Chapter II: Pompeius and the East: to the Death of Crassus (78-53

B.C.).

WAR WITH SERTORIUS.--Not many years after _Sulla's _death, his reforms were annulled. This was largely through the agency of _Cneius Pompeius_, who had supported _Sulla_, but was not a uniform or consistent adherent of the aristocratic party. He did not belong to an old family, but had so distinguished himself that Sulla gave him a triumph. Later he rose to still higher distinction by his conduct of the war against _Sertorius_ in Spain, a brave and able man of the Marian party, who was supported there for a long time by a union of Spaniards and Romans. Not until jealousy arose among his officers, and _Sertorius_ was assassinated, was the formidable rebellion put down (72).

THE GLADIATORIAL WAR.--_Pompeius_ had the opportunity still further to distinguish himself on his way back from Spain. A gladiator, _Spartacus_, started a revolt among his companions. He called about him slaves and outlaws until with an army of one hundred thousand men he defeated the Roman generals, and threatened Rome itself. For two years they ravaged Italy at their will. They were vanquished by _Marcus Crassus_ in 71, in two battles, in the last of which _Spartacus fell_. The remnant of them, a body of five thousand men, who had nearly reached the Alps, were annihilated by _Pompeius_.

POMPEIUS: CRASSUS: CICERO.--_Crassus_ was a man of great wealth and of much shrewdness. _Pompeius_ was bland and dignified in his ways, a valiant, though sometimes over-cautious, general. These two men, in 70 B.C., became consuls. They had resolved to throw themselves for support on the middle class at Rome. _Pompeius_, sustained by his colleague, secured the abrogation of some of the essential changes made by _Sulla_. The _Tribunes_ received back their powers, and the independence of the _Assembly of the Tribes_ was restored. The absolute power of the Senate over the law-courts was taken away. These measures were carried in spite of the resistance of that body. Pompeius was aided by the great advocate, _Marcus Tullius Cicero_. He was born at _Arpinum_ in 106 B.C., of an equestrian family. He had been a diligent student of law and politics, and also of the Greek philosophy, and aspired to distinction in civil life. He studied rhetoric under _Molo_, first at Rome and then at _Rhodes_, during a period of absence from Italy, which continued about two years. On his return (in 77 B.C.), he resumed legal practice. _Cicero_ was a man of extraordinary and various talents, and a patriot, sincerely attached to the republican constitution. He was humane and sensitive, and much more a man of peace than his eminent contemporaries. His foibles, the chief of which was the love of praise, were on the surface; and, if he lacked some of the robust qualities of the great Roman leaders of that day, he was likewise free from some of their sins. The captivating oratory of Cicero found a field for its exercise in the impeachment of _Verres_, whose rapacity, as Roman governor of Sicily, had fairly desolated that wealthy province. _Cicero_ showed such vigor in the prosecution that _Verres_ was driven into exile. This event weakened the senatorial oligarchy, and helped _Pompeius_ in his contest with it.

WAR WITH THE PIRATES.--In 69 B.C., _Pompeius_ retired from office; but, two years later, he assumed command in the war against the pirates. These had taken possession of creeks and valleys in Western _Cilicia_ and _Pamphylia_, and had numerous fleets. Not confining their depredations to the sea, they plundered the coasts of Italy, and stopped the grain-ships on which Rome depended for food. _Pompeius_ undertook to exterminate this piratical community. By the _Gabinian Law_, he was clothed with more power than had ever been committed to an individual. He was to have absolute command over the Mediterranean and its coasts for fifty miles inland. He used this unlimited authority for war purposes alone, and, in three months, completely accomplished the work assigned him. He captured three thousand vessels, and put to death ten thousand men. Twenty thousand captives he settled in the interior of _Cilicia_.

POMPEIUS IN THE EAST.--The success of Pompeius was the prelude to a wider extension of his power and his popularity. After the return of _Sulla_ from the East, another _Mithridatic War_ (83-81), the second in the series, had ended in the same terms of peace that had been agreed upon before (p. 157). In 74 the contest began anew against _Mithridates_, and _Tigranes_ of Armenia, his son-in-law. For a number of years _Lucullus_, the Roman commander, was successful; but finally _Mithridates_ regained what he had lost, and kept up his aggressive course. In 66 B.C., on a motion that was supported by _Cicero_, but opposed by the aristocratic party in the Senate, _Pompeius_ was made commander in the East for an indefinite term. So extensive powers had never before been committed to a Roman. He drove _Mithridates_ out of Pontus into Armenia. _Tigranes_ laid his crown at the feet of the Roman general, and was permitted to retain _Armenia_. _Mithridates_ fled beyond the Caucasus, and, in 63 B.C., committed suicide. _Pompeius_ overthrew the Syrian kingdom of the _Seleucidae_. He entered _Judaea_, captured Jerusalem from _Aristobulus_ the reigning prince, and placed his brother _Hyrcanus_ on the throne, who became tributary to Rome. _Pompeius_ with his officers entered the sanctuary of the temple, and was surprised to find there neither image nor statue. He established in the Roman territories in Asia the two provinces, _Pontus_ and _Syria_, and re-organized the province of _Cilicia_. Several kingdoms he allowed to remain under Roman protection. After this unexampled exercise of power and responsibility as the disposer of kingdoms, he slowly returned to Italy, dismissed his army at _Brundisium_, and entered the capital as a private citizen, where, in 61 B.C., he enjoyed a magnificent triumph that lasted for two days.

