for a few days and a short space of time, nor merely either by sea or land, nor after slow efforts and long delays, nor has suddenly forsaken her, as has happened in other empires, but born, and in a manner grown up with Rome, has there taken and fixed her abode has always presided over her government, has ever regulated her conduct, and constantly procured her the most glorious successes in war and peace, by sea and land, against Greeks and Barbarians.

;

This establishment of the Roman empire, the greatest and most powerful that ever was, [o] Polybius says, was not the effect of chance, but the result of merit and virtue, the consequence of designs wisely concerted, valiantly executed, and carried on with unvariable attention and ability. It is therefore useful and important, [p] continues he, to enquire what were the principles of the victors conduct before and after the victory, the disposition of the people in regard to them, and what was thought of those who were at the helm of the republic.

We have already seen what the great men were, who during this interval contributed to the aggrandizing of the Roman empire; it now remains to consider what was the genius and character of the Roman people.

We find it excellently described in [q] Sallust. "We must not think," says Cato," that our ancestors "increased the power of Rome, in the manner they did, by their numerous armies; they had other advantages which made them truly great, and the republic with them; at home a laborious life, abroad a just and wise government, in deliberations a spirit exempt from passion and vice;-in the field, as in

66.

[o] Pag. 64. [P] P. 160.

[9] Nolite existimare majores nostros armis rempublicam ex parvâ magnam fecisse. . . . Alia fuere, qua illos magnos fecere, quæ nobis nulla sunt; domi industria, foris justum imperium; animus in consulendo liber, neque delicto

neque lubidini obnoxius. Sallust. in Bello Catil.

Domi militiæque boni mores colebantur... Jus bonumque apud eos non legibus magis quàm naturâ valebat.,.. Duabas his artibus, audaciâ in bello, ubi pax evenerat æquitate, seque remjue publicam curabant. Ibid.

"the

"the city, says the same historian in another place, "good morals and good principles chiefly prevailed, "and the absolute dominion that justice and virtue "had over the Romans, rose less from the laws than "their own natural disposition, In fine, they supported themselves and the republic, by a double means; in war by boldness and valour, in peace by "justice and moderation."

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We must not conclude from what Sallust says here of this happy period of the republic, or from what we shall hereafter say upon the same subject, that all the Romans, or even the greatest number of them, were such as are here described: but this was the spirit of the republic, the genius of those who governed them, * this small number drew all the rest after them, and produced these wonderful effects.

Neither must we imagine that the virtues we have been commending, were very pure and solid. We set the full value upon them, and represent them as Roinan virtues, not as Christian. And yet, imperfect as they were, it pleased God, as St. Austin observes, to crown them with the empire of the world; a recompence worthy of the Romans, who expected no other, and as vain as their virtues. Receperunt mercedem suam, says the Gospel, vani vanam, as we may add, with a father who expresses himself thus concerning these illustrious Pagans.

Having taken these precautions, and made use of these preservatives, I shall now proceed to relate the principal virtues wherein the Romans excelled in war. And this I shall do with all the brevity that I can.

1. Equity and wise Caution in undertaking and declaring War.

The Romans never lightly or rashly engaged in a war. Before all things they endeavoured to gain the favour of the gods, expecting success only from their

*Ac mihi multa agitanti consta- virtutem cuncta patravisse. Sallust. bat, paucorum civium egregiam in Bello Catilin.

protection, and [] persuaded, that as they presided in a particular manner over the events of war, they always inclined the victory to the side of justice and equity. Hence it arose, that they never took up arms without first sending heralds to the enemy, whom they named feciales, to lay open their grievances and causes of complaint; nor did they declare war against them, but upon their refusal to make satisfaction. It was only because they would not omit these ceremonies, in which part of their religion consisted, that they suffered Saguntum to be miserably destroyed, whose ruin, as a judicious Carthaginian had foretold, recoiled upon Carthage itself, and drew on its destruction. The Romans were alike reserved in the cases of Philip, Antiochus, and Perseus, though these princes were the aggressors, and had long before broken their treaties by several manifest infractions.

