Etruscans and Umbrians parties to it. The defeat of the Senonese Gauls and the colony to Sena were likewise mentioned by Livy in his eleventh and twelfth lost books. (135)

The two stories of Manlius and Valerius are not mentioned by Polybius: but they were doubtless to be found in the works of Roman historians, who were at least as early as Polybius. The account of the single combat with Manlius contains nothing marvellous: the size of the Gallic champion, though large, is not gigantic; and the victory is the result of superior skill.(186) The story however is unfixed, it is referred to different years; and it seems to be a legend devised as an explanation of the name Torquatus, as the single combat of Valerius is clearly a legend explanatory of his name Corvus. The raven settling on his helmet, and pecking the eyes of his Gaulish enemy, is a supernatural incident, which renders the story incredible. (187)

The birth of Polybius falls about 204 B.C.,(138) and therefore the composition of his history could not have been much less than two centuries after the early expeditions of the Gauls against Rome. There were no Roman historians contemporary with this period, and we have no means of determining whether his

(135) According to Livy these events occurred between 287 and 282 B.C. Polybius assigns them to 291 B.C. Polybius places the colony after the conquest: Livy seems to have placed the conquest after the colony. Beaufort, Diss. p. 298, reads Senonibus for Samnitibus, in Liv. Epit. xi. The MSS. vary. Samnitibus may however be the right reading, as Curius Dentatus is stated by Eutropius to have defeated the Samnites during his consulship. Compare Appian, Samn. 6, Celt. 11; Orosius, iii. 22; and Niebuhr, Hist. vol. iii. p. 427.

(136) Armatum adornatumque adversus Gallum stolide lætum, et (quoniam id quoque memoriâ dignum antiquis visum est) linguam etiam ab irrisu exserentem, producunt; Livy, vii. 10. This circumstance appears to be taken from the account of Claudius Quadrigarius: Deinde Gallus irridere cœpit, atque linguam exertare;' Gell. ix. 13.

(137) Niebuhr thinks that both these stories were derived from 'heroic lays; Hist. vol. iii. p. 77, 80; and he discovers a rhythmical cadence in the prayer of Valerius, in the text of Livy; ib. n. 147. His account of the champion killed by Manlius, as being of gigantic size, is not however supported by Livy. These stories are also considered fabulous by Dr. Arnold; vol. ii. p. 87. The Fury who is sent down by Jupiter, and who, under the form of an owl, flits before the face of Turnus, and beats his shield with her wings, is merely a monitory omen: whereas the raven of Valerius Corvus is an active ally. See En. xii. 865, 876.

(138) See above, vol. i. P. 32.

account is preferable to that of Livy and the other authorities. The two accounts are irreconcilable, and cannot both be true. Niebuhr appears to consider the outline of Livy's account as the more credible; but if we are to prefer Livy to Polybius as an authority for the Gaulish expeditions in the first half century after the capture of the city, there is no reason why we should not give him a similar preference for the capture of the city itself and yet Niebuhr rejects Livy's account of this event, and adopts that of Polybius.(139)

§ 14 Livy states that in the year 349 B.C. a fleet of Greek pirates appeared off the Latin coast and the mouth of the Tiber; they had here a casual conflict with the Gauls, who were scattered over this region. They were in the next year kept in check by L. Camillus, who, by preventing them from landing to obtain water and other necessaries, drove them from the coast. It is uncertain, Livy adds, to what state or country this fleet belonged he himself suspected it to be Sicilian, as the Greek mother-country was occupied by the Macedonian war.(140) This account bears internal evidence of authenticity, as an inventor would probably have been more specific. If it be true, it seems to show that there was little intercourse at this time between Greece and Rome; for if intelligence had been regularly con

:

(139) Niebuhr, in speaking of Livy's account of the first inroads of the Gauls, after 390 B.C., says: The narrative, clearly distinguished from the legends connected with it, though it may also be embellished, is in substance altogether of the same kind as the other parts of the history, with which it is interwoven, and which are worthy of all belief. The unconditional confidence, which is due to Polybius in the times near his own, cannot be extended to so early a period, respecting which he could only seek for information in the annals(?); Hist. vol. iii. p. 76. Dr. Arnold likewise says: We should be glad to know from what source Polybius derived his knowledge of these events;' vol. ii. p. 86. Lower down, however, he remarks, with reference to the story of Valerius Corvus: As in this instance the time, place, circumstances, and issue of the poetical battle, bear no resemblance to those of the real one, so also the poetical or romance accounts of these last Gaulish invasions retain scarcely a feature of that simple and real history of them which has been preserved to us by Polybius;' ib. p. 88. Here Dr. Arnold assumes, contrary to the opinion of Niebuhr, that the true account is in Polybius.

(140) Livy, vii. 25-6. Niebuhr's conjecture with respect to this fleet is in Hist. vol. iii. p. 85.

veyed, and communication was frequent, the origin of a fleet which appears to have remained some time off the south-western coast of Italy, could not have continued uncertain.(141)

Livy likewise mentions a treaty having been made at Rome with Carthaginian envoys in 348 B.C., and a golden crown having been sent to Rome by Carthage, as a gratulatory present on account of the recent victories over the Samnites, in 343 B.C.(142) He further speaks of a treaty having been renewed for the third time with Carthage in 306 B.C.(143) These notices do not accord with the detailed account of the earliest treaties between Rome and Carthage, given by Polybius.(144)

§ 15 Some notices of prodigies, and religious ceremonies for their expiation, which occur in this period, deserve attention, as they are likely to have been recorded by cotemporary annalists. Scenic games, which at first consisted only of music and dancing, and were destitute of any dramatic element, are related to have been first introduced among the expiatory rites for the pestilence of 365 B.C.(145) This celebration however was not deemed acceptable to the gods; for while the games were in progress, the circus was inundated by the Tiber. Another atonement was therefore sought for; and it was remembered by some aged persons, that a pestilence had once been stopped by the ceremony of the dictator driving a nail into a temple. According to Livy, this custom had originally been intended to mark the year, at a time when writing was rarely practised: it had however now become a mere form, which had only a religious meaning. (146) In a later year (331 B.C.) this ceremony was repeated, as a purification for the poisonings of the matrons: the

(141) See above, vol. i. p. 63.

