нич this king; who, fearing the resentment of Rome, and willing to conciliate their friendship by this breach of hospitality, ordered a guard to be placed upon Hannibal, with an intent to deliver him up. 15. The poor old general, thus implacably persecuted from one country to another, and every of He, therefore desired pay cut off, determined to die. followers to bring him poison; and drinking it, he expired as he had lived, with intrepid bravery 16. A second Macedonian war was soon after proclaimed against Perseus, the son of that Philip who had been U.C. obliged to beg peace of the Romans 17. Perseus, 513. in order to secure the crown, had murdered his brother Demetrius; and upon the death of his father, pleased with the hopes of imaginary triumphs made war against Rome. | 18. During the course of this war, which continued about three years, opportunities were offered him of cutting off the Roman army; but being ignorant how to take advantage of their rashness he spent the time in empty overtures for peace. 19. At length Emil'ius gave him a decisive overthrow. He attempted to procure safety by flying into Crete; but being abandoned by all he was obliged to surrender himself, and to grace the splendid triumph of the Roman general. From this time Macedon became a Roman province 20. About this time Massinis'sa, the Numidian having made some incursions into a territory claimed by the Carthaginians they attempted to repel the invasion 21.1 This brought on a war between that monarch and them; while the Romans, who pretended to consider this conduct of theirs as an infraction of the treaty, sent to make a complaint. 22. The ambassadors who were employed upon this occasion, finding the city very rich and flourishing, from the long interval of peace which it had now enjoyed for nearly fifty years, either from motives of avarice to possess its plunder, or from fear of its growing greatness, insisted much on the necessity of a war, which was soon after proclaimed, and the consuls set out with a thorough resolution utterly to demolish Carthage 2. 1 Before he expired he justly upbraided the Romans with their degeneracy; their ancestors having honourably prevented the murder of Pyrrhus, their mortal enemy, while they had basely desired Pru'sias to destroy his guest and friend. 2 The territory thus invaded by Massinis'sa, was Tysca, a rich province, undoubtedly belonging to the Carthaginians. One of the ambas 23. The wretched Carthaginians, finding that the conquerors would not desist from making demands, while the vanquished had any thing to give attempted to soften the victors by submission but they received orders to leave the city, which was to be levelled with the ground./ 24. This severe command they received with all the distress of a despairing people; they implored for a respite from such a hard sentence; they used tears and lamentations; but finding the consuls inexorable, they departed with a gloomy resolution, prepared to suffer the utmost extremities, and t fight to the last for their seat of empire 4 25. Those vessels, therefore, of gold and silver which their luxury had taken such pride in, were converted into arms. The women parted also with their ornaments, and even cut off their hair to be converted into strings for the bowmen. As'drubal, who had been lately condemned for opp sing the Romans, was now taken from prison to head their army; and such preparations were made, that when the consuls came before the city, which they expected to find an easy conquest, they met with such resistance as quite dispirited their forces, and shook their resolution. 26. Several engagements were fought before the walls, with disadvantage to the assailants; so that the siege would have been discontinued, had not Scip'io Æmilia'nus, the adopted son of Africa'nus, who was now appointed to command it, used as much skill to save his forces after a sudors sent from Rome was the celebrated Cato, the censor, who, whatever his virtues may have been, appears to have imbibed an inveterate hatred to Carthage. For, on whatever subject he debated in the senate, he never failed to conclude in these words, "I am also of opinion that Carthage should be destroyed." The war, however, which had broken out in Spain, and the bad success of the Roman arms in that quarter, for some time delayed the fate of that devoted city; and it might, perhaps, have stood much longer, had not some seditious demagogues incited the populace to insult the Roman ambassador, and to banish those senators who voted for peace. (Appian. Plut. Liv.) To account for this apparent pusillanimity of the Carthaginians, it is necessary to observe, that they had suffered repeated defeats in their war with Massinis'sa; and that fifty thousand of their troops, after having been blocked up in their camp till from want they were obliged to submit to the most humiliating conditions, were inhumanly massacred by Gulus'sa, the son of the Numidian king. The Romans chose this distressing juncture to declare war against them. (Appian. in Punic.) 2 As one proof of their sincere desire for peace, the Carthaginians had previously delivered up to the Romans all their arms and warlike engines, of which they possessed prodigious magazines; thus leaving themselves still more defenceless than before. defeat, as to inspire them with fresh hopes of a victory. 27. But all his arts would have failed, had he not found means to seduce Phar'nes, the master of the Carthaginian horse, who came over to his side. The unhappy townsmen soon saw the enemy make nearer approaches; the wall which led to the haven was quickly demolished; soon after the forum itself was taken, which offered to the conquerors a deplorable spectacle of houses nodding to their fall, heaps of men lying dead, hundreds of the wounded struggling to emerge from the carnage around them, and deploring their own and their country's ruin. The citadel soon after surrendered at discretion. 