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

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  Speaker 1: Chapter nine of Stories from the History of Rome by
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  Speaker 1: Emily Beasley. This LibriVox recurting is in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: How the Romans won two cities. There was a town
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  Speaker 1: called Vi, which was on the border of Tuscany, some
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  Speaker 1: miles from Rome. The people of Vi, who were called Viencians,
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  Speaker 1: had often fought against the Romans. Their town was as
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  Speaker 1: large and rich as Rome, and they boasted that their
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  Speaker 1: courage and skill in war were as great as those
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  Speaker 1: of the Romans. The quarrel between the two towns was
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  Speaker 1: so fierce that it could plainly be seen that whichever
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  Speaker 1: people was conquered would be destroyed by the other, so
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  Speaker 1: that there must either be no Romans, or else no
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  Speaker 1: Viencians left. There were many battles fought, and on the
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  Speaker 1: whole the Romans got the best of the fighting. But
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  Speaker 1: the Viencians were many and brave. They built strong and
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  Speaker 1: high walls round their city, got together plenty of food,
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  Speaker 1: in arms, and so weighted without fear for the coming
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  Speaker 1: of their enemies. The Romans heard how strongly v was defended.
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  Speaker 1: They knew how difficult it would be to take the town,
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  Speaker 1: and how many of their brave soldiers would be killed
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  Speaker 1: if they tried to do so. So they determined to
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  Speaker 1: blockade the city, that is, to encamp their army round
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  Speaker 1: the town and watch it well, so that none of
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  Speaker 1: the Venchians could get out, and so that no one
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  Speaker 1: could bring them food or help. They hoped that when
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  Speaker 1: all the food was eaten and the Viencians were tired
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  Speaker 1: of being shut up inside their walls, they would yield
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  Speaker 1: and give up their town. The Roman army marched to
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  Speaker 1: v and while the summer lasted, it was place for
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  Speaker 1: the soldiers to live in their tents in the warm,
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  Speaker 1: sunny air.
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  Speaker 2: But when the.
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  Speaker 1: Winter came and the weather grew cold and stormy, the
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  Speaker 1: Roman leaders made their men build huts and little houses
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  Speaker 1: where they might all be sheltered. Now, before this time,
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  Speaker 1: the Romans were used to make war only in the summer,
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  Speaker 1: and they were very angry at being kept away from
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  Speaker 1: their homes and wives and children for so long. They
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  Speaker 1: said that never, even in the old times, when they
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  Speaker 1: were governed by the kings, had they been obliged to
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  Speaker 1: make war in the winter. The people of Rome wished
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  Speaker 1: to order the army to come home, but Appius Claudius,
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  Speaker 1: one of the senators, made a speech to them and
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  Speaker 1: persuaded them not to do so. If you call your
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  Speaker 1: army back from Rome now, said he, the Banchians.
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  Speaker 2: Will immediately come out of their city, and we'll attack
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  Speaker 2: us and plunder our cornfields and vineyards.
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  Speaker 1: And burn our cottages and our orchards, and then our walk.
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  Speaker 1: We'll all have to be done over again next year.
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  Speaker 3: For we must conquer the Viencians, or else they will
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  Speaker 3: destroy Rome.
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  Speaker 1: In this way, he persuaded the people to let the
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  Speaker 1: army stay on at the eye. But the siege went
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  Speaker 1: on year after year, and still the Viencians would not
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  Speaker 1: yield up the town, and still the Romans would not
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  Speaker 1: go to their homes, but watched and waited. In the
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  Speaker 1: seventh year, after the siege was begun, a strange thing happened.
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  Speaker 1: There was a lake among the hills some miles from Rome,
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  Speaker 1: called the Alban Lake. Most lakes have rivers running through them,
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  Speaker 1: but the album had no stream, either flowing into it
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  Speaker 1: at one end or out it at the other. The
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  Speaker 1: water in the lake began and this year to rise higher.
