A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W X Z

Outline of Universal History

G >> George Park Fisher >> Outline of Universal History




VIRGINIUS.--Here comes in the story of _Virginia_. It is
related that _Appius Claudius_ was an ambitious and bad man,
who, being one of the decemvirs, wished to hold on to power. He
conceived a base passion for the daughter of _Virginius_, a
brave plebeian centurion, and claimed her on the pretense that she
was the daughter of one of his slaves. Standing at his
judgment-seat, _Virginius_, seeing that he could do nothing to
save his child from the clutch of the villainous judge, plunged his
dagger in her heart. This was the signal for another revolt of the
people, which extorted the consent of the upper class to the sacred
laws and the restoration of the tribuneship. It is a plausible
theory that _Appius Claudius_ favored the plebeian claims, and
that the tale told above is a later invention to his discredit.

POLITICAL EQUALITY.--The laws of the twelve tables lay at the basis of
all subsequent legislation in Rome, and were always held in
reverence. The plebeians soon gained further advantages. In 449 B.C.,
it was ordained, under the consuls _Horatius_ and
_Valerius_, that the plebeian assembly of tribes should be a
sovereign assembly, whose enactments should be binding on the whole
Roman people. In 445 B.C., the law of _Canuleius_ legalized
marriage between the plebeians and patricians. This was an important
step towards the closer union of the two classes. The executive power
was still in the hands of the patricians. But in 444 a new office,
that of _military tribunes_ with consular power, to be chosen
from the plebeians, was established. By way of offset to this great
concession, a new patrician office, that of _Censor_, was
created. The function of the two censors, who were to be chosen by the
_Comitia Centuriata_, was to take the census at short intervals,
to make out the tax-lists, to appoint senators and knights, to manage
the collection of taxes, to superintend public buildings, and,
finally, to exercise an indefinite supervision over public manners and
morals. These were very great powers. We find that considerable time
elapsed before the plebeians actually realized the advantage which
they had legally won in this compromise. About the year 400, they
succeeded in electing several military tribunes. As early as 410
B.C. three out of the four treasurers, or paymasters
(_quæstors_), were plebeians. About forty years after (367 B.C.),
they obtained, by the _Licinian Laws_, the political equality for
which they had so long contended.

WAR WITH THE ETRUSCANS.--But before this result should be reached,
other events of much consequence were to occur. The _Etruscans_,
who were not only proficients in the arts, but were also active in
trade and commerce, had been defeated at sea by the Greeks, in 474
B.C. But on the north they had a more formidable foe in the
_Gauls_, by whom their power was weakened. The Romans took
advantage of the situation to lay siege to _Veii_, which, after
ten years, was captured by their general, _Marcus Furius
Camillus_. The capture of other towns followed.

It was told of _Camillus_ that _Falerii_ surrendered to
him of its own accord, for his magnanimity in sending back a
treacherous schoolmaster who had taken out to his camp the sons of
the chief citizens. Camillas tied his hands behind him, and ordered
the boys to flog him back into the city. Camillus was sent into
exile, it was related, on a charge of injustice in dividing the
booty obtained at Veii.

INVASION OF THE GAULS.--But the Romans joined with the Etruscans in
the attempt to drive back a dreaded enemy of both, the
_Gauls_. In the battle of the _Allia_, a brook eleven miles
north of Rome, on the 18th of July, 390 B.C., the Roman army was
routed by them, and Rome left without the means of defense. All the
people fled, except a few brave men, who shut themselves up in the
Capitol, and, according to the tradition, some aged patricians, who,
in their robes of state, waited for the enemy. The Gauls, under
_Brennus_, rushed in, and plundered and burned the city. In later
times the story was told, that, when the Gauls were climbing up to the
Capitol secretly by night, the cackling of the geese awoke _Marcus
Manlius_, and so the enemy was repulsed. There was another story,
that, when the Romans were paying the ransom required by
_Brennus_, and complained of false weight, the insolent Gaul
threw his sword into the scale, exclaiming, "Woe to the conquered!"
and that just then _Camillus_ appeared, and drove the Gauls out
of the city. This is certain, that the Gauls retired of their own free
will from their occupation of the city. The destruction of the temples
involved the loss of early chronicles, which would have given us
better information as to the times preceding. The city was rebuilt
without much delay.

