Sempronius

“ LET US DIE, SOLDIERS, AND BY OUR DEATHS RESCUE THE SURROUNDED LEGIONS FROM AMBUSCADE;--if Publius Sempronius had said thus, he would neither have considered you as Romans nor men, had no one stood forward as his companion in so valorous an attempt. He points out to you the road that leads not to glory more than to safety ”

“ After one consul had been beaten at the Ticinus the other was recalled from Sicily, and now both consuls and both consular armies had been worsted. What fresh generals, men asked, what fresh legions could be brought to the rescue? Amidst this universal panic Sempronius arrived. He had slipped through the enemy's cavalry at immense risk while they were dispersed in quest of plunder, and owed his escape rather to sheer audacity than to cleverness, for he had little hope of eluding them or of successful resistance if he failed to do so. ”

“ No man, when he gave his vote, took sufficient pains in ascertaining who it was to whom he was intrusting an army. What a difference was there between this man and Tiberius Sempronius! The latter having been intrusted with an army of slaves, had in a short time brought it to pass, by discipline and authority, that not one of them in the field of battle remembered his condition and birth, but they became a protection to our allies and a terror to our enemies. They had snatched, as it were, from the very jaws of Hannibal, and restored to the Roman people, Cumae, Beneventum, and other towns. ”

“ I am for stopping these executions at once, and then we shall see if this heresy will not die of itself.” “But, said the first speaker, “will not Nero set the Senate at defiance? He has his favorites, and may yet make a stand.” “Not so,” said Sempronius, “his nature is cowardly, and at the first intimation [Pg 48] of danger, he would shrink from it with terror. He needs no accuser but his own guilty conscience; he has waded in the blood of innocence, and will yet be deluged in its avenging waves.” ”

“ Sempronius, on the other hand, was of opinion that the most effective means of preserving the fidelity of their allies was to defend those who first asked for their help. As his colleague still hesitated, he sent his own cavalry supported by about a thousand javelin men to protect the territory of the Gauls on the other side of the Trebia. They attacked the enemy suddenly whilst they were scattered and in disorder, most of them loaded with plunder, and after creating a great panic amongst them, and inflicting severe losses upon them, they drove them in flight to their camp. ”

“ One day Titius asked Balbus, whom he knew very well to be a Catholic: “What is your religion?” Balbus retorted: “What is yours?” and left him. Caius is studying Christianity with a view to embracing it, and asks Sempronius’ opinion on miracles. Sempronius, fearing the ridicule of some others present if he admits belief in miracles, says that he knows nothing about that subject. Balbus had a right to deny an answer to his questioner; but Sempronius should have replied for the edification of Caius and the honor of God. ”

“ When the Æquans had merely showed their dastardly army, they were routed by a shameful flight, without any great honour to the consul; therefore a triumph is refused. However in consequence of having effaced the ignominy of Sempronius's defeat, he was allowed to enter the city with an ovation. As the war was terminated with less difficulty than they had apprehended, so in the city, from a state of tranquillity, an unexpected mass of dissensions arose between the commons and patricians, which commenced with doubling the number of quæstors. ”

“ The victorious army, having thus reasserted their former renown, finished their march to Tarraco. The prætor, Tiberius Sempronius, who had arrived two days before, came out to meet Fulvius on the road, and congratulated Pg 1898 him on the important services which he had rendered to the commonwealth. They then, with perfect unanimity, settled what soldiers they should discharge, and what they should retain; and Fulvius, embarking the disbanded soldiers in the fleet, set sail for Rome, while Sempronius led the legions into Celtiberia. ”

“ Among the Lucanians, the consul, Sempronius, fought several small battles, but none worthy of being recorded, he also took several inconsiderable towns. In proportion as the war was protracted, and the sentiments no less than the circumstances of men fluctuated accordingly as events flowed prosperously or otherwise, the citizens were seized with such a passion for superstitious observances, and those for the most part introduced from foreign countries, that either the people or the gods appeared to have undergone a sudden change. ”

