Lectures On The History of Rome Vol 1
Lectures On The History of Rome Vol 1
Lectures On The History of Rome Vol 1
1I)IlED R 1
Seconb Zbttton.
\I71TII EVERY ADDITION DTRIViBLE rROllf DR
I N TIIRER VOZUhIES.
VOL. T.
LONDON :
T A Y L O R , JVAT,TON, A N D MABEEJAY,
U P P E R C071T12R RTEEET, AND IVY LANE, PATEENOSTER R O W
1Z I>CC< L
PREFACE.
011
during the dclivery of the Lecturcs. Only one of the advertised translations, however, made its appearance; and that
was ]nore than enough, for it bore so Inany inarks of carelessness, and displayed so flagrant a want of knowledge of thc
English language, that cvcn the lnost inoclcrate expectatiol~s
were disappointed. As there was reason for believing that
cvcry succeeding volume of Kiebuhr's Lectures which luigllt
appear in this country would incct with thc salllc fate in
Gcr~llanyas the iirst two, and that an ullpardollable wrong
would thus be done to the memory of thc :~uthor,Pvl. hlnrcus
Niebullr, tllc son of tbc historian, and soinc of the more
intiinate fricnds and pupils of Nicbuhr issucd an announcement, that tllcy would forthwit11 set about preparing
a German edition of all Kiebuhr's Lecturcs, on the ollly
principle that c o ~ ~ secure
l(l
for his Inclnory that honour ainong
his own countrymcu to wllicll hc is so justly cntitled. Thus
the very circumstal~ccwhich at first had secmed to thwart
my hopcs contributed in reality to their speedy rcalisatioa.
The task of preparing tlle Gcrman Edition was undertake~l
by M. Marcus Niebullr, Dr. Isler of I-Iamburgh, and Professor
Classen of Liibeck. 2ly co-operation also was solicitcd ;
but othcr engagements prcventcd my accepting thc honourable proposal; and it was finally arranged that I should undertake the Editorship in England of the ~vhole Scries of
Lcctures. Thc first voluine, containing thc Lccturcs on the
I-Iistory of ltorne from the earliest times down to thc commencement of the first Punic war, edited by Dr. Ieler,
qpcarcd at Berlin in 1846. Of this a translation is now presented to the English public. As to tllc materials of which
the German editor has made usc, and the plan he has followed,
" Tllc
I-Iistory
of the lionlan Bepul->lit," he says, " is one of' those few subjects
I11 the
course
V1
tile exact
PREFACE.
PREFACE.
vii
...
CONTENTS.
LECTUItE X I S
PAGE
The cons~~ls
elected by the scn~zteI U I ~curies alone......................... 1GO
the consuls divide11between curies nnd cc~iturics......... I61
The elcctiou
\Yar ab'.zii~stVcii ............................................................ 162
Llle Ftzl.ii dcclkzrc for the plebeians .......................................... I62
Tllc Fahii on the Crcmera. an11 their destrnction ........................ 163
Accusation of the consnls by the tribunes .................................. 165
..
LECTURE SS.
Murder of Cn. Genucius ....................................................
Volcro Puhlilins ..............................................................
'rho l'ublilian logations ......................................................
Moilc of proceeding in the asscnlblies of the people .......................
LECTUIiE X S I
167
167
168
169
ltcsistailcc of A~pi~1.i
Claudius .............................................. 17 1
Wars with the Volsciillls and Acquians .................................... 173
Plague at Rome .............................................................. 176
LECTURE S X I I
C . Tcrentilins IIarsa and the Tcreritilian law .............................. 177
Iirbcso Quinctius ..............................................................180
Cincinn:itus ................................................................
18 1
Apl~insHerdonins ............................................................182
.................................................. 183
Condarnriation of Volsci~~s
LECTURE SSIII
Coriolanns ...................................................................
Peace wit11 the Volscinns ...................................................
184
190
xlll
LECTURE S S V I I
Thc ~nilitarytribnnes ........................................................ 222
Tho ce~lsorship................................................................226
LECTUltE S X V I I T.
Ft~mincat Rome. Sp Rlaclius ..............................................
T l ~ ecxccutivc power of the consuls ..........................................
T l ~ cquacstorsl~ipopcnod to the plchcinns. aud plcbciai~senators ..........
The C.impizi~ians..............................................................
Victory over the Aoquians ..................................................
The agrariai~law ............................................................
Coloniac Rommliae ..........................................................
Insurrection of the soldiers .................................................
LECTURE X S I S
Ilcstroction of Fidcnae ...................................................... 240
Military alY'~irs and pay of tllc army ........................................ 2.1-1
Sicgc of Veii ................................................................. 213
T l ~ cAl1)nn lake aud its emissariun~.......................................... 245
LECTURE S X I V
Altcrccl Relation of the Latins to Rome ....................................
Commotions at Rome ........................................................
p . Mucins ...................................................................
Embassy to Atllcr~s..........................................................
IIermodorus ..................................................................
First deccmvirate ..........................................................
Equalisation of the rights of patricians mi~1plcbeinns ......................
Second dccemvirate and new conslitution ..................................
LECTURE X X V
Unlimited right to nlalte a will ..............................................
T l ~ law
c of del~t..............................................................
The ccntnrics. a national court of justice ....................................
Tyranny of the dccemvirs ....................................................
DcatEi of Virginia ...........................................................
Scccsbion of the plebes ........................................................
Overthrow of the decemviratc................................................
LECTURE X X V I.
Jtestoration of the old constitution ..........................
...
..........
198
201
202
204
208
208
209
209
The tltlcing of Veii and the disputes betweell patricians and 1)lcbcians
resulting from it ...........................................................250
War with the Faliscans and Vulsininns ..................................... 251
Camillus ant1 his exile ........................................................ 252
,The
, ~nigrationof the Ganls .................................................. 253
l h c Celts .................................................................... 255
LECTUIlE X S X I .
The Celts ................................................................... 256
The G s u b invade Italy ...................................................... 259
Ernbassy to the Gauls ........................................................261
13;ittlc of the Alia ............................................................ 262
The Gauls in liolnc .......................................................... 265
LECTURE S X X I I.
l'eacc with tllc Gauls. and their depai-turc ..................................
........................................
Conscqncnces of the Gallic co~lc~ucst
liebuilding of'
city ........................................................
...........................................................
F o e ~ ~ unciariuin
us
Usury .....................................................................
268
272
273
275
275
xiv
CONTENTS
CONTENTS .
.
.
PAGE
LECTURE X X X I I I
PAGE
LECTURE XXXIV .
Dictatorship of Camillus .................................................... 285
Temple of Concord ...........................................................
289
The Consulship divided between patricim~sand plebeians ................ 289
The praetorship .............................................................290
Ludi R o m a ~ ~...............................................................
i
290
The curule aediles .......................................................... 291
LECTURE XXXV
Triumviri reipiiblicae constitnendae.......................................... 292
Invasio~lof the Senonian Gauls .......................................... 293
Alliance with the Latins and I-Icrnicms .................................... 294
Alliance with the Samnites .................................................. 296
War in Etrnria .............................................................. 297
Settlement of debts ........................................................298
Third invasion of the Gauls.................................................. 298
LECTURE XXXVI .
C. Marcius R ~ ~ t i l u..........................................................
s
Tllc colonies .................................................................
Origin of the Samnites .....................................................
Insurrectjon at Capua ........................................................
Constitution of the Samnitcs ................................................
The first Samnitc war ........................................................
M. Vderius Corvl~s..........................................................
Battle of mount Gaulus ......................................................
P. Dccins Mus saves tho Roman army .....................................
LECTURE X X S V I I .
Insurrection in the Roman army ............................................
Progrcss of legislation.. .....................................................
Military arrangements of the Romans ......................................
peace with tho Samnites ....................................................
Relati011 bctwecll Rome and Latiuin ........................................
War wit11 the Latins ........................................................
T . Manlius ..................................................................
The Roman army ............................................................
Battle of Veseris............................................................
P. Decius ....................................................................
XV
312
314
315
317
318
319
320
321
321
323
LECTURE XXXVIII .
~.:l~d
of the Lati11\vi~r....................................................... 326
X~inicipin....................................................................327
LECTURE X X X I S
War with the Sidiciiles .....................................................
Colonies at Cdes atld Fregellae ............................................
New circamstanccs of thc Romans and their relations to Grcecc ..........
Tarentum a ~ Alexander
~ d
of Epirus ........................................
LECTUBE S L
Insurrdction of l'rirernnn~ .................................................. 313
Peace with the G.zuls ....................................................... 346
Emnbassy to Alcsander of Macedonia........................................ 347
Palacpolis a n d Ncnpolis .................................................... 348
LECTURE X L I .
0ntl)renk of' thc sccontl Smnl~ite'ivar ....................................... 349
LECTUItE XLII.
M . V d e r i ~ ~Corvus.
s
L . P:~piriusCnrsor. and Q. Fahius Maximus ........
Fabius defeats the Sa~nnit's. and cscapcs from Papirius ..................
neat11 of Papius Brutalus....................................................
Dcfcat of Caudium ..........................................................
The Romans brcnk t11m11ghtho peace ......................................
358
360
362
364
366
LECTURE X L I I I.
Dcfeat of the Romans nt Lantnlac ..........................................
Colony at Luccria ............................................ ................
Tho Roma~lsbuild a ilcct ....................................................
Art ainotig the Romans ......................................................
Rise of the Etrusmns .......................................................
367
368
372
373
374
LECTURE XLIV .
Taking of Bovinnum ........................................................
Pnpirins Cnrsor nppointcrl dictator ..........................................
War wit11 tho Hcrnicans and their ~n1)jugation............................
End of t l ~ esecond Sa~nuitcwt~r............................................
Reduction of the Acqoianr ..................................................
Rome's connection with the Marsians ......................................
Thc Etrl~scanwar ............................................................
The Ciminian forest ..........................................................
Battle of Sutri~uni
............................................................
Coloily at Narnia ............................................................
Cleonymils....................................................................
1,RCTURlC XLV .
Appius Cla~~dins
the Blind .................................................. 384
Via Appin ................................................................... 389
Aq~lnAppia ..................................................................390
1
.1
.................................................................391
CONTENTS
xvi
Aholitlon of the neunrn
T ~ Ogul~n\n
L
law
LECTURE X L V I
Thc tlurd Sarnnito mzr
T l ~ owar trausferr~dto E t r ~ u l n
Battle of Scutiii~iln
1' 1 ) ~ a u devotes
s
lnmsclf f o ~1u.r (ollntiv
LECTURE S I A V I I
Elid of t11~thtrcl S unnltc mnr
War wlth tho Sab111es
1Clnl)assy to Cpldzull~s
111'Ilnlng of lake V ~ l i n n s
'Ihc falls of TLI111
1,ECTUBC S1;VIII
Tho Mncnlun 1LJ\
Tho IIortcLis~
ln 1 ~w
T ~ n u 11ni~cap~t~lcz
LEC J T R E SLIS.
Wal against the Senontan G tul?
C F.d)~~cius
L u s ~ m u snnd 32 ' Curins 1)c1iCL ~ I I S
T I Co~uncan~us
O u t b l e ~ hof tho n tr with T u ~ n t i n n
l'y~rlluu of Epnus
LECTURE I,
Pylilms, contiilnctl
Cineas
nattlc of Hcraclea
P y ~ i h u satttmpts to male11 aganlbt ]tome
Sends Clnc IS to Ronw
Pyrrlms l~turliqto
ltomau Eml~nssyto l'y~ilms
R ~ t t l eof Asculum
Pyllhns goes to Slrlly, and ~ c t i ~ l ito
isItdy
13attle of T.LUI
xsla (B~ncv~nturu)
I )ofcat of l'ylilius
LECTURE LII
Pezce TIit11 Salnnlatn
Tnlcntum ta1~~11
by the Rolnals
Sal~jugLtlon of Italy
LECTURE I.
PJ
Teque pafer Tiberine tuo cum numirle sancto. Dionysius, attempting to inalce out a true history, proceeds on the supposition
that the dctail of Ronlan history can be restored, and that the
historical ground-work is only overgrown with legeadary tales;
he endeavo~~rs
to reconstruct the fornier in an arbitrary manner, and inserts his pragmatical speeches in his accoulit of tllc
mythical ages, whereby he often niakes himself tmly ridiculous.
Livy, on the other hancl, wrote the history such as he found
it in tlie most ancient books and as it appeared to him the
most beautiful; he gives it in its ancient fbrln before it was
artificially corrupted; and hencc his narrative is the purcst
source for the history of those times.
The story of the miraculous conceptioll of Rolnulus is an
historical impossibility; although in the school of Piso it was
mctan~or~hoscd
into an history: the same must be said of the
account of the rape of tElc Sabine women, whose nuniber was
thirty in thc original traditiolz, and also of the ascension of
Romulus during an ccli~scof the sun.1 Such also is the character of the long reion of Numa with its uninterrupted peace,
9
and of his marriage wlth the goddess Egeria, which among the
contemporaries of Scipio was as implicitly believed as the
history of the Punic wars. The story of thc combat of the
Horatii and the Curiatii, who wcre born on the same day of
two sistcrs has a very ancient poetical charactcr.2 W e next
come to Tarquinius Priscus, who was already married to
Tanaquil when he migrated to Rome in the eighth year of the
reign of Ancus (which lasted twenty-three years). Tarquinius
himself reigncd thirty-eight years and mas at his death upwards
of cighty ycars old, leaving behind him children under age
who werc eclucatcd during the forty-thrce years of Servius's
reign, so that Tarq~~inius
Supcrbus must have been at least
fifty ycars old when he slew his father-in-law. Tanaquil lived
to see this crime, and required Servius to take an oath not to
resign his crown: at that time she must have been 115 years
old. One of the first features in the story of Servius is that on
one occasion in his infancy his head was encircled with a flame,
which Dionysius attempts to explain in a natural way. Callatinus is said to have bcen the son of a brother of Tarquinius
The mo~nellt at which Mars overcame Ilia was likewise marked by an
eclipse of the sun.-N.
Livy's account i~ already somewhat disfigured.-N.
SAECULA O F THE
ETBUSCAKS.
ANCIENT LAYS.
T H E EMPEROR CLAUDIUS.
The old Irish tradition, as far as I can ascertain, differs somewhat from
the skatemcnt made in the text. I t was not Niall thc Gieat .tnrho advanced as
far as the Alps, but his successor Dathy, mlro was struck dead at the foot of thc
Alps by a Rarh of lightning A.D. 427. Comp. Iieatiug's Gencral History of
Ireland, translated by Uermod O'Conor. Lond. 1723, fol. 12. 319; iI~'1)ermot's
XIlstory of Ireland, London, 1820, 8vo. vol. i. p. 411. Thc accounts of Romen
writers on Ireland, are collected in O'Conor's Rerun2 II~beinzccwurn Scr~p:ores,
V. i., Prolcgom. p. 1.-ED.
SATURNIAN VERSE.
Tacitus two still exist; they do not contain a continuous portion of the speecll unless a considerable piece is wanting at the
bottom of the first table. Previous to the French revolution,
they were kept in the town hall of Lyons, but whether t h y
are still there I cannot say.5 They give us an idea of Claudius's stupidity and we must acknowledge that the ancients
did not wrong him in this respect. I n this speech he says in
detail what Tacitus has compressed into a few words. " It
ought not to be objected," says the emperor, '' that this is an
innovation, since innovations have been made ever since the
beginning of the state; strangers have always been admitted,
as for example the Sabines of T. Tatius; strangers have even
becn macle Icings, to wit Numa, Tarquin the Etruscan, a descendant from Greece, and Servius Tullius, who according to
our annals was a native of Corniculum, and according to those
of Etruria an Etrurian of the name of Mastarna, and a follower
of Caeles Vibcnna. EIe migrated, settled on the Caelian hill,
which was thus called after his leader, and there called himself
Scrvius Tullius." This then is a direct proof of what the
Roman annals were in those day". For nothing that is related
of this Etruscan Mastarna can bc applied to Servius Tullius,
the son of a female slave.
There is therefore no d o ~ ~ that
b t the earliest history of Rome
arose out of lays. Perizonius mentions similar instances among
other nations: even in the historical books of the Old Testament such lays are to bc found; in reference to the Romans he
quotes as a proof Cato's testimony, to which Cicero refers in
two passages: " Would," says Cicero, " that those lays were
extant, which Cato in his Origines states u ~ e dmany ages before
his own time to be sung at repasts by the guests in praise of
illustrious men." A third mention of them is found from Varro
in Konius Marcellus to the effect that pueri honesti sang at repasts songs in praise of deceased great men, sometirnes with
and sometimes without the accompaniment of the flute. Every
one must considcr these tcstiinollies to be valid. Among all
nations wit11 whose early national literature we are acquainted,
we find either long historical poems of an epic character or
short ones in praise of individual men. NOWpreviously to
making and proving the assertion, that fragments of both kinds
Colpus
10
TIIE NAENIAE
half once; it has four arses. The same fourfold rhythm occurs
in the old Saxon harmony of the gospels, in Otfrid and others,
but five or even six rhythms n ~ a yoccur; in the Persian me find
generally four feet of three syll,ibles, in the Arlzbic frcq~~ently
the same, but often also feet of four syllables. The Spanisll
coplas de nnrte lnnjor which mere coluinon previous to the
adoption of the Alexal~drines,and which were introduced into
Flanders, also are of exactly the same liind. It is probable
that the same metre is found in the longer P r o v e ~ l p lpoems.
This ancient Roman metre occurs throughout in Eo~iiallpoetry
down to the seventh century. I have collected a laroe
9 number
of examples of it and discovered a chapter of an ancient gratnmarian with most beautif~~l
fragments especially from Nmvius.
I shall publish this important treatise on the Saturnian verse,
for the grammarian really understood its nature.6 I n Plautus
it is developed with great beauty.
There were also smaller ancient poems i11 this metre. A t
the funerals of Romans naetziae were sung with tile accoinpaniment of the flute, and these were not melancholy and soft
dirges, but must have had the same character as the laudationcs;
the dead had passed to their illustrious ancestors, their glory
was made use of as a show and as an encouragement, and for
this reason simple praise was bestowed upon thcm in these
naeniae. The words of Horace, absint inani funere naeniae, etc.,
rcfcr, if songs were sung at all at funerals, to the lan~entations
of latcr times; for the Romans originally were not tendcrhearted: they made use even of a dead man for the good of the
republic; from his grave he coiltinued to call upon the living
to follow in his footsteps. Naeniae and laudntiones, therefore,
werc certainly quite plain and simple, according to the ancient
style in which periods were not yet linown, and bore no
The grammarian, ~vl~ose
fragment on the Saturnian vcrse is here mcntioned,
is Charisius. Nicbuhr tool< a copy of it from a Neapolitan manuscript in 1823,
and his copy has becn entrusted to Prof. Laehmann of Berlin, -\%llo
is preparing
its publication. Prof. Schncidewin of Gbttingen published it in 1841 in a programme, "Elavii Sosipatri Cl~ariiiide vcrsu Saturnio commc~~tnriolus
ex codice
Ncapolitano nunc primurn editus," Goni a copy taken by 0. Mullel; and severely
criticised Niehuhr's cxprcssions respecting the Saturninn vcrse; but a glance at
the fragment, as it is there printed, shews, that Muller's copy is very imperfect,
and it would haye been more becoming accurately to examine the copy taliell
by Niebuhr, before criticisinf; him in a manner, which docs not indeed injure
the memory of Niebuhr, but certainly does not place the modesty of Schneidewin
in the most fa~rourablelight.--ED.
AND LAGDATIOKES.
11
12
LEGEND OF AENEAS.
13
though they were innocent and their opponents were the guilty
party; it was not the people but the curiae that condenlned
llanlius to death, and it was the curiae that pronounced the
inglorious decision between the Arcleatans and Aricinians; nay
we may be convinccd that it was the curiae too who co~npelled
Camillus9 to go into exile.
Such falsifications accumulate, bccoinc interwoven with
one another, and in the cnd produce a strange confusion. W e
may collect the rich materials though they are widely scattered,
because party spirit prcveiited their being united, and by the
process cf criticism we may discover the constitution and
character of the Roman nation, and in general outlines give
their history down to the time at which we have the contemporary records of the Greeks, that is to tlle war with Pyrrhus
and the first Punic war. Much will indeed remain obscure in
our investigations, but we can accuratcly disting~~ish
where
this must be so and where not.
Roman History goes back to Latium and through Latium
to Troy. Since the qucstion was raised by Dion Chrysostomus
whcther Troy ever really existed, an immense deal has bcen
written upon it, and also on the question whether Aeneas ever
came to Italy. The treatise by Theodore Ryckius'o upon this
subject is very well lrnown ; he regards the arrival of Aeneas
as an historical fact in opposition to Bochart, who was one of
the last ingenious philologcrs of Francell, and whose intellect
was at all events superior to that of Ryckius. Bochart's
hypothesis concerning the influence of the Phoenicians is certainly carried too far. Now, however, the question would be
put in a totalIy different manner, we should ask, Has the legend
of the arrival of the Trojans on this coast any historical ground?
Further, Did the legend originate with the Greeks and come
over to Italy, or is it of native Italian growth, that is to say,
is it one which we at least cannot traec to any Greek sources ?
If the latter be the case, there must be some truth at the bottom
of it, and the less we take these ancient traditions literally, the
more probability we find in them.
There existed unquestionably in the earliest times of Greece,
Livy, iii. 71, 72.
Theod. Rjclrii D m . de Primis Ital~aeColonis et Aenea in Luc. Holstenii
N o h e et Casttgattones in Steph. Byzantzum. Lngd. Bat. 1684, fol.
Salmasius was far less clear-headed tllnn he.-N.
lo
SIIJIOTIII~ZICE
-THE
two natiolls who were very nearly akin to each other and yet
mere so different that the one did not even understand the
langugcof the other, as Herodotus distinctly saya: the Ianguage of the one when coinpared witlr that of the other was
rCgmded 2s bilrbarous, and yet frolii another point of view they
may be loohcd upon as very kiiidrcd languages. Several
living langnages, even now, stand in a siinilar relation to one
such as tile Polish and Bolicmian, the Italian and
Spanish,alld if we do uotlook atthe relationship quite so closely,
tile l'olish and Lithuanian. The last two languages differ
from each otller immensely, but yet have a characteristic rescmblnncc; the grammar of both is based upon the same principles: they have the samc peculiarities, their nun~ernls are
almost the samc and a great number of words are colnlnon to
both. These languages thercfore are sister languages and yet a
Pole does not understand a Lithuanian. Now this is the manncr in
wc solve the questioll so often ~aisedrcspccting
tile difference or identity of the Greeks and Pelasgians. When
IIerodotus tells us that they were different, wc must indeed
believe him, but on the other hand he joins the Hellenes and
PeIasgians together, conscquently there can have been no mdical difference bctween the two nations.
I n the earliest times, when the history of Greece is yet
wrapt up for us in impenetrable mystery, the greatcr part of
Italy,
the whole of tlzc eastern coast of the Adriatic,
Epirus, &3accdonia12,the southern coast of Thrace with tlie
peninsulas of Macedonia, tllc islands of the Acgean as ~ ~ c asl l
the coasts of Asia Minor as far as thc Bosporus mere ilihabitccl
by Pela~~ians.13The Trojans also must bc regarded as Pelasgians; that they were not barbarians is confirmed by the
unanimous opinion of all the Greeks and may be seen from
FIoiner; they inhabit a Pelasgian country but their names are
Greek. They are solnetilnes spoken of as more closely connected with the Arcadians, who were another essentially Pelasgic race, sometimes with the Epirots and sometimes with the
Thessalians; Aeneas in one tradition inigratcs to Arclldia
and there dics, and in another he goes to Epirus wherc Hellenus is settled. Thus, in Pindar's poem on Cyrene, we find
l2 The original inhabitants of Macedonia were neither Illyrians nor Thracians,
hut Pela-gians. Comp. C. 0. >fullcr's Treatise on Macedonia, appended to
Val. I. of the Hist. and Ant. of the Doric Race, p. 467, etc.
l 3 Even Aeschylus peoples all Greece wit11 Pelasgiana-N.
SICULI.
15
16
place in consequence of the migration of the northern tribes separated the maritime countries of Etruria froin Italyand confined
the name of Italy to the country south of the Tiber or even south of
I,atium. This, however, is only a conjecture; but it is certain
that at one time Italymas bo~uldedin the north bya line frorn the
Garganus in the cast to Terracina in the west, and that the name,
after having been more limited,was again, after the time of Alexander the Great and previously to the extension of the do~ninioll
of Rome, used in its former and wider extent. I t seems to be this
earlicr Italy that Fliny mcms, when he says it is querno folio
similis.16 This statementheundo~xbtedlytook fromTimaeus,with
whom also originated the comparison of Sardinia to a sandal or a
foot-mark. I t quite escaped Pliny's attention that Italy in his
time could not be described in any such way; and this is a
very characteristic installee of the hasty and thoughtless
manner in which he wrote.
I11 the south of Italy the earliest inhabitants were also
called Oenotri and Peucetii, in the north undoubtedly Liburnians and on the coast of Latiutn Tyrrhenians.
Whether the settlements on the coast north of the Tiber
were remnants of a people who had been drivcn back, or
whether they were only colonies, it is no longer possible for us
to decide. But there appear in central Italy besides these
tribes,which were analogous to the Greeks, nations of a different
kind which overwhelmed the former. These migrations seem
to have been similar to those met with in modern history,
where one nation has
forward another. The people
who threw themselves at the same time upon the Siculi in
Latium and upon the Itali in the south of Italy, and, having
partly expelled and partly subdued them, became assiinilated to
them, are the Opici, a transition people, who in reality existed as
Opici in a few places only, but, being again amalgamated with
other subdued people, they produced new forms. They appear
under various names, which, however, have the same radical
r name of Apuli, the terminasyllable. Thus we find t h e ~ u n d ethe
tions -icus and-ulusbeing equivalent : hence the Italian population
l6 This is a remarkable exnmplc of thc manner in which Pliny wrote; he
sometimes speak in his own namc and somctimcs gives extracts, but unfortunately his historical extracts are made with as little thought as those relating to
natural history, which are full of miwpprehensions of Aristotle and Theophrastus.-N.
17
18
19
SICULIANS IN ITALY.
THE LATINS.
LECTURE 11.
AT a period which we cannot chronologically define, there
existed a population of Siculians in the country afterwards
called Latium, which may however have borne this name from
the earlicst times. The remembrance of this population was
preserved at Tibur, part of which town was, according to Cato,
called Sicu1io.l Elsewhere also in ancient authors, we find an
immense number of statements which place the existence of
this people beyond all doubt. I t is found under the same name
I n the printed collections of the fragments of Cato, I do not find this statement ; whence I suppose that Cato is here confoundedwith Dionysius who (i.16)
has the statement in question.-ED.
in
' Probably C. Sempronius Tuditanus, the same whom Dionysius, i. 11, calla
Ao~i67arov78v ' P ~ p a f ~uwyypa@~wv.-E~.
v
c2
20
POLARITY OF TRADITIONS.
CASCANS.
&v&aafL. All we know about the Latins is the fact that they
of towns from Tibur to the river Tiber:
posessed a
how far they extended in the earliest times towards the Liris
is uncertain. Cato, quoted by Priscian, states that the lain of
the Volscians formerly belonged to the Aborigines; and it is
certain that all the towns along the coast, such as Antium,
Circeii and others, were at an early period Tyrrhenian. A t
tliat time, accordingly, the name Latium was of very wide extent, and even ilninediatcly after the time of the Roman kings
i t extended as far as Campania, but was afterwards restricted
by the great migrations which took place after the expulsion
of the kings. Hesiod of coursc rcfers to an earlier period. I11
the treaty of Roine with Carthagc the names Latium and
Latins extend along the coast beyond Terracina, ancl t rob ably
as far as Cumae.
The Pelasgian inhabitants of the whole of the western coast
of Italy were called by the Grecks Tyrrhenians, and by the
Latins Turini, Tusci, that is, Tusici from Tusus or Turus; for s
is used i n the early language instead of r, as in Fusius for
Furius.
W e must keep in mind that the Pelasgians and Aborigines
were one and the same people. If we examine the traditions
of nations we frequently find that the samc events arc related
in various and entirely opposite ways. The story of a J e w
taking merciless vengeance on a Christian, such as we read of
in 'LThe Merchant of Venice ", is found completely reversed
in a Roinan tale written shortly beforc Shakespeare's time; in
this the Christian is represcnted as wishing to cut a piece of
flesh out of the Jew's body. The migrations of the Goths
proceed, according to some, from Scandinavia to the south, and
according to others from the south to Scandinavia. Wittekind
states that the Saxons came from Britain to Germany, while
the common tradition describes them as having been invited
from Germany to Britain. The Pelasgians about Mount
Hymettus ncar Athens are said to havc migrated from Tyrrlienia to Athens, and thence to Lemnos, while in another
tradition the Tyrrhenians proceed from the Maeonian coast to
Italy. I n like manner, Cyrene, according to one tradition,
received a colony from Thera ; but according to another, Thera
arose out of a clod of earth froin Libya. I n the earlier traditions, the Planetae are at the entrance of the Euxine, and the
21
22
SACRANI.-PRISCI
LATINI.
23
24
25
ALBAN CHRONOLOGY.
ALBA L0NG-k.
The original tradition is, that Aeneas at first for three years
dwelt in a small town of the name of Troy; he is then said to
have gone further inlaid and to have founded Lavinium; thirty
years after this, Alba was founded, and 300 years after Alba
the fouilclation of Rome was laid. This regular progression of
numbers shews that the field is not historical, and there seems
to be no doubt that the cluratioll of Rome was fixed at 3000
years. There are in these traditions two different numerical
systems, the Etruscan, with a saeculum of 110 years, and the
Greek or Tyrrhenian in which the saeculum consisted of thirty
years. This number thirty was at all times of great importance,
because the period of the revolution of Saturn was then, as
Servius reinarl~s, believed to be completed in thirty years.
Thirty ordinary ycars formed with the Greeks one Saturnian,
and 100 Satunlian years constitutcd one great year. With this
are connected the progressive numbers from the foundation of
1,avinium to the building of Rome. The earliest history of
Alba is worth nothing, as has been shewn by the acute Dodwells; who elsewhere too often spoiled by his subtleties that
which Ize had well begun. The chronology of the Alban kings,
for example, in Dionysius is nothing but folly and falsehood,
and their names are huddled together in every possible manner.
This forgery, as we learn froin Servius, was made at a late
period by a freedman of Sulla, L. Cornelius Alexander of Uiletus, who quicltly became popular at a time when people
delighted in having the history of a period of which nothing
could be known.
Alba on the Alban lake is, in my opinion, the capital of the
ruling conquerors; it is not owing to mere chance that it bears
the same name as the town on lalre Fucinus whence the Sacrani
had come. When they were obliged to give up their country
to the Sabines, they founded a new Alba on a lake, just as the
Cartllaginians built a new Carthage, the Milesians a new Miletus on the Black Sea, and as the English havc so often done
in the new world. This Alba Longa then was the seat of the
Casci or Sacrani, and the earlier Latin towns within its territory probably experienced a twofold fate; some may have
received a part of their population from the immigrants, and
others may have been reduced to a state of dependence without
receiving colonists. W e havc a tradition that these Latin
towns were thirty in number and that all were colonies of
De Cyclis, diss, x.
LECTURE 111.
26
LATIN TOWNS.
28
29
REA SILVIA.
I t is mcll known that tllerc is in Stobacns (vii. 13) a poem upon Rome,
which is ascribed to Erinna. Bnt as Erinna composed her poems at a time
when Rome cannot be supposed to have been renowned in Aeolia, commentators
have imagined the poem to bc a hymn on Strength. But Strength cannot be
called a daugliter of Ares; Strength might rather be said to be his mother. The
poem bclongs to a much latcr date, and proceeding on this snpposition it may
perhaps be possible for some one to diicovcr the rcal name of thc author. It
certainly belongs to the period subsequent to the Hannibalian war, and was
perhaps not written till the timc of the emperors; but to mc it seems most probable that the author was a contemporary of Sul1a.-N.
Gensque virum truncis et duro robore natc~. Virgil, Aen. viii. 315.
Curm. i. 2.
Numitor is a praenomen, but the name Amulius does not shew that he
belonged to the gens Silvia: I therefore doubt whether the ancient tradition
represented them as brothers.-N.
30
infants into the river Anio: she lost her life in the waves, but
the god of the river took her soul and changed it into an
immortal goddess whom he married. This story has been
softened down into the tale of her iinprisoalntnt, which is ullpoetical enough to be a later invention. The river Anio carrictl
the cradle like a boat into the Tiber, and the latter conveyed
it to the foot of the Palatine, the wntcr having overflo~vedthe
country, and the cradle was upset at the root of a fig-tree. A
she-wolf carried the babes away and suclcled them 7 ; J h - s sent
a woodpecker which provided the children with food, and the
bird parra8 which protected them from insects. These statements are gathered from various quarters; for the historians
got rid of the marvellous as much as possible. Faustulus, the
legend continues, found the boys fecdinu? on the milk of the
huge wild-beast, he brought them up wlth his twelve sons,
and they became the staunchest of all. Being at the head of
the shepherds on Mount Palatine, they became involvcd in a
quarrel with the shephcrds of Xuinitor on thc Aventine-the
Pdlatine and the Avcntine are always hostile to each otherRemus being taken prisoner was led to Alba, but Romulus
rcscued him, and their descent from Numitor being discovered,
the latter was restorcd to the throne, and the two young men
obtained permission to form a settlement at the foot of Mount
Palatine where they had been saved.
Out of this beautiful poem, the falsifiers endeavoured to
make some credible story: even the unprcjudiccd and poetical
Livy tried to avoid the most marvellous points as much as he
could, but the falsifiers went a step farther. I n the days when
men had altogether ceased to believe in the ancient gods,
attempts were made to find somctlling intelligible in the old
legends, and thus a history was made up, which Plutarch fondly
embraced and Dionysius did not reject, though he also relates
the ancient tradition in a mutilated form. H e says that many
pcople bclieved in daemons, and that such a daemon might
have been the father of Romulus; but he himself is very far
from believing it, and rather thinks that Amulius himself, in
disguise, violated Rea Silvia amid thunder and lightning
produced by artifice. This he is said to have done in order to
have a pretext for getting rid of her, but being entreated by
his daughter not to drown her, he imprisoned her for life. The
children were saved by the shepherd, who mas coniinissio~ied
to expose them, at the reqt~estof Numitor, and two other boys
were put in their place. Numitor's grandsons were taken to
a friend at Gabii, who caused them to be educated according
to their rank and to be instructed in Grcek literature. Attempts
have actually been made to introduce this stupid f o r ~ c r yinto
history, and some portions of it have been adopted in the narrative of our historians; for examplc, that the ancient Alban
nobility migrated with the two brothers to Rome; but if this
had been the caee there would have h e n no need of opening
an asylum, nor would it have been necessary to obtain by force
the connubium with other nations.