THE LICINIAN LAWS.--The agitation for political reform soon commenced
again. The _Licinian Laws_, which make an epoch in the
controversy of parties, were proposed in 376, but were not passed
until 367. Besides provisions for the relief of debtors and for
limiting the number of acres of public lands to be held by an
individual, it was enacted that the military tribuneship should be
given up, and that at least one of the two consuls must be chosen from
the plebeians. A new patrician office, the _praetorship_, was
founded, the holders of which were to govern in the absence of the
consuls. The patricians did not at once cease from the effort to keep
the reins in their hands. Several times they broke the law, and put in
two patrician consuls. They yielded at last, however; and, as early as
the year 300, all Roman offices were open to all Roman citizens. The
patrician order became a social, not a legal, distinction. A new sort
of nobility, made up of both patricians and plebeians, whose families
had longest held public offices, gradually arose. These were the
_optimates_. The Senate became the principal executive body. It
was recruited by the _censors_, principally from those who had
held high stations and were upwards of thirty years old. One
_censor_ was required to be a plebeian. The condition of the
people was improved by other enactments, one of which (in 326 or 313)
secured to the debtor his personal freedom in case he should transfer
his property to the creditor. At about this time, there was a change
in the constitution of the army. The sort of arms assigned was no
longer to depend on property qualifications. There were to be three
lines in battle,--the first two to carry a short spear (_pilum_),
and the third the long lance (_hasta_).

INFULENCE OF PARTY CONFLICTS.--The long contest of parties in Rome was
an invaluable political education. It was attended with little
bloodshed. It involved discussion on questions of justice and right,
and on the best civil constitution. It was not unlike party conflicts
in English history. It trained the Romans in a habit of judicious
compromise, of perseverance in asserting just claims, and of yielding
to just demands.




PERIOD II. TO THE UNION OF ITALY. (304-264 B.C.)




CHAPTER I. CONQUEST OF THE LATINS AND ITALIANS (304-282 B.C.).


WARS WITH THE GAULS.--The increased vigor produced by the adjustment
of the conflict of classes manifested itself in a series of minor
wars. The Romans were now able to face the Gauls, who had permanently
planted themselves in Northern Italy. Against them they waged four
wars in succession, the last of which ended in a signal victory for
the Roman side (367-349). Wars with the Etruscan cities brought the
whole of Southern _Etruria_ under Roman rule (358-351).

FIRST SAMNITE WAR.--The neighbor that was the hardest for the Romans
to conquer was the nation of _Samnites_, who lived among the
Apennines of Central Italy, east of Latium. The conflict with this
tough tribe lasted, with intermissions, for fifty years.

The immediate occasion of the struggle was the appeal of
_Capua_--a Greek city in Campania in which Samnites had before
settled--for help against their kinsmen in the mountains (343). This
prayer the Romans granted when Capua had placed itself under their
sway. In the first battle, the Romans under _Valerius Corvus_ won
the day. A second Roman army was rescued from imminent danger by the
heroism of the elder _Decius Mus_, and a Roman victory
followed. After a third victory at _Suessula_, the Romans, on
account of the threatening attitude of their Latin confederates, made
peace. The Samnites, too, were involved in a war with _Tarentum_,
a Greek city on the eastern coast.

WAR WITH THE LATINS.--The Latins were not disposed to recognize Rome
any longer as the head of the league. They demanded perfect equality
and an equal share of the Roman public offices (340). In a battle near
_Vesuvius_, the plebeian consul, _Decius Mus_, having
devoted himself to death for his country, rode into the thickest ranks
of the enemy, and perished, having secured victory for the Roman
army. Before the battle, the patrician consul, _Titus Manlius_,
punished his son with death for presuming to undertake, without
orders, a military exploit, in which, however, he had succeeded. After
a second victory of Manlius at _Trifanum_, the Latins were
subdued (340), the league was broken up, and most of the cities were
made subject to Rome, acquiring citizenship without the right of
suffrage; but they were forbidden to trade or to intermarry with one
another. Some became Roman colonies.

