2. Polybius, Histories, 1.81.11, 2.7, 2.59-2.60, 3.4.2-3.4.3, 3.4.6, 3.22-3.24, 3.27, 3.31-3.32, 4.21, 6.8.4-6.8.6, 6.9.5-6.9.9, 6.56.1-6.56.5, 6.57, 10.3-10.5, 10.18-10.19, 22.8, 31.22.2, 31.26-31.28 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 2.7. 1. For we are but men, and to meet with some unexpected blow is not the sufferer's fault, but that of Fortune and those who inflict it on him;,2. but when we involve ourselves by sheer lack of judgement and with our eyes open in the depth of misfortune, everyone acknowledges that we have none to blame but ourselves.,3. It is for this reason that those whom Fortune leads astray meet with pity, pardon and help, but if their failures are due to their own indiscretion, all right-thinking men blame and reproach them.,4. And in this case the Greeks would have been amply justified in their censure of the Epirots.,5. To begin with would not anyone who is aware of the general reputation of the Gauls, think twice before entrusting to them a wealthy city, the betrayal of which was easy and profitable?,6. In the second place who would not have been cautious in the case of a company with such a bad name? First of all they had been expelled from their own country by a general movement of their fellow-countrymen owing to their having betrayed their own friends and kinsmen.,7. Again, when the Carthaginians, hard pressed by the war, received them, they first availed themselves of a dispute about pay between the soldiers and the generals to pillage the city of Agrigentum of which they formed the garrison, being then above three thousand strong.,8. Afterwards, when the Carthaginians sent them on the same service to Eryx, then besieged by the Romans, they attempted to betray the city and those who were suffering siege in their company,,9. and when this plan fell through, they deserted to the Romans. The Romans entrusted them with the guard of the temple of Venus Erycina, which again they pillaged.,10. Therefore, no sooner was the war with Carthage over, than the Romans, having clear evidence of their infamous character, took the very first opportunity of disarming them, putting them on board ship and banishing them from the whole of Italy.,11. These were the men whom the Epirots employed to guard their most flourishing city. How then can they be acquitted of the charge of causing their own misfortunes?,12. I thought it necessary to speak at some length on this subject in order to show how foolish the Epirots were, and that no people, if wise, should ever admit a garrison stronger than their own forces, especially if composed of barbarians. 2.59. 1. Again he tells us that Aristomachus of Argos, a man of most noble birth, having himself been tyrant of Argos and being descended from tyrants, was led away captive to Cenchreae and there racked to death, no man deserving less such a terrible fate.,2. Exercising in this case too his peculiar talent, the author gives us a made-up story of his cries when on the rack having reached the ears of the neighbours, some of whom, horrified at the crime, others scarcely crediting their senses and others in hot indignation ran to the house.,3. About Phylarchus' vice of sensationalism I need say no more, for I have given sufficient evidence of it;,4. but as for Aristomachus, even if he had been guilty of no other offence to the Achaeans, I consider that the general tenor of his life and his treason to his own country rendered him worthy of the most severe punishment.,5. Our author, it is true, with the view of magnifying his importance and moving his readers to share his own indignation at his fate, tells us that he "not only had been a tyrant himself but was descended from tyrants.",6. It would be difficult for anyone to bring a graver or more bitter accusation against a man. Why! the very word "tyrant" alone conveys to us the height of impiety and comprises in itself the sum of all human defiance of law and justice.,7. Aristomachus, if it is true that he was subjected to the most terrible punishment, as Phylarchus tells us, did not get his full deserts for the doings on one day;,8. I mean the day on which when Aratus with the Achaeans had gained entrance to the town and fought hard to free the Argives at great risk, but was finally driven out, because none of those inside the city who had agreed to join him ventured to stir,9. owing to their fear of the tyrant, Aristomachus, availing himself of the pretext that certain persons were cognisant of the entrance of the Achaeans, put to death eighty of the leading citizens who were quite innocent, after torturing them before the eyes of their relatives.,10. I say nothing of the crimes that he and his ancestors were guilty of all through their lives: it would be too long a story. 2.60. 