                                      75 AD
                                AEMILIUS PAULUS
                                  229-160 B.C.
                                  by Plutarch
                           translated by John Dryden

  ALMOST all agree that the Aemilii were one of the ancient and
patrician houses in Rome; and those authors who affirm that King
Numa was pupil to Pythagoras tell us that the first who gave name to
his posterity was Mamercus, the son of Pythagoras, who, for his
grace and address in speaking, was called Aemilius. Most of this
race that have risen through their merit to reputation also enjoyed
good fortune: and even the misfortune to Lucius Paulus at the battle
of Cannae gave testimony to his wisdom and valour. For not being
able to persuade his colleague not to hazard the battle, he, though
against his judgment, joined with him in the contest, but was no
companion in his flight: on the contrary, when he that was so resolute
to engage deserted him in the midst of danger he kept the field and
died fighting. This Aemilius had a daughter named Aemilia, who was
married to Scipio the Great, and a son Paulus, who is the subject of
my present history.
  In his early manhood, which fell at a time when Rome was flourishing
with illustrious characters, he was distinguished for not attaching
himself to the studies usual with the young men of mark of that age,
nor treading the same paths to fame. For he did not practise oratory
with a view to pleading causes, nor would he stoop to salute, embrace,
and entertain the vulgar, which were the usual insinuating arts by
which many grew popular. Not that he was incapable of either, but he
chose to purchase a much more lasting glory by his valour, justice,
and integrity, and in these virtues he soon oustripped all his equals.
  The first honourable office he aspired to was that of aedile,
which he carried against twelve competitors of such merit that all
of them in process of time were consuls. Being afterwards chosen
into the number of priests called augurs, appointed amongst the Romans
to observe and register divinations made by the flight of birds or
prodigies in the air, he so carefully studied the ancient customs of
his country, and so thoroughly understood the religion of his
ancestors, that this office which was before only esteemed a title
of honour and merely upon that account sought after, by this means
rose to the rank of one of the highest arts, and gave a confirmation
to the correctness of the definition, which some philosophers have
given of religion, that it is the science of worshipping the gods.
When he performed any part of his duty, he did it with great skill and
utmost care, making it, when he was engaged in it, his only
business, not omitting any one ceremony, or adding the least
circumstance, but always insisting, with his companions of the same
order, even on points that might seem inconsiderable, and urging
upon them, that though they might think the Deity was easily pacified,
and ready to forgive faults of inadvertency, yet any such laxity was a
very dangerous thing for a commonwealth to allow; because no man
ever began the disturbance of his country's peace by a notorious
breach of its laws; and those who are careless in trifles give a
precedent for remissness in important duties. Nor was he less severe
in requiring and observing the ancient Roman discipline in military
affairs; not endeavouring, when he had the command, to ingratiate
himself with his soldiers by popular flattery, though this custom
prevailed at that time amongst many, who, by favour and gentleness
to those that were under them in their first employment, sought to
be promoted to a second; but, by instructing them in the laws of
military discipline with the same care and exactness a priest would
use in teaching ceremonies and dreadful mysteries, and by severity
to such as transgressed and contemned those laws, he maintained his
country in its former greatness, esteeming victory over enemies itself
but as an accessory to the proper training and disciplining of the
citizens.
  Whilst the Romans were engaged in war with Antiochus the Great,
against whom their most experienced commanders were employed, there
arose another war in the west, and they were all up in arms in
Spain. Thither they sent Aemilius, in the quality of praetor, not with
six axes, which number other praetors were accustomed to have
carried before them, but with twelve; so that in his praetorship he
was honoured with the dignity of a consul. He twice overcame the
barbarians in battle, thirty thousand of whom were slain: successes
chiefly to be ascribed to the wisdom and conduct of the commander, who
by his great skill in choosing the advantage of the ground, and making
the onset at the passage of a river, gave his soldiers an easy
victory. Having made himself master of two hundred and fifty cities,
whose inhabitants voluntarily yielded, and bound themselves by oath to
fidelity, he left the province in peace, and returned to Rome, not
enriching himself a drachma by the war. And, indeed, in general, he
was but remiss in making money; though he always lived freely and
generously on what he had, which was so far from being excessive, that
after his death there was barely enough left to answer his wife's
dowry.
  His first wife was Papiria, the daughter of Maso, who had formerly
been consul. With her he lived a considerable time in wedlock, and
then divorced her, though she had made him the father of noble
children; being mother of the renowned Scipio and Fabius Maximus.
The reason of this separation has not come to our knowledge; but there
seems to be a truth conveyed in the account of another Roman's being
divorced from his wife, which may be applicable here. This person
being highly blamed by his friends, who demanded, Was she not
chaste? was she not fair? was she not fruitful? holding out his
shoe, asked them, Whether it was not new? and well made? Yet, added
he, none of you can tell where it pinches me. Certain it is, that
great and open faults have often led to no separation; while mere
petty repeated annoyances, arising from unpleasantness or
incongruity of character, have been the occasion of such
estrangement as to make it impossible for man and wife to live
together with any content.
  Aemilius, having thus put away Papiria, married a second wife, by
whom he had two sons, whom he brought up in his own house,
transferring the two former into the greatest and the most noble
families of Rome. The elder was adopted into the house of Fabius
Maximus, who was five times consul; the younger by the son of Scipio
Africanus, his cousin-german, and was by him named Scipio.
  Of the daughters of Aemilius, one was married to the son of Cato,
the other to Aelius Tubero, a most worthy man, and the one Roman who
best succeeded in combining liberal habits with poverty. For there
were sixteen near relations, all of them of the family of the Aelii,
possessed of but one farm, which sufficed them all, whilst one small
house, or rather cottage, contained them, their numerous offspring,
and their wives; amongst whom was the daughter of our Aemilius, who,
although her father had been twice consul, and had twice triumphed,
was not ashamed of her husband's poverty, but proud of his virtue that
kept him poor. Far otherwise it is with the brothers and relations
of this age, who, unless whole tracts of land, or at least walls and
rivers, part their inheritances, and keep them at a distance, never
cease from mutual quarrels. History suggests a variety of good counsel
of this sort, by the way, to those who desire to learn and improve.
  To proceed: Aemilius, being chosen consul, waged war with the
Ligurians, or Ligustines, a people near the Alps. They were a bold and
warlike nation, and their neighbourhood to the Romans had begun to
give them skill in the arts of war. They occupy the further parts of
Italy ending under the Alps, and those parts of the Alps themselves
which are washed by the Tuscan sea and face toward Africa, mingled
there with Gauls and Iberians of the coast. Besides, at that time they
had turned their thoughts to the seas and sailing as far as the
Pillars of Hercules in light vessels fitted for that purpose, robbed
and destroyed all that trafficked in those parts. They, with an army
of forty thousand, waited the coming of Aemilius, who brought with him
not above eight thousand, so that the enemy was five to one when
they engaged; yet he vanquished and put them to flight, forcing them
to retire into their walled towns, and in this condition offered
them fair conditions of accommodation; it being the policy of the
Romans not utterly to destroy the Ligurians, because they were a
sort of guard and bulwark against the frequent attempts of the Gauls
to overrun Italy. Trusting wholly therefore to Aemilius, they
delivered up their towns and shipping into his hands. He, at the
utmost, razed only the fortifications and delivered their towns to
them again, but took away all their shipping with him, leaving them no
vessels bigger than those of three oars, and set at liberty great
numbers of prisoners they had taken both by sea and land, strangers as
well as Romans. These were the acts most worthy of remark in his first
consulship.
  Afterwards he frequently intimated his desire of being a second time
consul, and was once candidate; but meeting with a repulse and being
passed by, he gave up all thought of it, and devoted himself to his
duties as augur, and to the education of his children, whom he not
only brought up, as he himself had been, in the Roman and ancient
discipline, but also with unusual zeal in that of Greece. To this
purpose he not only procured masters to teach them grammar, logic, and
rhetoric, but had for them also preceptors in modelling and drawing,
managers of horses and dogs, and instructors in field sports, all from
Greece. And, if he was not hindered by public affairs, he himself
would be with them at their studies, and see them perform their
exercises, being the most affectionate father in Rome.
