37 Servilius then said: “Romans, if we had no other means of judging what a consummate commander Lucius Æmilius was, this one would be sufficient: that, notwithstanding he had in his camp soldiers so fickle and mutinously inclined, with an enemy so noble, so zealous, and so eloquent, to stir up the passions of the multitude, yet he never had any sedition in his army. That strictness of discipline, which they now hate, kept them then in order. Subjected to the ancient rules, they did not mutiny. If truly, Servius Galba wished to make his debut as an orator in the case of Lucius Paullus, and to give a specimen of his eloquence, still he ought not to obstruct his triumph, since, if there was no other reason in its favour, the senate had judged it to be well merited. But on the day after the triumph, when he should see Æmilius in a private station, he should prefer a charge, and prosecute him according to the laws; or else, at a later period, when he himself should be invested with magistracy, let him cite Paullus to a trial, and accuse his enemy before the people. By such conduct Lucius Paullus would both receive the reward of his proper conduct, a triumph for extraordinary success in war, and also meet punishment, if he had committed any thing unworthy of his former or present reputation. Instead of which, he has undertaken to detract from the merits of a man to whom he cannot impute either crime or dishonour. Yesterday he demanded a whole day, for making his charges against Lucius Paullus, and he spent four hours, which remained of that day, in delivering a speech to that purpose. What accused man was ever so transcendently wicked, that the offence of his life could not be set forth in that number of hours? And yet, in all that time, what did he object to him, that Lucius Paullus, if actually on his trial, would have wished to be denied? Let any one with me fancy for a moment, two assemblies: one composed of the soldiers who served in Macedon; the other, of sounder judgment, unbiassed either by favour or dislike; where the whole body of the Roman people is the judge. Let the cause of the accused be pleaded, first, before the citizens, peaceably assembled in their gowns. Servius Galba, what have you to say before the Roman citizens? for such a discourse, as you made before, is totally precluded. You were obliged to stand at your posts with too much strictness and attention; the watches were visited with too much exactness and severity; you had more fatigue than formerly, because the general himself went the rounds, and enforced the duties. On the same day you performed a march, and, without repose, were led forth to battle. Even when you had gained a victory, he did not allow you rest: he led you immediately in pursuit of the enemy. When he has it in his power to make you rich, by dividing the spoil, he intends to carry the king’s treasure in his triumph, and deposit it in the treasury. Though these arguments may have some incentive to stimulate the passions of soldiers, who imagine that too little deference has been shown to their licentious temper, and too little indulgence to their avarice; yet they would have no kind of influence on the judgment of the Roman people; who, though they should not recollect old accounts, and what they heard from their parents, of the numerous defeats suffered in consequence of the desire of commanders to gain popularity, or of victories gained in consequence of strict enforcement of discipline; yet must they surely remember, what a difference there was in the last Punic war between Marcus Minucius, the master of the horse, and Quintus Fabius Maximus, the dictator. The accuser, therefore, would soon know, that any defence, on the part of Paullus, would be superfluous.
