21 He ordered a treasury official to appear Livy 33 46 1–7.
22 “We should be satisfied with having defeated him” Ibid., 33 47 5.
23 Scipio laughed and asked App Syr 10.
24 Scipio seems to have been in Carthage See Lancel, p. 195; Holleaux, pp. 75–98.
25 His only remaining option was suicide Plut Flam 20 4–6 (including Hannibal’s last words).
26 he took poison Aconite was the deadliest known toxin in the ancient world, and usually takes an hour to begin to take effect, although a large dose can be fatal almost immediately. The symptoms are unpleasant. It might not have been easy to obtain a large dose, and to be certain of its effect. Suicide by slave was the surer choice.
27 “like a bird who is too old to fly” Plut Flam 21 1.
14. Change and Decay
The sections of Polybius that cover this period have been lost, and Livy is the main source. Plautus and Terence evoke daily life in Rome.
1 a workshop of corruptions Livy 39 10 6–7.
2 There were more obscenities Ibid., 39 13 10–12.
3 An inscription has survived CIL i2 2, 581.
4 “no slur or disgrace” Livy 39 19 5.
5 “would jeer at their habits and customs” Ibid., 40 5 7.
6 “method of infecting people’s minds” and “Greek of humble origin” Ibid., 39 8 3–6.
7 moved by madness Cat 63 6–10. Catullus wrote in the first century, but he echoes what was believed and practised in the third.
8 Whenever a magistrate Plut Marc 5 1–2.
9 The image consists of a mask Polyb 6 53–54.
10 Rome was more than a space For a fuller account of urban living see Stambaugh, passim.
11 a tour of the Forum Plaut Curc 461ff.
12 “From virtue down to trash” This description of the Roman Forum is drawn from Plautus’s Curculio, pp. 462–86. In theory, both Plautus and Terence (see below) set their plays in Greek towns, but their urban descriptions are evidently Roman.
13 there was room, at a squeeze, Dyson, p. 49.
14 Most thoroughfares in the city were unpaved The paving of streets began in 174.
15 the title of street, or via Var Ling Lat 7 15.
16 “Do you know that arcade by the market?” Ter Ad 573–84.
17 “Why, just now in the Forum” Plaut Capt lines 4 78–84.
18 “It was not without reason” Var Rust 2 Preface 1.
19 “Take all this as true” CIL 11 600.
20 Early in the morning, Cato went on foot Plut Cat Maj 3 1–2.
21 “it is from the farming class” Cat Agr intro 4.
22 He must not be a gadabout Ibid., 5 2, 4, and 5.
23 “Sell worn-out oxen” Cat Agr 2 7.
24 the origins of live performance Livy 7 2 3–13. Livy probably drew on Varro’s (lost) writings on theater. The explanation is plausible.
25 accustomed to hold a/Beano Virg Geo 2 384–88.
26 “mental relaxation should go together” Val Max 2 4 2.
27 When I first began to perform it Ter Hec Prologue 33ff.
28 “hacked to pieces with his bronze” Hom Il 23 175.
29 an extra ration of wine Cat Agr 57.
30 “natural simplicity of his men” and “boyish addiction” Plut Cat Maj 3 6–7.
31 “Anybody can see that the Republic” Polyb 31 25.
32 “[It was] her habit to appear” Ibid., 31 26 3–4.
33 One particular case that Cato exposed Plut Cat Maj 17. There are variations on this story, one being that the boy was a girl, another that the man killed was a condemned criminal rather than a distinguished Celt, a third that the prostitute requested the execution and, finally, that the deed was done by a lictor, not by the consul himself. However, in his account of the affair, Livy (39 42) claims to have read the speech Cato made about the affair, and there is no reason to doubt him. Cato’s version is likely to be the nearest to the truth.
34 Matters came to a head The surviving accounts of the Scipionic trials are confused. I follow what I hope is a plausible narrative.
35 “The Roman People are not entitled” Polyb 23 14 3 (Suid).
36 He left instructions As always, there are different stories. But Livy visited a tomb with a statue of Scipio at Liternum. Although another statue was erected on the family mausoleum at Rome, this was probably a memorial. It seems most likely that Liternum was Scipio’s last resting place. Whom else could the tomb there have belonged to?
15. The Gorgeous East
Livy and Polybius begin to fade. Plutarch’s lives of Cato and Aemilius Paulus are useful. We rely heavily on Appian for the fall of Carthage.
1 The Gorgeous East William Wordsworth, On the Extinction of the Venetian Republic.
2 “fetters of Greece” Polyb 18 11 5.
3 “Woe to you, oh land” Eccl 10:16. This Old Testament book may have been composed in about 200 B.C.
4 Consul and king met Livy 22 10, for the entire paragraph, including the consul’s retort.
5 The encounter took place in the open air Polyb 18 1–12. Also Livy 32 32–36. Other examples of similar conferences between enemies include the triumvirs’ negotiations in 43 B.C. on a river island near Bologna and Sextus Pompey’s encounter with Octavian and Mark Antony at Cape Misenum in 39 B.C.
6 “Flamininus has unshackled the foot” Plut Flam 10 2.
7 The Senate of Rome Polyb 18 46 5.
8 What had happened was so unexpected Ibid., 7.
9 Some ravens that happened to be flying Plut Flam 10 6.
10 “And I tell you that it is not the customs” App Syr 61.
11 I observed the powerful Heracles Hom Od 11 601–3.
12 The other gods are far away Ath 6 253 b-f. See Green, From Alexander to Actium, p. 55.
13 “If he wishes us to take no interest” Livy 34 58 2.
14 A small town off the beaten track Ibid., 38 39 10.
15 He produced a forged letter Ibid., 40 23 4–9. Livy was certain that it was a forgery, and there are no good grounds for thinking otherwise.
16 his final illness was psychological Ibid., 40 56 8–9.
17 “a kind of speaking tool” Var Rust 1 17 1.
18 Day and night they wear out their bodies Dio Sic 5 38 1.