Chapter V: New Rivals of the Greeks

THE GREEK COLONIES AND THE CARTHAGINIANS. The Greek colonies were
sometimes in danger of being attacked by the native tribes whose lands
they had seized or by the wilder tribes that dwelt further from the
coast. In Sicily their most dangerous neighbors were the Carthaginians
at the western end of the island. The chief town of these people was
Carthage, situated opposite Sicily in northern Africa in what is now
Tunis. The Carthaginians were emigrants from Tyre and other cities of
Phoenicia on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, and because of
their many ships held control of a large part of the western
Mediterranean. They had colonies even in Spain, where in very early
times Phoenician traders had gone to obtain gold and silver.

THE GREEKS AND THE ROMANS. In Italy the most dangerous neighbors of
the Greek colonists were the Romans, who lived half-way up the western
side of the peninsula along the river Tiber. The history of the Romans,
like the history of the Greeks, is full of interesting and wonderful
tales. Some of them are legends, such as every people likes to tell
about its early history. They relate how the city was founded by two
brothers, Romulus and Remus; how Horatius defended the bridge across the
Tiber against the hosts of the exiled Tarquin king; how the farmer
Cincinnatus, having been made leader or dictator, in sixteen days drove
off the neighboring tribes which were attacking the Romans and then went
back to his plough.

THE GAULS BURN ROME, 390 B.C. The Romans told stories of their
defeats as well as of their victories. One of these tells how hosts of
Gauls, a people of the same race as the forefathers of the French,
streamed southward from the valley of the Po. The Romans were alarmed by
such tall men, with fierce eyes, and fair, flowing hair, whose swords
crashed through the frail Roman helmets. They sent a large army to stop
the invaders, but in the battle, which was fought only twelve miles from
Rome, this army was destroyed.

The few defenders that were left withdrew to the Capitoline, the
steepest of the hills over which the city had spread. Some of the older
senators and several priests scorned to seek a refuge from the fury of
the barbarians, and took their seats quietly in ivory chairs in the
market place or Forum at the foot of the Capitoline hill. The Gauls at
first gazed in wonder at the strange sight of the motionless figures.
When one of them attempted to stroke the white beard of a senator, the
senator struck him with his staff; then the Gauls fell upon senators and
priests and slew them.

The sides of the Capitoline hill were so steep that for a long time the
Gauls were baffled in their attempts to seize it. At last they
discovered a path, and one dark night were on the point of scaling the
height when some geese, sacred to the goddess Juno, cackled and flapped
their wings until the garrison was aroused and the Gauls hurled headlong
down the precipice. The garrison was saved, but the city was burned.
This happened in Rome just one hundred years after the battle of
Marathon in Greece.

THE CAUDINE FORKS. Another adventure did not have so happy an
ending. The Romans were at war with the Samnites, a tribe living on the
slopes of the Apennines, who were continually attacking the Greek cities
on the coast. The war was caused by the attempt of the Romans to protect
one of the Greek cities. The Roman generals, with a large army, in
making their way into the Samnite country attempted to march through a
narrow gorge which broadened out into a plain and then was closed again
at the farther end by another gorge. When they reached this second gorge
they found the road blocked by fallen trees and heaps of stones. They
also saw Samnites on the heights above them. In alarm they hastened to
retrace their steps, only to find the other entrance closed in the same
way. After vain attempts to force a passage or to scale the surrounding
heights they were obliged to surrender.

The Samnites compelled the Roman army, both generals and soldiers, each
clad in a single garment, to pass "under the yoke" made of two spears
set upright with one laid across, while they stood by and jeered. If any
Roman looked angry or sullen at his disgrace, they struck or even killed
him. This was called the disaster of the Caudine Forks, from the pass
where the Romans were caught.

THE ROMANS AND THE GREEK CITIES. Not many years after this the
Romans quarreled with the Greek cities of southern Italy. The Greeks of
Tarentum, situated where Taranto is now, called to their aid Pyrrhus,
who ruled a part of Alexander's old kingdom. Pyrrhus was a skilful
general, and he had with him, besides his foot-soldiers and horsemen,
many trained elephants. A charge of these elephants was too much for the
Romans, who were already hard pressed by the long spears of the soldiers
of Pyrrhus. But the Romans were ready for another battle, and in this
they fought so stubbornly and killed so many of the Greek soldiers that
Pyrrhus cried out, "Another victory like this and we are ruined." In a
third battle, which took place 275 B.C., he was defeated, and returned
to Greece, leaving the Romans masters of the Greek cities in Italy.

