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THE CHAUTAUQUAN.

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE PROMOTION OF TRUE CULTURE. ORGAN OF THE CHAUTAUQUA LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC CIRCLE.

VOL. II.

APRIL, 1882.

No. 7.

Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle. of Spain. They traded with the Britons for tin, and with

President, J. H. Vincent, D. D., Plainfield, N. J.
General Secretary, Albert M. Martin, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Office Secretary, Miss Kate F. Kimball, Plainfield, N. J.

Counselors, Lyman Abbott, D. D.; J. M. Gibson, D. D.; Bishop H. W. Warren, D. D.; W. C. Wilkinson, D. D.

REQUIRED READING.

MOSAICS OF HISTORY.

VII.

ROME-II.

I roam

By Trasymene's Lake in the defiles
Fatal to Roman rashness, more at home;
For there the Carthaginian's warlike wiles
Come back before me as his skill beguiles
The host between the mountains and the shore
Where courage falls in her despairing files,
And torrents, swollen to rivers with their gore,
Reek o'er the sultry plain, with legions scattered o'er,
Like to a forest felled with mountain winds.

-Lord Byron. CAUSES OF THE PUNIC WARS.-We now approach what are called the Punic Wars, in which the Romans came in conflict with a branch of the Semitic race. At this time the Romans and Carthaginians had become jealous of each other, and were ready for war on any pretext. The purposes of commerce made it necessary for the Carthaginians to control the islands of the Mediterranean, and the pretext for a war was found when the inhabitants of Sicily invoked the help of Rome against Carthage. The Roman people were willing and eager to enter upon the conflict, and thus the first Punic war was begun, 265 B. C.*

POWER AND IMPORTANCE OF CARTHAGE.-For a space of more than a hundred years the conquest of the western world was held in debate between the Romans and the Carthaginians. The progress of Carthage toward universal dominion in the west had hitherto met with few and brief checks, and might well be regarded as irresistible. The fate of many generations of the human race in the seats of its highest moral advance and material culture depended upon the result of the struggle that was about to commence, which forms on this account, as well as from many of the details of its progress, one of the most interesting portions of human history. The Carthaginians had planted their emporia of trade on the coasts of Northern Africa, of Spain, of Sardinia and Corsica. They traded with the Phocæans of Massilia, and through them with the teeming population of transalpine Gaul. They worked the gold mines of Ilva, the silver mines of the Balearic Isles, and the gold mines *Gilman's General History.

the Frisians and Cimbri for amber. Wherever they found it necessary to protect their establishment with arms, they erected fortresses and planted garrisons. So far they met with little resistance, and the people themselves among whom they settled were easily induced to enlist in their armies for pay. The forces which Carthage could wield consisted of Libyans and Moors from Africa, of Spaniards, of Gauls and Greeks, and even of Italians. Trained under her own officers, chosen from the ranks of a proud and wealthy aristocracy, these hired soldiers were formed into hardy and disciplined warriors, and the ample and unfailing stipends they received kept them faithful to their chiefs and their standards. Their comfort was consulted by the politic measures of enlisting the men together with their wives and families, by which the mercenaries were attached permanently to the service for which they had once contracted, and, when sent on foreign adventure, left always hostages behind them. The stern constitution of the Carthaginian polity was itself an element of strength. The traditions of the state suffered little innovation. An ancient oligarchy bore sway, and the foundations on which it was fixed had proved for ages immovable. The attempt of the Carthaginians to possess themselves of the Greek colonies on the coast of Sicily was the first false step which led eventually to their ruin. Already Rome and Carthage had long watched each other with jealousy. Each perhaps was afraid to make a stroke which might draw down upon it the resentment of the other. The attack of Pyrrhus upon the Romans seemed to offer their rivals a favorable opportunity. But Carthage had given proof of her ambition, and Rome was on the alert to arrest her schemes, and present herself as the defender of the victims she had prematurely menaced.*

OUR AUTHORITY FOR THE HISTORY OF THE WARS.-Before entering upon the particulars of the great struggle between Rome and Carthage which now opens to view, it may be well to remind the reader that from this epoch we obtain for the first time the guidance of an historian of good faith, with sufficient means of verifying the events which he undertakes to relate. Polybius, our chief authority for the main incidents of the Punic wars, was born within fifty years of their commencement, and had from his position opportunity of communicating with many of the chief actors in them. He was moreover an educated Greek writer, familiar with the requirements of historical writing, and accustomed to seek and sift the evidence upon which he founded his narrative. Whatever may be his defects of insight into the spirit of the times and of the characters which he delineates, he was, at least, truthful and impartial, and what he tells us of his own knowledge we may confidently accept as fact.*

