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PRELIMINARIES TO AN ENGAGEMENT.

98., first instituted by Scipio Africanus, Festus; but something similar was used long before that time, Liv. ii. 20., not mentioned in Cæsar, unless by the by, B. G. i. 40.

When a general, after having consulted the auspices, had determined to lead forth his troops against the enemy, a red flag was displayed (vexillum vel signum pugnæ proponebatur), on a spear from the top of the Prætorium, Cæs. de Bell. G. ii. 20. [“ B. Civ. iii. 81."-T.] Liv. xxii. 45., which was the signal to prepare for battle. Then having called an assembly by the sound of a trumpet (classico, i. e. tubâ concione advocatá, Liv. iii. 62. vii. 36. viii. 7. 32.) he harangued (alloquebatur) the soldiers, who usually signified their approbation by shouts, by raising their right hands, ib. & Lucan. i. 386., or by beating on the shields with their spears. Silence was a mark of timidity, Lucan. ii. 596. This address was sometimes made in the open field from a tribunal raised of turf (e tribunali cespititio aut viride cespite exstructo), Tacit. Ann. i. 18. Plin. Paneg. 56. Stat. Silv. v. 2. 144. A general always addressed his troops by the title of milites: hence Cæsar greatly mortified the soldiers of the tenth legion, when they demanded their discharge, by calling them QUIRITES instead of MILITES, Dio. xlii. 53. Suet. Cæs. 70.

After the harangue all the trumpets sounded (signa canebant), which was the signal for marching, Lucan. ii. 597.

At the same time the soldiers called out To arms (AD ARMA conclamatum est). The standards which stood fixed in the ground were pulled up (convellebantur), Liv. iii. 50. 54. vi. 28. Virg. Æn. xi. 19. If this was done easily, it was reckoned a good omen; if not, the contrary, Liv. xxii. 3. Cic. Div. i. 35. Val. Max. i. 211. Lucan. vii. 162. Hence, Aquila prodire nolentes, the eagles unwilling to move, Flor. ii. 6. Dio. xl. 18. The watch-word was given (signum datum est) either viva voce, or by means of a tessera, Cæs. de B. G. ii. 20. de B. Afric. 83., as other orders were communicated, Liv. v. 36. xxi. 14. In the mean time many of the soldiers made their testaments (in procinctu, see p. 55.), Gell. XV. 27.

When the army was advanced near the enemy (intra teli conjectum, unde a ferentariis prælium committi posset), the general riding round the ranks again exhorted them to courage, and then gave the signal to engage. Upon which all the trumpets sounded, and the soldiers rushed forward to the charge with a great shout (maximo clamore procurrebant cum signis vel pilis infestis, i. e. in hostem versis vel directis), Sallust. Cat. 60. Cæs. B. Civ. iii. 92. Liv. vi. 8. &c. Dio. xxxvi. 32., which they did to animate one another and intimidate the enemy, Cæs. ibid. Hence primus clamor atque impetus rem decrevit, when the enemy were easily conquered, Liv. xxv. 4.

The Velites first began the battle; and when repulsed retreated either through the intervals between the files (per intervalla ordinum), or by the flanks of the army, and rallied in the rear. Then the Hastati advanced; and if they were defeated, they retired slowly (presso pede) into the intervals of the ranks of the Principes, or if greatly fatigued, behind them. Then the Principes engaged; and if they too were defeated, the Triarii rose up (consurgebant): for hitherto they continued in a stooping posture (subsidebant, hinc dicti SUBSIDIA, Festus), leaning on their right knee, with their left leg stretched out, and protected with

FORMATION OF THE LINE OF BATTLE.

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their shields: hence, AD TRIARIOS VENTUM EST, it is come to the last push, Liv. viii. 8. [10.]*

The Triarii receiving the Hastati and Principes into the void spaces between their manipuli, and closing their ranks (compressis ordinibus), without leaving any space between them, in one compact body (uno continente agmine) renewed the combat. Thus the enemy had several fresh attacks to sustain before they gained the victory. If the Triarii were defeated, the day was lost, and a retreat was sounded (receptui cecinerunt), Liv. viii. 8, 9. t

This was the usual manner of attack before the time of Marius. After that several alterations took place, which, however, are not exactly ascertained.

The legions sometimes drew lots about the order of their march, and the place they were to occupy in the field, Tacit. Hist. ii. 41.

