Livy

“ What of the hardy, rugged discipline of Sparta hath remained to the Tarentines? Every thing is produced in higher perfection in its own native soil; whatever is planted in a foreign land, by a gradual change in its nature, degenerates into that by which it is nurtured. Therefore you, victorious, will slay the conquered Phrygians, though laden with Gallic armour, as you slew them in the ranks of Antiochus. I am more apprehensive of our gaining but little honour from the victory, than of the struggle being a severe one. King Attalus often routed and put them to flight. ”

“ 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? ”

“ 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 ”

“ The two men of the greatest authority in that city, were Antinous and Theodotus, who were remarkable for their warm attachment to Perseus, and hatred to the Romans; the same individuals had instigated the whole nation to revolt from the Romans. These men, since they had no hope of pardon, owing to their consciousness of guilt, shut the gates, that they might be buried under the general ruin of their country, and exhorted the multitude to prefer death to slavery. No man dared to open his lips against men of such transcendent power. ”

“ Two battles were fought; twice he sustained the disadvantages of position, and, at the bottom of a valley, almost placed his army under the feet of the enemy; so that they were able to overwhelm us, even though they did not cast their weapons from the higher ground, but merely threw themselves on us without arms. What, then, was the consequence? Great is the fortune of the Roman people; great and terrible its name! By the recent downfall of Hannibal, Philip, and Antiochus, the Gauls were, in a manner, thunderstruck. ”

“ But we have as much reason to apprehend ill treatment, as the Thessalians and Ætolians; have we no more credit or influence with the Romans, though we were always their friends and allies, than the Ætolians, who but lately were their enemies? Whatever reciprocal rights the Ætolians, the Thessalians, the Epirots, in short, every state in Greece, allow to subsist between them and the Macedonians, let us allow the same. Why have we alone what may be termed a cursed neglect of the ties of humanity? ”

“ Let religion (the gods pardon the expression) be thrown aside; let forgetfulness of the gods occupy your minds. Do you, also, judge it fit that the senate should not be consulted concerning war? That the people should not be asked, whether they choose and order war to be made on the Gauls? On a late occasion, the consuls, certainly, wished for the provinces of Greece and Asia; yet, when you persisted in assigning Liguria as their province, they obeyed your commands. ”

“ Say,—Why, Demetrius, is mention made any where of your mounting the throne? Why do you appear, to some, a more worthy successor to your father’s dignity than I? Why do you disturb with doubt and anxiety my hopes, which would be certain if you were not in being? These are the thoughts of Perseus, though he does not express them; these make that man my enemy, these create my accuser; these fill your house, these your kingdom, with accusations and suspicions. ”

“ For different persons look on different circumstances as specious and plausible motives for taking up arms. Some go to war to get possession of land, some of villages, some of towns, some of ports, and some of the sea-coast. Such things you never coveted, when you had them not; and you cannot covet them now, when the whole world is under your dominion. You ever fought for your dignity and glory, in the sight of the whole human race, which long since has learned to respect your name and empire next to that of the immortal gods. ”

“ For who does not see that a way is being paved to an alliance with the king, by which the treaty with Rome in which all our interests are involved would be violated? That there must be a war between Perseus and the Romans, is not, I believe, a matter of doubt to any one, and the struggle which was expected during the life of Philip, and interrupted by his death, will, now that he is dead, most certainly ensue. Philip, you all know, had two sons, Demetrius and Perseus. Demetrius was much superior in birth, on the mother’s side, in merit, capacity, and in the esteem of the Macedonian nation. ”

“ It does not escape me, that, of all the nations inhabiting Asia, the Gauls are pre-eminent for military fame. A fierce nation, after overrunning the face of the earth with its arms, has fixed its abode in the midst of a race of men the gentlest in the world. Their tall persons, their long red hair, their vast shields, and swords of enormous length; their songs also, when they are advancing to action, their yells and dances, and the horrid clashing of their armour, while they brandish their shields in a peculiar manner, practised in their original country ”

“ Beyond all the other witnesses, Marcus Cato was remarkable, whose authority, acquired by the uniform tenor of his life, the fact of his being a candidate diminished. He, when a witness, affirmed, that he had not observed, in the triumph, the gold and silver vessels which, on the taking of the camp, he had seen among the other spoils of the king. At last Glabrio declared, that he declined the election, chiefly to throw odium on Cato; since he, a candidate of an origin as humble as his own, by an abominable perjury, attacked that which men of noble birth bore with silent indignation. ”

“ They consider it sufficient that their liberty should be defended by your arms, since they are unable to protect it by their own. But it is objected, that some of their states sided with Antiochus. So did others, before, with Philip; so did the Tarentines with Pyrrhus. Not to enumerate other nations, Carthage enjoys liberty and its own laws. Consider, conscript fathers, how much you owe to this example, set by yourselves. You will surely make up your mind to refuse to the ambition of Eumenes, what you refused to your own most just resentment. ”

“ The rest of his discourse was, “that, mindful of human affairs, they should use with moderation their own good fortune, and not press too severely on the misfortune of others; that they should limit their empire by Europe; that single acquisitions Pg 1692 could be made with more ease than that necessary for holding them collectively. But if they would wish to take away some part of Asia, provided that they would define it by indisputable limits, the king, for the sake of peace and harmony, would willingly suffer his own moderate temper to be overcome by the insatiableness of the Romans.” ”

“ We know that Perseus, on his coming to the throne, sent ambassadors to Rome, and received the title of king from the Roman people, and we hear that ambassadors came from Rome to the king, and were graciously received by him. I consider that all these circumstances are signs of peace, not of war; and that the Romans cannot be offended, if as we imitated their conduct in war, so we follow now their example in peace. For my part, I cannot see why we alone, of all mankind, wage implacable war against the kingdom of the Macedonians. Are we exposed to insult by a close neighbourhood to Macedon? ”

