Livy

“ Nothing hampered the Romans more than the setting a price upon the heads of their foes, the price of liberty, for no sooner had any one made a furious attack upon an enemy and killed him than he lost time in cutting off his head - a difficult matter in the tumult and turmoil of the battle - and then, as their right hands were occupied in holding the heads all the best soldiers were no longer able to fight, and the battle was left to the slow and the timid. ”

“ They told him that they had not forgotten his kindness, and out of gratitude had persuaded most of the younger men in Tarentum to choose the friendship and alliance of Hannibal in preference to that of the Romans; they had been sent by their compatriots to ask him to march his army nearer to Tarentum. "If only," they declared, "your standards and camp are visible at Tarentum, there will be no hesitation in making the city over to you. The populace is in the hands of the younger men, and the government of Tarentum is in the hands of the populace." ”

“ Then the soldiers dispersed in all directions and the city was filled with dead bodies and people fleeing for their lives, for the soldiers slew the defenceless crowd with as much fury as though they were fighting against an equal foe, and glowing with all the ardour of battle. ”

“ Marching out of the city in the dead of the night, without the slightest noise or confusion, he got within the enemy's camp, which was so unguarded and open that it is credibly stated that more than a thousand men were inside the lines before they were detected, and if they had only refrained from using their swords they could actually have reached the king's tent. The slaughter of those nearest the camp gates aroused the enemy, and such universal panic and terror ensued that no one seized his weapons or made any attempt to drive out the invaders. ”

“ What danger is there for any man in a lonely, all but widowed woman and daughters who are living in orphanhood? Ah, but even if there is no danger to be feared from us, we are of the hated royal birth. Then banish us far from Syracuse and Sicily, order us to be transported to Alexandria, send the wife to her husband, the daughters to their father. ”

“ The Roman soldiers asked what it was that the Arpinians wanted, what wrong had Rome done them, what good service had Carthage rendered them that they, Italians-bred and born, should fight against their old friends the Romans on behalf of foreigners and barbarians, and wish to make Italy a tributary province of Africa. The people of Arpi urged in their excuse that they knew nothing of what was going on, they had in fact been sold by their leaders to the Carthaginians, they had been victimised and enslaved by a small oligarchy. ”

“ It was no easy matter for a man in his ninetieth year, subject night and day to the coaxing and blandishments of two women, to keep an open mind and make public interests predominant over private ones in his thoughts. So all he could do was to leave fifteen guardians for his son, and he implored them on his deathbed to maintain unimpaired the loyal relations with Rome which he had cultivated for fifty years, and to see to it that the young man, above all things, followed in his footsteps and adhered to the principles in which he had been brought up. ”

“ Why! had Andranodorus' designs succeeded, her sister would have shared her husband's throne and the rest would have been her slaves. Is there one of you who doubts that if any one were to announce to Zoippus the assassination of Hieronymus and the recovery of liberty for Syracuse, he would not at once take ship and return to his native land? How are all human hopes falsified! ”

“ The spokesman of the Romans said they were not bringing war to the Syracusans but help and succour, both for those who had been cowed by terror and for those who were enduring a servitude worse than exile, worse even than death itself. "The Romans," he said, "will not allow the infamous massacre of their allies to go unavenged. If, therefore, those who have taken refuge with us are at liberty to return home unmolested, if the ringleaders of the massacre are given up and if Syracuse is allowed once more to enjoy her liberty and her laws, there is no need of arms ”

“ Three days before his arrival M. Valerius, the propraetor, who was in command of the fleet at Brundisium, had sent M. Livius to Tarentum. He speedily embodied a force out of the young nobility, and posted detachments at the gates and on the walls wherever it seemed necessary, and by being ever on the alert day and night gave no chance to either the enemy or the untrustworthy allies of making any attempt themselves or hoping for anything from Hannibal. ”

“ Just as we desire to have our infantry and cavalry stronger, or if that is impossible at least equal to the enemy, so we should look for a commander equal to his. Even if we choose as our commander the finest general in the republic, still he is only chosen for a year, and immediately after his election he will be pitted against a veteran and permanent strategist who is not shackled by any limitations of time or authority, or prevented from forming and executing any plans which the necessities of war may require. ”

“ Those who had arms mustered in the open spaces of the city; those who had none tore down the spoils of the Gauls and Illyrians which the Roman people had given to Hiero and which he had hung up in the temple of Olympian Jupiter, and as they did so prayed to the deity that he would of his grace and mercy lend them those consecrated arms to use in defence of the shrines of the gods and in defence of their liberty. ”

“ At daybreak they are going to hold an assembly of the people at which they will fling charges against me and stir up the populace against you. So tomorrow Henna will run with blood, either yours or that of its own citizens. If you are not beforehand with them, there is no hope for you; if you are, there is no danger. Victory will fall to him who first draws the sword. So all be on the alert and wait attentively for the signal. ”

“ There, in front of the temple of Concord, which was situated there, Polyaenus, one of the prominent citizens, made a speech which breathed of freedom but at the same time counselled moderation. "Men," he said, "who have experienced the fear and the humiliation of slavery are stung to rage against an evil which they know well. What disasters civil discord brings in its train, you, Syracusans, have heard from your fathers rather than witnessed yourselves. ”