2. Perseverance and Constancy in a Resolution once taken and decreed.

[s] The slower and more dilatory the Romans were at first, the brisker and more persevering they were in the execution. This appears evidently from the siege of Capua only. It was resolved by the Romans to attack that considerable city, the revolt of which, being left unpunished for several years, seemed to reflect shame upon Rome. At the time that Italy was ravaged by such an enemy as Hannibal, and the horrors of the war were most sensibly felt by them, they abandoned all, and quitted Hannibal himself to lay siege to Capua, whither they sent the two consuls, at the head of the two separate armies. The siege lasted above a year, and Hannibal used his utmost endeavours to save that city, which he had so much cause to value. As a last effort, he marches towards Rome.

[r] Vicerunt dii hominesque, & id, de quo verbis ambigebatur, uter populus foedus rupisset, eventus belli, velut æquus judex, unde jus stabat, ei victoriam dedit. Liv. lib.

xxi. n. 10.

[s] Quo leniùs agunt, segniùs incipiunt; eo, cùm cœperint, vereor ne perseverantiùs sæviant. Ibid.

with a numerous army. "There is no beast," [t] says a citizen of Capua, "so intent upon his prey, "but will quit his hold, if his den is attempted, and "its youug in danger of being carried off. But for the "Romans, neither the siege of Rome, nor the cries "and groans of their wives and children, which they "heard almost in the camp, could divert them from "the siege of Capua."

[u] The conquest and exemplary punishment of that revolted city, convinced the world of the perseverance of the Romans in pursuing their unfaithful allies with vengeance, and how unable Hannibal was to succour a city which had thrown itself under his protection.

But this character of perseverance and constancy appears to me most admirable in the Romans, in their treaties of peace with their enemies. The terms of it were expressed at the beginning of the war, and no future event could ever induce them to depart in the least from them. Neither the shocks they sometimes received, made them diminish those conditions in any thing, nor did the considerable victories they obtained occasion any addition; so firm and invariable were this people in their resolutions, as judging them to be founded in reason and equity. The treaties they made with the Carthaginians, and with the three princes whose overthrow followed upon that of Carthage, were all of this nature.

3. The Habit of inuring themselves to painful Labours and military Exercises; the incredible Severity of their Discipline, and the different Rewards of Merit.

The Romans may properly be said to have been a nation of soldiers, born and trained up to war, from whence they derived all their glory and power, as it made their principal occupation. Their troops were not collected at random, but made up of citizens set

tled at Rome, or in the country, who fought for themselves whilst they were fighting for the state. They were inured to military labour from their infancy. [x] Robustus acri militia puer condiscat, &c. [y] It is surprising to see what burdens they were loaded with in a march, Every soldier carried provisions for several days, one palisade, and sometimes more, with all the necessaries of life, besides his buckler, sword and helmet, which were not reckoned a burden, because the arms were in a manner part of the soldier, and looked upon as members of his body. Their long sieges, painful marches, remote expeditions, the extraordinary weight of their arms, baggage, and ammunition, their ordinary labour in fortifying the camp, though for a very short residence, and several other very fatiguing exercises of this nature, could not extinguish in them their love for the glory of their country; and so invincible a patience enabled them to conquer the whole earth.

It is easy to imagine what an impression those bloody executions made upon men's minds, [x] wherein fathers and consuls, to maintain and confirm the military discipline, which they looked upon as the principal support of the state, thought themselves obliged to shed the blood of their own children, and of the principal officers of the army. After such examples, a private soldier had no room to imagine that his disobedience could escape unpunished.

But what rendered the Roman armies invincible, was this great principle early established, and invioJably observed among the troops, that it was an indelible reproach, and au unpardonable crime in a Roman to deliver up his arms, and voluntarily surrender to the enemy; principle which left no medium betwixt death and victory.

Thus when it was pro

Romana res, solvisti...nos potiùs nostro delicto plectemur, quàm respublica tanto suo damno nostra peccata luat. Triste exemplum, sed in posterum salubre juventuti erimus. Liv. lib. viii. n. 7.

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