(142) Livy, vii. 27, 38; cf. ix. 43. It is stated by Diod. xvi. 69, that in the consulship of Valerius and Popillius (348 B.C.) the Romans first made a treaty with the Carthaginians. This agrees with the notice in Livy; but is quite inconsistent with the detailed account of Polybius.

(143) ix. 43.

(144) See Niebuhr, Hist. vol. iii. p. 86.

(145) Livy, vii. 2.

(146) vii. 3. The connexion of ideas in this passage is extremely ob. See above, vol. i. p. 176.

scure.

precedent then followed is reported to have been found in historical records, and to have been the driving of a nail in a secession of the plebs. (147)

Shortly afterwards (362 B.C.) the chasm in the forum, which could not be filled until M. Curtius leaped into it on horseback, is said to have occurred; and the Lacus Curtius, a reservoir of water in the forum, marked the place of this event. The prevailing belief deduced the origin of the name from this story; but another legend traced it to Mettus Curtius, a soldier of Titus Tatius, who was here swallowed up in a swamp.(148)

Under the year 345 B.C., it is related that L. Furius, the dictator, in a battle against the Aurunci vowed a temple to Juno Moneta; after he had returned victorious to Rome, the Senate appointed decemvirs to build the temple, and assigned for it the site of the house of Manlius, on the Capitol.(149) The temple was dedicated in the following year; and its dedication is stated to have been immediately followed by a prodigy, similar to that which had occurred in the Alban mount, in the reign of Tullus Hostilius: stones fell from the sky, and there was darkness during the day. The Sibylline books were inspected, a dictator was appointed for the celebration of proper holidays, and supplications were directed, not only for the Roman tribes, but also for the neighbouring communities. (150)

(147) Livy, viii. 18.

(148) Livy, i. 13, vii. 6; Dion. Hal. ii. 42. xiv. 10-1; Dio Cass. fragm. xxx. 1. Zon. vii. 25, who tells the story at length, and adds: rav¤ оVTw τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις ἱστόρηται· εἰ δέ τῳ μυθώδη κριθείη καὶ μὴ πιστὰ, ἔξεστιν οἱ μὴ πpoσixεw avтois. Prop. iv. 11, 61; Val. Max. v. 6, 2; Festus, in Curti lacum, p. 49; Plin. Ñ. H. xv. 20. Varro, L. L. v. § 148-50, mentions both stories, and adds a third, that the place had been struck by lightning, and that it was built round by the consul Curtius in 445 B.C. See Arnold, vol. ii. p. 80-1; above, vol. i. p. 426, n. 60; Schwegler, vol. i. n. 463, 484. The name is mentioned by Tacitus, Hist. i. 41. The lacus Curtius contained water; Suet. Oct. 57.

(149) Manlius was condemned in 384 B.C., and therefore the area had remained vacant for thirty-nine years.

(150) Livy, vii. 28. Concerning the shower of stones on the Alban hill, see above, vol. i. p. 164, n. 106.

PART II.-FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE SAMNITE WARS

TO THE LANDING OF PYRRHUS.

(343-281 B.C.)

§ 16 WE now arrive at the commencement of the Samnite wars, which, with their direct and indirect consequences, nearly fill up the entire interval of sixty-two years until the landing of Pyrrhus in Italy.() The origin of the First Samnite War, in the year 343 B.C.,() is described by Livy in a perspicuous and coherent narrative.

The Samnites, who occupied the midland region of Southern Italy, had attacked the Sidicines, a less powerful community, who dwelt to the north of Campania, on the confines of Latium.(3) The Sidicines obtain the assistance of the Campanians; but the latter find that they are not only unable to protect their weaker ally, but even to defend themselves against the brave and hardy Samnites. Besieged in Capua, and pressed by the persevering vigour of their assailants, they send ambassadors to the Roman Senate to implore assistance. The Senate give them an audience, but refuse their application, on the ground that there is a subsisting treaty with the Samnites, and that Rome cannot assist the Campanians against them without a breach of faith. Upon this, the leader of the embassy, following the instructions given him in contemplation of a refusal, makes a formal surrender of the Campanian people, the city of Capua, the territory, the temples of the gods, and everything

(1) Majora jam hinc bella et viribus hostium, et longinquitate vel regionum, vel temporum spatio, quibus bellatum est, dicentur : namque eo anno adversus Samnites, gentem opibus armisque validam, mota arma. Samnitium bellum, ancipiti Marte gestum, Pyrrhus hostis, Pyrrhum Pœni secuti; Livy, vii. 29.

(2) In this year the final expulsion of Dionysius the younger by Timoleon likewise took place.

(3) Teanum, the chief place of the Sidicines, is described by Strabo as the largest of the Campanian towns upon the Latin frontier: μeyiorη ovoa τῶν ἐπὶ τῇ Λατίνῃ πόλεων, ν. 3, § 9. Niebuhr overstrains the testimony of Strabo in saying that he represents Teanum as great even among the largest cities of Italy; Hist. vol. iii. p. 112.