  This was the time, in public matters, when the Romans were engaged
in war with Perseus, King of the Macedonians, and great complaints
were made of their commanders, who, either through their want of skill
or courage, were conducting matters so shamefully, that they did
less hurt to the enemy than they received from him. They that not long
before had forced Antiochus the Great to quit the rest of Asia, to
retire beyond Mount Taurus, and confine himself to Syria, glad to
buy his peace with fifteen thousand talents; they that not long
since had vanquished King Philip in Thessaly, and freed the Greeks
from the Macedonian yoke; nay, had overcome Hannibal himself, who
far surpassed all kings in daring and power- thought it scorn that
Perseus should think himself an enemy fit to match the Romans, and
to be able to wage war with them so long on equal terms, with the
remainder only of his father's routed forces; not being aware that
Philip after his defeat had greatly improved both the strength and
discipline of the Macedonian army. To make which appear, I shall
briefly recount the story from the beginning.
  Antigonus, the most powerful amongst the captains and successors
of Alexander, having obtained for himself and his posterity the
title of king, had a son named Demetrius, father to Antigonus,
called Gonatas, and he had a son Demetrius, who, reigning some short
time, died and left a young son called Philip. The chief men of
Macedon, fearing great confusion might arise in his minority, called
in Antigonus, cousin-german to the late king, and married him to the
widow, the mother of Philip. At first they only styled him regent
and general, but when they found by experience that he governed the
kingdom with moderation and to general advantage, gave him the title
of king. This was he that was surnamed Doson, as if he was a great
promiser and a bad performer. To him succeeded Philip, who in his
youth gave great hopes of equalling the best of kings, and that he one
day would restore Macedon to its former state and dignity, and prove
himself the one man able to check the power of the Romans, now
rising and extending over the whole world. But, being vanquished in
a pitched battle by Titus Flaminius near Scotussa, his resolution
failed, and he yielded himself and all that he had to the mercy of the
Romans, well contented that he could escape with paying a small
tribute. Yet afterwards, recollecting himself, he bore it with great
impatience, and though he lived rather like a slave that was pleased
with ease, than a man of sense and courage, whilst he held his kingdom
at the pleasure of his conquerors; which made him turn his whole
mind to war, and prepare himself with as much cunning and privacy as
possible. To this end, he left his cities on the high roads and
sea-coast ungarrisoned, and almost desolate, that they might seem
inconsiderable; in the meantime, collecting large forces up the
country, and furnishing his inland posts, strongholds, and towns, with
arms, money, and men fit for service, he thus provided himself for
war, and yet kept his preparations close. He had in his armoury arms
for thirty thousand men; in granaries, in places of strength, eight
millions of bushels of corn, and as much ready money as would defray
the charge of maintaining ten thousand mercenary soldiers for ten
years in defence of the country. But before he could put these
things into motion, and carry his designs into effect, he died for
griefs and anguish of mind, being sensible he had put his innocent son
Demetrius to death, upon the calumnies of one that was far more
guilty. Perseus, his son that survived, inherited his hatred to the
Romans as well as his kingdom, but was incompetent to carry out his
designs, through want of courage and the viciousness of a character in
which, among faults and diseases of various sorts, covetousness bore
the chief place. There is a statement also of his not being true-born;
that the wife of King Philip took him from his mother, Gnathaenion
(a woman of Argos, that earned her living as a seamstress), as soon as
he was born, and passed him upon her husband as her own. And this
might be the chief cause of his contriving the death of Demetrius,
as he might well fear that, so long as there was a lawful successor in
the family, there was no security that his spurious birth might not be
revealed.
  Notwithstanding all this, and though his spirit was so mean and
temper so sordid, yet trusting to the strength of his resources, he
engaged in a war with the Romans, and for a long time maintained it;
repulsing and even vanquishing some generals of consular dignity,
and some great armies and fleets. He routed Publius Licinius, who
was the first that invaded Macedonia, in a cavalry battle, slew
twenty-five hundred practiced soldiers, and took six hundred
prisoners; and surprising their fleet as they rode at anchor before
Orens he took twenty ships of burden with all their lading, sunk the
rest that were freighted with corn, and, besides this, made himself
master of four galleys with five banks of oars. He fought a second
battle with Hostilius, a consular officer, as he was making his way
into the country at Elimiae, and forced him to retreat; and, when he
afterwards by stealth designed an invasion through Thessaly challenged
him to fight, which the other feared to accept. Nay more, to show
his contempt to the Romans, and that he wanted employment, as a war by
the by, he made an expedition against the Dardanians, in which he slew
ten thousand of those barbarian people, and brought a great spoil
away. He privately, moreover, solicited the Gauls (also called
Basternae), a warlike nation and famous for horsemen, dwelling near
the Danube; and incited the Illyrians, by the means of Genthius
their king, to join with him in the war. It was also reported that the
barbarians, allured by promise of rewards, were to make an irruption
into Italy, through the lower Gaul by the shore of the Adriatic Sea.
  The Romans, being advertised of these things, thought it necessary
no longer to choose their commanders by favour or solicitation, but of
their own motion to select a general of wisdom and capacity for the
management of great affairs. And such was Paulus Aemilius, advanced in
years, being nearly threescore, yet vigorous in his own person, and
rich in valiant sons and sons-in-law, besides a great number of
influential relations and friends, all of whom joined in urging him to
yield to the desires of the people, who called him to the
consulship. He at first manifested some shyness of the people and
withdrew himself from their importunity, professing reluctance to hold
office; but, when they daily came to his doors, urging him to come
forth to the place of election, and pressing him with noise and
clamour, he acceded to their request. When he appeared amongst the
candidates, it did not look as if it were to sue for the consulship,
but to bring victory and success, that he came down into the Campus;
they all received him there with such hopes and such gladness,
unanimously choosing him a second time consul; nor would they suffer
the lots to be cast, as was usual, to determine which province
should fall to his share, but immediately decreed him the command of
the Macedonian war. It is told, that when he had been proclaimed
general against Perseus, and was honourably accompanied home by
great numbers of people, he found his daughter Tertia, a very little
girl, weeping, and taking her to him asked her why she was crying.
She, catching him about the neck and kissing him, said, "O father,
do you not know that Perseus is dead?" meaning a little dog of that
name that was brought up in the house with her; to which Aemilius
replied, "Good fortune, my daughter; I embrace the omen." This Cicero,
the orator, relates in his book on divination.
  It was the custom for such as were chosen consuls, from a stage
designed for such purposes, to address the people, and return them
thanks for their favour. Aemilius, therefore, having gathered an
assembly, spoke and said that he sued for the first consulship,
because he himself stood in need of such honour; but for the second,
because they wanted a general; upon which account he thought there was
no thanks due: if they judged they could manage the war by any other
to more advantage, he would willingly yield up his charge; but, if
they confided in him, they were not to make themselves his
colleagues in his office, or raise reports, and criticize his actions,
but, without talking, supply him with means and assistance necessary
to the carrying on of the war; for if they proposed to command their
own commander they would render this expedition more ridiculous than
the former. By this speech he inspired great reverence for him amongst
the citizens and great expectations of future success; all were well
pleased that they had passed by such as sought to be preferred by
flattery, and fixed upon a commander endued with wisdom and courage to
tell them the truth. So entirely did the people of Rome, that they
might rule, and become masters of the world, yield obedience and
service to reason and superior virtue.
  That Aemilius, setting forward to the war, by a prosperous voyage
and successful journey, arrived with speed and safety at his camp I
attribute to good fortune; but, when I see how the war under his
command was brought to a happy issue, partly by his own daring
boldness, partly by his good counsel, partly by the ready
administration of his friends, partly by his presence of mind and
skill to embrace the most proper advice in the extremity of danger,
I cannot ascribe any of his remarkable and famous actions (as I can
those of other commanders) to his so much celebrated good fortune;
unless you will say that the covetousness of Perseus was the good
fortune of Aemilius. The truth is, Perseus' fear of spending his money
was the destruction and utter ruin of all those splendid and great
preparations with which the Macedonians were in high hopes to carry on
the war with success. For there came at his request ten thousand
horsemen of the Basternae, and as many foot, who were to keep pace
with them, and supply their places in case of failure; all of them
professed soldiers, men skilled neither in tilling of land, nor in
navigation of ships, nor able to get their living by grazing, but
whose only business and single art and trade it was to fight and
conquer all that resisted them. When these came into the district of
Maedica, and encamped and mixed with the king's soldiers, being men of
great stature, admirable at their exercises, great boasters, and
loud in their threats against their enemies, they gave new courage
to the Macedonians, who were ready to think the Romans would not be
able to confront them, but would be struck with terror at their
looks and motions, they were so strange and so formidable to behold.
