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17 - Stories from the History of Rome by Emily Beesly · Stories from the History of Rome

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  Speaker 1: Chapter sixteen of Stories from the History of Rome by
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  Speaker 1: Emily Beasley. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: Recording by Melissa Jane Melissa Jane Audio at gmail dot com.
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  Speaker 1: How Pius fought against Rome. As years went on, the
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  Speaker 1: power of the Romans grew greater. They conquered many of
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  Speaker 1: the towns round Rome and made the people their subjects
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  Speaker 1: and allies. So year after year their armies went further
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  Speaker 1: away from Rome, and sometimes had to go quite to
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  Speaker 1: the southern part of Italy. On the sea coasts of
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  Speaker 1: southern Italy were many towns which had been built by
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  Speaker 1: Greeks who had sailed over the sea from Greece and
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  Speaker 1: made new homes for themselves in Italy. There was a
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  Speaker 1: quarrel between the people of one of these towns, which
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  Speaker 1: was called Tarentum, and the Romans. The Tarantines attacked some
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  Speaker 1: Roman ships, and the Roman Senate, hearing of this, sent
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  Speaker 1: Lucius Posthumius as ambassador to complain of the wrong that
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  Speaker 1: had been done. When he arrived at Tarentum, he was
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  Speaker 1: received with the greatest rudeness by the people. He tried
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  Speaker 1: to make a speech to them, but they laughed at
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  Speaker 1: his way of speaking Greek, and at his dress, which
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  Speaker 1: was a long white cloak or toga, edged with scarlet
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  Speaker 1: in the Roman fashion. They mocked at Posthumius and would
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  Speaker 1: not listen to him, and at last a rude fellow
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  Speaker 1: threw dirt at him. Posthumius held up his white cloak
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  Speaker 1: stained with dirt to show the people, who only laughed.
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  Speaker 1: The more laugh on Tarantines, while you can, cried the Roman.
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  Speaker 1: Soon enough, ye shall weep instead, for I tell you
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  Speaker 1: that this gown shall be one white in your blood.
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  Speaker 1: Having said this, he left Tarentum and went back to Rome.
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  Speaker 1: The senate and people were very angry that their ambassador
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  Speaker 1: should have been so insulted, and at once declared war
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  Speaker 1: against Tarentum. The Tarantines soon found that they were not
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  Speaker 1: strong enough to fight against the Romans alone, and they
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  Speaker 1: resolved to ask help from Greece. Now there lived at
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  Speaker 1: this time in a country called Epirus, which was part
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  Speaker 1: of Greece, a great and warlike king whose name was Peeris.
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  Speaker 1: He was a good general, and he wished to win
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  Speaker 1: for himself a great name in war. He had a
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  Speaker 1: splendid army, and the Greek soldiers were then thought to
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  Speaker 1: be the best in the world. They fought in heavy armor,
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  Speaker 1: armed with long spears, and standing close together shoulder to shoulder,
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  Speaker 1: while the Romans, as you know, used short swords and
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  Speaker 1: fought in looser order, that is not quite so close
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  Speaker 1: to one another. The Greeks also used elephants in war,
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  Speaker 1: and these animals had at this time never been seen
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  Speaker 1: in Italy. The Tarantines resolved that they would send and
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  Speaker 1: invite King Piers to come over and help them.
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  Speaker 2: These barbarian Romans, they said, will never be able to
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  Speaker 2: resist so brave and skillful a king, with his splendid
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  Speaker 2: troops and his terrible elephants.