“ These are great impediments to those who have the management of affairs; for every one cannot encounter injurious reports with the same constancy and firmness of mind as Fabius did, who chose to let his own authority be diminished through the folly of the people, rather than to mismanage the public business with a high reputation. I am not one of those who think that commanders ought never to receive advice; on the contrary, I should deem that man more proud than wise, who did every thing of his own single judgment. ”

“ We favoured the interest of Perseus; and we have supported that prince against you in like manner as, in the wars of Antiochus and Philip, we supported you against those kings. Now, in what manner we are accustomed to assist our allies, and with what vigour to conduct wars, ask Caius Livius and Lucius Æmilius Regillus, who commanded your fleets on the coasts of Asia. Your ships never fought a battle without us. We, with our own fleet, fought one engagement at Samos and a second on the coast of Pamphylia, against that distinguished commander, Hannibal. ”

“ Hereupon Perseus said, “What does that avail? There is by no means as much protection afforded by foreign aid, as there is danger arising from domestic treachery. I am unwilling to call him traitor, but a spy we certainly have in our bosom, and although the Romans have restored to us his body, since he was a hostage at Rome, yet they still possess his heart. The faces of almost all the Macedonians are turned towards him, and they think they are to have no other king but him whom the Romans would give them.” ”

“ Never was either any other person, or Scipio himself, when consul or censor, escorted to the forum by a more numerous multitude of all kinds, than he was on that day when he appeared to answer the charge against him. When ordered to make his defence, without taking any notice of the facts laid to his charge, he delivered so magnificent a speech concerning his exploits, that it was universally agreed, that no man had been ever praised either to more advantage or with more truth. ”

“ The boundary of your empire, at present, is Mount Taurus. Nothing within that line ought to be thought remote. To whatever extent your arms have reached, let justice, emanating from Rome, spread. Let barbarians, with whom the commands of masters have always served instead of laws, have kings, in which government they delight; the Greeks endure their own fortune ”

“ In every state of fortune we have had, and have, the same spirit for this, under the sway of our reason: prosperity has never elated, nor adversity depressed it. Of the truth of this, (to omit other instances,) I might produce your friend Hannibal as a convincing proof: but I can appeal to yourselves. We now conquerors offer to you conquered the same conditions which we offered to you when on an equal footing, at the time that you made proposals of peace, after we crossed the Hellespont, before we beheld the king’s camp or army, when the chance of war was equal and the issue uncertain. ”

“ How many armies, to whom the fortune of the fight has been adverse, when driven within their ramparts, have, at their own time, and sometimes the next moment, sallied out and defeated their victors! This military settlement is another native country to every soldier: the rampart is as the wall of his city, and his own tent his habitation and his home. Should we have fought while in that unsettled state, and without quarters prepared, to which, even if victorious, we might retire? ”

“ If formidable, both for fierceness of courage and strength of body, do you refuse a triumph to victories so honourable? Conscript fathers, envy is blind, and only capable of depreciating merit, and poisoning its honours and rewards. Pardon me, I beseech you, conscript fathers, on these conditions, if it be the case that the necessary reply to the accusation, and not my desire of boasting of my exploits, hath made my speech too long. ”

“ If you persist in your anger, we will beg time from you, until we carry home an account of this unhappy embassy. We will then, every free person of all the Rhodians, both men and women, with all our wealth, embark in ships, and leaving the seats of our tutelar deities, both public and private, repair to Rome, where, heaping together in the Comitium, at the door of your senate-house, all our gold and silver, all the public and private property that we possess, we will submit our persons, and those of our wives and children, to your disposal; that, whatever we are to suffer, we may suffer here. ”

“ Consider Philip, Antiochus, and Perseus, as you would three votes; two of them acquit us; one, although it would be unfavourable, is nevertheless doubtful. If they were to sit in judgment over us, we would be condemned. Conscript fathers, you are to decide, whether Rhodes is to continue on the earth or to be utterly destroyed. You are not deliberating concerning war, conscript fathers, for though it is in your power to declare war, it is not in your power to wage it, as not a single Rhodian will take up arms against you. ”

“ How does this operate against the Roman treaty? Why do we give an air of importance and suspicion to a matter which is trifling and open to the world? Why do we raise groundless alarms? Why, for the sake of ingratiating ourselves still more particularly with the Romans, render others odious and suspected? ”

“ For, through the bounty of the gods, your victory is not more glorious than it is rich, so that it can easily acquit you of that just as a debt. Lycaonia, both the Phrygias, with Pisidia, the Chersonese, and the adjoining parts of Europe, are all in your power; and any one of these, given to the king, can double his dominions; but if they were all conferred upon him, they would set him on a level with the greatest of kings. You have it, therefore, in your power to enrich your allies with the prizes of the war ”

“ When we look at you separately, Marcus Æmilius, Marcus Fulvius, we know not, in the whole state, any one person whom, if we were called back again to vote, we could wish to be preferred to you; but when we behold you both together, we cannot avoid fearing that you are but ill associated; and that the public may not reap as much advantage from your being exceedingly pleasing to every one of us, as injury, from your being displeasing one to another. You have for many years past harboured an enmity, violent in its degree, and detrimental to yourselves ”

“ In presence of the Rhodians, the ambassadors added, that “they were confident of a continuation of peace, for it was by the advice of Marcius and Atilius that they were sent to Rome. But if the Romans should commence their hostilities, contrary to treaty, it would then be the business of the Rhodians to labour, with all their power and all their interest, for the re-establishment of peace; and that, if they should effect nothing by their mediation, they ought then to take such measures as would prevent the dominion of the whole world from coming into the hands of one nation only. ”