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




CAIUS GRACCHUS.--The laws of _Caius Gracchus_, the brother of
Tiberius, were of a more sweeping character. He caused measures to be
passed, and colonies to be sent out, by decrees of the people, without
any action of the Senate. He renewed the agrarian law. He caused a law
to be passed for selling corn for less than the cost, to all citizens
who should apply for it. He also caused it to be ordained, that juries
should be taken from the knights, the _equites_, instead of the
Senate. These were composed of rich men. The tendency of the law would
be to make the equestrian order distinct, and thus to divide the
aristocracy. The proposal (122), which was not passed, to extend the
franchise to the Latins, and perhaps to the Italians, cost him his
popularity, although the measure was just. The Senate gave its support
to a rival tribune, _M. Livius Drusus_, who outbid
_Gracchus_ in the contest for popular favor. In 121
_Gracchus_ was not made tribune. In the disorder that followed,
he, with several hundred of his followers, was killed by the
_optimates_. Before long most of his enactments were
reversed. The law for the cheap sale of corn, the most unwise of his
measures, continued.

THE JUGURTHINE WAR.--An interval of tranquility followed. But the
corruption of the ruling class was illustrated in connection with the
Jugurthine war. _Jugurtha_, the adopted son of the king of
_Numidia_, the ally of Rome, wishing the whole kingdom for
himself, killed one of the sons of the late king, and made war upon
the other, who applied to the Romans for help. The commission sent out
by the Senate was bribed by _Jugurtha_. Not until he took the
city of _Cirta_, and put to death the remaining brother, with all
his army, was he summoned to Rome. There, too, his money availed to
secure him impunity, although he caused a Numidian prince to be
murdered in Rome itself. When the Romans finally entered on the war
with _Jugurtha_, he bribed the generals, so that little was
effected. The indignation of the people was raised to such a pitch
that they would not leave the direction of the war in the hands of
_Quintus Metellus_, whom the Senate had sent out, and who
defeated _Jugurtha_ (108), but insisted on giving the chief
command to one of his subordinate officers, _Caius Marius_ (107),
the son of a peasant, wild and rough in his manners, but of
extraordinary talents as a soldier. He brought the war to an
end. _Jugurtha_ was delivered up by the prince with whom he had
taken refuge to _L. Cornelius Sulla_, one of the generals under
_Marius_, and in 105, with his two sons, marched in chains before
the triumphal car of _Marius_ through the streets of
Rome. _Marius_ was now the leader of the popular party, and the
most influential man in Rome.

THE CIMBRI AND TEUTONES.--The power of _Marius_ was augmented by
his victories over the _Cimbri_ and the _Teutones_. These
were hordes of barbarians who appeared in the Alpine regions, the
_Cimbri_ being either _Celts_, or, like the _Teutones_,
_Germans_. The _Cimbri_ crossed the Alps in 113, and
defeated a Roman consul. They turned westward towards the Rhine,
traversed Gaul in different directions, defeating through a series of
years the Roman armies that were sent against them. These defeats the
democratic leaders ascribed, not without reason, to the corrupt
management of the aristocratic party. In 103 the _Cimbri_ and the
_Teutones_ arranged for a combined attack on Italy. _Marius_
was made consul; and in order to meet this threatened invasion, which
justly excited the greatest anxiety, he was chosen to this office five
times in succession (104-100). Having repulsed the attack of the
barbarians on his camp, he defeated them in two great battles, the
first at _Aquce Sextice_ (Aix in Provence) in 102, and the second
at _Vercellce_, in Upper Italy, in 101. These successes, which
really saved Rome, made _Marius_ for the time the idol of the
popular party.

THE ARMY.--At about this time a great change took place in the
constitution of the army. The occupation of a soldier had become a
trade. Besides the levy of citizens, there was established a
recruiting system, which drew into the ranks the idle and lazy, and a
system of re-inforcements, by which cavalry and light-armed troops
were taken from subject and vassal states. Thus there arose a military
class, distinct, as it had not been of old, from the civil orders, and
ready to act separately when its own interest or the ambition of
favorite leaders might prompt.

