the end it was the misfortune of Drusus to find that the senate gave more approval to the evil measures of his colleagues than to his own plans, however excellent, and that it spurned the dignity which he would confer it only to accept tamely the real slights levelled against it by the others, tolerating the mediocrity of his colleagues while it looked with jealous eyes upon his own distinction.
[14] (1) Since his excellent programme had fared so badly, Drusus turned his attention to granting the citizenship to the Italians. While he was engaged in this effort, and was returning from the forum surrounded by the large and unorganized crowd which always attended him, he was stabbed in the area before his house and died in a few hours, the assassin leaving the weapon in his side. (2) As he breathed his last and gazed at the throng of those who stood weeping about him, he uttered the words, most expressive of his own feelings: “O my relatives and friends, will my country ever have another citizen like me?” Thus ended the life of this illustrious man. One index of his character should not be passed over. (3) When he was buildin
g his house on the Palatine on the site where now stands the house which once belonged to Cicero, and later to Censorinus, and which now belongs to Statilius Sisenna, the architect offered to build it in such a way that he would be free from the public gaze, safe from all espionage, and that no one could look down into it. Livius replied, “If you possess the skill you must build my house in such a way that whatever I do shall be seen by all.”
[15] (1) The long smouldering fires of an Italian war were now fanned into flame by the death of Drusus. One hundred and twenty years ago, in the consulship of Lucius Caesar and Publius Rutilius, all Italy took up arms against the Romans. The rebellion began with the people of Asculum, who had put to death the praetor Servilius and Fonteius, his deputy; it was then taken up by the Marsi, and from them it made its ways into all the districts of Italy. (2) The fortune of the Italians was as cruel as their cause was just; for they were seeking citizenship in the state whose power they were defending by their arms; every year and in every war they were furnishing a double number of men, both of cavalry and of infantry, and yet were not admitted to the rights of citizens in the state which, through their efforts, had reached so high a position that it could look down upon men of the same race and blood as foreigners and aliens.
(3) This war carried off more than three hundred thousand of the youth of Italy. On the Roman side in this war the most illustrious commanders were Gnaeus Pompeius, father of Pompeius Magnus, Gaius Marius, already mentioned, Lucius Sulla, who in the previous year had filled the praetorship, and Quintus Metellus, son of Metellus Numidicus, who had deservedly received the cognomen of Pius, (4) for when his father had been exiled from the state by Lucius Saturninus, the tribune of the people, because he alone refused to observe the laws which the tribune had made, the son had effected his restoration through his own devotion, aided by the authority of the senate and the unanimous sentiment of the whole state. Numidicus earned no greater renown by his triumphs and public honours than he earned by the cause of his exile, his exile, and the manner of his return.
[16] (1) On the Italian side the most celebrated generals were Silo Popaedius, Herius Asinius, Insteius Cato, Gaius Pontidius, Telesinus Pontius, Marius Ignatius, and Papius Mutilus; (2) nor ought I, through excess of modesty, to deprive my own kin of glory, especially when that which I record is the truth; for much credit is due to the memory of my great-grandfather Minatius Magius of Aeculanum, grandson of Decius Magius, leader of the Campanians, of proven loyalty and distinction. Such fidelity did Minatius display towards the Romans in this war that, with a legion which he himself had enrolled among the Hirpini, he took Herculaneum in conjunction with Titus Didius, was associated with Lucius Sulla in the siege of Pompeii, and occupied Compsa. (3) Several historians have recorded his services, but the most extensive and clearest testimony is that of Quintus Hortensius in his Annals. The Romans abundantly repaid his loyal zeal by a special grant of the citizenship to himself, and by making his sons praetors at a time when the number elected was still confined to six.
(4) So bitter was this Italian war, and such its vicissitudes, that in two successive years two Roman consuls, first Rutilius and subsequently Cato Porcius, were slain by the enemy, the armies of the Roman people were routed in many places, and the Romans were compelled to resort to military dress and to remain long in that garb. The Italians chose Corfinium as their capital, and named it Italica. Then little by little the strength of the Romans was recruited by admitting to the citizenship those who had not taken arms or had not been slow to lay them down again, and Pompeius, Sulla, and Marius restored the tottering power of the Roman people.
[17] (1) Except for the remnants of hostility which lingered at Nola the Italian war was now in large measure ended, the Romans, themselves exhausted, consenting to grant the citizenship individually to the conquered and humbled states in preference to giving it to them as a body when their own strength was still unimpaired. This was the year in which Quintus Pompeius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla entered upon the consulship. Sulla was a man to whom, up to the conclusion of his career of victory, sufficient praise can hardly be given, and for whom, after his victory, no condemnation can be adequate. (2) He was sprung of a noble family, the sixth in descent from the Cornelius Rufinus who had been one of the famous generals in the war with Pyrrhus. As the renown of his family had waned, Sulla acted a long while as though he had no thought of seeking the consulship. (3) Then, after his praetorship, having earned distinction not only in the Italian war but also, even before that, in Gaul, where he was second in command to Marius, and had routed the most eminent leaders of the enemy, encouraged by his successes, he became a candidate for the consulship and was elected by an almost unanimous vote of the citizens. But this honour did not come to him until the forty-ninth year of his age.