1. We must not therefore think it shocking if he met with treatment similar to what he had inflicted: it would have been much more so had he died in peace, without experiencing any such.,2. Nor should we charge Antigonus and Aratus with criminal conduct, if having captured him in war they had tortured and put to death a tyrant, any man who killed and punished whom even in the time of peace would have been applauded and honoured by all right-thinking people.,3. When I add that in addition to all his other offences he broke his faith with the Achaeans, what fate shall we say was too bad for him?,4. Not many years previously he had laid down his tyranny, finding himself in an embarrassed position owing to the death of Demetrius, and quite contrary to his expectation suffered no harm, being protected by the Achaeans,,5. who showed themselves most lenient and generous; for not only did they inflict no punishment on him for the crimes he had committed during his tyranny, but receiving him with the highest dignity, making him their Strategus and Commander-inâchief.,6. But instantly dismissing from his mind all these benefits, the moment it seemed to him that his prospects would be somewhat more brilliant if he sided with Cleomenes, he broke away from the Achaeans, transferring from them to the enemy at a most critical time his personal support and that of his country.,7. Surely when they got him into their hands, he should not have been racked to death at night in Cenchreae, as Phylarchus says, but should have been led round the whole Peloponnesus and tortured as a spectacle for the public until dead.,8. Yet notwithstanding his abominable character, all the harm he suffered was to be drowned in the sea by the officers in command at Cenchreae. 3.4.2. For the period of fifty-three years finished here, and the growth and advance of Roman power was now complete. 3.4.3. Besides which it was now universally accepted as a necessary fact that henceforth all must submit to the Romans and obey their orders. 3.4.6. I must append to the history of the above period an account of the subsequent policy of the conquerors and their method of universal rule, as well as of the various opinions and appreciations of their rulers entertained by the subjects, and finally I must describe what were the prevailing and domit tendencies and ambitions of the various peoples in their private and public life. 3.22. 1. The first treaty between Rome and Carthage dates from the consulship of Lucius Junius Brutus and Marcus Horatius, the first Consuls after the expulsion of the kings, and the founders of the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus.,2. This is twenty-eight years before the crossing of Xerxes to Greece.,3. I give below as accurate a rendering as I can of this treaty, but the ancient Roman language differs so much from the modern that it can only be partially made out, and that after much application, by the most intelligent men.,4. The treaty is more or less as follows: "There is to be friendship between the Romans and their allies and the Carthaginians and their allies on these terms:,5. The Romans and their allies not to sail with long ships beyond the Fair Promontory,6. unless forced by storm or by enemies: it is forbidden to anyone carried beyond it by force to buy or carry away anything beyond what is required for the repair of his ship or for sacrifice,,7. and he must depart within five days.,8. Men coming to trade may conclude no business except in the presence of a herald or town-clerk,,9. and the price of whatever is sold in the presence of such shall be secured to the vendor by the state, if the sale take place in Libya or Sardinia.,10. If any Roman come to the Carthaginian province in Sicily, he shall enjoy equal rights with the others.,11. The Carthaginians shall do no wrong to the peoples of Ardea, Antium, Laurentium, Circeii, Terracina, or any other city of the Latins who are subject to Rome.,12. Touching the Latins who are not subjects, they shall keep their hands off their cities, and if they take any city shall deliver it up to the Romans undamaged.,13. They shall build no fort in the Latin territory. If they enter the land in arms, they shall not pass a night therein. 3.23. 1. The "Fair Promontory" is that lying in front of Carthage to the North.,2. The Carthaginians forbid the Romans absolutely to sail south of this on its western side in long ships, the reason being, I think that they did not wish them to become acquainted either with the district round Byssatis or that near the lesser Syrtis, which they call Emporia, owing to their great fertility.,3. If anyone, carried there by a storm or driven by his enemies, requires anything for the purpose of sacrificing to the gods or of repairing his ships, he may have this, but nothing beyond it, and those who touch there must leave within five days.,4. To Carthage itself and all parts of Libya on this side of the Fair Promontory, to Sardinia and the Carthaginian province of Sicily the Romans may come for trading purposes, and the Carthaginian state engages to secure payment of their just debts.,5. The phrasing of this treaty shows that they consider Sardinia and Libya as their own, whereas they distinctly express themselves otherwise about Sicily, mentioning only in the treaty those parts of it which are under Carthaginian rule.,6. Similarly, the Romans include in the treaty Latium alone, making no mention of the rest of Italy as it was not then subject to their authority. 3.24. 1. At a later date they made another treaty, in which the Carthaginians include Tyre and Utica,,2. and mention, in addition to the Fair Promontory, Mastia and Tarseum as points beyond which the Romans may not either make marauding expeditions, or trade, or found cities. This treaty is more or less as follows:,3. "There is to be friendship on the following conditions between the Romans and their allies and the Carthaginians, Tyrians, and the people of Utica and their respective allies.,4. The Romans shall not maraud or trade or found a city on the farther side of Fair Promontory, Mastia, and Tarseum.,5. If the Carthaginians capture any city in Latium not subject to Rome, they shall keep the valuables and the men, but give up the city.,6. If any Carthaginians take captive any of a people with whom the Romans have a treaty of peace, but who are not subject to Rome, they shall not