“ Exit Cato, &c.
⁠SCENE VI.
⁠Sempronius, and the leaders of the mutiny.
1. Lead.⁠Sempronius, you have acted like yourself.
One wou'd have thought you had been half in earnest.
Semp.⁠Villain, stand off; base grov'ling worthless wretches,
Mongrels in faction, poor faint-hearted traitors.
2. Lead.⁠Nay, now, you carry it too far, Sempronius:
Throw off the mask, there are none here but friends.
Semp. ⁠Know, villains, when such paultry slaves presume
To mix in treason, if the plot succeeds,
They're thrown neglected by: But if it fails,
They're sure to die like dogs, as you shall do. ”

“ But the guards still remaining restive, Sempronius himself attacks Juba, while each of the guards is representing Mr. Spectator's sign of the Gaper, awed, it seems, and terrified by Sempronius's threats. Juba kills Sempronius, and takes his own army prisoners, and carries them in triumph away to Cato. Now, I would fain know, if any part of Mr. Bayes's tragedy is so full of absurdity as this?
Upon hearing the clash of swords, Lucia and Marcia come in. The question is, why no men come in upon hearing the noise of swords in the governor's hall? ”

“ When they said that, "both with respect to Sempronius and all others, the power of the Roman people was supreme; that they had neither the will nor the power to do away with the judgment of the people; but if their entreaties for their commander, who was to them in the light of a parent, were to prove of no avail, that they would change their apparel along with him:" then Hortensius says, "The commons of Rome shall not see their tribunes in the garb of culprits. ”

“ The favour of the people inclined to the last in particular, because he had given many largesses, by which he had bound a great number of men to him. When so many nobles could ill brook that a man of no family should be so much preferred to them, Publius Sempronius Gracchus and Caius Sempronius Rutilus, tribunes of the people, commenced a prosecution against him, on a charge, that he had neither exhibited in his triumph, nor lodged in the treasury, a large part of the royal treasure, and of the booty taken in the camp of Antiochus. ”

“ Exit.
1. Lead.⁠We are all safe; Sempronius is our friend.
Sempronius is as brave a man as Cato.
But, hark! he enters. Bear up boldly to him;
Be sure you beat him down, and bind him fast,
This day will end our toils, and give us rest?
Fear nothing, for Sempronius is our friend.
⁠SCENE V.
⁠Enter Cato, Sempronius, Lucius, Portius, and Marcus. ”

“ Behold a sight that strikes all comfort dead.
⁠Enter Juba, listening.
I will indulge my sorrows, and give way
To all the pangs and fury of despair;
That man, that best of men, deserv'd it from me.
Jub.⁠What do I hear? and was the false Sempronius
That best of men? ”

“ Juba, to all the bravery of a hero, Adds softest love, and more than female sweetness; Juba might make the proudest of our sex, Any of womankind, but Marcia, happy. Lucia. And why not Marcia? Come, you strive in vain To hide your thoughts from one who knows too well The inward glowings of a heart in love. Marcia. While Cato lives, his daughter has no right To love or hate, but as his choice directs. Lucia. But should this father give you to Sempronius? Marcia. I dare not think he will: but if he should— Why wilt thou add to all the griefs I suffer, Imaginary ills, and fancied tortures? ”

“ Sempronius, the youngest of the crowd, looks on the whole affair as a part of the day’s sport. All committed theft, and the act is wrong; but Titus and Sempronius were not guilty of sin, since they were in good faith. Caius and Balbus committed sin, the species and degree depending on the knowledge they had or should have had (see 588 sqq.) ;
(c) the morality of the act must be willed. If the act is good, the goodness must be intended, since a person should not get credit for what he does not wish. Example: Titus does not believe in virtue, and Caius is opposed to helping the poor ”

“ But, the world will last our day, Licinius, let the wheel go round.” And they parted. At the turning of one of the streets, a knot of citizens were conferring. “How is this, Sempronius?” said one, “what will be the consequence of this decree of condemnation, of which we hear so many rumors? Will the Emperor abdicate, or have his enemies determined upon his death?” “Vengeance will not always sleep, fellow citizens,” said the one who was addressed; “Who is not an enemy to the detestable vices of Nero? and what wickedness is there in the whole catalogue of crime which he has not committed?” ”