38 “Let us now pass to the other assembly; and here I am not to address you as citizens, but as soldiers, if, indeed, this name can cause a blush, and inspire you with shame, for your injurious treatment of your general. And I for my part feel my own mind affected in a very different manner, when I suppose myself speaking to an army, from what it was, just now, when my speech was addressed to the commons of the city. For what say you, soldiers, is there any man in Rome, except Perseus, that wishes there should be no triumph over Macedon; and are you not tearing him in pieces with the same hands with which you subdued the Macedonians? That man, who would hinder you from entering the city in triumph, would, if it had been in his power, have hindered you from conquering. Soldiers, you are mistaken, if you imagine that a triumph is an honour to the general only, and not to the soldiers also, as well as to the whole Roman people. This honour does not belong to Paullus alone. Many who failed of obtaining a triumph from the senate, have triumphed on the Alban Mount, No man can wrest from Lucius Paullus the honour of having brought the Macedonian war to a conclusion, any more than he can from Caius Lutatius, that of putting an end to the first Punic war, or from Publius Cornelius, that of finishing the second; or from those who, since those generals, have triumphed. Neither will a triumph add to, or diminish, the honour of Lucius Paullus as a commander: the character of the soldiers, and of the whole Roman people, is more immediately concerned therein, lest they should incur the imputation of envy and ingratitude towards one of their most illustrious citizens, and appear to imitate, in this respect, the Athenians, who have persecuted their distinguished men by exciting the hatred of the populace. Sufficient error was committed by your ancestors in the case of Camillus, whom they treated injuriously, before the city was recovered from the Gauls through his means; error sufficient, and more than sufficient, was committed by you in the case of Publius Africanus. How must we blush, when we reflect that the habitation and house of the conqueror of Africa was at Liternum; that his tomb is shown at Liternum! And shall Lucius Paullus, equal to any of those men in renown, receive from you an equal share of ill-treatment? Let then this infamy be first blotted out, which is shameful in the eyes of other nations, and injurious to ourselves; for who will wish to resemble either Africanus, or Paullus, in a state ungrateful and inimical to the virtuous? If there were no disgrace in the case, and the question merely concerned glory, what triumph does not imply the general glory of the Roman race? Are all the numerous triumphs over the Gauls, the Spaniards, and the Carthaginians, called the triumphs of the generals only, or of the Roman people? As the triumphs were celebrated not merely over Pyrrhus, or Hannibal, or Philip, but over the Epirotes and Carthaginians; so it was not the individual, Manius Curius, or Publius Cornelius, nor Titus Quinctius, but the Romans, that triumphed. This, indeed, is the peculiar case of the soldiers, who, themselves both crowned with laurel, and conspicuous for the presents each one has received, proclaim the triumph by name, and march in procession through the city, singing their own and their commander’s praises. If, at any time, soldiers are not brought home from a province to such honours, they murmur; and yet, even in that case, they consider themselves distinguished, even in their absence, because by their hands the victory was obtained. Soldiers, if it should be asked, for what purpose you were brought home to Italy, and not disbanded immediately, when the business of the province was finished; why you came to Rome, in a body, round your standards; why you loiter here, and do not repair to your several homes: what other answer can you give, than that you wished to be seen triumphing? And, certainly, you have a right to show yourselves as conquerors.
39 “Triumphs have been lately celebrated over Philip, father of the present king, and over Antiochus. Both these triumphs over them took place when they were in possession of their thrones, and shall there be no triumph over Perseus, who has been taken prisoner, and, with his children, brought away to the city? But if Lucius Paullus, as a private citizen, should, amid the crowd of gowned citizens, interrogate, from the lower ground, those mounting to the Capitol in a chariot, and clad in gold and purple,—‘Lucius Anicius, Cneius Octavius, whether do you esteem yourselves, or me, more deserving of a triumph?’ I am confident they would yield him the chariot, and, through shame, themselves present to him their ensigns of honour. And do ye choose, citizens, that Gentius should be led in procession, rather than Perseus; do you wish to triumph over an accessary, rather than over the principal in the war? Shall the legions from Illyria, and the crews of the fleet, enter the city with laurel crowns; and shall the Macedonian legions, after being refused a triumph, be only spectators of other men’s glories? What then will become of such a rich booty, the spoils of a victory so lucrative? Where shall be buried so many thousand suits of armour, stripped from the bodies of the enemy? shall they be sent back to Macedon? Where shall be lodged the statues of gold, of marble, and of ivory: the pictures, the tapestries, such a quantity of wrought silver and gold, and such a mass of royal money? Shall they be conveyed to the treasury by night, as if they were stolen? What? when will that greatest of shows, the celebrated and powerful captive king, Perseus, be exhibited to the eyes of a victorious people? Most of us remember what a concourse the captured king Syphax, an auxiliary only in the Punic war, caused; and shall the captured king, Perseus, with his sons, Philip and Alexander, names so illustrious, be withdrawn from the eager gaze of the state? All men are eagerly anxious to behold Lucius Paullus himself, twice consul, the conqueror of Greece, entering the city in his triumphal chariot. We made him consul for this very purpose, that he should finish a war which had been protracted for four years, to our great shame. When he obtained that province by lot, and when he was setting out for it, with presaging minds, we destined to him victory and triumph; and shall we now, when he is victorious, refuse him a triumph; shall we defraud, not only men, but the gods also of the honours due to them? For a triumph is due to the gods also, and not to men only: your ancestors commenced every business of importance with worshipping them, and ended all in the same manner. The consul, or prætor, (when going to his province and to a war, dressed in his military robe, and attended by his lictors,) offers vows in the Capitol; and when he returns victorious, after bringing the war to a conclusion, carries in triumph to the Capitol, to the deities to whom he made the vows, the due offering of the Roman people. The victims that precede him are not the most immaterial part of the procession,—to demonstrate that the commander comes home with thanksgivings to the gods for the success granted to the state. You may slay at sacrifices performed by different persons, all those victims, which he has claimed to be led in his triumph. Do you intend to interrupt those banquets of the senate which (whether they are meant for the gratification of men, or both of gods and men) are not partaken of either in any private or even public unconsecrated place, but only in the Capitol,—because such is the will of Servius Galba? Shall the gates be shut against the triumph of Lucius Paullus? Shall Perseus, king of Macedon, with his children, the multitude of other captives, and the spoils of the Macedonians, be left behind on this side of the river? Shall Lucius Paullus, in a private character, go straight from the gate to his house, as if returning home from his country-seat? And do you, centurion, and you, soldiers, listen to the votes of the senate respecting your general, Paullus, rather than to what Servius Galba may invent? Listen to me, who say this, rather than to him. He has learned nothing, but to speak; and even that with rancour and malice. I have three-and-twenty times fought against the enemy, on challenges; from every one with whom I engaged, I brought off spoils. I have my body plentifully marked with honourable scars, all received in front.” It is said that he then stripped himself, and mentioned in what war each of his wounds was received; while he was showing these, he happened to uncover what ought to be concealed, and a swelling in his groins raised a laugh among those near him. He then said, “This too, which excites your laughter, I got by continuing days and nights on horseback; nor do I feel either shame or sorrow for it, any more than for these scars, since it never prevented me from rendering effectual service to the republic, either in peace or war. An aged soldier, I have shown to youthful soldiers this body of mine, often wounded by the weapons of the enemy. Let Galba expose his, which is sleek and unhurt. Tribunes, be pleased to call back the tribes to vote. Soldiers, I[102] will go down among you, and will follow you as you proceed to give your votes, and I will mark the turbulent and ungrateful, and such as require that they should not be governed by the general, but that he should become their willing slave, through a desire to gain popularity.” The great body of the soldiers felt so deeply the justice of this reproof, that they changed their minds, so that all the tribes, when recalled to give their votes, passed unanimously the bill concerning the triumph. Therefore Paullus, having at length overcome the malice and detraction of his enemies, celebrated a triumph over king Perseus and the Macedonians, which lasted three days, namely, the fourth, third, and second days, before the calends of December. This triumph, whether we consider the greatness of the conquered king, or the appearances of the images, or the quantity of money, was by far the most magnificent that was ever celebrated, so that by its greatness it precluded all comparison with occurrences of a similar nature. The people having raised stands, like those in the theatre, along the market-place and the other streets of the city, by which the procession was to move, were