Chapter IV: Book XXVII (4)

44. At Rome the alarm and consternation were not less than they had been two years before, when the Carthaginian camp was pitched over against the Roman walls and gates; nor could people make up their minds whether they should commend, or censure, this so bold march of the consul. It was evident that the light in which it would be viewed would depend upon its success; than which nothing can be more unfair. They said, "that the camp was left near to the enemy, Hannibal, without a general, and with an army from which all the flower and vigour had been withdrawn; and that the consul had pretended an expedition into Lucania, when he was in reality going to Picenum and Gaul, leaving his camp secured only by the ignorance of the enemy, who were not aware that the general and part of his army were away. What would be the consequence if that should be discovered, and Hannibal should think proper either to pursue Nero with his whole army, who had gone off with only six thousand armed men, or to assault the camp, which was left as a prey for him, without strength, without command, without auspices?" The disasters already experienced in the war, the deaths of two consuls the preceding year, augmented their fears. Besides, all these events had occurred "when there was only one general and one army of the enemy in Italy; whereas now they had two Punic wars, two immense armies, and in a manner two Hannibals in Italy, inasmuch as Hasdrubal was descended from the same father, Hamilcar, was a general equally enterprising, having been trained in a Roman war during so many years in Spain, and rendered famous by a double victory, having annihilated two armies with two most renowned generals. For he could glory even more than Hannibal himself, on account of the celerity with which he had effected his passage out of Spain, and his success in stirring up the Gallic nations to arms, inasmuch as he had collected an army in those very regions in which Hannibal lost the major part of his soldiers by famine and cold, the most miserable modes of death." Those who were experienced in the events which had occurred in Spain, added, that "he would not have to engage with Caius Nero, the general, as an unknown person, whom, when accidentally caught in a difficult defile, he had eluded and baffled like a little child, by drawing up fallacious terms of peace." Under the dictation of fear, which always puts the worst construction upon things, they magnified all the advantages which the enemy possessed, and undervalued their own.

45. When Nero had got such a distance from the enemy that his plan might be disclosed without danger, he briefly addressed his soldiers, observing, that "there never was a measure adopted by any general which was in appearance more daring than this, but in reality more safe. That he was leading them on to certain victory. For as his colleague had not set out to prosecute the war which he conducted, until forces both of horse and foot had been assigned to him by the senate to his own satisfaction, and those greater and better equipped than if he had been going against Hannibal himself, that they would, by joining him, however small the quantity of force which they might add, completely turn the scale. That when it was only heard in the field of battle (and he would take care that it should not be heard before) that another consul and another army had arrived, it would insure the victory. That rumour decided war; and that the most inconsiderable incidents had power to excite hope and fear in the mind. That they would themselves reap almost the entire glory which would be obtained if they succeeded, for it was invariably the case that the last addition which is made is supposed to have effected the whole. That they themselves saw with what multitudes, what admiration, and what good wishes of men their march was attended." And, by Hercules, they marched amid vows, prayers, and commendations, all the roads being lined with ranks of men and women, who had flocked there from all parts of the country. They called them the safeguards of the state, the protectors of the city and empire of Rome. They said that the safety and liberty of themselves and their children were treasured up in their arms and right hands. They prayed to all the gods and goddesses to grant them a prosperous march, a successful battle, and a speedy victory over their enemies; and that they might be bound to pay the vows which they had undertaken in their behalf; so that as now they attended them off with anxiety, go after a few days' interval they might joyfully go out to meet them exulting in victory. Then they severally and earnestly invited them to accept, offered them, and wearied them with entreaties, to take from them in preference to another, whatever might be requisite for themselves or their cattle. They generously gave them every thing in abundance, while the soldiers vied with each other in moderation, taking care not to accept any thing beyond what was necessary for use. They did not make any delay nor quit their ranks when taking food; they continued the march day and night, scarcely giving as much to rest as was necessary to the requirements of the body. Messengers were also despatched in advance to his colleague, to inform him of his approach, and to ask whether he wished that he should come secretly or openly, by day or night, whether they should lodge in the same or different camps. It appeared most advisable that they should come into the camp secretly by night.