Several had to cede lands, which were apportioned among Roman
citizens. The beaks (_rostra_) of the old ships of _Antium_
ornamented the Roman forum. Colonies of Roman citizens were settled in
the district of the _Volscii_ and in _Campania_. This was an
example of the Roman method of separating vanquished places from one
another, and of inclosing as in a net conquered territories.


SECOND SAMNITE WAR.--The establishment by the Romans of the military
colony of _Fregellae_, in connection with other encroachments,
brought on the second Samnite war, which lasted for twenty-two
years. The prize of the contest was really the dominion over Italy. A
great misfortune befell the Roman arms in 321. The incautious consuls,
_Veturinus_ and _Postumius_, allowed themselves to be
surrounded in the _Caudine Pass_, where they were compelled to
capitulate, swear to a treaty of peace, and give up six hundred Roman
knights as hostages. The whole Roman army was compelled to pass under
the yoke. The Roman Senate refused to sanction the treaty, and gave up
the consuls, at their own request, in fetters to the Samnites. The
Samnites refused to receive them, spared the hostages, and began the
war anew. The Roman consuls, _Papirius Cursor_ and _Fabius
Maximus_, gained a victory at _Capua_, drove the Samnites out
of Campania, and reconquered _Fregellae_. A great military road,
the _Appian Way_, the remains of which may still be seen, was
built from _Rome_ to _Capua_ (312).

The _Etruscan_ cities joined in the war against Rome. All Etruria
was in arms to overcome the advancing power of the Romans. The
coalition was broken by the great defeat of the Etrurians at the
_Vadimonian Lake_, in 310. The Samnites had their numerous
allies; but the obstinate valor of the Romans, who were discouraged by
no reverses, triumphed. The capture of _Bovianum_, the capital of
the Samnite league (305), ended the war. The Samnites sued for
peace. The old treaties were renewed. In the course of this protracted
struggle, various Roman colonies were established, and military roads
were constructed.

THIRD SAMNITE WAR.--Peace was not of long continuance. The Samnites
once more armed themselves for a desperate conflict, having on their
side the _Etruscans_, the _Umbrians_, and the _Gauls_
(300). The Italian peoples, which had been at war with one another,
joined hands in this contest against the common enemy. A decisive
battle was fought at _Sentinum_,--where _Decius Mus_ the
younger, following his father's example, devoted himself to
death,--resulting in the defeat of the Samnites, and of their allies
(295). Soon after, the Samnite general, _Pontius_, fell into the
hands of the Romans. The Samnites kept up the contest for several
years. But in 290 they found that they could hold out no longer. The
Romans secured themselves by fortresses and by colonies, the most
important of which was that of _Venusia_, at the boundary of
Samnium, Apulia, and Lucania, where they placed twenty thousand
colonists.




CHAPTER II.


WAR WITH PYRRHUS AND UNION OF ITALY (282-264 B.C.).