bring them into Roman harbours, but if one be brought in and a Roman lay hold of him, he shall be set free.,7. The Romans shall not do likewise.,8. If a Roman gets water or provisions from any place over which the Carthaginians rule, he shall not use these provisions to wrong any member of a people with whom the Carthaginians have peace and friendship.,9. The Carthaginians shall not do likewise.,10. If either do so, the aggrieved person shall not take private vengeance, and if he do, his wrongdoing shall be public.,11. No Roman shall trade or found a city in Sardinia and Libya nor remain in a Sardinian or Libyan post longer than is required for taking in provisions or repairing his ship. If he be driven there by stress of weather, he shall depart within five days.,12. In the Carthaginian province of Sicily and at Carthage he may do and sell anything that is permitted to a citizen.,13. A Carthaginian in Rome may do likewise.",14. Again in this treaty they lay particular stress on Libya and Sardinia, asserting them to be their own private property and closing all landing-places to the Romans,,15. but of Sicily they distinctly speak contrariwise, mentioning the part of it subject to them.,16. Similarly, the Romans in referring to Latium forbid the Carthaginians to wrong the people of Ardea, Antium, Circeii, and Terracina, the cities that stand on the coast of that Latin territory with which the treaty is concerned. 3.27. 1. At the close of the war for Sicily, then, they made another treaty, the clauses of which run as follows:,2. "The Carthaginians are to evacuate the whole of Sicily and all the islands between Italy and Sicily.,3. The allies of both parties are to be secure from attack by the other.,4. Neither party is entitled to impose any contribution to construct public buildings, or to enrol soldiers, in the dominions of the other, nor to form alliances with the allies of the other.,5. The Carthaginians are to pay twenty-two hundred talents within ten years, and a sum of a thousand talents at once.,6. The Carthaginians are to give up to the Romans all prisoners free of ransom.",7. Later, at the end of the Libyan War, after the Romans had actually passed a decree declaring war on Carthage, they added the following clauses, as I stated above:,8. "The Carthaginians are to evacuate Sardinia and pay a further sum of twelve hundred talents.",9. The very last of this series of agreements that made with Hasdrubal in Spain, that "The Carthaginians are not to cross the Ebro in arms.",10. Such is the diplomatic history of the relations between Rome and Carthage up to the time of Hannibal. 3.31. 1. It might be said by some of these who look on such things without discernment, that these are matters which it was not necessary for me to treat in such detail.,2. My answer is, that if there were any man who considered that he had sufficient force in himself to face any circumstances, I should say perhaps that knowledge of the past was good for him, but not necessary;,3. but if there is no one in this world at least who would venture to speak so of himself either as regards his private fortunes or those of his country â since, even if all is well with him now no man of sense could from his present circumstances have any reasonable confidence that he will be prosperous in the future â,4. I affirm for this reason that such knowledge is not only good but in the highest degree necessary.,5. For how can anyone when wronged himself or when his country is wronged find helpmates and allies; how can he, when desirous of acquiring some possession or initiating some project, stir to action those whose co-operation he wishes;,6. how, finally, if he is content with present conditions, can he rightly stimulate others to establish his own convictions and maintain things as they are, if he knows nothing at all of the past history of those he would influence?,7. For all men are given to adapt themselves to the present and assume a character suited to the times, so that from their words and actions it is difficult to judge of the principles of each, and in many cases the truth is quite overcast.,8. But men's past actions, bringing to bear the test of actual fact, indicate truly the principles and opinions of each, and show us where we may look for gratitude, kindness, and help, and where for the reverse.,9. It is by this means that we shall often and in many circumstances find those who will compassionate our distresses, who will share our anger or join us in being avenged on our enemies,,10. all which is most helpful to life both in public and in private.,11. Therefore both writers and readers of history should not pay so much attention to the actual narrative of events, as to what precedes, what accompanies, and what follows each.,12. For if we take from history the discussion of why, how, and wherefore each thing was done, and whether the result was what we should have reasonably expected,,13. what is left is a clever essay but not a lesson, and while pleasing for the moment of no possible benefit for the future. 3.32. 