the Senate to meet as if for business, and at a given signal a band of assassins rushed in to massacre. Then perished L. Antistius, L. Domitius, and C. Carbo, the Consul's brother. The aged Pontifex, P. Mucius Scævola, who had once been saved from the sword of Fimbria, escaped to the Temple of Vesta; but here he was overtaken and ruthlessly cut down. The bodies

of all who thus fell were dragged throngh the streets, and thrown into the Tiber; for "it had become an established custom," says Appian, "not to bury the victims of party strife."

§ 16. This butchery was hardly finished, when the van of Sylla's army appeared on the road leading from Prænesté. Damasippus fled precipitately by the road leading to Etruria, while Sylla, leaving his troops in the Campus Martius, entered the City. But he did not loiter there. Leaving a strong detachment under the command of Lucretius Ofella, an old Marian officer who had joined him, to mask Prænesté, he resolved to march straight up the Clanis and attack Carbo. He found the Consul's camp so strongly defended, that it was almost impregnable. But at this moment news reached Sylla from the South of an alarming character. The Samnites and Lucanians had hitherto held aloof from the strife, well pleased to see their Roman masters worn out by mutual conflict. They had no wish for the triumph of either party; but if one must prevail, that one must not be Sylla. A body of Samnites had joined Marius before the battle of Sacriportus. And now it was reported that a large army of the brave mountaineers, under C. Pontius of Telesia,—a name which recalled the memory of one of the gloomiest days in the Roman annals, a force of Lucanians under T. Lamponius, and a division of Campanians under Albius Gutta, were in full march towards Prænesté.

§ 17. In this emergency, Sylla chose the boldest course, and threw himself against the strong entrenchments of Carbo. From morning to evening he renewed his desperate assaults, but in vain. Nor did he dare to weaken his army further by renewing the attack the next day. It was necessary, at all hazards, to seize the passes which led from the mountains into Latium, before the Samnites gained them, and Sylla commenced a rapid march southward, while the enemy were advancing towards Prænesté. It was a race for empire between the Roman and the Samnite. It was won by Sylla. When Pontius reached the passes which led down from the mountains to Prænesté, he had the mortification to find them already occupied by the Roman General, who was soon after joined by young Crassus at the head of his Marrian recruits.

§ 18. In this position things remained for some time, Sylla

and Pontius each watching his opportunity. But in the North, the vigor of Sylla's lieutenants brought the war in that quarter to an unexpected conclusion.

Metellus had taken ship from Ancona, and landed at Ravenna, whence he advanced to Placentia, so as to intercept Carbo's communications with Cisalpine Gaul. The Consul, roused to action by this bold movement, crossed the Apennines and attacked the camp of the enemy near Placentia. He was repulsed with great loss and so large a number of his remaining force deserted, that he returned to Etruria with only 1000 men. A series of disasters followed. M. Licinius Lucullus, an officer of Metellus, cut to pieces a detachment of Marian troops. C. Verres, the Consul's Quæstor, began his infamous life by deserting to the enemy with the military chest in his possession. Albinovanus, one of the oldest of the Marian party, seeing the cause to be desperate, offered to desert; and Sylla promised to receive him if he would do something worthy of favour. To execute this suggestion he invited his brother officers to a banquet, and, at a given signal, a body of ruffians rushed in and massacred the guests. Carbo's army at Clusium still numbered 30,000 men; but, thrown into despair by these disasters, he departed by night and took ship for Africa, where for a time he succeeded in rallying the remains of the Marian party. Pompey attacked the camp at Clusium. The men, though deserted by their commander, still made a desperate defence, and it was not till two-thirds of their number had fallen that their lines were forced. Even then a considerable force marched southward in the hope of joining the Samnites.

§ 19. Pontius and Lamponius, informed of their advance, contrived to elude the vigilance of Sylla, and effected a junction with the shattered relics of Carbo's great army. Thus united, the enemy poured down the Tiburtine road to Rome, and encamped at nightfall before the Colline Gate. It was the last day of October by the Roman calendar (probably our 23rd of August), of the year 82 B.C. The adherents of Sylla in the city passed the night in an agony of fear; and the most devoted adherents of Marius might have trembled at the thought that next day Rome would in all likelihood fall into the hands of her most inveterate foes. At daybreak Pontius addressed his men. "Rome's last day," he said, "was come. The wolves that had so long preyed upon Italy would never cease from troubling till their lair was utterly destroyed." But, as the assault began, on the Prænestine road appeared a large body of horse. Pontius well knew that they were the advanced guard of Sylla's army, and he prepared for battle. It was past noon; Sylla's troops

were exhausted by a rapid march, but he ordered an immediate attack. The left wing, commanded by himself, rested upon the Agger of Servius, and was opposed to the Samnites, while Crassus, who commanded the right wing, was opposed to the relics of Carbo's army. Sylla rode a white horse, and was in the thick of the fight, the mark of every javelin. He exerted himself to the utmost, but in vain. When night closed he had been forced back against the walls, and it seemed as if nothing remained for his brave veterans but to sell their lives dearly next morning.