“ No one remained with him or defended him except one man, the only one of all that vast multitude whom the sun beheld that day acting worthily of the Roman Empire. This was a centurion named Sempronius Densus, who had never received any especial favour from Galba, but who, prompted merely by his own honour and fidelity, stood firm in front of his litter. Raising the vine stick, which is carried by centurions to correct their men, he shouted aloud and ordered the men who rushed towards him to spare the emperor. ”

“ On one side or the other we find them,—MARIUS and SULLA, CAESAR and POMPEY, AUGUSTUS and ANTONY—arraying Rome against herself, until the glories of the Republic were swallowed up in the misrule and dishonor of the Empire.
Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus the elder (see Chapter XX.) belonged to the nobility, but not to the aristocracy. He married CORNELIA, the daughter of Africánus the elder. They had twelve children, of whom all but three died young. Two sons and a daughter lived to maturity. The daughter, SEMPRONIA, married Africánus the younger. ”

“ Appius Claudius had now been censor eighteen months, the period fixed by the Aemilian Law for the duration of that office. In spite of the fact that his colleague, C. Plautius, had resigned, he could under no circumstances whatever be induced to vacate his office. P. Sempronius was the tribune of the plebs who commenced an action for limiting his censorship to the legal period. In taking this step he was acting in the interests of justice quite as much as in the interests of the people, and he carried the sympathies of the aristocracy no less than he had the support of the masses. ”

“ The other consul, Sempronius, likewise was successful in his operations in Sardinia. He carried his army into the territory of the Ilian tribe of Sardinians. Powerful reinforcements from the Balarians had come to the Ilians. He fought a pitched battle against the combined forces of the two states. The enemy were routed and put to flight, and driven from their camp; twelve thousand armed men were slain. Next day, the consul ordered their arms to be gathered into a heap and burned, as an offering to Vulcan. He then led back his victorious troops into winter quarters in the allied cities. ”

“ Publius Sempronius, I say, was obliged to force his way through a band of his countrymen, before he burst through the enemy's troops. Can our country regret such citizens as these, whom if all the rest resembled, she would not have one citizen of all those who fought at Cannae? Out of seven thousand armed men, there were six hundred who had courage to force their way, who returned to their country free, and in arms; nor did forty thousand of the enemy successfully oppose them. How safe, think you, would a passage have been for nearly two legions? ”

“ Material sin may be about to be committed against human law. Sempronius sees Claudius and others eating meat on a day of abstinence, which they have forgotten. He also sees Father Balbus, who has forgotten to put on an alb or a chasuble, going to the altar to say Mass. There is no obligation to call the attention of Claudius to the day of abstinence, but for the sake of respect to divine worship the attention of Father Balbus should be directed to the missing vestments. ”

“ After supper, in the park, we shall easily secure a few minutes.... Bravo, Septimius! bravo! What wonderful muscles! Praxiteles [55] ought to have had you for a model! By Castor, but you will break every bone in Sempronius’ body, sturdy as he is! Well, then,” he went on, turning to Stephanus again, “we shall meet at the fair Massilian’s table.”
He rose with a friendly nod, and passed through the great door in the inner wall into the frigidarium. [56] There he tossed his woollen wrapper over the head of a slave, and descended in all the dignity of stalwart corpulence into the vast bath. ”

“ Sempronius was hastily recalled from his attempt upon Africa, to the defence of Italy. Scipio, on his way to Spain, had touched at Massilia, and there learned of the movements of Hannibal. He turned back, hurried into Northern Italy, and took command of the levies there. The cavalry of the two armies met upon the banks of the Ticinus, a tributary of the Po. The Romans were driven from the field by the fierce onset of the Numidian horsemen. Scipio now awaited the arrival of the other consular army, which was hurrying up through Italy by forced marches. ”