1. For this reason I must pronounce those to be much mistaken who think that this my work is difficult to acquire and difficult to read owing to the number and length of the Books it contains.,2. How much easier it is to acquire and peruse forty Books, all as it were connected by one thread, and thus to follow clearly events in Italy, Sicily, and Libya from the time of Pyrrhus to the capture of Carthage,,3. and those in the rest of the world from the flight of Cleomenes of Sparta on till the battle of the Romans and Achaeans at the Isthmus, than to read or procure the works of those who treat of particular transactions.,4. Apart from their being many times as long as my history, readers cannot gather anything with certainty from them, firstly because most of them give different accounts of the same matter,,5. and next because they omit those contemporary events by a comparative review and estimation of which we can assign its true value to everything much more surely than by judging from particulars; and, finally, because it is out of their power even to touch on what is most essential.,6. For I maintain that far the most essential part of history is the consideration of the remote or immediate consequences of events and especially that of causes.,7. Thus I regard the war with Antiochus as deriving its origin from that with Philip, the latter as resulting from that with Hannibal, and the Hannibalic war as a consequence of that about Sicily, the intermediate events, however many and various their character, all tending to the same purpose.,8. All this can be recognized and understood from a general history, but not at all from the historians of the wars themselves, such as the war with Perseus or that with Philip,,9. unless indeed anyone reading their descriptions of the battles alone conceives that he has acquired an adequate knowledge of the management and nature of the whole war.,10. This, however, is not at all so, and I consider that my history differs to its advantage as much from the works on particular episodes as learning does from listening. 4.21. 1. Now all these practices I believe to have been introduced by the men of old time, not as luxuries and superfluities but because they had before their eyes the universal practice of personal manual labour in Arcadia, and in general the toilsomeness and hardship of the men's lives, as well as the harshness of character resulting from the cold and gloomy atmospheric conditions usually prevailing in these parts â conditions to which all men by their very nature must perforce assimilate themselves;,2. there being no other cause than this why separate nations and peoples dwelling widely apart differ so much from each other in character, feature, and colour as well as in the most of their pursuits.,3. The primitive Arcadians, therefore, with the view of softening and tempering the stubbornness and harshness of nature, introduced all the practices I mentioned, and in addition accustomed the people, both men and women, to frequent festivals and general sacrifices, and dances of young men and maidens, and in fact resorted to every contrivance to render more gentle and mild, by the influence of the customs they instituted, the extreme hardness of the natural character. The Cynaetheans, by entirely neglecting these institutions, though in special need of such influences, as their country is the most rugged and their climate the most inclement in Arcadia, and by devoting themselves exclusively to their local affairs and political rivalries, finally became so savage that in no city of Greece were greater and more constant crimes committed. As an indication of the deplorable condition of the Cynaetheans in this respect and the detestation of the other Arcadians for such practices I may mention the following: at the time when, after the great massacre, the Cynaetheans sent an embassy to Sparta, the other Arcadian cities which they entered on their journey gave them instant notice to depart by cry of herald,,9. but the Mantineans after their departure even made a solemn purification by offering piacular sacrifices and carrying them round their city and all their territory.,10. I have said so much on this subject firstly in order that the character of the Arcadian nation should not suffer for the crimes of one city, secondly to deter any other Arcadians from beginning to neglect music under the impression that its extensive practice in Arcadia serves no necessary purpose. I also spoke for the sake of the Cynaetheans themselves, in order that, if Heaven ever grant them better fortune, they may humanize themselves by turning their attention to education and especially to music; for by no other means can they hope to free themselves from that savagery which overtook them at this time.,12. Having now said all that occurred to me on the subject of this people I return to the point whence I digressed. 6.8.4. But here again when children inherited this position of authority from their fathers, having no experience of misfortune and none at all of civil equality and liberty of speech, and having been brought up from the cradle amid the evidences of the power and high position of their fathers 6.8.5. they abandoned themselves some to greed of gain and unscrupulous money-making, others to indulgence in wine and the convivial excess which accompanies it, and others again to the violation of women and the rape of boys; and thus converting the aristocracy into an oligarchy aroused in the people feelings similar to those of which I just spoke, and in consequence met with the same disastrous end as the tyrant. 6.9.6. So when they begin to lust for power and cannot attain it through themselves or their own good qualities, they ruin their estates, tempting and corrupting the people in every possible way. 6.9.7. And hence when by their foolish thirst for reputation they have created among the masses an appetite for gifts and the habit of receiving them, democracy in its turn is abolished and changes into a rule of force and violence. 