time diligently sought for this man, riding up to the squadrons of the enemy, at length having obtained silence, inquired where Claudius Asellus was, and asked why, since he had been accustomed to dispute about their merit in words, he would not decide the matter with the sword, and, if vanquished, give him spolia opima; or, if victorious, take them.

47. Asellus, who was in the camp, having been informed of this, waited only to ask the consul leave to depart from the ordinary course and fight an enemy who had challenged him. By his permission, he immediately put on his arms, and, riding out beyond the advanced guards, called on Taurea by name, and bid him come to the encounter when he pleased. By this time the Romans had gone out in large bodies to witness the contest, and the Campanians had crowded not only the rampart of the camp, but the walls of the city, to get a view of it. After a flourish of expressions of mutual defiance, they spurred on their horses with their spears pointed. Then, evading each other's attacks, for they had free space to move in, they protracted the battle without a wound. Upon this the Campanian observed to the Roman, “This will be only a trial of skill between our horses, and not between horsemen, unless we ride them down from the plain into this hollow way. There, as there will be no room for retiring, we shall come to close quarters." Almost quicker than the word, Claudius leaped into the hollow way. Taurea, bold in words more than in reality, said, "Never be the ass in the ditch;" an expression which, from this circumstance, became a common proverb among rustics. Claudius having rode up and down the way to a considerable distance, and again come up into the plain without meeting his antagonist, after reflecting in reproachful terms on the cowardice of the enemy, returned in triumph to the camp, amidst great rejoicing and congratulation. To the account of this equestrian contest some histories add a circumstance which is certainly astonishing; how true it is, is an open matter of opinion: that Claudius, when in pursuit of Taurea, who fled back to the city, rode in at one of the gates of the enemy, which stood open, and made his escape unhurt through

another, the enemy being thunder-struck at the strange ness of the circumstance.

48. The camps were then undisturbed; the consul even moved his camp back, that the Campanians might complete their sowing; nor did he do any injury to the lands till the blades in the corn-fields were grown sufficiently high to be useful for forage. This he conveyed into the Claudian camp above Suessula, and there erected winterquarters. He ordered Marcus Claudius, the proconsul, to retain at Nola a sufficient force for the protection of the place, and send the rest to Rome, that they might not be a burden to their allies nor an expense to the republic. Tiberius Gracchus also, having led his legions from Cuma to Luceria in Apulia, sent Marcus Valerius, the prætor, thence to Brundusium, with the troops which he had commanded at Luceria, with orders to protect the coast of the Sallentine territory, and make provisions with regard to Philip and the Macedonian war. At the close of the summer, the events of which I have described, letters arrived from Publius and Cneius Scipio, stating the magnitude and success of their operations in Spain, but that the army was in want of money, clothing, and corn, and that their crews were in want of every thing. With regard to the pay, they said, that if the treasury was low, they would adopt some plan by which they might procure it from the Spaniards; but that the other supplies must certainly be sent from Rome, for otherwise neither the army could be kept together nor the province preserved. When the letters were read, all to a man admitted that the statement was correct, and the request reasonable; but it occurred to their minds what great forces they were maintaining by land and sea, and how large a fleet must soon be equipped if a war with Macedon should break out; that Sicily and Sardinia, which before the war had yielded a revenue, were scarcely able to maintain the troops which protected those provinces; that the expenses were supplied by a tax; that both the number of the persons who contributed this tax was diminished by the great havoc made in their armies at the Trasimenus and Cannæ, and the few who survived, if they were oppressed with multiplied impositions, would perish by a calamity of a different kind.

That, therefore, if the republic could not subsist by credit, it could not stand by its own resources. It was resolved, therefore, that Fulvius, the prætor, should present himself to the public assembly of the people, point out the necessities of the state, and exhort those persons who had increased their patrimonies by farming the public revenues to furnish temporary loans for the service of that state, from which they had derived their wealth, and contract to supply what was necessary for the army in Spain, on the condition of being paid the first when there was money in the treasury. These things the prætor laid before the assembly, and fixed a day on which he would let, on contract, the furnishing the army in Spain with clothes and corn, and with such other things as were necessary for the crews.