DI

The Romans varied the line of battle by advancing or withdrawing particular parts. They usually engaged with a straight front (recta fronte, Festus; vel æquatis frontibus, Tibull. iv. 1. 103. ACIES RECTA). Sometimes the wings were advanced before the centre (ACIES SINUATA), Senec. de Beat. Vit. 4. Liv. xxviii. 14., which was the usual method, Plutarch. in Mario; or the contrary (ACIES GIBBERA, vel flexa), which Hannibal used in the battle of Cannæ, Liv. xxii. 47. Sometimes they formed themselves into the figure of a wedge (CUNEUS vel trigonum, a triangle), called by the soldiers CAPUT PORCINUM, like the Greek letter Delta, A, Liv. viii. 10. Quinctil. ii. 13. Virg. Æn. xii. 269. 457. Cæs. B. G. vi. 40. So the Germans, Tacit. de Mor. G. 6., and Spaniards, Liv. xxxix. 31. But cuneus is also put for any close body, as the Macedonian phalanx, Liv. xxxii. 17. Sometimes they formed themselves to receive the cuneus, in the form of a FORCEPS or scissars: thus, V, Gell. x. 9. Veget. ii. 19.

When surrounded by the enemy, they often formed themselves into a round body, (ORBIŠ vel GLOBUS, hence orbes facere vel volvere ; in orbem se tutari vel conglobare), Sallust. Jug. 97. Liv. ii. 50. iv. 28. 39. xxiii. 27. Cæs. B. G. iv. 37. Tacit. An. ii. 11.

When they advanced or retreated in separate parties, without remaining in any fixed position, it was called SERRA, Festus.†

* «The stratagem of rallying thus by means of these openings in the lines, has been reckoned almost the whole art and secret of the Roman discipline, and it was almost impossible it should prove unsuccessful, if duly observed; for fortune, in every engagement, must have failed them three several times, before they could be routed; and the enemy must have had the strength and resolution to overcome them in three several encounters for the decision of one battle; whereas most other nations, and even the Grecians themselves, drawing up their whole army as it were in one front, trusted themselves and their fortunes to the success of a single charge.” - Hooke's R. H. ii. p. 217.

+ The Equites, though men of superior grade, were but of little military importance. Without saddles and without stirrups, as a fulcrum for reaction, the Roman horse-soldier could never exert half his force. They frequently dismounted, in order to take a more decided part in the engagement.

"In following the Romans, says Dr. Browne, in their wars under the emperors, we find their discipline and their tactics declining from age to age, in the same manner as they had advanced and improved. The spirit of change, though productive of some ameliorations, proved ultimately fatal to the legion. As long as the Romans continued faithful to the precepts and rules of the ancient masters, their infantry maintained its superiority; and in proportion as these were departed from,

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TITLE OF IMPERATOR MILITARY REWARDS.

When the Romans gained a victory, the soldiers with shouts of joy saluted their general by the title of IMPERATOR [which was always the first and necessary step towards a triumph]. (See p. 147.) His lictors wreathed their fasces with laurel, Plutarch. in Lucull., as did also the soldiers their spears and javelins. Stat. Sylv. v. i. 92. Martial. vii. 5, 6. Plin. xv. 30. He immediately sent letters wrapt round with laurel (literæ laureate) to the senate, to inform them of his success, to which Ovid alludes, Amor. i. 11. 25., and if the victory was considerable, to demand a triumph, Liv. xlv. 1. Cic. Pis. 17. Att. v. 20. Fam. ii. 10. Appian. B. Mithrid. p. 223., to which Persius alludes, vi. 43. These kind of letters were seldom sent under the emperors, Dio. liv. 11. Tacit. Agric. 18. If the senate approved, they decreed a thanksgiving (supplicatio, vel supplicium, vel gratulatio, Cic. Marcell. 4. [Cat. iv. 10.] Fam. ii. 18.) to the gods, and confirmed to the general the title of IMPERATOR, which he retained till his triumph or return to the city [from which moment his command and title expired together of course, and he resumed his civil character], Cie. Phil. xiv. 3, 4, 5. In the mean time his lictors, having the fasces wreathed with laurel, attended him, Ib. [With these insignia, Cicero, upon his return from the government of Cilicia, landed at Brundusium].

V. MILITARY REWARDS.

AFTER a victory, the general assembled his troops; and in presence of the whole army, bestowed rewards on those who deserved them. These were of various kinds.

