death, and commit an abominable crime." And then, uttering imprecations against Prusias, and calling upon the gods, who were the guardians and avengers of the sacred rites of hospitality, to punish him, he drank up the poison, and died. Such was the end of the two greatest men of their age, who both fell by the jealousy of their enemies, and experienced the ingratitude of their country. THE WAR AGAINST PERSEUS THE LAST KING OF MACEDON. Perseus had succeeded his father Philip in the kingdom of Macedon, and twenty years were now passed since the peace inade with Antiochus. [1] The Romans, having long dissembled several causes of discontent they had against Perseus, resolved at last to make war upon him, unless he gave them satisfaction. [g] This prince had neither honour nor religion, and made no scruple to employ calumny, murder, and poison, for the attainment of his ends. Blinded and corrupted by the flatteries of his courtiers, he thought himself a great soldier, and capable of subduing the Romans. For which reason he answered their deputies with such haughtiness and pride, as obliged them to declare war against him upon the spot. Some small successes in his first campaign served only to make him the more adventurous. [h] However, he followed the counsel which was given him, which was to make the best use of the advantage he had gained in a battle, in order to obtain more favourable conditions of peace, rather than to hazard all upon an uncertain hope. He therefore made the [i] consul very advantageous offers. [k] In the councilof war, which was held upon this occasion, the Roman [f] Liv. lib.. xlii. n. 25-31 [g] Hunc per omnia clandestina grassari scelera latrociniorum ac veneficiorum cernebant. Ib. n. 18. [] Ausi sunt quidam amicorum consilium dare, ut secundâ fortunâ in conditiones honestæ pacis uteretur, potiùs quàm spe vanâ ercc tus in casum irrevocabilem se [2] Publius Licinius Crassus. [] Romana constantia vicit in concilio. Ita tum mos erat, in adversis vultum secundæ fortunæ gerere, moderari animos in secundis, Ib. constancy constancy prevailed. The character of the nation in those times was to shew great courage and magnanimity under misfortunes, whilst they valued themselves upon their moderation in prosperity. The answer therefore to the king was, that he had no peace to expect, but by submitting entirely to the discretion of the Roman people, and leaving the decision of his fate to them. All hope of accommodation being at an end, both sides prepared for continuing the war. [/]The new consul entered Macedonia, and marched to attack the king in his own country. However, as the affair was of much longer duration than had been expected, the Romans grew very uneasy. [m] Paulus Æmilius being chosen consul, and the war against Perseus committed to his care, they conceived better hopes, and he put himself into a condition not to deceive them. Before his departure, he thought proper to make a speech to the people, wherein he besought them not to give credit to any flying reports, that should be rumoured against his conduct. That there was a kind of idle unexperienced men, who could make war in their closets at their ease, and if their views and schemes were not followed, were apt to censure the general in public companies, and pass sentence upon him. That he did not refuse to receive advice, but it must be from persons that were upon the spot. [n] When he arrived in Macedonia, and drew near the enemy, the troops, full of ardour, desired to charge them immediately; and a young officer of great merit, named Nasica, pressed him to lay hold of the opportunity, and not let an enemy escape, whose flights and precipitate retreats had given so much exercise to his predecessors. He commended the warmth of the young officer and the soldiers, but did not comply with their desire. The march had been long and painful, in a very hot summer's day, and the army extremely fatigued with dust, drought, weariness, and the [/] Liv. lib. xliv. n. 1, &c. [n]Ib. n. 36. [#] [b. n. 17-22. excessive T excessive heat of the sun. He therefore did not judge it convenient to engage his troops in a battle, fatigued and exhausted as they were, against an enemy, who, being fresh and lying still, were in full force. [o] Some days after they came to a battle. Paulus Emilius shewed all the wisdom and courage that were to be expected from so experienced a commander. The long and obstinate resistance of the enemy, shewed they had not entirely degenerated from their anci ent reputation. The great shock lay against the Mace. donian phalanx, which was a kind of square battalion thick set with pikes and lances, and which it was almost impossible to break through; they were so accustomed to join all their bucklers together, and present a kind of iron wall to the enemy. Paulus Æmilius owned afterwards, that this brazen rampart, that forest of pikes, had filled him with dread and astonishment; and