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  Speaker 1: Peirus was pleased with the plan and agreed to cross
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  Speaker 1: over to Italy to help the Tarantines. He made great
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  Speaker 1: preparations for war and got together a large number of ships,
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  Speaker 1: some of which were vessels of war and some were
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  Speaker 1: transports ships, that is, for carrying his soldiers and their
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  Speaker 1: horses across the sea. News was brought to Rome that
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  Speaker 1: the king of a peeress was going to invade Italy
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  Speaker 1: with a great army. The Romans knew that they must
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  Speaker 1: do their best against such an enemy. They got together
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  Speaker 1: several large armies, and even the poorest people were obliged
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  Speaker 1: to go for soldiers, which they had never had to
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  Speaker 1: do before. Troops and money were collected from their allies,
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  Speaker 1: and everything was made ready for a great war. Meantime,
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  Speaker 1: Pearis and his army arrived in Italy after a very
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  Speaker 1: stormy voyage, in which some of his ships were wrecked.
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  Speaker 1: He went to Tarentum, and he had not been there
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  Speaker 1: long before the Tarantines began to be very sorry that
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  Speaker 1: they had ever invited him to come, for they found
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  Speaker 1: that they had got a master instead of an ally.
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  Speaker 1: Pieris governed the city as if it had belonged to him.
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  Speaker 1: He shut up their theaters and places of amusement. He
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  Speaker 1: made all the young men's soldiers, and punished them very
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  Speaker 1: severely if they did not attend properly to their drill.
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  Speaker 1: Many of them tried to leave the town, but Peerus
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  Speaker 1: shut the gates and guarded them with his Greek soldiers,
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  Speaker 1: and so kept the Tarantines at home, whether they liked
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  Speaker 1: it or not. When the Roman armies were ready, the
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  Speaker 1: consul Valerius la Venus led them against Peirus. The king
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  Speaker 1: heard that they were coming, and he wrote this letter
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  Speaker 1: to the consul i hear that you are coming against
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  Speaker 1: the Tarantines with an army. Leave your army and come
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  Speaker 1: to me with only a few men. Let me know
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  Speaker 1: what your quarrel with the Tarantines is about, and I
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  Speaker 1: will force one side to do to the other what
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  Speaker 1: is just to this letter, the Conseil sent the following answer.
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  Speaker 1: We will not make you our judge, nor do we
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  Speaker 1: fear you as an enemy. We think you are impertinent
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  Speaker 1: to meddle with the doings of other men, and to
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  Speaker 1: dead to come to Italy without our leave, and we
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  Speaker 1: have come with our armies to fight you as well
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  Speaker 1: as the Tarantines. Then lay Venus, led his army on
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  Speaker 1: and pitched his camp on the bank of the river Cirrus.
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  Speaker 1: Soon afterwards he crossed the river, and the two armies
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  Speaker 1: met in the plain on the farther side from the
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  Speaker 1: Roman camp, near a town called HERACLEA king. Pierras was
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  Speaker 1: a brave soldier as well as a skillful general, and
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  Speaker 1: he charged the Romans at the head of his troops.
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  Speaker 1: The Romans could easily see which was the king by
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  Speaker 1: his splendid armor and by the bravery with which he
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  Speaker 1: led on his soldiers and cheered them to the fight.
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  Speaker 1: They tried hard to reach Peerras, and he was in
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  Speaker 1: great danger, so that at last he gave his glittering
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  Speaker 1: arms and scarlet mantle to Megacles, one of his officers.
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  Speaker 1: He knew that if he were killed, the Romans would
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  Speaker 1: win the victory, for the Greeks would not dare to
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  Speaker 1: fight without their brave king. The battle was long and fierce.
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  Speaker 1: The Romans were eager to win the glory of killing
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  Speaker 1: King Pierus, and at last Megacles was slain. When the
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  Speaker 1: Greeks saw the horsemen in the well known armor of
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  Speaker 1: the king struck down, they thought Peerus was killed, and
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  Speaker 1: were so terrified that they began to retreat. But Peerus
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  Speaker 1: threw off his helmet and rode bareheaded through the ranks
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  Speaker 1: that all men might see him, calling to the soldiers
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  Speaker 1: at the same time in a loud voice, bidding them
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  Speaker 1: look at him and see that he was alive and
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  Speaker 1: with them. In this way, he so much cheered his
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  Speaker 1: soldiers that they attacked the Romans with redoubled fury. The
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  Speaker 1: consul la Venus, seeing that his men were disheartened, ordered
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  Speaker 1: his horse soldiers, whom he had kept out of the
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  Speaker 1: battle till now to charge, hoping that these fresh troops
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  Speaker 1: would drive the apurities before them. But Peeris had not
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  Speaker 1: yet brought his elephants into the fight, and now when
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  Speaker 1: the Roman horse charged, he commanded that the elephants should advance.
