Trivia

[Clearchus of Sparta]

PAX ROMANA AT SEA: The Naval Factor in the Roman-Jewish War

When Vespasian was given the task of bringing rebellious Judaea to heel in 66 AD, he had to rely upon naval logistics for the simple reason that land communications between his staging area in Antioch (now Syria) and the other main forward supply base at Alexandria, Egypt were tortuous and tenuous and long stretches were under the control of hostile forces.

The carrying capacity of a single representative supply ship is 60 tons. In order to drag this quantity overland it would take 140 wagons or 500 mules, not to mention their drivers. Moreover it would have tied down thousands of troops devoted solely to maintaining and protecting the wagon trains. One authority has estimated that the financial burden of land transport was 40 to 50 times that of provisioning by sea. This doesn’t take into account the relative slowness of hauling the goods through circuitous, rough trails – and there were plenty of these to traverse outside the vaunted Roman road network.

In any event, Vespasian had to provide for an invasion army usually reckoned at 60,000 – for the initial task force alone. One month’s supply of grain for such an army would have weighed some 1580 metric tons, which would have required only 26 ships with the conservative carrying estimate of 60 tons each. As far as the speed is concerned, the distance from Seleucia – the port for Antioch – and Caesarea, the chief offloading facility for the final siege of Jerusalem – is 350 km. The other source of grain supply, Alexandria is reckoned at 600 km from that port. Even under unfavorable weather conditions, it is estimated that the sea voyages would have taken respectively one and two weeks. In order to get the grain and other food provisions from the Syrian and Egyptian agricultural areas to the ports of embarkation, there was further reliance on ships. In Syria, the Orontes River, and in Egypt, the Nile, allowed the use of river transport. Cargo capacity of the river craft is slightly over half that given for the typical Roman merchant vessel. It is not unreasonable to conclude that lacking the availability of ships, Vespasian’s (and later his son Titus’) forces could not have been supplied adequately for at least six months and up to a year later than they were by sea, allowing the Judaeans that much more time to organize their defenses.

In preparation for the siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD, Titus ordered his troops to concentrate at Caesarea, whereas the seacoast cities of Joppa and Jamnia were closer to Jerusalem. While the Roman sailors could and did make effective use of offloading cargo directly onto beaches, the harbor at Ceasearea had the considerable advantages of excellent dockyard facilities plus warehouses and silos to store crops as well as a trained cadre of merchants, longshoremen and shipping clerks all steadfastly loyal to Rome.

To be sure, sending supplies by sea was risky and the ships of the day were quite helpless in the event of a storm. Witness the many tales of ships foundering (St. Paul, Flavius Josephus, among others) in the teeth of storms against which today’s offshore fishing yachts could tough it out.

In connection with the coastal village of Joppa, mentioned above, we find another nautical aspect of the Judaean rebellion that affected Roman strategy. It is notable that Vespasian turned his attention to Joppa (modern Jaffa, just north of the present-day Tel Aviv) at a time when his attention was still focused farther north and inland. Joppa, however, lies directly on the route which seaborne grain shipments had to proceed from Alexandria to Caesarea. The city was host to a nest of Jewish pirates (an odd coupling indeed) that had been harassing the coast-wise Roman supply vessels. These pirates were not just a war-time contingency, as Strabo’s much earlier account attests to their presence several generations before the outbreak of the revolt. Piracy was endemic throughout the Roman Empire, entailing periodic maritime policing campaigns (this is how Pompey the Great rose to prominence) and the Jewish contingent just a local manifestation. The Jewish buccaneers were forced further out to sea by the Roman attack on the landward flank and an offshore storm forced the coastal craft back towards the shore, most smashing against the rocky jetties and cliffs.

The potential to interdict Rome-bound grain convoys is one of the reasons that Vespasian had to first solidify support among the legions throughout the Near Eastern region in order to exercise leverage over events in the Imperial capital during the succession struggle following Nero’s demise. Recall that Vespasian had to overcome legions loyal to Vitellius, stationed in Gaul and Germany. Once he controlled the Levantine coast, Vespasian could have choked off the grain ships. Under such circumstances, none of the other claimants to the purple could long have maintained order.

Finally, there is one further naval episode in this war that merits mention, since special naval commemorative coins were struck in Rome to immortalize the event. While mopping up rebel holdouts in Galilee in late summer, 67 AD, the assault on Tarichaea – near Tiberias – eventuated a naval battle on the Sea of Galilee when the rebels attempted to evacuate some of the Jewish forces on fishing boats. Titus had special rafts built for the occasion. The resulting battle on the Sea of Galilee was a fierce, close-quarters action in which the Jews attempted by spear and archery volleys to prevent the Romans from grappling and boarding, the latter’s preferred naval tactic. The Jews lost the battle but only after inflicting some substantial casualties on the Romans.

[Solaris]

Great thread Clearchus! I love these little historical anecdotes, may I enquire as to where you're getting them from? Or are you writing them yourself?

[Clearchus of Sparta]

Thank you Solaris

Comments much appreciated.

[Clearchus of Sparta]

Noricum

In the latter part of the 2nd Century BCE, the Taurisci tribe would call upon Rome for help against the migrating Germanic tribes, the Cimbri and the Teutones. Within the general proximity of Noricum, Consul Papirius Carbo led the Roman army to a crushing defeat at the hands of these Germanic tribes in 113 BCE. The victorious tribes continued to move west through Gaul and avoided Italia for another 10 years, but in 103 BCE, after other considerable victories their return to the region posed a serious threat to Rome. Roman superiority would be established, however, when Gaius Marius defeated the Teutones at Aquae Sextiae and Q. Lutatius Catulus defeated the Cimbri at Vercellae in 102 and 101 BCE respectively.

From that point on Noricum formed a peaceful border state of Rome and the mining industry and metalworking boomed. In 48 BCE during the Civil War between Caesar and Pompey, the Noricans threw in the full weight of this considerable industry to Caesar's cause. The Norican King Voccio, who was an elected King, also supplied Caesar with an impressive auxiliary calvary unit. Caesar's ultimate victory would help cement the friendship between Noricum and Rome throughout the rest of the Empire's history.

[Clearchus of Sparta]

Dead Sea Scrolls

The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in eleven caves along the northwest shore of the Dead Sea between the years 1947 and 1956. The area is 13 miles east of Jerusalem and is 1300 feet below sea level. The mostly fragmented text’s, are numbered according to the cave that they came out of. They have been called the greatest manuscript discovery of modern times.

Only Caves 1 and 11 have produced relatively intact manuscripts. Discovered in 1952, Cave 4 produced the largest find. About 15,000 fragments from more than 500 manuscripts were found.

In all, scholars have identified the remains of about 825 to 870 separate scrolls.

The Scrolls can be divided into two categories—biblical and non-biblical. Fragments of every book of the Hebrew canon (Old Testament) have been discovered except for the book of Esther

There are now identified among the scrolls, 19 copies of the Book of Isaiah, 25 copies of Deuteronomy and 30 copies of the Psalms

Prophecies by Ezekiel, Jeremiah and Daniel not found in the Bible are written in the Scrolls.

The Isaiah Scroll, found relatively intact, is 1000 years older than any previously known copy of Isaiah. In fact, the scrolls are the oldest group of Old Testament manuscripts ever found.

In the Scrolls are found never before seen psalms attributed to King David and Joshua

The Scrolls are for the most part, written in Hebrew, but there are many written in Aramaic. Aramaic was the common language of the Jews of Palestine for the last two centuries B.C. and of the first two centuries A.D. The discovery of the Scrolls has greatly enhanced our knowledge of these two languages. In addition, there are a few texts written in Greek

The Scrolls appear to be the library of a Jewish sect. The library was hidden away in caves around the outbreak of the First Jewish Revolt (A.D. 66-70) as the Roman army advanced against the rebel Jews.

One of the most curious scrolls is the Copper Scroll. Discovered in Cave 3, this scroll records a list of 64 underground hiding places throughout the land of Israel. The deposits are to contain certain amounts of gold, silver, aromatics, and manuscripts. These are believed to be treasures from the Temple at Jerusalem that were hidden away for safekeeping.

The Temple Scroll, found in Cave 11, is the longest scroll. Its present total length is 26.7 feet (8.148 meters). The overall length of the scroll must have been over 28 feet (8.75m).

The scrolls contain previously unknown stories about biblical figures such as Enoch, Abraham, and Noah. The story of Abraham includes an explanation why God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac.

[Clearchus of Sparta]

A Little Seleucid History

The chaos after Alexander
The death of Alexander the Great (323 BCE) saw the Macedonian army in a great confusion. The centralised Persian Empire was easy to govern once it was conquered, and the Macedonian military hegemony was by and large unthreatened, but the king had died without appointing a successor. Even a powerful heir would have found it hard to maintain Alexander's unifying authority, but as things were the kingship was divided between his feeble half-brother Philip III and his posthumous son Alexander IV. None of them were more than puppets in the hands of the Macedonian generals, the Diadochs, who soon sliced up the empire between them.

Their wars started soon after Ptolemy I seceded from the empire in the province of Egypt, but the complicated details of the fighting could not be accounted for here. Suffice to say that Persia proper was divided between various Macedonian satraps, who tried as best as they could to gain local support but relied mostly on their Greek mercenaries. In the outskirts of the empire, Persian satraps managed to claim independence during the wars; small kingdoms were established in Cappadocia and in the so-called Media Atropatene (today's Azerbaijan).

The satrap of Babylonia, the focal point between east and west, was called Seleucus and was a formidable administrator who soon formed a solid network of local supporters. After several wars with the leading Diadoch Antigonos the One-eyed, Seleucus crowned himself king in Babylonia in the year 306 BCE. A few years after, all the satrapies to the east of Babylonia had yielded to him. In 301 BCE, Antigonos was defeated by a coalition of other generals, and Seleucus became master of Syria as well, and in 281 BCE he took Asia Minor and the wars of the Diadochs ended. At the age of eighty Seleukos was murdered by a fugitive Egyptian prince, but the throne passed on to Antiochus I (281-261 BCE), his son by Persian noblewoman Apamea, and after that to his son Antiochus II (261-246 BCE), who ruled as Great Kings from Samarkhand to the Aegean Sea.

The Seleucid Administration
The Seleucids built hundreds of cities and maintained or reformed the infrastructure of the Persian kings. The cities were based on the Greek polis-model with gymnasiums, amphitheatres and squares. Members of the indigenous upper classes often became hellenised, but the demotic languages were used in administration as well. The Greek influence was strictly limited to the cities and did not affect the countryside at all.