NAVAL POWER OF ROME.-The circumstances of the struggle with Pyrrhus, and the Southern Italians, had *Merivale's History of Rome.

nounced their claims upon Sicily, and promised to pay a large sum to defray the expenses of the war.*

IMPORTANCE OF THIS WAR.-The great importance of this war was that it forced Rome to become a first-rate naval power. Though the Romans did not during its course obtain the complete mastery of the sea, they showed themselves fully a match for the Carthaginians on the element of which they had scarcely any previous experience. Their land force being much superior to that of Carthage, and their resources not greatly inferior, it became tolerably apparent that success would ultimately rest with them. Their chief deficiency was in generalship, wherein their

forced Rome to become to some extent a maritime power. As she gradually mastered Italy, it became necessary to protect her coasts, exposed as they were to attacks from Epirus, from Sicily, from Carthage, even from Greece, as experience showed. Accordingly, a fleet began to be formed as early as B. C. 338, which received constant additions, and had by the year B. C. 267 acquired such importance that four "quæstors of the fleet" were then appointed and stationed at different ports of Italy with the special object of guarding the coasts, and keeping the marine in an efficient condition. But this new tendency on the part of the great Italian state could not fail to provoke the jealousy of the chief maritime power of the western Mediterranean, Carthage, whose policy it had always been to oppose the estab-commanders were decidedly surpassed, not only by the lishment of any naval rival in the waters which she regarded as her own. Thus, unfriendly feelings, arising out of a consciousness of clashing interests, had for some time been growing up between Carthage and Rome. Temporarily suspended during the height of the Pyrrhic war, when a common danger for a while drew the two states together, they burst out at its close in greater force than ever; and nothing was needed but a decent pretext in order that the two lukewarm allies should become open and avowed enemies. The pretext was not long wanting. The Mamertines, a body of Campanian mercenaries who had seized Messina, being threatened with destruction by the combined Carthaginians and Syracusans, applied for help to Rome.*

FIRST PUNIC WAR.-The Romans did not long hesitate to enter into a defensive alliance with the rapacious Mamertines, and to gain by this means an opportunity of subjecting the rich and beautiful island, although they saw plainly that the jealous Carthaginians, who were already in possession of the citadel of Messina, would oppose them with all their strength. A Roman army shortly after succeeded in driving back the disunited enemy from the walls of the city, in bringing the king, Hiero, into an alliance with Rome, and depriving the Carthaginians of the important town of Agrigentum. Upon this the Romans built a fleet after the model of a shipwrecked Panic vessel, and won the first naval engagement by means of the consul Duillius, at Mylæ. Encouraged by this success, they now determined to deprive the Carthaginians of their supremacy at sea, and passed over to Africa with a fleet and a large army, under the command of the heroic consul, Regulus. Regulus gradually approached, conquering and devasting to the gates of Carthage. The terrified Carthaginians sued for peace, but when they found the conditions offered them by the haughty conqueror too severe, they prepared for resistance, and committed the conduct of the defence to an experienced general, the Spartan Xantippus. This leader gave the Romans so severe a defeat at the sea-port town of Tunes, that only two thousand of their splendid army escaped. In a few years, however, they recovered themselves; they made a successful sally from Palermo, drove back the Carthaginians, and took possession of all their elephants. Victory remained for some years dubious. length the admirable Carthaginian general, Hamilcar Barcas, made himself master of the citadel Eryx, and overlooked from a lofty rock all the movements of the Romans. But this was only possible so long as there was no Roman fleet to prevent the communication with the sea. as two hundred ships had been fitted out at Rome, by private contributions, and by employing the treasures in the temples, and the consul Lutatius Catulus had defeated the enemy's fleet at the Egatian islands, the Carthaginians were compelled to consent to a peace, in which they re

* Rawlinson's "Ancient History."