TARENTUM AND PYRRHUS.--The Samnites were overcome. The Greeks and
Romans were now to come into closer intercourse with one another,--an
intercourse destined to be so momentous in its effect on each of the
two kindred races, and, through their joint influence, on the whole
subsequent course of European history. _Alexander the Great_ had
died too soon to permit him to engage in any plan of conquest in the
West. In the wars of his successors the Romans had stood aloof. Now
they were brought into conflict with a Greek monarch, _Pyrrhus_,
king of Epirus, who was a relative of Alexander, and had married into
the royal family of Egypt. He was a man of fascinating person and
address, a brilliant and famous soldier, but adventurous, and lacking
the coolness and prudence requisite to carry out his project of
building up an Hellenic Empire in the western Mediterranean. In the
war against the Samnite coalition, the _Lucanians_ had rendered
decisive support to the Romans. This was one reason why
_Tarentum_, the rich and prosperous Dorian city on the Tarentine
Gulf, had been a spectator of the contest in which it had abundant
occasion to feel a deep interest. Rome had given up to the Lucanians
the non-Dorian Greek cities in that region. But when they sought to
subdue _Thurii_, and the Thurines besought the help of Rome,
offering to submit themselves to her, the Romans warned the Lucanians
to desist. This led to another combination against Rome, in which they
took part. A Roman army was destroyed by the _Senonian Gauls_. In
consequence of this, the Romans slaughtered, or drove out of Umbria,
this people, and, gaining other decisive victories, put their
garrisons into _Locri_, _Crotona_, and _Thurii_. The
Romans were already masters of Central Italy. Only the Greek cities on
the south remained for them to conquer. It was high time for
_Tarentum_ to bestir itself. It was from the side of Tarentum
that the immediate provocation came. The Tarentines were listening to
a play in the theater as ten Roman ships came into the harbor. Under a
sudden impulse of wrath, a mob attacked them, and destroyed five of
them. Even then the Romans were in no haste to engage in
hostilities. The Tarentines themselves were divided as to the policy
best to be pursued. But the war-party had the more voices. An embassy
was dispatched to solicit the help of _Pyrrhus_. At Tarentum an
embassy from Rome was treated with contempt. _Pyrrhus_ came over
with a large army. He obliged the Tarentines themselves to arm, and to
join his forces.

EVENTS OF THE WAR.--The Romans were fully alive to the peril, and
prepared to meet it. Even the proletarians, who were not liable to
military service, were enrolled. The first great battle took place at
_Heraclea_, near the little river Siris (280 B.C.). Then the
Roman cohort and the Macedonian phalanx met for the first time. It was
a collision of trained mercenary troops with the citizen soldiery of
Rome. It was a struggle between the Greek and the Roman for the
ascendency. The confusion caused by the elephants of _Pyrrhus_,
an encounter with which was something new and strange to the Romans,
turned the tide in his favor. "A few more such victories," said
Pyrrhus, "and I am ruined." He desired peace, and sent _Cineas_
as a messenger to the Senate. But _Appius Claudius_, who had been
consul and censor, and was now old and blind, begged them not to make
peace as long as there was an enemy in Italy. _Cineas_ reported
that he found the Senate "an assembly of kings." In the next year, the
two armies, each with its allies numbering seventy thousand men, met
at _Asculum_ (279). After a bloody conflict, _Pyrrhus_
remained in possession of the field, but with an enormous loss of
men. The _Syracusans_ in Sicily, who had been hard pressed by the
_Carthaginians_, now called upon him to aid them. He was not
reluctant to leave Italy. The Romans captured all the cities on the
south coast, except _Tarentum_ and _Rhegium_. After two
years' absence, _Pyrrhus_ returned to Italy. His fleet, on the
passage from Sicily, was defeated by the Carthaginians. At
_Beneventum_, he was completely vanquished by the Romans, who
captured thirteen hundred prisoners and four elephants. Pyrrhus
returned to Epirus; and, after his death (272), _Milon_, who
commanded the garrison left by him in _Tarentum_, surrendered the
city and fortress. The Tarentines agreed to deliver up their ships and
arms, and to demolish their walls. One after another of the resisting
tribes yielded to the Romans, ceding portions of their territory, and
receiving Roman colonies. In 266, the Roman sway was established over
the whole peninsula proper, from the _Rubicon_ and the
_Macra_ to the southern extremity of _Calabria_.

CITIZENSHIP.--In order to understand Roman history, it is necessary to
have a clear idea of the Roman system in respect to citizenship. All
burgesses of Rome enjoyed the same rights. These were both
_Public_ and _Private_. The private rights of a Roman
citizen were (1) the power of legal marriage with the families of all
other citizens; (2) the power of making legal purchases and sales, and
of holding property; and (3) the right to bequeath and inherit
property. The public rights were, (1) the power of voting wherever a
citizen was permitted to vote; (2) the power of being elected to all
offices.