spectators, and were dressed in white gowns. All the temples were open, and were wreathed with garlands and smoking with incense. The lictors and beadles kept the whole extent of the streets clear, and the way open, by removing from the middle of them the mob, which was crowding together and wandering about. Although the gorgeous spectacle was destined to occupy three days, as we have already mentioned, yet the first day scarcely sufficed for the procession of the statues and paintings, which were placed on two hundred and fifty chariots. The next day all the most beautiful and most magnificent arms of the Macedonians were carried along on many waggons; and these arms were glittering with all the brightness of steel, or lately polished brass, and were piled up in such a manner with regard to one another, that although they seemed to be heaped up in masses rather than artificially arranged, yet they presented to the eye a striking appearance, owing to this very fortuitous and confused arrangement: helmets were mixed with shields, and coats of mail with greaves, and Cretan targets, and Thracian bucklers, and quivers, in one heap with the bridles of horses, and naked swords exposing their threatening points, and Macedonian spears projecting from the sides. And as all these arms were loosely bound together, whenever they clashed with one another in the carriage, they sent forth a certain terrible and martial sound, so that not even the arms of the conquered could be viewed without a feeling of fear. Then more than seven hundred and fifty vases, filled with coined silver, were borne along by three thousand men. Each vase contained three talents, and was borne by four men. There were some who bore silver bowls, and goblets, and cups, and vessels made of horn, remarkable as well for the beauty of their arrangement, as for their size and weight, and the surpassing workmanship of the raised carving. On the third day, at the very dawn, the trumpeters began the march, playing not only the festal strains which were usual in solemn processions, but also sounding the war-notes, as if they were advancing to battle. A hundred and twenty fat oxen with gilded horns, and adorned with fillets and wreaths of flowers, were led along. Young men, begirt with bands of exquisite workmanship, led the bulls along; and to them were added as companions, boys who bore golden and silver goblets. Then followed the persons who bore the coined gold in seventy-seven vases, each of which contained three talents, like those in which the silver was carried. Then was seen the sacred goblet, ten talents in weight, adorned with precious gems, which Paullus had ordered to be made, and also the goblets of Antigonus and Seleucus, and the cups made by Thericles, and other distinguished artists, all made of gold, with to which the saloons of Perseus had been furnished. After them came the chariot of Perseus, laden with his arms, and a diadem in addition. A band of captives followed, namely, Bethys, the son of king Cotys, who had been sent by his father into Macedon as a hostage, and subsequently taken by the Romans along with the children of Perseus; then the children of Perseus themselves, accompanied by a band of tutors and guardians, who in tears stretched forth their hands mournfully to the spectators, and instructed the boys to implore suppliantly the mercy of the victorious people. There were two sons and one daughter who excited the greater commiseration in the spectators, because they themselves, on account of their age, could scarcely comprehend their misfortunes. Therefore the majority of the spectators could not refrain from tears, and a sort of silent grief saddened the minds of all, and prevented them from enjoying real pleasure, as long as the children met their gaze. Behind his children walked Perseus with his wife, in a mourning robe, dressed in sandals, after the Greek custom, like a person stupified and astonished, whom the greatness of his calamities seemed to have deprived of reason. Then followed a crowd of friends and acquaintances, in whose countenances deep grief was depicted, for whenever they gazed on the king they wept bitterly, demonstrating clearly that they were grieved on account of his calamities, but forgot their own. Perseus had endeavoured to avert this ignominy by entreaties, and had sent persons to Æmilius, to beg that he should not be led in the triumphal procession. Æmilius smiled at the dastardly spirit of the wretch, and said, “that this request was formerly, and is even now, under his own actions and power;” thereby giving him a silent hint, that he should avoid by a noble death that of which he was afraid. But his irresolute mind was not capable of adopting so determined a design, and under the soothing influence of some hope, he preferred being considered part of his own spoil. Then four hundred golden crowns were carried along, which had been sent by almost all the states of Greece and Asia, through their ambassadors, as gifts to Paullus, and an expression of their joy for his victory: their value, if they were considered intrinsically, was immense, yet they constituted a slight addition to the enormous treasures which were borne in that triumph.