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  Speaker 1: The Romans had never seen these monstrous creatures before, and
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  Speaker 1: they and their horses were so much terrified that they
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  Speaker 1: turned and fled. By running among the rest of the
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  Speaker 1: Roman army, they put it into confusion, and in spite
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  Speaker 1: of all that le Venus could do, they were forced
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  Speaker 1: to retreat across the river and lost their camp and
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  Speaker 1: many men. A great number of the Greeks too, were killed,
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  Speaker 1: And when Peerus found how many of his soldiers had died,
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  Speaker 1: he said, if I gain another victory such as this,
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  Speaker 1: I shall have to go home without a man left me.
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  Speaker 1: He went the next day to look at the field
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  Speaker 1: of battle, and when he saw the Romans lying dead,
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  Speaker 1: with their faces turned to the enemy, which showed that
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  Speaker 1: they had died fighting and had not been killed in
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  Speaker 1: running away, he cried out, Oh, how easy it would
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  Speaker 1: be for me to conquer the world if I had
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  Speaker 1: the Romans for my soldiers. He admired the courage of
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  Speaker 1: the Romans so much that he tried to persuade those
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  Speaker 1: who were taken prisoners to join his army, and though
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  Speaker 1: none of them would fight against Rome, he treated them
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  Speaker 1: with great kindness. After this victory, Peerus marched up to
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  Speaker 1: the north and at last got to a town only
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  Speaker 1: twenty miles from Rome. Here he heard le Venus had
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  Speaker 1: got another army together and was following him from the
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  Speaker 1: south of Italy, while the other consul who had been
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  Speaker 1: fighting the Etruscans had now made peace with them and
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  Speaker 1: was marching to attack Peirus from the north. So the
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  Speaker 1: king gave up the hope of getting to Rome and
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  Speaker 1: went back again to the south of Italy. The Roman
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  Speaker 1: senate now sent ambassadors to Peirus to persuade him to
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  Speaker 1: take ransom for the Romans who had been taken prisoners.
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  Speaker 1: Among these ambassadors was Caius Fabricius, a very noble Roman
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  Speaker 1: who was well known as a brave soldier and a
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  Speaker 1: good man. When the ambassadors came to the king, Pirus
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  Speaker 1: said to them, I like not what you proposed to me.
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  Speaker 1: You would have me give you up my prisoners, and
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  Speaker 1: if I do so, you will use them to fight
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  Speaker 1: against me again, and you offer me money in exchange. Now,
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  Speaker 1: not so poor as to want money from the Romans.
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  Speaker 1: I would rather be friends with them and give them money.
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  Speaker 1: Make peace with me, and you shall have my prisoners
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  Speaker 1: back without ransom, and I will give you rich presents. Besides,
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  Speaker 1: Then the king said he wished to talk alone with Fabricius,
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  Speaker 1: and when they were by themselves, he spoke to him, thus,
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  Speaker 1: I wish to have all the Romans for my friends,
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  Speaker 1: but you, Fabricius, more than any of the others. For
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  Speaker 1: I have heard how noble and brave you are. I hear, however,
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  Speaker 1: that you are very poor. This must not be, and
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  Speaker 1: I will give you so much gold that you shall
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  Speaker 1: be richer than any other Roman. For I think it
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  Speaker 1: is fitting for a prince to enrich great men who
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  Speaker 1: are poor, and who love all honor more than money.