But of more historical importance is the difference of
opinion betwcen the two brothers, respecting thc building of
the city and its site. According to thc ancient tradition, both
were kings and the equal heads of the colony; Romulus is
universally said to have wished to build on the Palatine, while
Remus, according to some, preferred the Aventinc; according
to othcrs, thc hill Remuria. Plutarch states that the latter is
a hill threc miles south of Rome, and cannot havc been any
other than the hill nearly opposite St. Paul, which is the more
credible, since this hill, though situatcd in an otherwise unhealthy district, has an extrcmcly fine air: a very important
point in investigations respecting the ancient Latin towns, for
it may be taken for ccrtain, that where the air is now healthy
it was so in those times also, and that where it is now decidedly
unhealthy, it was anciently no better. The legend now goes
on to say, that a dispute arose betwecn Romulus and Remus as
to which of tlicln should givc the name to the town, and also
as to where it was to be built. A town Remuria therefore
undoubtedly existed on that hill, though subsequently we find
the nainc transfcrred to the Aventine, as is the case so frequently.
According to the common tradition augurs were to decide
between the brothers; Romulus took his stand on the Palatine,
Remus on the Aventinc. Thc lattcr observed the whole night
but saw nothing until about sunrise, when he saw six vultures
flying from north to south and scnt word of it to Romulus, but
at that very time the latter, annoyed at not having seen any
sign, fraudulently sent a messenger to say that he had seen
twelve vultures, and at the very moment the messenger aiiil cd,
32
33
a general opinion, that Rome was a Pelasgian, that is a Tyrrllenian city, but the authorities from tvhom he learnt this are
no lollger extant. There is, however, a fragmeat in which it is
that Rome was a sister city of Antiurn and Ardea. Here
too we must apply the statement from the chroilicle of Cumae,
that Evander, who, as an Arcadian, was likewise a Pelasgian,
had his palntiu~zzon the Palatine. To us he appears of less
inlportan~ethan in the legend, for ill the latter he is one of
tile benefactors of nations, and introduced among tlle Pelasgians in Italy the use of the alphabet and other arts, just as
Damsratus did ailiang the Tyrrllenians in Etruria. In this
sense, t,herefore, Rome was certainly a Latin town, and had
not a mixed but a ~ u r e l yTyrrheno-Pelasgian population. The
subsequent vicissitudes of this settlement may be gathered from
the allegories.
Ro~nulusnow found the number of his fellow-settlers too
~lnall;the number of 3000 foot and 300 horse, which Livy
gives from the commentaries of the pontiffs, is worth nothing;
for it is only an outline of the later military arrangement transferred to the earliest times. According to the ancient tradition,
Romulus's band was too small, and he opened an asylum on
the Capitoline hill. This asylum, the old description states,
contained only a very small space, a proof how little these
things were understood historically. All manner of people,
thieves, murderers, and vagabonds of every lcind flockcd thither.
This is the simple view taken of the origin of the clients. I11
the bitterness with which the estates subsequently looked upon
one another, it was made a matter of reproacll to the Patriciaas,
that their earlicst ancestors had been vagabonds; though it was
a common opinion, that the patricians were desccnded from
the frce companions of Romulus, and that those who took
rcfuge in the asylum placed themselves as clients ~ m d e rthe
protection of the real free citizens. P u t now they wanted
women, and attempts wcre made to obtain the connubitl~nwith
neighbouring towns, especialIy perhaps with Antcn~nae,which
was only four miles distant from Rome, with the Sabines and
others. This being refused, Romulus had recourse to a strat w m , proclaiming that he had discovered thc altar of Consus,
the p d of counsels, an allegory of his cunning in general. I n
the midst of the solemnities, the Sabine maidens, thirty in
number, were carried off,from whom the curiae received their
VOL. 1.
34
36
DIVISION
OF THE POPULATION.
ancestors had not been in it, and such also was the case in
many oligarcllical states of antiq~~ity.
All civil commul~itieshad a c o ~ ~ n c and
i l an assembly of
burghers, that is a snlall and a great council; the burghers
consisted of the guilds or gentes, and these again were united,
as it were, in parishes; all the Latin towns had a council of 100
members, who were divided into ten curiae ; this division gave
rise to the name of decuriones, which remained in use as a title
of civic magistrates down to the latest times, and through the
bx Julia was transferred to the constitution of the Italian
?imnic;i.ia. That this council consisted of one hundred persons
has been proved by Savigny, in the first volume of his history
continued to exist till a
of the Roman law. This
late period of the middle ages, but perished when the institution of guilds took the place of municipal constitutions.
Giovanni Villani says, that previously to the rcvolution in the
twelfth century there were at Florence 100 buoni uomini, who
had the administration of the city. There is nothing in our
German cities which answers to this constitution. W e must
not conceive those hundred to have been nobles; they were
an assembly of burghers and country people, as was the case
in our small imperial cities, or as in the small cantons or
Switzerland. Each of them represented a gens; and they are
those whom Propertius calls patres pelliti. The curia of Rome,
a cottage covered with strawlo, was a faithful memorial of the
times when Rome stood buried in the night of history, as a
small country town surrounded by its little domain.
The most ancient occurrence which we can discovcr from
the form of the allegory, by a comparison of what happened in
other parts of Italy, is a result of the great and continued commotion among the nations of Italy. I t did not terminate when
the Oscans had been pressed forward from lake Fucinus to the
lake of Alba, but continued much longcr. The Sabincs may
have rested for a time, but they advanced far beyond the districts
about which we have any traditions. These Sabines began
as a very small tribe, but afterwards became one of the greatest
nations of Italy, for the Marrucinians, Caudines, Vcstinians,
Marsians, Pelignians, and in short all the Samnite tribes, the
Lucanians, the Oscan part of the Bruttians, the Picentians and
several others were all descended from the Sabine stock, and
lo
THE SdBINES.
37
l2
39
38
LECTURE IV.
TIIE tradition that the Sabine women were carried off, because
there existed no connubium, and that the rape was followed by a
war, is undoubtedly a symbolical representation of the relation
between the two towns, previous to the establishmelit of the
riglit of intermarriage; the Sabines had the ascelidancy and
refused that right, but the Romans p i n e d it by force of arms.
Therc can be no doubt, tliat the Sabincs were originally the
r ~ ~ l i npeoplc,
g
but, tliat in some insurrection of the Roinans
yarious Sabinc places, such as Antemnae, Fidcnae and others,
were subdued, and thus these Sabiiies were separated from
their kinsmen. The Roinans therefore re-established their
independence by a war, the result of which may have been
such as we read it in the tradition-Romulus being, of course,
set aside-namely tliat both places as two closely united towns
formed a kind of confederacy, each with a senate of 100 meinbers, a king, an offciisive and defensive alliance, and on the
understanding tliat in coinmon deliberations the burghers of
each should meet together in thc space between the two towns
which was afterwards called the comitium. I n this manner
they formed a united state in regard to foreign 11at'ions.
The idea of a double state was not unknown to the ancient
writers tl~emselves,although the iildications of it are
only in scattered passages, especially in the scholiasts. The
head of Janus, which in the earliest times was represented on
the Roman as, is the symbol of it, as has been correctly ohserved
by writers on Roinan antiquities. The vacant throne by the
sidc of the cu~ulechair of Romnlus points to the time wlicn
there was only one king, and represents the equal but quiescent
right of the otlicr people.'
That concord was not of long duration is an historical fact
Comp. above, page 40.
Parliament, Barnabas Brissonius, from whom we miy still learn much, although
40
RAMNES A N D T I T I E S . - N U M A .
DEATH OF N U M A .
41
42
TULLUS HOSTILIUS.
43
~~t the ancient poet was not concerned about such things, and
hesitation incl.easec1 the distance i11 his imagination,
and represented Rome and Alba as great states.
The whole description of the circumstances under which the
f3%teof Alba was decided is just as manifestly poetical, but we
ellall dwell upon it for a while in order to show how a semblance of history may arise. Betwecn Roine and Alba there
nas a ditch, Fossa Cluilia or Cloelia, and there must havebeen
a tradition that the Albans had becn encamped there; Livy
and Dionysius mention that Cluilius, a general of the Albans,
had given the ditch its name, having perished there. I t was
necessary to melition the latter circumstance, in order to explain the fact that afterwards their general was a different
person, Mettius Fuffetius, and yet to be able to connect the
name of that ditch with the Albaizs. The two states committed
tlze decision of their dispute to champions, and Dionysius says,
th:ct tradition did not agree as to whether the name of tlze
Roman champions was EIoratii or Curiatii, although he himself, as well as Livy, assumes that it was Horatii, probably
because i t was thus stated by the majority of thc annalisis.
Who would suspect any uncertainty here if it were not for this
passagc of Dionysius? The contest of thc three brothers on
each side is a sy~nbolicalindication that each of the two states
was then divided into three tribes. Attempts have indeed
been made to deny that the three men wcre brothers of the
same birth, and thus to remove the improbability; but the
legend went cveii further, representing the three brothers on
each side as the sons of two sisters, and as born on the same
day. This contains the suggestion of a perfect equality bctwcen Roinc and ,41ba. The contest ended in the complete
submission of Alba; it did not remain faithful, however, and
in the ensuing struggle with the Etruscans. Mettius Fuffetius
acted the part of a traitor towards Rome, but not being able
to carry his design into cffect, he afterwards fcll upon the fugitive Etruscans. Tullus ordered him to be torn to pieces and
Alba to be razed to the ground, the noblest Alban families
being transplanted to Rome. The death of Tullus is no less
poetical. Like Numa he undertook to call down lightning
from heaven, but he thereby destroyed himself and his house.
If we endeavour to discover the historical substance of tlzese
legends, we at once find ourselves in a period when Rome no
44
DESTRUCTION O F ALBII.
lollger stood alone, but had colonies with Roman settlers, possessing a third of the territory and exercising sovereign power
over the original inhabitants. This was the case in a small
number of towns for the most part of ancient Siculiall origin.
I t is an undoubted fact that Alba was destroyed, and that after
this event tlie towns of the Prisci Latini formed an independent and compact confederacy; but whether Alba fell in
the manncr described, whether it was ever compelled to recognise the supremacy of Rome, and whether it was destroyed
by the Roinans and Latins conjointly, or by the Romans or
Latins alone, are questions which no human ingenuity can
solve. I t is however most probable, that the dcstruction
of Alba was the work of the Latins, who rose against her
supremacy: whether in this case the Romans received the
Albans among thcmselves, and thus became thcir benefactors instead of destroyers, must ever remain a matter of uncertainty. That Alban families wcre transplanted to Roine cannot
be doubted, any inore than that tlie Prisci Lati~zifrom t l ~ a t
time constituted a compact state; if we considcr that Alba
was situated in the midst of the Latin districts, that the Alban
mount was their common sanctuary, and that the grove of
Ferentina was the place of asseinbly for all the Latins, it
must appear more probable that Roine did not destroy Alba,
but that it perished in an insurrection of the Latin towns, and
that the Ronians strengthened themsclves by receiving the
Albans into their city.
Whcther the Albans wcre the first that settled 011 the Caelian
hill, or whether it was previously occupied cannot be decided.
The account which places the foundation of the town on the
Caclius in the reign of Romulus snggcsts that a town existcd
there before the reccption of the Albans; but what is the authenticity of this account? A third tradition represents it as
an Etruscan settlement of Caeles Vibenna. Thus n~ucllis certain that the dcstruction of Alba grcatly contributed to increase
the power of Rome. There can be no doubt that a third town
which seems to have been very populous, now existed on tile
Caelius and on a portion of thc Esquiliae: sucli a settIement
close to other towns was made for the sake of mutual protection. Bctween the two lilore ancient towns there continued to
be a marsh or swamp, and Bome was protected on the
by stagnant water; but between Rome and the third town
T H E THIRD TRIBE.
45
46
nNcus
MARCIUS.-WAR
FOUNDflION
O F 0STIA.-THE
PLEBS.
4'7
48
T I l E STOEY OF DABIARATUS.
TARQUINIUS PRISCUS.
LECTURE V
ALTHOUGH
the statement that Ancus carried the Latins away
froin their habitations and transplanted them to Rome, as if he
had destroyed their towns, cannot be believed because it is
l d been removed many
impossible, since the settlers w o ~ ~ have
miles from their possessions and would have left an empty
country, yet it cannot be doubted that Ancus Martius is justly
called the founder of the town on the Aventine. There arose
on that spot a town which even to the latest times remained
politically separated: it existed by the side of Rome but was
distinct from it, not being included within the pomoe~ium so
long as any value was attached to that linc of dcmarcation.
I n following the narrative as it has been transmitted to us,
we now coinc to a period, which was probably scparatcd by a
great chasm from the preceding one. I n the reign of Tarquinius
Priscus, Rome appears in so different a light, that it is impossible to conceive him as the successor of Ancus, whose conquests
were confined to a small space, and under whom Rome formed
its first connection with the sea through the foundation of
Ostia; whereas under Tarquinius, things are mentioned of
which traces are visible to this day. Tarquinius is described
as half an Etruscan, the son of Damaratus by an Etruscan
woman. His father is said to have been a Bacchiad, who in
When the Achaeans spread over the Pcloponnesus, Sicyon first adopted
their vdprpa, and its example was gradually followed by the other towns, and
thus the Doric laws almost disappcared. Attempts were made to compel Sparta
also to abandon its old laws, but without success.-ED.
49
50
that
vases never existed in ancient Etruria. I n our days
vessels are dug out of the ground at Corneto, which perfectly
resemble the most ancient Greek ones; I do not mean those
which were formerly called Etruscan, but those actually found
in Greece and belonging to the earliest times, especially the
Corinthian ones, of which representations are given in Dodwell.' Pieces of such vases are found only in the neighbourhood of ancient Tarquinii; in all the rest of Tuscany scarcely
one or two of them have been discovered; in 'the northeastern part of the country, about Arezzo and Fiesole, the
Arretinian vases of red clay with raised figures are of quite a
peculiar form and very nurnerons, but do not occur any where
on the coast. This artistic conncction betw~enTarquinii and
Greece, especially Corinth, is accounted for in the tradition by
the statement that the artists Eucheir and Eugrammus accompanied Damaratus from Corinth.
Now when it was observed that Tarquinius Priscus was
referred to Tarquinii, and a comparison of this statcment was
made with the tradition that the solemn Greek worship had
first been introduced by him into Rome, people at once said:
This must be the work of an ancient Greek; they compared
the Roman chronology, as it was laid down in the work of the
pontiffs, with the chronology of Greece, a comparison which
might be made after the time when Timaeus wrote his history.
They soon found that the combination became possible, if
Damaratus was represented as the father of Tarquinius. This
Tarquinius Priscus or Lucumo is said to have gonc to Rome
with his wife Tanaquil, an Etruscan prophetess, because at
Tarquinii he did not enjoy the full rights of a citizen. On
his journey thither a marvellous occurrence announced to him
that heaven had destined him for great things; many glorious
exploits are ascribed to his reign; but our narratives here
diverge : that of Livy is very modest, but another represents
him as the conqueror of all the Etruscan towns. All this
may be read in detail in Dionysius, and the accounts of it
belong to the ancient Roman annals, so that Augustus caused
these victories to be registered even in the triumphal fasti a3
three distinct triumphs and with certain dates, as we see from
the fragments."
The Romans had the more rcason to believe
u
Classical Tour, ii. p. 195.-ED.
The destruction of this monument is the fault of those who made it; they
ought to have chosen a better material.-N.
1
51
52
53
54
55
56
which a nzan may claim who has devoted himself to these investigations for eighteen years almost uninterruptedly, and who
even before that time had with fondness spent many a year
upon them. Do not mistake possibilities for historical results.
The tradition which represents Tarquinius as the acknowledged head of the twelve Etruscan towns leads US to speak
about the Etruscans. Of all the nations of antiquity they are
perhaps the one conceriling which the most different things
have been said, though our materials are of the slenderest kind,
and concerning which accordingly the grcatest misconceptions
have been formed. The impositions of such persons as Annius
of Viterbo, Inghirami and others, are of the most impudent
character, and yet have become tlle groundwork of many later
productions : they misled Dempster, and through him Winckclmann was deceived. I n the eighteenth century the Italians
ceased indeed to forge documents, but with the greatest conceit they pretended to explain the inexplicable. Many Etruscan monuments with inscriptions exist, but few are largc.
Five years ago an altar was dug out which is covered on
three sides with inscriptions; a cippus was found at Perugia, a
coffin at Bolscna, etc. Thcse monuments have been published
either separately or in collections, particularly by Lanzi; some
works of art also bear inscriptions; to interpret them has a
great charm, because if we could read them, a new light would
be thrown upon our investigations. This has given rise to
the confident assertions that they can be explained, and the
most arbitary interpretations have been put upon them. The
Eastern languages and the Celtic have been resorted to for
assistance, until at length Lanzi proceeded on the supposition
that the Etruscan was a kind of Grcek, and, contrary to all
the rules of grammar, arbitrarily made out some bad Greek;
wit11 all our Etruscan monuments, we know nothing, and arc
as ignorant as we were of the hieroglyphics previously to the
time of Champollion; nothing but large bilingual inscriptions
can be of any assistance. W e may say with ccrtainty that the
Etruscan has not the slightest resemblance to Latin or Greek,
nay, not to any one of the languages known to us, as was
justly remarked even by Dionysius. This passage of Dionysius has been intentionally overlooked, or its positive meaning
has been distorted into a conditional one. 'I'he Ulnbrian on
the E~~gubinian
tables rcsernblcs Latin
57
~ i ~ l l ~states
e i ~that
~ sthe Etruscans looked upon then~selves
:rs an original people descended from no other race, and which
called itself Rasena4 and knew nothing of the names Tyrrhenians and Etruscans; nor of' the Grecian traditions respecting
them. But the Greeks had two distinct traditions about the
~ ~ r r h e n i a nwhich
s,
they leferred to the Etruscans: the one
by Hellanicus stated that Pclasgians from Thessaly
had settled at Spina at the mouth of the Po, whence they
proceeded across the mountains into Etruria; according to the
second related by I-Ierodotus, the Lydians, in the time of
Atys, are said to llave been visited by a famine, whereby a
part of the people was obliged under Tyrrllenus to cmigrate
to Italy. This lattcr statement is controverted by Dionysius
with that sound criticism which we sometimes meet with in
his work, that neither the language nor the religion of the
Etruscans bore any resemblance to that of the Lydians, and
that neither the Etruscans nor the Lydian historian Xanthus
were acquainted with i t . V i o n y s i u s here saw correctly,
because he was not confined to books, but could judge from
personal observation. The other tradition he treats differently;
he does not give it up, but refers it to the Aborigines and not
to the Etruscans. The Italian antiquaries, on the other hand,
have either clung to the Lydian tradition, or referred the
emigration of the Pclasgians from Thessaly to the Etruscans,
and they say that the inhabitants of Cortona (Croton) were
not at all different from the neighbouring tribes, notwithstanding the protestation of Herodotus. I can here give only the
results of my investigations about the Etruscans. I n the ncw
edition of the first volume of my Roman history, I have
proved that thc name Tyrrhenians was transferred by thc
Greeks to the Etruscans, just as we use the name Britons
when we speak of the English, or Mexicans and Peruvians in
speaking of the Spaniards, in America, because the Britons,
Mexicans and Peruvians originally inhabited those countries,
although a new immigrating nation has established an order
of things so entirely new that we perceive no more traces of
'
Rasena, probably not Rasenna; Ras is the root and ena tho termination: a#
ill Porscna, Caecina; the Etruscans, like the Scnlitic nations, did not double the
consonants.-N.
(3. 0. Muller had ~ . h c wthat
i ~ the work of Xanthns was ~ul~deservedly
looked
Won by the Greek6 as fipurious.--N.
58
59
60
MEZENTIUS OF CAERE.
61
62
FOUNDATION OF CUMA.
63
64
'
66
68
ETRUSCAN TILIDITION.
69
SERVIUS TULLIUS.
'7 0
CIVIC CONSTITUTIONS.
T H E ROMAN GENTES.
'II
72
TIIE TRIBES.
THE R O l f b N GENS
l2
clletltrt
'
'i3
74
THE CURIAE.
gmat statesmen, who are met with as rarely as any other kind
of great men, is the gradual development and improvement of
the several parts of an actual constitution; they never attempt
to raise an institution at once to perfection.
Thus the curiae stepped into thc place of the tribes. I n the
reign of Tarquinius, the third tribe, composed of the gentes
minores, was admitted to the f ~ d lfranchise. The gentes are
so essential a part of the constitution, that the expressions werc
gentes civium majores and minores, just as gentes civium palriciae
was the solelnil expression for patriczi. I t is rclatcd that thc
senate, which till then liad consisted of two hundred mernbers,
was increased by Tarcluinius to tlirce hundred by the admission
of the gentes minores. This can mean nothing else than that
he gave to the third tribe thc full franchise, and admitted into
the senate a number of persons corresponding to that of the
gentes, for such is thc natural course of things. A t Cologne
too, the second and third orders obtaincd access to orices later
tllan tlie first. What Tarquinius did, was a great changc in
the constitution, which was thus completed for the first populus.
The third tribe, however, was not at once placed on a footing
of perfect equality with the others, its senatois being called
upon to vote when those of the two other tribes had already
done so; and tliere can be no doubt that their curies also were
not permitted to vote until afier the others. As regards the
priestly officer, the membcrs of the third tribe were admitted
only to tlie collegc of the vestals. Whcrever wc find duumviri,
they must bc regarded as the representatives of the first two
tribcs; triumviri do nut occur till a later period, and wherever
they are patricians, they represent the tlirce tribes. They are,
however, often plebeian, and in this case are connected with
the plebcian constitution, which I shall describe afterwards.
LECTURE VI.
THE PLEBES.
'i 5
' These points conncctcd with the second temple h w c been discussed by no
one but the great S e l d e ~without
,
whom I should kllow lo thing about them, since
the Rabhin~callanguage and l~teratureare unknown to me. Seldeu's reputation
has very much decreased, at least in Germany ; hut it ought not to be so.--N.
'16
THE CLIENITES,
78
CITIZENSHIP.
that originally the city was not called T ~ X L Tbut &arv: T< like
populus is a Tyrrhenian word, and both have the same meaning, populus being formed by reduplication from T ~ X L T . The
commonalty mas the ~ r i n c i ~ a .part
1
of the popnlation in all
states as far as numbers are concerned; but its development
did not take place in antiquity in the same n~anncras in the
middle ages. I n the latter, the commonalty lived within the
walls of a city; and they often, as was the case at Geneva,
settled around the city (cite' or the nncleus of a town), in what
was called bourg, borgo or suburbs, and were thence called
bourgeois. These suburbs in the course of time were fortified
and ohtained equal rights with the cities. I n Germany the
case was the same, the name only bcing different, for burghers
and Geschlechterare idcntical, and towns were formed, especially after the tenth century, when peace had been restored to
the world. Whcrcver in Gaul a civitas existed from the time
of the Romans, it was called a cite'; and where there was a
royal villa, it often happened that a place sprung up in the
vicinity under the protectio~lof the king, and under the administration of the Icing's major domus. This is the original
meaning of ville, as contradistinguished from cite'. Hence in
French towns a distinction is made between la citk, la ville
and le bourg. Where the con~monalty sprang up within the
walls, it had quite different elements. Throughout the Germanic states, strangers were, on the whole, more kindly
treated than in ancient tiines or in France. The free settlers
in the small Swiss cantons, as inUri for example, were in reality
oppressed commonalties; the inhabitants of St. Gervais were
subjects of Geneva. Among the Slavonic nations, as at Novogorod, such settlers were called guests, and their condition was
in inany respects easier than that of the natives.
I n France,
down to the time of the revolution, strangers were not able to
make a will, and according to the droit dlAubaine, the sovereign succeeded to their property if they were not naturalised.
The same law also existed in England, where to this day
and plebes by comnlonulty.
" T.Quinctius WAS elected burgomaster from tlie Geschlechter and L. Gcnucius
from the conlmonalty," where L l q has populus andplebes. This unsophisticated
way of vlewlng things is the reason why the mcn of the sixteenth century,
though without the learning n l ~ i c hwe require, yet comprehended many things
quite correctly. I t i q only a fe* weeks since I found this out.-N.
'
The investigations into the history of the Italian towns which I haye made,
throw great light upon the whole development of the Roman constitution.-N.
81
T H E PLEBES.
V am sorry that I did not find this out while I mas in Italy, for I had often
been wlicrc that limit mnst have existed, without noticing it. I t was not till
last year that by a simple combination and with the assistance of Fabretti's map
of the neighbourhood of Rome I made the discovery.-N.
VOL. I.
G
LECTURE VII.
PREVIOUSLY
to the time of Servius Tullius, the country about
Rome was not united wit11 the state, at lcast probably united
0111~through the king, that is, the inhabitants werc obliged to
obey the government, but were otherwise treated as perfect
strangers; they did not even possess the comnzercinm, that is,
no patrician could acquire landed property in the country
districts any morc than a plebeian could at Rome. The same
regulation has existed in many countries down to recent times,
so that the landed property of a peasant could never be acquired
hy a nobleman: a very wise and salutary regulation, which
unfortunately has becn abolished, in consequence of the
erroncous belief that it was a foolish restriction. I t is still
less conceivable that the plebeians should have possessed the
legal right of contracting marriagcs with the patricians; thc
children of such marriages in all cases followed the baser side.
The Mensian law1 did not invent this, but was merely a reenactment, determining more minutely what was to be done
in difficult cases. But there now appeared a legislator, who,
on the one hand, gave to the commonalt]r a constitution which
was complete in itself, and, on the othcr, devised forms by
which this commonalty became united with the whole body of
burghers. The former part of his legislation has been entirely
overlookcd, and the latter appeared quite mysterious to Livy
and Dionysius; so great had becn the change of affairs since
the days of Fabius, who still had a correct view of these
matters, though only two hundred years had elapsed from his
time. Let him who thinks that this is impossible, look around
himself: I believe that in this town [Bonn] there are not three,
and at Cologne not ten persons, who can statc precisely what
the constitutions of these towns were two or thrce hundred
years ago, nay, not even what they were previously to the
year 1794. Of this fact I satisfied myself in 1808, in conversation with a Frieslander who had devoted himself to
historical pursuits, but was unable to give me any account of
the constitution of his country before the French revolution.
The same is the case at Brussels. I n countries where the
Ulpian, p ~ a g m v.
. 8.--ED.
83
84
PEASANT
ASBOCIATIONS.
V I C I AND PAGI.
85
86
THE CENTURIES.
LECTURE VIII.
ACCORDING
to the primitive institutions, the burghers' served
not only on horseback, as was the case afterwards, but also on
foot; the same was originally the case in the Gernian cities.
These burghers at first had nothing in colnmon with a nobility.
W e may assume that each gens furnished one horseman and
ten foot soldiers; hence thc statement in Plutarch that the city
The Gcrmiln word heic is ein Geschlechtet, which in cady times, as in the
Chronicle of Cologne, denotes a. person belonging to a Gesch1echt.-N.
T H E ROMAN INFANTRY.
87
88
SUB-DIVISION
OF THE PLEBS.
89
for I cannot believe that the capite censi and the ~roletariidid
not
any service at all; they did not fight against the
enemy, but served only in the baggage train, as lixae and
calories, who there is no reason for supposing were always
slaves.
Servius thus had a perfectly organised army, which with the
addition of the cavalry he made the representative of the nation.
He
the cavalry of the three ancient double tribes or
six centuries of Tarquinius Priscus, and to them he added
twelve other centuries of the plebes, consisting of the most
distinguished persons of the commonalty. Those six centuries
comprised the entire patrician order, which on the whole certainly had a small number of votes, but as we shall hereafter
see, it had a ~ r e ~ o n d e r a n cine other respects: among them
there was perfect equality, and no difference was made on
account of age, each century having one vote. Within the
plebeian order Servius Tullius separated the more noble and
wealthy into two classes, the first consisting of those who had
formerly belonged to the Latin nobility, and the second of
those who had not. To the class of nobles he assigned the
twelve remaining equestrian centuries, and this without any
regard to their property, except that those who had become
quite impoverished were probably omitted. This is a point
which you must bear in mind ; for, according to the prevalent
opinion based upon an incorrect expression of Cicero (censu
maximo), the members of these twelve centuries are said to have
been the wealthiest among the plebeians. Had the equites been
the wealthiest then as they were after the Hannibalian war, how
senseless would the constitution have been ! There would have
been no division of property between 1,000,000 sesterces, the
sum fixed for this class after the Hannibalian war, and 100,000;
whereas, from the latter sum downwards, there appear a number of divisions. W e have moreover the express testimony of
Polybius, that the property qualification of the equites was
something new and opposed to the ancient notions, according
to which, descent was the determining point. Lastly, another
proof is contained in the testimony that the censors could distinguish a plebeian by enrolling him among the equites, a fact
which excludes classification according to property. Under
Augustus, things certainly were different; for at that time the
most distinguished men could not become equites without n
certain amount of property.
90
JUNIORES
AND SEXIORES.
91
property, they were enrolled in a tribe The first class comprised all those who possessed 100,000 asses or upwards, and
their property might consist of lalld, metal, agricultural implements, slaves, cattle, horses and the like: it was divided into
centuries. All persons from the age of sixteen to fortyfive were counted a junzores, those from forty-five to sixty as
seniore~. A t Sparta a man was liable to serve in the army till
his sixtieth year; but at Rome, the seniores had no other duty
than to defend the walls of the city. The seniores undoubtedly
did not form one half of the whole population; for under the
favourable circumstances of a southern climate, thay could
hardly have amounted to more than one third or more accurately to two sevenths; all persons alive above the age of fortysix may perhaps have been no more than one half the number
of the juniores. There is every probability that at that time
all civil rights and civil duties ceased with the sixtieth year.
I n Greece, a higher value was set upon the abilities of old age;
among the Melians, the whole govcrninent was entrusted to
the hands of the old men above sixty. Although the seniores
at Rome were in number only about half as many as the
juniores, yet they had an equal number of votes with them,
and probably voted first.
The remaining four classes were valued at 75,000, 50,000,
25,000 and 12,500 asses respectively. The second, third, and
fourth, had each twenty, and the fifth, thirty centuries. One
hundred thousand asses were not a large property, being about
the same value as 10,000 drachmae at Athens, one as being
about 34 farthings English. I n the army, each century served
in a fixed proportion, so that a century which contained a
smallcr number of citizens performed a greater proportionate
amount of military service than the more numerous ones. It
was a combined levy from the tribes and the centuries. Within
thc thirty tribes, one man was always called up from each
century of the juniores, so that each century furnished thirty
men. Each succeeding class had to furnish a greater number
of troops, in such a manner, that while the first furnished a
single contingent, the second and third had each to furnish a
double one, the fourth a single one, employed as dartsmen,
and the fifth again served with a doublc contingent.
The object of the constitution, based as it was upon property,
would have been completely lost, unless the first class had
92
THE CONSTITUTION 08
THE CENTURIES.
93
95
The laws of Servius Tullius may have contained far more than
we know, but Tarquinius Superbus is said to have completely
abolished them, that is, they were not found in the jus Papirianum. It is stated that there were fifty laws. HOW far the
equalisation of the two estates was carried is uncertain; but the
exclusive right of the ~atriciansio the domain land, and the
pledging of a creditor's person are said to have been abolished.
I t is more certain that the legislator intended to lay down the
kingly dignity and to introduce the consulship in its stead, so
that the populus and plebes should each be represented by a
consul, an idea which was not realised till one hundred and
fifty years later by the Licinian law. Servius looked upon
himself as a vopoBQr7$ like L ~ c u r g u sor Solon. This change in
the form of government would have becn easy, for the kings
themselves were only"magistrates elected for life, like the stadtholder in Holland, or the President in the United States, who
is elected for four years; and such constitutions seem to have
been very frcqucnt among the early Italian nations. The election of two consuls appears to have been prescribed in the commentaries of Servius Tullius" but it was not carried into effect,
either because his life was taken away too early or because he
himself deferred it. Tanaquil is said to have entreated him not
to renounce the tllrone nor to forsake her and hers. What is
ascribed to Servius Tullius was not entirely accomplished by
this king, but occasioned the revolution of Tarquinius Superbus. Although Servius is stated to have reigned forty-four
years, still Livy mentions only one war, that against Caere
and Tarquinii, which was brought to a close in four weeks.
Dionysius, too, relates no particulars that have even an appearance of truth. The time of his reign is much too long in our
accounts, and it was probably very short.
The same legislator is said to have permanently settlcd the
relations bctwecn Romc and the Latins. The report is, that
he concluded an alliance with the latter and induced them to
erect a common sanctuary on the Aventine, in which the
tables of the league were set up, and in which Romc offered a
sacrifice, a circumstance which, as Livy says, was a confessio
rem Romanam esse superiorem. The investigation into the condition of the Latin people is one of the most difficult: at first
every thing seemed to me to be a mass of confusion, and it
94
96
JANUS BIFRONS.
was coming into existence, and then life began to withdraw and
symptoms of decay became visible. Traces of this state of
things appeared even a hundred years before the time of
the Gracchi; in their age it broke out and continued to increase
for forty years, until it ~roduccdthe war of the allies and
that between Sulla and Marius, from which the people came
forth as a disorderly multitude, which could no longer exist
in republican unity, but necessarily required the absolute
authority of a ruler. It is not difficult to say how Rome
might have renewed and preserved herself for a few centuries
longer: the road to happiness lay open, but selfish and
foolish prejudices blinded the Romans, and when they were
willing to strike into the right path it was too late.