40 Valerius Antias tells us, that the total of the captured gold and silver, carried in the procession, was one hundred and twenty millions of sesterces;[103] but from the number of chariots, and the weights of the gold and silver, specifically set down by himself, the amount is unquestionably made much greater. An equal sum, it is said, had been either expended on the late war, or dissipated during the flight, when he sought Samothrace; and it was more wonderful on this account, because so large a quantity of money had been amassed within the space of the thirty years that intervened since Philip’s war with the Romans, partly out of the produce of the mines, and partly from the other branches of revenue. Philip began war against the Romans almost destitute of money; Perseus, on the contrary, was immensely rich. Last came Paullus himself, in his chariot, making a very majestic appearance, both from the dignity of his person, and from his age. After his chariot, among other illustrious personages, were his two sons, Quintus Maximus and Publius Scipio; then the cavalry, troop by troop, and the cohorts of infantry, each in its order. The donative distributed among them was one hundred denariuses[104] to each footman, double to a centurion, and triple to a horseman; and it is believed that he would have given as much more to the infantry, and in the same proportion to the others, had they not objected to his attaining the present honour, or had they answered with thankful acclamations, when that sum was announced as their reward. But Perseus, led through the city of his enemies in chains, before the chariot of the general, his conqueror, was not the only instance at the time of the misfortunes incident to mankind; another appeared even in the victorious Paullus, though glittering in gold and purple. For, of two sons, (whom, after having given away two others on adoption, he had retained at home, the sole heirs of his name, household gods, and estate,) the younger, about twelve years old, died five days before the triumph, and the elder fourteen years of age, three days after it; who ought to have been carried in the chariot with their father, dressed in the prætexta, and anticipating, in their hopes, the like kind of honours for themselves. A few days after, at a general assembly granted by Marcus Antonius, tribune of the people, after Paullus has descanted on his own proper services, as usually done by other commanders, his speech was memorable, and worthy of a Roman chief.
41 “Although, Romans, I think you are not ignorant that I have successfully administered the state, nor that two dreadful strokes have lately crushed my house; since now my triumph and now the funerals of my two sons have been exhibited to your view; yet permit me, I pray you, to take in few words, and with that temper which becomes me, a comparative view of my own private situation, and the happy state of the public. Departing from Italy, I sailed from Brundusium at sun-rise; at the ninth hour, with my whole squadron, I reached Corcyra. On the fifth day after that I offered sacrifice to Apollo, at Delphi, in expiation of myself, of your armies and fleets. From Delphi I arrived on the fifth day in the camp; where, having received the command of the army, and altered several matters which greatly impeded success, I advanced into the country; as the enemy’s camp was impregnable, and Perseus could not be brought to an action, I forced the pass of Petra in the very face of his guards, and at length, compelled the king to come to an engagement, and gained a complete victory. I reduced Macedonia under the power of the Romans; and in fifteen days finished a war, which four consuls before me had for four years conducted in such a manner, that each left it to his successor more formidable than he had found it. Other prosperous events followed in consequence of this; all the cities of Macedon submitted; the royal treasure came into my hands; the king himself, with his children, was taken in the temple of Samothrace, just as if the gods themselves delivered him into my hands. I now thought my good fortune excessive, and on that account to be suspected; I began to dread the dangers of the sea in carrying away the king’s vast treasure, and transporting the victorious army. When all arrived in Italy, after a prosperous voyage, and I had nothing further to wish, I prayed that (as fortune generally from the highest elevation rolls backwards) my own house, rather than the commonwealth, might feel the change. I hope, therefore, that the republic is free from danger, by my having undergone such an extraordinary calamity, as to have my triumph, in mockery as it were of human fortunes, intervene between the funerals of my two sons. And though Perseus and myself are at present exhibited as the most striking examples of the vicissitudes of mortals, yet he,—who, himself in captivity saw his children led captive,—has them still in safety; while I who triumphed over him, went up in my chariot to the Capitol from the funeral of one son, and came down from the Capitol to the bed of the other, just expiring; nor out of so large a family of children is there one remaining to bear the name of Lucius Æmilius Paullus. For, as out of a numerous progeny, the Cornelian and Fabian families have two of them who were given in adoption. In the house of Paullus, except the old man, none remains. However, your happiness, and the prosperous state of the commonwealth, console me for this ruin of my house.” 42. These words, expressed with such magnanimity, moved the minds of the audience with deeper commiseration than if he had with tears bewailed the loss of his children in the most plaintive terms.