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  Speaker 1: I only ask in return that you should persuade the
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  Speaker 1: Roman senate to make peace with me, and when this
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  Speaker 1: is done, if you will go home with me to
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  Speaker 1: a peeress, I will make you my dearest friend and
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  Speaker 1: the greatest man next to myself in Greece. Then Fabricius
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  Speaker 1: answered the king. If I am said to be skillful
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  Speaker 1: in war or in other things, I need say no
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  Speaker 1: more about it or about my being poor. As you
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  Speaker 1: have heard these things from other men. It is true
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  Speaker 1: that I have only a small cottage and a piece
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  Speaker 1: of land where I live by working with my own hands.
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  Speaker 1: Yet if you think that because I am poor, I
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  Speaker 1: am worse off than any other Roman, you are greatly mistaken.
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  Speaker 1: I am a leader of my people in war. I
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  Speaker 1: am chosen by them to rule them or to go
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  Speaker 1: as their ambassador. What does it matter to me that
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  Speaker 1: I am poor while I do my duty to my country.
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  Speaker 1: In such ways as these, when I compare myself with
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  Speaker 1: rich men, I think myself happy. My peace of land
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  Speaker 1: gives me all that I want. My hard work makes
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  Speaker 1: me sleep well and care little what sort of food
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  Speaker 1: I eat. If my clothes are warm, I do not
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  Speaker 1: want them to be fine. So poor as I am,
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  Speaker 1: I think myself richer than you. For though you were
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  Speaker 1: master of a peeress, you could not be satisfied without
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  Speaker 1: taking Italy too. I have been consul and have led
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  Speaker 1: the Roman armies against the Lucanians and other peoples. I
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  Speaker 1: took their rich towns and one great spoils from them,
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  Speaker 1: and after paying the soldiers and all the costs of
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  Speaker 1: the war, I put the rest of the money into
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  Speaker 1: the public treasury, since I would not make myself rich
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  Speaker 1: when I might have done so rightly and honorably. Do
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  Speaker 1: you think I will now take bribes and presents from
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  Speaker 1: a foreign enemy. Pierus went on to make Fabricius still
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  Speaker 1: larger offers, but the Roman only answered, if you think
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  Speaker 1: me an honest man, why do you try to bribe me?
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  Speaker 1: If you think me dishonest, why do you want to
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  Speaker 1: gain me? So Fabricius went away, but two days afterwards
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  Speaker 1: Bierus sent for him again. While they were talking, Peerus
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  Speaker 1: gave a signal. A curtain was drawn back, and Fabricius
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  Speaker 1: saw a great elephant, which had been put behind behind
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  Speaker 1: it by the king's order. The elephant lifted its trunk
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  Speaker 1: up over the Roman's head and roared fiercely, but Fabricius
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  Speaker 1: only turned to Pearis and said, with a smile, hum,
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  Speaker 1: your gold could not buy me yesterday, and your elephant
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  Speaker 1: cannot frighten me today. Peirus was much pleased with the
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  Speaker 1: courage of Fabricius, and he allowed the Romans whom he
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  Speaker 1: had taken prisoners to go back to Rome to pay
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  Speaker 1: visits to their families. For the king trusted to the
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  Speaker 1: word of Fabricius, who promised that all these prisoners would
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  Speaker 1: come back to him when they had seen their friends
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  Speaker 1: in Rome. And so honest and truthful were the Romans
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  Speaker 1: in those times, that every man of them came back
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  Speaker 1: on the day that had been fixed. Still, the Senate
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  Speaker 1: would make no peace with Peirus while he stayed in Italy.