At

As soon

Carthaginian patriot, Hamilear, but even the mercenary Xantippus. Here the Roman system was principally to blame, whereby the commanders were changed annually, and the same person was expected to be able to command equally well both by land and by sea. Carthage continued her commanders in office, and had separate ones for the land and the sea service. Even Carthage, however, was unwise enough to deprive herself of the services of many an experienced captain by the barbarous practice of putting to death any general or admiral who experienced a reverse.†

INTERVAL BETWEEN FIRST AND SECOND PUNIC WARS. -An interval of twenty-three years separated the first from the second Punic War. It was employed by both sides in energetic efforts to consolidate and extend their power. Rome, in B. C. 238, taking advantage of the position in which Carthage was placed by the revolt of her mercenaries, made herself mistress of the island of Sardinia, and when upon the submission of the mercenaries, Carthage required its restoration, played the part of the wolf in the fable, declared herself injured by her victim and threatened a renewal of the war. Exhausted, Carthage had to purchase her forbearance by the cession of the island, and the payment of a fine amounting to 1,200 talents, B. C. 237.+

SECOND PUNIC WAR.-The second Punic War was declared by Hannibal of Carthage, one of the greatest generals of the world. Hannibal had in his infancy been dedicated by his father, Hamilear, to eternal hatred of Rome, and this fact exerted a powerful influence upon his life, for a prophecy known becomes often a means of its own fulfillment. Fortified by this baptism of hate, and by his own firm purpose, the young general led a large army toward Rome, crossing first the Pyrenees, and then, probably, by the Little St. Bernard, the Alps, and encamping in Italy, 218 B. C. After minor battles, he engaged the Romans under Flaminius, at Lake Trasimene, northeast of Rome, and utterly routed them. For a while Hannibal was opposed by Fabius Maximus, whose policy of delay has ever been known as Fabian. He was superseded by his eminent countrymen, and Lucius Emilius Paulus, a man of rashness and impetuosity, taking the command, precipitated battle at Canne, southeast of Rome, which resulted in the destruction of eighty senators and eighty thousand Roman citizens. This victory left the Carthaginian army shattered, and the rest that Hannibal allowed it at Capua, demoralized it still more, giving the enemy an opportunity for recuperation. After the Carthaginians had lost most of their possessions in Spain, the command of the army of Rome, sent to oppose them, was accepted by Publius Cornelius Scipio, a man of but twenty-four years, scarcely inferior to Hannibal. His campaign was successful, and in the year B. C. 204, he "carried the war into Africa,"

Dr. George Weber.

+ George Rawlinson.

forced Hannibal to leave Italy for the protection of Carthage, and finally, at the battle of Zama, 202 B. C., routed the Carthaginian army, and obliged Hannibal to accept terms of peace. He was thereafter called Scipio Africanus.*

MACEDONIAN WAR.-Besides the Punic Wars, the Romans were involved in three with Macedonia. The first lasted from 214 to 205 B. C., and grew out of complications arising from a treaty made by Philip with Hannibal after the battle of Cannæ. The Romans were fully occupied at the time with wars at other points, and this war was not of importance in its results. The second Macedonian War, from 200 to 197 B. C., arose from a request that the Athenians made that the Romans would give them aid in their struggle against Philip. The war was closed by the terrible battle of Cynoscephalæ, 197 B. C., in which the Macedonian army was completely defeated, and a few years later a Roman protectorate was established over the whole of Greece. The third Macedonian War was precipitated by Perseus, the eldest son of Philip, who desired to make one more effort to conquer Rome. It began 172 B. C., and was terminated by the battle of Pydna, 168 B. C. In this battle Perseus was defeated and taken prisoner, and, though treated mercifully, was led, with his wife and children, through the streets of Rome in the triumphal procession. The empire was divided into four independent districts, with republican institutions, and thus its unity and strength were broken.*

ROMAN GOVERNMENT OF CONQUERED TERRITORY.— While, however, professedly leaving the countries she had conquered to govern themselves, Rome could not bring her self really to let them act as they pleased. What she did was to substitute for government a system of surveillance. Everywhere she was continually sending commissioners who not merely kept her acquainted with all that passed in the states which they visited, but actually interfered with the freedom of government, suggesting certain proceedings and forbidding others, acting as referees in all quarrels between state and state, giving their decisions in the name of Rome, and threatening her vengeance on the recalcitrant.+

