The History of Rome, Books 27 to 36

1. Such was the state of affairs in Spain. In Italy, the consul Marcellus, after regaining Salapia, which was betrayed into his hands, took Maronea and Meles from the Samnites by force. As many as three thousand of the soldiers of Hannibal, which were left as a garrison, were here surprised and overpowered. The booty, and there was a considerable quantity of it, was given up to the troops. Also, two hundred and forty thousand pecks of wheat, with a hundred and ten thousand pecks of barley, were found here. The joy, however, thus occasioned, was by no means so great as a disaster sustained a few days afterwards, not far from the town Herdonea. Cneius Fulvius, the consul, was lying encamped there, in the hope of regaining Herdonea, which had revolted from the Romans after the defeat at Cannae, his position being neither sufficiently secure from the nature of the place, nor strengthened by guards. The natural negligence of the general was now increased by the hope that their attachment to the Carthaginians was shaken when they had heard that Hannibal, after the loss of Salapia, had retired from that neighbourhood into Bruttium. Intelligence of all these circumstances being conveyed to Hannibal by secret messengers from Herdonea, at once excited an anxious desire to retain possession of a city in alliance with him, and inspired a hope of attacking the enemy when unprepared. With a lightly equipped force he hastened to Herdonea by forced marches, so as almost to anticipate the report of his approach and in order to strike greater terror into the enemy, came up with his troops in battle-array. The Roman, equal to him in courage, but inferior in strength, hastily drawing out his troops, engaged him. The fifth legion and the left wing of the allied infantry commenced the battle with spirit. But Hannibal ordered his cavalry, on a signal given, to ride round as soon as the foot forces had their eyes and thoughts occupied with the contest before them, and one half of them to attack the camp of the enemy, the other half to fall upon their rear, while busily engaged in fighting. He himself, sarcastically alluding to the similarity of the name Fulvius, as he had defeated Cneius Fulvius, the praetor, two years ago, in the same country, expressed his confidence that the issue of the battle would be similar. Nor was this expectation vain; for after many of the Romans had fallen in the close contest, and in the engagement with the infantry, notwithstanding which they still preserved their ranks and stood their ground; the alarm occasioned by the cavalry on their rear, and the enemy shout, which was heard at the same time from their camp, first put to flight the sixth legion, which being posted in the second line, was first thrown into confusion by the Numidians; and then the fifth legion, and those who were posted in the van. Some fled precipitately, others were slain in the middle space, where also Cneius Fulvius himself, with eleven military tribunes, fell. Who can state with certainty how many thousands of the Romans and their allies were slain in this battle, when I find in some accounts that thirteen, in others that not more than seven, thousand were slain? The conquerors got possession of the camp and the spoil. Finding that Herdonea would have revolted to the Romans, and was not likely to continue faithful to him if he departed thence, he removed all its inhabitants to Metapontum and Thurium, and burnt it. He put to death the chief men who were found to have held secret conferences with Fulvius. Such of the Romans as escaped this dreadful carnage, fled half-armed, by different roads, into Samnium, to the consul Marcellus.

2. Marcellus, who was not much discouraged at this so great a disaster, sent a letter to the senate at Rome, with an account of the loss of the general and army at Herdonea; observing, however, "that he who, after the battle of Cannae, had humbled Hannibal when elated with victory, was now marching against him, and that he would cause that his present joy and exultation should not continue long." At Rome, indeed, the grief occasioned by what had occurred, and the fears entertained for the future, were excessive. The consul passing out of Samnium into Lucania, pitched his camp at Numistro, on a plain within view of Hannibal, who occupied a hill. He added also another demonstration of his confidence; for he was the first to lead out his troops to battle, nor did Hannibal decline fighting when he saw the standards carried out from the gates. However, they drew up their forces so that the right wing of the Carthaginians was extended up the hill, while the left wing of the Romans was contiguous to the town. For a long time neither side had any advantage; but the battle having continued from the third hour till night, and the first lines, which consisted, on the part of the Romans, of the first legion and the right wing of the allied infantry, on the part of Hannibal, of the Spanish soldiers, the Balearic slingers, and the elephants, which were driven into the field after the commencement of the battle, being fatigued with fighting, the first legion was relieved by the third, and the right wing of allied infantry by the left; while on the part of the enemy fresh troops took up the battle in place of those who were tired. A new and desperate conflict suddenly arose, instead of that which was so feebly maintained, their minds and bodies being unimpaired by fatigue; but night separated the combatants while the victory was undecided. The following day the Romans stood drawn up for battle from sun-rise till late in the day; but none of the enemy coming out against them, they gathered the spoils at their leisure, and collecting the bodies of their own troops into a heap, burnt them. The following night Hannibal decamped in silence, and moved on into Apulia. As soon as daylight discovered the flight of the enemy, Marcellus, leaving his wounded under the protection of a small garrison at Numistro, in command of which he placed Lucius Furius Purpureo, a military tribune, commenced a close pursuit of Hannibal, and overtook him at Venusia. Here, during several days, parties of troops sallying from the outposts, battles took place between foot and horses promiscuously, rather irregular than important, but which for the most part were favourable to the Romans. The armies were marched thence through Apulia without any engagement worth recording; for Hannibal marched by night, seeking an opportunity for ambuscade, but Marcellus never followed him except in broad daylight, and after having explored the country.