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  Speaker 1: And the next year another great battle was fought at
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  Speaker 1: a place called Asculum, in which the Romans were again beaten,
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  Speaker 1: but they fought so fiercely that Pierus said, when the
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  Speaker 1: battle was over, if I have to conquer the Romans
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  Speaker 1: again in such a battle as this, I shall be
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  Speaker 1: quite undone. There was no more fighting that year, but
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  Speaker 1: next year Fabricius was chosen consul, and he and his
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  Speaker 1: fellow consul, Quintus Emilius, took the command of the Roman army. Pierus,
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  Speaker 1: hearing this, led out his army against them and encamped
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  Speaker 1: not far from the place where the consuls had pitched
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  Speaker 1: their camp. One day, a Greek slave belonging to Pierus
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  Speaker 1: came to Fabricius and asked to see him alone. I
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  Speaker 1: come to make you an offer, he said, if the
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  Speaker 1: Romans senate will pay me well. I will give poison
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  Speaker 1: to King Pierus and his wine cup, and so he
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  Speaker 1: shall die and trouble Rome no more. Fabricius was shocked
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  Speaker 1: at the wickedness of the slave, and he wrote a
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  Speaker 1: letter to Pierus telling him of the plot you seem,
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  Speaker 1: wrote Fabricius, to judge very ill both of your friends
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  Speaker 1: and enemies, for you make war on good and true men,
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  Speaker 1: and trust traders and villains. We send you word of
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  Speaker 1: this plot, lest your death should bring disgrace on us,
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  Speaker 1: lest it should be thought that we wanted to end
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  Speaker 1: the war by letting you be killed, if we could
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  Speaker 1: not end it by our valor. When Peerus read this letter,
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  Speaker 1: he cried out, no oubul Fabricius. It would be easier
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  Speaker 1: to turn the sun out of his course than to
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  Speaker 1: make Fabricius do a wrong thing. After these things, Pierus
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  Speaker 1: left Italy and made war in Sicily, where he stayed
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  Speaker 1: for three years. He then came back to Italy, meaning
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  Speaker 1: to try once more to conquer Rome. Manlius curious Dentatus,
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  Speaker 1: was chosen consul. When the news reached Rome that Peerus
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  Speaker 1: was marching again to attack them, he at once began
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  Speaker 1: to collect an army, but the people were afraid to
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  Speaker 1: go as soldiers when they heard that the terrible king
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  Speaker 1: of Epeius was coming against them. Once more, Curious saw
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  Speaker 1: their fear, and when the first man refused to answer
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  Speaker 1: to his name, the consul ordered that he should be
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  Speaker 1: sold for a slave. Full said he Rome does not
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  Speaker 1: want a son who is not obedient. His commands were obeyed,
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  Speaker 1: and the people were now eager to join the army,
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  Speaker 1: fearing lest he should treat them in the same way.
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  Speaker 1: So the legions were soon filled up, and the consul
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  Speaker 1: marched to meet the enemy. Curious placed his army on
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  Speaker 1: some hills near the town of Beneventum, and Pirus marched
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  Speaker 1: into the plain at the foot of the hills and
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  Speaker 1: the night. When morning came, the Romans were surprised to
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  Speaker 1: see the Greeks so near. Curious At once led his
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  Speaker 1: soldiers out of their camp and charged the foremost of
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  Speaker 1: the Greeks, put them to flight, and took several of
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  Speaker 1: their elephants. Delighted with the success, he led the Romans
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  Speaker 1: down into the plain and attacked the main body of
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  Speaker 1: the king's army. The army of Pius was very different
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  Speaker 1: now from what it had been when he first came
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  Speaker 1: to Italy. Most of his brave appear soldiers who had
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  Speaker 1: fought with him in many battles, both in Greece and Italy,
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  Speaker 1: had been killed, and instead of them he had filled
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  Speaker 1: his reign with new men. The Romans fought bravely, and
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  Speaker 1: after a while the Greeks began to give way. Pierus
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  Speaker 1: saw this and brought up his elephants, but the Romans
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  Speaker 1: no longer feared them. They had found out that these
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  Speaker 1: animals are afraid of fire, and they had got ready
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  Speaker 1: bundles of his sticks dipped in pitch, which they lighted
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  Speaker 1: and threw on to the backs of the elephants, or
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  Speaker 1: into the little towers in which the people sat, who
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  Speaker 1: rode on the creatures. The elephants, being frightened by the
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  Speaker 1: burning sticks and hurt by the wounds the Romans gave
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  Speaker 1: them with their swords and spears, turned round and ran
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  Speaker 1: among the Greeks, trampling down and killing a great many
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  Speaker 1: of them, and putting the rest into great confusion. So
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  Speaker 1: ended the battle. Great numbers of the Greeks were killed,
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  Speaker 1: many were taken prisoners, and the rest with Pierus himself
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  Speaker 1: fled to Tarentum. The king at once left Italy and
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  Speaker 1: sailed away to Greece, where he was killed. Not long afterwards,
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  Speaker 1: the senate ordered that curious should enter the city in triumph.