INFLUENCE OF GREEK CULTURE.-The acquaintance of the Romans with Greece was attended with the most important consequences to their civilization, manners, and mode of living. The works of Greek art and literature that had been taken from the conquered towns, produced in the more susceptible part of the nation, a taste for cultivation, and awakened a fresh class of feelings. A powerful party, at the head of which stood the Scipios, Marcellus, Flaminius and many others, patronized the Greek philosophy, poetry and art, cherished and supported the learned men, philosophers and poets of that nation, and sought to transport the spirit and language of the conquered people to Rome, together with their works of art. Under the protection of the Scipios, Roman poets wrote verses in imitation of their Greek prototypes. But literature and the arts were not the only things that were borrowed; elegance and refinement in the arrangement of dwellings, luxury and extravagance in meals and dress, politeness and suavity in social intercourse, sensual enjoyment, and luxurious pleasures were copied by the Romans from the Greeks and Orientals. An opposite party, with Porcius Cato at its head, earnestly conibated the new system that threatened to destroy the ancient manners, discipline, simplicity, moderation, and hardihood. The severity with which this remarkable man in his office of censor, opposed the new direction of things, has made his name proverbial. By his aid the Greek philosophers

*Gilman's General History.

+ Rawlinson's Ancient History.

were banished from Rome; the schools of oratory closed; the dissolute festivals of Bacchus and other religious customs derived from abroad, interdicted; the Scipios punished as corruptors of morals; and laws proclaimed against luxury and excess. For the purpose of counteracting the influence of the new literature, he himself wrote works upon agriculture, the basis of Rome's former greatness, and upon the people of ancient Italy, whose simplicity and purity of morals he wished to contrast with the commencing degeneracy of his time. But the example of Cato, who learned Greek in his old age, shows that the rigid attachment to the ancient and traditional invariably gives way before new efforts at progress.*

THIRD PUNIC WAR.-In the meanwhile, Carthage had again recovered a portion of her prosperity. This reawakened the envy of the Romans, and gave emphasis to Cato's expression that “Carthage must be destroyed." Masinissa, king of Numidia, relying upon Roman protection, enlarged his own territory at the expense of that of the Carthaginians, and at last irritated them so much by perpetual quarrels about boundaries, that they took up arms to defend their own possessions. This was looked upon in Rome as an infringement of the peace, and occasioned a declaration of war. The Carthaginians implored indulgence and delivered up, at the demand of the Romans, first, three hundred respectable hostages, and afterwards, their ships and weapons. But when this was followed by a decree that Carthage should be burnt to the ground, and a new city erected farther from the coast, the inhabitants determined rather to perish beneath the ruins of their houses than submit to such a disgrace. A spirit of courage and patriotism took possession of all sexes and conditions. The town presented the appearance of a camp; the temples were converted into smithies for forging arms, and everything was made subservient to the lofty purpose of saving the state. Even the veteran legions of Rome were unable to withstand such enthusiasm as this. They were repeatedly repulsed, and reduced to a precarious condition, until the younger Scipio, the able son of Paulus Æmilius, was appointed to the consulate before the lawful age, with dictatorial power. After a most desperate resistance, and a murderous conflict for six days in the streets, it was he who at length succeeded in reducing the city, after it had suffered all the extremities of famine. The rage of the soldiers, and a conflagration that lasted for seventeen days, converted Carthage, the once proud mistress of the Mediterranean, into a heap of ruins; 50,000 inhabitants, whom the sword had spared, were carried into slavery by the conqueror, who from this time bore the name of the younger Africanus. The territory of Carthage was turned into a Roman province called Africa, and the rebuilding of the city denounced with a curse.*

THE GRACCHI.-The same year Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus died in Rome. His father had been a consul, and his mother was Cornelia, a daughter of Scipio Africanus. His mother encouraged him to enter polities, and hè, noticing the oppression of the poor by the rich, determined to be the friend of the helpless people. He proposed various radical schemes for the more equal distribution of wealth, which only resulted in excitement, and he was assassinated in front of the temple of Jupiter. He left a brother, Caius Sempronius Gracchus, who also befriended the people, but was likewise unsuccessful. He was an orator of terse eloquence and natural ardor, being ranked by many critics higher than Cicero.†

* Dr. George Weber.

+ Gilman's General History.