When Perseus had thus encouraged his men, and elevated them with these
great hopes, as soon as a thousand gold pieces were demanded for
each captain, he was so amazed and beside himself at the vastness of
the amount, that out of mere stinginess he drew back and let himself
lose their assistance, as if he had been some steward, not the enemy
of the Romans, and would have to give an exact account of the expenses
of the war to those with whom he waged it. Nay, when he had his foes
as tutors, to instruct him what he had to do, who, besides their other
preparations, had a hundred thousand men drawn together and in
readiness for their service; yet he that was to engage against so
considerable a force, and in a war that was maintaining such numbers
as this, nevertheless doled out his money, and put seals on his
bags, and was as fearful of touching it, as if it had belonged to some
one else. And all this was done by one, not descended from Lydians
or Phoenicians, but who could pretend to some share of the virtues
of Alexander and Philip, whom he was allied to by birth; men who
conquered the world by judging that empire was to be purchased by
money, not money by empire. Certainly it became a proverb, that not
Philip, but his gold, took the cities of Greece. And Alexander, when
he undertook his expedition against the Indians, and found his
Macedonians encumbered and appear to march heavily with their
Persian spoils, first set fire to his own carriages, and thence
persuaded the rest to imitate his example, that thus freed they
might proceed to the war without hindrance. Whereas Perseus, abounding
in wealth, would not preserve himself, his children, and his
kingdom, at the expense of a small part of his treasure; but chose
rather to be carried away with numbers of his subjects with the name
of the wealthy captive, and show the Romans what great riches he had
husbanded and preserved for them. For he not only played false with
the Gauls, and sent them away, but also, after alluring Genthius, King
of the Illyrians, by the hopes of three hundred talents, to assist him
in the war, he caused the money to be counted out in the presence of
his messengers, and to be sealed up. Upon which Genthius, thinking
himself possessed of what he desired, committed a wicked and
shameful act: he seized and imprisoned the ambassadors sent to him
from the Romans. Whence Perseus, concluding that there was no need
of money to make Genthius an enemy to the Romans, but that he had
given a lasting earnest of his enmity, and by his flagrant injustice
sufficiently involved himself in the war, defrauded the unfortunate
king of his three hundred talents, and without any concern beheld him,
his wife, and children, in a short time after, carried out of their
kingdom, as from their nest, by Lucius Anicius, who was sent against
him with an army.
  Aemilius, coming against such an adversary, made light indeed of
him, but admired his preparation and power. For he had four thousand
horse, and not much fewer than forty thousand full-armed foot of the
phalanx; and planting himself along the seaside, at the foot of
Mount Olympus, in ground with no access on any side, and on all
sides fortified with fences and bulwarks of wood, remained in great
security, thinking by delay and expense to weary out Aemilius. But he,
in the meantime, busy in thought, weighed all counsels and all means
of attack, and perceiving his soldiers, from their former want of
discipline, to be impatient of delay, and ready on all occasions to
teach their general his duty, rebuked them, and bade them not meddle
with what was not their concern, but only take care that they and
their arms were in readiness, and to use their swords like Romans when
their commander should think fit to employ them. Further, he ordered
that the sentinels by night should watch without javelins, that thus
they might be more careful and surer to resist sleep, having no arms
to defend themselves against any attacks of an enemy.
  What most annoyed the army was the want of water; for only a little,
and that foul, flowed out, or rather came by drops from a spring
adjoining the sea; but Aemilius, considering that he was at the foot
of the high and woody mountain Olympus, and conjecturing by the
flourishing growth of the trees that there were springs that had their
course underground, dug a great many holes and wells along the foot of
the mountain, which were presently filled with pure water escaping
from its confinement into the vacuum they afforded. Although there are
some, indeed, who deny that there are reservoirs of water lying
ready provided out of sight, in the places from whence springs flow,
and that when they appear, they merely issue and run out; on the
contrary, they say, they are then formed and come into existence for
the first time, by the liquefaction of the surrounding matter; and
that this change is caused by density and cold, when the moist vapour,
by being closely pressed together, becomes fluid. As women's breasts
are not like vessels full of milk always prepared and ready to flow
from them; but their nourishment being changed in their breasts, is
there made milk, and from thence is pressed out. In like manner,
places of the earth that are cold and full of springs, do not
contain any hidden waters or receptacles which are capable, as from
a source always ready and furnished, of supplying all the brooks and
deep rivers; but by compressing and condensing the vapours and air
they turn them into that substance. And thus places that are dug open,
flow by that pressure, and afford the more water (as the breasts of
women do milk by their being sucked), the vapour thus moistening and
becoming fluid; whereas ground that remains idle and undug is not
capable of producing any water, whilst it wants the motion which is
the cause of liquefaction. But those that assert this opinion give
occasion to the doubtful to argue, that on the same ground there
should be no blood in living creatures, but that it must be formed
by the wound, some sort of spirit or flesh being changed into a liquid
and flowing matter. Moreover, they are refuted by the fact that men
who dig mines, either in sieges or for metals, meet with rivers, which
are not collected by little and little (as must necessarily be, if
they had their being at the very instant the earth was opened), but
break out at once with violence; and upon the cutting through a
rock, there often gush out great quantities of water, which then as
suddenly cease. But of this enough.
  Aemilius lay still for some days, and it is said that there were
never two great armies so nigh that enjoyed so much quiet. When he had
tried and considered all things, he was informed that there was yet
one passage left unguarded, through Perrhaebia by the temple of Apollo
and the Rock. Gathering, therefore, more hope from the place being
left defenceless than fear from the roughness and difficulty of the
passage, he proposed it for consultation. Amongst those that were
present at the council, Scipio, surnamed Nasica, son-in-law to
Scipio Africanus, who afterwards was so powerful in the
senate-house, was the first that offered himself to command those that
should be sent to encompass the enemy. Next to him, Fabius Maximus,
eldest son of Aemilius, although yet very young, offered himself
with great zeal. Aemilius, rejoicing, gave them, not so many as
Polybius states, but, as Nasica himself tells us in a brief letter
which he wrote to one of the kings with an account of the
expedition, three thousand Italians that were not Romans, and his left
wing consisting of five thousand. Taking with him, besides these,
one hundred and twenty horsemen, and two hundred Thracians and Cretans
intermixed that Harpalus had sent, he began his journey towards the
sea, and encamped near the temple of Hercules, as if he designed to
embark, and so to sail round and environ the enemy. But when the
soldiers had supped and it was dark, he made the captains acquainted
with his real intentions, and marching all night in the opposite
directions away from the sea, till he came under the temple of Apollo,
there rested his army. At this place Mount Olympus rises in height
more than ten furlongs, as appears by the epigram made by the man that
measured it:-

        "The summit of Olympus, at the site
         Where stands Apollo's temple, has a height
         Of full ten furlongs by the line, and more,
         Ten furlongs, and one hundred feet, less four.
         Eumelus's son, Xenagoras, reached the place.
         Adieu, O king, and do thy pilgrim grace."

  It is allowed, say the geometricians, that no mountain in height
or sea in depth exceeds ten furlongs, and yet it seems probable that
Xenagoras did not take his admeasurement carelessly, but according
to the rules of art, and with instruments for the purpose. Here it was
that Nasica passed the night.
  A Cretan deserted, who fled to the enemy during the march,
discovered to Perseus the design which the Romans had to encompass
him: for he, seeing that Aemilius lay still, had not suspected any
such attempt. He was startled at the news, yet did not put his army in
motion, but sent ten thousand mercenary soldiers, and two thousand
Macedonians, under command of Milo, with order to hasten and possess
themselves of the passes. Polybius relates that the Romans found these
men asleep when they attacked them; but Nasica says there was a
sharp and severe conflict on the top of the mountain, that he
himself encountered a mercenary Thracian, pierced him through with his
javelin, and slew him; and that the enemy being forced to retreat,
Milo stripped to his coat and fled shamefully without his armour,
while he followed without danger, and conveyed the whole army down
into the country.
