BOOK B.C. in spite of all his efforts, he failed even to take Lilybæum. Having continued for two months his siege operations, 280-275 he was obliged to give up the attempt of taking the town by force. His great triumphs over the Carthaginians, and the universal enthusiasm of the Greeks, were now succeeded by discouragement, discontent, discord, and mutual complaints. Failure of The strict military discipline and the inforcement of unPyrrhus in conditional obedience, which, under such circumstances, Sicily. were more necessary than ever, appeared an unbearable burthen to the Sicilian Greeks, when the fitting out of a fleet for the African expedition demanded new efforts. Pyrrhus was inexorably severe, perhaps even cruel, though cruelty was not generally in his nature. At any rate he was accused of it by those who refused to submit to his commands. Fickle, inconstant, and faithless as the Greeks always were, they now opened negotiations with the Mamertines of Messana, and even with the Carthaginians. The newly created kingdom of Sicily passed away like a shadow. The Carthaginian army issued out of Lilybæum to overrun the island. Once more the king of Epirus, summoning all his strength, encountered them and drove them back into their strongholds, after inflicting a bloody defeat. Nevertheless he seemed tired and dispirited. The war in Sicily had lost its charm for him when, at the end of almost three years, he found that he had not been able to gain even the attachment, fidelity, and ready cooperation of the Greeks. He saw that personal passions and the interests of parties were dearer to them than all national aspirations; he therefore turned his back upon them as soon as he found a pretext for leaving the island. Condition The situation of his allies in Italy was sufficiently alarming to urge him to return. During the three years of his Sicilian expedition the Romans had not only recovered Compare the shameful treatment of Dion by the Syracusans after he had only just delivered them from the tyrant Dionysius.-Plutarch, Dion., 37. Diodorus, xvi. 17. Grote, Hist. of Greece, xi. 147 ff. 1 XVI. B.C. from the great sufferings of the disastrous war, but CHAP. they had even begun to re-conquer the ground that they had lost. The attempt, it is true, to punish the Samnites 280-275 for the share they had taken in the war ended in their humiliation and severe loss; for the consuls of the year 277, C. Junius Brutus and P. Cornelius Rufinus, ravaging Samnium with fire and sword, and venturing too far among the mountains, had been attacked by the mountaineers and totally defeated. But, in spite of this reverse, the superiority of the Romans became more and more manifest. They gradually regained possession of the Greek towns which had been lost in the course of the war. Heraclea surrendered on obtaining favourable conditions. This example was followed by others. In every town a Roman party was astir, which demanded an alliance with Rome, as they had done even before the war. Whilst this party in the town of Croton was calling in Roman the Romans, their opponents sent to Tarentum to ask victories. Milo for aid. The Epirot general forthwith dispatched Nikomachus to Croton with a body of troops, who anticipated the Roman consul Rufinus in the occupation of the town, and fell upon him, inflicting a serious loss, when he appeared before the gates in the hope of being received. within the walls. Rufinus, who had no prospect of taking Croton by force, forthwith marched in the direction of Locri, and contrived to make Nikomachus believe, by some pretended deserters, that he had friends in Locri who were about to surrender the town to him. Nikomachus hastened again to anticipate him, and reached Locri by a shorter way, perhaps by sea. Thus Croton was again deprived of Between 281 B.C. and 275 B.C. the number of citizens had decreased by 17,000. 2 Nothing was more common than this kind of proceeding. The rupture with Tarentum was caused by the failure of a similar attempt on the part of the Romans (see p. 493). The events which took place on that occasion receive an illustration from the words with which Zonaras (viii. 6) describes the attempt on Croton: Καὶ ἐπὶ Κρότωνα ὥρμησεν ἀποστάντα Ῥωμαίων, μεταπεμψαμένων αὐτὸν τῶν ἐπιτηδείων, φθασάντων δὲ τῶν λοιπῶν ἐπαγαγέσθαι παρὰ τοῦ Μίλωνος φρουρὰν ἧς ἦρχε Νικόμαχος. Αγνοήσας οὖν τοῦτο καὶ ἀμελῶς τοῖς τείχεσι προσιὼν ὡς πρὸς φίλους ἔπταισεν ἐξαίφνης ἐπεκδραμόντων αὐτῷ. BOOK III. -- 280-275 B.C. Third campaign of Pyrrhus in Italy. the greater part of its garrison. Rufinus immediately returned, and succeeded in surprising the town under cover of a mist. Soon after the Epirot garrison of Locri was set upon and massacred by the inhabitants, and the town surrendered to the Romans. Thus the whole coast, with the exception of Tarentum and Rhegium, was again in Roman hands. Both parties had arrived at the same point which they had occupied in the beginning of the war. This was the condition of affairs in Italy when Pyrrhus, listening to the entreaties of his allies, sailed, probably in the autumn of 276 B.C., from the port of Syracuse. The Carthaginians lay in wait