WAR WITH JUGURTHA.-After the time of the Gracchi, the next important event is the war with Jugurtha, king of Numidia. The Romans declared war against Jugurtha in the year B. C. 111; but he bribed the generals to make, peace and then broke his agreement as he chose. At last he was summoned to Rome to answer for his conduct. Whilst he was at Rome he caused the murder of one of Masinissa's grandsons, who was living there. He was obliged to leave Rome instantly and war was declared. The Roman Senate made Cecilius Metellus the commander of their armies, and he chose Caius Marius to be next in command to himself. They were successful in the war against Jugurtha, and after some sieges and battles, bribed Bomilcar, Jugurtha's general, to take the part of the Romans. Bomilcar persuaded another of the Numidian generals to do the same; in fact, Jugurtha had no one really to depend upon, and, though he fought bravely and commanded well, he was in great danger of being entirely conquered. During this time Marius and Metellus were learning to dislike each other more and more. Marius, hearing that consuls were to be chosen at Rome, proposed to go and offer himself to be one; but Metellus openly scorned him, thinking it absurd that a man of low birth should be chief ruler over a people like the Ro- | mans. Marius, however, did go, and was chosen; and the first thing he did afterward was to have Metellus recalled from Africa. This was a great trial to Metellus, for Marius was to have the command instead of him. When Marius landed in Africa, he and Jugurtha began the war in a man ner which showed they were determined to carry it on resolutely. Jugurtha was assisted by his father-in-law, Bocchus, king of Mauritania, but he could not stand against Marius who went on taking one place after another until nearly the whole of Numidia had submitted to him. Jugurtha took refuge in the dominions of Bocchus when he found that the Romans were gaining ground so fast. Bocchus lost one great battle, in which Lucius Cornelius Sylla distinguished himself particularly, and then he began to think that it would be wise to make peace for himself. He delayed for some time, for Sylla, who was sent to settle the terms of peace, declared he would not consent to it, unless Jugurtha was delivered up; whilst Jugurtha, at the very same time, endeavored to persuade Bocchus to seize Sylla. Bocchus decided at last upon siding with the Romans, and, after having told Jugurtha that if he would meet him at a certain place Sylla should be given into his hands, he treacherously caused him to be surrounded by the Romans, and made a prisoner. Marius returned to Rome as a conqueror, and was honored with a splendid triumph. The unfortunate king of Numidia was led in chains before his conqueror, dressed in his royal robes, and accompanied by his two sons. When the triumph was over he was thrust into the cold, dark dungeon of the state prison; and, after being kept several days without food, he died.*

WAR WITH THE BARBARIANS.-Before the war with Jugurtha was over that with the northern barbarians had begun. The Cimbri and Teutones-Celts, probably, and Ger. mans-issuing as it would seem from the tract beyond the Rhine and Danube, appeared suddenly in vast numbers in the region between those streams and the Alps, ravaging it at their will, and from time to time threatening, and even crossing the Roman frontier, and inflicting losses upon the Roman armies. The natives of the region especially subject to their ravages, in great part, joined them, especially the Ambrones, Tigurini and Tectosages. As early as B. C. 113, a horde of Cimbri crossed the Alps and defeated the Consul Cn. Papirius Carbo, in Istria. In B. C. 109, Cimbri appeared on the borders of Roman Gaul and demanded lands. Op

*Sewall's History of Rome.

posed by the Consul M. Junius Silanus, they attacked and defeated him; and from this time till B. C. 101, the war raged almost continuously, Marius finally bringing it to a close by his victory near Vercellæ in that year.*

