Y.R. B.C. 542 menians gave themselves up to him, he made an agreement 212 and confirmed it with an oath, that he would not station any guard in their city nor require the inhabitants to serve as soldiers. 680 VI. FROM "THE EMBASSIES" 1. The island of Crete seemed to be favorably disposed 74 towards Mithridates, king of Pontus, from the beginning, and it was said that they furnished him mercenaries when he was at war with the Romans. It is believed also that they recommended to the favor of Mithridates the pirates who then infested the sea, and openly assisted them when they were pursued by Marcus Antonius. When Antonius sent legates to them on this subject, they made light of the matter and gave him a disdainful answer. Antonius forthwith made war against them, and although he did not accomplish much, he gained the title of Creticus for his work. He was the father of the Mark Antony who, at a later period, fought against Octavius Cæsar at Actium. When the Romans declared war against the Cretans, on account of these things, the latter sent an embassy to Rome to treat for peace. The Romans ordered them to surrender Lasthenes, the author of the war against Antonius, and to deliver up all their pirate ships and all the Roman prisoners in their hands, together with 300 hostages, and to pay 4000 talents of silver. 685 2. As the Cretans would not accept these conditions, 69 Metellus was chosen as the general against them. He gained a victory over Lasthenes at Cydonia. The latter fled to Gnossus, and Panares delivered over Cydonia to Metellus on condition of his own safety. While Metellus was besieging Gnossus, Lasthenes set fire to his own house there, which was full of money, and fled from the place. Then the Cretans sent word to Pompey the Great, who was conducting the war against the pirates, and against Mithridates, that if he would come they would surrender themselves to him. As he was then busy with other things, he commanded Metellus to withdraw from the island, as it was not seemly to continue a war against those who offered to give themselves up, and he said that he would come to receive the surrender of the island later. Metellus paid no attention to this order, but pushed on the war until the island was subdued, making Y.R. B.C. 685 the same terms with Lasthenes as he had made with Panares. 69 Metellus was awarded a triumph and the title of Creticus with more justice than Antonius, for he actually subjugated the island.' VII. FROM PEIRESC 692 The patrician Clodius, surnamed Pulcher, which means 62 handsome, was in love with Cæsar's wife. He arrayed himself in woman's clothes from head to foot, being still without a beard, and gained admission to Cæsar's house as a woman in the night, at a time when the mysteries [of the Bona Dea] were celebrated, to which only women were admitted. Having lost his guide, and being detected by others by the sound of his voice, he was hustled out.2 1 Cf. Florus, iii. 7. 2 This was one of the important events in Roman history, both in its consequences and as showing the rottenness of society at the time. The presence of Clodius at the festival of the Bona Dea (the Good Goddess) was sacrilege of the deepest dye, and as religion was the foundation of Roman law and life, the culprit must needs be punished. Both Cicero and Hortensius took part in the prosecution. A bill for his trial was brought before the Senate. It provided that the jury of fifty-six persons should be appointed by the prætor. The tribune Fufius proposed that they should be chosen by lot. As there was no room for dispute about the facts, the only question being whether Clodius was there or not, Hortensius accepted the amendment of Fufius, being constrained to do so by the fact that Fufius had the power to veto the bill and stop the proceedings altogether. Hortensius, in his confidence, said that he could cut the throat of Clodius with a leaden sword. The jurors were selected by lot. They were bribed with money advanced by Crassus. Thirty-one voted for acquittal and twenty-five for conviction. The whole affair is described in two of Cicero's letters to Atticus (i. 14, 16). "You ask," he says, "what is the state of public affairs and of my own. That constitution of the republic which you thought had been confirmed by my counsels [by the overthrow of Catiline's conspiracy], and which I thought had been confirmed by Divine Providence, which seemed to be fixed and founded on the union of all good men and the authority of my consulship, has, you may be sure, unless some god takes pity on us, slipped from our hands by this single verdict; if it can be called a verdict that thirty men, the basest and most worthless of the Roman people, bought with money, should subvert all law and justice, and that Talna and Plautus and Spongia and other riff-raff of that sort should decide that a thing was not done, which not only all men but even cattle know was done." The only person who really suffered in consequence of the trial of Clodius was Cicero himself. See Civil Wars, ii. 14, 15, infra. BOOK VI THE WARS IN SPAIN CHAPTER I Boundaries of Spain - King Arganthonius - Early Carthaginian Occupation-Hamilcar Barca - His Death 1. THE Pyrenees mountains extend from the Tyrrhenian sea to the Northern ocean. The eastern part is inhabited by Celts, otherwise called Galatians, and more lately Gauls. From this part westward, beginning at the Tyrrhenian sea and making a circuit by way of the Pillars of Hercules to the Northern ocean, the Iberians and Celtiberians dwell. Thus the whole of Iberia is sea-girt, except the part embraced by the Pyrenees, the largest and perhaps the most precipitous mountains in Europe. In coasting they follow the Tyrrhenian sea as far as the Pillars of Hercules. They do not traverse the Western and Northern ocean, except in crossing over to Britain, and this they accomplish by availing themselves of the tide, as it is only half a day's journey. For the rest, neither the Romans nor any of the subject peoples navigate that ocean. The size of Iberia (now called Hispania by some) is almost incredible for a single country. Its breadth is reckoned at ten thousand stades, and its length is equal to its breadth. Many nations of various names inhabit it, and many navigable rivers flow through it. 2. What nations occupied it first, and who came after them, it is not very important for me to inquire, in writing 1 This is a bad blunder in geography, but no worse than that of Cæsar, who places Spain to the west of Britain (Gallic War, v. 13). Tacitus repeats this error (Agricola, 10). |