THE ROMAN TRIUMPH.--The most coveted reward of a victorious general was a triumph. It was granted by a vote of the Senate and according to certain rules, some of which, however, were often relaxed. The general must have held the office of dictator, consul, or praetor; at least five thousand of the enemy must have been slain in a single battle; the war must have been against public foes, etc. The general, with his army, remained without the city until the triumph had been decreed by the Senate, which also assembled without the walls to deliberate on the question. The pageant itself, in later times, was of the most splendid character. It consisted of a procession which entered the "Triumphal Gate," and passed through the _Via Sacra_, up the Capitoline Hill to the Temple of Jupiter, where sacrifices were offered. In front were the Senate, headed by the magistrates. Then came a body of trumpeters, who immediately preceded the long trains of carriages and frames which displayed the spoils of conquest, including statues, pictures, gorgeous apparel, gold and silver, and whatever else had been borne away from the conquered people. Pictures of the country traversed or conquered, and models of cities and forts, were exhibited. Behind the spoils came flute-players, and these were followed by elephants and other strange animals. Next were the arms and insignia of the hostile leaders; and after them marched the leaders themselves and their kindred, and all the captives of less rank, in fetters. The crowns and other tributes voluntarily given to the general by Roman allies next appeared, and then the central figure of the procession, the _imperator_ himself, standing in a chariot drawn by four horses, clad in a robe embroidered with gold, and a flowered tunic, in his right hand a bough of laurel and in his left a scepter, with a wreath of laurel on his brow, and a slave standing behind, and holding a crown over his head. Behind him in the procession were his family, then the mounted _equites_ and the whole body of the infantry, their spears adorned with laurels, making the air ring with their shouts and songs. Meantime the temples were open, and incense was burned to the gods; buildings were decorated with festal garlands; the population, in holiday dress, thronged the steps of the public buildings and stages erected to command a view, and in every place where a sight of the pageant could be obtained. As the procession climbed the Capitoline Hill, some of the captives of rank were taken into the adjoining _Mamertine_ prison, and barbarously put to death. In the lower chamber of that ancient dungeon, which the traveler still visits, _Jugurtha_ and many other conquered enemies perished. After the sacrifices had been offered, the _imperator_ sat down to a public feast with his friends in the temple, and was then escorted home by a crowd of citizens.

The _ovation_ was a lesser triumph. The general entered the city on foot, and the ceremonies were of a much inferior cast.

CONSPIRACY OF CATILINE.--Meanwhile at Rome, the state had been endangered by the combination of democrats and anarchists in the conspiracy of _Catiline_. The well-contrived plot of this audacious and profligate man was detected and crushed by the vigilance and energy of the consul _Cicero_, whose four speeches on the subject, two to the Senate and two to the people, are among the most celebrated of all his orations. _Catiline_ was forced to fly from Rome; and several of his prominent accomplices were put to death by the advice of _Cato_ (the younger), the leader of the Senatorial party, and by the vote of the Senate. This was done without asking for the verdict of the people, and for this reason was not warranted by the law; but it was declared to be needful for the salvation of the state. The next year _Catiline_ was killed in battle, and his force dispersed by the army of the Senate. A turn of party feeling afterwards exiled _Cicero_ for departing from the law in the execution of the conspirators.

JULIUS CAESAR.--Another person strong enough to be the rival of _Pompeius_ was now on the stage of action. This was _Caius Julius Caesar_, who proved himself to be, on the whole, the foremost man of the ancient Roman world. Caesar's talents were versatile, but in nothing was he weak or superficial. He was great as a general, a statesman, an orator, and an author. With as much power of personal command over men as _Hannibal_ had possessed, he was likewise an agreeable companion of men of letters and in general society. Every thing he did he appeared to do with ease. By his family connections he was naturally designated as the leader of the popular, Marian party. He was the nephew of _Marius_ and the son-in-law of _Cinna_. _Sulla_ had spared his life, although he had courageously refused to obey the dictator's command to put away his wife; but he had been obliged to quit Rome. At the funeral of _Julia_, the widow of _Marius_, he had been bold enough to exhibit the bust of that hero,--an act that involved risk, but pleased the multitude. He was suspected of being privy to _Catiline's_ plot, and in the Senate spoke against the execution of his confederates. In 65 he was elected _Aedile_, but his profuse expenditures in providing games plunged him heavily in debt; so that it was only by advances made to him by _Crassus_ that he was able, after being praetor, to go to _Spain_ (in 61), where, as propraetor, he first acquired military distinction. Prior to his sojourn in Spain, by his bold political conduct, in opposition to the Senate, and on the democratic side, he had made himself a favorite of the people.