Though the army was based on Greek soldiers, a wide array of troops from Persia and Babylonia were incorporated, among them the cataphracts, the heavy cavalry of the Achaemenids. There were several nationalistic outbursts in Persis, but they were all suppressed, and the Seleucids strived for acceptance by acting as protectors for Persian and Babylonian cults. Ethnically the dynasty became partly Persian by marriages into the Persian kings of Cappadocia, who claimed ancestry from one of the seven followers of Darius I the Great.

Greek settlements in the empire were largely centered in Syria, the capital Antiochia being the most important, and to some extent Babylonia where the city Seleucia on Tigris succeeded Babylon as eastern city of residence. Paradoxically, many Greeks also lived in the outmost province of Bactria (Afghanistan/eastern Iran) many of them ethnic Greeks as opposed to ethnic Macedonians. Alexander had left his Greek infantry there, since he did not trust them, but historians also suggest that the Achaemenids used to deport rebellious Greek subjects there.

Unlike Alexandria in Egypt, the Seleucid Empire was no center of Hellenistic culture and science, but some of the Stoic philosophers came from Syria, and the world-leading physician Erasistratos lived at the court of Seleucus I. The Babylonian chronicles are the main source to the ancient Middle East history and was written by native Babylonian Berossos. The empire was the centre of several important trade routes which gave the kings large revenues. Seleucid coins were a well renowned currency along the Silk route. Friendly relations were kept with the Mauryan kings of northern India, to whom Seleucus I had ceded eastern Pakistan in exchange for war elephants to use against his opponents in the west.

The First Crisis and Brief Restoration
The mid-3rd century BCE saw great turmoil in the Seleucid state after one of its many wars with Ptolemaic Egypt had gone terribly wrong. King Seleucus II, a son of Antiochus II, faced a civil war and during his reign the easternmost provinces broke free. These were the vast Bactria and Parthia, where nomads led by the Arsacid dynasty (from 247 BCE) formed a small but warlike state on the verges of northern Iran.
By and large though, most of Iran seems to have remained in the Seleucid fold even if the empire was continuously shaken by wars in all directions. Sadly the sources on the Seleucid empire focus on its western parts since most of the authors lived west of Syria. In the last years of the 3rd century BC the king Antiochus III, who was the last to claim the Persian title of Great King and therefore is called "the Great", brought the Seleucid army to the borders of India in a legendary campaign called the anabasis, during which the Parthian were defeated and Seleucid hegemony restored throughout the eastern dominions. He then defeated Egypt soundly and then invaded Greece to reclaim almost the entire part of Alexander's empire.

Defeat and Civil Wars
This over ambitious scheme did however bring him to a war with the rising Romans, and after the disastrous battle of Magnesia in 190 BCE, the Seleucid main army was annihilated and the empire had to accept a paralysing war indemnity, give up Asia Minor and send hostages to Rome.

Antiochus the Great now plundered temple treasures, but this policy got him killed in Luristan in western Persia and seriously damaged loyalty to the dynasty. The weak empire could do little to prevent central Iran to break loose, led by the Parthians who expanded in all directions. In Bactria, the kings were Greek and long independent. These kings now invaded Pakistan and northern India to form a legendary but almost forgotten empire, the farthest outreach of Hellenistic culture.

Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 BCE), notorious in history for his conflict with the Jews (the Maccabean insurrection) carried out an initially successful campaign in Persia but died along the way. After his death, the Seleucids collapsed into devastating civil wars which were encouraged by the Romans and the Ptolemies.

The Parthian Conquest of Persia
Persis, the heartland of the Persian kings, had begun its route back to independence in the late 3rd century when the first indigenous Seleucid satraps were appointed. The earliest is supposed to be Bagadates, whose coin is shown here. The reverse depicts a king standing before a Zoroastrian sacred edifice or a fire-alter. With the weakening of the Seleucid Empire, the satraps became kings, some of which used names like Darius and Artaxerxes as tokens of their nationalistic spirit. Several other small kingdoms emerged as mushrooms in the temporary power vacuum.

It was however Parthia under its king Mithradates I that now rose as the main power in Persia, after having defeated the Medians and the Greeks of Bactria in the middle of the 2nd century BCE. The latter disappeared soon afterwards, crushed by civil wars and the pressure of nomadic tribes who probably were allies of the Parthians. The other kingdoms of Iran were now turned into Parthian vassals

The Final War
In 140 BCE, the Seleucid king Demetrios II deciced that enough was enough and summoned whatever resources he had to check the Parthian advance. He was initially victorious and several vassals seceded from Mithradates II. The Parthians were however well-known for their defensive strength in their own country, and soon managed to ambush the Seleucid army and take Demetrious II captive. Babylonia now became a Parthian province.

The last round of the war came after the able Antiochus VII, the brother of Demetrios II, finally managed to win the civil wars in the remaining Seleucid dominions. He summoned a huge army of mercenaries and attacked the Parthians with great vigor. After three victories he had liberated Babylonia and western Iran and was already compared with Antiochus the Great.

The inhabitants had been happy to shake off the severe Parthian rule, but when the giant Seleucid army was divided put into winter quarters this turned out to be just as bad for the hosting cities. Parthian spies were able to stir up rebellions against the Seleucids, and when Antiochus VII tried to assemble his troops he was routed and killed by the Parthian king Phraates II in a battle outside Ecbatana. The rest of the leaderless army was shattered or put into the Parthian ranks. This was the definite end of the Hellenistic period in Iran.

The Greeks Disappear
The last remaining Seleucid kings only controlled ever-decreasing parts of Syria. Their last half-century was plagued by unending civil wars, until the Romans made Syria a Roman province in 64 BC. The Greek influence in the east survived its rulers for a while, even though few of the Hellenistic cities were found east of Babylonia. The Parthian rulers continued throughout their reign to strike coins in Greek, and several of them gave themselves the epithet Philhellenos (friend of the Greeks). This was probably to ensure support from the Greek societies, which were still important (and heavily fortified) centers of commerce. But eventually Greek impact faded. The Roman campaigns in Parthia in the 2nd century CE seems to have swept away the last of the Greek colonists.

It is as mentioned odd to note that Bactria, the hinterland on the eastern Iranian plateau, despite its distance to Greece boasted a numerous and prospering Greek colony. The Greeks here also seemed to have been better integrated and even managed to expand beyond the former Achaemenid frontiers beyond Punjab and Kashmir, as well as becoming masters of today's Pakistan in the early 2nd century BCE. Even though the empire soon collapsed, the Greeks left a pronounced cultural heritage, the so-called Gandhara culture.

The dream of reuniting Alexander's empire was long alive among the Hellenistic kings, and the references to him were legion in Hellenistic kingship. At the donations of Alexandria in 34 BCE, queen Cleopatra and the Roman general Marcus Antonius even went so far as to crown their son Alexander Helios (the Sun) to Great King of Parthia and Media. This was however but an arrogant empty gesture, since these countries were by that time far beyond the grasp of Greeks as well as Romans.

Seleucid Kings:
• Seleucus I the Victorious 306-281 BCE (Satrap from 312)
• Antiochus I Stoter (the Saviour) 281-261 BCE
• Antiochus II the God 261-246 BCE
• Ptolemy III the Benefactor 246 BCE (Briefly crowned in Babylonia)
• Seleucus II the Bearded 246-226 BCE
• Seleucus III the Thunderbolt 226-223 BCE
• Antiochus III the Great 223-187 BCE (the last one to assume the title of Great King)
• Seleucus IV the Fatherloving 187-175 BCE
• Seleucus IV the Fatherloving 187-175 BCE
• Antiochus IV the God Manifest 175-164 BCE
• Antiochus V of Good Father 164-162 BCE
• Demetrios I the Saviour 162-150 BCE
• Alexander I the Master 150-145 BCE
• Demetrios II the Victorious 145-140 BCE (Antiochus VI and Diodotos Tryphon rulers of Syria 145-137)
• Antiochus VII the Benefactor (138-129 BCE), ruled in Babylonia/Media 130-129 BCE

[Clearchus of Sparta]

The Last of the Greeks

Philopoemen
(legendary, died 183 B.C.E.)

By Plutarch

Written 75 A.C.E.

Translated by John Dryden

CLEANDER was a man of high birth and great power in the city of Mantinea, but by the chances of the time happened to be driven from thence. There being an intimate friendship between him and Craugis, the father of Philopoemen, who was a person of great distinction, he settled at Megalopolis, where, while his friend lived, he had all he could desire. When Craugis died, he repaid the father's hospitable kindness in the care of the orphan son; by which means Philopoemen was educated by him, as Homer says Achilles was by Phoenix, and from his infancy moulded to lofty and noble inclinations. But Ecdemus and Demophanes had the principal tuition of him, after he was past the years of childhood. They were both Megalopolitans; they had been scholars in the academic philosophy, and friends to Arcesilaus, and had, more than any of their contemporaries, brought philosophy to bear upon action and state affairs. They had freed their country from tyranny by the death of Aristodemus, whom they caused to be killed; they had assisted Aratus in driving out the tyrant Nicocles from Sicyon; and, at the request of the Cyreneans, whose city was in a state of extreme disorder and confusion, went thither by sea, and succeeded in establishing good government and happily settling their commonwealth. And among their best actions they themselves counted the education of Philopoemen, thinking they had done a general good to Greece by giving him the nurture of philosophy. And indeed all Greece (which looked upon him as a kind of latter birth brought forth, after so many noble leaders, in her decrepit age) loved him wonderfully; and, as his glory grew, increased his power. And one of the Romans, to praise him, calls him the last of the Greeks; as if after him Greece had produced no great man, nor who deserved the name of Greek.


His person was not, as some fancy, deformed; for his likeness is yet to be seen at Delphi. The mistake of the hostess of Megara was occasioned, it would seem, merely by his easiness of temper and his plain manners. This hostess having word brought her that the general of the Achaeans was coming to her house in the absence of her husband, was all in a hurry about providing his supper. Philopoemen, in an ordinary cloak, arriving in this point of time, she took him for one of his own train who had been sent on before, and bid him lend her his hand in her household work. He forthwith threw off his cloak, and fell to cutting up the firewood. The husband returning, and seeing him at it, "What," says he, "may this mean, O Philopoemen?" "I am," replied he in his Doric dialect, "paying the penalty of my ugly looks." Titus Flamininus, jesting with him upon his figure, told him one day he had well-shaped hands and feet, but no belly: and he was indeed slender in the waist. But this raillery was meant to the poverty of his fortune; for he had good horse and foot, but often wanted money to entertain and play them. These are common anecdotes told of Philopoemen.