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  Speaker 1: And never had there been so glorious a sight in
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  Speaker 1: Rome as was seen that day. The houses were gaily
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  Speaker 1: decked with wreaths of flowers and green boughs. Every window
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  Speaker 1: was filled with eager faces, and the streets were thronged
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  Speaker 1: with joyful crowds, all watching to see the great procession
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  Speaker 1: pass by. We may fancy how glad were the hearts
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  Speaker 1: of the Roman people when they thought that the terrible
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  Speaker 1: Greeks were conquered, and how grateful they felt to the
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  Speaker 1: brave soldiers who had borne hardship and danger and risked
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  Speaker 1: death for the sake of Rome. First in the procession
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  Speaker 1: walked the senators, who had gone to the gates of
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  Speaker 1: the city to meet the victors. Then, guarded by Roman soldiers,
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  Speaker 1: came the spoils taken from the enemy, piled on high
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  Speaker 1: wagons or carried by men, beautiful pictures and statues, splendid
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  Speaker 1: robes and stuffs of bright colors, armor adorned with gold
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  Speaker 1: and jewels, all sorts of beautiful things which were used
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  Speaker 1: and made by the skillful Greeks, but such as had
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  Speaker 1: never been seen before by the rougher, simpler people of
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  Speaker 1: Rome were there. There too, were seen, for the first
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  Speaker 1: time in Rome, those strange and terrible elephants of which
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  Speaker 1: they had heard so much in the war. What surprise
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  Speaker 1: must the people have felt at the great creatures, their
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  Speaker 1: vast size, their strange snake like trunks, the castles on
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  Speaker 1: their back, in which several soldiers could sit, and the
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  Speaker 1: gentleness which made it possible to lead them through the
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  Speaker 1: crowded streets. Then came the long line of prisoners, some
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  Speaker 1: of them soldiers from the towns of southern Italy, such
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  Speaker 1: as had often, no doubt, been seen in Rome before.
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  Speaker 1: But besides these there were the Greeks of Puris, his
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  Speaker 1: foot soldiers, the finest in the world, and his gallant
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  Speaker 1: horse soldiers, whose looks and dress and arms were all
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  Speaker 1: strange to the eyes of the people of Rome. When
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  Speaker 1: these had passed, the general's lictors marched by one after another,
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  Speaker 1: their facies or bundles of rods and axes wreathed with
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: laurel boughs. Then came the triumphal car drawn by four
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  Speaker 1: beautiful horses, in which was curious himself. He wore a
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  Speaker 1: splendid mantle or toga, embroidered with gold, and was crowned
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  Speaker 1: with a laurel wreath. And in his right hand he
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  Speaker 1: carried a laurel bough. Behind him rode his chief officers,
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  Speaker 1: and the rest of the army followed with laurel garlands
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  Speaker 1: twisted it round their spears, singing and shouting the praises
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  Speaker 1: of their leader. The procession moved slowly through the crowded
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  Speaker 1: streets and up to the capitol, where Curius laid his
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  Speaker 1: laurel wreath at the feet of the statue of Jove
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  Speaker 1: and thanked the God for the victory that he had
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  Speaker 1: given to Rome. The end end of Stories from the
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  Speaker 1: History of Rome by Emily Beasley