Respecting the gradual extension of the city, the most different opinions are current, which in the common works on
Roman topography, such as that of Nardini, form the greatest
chaos. Order, however, may be introduced into it. W e must
take into consideration that the form of these statements is not
the same in all writers; for one account says that under this
or that king a particular hill was built upon, another that it
was included in the city, and a third again that the inhabitants
of the hill were admitted to the franchise. The result of my
investigations is as follows: The ancient city of Rome was
situated on the Palatine; thepomoerium of Romulus mentioned
by Tacitus ran from the Forum Boarium across the Circus as
far as the Septizonium, S. Gregorio, the arch of Constantine,
the thermae of Titus, and thence back through the via sacra
past the temple of Venus and Roma; this whole circumference
formed the suburb around the ancient city, and was not
enclosed by a wall but by a mound and a ditch. A t that time
there existed on the Quirinal and the Tarpeian rock a Sabine
town, which likewise had its pomoerium; betwcen the two
mounds and ditches ran the via sacra, in which stood the
Janus Quirini or Bifrons, a gateway on one side facing the
Roman and on the other the Sabine town; in times of peace
it was closed, because then intcrcourse between the two towns
was not desired; but in times of war it was opened, because
the cities were allied and obliged to assist each other. A n
instance perfectly analogous to this exists in the Gaetulian town
of Ghadames beyond Tripolis, which is inhabited by two hostile
97
'
98
THE SEWERS.
LECTURE TS.
T r r ~question now is, Who was Servius Tullius? 1 will not
trouble you with the story in Livy; the miracles there related
belong to poetry and to the lay of Tarquinius, but attention
must be paid to the Etruscan tradition about Servius Tullius
and to the fragment of the speech of Claudius on the tables of
Lyons, containing the account of Caelcs Vibenna and Mastarna,
fi.om ancient Etruscan historia11s.l Not the slightest notice has
been taken of these tables since their discovery in 1560, and
my attention was not drawn to them till I had published the
first volunie of my history, when I was censured by a celebrated reviewer for having overlooked those documents. I
never was so much surprised by any literary discovery, for I
then still believed in the Etruscan origin of Rome, and thought
that this document might diffuse an entirely new light over
the history of Rome. Caeles Vibenna must be an historical
personagc; he is too frequently and too distinctly mentioned
to be fabulous, and his Etruscan name cannot have been invented by the Romans, as the Etruscan language was to them
as foreign as Celtic is to us. Kor can it be doubtcd that he had
a friend of the name of Mastarna. But when I examine the
legislation ascribed to Servius Tullius,-allowing for whatever
deductions must be made from historical certainty, especially
in regard to chronology, though there is not the slightest
doubt that Scrvius' reign preceded that of the last king, and
that he was overthrown by Tarquinius Superbus who is thoI say, I examine this legislation,
roughly historical,-when,
I find it SO peaceful and so liberal, that I cannot see ]low a
condottiere of hired mercenaries (for such were his troops) could
have drawn up such mild laws, and have wished to change the
monarchy into a republic. The whole civil and political legislation of Servius Tullius has a completely Latin character, and
his relation to the Latins also suggests that the lawgiver was
of that nation. H e may have been a native of Corniculum,
and have ascended the throne contrary to established usage;
he may have been the offspring of a marriage of disparagement
' Camp. al~ovep. 67, etc.. it has there been observed that the following remarks belong to the year 1828, and must accordmgly be regarded as the last
results of Niebnhr's investigations Into this su11ject.-ED.
~2
100
ETRUSCAN LITIZRATURE.
101
102
TAHQUINIUS SUPERBUS.
103
heavy task work, that inany made away with themselves, and
that in order to prevent this, he ordered their bodies to be
nailed on crosses; but we lllust here be cautious and scr~~pulous,
for the detail at any rate is uncertain, nor is every thing true
which cannot be asserted to be impossible. I am convinced
tllat Tarquinius did not abolish the Servian division into
classes, partly because it was an advantage to him to have the
improved military system, and partly because, from the conliectioil Ile formed with Latium, we innst infer the equality
of the constitutions of the two slates, so that either Servius
Tullius gave n Latin constitution to Rome, or Tarquinius
Supcrbus a Roman one to the Latins.
LECTURE X.
ALTHOUGHthere is not the slightest doubt of tlie historical
existence of Tarquinius Superbus, and although we may form
some conception of his revolution, still the account which we
have of thc latter is more than doubtful. But a revolution
unquestionably did occur; and the constitution of Servius was
to some extent suspended for the advantage of the patricians,
especially those of the third tribe. I t is surprising however
that, notwithstanding this, the third tribe appears after this
revolution to occupy a position inferior to that of the two
others. But the very fact that the interests of the first two
tribes did not harmonise with those of the third, prepared the
way for a popula,r revolution.
The statement that he entirely abolished the Servian constitution cannot be true, because in his reign the relation of
Rome to Latiunl continued as before. According to Livy and
Dionysius, the Latins, with the exception of' Gabii, were induced to recognise the supremacy of Rome and of Tarquinius;
but Cicero in his work D e Republics, says: TJniversum Latium
ssubeyit. Of a, war with the Latins, there is no trace any
where, and it must be left uncertain whether the other writers
omitted to mention it, or whether Cicero wrote that sentence
carelessly and thoughtlessly.
I t is probable, however, that
104
THE FERIAE
LATINAE.
-ED.
Orelli, tom. s. part ii. 11.255.
RULE OF TARQUINIUS.
105
3 06
RAPE OF LUCRETIA.
tile outrage on Lucretia; for similar things are stilI of everyday occurrence in Turkey, and were frequently perpetrated in
the middle ages by Italian princes down to the time of Pietro
Luigi Farnese (in the sixteenth century); in antiquity similar
crimes are met with in oligarchies and tyrannies, as is well
known from the history of Demetrius Poliorcetes at Athens.
Cicero is quite right in saying that it was a inisfortune that
Sextus hit upon a woman belonging to one of the most powerful families. I readily believe that the woman tried to avenge
herself; but the whole of the subsequent events, by which the
story acquired individuality, and its connection with the
campaign against Ardea, are of no l~istoricalvalue. The king
is said to have been encamped before Ardea, and to have concluded a truce for fifteen years; but Ardea was dependent upon
Rome before that time, since it occurs among the towns 011
behalf of whioli Rome concluded the treaty with Carthage. All
therefore that remains and bears the appearance of probability
is, that Lucretia was outraged, and that her death kindIcd
the spark which had long been smouldering under the ashes.
W e are in the same perplexity in regard to the person of
Brutus. H e is said to have feigned stupidity, in order to
deceive the king; and there were several traditions as to the
manner in which he attempted to accomplish this object.
His mission to Delphi along with the sons of Tarquinius,
altllough the mission from -4gylla at an earlier period cannot
be doubted, seems to betray a later hand, and probably the
same as introduced the stories from EIerodotus into Roman
history. I t is further said that Tarquinius, in order to render
the dignity of tribunus celerum, the highest after that of the
king, powerless for mischief, gave the office to Brutus. But
there is every reason for believing that the whole of Brutus'
idiocy arose solely from his name. Brutus is undoubtedly an
Oscan word connected with the same root as Bruttii; it signifies
"a runaway slave," a name which the insolent faction of the
king gave to the leader of the rcbels because he was a plebeian.
How is it conceivable that a great king, such as Tarquinius
. really was, should have raised an idiot whom he might have
put to death to the dignity of tribunus celerum, for the purpose
of rendering it contemptible? Tarquinius was not a tyrant of
such a kind as to be under the necessity of weakening the
107
108
J U N l U S BRUTUS A P L E B E I A N .
tion. To consider the four individuals as brothers, is one of thej common genealogical errors; Dion Cnsqins calls Marcus only a gentilis of Puhlius; and the
addition which all others give to the Valerii, Volesi Filius or Nepos, arose only
from the ordinary desire to trace all the members of a gens to one common
ancestral hero -N.
T H E T R I B U N I CELERUM.
109
LECTURE XI.
THE consequences of the taking of Rome by the Gauls were not
more serious for the city itself than for its history, the sources
of which were thereby entirely destroyed. I n all such cases,
analogy and examples give us the best insight into the state of
things, and the chronicles of many places furnish us with instances perfectly analogous in their beginnings. I n my native
country of Dithmnrsch, they begin about 150 years before the
conquest of the country, after the great change which formed
the burghers and the peasantry into one organised whole, an
event which is not touched upon but presupposed.
In a
similar manner, the Chronicle of Cologne begins its records
long after the city was great and flourishing: there were indeed earlier records in all the towns of the middle ages, but
they were little valued because they were too meagre, and had
lost all their interest because living tradition was no longer
connected with them. The chroniclers therefore began at n
point which followed immediately after some memorable event.
Such also was the case at Rome: there existed a history of
the time of the republic but not from its commencement; it
began somewhere about the secessio, and only a few incidents
of the earlier period were rccorded, such as the peace with the
Sabines in the first consulship of Sp. Cassius, and the war with
the Volscians. All the other events, as I have before shewn,
were restored according to numerical schemes.
I have already observed, that when the consuls were chosen
from the two estates, Brutus represented the plebeians as afterwards did Sextius Lateranus. I t is very remarkable, that
with regard to all these ancient institutions, the Licinian laws
were really and essentially nothing else than a rcstoration and
a re-enactment of those of Servius. The consuls were originally called praetores ( a ~ p a r ~ y in
o l Dionysius); and this was
their designation until the time of the decemvirate, when their
power was weakened, and the title of consul was substitnted as
denoting something inferior. Roman etymologists were much
perplexed in the derivation of this word ; we compare it with
praesul, and exsul; praesul being one who is before another,
exsul, one who is out of the state, and consul one who is with
ORIGIN OF CONSULSHIP.
111
112
PLEBEIAN CONSULS.
by clients. These agri were now distributed among the commonalty in order that the restoration of royalty might become
impossible, and that the consuls night not have the same extensive powers as the kings. The strength of the kings consisted, as among the Franks, in their retainers. Clovis was not
allowed to appropriate to himself any portion of the booty, and
yet he ruled as a despot, and his successors still more SO; but
for this power he was indebted to his cornitatus alone. I n the
middle ages and until the thirtecnth century, the vassal of a
king was of less importance than a common freeman who caref1111~prcscrvcd his inclepcndeacc. The clients, who cultivated
the estates of princes, were their vassals.
The question now is, was the consulship of such a nature that
it was necessary to elect two patricians without any restriction,
or was it confined to the first two tribes, the Ramnes and Tities,
to the exclusion of the Luceres, or lastly was it a representation
of the patricians and plebeians? No one could offer himself
for the consulship, for at first the senate alone had the right of
proposing candidates. The first of the above hypotheses is
inconceivable; for if the first two tribes or the first two estates
had not been represented, it would have been much more natural to institute a triumvirate. But the idea of a triumvirate
does not occur in Roman history till a later time, a $act which
was entirely overlooked until I discovered the trace of it in
Joannes Lydus, an insignificant writer who had however the
use of excellent materials.
Of a plebeian consulship there is no trace down to the time
of Licinius. According to the treaty with Carthage which is
confirined by a passage in Pliny, Horatius was elected in the
place of Collatinus, whereas in the common tradition Valerius
Poplicola is called the successor of Collatinus; thus we have
two irreconcilable statements side by side, and we are at liberty
to exercise our criticism here as in the kingly period. The
events assigned to the kingly period, occupying large spaces of
time, admitted of extension and contraction; and it is therefore
a natural illusion to consider as more authentic the subsequent
~ e r i o d which
,
is counted year by year, and in which only private persons appear on the stage. But the period of uncertainty extends very far down, for the poem which related these
occurrences came down to the battle of lake Regillus. Tlle
story of Coriolanus formed the beginning of another separate
113
114
I>ECTTJRE XII.
'
MUCIUS SCAEVOLA.
11'7
' Quatremere de Quincy once had the unfortunate idea of making an architectural refitor~tlonof this mon11ment.-N,
This war of Porsena and the period of Camillus are treatcd in an excellent
manner by Beaufort, and that period seems to have been the centre round w h i ~ h
the other parts of his work were grouped in subordination.-N.
'
118
THE P E A C E O F
PORSENA.
BATTLE OF AEICIA.
119
120
UA'I'ld:
121
LECTURE XIII.
122
tufo, the mark of a horse's hoof was shown in the stone (just as
on the Rosstrappe in the Harz mountain), which was believed
to have been made by a gigantic horse of the Dioscuri, a tradition which, down to the time of Ciceroi lived in the mouths
of the people. After the battle, the Dioscuri, covered with
blood and dust, appeared in the comitium, announced the
victory to the people, gave their horses drink at a well, and
disappeared. Of this battle we have no accounts except those
in which there is an evident tendency to make i t appear historical; but the poem nevertheless cannot be mistaken. The
descriptions of the battle in Livy and Dionysius have more
points of agreement with each other than is usual between the
two writers, though Dionysius's description more resembles
a bulletin, while that of Livy is fresh and animated, like the
Homeric description of a struggle between heroes, the masses
being entirely thrown into the background. The cessation of
tlic peace between the two states had been announced a year
before, in order that the many connections of friendship might
be dissolved as gently as possible, and that the women might
return to their respective homes. Tarquinius had gone to
Mamilius Octavius, his son-in-law, and all the Latins were
aroused. The dictator led the Romans against an army far
superior in numbers, and Tarquinius and his sons were in the
enemy's army. During the contest, the chiefs of the two armies
met: the Roman dictator fell in with Tarquinius, who being
severely wounded retreated, while the magister equitum fought
with Mamilius. T. Herminius and the legate M. Valerius as
well as P.Valerius fell, the last being slain while endeavouring
to rescue the body of' A1.Valerius. In the end, the Roman
equites gained the victory by dismounting from their horses
and fighting on foot. The consul had offered a reward to
those who should storm the hostile camp; and the object was
gained at the very first assault, in which the two gigantic
youths distinguished themselves.
Even the ancients were greatly perplexed about M. and
P. Valerius, for Marcus soon after re-appears as dictator, and
Publius had died even before the battle; both accordingly are
described as sons of Poplicola; but this is an unfortunate remedy,
since a P.Valerius as a son of Poplicola again occurs in the
Fasti afterwards. The poem however was not concerned about
Fasti and annals: we cannot regard the two Valcrii as sons of
124
ISOPOLITY.
125
126
THE DICTATORSHIP
128
129
TIIE VOLGCIANS.
P L E B E I A N S I N T H E bENATE.
LECTURE XIV
1'01,. I .
li
130
172
LAW OF DEBT.
'['HE ADDICTUS
OR NEXUB.
133
134
135
LECTURE XV.
SUCIIwas the condition of the law about the year A.U. 260,
whcn all at once a state of extraordinary general distress arose,
such as had never existed before, but such as we meet with
again about a hundred years later, after the Gallic calamity.
'l'he csusc of it must be sought for in the war of Porsena, whence
me lnay infer that the war belongs to a considerably later time
than that to which it is assigned by Livy. The distress lcd to
disturbances, conccrning the origin of which Livy's account
may be tolerably well founded. A11 aged captain covered wlth
scars, had become the bondman of his creditor, because his house
Among the commentators of Livy there are ingenious and lcarncd men, who
h w e written on the condition of the nexi; but all their i n ~ c ~ t ~ g a t i have
o n s gone
in the wrong clircction, if we exccpt the cxljlanation given by Doujat. But
thobe who wrote after hiln did not profit by his teaching, but retnrneil to the old
errors, as, for instance, Drakenborcl~,though he quotes Doujat: a proof how
learned mcn without a knowledge of the world may err in such things.-N.
136
had been burnt down and his property carried away; he escaped from the dungeon in which he had been most cruelly
treated by his master, and appeared in the market-place
famished, covered with rags, and disfigured with bloody stripes.
The sight of the nlan produced a great commotion, and the
plebcians generally, both those who were similarly circumstanced and those who were not, refused to obey their tyralits
any longer. Livy's account of the manner in which the tumult
spread further and further, and how the senate at first ~rovoked
the people and was afterwards frightened by them, is exquisitely beautiful, and shews a profound l~nowledgeof human
nature; but the detail cannot be regarded as an actual tradition,
but is only an historical novel. A t the very time when the
senate and the consuls had comc to the fearful conviction that
they could not rule over the comnionalty unless it was willilig
to obcy, the Volscians, hearing of the discord at Rome, either
actually advanced, or a report was sprcad by tlie patricians
that they were on their march against Rome. But however
this may be, the senate rcsolved to levy an army. According
to the original constitution, the senate alone had not the power
to dcclare war, but a proposal had to be made to the curies
which had to sanction it: according to the Servian legislation,
the proposal had to be brought before the centuries also; but
these things were thcn no longer thought of, and the annalists
mention only the senate. The senate, then, resolved to levy
an army, and as the burden of the infantry fell upon the plebs
alone, their juniores were called up according to tribcs (nominatim citabantur); their answering was called nomen dare, and
their refusing nomen abnuere. Levics were on the whole made
in thc same manner, down to the lateet times of the republic.
But when the plebeians, either in consequence of oppression or
for other reasons, refused to serve, they did not answer (non
res~onlbant);and such a silence was the lnost awful thing
that could happen. As on this occasion, the plebeians did not
answcr the call, the consuls knew not what to do; and the
plebeians loudly shouted that they would not be so foolish as
to shecl their blood for their tyrants; the booty, they said, was
not shared by them, but was transferred to the publicum (the
chest of the patricians) and not into the aerarium, and that they
were becoming more and more impoverished, being obligcd to
pledge themselves and their families to the patricians and serve
138
AIABCUS VALERIUS.
RESIGNATION OF VALERIUS.
139
as we find was invariably the case down to the as sing of' the
Hortensian law; but as soon as their power was set at defiance,
they became pusillanimous, and everx new struggle ended in
disgrace. They fancied the plebeians would have no courage,
and said to one another: " This time they are sure to lay down
their arms; we need oilly assume a threatening attitude." One
almost feels giddy at the contemplatioll of such madness, and
yet it will be repeated ever and anon as long as the world lasts.
The clainls of justice cannot be suppressed by arms; andthe
patricians forgot that they had to deal with a noble but infuriated animal. When, therefore, the plebeians ~ l a n t e dtheir
standards on the sacred mount, the eyes of the ~atricianswere
all at once opened. In the city the plebs possessed ollly two
quarters2, the Aventine with the Vallis Murcia, and the Esquiline, both very well fortified, provided with gates and unquestionably occupied by armed gariisons. The plebeians
therefore might have taken Rome without difficulty, as their
friends would have opened the gates to them; but it would
have been necessary to take by storm the other hills, all of
which were fortified, as well as the Forum. If the plebeians
hail done this their country would have perished, for the buirounding nations would not have remained quiet; the conduct
of the patres therefore appears perfectly mad, and it is inconceivable that the plebs once in arms did not proceed further.
An explanation seems to be contained in the fact that the
Latins were then at peace with Rome; and with their assistance the senate might have defied the plebeians. I t is a
remarkable phenomenon deserving great attention, that in
confederate republics the equality of their constitutions has no
mutual aid, for people
influence whatever upon their f~~rnishing
living under a democratic government frequently support the
aristocratic government of another nation. In the great insurrection of Lucerne and Berne in thc year 1651, the democratic
cantons supported the oligarchic governinrnts against the peasants. Such phenomena explain how the senate could maintain
itself under the circu~nstancesabove described; allusions fi.o~n
the annals to this source of strength for the patricians occur in
Dionysins, where Appius says, that the Latins would be very
I n the middle ages, thepopolanti as far as the Corso were not genmnc Romans,
hut Slavonians and Albanese, who, under Innocent the VIII., had settled there,
and continued to speak their o m language a5 late as the fifteenth centui7.-N.
141
LECTURE XVI.
ACCORDING
to the st~tcmentof Dionysius, the secession lasted
four months, from August to December; but this is nierely a
false combination based upon thc fact, that the tribunes at all
times entered upon their office on the loth of December.
There was also a tradition that the dictator drove in the clcrvus
on the ides of September, so that at that time there were no
consuls at Rome. The disturbances, moreover, were said to
have broken out under the consuls T'irginius and Vetusius;
Dionysius accordingly concluded that these consuls must have
laid down their office at the end of August, and that the insurrection lasted four months. If the office of the tribunes had
never been interrupted, it would not be difficult to conceive
that the time of their appointnlent was regulated in the same
manner at first as afterwards; but Dionysius overlooked the
fact that during the decemvirate, the tribuncship was abolished,
and it is hardly conceivable that tlle tribunes should afterwards
have re-entered upon their office on the same day as before,they undoubtedly resumed their functions as soon as they were
again allowed to assemble. The consuls entered upon their
ofice on the 1st of August; and it seems certain that the peace
between the two estates was concluded by the new consuls,
Vetusius and Virginius. The secession cannot have lasted
more than about a fortnight, for the city could not have held
out much longer, and a famine would have occurred if the
legions had remained in possession of the fields. The rapidity
of Livy's account also suggests only a short duration.
I believe it is now generally acknowledged that IZoman history henceforth increases in authenticity ; whcre absurdities and
impos~ililitiesarc inixed up with it, corlficlc~iccill the whole
143
THE TRIBUNES.
142
144
ELECTION
OF THE TRIBUNES.
145
which might becor~zelaw (A. U. 283). Tile only real magistrates of the plebeians were the nediles, a name which was also
given to the local magistrates among the Latins; it is very
probable that they acted as judges in disputes among the
themselves, for the tribunes in the earliest tilnes were
not judges, though it may sometimes have happened that an
appeal from the aediles was brought bcfore them. I n the civil
law no change seems to havc bcen rnatlc at that time.
The powers of the tribunes werc thus very slender and
modest: they were partly of a negative cllaracter, and partly
administrative in a limited way, but not at all legislative, and
I do not believe that the tribunes had the right to propose
any change in the civil law even for tl~cirown order: however,
their power was a seed from which a tree was destined to grow
up that was one day to overshadow all others. I t is a
singular circumstance that tlie election of the tribunes was
committed to the centuries, since it would have been far more
natural to assign it to the tribes; but this is another proof how
small were t11e advantages which the plebeians obtained by
their first secession, for in the centuries the patricians exercised
great influence through their clients, and thus about ten years
Iater the patricians evcn succeeded in forming a party among
the tribunes. The statement that they were elected by the
curies is obviously false, but we may infer from it at any rate
that they required the sanction of the curies, in order to prevent
the election ofobiloxious persons. The right of veto claimed
by the English government on the clection of Irish Catholic
bishops is of the same kind. According to Livy, this original
arrangement ceased even before the Publilian law, by which
the election was committed to the tribes, and previously to
which Piso supposes that there existed only two tribunes. I
believe that the number five is indeed of Iater origin, but I do
not think it likely that it did not exist before the Publilian
law; for as this number answers to the five classes, how should
it have heen introduced at a time when the election no longer
belonged to tlie classes, but to the tribes? I t seems to me
quite probable that the patricians, under the pretext of a fair
settlement, contrived to gain soinc advantage for themselves
also, and in this manner I account for the otherwise inexplicable circumstance, that ten years later we find the curies
electing the consuls instead of the centuries; it was only a
VOL. I.
1,
146
DATE OF CORIOLANUS.
14'1
148
r . ,
149
the Latins, and like the 1.atins themselves, fought for their
independence. By dividing tlie wars into these five periods, they
lose their intolerable sameness, and, at the same time, it becomes
clear how the Volscians were enabled to maintain themselves
I shall not dwell upon the details of thcse wars, for even tlie
strongest memory cannot retain them; nor are the accounts
of them authentic, because I h y , being tired of them, rclad
his authorities carelessly, and has given only a hurried clcscription. It must, however, be observed that after the treaty with
the Latins, the encmy advanced in great force but lnatlc nu
important conqncst until a later period; for Circeii continued
to be a Latin town as late as the time of Sp. Cassius.
An event of great relative importance for liorne was thc
treaty with the Ilcrnicans (A.u. 267). The right of isopolity
must have existed between them even before, if it be true that
in the reign of Tarquinil~sSupcrbus they took part in the festival of Jupiter Latisris; a Roman tradition lnentioiicd them
as allies even of Tullus Rostilius. After tlie Etruscan calamity,
they must have descited Roinc like the 1,atins arid the Tyrrhenian coast towns, but the present treaty restored their old
relations in a manner which was most advantageous for thcm.
The Romans, Latins, and EIcrnicans were put 011 a footing of
perfect equality, and the booty, as well as money and land,
was to be divided among the111 in equnl portions; when a
colony was sent out, it received colonists from all tlie three
people. Whether the annuli~tstook n corrcct view of' the
matter (Livy and Dionysius direr very much &om each other),
or whether they merely supposed that as peace was concluded
a war must have preceded, cannot be determined; but I am
inclined to believe that the alliance was the result of a lnutual
want, since both nations were surrounded by the Volsciaiis and
Aequians. and the fortified towns of tlie ZIcriiicans were of
great i~nportanceto the Romans: n war between t1,e IZornarie
and Ilernicans wo11ld at least have been very foulish. The
Harnicans lived in five towns, Anagnia, Rlntrum, Ferentina,
Frusino and Verulae, which extended from east to west and
are remarkable for their cyclopean fortifications. According
to statements in Servius and the Veronensian Scholiast on
Virgil, wliom 3Iai has edited incorrectly, the IIernicans were
descended from the Marsians ancl Sabines; their name is said
to have bccll derived fio~nIzernne which in tlie Sabine language
150
THE HEBNICANS.
demand the supremacy for Athens, but merely that she should
be the soul of the league. Traitors like Bschines charged liinl
with degrading the dignity of Athens, because the Athenian
deputy was not to have more irifluence than one from a
Euboean town: they said that they wished to establish the
supremacy of Athens, but they weie liars. If' Deinosthe~les
had lived in the time of Pericles, I do not think that he would
have acted with this spirit of model-ation ; but his era was O~IC,
in which every thing depended upon protecting the liberty
and independence of Greece against Philip ; hence he willingly
concluded peace with any town that wished it, and only endcavoured to direct by his intelligence and energy the proceedings of the confederacy. Rome was placed in tllc samc
position by Cassius; and fioin this alone we must see that he
was a great man, with a keen eye and a sound judgment. The
Etruscan war had destroyed the lZo~nsn dominions on the
right bank of the Tiber, the Volscians and Aequians were
advancing, the coast towns were lost, and IZonlc was oblige($
to do not what she wished, but what she could. Later historians, guided by a blind love for their country, wanted to deny
such a state of things; and Livy and the writers whonn Dionysius followed, were full of absurd admiration of the grcatncss
of their ancestors, and inaintained that Rome had never bee11
weak. There may at that time have been fools or people like
Bschines, who declared Cassius a traitor because he regulated
his conduct by the circumstances of the case. In his third
consulship, after thc treaty with the Hernicans, he wished to
be just towards the plebeians also, and this Ieads us to speak
of his important agrarian law.
The nations or antiquity, in carrying on war, generally
Sollowed a principlc of law dif-lkrent from that now in force.
W e regard war as a single combat betwcen the genii oS two
states or betwcen two imaginary states; the individual is not
affected by it in regard to his person, liberty and property, and
the law of war accordingly intends that hc should be injured
as little as possible, and that he should never be the immediate
object of hostility; he is cndangered only as far as it cannot be
avoidcd. Among the ancients, on the other hand, hostilitics
affected every one belonging to the state; with us, thc conquered state indeccl loses its right to nrle over the country,
while cvcry individual continues to exist, as if no war had
153
154
" What right havc they to act in this manner?" This lcd me
to an investigation about lcasel~old property ainong different
nations, and thus I came to consider the ager publiclcs among
the Romans.
Thc general idea of the ltaliall nations was that the franchiso
was inseparable from the soil, and that all property in 1:~nd
procccded froin the state. The soil was only the substratum
011 which the pre-conceived citizenship restcd.
This bears n
great rcsentblance to the feudal notions: for accordii~gto the
strict feudal law there was no land at all without its feudal lord,
all land proceeded from thc sovcreign as the supreme feudal lord,
and then came t l ~ cunder-tcnurcs, though practically this idea
nevcr existed in its h l l rigour. Another analogy occurs in
the East, especially in the East Indies, where the sovcreign is
the real owner of thc soil, and thc pcasant possesses it only u n
precarious tenure. In tCc sarnc rnanncr, all Iancled property
among tllc Ita1i:~n nations proccedcd from the state.
LECTURE XVIII.
PUBLICANI.
155
156
the state tlie occupant could make no opposition. I t is, therefore, clear that the state coulcl always dispose of the agerpublicus
and declare for example, that no more than a certain number
of jugera should be in the hands of an individual, bccause
others would thereby be excluded, and because the excessive
influence of one person through the immense number of' his
clients, might becoine dangerous to the state.
This is the great difference between property and inere
possessio. The possessio was given by the praetor through the
edict by which a person was called upon to take it; and the
praetorian jus haereditatis in its origin refers to this l~ossessio
alone : the praetor gave possessionem bonorun~secundum tabulcs.
A pcrson might by his will bequeath his property to whomsoever he pleased; but the possessio could be transferred to another
only by sale in the presence of witnesses and by a fair contract;
he who rcceived it, proved his legal acceptance, and protectccl
himself in his possession by the possessorial interdict ; lle had
also witnesses that he had acquired the possession, neque vi
neque clam neque precario. But what was to be done when the
possessor died? By his will he might disinherit his children
altogether, and leave his p~opertyto tlie most unworthy individual, without the praetor in carly times having power to
interfere; but in the case of possessio, of which he was the
exclusive source, the praetor could interfere and give his
decision according to a principle quite different from that
applied to property, just as the Lord Chancellor of England
decides according to equity. Even those who, like Livy and
Dionysius, entertain an unfair opinioil of the plebes and the
tribunes, cannot deny that the patricians were usurpe;s of the
public land; and yet, according to the letter of the law, they
might claim it, and hence it may readily be conceived that
they appeared to be perfectly just and honest men. I t is an
important aclvantagc gained by thc study of history, that we
learn to judge fairly of' men, and arrive at the conviction that
honest men may belong to the most opposite parties, their
worth being altogether irrespective of their party colours.
This may be applied to the patricians; and when Livy and
Dionysius, though both are anti-plebeian, say that thc ager
puhlicus was occupied pw injuriam and 6 ~ 276"
, &vac6ea~d~ov
~ a ~ ~ ~ l c they
l w v are
,
unjust in their expressions, as will be
seen, if we go back to the original state of things.
157
158
THE FABII.
159
ceed fiom the best as well as from the worst motives, and it is
just as possible that he may have wished to promote the good
the state, as that he inay have aimed at the kingly dignity.
TO suppose that he entertained such a thought was by no
means so absurd twenty-five years after the banishment of the
kings, as it was scventy years later in the case of Sp.Maclius.
Cassius was a very important man, otherwise he would not
have been thrice consul, which for those times was something
unheard of: with the exception of P. Valerius Poplicola no one
had becn so often invested with the consulship, and even in
his case the Fasti are very uncertain. The manner in which
(Iassius conchldcd his treaties affords proof of a grcat soul; it
is, thrreforc, vcry possible that he had the purest intentions of
wisdom and justice; for considering the spreading of the Volscians, thc situation of Romc was far from being without
danger; and it was necessary to keep a11 its strength together.
A grcat man unquestionably he was, whether he was guilty or
not guilty, and the faction which condemned hiin was detest:~bie. Dionysius has thc strange statement that Cassius had
cliildrcn and that their execution also was talked of, but that
they wcrc spared, and that thenceforward the same mercy was
shewn to the children of all criminals. This looks as if it werc
takcn from the law books and resembles a new legal statute,
but it may have becn something quite different: we shall
afterwards meet with a son of Sp.Cassius, and that in a place
where we should least expect it. I t is probable that the judge
L. Cassius Longinus, A.U. 640, whose scverity was almost
cruelty, as well as the murdcrel of Julius Cacsar, was descen
ded from his gens: no wonder that this family attached itself
to the plebcs. The condemnation of Sp. Cassius by a Fabius,
laid the foundation of the greatness of the Fabial~family, a
grcatncss to which there is no parallel in the Roinan Fasti: for
sewn successive years (A.u. 269-275) one of the consuls was
always a Flbius, just as a Valerius had been for five years at
the beginning of the republic. The conclusion, therefore,
natrai~llyis that the Fabii were then in possession of supremacy, and that the tribe of the Titics was represented by
thcm.
I)IS~I~TISB'ACTIONO F THE P L E B E I A N S .
ELECTION O F CONRUTAS.
LECTURE XIX.
ONE of the disadvantages of a free governmellt is the extraordinary difficulty of correcting any mistake that has been
committed ; the efforts of the governlnent to make amends are
rarely acknowledged by the people. A n absolute ~ r i n c elnay
do so without weakening his authority or incurring any
danger; but in a republic the case is different: if the ~ e o p l e
were good-natured and conscientious enough to offer the hand
of reconciliation, things might go on well, but it is not SO;
when a government wishes to make amends to those whom it
has offended, the first step the latter take is revenge. This
consideration, especially if Sp. Cassius did fall a quite innocent
victim, must serve to excuse the Roman rulers for committing
a fresh act of violence after his death, and altering the constitution to their own advantage; for the government could not
stop where it was, and least of all if it was conscious of a
crime; for if they had allowed the constitution to remain unchanged, it was reasonable to expect that in the free election of
the consuls by the centuries the plebeians would elect from
among the patricians none but men like Sp.Cassius. They
were obliged to do what Dionysius expresses so strangely in
saying that the plebes withdrew from the elections, and that
the noblest alone took part in them ; as if by the Servian constitution, any one except the nobles could ever have decided a
question ! The real state of the case is quite different; and I
shall relate i t as it actually occurred, reserving my proofs for
another place.
I n the year after the death of Cassius, or even in the very
same year, when consuls were to be elected, the election was
not made by the centuries, but the senate nominated the candidates, and the curies confirmed them But this gave rise to
the bitterest disputes between the plebes who were led by the
tribunes, and the consuls; for although the tribunes at that
time still required the sanction of the curies, yet the injustice
was so great, that not even the mildest could have borne it.
Hence the character of the tribuneships now became suddenly
changed: np to this time there is no trace of tribunitian commotions. But now the honor of their order was too much
161
insulted, for on the one hand the agrarian law was not carrier]
illto
and on the other, the government mas i a the hands
of collsuls who had been illegally elected. Accordingly the
tribulle Ti. Pontificius refused to allow a levy to be made, because the people were not bound t~ serve under an illegal
government: the ancient annals mould hardly have preserved
his name if his opposition had not been tllc first that ever proceedcd from a tribune. But an army was levied by force, the
collsuls either openly defying the tribunes and orderillg the
Inen who refused to answcr to be seized and chastised, or caucing the houses of those who livcd in the country to be 5ct on
fire and their cattle to be taken away, or lastly transferring the
place where the levy was to be made from tlic city to the
countyy, wliitlier the tribunician power did not extend. TVhen
in tliic, inanncr an army had been raised, the despair of the
plebeians went so far that they would rather allow themselves
to be butchered by thc eneiny, than fight for their tyraats. This
cxnsperation continued for two years, and in thc end rose to
such a pitch, that the senate, as though it were n concession,
conscntcd that one or the consuls, should, perhaps without a
senatusconsulturn,bc elected by the centuries. Thc consequence
was that the consul elected by thc centuries ]net withno opposition on the part of the plebeian.., wl~ilethey resisted the other
in every posrible way. I-Iowever, the tiincs were so bad, and
the surrounding nation? actctl wit11 bnch boldness towards
12ome, that the tribuilcs thcrnrelves saw, that it would be better
to put np with injuqticc than to allow the republic to perish.