SATURNINUS.--_Marius_ lacked the judgment and the firmness
required by a statesman, especially in troublous times. When
_Saturninus_ and _Glaucia_ brought forward a series of
measures of a radical character in behalf of the democratic cause, and
the consul _Metellus_, who opposed them, was obliged to go into
voluntary exile, _Marius_, growing ashamed of the factious and
violent proceedings of the popular party, was partially won over to
the support of the Senate. When _C. Memmius_, candidate for
consul, was killed with bludgeons by the mob of _Saturninus_ and
_Glaucia_, and there was fighting in the forum and the streets,
he helped to put down these reckless innovators (99). But his want of
hearty cooperation with either party made him hated by
both. _Metellus_ was recalled from banishment. _Marius_ went
to Asia, and visited the court of _Mithridates._

THE MURDER OF DRUSUS.--Nearly ten years of comparative quiet
ensued. The long continued complaints of the Italians found at last a
voice in the measures of _M. Livius Drusus,_ a tribune, who, in
91, proposed that they should have the right of citizenship. Two other
propositions, one referring to the relations of the _Equites_ and
the _Senate,_ and the other for a new division of lands, had been
accepted by the people, but were by the Senate declared null. Before
_Drusus_ could bring forward the law respecting Italian
citizenship, he was assassinated. Neither Senate nor people was
favorable to this righteous measure.

THE ITALIAN OR SOCIAL WAR (90-88 B.C.).--The murder of _Drusus_
was the signal for an insurrection of the _Italian_
communities. They organized for themselves a federal republic. The
peril occasioned by this great revolt reconciled for the moment the
contending parties at Rome. In the North, where _Marius_ fought,
the Romans were generally successful: in the South, the allies were at
first superior; but in 89, in spite of _Sulla's_ bold forays,
they were worsted. But it was by policy, more than by arms, that the
Romans subdued this dangerous revolt. They promised full citizenship
to those who had not taken part in the war, and to those who would at
once cease to take part in it (90). Finally, when it was plain that
Rome was too strong to be overcome, the conflict was ended by granting
to the allies all that they had ever claimed (89). Rome had now made
ALL ITALY (south of _Cisalpine Gaul_), except the _Samnites_
and _Lucanians,_ EQUAL WITH HERSELF. But Italy had been ravaged
by desolating war: the number of small proprietors was more than ever
diminished, and the army and the generals were becoming the
predominant force in the affairs of the state.

WAR WITH MITHRIDATES.--_Mithridates,_ king of Pontus, in the
north-east of Asia Minor, was as ardent an enemy of the Romans as
Hannibal had been. With the help of his son-in-law _Tigranes,_
king of Armenia, he had subdued the neighboring kings in alliance with
Rome. The Asiatic states, who were ruled by the Romans, were impatient
of the oppression under which they groaned. When checked by the
Romans, _Mithridates_ had paused for a while, and then had
resumed again his enterprise of conquest. In 88 the Grecian cities of
Asia joined him; and, in obedience to his brutal order, all the
Italians within their walls, not lelss than eighty thousand in number,
but possibly almost double that number, were put to death in one
day. The whole dominion of the Romans in the East was in jeopardy.

MARIUS AND SULLA.--_Sulla_ was elected consul in 88, and was on
the point of departing for Asia. He was a soldier of marked talents, a
representative of the _aristocratic_ party, and was more cool and
consistent in his public conduct than _Marius_. _Marius_
desired the command against _Mithridates_ for
himself. _P. Sulpicius_, one of his adherents, brought forward a
revolutionary law for incorporating the Italians and freedmen among
the thirty-five tribes. The populace, under the guidance of the
leaders of the Marian faction, voted to take away the command from
_Sulla_, and to give it to _Marius_. _Sulla_ refused to
submit, and marched his army to Rome. It was impossible to resist
him. _Sulpicius_ was killed in his flight. _Marius_ escaped
from Italy, and, intending to go to Africa, was landed at
_Minturnae_. To escape pursuit, he had to stand up to the chin in
a marsh. He was put in prison, and a Gaulish slave was sent to kill
him. But when he saw the flashing eyes of the old general, and heard
him cry, "Fellow, darest thou kill _Caius Marius_?" he dropped
his sword, and ran. _Marius_ crossed to Africa. Messengers who
were sent to warn him to go away, found him sitting among the ruins of
Carthage.