6.9.8. For the people, having grown accustomed to feed at the expense of others and to depend for their livelihood on the property of others, as soon as they find a leader who is enterprising but is excluded from the houses of office by his penury, institute the rule of violence; 6.9.9. and now uniting their forces massacre, banish, and plunder, until they degenerate again into perfect savages and find once more a master and monarch. 6.56.1. Again, the laws and customs relating to the acquisition of wealth are better in Rome than at Carthage. 6.56.2. At Carthage nothing which results in profit is regarded as disgraceful; at Rome nothing is considered more so than to accept bribes and seek gain from improper channels. 6.56.3. For no less strong than their approval of money-making is their condemnation of unscrupulous gain from forbidden sources. 6.56.4. A proof of this is that at Carthage candidates for office practise open bribery, whereas at Rome death is the penalty for it. 6.56.5. Therefore as the rewards offered to merit are the opposite in the two cases, it is natural that the steps taken to gain them should also be dissimilar. 6.57. 1. That all existing things are subject to decay and change is a truth that scarcely needs proof; for the course of nature is sufficient to force this conviction on us.,2. There being two agencies by which every kind of state is liable to decay, the one external and the other a growth of the state itself, we can lay down no fixed rule about the former, but the latter is a regular process.,3. I have already stated what kind of state is the first to come into being, and what the next, and how the one is transformed into the other; so that those who are capable of connecting the opening propositions of this inquiry with its conclusion will now be able to foretell the future unaided. And what will happen is, I think, evident.,5. When a state has weathered many great perils and subsequently attains to supremacy and uncontested sovereignty, it is evident that under the influence of long established prosperity, life will become more extravagant and the citizens more fierce in their rivalry regarding office and other objects than they ought to be.,6. As these defects go on increasing, the beginning of the change for the worse will be due to love of office and the disgrace entailed by obscurity, as well as to extravagance and purse-proud display;,7. and for this change the populace will be responsible when on the one hand they think they have a grievance against certain people who have shown themselves grasping, and when, on the other hand, they are puffed up by the flattery of others who aspire to office.,8. For now, stirred to fury and swayed by passion in all their counsels, they will no longer consent to obey or even to be the equals of the ruling caste, but will demand the lion's share for themselves.,9. When this happens, the state will change its name to the finest sounding of all, freedom and democracy, but will change its nature to the worst thing of all, mob-rule.,10. Having dealt with the origin and growth of the Roman republic, and with its prime and its present condition, and also with the differences for better or worse between it and others, I may now close this discourse more or less so. 10.3. 1. It is generally agreed that Scipio was beneficent and magimous, but that he was also shrewd and discreet with a mind always concentrated on the object he had in view would be conceded by none except those who associated with him and to whom his character stood clearly revealed.,2. One of these was Gaius Laelius, who from his youth up to the end had participated in his every word and deed, and who has produced the above impression upon myself, as his account seems both probable on the face of it and in accordance with the actual performances of Scipio.,3. For he tells us that Scipio first distinguished himself on the occasion of the cavalry engagement between his father and Hannibal in the neighbourhood of the Po.,4. He was at the time seventeen years of age, this being his first campaign, and his father had placed him in command of a picked troop of horse in order to ensure his safety, but when he caught sight of his father in the battle, surrounded by the enemy and escorted only by two or three horsemen and dangerously wounded,,5. he at first endeavoured to urge those with him to go to the rescue, but when they hung back for a time owing to the large numbers of the enemy round them, he is said with reckless daring to have charged the encircling force alone.,6. Upon the rest being now forced to attack, the enemy were terror-struck and broke up, and Publius Scipio, thus unexpectedly delivered, was the first to salute his son in the hearing of all as his preserver.,7. Having by this service gained a universally acknowledged reputation for bravery, he in subsequent times refrained from exposing his person without sufficient reason, when his country reposed her hopes of success on him â conduct characteristic not of a commander who relies on luck, but on one gifted with intelligence. 10.4. 