[Footnote 46: The technical word for this appeal was _Provocatio_. The word _Appellatio_ signified an appeal from one magistrate to another.] [Footnote 47: See p. 31.(Eighth paragraph of Chapter IV.--Transcriber)] [Footnote 48: See p. 40.(Eighth paragraph of Chapter V.--Transcriber)] [Footnote 49: See p. 19.(Ninth paragraph of Chapter III.--Transcriber)] [Footnote 50: We anticipate the course of events in order to give under one view the history of the Roman legion.] [Footnote 51: Hence the frequent occurrence of such phrases as _expediti_, _expediti milites_, _expeditae cohortes_, and even _expeditae legiones_.] [Footnote 52: Called _Supplicatio_.] [Illustration: Scipio Africanus.] CHAPTER XVIII. INTERNAL HISTORY OF ROME DURING THE MACEDONIAN AND SYRIAN WARS. CATO AND SCIPIO. The conquests of the Romans in the East had exercised a most pernicious influence upon the national character. They were originally a hardy, industrious, and religious race, distinguished by unbending integrity and love of order. They lived with great frugality upon their small farms, which they cultivated with their own hands; but they were stern and somewhat cruel, and cared little or nothing for literature and the arts. Upon such a people the sudden acquisition of wealth produced its natural effects. They employed it in the gratification of their appetites, and in coarse sensual pleasures. Some of the Roman nobles, such as Scipio Africanus, Flamininus (the conqueror of Philip), and others, acquired a love for Greek literature and art; but the great mass of the nation imitated only the vices of the Greeks. Cooks, who had formerly been the cheapest kind of slaves at Rome, now became the most valuable. A love of luxury and a general depravity gradually spread through all classes of society. A striking instance of the growing licentiousness of the times was brought to light in B.C. 186. It was discovered that the worship of Bacchus had been introduced from Southern Italy into Rome and other towns, and that secret societies were formed, which, under the cloak of this worship, indulged in the most abominable vices. A stringent inquiry was made into these practices; the most guilty were put to death; and a decree of the Senate was passed, forbidding the worship of Bacchus in Rome and throughout Italy.