Chapter IX: Book V: Page 46

CH. 1.

2. =Cimbrīs et Teutonibus=: the Cimbri and Teutones were Germanic tribes who had migrated from their homes and had come into Gaul. They defeated the Romans in several engagements. In the battle of Arausio, 105 B.C., three Roman armies were cut to pieces. Then they turned their course towards Spain and gave the Romans a respite of two years. In 102 B.C. they returned from Spain and prepared to invade Italy. Before their entrance they divided. The Cimbri and the Tigurini crossed the Rhone, intending to enter Italy by the eastern Alps. The Teutones and the Ambrones tried to come in by the Maritime Alps, intending to join their countrymen in the valley of the Po. Marius met them at Aquae Sextiae, modern Aix, 102 B.C., and the mighty host of the barbarians was annihilated. The next year the united armies of Marius and Catulus met the Cimbri near Vercellae in Cisalpine Gaul and utterly defeated them. Those who survived the battle were either killed or sold in the slave market at Rome. “The human avalanche which for thirteen years had alarmed the nations from the Danube to the Ebro, from the Seine to the Po, rested beneath the sod, or toiled under the yoke of slavery.” Mommsen, _History of Rome_, Vol. III, p. 203. Creighton, p. 63; _The Story of the Romans_, p. 155.

7. =quantus … tempore=: ‘barely was it as great in the time of Hannibal.’

8. =Marius=: Gaius Marius was born near Arpinum 157 B.C. of an obscure family. By his valor and his energy he worked his way up in the army, winning distinction in the siege of Numantia in Spain. In 119 B.C. he was elected tribune of the plebs. He now became a marked man. He acquired influence and importance by marrying into the family of the Caesars. In 109 B.C. he went to Africa as lieutenant of Metellus. In 107 B.C. he was elected consul and brought the war with Jugurtha to an end, Bk. IV, 27. After his return from Africa he was elected consul the second time in 104 B.C. and took command of the war against the Cimbri and Teutones. Again in 103, 102, and 101 B.C. he was elected to the consulship, and crushed the barbarians in the two famous battles of Aquae Sextiae and Vercellae, 102, 101 B.C., Chs. 1, 2. In 100 B.C. he was elected consul for the sixth time. The Social war again called him into active service. He defeated the Marsi in two successive engagements, Ch. 3. That he might gratify his ambition and be sent to the war with Mithradates, he procured the passage of a law removing Sulla from the command of the army and conferring it upon himself. Sulla refused to give up his command, marched upon Rome, and forced Marius to flee. After having arranged matters at Rome to his satisfaction Sulla left for the East, Ch. 4. While he was away, Marius returned to Italy, besieged Rome, and entered the city as a conqueror. “The most frightful scenes followed. The guards of Marius stabbed every one whom he did not salute, and the streets ran with the blood of the noblest of the Roman aristocracy.” Ch. 7. Without the formality of an election he became consul for the seventh time, 86 B.C. But he did not long enjoy his honor. On the eighteenth day of his consulship he died.

15. =absēns=: this was unusual. The law provided that a man must be present to stand for the consulship, and that at least ten years must elapse before he could be re-elected.

CH. 2.

18. =dīmicātum est=: this battle was fought in the Campi Raudii, near Vercellae. Before the battle, the Cimbri demanded that lands should be given them for themselves and the Teutones. ‘The Teutones,’ replied Marius, ‘have all the land they need on the other side of the Alps.’

=ā Catulī parte=: ‘on the part of Catulus.’

PAGE 47.

CH. 3.

7. =gravissimum bellum=: this is known as the Social or Italian war. It was waged by the Italian allies of the Romans. For nearly thirty years the hope of obtaining Roman citizenship had been held out to them, but no measure had been carried to better their condition. The burdens that Rome had imposed upon them had been steadily increased. Finally, in despair of securing any reforms, they appealed to arms. At first they were successful, but in the end the Romans conquered. However, they were compelled to grant nearly all the Italians had demanded. Creighton, p. 64.

12. =alius=: for _alter_.

15. =ā Rōmānīs=: ‘on the side of the Romans’; cf. _ā Catulī parte_, Ch. 2.

CH. 4.

24. =bellum cīvīle=: the First Civil war, called also the Civil war of Marius and Sulla. See Chs. 7-9. _The Story of the Romans_, pp. 160-164; Creighton, p. 66.

PAGE 48.

1. =Mithradāticum=: sc. _bellum commōtum est_.

=bellō cīvīlī=: in classical Latin probably a Genitive would have been used.