46. A private signal was sent through the camp by the consul Livius, that each tribune should receive a tribune, each centurion a centurion, each horseman a horseman, each foot-soldier a foot-soldier; for it was not expedient that the camp should be enlarged, lest the enemy should discover the arrival of the other consul, while the crowding together of several persons, who would have their tents in a confined place, would be attended with less inconvenience, because the army of Claudius had brought with them on their expedition scarcely any thing except their arms. Claudius, on the very march, had augmented his numbers by volunteers; for not only veteran soldiers, who had completed their period of service, but young men also offered themselves without solicitation; and, as they vied with each other in giving in their names, he had enlisted those whose personal appearance and bodily strength seemed fit for military service. The camp of the other consul was near Sena, and Hasdrubal's position was about five hundred paces from it. Nero, therefore, when he was now drawing near, halted under cover of the mountains, in order that he might not enter the camp before night. Having entered when all was still, they were severally conducted into their tents by the men of their own description, where they were hospitably entertained with the utmost joy on the part of all. The next day a council was held, at which Lucius Porcius Licinus, the praetor, was present. He had his camp joined to that of the consuls, and before their arrival, by leading his army along the heights, sometimes occupying narrow defiles that he might intercept his passage, at other times harassing his troops while marching by attacking their flank or rear, he had baffled the enemy by all the arts of war. This man was, on the present occasion, one of the council. Many inclined to the opinion that an engagement should be deferred till Nero had recruited his soldiers, who were weary with marching and watching, and had employed a few days in acquiring a knowledge of his enemy. Nero urged, not only by persuasion, but with the most earnest entreaties, "that they would not render rash by delay that measure of his which despatch had made safe. That Hannibal, who lay in a state of torpid inactivity in consequence of a delusion which would not continue long, had neither attacked his camp, left as it was without a leader, nor had directed his course in pursuit of him. That the army of Hasdrubal might be annihilated, and he might retire into Apulia before he stirred a step. The man who by delay gave time to the enemy both betrayed the camp to Hannibal, and opened a way to him into Gaul, so that he might effect a junction with Hasdrubal at his leisure, and when he pleased. That they ought to give the signal for battle instantly, and march out into the field, and take advantage of the delusion of their enemies present and absent, while neither those were aware that they had fewer, nor these that they had more and stronger forces to encounter." On the breaking up of the council the signal for battle was displayed, and the troops immediately led into the field.

47. The Carthaginians were already standing before their camp in battle-array. This circumstance delayed the battle: Hasdrubal, who had advanced before the line with a few horsemen, remarked some old shields among the enemy, which he had not seen before, and some horses leaner than the rest their numbers also appeared greater than usual. Suspecting therefore, what was really the case, he hastily sounded a retreat, and sent a party to the river from which they got their water, where some of them might be intercepted, and notice taken whether there were perchance any there whose complexions were more than ordinarily sun-burnt, as from a recent march. At the same time he ordered a party to ride round the camp at a distance, and note whether the rampart was extended in any part, and also observe whether the signal sounded once or twice. Having received a report of all these particulars, the fact of the camp's not being enlarged led him into error. There were now two camps, as there were before the other consul arrived, one belonging to Marcus Livius, the other to Lucius Porcius, and to neither of them had any addition been made to give more room for the tents. But the veteran general, who was accustomed to a Roman enemy, was much struck by their reporting that the signal sounded once in the praetor's camp, and twice in the consul's; there must therefore be two consuls, and felt the most painful anxiety as to the manner in which the other had got away from Hannibal. Least of all could he suspect, what was really the case, that he had got away from Hannibal by deceiving him to such an extent, as that he knew not where the general was, and where the army whose camp stood opposite to his own. Surely, he concluded, deterred by a defeat of no ordinary kind, he has not dared to pursue him; and he began to entertain the most serious fears that he had himself come too late with assistance, now that affairs were desperate, and lest the same good fortune attended the Roman arms in Italy which they had experienced in Spain. Sometimes he imagined that his letter could not have reached him, and that, it having been intercepted, the consul had hastened to overpower him. Thus anxious and perplexed, having put out the fires, he issued a signal at the first watch to collect the baggage in silence, and gave orders to march. In the hurry and confusion occasioned by a march by night, their guides were not watched with sufficient care and attention. One of them stopped in a place of concealment which he had beforehand fixed upon in his mind, the other swam across the river Metaurus, at a ford with which he was acquainted. The troops, thus deserted by their guides, at first wandered up and down through the fields; and some of them, overpowered with sleep, and fatigued with, watching, stretched themselves on the ground here and there, leaving their standards thinly attended. Hasdrubal gave orders to march along the bank of the river until the light should discover the road; but, pursuing a circuitous and uncertain course along the turnings and windings of that tortuous river, with the intention of crossing it as soon as the first light should discover a place convenient for the purpose he made but little progress; but wasting the day in a fruitless attempt to discover a ford, for the further he went from the sea the higher he found the banks which kept the river in its course, he gave the enemy time to overtake him.