  After this event, Perseus, now grown fearful, and fallen from his
hopes, removed his camp in all haste; he was under the necessity
either to stop before Pydna, and there run the hazard of a battle,
or disperse his army into cities, and there expect the event of the
war, which, having once made its way into his country, could not be
driven out without great slaughter and bloodshed. But Perseus, being
told by his friends that he was much superior in number, and that
men fighting in the defence of their wives and children must needs
feel all the more courage, especially when all was done in the sight
of their king, who himself was engaged in equal danger, was thus again
encouraged; and, pitching his camp, prepared himself to fight,
viewed the country, and gave out the commands, as if he designed to
set upon the Romans as soon as they approached. The place was a
field fit for the action of a phalanx, which requires smooth
standing and even ground, and also had divers little hills, one
joining another, fit for the motions whether in retreat or advance
of light troops and skirmishers. Through the middle ran the rivers
Aeson and Leucus, which though not very deep, it being the latter
end of summer, yet were likely enough to give the Romans some trouble.
  As soon as Aemilius had rejoined Nasica, he advanced in battle array
against the enemy; but when he found how they were drawn up, and the
number of their forces, he regarded them with admiration and surprise,
and halted, considering within himself. The young commanders, eager to
fight, riding along by his side, pressed him not to delay, and most of
all Nasica, flushed with his late success on Olympus. To whom Aemilius
answered with a smile: "So would I do were I of your age; but many
victories have taught me the ways in which men are defeated, and
forbid me to engage soldiers weary with a long march against an army
drawn up and prepared for battle."
  Then he gave command that the front of his army, and such as were in
sight of the enemy, should form as if ready to engage, and those in
the rear should cast up the trenches and fortify the camp; so that the
hindmost in succession wheeling off by degrees and withdrawing,
their whole order was insensibly broken up, and the army encamped
without noise or trouble.
  When it was night, and, supper being over, all were turning to sleep
and rest, on a sudden the moon, which was then at full and high in the
heavens, grew dark, and by degrees losing her light, passed through
various colours, and at length was totally eclipsed. The Romans,
according to their custom, clattering brass pans and lifting up
fire-brands and torches into the air, invoked the return of her light;
the Macedonians behaved far otherwise: terror and amazement seized
their whole army, and a rumour crept by degrees into their camp that
this eclipse portended even that of their king. Aemilius was no novice
in these things, nor was ignorant of the nature of the seeming
irregularities of eclipses- that in a certain revolution of time,
the moon in her course enters the shadow of the earth and is there
obscured, till, passing the region of darkness, she is again
enlightened by the sun. Yet being a devout man, a religious observer
of sacrifices and the art of divination, as soon as he perceived the
moon beginning to regain her former lustre, he offered up to her
eleven heifers. At the break of day he sacrificed as many as twenty in
succession to Hercules, without any token that his offering was
accepted; but at the one-and-twentieth, the signs promised victory
to defenders. He then vowed a hecatomb and solemn sports to
Hercules, and commanded his captains to make ready for battle, staying
only till the sun should decline and come round to the west, lest,
being in their faces in the morning, it should dazzle the eyes of
his soldiers. Thus he whiled away the time in his tent, which was open
towards the plain where his enemies were encamped.
  When it grew towards evening, some tell us, Aemilius himself used
a stratagem to induce the enemy to begin the fight; that he turned
loose a horse without a bridle, and sent some of the Romans to catch
him, upon whose following the beast the battle began. Others relate
that the Thracians, under the command of one Alexander, set upon the
Roman beasts of burden that were bringing forage to the camp; that
to oppose these, a party of seven hundred Ligurians were immediately
detached; and that, relief coming still from both armies, the main
bodies at last engaged. Aemilius, like a wise pilot, foreseeing by the
present waves and motion of the armies the greatness of the
following storm, came out of his tent, went through the legions, and
encouraged his soldiers. Nasica, in the meantime, who had ridden out
to the skirmishers, saw the whole force of the enemy on the point of
engaging. First marched the Thracians, who, he himself tells us,
inspired him with most terror; they were of great stature, with bright
and glittering shields and black frocks under them, their legs armed
with greaves, and they brandished, as they moved, straight and
heavily-ironed spears over their right shoulders. Next the Thracians
marched the mercenary soldiers, armed after different fashions; with
these Paeonians were mingled. These were succeeded by a third
division, of picked men, native Macedonians, the choicest for
courage and strength, in the prime of life, gleaming with gilt
armour and scarlet coats. As these were taking their places they
were followed from the camp by the troops in phalanx called the Brazen
Shields, so that the whole plain seemed alive with the flashing of
steel and the glistening of brass; and the hills also with their
shouts, as they cheered each other on. In this order they marched, and
with such boldness and speed, that those that were first slain died at
but two furlongs distance from the Roman camp.
  The battle being begun, Aemilius came in and found that the foremost
of the Macedonians had already fixed the ends of their spears into the
shields of his Romans, so that it was impossible to come near them
with their swords. When he saw this, and observed that the rest of the
Macedonians took the targets that hung on their left shoulders, and
brought them round before them, and all at once stooped their pikes
against their enemies' shields, and considered the great strength of
this wall of shields, and the formidable appearance of a front thus
bristling with arms, he was seized with amazement and alarm; nothing
he had ever seen before had been equal to it; and in aftertimes he
frequently used to speak both of the sight and of his own
sensations. These, however, he dissembled, and rode through his army
without either breastplate or helmet, with a serene and cheerful
countenance.
  On the contrary, as Polybius relates, no sooner was the battle
begun, but the Macedonian king basely withdrew to the city Pydna,
under a pretence of sacrificing to Hercules; a god that is not wont to
regard the faint offerings of cowards, or to fulfil unsanctioned vows.
For truly it can hardly be a thing that heaven would sanction, that he
that never shoots should carry away the prize; he triumph that
slinks from the battle; he that takes no pains meet with success, or
the wicked man prosper. But to Aemilius's petitions the god
listened; he prayed for victory with his sword in his hand, and fought
while entreating divine assistance.
  A certain Posidonius, who has at some length written a history of
Perseus, and professes to have lived at the time, and to have been
himself engaged in these events, denies that Perseus left the field
either through fear or pretence of sacrificing, but that, the very day
before the fight, he received a kick from a horse on his thigh; that
though very much disabled, and dissuaded by all his friends, he
commanded one of his riding-horses to be brought, and entered the
field unarmed; that amongst an infinite number of darts that flew
about on all sides, one of iron lighted on him, and though not with
the point, yet by a glance struck him with such force on his left side
that it tore his clothes and so bruised his flesh that the mark
remained a long time after. This is what Posidonius says in defence of
Perseus.
  The Romans not being able to make a breach in the phalanx, one
Salius, a commander of the Pelignians, snatched the ensign of his
company and threw it amongst the enemies; on seeing which, the
Pelignians (as amongst the Italians it is always thought the
greatest breach of honour to abandon a standard) rushed with great
violence towards the place, where the conflict grew very fierce and
the slaughter terrible on both sides. For these endeavoured to cut the
spears asunder with their swords, or to beat them back with their
shields, or put them by with their hands; and, on the other side,
the Macedonians held their long sarissas in both hands, and pierced
those that came in their way quite through their armour, no shield
or corslet being able to resist the force of that weapon. The
Pelignians and Marrucinians were thrown headlong to the ground, having
without consideration, with mere animal fury, rushed upon a certain
death. Their first ranks being slain, those that were behind were
forced to give back; it cannot be said they fled, but they retreated
towards Mount Olocrus. When, Aemilius saw this, Posidonius relates, he
rent his clothes, some of his men being ready to fly, and the rest not
willing to engage with a phalanx into which they could not hope to
make any entrance- a sort of palisade, as it were, impregnable and
unapproachable, with its close array of long spears everywhere meeting
the assailant. Nevertheless, the unequalness of the ground would not
permit a widely extended front to be so exactly drawn up as to have
their shields everywhere joined; and Aemilius perceived that there
were a great many interstices and breaches in the Macedonian
phalanx, as it usually happens in all great armies, according to the
different efforts of the combatants, who in one part press forward
with eagerness, and in another are forced to fall back. Taking,
therefore, this occasion, with all speed he broke up his men into
their cohorts, and gave them order to fall into the intervals and
openings of the enemy's body, and not to make one general attack
upon them all, but to engage, as they were divided, in several partial
battles. These commands Aemilius gave to his captains, and they to
their soldiers; and no sooner had they entered the spaces and
separated their enemies, but they charged them, some on their sides
where they were naked and exposed, and others, making a circuit,
behind; and thus destroyed the force of the phalanx, which consists in
common action and close union. And now, come to fight man to man, or
in small parties, the Macedonians smote in vain upon firm and long
shields with their little swords, whilst their slight bucklers were
not able to sustain the weight and force of the Roman swords, which
pierced through all their armour to their bodies; they turned, in
fine, and fled.