THE FIRST TRIUMVIRATE.--Pompeius was distrusted and feared by the Senate; but, on seeing that he took no measures to seize on power at Rome, they proceeded to thwart his wishes, and denied the expected allotments of land to his troops. The circumstances led to the formation of the first _Triumvirate_, which was an informal alliance between _Pompeius_, _Caesar_, and _Crassus_, against the Senatorial oligarchy, and for the protection and furtherance of their own interests. _Caesar_ became consul in 59 B.C. He gave his daughter _Julia_ in marriage to _Pompeius_. Gaul, both Cisalpine, and Transalpine (_Gallia Narbonensis_), was given to _Caesar_ to govern for five years. _Cato_ was sent off to take possession of the kingdom of _Cyprus_. _Cicero_, who was midway between the two parties, was exiled on motion of the radical tribune, _Clodius_. But the independent and violent proceedings of this demagogue led _Pompeius_ to co-operate more with the Senate. _Cicero_ was recalled (57 B.C.). A jealousy, fomented by the Senate, sprang up between _Pompeius_ and _Crassus_. By _Caesar's_ efforts, a better understanding was brought about between the triumvirs, and it was agreed that his own proconsulship should be prolonged for a second term of five years. _Pompeius_ received the _Spains_, and _Crassus_, who was avaricious, was made proconsul of _Syria_, and commander of the armies in the Oriental provinces. In an expedition against the _Parthians_ in 53, he perished.

CAESAR IN GAUL.--The campaigns of _Caesar_ in Gaul covered a period of eight years. An admirable narrative of them is presented by himself in his _Commentaries_.

THE GAULS.--The Gauls were _Celts_. The Celts were spread over
the most of Gaul, over Britain and the north of Italy. In
_Gaul_, there were three general divisions of people, each
subdivided into tribes. These were the _Belgae_, the
_Galli_, and the _Aquitani_, the last of whom, however,
were not Celts, but, like the _Iberians_ in Spain, belonged to
a _pre-Celtic_ race. The _Helvetii_ and _Vindelici_
were in Switzerland. The Celts of _Gaul_ had attained to a
considerable degree of civilization. Their gods were the various
objects of nature personified. Their divinities are described by
Caesar as corresponding in their functions to the gods of
Rome. Their priests were the _Druids_, a close corporation, but
not hereditary. They not only conducted worship: they were the
lawgivers, judges, and physicians of the people. They possessed a
mysterious doctrine, which they taught to the initiated. They held a
great yearly assembly for the trial of causes. The _Bards_
stood in connection with the Druidical order. In worship, human
sacrifices were offered in large numbers, the victims being
prisoners, slaves, criminals, etc. There were temples, but thick
groves were the favorite seats of worship. _Caesar_ says that
the Gauls were strongly addicted to religious observances. In their
character they are described as brave and impetuous in an onset, but
as lacking persistency.

The Celts in _Britain_ were less civilized than their kinsfolk
across the channel. But in their customs and religious beliefs and
usages, they were similar to them. They probably came over from
Gaul.

CONQUEST OF GAUL.--The first victory of Caesar was in conflict with the Helvetii, who had invaded Gaul, and whom he drove back to their homes in the Alps. The Gallic tribes applied to him for help against the _Germans_, who had been led over the Rhine by _Ariovistus_, chief of the _Suevi_. Him _Caesar_ forced to return to the other side of the river. The Gallic tribes, fearing the power of Caesar, stirred up the _Belgae_, the most warlike of all the Gauls. These Csesar subdued, and also, with less difficulty, conquered the other nations of Gaul. _Twice_, in conflict with the Germans, he crossed the Rhine near _Bonn_ and _Andernach_ (55 and 53 B.C.). _Twice_, also (55 and 54 B.C.), he landed in _Britain_. On the second expedition he crossed the _Thames_. In 52 there was a general insurrection of the Gauls under _Vercingetorix_, a brave chieftain, to conquer whom required all of Caesar's strength and skill. The result of eight years of hard and successful warfare was the subjugation of all Gaul from the Rhine to the Pyrenees. The _Celts_ were subdued, and steps taken which resulted in their civilization. A barrier was placed in the way of the advance of the _Germans_, which availed for this end during several centuries. By his successes in Gaul, Csesar acquired a fame as a general, which partly eclipsed the glory previously gained by _Pompeius_ in the East. He became, also, the leader of veteran legions who were devoted to his interests.