though he put a good countenance upon it, he could not at first help feeling some doubts and uneasiness upon the success of the battle. In short, all his first line being cut to pieces, the second was discouraged, and began likewise to give way. The consul, perceiving that the inequality of ground obliged the phalanx to leave openings and intervals, divided his troops into platoons, and ordered them to throw themselves into the void places of the enemy's battle, and not attack them all together in front, but by detachments, and at different places at the same time. This order, timely given, gained the victory. The phalanx, thus separated and disjoined, were no longer able to sustain the efforts of the Romans. What followed was bloodshed and slaughter, and it is thought there fell that day above twenty-five thousand men on the side of the Macedonians. [p] Perseus withdrew before the battle begun; after some vain efforts, he suffered himself to be taken prisoner, and surrendered to the conqueror, and this he did in so base and cowardly a manner, as drew upon him the contempt of all that saw it, instead of ex[o] Liv. lib. xliv. m. 37-42. Plut. in Vit. Pauli. [p] Lib. xlv. n. 48. citing their compassion, as might have been expected in such a condition. [9] He was carried to Rome, with his children, and served to adorn the triumph of Paulus Emilius. CHAP. II. REFLECTIONS. I QUESTION whether the reader, when he sees me touching upon war and politics, will not be tempted to apply to me what Hannibal said upon a like occasion. It was at the time when he retired to Antiochus at Ephesus, [r] where every body striving to entertain. him agreeably, it was one day proposed to him to hear a philosopher called Phormio, who made a great noise in the city, and passed for a fine speaker. He was so complaisant as to go where he was desired. The philosopher spoke upon the duties of a general of an army, and the rules of the military art, and made a very long discourse. The whole audience were charmed with his eloquence, and Hannibal was asked what he thought of it. His answer, which he gave in Greek, was ill expressed in point of language, but full of a soldier-like liberty." I have seen, says he, many "old men that wanted sense and judgment; but of all "the old men that ever I saw, this is the most sense"less and injudicious." How extravagant indeed must it have been in a philosopher, who had never seen either camp or army, to attempt to entertain Hannibal, with precepts concerning the art of war? I should deserve a like reproach, and perhaps more justly too, if the reflections I make were my own. But as I select almost every one of them from the most learned men of antiquity, who were some of them very skilful and experienced in the art of war, I think myself very secure under the shadow of their great names. My reflections shall turn upon two points. I shall first endeavour to point out the character, the virtues, and, as occasion offers, the faults also of those who [q] Liv. lib. xlv, n. 40. Plut. in Vit. Pauli. [r] Cic. lib. ii. de Orat. D. 75, 76, have had the greatest share in the events I have spok en of, such as Hannibal, Fabius, Scipio, Paulus Æmilius, Antiochus, Philip, and Perseus. I shall then endeavour to explain the principles of the government and policy of the Romans, especially in what relates to the manner of their conduct in the time of war, with reference to their citizens, their allies, and their enemies. And for all this, I cannot have a better authority, nor a surer guide, than Polybius, who was an eye-witness of part of the events here treated, was familiarly acquainted with the great men who were the principal actors in them, studied the character and constitution of the Roman people with a great deal of care, and served as a guide and master to Livy, whose reflections I shall likewise make great use of. THE DIFFERENT ARTICLE I. QUALIFICATIONS OF THE PERSONS SPOKEN OF IN THIS THIRD PORTION OF ROMAN HISTORY. WE here plainly see, that neither wealth, illustrious extraction, nor even the majesty of a throne, make men truly valuable; and that, how gorgeous and dazzling soever all this vain splendor may be, it is entirely obscured and effaced by real merit and solid virtue. What an idea does the history we have related leave us of the princes it speaks of? ANTIOCHUS, KING OF SYRIA. Without dwelling upon the other faults of this prince, a single circumstance may lead us into a judgment of his character. [s] Livy says, that the first degree of merit in a man who commands, is to be able of himself to act what is proper; that the second [s]Sæpe ego audivi, milites, eum primum esse virum, qui ipse consulat quid in rem sit; secundum eum, qui bene monenti obediat; qui nec ipse consulere, ncc alteri parere sciat, eum extremi ingenii esse. Lib. xxii. n. 29. siod, The same thought occurs in HeOp. & Di. v. 291. in Herolib. vii. and in Cic. pro dotus, |