The plcbes accordingly in the following year, A.U. 272, conceded to the senate and curies thc election of one consul. But
at thc same time they must liave acquired the right to elect
their tribunes without the sanction of the curies. Publilius
could never have bccoine tribune, if this change had not been
made previously to his law. According to our tm(1itions the
number of tribunes 1111ist have been five, as early as that
time.
During this period, the Volscian'wars continued uninte~ruptedly, though they may not havc been very important, so that
the Latins and Hernicans alone were able to hold out against
them. But one war weighed heavily upon Rome alone, -that
against Veii. Veientine wars are mentioned uncler the kings,
even from the time of Romulus, but they are quite apociyphal.
VOL. I.
162
SECE%IOW O F THE F A B I I .
163
165
being themselves thoroughly terrified, reliiailled silent, wherellpon lie acldressecl himself to the plebeians : the people rushecl
in a body upon thc pursuing lictors who were easily overpowered. The young patricians ran to the spot, and a struggle ensued, in which tlic tyrants were driven from tlie forun~
in a very short time. On the following clay, thc confinls again
:lttcnlpted a lcvy, but were equally unsucceesfi~l, and they
then abstained fro111 inaking any further trial in thc coursc ol'
that year. The mnrder of Genucius had orlly rendered mattcrs
far worsc, and Volero Publilius was elvcted tribune for thc
year following, a clear proof that the saiiction of the curies was
no longer requisitc.
An ordinary Inan would have sumrnoncd tlie collsuls of thc
preceding year beforc thc court of the plebes; but this would
only have been a ~niserablepiecc of revenge. Publilius saw
that the great exaspelation of the commonalty lnust be niadc
nse of to gain permanent advantages for them; and for this
reason, contrary to the cxpectation of all, he took a step which
properly speaking 11c was not allowed to take, but it was thc
beginning of a new order of things. H e called upon the
plebes to declare that they had a right to discuss the affairs
ofthe state on the proposal of a tribunc, and to pass valid resolutions; and furthcr that thc tribunes should no longer be
elected by the centuries, but by the tribcs. These rogations,
which arc much clcarer in Dionysius and Dion Cassius (in the
abridgment of Zonaras) than in Livy, do not allude to onc
circumstance, viz., that such resolutions of the tribes rcquired
the sanction of the senatc and curies in ordcr to become law;
it is impossiblc that the Publilian law should have gonc so far
as to make the same claims as the FIortensian, as is clear also
from tllc cases which occur. The clevclopmcnt of the states of
antiquity ~ h o w sno such abrupt transitions any more than
nature herself; and the demands made by thc Hortcnsian law
would havc becn inconsistent and senseless in those times.
The manner in which busincss was now donc was the foltriblmcs made their legislative proposals on a
lowing :-The
market day; for tllc people, the populus as well as the plebes,
could not transact business on all days, the curies and centuries
only on dies con~iliales,and tllc! tribes only on the nundines; it
was the Rortensian law that first empowered the centuries also
to assemble on the nundines. The accurate expressions are
169
populus jubet, plebs scisit ;it was never said plebs jubet or populiscitum. The plebes at first met in thc forum, but afterwards
ill the area Capitolins, the populus in the co~nitiumor in a grove
outside the pomoerium, called the aesculetu~nor lucus Petelinus.
111tllc concilium plebis the votes were given by means of tabellae,
and in the concilizb7n of the curies, viva voce. There is no trace
of its having becn ncccssary to announce by a previous
promulgation the subject of ciiscussion in the conciliurn
yopuli The senate had no power to bring anything directly
the consuls to
before the plebes; it could only co~n~nissioii
Lave a conference with the tribunes on any question;
the curies on the other hand collld not transact any business without a senatusconsulturn, and in their assemblies nothing
could be done without a curule magistrate or an intewex,
who were not even allowed to show their faces at the meetings
of the p1ebs.l Now when the tribunes wanted to bring a bill
before the colnmonalty for deliberation, they exhibited it in
the forum in albo in trinundinum, that is as a matter to be dctermined upon after fifteen days, the hrst nundines being
included in tlie reckoning. A concio advocata might take
place at any time, for the forum was always crotvded, arid the
tribune might ascend tllc rostra and address the pcople, or give
an opportunity of speaking to othcrs, especially those who
intended to speak against his proposal (edocere plebem). But
such clcliberations werc only preliminary, not decisive; just as
whcn the British parliament forms itself into a comrnittec, in
which mere resolutions are passed, or as whcn the French
chambers have a preliminary deliberation upon a legislative
proposal in the bureaux; the deliberation on the day when a
question was to be put to the vote was quite different. I t was
necessary that every transaction of the populus as well as of the
plebs slmuld bc coniplcted before suasct, otherwise the day
I I11 o~:r ni.uiunls of alltiquitici tlicse clistinctions arc neglected.
EIowevcr
v:lluable the earlicr wollcs on this sllbjcct arc ill refcrcncc to ilctail, they give n5
no assistance in comprehending the political state of ltome. The worlcs of Sigonias and Beaufort deserve to be recommcniled as col~tainirigample materials
anangcd by irlgctiious mcn; in rcgard to later times we cannot he gratcful
cnougll to them, for the vast amount of information which they aEor11. The
commentary of Manutins on Cicero's lctters is quite indispcnsnhle for any one
who wishes to understand that pcriotl, and his work Ue Diebus i5 excellent,
but ns to thc earlier times, he too is ill the dark even moic thin1 others. The
t fi~stpart corltains a great
work of Adam is in mauy respects invaluable, l ~ u the
deal which is incorrect. N .
was lost; the plcbs had thcir auspices only in later times, but
a. flash of lightning or any silnilar phcnomcnon separated the
populus (dies difissus). T;Irllen a tribune llnd ~rolnulgatedhis
rogation in albo fifteen days previously, tlic decisive deliberation
took place. W e are too apt to represent to ourselves these
proceedings as tumultuous; the people assembled early in the
morning, the deliberation lasted the wholc day, arid one persoil
rose after another speaking either for or against thc proposal:
the opposition endeavoured eximere diem, in order that it
1nig11t be impossible to come to a conclusion beforc sunset:
which was observed from the stcps of the curia Host,ilia" and
then szprema tempestus was announced. In such cases, the
tribune was again obliged to wait eight days and again to
promulfi"te in trinum nundinum. This for~nrnust have bccn
customary even in the earliest times in all the deliberations of
the plcbcs, for there had been plebiscita3 as long as the plcbes
existed.
If, on the other hand, the disc~zssionwas closed and the
votes were to loc talcen, the tribunc called upon the patricians
and clients to withdraw, and as the rostra stood between the
comitium and the forum, the populus withdrew to the former.
Hereupon the forum was divided by ropes into a number of
scpares, into each of which a tribe entered, and each tribc then
voted for itself under the rnanagement of its tribune. When
it became known that the tribes had passed the resolution, the
patricians had the right of rejecting it, just as in England the
house of Lords a1113. the king may reject a bill sent up by the
house of Coininons; but if the latter is deter~ninedto hnvc the
bill passed, it would be quite impossible to reject it; such a
measure would be the signal for a dissolution of the govcrnmcnt. The patricians would not allow ~nattcrsto corne to such
a crisis, and therefore usually endeavoured to prevcnt t,hc
plcbcs from coming to an obnoxious resolution. W e might
ask, what advantage there was in preventing a rcsolution onc
clay, since it might be carried tllc next? A great deal was
a respite of three weeks, in which pcrhaps a war
rnight arise, which would put a stop to evcry thing; ilay a
2 Thc discovery of this place has been tha 1it.y to all my investigations on
Roman topograp11y.--N.
3 Tlie orthography plebisscit~~is quite wrong; plebi is tllc ancient genitive of
plehes just as Hercules, IIerculi; Ccbeles, Cueli; dies, dii.-N.
LECTURE XXI.
1'72
APPIUS CLAUDIUS.
opposite side, for I cannot delly that tlle Publiliall law was
contrary to the cxisting order of things, and an irregularit~r.
rllie
, senate inight have disregarded such ap/e6iscitz~7izaltogether,
or might have declared that the plebes were not
to
pass it; but when the tribunes callcd upon the p o p u / ~ sto withdraw fro11 the forum, the patricians refused to go, and with
their clients spread all over it, so that thc plcbeims: were prcvented from voting; they drove away the servants wllo carried
the voting urns, threw out the tablets containing tlie votes,
anrl the like. After this had been attempted once or twice
more, the exasperation of the ~lebeiansrose to the highest
pitch and a fight ensued, in which the patricians and thcir
aon9ul Appius Claudius were driven from the forum. The
consequence was a general panic among the patricians, because
they saw that it was impossible to resist the infuriated inultitude. But the plebeians did not stop here: tllcy put tllemselves in possession of the Capitol but without abusing this
victory, though thc tribunes arc generally censured. I do not
mean to represent the plebeians as chalnpions of virtue or their
opponents as thorough knaves: such an opinion would be ridiculous, but the conduct of thc plebeians contains a grcat lessoil ;
those who in such tinlcs have the power in their hands, oftcll
abuse it, whereas the oppressetl are moderate in thcir conduct,
as we sce especially in tllc case of religious parties. I believe
tlle Janscnists at Utrecht would not have the excellent reputation which they fully dcserve, if they were not the oppressed
church: it is often a salutary thing for a man to belong to the
ycrsecuted party. Thc plebeians uicd their victory only to
carry their resolution. Although Appius even ]low cxelted
all his influence to inducc thc sciiate to refhsc its sanction, yet
the senators were too mudl impressed with thc greatness of thc
danger, and thc law was sanctioned. Livy refers this law
merely to the election of the tribuncs, but Dionysius and Dion
C'assius (in Zonaras) give the correct account. Livy did not
clcarly sec the peculiar importance of these laws, but at the
closc of his narrative he mentions some
which presuppose what he has not stated.
Had the patricians been wise, they ought to have been
pleased at the issue of the affair; no onc at least could regard
it as a misfortune. The repeal of such a law is impossil,le, but
instead of secing tliis, the patricians ~vit11 tlleir weakened
173
174
F A L L O F ANTIUM.
175
LECTURE XXII.
I.
178
LEX TERENTILIA.
ANCIEN 1 I,.L\k7S.
1'79
sion of Tacitus we know that the ancient laws were, for the
nlost part, traced to the kings Romulus, Numa, Tullus and
~ n c u s . This shews that each of the three ancient tribes and
the plebes had their separate laws, which were ascribed to their
respective archegetes. These tribes and the plebes, whicll had
originnlly been distinct commuiiities, continued to preserve
tl~cirancient statutes, even aftcr their union into one state. I
believe that more tllail a hundred difYerent statutes existed in
the papal dominions previously to the French revolution, and
many all Italian village containing not more than one hundred
houses has its own statute or customary law; the late AbbB
Morelli had collected thiee hundred different statutes in Italy.
The same was tlie casc in the iniddle agcs in many parts of
Gerinany, though in some instances one and the same law was
in force over a large extent of country. I t is not even certain
whether the whole of the plebcs had the same law, or whether
a different onc was not established in places like Medullia and
Politorium; this hypothcsis, it is true, is opposed to tlie statement that Servius Tullius abolished all diffcrcnces among the
plebeians by dividing them into tribes; but on thc other hand
it is supported by the existence of places like Cameria and
others. which wele Roman colonies and formcd separate commonalties. The ancients had a tradition that the clause in the
twelve tables ordaining that the librtss and Senates should have
equal rights, referred to certain places such as Tibur.
The heads of the plebcs niight very well insist upon the
establishment of equal laws for all, an object which was beneficial not only to them but to the state in gcncral, for the
disadvantages of such different statutes must have been p e a t
and lieenly felt: the purposc of the reform, therefore, was the
abolition of every thing which establishecl painhill and oppressive differences between the two orders; and the tribunes were
juqtified in demanding it. There still was no connnbiuln
betwcen patricians and plebeians, and thc children of mixed
marriages followed the baser side (deteriorem parten; sequi). I n
the middle ages, Lombards, Franks, Romans and others lived
together fbr centuries in the cities of Italy, each nation having
its own peculiar laws; but the inconveniences arising from this
1
Properly (in He~odotusand Thucydides ioovo~iais that state of frecdom
vlicre no mall i~ beyoncl or above the law; it is r ~ e ~ t la~rvparvis
er
nor a 6vvaarela;
bqyopia
180
KAESO QUINCTIUS.
LEGEND O F CLNCINNATUS.
181
183
184
THE VOLSCIAN#.
LECTURE XXIII.
AFTERthe war of
STORY OF CORIOLANUS.
158
187
188
189
EMBASSY TO CORIOLANUS.
REPUTED D E A T H O F CORIOLANUS.
190
CORIOI,,iNU$.
191
LECTURE XXIV.
192
COMMOTIONS I N EOlVIE.
193
meantime e ~ l j o y ~the
d advantage of standing alone and being
unshackled.
In tile city of Rome itself the ferment was still great, and
according to Dion Cassius the assassination of distinguished
plebeians was not an uncommon occurrence. Amicl these
the agrarian law and the bill for a revision of the
legislature werc constantly brought forward. It is impossible
to say who induced the plcbes to increase the number of their
tribunes to ten, two for each class: their authority certainly
could not be cnlarged by this numerical augmentation. At
the time of this increase, we meet with a strange occurrence,
which however is very obscure. Valerius Maximus says that
Q tribune, 1'. Mucius, ordered his nine colleagues to bc burnt,
alive as guilty of high treason, bccanse, under the guidance of
Sp.Cassius, they had opposed the completion of the election of
magistrates. The times arc here evidently in perfect confusion;
for ten tribunes were first elected in the year A.U. 29'1, and the
consulship of Sp. Cassius occurs twenty-eight years earlier.
There are two ways in which we may account for this tradition :
these tribunes had either acted as traitors towards the plebes,
which is scarcely conceivable, as they were elected by the
tribes: or P-Mucius was not a tribune of the people, or at
least the sentence was not pronounced by him, but by the
curies, who thus punished the tribunes for violating the peace.
There must be some truth in the story since it is mentioned I,y
Zonaras also (from Dion Cassius); it is not impossible that this
occurrence is identical with the accusation of nine tribuncs
mentioned by Livy about the time of the Canuleian disputes.
I shall pass over the insignificant wars with the Aequialls
and Sabines, as well as some legislative enactments, though
thcy are of great interest in Boman antiquitics, and dwell
at soinc length upon the Tcrentilian law; in which the
tribunes demanded an equality of rights for the two estates.
I t would be highly interesting if we could know the detail
of the disputes on the Tercntilian law; but this is impossible,
and we have orlly quite isolated state~ncnts to guide us.
One of them is, that a trireme, with three ambassadors, was
se~ltfrom Rome for the purpose of making a collection of the
Greek laws, especially those of Athens. Thc credibility of
this accoul~thas been the subject of much discussion, and I
mow retract the upinion which I expressed in the first edition
VOL. I.
194
02
FUTW.
196
TIIE DECEJIVISS.
197
But besides this task of establishing a general law, the comrllissioners had to settle the constitution on the principle that
the two estates were to be put 011 a footing of equality. I n
the projected coastitution, two points were agreed upon, namely
that the tribul~eshipshould be abolished, and that the highest
power
be given to men of both orders. The last five
names mentioned by Livy in the second dcceinvirate are
plebeian and belong to families which do not occur in the Pasti
previously to the Licinian law, and afterwards only as plebeian
consuls; Dionysius expressly rccognises three of them as ~ l e beians, and the two others who, it is said, were chosen by
Appius and the nobles from thc lesser gentes, were likewise
plebeians, as must be evident to every one acquainted with the
lioinan gentes; whcnce Livy placcs them at the end of his list:
the mistake of Dionysius arose from a confusion of the two
decemvirates. "The
first decemviratc rcprescnted the dece~n
primi of the senate, who were elected after a ~ ~ o , B o ; h e v ~ a
of the senate by the centurics; but the second was a avvapXla
siniilar to that of the Attic archons, pcrhaps occasioned by a
knowledge of the Attic laws. The second election was quite
different from the first, the noblest, like the lowest patricians,
canvassed for the votes of the plcbeians (canvassing l ~ e r e
appears for the first time), so that the election was perfectly
free. Of these decemvirs six werc military tribuncs, three
patricians and thrcc plebeians, and these six were in reality t l ~ e
commanders in war; of the rclnaining four, two must be regarded as invested with censorial power and with that of the
praefectus urbi combined with the presidency of the senate; the
other two who had the authority of quaestors, had likewise ill
certain cases to perform military functions. Onc in each of
these two pairs, of course, was a patricicn and the other a piebeian. Now when Dionysius read that there were tlll.ce patrician and three plebeian military tribunes, he might easily
overlook the fact that the remaining four were likewise equally
divided between the two orders, especially as the ancient books
were probably written in a language which was very unintelAs long as 1 see such an error, and cannot rationally explain it, except on
the snpposltion that it wa.; committed by the author in a thoughtless moment, I
feel uneasy; I cannot rest ~ultilI discover the source of the eri-01; and I beg of
you to cxcrcise your minds in the same malmer. Most of the errors in Livy
and Dlonysins ale not the result of lynoratlce but offalse premises.-N.
198
199
NEW CONSTITUTION
ligible to him. The three decemvirs whom Dionysius recogllises as plebeians are, Q. Poetelius, C.Duilius and Sp. Oppius.
This constitution was intended to remain for ever. W e can
distinctly see what was the task the decemvirs had to perform
and how they endeavoured to do it. The distinction between
the gentes majores and minores disappears from this time. The
lcgislators considered the state from the point of view of the
government, and they reasoned thus : " Since the Publilian law
the statc has been unfortunate; the tribunes have the power of
discussing any subject whether agreeable or not; it is therefore
a matter of importance to transfer this right of the tribunes to
the decemvirs, as thereby the plebes too would obtain what
they could fairly claim, for the plebes and populus must stand
side by side and yct form onc whole. The plebes therefore
no longer want their tribunes, since they may appeal from the
patrician decemvirs to the plebeian ones. It is, moreover, fair
that patricians and plebeians should have an equal share in the
senate, but the plebeians are to come in gradually until they
shall have reached a ccrtain number. The two estates must
be carefully kept apart, yet be endowed with equal powers.
The former right of the gentes to send their representatives
into the senate, and the custom of a curia (or perhaps the consuls though their power was much more limited than that of
the censors of later times) electing a new member in case of a
gens becoming extinct, are to be supplanted by a new institution, and a new magistracy must be created to superintend and
decide upon the civil condition of the citizens, for example, to
enrol an uerurius among the plebeians, or to raise the plebeian
nobles to the rank of patricians." These are the prillciples on
which the second decemvirs acted in their legislation : the consequences of these laws, and how little they answered the
expectations fornlcd of them, we shall see hereafter.
LECTURE XXV
SCARCELY
any part of the civil law contained in the twelve
tables has come down to us; one of thc few portions with wElic11
200
his relatives succeeded to his property; if there were no relatives the property went to the gentes, and if the whole gens
was extinct it went to the curia. Formerly when I read in
the Aulularia of Plautusl: Nam noster nostrae qui est magister
curiae, Dividere urgenti d i d nummos in viros, I used to think
that it was a pure translation from tlie Greek, for Euclio represents an aerarian, and how does he get into a curia? But the
whole relation is purely Roman: property was left to the curia,
and this inheritance was divided ~ i r i t i r n . ~Here then we have
a good reason why the sanction of the curies was required. It
is to be regretted that the leaf in Gaius which contained this
IUTV is illegible. In like manner the plebeians too seem to have
had their gentilician inheritances, which ultimately fell to the
tribe, and hence here also the exercitus vocatus, that is the centuries, had to give its consent, becausc a will could not be made
without the auspices, which the plebeian tribes did not possess.
Similar regulations concerning the succession to property exist
to this day in the island of Fehmern, as I learned last summcr
during an excursion. The inhabitants consist of two clans or
gentes with the laws and manners of Dithmarsch; and if a
member of these gentes wants to make his will, he must give
to his cousins (gentiles) a small sum as a compensation for the
money which in reality belongs to them as his gentiles. In
Dithmarsch itself this law has disappeared, nor have I been
able to discover any trace of it in other parts of Germany, a
proof that very important and general laws may often disappear and leave but few and slender vestiges. The curies when
callcd upon to sanction a will, were of course at liberty to
refhe it, but as it was :L law of the twelvc tables : Paterfamilias
uti legassit super pecunia tutelave suae rei ita jus esio, it is evident that the sanction was only dicis causa. This regulation
had an incredible influence upon Roman manners; but it was
neccssary, because the connubium between the two orders was
not permitted, for even the child of a plebeian by a patrician
woman could not by law succeed to the father's property; and
if the father wished to inake a bequest to such a child, he
needed a special law to enable him to do so. When the connubiun was afterwards established, the freedom of making a
~ L
111 the
coulst: of tin,"
201
202
203
JURISDICTION O F T H E CENTURIES.
LEGISLATION O F T H E DECCAIVIKS.
204
GENERAL DISSATISFACTION.
205
VIRGINIUS-DEATH
and Sabines broke out, for they thereby acquired the means of
occupying the people. It is related that the patriots L. Valcrius
Potitus and M. Horatius Barbatus came forward in the senate
and demanded that the decemvirs should lay down their power
before an army was enrolled, but that a majority of the senate
resolved upon a levy being made at once. But I consider the
speeches in Livy said to have been delivered on that occasion
to be nothing but empty declamations, prompted by the idea
that the decemvirs had usurped their power. If those speeches
had been actually delivered, the so called patriots would have
been traitois t3 t!lcil country, for the enemy had invaded and
were devastating the Roman territory; resistance was necessary,
there was no time for deliberations. Nothing, moreover, would
have been easier than to levy an army, since tribunes no longer
existed. The story of L. Siccius, whom the decemvirs are said
to have caused to be assassinated, has in my opinion little probability: it looks a great deal too poetical. All we can do is
to keep to the fact that two Roman armies took the field, while
the main army was stationed on Mount Algidus against the
Aequians. I n the meantime a crime was coinmitted in the
city, of a kind which was of quite common occurrence in the
Greek oligarchies. Appius Claudius became enamoured of the
daughter of a centurion, L.Virginius. All accounts agree in
saying that her death, like that of Lucretia, was the cause of
the overthrow of the decemvirs; the statement is very ancient
and in no way to be doubted: the rape of women and boys is
a crime which was very commonly committed by tyrants
against their subjects; Aristotle and Polybius also exl>ressIy
inform us that the overthrow of oligarchies was often the
result of such violation of female virtue. Appius Claudius
suborned a false accuser, one of his own clients, who was
to declare that the real mother of Virginia had been his
slave, and that she had sold the infant to the wife of
Virginius, who, being herself sterile, wished to deceive her
husband: this assertion, the accuser wanted to establish by
false witnesses; and Appius was resolved to adjudge Virginia
as a slave to his client; but this was contrary to the laws
of the twelve tables, for if the freedom of a Roman citizen
was disputed, he could demand to be left in the enjoyinent
of it till the question was decided; only he was obliged to
give security, as a person's value could be estimated in money.
O F VIRGINIA.
20'7
208
209
LECTURE XXVI.
210
VETO O F T H E T R I B U N E S .
T H E CENTUXtIEB
-P A T R I C I A N
TRIBUNES.
21 1
212
213
death was instituted at all, and yet the ancient Roman laws
were not sparing of it; but the fact is different: the views of
the ancients in regard to criminal law differ fro111ours almobt
more t11al1 in regard to any other subject. According to our
notions a criminal must be tried, even if he has been caught
in the act; we consider it almost a duty on his part to deny
his crime, and he must be convicted by evidence; advocates
may defend him and attempt to misguide the court. 01 such
a mode of' proceeding the ancients had no idea: when a person
had cominitted a crirnc, the statement of witnesses was sufficient, to cause him to be forthwith apprehended and draggcd
bcforc a magistrate: if the crime was not a delictum manifestum,
the offender, if a plebeian, might call for the assistance of a
tribune and give security; if after this he was sct free, he
might sacrifice his sureties and go into exile. But if he had
been caught in a delictum manifestum i n jagranti, and the testes
locupletes declared that thcy were present and bore witness to
his identity, no trial took place: the criminal was dragged
obtorto collu, the toga being drawn over his head, before the
magistrate, who forthwith pronounced sentence. If the day
on which the criminal was caught, was not a court-day, he was
taken to prison until the next court-day. If, on thc other
hand, a person cominitted a capital offence of such a kind that
catching him in jlagranti was impossible, nevertheless the
accuser had the means of obtaining the imprisonment of the
~ u l p r i t . ~Appius Cl:~udius,for examplc, was guilty of a capital
offencc: he had deprived a citizcn of his liberty, and Virginius
accused him without allowing hiin to give security, in order
that he might not cscape; in such a case thc accuser might
offer to the defendant a sponsio a kind of wagcr, consisting of
a sum of money (sacramentum) on the pilrt of the accuscr
against the personal liberty of the defendant. The accuser
said: You have deprived a citizen of his liberty; tho accused
denied the chnrgc, and if the judcx chosen for the case declared
for the accuser, no f~lrthertrial was neeesary; tllC criminal
was fortllwith led bcfore the magistrate, and executed ; if
however the judex decided against the accuser, the latter lost
the sawamenturn. If the accused declined to accept the sponsio,
he was thrown into prison. The question now is, whether in
such a case as this the accuser was obliged to drop his suit or
On
214
215
216
which they belong, it will be seen that their meaning was different, and that the force of ~lebiscita was not interpreted
always in the same manner. The result of my investigations is,
that Livy, in mentioning the lex Valeria Horatia, was not
accurate, because he himself did not see clearly, and because
he was thinking of the well-known Hortensian law. The law
probably ran thus : quae plebes tributim jusserit, QUARUM
RERUM PATnEs AUCTORES FACTI SINT, zbt populum teneant,
for from this time forward the legislative proceedings are
often described as follows: when the tribunes had got the
commonalty to pass a resolution, they then brought it before
the curies, which forthwith voted upon it; this was an abbreviation of the ordinary mode of proceeding, according t o
which legislative proposals, after being sanctioned by the
senate, were first brought before the centuries and then before
the curies; according to the new arrangement, the consultation
of the senate and the passing through the centuries were abolished. The change was very important; for now the discussion of a matter might originate with the plebes themselves.
I t is clear, on the other hand, that without the sanction of thc
curies the plebiscita had not the power of laws, as we see more
especially during the contest about the Licinian laws; resolutions of the plebes may at that time have been termed leyes,
merely because they became Zeges as soon as they obtained the
consent of the curies. In cases when the plebes and the curies
were not divided by party interests, every thing was sanctioned
by the latter. It must further be observed that this law was
carried not by a tribunician, but by a consular rogation. The
Publilian law had been rendered superfluous by the decemviral
legislation, which did not recognise any comitia tributa.
The later Publilian law of the dictator Q. Publilius Philo
has quite a different meaning; for it dispensed with the assent
of the curies to a resolution passed by the tribes, because it
was too tedious a proceeding, and the senate after all had the
right of proposal. His law ut plebiscita omnem populum teneant,
should in all probability run ut plebiscita QUAE SENATU
AUCTOEE FACTA SINT omnes Quirites TENEANT, for from
this time it is often mentioned in regard to matters affecting
the administration, that the senate commissioned the consuls
to negociate with the tribunes to bring proposals before the
tribes; but this occurs only in matters connected with the ad-
217
218
tians which had hitherto existed, and all the equipoise in the
state.
I n the first stage, these plebiscita were mcre resolutions not
affecting the state, but relating to such subjects as, for instancc,
the burial of an iinportant pcrson, the poll-tax, 2nd the like;
in the second, the plebcs by virtue of the first l'ublilian law
declared thcnlselves authorized to draw up resolutioils 011
general subjects, which however had to bc talcen into consideration by thc consul, to bc laid before the senate, and then to
pass through the centuries and curies; in the third stagc, aftc~.
thc Vslcrian law, a plebiscitum had thc force of law as inucli
as a rcsolution of the centuries, and was immediately brought
bcfbrc the curie8 and sanctioned by them. I n the fourth, thc
later Publilian law rendercd a ylebiscitum a sufficicnt san~tion
of a resolution passed by the senatc, which in urgent circulnstances, when it was irnpossiblc to wait for thc next dies comitialis, was communicated by the consul to the tribunes. I t was
suficicnt if the tribunes announced a concilium; the dies nejasti
afccted only curulc magistrates and the popzclus. If for examplc, at thc end of a ycar an army was in thc field, the senatc
would havc bccn obliged to send its rcsolution to the centuries
and then to have it sanctioned by the curies; but the shorter
way now adopted was that the consuls were conimissioiied, ut
cum tribunis plebis agerant quam prirnu~n,fieri posset cld plabenz
j'errent. This docs not occur previously to tllc Publilian law.
The IIortensian law lastly, in the fifth stage, authorised the
plebcs to act as nn indcpendcnt legislative assembly.
The consuls now took tllc Geld against the Aequians and
Sabines, and returned after a brilliant victory, and having
probably also cstablishcd a lasting pcacc with the Sabines. I n
the mcantime the patricians had acquired fresh couragc, and
thosc men of thcir own ordcr, who during thc confusion had
honestly wishcd to do their best, now becainc thc objects of'
their hatrcd, :2nd accordinwly the scnatc refused the triumph
to thc returning consuls. ?'his is the first occasion on which
wc see the overwhelming power of the tribunes. for they interfered and granted the triumph on their own responsibility;
their right to do SO may be much doubted; but the consuls
accc~tedthe triumph, and if they had been disturbccl, the tribunes would havc assisted them. This occurrcncc shows how
great the cxaspcration must have bccn even at that early period ;
219
220
their colleagues was of a different opinion. I t is not impossible that the story of nine tribunes having once been sentenced
by the populus to be burnt at the stake, and of one traitor,
P. Mucius, having carried the sentence into execution, may
refer to this time.3 In this case the populns means the curiae,
which again usurped the power of passing such a sentence.
Among these nine tribunes there was probably a son or grandson of Sp. Cassius, who had renounced his own order, and
perished in the attempt to avenge his father or grandlither.
It was generally wished that the consuls and tribunes should
be re-elected, but the consuls refused; and Duilius, who had
becn chosen to rcpresent his colleagues, likewise refused to
accept any votes fbr the tribuneship. This had evil consequences, and a division arose: the tribunes who wished to
remain in office, probably had sufficient influence with their
friends and followers to cause them to abstain from voting, so
that only five tribuncs were elected, who had to add five to
their number. I t is said that they also chose two patricians,
which is an argument in favour of our asscrtion, that not long
after the decemviral legislation, the importance of the tribes
was doublcd, inasmuch as they became a general national
division.
A remarkable change which belongs to this period, is the
abolition of the law forbidding the connubium between the
patricians and the plebeians. This, as wc know, had been an
established custom from the earliest times, and had been incorporated in the laws of the twelve tables. Such a practice is
usually not repulsive until it is written down among thc laws;
and thus, in this instance too, was raised the storm which
occasioned the pkbiscitum of Canuleius. This is generally
regarded as thc great victory of the plebeians; for the patricians, it is said, at last gave way, but reserved to themselves
other rights. Livy looks upon it a5 a degradation of the
ruling order. I will not quarrel with him for saying so, but
if we look a t the matter in its true light, it is evident that the
existence of stxch a law injured none more than the patricians
themselves. Mixed marriages between persons of the two
estates had undoubtedly been frequent at all times, and as far
as conscience was conceimed they were perfectly legitimate.
See above, p. 193.
MILITARY TRIBUNES.
221
The son of such a marriage never had the jus gentilicium, but
was nulnbered among the plebeians, the consequence of which
was, illat the patrician order became continually less and
less numerous. I t is an acknowledged fact, that wherever
the nobles insist upon marrying none but members of their
own order, they become in course of time quite powerless.
M. Reliberg mentions, that within fifty years one-third of the
baronial families of the duchy of Bremcn became extinct, and
any body who wished to be regarded as equal to the rest had
to shew sixteen ancestors. If the plebeians had wished to
outwit thc patricians, they certainly ought to have insisted
upon the connubiu~n remaining forbidden; and but for the
Canuleian law, thc patricians would have lost their position
in the state one hundred years earlicr. The law was ~assed,
but whether it was in favour of the patricians or of thc
plebeians we know not. About such things we cannot speak
with any probability, for even what appears absurd has sometimes r c ~ l l yhappened.
Afterwards, we once find three military tribunes instead of
the consuls; and Dionysius on that occasion says, that it was
determined to satisfy the plebeians by appointing military
tribunes, three of whom werc to bc patricians, and three plebeians. But there were only three, and one of them was a
plebeian. Livy foolishly considers all three to have been
patricians. H e thinks that the plebeians only wanted to have
the right, but that having gained this they considered themselves unworthy of the officc, and electcd patricians. H e
speaks of the plebeians as if they had been unspeakably
stupid, thus displaying the confusion of a man, who with all
his genius, is yet in reality only a rhetorician, and proving
that he was as little acquainted with the political affairs of
Rome, as with the regulation of her armies. The probability
is, that an aareement
4
was made to give up the name of consul
altogether, since the two orders were no longer separate, and
to leave the clcction entirely free between them ; but that,
nevertheless, all kinds of artificcs were resorted to, that the
elections might turn out in favour of the patricians. I n the
early time, the clicnts of the patricians were not contained in
the tribes. They, like their patrons, used to be sent away
from *he forum when the plebeians proceeded to vote, and
was not a member of a tribe, was either not contained
222
THE
MILITAXY TRIRUNESHIP.
LECTURE XXVII.
' I n some modcrn editions of Livy, we rcad Cloclius instead of Caecilius, but
this is an cinendation: thc MSS. of Dionysius havc K A ~ U L O P . ED.
CENSORSHIP.
223
- rr h c repetit~onswl~ichoccnr hcrc and clscwhcrc arise from the fact, that the
discllsqion m:Ls intcnuptcd at t11c close of the hour, and was taken up again at
the beginning of the next Zecture. -ED.