THE ROMANS CONQUERORS OF ITALY. By this time there were few tribes
south of the river Po which did not own the Romans as their masters. All
Italy was united under their rule. This was the first step in the
conquest of the world that lay about the Mediterranean Sea and in the
extension of that ancient world to the shores of the Atlantic and to
England. Before we read the story of the other conquests we must inquire
who the Roman people were and how they lived.

HOW THE ROMANS LIVED. In early times most of the Romans were
farmers or cattle raisers. A man's wealth was reckoned according to the
number of cattle he owned. Their manner of living was simple and frugal.
Like the Greek, the Roman had his games. He enjoyed chariot-races, but
used slaves or freedmen as drivers. He also went to the theater,
although he thought it unworthy of a Roman to be an actor. Such an
occupation was for foreigners or slaves.

ROMAN BOYS AT SCHOOL. The boys at school did not learn poems, as
did the Greek boys, but studied the first set of laws made by the
Romans, called the Twelve Tables. This they read, copied, and learned by
heart. Their interest in laws was the first sign that they were to
become the world's greatest lawmakers.

ROMAN WOMEN. In their respect for women the Romans were superior to
the Greeks. The Roman mother did not remain in the women's apartments of
the house, as she was expected to do at Athens, but was her husband's
companion, received his guests, directed her household, and went in and
out as she chose.

PATRICIANS AND PLEBEIANS. The men of the families which first ruled
Rome were called patricians or nobles, while the rest were plebeians or
common people. There were also many slaves, but they had no rights. At
first only the patricians knew exactly what the laws were, because the
laws were not written in a book. When disputes arose between patricians
and plebeians about property, the plebeians believed the patricians
changed the laws in order to gain an advantage over their poorer
neighbors.

The story is told that twice the plebeians withdrew from the city and
refused to return until their wrongs were removed. Then they compelled
the nobles to draw up the laws in a roll called the Twelve Tables. At
this time messengers were sent to Athens to examine the laws of the
Greeks. The richer plebeians were also gradually admitted to all the
offices of the Roman republic, and so became nobles themselves.

GOVERNMENT AT ROME. The Romans had once been ruled by kings, but
now their chief officers were consuls. Two consuls were chosen each year
because the Romans feared that a single consul might make himself a
king, or, at least, gain too much power. The real rulers of Rome,
however, were the senators, the men who had held the prominent offices.
There were assemblies of the people, but these generally did what the
senators or other officers told them to do.

Among the interesting officers of Rome was the censor, who drew up a
list or census of the citizens and of their property. Another officer
was the tribune, chosen in the beginning by the plebeians to protect
them against the patricians. The tribune was not at first a member of
the senate, but he was given a seat outside the door, and if a law was
proposed that would injure the plebeians, he cried out, "Veto," which
means "I forbid," and the law had to be dropped. This is the origin of
our word "veto."

HOW THE ROMANS TREATED THE ITALIANS. The Romans were wise in their
dealings with the cities or tribes which they conquered. They not only
sent out colonies of their fellow-citizens to occupy a part of the lands
they had seized, but they also gave the conquered peoples a share in
their government, and in some cases allowed them to act as citizens of
Rome. These new Roman citizens helped the older Romans in their wars
with other tribes. In this way Roman towns gradually spread over Italy.

QUESTIONS

1. What was the name of the dangerous neighbors of the Greeks in
Sicily? Find Carthage on the map. Where did the
Carthaginians come from originally? Find Phoenicia on the map.

2. Who were the dangerous neighbors of the Greeks in Italy? Find the
Tiber and Rome on the map.

3. Tell the story of the capture of Rome by the Gauls. How long was
this after the battle of Marathon? How long after the death of
Socrates? How long before Alexander became king of Macedon?

4. Find the land of the Samnites on the map. Tell the story
of the Caudine Forks.

5. What Greek king did the people of Tarentum call to Italy to help
them against the Romans? What did he say after his second battle
with the Romans?

6. After the defeat of Pyrrhus how much of Italy owned the Romans as
masters? How did the Romans treat the Italians?

7. Explain how the early Roman ways of living differed from the ways
of the Greeks.

8. How differently did the Romans and the Greeks govern themselves?

EXERCISES

1. Read the story of Horatius in Macaulay's "Lays of Ancient Rome."

2. Collect pictures of Rome and Italy.

3. Is there a modern city of Carthage? What country rules over
Tunis? Are there now any Phoenicians?

4. Read the description of Tyre in the Bible, Ezekiel xxvii. 3-25,
and tell what is said there about the riches of the Tyrians. Find
out who destroyed Tyre.