Livy

“ Who would not regard Attalus, the next in age, as a king, not only because he sees him in such a powerful position now, but also because the day is near when he will ascend the throne owing to the age and weakness of Eumenes, who has no legitimate son? (He had not yet acknowledged the one who succeeded him.) What advantage would there be in trying to gain by violent means what would shortly come to him of its own accord? A fresh storm had burst on the realm in an invasion of the Gauls which could with difficulty be withstood even by the combined and harmonious efforts of the two monarchs. ”

“ It was for this that we made him consul that he might bring to an end a war which to our infinite shame had been dragging on for four years. Are we going to deny a triumph to the man to whom, when the ballot had allotted him the province, we destined with prescient minds victory and a triumph, as we watched him leave the City? Are we going to defraud not him alone but the gods as well? ”

“ Surely you are the same Romans who make it your boast that your wars are successful because they are just, and pride yourselves not so much upon bringing them to a close as victors as upon never beginning them without just cause. The attack on Messana in Sicily made the Carthaginians your enemy; his attack on Athens, his attempt to enslave Greece, the assistance rendered to Hannibal in money and troops made Philip your enemy. ”

“ Has nothing been done or said in your City which you disapproved of and which was such as to give just offence to the people of Rome?' I am not here now to defend what has been done - I am not so mad - but I shall draw a distinction between the cause of the State as a whole and the guilty conduct of individual citizens. There is no State which does not at some time possess bad citizens and at all times an ignorant populace. ”

“ Seldom at any time has either king or private citizen been listened to with such universal pleasure and approval; all honours and gifts were showered upon him during his stay, and his departure was witnessed by large crowds. Amongst the numerous delegations from Greece the one from Rhodes excited the greatest interest. They appeared in white garments as befitted their mission of congratulation, and indeed if they had shown themselves in mourning it might have looked as though they were lamenting the fall of Perseus. ”

“ If some of our leaders were on your side and others on the side of the king, I do not ask that the supporters of the king should enjoy immunity on account of us who were on your side; what I do ask is that we should not perish on account of them. You are not more angry with them than our State itself is, and, knowing this, most of them have either fled or taken their own lives; others whom we have found guilty will be in your hands, senators. Though the conduct of the rest of us during the war has merited no gratitude, it certainly has not merited punishment. ”

“ All those victims which he has destined for his triumphal procession you had better go and sacrifice for yourselves, each where and when he chooses. Are those solemn banquets to which the senators sit down, not in any private house nor in any unconsecrated public building, but in the Capitol itself - are they, I ask, intended to gratify men or to honour the gods, and are you going to interfere with them at the bidding of Servius Galba? Will the City gates be closed against L. Paulus' triumph? ”

“ He was received by the men who had taken part with him in the war with as hearty a welcome as though Eumenes himself had come. Two objects had brought him to Rome, to all appearance honourable ones; one was to offer congratulations on the victory which he had himself helped to win, the other was to complain of an inroad of the Gauls and a defeat which he had sustained and which seriously threatened his kingdom. ”

“ Ask the commanders of your fleets in Asia, C. Livius, L. Aemilius Regillus, how we were wont to help our allies and with what energy we prosecuted the war. Your ships never fought without us to help you; we fought single-handed at Samos and a second time off Pamphylia against Hannibal, who was in command. And this victory was all the more glorious for us because after losing a large proportion of our ships and the flower of our youth in the defeat at Samos, we were not daunted even by that disaster, and we met the king's fleet on its way from Syria. ”

“ The clemency of the people of Rome, which has been shown in the misfortunes of many kings and nations, affords you not only a hope, but a tolerably certain guarantee of your personal safety." He said this in Greek to Perseus, and then turning to the council he said in Latin, "You see a striking example of the mutability of human affairs. Especially to you younger men am I now speaking - it does not become us, therefore, in the hour of prosperity to form any aggressive designs against anyone, or to trust the fortune of the moment, for it is uncertain what the evening will bring. ”

“ Lucius Paulus, they said, the victor in so great a war, was being robbed of his triumph, the commanders were being placed at the mercy of a licentious and grasping soldiery. Political corruption had already been the cause of too many crimes; what would happen if the soldiers were made the lords and masters of their commanders? Each did his utmost to shower reproaches on Galba. The tumult was at last allayed, and M. Servilius who had been consul and Master of the Horse begged the tribunes to commence the proceedings afresh and give him an opportunity of addressing the people. ”

“ If, however, it should turn out not to have belonged to Antiochus and had, therefore, never been claimed by Rome, or should it prove to have been actually granted to the Gauls, Prusias must pardon them if the people of Rome were unwilling that anything should be granted to him to the injury of another. To no one can a gift be grateful when he knows that the giver can take it away whenever he pleases. The senate accepted the commendation of his son Nicomedes; the care with which the people of Rome protect the sons of friendly monarchs was shown in the case of Ptolemy, King of Egypt. ”