The love of honour and distinction was, in his character, not unalloyed with feelings of personal rivalry and resentment. He made Epaminondas his great example, and came not far behind him in activity, sagacity, and incorruptible integrity; but his hot contentious temper continually carried him out of the bounds of that gentleness, composure, and humanity which had marked Epaminondas, and this made him thought a pattern rather of military than of civil virtue. He was strongly inclined to the life of a soldier even from his childhood, and he studied and practised all that belonged to it, taking great delight in managing of horses and handling of weapons. Because he was naturally fitted to excel in wrestling, some of his friends and tutors recommended his attention to athletic exercises. But he would first be satisfied whether it would not interfere with his becoming a good soldier. They told him, as was the truth, that the one life was directly opposite to the other; the requisite state of body, the ways of living, and the exercises all different: the professed athlete sleeping much and feeding plentifully, punctually regular in his set times of exercise and rest, and apt to spoil all by every little excess or breach of his usual method; whereas the soldier ought to train himself in every variety of change and irregularity, and, above all, to bring himself to endure hunger and loss of sleep without difficulty. Philopoemen, hearing this, not only laid by all thoughts of wrestling and contemned it then, but when he came to be general, discouraged it by all marks of reproach and dishonour he could imagine, as a thing which made men, otherwise excellently fit for war, to be utterly useless and unable to fight on necessary occasions.


When he left off his masters and teachers, and began to bear arms in the incursions which his citizens used to make upon the Lacedaemonians for pillage and plunder, he would always march out the first and return the last. When there was nothing to do, he sought to harden his body, and make it strong and active by hunting, or labouring in his ground. He had a good estate about twenty furlongs from the town, and thither he would go every day after dinner and supper; and when night came, throw himself upon the first mattress in his way, and there sleep as one of the labourers. At break of day he would rise with the rest, and work either in the vineyard or at the plough; from thence return again to the town, and employ his time with his friends or the magistrates in public business. What he got in the wars he laid out on horses, or arms, or in ransoming captives; but endeavoured to improve his own property the justest way, by tillage; and this not slightly, by way of diversion, but thinking it his strict duty so to manage his own fortune as to be out of the temptation of wronging others.

He spent much time on eloquence and philosophy, but selected his authors, and cared only for those by whom he might profit in virtue. In Homer's fictions his attention was given to whatever he thought apt to raise the courage. Of all other books he was most devoted to the commentaries of Evangelus on military tactics, and took delight, at leisure hours, in the histories of Alexander; thinking that such reading, unless undertaken for mere amusement and idle conversation, was to the purpose for action. Even in speculations on military subjects it was his habit to neglect maps and diagrams, and to put the theorems to practical proof on the ground itself. He would be exercising his thoughts and considering as he travelled, and arguing with those about him of the difficulties of steep or broken ground, what might happen at rivers, ditches, or mountain-passes, in marching in close or in open, in this or in that particular form of battle. The truth is, he indeed took an immoderate pleasure in military operations and in warfare, to which he devoted himself, as the special means for exercising all sorts of virtue, and utterly contemned those who were not soldiers, as drones and useless in the commonwealth.


When he was thirty years of age, Cleomenes, King of the Lacedaemonians, surprised Megalopolis by night, forced the guards, broke in, and seized the market-place. Philopoemen came out upon the alarm, and fought with desperate courage, but could not beat the enemy out again; yet he succeeded in effecting the escape of the citizens, who got away while he made head against the pursuers, and amused Cleomenes, till, after losing his horse and receiving several wounds, with much ado he came off himself, being the last man in the retreat. The Megalopolitans escaped to Messene, whither Cleomenes sent to offer them their town and goods again. Philopoemen perceiving them to be only too glad at the news, and eager to return, checked them with a speech, in which he made them sensible, that what Cleomenes called restoring the city was, rather, possessing himself of the citizens; and through their means securing also the city for the future. The mere solitude would, of itself, ere long force him away, since there was no staying to guard empty houses and naked walls. These reasons withheld the Megalopolitans, but gave Cleomenes a pretext to pillage and destroy a great part of the city, and carry away a great booty.


Awhile after King Antigonus coming down to succour the Achaeans, they marched with their united forces against Cleomenes; who, having seized the avenues, lay advantageously posted on the hills of Sellasia. Antigonus drew up close by him, with a resolution to force him in his strength. Philopoemen, with his citizens, was that day placed among the horse, next to the Illyrian foot, a numerous body of bold fighters who completed the line of battle, forming, together with the Achaeans, the reserve. Their orders were to keep their ground, and not engage till from the other wing, where the king fought in person, they should see a red coat lifted up on the point of a spear. The Achaeans obeyed their order and stood fast, but the Illyrians were led on by their commanders to the attack. Euclides, the brother of Cleomenes, seeing the foot thus severed from the horse, detached the best of his light-armed men, commanding them to wheel about, and charge the unprotected Illyrians in the rear. This charge putting things in confusion, Philopoemen, considering those light-armed men would be easily repelled, went first to the king's officers to make them sensible what the occasion required. But they not minding what he said, but slighting him as a hare-brained fellow (as indeed he was not yet of any repute sufficient to give credit to a proposal of such importance), he charged with his own citizens, at the first encounter disordered, and soon after put the troops to flight with great slaughter. Then, to encourage the king's army further, to bring them all upon the enemy while he was in confusion, he quitted his horse, and fighting with extreme difficulty in his heavy horseman's dress, in rough uneven ground, full of water-courses and hollows, had both his thighs struck through with a thonged javelin. It was thrown with great force, so that the head came out on the other side, and made a severe, though not a mortal, wound. There he stood awhile, as if he had been shackled, unable to move. The fastening which joined the thong to the javelin made it difficult to get it drawn out, nor would any about him venture to do it. But the fight being now at the hottest, and likely to be quickly decided, he was transported with the desire of partaking in it, and struggled and strained so violently, setting one leg forward, the other back, that at last he broke the shaft in two; and thus, got the pieces pulled out. Being in this manner set at liberty, he caught up his sword, and running through the midst of those who were fighting in the first ranks, animated his men, and set them afire with emulation. Antigonus after the victory asked the Macedonians, to try them, how it happened the horse had charged without orders before the signal? They answering, that they were against their wills forced to it by a young man of Megalopolis, who had fallen in before his time: "This young man," replied Antigonus, smiling, "did like an experienced commander."


This, as was natural, brought Philopoemen into great reputation. Antigonus was earnest to have him in his service, and offered him very advantageous conditions, both as to command and pay. But Philopoemen, who knew that his nature brooked not to be under another, would not accept them; yet not enduring to live idle, and hearing of wars in Crete for practice' sake he passed over thither. He spent some time among those very warlike, and, at the same time, sober and temperate men, improving much by experience in all sorts of service; and then returned with so much fame that the Achaeans presently chose him commander of the horse. These horsemen at that time had neither experience nor bravery, it being the custom to take any common horses, the first and cheapest they could procure, when they were to march; and on almost all occasions they did not go themselves, but hired others in their places, and stayed at home. Their former commanders winked at this, because, it being an honour among the Achaeans to serve on horseback, these men had great power in the commonwealth, and were able to gratify or molest whom they pleased. Philopoemen, finding them in this condition, yielded not to any such considerations, nor would pass it over as formerly; but went himself from town to town, where, speaking with the young men, one by one, he endeavoured to excite a spirit of ambition and love of honour among them, using punishment also, where it was necessary. And then by public exercises, reviews, and contests in the presence of numerous spectators, in a little time he made them wonderfully strong and bold, and, which is reckoned of greatest consequence in military service, light and agile. With use and industry they grew so perfect, to such a command of their horses, such a ready exactness in wheeling round in their troops, that in any change of posture the whole body seemed to move with all the facility and promptitude, and, as it were, with the single will of one man. In the great battle which they fought with the Aetolians and Eleans by the river Larissus, he set them an example himself. Damophantus, general of the Elean horse, singled out Philopoemen, and rode with full speed at him. Philopoemen awaited his charge, and, before receiving the stroke, with a violent blow of his spear threw him dead to the ground: upon whose fall the enemy fled immediately. And now Philopoemen was in everybody's mouth, as a man who in actual fighting with his own hand yielded not to the youngest, nor in good conduct to the oldest, and there came not into the field any better soldier or commander.


Aratus, indeed, was the first who raised the Achaeans, inconsiderable till then, into reputation and power, by uniting their divided cities into one commonwealth, and establishing amongst them a humane and truly Grecian form of government; and hence it happened, as in running waters, where, when a few little particles of matter once stop, others stick to them, and one part strengthening another, the whole becomes firm and solid; so in a general weakness, when every city relying only on itself, all Greece was giving way to an easy dissolution, the Achaeans, first forming themselves into a body, and then drawing in their neighbours round about, some by protection, delivering them from their tyrants, others by peaceful consent and by naturalization, designed at last to bring all Peloponnesus into one community. Yet while Aratus lived, they depended much on the Macedonians, courting first Ptolemy, then Antigonus and Philip, who all took part continually in whatever concerned the affairs of Greece. But when Philopoemen came to a command, the Achaeans, feeling themselves a match for the most powerful of their enemies, declined foreign support. The truth is, Aratus, as we have written in his life, was not of so warlike a temper, but did most by policy and gentleness, and friendships with foreign princes; but Philopoemen being a man both of execution and command, a great soldier, and fortunate in his first attempts, wonderfully heightened both the power and courage of the Achaeans, accustomed to victory under his conduct.