THE SOCIAL WAR.-In B. C. 91, M. Livius Drusus brought forward a set of measures, which had for their object the reconcilement at Rome of the Senatorian with the Equestrian order, and in Italy, of the claims of the Italians with those of the old citizens of Rome. Drusus seems to have possessed mere good intentions, combined with average ability. He carried his lex de judiciis, but was unable to pass that extending the franchise. Once more the Roman conservatives had recourse to assassination, and delayed a necessary reform by a bold use of the knife. Drusus was murdered before his year of office was out, and the laws which he had passed were declared null and void by the government. The murder of Drusus drove the Italians to despair. The tribes of Central and Southern Italy, finding their champion murdered, and their hopes dashed to the ground, flew to arms. Eight nations, chiefly of the Sabine stock, entered into close alliance, chose Corfinium, in the Pelignian Apennines, for their capital, and formed a federal republic, to which they gave the name of "Italia." At the outset great success attended the effort, and it seemed as if Rome must have succumbed. Lucius Cæsar, one of the consuls, Perperua, one of his legates, and Pastumius, the prætor, were defeated. The allies overran Campania, destroyed a consular army under Cæpio, and entered into negotiations with the northern Italians, whose fidelity now wavered. But the sagacious policy of Rome changed the face of affairs, and secured her a triumph which she could not have accomplished by arms alone. The "Julian law" conferred full citizenship both on such of the Italians as had taken no part in the war hitherto, the Etruscans, Umbrians, Sabines proper, Hernicans, etc., and also upon all such as upon the passage of the law ceased to take part in it. By this proviso the revolt became disorganized, a "peace party" was formed in the ranks of the allies; nation after nation fell away from the league; Rome gained successes in the field; and at last, when only Samnium and Lucania remained in arms, the policy of concession was once more adroitly used, and the "lex Platia," which granted all the allies had ever claimed, put an end to the war.*

FIRST MITHRADATIC WAR.-The allies were scarcely appeased before the Romans were threatened from the East by an enemy as sagacious as he was bold-Mithradates, King of the Pontus, on the Black Sea. Like Hannibal, an enemy of the Romans, this warlike prince, who was a good linguist, endeavored to unite the Grecian and Asiatic states in a vast confederacy, and to free them from the Roman dominion. By his orders, all the Roman subjects in Western Asia, 80,000 in number, were put to death in one frightful day of slaughter. At the same time he seized upon some countries in alliance with the Romans, and sent an army into Greece to protect Athens, Boeotia, and other states that had joined him. Hereupon the Romans gave the command against Mithradates to Sylla, who had distinguished himself in the social war, and been rewarded by the consulate. But Marius envied his opponent this Asiatic campaign, and procured a resolution of the people by which he himself was appointed to conduct the Mithradatic war. Sylla, who was with his army in Lower Italy, now marched upon Rome, had Marius and eleven of his confederates outlawed as traitors to their country, and adopted proper measures for the preservation of peace. Sylla now passed over into Greece, stormed Athens, seized upon the treasures in the temple of Delphi, *Rawlinson's Ancient History.

and overthrew the generals of the King of Pontus in two engagements. He then marched through Macedonia and Thracia into Asia Minor, and compelled Mithradates to a peace, by which Rome not only recovered her dominion over the whole of Western Asia, but was indemnified for the expenses of the war by the payment of a large sum of money, and the cession of the Pontic fleet.*

THE FIRST CIVIL WAR.-In the meantime Marius had returned from the ruins of Carthage again into Italy, and surrounding himself with a band of desperate men, had marched to the gates of Rome, in conjunction with the democratic leaders, Cinna and Sertorius. The city, weakened

by famine and dissension, was compelled to surrender; upon which Marius gave free course to his thirst for vengeance. After this gratification of his vengeance, Marius had him-self chosen consul for the seventh time, but died about two weeks after, from the effects of excitement and a dissolute life. In the year B. C. 83, Sylla landed in Italy, after the termination of the first Mithradatic war, and marched, with the support of the aristocracy, upon Rome. In Lower Italy he defeated the democratic consuls in numerous engagements, drove the younger Marius to self-destruction in the strong city of Præneste, by the close siege he laid to the place, and in a murderous battle before the gates of Rome, annihilated the Marian party and the rebellious Samnites, 8,000 of whom he slaughtered before the eyes of the trembling senate. The civil war had already cost the lives of 100,000 men, when Sylla, for the purpose of completing his triumph, made public his proscriptions, upon which were written the names of the Marian party who were to be killed and plundered. Sylla, who was named dictator for an indefinite period, proclaimed the Cornelian law, by which the whole power of the government fell into the hands of the aristocracy, and the influence of the tribunes was destroyed. After the conclusion of these arrangements, Sylla retired to his estate, where he shortly after died.*