“ You had a march, and then went straight into battle on the same day, and even after you had won the victory, you were not allowed any rest; you were instantly sent in pursuit of the enemy. It was within his power to make you rich by distributing the plunder; he is going to carry the royal wealth in his triumphal procession and then put it into the treasury.' This sort of talk has a certain sting in it to goad on men who think that sufficient deference has not been shown to their licence and avarice. But it would have no influence with the people of Rome. ”

“ The man who prevents you from entering the City in triumph would have prevented you, had it been in his power, from winning the war. You are mistaken, soldiers, if you think that a triumph is an honour to the general alone, and not to the soldiers also, and to the whole people of Rome. ”

“ During these late years you have been engaged in war with three kings; let not the fact that we gave no assistance in one war count more against us than the fact that we fought for you in two wars counts for us. Let Philip, Antiochus and Perseus stand for three separate verdicts; two acquit us, one is so doubtful as to be adverse. If they were our judges we should be pronounced guilty; you, senators, are now acting as judges as to whether Rhodes is to remain in the world or be utterly blotted out. The question before you is not one of war ”

“ All of us every free person, every man and woman in Rhodes, will go on board our ships with all the money we possess, and bidding farewell to our national and our household gods, we shall come to Rome. All the gold and silver belonging to the State, all that individual citizens possess, will be placed in a heap on the Comitium, on the threshold of your senate-house, and we shall deliver up ourselves, our wives and children to you, prepared to suffer whatever may be in store for us. ”

“ Arrogance, especially in language, is bitterly resented by hot-tempered people and laughed at by sensible people, particularly when shown by inferiors towards a superior, but no one has ever regarded it as a capital offence. Possibly some one imagined that the Rhodians felt a contempt for the Romans. Some men even abuse the gods in presumptuous language, but we do not hear of any one being struck by lightning for it. ”

“ Why do we not open our gates and accept the sovereignty which the whole world has accepted?" As he said this the whole multitude followed him, Antinous and Theodotus rushed against the nearest outpost of the enemy and died of the wounds they had invited, the city surrendered to the Romans. ”

“ I hear, senators, that you are discussing the amount of the fine which is to be imposed upon us for our unspoken wishes. It is alleged that our sympathies were with the king and that we should have preferred to see him victorious, so, some of you think we ought to be punished by war, others hold that while that was our wish we ought not on that account to be punished. In no State has it been laid down either by traditional usage or by positive enactment that whoever wishes the destruction of an enemy, but does nothing to bring it about, shall still suffer capital punishment. ”

“ Antinous and Theodotus were the leaders in this city. They had distinguished themselves by their support of Perseus and their hatred of the Romans; it was through them that the whole nation had revolted from Rome. Knowing that the guilt rested on them personally and hopeless of obtaining pardon, they shut the gates that they might be buried in the general ruin of their country, and appealed to the inhabitants to prefer death to servitude. No one ventured to open his lips against such powerful men. ”

“ It is a noteworthy fact that in this great meeting of Europe and Asia, where a multitude had been drawn together from every part of the world, some to offer congratulations, some to see the spectacle, where such great naval and military forces were assembled, there was nevertheless such abundance of everything and provisions were so cheap that the general out of this abundance made gifts to individuals, to cities, and even to whole nations, sufficient not only for their use at the time, but enough for them to take home with them. ”

“ What man has ever been placed upon his trial, so steeped in guilt that the crimes of his life could not be recounted in that number of hours? What, however, did he bring up which L. Paulus, were he on his trial, would wish to deny?
"Let someone picture to himself for a moment two assemblies, the one made up of the soldiers who served in Macedonia, the other free from prejudice, with a judgment unwarped by either partiality or aversion - the whole of the people of Rome sitting as judges. Suppose the defendant were first brought before the assembly of civilians clad in their peaceful togas. ”

“ I think I shall call you 'soldiers,' and not 'Quirites,' if that title can at least call up a blush and evoke in you a feeling of shame for the way you have insulted your commander.
38 "While I fancy myself addressing the army, I am in a very different state of mind from what I was in a few moments ago, when my words were addressed to the citizens. What do you say, soldiers? Is there a single man in Rome besides Perseus who would object to a triumph over the Macedonians, and you do not tear him in pieces with the same arms with which you conquered the Macedonians? ”

“ A triumph will not diminish or enhance L. Paulus' greatness as a commander - it is the fair fame of the soldiers and the people of Rome that is in question. Take care that this action be not looked upon as an instance of jealousy and ingratitude towards all our noblest citizens, copying the example of the Athenians, who persecuted their foremost men because they were jealous of their greatness. ”

“ Anicius and Octavius, with their fleet, arrived shortly afterwards. A triumph for all three was decreed by the senate, and the praetor Q. Cassius was instructed to arrange with the tribunes of the plebs that they should propose a resolution to the Assembly that on the day when they entered the City in triumph they should retain their full military powers. Men of mediocre ability escape envy, it generally aims its shafts at the highest. No hesitation was felt about allowing Anicius and Octavius a triumph; Paulus, with whom they would have blushed to compare themselves, was the mark for calumny. ”