But first he altered what he found amiss in their arms and form of battle. Hitherto they had used light, thin bucklers, too narrow to cover the body, and javelins much shorter than pikes. By which means they were skilful in skirmishing at a distance, but in a close fight had much the disadvantage. Then in drawing their forces up for battle, they were never accustomed to form in regular divisions; and their line being unprotected either by the thick array of projecting spears or by their shields, as in the Macedonian phalanx, where the soldiers close and their shields touch, they were easily opened and broken. Philopoemen reformed all this, persuading them to change the narrow target and short javelin into a large shield and long pike; to arm their heads, bodies, thighs, and legs; and instead of loose skirmishing, fight firmly and foot to foot. After he had brought them all to wear full armour, and by that means into the confidence of thinking themselves now invincible, he turned what before had been idle profusion and luxury into an honourable expense. For being long used to vie with each other in their dress, and furniture of their houses, and service of their tables, and to glory in outdoing one another, the disease by custom was grown incurable, and there was no possibility of removing it altogether. But he diverted the passion, and brought them, instead of these superfluities, to love useful and more manly display, and reducing their other expenses, to take delight in appearing magnificent in their equipage of war. Nothing then was to be seen in the shops but plate breaking up, or melting down, gilding of breastplate, and studding bucklers and bits with silver; nothing in the places of exercise, but horses managing, and young men exercising their arms; nothing in the hands of the women, but helmets and crests of feathers to be dyed, and military cloaks and riding-frocks to be embroidered; the very sight of all which, quickening and raising their spirits, made them contemn dangers, and feel ready to venture on any honourable dangers. Other kinds of sumptuosity give us pleasure, but make us effeminate; the tickling of the sense slackening the vigour of the mind; but magnificence of this kind strengthens and heightens the courage; as Homer makes Achilles at the sight of his new arms exulting with joy, and on fire to use them. When Philopoemen had obtained of them to arm, and set themselves out in this manner, he proceeded to train them, mustering and exercising them perpetually; in which they obeyed him with great zeal and eagerness. For they were wonderfully pleased with their new form of battle, which being so knit and cemented together, seemed almost incapable of being broken. And then their arms, which for their riches and beauty they wore with pleasure, becoming light and easy to them with constant use, they longed for nothing more than to try them with an enemy, and fight in earnest.


The Achaeans at that time were at war with Machanidas, the tyrant of Lacedaemon, who, having a strong army, watched all opportunities of becoming entire master of Peloponnesus. When intelligence came that he was fallen upon the Mantineans, Philopoemen forthwith took the field, and marched towards him. They met near Mantinea, and drew up in sight of the city. Both, besides the whole strength of their several cities, had a good number of mercenaries in pay. When they came to fall on, Machanidas, with his hired soldiers, beat the spearmen and the Tarentines whom Philopoemen had placed in the front. But when he should have charged immediately into the main battle, which stood close and firm, he hotly followed the chase; and instead of attacking the Achaeans, passed on beyond them, while they remained drawn up in their place. With so untoward a beginning the rest of the confederates gave themselves up for lost; but Philopoemen, professing to make it a matter of small consequence, and observing the enemy's oversight, who had thus left an opening in their main body, and exposed their own phalanx, made no sort of motion to oppose them, but let them pursue the chase freely, till they had placed themselves at a great distance from him. Then seeing the Lacedaemonians before him deserted by their horse, with their flanks quite bare, he charged suddenly, and surprised them without a commander, and not so much as expecting an encounter, as, when they saw Machanidas driving the beaten enemy before him, they thought the victory already gained. He overthrew them with great slaughter (they report above four thousand killed in the place), and then faced about against Machanidas, who was returning with his mercenaries from the pursuit. There happened to be a broad deep ditch between them, alongside of which both rode their horses for a while, the one trying to get over and fly, the other to hinder him. It looked less like the contest between two generals than like the last defence of some wild beast brought to bay by the keen huntsman Philopoemen, and forced to fight for his life. The tyrant's horse was mettled and strong; and feeling the bloody spurs in his sides, ventured to take the ditch. He had already so far reached the other side, as to have planted his fore-feet upon it, and was struggling to raise himself with these, when Simmias and Polyaenus, who used to fight by the side of Philopoemen, came up on horseback to his assistance. But Philopoemen, before either of them, himself met Machanidas; and perceiving that the horse with his head high reared covered his master's body, turned his own a little, and holding his javelin by the middle, drove it against the tyrant with all his force, and tumbled him dead into the ditch. Such is the precise posture in which he stands at Delphi in the brazen statue which the Achaeans set up of him, in admiration of his valour in this single combat, and conduct during the whole day.


We are told that at the Nemean games, a little after this victory, Philopoemen being then general the second time, and at leisure on the occasion of the solemnity, first showed the Greeks his army drawn up in full array as if they were to fight, and executed with it all the manoeuvres of a battle with wonderful order, strength, and celerity. After which he went into the theatre, while the musicians were singing for the prize, followed by the young soldiers in their military cloaks and their scarlet frocks under their armour, all in the very height of bodily vigour, and much alike in age, showing a high respect to their general; yet breathing at the same time a noble confidence in themselves, raised by success in many glorious encounters. Just at their coming in, it so happened that the musician Pylades, with a voice well suited to the lofty style of poet, was in the act of commencing the “Persians of Timotheus”

"Under his conduct Greece was glorious and was free."

The whole theatre at once turned to look at Philopoemen, and clapped with delight; their hopes venturing once more to return to their country's former reputation; and their feelings almost rising to the height of their ancient spirit.


It was with the Achaeans as with young horses, which go quietly with their usual riders, but grow unruly and restive under strangers. The soldiers, when any service was in hand, and Philopoemen not at their head, grew dejected and looked about for him; but if he once appeared, came presently to themselves, and recovered their confidence and courage, being sensible that this was the only one of their commanders whom the enemy could not endure to face; but, as appeared in several occasions, were frighted with his very name. Thus we find that Philip, King of Macedon, thinking to terrify the Achaeans into subjection again, if he could rid his hands of Philopoemen, employed some persons privately to assassinate him. But the treachery coming to light, he became infamous, and lost his character through Greece. The Boeotians besieging Megara, and ready to carry the town by storm, upon a groundless rumour that Philopoemen was at hand with succour, ran away, and left their scaling ladders at the wall behind them. Nabis (who was tyrant of Lacedaemon after Machanidas) had surprised Messene at a time when Philopoemen was out of command. He tried to persuade Lysippus, then general of the Achaeans, to succour Messene: but not prevailing with him, because, he said, the enemy being now within it, the place was irrecoverably lost, he resolved to go himself, without order or commission, followed merely by his own immediate fellow-citizens, who went with him as their general by commission from nature, which had made him fittest to command. Nabis, hearing of his coming, thought it not convenient to stay; but stealing out of the furthest gate with his men, marched away with all the speed he could, thinking himself a happy man if he could get off with safety. And he did escape but Messene was rescued.


All hitherto makes for the praise and honour of Philopoemen. But when at the request of the Gortynians he went away into Crete to command for them, at a time when his own country was distressed by Nabis, he exposed himself to the charge of either cowardice, or unseasonable ambition of honour amongst foreigners. For the Megalopolitans were then so pressed, that, the enemy being master of the field and encamping almost at their gates, they were forced to keep themselves within their walls, and sow their very streets. And in the meantime, across the seas, waging war and commanding in chief in a foreign nation, furnished his ill-wishers with matter enough for their reproaches. Some said he took the offer of the Gortynians, because the Achaeans chose other generals, and left him but a private man. For he could not endure to sit still, but looking upon war and command in it as his great business, always coveted to be employed. And this agrees with what he once aptly said of King Ptolemy. Somebody was praising him for keeping his army and himself in an admirable state of discipline and exercise: "And what praise," replied Philopoemen, "for a king of his years, to be always preparing, and never performing?" However, the Megalopolitans, thinking themselves betrayed, took it so ill that they were about to banish him. But the Achaeans put an end to that design by sending their general, Aristaeus, to Megalopolis, who, though he were at difference with Philopoemen about affairs of the commonwealth, yet would not suffer him to be banished. Philopoemen finding himself upon this account out of favour with his citizens, induced divers of the little neighbouring places to renounce obedience to them, suggesting to them to urge that from the beginning they were not subject to their taxes or laws, or any way under their command. In these pretences he openly took their part, and fomented seditious movements amongst the Achaeans in general against Megalopolis. But these things happened a while after.


While he stayed in Crete, in the service of the Gortynians, he made war not like a Peloponnesian and Arcanian, fairly in the open field, but fought with them at their own weapon, and turning their stratagems and tricks against themselves, showed them they played craft against skill, and were but children to an experienced soldier. Having acted here with great bravery, and great reputation to himself, he returned into Peloponnesus, where he found Philip beaten by Titus Quintius, and Nabis at war both with the Romans and Achaeans. He was at once chosen general against Nabis but venturing to fight by sea, met, like Epaminondas, with a result very contrary to the general expectation and his own former reputation. Epaminondas, however, according to some statements, was backward by design, unwilling to give his countrymen an appetite for the advantages of the sea, lest from good soldiers they should by little and little turn, as Plato says, to ill mariners. And therefore he returned from Asia and the Islands without doing anything, on purpose. Whereas Philopoemen, thinking his skill in land-service would equally avail at sea, learned how great a part of valour experience is, and how much it imparts in the management of things to be accustomed to them. For he was not only put to the worst in the fight for want of skill, but having rigged up an old ship, which had been a famous vessel forty years before, and shipped his citizens in her, she foundering, he was in danger of losing them all. But finding the enemy, as if he had been driving out of the sea, had, in contempt of him besieged Gythium, he presently set sail again, and taking them unexpectedly, dispersed and careless after their victory, landed in the night, burnt their camp, and killed a great number.

A few days after, as he was marching through a rough country, Nabis came suddenly upon him. The Achaeans were dismayed, and in such difficult ground where the enemy had secured the advantage, despaired to get off with safety. Philopoemen made a little halt, and, viewing the ground, soon made it appear that the one important thing in war is skill in drawing up an army. For by advancing only a few paces, and, without any confusion or trouble, altering his order according to the nature of the place, he immediately relieved himself from every difficulty, and then charging, put the enemy to flight. But when he saw they fled, not towards the city, but dispersed every man a different way all over the field, which for wood and hills, brooks and hollows, was not passable by horse, he sounded a retreat, and encamped by broad daylight. Then foreseeing the enemy would endeavour to steal scatteringly into the city in the dark, he posted strong parties of the Achaeans all along the watercourses and sloping ground near the walls. Many of Nabis's men fell into their hands. For returning not in a body, but as the chance of flight had disposed of every one, they were caught like birds ere they could enter into the town.