7
225
PI~E13CIAX TRIBUNES.
nearly always frustrated, though by what means is incomprehensible, for Livy's account, which I have already mentioned,
is foolish. I t is
indeed that an arrangement was
and that the patricians said: '' \Lrc grant the institution
of a weaker magistracy, but then they must be elccted from
among our body exclusively;" or that it was in ancicnt times
a privilege of the presiding magistrate not to accept any votes
(non~inanon accipere) which for various reasons could be rejected; or it n ~ a ybe that when six nlilitary tribunes were
elected, the curies conferred tlie imperium only upon the ~ a t r i cians, and refused it to the plebeians. But on this last supposition, it is inconceivable how the plebeians should have acquiesced in it. W e are here unfortunately without the guidance of Dionysius, who though he did not comprehcnd the
relations, yet gave faithfully what he found in his authorities:
if we had his account, the whole p e ~ i o dwould undoubtedly
be much clearer to us. B L I we
~ are confined to Livy, and on
many points we cannot hopc to obtain any certain information.
After the last change, when the number of military tribuiics
became regularly six, we rcpeatcdly find a majority of plebeians
among them, and the rcgulation evidently was, that the number six should always be complcte, and that they should be
chosen without distinction from both orders. There is every
appearancc, that when this change was introduced, the election
was transferred from the centuries to the tribes. Everything
therefore depended upon the honesty of the president, 2nd
upon his accepting the votes or not. The sad policy by which
Italy became great in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, now
appears in Roman history, especially in the divisions of the
college of tribunes; and this is, to some extent, the reason
why the development of Rome was for a time compromised.
A pcriod in which successful wars are carried on, as was the
case wit11 Ronle froin this time down to the Gallic calamity,
is extremely well calculated to malie the subjects of a state
submit to things which they would not otherwise tolerate.
The name of the Roman republic was surrounded with glory,
great conquests and much booty were made, the plebeians as
well as the patricians felt comfortable, and although the rulers
were not popular, yet things were allowed to go on as they
"ere. Rome thus recovered from the decline into which she
had sunk ever since the ~ ~ g i f i r r / h i m .The grant of tlie connu-
224
VOJ,. I .
(2
226
THE CENSORSHIP.
biunl between the two orders also must have exercised a mighty
influence : the Lzinilies became inore closely connected and
attached to one anotl~er; a patrician born of a plebeian
mother when sitting in the senate stood on a footing of equality
with the plebeians, and perhaps did inany a thing to please
them. The number of plebeians in the senate may not have
been very great, but tlze mere Fact of their being tllerc, even
without influence, was agreeable to the whole body of
plebeians.
The censorship being a perinanent magistracy, and apparently the highest, had a lustre which far surpassed that of the
military tribuneship. If we suppose that it was instituted by
the twelve tables, it becomes clear why Cicero, in his work De
Legibus, represents the ccnsors as the first magistracy; he
probably copied it fronz the twelve tables, and only omitted a
few things; for in the twelve tables they had still more attributes.
I n the earlicr tilnes the consuls are said to have performed the
functions of the censors, and this is very probable, considering
the almost regal power of they consuls; but it is surprising how
they can have discharged their enormous duties. The Greelc
states of Sicily and Italy, likewise had their ~ ~ p ~(Athens
r a i
had none), but in no part of Greece were their powers as
extensive as at Rome. According to the Roman law, the
censors had to conduct the census, and to determine a person's
status in society. Accurate lists were kept of the property,
births and deaths of the citizens, as well as of those who
were admitted to the franchise. But we must distinguish
between two kinds of lists. One class consisted of lists of
persons arranged according to names. Q. Mucius, for examplc,
was rcgistercd under the tribus Romilia with his name, his
whole family, and his taxable property. His sons, who had
the toga virilis, probably had a caput of their own. The
other lists were of a topographical kind, and contained a tabular view of landed estates according to the different regions,
e. g. the tribus Romilia in all its parts. The ancients, in
general, had much more writing than is commonly imagined ;
all was done wit11 a minuteness which was part of their political forms. I once saw in London the registers of an Indian
province-of course in a translation, for I do not understand
one word of the Indian language-which were drawn up with
il minuteness of which we can scarceiy form an idea.
The
227
same Xvas the case with the ancients. The registers of property at Athens were very minute, and so also even in later
tilnes were tile Eoxnan contracts before the curiae. The division of the jugern was very accurately recorded in the lists of
tile liom:in censors; the capzct of each individual contained his
descent, tribe, rank, property, etc. The censors at the samc
tilne had the right of transferring persons, for the purpose
both of honouring and of disgracing them: but what were
tllc offences which the censors punished with ignominy
(iponzinia is the real expression)? Every one at Rome was
expected to answer the definition of his status. A plebeiall
was necessarily a husbmdman, eithcr a landed proprietor or a
free labourer. This is established by ~ositivetestimony, and
still more in a ncgative way, for no one could be a plebeian
who was e n p g e d in craft or a trade. Whoever so einployed
himself was struck from the list of his tribe, which accordingly
was not so much a personal ignominia, as a declaration that a
person had passed over from one side to the other. But whoever neglected his farm, was likewise struck out from his
tribe, i. e. it was declared that he was de facto not a husbandman. A n eques who kept his horse badly was similarly
treated, and this was the notatio censoria, by which a person
was degraded to the rank of an aerarius, being considered
unworthy to hold his property. A11 aerarius, on the other
hand, who distinguished himself, and acquired landed property, was llonourcd by being registered among the plebeians;
and a plebcian who distiiiguisl~edhimself was entered in the
centuries of the plebeian equites. But the censors certainly
could not raise strangers to the rank of citizens; for this was
a point concerning which there were established laws, or else
the assembly of the people conferred the franchise by an extraordinary act. A state whose varying elements present great
differences, where the plebcs does not form a close body but
may co~nplctcitself, and contains the aristocratic elements of
plebeian equites mho are not restricted by the census, must
llecessarily have soille magistrate for the purpose of assigning
to every individual his mnlr; for such an honorary class of
men as the equites could not be close or immutable, just
because it was an honorary class. W e may say that the
Power of deciding respecting it might have becn left to the
P ~ ~ hat
P this
~ ~would
;
not only have been tedious but also
(2 2
228
9.
v. praeteritz senatores.
I'OJVERS O F THE
CENSORS.
229
SP. YdEIAIUS-CINCINNATUS.
but it would be quite absurd to suppose the same tliiiig for the
earlier times.
The censors were at first elected for a lustrum, or a period of
five years; and this seems to have been the period intended
by the decemviral legislation for all magistrates, according to
the ~.vliolecharacter of that legislation, the princi]?le of which
was to apply cooling remedies against the political fcver, elections being always inost powerful in stirring up the passions.
Whether Mam. Aemilius actually limited the censorial power
to eighteen months, and \vas therefore branded with ignominy
by his successors, or whether this is merely a talc which was
contained in the books of the censors and intended to trace an
existing law back to some individual, cannot be determined;
though it is certain that thcre existed such books of the censors.
LECTURE XXVIII.
IN the year
23 1
232
VALERIAN LAW.
233
234
235
that wars were fought with the Sabines as with the other
tribes in the n e i g h b ~ u l h ~ ~alld ;the detail, however, consists
of
fictions. But towards the end of the third century,
history becomes clearer and clearer, and we can perceive traces
of the ancient annals. The last Sabine war is that which was
on by Valerius and Horatius in the first year of the
of the consulship; it is related too minutely to deserve credit in all its parts, but it is certain, that, during the
sL;bsequent period of nearly one hundred and fifty years down
to the time of Curius, the Sabines did not carry on any war
the Romans. This must have had its peculiar reason;
and I perceive tllis reason in a treaty of which not a trace is
left, but by which isopolity was established between the two
nations: the existence of that isopolity is attested by Servius
in his commentary on Virgil.
About the year A.U. 310, the formation of the Campanian
people is mentioned, for it is said that at Vulturnu~nor Capua
the Etruscans admitted Samnites as epoeci, and shared their
territory with them. This is a proof of the progress of the
Sabines in those parts, for the Samnites were a Sabine people.
The Aequians and Volscians discontinued their attacks upon
nome, and the Sabine wars ended: hence we herc recognise
the time whcn the migration of the Sabines to the south
ceased, and they left off pressing the Ausonian mountaineers.
The Etruscans stopped all at once, as is naturally the case with
a people governed by an oligarchy: when such a peoplc comes
to a state of rest, it never puts itself in motion again, or acquires fresh life: a t least history f~~rnishes
no example of the
kind. I n this manner we may connect the events which the
Itomans have recorded in a very confused manner.
During the period from A.U. 306 to 323, there was almost a
total cessation from wars; the account of the insurrection at
Ardca, in which the Romans werc called upon for assistance,
has solnething SO strange about it, that we can place no reliance
on i t : we have here a complete repetition of the story of
Cincirlnatus surrounding the hostile army. But in the year
323 the war broke out afresh and seriously. W e do not know
whetller the Antiatans took part in it; but there is no doubt
that Ecetra did. They then met the Aequians on mount
Algidus. The Roman arrnies fought against them between
Velitrae, which was Volscian, Tusculum, and the Alban
23'7
ln
been
238
239
LARS TOLUMNIUS.
for such measures, and its consequences must have been far
greater than those described by Livy: a colony mas demanded
for that place, but the Rolnan senate refused it. The Cassian
law was now never mentioned, but the tribunes brought a new
lea frzbunicia agrarin before the tribes: it was delllanded that
the public land should be clividccl, and that the portion of it
possessed by the patricians should again bccome subject to a
tax; the latter had originally been a regulation in all agrarian
laws, but the patricians had contrived to neglect this obligation
with impunity. These demands of' the tribunes were not
complied with indeed, but they led to the foundation of several
colonies of Roman citizens, that is purely Roman colonies,
whence they are called coloniae Romanae. After tlle taking of
Rolae, an unfortunate military tribune, M. Postumius, had
sold all the booty for the benefit of the publiculn (publicum
redigere, for the publicum was the separate treasury of the
curies). This so infuriated the soldiers, that they rose against
tile quaestor and slew him. The military tribune, who tried
the offenders for this crime, drove them to despair; in consequence of which they rose against him also, and imbrued their
hands in his blood, the only instance of the kind that occnrred
before the time of Sulla. The senate treated the matter leniently,
for the guilt was too evident. The conscquences of this insurrection must haveAbeenvery great, though Livy says nothing
about them, for from this time forward we never find less than
six military tribunes, and their election seems to have been
transferred at that time from the centurics to the tribes, for
otherwise it would: be very careless of Livy to speak of a
tribus praerogativa. The curies, however, still continued to
confer the imperium upon those who were elected.
Rome now directed her arms against Veii, which was situated at the distance of about twelve miles and measured nearly
five miles in circuinfercnce; its territory must have extended
to the very foot of the Janiculum. This city was a thorn in
the side of Rome, which could not become grcat until this
rival was conquered. Fidenae which is called an Etruscan
city but was really Tyrrhenian, is described from the earliest
times, and even in the reign of Romulus, as involved in war
with Rome; it was situated on the Tiber five miles above
Rome, and had at an early period been occupied by Roman
colonists, who had been repeatedly expelled but were always
restored. I t was either in A. U. 320 or 32g3, when the Fidenatnns again rebelled against the Roman colonists and expelled
them. TVe must conceive these colonists as a settled garrison,who
llad tlleir own farms. Three Roman ambassadors appeared at
Fidcllae to demand reparation and the restoration of the
colonists. This demand appeared to the Fidenatans so outmgeous, that they slew the Roman ambassadors, and threw
tllcmsclves into the arms of Lars Tolurnnius, king of Veii; for
all the Etruscan towns were governed by kings elected for life.
Tolulnllius marched across the Tiber to their assistance; and as
the Romans, after the conquest of the Aequians and Volscians,
had now become formidable neighbours, the Capellatans and
Faliscans, two Oscan tribes which had maintained themselves
in those districts against the Tyrrhcnians, likewise came to the
assistance of the Fidenatans. This army posted itself five miles
from Rome on the other side of the Anio and created great
terror in the city. A dictator was appointed, who chose the
military tribune A. Cornelius Cossus for his master of the horse.
The Romans fought a successful battle, and Cornelius Cossus
with his own hands slew the Veientine king, who was charged
though probably unjustly, with having murdered the Roman
a~nbassadors.~After this victory, Fidenae was taken and razed
to the ground, and its territory became ager publicus. With
the Veientines a truce was concluded; and it must have been
welcome to the Romans to have peace in that quarter, until
they sllould have completely broken the power of the Aequians
and Volscians.
When the truce was drawing to its close, the Veientines sent
ambassadors to all the other Etruscan towns to solicit their
assistance against the Romans; but it was refused, because
another and far more dangerous enemy had appeared in the
Apennines, and after the fashion of a Turkish invading army
destroyed everything that came in their way: these were the
Two mars are herc relatcrl, bat they are, according to all appearance, transposed; the minute aoconnt of one at least is out of place, and probably belongs
to tho year 329, although hostllitics may have occurred in 320 also; this at all
events is tho Chronology of Dlodorus, to which we must adhere.-N.
The Emperor Augnstus directed Livy's attention to the fact, that Cossus,on
the ground of having gained the spolza opzma on that occasion, set himself up as
consul, for that on his amour he called himself consul. This is a later addition
in Livy, and stands qmtc apart from his narrative, for otherwise he ought to
have placed the emnt seven years later.-N.
240
VEXENTINE WAR.
LECTURE XXIX.
24 1
248
I&IPOSITION O F TAXES.
243
245
246
flowed from the lake straight towards the sea, while according to others, the lake only threatened t~ overflow
its borders. The Romans knew not what to do; they had
fixed their posts near Veii; whenever there was 110 fighting,
they observed a kind of truce: on one of these occasioas, an
Etruscan aruspex ridiculed the Rornans for taking so much
trouble to make themselves masters of Veii: so long as they
were not masters of the Alban lake, said he, they could not
take Veii. One Eoman took notice of this remark, and
under the pretext of a procuratio rei domesticne invited the
aruspex to the camp. When he came, the Romans arrested
him, and conipelled him to say what was to be done. H e
answered that they rnust let off the waters of the Alban
lake, so that they might be conducted through one of the
neighbouring rivers to the sea. The same answer was
given by the god of Delphi. The Boinans now undertook
the work and finished it. When it was nearly completed,
the Veieiltines sent an embassy to entreat the Romans to
receive their city in deditionem; but the Romans would
not listen to the proposnl, for they knew that the talisman
was brolren. The Veientilles did not contradict this, but
said that it was also written in their books that if Veii
should be destroyed, Rome would likewise soon be taken
by barbarians, and that this part of the prophecy had been
concealed from them by the aruspex. The Romans determined to run the risk, and appointed Camillus dictator; he
called upon all the people to take a part in securing the
booty, and undertoolc to storm the city: all duties towards
the gods were discharged, and human prudence now did
its work. Camillus formed a subterraneous passage which
led to a spot under the arx of Veii, and from that point a
passage was made to the ten~pleof Juno; for fate had determined that whoever should offer up the sacrifice in the
arx of Veii, should win the victory. The Roinans penetrated
illto the temple, slew the Etruscan king, and offered up the
sacrifice. At this moment the walls of Veii were scaled by
the Romans on all sides.
This is very pretty poetry, and if we examine the historical
nonsense of this account, we cannot hesitate for a momellt
to believe in the existence of a poem. The arx of Veii is
'IVEAT~IER.247
248
ANCIENT
TUNNELS.
T I l P T U N N E L AT T I I E ALBAN LAKE.
249
250
251
TIIE S l C l i I N G OF VEII.
the wall betweell the lake and the tunnel was knocked down,
and the entrance hcing the lake was made in such a lnaniler
as to prevent trees and the like from being carried into the
tunnel; the arch was then elnbellished and wrought into a
magnificent portico, like the entrance to a tcmple. This structure eclipscs all thc works of Egypt : they are wonderful but
uselcss; this is practical and uscful.
ritory, it was at the same time wished that those who were in
,,lit of ]louses should have habitations assigned to them at
Veii. A tribune of the people proposed that if the patricians
tllougllt thc plebeians too low to live together with them, the
p]cbes
their magistrates should emigrate to Veii : it would
be folly to believe that the proposal was such as Livy describes
it,
that half of the senate and the people should remove
to Veii. But cven the other proposal calls forth doubts, for
the scheme would have been highly unreasonable, and the
objections which Livy raises against such a tearing up of the
republic are very important, and after all, a complete separation would have been impossible. I t would have been dangerous even to discuss the sending of a great colony with a
local goverllincnt to Vcii. But, an arrangement was made:
the patricians sccured the greaterpart of the territory for their
occupation, but the plebcs also obtained a portion, and not only
each for himself the usual seven jlcyera forensia, but also
something in consideration of his children. According to
Diodorus, each family rcccived twenty-eight juyera ; but if this
is truc, the territory of Vcii must have been enormous. The
aernrii had no share in thcse assignments, but those among
them who werc clicnts of patricians received allotinents on the
farms of their patrons.
The sequel of these events shows, that at that time the territory of Veii and Capena, and of the Etruscan cities in
general, comprised large tracts of country with subject towns,
which, during tlw war threw themselves into the arms of the
Romans: those who did so werc undoubtedly the ancient
inhabitants of those places, who saw in the Romans their
deliverers.
The conquest of Vcii was one of the most dccisive events in
history, for it delivered Rome from a counterpoise which checked
hcr develop~lzent. As all the east of Latium was at peace, the
Romans irrcsistibl~~enetratcdintoEtruria, the E:tiuscans bcing
obliged in thc mean time to exert all their powers in the Apennines to keep off thc Gauls. But the war was also carried on
against the Faliscans: to judge from their name they were
Voliscans, whence Virgil calls them Aequi Falisci. According
to Strabo, they had a peculiar language, and were a nation
different from the Etruscans. The war of Camillus against
them is known to us all froin our childhood; the tale, that by
LECTURE XXX.
252
CIMILLUS FINED.
or even 500,000 nsses. He did not wait for the sentence but
went into exile to Ardea. Livy says that previously to the
tri2Llhe implored his clients and tribules to do their utmost to
obtain
acquittal (this would prove that he was tried before
the centuries, for the tribes cannot possibly be meant): they
are said to have declared that they would pay his fine, but not
acquit him: this would clearly prove his guilt. According to
Dionysius, his gentiles and clients actually paid the fine and he
went into exile from vexation. I believe however that he was
condelnned by thc curies, because when he was to be recalled,
the curies assembled in the Capitol to repeal the decree of banishment; for the curies could assemble only at Rome, and this
woulcl prove likewise that he was found guilty,-a thing then
not uncommon with great men.
A t that time no Roman foresaw the calamity which was
threatening them.
Rome had become great, because the
country which she had conquered was weak through its oligsarchical institutions; the subjects of the other states gladly
joined the Romans, because under them their lot was more
favorable, and probably because they were kindred nations.
But matters went with the Romans as they did with Basilius,
who subdued the Armenians when they were threatened by
the Turks, and who soon after attacked the whole Greek empire and took away far more than had been gained before.
The expedition of the Gauls into Italy must be regarded as
a migration, and not as an invasion for the purpose of conquest :
as for the historical account of it, we must adhere to Polybius
and Diodorus, who place it shortly before the taking of liome
by the Gauls. W e can attach no importance to the statement
of Livy that they had come into Italy as early as the time of
Tarquinius Priscus, having been driven from their country by
a famine: it undoubtedly arose from the fact, that some Greek
writer, perhaps Timaeus, connected this migration with the
254
TIIE GAULS.
for two centuries, or that they conquered it and yet did not
disturb
256
TI-IE CELTS.
LECTURE XXXI.
-x.
57
spain,
J'OL. I.
EXTENT
OF GALLIC MIGRATIONS.
259
260
GAULS AT CLUSIUY
D'Anville7s map. Piedmont formed no part of i t ; it conlpriSed only the Austrian territory of Milan, Ucrganro and
Drcscia, Lombarcly south of t l ~ cPo as far as the Adriatic, and
north of the POto about the lake of G a r d ~ . Thus all the
country occupied by tliem wan in the lai in, and this is another
reason why their migration callnot ]lave lasted as 1013~as Livy
states.
During this Gallie migration we arc again madc aware how
little we know of the history of Italy generally: our ltnoa~ledge
is limited to Rome, so that we are in the same predicament
there, 2s if all tile liistorical authorities of the wlrole German
empire
had nothing but the annals of a single imperial city.
According to I.ivy's account, it would rccm as if thc only objcct
of the Gauls had been to marc11 to 12ornc; and yct this immigration clrangcicd the iallole a q e c t of Itilly. After the Gauls had
once crossed the Apcnnines, therc was no further obstacle to
prevent their marching to the south of Italy by any road they
pleasc~l;and it is in fact mentioned that they did proceed
farther south. The Umbrians still inhabited the country on
the lowcr Po, in the modcrll Romagna aird Urbino, parts of
which wcre occupicd by Liburnians. Polybius says that many
peoplc there bccame tribntary to the Gads, anil that tliis was
the case with the Umbrians is quite certain.
?'he Grst historical appearance or the Gauls is at Clusium,
whither a noble Clusine is said to have invited tliem for the
purpose of taking vengeance on his native city. Wlrethcr this
account is true, however, must remain undeciclcd, and if therc
is any truth in it, it is more probable that tlre offendcd Clusine
went across the Apennines and fetched his avengers. Clusium
has not been mentioned silrcc the time of Porsena; thc fact of
the Clusines soliciting tlre aid of Rome is a proof how little
that northern city of Etruria was concerned about the fate of
tlrc southern towns, and makcs us even suspect that it was
allied with Itome; howcver, the danner was so great that all
jcaloosy muat have been suppresscil. %he natural road for the
Gauls would havc been along the Adriatic, then througlz the
country of Umbrians who were tributary to them and already
quite broken down, and thencc through the IZomagna across
the Apmuines. But the Apcnllincs which separate Tuscany
from the Romaglla are very difficult to cross, especially for
sulnpter Ilorses; as therefore the b u l b could not enter Etruria
26 1
262
as the people to who111 the senate left the decision: this must
have been the patricians only, for they alone had the right to
decide upoil the fate of the members of their ow11 order. I t is
not fair to accuse the Romans on illat occasion of dishonesty;
but this account assuredly originated with later writers who
transferred to barbarians the right belonging to a nation standing in a legal relation to another. Tlic statement that the
three anlbassadors, all of whola were Fabii, were appointed
military tribunes, is not even the usual one, for there is another
in Diodorus, who must here have used Roman authorities
written in Greek, that is, Fabius; since he calls the Caerites
R ~ Q Lar,d
O Lnot 'Ayvhhaio6. H e speaks of a single ambassador,
who being a son of a military tribune fought against the Gauls.
This is at least a sign how uncertain history yet is. The
battle on the Alin was fought on the 16th of July : the military
tribunes entered upon their office on the first of that month;
and the distance between Clusiuin and Rome is only three
good days' marches. I t is impossible to restore the true history,
but we can discern what is fabulous from what is really historical.
A n innumerable host of Gauls now marched from Clusium
towards Rome. For a long time the Gauls werc most formidable to the Romans, as well as to all other nations with whoin
they come in contact even as far east as the Ukraine; as to
Rome, we see this as late as the Cisalpine war of the year A.U.
527. Polybius and Diodorus are our best guides in seeking
for information about the manners of the Gauls, for in the time
of Caesar they had alrcady become changed. I n the description of their persons we partly recognise the modern Gael, or
the inhabitants of the Highlands of Scotland: huge bodies,
blue cycs, bristly hair; even their d r e ~ sand armour are
those of the I'lighlanders, for they wore the checked and
variegated tartans (suguln virgata, versicoloria); their arms
consisted of the broad unpointed battlc-sword, the same
weapon as the claymore among the Highlanders. They had
a vast number of horns, which werc used in the Highlands for
many ccnturies after, and threw themselves upon the enemy in
immense and irregular masses with terrible fury, those standing
behind impelling those stationed in front, whereby they became
irresistible by the tactics of those times. The Romans ought
to have used against tlieln their phalanx and doubled it, until
263
264
COMPOSITION
OF
in rnaniPles; the civic legions contained a11 those who belonged neither to the patricians nor to the plebeians, that is,
all the aerarii, prolctarii, freedmen, and artizans who had never
before faced an eaeiny. They were certainly not armed with
the pilum, nor drawn up in maniples; but used pikes and were
employed in phalanxes. h;ow as for the field-legions, each
consisted half of Latins and half of Romans, there bcillg in
each maniple one century of IZolnans and one of Latins. There
were at that time four legions, and as a legion, including the
reserve troops, contained 3,000 men, the total is 12,000; now
t l ~ eaccount which mentions 24,000 men, must have resumed
that there were four field-legions and four irregular civic ones.
There would accordingly havc been no more than 6,000
plebeians, and, even if the legions were all made up of Romans,
only 12,000; if in addition to tllcse we take 12,000 irregular
troops and 16,000 allies, the number of 40,000 would be
completed. In this case, the population of Rome would not
have been as large as that of Athens in the Pcloponnesian war,
and this is indeed very probable. The cavalry is not included in this calculation: but 40,000 must be taken as thc
maximum of the wholc army. There seems to be no exaggeration in this statement, and the battle oil the Alia, speal<ing
generally is an historical event. I t is surprising that thc
Romans did not appoint a dictator to commalid in the battle;
it cannot be said indeed that they regarded this war as
an ordinary one, for in that case they would not have raised
so great a force, but thcy cannot have comprehended thc
danger in all its greatness. New swarms continued to come
across the Alps; the Senones also now appeared to seek
habitations for themselves; they, likc the Germans in aftcrtimes, demanded land, as they found the Insubrians, Boians
and others already settled; the latter had taken LIP their
abode in Umbria, but only until they should find a more
extensive and suitable territory.
The river Alia possesses no relnarkablc Senture, and one
might almost be inclined to believe that the aspect of the
country in that district has changed. I t is only by the
distances being mentioned that we can dctcrmine the river
called Alia. The ancients describc it as :I river
high
banks, but thc modern rivcr which must Ije idcntifietl
it,
B A T T L E O F T H E ALIA.
265
tho battles of
Tho same
is the Cam at Lutzcn, Breitenfeld, and Lenthen; nay, even at P r a p e and Collin
it is not an easy matter to identify the fields of battle.-N.
The Gauls destroyed all the towns in Gallia Cispad~ntna,and they thcmselvcs
l i ~ e donly in villages. When subscqt~cntlythe Romans concluered thc country
of the Insnhrians, they found no trace of the aucicllt po1~ulation.-N.
1799 wcre fought, bccauso tho roads ha\~esince been laid diffcrcntly.
267
DEVASTATION OF ROME.
and were partly awaiting the fearful enemy in their own coun-
266
268
269
PESTILENCE AT EOJIE.
LECTURE XXXII.
laid wnste by the barbarians, thcrc nrose n hcron. Moilern commentators Iravc
incol~cctlyrcferrcd this destruction to thc IIan~~ibalian
war; it ,night bc an allusion to so~ncSamnito war, in which Arden was dcstsoycd, as wc mn)- perhaps
irlfcr from Strabo, who says that the Snmnitcs carricd their conquests as far as
Ardoa; but the Samnitcs were surely not called barbarians: we proha1~1yhayc
here thc revcrsc of tho tradition given in the text, that the Ardcatans under
Camlllus conclnercd the G:mls.-N.
V i r g i l says: Grrlli per dumop nderant, and Livy too spcakr of vtrqu1tcc.-N.
2'10
27 1
27.7
2 '14
USURY AT ROME.
275
I tllought
~ ~that ~one twelfth was
no,,,
280
282
C. LICINIUS
AND L. SEXTIUS.
THE L I C I N I A N LAWS.
283
M. ~
~ Ambustus
b
icould~not possibly
~
be unacquainted with
tllis lnark of hoaour, and it is an equally unhistorical statement, that the younger Fabia entreated her $ather and husball,j to procure it for her also, inasmuch as the military tribullesllip was open to the plebeians as much as to the patriCiallS, and M. Fabius Ambustus himself afterwards appears
alnong those who lent a helping hand in the attempt to overturn tile Licinian laws. The hole story is a miserable picce
of
invented by a party which was annoyed at the success of the plans of its opponents. The motivcs of illen arc
really despicable, but thcre is no reason for couliilg to
such a conclusion generally, and we ought not to trace every
thing great to mean and contemptible motives. Livy merely
copied the tale from others, and in his haste and want of a
vivid conception of the circumstances, he wrote it down, not
intending to represent it as a real history, but only as a pretty
story: his soul was pure and noble, and although his patrician
predilections sometimes lead him astray, he nevertheless speaks
truly when he says in his preface, that he was impelled by m
irresistible power to search after that which was great in the
early times.
But whatever may have been the occasion, the object was
plain enough, namely to remove the existing abuses by a
thorough reform. The reform proposcd by Licinius and
Sextius had two great ends; and to relieve the momentary
dist,ress was their third object. The first bill which they
b r o ~ ~ g hforward,
t
ordained that no more military tribunes
sllould be elccted, but consuls, one of whom should necessarily
be a plebeian. The patricians, notwithstanding their small
nuinbers, were still predominant in the government, and for a
long time cndeavoured to prevent tlie passing of the bill, until
in the end tlie matter was so managed that all their intrigues
bccamc useless: thcsc very intrigues rendered it necessary to
bring forward the bill in its absolute form. The tribunes
could not have said that the worthiest sllould be elected from
the two orders, for as the curies still had to sanction the
elected magistrate, and could refuse their sanction to a plebeian,
it was necessary to fix the appointment of onc plcbcian as
indispensable. The division, moreover, was important for the
patricians themsclves, for as soon as the plcbeians acquired
Power in thc senate, thcy would have elected two men from
254
USURY ABOLISHED.
tlleiP own order. I t was not till two hundred years later, that
tllc plebeians actu;-~llyacquired this l~rcl~ondcranc~,
when the
cxtrclnc diminution in tllc number of l~atricial~s
became sensibly apparent, thc patrician being to the plcbeinll nobility in thc
ratio of one to thirty. T l l ~second law establisllcd thc principle that the plebeians should have a sliarc in tlrc posscssioll
of thc ayer publicus, as well as thc ~atricians,ancl that, in accordance \vith tllc Cassian law, a portioll of it should be given
to then1 in full ownership, to inclelnnify thcm for tlic past; in
future it was to be a rulc that one part of it should always be
assiglied to tllc patricians as thcir possession, and anotllcr be
distributecl among t l ~ cplebeians as their rcal propcrty. X o
individual was to possess morc than 500 jugera; tllc ~urplus
was to be dividccl among the plcbcs in lots of scven jugcra, arlcl
no one was to bc allowed to Itecp inorc than a ccrt:lin number
of cattlc on thc common pasturc, during tllc suniincr in tlic
mountains, and during tlic minter in the mcadows near tllc
city. Thc tliird bill containccl thc tcmporery incasurc regarding the clcbts of tlic plebcians: thc intercst which had bccn
adclcd to tlic cnpital was to be canccllcd, and tllc rest was to bc
paid back by thrcc annu:ll instalmcnts, cacli ycor bcing rcckoncd at tcn months, and undoubtcdly without interest. This
was inclccd somctlling lilrc a general bankruptcy; but the
inattcr could not be scttlcd otherwise, and thc crcditors had
assurcdly nladc sufliciently largc profits by thcir former usury.
Tllc tribuncs in this casc did for individuals, what Sully, aftcr
tllc unfortunate tirncs of tlic Lcaguc did for tlic statc, in diminishing the ainount of debt: hc cancelled t l ~ cusurious
interest alrcady paid, and allowed the remaining capital to
stand at thc ordinary rate of interest. I t was in colzsequcncc
of this violcnt measurc that France rcacllcd its high statc of
prosperity under Louis XIII, wllilc previously the farmers ol'
iinaiicc and the usurers had alonc fattcncd upon the marrow 01'
tllc nation. Thcrc is no doubt that at Ronle too, it was only
tlie worst individuals that suffcrcd by the lum: a gcntlCr
remedy would have bccn dcsirablc, but nonc I T ~ Sto bc found,
and without some rclncdy thc statc would have perished.
The patricians not only opposcd thcsc rogations with a fixcd
deterinination not to yield, but they also cxcrtcd all tlieir influence at the clcctions, in ordcr that the tribuncs, who for ten
years wcrc rc-clcctecl year aftcr ycar, might havc opponent:: in
LECTURE XXSIV.
286
DICTATORSHIPS.
F E A R O F C I V I L WAR.
287
THE PRAETORSIIIP.
289
ex;st
" point
VOL. I.
290
291
LECTURE XXXV.
ACCORDING
to Joaiincs Lydns (that is, according to Graccllanus), the governrncnt at the close of these disturbances was for
a time ill the hands of triumvirs. I shall endeavour to explain
this clsewherc, but the fact itself is quite credible. The circunlstance that Varro in his work inscribed to Pompey, De
Senatzc I~ubendo,mcntiolied the triunzviri reir,ublicne constituendge
among those who had the right to convol<e the scnatc, is a
strong argument in favour of it: the later triumvirs probably
adopted the title with reference to this early magistracy. I
will however not deny that the first military tribunes were
likewisc called triumviri reipublicae constituendae in the ancient
records.
When the Licinian lams werc passcd and tlie Grst plebeial~
consul h:id been elcctcd, circumstances arose which threatened
to throw everything back again into confusion, for the patricians refusecl to sanction thc plebeian consul. I t was only
with great difficulty that matters were settled: the patricians
in the end yiel.lcd and rccogniscd L. Scxtius as plebeian consul.
I n this manncr the lawftll and necessary revolution was brought
to a close: it had proceeded like the norlnal chsngcs in the
human body when a youth passes into the age of manhood.
W e cannot wonder that the peace was not corclially meant; the
patricians yielded only to necessity, and with the firm deter.
mination to recover what was lost as soon as an opportunity
should offer. The struggle was renewed about eleven years
later, in A.U. 399 according to the Catonian era which is adopted
by Livy also'; the patricians again succeeded in obtaining
Chronology is hero very nnccrtain on account of the shiftinq of tho time at
mhicl~tllc mag~stratescnte~cdupon tlmr ollicc ; ~t was not tlll the time of the
I'nnlc mar5 that the cons~lls~egularlyente~edupon thclr ofice in spring, and
during t1.e latter perioil of tlie repubhc on the first of January.-N.
Urbino. But a nctv host came across the Alps and advanced
as far as the Anio. W e must not mppose those Gauls to have
bcen very warlike whcn they had the means of a peaceable
existence. On the Anio, Manlius Torquatus is said to have
fought in single coinbat with a Gaul and to have talcen from
hiin a golden chain: this seems to be historically establisllished,
and we have no reason to consider it as a fable; a great battle
was not fought there, and tlie Romans thougll prepared were
now on the alert and cautious. The Gauls the11 fixed themselves in those parts, took posscssioll of the Alban mount
and the hills of Latiuin, ancl sallying thence laid waste the
Latin territory ; they advanced beyond Tivoli2 into Campania,
nay, according to one account, even as far as Apulia; they
must consequently have subducd the Samnitcs, and have
niarched throng11 their long and narrow territory, as thc
Itomails did afterwards.