1. After this his elder brother Lucius was a candidate for the aedileship, which is almost the highest office at Rome open to young men,,2. it being the custom to elect two patricians; but there being on this occasion several patrician candidates, Publius Scipio for long did not venture to stand for the same office as his brother.,3. But on the approach of the election, judging from the disposition of the people that his brother had a poor chance of being elected, and seeing that he himself was exceedingly popular, he came to the conclusion that the only means by which his brother would attain his object would be by their coming to an agreement and both of them making the attempt, and so he hit on the following plan.,4. Seeing that his mother was visiting the different temples and sacrificing to the gods on behalf of his brother and generally exhibiting great concern about the result â he had only to concern himself with her, his father having left for Spain, where he had been appointed to the command in the campaign I have described â he, as a fact, told her that he had twice had the same dream.,6. He had dreamt that both he and his brother had been elected to the aedileship and were going up from the forum to their house, when she met him at the door and fell on their necks and kissed them.,7. She was affected by this, as a woman would be, and exclaimed, "Would I might see that day" or something similar. "Then would you like us to try, mother?" he said.,8. Upon her consenting, as she never dreamt he would venture on it, but thought it was merely a casual joke â for he was exceedingly young â he begged her to get a white toga ready for him at once, this being the dress that candidates are in the habit of wearing.,9. What she had said had entirely gone out of her head 10.5. 1. and Scipio waiting until he received the white toga appeared in the forum while his mother was still asleep.,2. The people, owing to the unexpectedness of the sight and owing to his previous popularity, received him with enthusiastic surprise, and afterwards when he went on to the station appointed for candidates and stood by his brother they not only conferred the office on Publius but on his brother too for his sake, and both appeared at their house elected aediles.,4. When the news suddenly reached his mother's ears, she met them overjoyed at the door and embraced the young men with deep emotion, so that from this circumstance all who had heard of the dreams believed that Publius communed with the gods not only in his sleep, but still more in reality and by day.,6. Now it was not a matter of a dream at all, but as he was kind and munificent and agreeable in his address he reckoned on his popularity with the people,,7. and so by cleverly adapting his action to the actual sentiment of the people and of his mother he not only attained his object but was believed to have acted under a sort of divine inspiration.,8. For those who are incapable of taking an accurate view of operations, causes, and dispositions, either from lack of natural ability or from inexperience and indolence, attribute to the gods and to fortune the causes of what is accomplished by shrewdness and with calculation and foresight.,9. I have made these observations for the sake of my readers, that they may not by falsely accepting the generally received opinion of Scipio neglect to notice his finest qualities and those most worthy of respect, I mean his cleverness and laboriousness.,10. This will be still more evident from my account of his actual exploits. 10.18. 1. After this he set apart Mago and the Carthaginians who were with him, two of them being members of the council of elders and fifteen members of the senate.,2. He committed these to the custody of Laelius, ordering him to pay them due attention.,3. Next he invited the hostages, over three hundred in number, to visit him, and calling the children to him one by one and caressing them bade them be of good cheer, as in a few days they would see their parents.,4. He also bade the rest take heart and asked them all to write to their relations at home, firstly, that they were safe and well, and secondly, that the Romans were willing to restore them all in safety to their homes if their relatives chose to become allies of Rome.,6. After speaking thus, having reserved from the booty the most suitable objects for this purpose, he gave them such gifts as became their sex and age, presenting the girls with earrings and bracelets and the young men with poniards and swords.,7. When one of the captive women, the wife of Mandonius, who was the brother of Andobales, king of the Ilergetes, fell at his feet and entreated him with tears to treat them with more proper consideration than the Carthaginians had done, he was touched and asked her what they stood in need of.,8. The lady was indeed of advanced age, and bore herself with a certain majestic dignity.,9. Upon her making no reply he sent for the officials appointed to attend on the women.,10. When they presented themselves and informed him that they kept the women generously supplied with all they required, the lady again clasped his knees and addressed him in the same words, upon which Scipio was still more puzzled, and conceiving the idea that the officials who attended on the women were neglecting them and had now made a false statement,,11. he bade the ladies be of good cheer, for he said he would himself appoint other attendants who would see to it that they were in want of nothing.,12. The old lady after some hesitation said, "General, you do not take me rightly if you think that our present situation is about our food.",13. Scipio then understood what the lady meant, and noticing the youth and beauty of the daughters of Andobales and other princes he was forced to tears, recognizing in how few words she had pointed out to him the danger to which they were exposed.,14. So now he made it clear to her that he had taken her meaning, and grasping her by the right hand bade her and the rest be of good cheer,,15. for he would look after them as if they were his own sisters and children and would accordingly appoint trustworthy men to attend on them. 10.19. 