“ Hannibal's garrison in the city amounted to about 5000 men, and the citizens themselves had raised a force of 3000. These the Carthaginians put in front to meet the enemy, that there might be no attempt at treachery in their rear. The fighting began in the dark in the narrow streets, the Romans having occupied not only the streets near the gate but the houses also, that they might not be assailed from the roofs. Gradually as it grew light some of the citizen troops and some of the Romans recognised one another, and entered into conversation. ”

“ Upon men who were ready to suspect everybody Hippocrates practiced a fresh deceit. He sent some of the Cretans to lurk near the roads, and read a despatch which he had put together himself, giving out that it had been intercepted. It bore the address, "The praetors of Syracuse to the consul Marcellus," and after the usual salutation went on to say, "You have acted rightly and properly in not sparing a single Leontine, but all the mercenaries are making common cause and Syracuse will never be at peace as long as there are any foreign auxiliaries either in the city or in our army. ”

“ But in this war, in dealing with this enemy, none of our generals has ever made a single mistake which has not involved us in the gravest disasters, and therefore it is only right that you should exercise your franchise in the election of consuls with as much circumspection as you show when going armed into battle. Every man must say to himself, 'I am nominating a consul who is to be a match for Hannibal.' It was during this year that Vibellius Taurea, the foremost of the Campanian knights challenged and was met by Asellus Claudius, the finest Roman horseman, at Capua. ”

“ The enemies' numbers were swelled by the mercenaries, the deserters, and all the late king's guards who had been left in Syracuse, with the result that the Achradina was captured at the first attempt, and all the praetors who had failed to make their escape in the confusion were put to death. Night put an end to the massacre. The following day the slaves were called up to receive the cap of freedom and all who were in gaol were released. This motley crowd elected Hippocrates and Epicydes praetors, and Syracuse, after its short-lived gleam of liberty, fell back into its old bondage. ”

“ I shall be in the assembly and will spin out the time by speaking and arguing till everything is perfectly ready, and when I give the signal with my toga, raise a loud shout and make an attack on the crowd from all sides and cut everything down with the sword, and take care that nothing survives from which either open violence or treachery is to be feared. ”

“ Hannibal told them that it was a matter for those on the spot to arrange and referred them to Hanno, for neither he nor Hanno wanted that famous and wealthy city to be plundered, and they hoped that when the Bruttians attacked it and it was seen that the Carthaginians neither assisted nor approved of the attack, the defenders would come over to Hannibal all the sooner.
In Croto there was neither unity of purpose nor of feeling; it seemed as though a disease had attacked all the cities of Italy alike, everywhere the populace were hostile to the aristocracy. ”

“ The Syracusans had already started with an army of 8000 men, and were met at the river Myla with the news that the city was captured. The rest of the message was mostly false: their informant told them that there had been an indiscriminate massacre of soldiers and civilians, and he thought that not a single adult was left alive; the city had been looted and the property of the wealthy citizens given to the troops. On receiving this shocking intelligence the army halted; there was great excitement in all ranks, and the generals, Sosis and Dinomenes, consulted as to what was to be done. ”

“ I only hope the rest of our time may be spent without suffering or inflicting things too horrible to speak about. The precautions we have so far taken have been against secret treachery; as that has proved unsuccessful they are now openly demanding the keys of the gates; and no sooner will they be delivered than Henna will be in the power of the Carthaginians, and we here shall be butchered with greater cruelty than the garrison of Murgantia. ”

“ The chief citizens of Henna had already come to an understanding: with Himilco about betraying the garrison, and when they observed all this vigilance and recognised that the Romans were not open to any treacherous surprise, they saw that they would have to use forcible measures. "The city and its stronghold," they said, "are under our authority; if as free men we accepted the Roman alliance we did not hand ourselves over to be kept in custody as slaves. We think it right, therefore, that the keys of the gates should be given up to us ”

“ When Marcellus was informed of this he promptly sent envoys to Syracuse to say that the peace they had guaranteed was broken, and that an occasion of war would never be wanting until Hippocrates and Epicydes had been banished far away, not only from Syracuse, but from Sicily. Epicydes feared that if he remained he should be held responsible for the misdeeds of his absent brother, and also should be unable to do his share in stirring up war, so he left for Leontini, and finding the people there sufficiently exasperated against Rome, he tried to detach them from Syracuse as well. ”

“ After the reading of this letter there was a general rush to arms and such angry shouts were raised that the praetors, appalled by the tumult, rode off to Syracuse. Not even their flight quieted the disturbance, and the Syracusan soldiers were being attacked by the mercenaries, nor would a single man have escaped their violence had not Epicydes and Hippocrates withstood their rage, not from any feeling of pity or humanity, but the fear of cutting off all hopes of their return. ”

“ Which alliance will be the more advantageous to us is a much less important question, and much less depends upon it, but still I think that we ought to be guided by the authority of Hiero in choosing our allies rather than by that of Hieronymus; in any case we ought to prefer a tried friendship of fifty years' standing to one of which we now know nothing and once found untrustworthy. ”