2. =cum Sulla=: Lucius Cornelius Sulla was born of a patrician family in 138 B.C. After having secured a good education, he passed his early life in the pursuit of pleasure, squandering the small fortune left him by his father. He served under Marius in Africa (Bk. IV, 8), and received the surrender of Jugurtha. During the war with the Cimbri and Teutones, he served under Marius and Catulus with distinction. When the Social war broke out he again entered the service and won fresh laurels (Ch. 3). In 88 B.C. he was elected consul and received the command of the war against Mithradates (Chs. 5-7). When he had concluded peace with Mithradates, he returned to Italy in 83 B.C., and prepared for the campaign against the leaders of the Marian party. His efforts were crowned with success. In 82 B.C. he brought the conflict to a close with the decisive battle of the Colline gate (Ch. 8). Sulla was now master of Italy. He resolved to take the most ample vengeance upon his enemies, and utterly to crush the popular party. He inaugurated a proscription, in which as many as 47,000 are said to have perished. He was chosen dictator by the senate, and made various reforms in the constitution of the state, all tending to strengthen the power of the aristocracy and to weaken that of the commons. In 79 B.C. he resigned his office and retired to his estate at Puteoli, where he died in 78 B.C. “None of his friends ever did him a kindness, and none of his enemies a wrong, without being fully repaid.”

3. =gestūrus=: the Future Participle is not used by prose writers of the classical period to denote purpose.

9. =prīmus … armātus=: a general with his army could not enter the city, except when celebrating a triumph, without losing his command.

11. =in futūrum annum=: ‘for the next year.’

=Cn. Octāviō et L. Cornēliō Cinnā=: in apposition with _cōnsulibus_.

CH. 5.

13. =Mithradātēs=: Mithradates V was king of Pontus, a state of Asia Minor. He is one of the most striking characters of Roman history. Possessed of a large and powerful frame, he was endowed also with a mind of great strength and alertness, indomitable courage, and consuming ambition. It was the desire to extend his realm that brought him into collision with the Romans. In 88 B.C. he overran Bithynia, Cappadocia, and the greater part of the Roman province of Asia. In 84 B.C. peace was concluded with Sulla. In 83 B.C. he again began war. This was brought to an end two years later (Chs. 6, 8). For the third time he began to wage war in 74 B.C. This was the last and most important war, and, owing to mismanagement on the part of the Romans, was not concluded until 63 B.C., when he was driven from his kingdom and forced to take his own life (Bk. VI, 14). Creighton, pp. 66, 71.

16. =eī=: the antecedent is _Nīcomēdēs_.

18. =faceret=: Subjunctive in Indirect Discourse representing the Future Indicative in Direct.

=quod … patērētur=: this use of _quod_ with the Subjunctive after a verb of speaking, instead of the Infinitive with subject Accusative, is late. For the usual construction, cf. Bk. III, 11.

=et ipse=: ‘he too.’

23. =Ephesum=: Ephesus at the mouth of the Caÿster in Lydia, was the chief city in Asia Minor. It was especially famous for its temple of Diana.

24. =ūnō diē occiderentur=: on that day over 80,000 Italians were put to death.

PAGE 49.

CH. 6.

1. =Aristōne=: he was a celebrated philosopher.

3. =Archelāum=: Archelaus was a distinguished general of Mithradates. At first he met with some success, but was twice defeated by Sulla in the battles of Chaeronea and Orchomenos in Boeotia.

11. =commīsit=: sc. _proelium_.

15. =iussit … agī=: lit. ‘ordered it to be treated concerning peace’ ＝ ‘ordered a truce to be made.’

CH. 7.

18. =partim=: contrasted with _aliōs_.

22. =pāx … ōrdināta est=: by the terms of the peace arranged Mithradates abandoned all his conquests in Asia Minor, confined himself to the dominion he had held before the war, paid an indemnity of 3000 talents, and surrendered 80 ships of war fully equipped.

PAGE 50.

2. =prōscrīpsērunt=: ‘outlawed.’ This was the first proscription in Roman history. It was so called from the list of the names of the persons who were outlawed. They might be killed by any one with impunity, even by slaves. Their property was confiscated to the state and was sold at public auction. Their children and grandchildren lost their votes in the Comitia and were excluded from all public offices.

6. =Norbānum et Scīpiōnem=: Lucius Norbanus and Gaius Scipio were elected consuls for the year 83 B.C.

7. =contrā Norbānum=: the battle was fought at Mt. Tifata in Campania. After the battle Norbanus shut himself up in Capua.

10. =tōtum … accēpit=: by means of Sulla’s emissaries the whole army deserted Scipio, who was forced to retire from the war.

CH. 8.

12. =Marius=: Gaius Marius the younger was elected consul with Gnaeus Papirius Carbo, though he had not yet attained the legal age for the office.

14. =dīmicāvit=: at Sacriportus, between Signia and Praeneste. Marius was driven to Praeneste, and when the town was captured was slain.

19. =portam Collīnam=: one of the gates of Rome on the Quirinal Hill. The battle raged so fiercely and the result was so long in doubt, that Sulla is said to have invoked the aid of Pythian Apollo. With this battle the resistance of the Marian party in Italy was at an end.

PAGE 51.

CH. 9.

4. =nūllī Rōmānōrum=: this was the first time that any one who had not held the office of consul was permitted to celebrate a triumph.

9. =XXIV=: sc. _mīlia_ with all these numbers, except the last.