  The conflict was obstinate. And here Marcus, the son of Cato, and
son-in-law of Aemilius, whilst he showed all possible courage, let
fall his sword. Being a young man carefully brought up and
disciplined, and, son of so renowned a father, bound to give proof
of more than ordinary virtue, he thought his life but a burden, should
he live and permit his enemies to enjoy this spoil. He hurried
hither and thither, and wherever he espied a friend or companion,
declared his misfortune, and begged their assistance; a considerable
number of brave men being thus collected, with one accord they made
their way through their fellows after their leader, and fell upon
the enemy; whom after a sharp conflict, many wounds, and much
slaughter, they repulsed, possessed the place that was now deserted
and free, and set themselves to search for the sword, which at last
they found covered with a great heap of arms and dead bodies.
Overjoyed with this success, they raised the song of triumph, and,
with more eagerness than ever, charged the foes that yet remained firm
and unbroken. In the end, three thousand of the chosen men, who kept
their ground and fought valiantly to the last, were all cut in pieces,
while the slaughter of such as fled was also very great. The plain and
the lower part of the hills were filled with dead bodies, and the
water of the river Leucus, which the Romans did not pass till the next
day after the battle, was then mingled with blood. For it is said
there fell more than twenty-five thousand of the enemy; of the Romans,
as Posidonius relates, a hundred; as Nasica, only fourscore. This
battle, though so great, was very quickly decided, it being three in
the afternoon when they first engaged, and not four when the enemy was
vanquished; the rest of the day was spent in pursuit of the fugitives,
whom they followed about thirteen or fourteen miles, so that it was
far in the night when they returned.
  All the others were met by their servants with torches, and
brought back with joy and great triumph to their tents, which were set
out with lights, and decked with wreaths of ivy and laurel. But the
general himself was in great grief. Of the two sons that served
under him in the war, the youngest was missing, whom he held most
dear, and whose courage and good qualities he perceived much to
excel those of his brothers. Bold and eager for distinction, and still
a mere child in age, he concluded that he had perished, whilst for
want of experience he had engaged himself too far amongst his enemies.
His sorrow and fears became known to the army; the soldiers,
quitting their suppers, ran about with lights, some to Aemilius's
tent, some out of the trenches, to seek him amongst such as were slain
in the first onset. There was nothing but grief in the camp, and the
plain was filled with the cries of men calling out for Scipio; for,
from his very youth, he was an object of admiration; endowed above any
of his equals with the good qualities requisite either for command
or counsel. At length, when it was late, and they almost despaired, he
returned from the pursuit with only two or three of his companions all
covered with the fresh blood of his enemies, having been, like some
dog of noble breed, carried away by the pleasure, greater than he
could control, of his first victory. This was that Scipio that
afterwards destroyed Carthage and Numantia, and was, without
dispute, the first of the Romans in merit, and had the greatest
authority amongst them. Thus Fortune, deferring her displeasure and
jealousy of such great success to some other time, let Aemilius at
present enjoy this victory, without any detraction or diminution.
  As for Perseus, from Pydna he fled to Pella with his cavalry,
which was as yet almost entire. But when the foot came up with them,
and, upbraiding them as cowards and traitors, tried to pull them off
their horses, and fell to blows, Perseus, fearing the tumult,
forsook the common road, and, lest he should be known, pulled off
his purple, and carried it before him, and took his crown in his
hand and, that he might the better converse with his friends, alighted
from his horse and led him. Of those that were about him, one stopped,
pretending to tie his shoe that was loose, another to water his horse,
a third to drink himself; and thus lagging behind, by degrees left
him, they having not so much reason to fear their enemies as his
cruelty; for he, disordered by his misfortune, sought to clear himself
by laying the cause of the overthrow upon everybody else. He arrived
at Pella in the night, where Euctus and Eudaeus, two of his
treasurers, came to him, and, what with their reflecting on his former
faults, and their free and ill-timed admonitions and counsels, so
exasperated him, that he killed them both, stabbing them with his
own dagger. After this, nobody stuck to him but Evander the Cretan,
Archedemus the Aetolian, and Neon the Boeotian. Of the common soldiers
there followed him only those from Crete, not out of any good-will,
but because they were as constant to his riches as the bees to their
hive. For he carried a great treasure with him, out of which he had
suffered them to take cups, bowls, and other vessels of silver and
gold, to the value of fifty talents. But when he was come to
Amphipolis, and afterwards to Galepsus, and his fears were a little
abated, he relapsed into his old and constitutional disease of
covetousness, and lamented to his friends that he had, through
inadvertency, allowed some gold plate which had belonged to
Alexander the Great to go into the hands of the Cretans, and
besought those that had it, with tears in his eyes, to exchange with
him again for money. Those that understood him thoroughly knew very
well that he only played the Cretan with the Cretans, but those that
believed him, and restored what they had, were cheated; as he not only
did not pay the money, but by craft got thirty talents more of his
friends into his hands (which in a short time after fell to the
enemy), and with them sailed to Samothrace, and there fled to the
temple of Castor and Pollux for refuge.
  The Macedonians were always accounted great lovers of their kings,
but now, as if their chief prop was broken, they all gave way
together, and submitted to Aemilius, and in two days made him master
of their whole country. This seems to confirm the opinion which
ascribes whatever he did to good fortune. The omen, also, that
happened at Amphipolis has a supernatural character. When he was.
sacrificing there, and the holy rites were just begun, on a sudden,
lightning fell upon the altar, set the wood on fire, and completed the
immolation of the sacrifice. The most signal manifestation, however,
of preternatural agency appears in the story of the rumour of his
success. For on the fourth day after Perseus was vanquished at
Pydna, whilst the people at Rome were seeing the horse-races, a report
suddenly rose at the entrance of the theatre that Aemilius had
defeated Perseus in a great battle, and was reducing all Macedonia
under his power; and from thence it spread amongst the people, and
created general joy, with shoutings and acclamations for that whole
day through the city. But when no certain author was found of the
news, and every one alike had taken it at random, it was abandoned for
the present and thought no more of, until, a few days after, certain
intelligence came, and then the first was looked upon as no less
than a miracle, having, under an appearance of fiction, contained what
was real and true. It is reported also, that the news of the battle
fought in Italy, near the river Sagra, was conveyed into
Peloponnesus the same day, and of that at Mycale against the Medes, to
Plataea. When the Romans had defeated the Tarquins, who were
combined with the Latins, a little after there were seen at Rome two
tall and comely men, who professed to bring the news from the camp.
They were conjectured to be Castor and Pollux. The first man that
spoke to them in the forum, near the fountain where they were
cooling their horses, which were all of a foam, expressed surprise
at the report of the victory, when, it is said, they smiled, and
gently touched his beard with their hands, the hair of which from
being black was, on the spot, changed to yellow. This gave credit to
what they said, and fixed the name of Ahenobarbus, or Brazen-beard, on
the man. And a thing which happened in our own time will make all
these credible. For when Antonius rebelled against Domitian, and
Rome was in consternation, expecting great wars from the quarter of
Germany, all on a sudden, and nobody knows upon what account, the
people spontaneously gave out a rumour of victory, and the news ran
current through the city, that Antonius himself was slain, his whole
army destroyed, and not so much as a part of it escaped; nay, this
belief was so strong and positive, that many of the magistrates
offered up sacrifice. But when, at length, the author was sought
for, and none was to be found, it vanished by degrees, every one
shifting it off from himself to another, and, at last, was lost in the
numberless crowd, as in a vast ocean, and, having no solid ground to
support its credit, was in a short time not so much as named in the
city. Nevertheless, when Domitian marched out with his forces to the
war, he met with messengers and letters that gave him a relation of
the victory; and the rumour, it was found, had come the very day it
was gained, though the distance between the places was more than
twenty-five hundred miles. The truth of this no man of our time is
ignorant of.