48. First Nero arrived with the whole body of his cavalry, then Porcius came up with him, with the light infantry. And while these were harassing his weary troops on every side, and charging them, and the Carthaginian, stopping his march, which resembled a flight, was desirous of encamping on an eminence, on the bank of the river, Livius came up with all his foot forces, not after the manner of troops on march, but armed and marshalled for immediate action. When they had united all their forces, and the line was drawn out, Claudius took the direction of the battle in the right wing, Livius in the left; the management of the centre was given to the praetor. Hasdrubal, when he saw that an engagement was inevitable, giving over the fortification of a camp, placed his elephants in the front line, before the standards; on either side these he placed in the left wing the Gauls to oppose Claudius, not so much from any confidence he reposed in them, as because he believed them to be dreaded by the enemy; the right wing he took to himself against M. Livius, together with the Spaniards, in whom, as being veteran troops, he placed his greatest hopes. Behind the elephants, in the centre, the Ligurians were posted; but his line was rather long than deep. The Gauls were covered by a hill, which extended in front. That part of the line which was occupied by the Spaniards, engaged the left wing of the Romans, the whole of whose right wing, extending beyond the line of battle, was unengaged. The hill before them prevented their making an attack either in front or flank. Between Livius and Hasdrubal a furious contest arose, and the slaughter on both sides was dreadful. Here were both generals, here the major part of the Roman horse and infantry, here the Spaniards, veteran troops, and experienced in the Roman manner of fighting, and the Ligurians, a nation inured to war. The elephants were also driven to the same place which, on the first onset, disordered the van, and had made even dislodged the standards; but afterwards, the contest growing hotter, and the shout increasing, they became less submissive to their riders, and ranged to and fro between the two lines, as if not knowing to which side they belonged, like ships floating about without rudders. Claudius, when he had striven in vain to advance up the hill, repeatedly calling out to his soldiers, "To what purpose then have we performed so long a march with such expedition?" when he found it impossible to make his way to the enemy in that quarter, withdrawing several cohorts from the right wing, where he saw they would occupy an inactive station, rather than join in the fight, led them round the rear of the line, and, to the surprise not only of the enemy but his own party, charged their right flank; and such was their rapidity, that after showing themselves on their flank, they almost immediately made an attack on their rear. Thus on all sides, in front, flank, and rear, the Spaniards and Ligurians were cut to pieces; and now the carnage had even reached the Gauls. Here the least opposition was found; for a great number of them had quitted their standards, having slunk off during the night, and laid themselves down to sleep up and down the fields, while even those who were present, being tired with marching and watching, for their bodies are most intolerant of fatigue, could scarcely carry their arms upon their shoulders. And now it was mid-day, and thirst and heat gave them over to the enemy to be killed or captured in multitudes.

49. More elephants were killed by their guides than by the enemy. They used to have with them a workman's knife, with a mallet. When these beasts began to grow furious, and attack their own party, the rider, placing this knife between the ears, just on the joint by which the neck is connected with the head, used to drive it in, striking it with all the force he could. This was found to be the most expeditious mode of putting these bulky animals to death, when they had destroyed all hope of governing them. This method was first practised by Hasdrubal, a general whose conduct both frequently on other occasions, and especially in this battle, deserved to be recorded. By encouraging the men when fighting, and sharing equally in every danger, he kept up the battle. Sometimes by entreating, at other times by rebuking, the troops, when tired and indisposed to fight from weariness and over-exertion, he rekindled their spirits. He called back the flying, and restored the battle in many places when it had been given up. At length, when fortune decidedly declared for the Romans, lest he should survive so great an army which had been collected under the influence of his name, he put spurs to his horse and rushed upon a Roman cohort, where he fell fighting, as was worthy of the son of Hamilcar and the brother of Hannibal. At no time during that war were so many of the enemy slain in one battle; so that a defeat equal to that sustained at Cannae, whether in respect of the loss of the general or the troops, was considered to have been retorted upon him. Fifty-six thousand of the enemy were slain, five thousand four hundred captured. The other booty was great, both of every other kind, and also of gold and silver. In addition to the rest, there were recovered above four thousand Roman citizens, who had been taken by the enemy, which formed some consolation for the soldiers lost in that battle. For the victory was by no means bloodless. Much about eight thousand of the Romans and the allies were slain; and so completely were even the victors satiated with blood and slaughter, that the next day, when Livius the consul received intelligence that the Cisalpine Gauls and Ligurians, who had either not been present at the battle or had made their escape from the carnage, were marching off in one body without a certain leader, without standards, without any discipline or subordination; that if one squadron of horse were sent against them they might be all destroyed, he replied, "Let some survive to bear the news of the enemy's losses and of our valour."

