ily from the Carthaginians, but had allowed her ally, Hiero II., the Greek despot of Syracuse, to retain his dominion. He died in 215 B. C., leaving no heir competent to rule, and several revolutions, military rather than political in character, followed, ending in one that gave the citadel and afterwards the city to the Carthaginians. The Romans, at a time when they were unable to drive Hannibal out of Italy, sent an army to Sicily, and, after a siege of two years, took Syracuse. Although the people of that city had not invited the Carthaginians into their citadel, and had not willingly allowed them to occupy the fortifications, and were not responsible for the conduct of the garrison, the Roman commander gave up the city to be sacked by his soldiery. It was treated with the greatest cruelty, and never recovered its previous splendor.

Spain was conquered because, if it were left in the possession of Carthage, it might supply other armies as formidable as that with which Hannibal invaded Italy. Soon after he had crossed the Alps, two legions were sent to the Iberian peninsula, and Roman troops were kept there almost continuously. They were not numerous enough, however, to prevent Hannibal from organizing his army for the march to the valley of the Po. With his departure, the military power of Carthage in Spain was exhausted, and Rome met with no further resistance there of note save from native tribes in the higher mountains.

Rome was now the dominant power on the shores of the Mediterranean. Her chief superiority lay in her army, which in discipline and size was stronger than that of Macedonia, Syria, or Egypt. She also had the strongest navy, or the materials out of which, at brief

notice, the strongest navy could be supplied. She had the largest homogeneous population. The Etruscan, Samnite, Gallic, and Greek tongues and sympathies were rapidly giving way to the Latin speech, and if not to Roman patriotism, at least to zeal for the maintenance of Roman authority. The war with Hannibal had done much to break down provincial distinctions. The districts which had declared themselves in favor of the invader lost many of their inhabitants by enslavement and deportation; and new settlers came in to take the vacant places. In the districts inhabited by loyal allies, new fortifications were erected for occupation by military colonies. An assimilation for which there was no parallel in Greece or Asia made rapid progress in Italy.

SEC. 454. Macedon.—Early in the second Punic war, Philip V., of Macedon, made an alliance with Carthage, but sent no military aid to the Carthaginians, even when solicited, after Cannæ, to do so. The surrender of Carthage left Philip exposed to the animosity of the Romans, who never neglected an opportunity to gratify their vengeance. When Capua had fallen and the ultimate failure of Hannibal had become probable, Philip sought and obtained an alliance with the Romans, but their only motive in granting it, as implied by their subsequent conduct, was to be secure from his hostility at a time when he had much power to hurt them, and they had none to injure him. Having made peace in Africa, they turned upon him, and when they had defeated and humiliated him, they allowed him to retain his throne on the conditions that he should reduce his army to five thousand men, and that he should make no aggressive war without the consent of the Roman senate.

Having subjugated Philip, the Romans found their

next victim in Antiochus, king of Syria, who had refused to obey their command to liberate certain Greek cities from his dominion in Asia Minor. They claimed the right to issue orders and dictate terms to every state within reach of their embassadors. Antiochus refused obedience, and they declared war. They invaded his territory, crushed his army, and then, in 188 B. C., granted him peace, exacting from him most of Asia Minor, $15,000,000 as war indemnity, the reduction of his navy to ten ships, and the restriction of the use of those within certain geographical limits. Most of the territory in Asia Minor taken from him was given to Attalus, king of Pergamus, who had aided Rome in the war, and besides was considered incapable of becoming a troublesome enemy.

In 171 B. C. the Romans, perhaps for want of sufficient military occupation elsewhere, declared another war against the Macedonian Kingdom, and having conquered it, they divided it into four districts, the inhabitants of each being forbidden to dwell, to trade, to acquire land, or to marry in either of the others. Except along the northern frontier, where they were frequently attacked by semi-savage neighbors, the people were not allowed to possess arms. The mines of silver and gold were closed. All the men who had experience in important military or civil office were deported to Italy. Then the Roman senate gave instructions that each of the four divisions of Macedon should establish and maintain a republican government, and adopted a resolution declaring these republics free. The Romans made the hypocritical pretense that they had undertaken their wars against Macedon, not to gratify their own hatred or greed, but to advance the cause of liberty, "reserving to herself nothing

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but the honor of victory." Having had no experience in republican government, having been deprived of their leading men, and been compelled to put dependents of Rome in office, the Macedonians found their new political system intolerable. They revolted, and were conquered and plundered, and their country was converted into a Roman province.

When the Achæan league, the leading government of Greece, was no longer needed as an ally against Macedon or any other Eastern enemy, the Roman senate, solicited thereto by Sparta, issued an order that the federation should be dissolved. This decree aroused general indignation throughout Greece, and in Corinth provoked a mob which beat some Spartans and killed others who happened to be there. Most of the federated cities refused to give up their league, and the Romans drew the sword. After a disastrous defeat, the Achæans submitted. In punishment for the conduct of its mob, Corinth was destroyed, and its site was condemned to perpetual desolation. The cities of the Achæan league and other Greek states generally were permitted to govern themselves, but were required to pay tribute to Rome, and were forbidden to engage in war.

SEC. 455. Carthage Destroyed.-The year 146 B. C. was stained by the destruction of Carthage as well as by that of Corinth. The former city had been subjected to almost continuous insults and substantial wrongs by the Romans during the half century which followed the close of the second Punic war. Scipio's treaty provided that Carthage should give up to Massinissa, king of Numidia, all the territory which it had taken from him or his predecessors, and should not wage war against any ally of Rome. Immediately after the conclusion of

the peace, Massinissa claimed and took possession of a number of provinces, without objection from the Carthaginians. Afterwards, at intervals, and acting presumably under encouragement from the Romans, he seized district after district, under pretense that they had at some time belonged to his predecessors. Carthage applied repeatedly to the Roman senate for protection, and for a definition of the limits of the territory which had belonged to Massinissa, and begged for relief in humble terms. In one of her petitions she said: "It would be better to live as slaves of the Romans than to possess a liberty exposed to the insolence of Massinissa. Nay, utter ruin is preferable to a condition in which we are dependent upon the grace of so cruel a tormentor." But no relief was given. The senate was dissatisfied with the generosity of Scipio's treaty and wanted to enjoy another triumph over the Punic city, which continued to possess great wealth, and a very active trade in the midst of a large region famous for the excellence of its horticulture. This rural prosperity was a reproach to the inferior agricultural condition of Italy. The shipping and the shops of Carthage astonished the Romans, accustomed only to Italian industry. Cato, who visited Carthage in 157 B. C., came back full of fury against the Punic capital. He demanded its destruction, and whenever he spoke in the senate, no matter what the subject under consideration, he ended with the words, "Carthage must be destroyed." At last he persuaded the senate to adopt his policy, and war was declared, using a dispute between Massinissa and Carthage as the pretext. The Carthaginians offered to submit to the decision of Rome in that dispute. The senate sent a message to them "that because they had taken the right resolution, the senate granted them their