[18] (1) It was about this time that Mithridates, king of Pontus, seized Asia and put to death all Roman citizens in it. He was a man about whom one cannot speak except with concern nor yet pass by in silence; he was ever eager for war, of exceptional bravery, always great in spirit and sometimes in achievement, in strategy a general, in bodily prowess a soldier, in hatred to the Romans a Hannibal. (2) He had sent messages to various cities of Asia in which he had held out great promises of reward, ordering that all Romans should be massacred on the same day and hour throughout the province. (3) In this crisis none equalled the Rhodians either in courageous opposition to Mithridates or in loyalty to the Romans. Their fidelity gained lustre from the perfidy of the people of Mytilene, who handed Manius Aquilius and other Romans over to Mithridates in chains. The Mytilenians subsequently had their liberty restored by Pompey solely in consideration of his friendship for Theophanes. When Mithridates was now regarded as a formidable menace to Italy herself, the province of Asia fell to the lot of Sulla, as proconsul.
(4) Sulla departed from the city, but was still lingering in the vicinity of Nola, since that city, as though regretting its exceptional loyalty so sacredly maintained in the Punic war, still persisted in maintaining armed resistance to Rome and was being besieged by a Roman army. (5) While he was still there Publius Sulpicius, tribune of the people, a man of eloquence and energy, who had earned situation by his wealth, his influence, his friendships, and by the vigour of his native ability and his courage, and had previously won great influence with the people by honourable means, now, as if regretting his virtues, and discovering that an honourable course of conduct brought him only disappointment, (6) made a sudden plunge into evil ways, and attached himself to Marius, who, though he had passed his seventieth year, still coveted every position of power and every province. Along with other pieces of pernicious and baleful legislation intolerable in a free state, he proposed a bill to the assembly of the people abrogating Sulla’s command, and entrusting the Mithridatic war to Gaius Marius. He even went so far as to cause, through emissaries of his faction, the assassination of a man who was not only son of Quintus Pompeius the consul but also son-in‑law of Sulla.
[19] (1) Thereupon Sulla assembled his army, returned to the city, took armed possession of it, drove from the city the twelve persons responsible for these revolutionary and vicious measures — among them Marius, his son, and Publius Sulpicius — and caused them by formal decree to be declared exiles. Sulpicius was overtaken by horsemen and slain in the Laurentine marshes, and his head was raised aloft and exhibited on the front of the rostra as a presage of the impending proscription. (2) Marius, who had held six consulships and was now more than seventy years of age, was dragged, naked and covered with mud, his eyes and nostrils alone showing above the water, from a reed-bed near the marsh of Marica, where he had taken refuge when pursued by the cavalry of Sulla. A rope was cast about his neck and he was led to the prison of Minturnae on the order of its duumvir. (3) A public slave of German nationality was sent with a sword to put him to death. It happened that this man had been taken a prisoner by Marius when he was commander in the war against the Cimbri; when he recognized Marius, giving utterance with loud out
cry to his indignation at the plight of this great man, he threw away his sword and fled from the prison. (4) Then the citizens, taught by a foreign enemy to pity one who had so short a time before been the first man in the state, furnished Marius with money, brought clothing to cover him, and put him on board a ship. Marius, overtaking his son near Aenaria, steered his course for Africa, where he endured a life of poverty in a hut amid the ruins of Carthage. There Marius, as he gazed upon Carthage, and Carthage as she beheld Marius, might well have offered consolation the one to the other.
[20] (1) In this year the hands of Roman soldiers were first stained with the blood of a consul. Quintus Pompeius, the colleague of Sulla, was slain by the army of Gnaeus Pompeius the proconsul in a mutiny which their general himself had stirred up.
(2) Cinna was a man as lacking in restraint as Marius and Sulpicius. Accordingly, although the citizenship had been given to Italy with the proviso that the new citizens should be enrolled in but eight tribes, so that their power and numbers might not weaken the prestige of the older citizens, and that the beneficiaries might not have greater power than the benefactors, Cinna now promised to distribute them throughout all the tribes. With this object he had brought together into the city a great multitude from all parts of Italy. (3) But he was driven from the city by the united strength of his college and the optimates, and set out for Campania. His consulship was abrogated by the authority of the senate and Lucius Cornelius Merula, priest of Jupiter, was chosen consul in his place. This illegal act was more appropriate in the case of Cinna than it was a good precedent. (4) Cinna was then received by the army at Nola, after corrupting first the centurions and tribunes and then even the private soldiers with promises of largesse. When they all had sworn allegiance to him, while still retaining the insignia of the consulate he waged war upon his country, relying upon the enormous number of new citizens, from whom he had levied more than three hundred cohorts, thus raising the number of his troops to the equivalent of thirty legions. (5) But his party lacked the backing of strong men; to remedy this defect he recalled Gaius Marius and his son from exile, and also those who had been banished with them.
Complete Works of Velleius Paterculus Page 19