42 Cneius Octavius celebrated a naval triumph over king Perseus, on the calends of December. That triumph was without prisoners or spoils. He distributed to each seaman seventy-five denariuses;[105] to the pilots who were on board, twice that sum; and to the masters of ships, four times. A meeting of the senate was then held. The fathers ordered that Quintus Cassius should conduct king Perseus and his son Alexander to Alba, to be there kept in custody; but that he should retain his attendants, money, plate, and furniture. Bitis, son to the king of Thrace, was sent to Carseoli; with the hostages he had given to Macedon, the rest, who had been led in triumph, were ordered to be shut up in prison. A few days after this passed, ambassadors came from Cotys, king of Thrace, bringing money to ransom his son and the said hostages. When they were introduced to an audience of the senate, and alleged, as an argument, in excuse of Cotys, that he had not voluntarily assisted Perseus in the war, but had been compelled to do it; and likewise requested the senate to allow the hostages to be ransomed, at any price that should be judged proper; the following answer was returned to them: that “the Roman people remembered the friendship which had subsisted between them and Cotys, and likewise his predecessors, and the Thracian nation; that the giving of hostages was the very fault laid to his charge, and not an apology for it; for Perseus, even when at rest from others, could not be formidable to the Thracian nation, much less when he was embroiled in a war with Rome. But that notwithstanding that Cotys had preferred the favour of Perseus to the friendship of the Roman people, yet the senate would consider rather what suited their own dignity, than what treatment he had merited; and would send home his son and the hostages; that the kind acts of the Roman people were always gratuitous, and that they chose to leave the value of them in the memory of the receivers, rather than to demand it at the time.” Titus Quintius Flamininus, Caius Licinius Nerva, and Marcus Caninius Rebilus were nominated ambassadors to conduct the hostages to Thrace; and a present of two thousand asses[106] was made to each of the Thracian ambassadors. Bithys was fetched from Carseoli, and, accompanied by the hostages, was sent to his father along with the ambassadors. Some of the king’s ships which were taken from the Macedonians, which were of a size never seen before, were hauled ashore in the field of Mars.
43 While the memory of the Macedonian triumph was remaining not only in the minds but almost before the eyes of the people, Lucius Anicius triumphed over king Gentius and the Illyrians, on the day of the festival of Quirinus. These exhibitions were considered rather as similar than equal. The commander himself was inferior; Anicius was not to be compared in renown with Æmilius; a prætor, in dignity of office, with a consul; neither could Gentius be set on a level with Perseus, nor the Illyrians with the Macedonians; nor the spoils, nor the money, nor the presents obtained in one country, with those obtained in the other. But though the late triumph outshone the present, yet the latter, when considered by itself, appeared very far from contemptible. For Anicius had, in the space of a few days, entirely subdued the Illyrian nation, though they were remarkable for their courage both on land and sea, and confident in the strength of their position; he had also taken their king and the whole royal family. He carried in his triumph many military standards, and much spoil of other sorts, with all the royal furniture; and also twenty-seven pounds’ weight of gold, and nineteen of silver, besides three thousand denariuses,[107] and, in Illyrian money, the amount of one hundred and twenty thousand.[108] Before his chariot were led Gentius, with his queen and children; Caravantius, the king’s brother, and several Illyrian nobles. Out of the booty he gave forty-five denariuses[109] to each footman, double that sum to a centurion, triple it to a horseman; to the Latin allies the like sums as to natives, and to the seamen the same as to the soldiers. The soldiers attended this triumph with greater demonstrations of joy than that of Æmilius, and the general was celebrated in abundance of songs. Valerius Antias says, that twenty thousand sesterces[110] were produced by the sale of the booty, besides the gold and silver carried to the treasury; but, as no sources appeared from which such a sum could be raised, I have set down my authority instead of asserting the fact. King Gentius, with his queen, children, and brother, was, pursuant to an order of the senate taken to Spoletium, to be kept there in custody; the rest of the prisoners were thrown into prison at Rome; but the people of Spoletium refusing the charge, the royal family was removed to Iguvium. There remained of the Illyrian spoil, two hundred and twenty barks, which Quintus Cassius, by order of the senate, distributed among the Corcyreans, Apollonians, and Dyrrachians.
