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At the close of this year, Caius Laelius, the lieutenant general of Scipio, came to Rome on the thirty-fourth day after he set out from Tarraco, and entering the city accompanied by a train of captives, drew together a great concourse of people. The next day, on being brought into the senate, he stated that Carthage, the capital of Spain, had been captured in one day, that several cities which had revolted were regained, and that fresh ones had been received into alliance. From the prisoners, information was gained, corresponding for the most part with what was contained in the letter of Marcus Valerius Messala. What produced the greatest effect upon the fathers, was the march of Hasdrubal into Italy, which was with difficulty resisting Hannibal and his forces. Laelius also, who was brought before the general assembly, gave a particular statement of the same things. The senate decreed a supplication for one day, on account of the successes of Publius Scipio, and ordered Caius Laelius to return as soon as possible to Spain, with the ships he had brought with him. I have laid the taking of Carthage in this year, on the authority of many writers, although aware that some have stated that it was taken the following year, because it appeared to me hardly probable that Scipio should have spent an entire year in Spain in doing nothing. Quintus Fabius Maximus for the fifth time, and Quintus Fulvius Flaccus for the fourth having entered on their offices of consuls on the ides of March, on the same day, Italy was decreed as the province of both, their command, however, was distributed to separate districts. Fabius was appointed to carry on the war at Tarentum; Fulvius in Lucania and Bruttium. Marcus Claudius was continued in command for the year. The praetors then cast lots for their provinces. Caius Hostilius Tubulus obtained the city jurisdiction; Lucius Veturius Philo the foreign, with Gaul; Titus Quinctius Crispinus, Capua; Caius Aurunculeius, Sardinia. The troops were thus distributed through the provinces: Fulvius received the two legions which Marcus Valerius Laevinus had in Sicily; Quintus Fabius, those which Caius Calpurnius had commanded in Etruria. The city troops were to succeed those in Etruria; Caius Calpurnius commanding the same province and the army. Titus Quinctius was to take the command of Capua, and the army which had served under Quintus Fulvius there. Lucius Veturius was to succeed Caius Laetorius, propraetor, in his province and the command of the army, which was then at Ariminum. Marcus Marcellus had the legions with which he had been successful when consul. To Marcus Valerius together with Lucius Cincius, for these also were continued in command in Sicily, the troops which had fought at Cannae were given, with orders to recruit them out of the surviving soldiers of the legions of Cneius Fulvius. These were collected and sent by the consuls into Sicily, and the same ignominious condition of service was added, under which the troops which had fought at Cannae served, and to those troops belonging to the army of Cneius Fulvius, the praetor, which had been sent thither by the senate through displeasure occasioned by a similar flight. Caius Aurunculeius was appointed to command, in Sardinia, the same legions with which Publius Manlius Vulso had occupied that province. Publius Sulpicius was continued in command for the year, with orders to hold Macedonia with the same legion and fleet. Orders were given to send thirty quinqueremes from Sicily to Tarentum, to the consul Fabius. With the rest of the ships, orders were given that Marcus Valerius Laevinus should either pass over himself into Africa to ravage the country, or send either Lucius Cincius or Marcus Valerius Messala. With regard to Spain, no alteration was made, except that Scipio and Silanus were continued in command, not for the year, but until they should be recalled by the senate. In such manner were the provinces and the commands of the armies distributed for this year.
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Amid concerns of greater importance, an old dispute was revived at the election of a chief curio, when a priest was appointed to succeed Marcus Aemilius; the patricians denying that Caius Mamilius Vitulus, who was a plebeian candidate, ought to be allowed to stand, because no one before his time had held that priesthood who was not a patrician. The tribunes, on being appealed to, referred the matter to the senate. The senate left it to the decision of the people. Thus Caius Mamilius Vitulus was the first plebeian created chief curio. Publius Licinius, chief pontiff, compelled Caius Valerius Flaccus to be inaugurated flamen of Jupiter, against his will. Caius Valerius Laetorius was created decemvir for the performance of sacred rites, in the room of Quintus Mucius Scaevola, deceased. I should willingly have passed over in silence the reason of a flamen's being compelled to be inaugurated, had he not become a good, from having been a bad character. In consequence of having spent his youth in idleness and debauchery, vices for which he had incurred the displeasure of his own brother, Lucius Flaccus, and the rest of his kinsmen, Caius Flaccus was chosen flamen by Publius Licinius, chief pontiff. As soon as his mind became occupied with the care of the sacred rites and ceremonies, he soon so completely divested himself of his former habits, that no one among all the youth was more esteemed, or enjoyed in a greater degree the approbation of the chief of the patricians, whether relations or aliens. Being raised by this generally good character to a proper confidence in himself, he claimed to be admitted into the senate; a thing intermitted for many years, on account of the worthlessness of former flamens. On entering the senate, Lucius Licinius, the praetor, led him out; on which the flamen appealed to the tribunes of the people. He demanded back the ancient privilege of his priesthood, which was given, together with the purple-bordered robe, and the curule chair, to the office of flamen. The praetor wished the question to rest not on the precedents contained in the annals, which were obsolete from their antiquity, but on the usual practice in all the cases of most recent date; urging, that no flamen of Jupiter, in the memory of their fathers or their grandfathers, had taken