1. After this he handed over to the quaestors all the public funds of the Carthaginians which had been captured.,2. There were more than six hundred talents, so that when these were added to the four hundred he had brought from Rome, the total sum at his disposal was more than a thousand talents.,3. It was at this time that some young Romans came across a girl of surpassing bloom and beauty, and being aware that Scipio was fond of women brought her to him and introduced her, saying that they wished to make a present of the damsel to him.,4. He was overcome and astonished by her beauty, but he told them that had he been in a private position, no present would have been more welcome to him, but as he was the General it would be the least welcome of any,,5. giving them to understand, I suppose, by this answer that sometimes, during seasons of repose and leisure in our life, such things afford young men most delightful enjoyment and entertainment, but that in times of activity they are most prejudicial to the body and the mind alike of those who indulge in them.,6. So he expressed his gratitude to the young men, but called the girl's father and delivering her over to him at once bade him give her in marriage to whomever of the citizens he preferred.,7. The self-restraint and moderation he displayed on this occasion secured him the warm approbation of his troops.,8. Having arranged these matters and handed over the rest of the prisoners to the tribunes, he dispatched Laelius on a quinquereme to Rome, to convey the news, placing under his charge the Carthaginians and the most distinguished among the other prisoners.,9. For as the Romans had for the most part regarded the situation in Spain as desperate he knew that this intelligence would revive their spirits and that they would redouble their efforts to support him. 22.8. 1. After their withdrawal Apollonidas of Sicyon rose. He said that sum offered by Eumenes was a gift not unworthy of the Achaeans' acceptance,,2. but that the intention of the giver and the purpose to which it was to be applied were as disgraceful and illegal as could be.,3. For, as it was forbidden by law for any private person or magistrate to receive gifts, on no matter what pretext, from a king, that all should be openly bribed by accepting this money was the most illegal thing conceivable, besides being confessedly the most disgraceful.,4. For that the parliament should be in Eumenes' pay every year, and discuss public affairs after swallowing a bait, so to speak, would evidently involve disgrace and hurt.,5. Now it was Eumenes who was giving them money; next time it would be Prusias, and after that Seleucus.,6. "And," he said, "as the interests of democracies and kings are naturally opposed, and most debates and the most important deal with out differences with the kings,,7. it is evident that perforce one or the other thing will happen: either the interests of the kings will take precedence of our own; or, if this is not so, we shall appear to every one to be ungrateful in acting against our paymasters.",8. So he exhorted the Achaeans not only to refuse the gift, but to detest Eumenes for his purpose in offering it.,9. The next speaker was Cassander of Aegina, who reminded the Achaeans of the destitution which had overtaken the Aeginetans owing to their being members of the League at the time when Publius Sulpicius Galba had attacked Aegina with his fleet and sold into slavery all its unhappy inhabitants;,10. and how, as I have narrated in a previous book, the Aetolians gained possession of the town by their treaty with Rome, and handed it over to Attalus on receipt of thirty talents.,11. Laying this before the eyes of the Achaeans, he begged Eumenes not to fish for the good offices of the Achaeans by making advantageous offers, but by giving up the city of Aegina, to secure without a dissentient voice their complete devotion.,12. He exhorted the Achaeans at the same time not to accept a gift which would clearly involve their depriving the Aeginetans of all hope of deliverance in the future.,13. In consequence of these speeches the people were so deeply moved that not a soul ventured to take the part of the king, but all with loud shouts rejected the proffered gift, although owing to the greatness of the sum the temptation seemed almost irresistible. 31.22.2. for the same high reputation which he had possessed during his life continued when he had departed from it; and this we may say is the best proof there can be of virtue. 31.26. 1. The first occasion was the death of the mother of his adoptive father. She was the sister of his own father, Lucius Aemilius, and wife of his grandfather by adoption, the great Scipio.,2. He inherited from her a large fortune and in his treatment of it was to give the first proof of his high principle.,3. This lady whose name was Aemilia, used to display great magnificence whenever she left her house to take part in the ceremonies that women attend, having participated in the fortune of Scipio when he was at the height of his prosperity.,4. For apart from the richness of her own dress and of the decorations of her carriage, all the baskets, cups, and other utensils for the sacrifice were either of gold or silver, and were borne in her train on all such solemn occasions,,5. while the number of maids and men-servants in attendance was correspondingly large.,6. Immediately after Aemilia's funeral all these splendid appointments were given by Scipio to his mother, who had been for many years separated