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  Speaker 1: Nobody knew why, and at last it rose so high
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  Speaker 1: that it overflowed and the water ran down the hills
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  Speaker 1: across the country towards the sea. This curious thing was
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  Speaker 1: very much talked of in all the country round and
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  Speaker 1: in the Roman camp, so that at last it was
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  Speaker 1: heard of by the besieged Vienchians. For the soldiers of
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  Speaker 1: the two armies would sometimes talk together, as often happens
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  Speaker 1: in long sieges. A Roman soldier was one day talking
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  Speaker 1: to an old Vienchian, who seemed to be very much
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  Speaker 1: pleased when he heard the strange story of the Alban Lake.
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  Speaker 2: Four said he we have an old saying our prophecy
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  Speaker 2: in our town that the Romans will never take v
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  Speaker 2: I if the w of the Alban Lake gets down
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  Speaker 2: to the sea.
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  Speaker 1: The Roman was very much surprised to hear this, and
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  Speaker 1: he pretended he wanted to ask some other questions of
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  Speaker 1: the old Vienchian, who was said by his townsmen to
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  Speaker 1: be a prophet who could tell beforehand what was going
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  Speaker 1: to happen. So it was agreed that they should meet
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  Speaker 1: one another between the town and the camp, without their weapons.
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  Speaker 1: When the time came, they met as had been fixed.
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  Speaker 1: But then the strong young Roman threw his arms round
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  Speaker 1: the old man, and in spite of all his struggles,
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  Speaker 1: carried him off to the camp and took him before
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  Speaker 1: the Roman general, who sent him to Rome. There he
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  Speaker 1: was taken before the Senate, the assembly of nobles who
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  Speaker 1: governed Rome, who asked him what was the meaning of
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  Speaker 1: his strange words. It is written in some of our
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  Speaker 1: old books. At VI answered the man.
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  Speaker 3: That if the Romans make a new channel for the
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  Speaker 3: waters of the Alban Lake when they overflow, they shall
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  Speaker 3: conquer VII. But they are doing nothing.
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  Speaker 1: The Senate then determined to send messengers to the temple
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  Speaker 1: of Apollo at Delphi to ask the god what they
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  Speaker 1: must do. The messengers, when they returned, brought word that
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  Speaker 1: the water must not be allowed to flow away into
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  Speaker 1: the sea, but that the Romans must dig ditches and
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  Speaker 1: canals for it to run in till it had all
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  Speaker 1: run away in watering the land. This was done, but
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  Speaker 1: still the siege of VII went on. In the tenth
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  Speaker 1: year of the siege, the Senate determined to change the generals,
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  Speaker 1: and they made Marcus furious. Camillus dictator Camillis was well
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  Speaker 1: known to the Romans, being a brave and successful soldier,
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  Speaker 1: and the army were very glad to hear that he
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  Speaker 1: was to be their new leader. But before he joined
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  Speaker 1: the army at VI, he got together a large body
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  Speaker 1: of fresh troops and led them out to meet the
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  Speaker 1: people of Phialeri, another town near Rome, who had attacked
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  Speaker 1: the Roman lands, hoping to do so safely while the
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  Speaker 1: Romans were busy fighting the the Indians. Camillus defeated the
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  Speaker 1: Philarians in a great battle and drove them out of
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  Speaker 1: their camp, after which he led his army to VII.
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  Speaker 1: Soon after he got there, he ordered his soldiers to
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  Speaker 1: make a mine into the town. A mine is a
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  Speaker 1: passage underground which the soldiers of a besieging army dig
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  Speaker 1: so deep that it goes quite under the walls and
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  Speaker 1: comes up inside the town. Camillus made a soldiers work
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  Speaker 1: by turns, so that day and night there were always
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  Speaker 1: some of them digging at the mine, and there were
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  Speaker 1: fresh men to take their places as soon as they
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  Speaker 1: got tired, so that none of them need do too much.