up that privilege. The tribunes giving it as their opinion, that justice required, that as the obliteration of the privilege was occasioned by the negligence of the flamens, the consequences ought to fall upon the flamens themselves, and not upon the office, led the flamen into the senate, with the general approbation of the fathers, and without any opposition, even from the praetor himself; while all were of opinion that the flamen had obtained his object more from the purity of his life, than any right appertaining to the priesthood. The consuls, before they departed to their provinces, raised two legions for the city, and as many soldiers as were necessary to make up the numbers of the other armies. The consul Fulvius appointed his brother, Caius Fulvius Flaccus, lieutenant-general, to march the old city army into Etruria, and to bring to Rome the legions which were in Etruria. And the consul Fabius ordered his son, Quintus Fabius Maximus, to lead the remains of the army of Fulvius, which had been collected, amounting to three thousand three hundred and thirty-six, into Sicily to Marcus Valerius, the proconsul, and to receive from him two legions and thirty quinqueremes. The withdrawing of these legions from the island did not at all diminish the force employed for the protection of that province, either in effect or appearance; for though, in addition to two veteran legions which were most effectively reinforced, he had a great number of Numidian deserters, both horse and foot, he raised also a body of Sicilian troops, consisting of men who had served in the armies of Epicydes and the Carthaginians, and were experienced in war. Having added these foreign auxiliaries to each of the Roman legions, he preserved the appearance of two armies. With one he ordered Lucius Cinctius to protect that portion of the island which had formed the kingdom of Hiero, with the other he himself guarded the rest of the island, which was formerly divided by the boundary of the Roman and Carthaginian dominions. He divided also the fleet of seventy ships, in order that it might protect the sea-coast, through the entire extent of its shores. He himself went through the island with the cavalry of Mutines to inspect the lands, observe those which were cultivated and those which were not, and, accordingly, either praise or reprove the owners. By this diligence so large a quantity of corn was produced, that he both sent some to Rome, and collected at Catana corn which might serve as a supply for the army, which was about to pass the summer at Tarentum.
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But the transportation of the soldiers into Sicily, and they consisted chiefly of Latins and allies, had very nearly caused a serious commotion; from such trifling circumstances do events of great importance frequently arise. A murmuring arose among the Latins and allies at their meetings. They said, that "they had been drained by levies and contributions for ten years. That almost every year they fought with the most disastrous consequences. That some of them were slain in the field, others were carried off by disease. That a countryman of theirs who was enlisted by the Romans was more lost to them than one who was taken prisoner by the Carthaginians; for the latter was sent back to his country by the enemy without ransom, while the former was sent beyond the limits of Italy, into exile rather than military service. That the troops which fought at Cannae were growing old there, for eight years, and would die there before the enemy, who was now more than ever flourishing and vigorous would depart from Italy. If the old soldiers did not return to their country, and fresh ones were enlisted, that in a short time there would be no one left. That, therefore, they must refuse to the Roman people, before they came to utter desolation and want, what shortly their very condition would refuse. If the Romans saw their allies unanimous on this point that they would then certainly think of making peace with the Carthaginians; otherwise, Italy would never be without war while Hannibal was alive." Thus they discoursed in their meetings. The Roman people had at that time thirty colonies. Twelve of these, for they all had embassies in Rome, told the consuls that they had not whence to furnish either men or money. The twelve were Ardea, Nepete Sutrium, Alba, Carseoli, Cora, Suessa, Cerceii, Setia, Cales Narnia, Interamna. The consuls, astonished at this new proceeding, were desirous to deter them from so hateful a measure and, considering that they could effect this better by censure and remonstrance than by mild means, said that "they had dared to say to the consuls what the consuls could not bring their minds to declare in the senate; for that this was not refusal to perform military service, but an open defection from the Roman people. They desired, therefore, that they would return to their colonies speedily, and that, considering the subject as untouched, as they had only spoken of, but not attempted, so impious a business, they would consult with their countrymen. That they would warn them that they were not Campanians or Tarentines, but Romans; that from thence they derived their origin, and thence were sent out into colonies and lands captured from the enemy, for the purpose of increasing the population. That they owed to the Romans what children owed to parents, if they possessed any natural affection, or any gratitude towards their mother country. That they should, therefore, consider the matter afresh; for that certainly what they then so rashly meditated, was the betraying the Roman empire, and putting the victory in the hands of Hannibal." The consuls having spent a long time in exchanging arguments of this kind, the ambassadors, who were not at all moved by what they said, declared, that "they had nothing which they could carry home, nor had their senate any thing fresh to devise, having neither men to be enlisted, nor money to be furnished for pay." The consuls, seeing that they were inflexible, laid the matter before the senate; where the alarm excited in the minds of all was so great, that "the greater part declared it was all over with the empire; that the rest of the colonies would take the same course, and that all the allies had conspired to betray the city of Rome to Hannibal."
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