from her husband, and whose means were not sufficient to maintain a state suitable to her rank.,7. Formerly she had kept to her house on the occasion of such functions, and now when a solemn public sacrifice happened to take place, and she drove out in all Aemilia's state and splendour, and when in addition the carriage and pair and the muleteers were seen to be the same,,8. all the women who witnessed it were lost in admiration of Scipio's goodness and generosity and, lifting up their hands, prayed that every blessing might be his.,9. Such conduct would naturally be admired anywhere, but in Rome it was a marvel; for absolutely no one there ever gives away anything to anyone if he can help it.,10. This then was the first origin of his reputation for nobility of character, and it advanced rapidly, for women are fond of talking and once they have started a thing never have too much of it. 31.27. 1. In the next place he had to pay the daughters of the great Scipio, the sisters of his adoptive father, the half of their portion.,2. Their father had agreed to give each of his daughters fifty talents,,3. and their mother had paid the half of this to their husbands at once on their marriage, but left the other half owing on her death.,4. Thus Scipio had to pay this debt to his father's sisters.,5. According to Roman law the part of the dowry still due had to be paid to the ladies in three years, the personal property being first handed over within ten months according to Roman usage.,6. But Scipio at once ordered his banker to pay each of them in ten months the whole twenty-five talents.,7. When the ten months had elapsed, and Tiberius Gracchus and Scipio Nasica, who were the husbands of the ladies, applied to the banker and asked him if he had received any orders from Scipio about the money, and when the banker asked them to receive the sum and made out for each of them a transfer of twenty-five talents, they said he was mistaken;,8. for according to law they should not at once receive the whole sum, but only a third of it.,9. But when he told them that these were Scipio's orders, they could not believe it, but went on to call on the young man, under the impression that he was in error.,10. And this was quite natural on their part; for not only would no one in Rome pay fifty talents three years before it was due, but no one would pay one talent before the appointed day;,11. so universal and so extreme is their exactitude about money as well as their desire to profit by every moment of time.,12. However, when they called on Scipio and asked him what orders he had given the banker, and he told them he had ordered him to pay the whole sum to his sisters, they said he was mistaken,,13. since he had the legal right to use the sum for a considerable time yet.,14. Scipio answered that he was quite aware of that, but that while as regards strangers he insisted on the letter of the law, he behaved as far as he could in an informal and liberal way to his relatives and friends.,15. He therefore begged them to accept the whole sum from the banker.,16. Tiberius and Nasica on hearing this went away without replying, astounded at Scipio's magimity and abashed at their own meanness, although they were second to none in Rome. 31.28. 1. Two years later, when his own father Aemilius died, and left him and his brother Fabius heirs to his estate, he again acted in a noble manner deserving of mention.,2. Aemilius was childless, as he had given some of his sons to be adopted by other families and those whom he had kept to succeed him were dead, and he therefore left his property to Scipio and Fabius.,3. Scipio, knowing that his brother was by no means well off, gave up the whole inheritance, which was estimated at more than sixty talents, to him in order that Fabius might thus possess a fortune equal to his own.,4. This became widely known, and he now gave an even more conspicuous proof of his generosity.,5. His brother wished to give a gladiatorial show on the occasion of his father's funeral, but was unable to meet the expense, which was very considerable, and Scipio contributed the half of it out of his own fortune.,6. The total expense of such a show amounts to not less than thirty talents if it is done on a generous scale.,7. While the report of this was still fresh, his mother died,,8. and Scipio, far from taking back any of the gifts I mentioned above, gave the whole of it and the residue of his mother's property to his sisters, who had no legal claim to it.,9. So that again when his sisters had thus come into the processional furniture and all the establishment of Aemilia, the fame of Scipio for magimity and family affection was again revived.,10. Having thus from his earliest years laid the foundations of it, Publius Scipio advanced in his pursuit of this reputation for temperance and nobility of character.,11. By the expenditure of perhaps sixty talents â for that was what he had bestowed from his own property â his reputation for the second of these virtues was firmly established, and he did not attain his purpose so much by the largeness of the sums he gave as by the seasonableness of the gift and the gracious manner in which he conferred it.,12. His reputation for temperance cost him nothing, but by abstaining from many and varied pleasures he gained in addition that bodily health and vigour which he enjoyed for the whole of his life,,13. and which by the many pleasures of which it was the cause amply rewarded him for his former abstention from common pleasures. |
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