The highest reward was the civic crown (CORONA CIVICA), given to him who had saved the life of a citizen, Gell. v. 6. Liv. vi. 20. x. 46., with this inscription, OB CIVEM SERVATUM, vel -es -tos, Senec. Clem. i. 26., made of oak leaves (e fronde querná, hence called Quercus civilis, Virg. Æn. vi. 772.), and by the appointment of the general presented by the person who had been saved to his preserver, whom he

tactical arrangements which the Romans, in the time of Vegetius (A. D. 386), had substituted for the ancient models. The soldiers were drawn up sir deep and sometimes three. Each rank had different arms; and the greater part were slingers and archers. The ranks were separated about six feet from each other; and the files had been diminished three feet in distance, because they fought no longer with the sword, and they had even forgot the proper use of the pilum or javelin. The third and fourth ranks were compelled, from time to time, to detach themselves, charge at the head of the line, and afterwards return to their post. One cannot imagine any thing more pitiable.'” — Encyclopædia Britannica. "It is the just and important observation of Vegetius, that the infantry was invariably covered with defensive armour, from the foundation of the city, to the reign of the emperor Gratian (A. D. 367). The relaxation of discipline and the disuse of exercise, rendered the soldiers less able and less willing, to support the fatigues of the service: they complained of the weight of the armour which they seldom wore; and they successively obtained the permission of laying aside both their cuirasses and their helmets, The heavy weapons of their ancestors, the short sword and the formidable pilum, which had subdued the world, insensibly dropped from their feeble hands. loss of armies, the destruction of cities, and the dishonour of the Roman name, ineffectually solicited the successors of Gratian to restore the helmets and cuirasses of the infantry. The enervated soldiers abandoned their own and the public defence; and their pusillanimous indolence may be considered as the immediate cause of the downfall of the empire."- Gibbon's Decline and Fall, ch. xxvii. fin.

The

CORONA CIVICA, VALLARIS, ROSTRATA, ETC.

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ever after respected as a parent, Cic. Planc. 30. Under the emperors it was always bestowed by the prince (imperatoriâ manu), Tacit. Ann. [ii. 83.] iii. 21. xv. 12. It was attended with particular honours. The person who received it wore it at the spectacles, and sat next the senate. When he entered, the audience rose up, as a mark of respect (ineunti etiam ab senatu assurgebatur), Plin. xxi. 4. Among the honours decreed to Augustus by the senate was this, that a civic crown should be suspended from the top of his house, between two laurel branches, which were set up in the vestibule before the gate, as if he were the perpetual preserver of his citizens, and the conqueror of his enemies, Dio. liii. 16. Val. Max. ii. 8. fin. Ovid. Fast. i. 614. iv. 953. Trist. iii. 1. 35–48. So Claudius, Suet. 17., hence, in some of the coins of Augustus, there is a civic crown, with these words inscribed, OB CIVES SERVATOS.

To the person who first mounted the rampart, or entered the camp of the enemy, was given by the general a golden crown, called CORONA VALLARIS vel CASTRENSIS, Val. Max. i. 8. To him who first scaled the walls of a city in an assault, CORONA MURALIS, Liv. xxvi. 48.; who first boarded the ship of an enemy, CORONA NAVALIS, Festus ; Gell. v. 6.

Augustus gave to Agrippa, after defeating Sextus Pompeius in a sea-fight near Sicily, a golden crown, adorned with figures of the beaks of ships, hence called ROSTRATA, Virg. Æn.viii. 684., said to have been never given to any other person, Liv. Epit. 129. Paterc. ii. 81. Dio. xlix. 14.; but according to Festus, in voc. NAVALI, and Pliny, vii. 30. xvi. 4., it was also given to M. Varro in the war against the pirates by Pompey; but they seem to confound the corona rostrata and navalis, which others make different. So also Suet. Claud. 17.

When an army was freed from a blockade, the soldiers gave to their deliverer (ei duci qui liberavit, Gell. v. 6.) a crown made of the grass which grew in the place where they had been blocked up; hence called graminea corona OBSIDIONALIS, Liv. vii. 37. Plin. xxii. 4, 5. This of all military honours was esteemed the greatest. A few, who had the singular good fortune to obtain it, are recounted, Ib. 5, 6.

Golden crowns were also given to officers and soldiers who had displayed singular bravery; as to T. Manlius Torquatus, and M. Valerius Corvus, who each of them slew a Gaul in single combat, Liv. vii. 10. 26.; to P. Decius, who preserved the Roman army from being surrounded by the Samnites, Id. 37., and to others, x. 44. xxvi. 21.

xxx. 15.