49. When the day arrived, three companies, of nineteen persons, came forward to enter into the contract; but they made two requests: one was, that they should be exempt from military service while employed in that revenue business; the second was, that the state should bear all losses of the goods they shipped, which might arise either from the attacks of the enemy or from storms. Having obtained both their requests, they entered into the contract, and the affairs of the state were conducted by private funds. This character and love of country uniformly pervaded all ranks. As all the engagements were entered into with magnanimity, so were they fulfilled with the strictest fidelity; and the supplies were furnished in the same manner as formerly, from an abundant treasury. At the time when these supplies arrived, the town of Illiturgi was being besieged by Hasdrubal, Mago, and Hamilcar, the son of Bomilcar, on account of its having gone over to the Romans. Between these three camps of the enemy, the Scipios effected an entrance into the town of their allies, after a violent contest and great slaughter of their opponents, and introduced some corn, of which there was a scarcity; and after exhorting the townsmen to defend their walls with the same spirit which they had seen displayed by the Roman army fighting in their behalf, led on their troops to attack the largest of the camps, in which Hasdrubal had the command. To this camp the two oth

er generals of the Carthaginians, with their armies, came, seeing that the great business was to be done there. They therefore sallied from the camp and fought. Of the enemy engaged there were sixty thousand; of the Romans about sixteen; the victory, however, was so decisive, that the Romans slew more than their own number of the enemy, and captured more than three thousand, with nearly a thousand horses and fifty-nine military standards, five elephants having been slain in the battle. They made themselves masters of the three camps on that day. The siege of Illiturgi having been raised, the Carthaginian armies were led away to the siege of Intibili; the forces having been recruited out of that province, which was, above all others, fond of war, provided there was any plunder or pay to be obtained, and at that time had an abundance of young men. A second regular engagement took place, attended with the same fortune to both parties; in which above three thousand of the enemy were slain, more than two thousand captured, together with forty-two standards and nine elephants. Then, indeed, almost all the people of Spain came over to the Romans, and the achievements in Spain during that summer were much more important than those in Italy.

BOOK XXIV.

Hieronymus, king of Syracuse, whose grandfather Hiero had been a faithful ally of Rome, revolts to the Carthaginians, and for his tyranny is put to death by his subjects. Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, the proconsul, defeats the Carthaginians under Hanno at Beneventum, chiefly by the services of the slaves in his army, whom he subsequently liberated. Claudius Marcellus, the consul, besieges Syracuse. War is declared against Philip, king of Macedon; he is routed by night at Apollonia, and retreats into Macedonia. This war is intrusted to Valerius, the prætor. Operations of the Scipios against the Carthaginians in Spain. Syphax, king of the Numidians, is received into alliance by the Romans, and is defeated by Masinissa, king of the Massillians, who fought on the side of the Carthaginians. The Celtiberians joined the Romans, and their troops having been taken into pay, mercenary soldiers for the first time served in a Roman camp.

1. On his return from Campania into Bruttium, Hanno, with the assistance and under the guidance of the Bruttians, made an attempt upon the Greek cities; which were the more disposed to continue in alliance with the Romans, because they perceived that the Bruttians, whom they feared and hated, had taken part with the Carthaginians. The first place attempted was Rhegium, where several days were spent without effect. Meanwhile the Locrians hastily conveyed from the country into the city corn, wood, and other things necessary for their use, as also that no booty might be left for the enemy. The number of persons which poured out of every gate increased daily, till at length those only were left in the city whose duty it was to repair the walls and gates, and to collect weapons in the fortresses. Against this mixed multitude, composed of persons of all ages and ranks, while rambling through the country, and for the most part unarmed, Hamilcar, the Carthaginian, sent out his cavalry, who, having been forbidden to hurt any one, only interposed their squadrons, so as to cut them off from the city when dispersed in flight. The general himself, having posted himself upon an emi