THE MARIANS IN ROME.--_Sulla_ restored the authority of the
Senate. During _Sulla's_ absence, _Cinna_, the consul of the
popular party, sought to revive the laws of _Sulpicius_ by
violent means (87). Driven out of the city, he came back with an army
which he had gathered in _Campania_, and with old Marius, who had
returned from Africa. He now took vengeance on the leaders of the
_Optimates_. For five days the gates were closed, and every noble
who was specially obnoxious, and had not escaped, was killed by
_Marius_, who marched through the streets at the head of a body
of soldiers. In 86 _Marius_ and _Cinna_ were made
consuls. _Sulla_ was declared to be deposed. _Marius_, who
was now more than seventy years old, died (86). The fever of revenge,
and the apprehension of what might follow on _Sulla's_ return,
drove sleep from his eyelids. A brave soldier, he was incompetent to
play the part of a statesman. He went to his grave with the curse of
all parties resting upon him.

RETURN OF SULLA.--_Sulla_ refused to do any thing against his
adversaries at home, or for the help of the fugitive nobles who
appealed to him, until the cause of the country was secure abroad. He
captured _Athens_ in 86, defeated _Archelaus_, the general
of _Mithridates_, in a great battle at _Chaeronea_; and, by
this and subsequent victories, he forced _Mithridates_ to
conclude peace, who agreed to evacuate the Roman province of Asia, to
restore all his conquests, surrender eighty ships of war, and pay
three thousand talents (84). _Sulla's_ hands were now free. In 83
he landed at _Brundisium_. He was joined by _Cneius
Pompeius_, then twenty-three years old, with a troop of
volunteers. _Sulla_ did not wish to fight the Italians. He issued
a proclamation, therefore, giving them the assurance that their rights
would not be impaired. This pledge had the desired effect. The army of
the _Consuls_ largely outnumbered his own. _Sulla_ lingered
in South Italy to make good his position there. The _Samnites_
joined the _Marians_, and moved upon Rome with the intent to
destroy it. They were defeated before they could enter the city. The
_Marians_ in Spain were defeated afterwards, as were the same
party in _Sicily_ and _Africa_ by _Pompeius_.

CRUELTY OF SULLA.--The cruelty of Sulla, after his victory, was more
direful than Rome had ever witnessed. It appeared to spring from no
heat of passion, but was cold and shameless. After a few days, there
was a massacre of four thousand prisoners in the _Circus_. Their
shrieks and groans were heard in the neighboring Temple of
_Bellona_, where Sulla was in consultation with the Senate. Many
thousands--not far from three thousand in Rome alone--were proscribed
and murdered, and the property of all on these lists of the condemned
was confiscated.

THE LAWS OF SULLA.--In his character as _Dictator_, _Sulla_
remade the constitution, striking out the popular elements to a great
extent, and concentrating authority in the _Senate_. The
_Tribunes_ were stripped of most of their power. The
_Senate_ alone could propose laws. In the Senate, the places in
the juries were given back (p. 154). Besides these and other like
changes, the right of suffrage was bestowed on ten thousand
emancipated slaves; while _Italians_ and others, who had been on
the Marian side, were deprived of it. In the year 80 B.C.,
_Sulla_ caused himself to be elected _Consul_. The next year
he retired from office to his country estate, and gave himself up to
amusements and sensual pleasure. A part of his time--for he was not
without a taste for literature--he devoted to the writing of his
memoirs, which, however, have not come down to us. He died in 78.




CHAPTER II. POMPEIUS AND THE EAST: TO THE DEATH OF CRASSUS (78-53
B.C.).