These actions obtained him distinguished marks of affection and honour in all the theatres of Greece, but not without the secret ill-will of Titus Flamininus, who was naturally eager for glory, and thought it but reasonable a consul of Rome should be otherwise esteemed by the Achaeans than a common Arcadian; especially as there was no comparison between what he and what Philopoemen had done for them, he having by one proclamation restored all Greece, as much as had been subject to Philip and the Macedonians, to liberty. After this, Titus made peace with Nabis, and Nabis was circumvented and slain by the Aetolians. Things being then in confusion at Sparta, Philopoemen laid hold of the occasion, and coming upon them with an army, prevailed with some by persuasion, with others by fear, till he brought the whole city over to the Achaeans. As it was no small matter for Sparta to become a member of Achaea, this action gained him infinite praise from the Achaeans, for having strengthened their confederacy by the addition of so great and powerful a city, and not a little good-will from the nobility of Sparta itself, who hoped they had now procured an ally who would defend their freedom. Accordingly, having raised a sum of one hundred and twenty silver talents by the sale of the house and goods of Nabis, they decreed him the money, and sent a deputation in the name of the city to present it. But here the honesty of Philopoemen showed itself clearly to be a real, uncounterfeited virtue. For, first of all, there was not a man among them who would undertake to make him this offer of a present, but every one excusing himself, and shifting it off upon his fellow, they laid the office at last on Timolaus, with whom he had lodged at Sparta. Then Timolaus came to Megalopolis, and was entertained by Philopoemen; but struck into admiration with the dignity of his life and manners, and the simplicity of his habits, judging him to be utterly inaccessible to any such considerations, he said nothing, but pretending other business, returned without a word mentioned of the present. He was sent again, and did just as formerly. But the third time with much ado, and faltering in his words, he acquainted Philopoemen with the good-will of the city of Sparta to him. Philopoemen listened obligingly and gladly; and then went himself to Sparta, where he advised them, not to bribe good men and their friends, of whose virtue they might be sure without charge to themselves; but to buy off and silence ill citizens, who disquieted the city with their seditious speeches in the public assemblies; for it was better to bar liberty of speech in enemies than friends. Thus it appeared how much Philopoemen was above bribery.


Diophanes being afterwards general of the Achaeans, and hearing the Lacedaemonians were bent on new commotions, resolved to chastise them; they, on the other side, being set upon war, were embroiling all Peloponnesus. Philopoemen on this occasion did all he could to keep Diophanes quiet and to make him sensible that as the times went, while Antiochus and the Romans were disputing their pretensions with vast armies in the heart of Greece, it concerned a man in his position to keep a watchful eye over them, and dissembling, and putting up with any less important grievances, to preserve all quiet at home. Diophanes would not be ruled, but joined with Titus, and both together falling into Daconia, marched directly to Sparta. Philopoemen, upon this, took, in his indignation, a step which certainly was not lawful, nor in the strictest sense just, but boldly and loftily conceived. Entering into the town himself, he, a private man as he was, refused admission to both the consul of Rome and the general of the Achaeans, quieted the disorders in the city, and reunited it on the same terms as before to the Achaean confederacy.


Yet afterwards, when he was general himself, upon some new misdemeanour of the Lacedaemonians, he brought back those who had been banished, put, as Polybius writes, eighty, according to Aristocrates three hundred and fifty, Spartans to death, razed the walls, took away a good part of their territory and transferred it to the Megalopolitans, forced out of the country and carried into Achaea all who had been made citizens of Sparta by tyrants, except three thousand who would not submit to banishment. These he sold for slaves, and with the money, as if to exult over them, built a colonnade at Megalopolis. Lastly, unworthily trampling upon the Lacedaemonians in their calamities, and gratifying his hostility by a most oppressive and arbitrary action, he abolished the laws of Lycurgus, and forced them to educate their children and live after the manner of the Achaeans; as though, while they kept to the discipline of Lycurgus, there was no humbling their haughty spirits. In their present distress and adversity they allowed Philopoemen thus to cut the sinews of their commonwealth asunder, and behave themselves humbly and submissively. But afterwards, in no long time, obtaining the support of the Romans, they abandoned their new Achaean citizenship; and as much as in so miserable and ruined a condition they could, re-established their ancient discipline.


When the war between Antiochus and the Romans broke out in Greece, Philopoemen was a private man. He repined grievously when he saw Antiochus lay idle at Chalcis, spending his time in unreasonable courtship and weddings, while his men lay dispersed in several towns, without order, or commanders, and minding nothing but their pleasures. He complained much that he was not himself in office, and said he envied the Romans their victory; and that if he had had the fortune to be then in command, he would have surprised and killed the whole army in the taverns.

When Antiochus was overcome, the Romans pressed harder upon Greece, and encompassed the Achaeans with their power; the popular leaders in the several cities yielded before them; and their power speedily, under the divine guidance, advanced to the consummation due to it in the revolutions of fortune. Philopoemen, in this conjecture, carried himself like a good pilot in a high sea, sometimes shifting sail, and sometimes yielding, but still steering steady; and omitting no opportunity nor effort to keep all who were considerable, whether for eloquence or riches, fast to the defence of their common liberty.


Aristaenus, a Megalopolitan of great credit among the Achaeans, but always a favourer of the Romans, saying one day in the senate that the Romans should not be opposed, or displeased in any way, Philopoemen heard him with an impatient silence; but at last, not able to hold longer, said angrily to him, "And why be in such haste, wretched man, to behold the end of Greece?" Manius, the Roman consul, after the defeat of Antiochus, requested the Achaeans to restore the banished Lacedaemonians to their country, which motion was seconded and supported by all the interest of Titus. But Philopoemen crossed it, not from ill-will to the men, but that they might be beholden to him and the Achaeans, not to Titus and the Romans. For when he came to be general himself, he restored them. So impatient was his spirit of any subjection and so prone his nature to contest everything with men in power.


Being now three score and ten, and the eighth time general, he was in hope to pass in quiet, not only the year of his magistracy, but his remaining life. For as our diseases decline, as it is supposed with our declining bodily strength, so the quarrelling humour of the Greeks abated much with their failing political greatness. But fortune or some divine retributive power threw him down in the close of his life, like a successful runner who stumbles at the goal. It is reported, that being in company where one was praised for a great commander, he replied, there was no great account to be made of a man who had suffered himself to be taken alive by his enemies.

A few days after, news came that Dinocrates the Messenian, a particular enemy to Philopoemen, and for his wickedness and villainies generally hated, had induced Messene to revolt from the Achaeans, and was about to seize upon a little place called Colonis. Philopoemen lay then sick of a fever at Argos. Upon the news he hasted away, and reached Megalopolis, which was distant above four hundred furlongs, in a day. From thence he immediately led out the horse, the noblest of the city, young men in the vigour of their age, and eager to proffer their service, both from attachment to Philopoemen and zeal for the cause. As they marched towards Messene, they met with Dinocrates, near the hill of Evander, charged and routed him. But five hundred fresh men, who, being left for a guard to the country, came in late, happening to appear, the flying enemy rallied again about the hills. Philopoemen, fearing to be enclosed, and solicitous for his men, retreated over ground extremely disadvantageous, bringing up the rear himself. As he often faced, and made charges upon the enemy, he drew them upon himself; though they merely made movements at a distance, and shouted about him, nobody daring to approach him. In his care to save every single man, he left his main body so often, that at last he found himself alone among the thickest of his enemies. Yet even then none durst come up to him, but being pelted at a distance, and driven to stony steep places, he had great difficulty, with much spurring, to guide his horse aright. His age was no hindrance to him, for with perpetual exercise it was both strong and active; but being weakened with sickness, and tired with his long journey, his horse stumbling, he fell encumbered with his arms, and faint, upon a hard and rugged piece of ground. His head received such a shock with the fall that he lay awhile speechless, so that the enemy, thinking him dead, began to turn and strip him. But when they saw him lift up his head and open his eyes, they threw themselves all together upon him, bound his hands behind him, and carried him off, every kind of insult and contumely being lavished on him who truly had never so much as dreamed of being led in triumph by Dinocrates.

The Messenians, wonderfully elated with the news, thronged in swarms to the city gates. But when they saw Philopoemen in a posture so unsuitable to the glory of his great actions and famous victories, most of them, struck with grief and cursing the deceitful vanity of human fortune, even shed tears of compassion at the spectacle. Such tears by little and little turned to kind words, and it was almost in everybody's mouth that they ought to remember what he had done for them, and how he had preserved the common liberty, by driving away Nabis. Some few, to make their court to Dinocrates, were for torturing and then putting him to death as a dangerous and irreconcilable enemy; all the more formidable to Dinocrates, who had taken him a prisoner, should he after this misfortune regain his liberty. They put him at last into a dungeon underground, which they called the treasury, a place into which there came no air nor light from abroad; and which, having no doors, was closed with a great stone. This they rolled into the entrance and fixed, and placing a guard about it, left him. In the meantime Philopoemen's soldiers, recovering themselves after their flight, and fearing he was dead when he appeared nowhere, made a stand, calling him with loud cries, and reproaching one another with their unworthy and shameful escape; having betrayed their general, who, to preserve their lives, had lost his own. Then returning after much inquiry and search, hearing at last that he was taken they sent away messengers round about with the news. The Achaeans resented the misfortune deeply, and decreed to send and demand him; and in the meantime drew their army together for his rescue.


While these things passed in Achaea, Dinocrates, fearing that any delay would save Philopoemen, and resolving to be beforehand with the Achaeans, as soon as night had dispersed the multitude, sent in the executioner with poison, with orders not to stir from him till he had taken it. Philopoemen had then laid down, wrapt up in his cloak, not sleeping, but oppressed with grief and trouble; but seeing light, and a man with poison by him, struggled to sit up; and, taking the cup, asked the man if he heard anything of the horsemen, particularly Lycortas? The fellow answering, that most part had got off safe, he nodded, and looking cheerfully upon him, "It is well," he said, "that we have not been every way unfortunate;" and without a word more, drank it off, and laid him down again. His weakness offering but little resistance to the poison, it despatched him presently.


The news of his death filled all Achaea with grief and lamentation. The youth, with some of the chief of the several cities, met at Megalopolis with a resolution to take revenge without delay. They chose Lycortas general, and falling upon the Messenians, put all to fire and sword, till they all with one consent made their submission. Dinocrates, with as many as had voted for Philopoemen's death, anticipated their vengeance and killed themselves. Those who would have had him tortured, Lycortas put in chains and reserved for severer punishment. They burnt his body, and put the ashes into an urn, and then marched homeward, not as in an ordinary march, but with a kind of solemn pomp, half triumph, half funeral, crowns of victory on their heads, and tears in their eyes, and their captive enemies in fetters by them. Polybius, the general's son, carried the urn, so covered with garlands and ribbons as scarcely to be visible; and the noblest of the Achaeans accompanied him. The soldiers followed fully armed and mounted, with looks neither altogether sad as in mourning, nor lofty as in victory. The people from all towns and villages in their way flocked out to meet him, as at his return from conquest, and, saluting the urn, fell in with the company and followed on to Megalopolis; where, when the old men, the women and children were mingled with the rest, the whole city was filled with sighs, complaints and cries, the loss of Philopoemen seeming to them the loss of their own greatness, and of their rank among the Achaeans. Thus he was honourably buried according to his worth, and the prisoners were stoned about his tomb.