3. In the mean time, while Flaccus was detained at Capua in selling the property of the nobles, and letting out the land which had been forfeited, all of which he let for a rent to be paid in corn, lest occasions for exercising severity toward the Campanians should be wanting, a new piece of inquiry which had been ripening in secret, was brought out in evidence. He had compelled his soldiers, withdrawn from the houses, to build for themselves huts after the military manner, near the gates and walls; at once, that the houses of the city might be let and occupied together with the land, also through fear, lest the excessive luxury of the city should enervate his troops as it had those of Hannibal. Now many of these were formed of hurdles or boards, others of reeds interwoven, all being covered with straw, as if combustable materials had been employed on purpose. A hundred and seventy Campanians, headed by the Blosii who were fathers, had formed a conspiracy to set fire to all these at a late hour of the night; but information of the conspiracy having been given by one of the slaves of the Blosii, the gates were suddenly closed by the command of the proconsul, and all the soldiers had been assembled under arms, on a signal given all who were implicated in the guilt were seized, and, after rigorous examination, were condemned and executed, informers were rewarded with liberty and ten thousand asses each. The people of Nuceria and Acerra, who complained that they had no where to dwell, Acerra being partly burnt, and Nuceria demolished, Fulvius sent to Rome to the senate. Permission was given to the people of Acerra to rebuild what had been destroyed by fire. The people of Nuceria were removed to Atella, as they preferred; the people of Atella being ordered to migrate to Calatia. Among the many and important events, sometimes prosperous, sometimes adverse, which occupied men's thoughts, not even the citadel of Tarentum was forgotten. Marcus Ogulnius and Publius Aquillius went into Etruria as commissioners to buy up corn to be conveyed to Tarentum; and one thousand men out of the city troops, an equal number of Romans and allies, were sent to the same place, together with the corn, for its protection.

4. The summer was now on the close, and the time for the election of consuls drew nigh; but a letter from Marcellus, in which he stated, that it would not be for the interest of the state that he should depart a single step from Hannibal, whom he was severely pressing while retreating before him and evading an engagement, had excited anxiety, lest they must either recall the consul from the war at that time when he was most actively employed, or consuls should not be appointed for the year. The best course appeared to be to recall in preference the consul Valerius from Sicily, although he was out of Italy. A letter was sent to him by Lucius Manlius, the city praetor, by order of the senate, together with the letter of Marcus Marcellus, the consul, that he might learn from it what reason the senate had for recalling him from his province rather than his colleague. Much about this time ambassadors came to Rome from king Syphax with accounts of the successful battles which he had fought with the Carthaginians. They assured the senate that there was no people to whom the king was more hostile than the Carthaginians, and none to whom he was more friendly than the Romans. They said, that "he had before sent ambassadors into Spain, to Cneius and Publius Cornelius, the Roman generals, but that he was now desirous to solicit the friendship of the Romans, as it were, from the fountain-head itself." The senate not only returned a gracious answer to the ambassadors, but also sent as ambassadors to the king, with presents, Lucius Genucius, Publius Paetelius, and Publius Popillius. The presents they carried were a purple gown and vest, an ivory chair, and a bowl formed out of five pounds of gold. They received orders to proceed forthwith to other petty princes of Africa carrying with them as presents for them gowns bordered with purple, and golden bowls weighing three pounds each. Marcus Atilius and Manius Acilius were also sent as ambassadors to Alexandria, to king Ptolemy and queen Cleopatra, to revive and renew the treaty of friendship with them, carrying with them as presents a gown and purple tunic, with an ivory chair for the king, and an embroidered gown and a purple vest for the queen. During the summer in which these transactions took place, many prodigies were reported from the country and cities in the neighbourhood; at Tusculum it was said that a lamb was yeaned with its dug full of milk; that the roof of the temple of Jupiter was struck with lightning and almost stripped of its entire covering. Much about the same time it was reported that the ground in front of the gate at Anagnia was struck, and that it continued burning for a day and a night without any thing to feed the fire; that at Compitum in the territory of Anagnia, the birds had deserted the nests in the trees in the grove of Diana; that snakes of amazing size had leaped up, like fishes sporting, in the sea at Taracina not far from the port; at Tarquinii, that a pig was produced with a human face; that in the territory of Capena at the grove of Feronia, four statues had sweated blood profusely for a day and a night. These prodigies were expiated with victims of the greater kind, according to a decree of the pontiffs, and a supplication was fixed to be performed for one day at Rome at all the shrines, and another in the territory of Capena at the grove of Feronia.