These occurrences, like the Volscian war a hundred years
before, were folIowcd by consequences which were highly
advantnoeous for Rome. The Eomans themsclves, as well as
?
the Latlils and I-Icn~icans,arrived at the conviction that bp
separation they were exposing theniselves to great danger.
Thcre was no hostility between the Romans and Latins, but
between thc Rolrians and Hernicans there was an open war, in
which the Romans may have talien the strong tom11 of
Ferentinum: the war ended in a restoration of the ancient
relation. The statement that the IIernical~ssurrendered, is
false, for even half a century later they continued to receive
one third of the booty, or a compensation in money until C.
blarcius subducd them. The Latins and Hernicans united
with Eoine, and a new state was for~ned,as Livy relates in
two passages' without recognizing the connection. There is
every appearance that the Latins did not yet form a compact
state: it was iinpossiblc for them to rccover the position which
they had forincrly occupied, since a grcnt many of their towns
had bcen destroyed by the Aeyuians and Volscians or by the
I n the neigllbourhood of Tivoli, I have discovered traces of several towllb
tvhicl~are not generally knovn, and which may have been dcstrojcd at t h ~ t
time. They are built upon h ~ l l sin the form of squares and exhibit no traces of
having been surrounded 1,y walls. They shew llow small were the towns, wllicll
were then scattered over Itr~ly;thcy may have contained about fifty houses.--N.
Proballly vii. 12 and viii. 6 and 8 ; but there are also some other passages
in which thls is alluded to.-ED.
296
ALLI-L.INCE W I T H T H E SAMNITCS.
HOSTILITY O F T H E TIBURTINES.
297
298
The republic, which was now in the receipt of the tithes from
the domain land, was so wealthy that it was in n condition to
111ake some general regulation. The clcbts werc examincd by
a commission, and all those who were involved, but could give
security, receivcd advanccs froin the ~ u b l i ctrcasury to pay
tkcir debts, a wise measure; for by paying back the capital
the rate of intercst was brought down, money accunlulatcd
greatly, and pcople were obliged to lilake the best use of it
tlicy could. On the otllcr hand, it was determined that whoever had property should not be cornpelled to sell it, which
would have lowered the price of land, but that he should be
allowcd to give up his property for the debt accord in^
9 to a
fair valuation. I n consequcrice of this measure the prlce of
land necessarily rose, and the rate of interest again fell:
the financial calculation was extrcmcly wise and subtle. I t
produccd permanent and excellent results, altllough frcsh
misfortuncs were soon followed by fresh distress. Whenevcr
tlic calamities of a period arise from extraordinary events,
cvcn the wisest ruler cannot prevent the pressure and miscry
that flow from it. The misfortune to which I allude is tlie
tliird Gallic expedition in thc year A.U. 405, which was far
more formidable to Rome than the second. The Gauls
a~pcarcdat the gates of the city, but the Romans did not
dare to offer them battle. Their tactics were now greatly
dc~cloped,yet they were wise enough to confine themselves
to the defence of the city, although their territory was laid
wastc in conscqucnce. The Gauls remained in Latium for a
long time, and cven during thc winter. If we may bclicvc
t l ~ caccounts of the Romans, thc Gauls werc in a situation
siinilar to that of the Ostro-Goths under Radagasius, wliom
Stilicho confincd among the Apcnnincs5, not far fiom Ficsolc.
They are said to have withdrawn to the Alhan hills, that is to
b1onte Cavo. I t is indeed possible, but higl11~improbable,
that they should of their own accord have gonc to snowcovered hills. It is clcar that L. Furius Camillus, a nephew,
not a son of the grcat Camillus, marched out against tlic
Gauls, and distinguished himsclf as a general. IIe was indecd
5 Eycn now the name given by the peasants to thesc mountains refers to
tl,.it Gothic licriod.-N
(EIontc Sasso di Cnstro, above Mugello, is the Inount,lin to thc ilamc of which Nicbuhr hcre refers, accordmg to a conjecture of the
E d l t o ~of thc thlrd vol~mncof the Roman history, p.79, n. 144.)
LECTURE XXXVI.
TIIE extension of tlic rights of tlic plebeians is connected v i t h
tlie nanlc of C. A.larcius I'Lutilus, the iirst plcbcian censor and
dictator: he preserved the pcace betwccn the two estates; and
in his case we perceive a change in thc mode of electing a dictator which is alluded to by Zonaras, but entircly overlooked
by Livy. U p to this time the dictator had always becn clectcd
by the patricians, that is, they clcctccl one from among those
300
ilNC1ENT COLONIES.
301
and death lasted for seventy years, and was interrupted ol~lyby
treaties of peace or rathcr by truces. The Sa~nnitcsshow how
much may bc gained by a nation for its descendants by heroic
pcrscverance, even wllcn in the end it succumbs; for the lot of
the Samnitcs was always more bearable than that of many otller
natiolls which were subdued by Rome. Had their descendants
lin~itcdtheir wishes according to their actual circlu~lstanccs,
had they not aimed, though with grcat hcroism, at impossibilities, and not given thcmsclves up to antiquatcd feclinp, they
would not havc perislicd, no not even under Sulla. A t that
time their fate mas fearful; but only bccnuse they had ceased
to take thcir own circumstances into consideration.
The great event which marks the transition of Rome from
the age of boyhood to that of youth, was the taking of Capua
under its protection; but the account of this event is very obscure, ancl has morcovcr becn falsificd by the Romans themsclvcs.
When in antiquity we hcar of a colony committing acts of
hostility against the rnothcr country, we always thinlr of rcbellion and ingratitude: thc ancients themselves, that is, our
authors, sce in such an insurrection the strife of a daughter
against hcr n~othcr. In some cases indecd this view is correct,
but in most of them, cspecially in the history of Italy, the
relation is quite different. W e must remember hotv colonies
arose, how a portion of the territory was set apart for and
assigned to the colonists, the rcmaindcr being left to the
ancient inhabitants, and how the colonists thcn became either
thc reprcsentatives of the ruling state, or., if they emancipated
themselves, an independent sovereign power. The Romans
always connected thcir colonics closcly with thcmselvcs, and
tllc Fame nppcars to have bccn done by the Latins'. Thc Greck
colonics have scarcely any rcsemblancc to them in this respect.
The Grccks mostly sent thcir coloniea into desert districts,
where they built new towns into which they afterwards sometimes admitted pale-burghers and aliens; but they remained
quite foreign to the nations among whom they scttlcd, a4 was
thc casc in Libya, on the Black Sea, in Asia Minor, Thrace,
Gaul and Spain. I t mas only thc Pclasgian nations in Italy
and Sicily that wcrc akin to them, and lzcnce the rapid growth
of the Greek colonies in those countrics. The cause of sei~cling out a colony was usually of a -political nature; it generally
302
ORIGIN O F T H C SAMNITES.
of political malcontents or of the surplus of an overpopulous place, and soon emancipated itself, retaining towards
the motller-city only the dutics of respect. The Roman colonies, on the other hand, were always in pntria potestate, and
were bound to perform certain dutics.
The system of the Samnites, and perhaps of all the Sabine
states, was different. As they had a qnite cliffercnt religion,
different fundamental forms of' division, and different armour,
so they had a different law in regard to thcir colonies also.
Strabo lncntions the traclition of the Samnites respecting their
origin; they werc descended from the Sabines, and found
Oscans in thc country whicE1 they conquered. That whole
country was inhabited by Oscans, while the coast was occupied
by the Pclasgians who at one time, we lcnow not when, spread
over the midland district also. A t first thc Pclasgians probably dwelt from thc Tiber as far as mount Garganus, but the
Oscans, being presscd upon by thc Sabines spread fi-om thc
mountains of Abruzzo over those districts, which the Sab'mcs,
the ancestors of the Sanmitcs, subsequently occupied, and
penetrated to the southernmost parts of Italy, dcstroying in their
progress the original population. Their colonization, therefore,
was undertaken, not like that of the Romans, with a view to
establish their dominion, but in consequence of a superabundance and fulncss of life, whence we nowhere find any trace of
a connection between the Sabine colonies and the motllcrpeople. Thus it is with the Picentians, the Marsians, Marrucinians, Pelignians, Vestinians, and also with the Samnites. The
Inst-mcntioncd people consisted of four tribes which forlncd a
confederacy, the Pentrians, Caudines, I-Iirpinians, and probably
tllc Freutanians. The Frentanians were afterwards scparatcd
from the rest, and in thcir stead another canton, probably
the Alf~~terians,bctwcen Surrentum and the Silarus, was
admitted into the confederacy. Frotn the Samnites, again,
other tribes issued, as the Lucanians; and out of a mixture
of the Lucanians with Oscan and Sabellian adventurers and
frcedmcn, therc arose the Bruttians. When the Sabines Jlad
cstablishcd tl~crnselvesin thc middlc valley of the Vulturnus,
they extended into Campania also, the most highly favourcd
country of Italy; an Etruscan colony had existed there evcr
since the year A.U. 280. The earlicst inhabitants of that
country were undoubtedly Tyrrhcnians, whence the origin of
INSUERECTION AT CAPUA.
303
304
CONRTITUTION O F T I I E SAMNITES.
CONSTITUTION O F T H E RAMNITES.
305
306
307
' Camp:~niaiq tho country of thc Campanians, that is, thc illhahitant5 of
C a ~ u a . On coins we read Cnpuni, and in Plautus we find Cumpus instead of
Campun7rs.- N.
308
-A
COIiNELIrjS COSSUS.
a f~~vorablc
opportunity to pass by. The Eomaus, lroaevcr,
were too lnucll tempted by the prospect of gaining the
Campanians and all the people of that country by forrrniiig a
treaty of protection with Capu;l. There is no question that
they were not ilnpellcd by a desire to protect those who were
in wimt of aid; they were overpowered by an evil spirit, and
the exasperation of tlie Samnites against them was perfectly
just. The Ronlans sent an embassy to the Samnites, requesting
them to conclude peace with the Sidicines, and not to lay
waste the Campnnian territory because Campnilin had placed
itself under their protection. The Snmnites prolrclly rejected
this proposal; and now arose tlieir gigantic struggle against
the Ro~nans,Latins, and Ilernican~.
This Snlnnite war is the first in Roman history that is
worthy of being related; whatevcr deduction wc lnay make
from the numbers stated by T,ivy,--which
we inay do the
more safely, as the person of whoin these deeds arc narrated
is a Valeriuy, and Valcrias Antiat was a client of that family
-yet the diiierenrc between these battles, and the earlier
oncs is obvious. I n the year A.U. 412, threc battles wcle
fought, the first great battles, excepting that of A. Posturniris
Tubertus, on ~ o u n tAlgidus, that arc recordcd in liornan
history.
I n this year t l ~ cIJiciainn law was violated for the last time :
both consuls were patricians, A. Cornelius Cossus, of whom but
little is known, and M. Valerius Corvus, a man in whose Ltvour
an exception might have been rnade at any time. He mas, as
Pliny justly minnrks, one of the 9
nrcatest :md happiest men,
and Solon himself would have adinlttcd it. He is one of thc
historical heroes of Romc, although the story about the origin
of his surname helongs to poetry (Livy himself docs not consider it historical): but it proves, that cvcn as late as that time
thc heroes of Romc mere the themes of song. No one will
believe that in A.U. 406, a Gaul challenged the boldest Rornan
to a single combat, and that Valerius, the11 only twenty-three
years old, conquered him, a raven flying against the enemy,
and pecking at and tearing his face, so as to render the victory
easy for the yoath. His first consulship falls in his twentythird year, the one in which he had slain the (;:iul: it is probable that forty-six Scars later he was raised to his sixth consulship: he lived to nearly the age of one hundred years, and
P. DECIUS MUS.
-- -
expressed in our text, I\ that qlvcn t,y N. in his lectmcs of 1828-9. The
rletailed description of the battle, however, helonging to the year 1826, is based
iipon the explanation ~111th
he hacl gi\en at an earller ~ ~ e i i o d .W e make this
~hselrationto ple,ent mistonceptlol~~. ED.
31 1
runs from north to south. There were only a few passes: the
first colulnn WAS already in the valley, wIliIe the rear was yet
on tllc ridge of the mountain-this is w11at we can gather
froill the confused account of Livy. The consul's intention
probably was to reach the road to Beneventuln and the fertile
valley of the Galore, in order to separate the northcrll froin
the southern Samnites. When in this situation, lie observed
that the opposite hill was occupied, he halted: to retreat
tllrough the defile was very dificult, and tllc Sanz~~itcs
were
advancing to occupy a height commanding the road. The
Romans were almost surrounded, for tlic Saninitcs were
already engaged in taking posscssion of thc road in their rcar.
While the Roinans were thus situated, the tribune, 1'. Decius
Mus, who belonged to one of the greatcst plebeian families,
offered to the consul to hasten up the inouiitain with one
cohort. and to take possession of the height which the Samnites incautiously had just abandoned, so that he could attack
them in their rcar, and sustain the shock of the enemy, until
thc Eoinan army should reach the ridge of the mountain through
the pass. This plan was carricd into effect. Decius rcached
tlie height which coinrnanded the pass, bcfore the Sainnites,
who were now obliged to try to dispossess lliin ; but he there
Souglit with his men like the Spartans at Thcrinopylac, in the
conviction that they must die, and with such perseverance, that
the Samnites gave up the attack for that evening. While the
Romans rctreatcd to tlle road which had been abandoned, the
Sanlnites encampcd with the deterinination to storm the height
the next morning. The battalion of Dccius, however, was
quite surrounded; but in the night he ventured to sally down
tlic hill, and forced his way through the enemy, and thus with
thc survivors of his band hc returned to the consul. I t is stated,
indced, that on the day following the Roinans again won a
great victory, but we cannot trust tllc accouat. The army of
Cobsus is not after this tiine mentioned : he had probably bccome aware of the perilous nature of his expedition, or he was
called into Campania, because some loss had been sustained
there. On Mount Gaurus, Valcrius was alone, but at Suessula
we find the two consuls united: those enernics who followed
the march of Cossus joined the Sainnites. Both were cncampecl
opposite cach other for a long time, but the Samnitcs being
buperior in numbers, considered thcir cause too safe. Their
LECTURE XXXTrII.
314
PXOGXCSS O F LEGISLBTION.
could have citrried such a law, the state woald have been lost.
I bclievc thst this was the tiine when thc equites ceased to
receive tlleir 2000 asses from widows ancl orphans, find when
it was
that they should hav? a fixed pay,-a fair
cllallgc, but a disadvantage to the eques publicus ; fhir, I say,
llccaL~se
thc state was able to bear the expense.
he curies, assembled in the Petelinian grove, now dccreed
a fill1 arnnesty for all that occnrred, and no one mas to be
upbraitled, either in joke or in earnest for his conduct. ],ivy
considers it to have bcen a decree of the centuries, nuctoribus
ptribus, but from the trial of Manlius it is clear, that only the
ci~riesasseinblcd in the Petelinian grove.
IIcrcupon the Rornans concluded peace with thc Samnites :
eve11 the year before, tllcy had rcccivcd from them a coinpcnsation for pay and provisions, or thcy rcccived it now. The
peace was conclttded by the Romans alone, and that with a bad
intention, fur they had undertaken the war conjointly wit11
the Latins, whoin they now left to shift for thcmselvcs. They
gave up Capua to the Samnites, and left the conquest of
'I'cannnl to their choice, but the Sidicines threw themselves
into tllc arms of the Latins, and coneludcd a scpnratc alliance
with the Volscians, Auruncnns, and Canipznians. Such things
have occurred in nlodern timcs also, as for example, the alliance
betwcen l'russia and Russia under Frederick the Great, and
Peter t l ~ cthird, in the Seven Years' War. The Latins now
contin~~ccl
t l ~ cwar, suo Murte, which Livy, in accordance with
his peculiar views, regards as an act of injustice on their part,
:13 if they hat1 thcrcby offended against thc majcsty of the
Itocnan pcoplc. They ~naclewar upon the Pclignians, fro111
which we sce thst t l ~ cAequians belongcd to tllcnl, since othcrwisc they could not have come in contact with the I'elignians:
the lattcr allied thcmselves with the Samnites, and the Samnitcs
required thc Eonlans either to act as mediators, or to give
them succour; for the peace with them had imnlcdiately beell
followed by an alliance. The alliance of Rome with the Latins
ant1 FIcrnicans had now come to a crisis; the IIcrnicans were
either neutral, or, as is more probable, a-crc still allied with
the Romans, since Livy and the Capitoline Fasti do not mention
them a11101igtllosc who triumphed over hfaenius. Such conferleracies ]nay exist among nations, none of which is as
ambitious and po~verful as R o n ~ etlicn was: but now three
31 9
318
one blow, since it could not return. Their forces justified them
in this expectation, and the decisioll of the contest hung up011
a thread; for there was as rnuch probability of their conquering
as of being conquered. The Romalls u n d o ~ ~ b t chad
d l ~enlisted
all thc men they could muster, but they wcre, notwithstandil~g,
infcrior to the Latins in numbers: it is quite certain that they
wcre joined by the Samnites, though the Romz~nannals endeavourcd to conceal that fact by stating that the Salnnites did
not nrrivc till after thc battle. The Latins and tlieir allies,
Acquians, Sidicines, Cam~nniansand Aurunthe Volsci~tn~,
cans were encamped on the eastern side of Mount Vcsuvius; it
is uncertain, whethcr Vcscris, whcre the battle was fougllt, is
thc name of a placc or of a river. The two arnlics faced each
othcr for a long tirnc, dreading t l ~ cday which was to deeidc
their fatc. If thc Latins had had an able coln~nanclerthey
might, cvcn after a dcfcat, havc bccn bctter off than the Romans,
as they might havc withclrawn to Capua, and protectcd themselves behind the Vulturnus and Liris, and there collected reinforcemcnts from tllcir own country. The Romans, morcovcr,
in a military point of view were not superior to the Latins;
onc Roman and onc Latin ccntury had always formecl a maniplc in t l ~ cRoman Icgion, so that the constitution of thc two
armies was tllc samc. Under these circurnstanccs, tllc consul
forbade, undcr pcndty of dcath, all sliirmishcs, on accouilt of
the importance of the moral impression that might thcncc result,
trifling events easily producing a prejudice regarding the issue
of a battle, and not on account of the acqunintance of thc Roman soldiers mith the encmy, as Livy states. In likc manner,
it was forbidden in the Russian army to accept thc challengc
of tllc Turkish spahis. The stricter the command was, the
more did thc Latin horscmcn provoke thc Romans', and this
gave rise to the single combat bctwcen Geininius Mctius of
Tusculum and thc son of the consul Manlius. This occurrence
is beautifully described by Livy, with the hcart of a Roman
and the power of a poet: the father in order to enforce obedience ordered his unfortunate bnt heroic son to be put to death.
There is yet another circumstance which Livy lnentions but
cursorily2: thcre can be no doubt that in the ancient tradition
The Rolnan cavalry was al\vays the worst part of tlic army, and infcrior, for
exanplc, to that of the Btolianq.-N.
a vrrr. 8: toward3 the end.-ED.
32 1
'
322
T ~ A I N I N G OF TIIE SOIADIER~.
SELF-IMRIO1,ATION O F DECIUS.
323
fonr battalio11s, the tllrcc battalions of thc line, and the one
with light armour, there existed a fifth coilsisting of the accensi
r ~ l wcrc
~ o without arll1our, and whose business it was to step
in and take the arnlour of those who had hllcn; the accellsi
velati wcre the two centuries that werc adclcd to tllc fifth
but did not COllle Up to its census. I t is clear that I\Inhlius ill that war did something which had never beell done
bcfore: he armed thc accensi, madc use of thcln instead of tile
triarii to strcngthcn the lincs, and reserved tllc triarii for tllc
decisive moment, and by this means he saved hilnsclf. Livy
states that the Latins mistook the accensi for the triarii, which
is impossible; but thc accensi likcwisc may have bccn armed
with spears and have advanccd as phalangitc~. The Latills
followed thcir old routinc, and their battle-line consisted of thc
most ordinary clcmcnts. The wing cornmanded by Dccius
fonght without success and thc Latins conqucred, whcrcupoa
Dccius ordcrcd himself to bc devoted to dent11 by the pontiff,
M. Valcrius. This dcvotion inspired tllc wholc arlny with
fresh courage and was at the samc tiinc bclicved to llavc a
magic e&ct upon it, since the consul had atoncd for the wllolc
nation, which was now considercd invincible. TIencc, as tm.
dition statcs, fate turned a11 at once : the legions rallictl and
gained the most complete victory.
LECTURE XXXVIII.
324
'
BATTLE OF TRIFANUM.
325
' I n onc of tllc MSS. we find in Campis Tzncetunis instcad of " in the field ,,
but this has evidently hccn entered after the Lccturc by a studcnt who llpd l c ~ t
a gap dnring the Lccturc, and Nicbuhr prol-)ablyallailcs to the Campi Fc~~ectani
nlentloncd IIY Ll\y. ,--ED.
a dictator was now appointed; and Aclllilius took this opportunity of conferring that dignity upon his colleagu~Publilius.
There now followed a cessation of hostilities, wllcther in
consequence of a trucc or from other causes, is utterly unknown,
and a course of internal legislation to curtail the rights of the
patricians engrossed every body's attention: this was the
necessary result of circumstances, and does not deserve tllc
blame whicl~Livy attaches to it. The first law enactcd, that
llenceforth one of thc censors should neccssarily be a
this had in fact existed even before, for we know that C. Marcius was the first plebeian censor; but it now becamc law, and
was alwaye observed : the seconci enactcd that bills which wcrc
to be brought before the centuries should previously be sanctioned by the patricians whatcver dccrcc the centuries might
think it right to pass. Formerly the consuls had the initiation
in legislation; aftcr~vardsthe praetor also had the samc privilegc, since he lilrcwise might prcsidc in the senatc and
make proposals, his power being an enlanation from that of the
consuls; but the aedilcs, though they had tllc sella curulis, did
not yet possess this right. A resolution passed by the scnatc
on the proposal of a magistrate was not yet law, but had to bc
brought before the centuries and then bcfore the curies; this
mode of proceeding arose at the time when the comitia of thc
centuries were instituted. The senatc was formerly a patrician
committee, and even now, the majority was undoubtedly patrician, though the plebeian cleincnt was alrcndy very strong.
One hundred and ten ycars had elapsed since the decemvirate,
and during that period many patrician houses must have become
extinct, and othcrs must have pnescd over to the plcbcs. From
Von Stettcn's history of the noble families of Augsburg wc
see, that out of fifty-onc families, thirty-eight bccamc extinct
in the course of 100 years, and that eve11 then the surviving
falnilics made thc salnc claims, which a hundred years before
the iifty-one families had bcen unablc to cstablisl~. There was
accordingly no rcason for leaving to tlie patricians of Romc
the veto which thcy had had beforc; and its abolition saved a
grcat Inally unnecessary disputes. The more the patricians
became reduced in numbers, and the more the ground tottered
undcr their feet, the greater was their jealousy and the ill humour which they introduced into the most important affairs of
thc state. The cllange maclc by Publilius, thclefore, was very
-150
329
330
BOJIAN COLONIES.
331
333
LECTURE XXXIX.
OUR accounts do not enable us to form a clear idea of the internal condition of Rome: the war had cost her such hcnvy
sacrifices, that, though her dominion extended from Sutriam
and Nepet as far as Campania, the bleeding and exhaustion still
continued for a long time: this renders the tranquillity whiclz
now follo~veclquite intelligible, for all felt the want of peace.
In thc year after the decisive victoryover the Latins (~.u.418)
the practorsllip was divided between patricians and plebcians,
on condition that certain forms should be observed, and from
this time forward the praetorship, generally speaking, alterna
ted between pntricians and plcbcians. This can be historically
tleinonstrated: deviations from the law do indecd occur, but
only serve to explain the rule. Q. Publilius I'hilo was the first
plebeian praetor, and there may perhaps have been some conncctioil between this law and the three which bear his name.
When the second praetorship, commonly called the praetura
peregrina, was added, one was always held by a pstrician, and
the other by a plcbcian, just ns aftcrwarcls when the number of
praetors was increascd to four, two were tnlcen from each order.
But when their numbcr was raised to six, the equal division
could no Iongcr bc kept up, because the number of the patricians was cvcr decreasing. This law was the complction of the
legislation of Licinius, for now the two orders were really placed
on a footing of equality : great w3s the progress which had
thus bccn made; for the fact that the patricians still continued
to choose the interreyes exclusively from among thcmsclves was
a matter of no consequence. The repetition of the intwregna
at this time shows indecd, that the patricians still indulged in
dreams of evading thc law, for the charms of what they wished
to gain increased as the number of thosc who laid claim to it
diminislied ; but these attempts do not appear to have called
forth any violent reaction : the power of' circumstances and
trnth wcrc irresistible.
Abroad Rome had no important wars to carry on; a trifling
one which broke out at this time was welcoinc to them, its
objcct Ijeing to complete the compactness of their state as far
as the Liris and Campania. The two banks of the Liris were
33.1
WAR A ~ ~ O S G
TIIE AURUNCANS.
335
ALEXANDER OF LPIRUS.
337
Lipariots, tlie guardians of the Tyrrheuian sea against the pirates, are the only other facts relating to the intercourse of the
Greeks and Romans which we know for certain: all the rest is
fabulous. But the first political affair in which the Romans as
a state came in contact with the Greeks, belongs to this time;
for the treaty with Massilia was probably nothing but a commercial treaty, as I conclude, more particularly from the circumstance that Massilia and Carthage were hostile to each other
on account of the fisheries, as Justin relates; by which we must
understand either the coral fisheries on the coasts of Africa, or
the tunny fisheries on the Italian shores. The inhabitants of
Proveace, throughout the middle ages, were in possession of
the coral iisheries on the coast of Africa. The first political
connection between the Romans and the Greeks was the treaty
between Rome and Alexander, king of Epirus; for the Epirots
may be regarded as Greeks, since notwithstanding their Pelasgian origin they had become Hcllenised. Alexander had been
invited to come to Italy by the Tarentines in the year ~ . ~ . 4 2 0 ,
or Olymp. 112.
The glory of Magna Graecia had already disappeared; and
most of the Greek towns, as Posidonia, Pyxus, Caulonia, Hipponium, Terina and others, had been conquered by the Lucanians and Bmttians, some of them remained in the possession
of the conquerors, others were abandoned: only a few maintained their independence, but had to fight for their existence.
Rhegium, Locri, and the once flourishing Croton, had been
laid waste by the Dionysii of Syracuse, who had abandoncd
those places indeed, but they were lying half in ruins and were
but partially restored, as Delhi and Ispahan are at the present
time. Thurii and Metapontum defended themselves with difficulty against the Lucanians ; their territory was almost entirely
lost, and they were struggling like the Italian towns in the sixth
and seventh centuries against the Longobards. The only Greek
town which, notwithstanding the general misfortune, was still
in the enjoyment of the highest state of prosperity, was Tarenturn; this city too, soon after the period of the expedition of
Xerxes, had suffered a great defeat from the neighbouring
Messapians, but had soon recovered from it; and at the time
when the tyrants of Syracuse and the Lucanians threatened
the other towns, Tarentum was in a thriving condition; it was
undoubtedly increasing by the immigration of numerous Greeks
VOL. I.
z
ARCEIYTAS.
339
340
MERCENARY TROOPS.
Latrones,
p~aOo~dpor
341
342
343
344
INSURRECTION O F PRIVERNUM.
345
to the senate is quite incredible, and his account of it a piecc
of mere declamation.
There is no doubt that the Samnites secretly
the
disturbances among the subjects of Rome, and they openly
demanded the evacuation of Fregellae. Justice was unquestionably on their side, for the Romans had no ri&t to
establish a colony in a place which had been conquered by the
Sainnites, although at the time when Rome sent her colony
thither, it was not in the hands of the Ssmnites; for otherwise
they would, perhaps, after all not have sent it. But in such
cases justice cannot always be done : wrong and injustice are
often very different things. On this occasion, I should not like
to cast a stone at the leaders of the Romans for not giving up
a place which they had taken in a deserted district, even if
their taking it was an act of positive injustice. The Samnites
were rapidly spreading in that district; and Fregellae, at the
head of a bridge on the upper Liris, was a strong point for
defending the country against them; and the advantage which
the Romans might derive from its possession was much less
than the disadvantage to them of Fregellae being in the hands
of the Samnites. As soon as Rome gave it up, the Latin road
would have been opened, and her allies, the Hernicans, Latins,
and undoubtedly the Aequians also, would have been exposed
to imminent danger. The case was similar to that of 1803,
after the peace of Amiens, when the evacuation of Malta by the
English was demanded by everybody: the English could not
give it up, though they had promised it, which surely they
ought not to have done. The slow movements of the Samnite
senate might, perhaps, have been some security against any
abuse that might be made of Fregellae.
The outbreak of the war was so anxiously looked forward to,
that even two years before it took place, a Roman army was
encamped on the frontier, it being expected that the Samnites
would make an attack upon Fregellae. By the treaty with
Alexander of Epirus the Romans hoped to secure a friend, and
they now tried to protect themselves against the enemy, still
more by a peace with the Gauls. The latter had now been
settled in Italy for upwards of sixty years, the migrations
across the Alps became every year less numcrous, the commotion
among those nations had ceased, and the Gauls who were never
an entircl~savage people did not fail to acquire n ccrtain
346
ITALIAN EMBASSIES
TO ALEXANDER O F MACEDON.
347
348
349
LECTURE XLI.
Q.
endeavoured to speak like the Greeks tl~emselves. The Romans never agreed well with the Greeks, to whom the Lucanians also were hostile altI~ougI~
their civilisation was Greek;
and it certainly cannot be questioned that the Pytllagorean
philosophy was established among them. The statement that
Pythagoras was a native of one of the Tyrrhenian islands must
mean, that the roots of the theological parts of his philosophy
must principally be sought for among the Pelasgians and in
the religion of Samothrace.
A n auxiliary corps of 4000 Samnites and 2000 Nolanians
threw thclnsclves into the towns of Palaepolis and Neapolis;
the Tarentines are likewise said to have stirred up Palaepolis,
for the Tarentines whowere very well disposed towards the Samnites employed their money to involve the Romans in war at
a distance. The Romans looked upon the occupation of Palaepolis by the Sarnnites as an act of hostility, and brougl~ttheir
complaints before the diet of Samnium. The evacuation of
the place was a moral impossibility, and the answer which the
Sainnites returned was, that as the Romans wished for war,
war they should have, and there was no need to dispute about
triflcs. This answer was confirmed by the assembly of the
Samnite people. I n the meanwhile the siege of Palaepolis
had alrcady been going on for some time, and the Romans had
no prospect of success, for their art of besieging was still in its
first infancy, and the Greeks opposed them with great technical
skill; the attacks of the Romans therefore produced no effect,
and the sea was left open to the Greeks. But treason did what
forcc was unable to accomplish. Neapolis possessed ships of
war with which they may frequently havc made predatory excursions against the Roman coasts, which the Romans were
unable to protect. The Sainnite garrison, at lcast the greater
part of it, appears to have been stationed at Palac'polis, and the
Greeks at Neapolis. Two Greeks Charilaus and Nympheus
now betrayed the Samnites to the Roman consul Publilius
Philo: they proposed to the Samnites to make an expcdition
against the Roman coast, and the Samnites quitted the city
ready to embark. AS the town on the side of the harbour was
protected by a wall, the conspirators closed the gate after the
Samnites had gone out, and admitted the Romans by another
gate. Thc Samnites found that the ships had been drawn
away from the coast, and were obliged to save themselves as
PUBLILIUS PHILO.
35 1
352
Livy
353
A A
354
CHAR-4CTER O F T H E COUNTRY.
355
terms with the other nations, they certainly could take tho
former road; for on the latter, the Vestinians were tlle only
one of the four northern Sabellian tribes througll whose country
tlley were obliged to pdss in order to xeaoll ilpulia; in adclition to which they would have had to fight their ivay through
the territory of the Frentenians. But if they had chosen tile
former road, the Afarsians and Pelignians would, ul~qne~tionably, have opposed them as much as the Vestinians, sillce it
was thcir interest not to allow the IZo~nansto marc11 into
Apulia. Now, as on that occasio~l the Vestinialls are called
paccful, it is clear that the Romans marched through the
passes of Antrodoco. I-lad the Samnites been united, they
ought to have made every effort to support the Vestinians; but
this was not donc, in consequence of which the Roinans
defeated and compelled them to submit. They therefore established themselves in Apulia, and thcreby obliged the ilortllern
confederates to keep up a good understanding with one another.
. I t was a great advantage to be in possessic111 of Apulia: the
country of the four Sabellian people as well as that of' the
northern Samnites, the Pcntrians, Bovianians and even of tllc
Frentenians, is a mountainous and pasture country in thc
Abl-uzzo. During tlie winter those districts are covered with
snow, and it is impossible to keep sheep there; whence during
the winter they are sent into Apulia, which is then covered
with beautiful and excellent. grass: in the spring the shepherd
drives his flock again into the mountains. In southern
countries the great features of nature always: remain tlle same,
and thcy are at the present day just what they were in antiquity.
The establishments at Tarentum for dyeing wools sllom that
the breeding of shoel) was very extensive as early as that time.
The use of those pastures was of the highest in~portanccto t l ~ c
&Iarsians, IMnrrucinians, Rlignians, etc., and tlie Romans, being
in posscsiion of Apulia and lirotecting the pcrltures for tl~cir
allies, obliged them to ~naintain a friendly understat~ding,aild
at the same time pressed hard upon the northern Samnites.
Hence we see that the Romans did not undertake tliat formidable expedition at random, but that their course ~vahtlloro~ghly
justified by the natnrc of the country; nevertheless, they did
not vellture upon the hazardous undertaking, nntil they saw
that it was unavoidable ; and that this was the only way in which
the war could be brought to a close.
A h2
LECTURE XLII.
357
35 9
360
possible for him to take new ones where he was, the auspiccs
differing according to the localities, some being valid at Rome,
others in the enemy's country; hence he was obliged to rctnrn
to Eome to take fresh auspices on the Capitol. Whether it
really was for this, or any other reason, he left the camp and
went to Romc, leaving the command to Q. Fabius, his mastcr
of the horse, expressly enjoining him not to act on the offcnsive. This injunction may have been wcll foundcd; but it is
not impossible that it arose from a want of conhdcnce in the
younger nian, or from a desire not to allow him an opportunity
of distinguishing himself. The Samnites very soon observed,
that the Romans mere not permitted to fight, and they therefore provoked and pressed then1 a11 the more: the inactivity of
the Romans was dangerous, for the Latins in their rear werc
evcr ready to revolt, if the Salnnites sl~ouldoffer thcm support,
though by themselves they wcrc unable to undertake anything.
