History of Julius Cæsar, Vol. 1 of 2Napoleon III, Emperor of the French
History
History of Julius Cæsar, Vol. 1 of 2
Napoleon III, Emperor of the French
Caesar, Julius; Rome -- History -- Republic, 265-30 B.C.
In 468, the people again withdrew to the Janiculum, demanding the
remission of debts, and crying out against usury.[232] Concord was
restored only when they had obtained, first, by the law Hortensia, that
the plebiscita should be obligatory on all; and next, by the law Marcia,
that the orders obtained through Publilius Philo in 415 should be
restored to vigour. These orders, as we have seen above, obliged the
Senate to declare in advance whether or not the laws presented to the
comitia were contrary to public and religious law.[233]
The ambition of Rome seemed to be without bounds; yet all her wars had
for reason or pretext the defence of the weak and the protection of her
allies. Indeed, the cause of the wars against the Samnites was sometimes
the defence of the inhabitants of Capua, sometimes that of the
inhabitants of Palæopolis, sometimes that of the Lucanians. The war
against Pyrrhus had its origin in the assistance claimed by the
inhabitants of Thurium; and the support claimed by the Mamertines will
soon lead to the first Punic war.
The Senate, we have seen, put in practice the principles which found
empires and the virtues to which war gives birth. Thus, for all the
citizens, equality of rights; in face of danger to their country,
equality of duties and even suspension of liberty. To the most worthy,
honours and the command. No magisterial charge for him who has not
served in the ranks of the army. The example is furnished by the most
illustrious and richest families: at the battle of Lake Regillus (258),
the principal senators were mingled in the ranks of the legions;[234] at
the combat near the Cremera, the three hundred and six Fabii, who all,
according to Titus Livius, were capable of filling the highest offices,
perished fighting. Later, at Cannæ, eighty senators, who had enrolled
themselves as mere soldiers, fell on the field of battle.[235] The
triumph is accorded for victories which enlarged the territory, but not
for those which only recovered lost ground. No triumph in civil
wars:[236] in such case, success, be what it may, is always a subject
for public mourning. The consuls or proconsuls seek to be useful to
their country without false susceptibility; to-day in the first rank,
to-morrow in the second, they serve with the same devotion under the
orders of him whom they commanded the previous day. Servilius, consul in
281, becomes, the year following, the lieutenant of Valerius. Fabius,
after so many triumphs, consents to be only lieutenant to his son. At a
later period, Flamininus, who had vanquished the King of Macedonia,
descends again through patriotism, after the victory of Cynoscephalæ,
to the grade of tribune of the soldiers;[237] the great Scipio himself,
after the defeat of Hannibal, serves as lieutenant under his brother in
the war against Antiochus.
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