Reggio Calabria

For if readers are ignorant, or indeed in any doubt as to what are the facts from which the work opens, it is impossible that what follows should meet with acceptance or credence; but once we produce in them a general agreement on this point, they will give ear to all the subsequent narrative.

End of Chapter 5 Chapter 6 It was, then, the nineteenth year after the battle of Aegospotami, and the sixteenth before that of Leuktra [387-385 B.C.], the year in which the Spartans made the peace known as that of Antalkidas with the King of Persia; that in which also Dionysius the Elder, after defeating the Italiot Greeks in the battle at the river Helleporos, was besieging Rhegium; and that in which the Gauls, after taking Rome itself by assault, occupied the whole of that city except the Capitol.

The Romans, after making a truce on conditions satisfactory to the Gauls, and being thus, contrary to their expectation, reinstated in their home and, as it were, now started on the road of aggrandizement, continued in the following years to wage war on their neighbours.

After subduing all the Latins by their valour and the fortune of war, they fought first against the Etruscans, then against the Celts, and next against the Samnites, whose territory was conterminous with that of the Latins on the east and north.

The Romans had ere this reduced the Etruscans and Samnites, and had vanquished the Italian Celts in many battles, and they now for the first time attacked the rest of Italy, not as if it were a foreign country, but as if it rightfully belonged to them.

Their struggle with the Samnites and Celts had made them veritable masters in the art of war, and after bravely supporting the war with Pyrrhus, and finally expelling himself and his army from Italy [274 B.C.], they continued to fight with and subdue those who had sided with him.

When with extraordinary good fortune they had reduced all these peoples and had made all the inhabitants of Italy their subjects excepting the Celts, they undertook the siege of Rhegium, now held by certain of their compatriots.

End of Chapter 6 Chapter 7 For very much the same fortune had befallen the two cities on the straits, Messene and Rhegium.

The struggle with the Samnites and Celts had made them veritable masters in the art of war, and after bravely supporting the war with Pyrrhus and finally expelling himself and his army from Italy 274 B.C., they continued to fight with and subdue those who had sided with him.

When with extraordinary good fortune they had reduced all these peoples and had made all the inhabitants of Italy their subjects excepting the Celts, they undertook the siege of Rhegium now held by certain of their compatriots.

End of chapter six Chapter seven For very much the same fortune had befallen the two cities on the straits Messene and Rhegium Certain companions serving under Agathocles Had long cast covetous eyes On the beauty and prosperity Of Messene And not long before the events I am speaking of They availed themselves Of the first opportunity To capture it By treachery After being admitted As friends and occupying the city They first expelled or massacred The citizens And took possession of the wives and families Of their unhappy victims Just as chance assigned them At the time of the outrage They next divided among themselves The land and all other property Having thus possessed themselves So quickly and easily Of a fine city and territory They were not long in finding imitators Of their exploit For the people of Rhegium When Pyrrhus crossed to Italy Dreading an attack by him And fearing also The Carthaginians Who commanded the sea Begged from the Romans A garrison and support The force which was sent Four thousand in number And under the command of Decius A companion Kept the city In their faith For some time But at length Anxious to rival The Mamertines And with their cooperation Played the people of Rhegium faults And eagerly coveting A city so favorably situated And containing so much private wealth Expelled or massacred The citizens And possessed themselves Of the city In the same manner As the companions Had done The Romans Were highly displeased Yet could do nothing At the time As they were occupied With the wars I have already mentioned But when they had a free hand They shut up the culprits In the city And proceeded To lay siege to it As I have stated above When Rhegium fell Most of the besieged Were slain In the actual assault Having defended themselves Desperately As they knew what awaited them But more than three hundred Were captured Two seventy-one BC When they were sent to Rome The consuls had Them all conducted To the forum And there According to the Roman custom Scourged and beheaded Their object Being to recover As far as possible By this punishment Their reputation For good faith With the allies The city and territory Of Rhegium They at once Restored to the citizens End of chapter seven Chapter eight The Mamertines For this was the name Adopted by the companions After their seizure Of Messina As long as they enjoyed The alliance of the Romans Who had occupied Rhegium Not only remained In secure possession Of their own city And territory But caused no little trouble To the Carthaginians And Syracusans About the adjacent territories Levying tribute From many parts of Sicily When however They were deprived Of this support The captors of Rhegium Being now closely invested They were at once In their turn Driven to take refuge In their city By the Syracusan owing to the following causes: Not many years before the Syracusan army had quarreled with those in the city; they were then posted near Mergane and appointed two magistrates chosen from their own body—Artemidoros and Hero, who was subsequently king of Syracuse (275 b.c.).

He was still quite young, but naturally qualified to be a ruler and statesman of a kind.

Having accepted the command he gained admittance to the city through certain relatives, and after overpowering the opposite party administered affairs with such mildness and magnanimity that the Syracusans though by no means inclined to approve camp elections on this occasion unanimously accepted him as their general.