Undcr these circumstances, Fabins with youthful conficlencc
resolvcd to give battle to the Samnites: he gained the victory,
and according to some authorities even defeatcd the enemy
twice. As the army regardcd thc dictator's order only as the
result of his ill-will and envy, the master of the horse sent his
report, not to Papirius Cursor, but direct to the senate, disrc@%?dinghim who had the auspices, and through whom alone
the report ought to have been sent. H e then burnt the booty,
in order to deprive the dictator of the spoils for his triumph.
I n the city the fear of the conscquences was undoubtedly not
less than the joy at the victory. Papirius forthwith returned
to thc camp; and his speedy arrival there shews that the arrrly
cannot have been far away from Romc. Surrounded by his
twenty-four lictors, he summoned the mastcr of the horsc before
his tribunal, and only asked him whether he had fought against
his orders or not. When every thing was rcady for the execution of Fabius, the whole army assumed so threatening an
attitudc, and the general indignation at Papirius was qo great,
t,hat he himself began to hesita,te, and at the urgcnt recluest of
the soldiers, grantcd a respite until the following day. I n the
night Fabius fled to Rotne and applied to the senate; but during
its meeting, and while Fabius was standing in thc midst of the
hall, Papirius hiinsclf also appeared, and demanded his victim.
Although the senate afterwards shewed on several occasions
that it was cot fi~vourableto Fabius, yet sympathy for thc
361
362
PAPIUS
BRUTULUS
SIEGE OF LUCERIA.
363
&ra$
6 8$t~07T
~ flp4vqv
V
~)TL$?I-
+IgD, that is, until the curies and tribes should have ratified
peace. Its terms were fair; C. Pontius, not knowing, in
joy of success, what use to make of it, summoned
,.lie
his
I-Ierennius Pontins, a friend of the Tarcntines and
cspccially of ArchytasL into his camp, to ask him how he
shollld treat thc Romans. Herennius answered that all should
bc cut to pieces; and when tlle son replied, that this was inhunl:ln, the father is rcported to have advised his son to dismiss
them all rnithout injury, in order to place the Roinans under
an obligation by this act of grace. But thc lxomans of that
till?^ Wol~ldhave laughed at such an e 6 r j O e ~ a . The meaning
of the story can only be this:-Hercnnius
meant to say "The
only thing thnt can be done, is to destroy the enemy; how
can you have any doubt about thnt? If you are at all in
doubt, yon had better dismiss them at once." But C. Pontius
was a high-minded man, he had a grcat Italian feeling, and it
was impossible for him to annihilate the army of a n at'Ion
which protccted Italy against invading foreigners, especially
Gauls and Carthaginians; hc did not doubt that a lasting
peace might be concluded with the Romans, if they could
be sccured; we fortunately know its terms from the fragments. The consuls and all the commanders pledged their
word of honour that the people would ratify the peace; and
until then the equites, the sons of the most distinguished families, were to remain as hostages, the status guo ante bellurn was
to be restored, all conqucred plnces were to be given back to
the Snmnitcs, thc colonists werc of course to be withdrawn
fi.om Frcgellac, and the ancient equal alliance betwcen the Romans and Samnitcs was to be rcnewed. Compensations in
money or any humiliating conditions arc not mentioned at all;
the Rolrlans were to depart, but leave behind all their arms,
' EIeronnius aPPc"s to have been altogetllcr a model of wisdom among the
Samnitcs. According to it passage in Cieero, de Senectute, he was one of tile
lntrrlocutors 1~1thAlcllytas in a ~)'lilosophical cl~dogueof some I>ytllagorean
l"lllos~~hcr,-a remarlrahlc proof to what extent tllose Ital~otetowns were
f"m"inr wth the SabeIliim people, and how littie they looked upon them as
t'nrbarians. For the Opicans they had a grcat contempt, and prob'thly made a
mnlkcd distinction hetween thcm and the Samnites.
The intercourse witll the
Greeks ex~lalns'low it came to pass, that Nnma, the source of all Sabcllian
"isdum~
as a Pythagorean: this is a genuine Snbinc tradition.
They 'vc'lt
in their fllcndly feeling, that tilo Grcoks insisted upon tile
Samnites hcirlg a Spartan colony.-N;r.
366
PEACE RATIFIED.
LECTURE S L I I I .
THE existence of the pence is further attested by the events
wllicll took place aftcrwarcls; for in the very nest year we find
tile Samnites in possession of Luceria and Fregellae: it is said,
indeecl, that the latter place was conquered, but this may be a
forgery, or the colonists mere unwilling to quit their homes,
the Eomans may then have left the place to be takcn by
the Samnites. At ally rate the latter occupied Fregellae, whit11
was a matter of great importance, if the war should break out
again; for Fregellae commands the Latin road leacling from
Tusculurn through the country of the Hernicans to the upper
Liris and Carnpania. The Romans thcrcfore now had only the
road by Tcrracina, Lautulae and tlle lower Liris in t l ~ c
neighbourhood of Minturnae : moreover when a Roman army
was stationed in Campania, and another marched by Subir,co
into Apulia, the communication between the two was cut o E
Of still more importance was the subsequent occuption of Sora
by the Samnites, not only for the reasons already mentioned,
but because they thereby acquired a basis for their operations.
The calamity of Caudium belongs to the year of the city 433,
according to Cato; and this ibrrns the conclusion of tllc first
period of the war.l
The Eomans now cancelled the peace, and delivered up to
the Samnites the consuls and other coinmailders who had sworn
to it: by this means they endeavourecl to escape the punishment
for their pedury, and it was perhaps for this purpose that they
had carried their hypocrisy so far as to cause the peace to be
decreed by the tribes and not by the centuries, in order to
exclude the auspices, and thus to avoid coming into collision
wit11 the law of religion. Livy, on the occasion of the surrender
of the tribunes, indulges in a perfectly senseless piece of
declamation: the tribuncs had to meet their fite as well as the
cons1lls, and in so deep a humiliation of their people, they
could hardly look upon their personal misfortunes as anything
extraordinary. It is further related, that the consul Postumius
lcicl~edthe fetialis who delivered him up to the Caudines, with
'
1" the Lectures of 1826-7, Niebuhr fixed the end of the first peiiod before
the defeat of Caudium, so that the second period woi~ldbe that of the success
of the Sanmite wms. --ED.
368
these words: "Now the Romans may carry on the war with
justice, for I am a Samnite citizen and have violated the law
of nations." This sounds quite absurd, but it is nevertheless
possible, for we know from Velleius Patercnlus, that previously
to the outbrcalc of the war isopolit~had been cstablishcd with
a portion of the Samsiites, and these Samnitos may have been
those very Caudines; now as cvery Roman on going into exile
might assunie the franchise of such a state, Postumius, according
to tlie forms of the law of nations, may have claimed for hilnself
the franchise of the Caudines. By such a detestable farce he
imagined that he was drawing the punishment of lieavcn upon
the Samnites. But however this niay be, the peace was broken
in a most unprincipled manner, and this act forms a glaring
contrast with the noble generosity of C. Pontius, mho sent back
all the prisoners, saying, that ifthis principle was to bc follo-cved,
the Romans ought to send all their legions back to Caudium,
in order that the affair might be restored in integrunz, and that
the individuals were not his enemies. This shews Caius Pontius
to have been an extraordinary man, and tlie Samnite people to
have possessed great moral worth.
The Sa~nnitescontinued to gain great advantages, but none
that were lasting, and the Romans, who made immense cfforts,
returned to their former plan of operation, that is, they conductcd
the war against Samnium from Apulia and on the western
frontier. Publilius Philo and L. Papirius Cursor were elcctecl
consuls: the latter went to Apulia; the former is said to have
fought on the road which was so unfortunate for the Romans
in tllc year 433, and to have forced his way to Papirius who
was stationed near Arpi. This is not very probablc, but me
cannot speak with any certainty about it. The Romans
established themselves at Arpi which was friendly to them, and
from it tlicy carried on the sicge of IJuccria. There Pontius
is said to have been blockaded with 7000 Samnites and the
600 Rolnan hostages, to have been obliged to capitulate, and
to have bcen dismissed after having passed under tlie yolie,
But the whole story is nothing but sm invention of vanity.
Diodorus' accounts of these times deserve great attention; we
know not whence he derived his materials, it may be from
Fabius or from Timaeus; that he made use of the latter at
least, is very possible, for Timaeus may have written the history
of this period as an introduction to his history of Pyrrhus, or
369
BB
3i0
Q. PABIUS.-Q
AULIUS.
of all their
movements to cut off Campauia from Romc, sent a detachment under the dictator Q. Fabius, with the greatest haste, to
the pass of Lautulae, whellce he was to join the arnry in
Campania. But even Fabius was not invincible. Tho Samnites came across the nloulltilins behind Fundi and occupied
the narrow pass, the Thermopylae of that country. The
Itomans, who seem to have fallen in with them uilexpcctcdly,
were completely defeated and put to flight, as is clearly stated
by Dioclorus (A.u. 438 or 439); Q. Auliue, the master of the
horse, allowed himself to be cut to pieccs. This victory produccd a mighty revolution, for the Samnites now splead into
Latiinn. Satric~iinjoined them, and the nations, far and
wide, either actually revolted, or showed a hostile dispositio~l.
I n what manner fortune turned is a point on whiclr Livy
leaves us in the dark, liccnuse the prccecling defeats are only
slightly alluded to by him. The Samnitcs were besieging a
place wliicl~Diodolus calls Kinna (we do not lirrow what placc
is meant). The Romans, in rclieving it, complctcly dcfeated
the enemy, and then again s u b d ~ ~ ethe
d revolted towns. One
of the revoltcd people were the Ausonians or Auruncans,
JOLI~
the mouth of the Liria, who had probably intended
to remain neutral. Some of those who may llavc been most
compromised now displayed features of baseness which one
would hardly think possible. Twelve Auruncans came and
surrendered thcir towns to the Romans, who destroycd them;
which Livy, with his kindly feeling, rclates with horror, bat
in n political point of view the destruction was quite right.
The more difficult the circumstances were, thc rnorc necessary
was i t for them to strike terror into their suhjccts, for they
could not calculate upon any attachment. Livy rays Delete
Ausonum gens vix certo defectionis crimine, an expression we
cannot perhaps take in its strict sense. Tlle disposition to
rebel extended as far as Praeneste, the revolt of which place in
this very year may be inferred from Livy, for undcr A.U. 449,
in speaking of the Praenestine Q. Anicius, who was then
plebeian aedile, he says, qui paucis annis ante hostb fuemf
But most of these people, in going thus far, only injured
themselves without benefiting the Samnites. None of them
wished that the sovereignty of Rome should pass into the
hands of the Samnites, but all were anxious to remain separate
37 1
372
JUNlUS BUDULCUS.
3'13
374
LECTURE XLIV.
IIow low the Samnites had sunk is clear, from the fact that
even one consular army was too much for tllein: this army
took by storm Bovianuln, next to Maleventum, the most prosperous town of the Samnites, but which, like all Samnite places
(in contrast with those of Etruria), was fortified only by
PAPiXLIUS CURSOR.
375
nature,
piovided with an arx. The fate of Bovianum
lnay serve as an exalnple of the sufferings of the Samnite towns :
it mas thrice taken by the Romans, aiid we inay easily conceive
llow it
becoinc SO insignificant a place as it was in the
days of Stiabo. hlagdeburg experienced the same fate in the
'J'l1irty Pears' W,ir for in its capture aiid destruction by Tilly,
its pop~~lation
was reduced from 30,000 to 3000, and only the
cathedral ancl a few houses were left, huts being erected on
the ruins. IVhile tlie Roinans were fighting in Etruria, the
Sainnitcs evidently had the intention of carrying out the great
scheme which renders the third Sarnnite war so remarkable,
namely, to transfer their forces to that country, and to meet
the lioinaas on foreign ground. What the Etruscans wantcd,
was a courageous army trained in war, and with this the
Sainnites wished to provide them. But even in the third
year of the war, the Etruscan towns concluded a truce with
the Bomans, and thus destroyed the hope of such a diversion.
Thc cxpcditions of the IZoinans into Sainniuin now became
real wars of destruction, for they had no hope of establishing
then~sclvcsthere, so long as a single Sanlnite was alive: the
sr~nicsllad possession of only the ground on which they stood,
and suffercd from want of everything necessary for the support
of life, tlie population fleeing into the forest wherever they
came. I t was in one of these expeditions, that, as before mentioned, the consul, C. Junius Bubulcus fell into such imininellt
danger. Afterwards, when Q. Fabius was stationed in Etruria,
another lloman army was surroullded in Samnium, and the
consul wounded: tlie distress of the Romans was so great, that
a rescrve ariily was formed at Rome, and it was thought neccssary to appoint a dictator. The senatc had to deterllline upon
the person to be al~l)ointed,the curies to sanction his appointment, and to grant hiin the imperium, and the11 the consul
had to proclailn him. Papirius Cursor Tvas elected, alld as
onc consul was blocliadcd in Samnium, it dcvolvcd upon
l'abius, his mortal cne~ny,to proclailn him. The senate sent
a dcl~utationto Fabius, to request him to undertake the pioclamation, fbr it was expectod that he would oppose the
api)ointment to the last: Fabius had a severe struggle ~ v i t h
himself, ~vliich is well described by Livy; but he sliowcd
llilllsclf to be a Inan above tlie desire of revenge. Papirius
anslvercd the expectations which the senate entel tailled of 11ii11,
he Lelivercd the blockadcd army, and defcated the Sjninites.
37G
VICTORY AT ALLIFAE.
377
378
379
380
38 1
ETRUSCAN WAR.
for the war, although each had quite different intcrests.2 The
Tarquinians, for example, had nothing to fear from the Gauls,
while other states were threatened by them. In the mean time
whiIc they were deliberating, the crisis had already taken place,
victory having returned to the Ronians, which was another
reason for the Etruscans to begin the war. Thus the IZolnans
as early as A.U. 442, regarded an Etruscan war as unavoidable,
and appointed a dictator; but the preparations of the Etruscans
occupied so long a time, that ever1 tlie whole of the year following passed away undisturbed. I t was not till the second
year aftcr, that thcy commenced hostilities, but thcy found tlic
liomans prepared; their army was considcrable, and they conducted the campaign on the offensive, a boldliess which they
rnay have acquired throunh their fierce wars with the Gauls.
?
As thc Etruscans were bes~egingthe Roman frontier fortress of
Sutrium, the Romans sent Q. Aemilius into Etiuria. Ever
since the Gallic war, the mountains of Viterbo had been tllc
frontier towards Etruria; they arc now a barrcn ridge of hills,
but at that timc they were covered with a thick forest, the
silva Ciminia of which Livy gives so romantic a description : it
was, l~owcver,nothing but a natural division between two nations which were not connected by friendship, and wished to
have little to do with each other. Such a frontier is often
intentionally allowea to become wild by the growth of a forest,
as tlie fronticr between the Austrian Croatia and the Turkish
Bosnia, where from time immemorial tllc forest has been left
to itself, with the exception of a few necessary roads. This
forcst was by no means like the silva Hercyzia with which
Livy compares it, but was just of such an extent that, according to his own account, the Itomans only wanted a couple of
hours to march through it. Sutriuln and Kcpet were the leal
frontier fortresses of the Romans, but always against Vulsinii,
and not against Tarqninii and Falcrii, for there tlic country
was quite open and in constant intercourse with Rome. The
Roman consul set out to relieve Sutrium, and the battle which
ensucd is well described by Livy, from whom we learn that for
a long time the Roinans kept back their strong reservc. This
they often did till the very last moment, allowing their regiments to fight as long as they could, and in this way they
,gained many a victory. Such also was the case on this occasion: after fighting the whole day with the Etruscans, they
the victory in the evening by bringing up t h 'ir
~ 'reserve.
Livy states that in this battle the Etruscans lost Inore lives
tllan the Romans, but that the number of' the wounded was
greater among the Romans; this arose from the circumstance
that the Romans fought with the piluin and the sword, whereas
the Etruscans, who wore Greek armour, used the lance, and
employed a nuinber of light armed troops. A l t h o ~ ~ gwc
h may
acquiesce in this statement of Livy, yct we cannot adinit the
conclusion that the Etruscans were completcly defcated, for in
thc year aftcr they were still encamped before Sutrium, and
Fabius went to its relicf. The army of the Etruscans was very
numerous, and Fabius considcred it either dangerous or unnecessary to attack the Etruscans, as in general the Romans
were not so much bold as circumspect, and disliked to open a
calnpaign with a battle.
Livyls account of these wars abounds in great exaggerations,
whichis the more surprising, as otherwise his history of the Fabian
gcns is very accurate. Fabius Pictor wrote only a hundred
years aftcr the mar, and he was so excellent an author, that we
cannot ascribe the h u l t to him; he was unquestionably followcd
by Diodorus, whose description of these wars is quite plain and
credible, and altogether irreconcilablc with that of I,ivy: no
one knows what authority the latter may have followed. According to llim the Etruscans must have lost 400,000 me11 in the
battles, but, even apart from numbers, his account of the siege
of Sutrium is wholly incredible. The account of the first
battlc of Fabius mentioned by Livy is probably founded upon
nothing else than the fact, that by a vcry close march, Fabius
succeeded in introducing Roman troops and provisions into
Sntrium. When notwitlistanding this, the Etruscans did not
raise the siege, Fabius determined to invade Etruria itself
throug-11 the Ciminian forest, a resolution which the Roinans
looked upon as fool-hardy. The news of it filled Ronlc with
alarm, and it was believed, that the army would necessarily fall
between two Xtruscan armies; the Etruscans of Sutrium might
have cut off his direct retreat, and then he would not have been
able to return except by a round-about way through Umbria,
which it was likewise difficult to pass. The senate thought
his design so rash that five ambassadors and two tribunes of
382
P L U N D E R O F ETRURIA.
the people were sent to dissuade him from it : the tribunes accolnpanied the embassy evidently for the purpose of arresting
him if he sl~ouldrefuse to obey; but Fabius had hastily brolicn
UP, and when the commissioners arrived in his camp, he already
stood victorious in the heart of Etruria, like princc Eugene
who did not read thc orders not to fight, till the battle was
over. Fabius had pushed his army onward, but he hiinself rcniained behind with his cavalry. IIe left the camp standing,
undertook a great recoal~oiteringexpcclitioa, and thereby deceived the Etruscans during thc day; but towards sunset he
followed his army and thus unexpectedly crossecl the mountain.
But according to Diodorus, if rightly unclerstood2, Fabius invaded Etruria by a circuitous route tl~roughUmbria, and thus
attacked the Etruscans in their rear: in this case the march
through the Ciininian forcst would be a mere invcntion.
Thc rich coul~trysatisfied the desire of the Romans for booty ;
for within the last hundred years no enemy had entered the
district, not even the Gauls. The Etruscans now raised the
siegc of Sutrium, and withdrew towards Perusia, where Fabius
gained so decisive a victory over thein, that Perusia, Cortonn
and Arretium immediately sued for a truce, and then concludcd
a pence for a series of years. The western towns, Tarquinii,
Vulsinii and Volaterrae were thus left unsupportcd and sued
for a treaty on tolerable terms.3 The Romans were perhaps
not inclined to conclude a formal peace, and both parties were
satisfied with rcnewinvb the truces from year to year. Vulsinii
alone resisted for a per~odof thirty years, always drawing into
the war some of the other towns; but the hostilities were
constantly interrupted by truces. A t Vulsinii, the clients had
acquired the sovereignty, but afterwards the proud Vnlsinians
attenlpted by a counter-revolntion to cast the new plebes into
a state of clientship: and as they did not succeed, they preferred
seeillg their city destroyed by the Romans to sharing the honours
of the government with the commonalty. But this very insurrection of their subjects enabled Vulsinii to hold out so long
while other places, far rnore favorably situated, were obliged to
2 That is, if 'Opppl~ovis read for Spdpwv. See Hist. of Rome, 111. p. 282,
note 488.-ED.
3 In the Lectures of 1826-7 Niebuhr here also mentioned the battle of Lake
Vadimo, phiell he afterwards seems to have rejected, as may be also inferred
from Histf of Rome, 111. p. 284.-ED.
TARENTINES I N V I T E CLEONYMUS.
383
,,bmit in the very first campaign, for their own subjects were
their
~h~ 1Zolrlans had also formed coi~nectionswith Umbria : they
llad
a treaty wit,h Carriers, and taken Keclni~um,
a very strong place on the Nera, near the northern frontier of
the ancient country of the Sabines: they changed this place
into a Latin colony under the name of Narnia. By extending
their line of colonies to that point, they cut off the communication between Etruria and Samnium: at the same time they
established similar fortresses near the mouth of the Liris at
&Jiilturnac and Sucssa. At Narni, Samnite auxiliaries seem to
have been postcd; for it is stilted in the Fasti that Q. Fabius
in his fifth, and P. Decius in his fourth consulship, triumphed
over the Umbrians and Samnites; the pcacc mas already
concluded with Samnium, but it was very coininon with the
Samnitcs to servc in the armies of foreign nations.
An obvious consequence of the peace with the Samnitcs is
manifested in the relation bctwcen the Tarentines and Lucnnians.
Daring the war we do not perceive a trace of a hostile feeling
bet~vccnthe two people; but from the moment that peacc is
concluded, hostility breaks out, so that the Tarentines were
obligecl to secli: assistance. This is accounted for by thc &t,
that until then thc Sainnites had had tlrc supremacy over the
Lucanians and employed them against the Eornans. The
Tarentines now invited Cleouymus, bccause, as our Greek
authorities say, they were at war wit11 the Lucal~iansand
Romans; whence we nlust infer, that the Rolnalls were alliecl
with the Lucanians. Clconylnus mas a princc of Sparta, son
of the aged king Cleoinenes; as the succession at Sparta was
disputed and he might possibly be excluded, he readily acceptecl
the invitation of the Tarcntincs: he was not an insignificant
man ; but from this time he became an adventurer, and sold his
services to several nations. He brought 5000 men with hi111 to
Tarcntum, there enlisted a still greater number, and compelled
the Llrcanians to accept a peace. Hereupon he tookDletapontum,
either in his own name or in that of Tarenturn, but oppressed
it by exorbitant imposts, and acted there as a real tyrant. His
conduct towards the Tarentines was SO base, that they broke
off their connection with him; they got rid of him by his being
"ken into the service of one of the parties that opposed
See above p. 66.
384
DEFEAT OF CLEONYblUS.
LECTURE XLV.
AMONG
the great men of this period whom I have already
spoken of, we must not omit to mention Appius Claudius, who
is celebrated in history under the name of The Blind, having
had the misfortune tolose his sight. Ileisquite a peculiarcharacter; and his actioils seem to stand in the strongest contradiction
to one another, unless we clearly represent to ourselves the time
in which he lived. Being born and bred in the pride of a patrician ,party, he, as interrex went so far as to refuse votes for a
plebeian candidate for the consulship : this we know from Ciccro,
and yet he was the first who, setting aside men of distinction,
introduced the sons of freedmen into the senate. Contrary to
custom and usage,he attempted to usurp the censorship beyond
the time which had long been fixed by law; and in his old age
he appears again as the deliverer of the state, who in time of
need roused the senate which had become pusillanimous.
Such a character seems to be a real mystery. To men like
Dionysius and thewmoderns,who bclieve that at Rome, as in
Greece, the struggle was betwecn the wealthy and the Zxhov,
it could not be surprising that Appius should admit the libcrtilli
into all the tribes, and even raise them to the rank of senators.
But the matter must be looked at from a cliffcrent poiiit of
view, and we must bring vividly before our minds the party
feelings of that period. During the fifty years which had
elapsed from the time of the Licinian law, a nobility had been
forn~edamong the plebeians which already comprised a considerable number of families, and many of them already
possessed the jus imaginum. The number of illustrious patrician
families had become greatly reduced; and it is by 110 means
certain whcther the noble plebeian familics were not already
as numcrous as the patricians; most of the latter had become
extinct or impoverislied, and the names which constantly recur
are the Claudii, Cornelii, Sulpicii, and Furii. The plebeians
stood to the patricians in the same relation as the nobili of the
tcrra firma stood to the nobility of the city of Venice; if
those nohili had become a corporation, as Maffei proposed,
they would have formed a plebes, but the nobility of Venice
hated no other men so much as those very nobili of Padua,
Verona, etc., while they were familiar and condescending
towards the common people of Venice. A Roman patrician
entertained similar feelings towards his clients, while he
hated the order of free plcbeians; and a proud patrician
like Appius Claudius saw in a Licinius or a Genucius nothing
but a detested rival. Such an aristocracy feels the greatest
hatred against those families to which it cannot deny an equal
VOI. I
C C
386
mnk, and it usually tries to ally itself at11 those who are
f ~ ~ r t l ~rclnoved
est
from all aristocracy. Such, alliances occur
very freg~~ently
in tlle south of Europe, where hintory often
shews us the aristocracy leagued with the mob, in orcler to
maintain itself; the ~aniafed?stsat Naples wcre Lazwoni, fro1-n
the very dregs of the people, and the royal volunteers in Spain
consist of the lowest rabble. Appius appears on the one hand
as a man of great historical reputation, and on the otlier, Livy
speaks of him as a homo wafer, a crafty intriguer, an opinion
which does not seem to be quite unfounded. Appius Clauili~~s
and other patricians seem to have still entertailled the idea of
depriving the plebeian nobility of its authority by callirig in
the assistance of a party which by itself could lay no claim to
honorable distinction. Such sentiments were unfortunate in
every respect, and disturbed the develolrment of tlic constitution. But Appius Claudius was nevertheless a highly
distinguished man, and motives may be mentioned to account
for his innovations which to a ccrtain extent even justify them.
H e admitted the sons of freedmen into the senate, and distributed the freedmen theinselves anlong the tribes: we must
start from thc latter point.
The peculiar charactcristics of the plebeian order were
landed property, and a free and indcpelidcnt existence, in contradistinction to the condition of clients. I t was necessary
for a plebeian, as well as for a patrician, to be well-born
( ~ L y r v l j inyenuus)
~,
; hence he, lilic a patrician, added to his
name that of his father and grandfather. A freedman could
not mention such a pedigree, for if he himself had becn a
slave, he coulcl not mention any father at all; and if his
father had becn released from slavery, he could mention him
alone: but if his grandfather had been emancipated, there was
no barrier, for he was then perfectly inyenuus, and he might
be admitted into the tribes. I n so protracted a war as that
against the Samnites, the number of those bound to military
service must havc been very much reduccd, and the levies
must have been felt very severely. I t is a remark of Aristotle,
that the character of the Athenian demos was greatly altered
during the Peloponnesian war, because its numbers were
reduced, and the gaps were filled up with freedmen and
others. As the Romans adhered to their system of adding
only entire tribes, while the gaps in the old ones were filled
38'1
388
mass of business, the transaction of which constitutes the principal duty of officials, was perforn~ed by the scribes. The
praetorship, for example, required a vast quailtity of writing,
but neither the praetor himself, nor any other homo ilzgenzcus,
had any thing to do with it, for it all devolved upon the
scribes. This occupation was very lucrative, and all transactions were recorded by them according to certain formularies. These scribes were employed not only by the
magistrates, but in all imaginable circumstance^ as thc
Romans committed every thing to writing. They kept all
the accounts of the aediles, the laborious registers of the
censors, and many other similar things, tlic magistrates theinselves only superintending such records. The scribae were
also employed by the bankers (negotiatores, cquites), for evcry
Roman was obliged to keep accurate accounts of his income
and expenditure, which was demanded even by public opinion,
for a person who neglected to do so would havc been considered a homo levis, and many Roinarls kept a scribe for that
purpose.
This class of men now appeared for tthc first tirnc, and
became at once a body of great importance through Cn. Flavius.
If ADD~US
wished to deprive the plebeians of the position they
I
had gained, it was no longer the time to take up arms along
with clients and isopolites. H e was obliged to act with
cunning, and this he did by connecting a large mass of men
with the patricians, and introducing the libertini among the
tribes; for by this means he secured a majority in the dccision
of the plebes. I n like manner, the inimicipes might be useful to his plans, and even in the senate he might carry
things which would formerly have been utterly impossible,
by removing, in his capacity of censor, the independent plebeians from it, and by introducing in their stead persons of
low birth. Something similar was done by Sulla, who in his
legislation likewise went back more than two centurics, and,
ostensibly for the good of the aristocracy, introduced a number
of proletarians, or people of the lowest orders into the scnate.
Such also has been the case in France, where at this day
there are many people, who during the revolution rose from
the lowest ranks. Some of them endeavoured to conreal their
low origin by titles and the like, and of others the descent
is forgotten by the public. From the censorship of Appius
I
389
390
and past Setia, was called Via Setina, which for this reason is
specially mentioncd in the list of roads; it is the same as that
which throughout the middle ages down to the time of Pius VI.
was again the ordinary road, when the Pomptine marshes were
abandoned. The Romans chose this road, because the distance
between Cisterns and Terracina through the marshes was too
great for one day's march. Forum Appii it is true was situated
on the canal between those two towns; but it was probably
inhabited only in winter: on the Via Vetina, on the other
hand, the armies might in summer nights bivouac on the hills.
Had they attempted to spend a night in the Pomptine marshes,
they would have been destroyed by virulent fevers; this shews
the necessity for the Via Vetina. The Appian road, even if
Appius did carry it as far as Capua, was not cxecuted by him
with that splendour for which we still admire it in those parts
which have not been destroyed intelltionally : the closely joined
polygons of basalt, which thousands of years havc not been
able to displace, are of a somewhat later origin. Appius
colnmenced tlle road because there was actual nced for it; in
tlle year A.U. 457, peperino, arid some years later basalt (silex),
was first used for paving roads, and at the beginning, only on
the small distance from the Porta Capena to the temple of
Mars, as we are distinctly told by Livy. Roads constructed
according to artistic principles had previously existed, and
along both sides of thein therc ran footpaths paved with
square blocks of peperino (saxo quadrato). I t was especially the
money raised by fines that was employed for paving the roads
with basalt.
Appius was also the first who built an aqueduct to
Rome with water, the Aqua Appia. The Roman aqueducts of
later times were of immense extent, but that of Appius was
only a small bcginning, and made merely to supply the actual
want. The Romans obtained their water from wells, but
principally from cisterns (plutei), as the water of the Tiber is
not fit to drink. The districts situated in low and marshy
ground, AS the Velabrum and Forum Olitorium, had of course
no wells, and were therefore limited to cisterns, and i t was the
object of the Aqua Appia to provide those districts with water,
which was brought from a distance of eight Roman miles. It
was built after the year A.U. 440, during the war against the
Samnites, when fortune began to turn in favour of the Romans.
CN
FLAVITJS
391
392
LEGISLATIVE
PROCEEDINGS
OF APPIUS.
ENROLNENT O F T H E LIBERTINI.
393
we see illat at that time the occupation of a scribe was still incompatible with inyenuitas. Along with him was elected Q.
Anicius of Pmeneste, who only a few years before had been an
enemy of Rome, and who may have been the founder of the
falllily ofthe Anicii, so illustrious during the latter period of
the mTestcnl empire; their competitors had been two distillguislled
Poctelius and Domitius, which shews that
isopolitcs and libertini, the factio forensis, here ~ ~ n i t etoddecide
the election. Pliny tells us that Flavius made a vow, sipopulo
reconciliusset ordil~es(populus here are the patricians) ; and as he
~crforinedwhat he had then named, he must have accompIishcd
tllc reconciliation. It seems to me not improbable that in the
subsequent censorship of Fabius and Decius, Flavius acted as
mediator, and induced the libertini to allow their own rights
to be curtailed as much as the good of the republic required.
For the enrolment of the libertini among the tribes caused
great disturbances down to the censorslzip of Q. Fabiue Maximus
and P. Decius, when (A.u. 449) a reconciliation was brought
about: it was inzpossible to deprive the libertini of all their
rights, but they were thrown together by Fabius into four
tribes, the tribus urbanae, which henceforth remained the tribus
libertinorzm and hence nziwus honestae. This measure was followed by the most salutary conscqucnces ; for if we coizsider
that the votes were takcn in each tribe separately, and that in
each the majority decided, we may easily imagine that if the
libertini, who carried on trade in the city, were distributed
among all the tribes, they, being always on the spot, would
naturally form the majority in asseinblics convoked on a sudden
so that only a few of tlzc country plebeians of each tribe could
come to the city. I n this manner all the power would have
fallcn into their hands, whenever the cominoi~altyhad to assemble on any sudden emergency; and without the wholesoine
reforin made by Fabius, the system of Appius wouId have been
highly pernicious.
Another change, the abolition of the nexum, likewise belongs
to the period of the second Samnite war; Livy places it in the
consulship of C. Poetelius and L. Papirius, but Varro, according
to a correction founded upon a manuscript, states that it took
place in the dictatorship of Poetelius in A.U. 441. This also
agrees with the statement, that the poverty of the fatnilics of
those who were in bondage for debt was a consequence of the
394
OGULNIAN LAW-TI.
COEUNCANIUS.
3 95
parties of the nobility and non-nobility were already in existence, and the former comprised all distinguished patrician and
plebeian families.
Admission to the priestly offices was a matter of great
interest to the plebeians, as the pontiffs were-the keepers of
the civil law and of the whole jus sacrum; and thc augurs,
whose words were still received in good faith, exerted much
influence upon all matters of importance.
LECTURE XLVI.
THE peace between the Romans and the Samnites lasted
scarcely four years: during that interval thc Samnitcs had
prepared for the continuation of the war by the defence of
Nequin~xm or Narnia, for they only wanted rest to recover
themselves. According to the terms of their peace with Rome,
they were obliged to abstain from every kind of hostility
against the neighbowing states; but this was impossible. In
Lucania, disputes between thc two parties soon broke out;
that country had recovered its independence and commenced
hostilities against Tarcntum; the Sarnnites then declared war
against Lucania, and thc Encaninns being thus threatened
placed themselves under the protection of Romc. As the
Romans did not like to see the Samnites recovering strength
they required them to give up their Lucanian conquests in
accordance with the terms of the peace. The Samnites returned
a haughty answer, and cautioned the Roman ambassadors
against their appearing in Samnium. I n A.U. 454, while the
war was still going on in Etruria with some towns, though
interrupted by truces, a fresh war broke out with the Samnites.