There were smaller rewards (præmia minora) of various kinds; as, a spear without any iron on it (HASTA PURA), Virg. En. vi. 760. Suet. Claud. 28. · a flag or banner, i. e. a streamer on the end of a lance or spear (VEXILLUM, quasi parvum velum, Serv. in Virg. Æn. viii. 1.) of different colours, with or without embroidery (auratum vel purum), Sall. Jug. 85. Suet. Aug. 25.-Trappings (PHALERÆ), ornaments for horses, Virg. Æn. v. 310. Liv. xxii. 52., and for men, Liv. ix. 46. Cic. Att. xvi. 17. Verr. iii. 80. iv. 12.— Golden chains (Aurea TORQUES), Tacit. Annal. ii. 9. iii. 21. Juvenal. xvi. 60. [læti phaleris omnes, et torquibus omnes, Cf. iii. 60.], which went

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SPOLIA OPIMA ORIGIN OF THE TRIUMPH.

Ital. xv. 52. Bracelets (ARMILLE), ornaments for the arms, Liv. x. 44. CORNICULA, ornaments for the helmet in the form of horns, Ibid. CATELLÆ yel Catenulæ, chains composed of rings; whereas the Torques were twisted (torta) like a rope, Liv. xxxix. 31. — FIBULÆ, clasps, or buckles for fastening a belt or garment, Ibid.

These presents were conferred by the general in presence of the army; and such as received them, after being publicly praised, were placed next him, Sall. Jug. 54. Liv. xxiv. 16. Cic. Phil. v. 13. 17. They ever after kept them with great care, and wore them at the spectacles and on all public occasions, Liv. x. 47. They first wore them at the games, A. U. 459. Ib.

The spoils (SPOLIA, vel Exuvia) taken from the enemy were fixed up on their door-posts, or in the most conspicuous part of their houses, Virg. En. ii. 504. Liv. xxiii. 23.

When the general of the Romans slew the general of the enemy in single combat, the spoils which he took from him (quæ dux duci detraxit) were called SPOLIA OPIMA (ab Ope vel opibus, Festus), Liv. iv. 20., and hung up in the temple of Jupiter Feretrius, built by Romulus, and repaired by Augustus, by the advice of Atticus, Nep. in Vit. 20. These spoils were obtained only thrice before the fall of the republic; the first by Romulus, who slew Acron, King of the Cæninenses, Liv. i. 10., the next by A. Cornelius Cossus, who slew Lar Tolumnius, King of the Vejentes, A. U. 318 *, Liv. iv. 20., and the third by M. Claudius Marcellus, who slew Viridomărus, King of the Gauls, A. U. 530. Liv. Epit. xx. Virg. Æn. vi. 859. Plutarch. in Marcello; Propert. iv. 11.

Florus calls the spoils OPIMA, which Scipio Emilianus, when in a subordinate rank, took from the King of the Turduli and Vaccæi in Spain, whom he slew in single combat, ii. 17.; but the Spolia Opima could properly be obtained only by a person invested with supreme command, Dio. li. 24.

Sometimes soldiers, on account of their bravery, received a double share of corn (duplex frumentum), which they might give away to whom they pleased: hence called DUPLICARII, Liv. ii. 59. vii. 37. also double pay (duplex stipendium), clothes, &c. Cæs. Bell. Civ. iii, 53., called by Cicero DIARIA, Att. viii. 14.

VI. A TRIUMPH.

THE highest military honour which could be obtained in the Roman state was a triumph, or solemn procession, with which a victorious general and his army advanced through the city to the Capitol; so called from @plaubos, the Greek name of Bacchus, who is said to have been the inventor of such processions, Varro de Lat. Ling. v. 7. Plin. vii. 56. s. 57. It had its origin at Rome, from Romulus carrying the Spolia Opima in procession to the Capitol, Dionys. ii. 34., and the first who entered the city in the form of a regular triumph was Tarquinius Priscus, Liv. i. 38., the next P. Valerius, Liv. ii. 7.; and the

"The inscription discovered by Augustus on the linen breastplate of Tolumnius, stating that the consul Cossus had won these spoils (Livy, l. c.) is decisive evidence that he cannot have done so earlier than 327."— Nieb. ii. p. 456.