28. All now but the temple was subdued, and that was defended by deserters from the Roman army, and those who had been most forward to undertake the war. These expected no mercy, and finding their condition desperate, set fire to the building and voluntarily perished in the flames'. This was the end of one of the most renowned cities in the world, for arts, opulence, and extent of dominion; it had rivalled Rome for above a hundred years, and at one time was thought to have the superiority 2. 29. The conquest of Carthage was soon followed by many others. The same year Corinth, one of the noblest cities of Greece, was levelled to the ground. Scipio also having laid siege to JNuman'tia, the strongest city in Spain, the wretched inhabitants, to avoid falling into the hands of the enemy, fired the city over their own heads; and all, to a man, expired in the flames. Thus Spain became a Roman province, and was governed henceforward by two annual prætors. Questions for Examination. 1. With whom were the Romans at war besides Carthage, and who assisted in it? 2. What was the success of Philip in this war? 1 Among the number of those who perished in the conflagration, was the wife of As'drubal, the Carthaginian commander, who had meanly surrendered to the Romans. After uttering the most bitter imprecations against her husband, whom she saw standing below, she stabbed her two children, and then leaped into the flames. 2 It was 24 miles in compass, and continued burning 17 days. 3 This war in Spain had been carried on by one Viria'thus, originally a shepherd, but afterwards an able general. He was treacherously murdered. 3. What was the consequence of peace with Philip? 4. Who next fell under the displeasure of the Romans? 5. What was the result? 6. Were his offers accepted? 7. Did Antiochus boldly face the Romans? 8. What were the strength and character of the Roman army, and what the result of the battle? 9. Was he able to make further resistance? 10. Was Hannibal delivered up? TT. What occasioned Hannibal to put himself in the power of Antiochus? 12. Was this kindness lasting? 13. Whither did he next betake himself? 14. Was he in safety at this court? 15. Did Hannibal escape his persecution? 16. Against whom did the Romans next direct their arms? 17. What occasioned it? 18. Was Perseus a skilful general? 19. What was the result of the war? 20. What farther happened about this time? 21. What was the consequence? 22. Was this misunderstanding peaceably accommodated? 23. By what means did the Carthaginians endeavour to avert their fate? 24. Did they obey these orders? X25. What extraordinary efforts were made for the defence of the city? 26. Were the Romans successful in their attempts ? 27. Describe the progress of the siege. 28. Was the city completely in the power of the Romans? 29. What other conquests were made by the Romans? FROM THE CHAPTER XVII. SECT. I. DESTRUCTION OF CARTHAGE TO THE END OF THE SEDITION OF THE GRACCHI.-u.c. 621. Seldom is faction's ire in haughty minds Extinguish'd but by death; it oft, like flame Suppress'd, breaks forth again, and blazes higher.-MAY. person could bear in the commonwealth; it gave a right to sit in the senate. 20. Indig'nity, s. affront, disgrace, in- 21. Major'ity, s. the greater number. 27. Insid'iously, ad. treacherously, slily. left without a rival, the tri 1. THE Romans being now umphs and the spoils of Asia induced a taste for splen did expense; and this produced 'pvarice and inverted ambi tion. 2. The two Gracchi / were the first who saw this strange corruption among the great and resolved to repress it by renewing the Licinian law, which had enacted, that no person in the state should possess above five hundred acres of land. 3. Tiberius Gracchus, the elder of the two, was, both for the advantages of his person and the qualities of his mind, very different from Scipio, of whom He was the grandson. He seemed more ambitious of power than desirous of glory; his compassion for the oppressed was equal to his animosity against the oppressors; but unhappily his passions, rather than his reason, operated even in his pursuits of virtues and these always drove him bewas the disposition of the elder Gracchus, who found the lower orders of people ready to second all his proposals. 5 The above law, though at first carried on with proper moderation,/greatly disgusted the rich who endeavoured to persuade the people that the proposer only aimed at disturbing the government, and throwing all things into confusion. 6. But Gracchus, who was a man of the greatest eloquence of his time, easily wiped off these impressions from the minds of the people already irritated by their wrongs; and at length the law was passed. yond the line of duty 4. This Nower fur 7. The death of At'talus, king of Pergamus 2, nished Gracchus with a new opportunity of gratifying the meaner part of the people at the expense of the great. 8. This king had by his last will made the Romans his heirs and it was now proposed, that the money so left should be divided among the poor, in order to furnish them with proper utensils for cultivating the lands which became theirs by the late law of partition. 9. This caused still greater disturbances than before, and the senate assembled upon the occasion, in order to concert the most proper methods of securing these riches to themselves, which they now valued above the safety of the commonwealth. 10. They had numerous dependents who were willing to give up liberty for plenty and ease. These, therefore, were commanded 1 The Gracchi were the sons of T. Sempronius Gracchus, by Corne' lia, or Sempro ́nia, daughter of Scip'io Africa'nus. Per'gamus was a celebrated empire in Asia Minor, with a capital of the same name (now Bergamo), famous for its extensive library, afterwards removed to Alexan'dria by Cleopa'tra; and for parchment (charta Pergamena) having been first invented there. (Plin. Strabo. Liv.) Rome. K |