44 The consuls of this year, after merely ravaging the lands of the Ligurians, as the enemy never brought an army into the field, returned to Rome to elect new magistrates, without having performed any matter of importance; and on the first day on which the assembly could meet, they appointed Marcus Claudius Marcellus, and Caius Sulpicius Gallus, consuls. Lucius Livius, Lucius Appuleius Saturninus, Aulus Licinius Nerva, Publius Rutilius Calvus, Publius Quintilius Varus, and Marcus Fonteius, were elected prætors on the next day. The two city provinces, the two Spains, Sicily, and Sardinia were decreed to these prætors. There was an intercalation made in the calendar this year, which took place on the day after the feast of Terminus. One of the augurs, Caius Claudius, died this year, and Titus Quintus Flamininus was chosen in his place by the college. The flamen quirinalis, Quintus Fabius Pictor, died also. This year king Prusias arrived at Rome with his son Nicomedes. Coming into the city with a large retinue, he went directly from the gate to the forum, to the tribunal of the prætor, Quintus Cassius; and a crowd immediately collecting, he said, that “he came to pay his respects to the deities inhabiting the city of Rome, and to the Roman senate and people, to congratulate them on their conquest of the two kings, Perseus and Gentius, and the augmentation of their empire by the reduction of Macedon and Illyria under their dominion.” When the prætor told him that, if he chose it, he would procure him audience of the senate on the same day, he desired two days’ time, in which he might go round and visit the temples of the gods, see the city, and his acquaintances and friends. Lucius Cornelius Scipio, then quæstor, who had been sent to Capua to meet him, was appointed to conduct him around Rome. A house was likewise provided, capable of lodging him and his retinue with convenience. On the third day after, he attended at a meeting of the senate. He congratulated them on their success, recounted his own deserts towards them during the war, and then requested that “he might be allowed to fulfil a vow of sacrificing ten large victims in the Capitol, and one to Fortune at Præneste; a vow which had been made for the success of the Roman people. He further desired that the alliance with him might be renewed; and that the territory taken from king Antiochus, and not granted to any other, but now in possession of the Gauls, might be given to him.” Lastly, he recommended to the senate his son Nicomedes. He was assisted by the interest of all those who had commanded armies in Macedon; his requests therefore were granted, except that with regard to the territory, concerning which he received this answer: that “they would send ambassadors to examine the matter on the spot. If the territory in question had become the property of the Roman people, and if no grant had been made of it, they would deem no other so deserving of a present of the kind as Prusias. But if it had not belonged to Antiochus, it evidently, in consequence, did not become the property of the Roman people; or if it had been already granted to the Gauls, Prusias must excuse the Roman people if they did not choose to confer a present on him in violation of the rights of others. A present cannot be acceptable to the receiver, which he knows the donor may take away whenever he thinks proper. That they cheerfully accepted his recommendation of Nicomedes; and Ptolemy, king of Egypt, was an instance of the great care with which the Roman people supported the children of their friends.” With this answer Prusias was dismissed. Presents were ordered to be given him to the value of * * * * sesterces besides vases of silver, weighing fifty pounds. And they voted that gifts should be given to his son Nicomedes of the same value with those given to Masgaba, the son of king Masinissa; and that the same victims, and other matters pertaining to sacrifices, should be furnished to the king at the public expense, as to the Roman magistrates, whenever he chose to make the offering, either at Rome or at Præneste; and that twenty ships of war should be assigned to him, and which were then lying at Brundusium, of which he should have the use until he arrived at the fleet which was presented to him. That Lucius Cornelius Scipio should not quit him, but defray all his expenses, and those of his retinue, until they went on board the ships. We are told that Prusias was wonderfully rejoiced at the kind treatment which he received from the Roman people; that he refused all that had been offered to himself, but ordered his son to receive the present of the Roman people. Such are the accounts given of Prusias by our own writers. Polybius, however, represents that king as having degraded the majesty of his name,—and says that he used to meet the ambassadors, wearing a cap, and having his head shaved, calling himself a freed slave of the Roman people, and, accordingly, bearing the badges of that class; that likewise at Rome, when coming into the senate-house, he stooped down and kissed the threshold; called the senate his tutelar deities, and used other expressions not so honourable to the hearers as disgraceful to himself. He staid in the city and its vicinity not more than thirty days, and then returned to his kingdom, and the war that had been carried on in Asia. * * * * * * * * * *
Here ends all that has reached us of this history. Of ninety-five books more, which it originally consisted of, the contents only have been preserved; they are as follow:—