  But to proceed. Cnaeus Octavius, who was joined in command with
Aemilius, came to an anchor with his fleet under Samothrace, where,
out of respect to the gods, he permitted Perseus to enjoy the
benefit of refuge, but took care that he should not escape by sea.
Notwithstanding, Perseus secretly persuaded Oroandes of Crete,
master of a small vessel, to convey him and his treasure away. He,
however, playing the true Cretan, took in the treasure, and bade him
come, in the night, with his children and most necessary attendants,
to the port by the temple of Ceres; but, as soon as it was evening,
set sail without him. It had been sad enough for Perseus to be
forced to let down himself, his wife, and children through a narrow
window by a wall- people altogether unaccustomed to hardship and
flying; but that which drew a far sadder sigh from his heart was, when
he was told by a man, as he wandered on the shore, that he had seen
Oroandes under sail in the main sea, it being now about daybreak.
So, there being no hopes left of escaping, he fled back again to the
wall, which he and his wife recovered, though they were seen by the
Romans, before they could reach them. His children he himself had
delivered into the hands of Ion, one that had been his favourite,
but now proved his betrayer, and was the chief cause that forced him
(beasts themselves will do so when their young ones are taken) to come
and yield himself up to those that had them in their power. His
greatest confidence was in Nasica, and it was for him he called, but
he not being there, he bewailed his misfortune, and, seeing there
was no possible remedy, surrendered himself to Octavius. And here,
in particular, he made it manifest that he was possessed with a vice
more sordid than covetousness itself, namely, the fondness of life; by
which he deprived himself even of pity, the only thing that fortune
never takes away from the most wretched. He desired to be brought to
Aemilius, who arose from his seat, and, accompanied with his
friends, went to receive him, with tears in his eyes, as a great man
fallen by the anger of the gods and his own ill-fortune; when Perseus-
the most shameful of sights- threw himself at his feet, embraced his
knees, and uttered unmanly cries and petitions, such as Aemilius was
not able to bear, nor would vouchsafe to hear: but looking on him with
a sad and angry countenance he said, "Why, unhappy man, do you thus
take pains to exonerate fortune of your heaviest charge against her,
by conduct that will make it seem that you are not unjustly in
calamity, and that it is not your present condition, but your former
happiness, that was more than your deserts? And why depreciate also my
victory, and make my conquests insignificant, by proving yourself a
coward, and a foe beneath a Roman? Distressed valour challenges
great respect, even from enemies; but cowardice, though never so
successful, from the Romans has always met with scorn." Yet for all
this he took him up, gave him his hand, and delivered him into the
custody of Tubero. Meantime, he himself carried his sons, his
sons-in-law, and others of chief rank, especially of the younger sort,
back with him into his tent, where for a long time he sat down without
speaking one word, insomuch that they all wondered at him. At last, he
began to discourse of fortune and human affairs. "Is it meet," said
he, "for him that knows he is but man, in his greatest prosperity to
pride himself, and be exalted at the conquest of a city, nation, or
kingdom, and not rather well to weigh this change of fortune, in which
all warriors may see an example of their common frailty, and learn a
lesson that there is nothing durable or constant? For what time can
men select to think themselves secure, when that of victory itself
forces us more than any to dread our own fortune? and a very little
consideration on the law of things, and how all are hurried round, and
each man's station changed, will introduce sadness in the midst of the
greatest joy. Or can you, when you see before your eyes the succession
of Alexander himself, who arrived at the height of power and ruled the
greatest empire, in the short space of an hour trodden underfoot- when
you behold a king, that was but even now surrounded with so numerous
an army, receiving nourishment to support his life from the hands of
his conquerors- can you, I say, believe there is any certainty in what
we now possess whilst there is such a thing as chance? No, young
men, cast off that vain pride and empty boast of victory; sit down
with humility, looking always for what is yet to come, and the
possible future reverses which the divine displeasure may eventually
make the end of our present happiness." It is said that Aemilius,
having spoken much more to the same purpose, dismissed the young men
properly humbled, and with their vainglory and insolence thoroughly
chastened and curbed by his address.
  When this was done, he put his army into garrisons, to refresh
themselves, and went himself to visit Greece, and to spend a short
time in relaxations equally honourable and humane. For as he passed,
he eased the people's grievances, reformed their governments, and
bestowed gifts upon them; to some corn, to others oil out of the
king's storehouses, in which, they report, there were such vast
quantities laid up, that receivers and petitioners were lacking before
they could be exhausted. In Delphi he found a great square pillar of
white marble, designed for the pedestal of King Perseus's golden
statue, on which he commanded his own to be placed, alleging that it
was but just that the conquered should give place to the conquerors.
In Olympia he is said to have uttered the saying everybody has
heard, that Phidias had carved Homer's Jupiter. When the ten
commissioners arrived from Rome, he delivered up again to the
Macedonians their cities and country, granting them to live at
liberty, and according to their own laws, only paying the Romans the
tribute of a hundred talents, double which sum they had been wont to
pay to their kings. Then he celebrated all manner of shows and
games, and sacrifices to the gods, and made great entertainments and
feasts; the charge of all which he liberally defrayed out of the
king's treasury; and showed that he understood the ordering and
placing of his guests, and how every man should be received,
answerably to their rank and quality, with such nice exactness, that
the Greeks were full of wonder, finding the care of these matters of
pleasure did not escape him, and that though involved in such
important business, he could observe correctness in these trifles. Nor
was it least gratifying to him, that, amidst all the magnificent and
splendid preparations, he himself was always the most grateful
sight, and greatest pleasure to those he entertained. And he told
those that seemed to wonder at his diligence, that there was the
same spirit shown in marshalling, a banquet as an army; in rendering
the one formidable to the enemy, the other acceptable to the guests.
Nor did men less praise his liberality, and the greatness of his soul,
than his other virtues; for he would not so much as see those great
quantities of silver and gold, which were heaped together out of the
king's palaces, but delivered them to the quaestors, to be put into
the public treasury. He only permitted his own sons, who were great
lovers of learning, to take the king's books; and when he
distributed rewards due to extraordinary valour, he gave his
son-in-law, Aelius Tubero, a bowl that weighed five pounds. This is
that Tubero we have already mentioned, who was one of sixteen
relations that lived together, and were all maintained out of one
little farm; and it is said that this was the first plate that ever
entered the house of the Aelii, brought thither as an honour and
reward of virtue; before this time, neither they nor their wives
ever made use either of silver or gold.
  Having thus settled everything well, taking his leave of the Greeks,
and exhorting the Macedonians, that, mindful of the liberty they had
received from the Romans, they should endeavour to maintain it by
their obedience to the laws, and concord amongst themselves, he
departed for Epirus, having orders from the senate to give the
soldiers that followed him in the war against Perseus the pillage of
the cities of that country. That he might set upon them all at once by
surprise and unawares, he summoned ten of the principal men out of
each, whom he commanded, on such an appointed day, to bring all the
gold and silver they had either in their private houses or temples;
and, with every one of these, as if it were for this very purpose, and
under a pretence of searching for and receiving the gold, he sent a
centurion and a guard of soldiers; who, the set day being come, rose
all at once, and at the very self-same time fell upon them, and
proceeded to ransack the cities; so that in one hour a hundred and
fifty thousand persons were made slaves, and threescore and ten cities
sacked. Yet what was given to each soldier, out of so vast a
destruction and utter ruin, amounted to no more than eleven
drachmas; so that men could only shudder at the issue of a war,
where the wealth of a whole nation thus divided turned to so little
advantage and profit to each particular man.