[Clearchus of Sparta]

THE RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND

We have now to tell of one of the most remarkable events in Grecian history, to describe how ten thousand Greeks, who found themselves in the heart of the great Persian empire, without a leader and almost without food, marched through the land of their foes, over rugged mountains swarming with enemies, and across lofty plains covered deep with snow, until finally they reached once more their native land. Xenophon, their chosen leader, has told the story of this wonderful march in a book called the "Anabasis," and from this book we take what we have here to say.
First, how came these Greeks so far away from their home and friends? We have told elsewhere how the Persians several times invaded Greece. We have now to tell how the Greeks first invaded Persia. It happened many years afterwards. The Persian king Xerxes had long since been dead, and succeeded by his son Artaxerxes, who reigned over Persia for nearly forty years. Then came Darius Nothus, whose reign lasted nineteen years. This king had two sons, Artaxerxes and Cyrus. On his death he bequeathed the throne to Artaxerxes, while Cyrus was left satrap of a large province in Asia Minor.

Of these two sons, the new king was timid and incompetent; Cyrus was remarkably shrewd and able, and was filled with a consuming ambition. He wanted the Persian throne and knew the best means of obtaining it. He was well aware of the military ability of the Greeks. It was he who supplied the money that enabled Sparta to overthrow Athens. He now secretly enlisted a body of about thirteen thousand Greeks, promising them high pay if they would enter his service; and with these, and one hundred thousand Asiatics', he marched against his brother.
But Cyrus was too shrewd to let his purpose be known. He gave out that he was going to put down some brigand mountaineers. Then when he had got his army far eastward, he threw off the mask and started on the long march across the desert to Babylonia. The Greeks had been deceived. At first they refused to follow him on so perilous an errand, and to such a distance from home. But by liberal promises he overcame their objections, and they marched on till the heart of Babylonia was reached.

The army was now in the wonderfully fertile country between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, that rich Mesopotamian region which had been part of the Persian empire since the great cities of Nineveh and Babylon were taken by the Persians a century before. And in all this long march no enemy had been met. But now Cyrus and his followers found themselves suddenly confronted by a great Persian army, led by Artaxerxes, the king.
First a great cloud of white dust was seen in the distance. Then under it appeared on the earth a broad dark spot, which widened and deepened as it came nearer, until at length armour began to shine and spearheads to glitter, and dense masses of troops appeared beneath the cloud. Here were great troops of cavalry, wearing white cuirasses; here a vast array of bowmen with wicker shields, spiked so that they could thrust their points into the ground and send their arrows from behind them; there a dark mass of Egyptian infantry, with long wooden shields that covered the whole body; in front of all was a row of chariots, with scythes stretching outward from the wheels, so as to mow down the ranks through which they were driven.

These scythed chariots faced the Greeks, whose ranks they were intended to break. But when the battle-shout was given, and the dense mass of Greeks rushed forward at a rapid pace, the Persians before them broke into a sudden panic and fled, the drivers of the chariots leaping wildly to the ground and joining in the flight. The horses, left to themselves, and scared by the tumult, rushed in all directions, many of them hurtling with their scythed chariots through the flying host, others coming against the Greeks, who opened their ranks to let them pass. In that part of the field the battle was won without a blow being struck or a man killed. The very presence of the Greeks had brought victory.

The great Persian army would soon have been all in flight but for an unlooked-for event. A bodyguard of six thousand horse surrounded Artaxerxes, in the centre of his army. Against these Cyrus, followed by six hundred horse, made an impetuous charge. So fierce was the onset that the bodyguard were soon in full flight, Cyrus killing their general with his own hand. The six hundred hotly pursued their flying foe, leaving Cyrus almost alone. And now before him appeared his brother Artaxerxes, exposed by the flight of his guard.

Between these two men brotherly affection did not exist. They viewed each other as bitter enemies. So fiercely did Cyrus hate his brother that on seeing him he burst into a paroxysm of rage, which robbed him of all the prudence, and judgment he had so far shown. "I see the man!" be cried in tones of fury, and rushed hotly forward, followed only by the few companions who remained with him, against Artaxerxes and the strong force still with him. As Cyrus came near the king he cast his javelin so truly, and with such force, that it pierced the cuirass of Artaxerxes, and wounded him in the breast. Yet the assault of Cyrus was a mad one, and it met the end of madness. He was struck below the eye by a javelin, hurled from his horse and instantly slain; his few followers quickly sharing his fate.
The head and right hand of the slain prince were immediately cut off and held up to the view of all within sight, and the contest was proclaimed at an end. The Asiatic army of Cyrus, on learning of the fatal disaster, turned and fled. The Greeks held their own and repulsed all that came against them, in ignorance of the death of Cyrus, of which they did not hear till the next morning. The news then filled them with sorrow and dismay.

What followed must be briefly told. The position of the Greeks, much more than a thousand miles from their country, in the heart of an empire filled with foes, and in the presence of a vast hostile army, seemed hopeless. Yet they refused to surrender at the demand of the king. They were victors, not defeated men; why should they surrender? "If the king wants our arms, let him come and try to take them," they said. "Our arms are all the treasure we have left; we shall not be fools enough to hand them over to you, but shall use them to fight for your treasure."

This challenge King Artaxerxes showed no inclination to accept. Both he and his army feared the Greeks. As for the latter, they immediately began their retreat. They could not go back over the desert by which they had come, that was impossible; they therefore chose a longer road, but with more chance of food, leading up the left bank of the Tigris River and proceeding to the Euxine, or Black Sea. It was in dread and hopelessness that the solitary band began this long and perilous march, through a country of which they knew nothing, amid hosts of foes, and with the winter at hand. But they were soon to experience a new misfortune and be left in a still more hopeless state.
Their boldness had so intimidated King Artaxerxes that he sent heralds to them to treat for a truce. "Go tell the king," their general replied, "that our first business must be to fight. We have nothing to eat, and no man should talk to Greeks about a truce without first providing them with a dinner."

The result of this bold answer was that food was provided, a truce declared, and Tissaphernes, a Persian satrap, with a body of troops, undertook to conduct the Greeks out of the country. Crossing the Tigris, they marched for fifteen days up its east side, until the Great Zab River, in the country of Media, was reached. Here the treachery, which Tissaphernes had all along intended, was consummated. He invited Clearchus, the Greek leader, and the other generals to a conference with him in his tent, three miles from their camp. They incautiously accepted, and on arriving there were immediately seized, the captains and soldiers who had accompanied them cut down, and the generals sent in chains to the king, who ordered them all to be put to death.

This loss of their leaders threw the Greeks into despair. Ruin appeared inevitable. In the midst of a hostile country, more than a thousand miles from Grecian soil, surrounded by enemies, blocked up by deep rivers and almost impassable mountains, without guides, without provisions, without cavalry, without generals to give orders, what were they to do? A stupor of helplessness seized upon them. Few came to the evening muster; few lighted fires to cook their suppers; every man lay down to rest where he was; yet fear, anguish, and yearning for home drove sleep from every eye. The expectation of the Persians that they would now surrender seemed likely to be realized, for without a guiding head and hand there seemed to many of the disheartened host nothing else to do.

Yet they were not all in that mood. One among them, a volunteer, with no rank in the army, but with ample courage, brought back by brave words hope to their souls. This man, an Athenian, Xenophon by name, and one of the disciples of Socrates the philosopher, had an encouraging dream in the night, and at once rose, called into council the captains of the host, and advised them to select new generals to take the place of the four who had been seized. This was done, Xenophon being one of the new leaders. At daybreak the soldiers were called together, told what had been done in the night, and asked to confirm the action of their captains. This they did.

Xenophon, the orator of the army, now made them a stirring speech. He told them that they need not fear the Persians, who were cowards and traitors, as they knew. If provisions were no longer furnished them, they could take them for themselves. If rivers were to be crossed, they could march up their course and wade them where not deep. "Let us burn our baggage-wagons and tents, and carry only what is strictly needful. Above all, let us maintain discipline and obedience to commanders. Now is the time for action. If any man has anything better to suggest, let him state it. We all have but one object,—the common safety."
No one had anything better to suggest; the soldiers enthusiastically accepted Xenophon's plan of action, and soon were on the march again, with Tissaphernes, their late guide, now their open foe. They marched in a hollow oblong body, with the baggage in the centre. Here also walked the women, whom many had accompanied the army through all its career.

Crossing the Great Zab River, the Greeks continued their march, though surrounded by enemies, many of them horsemen, who cast javelins and arrows into their ranks, and fled when pursued. That night they reached some villages, bearing their wounded, which were many, and deeply discouraged. During the night the Greeks organized a small body of cavalry and two hundred Rhodian slingers, who threw leaden bullets instead of stones. The next day a body of four thousand confident Persians, who expected an easy victory, attacked them. Yet when the few horsemen and slingers of the Greeks attacked them they fled in dismay, and many of them were killed in a ravine which they were forced to traverse.

On went the fugitives, day by day, still assailed, still repelling their foes. On the fifth day they saw a palace, around which lay many villages. To reach it they had high hills to pass, and here their enemies appeared on the summits, showering down arrows, darts, and stones. The Greeks finally dislodged them by mounting to higher points, and by night had fought their way to the villages, where they found abundance of food and wine, and where they rested for three days.

On starting again the troops of Tissaphernes annoyed them as before. They now adopted a new plan. Whenever the enemy came up they halted at some village and fought them from their camp. Each night the Persians withdrew about ten miles, lest they might be surprised when their horses were shackled and they unarmed. This custom the Greeks now took advantage of. As soon as the enemy had withdrawn to their nightly camp the march was resumed and continued for some ten miles. The distance gained gave the Greeks two days of peaceful progress before their foes came up again.

On the fourth day the Greeks saw before them a lofty hill, which must be passed, and which their enemies occupied, having got past them in the night. Their march seemed at an end, for the path that must be taken was completely commanded by the weapons of the foe. What was to be done? A conference took place between Xenophon and the Spartan Cheirisophus, his principal colleague. Xenophon perceived that from the top of a mountain near the army the hill held by the enemy might be reached.

"The best thing we can do is to gain the top of this mountain with all haste," he said; "if we are once masters of that the enemy cannot maintain themselves on the hill. You stay with the army, if you think fit, and I will go up the hill. Or you go, if you desire, and I will stay here."
"I give you your choice," answered Cheirisophus.
"Then I will go, as I am the younger man," said Xenophon.
Taking a strong force from the van of the army, Xenophon at once began to climb the hill. The enemy, seeing this movement, hastily detached a force for the same purpose. Both sides shouted encouragement to their men, and Xenophon, riding beside his troop spurred them to exertion by reminding them of their wives and children at home. And here took place one of those occurrences which gave this leader so much influence over his men.
"We are not upon equal terms, Xenophon," said Soteridas, a soldier from Sicyon, "for you are on horse-back, while I am weary from carrying my shield."