He met the enemy near Cantoripa and offered battle near the river Quamosorus.

He held back the citizen cavalry and infantry at a distance under his personal command as if he meant to attack on another side but advancing the mercenaries he allowed them all to be cut up by the Companions during their routs he himself retired safely to Syracuse with the citizens having thus efficiently accomplished his purpose and purged the army of its turbulent and seditious element He himself enlisted a considerable number of mercenaries, and henceforth continued to rule in safety.

Observing that the Mamertines owing to their success were behaving in a bold and reckless manner, he efficiently armed and trained the urban levies, and leading them out engaged the enemy in the Mylaean plain near the river Longanos, and inflicted a severe defeat on them capturing their leaders 268 BC this put an end to the audacity of the mamertins And on his return to Syracuse He was with one voice proclaimed king by all the allies End of chapter nine Chapter ten The Mamertines had previously As I above narrated Lost their support from Rhegium And had now suffered complete disaster at home For the reasons I have just stated Some of them appealed to the Carthaginians Proposing to put themselves and the citadel into their hands While others sent an embassy to Rome Offering to surrender the city And begging for assistance as a kindred people The Romans were long at a loss The succor demanded being so obviously unjustifiable For they had just inflicted on their own fellow citizens The highest penalty for their treachery To the people of Rhegium And now to try to help the Mamertines Who had been guilty of like offence Not only at Messene but at Rhegium also Was a piece of injustice very difficult to excuse But fully aware as they were of this They yet saw That the Carthaginians Had not only reduced Libya to subjection But a great part of Spain besides And that they were also In possession of all the islands In the Sardinian and Tyrrhenian seas They were therefore in great apprehension Lest if they also became masters of Sicily They would be most troublesome and dangerous neighbours Hemming them in on all sides And threatening every part of Italy That they would soon be supreme in Sicily If the Mamertines were not helped It is evident Once Messene had fallen Into their hands They would shortly subdue Syracuse Also As they were absolute lords Of almost all the rest of Sicily The Romans Foreseeing this and viewing it as A necessity for themselves Not to abandon Messene And thus allow the Carthaginians As it were Build a bridge over to Italy Debated the matter for long End of chapter ten Chapter eleven And even at the end The senate did not sanction The proposal for the reason given Above Considering that the objection On the score of inconsistency Was equal in weight To the advantage to be derived From intervention The commons however Worn out as they were By the recent wars And in need of any and every kind Of restorative Listened readily to the military commanders Who Besides giving the reasons above Stated for the general Advantageousness of the war Pointed out the great benefit In the way of plunder Which each and everyone Would evidently derive from it They were therefore in favour of consenting And when the measure had Been passed by the people They appointed to the command One of the consuls Appius Claudius Who was ordered to cross To Messene Two sixty four B C The Mamertines Partly by menace and partly by stratagem Dislodged the Carthaginian commander Who was already established in the Citadel And then invited Appius to enter Placing the city in his hands The Carthaginiians crucified Their general Thinking him guilty of a lack Both of judgment and of courage In abandoning the Citadel Acting for themselves They stationed their fleet In the neighbourhood of Cape Pelorius And with their land forces Pressed Messane close in the direction Of Sunis Hero now Thinking that present circumstances Were favourable for expelling From Sicily entirely The foreigners who occupied Messane Made an alliance With the Carthaginians And quitting Syracuse with His army marched towards That city Pitching his camp Near the Chalkidian mountain On the side opposite To the Carthaginians He cut off This means of exit From the city as well Appius the Roman consul At the same time succeeded At great risk in crossing the straits By night and entering the city Finding that the enemy Had strictly invested Messane On all sides And regarding it as both inglorious And perilous for himself to Be besieged As they commanded both Land and sea He at first tried to negotiate With both Desiring to deliver The Mamertines from the war But when neither paid Any attention to him He decided perforce To risk an engagement And in the first place To attack the Syracusans Leading out his forces He drew them up In order of battle The king of Syracuse Readily accepting the challenge After a prolonged struggle Appius was victorious And drove the whole hostile force Back to their camp After despoiling the dead He returned to Messanae Hiero Divining the final issue Of the whole conflict Retreated in haste after Nightfall to Syracuse End of chapter twelve On the following day Appius Learning of his retirement And encouraged thereby Decided not to delay But to attack the Carthaginians He ordered his troops To be in readiness early And sallied forth at break of day Engaging the enemy He slew many of them And compelled the rest To retreat in disorder To the neighbouring cities Having raised the siege By these successes He advanced fearlessly Devastating the territory Of the Syracusans And of their allies No one disputing The open country With him Finally he sat down Before Syracuse And commenced to besiege it Such then was the occasion And motive of this The first crossing of the Romans From Italy with An armed force An event which I take To be the most natural Starting point of this Whole work I have therefore mated my serious base, but went also somewhat further back in order to leave no possible obscurity in my statements of general causes.