WAR WITH SERTORIUS.--Not many years after _Sulla's _death, his
reforms were annulled. This was largely through the agency of
_Cneius Pompeius_, who had supported _Sulla_, but was not a
uniform or consistent adherent of the aristocratic party. He did not
belong to an old family, but had so distinguished himself that Sulla
gave him a triumph. Later he rose to still higher distinction by his
conduct of the war against _Sertorius_ in Spain, a brave and able
man of the Marian party, who was supported there for a long time by a
union of Spaniards and Romans. Not until jealousy arose among his
officers, and _Sertorius_ was assassinated, was the formidable
rebellion put down (72).

THE GLADIATORIAL WAR.--_Pompeius_ had the opportunity still
further to distinguish himself on his way back from Spain. A
gladiator, _Spartacus_, started a revolt among his companions. He
called about him slaves and outlaws until with an army of one hundred
thousand men he defeated the Roman generals, and threatened Rome
itself. For two years they ravaged Italy at their will. They were
vanquished by _Marcus Crassus_ in 71, in two battles, in the last
of which _Spartacus fell_. The remnant of them, a body of five
thousand men, who had nearly reached the Alps, were annihilated by
_Pompeius_.

POMPEIUS: CRASSUS: CICERO.--_Crassus_ was a man of great wealth
and of much shrewdness. _Pompeius_ was bland and dignified in his
ways, a valiant, though sometimes over-cautious, general. These two
men, in 70 B.C., became consuls. They had resolved to throw themselves
for support on the middle class at Rome. _Pompeius_, sustained by
his colleague, secured the abrogation of some of the essential changes
made by _Sulla_. The _Tribunes_ received back their powers,
and the independence of the _Assembly of the Tribes_ was
restored. The absolute power of the Senate over the law-courts was
taken away. These measures were carried in spite of the resistance of
that body. Pompeius was aided by the great advocate, _Marcus Tullius
Cicero_. He was born at _Arpinum_ in 106 B.C., of an
equestrian family. He had been a diligent student of law and politics,
and also of the Greek philosophy, and aspired to distinction in civil
life. He studied rhetoric under _Molo_, first at Rome and then at
_Rhodes_, during a period of absence from Italy, which continued
about two years. On his return (in 77 B.C.), he resumed legal
practice. _Cicero_ was a man of extraordinary and various
talents, and a patriot, sincerely attached to the republican
constitution. He was humane and sensitive, and much more a man of
peace than his eminent contemporaries. His foibles, the chief of which
was the love of praise, were on the surface; and, if he lacked some of
the robust qualities of the great Roman leaders of that day, he was
likewise free from some of their sins. The captivating oratory of
Cicero found a field for its exercise in the impeachment of
_Verres_, whose rapacity, as Roman governor of Sicily, had fairly
desolated that wealthy province. _Cicero_ showed such vigor in
the prosecution that _Verres_ was driven into exile. This event
weakened the senatorial oligarchy, and helped _Pompeius_ in his
contest with it.

WAR WITH THE PIRATES.--In 69 B.C., _Pompeius_ retired from
office; but, two years later, he assumed command in the war against
the pirates. These had taken possession of creeks and valleys in
Western _Cilicia_ and _Pamphylia_, and had numerous
fleets. Not confining their depredations to the sea, they plundered
the coasts of Italy, and stopped the grain-ships on which Rome
depended for food. _Pompeius_ undertook to exterminate this
piratical community. By the _Gabinian Law_, he was clothed with
more power than had ever been committed to an individual. He was to
have absolute command over the Mediterranean and its coasts for fifty
miles inland. He used this unlimited authority for war purposes alone,
and, in three months, completely accomplished the work assigned
him. He captured three thousand vessels, and put to death ten thousand
men. Twenty thousand captives he settled in the interior of
_Cilicia_.