  When Aemilius had done this- an action perfectly contrary to his
gentle and mild nature- he went down to Oricus, where he embarked
his army for Italy. He sailed up the river Tiber in the king's galley,
that had sixteen banks of oars, and was richly adorned with captured
arms and with cloths of purple and scarlet; so that, the vessel rowing
slowly against the stream, the Romans that crowded on the shore to
meet him had a foretaste of his following triumph. But the soldiers,
who had cast a covetous eye on the treasures of Perseus, when they did
not obtain as much as they thought they deserved, were secretly
enraged and angry with Aemilius for this, but openly complained that
he had been a severe and tyrannical commander over them; nor were they
ready to show their desire of his triumph. When Servius Galba, who was
Aemilius's enemy, though he commanded as tribune under him, understood
this, he had the boldness plainly to affirm that a triumph was not
to be allowed him; and sowed various calumnies amongst the soldiers,
which yet further increased their ill-will. Nay more, he desired the
tribunes of the people, because the four hours that were remaining
of the day could not suffice for the accusation, to let him put it off
till another. But when the tribunes commanded him to speak then, if he
had anything to say, he began a long oration, filled with all manner
of reproaches, in which he spent the remaining part of the time, and
the tribunes, when it was dark, dismissed the assembly. The soldiers
growing more vehement on this, thronged all to Galba, and entering
into a conspiracy, early in the morning beset the capitol, where the
tribunes had appointed the following assembly to be held.
  As soon as it was day it was put to the vote, and the first tribe
was proceeding to refuse the triumph; and the news spread amongst
the people and to the senate. The people were indeed much grieved that
Aemilius should meet with such ignominy; but this was only in words,
which had no effect. The chief of the senate exclaimed against it as a
base action, and excited one another to repress the boldness and
insolence of the soldiers, which would ere long become altogether
ungovernable and violent, were they now permitted to deprive
Aemilius of his triumph. Forcing a passage through the crowd, they
came up in great numbers, and desired the tribunes to defer polling
till they had spoken what they had to say to the people. All things
thus suspended, and silence being made, Marcus Servilius stood up, a
man of consular dignity, and who had killed twenty-three of his
enemies that had challenged him in single combat. "It is now more than
ever," said he, "clear to my mind how great a commander our Aemilius
Paulus is, when I see he was able to perform such famous and great
exploits with an army so full of sedition and baseness; nor can I
sufficiently wonder, that a people that seemed to glory in the
triumphs over Illyrians and Ligurians, should now through envy
refuse to see the Macedonian king led alive, and all the glory of
Philip and Alexander, in captivity to the Roman power. For is it not a
strange thing for you, who upon a slight rumour of victory that came
by chance into the city, did offer sacrifices and put up your requests
unto the gods that you might see the report verified, now, when the
general is returned with an undoubted conquest, to defraud the gods of
honour, and yourselves of joy, as if you feared to behold the
greatness of his warlike deed, or were resolved to spare your enemy?
And of the two, much better were it to put a stop to the triumph,
out of pity to him, than out of envy to your general; yet to such a
height of power is malice arrived amongst you, that a man without
one scar to show on his skin, that is smooth and sleek with ease and
homekeeping habits, will undertake to define the office and duties
of a general before us, who with our own wounds have been taught how
to judge of the valour or the cowardice of commanders." And, at the
same time, putting aside his garment, he showed an infinite number
of scars upon his breast, and, turning about, he exposed some parts of
his person which it is usual to conceal; and, addressing Galba,
said: "You deride me for these, in which I glory before my
fellow-citizens, for it is in their service, in which I have ridden
night and day, that I received them; but go collect the votes,
whilst I follow after, and note the base and ungrateful, and such as
choose rather to be flattered and courted than commanded by their
general." It is said this speech so stopped the soldiers' mouths,
and altered their minds, that all the tribes decreed a triumph for
Aemilius; which was performed after this manner.
  The people erected scaffolds in the forum, in the circuses, as
they call their buildings for horse-races, and in all other parts of
the city where they could best behold the show. The spectators were
clad in white garments; all the temples were open, and full of
garlands and perfumes; the ways were cleared and kept open by numerous
officers, who drove back all who crowded into or ran across the main
avenue. This triumph lasted three days. On the first, which was
scarcely long enough for the sight, were to be seen the statues,
pictures, and colossal images which were taken from the enemy, drawn
upon two hundred and fifty chariots. On the second was carried in a
great many wagons the finest and richest armour of the Macedonians,
both of brass and steel, all newly polished and glittering the
pieces of which were piled up and arranged purposely with the greatest
art, so as to seem to be tumbled in heaps carelessly and by chance:
helmets were thrown upon shields, coats of mail upon greaves; Cretan
targets, and Thracian bucklers and quivers of arrows, lay huddled
amongst horses' bits, and through these there appeared the points of
naked swords, intermixed with long Macedonian sarissas. All these arms
were fastened together with just so much looseness that they struck
against one another as they were drawn along, and made a harsh and
alarming noise, so that, even as spoils of a conquered enemy, they
could not be beheld without dread. After these wagons loaded with
armour there followed three thousand men who carried the silver that
was coined, in seven hundred and fifty vessels, each of which
weighed three talents, and was carried by four men. Others brought
silver bowls and goblets and cups, all disposed in such order as to
make the best show, and all curious as well for their size as the
solidity of their embossed work.
  On the third day, early in the morning, first came the trumpeters,
who did not sound as they were wont in a procession or solemn entry,
but such a charge as the Romans use when they encourage the soldiers
to fight. Next followed young men wearing frocks with ornamented
borders, who led to the sacrifice a hundred and twenty stalled oxen,
with their horns gilded, and their heads adorned with ribbons and
garlands; and with these were boys that carried basins for libation,
of silver and gold. After this was brought the gold coin, which was
divided into vessels that weighed three talents, like those that
contained the silver; they were in number seventy-seven. These were
followed by those that brought the consecrated bowl which Aemilius had
caused to be made, that weighed ten talents, and was set with precious
stones. Then were exposed to view the cups of Antigonus and
Seleucus, and those of the Thericlean make, and all the gold plate
that was used at Perseus's table. Next to these came Perseus's
chariot, in which his armour was placed, and on that his diadem.
And, after a little intermission, the king's children were led
captives, and with them a train of their attendants, masters, and
teachers, all shedding tears, and stretching out hands to the
spectators, and making the children themselves also beg and entreat
their compassion. There were two sons and a daughter, whose tender age
made them but little sensible of the greatness of their misery,
which very insensibility of their condition rendered it the more
deplorable; insomuch that Perseus himself was scarcely regarded as
he went along, whilst pity fixed the eyes of the Romans upon the
infants; and many of them could not forbear tears, and all beheld
the sight with a mixture of sorrow and pleasure, until the children
were passed.
  After his children and their attendants came Perseus himself, clad
all in black, and wearing the boots of his country, and looking like
one altogether stunned and deprived of reason, through the greatness
of his misfortunes. Next followed a great company of his friends and
familiars, whose countenances were disfigured with grief, and who
let the spectators see, by their tears and their continual looking
upon Perseus, that it was his fortune they so much lamented, and
that they were regardless of their own. Perseus sent to Aemilius to
entreat that he might not be led in pomp, but be left out of the
triumph; who, deriding, as was but just, his cowardice and fondness of
life, sent him this answer, that as for that, it had been before,
and was now, in his own power; giving him to understand that the
disgrace could be avoided by death; which the faint-hearted man not
having the spirit for, and made effeminate by I know not what hopes,
allowed himself to appear as a part of his own spoils. After these
were carried four hundred crowns, all made of gold, sent from the
cities by their respective deputations to Aemilius, in honour of his
victory. Then he himself came, seated on a chariot magnificently
adorned (a man well worthy to be looked at, even without these ensigns
of power), dressed in a robe of purple, interwoven with gold, and
holding a laurel branch in his right hand. All the army, in like
manner, with boughs of laurel in their hands, divided into their hands
and companies, followed the chariot of their commander; some singing
verses, according to the usual custom, mingled with raillery;
others, songs of triumph and the praise of Aemilius's deeds; who,
indeed, was admired and accounted happy by all men, and unenvied by
every one that was good; except so far as it seems the province of
some god to lessen that happiness which is too great and inordinate,
and so to mingle the affairs of human life that no one should be
entirely free and exempt from calamities; but, as we read in Homer,
that those should think themselves truly blessed whom fortune has
given an equal share of good and evil.