RISE OF POMPEY, AND SERTORIAN WAR.-The individual who had the greatest share in bringing about the reversal of Sylla's reforms, rose into notice under Sylla himself, but acquired the influence which enabled him to effect a great constitutional change in the wars which intervened between the years B. C. 77 and 70. Cn. Pompeius, whose father was a "new man," and who was thus only just within the pale of the nobility, secured for himself a certain consideration by the zeal with which he worked for Sylla. Having crushed the Marians in Sicily and Africa, and lent effectual aid to the consul Catulus against Lepidus, he was rewarded in B. C. 71 by being sent as proconsul to Spain, where Sertorius, recently one of the Marian leaders, had established an independent kingdom, and defied all the efforts of the aged Metellus to reduce him. Originally the object of Sertorius was to maintain himself in a position of antagonism to Rome by the swords of the Spaniards; but when Perperua and the remnant of the Marian party fled to him, his views became enlarged, and he aspired to reinstate his partisans in authority at Rome itself. He would probably have succeeded in this aim had not Perperua, thinking that he had found an opportunity of supplanting him in the affections of the Spaniards, removed him by assassination. The war was after this soon brought to a close, Perperua having neither Sertorius' genius for command nor his power of awakening personal attachment.+

WAR OF THE GLADIATORS.-Before the Sertorian war was ended, that of the Gladiators had broken out. Sparta

* Dr. George Weber. Rawlinson's Ancient History,

|

cus, a Thracian chief, who had been made prisoner, and then forced to become a gladiator, persuaded those in the same condition as himself, at Capua, to rise against their tyrants. Joined by vast numbers of slaves and outlaws, he soon found himself at the head of one hundred thousand men. Four generals sent against him were defeated signally, and during two entire years he ravaged Italy at his will, and even threatened Rome itself. But intestine division showed itself in his ranks; his lieutenants grew jealous of him, and in B. C. 71, the war was committed to the prætor Crassus, whe in six months brought it to a termination. Spartacus fell, fighting bravely, near Brundusium. His followers generally dispersed; but a body of 5,000, which kept together, forced its way through Italy and had nearly reached the Alps, when Pompey, on his return from Spain, fell in with it and destroyed it utterly. About the same time Crassus crucified all those whom he had made prisoners, amounting to 6,000.*

WAR AGAINST THE PIRATES.-Pompey rendered his name even more illustrious in Asia, where he brought the war against the Pirates to a conclusion, than in the expedition against the slaves. In the sterile mountain regions, on the south of Asia Minor, lived a daring race of free-booters, who disturbed the whole Mediterranean by piracy, visited the coasts and islands with plunder and desolation, dragged off noble Romans as prisoners, for the purpose of exacting a heavy ransom, and interrupted trade and commerce. Hereupon Pompey was invested with the most unlimited dictatorial power over all seas, coasts and islands. With a splendidly equipped fleet and army, he cleared in three months the whole Mediterranean from the pirates, subdued the towns and fortresses in their own country, and settled many of the inhabitants in the newly built town, Pompeiopolis.†

THE SECOND MITHRADATIC WAR.-In the mean time, Mithradates, encouraged by Rome's internal disturbances, had begun a fresh war. Lucullus was besieging the rich island town of Cyzicus, and Mithradates attempted to relieve it; but Lucullus fell upon him and gave him such an overthrow, that he retreated in haste to his kingdom of Pontus; and when this also fell a prey to the victor, he sought aid and protection from his son-in-law, Tigranes, king of Armenia. But Lucullus defeated the enormous host of the Armenian king in the neighborhood of his capital, Tigranocerta, and was already making preparations for overthrowing the whole empire, and extending the Roman dominions as far as Parthia, when the legions refused obedience to their general. Upon this Lucullus retired to his wealth and his pleasure-gardens, and Pompey united the command of the Armenio-Pontic army to his other dignities. He conquered Mithradates, who had assembled fresh forces, in a night engagement on the Euphrates, reduced the Armenian king to homage and submission, and then put an end to the rule of the Seleucidæ in Syria. Mithradates, deprived of the greater part of his territories, and despairing of a successful issue, destroyed himself. After Pompey, at his own pleasure, had disposed of the conquered lands in Asia, in such a way that the Roman empire was enlarged by three provinces, and some of the more distant lands had been ceded to tributary kings, he returned to Rome, where he held a public entry of two days, and filled the treasury with enormous wealth.t

CONSULSHIP OF CICERO.-A short time before this M. Tullius Cicero, Pompey's friend and the companion of his

*Rawlinson's Ancient History.

+ Dr. George Weber.

B

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