POMPEIUS IN THE EAST.--The success of Pompeius was the prelude to a
wider extension of his power and his popularity. After the return of
_Sulla_ from the East, another _Mithridatic War_ (83-81),
the second in the series, had ended in the same terms of peace that
had been agreed upon before (p. 157). In 74 the contest began anew
against _Mithridates_, and _Tigranes_ of Armenia, his
son-in-law. For a number of years _Lucullus_, the Roman
commander, was successful; but finally _Mithridates_ regained
what he had lost, and kept up his aggressive course. In 66 B.C., on a
motion that was supported by _Cicero_, but opposed by the
aristocratic party in the Senate, _Pompeius_ was made commander
in the East for an indefinite term. So extensive powers had never
before been committed to a Roman. He drove _Mithridates_ out of
Pontus into Armenia. _Tigranes_ laid his crown at the feet of the
Roman general, and was permitted to retain
_Armenia_. _Mithridates_ fled beyond the Caucasus, and, in
63 B.C., committed suicide. _Pompeius_ overthrew the Syrian
kingdom of the _Seleucidae_. He entered _Judaea_, captured
Jerusalem from _Aristobulus_ the reigning prince, and placed his
brother _Hyrcanus_ on the throne, who became tributary to Rome.
_Pompeius_ with his officers entered the sanctuary of the temple,
and was surprised to find there neither image nor statue. He
established in the Roman territories in Asia the two provinces,
_Pontus_ and _Syria_, and re-organized the province of
_Cilicia_. Several kingdoms he allowed to remain under Roman
protection. After this unexampled exercise of power and responsibility
as the disposer of kingdoms, he slowly returned to Italy, dismissed
his army at _Brundisium_, and entered the capital as a private
citizen, where, in 61 B.C., he enjoyed a magnificent triumph that
lasted for two days.

THE ROMAN TRIUMPH.--The most coveted reward of a victorious general
was a triumph. It was granted by a vote of the Senate and according to
certain rules, some of which, however, were often relaxed. The general
must have held the office of dictator, consul, or praetor; at least
five thousand of the enemy must have been slain in a single battle;
the war must have been against public foes, etc. The general, with his
army, remained without the city until the triumph had been decreed by
the Senate, which also assembled without the walls to deliberate on
the question. The pageant itself, in later times, was of the most
splendid character. It consisted of a procession which entered the
"Triumphal Gate," and passed through the _Via Sacra_, up the
Capitoline Hill to the Temple of Jupiter, where sacrifices were
offered. In front were the Senate, headed by the magistrates. Then
came a body of trumpeters, who immediately preceded the long trains of
carriages and frames which displayed the spoils of conquest, including
statues, pictures, gorgeous apparel, gold and silver, and whatever
else had been borne away from the conquered people. Pictures of the
country traversed or conquered, and models of cities and forts, were
exhibited. Behind the spoils came flute-players, and these were
followed by elephants and other strange animals. Next were the arms
and insignia of the hostile leaders; and after them marched the
leaders themselves and their kindred, and all the captives of less
rank, in fetters. The crowns and other tributes voluntarily given to
the general by Roman allies next appeared, and then the central figure
of the procession, the _imperator_ himself, standing in a chariot
drawn by four horses, clad in a robe embroidered with gold, and a
flowered tunic, in his right hand a bough of laurel and in his left a
scepter, with a wreath of laurel on his brow, and a slave standing
behind, and holding a crown over his head. Behind him in the
procession were his family, then the mounted _equites_ and the
whole body of the infantry, their spears adorned with laurels, making
the air ring with their shouts and songs. Meantime the temples were
open, and incense was burned to the gods; buildings were decorated
with festal garlands; the population, in holiday dress, thronged the
steps of the public buildings and stages erected to command a view,
and in every place where a sight of the pageant could be obtained. As
the procession climbed the Capitoline Hill, some of the captives of
rank were taken into the adjoining _Mamertine_ prison, and
barbarously put to death. In the lower chamber of that ancient
dungeon, which the traveler still visits, _Jugurtha_ and many
other conquered enemies perished. After the sacrifices had been
offered, the _imperator_ sat down to a public feast with his
friends in the temple, and was then escorted home by a crowd of
citizens.