§ 20. But when he was awaiting the dawn of day in an agony of suspense, he was surprised by a message from Crassus to announce that on his side he had been completely successful, and had pursued the routed enemy to Antemnæ, a place just below the junction of the Anio and Tiber. His joy may be imagined. With prompt dexterity he contrived to join Crassus at Antemnæ, and at daybreak the battle was renewed. It was not till 50,000 men on both sides had fallen that victory declared for Sylla. Among the slain was found the brave Pontius, still breathing, with a look of triumph in his eye. All Roman officers taken prisoners were at once put to death. Their heads, with those of the Italian leaders, were sent to Ofella, who paraded them on spear-heads round the walls of Prænesté. Of the common sort about 8000 were taken, of whom 6000 were Samnites. Sylla at once summoned the Senate to meet in the Temple of Bellona, outside the walls, having ordered the Samnite prisoners to be taken to the Circus Flaminius, which lay hard by. As the Senate were proceeding to business, cries of death were heard, and those who were not in Sylla's confidence rose in alarm. "Be seated," said he; "what you hear need not trouble you. It is but some wretches undergoing punishment by my order." The 6000 Samnites were all massacred. § 21. The battle of Rome ended the war. Marius attempted a sally from Prænesté, but was repulsed with loss; and finding his case desperate, endeavoured to escape by a subterranean passage in company with a younger brother of the brave Pontius. Finding the passage obstructed, they agreed to kill one another. Pontius received the point of his friend's sword, and fell dead: Marius, being only wounded, caused a slave who had attended them to despatch him. Prænesté was then surrendered to the conqueror. Rome, Italy, and the World lay at his feet, and men waited with trembling expectation the announcement of his will.

26*

§ 1. Sylla's return: his rage against the memory of Marius. § 2. Proscription. § 3. Scenes in Italian cities. § 4. Sylla Perpetual Dictator. § 5. His absolute power: control of elections. § 6. Mithridatic Triumph. § 7. New Constitution. § 8. Sale of property of the Proscribed. § 9. Military colonies. 10. Changes in the Register of Citizens. § 11. Power of Tribunes reduced to nothing. § 12. All real power entrusted to Senate. § 13. Laws for tenure of Magistracies, for Judicial bodies. § 14. Tendency of Sylla's legislation. § 15. Criminal legislation. § 16. His increasing moderation: Pompey and Cæsar. § 17. Cicero's defence of Sext. Roscius. § 18. Sylla resigns dictatorship. §19. Quiet state of Rome and provinces, except Spain. § 20. Sylla retires to Puteoli. § 21. Death of Sylla. § 22. His character.

§ 1. PRESENTLY after his second entrance into the City, Sylla addressed the People in a set speech, holding out promises to the obedient, and to the disobedient threats. But for his declared enemies no hopes were left: all were doomed to death who had

taken any part publicly against him since the day on which the Consul Scipio broke off the armistice at Teanum. The memory of Marius excited in Sylla's breast passions absolutely ferocious. The trophies upon the Capitol, recording the African and Cimbrian triumphs, were destroyed; the ashes of the old General were torn from their sepulchre near the Anio, and scattered in the stream. L. Sergius Catilina, afterwards notorious, sought to win. the conqueror's favour by seizing the person of M. Marius Gratidianus, a nephew of the old hero by adoption. Catiline calculated justly. By Sylla's order the unoffending prisoner was carried to the tomb of Catulus, and there his eyes were plucked out, limb severed from limb, and death delayed with horrid ingenuity. A Senator, who fainted at the cruel sight, was slain upon the spot for showing sympathy with a Marius. Soon afterwards Ofella sent the head of the old General's son to Rome. Sylla, with grim delight, gazed on the youthful face, and said :-"Those who take the helm should first serve at the oar." Now, he said, his fortune was accomplished; and henceforth he took the name of Felix.*

§ 2. Every hour was marked by slaughters. Some who had taken no part in the war were put to death, and no one knew whether he was safe. At length a formal list of the doomed was made out and published; and this was what was properly called the Proscription. But even then the uncertainty remained. The first list of eighty names was followed by a second of one hundred and twenty; and each succeeding day produced a horrid supplement. To make the sentence sure, a price of two talents was set on the head of every proscribed person; and this sum was paid alike to the slave who slew his master or the son who murdered his own father. All who harboured the proscribed, or favoured their escape, became liable to their fate; and wives were found heartless enough to refuse shelter to their husbands. But what most gave security for vengeance was the knowledge that the property of these unhappy men was to be confiscated to reward the zealous agents of the conqueror. Those who coveted the possessions of others contrived to have their names placed on the Proscription-lists. Here again Catiline bore away the palm of iniquity. He sought to legalise a murder he had committed, by having the name of his victim placed upon the proscribed list; and that victim was his own brother. The heads of the slain were placed in the hall of Sylla's house.

§ 3. These scenes of terror were not confined to Rome. At Prænesté Sylla took his seat on the Tribunal. AH who could

* In letters to Greek communities he translated this by Epaphroditus, the favourite of Venus. Venus Victrix, the goddess of pleasure and of fortune, was the common device upon his coins.