Instantly Xenophon sprang from his horse, took the man's shield from his arm, and thrust him out of the ranks, taking his place. The horseman's corselet that he wore, added to by the weight of the shield, gave him much annoyance. But he called out bravely to the men to hasten their pace.

On this the other soldiers began to abuse and stone Soteridas, making it so unpleasant for him that he was glad to ask for his shield again. Xenophon now remounted and rode as far as his horse could go, then sprang down and hastened onward on foot. Such was the speed made that they reached the summit before the foe, whereupon the enemy fled, leaving the road open to the Greeks. That evening they reached the plain beyond, where they found a village abounding in food; and in this plain, near the Tigris, many other villages were found, well filled with all sorts of provisions.

Finding it impossible to cross the Tigris in the face of the enemy, who lined its western bank, the Greeks were obliged to continue their course up its eastern side. This would bring them to the elevated table land of Armenia, but first they would have to cross the rugged Carduchian Mountains, inhabited by a tribe so fierce that they had hitherto defied all the power of Persia, and had once destroyed a Persian army of one hundred and twenty thousand men. These mountains must be crossed, but the mountaineers proved fiercely hostile. Seven days were occupied in the task, and these were days of constant battle and loss. At one pass the Carduchians rolled down such incessant masses of rocks that progress was impossible, and the Greeks were almost in despair. Fortunately a prisoner showed them a pass by which they could get above these defenders, who, on seeing themselves thus exposed, took to their heels, and left the way open to the main body of the Greek army. Glad enough were the disheartened adventurers to see once more a plain, and find themselves past these dreaded hills and on the banks of an Armenian river.
But they now had the Persians again in their front, with the Carduchians in their rear, and it was with no small difficulty that they reached the north side of this stream. In Armenia they had new perils to encounter. The winter was upon them, and the country covered with snow. Reaching at length the head-waters of the Euphrates, they waded across, and there found themselves in such deep snow and facing such fierce winds that many slaves and draught-horses died of cold, together with about thirty soldiers. Some of the men lost their sight from the snow-glare; others had their feet badly frosted; food was very scarce; the foe was in their rear. It was a miserable and woe-begotten army that at length gladly reached, on the summit of some hills, a number of villages well stored with food.
In the country of the Taochians, which the fugitives next reached, the people carried off all their food into mountain strongholds, and starvation threatened the Greeks. One of these strongholds was reached, a lofty place surrounded by precipices, where great numbers of men and women, with their cattle, had assembled. Yet, strong as it was, it must be taken, or the army would be starved.

As they sought to ascend, stones came down in showers, breaking the legs and ribs of the unlucky climbers. By stratagem, however, the Greeks induced the defenders to exhaust their ammunition of stones, the soldiers pretending to advance, and then running back behind trees as the stones came crashing down. Finally several bold men made a dash for the top, others followed, and the place was won. Then came a dreadful scene. The women threw their children down the precipice, and then leaped after them. The men did the same. Æneas, a captain, seeing a richly dressed barbarian about to throw himself down the height, caught hold of him. It was a fatal impulse of cupidity. The Taochian seized him in a fierce grasp and sprang with him over the brink, both being dashed to pieces below. Very few prisoners were made, but, what was more to the purpose of the Greeks, a large number of oxen, asses, and sheep were obtained.

At another point, where a mountain-pass had to be crossed, which could only be done by ascending the mountain by stealth at night, and so turning the position of the enemy, an amusing piece of badinage took place between Xenophon, the Athenian, and Cheirisophus, the Spartan.

"Stealing a march upon the enemy is more your trade than mine," said Xenophon. "For I understand that you, the full citizens and peers at Sparta, practise stealing from your boyhood upward, and that it is held no way base, but even honourable, to steal such things as the law does not distinctly forbid. And to the end that you may steal with the greatest effect, and take pains to do it in secret, the custom is to flog you if you are found out. Here, then, you have an excellent opportunity to display your training. Take good care that we be not found out in stealing an occupation of the mountain now before us; for if we are found out, we shall be well beaten."
"Why, as to that," retorted Cheirisophus, good-humouredly, "you Athenians also, as I learn, are capital hands at stealing the public money, and that, too, in spite of prodigious peril to the thief. Nay, your most powerful men steal most of all, at least if it be the most powerful men among you who are raised to official command. So this is a time for you to exhibit your training, as well as for me to exhibit mine."

Leaving the land of the Taochi, the Greeks entered that of the Chalybes, which they were seven days in passing through. All the food here was carried off, and they had to live on the cattle they had recently won. Then came the country of the Skythini, where they found villages and food. Four days more brought them to a large and flourishing city named Gymnias. They were now evidently drawing near to the sea and civilization.
In fact, the chief of this city told them that the sea was but five days' journey away, and gave them a guide who in that time would conduct them to a hill from which they could see the Euxine's distant waves. On they went, and at length, while Xenophon was driving off some natives that had attacked the rear of the column, he heard loud shouts in front. Thinking that the van had been assailed, he rode hastily forward at the head of his few cavalry, the noise increasing as he approached.

At length the sounds took shape in words. "Thalatta! Thalatta!" ("The sea! The sea!") cried the Greeks, in tones of exultation and ecstasy. All, excited by the sound, came hurrying up to the summit, and burst into simultaneous shouts of joy as they saw, far in the distance, the gleaming waters of the long-prayed-for sea. Tears, embraces, cries of wild delight, manifested their intense feeling, and for the time being the whole army went mad with joy. The terrors of their march were at an end; they were on the verge of Grecian territory again; and with pride they felt that they had achieved an enterprise such as the world had never known before.

A few words will suffice to complete their tale. Reaching the city of Trebizond, they took ship for home. Fifteen months had passed since they set out with the army of Cyrus. After various further adventures, Xenophon led them on a pillaging expedition against the Persians of Asia Minor, paid them all richly from the plunder, and gained himself sufficient wealth to enrich him for the remainder of his days.

[Brusilov]

That would be easier to read if you have a blank line between paragraphs as you did the previous post.

[Clearchus of Sparta]

A Roman Soldier's Life

In the Roman army, a soldier's life was hard and tough even for the most resilient men. They were taken from their homelands, away from their families and friends and expected to defend provinces in far extremes of the empire. They had to endure hostile natives in foreign countries, who were defending their homelands from invasion. They were expected to undertake grueling marches across rough and dangerous terrain in severe weather conditions and then fight long and arduous battles with fierce warriors. Above all they had to obey all orders at once without question, no matter what the consequences. So what made them do it?

Although there was conscription to the army, most of the recruits volunteered of their own free will. They knew of the dangers and hardship, but they felt it was their duty to serve the Roman empire to their best ability. The thought of travel and excitement lured many to enlist. For others it was the opportunity to have a secure and reasonably well paid profession that would enable them to learn skills and gain promotion to a high level. Many craved the idea of breaking away for the drudgery of civilian life which was beset with uncertainties and insecurity. But above all, the recruits had one final goal in all this. When they retired after their active service, they would receive land and a regular income to support them. Besides, in civilian life, they would have to work until they reached a ripe age before being allowed to retire. Whereas in the army, they would be retired after a set 25 year period of service. So while their civilian counterparts were still working to an old age, the retired Roman soldier would have a decent and comfortable existence.

The raw recruit

On entering the army, the recruit would have signed on for a period of 25 years. Normally, he would have been 18-22 years of age on entry, although there is a recorded instance of a legionary, Marcus Valerius Latinus, who was accepted at the age of 15 . Officers from influential families came into the army at a higher level because of their connections and enjoyed a shorter period of service and would only hold a post for a few years before being moved either sideways or upwards. Often these men progressed their military careers by serving time in civilian postings were they could influence the politicians as well as their generals.

Not everyone was accepted into the army. Recruits had to undergo medicals and assessments to ensure they had an acceptable level of fitness and strength on entry. This meant that they could be trained faster than the recruits who had to be given physical instruction to get their bodies up to the level required.

Physical attributes were not the only qualification. A recruit had to show that he had a good character and a true Roman citizen. This could be achieved by natural birth into a Roman family, or in the case of recruits form the provinces, by swearing allegiance to the emperor and taking Roman citizenship.

All recruits had to swear an oath to the emperor. Not in person, but to the commanding officer that represented the authority of the emperor. By doing so they had giving their assurances to serve the empire, their unit and their comrades to the best of their ability.

Basic Training

Once in the army, the recruit was put through a period of basic training and be marked on various activities. If a recruit showed particular skill is horse riding, he would go into the cavalry, provided he was also at least 5' 8" (1.72m) in height.

Once the soldier had been issued with his uniform and weapons, then then followed four months of basic training consisted of a variety of instructions in weapons handling, tactics and hand to hand combat. The latter skill was not taught to a great degree, since Roman soldiers fought as a unit using standard battle tactics rather than as individuals. The unarmed combat techniques were intended for an extreme occasion such as a soldier being separated from his unit in battle and losing his weapons, or him being set upon in the street while out alone.

Once the soldier had been thoroughly trained so that all this became second nature to him, he was then put together with the remainder of the class and they were all taught collectively how to fight as one unit.

Physical training was not the only instruction they received. There were also the skills of observation, stealth, discipline and language to be taught. Language was important as the Roman officers gave out orders in Latin, which was their first language as most of them had come from Italy to serve in the provinces. As the Roman army also took Romanised citizens from the provinces, these recruits had the extra burden of learning Latin on top of all the other skills they were expected to learn.

A soldier's first posting

On completing his training, the soldier would then be sent to a unit chosen by his commanding officer. There were many different types of unit, depending on their place within the military. Not all soldiers were infantrymen trained to fight as a unit. There were also the scouts whose task was to go ahead of the advancing main force and report on enemy activities. battles were not always fought out in the open, and these troops would travel about 1 mile (1.4km) ahead of the legion an spy out any problems that lay in waiting. An ambush by the enemy was the most common form of attack and it was the job of the advance spies to search out these hidden traps. There were auxiliary troops that fought on the flanks of the main force and protected the legion from attacks from the side. Behind the legionaries were the cavalry and behind them the support personnel. carrying the provisions and camp equipment etc. So the Roman army was made up of various factions all working together as one unit. For his first posting the recruit would be given a document that he would present to the commander of his new unit. This would give his name, age, a brief description and an assessment of his abilities along with recommendations as to the part he would play in the legion which was based on his strengths and weaknesses.