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  Speaker 1: In this way, the work was carried on quickly, and
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  Speaker 1: the Viencians knew nothing about it and had no idea
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  Speaker 1: that the Romans were digging a passage under their walls.
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  Speaker 1: When the mine was ready, Camillis was part of his
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  Speaker 1: army made an attack on the outside of the city,
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  Speaker 1: and the Viencians ran to defend their walls. Meantime, the
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  Speaker 1: king and the priests were offering sacrifices to the gods
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  Speaker 1: in the Temple of Juno. Now it happened that the
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  Speaker 1: underground passage had been dug so far that the end
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  Speaker 1: of it was just under the pavement of the Temple
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  Speaker 1: of Juno, and the Romans in the passage could hear
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  Speaker 1: all that was going on in the temple, and they
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  Speaker 1: heard the priests say, the gods promise victory to whoever
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  Speaker 1: shall offer this animal to them. Upon hearing this, the
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  Speaker 1: Roman soldiers broke through the pavement, rushed up into the
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  Speaker 1: temple and offered the sacrifice to the goddess, while the Viencians,
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  Speaker 1: astonished and frightened by their shouts and the clashing of
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  Speaker 1: their armor, fled away. Some of the Romans pursued them,
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  Speaker 1: and others ran to open the gates to Camillus and
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  Speaker 1: the rest of the army. Soon the city was filled
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  Speaker 1: with the Romans, and there was fighting in every part
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  Speaker 1: of it. Camillus told his officers to forbid the soldiers
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  Speaker 1: to hurt the women and children, but he let them
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  Speaker 1: plunder the town. Then Camillus resolved that he would take
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  Speaker 1: the statue of Juno, the protector of VI, to Rome.
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  Speaker 1: He chose out a number of young men from the
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  Speaker 1: army and bade them wash themselves and dress and white garments.
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  Speaker 1: And then he went with them to the temple and
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  Speaker 1: sacrificed to the goddess oh Juno said he, we pray
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  Speaker 1: thee to accept our service and to go with us
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  Speaker 1: and live among the gods of Rome. It is said
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  Speaker 1: that the statue gently answered him that she was willing
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  Speaker 1: and ready to go. So they carried her to Rome,
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  Speaker 1: and Camillus built a stately temple for her on Mount Aventine.
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  Speaker 1: Not long after the taking of v I, the Romans
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  Speaker 1: gave Camillus the command of an army, which he was
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  Speaker 1: to lead against his old enemies, the Phalarians. He soon
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  Speaker 1: entered their country, and so much did they fear him,
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  Speaker 1: remembering how he had before defeated them, that they shut
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  Speaker 1: themselves up in their town of Phaleri, which was built
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  Speaker 1: among rocky hills and defended with strong walls. But when
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  Speaker 1: they saw the Romans marching over their lands, burning their
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  Speaker 1: villages and wasting their fields, they could bear it.
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  Speaker 3: No longer.
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  Speaker 1: They came out of the town and pitched their camp
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  Speaker 1: among the rough rocks not far from the gates. Camillus
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  Speaker 1: was glad to be able to fight them, and one
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  Speaker 1: night he marched his army to their camp, so that
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  Speaker 1: at break of day the Phialarians saw their enemies close
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  Speaker 1: upon them. The Romans attacked them fiercely, and the Phialarians
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  Speaker 1: fled out of their camp and ran as fast as
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  Speaker 1: they could to the shelter of their city, but many
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  Speaker 1: were killed and wounded before they could reach the gates.
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  Speaker 1: Camillus resolved to besiege the town, but it was well
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  Speaker 1: defended and strong, and the Philarians had collected plenty of
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  Speaker 1: corn and food and arms, so that the siege might
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  Speaker 1: have lied as long as the siege of v I
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  Speaker 1: if a strange thing had not happened. The Phalarians felt
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  Speaker 1: so sure that the Romans could not break through their
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  Speaker 1: strong walls that everything went on in the town just
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  Speaker 1: as if there had been no army encamped before it.