CONQUERED TOWNS.--"The Roman dominion in Italy was a dominion of a
city over cities." With regard to conquered towns, there were, (i)
Municipal cities (_municipia_) the inhabitants of which, when
they visited Rome, could exercise all the rights of citizens. (2)
Municipal cities which had the private, but not the public, rights of
citizenship. Some of them chose their own municipal officers, and some
did not. (3) _Latin Colonies_, as they were called. Lands ceded
by conquered places were divided among poor Roman citizens, who
constituted the ruling class in the communities to which they were
transplanted. In the Latin colonies, the citizens had given up their
_public_ rights as citizens. (4) Towns of a lower class, called
_Praefectures_. In these, the principal magistrate was the
_Prefect_, who was appointed by the _Praetor_ (_Praeter
Urbanus_) at Rome.

THE ALLIES (_Socii_).--These were a more favored class of cities.
They had their relation to Rome defined by treaty. Generally they
appointed their own magistrates, but were bound, as were all subject
cities, to furnish auxiliary troops for Rome.

THE LATIN FRANCHISE.--This was the privilege which was first given to
the cities of _Latium_ and then to inhabitants of other
places. It was the power, on complying with certain conditions, of
gaining full citizenship, and thus of taking part in elections at
Rome.

ROMAN COLONIES.--The _Roman Colony_ (which is not to be
confounded with the _Latin Colony_ referred to above) was a small
body of Roman citizens, transplanted, with their families, to a spot
selected by the government. They formed a military station. To them
lands taken from the native inhabitants were given. They constituted
the ruling class in the community where they were established. Their
government was modeled after the government at Rome. They retained
their rights as Roman burgesses, which they could exercise whenever
they were in that city. By means of these colonies, planted in places
wisely chosen, Italy was kept in subjection. The colonies were
connected together by roads. The _Appian Way_, from _Rome_
to _Capua_, was built in the midst of the conflict with
_Samnium_. It was made of large, square stones, laid on a
platform of sand and mortar. In later times the Roman Empire was
traversed in all directions by similar roads.




PERIOD III. THE PUNIC WARS: TO THE CONQUEST OF CARTHAGE AND OF THE
GREEK STATES. (264-146 B.C.)




CHAPTER I. THE FIRST AND SECOND PUNIC WABS (264-202 B.C.).