  Aemilius had four sons, of whom Scipio and Fabius, as is already
related, were adopted into other families; the other two, whom he
had by a second wife, and who were yet but young, he brought up in his
own house. One of these died at fourteen years of age, five days
before his father's triumph, the other at twelve, three days after; so
that there was no Roman without a deep sense of his suffering, and who
did not shudder at the cruelty of fortune, that had not scrupled to
bring so much sorrow into a house replenished with happiness,
rejoicing, and sacrifices, and to intermingle tears and laments with
songs of victory and triumph.
  Aemilius, however, reasoning justly that courage and resolution
was not merely to resist armour and spears, but all the shocks of
ill-fortune, so met and so adapted himself to these mingled and
contrasting circumstances, as to outbalance the evil with the good,
and his private concerns with those of the public; and thus did not
allow anything either to take away from the grandeur, or sully the
dignity of his victory. For as soon as he had buried the first of
his sons (as we have already said), he triumphed; and the second dying
almost as soon as his triumph was over, he gathered together an
assembly of the people, and made an oration to them, not like a man
that stood in need of comfort from others, but one that undertook to
support his fellow-citizens in their grief for the sufferings he
himself underwent.
  "I," he said, "who never yet feared anything that was human, have,
amongst such as were divine, always had a dread of Fortune as
faithless and inconstant; and, for the very reason that in this war
she had been as a favourable gale in all my affairs, I still
expected some change and reflux of things. In one day I passed the
Ionian sea, and reached Corcyra from Brundisium; thence in five more I
sacrificed at Delphi, and in other five days came to my forces in
Macedonia, where, after I had finished the usual sacrifices for the
purifying of the army, I entered on my duties, and, in space of
fifteen days, put an honourable period to the war. Still retaining a
jealousy of Fortune, even from the smooth current of my affairs, and
seeing myself secure and free from the danger of any enemy, I
chiefly dreaded the change of the goddess at sea, whilst conveying
home my victorious army, vast spoils, and a captive king. Nay, indeed,
after I was returned to you safe, and saw the city full of joy,
congratulating, and sacrifices, yet still I distrusted, well knowing
that Fortune never conferred any great benefits that were unmixed
and unattended with probabilities of reverse. Nor could my mind,
that was still as it were in labour, and always foreseeing something
to befall this city, free itself from this fear, until this great
misfortune befell me in my own family, and till, in the midst of those
days set apart for triumph, I carried two of the best sons, my only
destined successors, one after another to their funerals. Now,
therefore, I am myself safe from danger, at least as to what was my
greatest care; and I trust and am verily persuaded that for the time
to come Fortune will prove constant and harmless unto you; since she
has sufficiently wreaked her jealousy at our great success on me and
mine, and has made the conqueror as marked an example of human
instability as the captive whom he led in triumph, with this only
difference, that Perseus, though conquered, does yet enjoy his
children, while the conqueror, Aemilius, is deprived of his." This was
the generous and magnanimous oration Aemilius is said to have spoken
to the people, from a heart truly sincere and free from all artifice.
  Although he very much pitied the condition of Perseus, and studied
to befriend him in what he was able, yet he could procure no other
favour than his removal from the common prison, the Carcer, into a
more cleanly and humane place of security, where, whilst he was
guarded, it is said, he starved himself to death. Others state his
death to be of the strangest and most unusual character: that the
soldiers who were his guard, having conceived a spite and hatred
against him for some reason, and finding no other way to grieve and
afflict him, kept him from sleep, took pains to disturb him when he
was disposed to rest, and found out contrivances to keep him
continually awake, by which means at length he was utterly worn out,
and expired. Two of his children, also, died soon after him; the
third, who was named Alexander, they say proved an exquisite artist in
turning and graving small figures, and learned so perfectly to speak
and write the Roman language, that he became clerk to the magistrates,
and behaved himself in his office with great skill and conduct.
  They ascribed to Aemilius's conquest of Macedonia this most
acceptable benefit to the people, that he brought so vast a quantity
of money into the public treasury, that they never paid any taxes,
until Hirtius and Pansa were consuls, which was in the first war
between Antony and Caesar. This also was peculiar and remarkable in
Aemilius, that though he was extremely beloved and honoured by the
people, yet he always sided with the nobles; nor would he either say
or do anything to ingratiate himself with the multitude, but
constantly adhered to the nobility, in all political matters, which in
aftertimes was cast in Scipio Africanus's teeth by Appius; these two
being in their time the most considerable men in the city, and
standing in competition for the office of censor. The one had on his
side the nobles and the senate, to which party the Appii were always
attached; the other, although his own interest was great, yet made use
of the favour and love of the people. When, therefore, Appius saw
Scipio come to the market-place, surrounded with men of mean rank, and
such as were but newly made free, yet were very fit to manage a
debate, to gather together the rabble, and to carry whatsoever they
designed by importunity and noise, crying out with a loud voice:
"Groan now," said he, "O Aemilius Paulus, if you have knowledge in
your grave of what is done above, that your son aspires to be
censor, by the help of Aemilius, the common crier, and Licinius
Philonicus." Scipio always had the goodwill of the people, because
he was constantly heaping favours on them; but Aemilius, although he
still took part with the nobles, yet was as much the people's
favourite as those who most sought popularity and used every art to
obtain it. This they made manifest, when, amongst other dignities,
they thought him worthy of the office of censor, a trust accounted
most sacred and of great authority, as well in other things, as in the
strict examination into men's lives. For the censors had power to
expel a senator, and enrol whom they judged most fit in his room,
and to disgrace such young men as lived licentiously, by taking away
their horses. Besides this, they were to value and assess each man's
estate, and register the number of the people. There were numbered
by Aemilius 347,452 men. He declared Marcus Aemilius Lepidus first
senator, who had already four times held that honour, and he removed
from their office three of the senators of the least note. The same
moderation he and his fellow-censor, Marcius Philippus, used at the
muster of the knights.
  Whilst he was thus busy about many and weighty affairs he fell
sick of a disease, which at first seemed hazardous; and although after
a while it proved without danger, yet was troublesome and difficult to
be cured: so that by the advice of his physicians he sailed to
Velia, in south Italy, and there dwelt a long time near the sea, where
he enjoyed all possible quietness. The Romans, in the meanwhile,
longed for his return, and oftentimes by their expressions in the
theatres gave public testimony of their great desire and impatience to
see him. When, therefore, the time drew nigh that a solemn sacrifice
was of necessity to be offered, and he found, as he thought, his
body strong enough, he came back again to Rome, and there performed
the holy rites with the rest of the priests, the people in the
meantime crowding about him and congratulating his return. The next
day he sacrificed again to the gods for his recovery; and, having
finished the sacrifice, returned to his house and sat down to
dinner, when, all on a sudden and when no change was expected, he fell
into a fit of delirium, and, being quite deprived of his senses, the
third day after ended a life in which he had wanted no manner of thing
which is thought to conduct to happiness. Nay, his very funeral pomp
had something in it remarkable and to be admired, and his virtue was
graced with the most solemn and happy rites at his burial; consisting,
not in gold and ivory, or in the usual sumptuousness and splendour
of such preparations, but in the goodwill, honour, and love, not
only of his fellow-citizens, but of his enemies themselves. For as
many Spaniards, Ligurians, and Macedonians as happened to be present
at the solemnity, that were young and of vigorous bodies, took up
the bier and carried it; whilst the more aged followed, called
Aemilius the benefactor and preserver of their countries. For not only
at the time of his conquest had he acted to all with kindness and
clemency, but, through the whole course of his life, he continued to
do them good and look after their concerns, as if they had been his
familiars and relations. They report that the whole of his estate
scarce amounted to three hundred and seventy thousand drachmas; to
which he left his two sons co-heirs; but Scipio, who was the youngest,
being adopted into the more wealthy family of Africanus, gave it all
to his brother. Such are said to have been the life and manners of
Aemilius.


                               THE END