The _ovation_ was a lesser triumph. The general entered the city
on foot, and the ceremonies were of a much inferior cast.

CONSPIRACY OF CATILINE.--Meanwhile at Rome, the state had been
endangered by the combination of democrats and anarchists in the
conspiracy of _Catiline_. The well-contrived plot of this
audacious and profligate man was detected and crushed by the vigilance
and energy of the consul _Cicero_, whose four speeches on the
subject, two to the Senate and two to the people, are among the most
celebrated of all his orations. _Catiline_ was forced to fly from
Rome; and several of his prominent accomplices were put to death by
the advice of _Cato_ (the younger), the leader of the Senatorial
party, and by the vote of the Senate. This was done without asking for
the verdict of the people, and for this reason was not warranted by
the law; but it was declared to be needful for the salvation of the
state. The next year _Catiline_ was killed in battle, and his
force dispersed by the army of the Senate. A turn of party feeling
afterwards exiled _Cicero_ for departing from the law in the
execution of the conspirators.

JULIUS CAESAR.--Another person strong enough to be the rival of
_Pompeius_ was now on the stage of action. This was _Caius
Julius Caesar_, who proved himself to be, on the whole, the
foremost man of the ancient Roman world. Caesar's talents were
versatile, but in nothing was he weak or superficial. He was great as
a general, a statesman, an orator, and an author. With as much power
of personal command over men as _Hannibal_ had possessed, he was
likewise an agreeable companion of men of letters and in general
society. Every thing he did he appeared to do with ease. By his family
connections he was naturally designated as the leader of the popular,
Marian party. He was the nephew of _Marius_ and the son-in-law of
_Cinna_. _Sulla_ had spared his life, although he had
courageously refused to obey the dictator's command to put away his
wife; but he had been obliged to quit Rome. At the funeral of
_Julia_, the widow of _Marius_, he had been bold enough to
exhibit the bust of that hero,--an act that involved risk, but pleased
the multitude. He was suspected of being privy to _Catiline's_
plot, and in the Senate spoke against the execution of his
confederates. In 65 he was elected _Aedile_, but his profuse
expenditures in providing games plunged him heavily in debt; so that
it was only by advances made to him by _Crassus_ that he was
able, after being praetor, to go to _Spain_ (in 61), where, as
propraetor, he first acquired military distinction. Prior to his
sojourn in Spain, by his bold political conduct, in opposition to the
Senate, and on the democratic side, he had made himself a favorite of
the people.

THE FIRST TRIUMVIRATE.--Pompeius was distrusted and feared by the
Senate; but, on seeing that he took no measures to seize on power at
Rome, they proceeded to thwart his wishes, and denied the expected
allotments of land to his troops. The circumstances led to the
formation of the first _Triumvirate_, which was an informal
alliance between _Pompeius_, _Caesar_, and _Crassus_,
against the Senatorial oligarchy, and for the protection and
furtherance of their own interests. _Caesar_ became consul in 59
B.C. He gave his daughter _Julia_ in marriage to
_Pompeius_. Gaul, both Cisalpine, and Transalpine (_Gallia
Narbonensis_), was given to _Caesar_ to govern for five
years. _Cato_ was sent off to take possession of the kingdom of
_Cyprus_. _Cicero_, who was midway between the two parties,
was exiled on motion of the radical tribune, _Clodius_. But the
independent and violent proceedings of this demagogue led
_Pompeius_ to co-operate more with the Senate. _Cicero_ was
recalled (57 B.C.). A jealousy, fomented by the Senate, sprang up
between _Pompeius_ and _Crassus_. By _Caesar's_
efforts, a better understanding was brought about between the
triumvirs, and it was agreed that his own proconsulship should be
prolonged for a second term of five years. _Pompeius_ received
the _Spains_, and _Crassus_, who was avaricious, was made
proconsul of _Syria_, and commander of the armies in the Oriental
provinces. In an expedition against the _Parthians_ in 53, he
perished.

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