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  Speaker 1: The people went about their business or amusement, and the
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  Speaker 1: children went to school as usual. There was one schoolmaster
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  Speaker 1: in Phaleri who taught the sons of most of the
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  Speaker 1: nobles of the town and he used in time of
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  Speaker 1: peace to take the boys for walks and games outside
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  Speaker 1: the walls. After the siege began, he still took the
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  Speaker 1: boys as usual, just outside the gates of the town,
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  Speaker 1: and the Roman soldiers never took any notice of this.
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  Speaker 1: So the schoolmaster made a wicked plan. Every day he
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  Speaker 1: led the boys a little further and a little further
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  Speaker 1: from the town, keeping them amused with talk or play,
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  Speaker 1: so that they should not see what he meant to do.
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  Speaker 1: At last, one day he took them further than ever,
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  Speaker 1: and right among the Roman soldiers. He bade the soldiers
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  Speaker 1: take him to Camillus, and he and the children were
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  Speaker 1: led into.
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  Speaker 3: The general's tent.
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  Speaker 1: See here, General, he said, see these children. In giving
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  Speaker 1: them to you, I am giving Faleri to you, for
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  Speaker 1: these are the sons of the greatest and noblest men
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  Speaker 1: of the town, who will do whatever you please in
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  Speaker 1: order to save their sons out of your hands. Camillus
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  Speaker 1: listened to the schoolmaster till he had done speaking, and
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  Speaker 1: then he said, thou art, come, thou base fellow, with
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  Speaker 1: thy hateful present to a people and a general who
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  Speaker 1: are very different from thyself. We have never been allies
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  Speaker 1: of the Phalarians, but We do not forget that we
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  Speaker 1: are men as well as they are, and that it
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  Speaker 1: is right to be just as well as brave. We
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  Speaker 1: do not draw our swords against children, but against soldiers.
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  Speaker 1: Thou hast tried to conquer Phaleri by such a wicked
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  Speaker 1: deed as was never seen before. I will conquer by
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  Speaker 1: the help of the good swords and brave hearts of
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  Speaker 1: my Romans. Here, lictors, strip off this villain's clothes, bind
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  Speaker 1: his hands behind his back, give your rods to the boys,
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  Speaker 1: and let them flog him back to the gates of FALERII.
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  Speaker 1: In the meantime, the people of Faleri had found out
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  Speaker 1: what happened. The city was filled with cries of grief,
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  Speaker 1: and the fathers and mothers of the boys ran to
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  Speaker 1: the walls or gates, not knowing what to do and
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  Speaker 1: fearing that they had lost their dear children forever. While
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  Speaker 1: they were in this state of grief, what was their
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  Speaker 1: surprise and joy to see their boys coming over from
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  Speaker 1: the Roman camp, driving their wicked master before them. The
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  Speaker 1: Phalarians were so much moved by the generous conduct of
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  Speaker 1: Camillis that they resolved to give up their town and
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  Speaker 1: to make peace. They sent messengers to Camillus, who bade
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  Speaker 1: them go on to the Senate at Rome, to whom
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  Speaker 1: they gave this message. We men of Falera, give ourselves
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  Speaker 1: up to you, o, Senators, because we see that the
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  Speaker 1: Romans loved justice better than victory. We think that we
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  Speaker 1: shall be better governed by you than by our own laws.
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  Speaker 1: Nor shall you ever repent of your generosity, nor we
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  Speaker 1: of being under your government. Both friends and enemies thanked
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  Speaker 1: Camillus for what he had done. Peace was made, and
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  Speaker 1: the army came back to Rome. These great victories made
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  Speaker 1: Camillus very proud, and many men in Rome began to
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  Speaker 1: envy him and to think that he was growing too great.
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  Speaker 1: And after many quarrels, they persuaded the Senate to banish
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  Speaker 1: Camillus from Rome. End of Chapter nine