Y.R. 695 699 XVI. FROM THE SAME B.C. Ariovistus, the king of the Germans beyond the Rhine, 59 crossed to this side before Cæsar's arrival and made war against the Ædui, who were friends of the Romans. But when the Romans commanded him to desist, he obeyed and moved away from Ædui and desired to be accounted a friend of the Roman people also, and this was granted, Cæsar being consul and voting for it. XVII. FROM THE SAME Ariovistus, the king of the Germans, who had been voted a friend of the Roman people, came to Cæsar to have a colloquy. After they had separated he wished to have another. Cæsar refused it, but sent some of the leading men of the Gauls to meet him. Ariovistus cast them in chains, wherefore Cæsar threatened him and made war on him, but fear fell upon the army on account of the military reputation of the Germans.1 XVIII. FROM THE SAME It is believed that the Usipetes and the Tenchteri, Ger- 55 man tribes, with 800 of their own horse, put to flight about 5000 of Cæsar's horse. When they sent ambassadors to Cæsar he held them as prisoners and made an attack on them, and took them so completely by surprise that 400,000 of them were cut to pieces. One writer says that Cato in the Roman Senate proposed that Cæsar should be surrendered to the barbarians for this deed of blood perpetrated while negotiations were pending. But Cæsar in his own diary says that when the Usipetes and Tenchteri were ordered to go back forthwith to their former homes, they replied that they had sent ambassadors to the Suevi, who had driven them away, and that they were waiting for their answer; that while these negotiations were pending, they set upon his men with 800 of their horse, and by the suddenness of the attack put to flight his 5000; and that when they sent another embassy to explain this violation of good faith 1 Cf. Cæsar's Gallic War, i. 42 seq. Y.R. B.C. 699 he suspected a similar deception, and made his attack before 55 giving his answer.1 700 XIX. FROM SUIDAS Straightway they stirred up the Britons to violate the oath, complaining that while a treaty with them was in force the camp was still among them. XX. FROM THE SAME Cæsar apprehending an attack on [Quintus] Cicero turned 54 back.2 XXI. FROM THE VATICAN MSS. OF CARDINAL MAI Britores seduced the Edui from their Roman allegiance. When Cæsar reproached them for this, they said that an ancient alliance had the precedence. [Here follow two fragments of only three words each.] 1 Cæsar's Gallic War, iv. 1-5; Plutarch, Life of Casar, 22. The latter repeats Cato's proposal that Cæsar should be surrendered to the barbarians for his breach of faith. 2 Cæsar's Gallic War, v. 38 seq. Y.R. 502 BOOK V OF SICILY AND THE OTHER ISLANDS I. FROM "THE EMBASSIES" B.C. BOTH Romans and Carthaginians were destitute of money; 252 and the Romans could no longer build ships, being exhausted by taxes, yet they levied foot soldiers and sent them to Africa and Sicily from year to year, while the Carthaginians sent an embassy to Ptolemy, the son of Ptolemy the son of Lagus, king of Egypt, seeking to borrow 2000 talents. He was on terms of friendship with both Romans and Carthaginians, and he sought to bring about peace between them. As he was not able to accomplish this, he said: "It behooves one to assist friends against enemies, but not against friends." 1 II. FROM THE SAME 512 1. When the Carthaginians had met with two disasters on 242 land at the same time, and two at sea where they had considered themselves much the superior, and were already short of money, ships, and men, they sought an armistice from Lutatius and having obtained it sent an embassy to Rome to negotiate a treaty on certain limited conditions. With their own embassy they sent Atilius Regulus, the consul, who was their prisoner, to urge his countrymen to agree to the terms. When he came into the senate-chamber, clad as a prisoner in Punic garments, and the Carthaginian ambassadors had retired, he exposed to the Senate the desperate state of Carthaginian affairs, and advised that either the war should be prosecuted vigorously, or that more satisfactory 1 No other mention of this embassy, says Schweighäuser, is found in any ancient writings that have come down to us. Y.R. 512 conditions of peace should be insisted on. B.C. For this reason, 242 after he had returned voluntarily to Carthage, the Carthaginians put him to death by enclosing him in a standing posture in a box the planks of which were stuck full of iron spikes so that he could not possibly lie down. Nevertheless peace was made on conditions more satisfactory to the Romans. 2. The conditions were these: All Roman prisoners and deserters held by the Carthaginians were to be delivered up; Sicily and the small neighboring islands to be surrendered to the Romans; the Carthaginians not to initiate any war against Syracuse or its ruler, Hiero, nor to recruit mercenaries in any part of Italy; the Carthaginians to pay the Romans a war indemnity of 2000 Euboïc talents in twenty years, in yearly instalments payable at Rome. The Euboïc talent is equal to 7000 Alexandrine drachmas. So ended the first war between the Romans and the Carthaginians for the possession of Sicily, having lasted twenty-four years, in which the Romans lost 700 ships and the Carthaginians 500. In this way the chief part of Sicily (all of it that had been held by the Carthaginians) passed into the possession of the Romans. The latter levied tribute on the Sicilians, and apportioned certain naval charges among their towns, and sent a prætor each year to govern them. On the other hand Hiero, the ruler of Syracuse, who had coöperated with them in this war, was declared to be their friend and ally. 3. When this war was ended the Gallic mercenaries demanded of the Carthaginians the pay still due to them for their service in Sicily, together with the presents that Hamilcar had promised to give them. The African soldiers, although they were Carthaginian subjects, demanded the same things, on account of their service in Sicily, and this they did the more arrogantly as they saw that the Carthaginians were weakened and humbled; they were angry also on account of the killing of 3000 of their own number whom the Carthaginians had crucified for deserting to the Romans. When the Carthaginians refused the demands of both Gauls and Africans, they joined together and seized the city of Tunis, and also Utica, the largest city in Africa after Carthage. Starting thence they detached the rest of Africa, ani brought over to their side some Numidians, and re Y.R. B.C. 512 ceived into their ranks a vast number of fugitive slaves, 242 and pillaged the Carthaginian possessions in every direction. Being pressed by enemies on all sides the Carthaginians appealed to the Romans for aid against the Africans. The Romans did not send them a military force, but allowed them to draw supplies from Italy and Sicily, and to recruit mercenaries in Italy for this war only. They also sent deputies to Africa to arrange peace if they could, but they returned without accomplishing anything. The Carthaginians prosecuted the war vigorously. 540 III. FROM PEIRESC Hippocrates and Epicydes, two brothers, were generals 214 of the Syracusans. They had been for a long time incensed against the Romans, and when they could not stir up their fellow-countrymen to war, they went over to the Leontines, who had some differences with the Syracusans. They accused their own countrymen of renewing a separate league with the Romans, although Hiero had made one to include the whole of Sicily. The Leontines were much stirred up by this. The Syracusans made proclamation that if anybody would bring them the head of Hippocrates or of Epicydes, they would give him its weight in gold. But the Leontines chose Hippocrates as their general.' IV. FROM THE SAME 542 The Sicilians, who had been for a long time embittered 212 against the Roman general Marcellus, on account of his severity, were still more excited against him because he had gained entrance to Syracuse by treachery. For this reason they joined themselves to Hippocrates, and took an oath together that none of them would make peace without the others, and sent him supplies and an army of 20,000 foot and 5000 horse. 2 V. FROM THE SAME Marcellus was in such bad odor that nobody would trust him except under oath, for which reason, when the Tauro |