Discipline and punishment

Life for a Roman soldier was harsh and uncompromising. Centurions carried canes that they used frequently and with effect on anyone who was sloppy or not performing to the best of their abilities. A soldier could expect a variety of punishments for any violations he may have committed. Demotion, loss of privileges and a spell in the brig were the most common forms of punishment for even small indiscretions. More serious crimes such as theft of another soldier's property or desertion were treated as two of the most serious crimes and it was military law that they could, if the commander decreed, be beaten to death by their fellow soldiers.

The most serious crime was cowardice. If only one soldier ran from a battle, then the survivors of the conflict would then face a fate that terrified them. Once a court had convened and the guilty soldier had been convicted of cowardice, then one in every ten soldiers from the unit could be executed. Those that were spared death were put on a ration of barley and water for a set period of time.

Rates of pay

As shown earlier, there were different types of soldier within and attached to each legion, and as such this was reflected in the rates of pay.
Around 117-138AD, it was recorded that a top legionary soldier would receive 300 silver denarii a year, a trooper in the cavalry 200 denarii, a cavalryman in a part mounted unit 150 and a private in the infantry 100 denarii. Non Commissioned Officers (NCO's) were on a higher scale, with junior NCO's having 1½ times the basic rate, and the senior NCO's receiving double.
However the soldier was expected to pay for items such as his uniform, weapons, bedding, the unit's burial fund and even for rations. By the time all the deductions had been made, he was left with about one fifth of his original earnings. Even so, the soldier had security and a level of pay that was higher than he would receive in civilian life.

[Clearchus of Sparta]

SIGNS OF DESIRABLE QUALITIES

Those employed to superintend new levies should be particularly careful in examining the features of their faces, their eyes, and the make of their limbs, to enable them to form a true judgment and choose such as are most likely to prove good soldiers. For experience assures us that there are in men, as well as in horses and dogs, certain signs by which their virtues may be discovered. The young soldier, therefore, ought to have a lively eye, should carry his head erect, his chest should be broad, his shoulders muscular and brawny, his fingers long, his arms strong, his waist small, his shape easy, his legs and feet rather nervous than fleshy. When all these marks are found in a recruit, a little height may be dispensed with, since it is of much more importance that a soldier should be strong than tall.

De Re Militari Book I

[Clearchus of Sparta]

Atrium Libertatis

Atrium Libertatis: a building containing the offices of the censors, some at least of their records, and some of the law on bronze tablets (Liv. XLIII.16; XLV.15; Fest. 241; Serv. ad Aen. I.726; Gran. Licin. 15). It is also said to have served as the place of detention of the Thurian hostages in 212 B.C. (Liv. XXV.7.12) and for the torture of the slaves during the trial of Milo (Cic. pro Mil. 59). It was restored in 194 B.C. (Liv. XXXIV.44) and again with great magnificence by Asinius Pollio (Suet. Aug. 29), who established here the first public library in Rome (Isid. Orig. 6.5; Ov. Trist. III.1.72; v. Bibliotheca Asini Pollionis). It is not to be confused with the Aedes Libertatis on the Aventine, and probably not with the shrine or monument that is marked with the word Libertatis on the Marble Plan in the north apse of the basilica Ulpia

[morteduzionism]

Originally Posted by Finn

The Roman emperor Commodus, fought and won 1,031 battles in the gladiatorial arena.

Really!? I looked him up, maybe I found the wrong one. The one I found was the son of Marcus Aurelius and was said to be pampered and taught intellectual things foregoing military training...

I'm not doubting you I'm just asking for clarification on the specific emperor.

[khshayathiya]

In the years after Trajan, the concept of virtus imperatoria (virtue/courage of the emperor) became an increasingly important issue. In terms of political philosophy, it was the foundation of the right of one man to rule over his subjects - his moral superiority, manifested in a number of physical and spiritual traits (much in the same way as Hellenistic kings had done in centuries past).

Commodus was plainly and publicly illustrating his virtus, while also entertaining his people. Quaint!

[Finn]

Originally Posted by morteduzionism

Really!? I looked him up, maybe I found the wrong one. The one I found was the son of Marcus Aurelius and was said to be pampered and taught intellectual things foregoing military training...

I'm not doubting you I'm just asking for clarification on the specific emperor.

I found the factoid at this site.
http://www.sentex.net/~ajy/facts/romanemp.html#f213


Although wiki has a different figure.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladiator#Emperors_as_gladiators

[Clearchus of Sparta]

OK,

Ive added a poll for a bit of fun. You can select more than one answer, but you can only vote once.

I havent had much time to do new posts what with RTR workload and such. I hope youre enjoying it tho.

[Clearchus of Sparta]

Celtic History

The Celtiberians (or Celt-Iberians) were a Celtic people living in the Iberian Peninsula, chiefly in what is now north central Spain and northern Portugal, before and during the Roman Empire. The group originated when Celts migrated from what is now France and integrated with the local Iberian people. A sign that the two populations intermingled can be detected in the presence of Celtic elements among the names of Celtiberian nobility.
The Celtiberian language is attested from the first century BC. Other, possibly Celtic languages, Lusitanian, were also spoken in pre-Roman Iberia. The Lusitanii gave their name to Lusitania, the Roman province name covering current Portugal and Extremadura. Extant tribal names include the Arevaci, Belli, Titti, and Lusones.

The earliest Celtic presence in Iberia was that of the southeastern Almería culture of the Bronze Age. In the tenth century BC, a fresh wave of Celts migrated into the Iberian peninsula and penetrated as far as Cadiz. They brought aspects of La Tène culture with them and adopted much of the culture they found. This basal Indo-European culture was of seasonally transhumant cattle-raising pastoralists protected by a warrior elite, similar to those in other areas of Atlantic Europe, centered in the hill-forts, locally termed castros, that controlled small grazing territories. These settlements of circular huts survived until Roman times across the north of Iberia, from Northern Portugal and Galicia to the Basque Country.

Celtic presence in Iberia likely dates to as early as the sixth century BC, when the castros evinced a new permanence with stone walls and protective ditches. Almagro-Gorbea and Lorrio recognize the distinguishing iron tools and extended family social structure of developed Celtiberian culture as evolving from the archaic castro culture which they consider "proto-Celtic".

[Clearchus of Sparta]

Deleted - Duplicated Post

[Clearchus of Sparta]

In the history of the ancient world Bactria is referenced as the amazing instance of a Greek kingdom far, far from Greece in what is now Afghanistan. That Greek civilization should have penetrated so far into Central Asia is quite astounding. The nature of the creation of the Greek outpost in Bactria is somewhat less amazing.

When Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire he acquired the all its outlying provinces including Bactria. Greek forces then established control in Bactria and maintained it after the collapse of the empire of Alexander. Bactria was at first part of the eastern section of Alexander's empire, which was ruled by the Seleucids. There was extensive immigration of Greeks and the creation of Greek cities. These cities were built on the Greek model and included such pillars of Greek culture as gymnasiums and amphitheatres.

Later Bactria asserted its independence and expanded its holdings to the upper reaches of the Indus River Valley. The Greek State in Bactria lasted for another two centuries, until it was finally overwhelmed by the nomadic tribesmen of the area.

Some of the principal cities of Greek Bactria were established on the Oxus River. The Oxus River drains into the Aral Sea.

Source:

Paul Bernard, "An Ancient Greek City in Central Asia," Scientific American, (January 1982), pp.148-159.

[Tiberius Tosi]

The Corvus

After Rome captured Agrigentum in 261 the Romans quickly realized they needed a navy to contend with the overwhelmingly experience Carthaginian fleets. The Romans copied a crashed Quinquereme, that beached off the coast of Messina, and quickly massed produced these ships. Some sources say it took the Romans only 40 days to make one from the day the trees were cut down. Rome built a fleet of 100 Quinquereme's to contend with the Carthaginian navy, but they still had one major disadvantage: Rome was not experienced with seagoing and did not have the experience that the Carthaginian sailors did.

After an embarassing loss of 17 ships to Hannibal Gisco at the Battle of the Lipari Islands it became evident that the Romans could not hope to match the skill of Carthage's navy. To make up for their lack of experience the Romans needed to adapt to make the fight to their advantage. They did this by turning a naval fight in to a land battle.

On the front of each Quinquereme the Romans attached a 40 foot tall ramp with a spike of the top that was controlled by a pulley. This was known as the Corvus (Latin for "raven"). The ramp was 4 feet wide, and had parapets on each side to prevent soldiers from falling off. An estimated crew of 4 people could turn the Corvus so it could angle to the other ship deck. When the Roman ship neared an enemy vessel, the crew would line up the Corvus, and then drop in it on to the deck of the enemy ship, where the spike would latch on, and thus create a boarding bridge to the enemies ship. Roman marines(not really marines in the sense we think, they were just regular soldiers put on a ship) would then walk across the Corvus to the enemy ship and ideally capture it.

In 260 Gaius Duilius led the Roman fleet of 103 Quinqueremes (now using the Corvus'). During the battle the Romans captured a staggering 30 Carthaginians vessels and sunk another 20. The Romans used the Corvus in the battles of Sulci, Tyndaris, and Ecnomus. At the battle of Ecnomus the Romans lost 24 ships and captured 65 ships while sinking another 30.

Despite the success of the Corvus it did have its major drawbacks. The first and most obvious was the added weight to the Roman ships. The Corvus weighed about 1 ton and that weight was added to the front of the ship, making it extremely front heavy. The Corvus was also nearly inneffective unless the seas were very calm, and the slightest bobbing of a ship could throw off the Corvus and make it not latch on to the deck of the opposing ship.

The problems with the Corvus making the ship front heavy ultimately took its toll on the Roman fleet. In 255, the Roman fleet of about 270 ships was hit by a large storm and nearly the entire fleet was whiped out. An estimated 100,000 men died, making it one of the largest losses at sea in all of history. The Corvus heavily contributed to such a heavy loss of ships and lives, since the Corvus made the ships front heavy, in a storm they were easy to overturn or sink because of the extra weight. After 255 the Corvus was phased out of the Roman navy, but by the time they were they were no longer needed, as the Roman fleet had become more experienced than the Carthaginian replacements. Another fleet was destroyed in a similar way in 249, leading to furthur phasing out of the Corvus.

The Corvus in all showed Rome's ability to adapt to their enemies strength and turn the tables, taking their weakness and manipulating it to their advantage.