50. Nero set out on the night following the battle, and marching at a more rapid rate than when he came, arrived at his camp before the enemy on the sixth day. As he was not preceded by a messenger, fewer people attended him on the march; but the joy felt was so great, that they were almost insane with delight. Neither state of feeling at Rome can be well described or told, whether that in which the citizens were when in doubtful expectation of the issue, or when they received the intelligence of victory. Every day, from the time that news arrived that the consul Claudius had set out, from sun-rise to sun-set, none of the senators ever quitted the senate-house, or did the people depart from the forum. The matrons, as they had themselves no means of affording assistance, had recourse to prayers and entreaties, and going about to all the temples, wearied the gods with vows and supplications. While the city was in this state of solicitude and suspense, a vague report first arrived that two Narnian horsemen had come from the field of battle into the camp which stood as a defence in the entrance to Umbria, with intelligence that the enemy were cut to pieces. At first they rather heard than credited this news, as being too great and too joyful for the mind to take in, or obtain a firm belief. Even the very rapidity with which it had arrived formed an obstacle to its reception; for it was stated that the battle took place two days before. After this a letter was brought which had been sent by Lucius Manlius Acidinus, from his camp, on the subject of the arrival of the Narnian horsemen. This letter being conveyed through the forum to the tribunal of the praetor, drew the senators out of the senate-house; and with such eagerness and hurry did the people crowd to the doors of the senate-house, that the messenger could not approach, but was dragged off by persons who asked him questions, and demanded vociferously that the letter should be read on the rostrum before it was read in the senate. At length they were put back and restrained by the magistrates; and thus the joy was gradually dispensed to their overpowered spirits. The letter was read first in the senate, and then in the assembly of the people. The effect was various, according to the difference in the cast of men's minds, some thinking that there were already sure grounds for rejoicing, while others would place no confidence in the news, till they listened to ambassadors, or a letter from the consuls.

51. After this, news came that the ambassadors themselves were on the point of arriving. Then, indeed, people of all ages ran to meet them, each man being eager to be the first to receive an assurance of such joyful tidings, by the evidence of his eyes and ears. One continued train extended as far as the Mulvian bridge. The ambassadors, Lucius Veturius Philo, Publius Licinius Varus, and Quintus Caecilius Metellus, made their way into the forum, surrounded by a crowd of persons of every description; when some asked the ambassadors themselves, others their attendants, what had been done; and, as soon as each had heard that the army and general of the enemy had been cut off, that the Roman legions were safe, and the consuls unhurt, he immediately imparted the joyful intelligence to others, imparting to them the joy he felt himself. Having with difficulty made their way into the senate-house, and the crowd with still more difficulty being removed, that they might not mix with the fathers, the letter was read in the senate; after which the ambassadors were brought into the general assembly. Lucius Veturius Philo, after reading the letter himself, gave a more explicit account of all that had occurred, amidst great approbation, and at last of general shouting from the assembly, while their minds could scarcely contain their joy. They then ran off in various directions, some to the different temples of the gods, to return thanks, others to their homes, to impart the joyful intelligence to their wives and children. The senate decreed a supplication for three days, because Marcus Livius and Caius Claudius, the consuls, had cut off the general and legions of the enemy, their own army being safe. This supplication Caius Hostilius, the praetor, proclaimed in the assembly, and was celebrated both by men and women. During the whole three days all the temples were uniformly crowded, whilst the matrons, dressed in their richest robes, and accompanied by their children, just as though the war had been brought to a conclusion, and free from every apprehension, offered thanksgivings to the immortal gods. This victory produced an alteration also in the condition of the state, so that immediately from this event, just as though it had been a time of peace, men were not afraid to do business with each other, buying, selling, lending, and paying borrowed money. Caius Claudius, the consul, on his return to his camp, ordered the head of Hasdrubal, which he had carefully kept and brought with him, to be thrown before the advanced guards of the enemy, and the African prisoners to be shown to them bound just as they were. Two of these also he unbound, and bid them go to Hannibal and tell him what had occurred. Hannibal, smitten by such severe distress, at once public and domestic, is said to have declared that he recognised the destiny of Carthage; and decamping thence with the intention of drawing together into Bruttium, the remotest corner of Italy, all his auxiliaries which he could not protect when widely scattered, removed into Bruttium the whole state of the Metapontines, summoned away from their former habitations, and also such of the Lucanians as were under his authority.