The A ~ u l i a n swerc allied with Samnium, for Apulia was too
distant for the Romans to maintain their dominion in that
quarter; the Sabines also were favourably disposed towards the
Samnites, with whom some of them were even in alliance.
Circumstances were thus somewhat more favorable to Samniun
than before; but Rome's power, on the other hand, had been
90 much enlarged, that she was now a far more formidable
enemy.
396
This war took a very different turn from that of the earlier
ones, whence we must infer that circnmstances also were
different. The Romans did not now transfer the war to Apulia,
either because the Apulians had revolted from them, or
because other considerations prevented them. They attacked
the Sainnites right in their front, and the latter did not enter
the Acquian conntry, but proceeded to the Falernian district,
in the neighbourhood of Vescia. The war lasted eight years,
and was evcn more destructive to tlle Samilites than the earlier
ones; but they collducted it with great vigour, and their ~vhole
plan, tllough not crowned with success, is one of the grandest
recordcd in history: but victrix causa Dais placuit. I n the
very first campaign the Romans appeared in the interior of
Salnniuin, and penetrated into Lucmia to assist the Lucanians;
the same campaign, however, was at tiines unfbvourable to
the Romans, though they did not lose any great battle.
I n the year 455, both tlle Roman arinies commanded by
Fabius and Decius were in Samnium and carried on a dcstructive war, the accounts of whicl~in Livy appear to be perfcctly
authentic: he made use of gcnuine memoirs, and yet they
often contain statements which are quite irreconcilable. The
Romans moved from place to place, and wherever they pitched
their camp, thcy dcstroyed all around every trace of cultivation. Fabius cncainped in eighty-six, and Decius in fortyfive places: few towns were talcen, because the Samilites on
their heigllts defended tllcmselves with such undaunted courage
that the Romans were unable to take them. I n A . U . 456
Volumnius and Appius Claudius were consuls, and Decius
procoi~sul;Volumnius is said to have defeated the Samnites
again and again, and to have finally coinpclled their army to
take refuge in Etruria : this is a disgraceful misrepresentation
of the heroic courage and tlle great design of the Samnites.
Tlleir army was so far from having been driven from the
country, that Gellius Egnatius fought in Etruria for several
years, and even after the destruction of his army, the Samnites
maintained themselves during a long time in Sanlniuin: their
great idea was to abandon their own country to the enemy,
and to transfer thc war to Etruria. IVitl~inthe last hundred
years, the Etruscans had become better acquainted with the
Gauls, of whoin those who were settled in Romagna had no
desire to emigrate, and were engaged in peaceful agricultural
39'7
3 98
ETRUSCANS,SAMNITES,
AND
UMBRIANS.
I n this year the Gauls did not stir; and it is possible that the
expected hosts had not yet come across the Alps.
The canipaign of the year 457 decided the fate of Italy,
and the Romans made enormous efforts. One dctnchment
remained behind on the frontier of Samnium, in order to
prevent the Salnnitcs from acting on tlie offensive ngninst
1iome; it
consisted mainly of Cnmpanians ancl Lucnnians, but it actcd only on the defensive. Tlic army undcr tile
proconsul Volumnius inarched against the Gauls, and the old
consular army of Appius, which was stationed in the ncighbourl~oodof Poligno, was reinforced by two new legions which
Fahius had levied. Tllcre were, moreover, two reserve armies,
consisting of such rncn as took up arms only in times of' need,
probably n o t l ~ i nbut
~ a militia, armed with spears: olrc wes
st<~tioned
on the Vatican hill outside the city; the other had
advanced as far as Falerii for the purpose of keeping up the
coinmuaications. The consul Decius ~roceedcdto the army
to undertake the command of the legions, and Fabius brought
him reinforcements. The Romans had established themselves
among the Ulnbrian mountains in the nciglibourhood of
Nuceria, where they were encamped, and one detacllmcnt
proceeded to Camcrinuml on the northcrllmost slope of thc
Apennines, i n order to prevent the Gauls from marchii7g
through the passes to Spoleto in the rear of the Romans. The
Gauls, it must be conceived, came by way of Ariminum and
Scna and crossed the Apennincs. Polybius here assists us in
forming a clear idea of these movements. The legion which
had been pushed on as far as Camerinum, was taken by surprise and entirely cut to pieces, so that the Romans knew
nothing of the defcat until the Gallic horsemen came up and
exhibited the heads of the slain on their spears.
The Etruscans, Samnitcs, and Umbrians, who had hitherto
remaincd on the defensive, now drew close together, and the
two Roman cornmandcrs again ventured upon an extremely
bold enterprise : &r$cLh~a,
or cslution, is commonly thc prevailing feature in Roman tactics, but in circumstances likc
these, they were ohligecl to risk every thing in order to gain
every thing. They marched sideways against an enemy
Not Clusium, as Livy says, for this was called in Umbrian Camer~. Pulybius has the right name, and even a mere consideration of the nature of the
country might shew us that Clusium cannot be meant.--N.
PERUSIA.
399
400
GENERALSHIP OF FIBIUS.
40 1
D D
402
BATTLE O F SEKTINUBI.
LECTURE XLVII.
647.-ED.
404
405
406
EXBASSY TO EPIDAURUS.
408
LECTURE XLVIII.
from the third Salnnite war down to the tilne
THE
when Pyrrhus was called into Italy, though it embraces
scarcely ten years, is one of the most important in all ancient
history, whence it is to be grcatly regretted that we have no
accurate knowledge of it. In the sixteenth century people are
said to havc conjured up spirits for the purpose of rccovcring
the lost works of ancient authors : if such a thing were possible,
or if by any sacrifice a lost wollc could be recovered, I should
not hesitate, as far as information goes, to choose the elevcnth
book of Livy in preference to any other work: it is possible
however that sooner or later the history of that period may
yct be discovcred. I have collected much, but it does not
sullicc to furnish a complete historical view; and the following
is all that I can here give as the results of my enquiries. I n
thc year 642 (according to Cato) the Maenian law was passed;
it is only a few days since that I found a passagc relating to
this law, which I had read indeed very often, but the irnpor~ance
of which I, as mcll as all othcrs, had ovcrlookcd; the law is
otherwise known to us only from a hasty rc~narkof Ciccro,
who says that it w ~ as great thing that Alacnius whcn tribune
coinpellcd the interrcgcs to accept the votes for a plebeian
consul, because the Maenian law did not yet exist. The contcxt
shews that this law can have had no other meaning, than that
the nuctoritas of thc patres in regard to curule elections was
abolishcd, as had been done forty-six years bcforc by the
Publilian law, in regard to legislation by the ccnturics. This
law was absolutely ncccssary, for thc sanction in cases of clcction
was absurd and a xncre source of annoyance, since the patricians
had already given their votes. ITenccforward the senatc gave
its assent beforehand; the imperiunl was conf'crrcd by a mere
simulacrum of the curies, that is, by the lictors who reprcscnted
the curics, as the five witnesses a t sales, etc., reprcsentcd the
classes of the centuries. The curics accordingly were not
abolishcd. The law must havc been carricd after great struggles;
and the passing of it was one of thc stormy events in the consulship of M'. Curius.
The I-Iortcnsian law, of which I should like exceedingly to
410
THE IIORTENSIAN
LAW.
' The essay here alluded to is reprinted in Niebuhr's Kleine Hist. und Philol.
S c h r i f . 11. p,241, etc.--ED.
2 '' The advantage of an assignment of lands came at a time when the people
were in urgent want of an improvement in their domestic afairs, but too late
Hist. o f Rome, vol. 111. p.416.-ED.
to securc it!'
3 I t is evidently a mistalce that the Publilian law is here mentioned instead
of the Horatian, since the former affectcd only matters connected wit11 tho
administration, but the latter was still the onlj ,slid form for actual legislation.
Sec above, p. 215. -ED.
INSURRECTION O F THE P E O P L E .
41 1
412
DECREE OF IIOBTENSIUS.
415
the people far and wide against Rome; they first roused the
Lucanians, and then the Etruscans; and even the Samnites,
whose power was broken, were prevailed upon once inore to
take up arms and try the fortunes of war. Thc Greek towns
wcre no longer exclusively the friends of Tarentum; they now
looked to their own advantage, and were ready to sacrifice Tarentum to the Lucanians and Bruttians. A peacc had been
concluded between Rorne and Tarentum, after the third or even
after the second Samnite war, and in A.U. 451 or 452 they
already appear on t e r m of friendship; the Greek writers also
speak of this peace as an ancient treaty. They seem to have
mutually fixed their boundaries, the Romans pledging themselves not to appear in the bay of Tarentum with any ship of
war, north of the Lacinian promontory ; and thc Tarentines
must have made a similar promise.
LECTURE XLIX.
AFTER the close of the third Samnite war, every unbiassed
observer ought to have seen that the fate of Italy was decided,
and the Italian nations should have hastened to ally thelnselves
with Rome on terrns as favourable as they could obtain. But
passion is not possessed of such wisdom; and people always
expect that a deus ex machina will come to alter everything.
One nation after another entered the ranks of Rome's enemies;
and the Lucanians, who in the thircl Samnite war had been
allied with her, employed their independence to accomplish
their own objects, and to subdue the few Greek towns which
yet remained free. The Bruttians likewise joined the enemies
of Rome; but the Greek towns being abandoned by the Tarentines solicitecl its aid. The Etruscan nation, though in a state
of complete dissolution, still continued alternately at peace and
at war; the Vulsinians alone seem to have carried on a contest
without interruption. The power of the Samnites was completely shattered, yet they endeavoured to recover their strength
in order to take up arms again, as soon as they could hope to
do so with any success; for the present they kept aloof, and
416
E E
TT. CORUNCANILS-1,.
YAT,ERIUS'
him from the senate on account of' his love of luxuries. These
are the most distinguibhed inen ol' the period, but Rome seems
to have been rich in other great chamcters, and I believe that
even in its
intellectual culture, Rome was far above
the best periods of the middle ages, and that even in its
literatme.
Ti. Coruncallius was another great man; he was grcat us n
wise politician, altlloagh no distinct recollection of him WAS
perpetuated in the state; he was the fiist plebeian Polltifcx
Maximus, and enjoyed great reputation for his wisdom and
~rofoundknowledge of the law. H e was always looked upon
i s the beau ideal of a Pontifeex.
T--n- the
.
. . course of time the Romans became better aware of
their true relation to Tarentum: the peace continued only
because they were separated by other countries, and the wealth
of
obtaining
. the Tarentincs, their navy, and their facility in ..
.
-. Greek mercenaries rendered the Romans very much disinclined
to envane in a contest with tl~cm. As the Roman army was
p a
carrymg on the war in Lucania, surro~lndedon all sides by
guerillas, every thing that was wanted for the army had to be
sent by sen. The treaty respecting the mutual maritirne frontier which had been concluded about twenty years before,
must under tlre present circulnitai~ceshave appeared ~mnatur:xl
to the Romans: they might have said that at the time the
treaty was made they were not in possession of Venusia, and
that by the establisliment of that colony, they had tacitly
acquired the right of sailing beyond the Lacininn promontory :
but it appears that the Romans wanted to see how long the
Tarentines would allow matters to go on without a war. This
is the more probable, as according to a statemcut from one of
the lost books of Livy, which is confirnled by Zonnras, thc
Tarentines endeavoured to form a great coalition against the
Romans, with which even the expedition of the Gauls against
Arrctium is said to have been connected. Certain it is, that
they wished for such a coalition, but the varioos nations joined
it with hesitation. The Romans sent a squadron of ten triremes under the duumvir navalisl, L. Valerius, to the rcad of
Tarcntnm. I n all Greek cities the theatre was, if possible,
built in such a place as to havc a view of the sea, or at least
-
--
A.IJ.
This office must have hecn abolished prev~onslyto tho P u n ~ cmar, between
471 and A.U. 489.-N.
41 9
PYRREIUS O F E P I K U B .
42 1
422
LECTURE L.
THE kingdoin of the Molossians was first drawn fort11 from its
obscurity in the time of the Peloponnesian war, by Tharyps,
who had been educated at Athens. From the time of Philip,
the kingly Gamily of the Molossians was dividcd into two
branches, that of Arymbas, and that of Neoptolemus, the
father of Olympias; and the latter, or younger branch, being
supported by the influence of Macedonia, ascended the throne.
Philip, to favoux his wife's relations, extended the kingdom,
and Thesprotia and C'haoni~ seem to have belonged to it
as early as that time. Afterwards, howevcr, Aeacidas, the
f'ither of l'yrrhus, who belonged to the elder branch, succeeded to the throne. The legitinlate power of those Epirot
kings was very limited, likc that of the kings in the middle
ages. Aristotle compares them to the Lacedaemonian kings;
but the train of soldiers w11om they had at their command
was ccrtainlg not always insignificzmt ; and misled by this
source of power, Aeacidas, in opposition to the gcncral opillio~l
of his subjects, interfered in many occurrences of his time.
H e was a partizan of Olympias, although he had before been
expelled froin his kingdom by the arrogance of his cousin
Alexander of Epirus, and with peculiar generosity he involved
himself in the fate of that fury of a woman. By this means
he drew upon hirnself the hatred of Cassander, by whose
assistance he was expelled from Epirus. Pyrrllus was then
only two years old, and it was with the greatest difficulty that
he was saved by faithf~llservants, for Cassander was bent
upon destroying the whole family. EIe was brought up by
Glaucias, a prince of the Taulantians, although the latter had
been hostile to Aeacidas. Glaucias formed so great an attachment to the boy, that he did everything to protect him against
Cassander. No sooner had Pyrrhus grown up, than he went
to the court of Demetrius Poliorcetes and the aged Antigonus,
the one-eyed; amd it was in that school that he developed his
extraordinary talents as a general, although Demetrius was a
epoilcd genius. Pyrrhus there maintained his moral dignity
in the midst of the most profligate society. Demetrius nominally restored to him the killgdo~kl of the Alolossians; but,
424
EXPEDITION O F PYRKHUS.
425
which has never produced any man of note, for he was a native
of Larissa, in Thessaly, and probably belonged to the illustrious
family of the Aleuadae. He is called a disciple of Demosthenes,
but this is hardly conceivable, for Demosthenes had died forty
years before this time, and the statement is perhaps based upon
a misunderstanding; but he may have rcally been a sectator
Demosthenis. Few persons were then in a conditio~lrightly to
appreciate Demosthenes; but a man like Cineas would understand him, and be inspired by his orations. W e kllow nothillg
of thc manner in which Cineas bccame the friend of Pyrrhus,
although it is a question a satisfactory answer to which would
be worth more than a knowledge of a whole series of wars.
When Cineas landed in Italy, the Tarentines delivered up
their citadel to him, and he skilfully regulated his conduct
towards them in such a manner, as to keep them in good
humour and to deceive them in regard to the designs of
Pyrrhus: he allowed them to do as they pleased, and thereby
gaiaccl their full confidence; they made very few preparations,
thinlcing that others would bleed for them. Pyrrhus' own
resources were not great, but he procured succour froin several
neiglibouring princes, who provided him with elephants,
military engines, ships and other things necessary for the war,
and Ptolelny Ceraunus supplied him with 5000 Macedonisn
soldiers. Ile was a thorn in the side of all his neighbours, who
mere glad that he mas going to so distant a country. H e is
said to have crossed over with 20,000 foot, from 4000 to 5000
horse, and a number of elcphants, which is not distinctly stated.
He was ready carly in the ycar, but the passage was unfortunate,
partly because the art of managing ships was yet in its infancy,
and partly because the Epirots in particular were less skilled in
it than the Greeks. The sea near the Ceraunian cliffs, moreover,
was then, as it still is, notorious for sudden storms: the current
from thc Adriatic towards the Syrtes, which may almost be
compared to the great Mexican currcnt, rendered the comlnunication by water extremely difficult. Several ships of his
flect were lost, others were cast on shore, and he himself with
great difficulty reached the Sallentine coast, wherc he collected
all that had escaped from the sea. H e quickly proceeded to
Tarentum, which opened its gates to him; and no sooner was
his scattered fleet re-assembled than he began to take serious
measures at Tarentum. He saw that his army alone was not
BATTLE O F HERACLEAL.
sufficient for his object, and that it was too expensive to engage
mercenaries; he therefore ordered the gates to be closed, inade
a levy among the Tarentines thcmsclves, and incorporated them
with his phalanx. This measure displeased the people in the
highest degree, and many were anxious to escape; but he
increased the rigour of his proceedings, abolished the gymnasia
and other places of amusement, and appeared to the Tarentines
in the light of a tyrannical ruler. They were indeed greatly
disappointed in their expcctations, for they wished to treat
Pyrrhus like the princes whose scrvices they had cngaged
bcforc, intending to remain at home, while he was to carry on
their war; but Pyrrhus could not adopt such a plan, his liingciom was but small, and the war threatened to become bloody:
ibr which reasons he was obliged to demand the co-operation
of the Tarentines. They murmured, but were quitc powerless,
as he was in possession of the citadel; and the consequence was
that he had recourse to dictatorial measures.
Pyrrhus was opposed by only one consular artily under P. Valerius Laevinus. The history of this period, if we except the
of Pyrrhus, is very little kaown; but nomc was
probably employing a great part of her forces against Etruria,
in order to obtain a definite peace in that quarter. All Italy
was in a state of ferment; the Romans, although they made
their wavering allies give hostages, endeavoured every where
to conceal their fear, and raised great military forces; but it is
inconceivable how they could venturc to send only one consular army against Pyrrhus, whose personal character drew towards him all the nations far and wide. Among all the barbarian kings of that time, l1c alone was surrounded by the
lustre of ancient Grccce; anrl although he was not without
faults, yet he was a being of a higher order, and could effect
m u c l ~with little means. The Samnites and Lucanians had
sent ambassadors to him even while he was in Epirus; and the
Apulians and several other Italian nations joined him immediately on his arrival ; but this did not at once increase his forces.
Tllc proconsul I,. Acmilius Barbula, was engaged in Samnium
~vhichhc ravaged fearfully, in order to prevent the Samnites
conceiving the idea of joining Pyrrhus against the army of
1,acvinus. A correspondence took place between Pyrrhus and
Laevinus, in which the king offered to mediate between Rome
and Tarenturn. He had a high opinion of the Romans, but
427
stili hc did not know them sufficiently, for the tone of his letters, so far as we arc acquainted with them, mas not the right
one, and hence nothing was effected. The Ronlans required
him to atone for having, as a foreigner, entered Italy; and this
seems to have been their national view. Valerius now proceeded to Lucania; wishing to fight a battle before the king
was joined by an army of his Samnite and Lucanian allies,
since they wcre as yet probably prevented by the other consular
ariny. Pyrrhus had lilcewise gone to meet him, intending to
offer battle before thc two Roman armies should have united.
IIc advanced across the Siris, in the neighbourhood of Heraclea,
the most beautiful country in that part of Italy, which in fertility and ~vcalthequals Campania. EIe was confident of victory, and he wished to humble his Italian allies by defeating
the Ronlans without their assistance. The Romans seem to
have inade slow progress in their preparations; Pyrrhus threw
great difficulties in the way of their obtaining provisions, and
tlicy were obliged to fight that they might not be co~npelledto
quit that country and withdraw to Venusia, which would
have been dangerous on account of the allies. On the eve of'
the battle, while Pyrrhus was reconnoitcring the position of
the Romans, their order filled him with amazement : he was
accustomed to fight against Macedonians and Greeks or Illyriails, but when he saw the elasticity and training of the individual Roman soldier, the thought of the approaching battle
inadc him very serious. The opposite tactics of two exccllent
armies were to contend for victory: the Aiacedonians whose
tactics had then reached their highest point, fought in masses1,
but the Romans fought in lines far outflanking the enemy. If
the l3pirot phalanx waited for the Romans in its immoveable
position, the latter could do nothing, but it would have required
a great deal of courage, coolly to sustain the furious attack of
the Romans, the showcrs of pila and the vchcment onset with
swords. But as the Roman cavalry was badly mounted arid
'
428
We see from this what firm determination can do, 8s the cavalry of Pprrhus
trained and far superior in numbers.-N.
wn.r excellently
429
430
RETREAT O F PYRRHUS.
LECTURE LI.
431
432
433
P Y R R H U S TEIES T O NEGOTIATE.
BATTLE O F ABCU1,UM.
V O L . I.
F F
431
PYILRIIUS IN SICILY.
ARXY O F PYRRIIUS.
435
436
TOTAL DEFEAT OF P Y ~ R R U S .
the Romans learned that the enenly was behind them in the
mountains. They immediately prepared for a battle, and their
camp being easily defensible, their main army marched ont
agail~stthat of Pyrrhus. The Romans were already familiar
with fighting against elephants; they used burning arrows
wrapped up in hemp, which when thrown with sufficient force
penetrated the skin of the animals while the burning hemp
and pitch infuriated them. They had previously made a similar
attempt at Asculum; but they now employed this device on a
inuch larger scale. Great mischief was done by a female elephant
whose young one was wounded in this manner, for she rushcd
upon her masters with the utmost fury. The Epirots were
overwhelmed, their phalanx was completely broken, and the
defeat was so decisive, that Pyrrhus could not even maintain
his camp, but retreated to Tarentum. The Romans, besides
other booty, took eight elephants
The contest was now decided, and Pyrrhus' only thought
was how to give up the whole undertaking, though h e was
unwilling altogether to abandon his possessions in Italy. H e
accordingly left Milo at Tarentum with a considcrable force,
which was sufficient to prevent the Romans from venturing
upon a siege, but at the same time a fcarful scourge for Tarentum itself. The Romans now directed their arms against each
separate nation which they had to subdue, while Pyrrhus had
recourse to a stratagem for the purpose of getting away from
Italy. H e caused a report to be spread among the Tarentines
that he was going to settle the affairs of Macedonia, and that
he would then return with all the forccs of that kingdom. I t
is possible, however, that he actually entertained some belief
of this kind. After an absence of six years, he now returned
with a reduced army to Epirus. H e there found ample scope
for enterprises. Antigonus Gonatas, who had just been raised
to the throne of Macedonia, was deserted by his troops, and
all the country proclaimed Pyrrhus their king; but soon afterwards the Macedonians were exasperated by the licentious
conduct of his Gallic mercenaries, and again revolted to Antigonus. Pyrrhus then transferred the war to Peloponnesus,
and undertook an expedition against Sparta, in which he
nearly gained his object, but his success was thwarted at the
very moment when the Epirots were entering the city. For-
437
LECTURE LII.
Two years after Pyrrl~ushad quitted Italy (A. U. 480), L. Papirius the younger and Sp. Carvilius completed the subjugation
of Samnium. Both had been appointed to the command with
the full confidence that they would accornplish this object,
because twenty or twenty-five years before they had conducted
the most decisive campaign i11 the third Samnite war. The
Samnites had now come to the conviction that they could not
struggle against fate, and savcd tliemselves by a peace, which,
painful as it was, cannot be called disgraceful: it was in reality
a submission to lioine, rather than a peace. \.Ire know none
of the particular terms of' this peace; but it is clear that the
bonds of the confederacy, of which, however, only three cantons rcinained, were broken. The Samnite cantons continued
to exist scparately, and had to pledge therllselvcs ad majestatem
populi Romani comiter colendam.
llle same Papirius, either as consul or as proconsul, gained
po~scssion of Tarentum. Milo had remaincd behind in that
city with a few thousand Epirot troops. H e behaved altogether as a rongh warrior, or in reality as the captain of a
band of robbers, like the Spanish generals in the Ketherlands.
The soldiers thought themselves entitled to do anything they
7 3
438
SETTLElllENT O F ITALY.
439
440
ItOMAN ALLIES.
" The ren~aindcrof this Lecture has already appeared in Vol. I. of Nicbnllr's
Lectures on Rom. Hist. p. 9 5 , ctc. (London, 1844), where the history of lion~c
is continued S~omthe point at \vhich it here breaks of. Comp. the prcfacc to
the p. esent volume.-ED.
INDEX.
Aborigincq, explanation of this name,
1 9 ; one and the same people with
the Pelaqgians, 2 0
Accen-i, 323
Accounts of incorne and oxpenditure,
every Roman bound to keep, 388
Addiction by the l'rxtor, formula of,
133
---
INDEX.
106; his name, an Oscan word,
87; Servius regarded the whole
~
ib. ;
signifying " a r n n a w a ~slt~vc,"
nation as an, ib.
tribune of the celeres for the plebciArretium, siege 05 416
ans,
107
Arsia, battlc near thqforest of, parcly
Busta Gallica, their site in the Carinae,
mythical, 115
27 1
Art among the Romans, 468
h t i t i c e numcrical, in the nmnbcr of
Cxlcs Viheuna, the most celebrated
the Roman kings, 4
hero of the Etruscans, 67
Ascnlnm, battle of, 432
Czre, the namc given by the EtrusAssernblics of the pcople, moc!es of
cans to the Agylla, so called by the
proceeding in the, 1G9
Pelasgians, 6 1; conch~clcsa peace
Asses, their valuation in Atllenian
with Rome for a l~nndredyearsL3i9
drachmze. 91 ; in Englisll moncy, ib.
Czrite rights, 333 ; fr;)ncl~isc405
Astura, victory on the river, 327
Calcs, a stroilg colony estahlisl~edat,
Asylum opened by Romuliis on tlle
334
Capitoline Hill, 33; must bc referrud
Camillns, deliverance of the city liy,
to the Clientela, 81
domo~lstratcdto be fictitions, 127 ;
Athens, en~bassyto, 194
Attius Naevius, tr:~ilition respccti~~g the fact contr:~tlicted 11y Irolybius,
ib.; his war against thc Faliscans,
him, 54
251 ; scntenccd to n finc, 252, goes
Tullus, Coriolanos's going to
into exilc at Ardea, 253, commands
him apocryphal, 187
the Ardeatnns against tho Gauls,
Auctions, sale of the property of IGng
268, his fabnlous appcarancc to drive
Porsena previously to, 119
the Gauls from the city, 270, oiigin
Angnrs, their number raisecl, 394
of the story, ib. ; called a second
Augury, art of discovering the futnre
liomulus, 288; appoiilted Dictator,
by, the peculiar inheritance of the
288; vows a tcinplc of concord if
Sabellian ~cople,67
'he shonlil recoiicilc the two orders.
Auruncan tow&, twclvc, surrendered
ib.
to the Romans, 370
Campaign, duration of a, 163 n.; not
Anruncans, war with tlm, 126; callcd
usually opened by the Romans with
by the Greeks, Ausonians, 334; an
L: hattlc, 478
Oscan pcople, ib.
Authenticity of the materials of ailcic~~t Carnpnnia, 11ut t l ~ cdesignation of t l ~ c
couutry so callcd in the maps, 307;
lioman history examined, 1
the country of the inlrabitai~ts of
Aventine, the spccial town of thc plcCapua,307 s ; thc granary of Iiomc,
bcians, 33
406
Campanians wealtliy and nnw:xlikc,
1361, the law of, in capital offcnccs, 213
307
Bankruptcy, gcncral, 284
Canu1ei:tn law, the, 220
Belgac, Caesar erroneous in describing
Canvassing
appcars for t l ~ cfirst titnc,
them as a mixture of Germans
197
and Celts, 257; unquestionably
~ a i ) e n aits
, probable site, 2.10 r ~ .
Cymri, ib.
Capitis dcminutio, originnlly not atBel11,vesns and Sigovesus, probably
tcilcled with disgrace, 88
personifications, 257
Capitol taken by storm, 183 ; dcscri1)Besieging, skill of the Romans in, contion of the, 266
trasted with the Grccks, 350
Boliemia inhabited by Celts previously
C:~pitolinc Jnpitcr, situation of the
temple of, 373
to the time of Caesar, 259
Boians dcfeatcd on I;al<eVatlimo, 524 ; Capu;~or Vi~lturnnmfo~ultled,2.34;
their nation destroyed fifty years
the ruling popn1;ttion at first Etrosafterwards, ib.
cans, 303; insurrection at, ib. ;gi\rcn
Uovianum thrice talcen 11y the Romans,
np to the Samnites, 317; closcs its
gates against I'yrrlms, 429
470
Brirlle and bits used by the Romans
Carpenters and ~nasicians, centuries
cxtrcn~elycruel, 453
formed by them, 88
Britain, thc Cymri expcllcd by the
Carmental ggnte, exl)lanatiotl of thc
Gael from, 257
omen con~~ccted
with the, 163 n.
n
Britomaris causes the R o ~ n : ~ambasCarseoli, Ronian colonyfour~tlcdat,3;9
sadors to be niurdcrcd, 523
Carthaginians, gift of corn from the,
Brutus L. Junins, his rcputcd idiocy
187, extend their dominion in Sicily,
434
probably arosc solely fi om his rimnc,
--
--
60
--
INDEX.
Fabian family, foundation of their
greatness, 159
Fabii, thc, declare for the plebeians,
162; quit tlie city in a body, ib. ;
their destruction on the Crcmcm,
163; poetical version of tlicir destiuction, ib. ; Ambassadors to the
Gauls before Clusiam, 262
Fabius Ambustus, unli~storical statcnient respecting his daughters, 282
-- Dorso offers sacrifice on the
Qnirinal unmolested by tllc Gauls,
269
Maximus Q., liischa1actcr,359 ;
rcgardcd as thc first man of liis agc,
ib. ;his victory over the San~nitcs
against thc dicta to^'^ orders not to
fight, 360 ; respite of his execution
until the followi~ngdpy, ib. ;his fliglit
to Romc, ib. ;his res~gnationas Master of the Horse, 361 ; said to have
gained his victory by taking the
frena from the horscs, explanation
of this, ib. ; his patriotic couduct in
proclaiming Papirius Cursor, clictator, 375; in the capacity of a
lcgate reinforces l ~ i sson, 404
Pictor C., materials of his history, I ; his pictnrc for tho tcml)le of
Salns, 373; his Roma~ihistory, 381
Fabricius Lnscinus C., statue of, tho
first crectcd by a Greek city t 0 . a
Roman, 41 6; his firbt appearance 111
history, 417; efforts of l'yrhus to
retain him, 431
Falcrii, thc population of, at one time
thoroughly Tyrrl~cnian,37
Families, the city at first consistcd of
about 1,000, according to Plutarch,
mcaning of that q~idification,87
Family vanity, 12; records uscd by
Livy, ib.
Famine at Rome, 230; tradition that
thc aged were lcilled during a, 273
Ferentarii, the, 321
Ferentina, temple of, the comlnon
Sa~~ctonry
of the thirty towns, 127
Feria: Latin%,thcir foundation referred
to Tarqnia, 95; described, 104;
formerly the gcneral diet, become a
nlcre shadow, 330
Fetiales, their formula of procccding,
42; ten for each tribe, 46
Fic1on;e razcd to the grountl, 239
Fitles, why so important a goclcless
among the Romans, 133
Blavius Cn. the scribe, agentto Appius
Claudius the blind, 391 ; a bc~icfactor of tllc Romans, ib. ; his calendar,
392 ; fo~mnl;e actionum p~iblislled
by him, ib, ; elected aedile. ib.
Elcet built by the Romans, 312
Focnus onciarium, 275
--
-.
1 7 6-
Francliisc i~~separablc
fi on1 tllc soil, 1 54
Prccdmcn distributed anlone t l ~ tribes.
c
386
Frcgellz, color~yat, 334; cxami~iation
of tlic claim of the Samllitcs on tlic
ltomans to cvacuatc, 345; occupicd
by the Samnites, 367; co~nmandsthe
Latin road froin Tuscalum to Calnpania, ib. ; take11 by Pyrrhns, 540
.-
7n
Gentes, tho, united in numerical proportions into curiae, 36; not families
but free corporations, ib.; tlic Roman division illto, anhwered to tlne
yivq of the Greclrs, 7 1; originally
one hundred, 87; minorcs, more
particularly opposed to the plebeians,
186; clisappcarance of tlie distinction
betwcen mujores and minores, 198
Gentiles, Ciccro's definition of the
word, 7 1
Geniicius, Cn., principle of his stunmoning the patrician magistrates
before the commonaltv.
" . 166:, mnrdcr of, ib.
Genus
words,and
72 gens, comparison of thcse
his to^.^
INDEX
--
--
449
292
Milo loft at Tarentam by Pyrrhus,
436: I~cllaveslike the captain of n
baud of robbcrs, 437; betrays the
Tarcntines, 438; his departure, ib.
Molossians, two branches of the kiugly family of thc, 422
Mons Sacer, secession to, 139
M o ~ I ~ ~truce
I s , xrith the Veientincs for
forty years of ten each, 165
Monument of Porsena, its fabulous
construction, 116
Mound, the great, constructed by Servius Tullius, 98
Mourning, period of, 244
Mncius P. orders his ninc colleagues
in the tribuncsliip to be burnt alive,
193
Monicipia, 327
Mutius Sczvola, his mistake iaconccival~lcin history, 117
Nznim, songs at funerals a n ~ lafterwards inscribed on the tombs, 10;
laudationes and, sourccs of the carlicst history, I I
Namcs of nations, a fallacious criterion
of their history, 17
National vanity, 12
Neapolis, origin of its namc, 348; site
of the ancient city, ib. ; con(1ucrcd
by Q. l'ublilius l-'hilo, 35 1
Nequinum takcn Ily the Romans, 383 ;
its namc chnngcd to Narnia, ib.
Newton assigns scvcntccn years as tt
mean number to tho reign of aking, 4
Ncxum, the, 133; al~olitionof tho, 393;
diffcrcnt from addictio, 394
Nola, importance of thc Itonlan conquest of, 37 1
Nomcritum obtains the franchise, 328
Noricans in Austria of thc Celtic racc,
259
Numn Pompilius born on thc day of
the founclation of Rome, 5; hi8
rcign, 41; pcace durinr his rcign of
forty years historically Lpossible, ib.
Numerical schemcs in thc early chronological statcmcnts, 3; systems, the
Etruscan different from the Greck
or Tyrrhenian, 24
Nummi restituti, 289
Nundines, courts held on the, 391
Ocnotrians and Pcucctians, namcs of
the earliest inhabitants of tlic south
of Italy, 16
------ thc ancient Pelasgians, 356
Ogulnian
law rclatin~to thc Aiigur~,
45,394
Omen in a battle with the Samnites.
452
IND
Q~finctias,captain of an insurrection
in tho Itoman army, 313
I<., his iritcrfercncc with tho
plcbcs, 180; his trial, ib.
Qoirinal, existence of a Sabine town on
the, 37
Quirites, meaning of this dcsigriation
39
455
INDEX.
Sutrium, battlc of, 380; Livy's incrcdiblc account of the siege of, 381
Symmetrical arrmgcmcnis occurring
every where in ancient constitutions,
143 "
--
ZI
4 s
INDEX.