THE FIRST PUNIC WAR.--By dint of obstinacy, and hard fighting through
long centuries, the Romans had united under them all Italy, or all of
what was then known as Italy. It was natural that they should look
abroad. The rival power in the West was the great commercial city of
_Carthage_. The jealousy between Rome and Carthage had slumbered
so long as they were threatened by the invasion of _Pyrrhus_,
which was dangerous to both. _Sicily_, from its situation, could
hardly fail to furnish the occasion of a conflict. The
_Mamertines_, a set of Campanian pirates, had captured
_Messana_. They were attacked by _Hiero II_., king of
Syracuse. A part of them besought help of the Romans, and a part
applied to the Carthaginians. The gravity of the question, whether
Rome should enter on an untried path, the end of which no man could
foresee, caused hesitation. The assemblies voted to grant the
request. The Romans had begun as early as 311 to create a fleet. The
ships which they now used, however, were mostly furnished by their
South Italian allies. They crossed the channel, and drove out the
Carthaginian garrison from _Messana_. The Carthaginians declared
war (264). _Hiero_ was gained over to the side of the Romans; and
after a bloody conflict, with heavy losses to both armies, the city of
_Agrigentum_ was captured by the Romans. The Romans were novices
on the sea, where the Carthaginians were supreme. Successful on the
land, the former were beaten in naval encounters. One of the most
characteristic proofs of the energy of the Romans is their creation of
a fleet, at this epoch, to match that of their sea-faring
enemies. Using, it is said, for a model, a Carthaginian vessel wrecked
on the shore of Italy, they constructed quinqueremes, vessels with
five banks of oars, furnished with bridges to drop on the decks of the
hostile ships,--thus giving to a sea-fight a resemblance to a combat
on land. At first, as might be expected, the Romans were defeated; but
in 260, under the consul _Caius Duilius_, they won their first
naval victory at _Mylae_, west of Messana. The Roman Senate
decided to invade Africa. A fleet of three hundred and thirty vessels
sailed under the command of the consul _M. Atilius Regulus_,
which was met by a Carthaginian fleet at _Ecnomus_, on the south
coast of Sicily. The Carthaginians were completely vanquished. The
Romans landed at _Clupea_, to the east of Carthage, and ravaged
the adjacent district. There _Regulus_ remained with half the
army, fifteen thousand men. The Carthaginians sued for peace; but when
he required them to surrender all their ships of war except one, and
to come into a dependent relation to Rome, they spurned the
proposal. Re-enforcing themselves with mercenaries from Greece under
the command of the Spartan, _Xanthippus_, they overpowered and
captured _Regulus_ in a battle at _Tunis_ (255). A Roman
fleet, sent to _Clupea_ for the rescue of the troops, on the
return voyage lost three-fourths of its ships in a storm. The
Carthaginians, under _Hasdrubal_, resumed hostilities in
Sicily. He was defeated by the consul _Caecilius Metellus_, at
_Panormus_, who included among his captures one hundred elephants
(251). The story of the embassy of _Regulus_ to Rome with the
Carthaginian offer of peace, of his advising the Senate not to accept
it, of his voluntary return according to a promise, and of his cruel
death at the hands of his captors, is probably an invention of a later
time. The hopes of the Romans, in consequence of their success at
_Panormus_, revived; but two years later, under _Appius
Claudius_ at _Drepanum_, they were defeated on sea and on
land. Once more their naval force was prostrated. Warfare was now
carried forward on land, where, in the south of Sicily, the
Carthaginian leader, _Hamilcar Barca_, maintained himself against
Roman attacks for six years, and sent out privateers to harass the
coasts of Italy. Finally, at Rome, there was an outburst of patriotic
enthusiasm. Rich men gave liberally, and treasures of the temples were
devoted to the building of a new fleet. This fleet, under command of
_C. Lutatius Catulus_, gained a decisive victory over the
Carthaginian _Hanno_, at the Aegatian Islands, opposite
_Lilybaeum_ (241). The Carthaginians were forced to conclude
peace, and to make large concessions. They gave up all claim to Italy
and to the neighboring small islands. They were to pay an indemnity,
equal to four million dollars, in ten years. The western part of
Sicily was now constituted a _province_, the _first_ of the
Roman provinces.

CONQUEST OF CISALPINE GUAL.--The Carthaginians were for some time busy
at home in putting down a revolt of mercenary troops, whose wages they
refused to pay in full. The Romans snatched the occasion to extort a
cession of the island of _Sardinia_ (238), which they
subsequently united with _Corsica_ in one province. They entered,
about ten years later (229-228), upon an important and successful war
against the _Illyrian pirates_, whose depredations on the coasts
of the Adriatic and Ionian seas were very daring and destructive. The
Greek cities which the pirates held were surrendered. The sway of the
Romans in the Adriatic was secured, and their supremacy in
_Corcyra_, _Epidamnus_, and other important places. The next
contest was a terrific one with the _Cisalpine Gauls_, who were
stirred up by the founding of Roman military colonies on the Adriatic,
and by other proceedings of Rome. They called in the help of
transalpine Gauls, and entered _Etruria_, on their way to Rome,
with an army of seventy thousand men. They met the Roman armies near
_Telamon_, south of the mouth of the Umbro, but were routed, with
a loss of forty thousand men slain, and ten thousand men prisoners
(225). The Romans marched northward, crossed the _Po_, and
subdued the most powerful of the Gallic tribes, the _Insubrians_
(223). Other victories in the following year reduced the whole of
upper Italy, with _Mediolanum_ (Milan) the capital of the
_Insubrians_, under Roman rule. Fortresses were founded as usual,
and the great _Flaminian_ and _Aemilian_ roads connected
that region with the capital. Later, _Cisalpine Gaul_ became a
Roman province.

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