for him, and in a smart naval engagement he lost a number of his ships. Having landed on the southern extremity of Italy, he was obliged to fight his way through the territory of Rhegium, where the Mamertines of Messana and the Campanian mutineers, now masters of Rhegium, endeavoured to intercept him. If the latter thought by this act to gain the favour and pardon of Rome, they were grievously mistaken, for Rome could not overlook or compromise the faithlessness of her allies and the mutiny of her soldiers, and she was even now meditating what punishment she should inflict on them. Pyrrhus forced his way, with his usual good fortune and his accustomed bravery; he succeeded even, on his further march to Tarentum, in regaining possession of the Greek towns on the coast. In Locri severe punishment was inflicted on those who had surprised the Epirotic garrison and delivered the town to the Romans. For the third time this unhappy town changed its masters, and, as usual, the change was accompanied by an internal revolution. It is impossible to imagine a more lamentable condition than that of these Greek towns, once so flourishing and now doomed to destruction. Torn by factions which had sold themselves to the belligerent foreign powers, they were crushed in the violent collision which they had been instrumental in bringing about. Their wealth, their splendour, their large population were gone. In their helplessness they could not even protect themselves from Caulonia' and the wild hordes of Campanian filibusters. CHAP. XVI. 280-275 B.C. Tarentum. After an absence of almost three years, Pyrrhus appeared Pyrrhus at again in Tarentum at the head of an army which, in point of numbers, was equal to that with which he had commenced the war against Rome, five years before. But the quality of his troops was different. In the place of his devoted Epirotic veterans, whose bones were now bleaching on the battle-fields of Italy and Sicily, his ranks were filled with foreign mercenaries, or men pressed into his service, both Greeks and barbarians. Many of his best officers had fallen in battle. A different spirit animated the army and the king. The enthusiasm and the hope of victory had given place to the depression of spirits which arises from failure and shattered hopes. The actions of the king betrayed a want of firmness and decision; he was more inclined to severity, contrary to his original disposition. His good spirit seemed to have forsaken him. Kineas was no longer living; it seems that he had died in Sicily. A second friend and adviser like him Pyrrhus found no more. at Rome. The return of the king of Epirus produced a deep im- Agitation pression in Rome. Here also the enthusiasm had vanished with which, after the battle of Heraclea, the young men Pausanias, vi. 3. 2 Zonaras, viii. 6. This taking of Croton belongs probably to the time previous to the return of Pyrrhus from Sicily, as the Roman garrison was put to death on that occasion. Dionysius, xix. 9. BOOK B.C. had vied with each other in enrolling themselves in the newly-raised legions. Instead of zeal and eagerness for the 280-275 service of the country, a general apathy was manifested. It was necessary for the authorities to resort to the most rigorous measures and punishments, in order to compel the reluctant to military service. The general terror increased, as usual, the superstition of the people, and made them see the anger of the gods in extraordinary phenomena. The clay statue of Jupiter on the roof of the Capitoline temple was struck by lightning and its head hurled into the Tiber. We may be sure that days of supplication and prayer were appointed to calm the terrified spirits of the people, and to implore the favour of the gods. Defeat of Pyrrhus at Beneventum. 275 B.C. Meanwhile the armies took the field for the last decisive campaign. Whilst one consular army, under L. Cornelius Lentulus, marched into Lucania, where in all probability it had to encounter only some irregular troops of Samnites and Lucanians, the other army, under Manius Curius, suddenly fell in, near Beneventum, with the main body of the enemy, under the personal command of the king. It seemed advisable to avoid an engagement, until the consul Lentulus could approach with his army, for the support of Curius. The Romans therefore occupied a fortified position on the hills. Pyrrhus, being anxious to anticipate the arrival of the second Roman army, ventured, with his unwieldy phalanx and his untrustworthy troops, to storm the position of the Romans. The circumstances were all unfavourable to Pyrrhus. Neither the phalanx, nor his cavalry, nor his elephants could act with advantage on the uneven ground. A total repulse was inevitable. The elephants were thrown into disorder on being received by the Romans with burning projectiles. Two of them were killed, four were taken, to be led in procession in the triumph which Manius Curius celebrated for this glorious victory. Departure The army of Pyrrhus was shattered to pieces. He had of Pyrrhus no prospect now of being able to continue the war any longer. Italy offered him no resources. Neither the 1rom Italy. |