Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/1282

Rh J 270 VIRIATHUS. He levied two new legions at Rome, consisting for the most part of new recruits, in order to give some repose to the veteran troops, who were worn out by the wars in Greece and Macedonia. He like- wise obtained some forces from the allies ; and when he mustered his troops at Urso or Orso, the modern town of Osuna in Andalusia, his army- amounted to 15,000 foot and 2000 horse. But before his arrival in Spain the Romans had again experienced another disaster. The army of the praetor Claudius Unimanus had been nearly anni- hilated, and the fasces and other spoils taken from the Romans had been erected by Viriathus as tro- phies in the mountains. (Flor. ii. 17. § 16.) Fa- bius appears not to have arrived in Spain till the middle of the summer ; and as he would not fight with the enemy till his raw troops had received further training, he left his army under the com- mand of his legate, while he himself went over to Gades to offer a sacrifice to Hercules. In his ab- sence his foragers were attacked by Viriathus, who slew many of them ; and the legate of Fabiu3 having thereupon ventured to offer battle to Viri- athus, was defeated. When Fabius returned from Gades, he could not be tempted by Viriathus to any regular engagement, but passed the remainder of the year in exercising his troops and in occa- sional skirmishes with the enemy, by which his soldiers acquired confidence and experience. In the following year (b. c. 144) Fabius was continued in the government of Spain, and he now felt suffi- cient reliance upon his troops to venture to attack Viriathus with all his forces. Viriathus was de- feated and driven out of the Roman dominions in Spain, and his two chief towns fell into the hands of Fabius. After these successes Fabius led his troops into winter quarters at Corduba. These successes of Fabius, however, were more than counterbalanced by another formidable insur- rection in Spain. The Arevaci, Belli, and Titthi, Celtiberian people, inhabiting that part of Spain now called Old Castile, had been subdued by the Romans some years previously, and two of them, the Belli and Titthi, had, as we have already seen, sent assistance to the Romans in their war against Viriathus. They were now, however, induced to follow the example of Viriathus, and to take up arms against the Romans, and thus almost the whole of central Spain was in open revolt. The war against the Celtiberians became even more pro- tracted than that against the Lusitanians, and is usually known by the name of the Numantine war, from Numantia, the principal town of the Arevaci. In B. c. 143 the consul Q. Metellus Macedo- nicus was sent into Nearer Spain, and the pro- praetor Q. Pompeius into Further Spain, as the suc- cessor of Fabius Aemilianus.* While Metellus con- ducted the war with success against the Celtiberians, Pompeius was not equally fortunate in his campaign against Viriathus. He had at first gained a vic- tory over the Lusitanian general, and pursued him as far as the mountain south of the Tagus, which has been already mentioned under the name of the Hill of Venus. Here Viriathus turned upon his pur- suers, and drove them back into their camp with the loss of 1000 men and several standards. This Quintius ; but by this name he must understand Quintus Pompeius ; see Drumann, GeschiclUe Roms, vol iv. p. 307. VIRIATHUS. defeat so disheartened Pompeius that he allowed the enemy to lay waste the country around the Guadalquiver without resistance, and led his army early in the uutumn into winter-quarters at Cor- duba. In the 6)llowing year, b. c. 142, the consul Q. Fabius Servilianus was sent into Further Spain as the buccessor of Pompeius. Q. Metellus remained as proconsul in Nearer Spain. Servilianus brought with him two Roman legions and allied troops^ amounting in all to 16,000 foot and 1600 horse, and he also obtained from Micipsa some elephants. He at first carried on the war with great success, defeated Viriathus, and compelled him to retire into Lusitania, took by^ storm many of his cities, and exterminated several guerilla bands. Next year, however, b. c. 141, when Servilianus remained in Spain as proconsul, the fortune of war changed. The Romans had laid siege to Erisane ; Viriathus stole into the town by night, and at the dawn of day made a successful sally against the besiegers. The Romans lost a great number of men, and were put to flight. In their retreat they became en- closed within a mountain pass, where they were surrounded by the Lusitanians, much in the same way as their ancestors had been by the Sanmites at the celebrated Caudine Forks. Escape was impossible, and they had no alternative but an unconditional surrender. Viriathus used his victory with moderation. He agreed to allow the Romans to depart uninjured, on condition of their permitting the Lusitanians to retain undisturbed possession of their own territory, and of their recognising him as a friend and ally of the Roman people. Ser- vilianus concluded a treaty with Viriathus on these terms, and it was ratified by the Roman people. Thus the war with Viriathus appeared to have been brought to a conclusion ; but the consul Q. Servilius Caepio, who succeeded his brother Servi- lianus in the command of Further Spain in b. c. 140, was greatly disappointed at the unexpected termination of the war. He had looked forward to the war in Spain as an opportunity for gaining both wealth and glory ; and he therefore used every exertion to induce the senate to break the treaty by representing it as unworthy of the Roman people. The senate, however, had not the effron- tery to give their approval to an open violation of the peace, but connived at Caepio's injuring Viri- athus as far as he could without any open attack. But after a short time we are told that the senate allowed Caepio to declare open war against Viri- athus, probably having obtained meantime some pretext for this act of faithlessness. Caepio forth- with took the field against Viriathus ; but the latter sent three of his most faithful friends, Audax, Ditalco, and Minurus, to the Roman general, to offer him terms of peace. Caepio persuaded the envoys by promises of large re- wards to murder Viriathus. Accordingly, on their return they murdered Viriathus, while he was asleep in his tent, and made their escape to the Roman camp before any of the Lusitanians became aware of the death of their general. The murderers, however, did not receive the rewards which had been promised them ; and when they demanded them of the consul, he coolly replied that the Romans did not approve of the murder of a general by his own soldiers. The death of Viriathus did not put an immediate stop to the war. After bxirying Viriathus with great magni-
 * Appian, Hisp. QQ^ calls the successor of Fabius