1 excessive heat of the sun. He therefore did no judge it convenient to engage his troops in a battle, fatigued and exhausted as they were, against an enemy, who, being fresh and lying still, were in full force. [o] Some days after they came to a battle. Paulus Æmilius shewed all the wisdom and courage that were to be expected from so experienced a commander. The long and obstinate resistance of the enemy, shewed they had not entirely degenerated from their ancient reputation. The great shock lay against the Macedonian phalanx, which was a kind of square battalion thick set with pikes and lances, and which it was almost impossible to break through; they were so accustomed to join all their bucklers together, and present a kind of iron wall to the enemy. Paulus Æmilius owned afterwards, that this brazen rampart, that forest of pikes, had filled him with dread and astonishment; and though he put a good countenance upon it, he could not at first help feeling some doubts and uneasiness upon the success of the battle. In short, all his first line being cut to pieces, the second was discouraged, and began likewise to give way. The consul, perceiving that the inequality of ground obliged the phalanx to leave openings and intervals, divided his troops into platoons, and ordered them to throw themselves into the void places of the enemy's battle, and not attack them all together in front, bu by detachments, and at different places at the same time. This order, timely given, gained the victory The phalanx, thus separated and disjoined, were n longer able to sustain the efforts of the Romans What followed was bloodshed and slaughter, and it i thought there fell that day above twenty-five thousan men on the side of the Macedonians. [p] Perseus withdrew before the battle begun; af ter some vain efforts, he suffered himself to be take prisoner, and surrendered to the conqueror; and thi he did in so base and cowardly a manner, as drew up on him the contempt of all that saw it, instead of ex [•] Liv. lib. xliv. n. 37,-42. Plut. in Vit. Pauli. [p] Lib. xlv. n. 48 citin REFLECTIONS. I QUESTION whether the reader, when he sees me touching upon war and politics, will not be tempted to apply to me what Hannibal said upon a like occasion. It was at the time when he retired to Antiochus at Ephesus, [r] where every body striving to entertain him agreeably, it was one day proposed to him to hear philosopher called Phormio, who made a great noise n the city, and passed for a fine speaker. He was so complaisant as to go where he was desired. The phiosopher spoke upon the duties of a general of an arny, and the rules of the military art, and made a very ong discourse. The whole audience were charmed with his eloquence, and Hannibal was asked what he hought of it. His answer, which he gave in Greek, was ill expressed in point of language, but full of a oldier-like liberty. "I have seen, says he, many old men that wanted sense and judgment; but of all the old men that ever I saw, this is the most senseless and injudicious." How extravagant indeed must it have been in a philosopher, who had never seen ther camp or army, to attempt to entertain Hannial, with precepts concerning the art of war? I should eserve a like reproach, and perhaps more justly too, the reflections I make were my own. But as I sect almost every one of them from the most learned en of antiquity, who were some of them very skilful nd experienced in the art of war, I think myself very cure under the shadow of their great names. My reflections shall turn upon two points. I shall st endeavour to point out the character, the virtues, d, as occasion offers, the faults also of those who [9] Liv. lib. xlv. n. 40. Plut. in Vit. Pauli. [r] Cic. lib. ii. de Orat. ith reference to their citizens, their allies, and their nemies. And for all this, I cannot have a better aunority, nor a surer guide, than Polybius, who was an e-witness of part of the events here treated, was miliarly acquainted with the great men who were e principal actors in them, studied the character ad constitution of the Roman people with a great eal of care, and served as a guide and master to Livy, hose reflections I shall likeways make great use of. ARTICLE I. HE DIFFERENT QUALIFICATIONS OF THE PERSONS SPOKEN OF IN THIS THIRD PORTION OF ROMAN HISTORY. WE here plainly see, that neither wealth, illustrius extraction, nor even the majesty of a throne, ake inen truly valuable; and that, how gorgeous nd dazzling soever all this vain splendor may be, it entirely obscured and effaced by real merit and sod virtue. What an idea does the history we have elated leave us of the princes it speaks of? ANTIOCHUS, KING OF SYRIA. Without dwelling upon the other faults of this rince, a single circumstance may lead us into a judgent of his character. [s] Livy says, that the first egree of merit in a man who commands, is to be ole of himself to act what is proper; that the second [s] Sæpe ego audivi, milites, eum imum esse virum, qui ipse consuquid in rem sit; secundum eum, i bene monenti obediat; qui nec se consulere, nec alteri parere Sat, eum extremi ingenii esse. Lib. xxii. n. 29. The same thought occurs in Hesiod, Op. & Di. v. 291. in Heradotus, lib. vii, and in Cic. pro Cluent. n. 84. most powerful, warlike, and successful people in the world. Chance had brought Hannibal to his court, the greatest general mankind had ever seen. In his long war against the Romans, he had given proofs of his valour, prudence, and perfect skill in the art of war. To these great qualities he joined an inherent hatred of the Romans, and an earnest desire of revenging himself upon them. How serviceable must such a man have been to a prince of the least judgment? Antiochus at first received Hannibal with great joy, and paid him all the honours due to a general of such high reputation. In the council of war, which he called, Hannibal persisted in the opinion he had always had, that the Romans could not be conquered except in Italy. He supported his opinion with unanswerable reasons, and offered his service to make a descent in Italy, whilst the king should continue in Greece to perplex the Romans with the apprehension of a powerful diversion. Antiochus did not disapprove this advice. [t] But it was represented to him, that he ought not to rely upon Hannibal; that he was an exile and a Carthaginian, whose fortune or genius might suggest to him a thousand different projects every day; that besides, the very reputation he had acquired in war, and which of course would follow him, was too great for a lieutenant; that the king ought to be the sole head and general; that all men's eyes and attention should be fixed only upon him whereas, was Hannibal employed, that stranger alone would have all the glory of their good success. This was enough to turn the head of Antiochus. I was taking him on his weak side. A mean jealousy, the sign and fault of little minds, stifled every other thought and reflection in him. He no longer set any value upon Hannibal, nor made any use of him. The event sufficiently avenged the latter, and shewed how unfortunate it is for a prince to lay open his heart to envy, and his ears to the poisonous discourse of flatterers. PHILIP PHILIP AND PERSEUS, KINGS OF MACEDON. These princes, who sat upon the throne of Mace-don, which had formerly been so illustrious, and succeeded to the dominions of the elder Philip, and Alexander, two of the greatest princes that ever were, wretchedly supported the glory of their predecessors, and shewed that there is a great difference between reigning and being really a king. [u] Philip, according to Polybius, had all the qualifications necessary in forming a great prince, and executing great designs. To omit the advantages of his person, and an air of majesty natural to him, he had a lively and discerning spirit, capable of the greatest things, [r] a surprising grace in his dicourse, and a memory which let nothing escape him; a perfect knowledge in the art of war, with a courage and boldness that nothing could daunt. But all these fine qualities soon degenerated in him, and gave place to the most excessive vices, injustice, fraud, perfidiousness, cruelty, and irreligion, which, of the great prince he might have been, made him an insupportable tyrant to his subjects. His son Perseus inherited only his faults, with the addition of one vice peculiar to himself, I mean a sördid and insatiable avarice. This passion, which is the basest, and the most unworthy of a prince, he carried to an incredible excess. He suffered all the great preparations, which had been made with so much care, for the support of the war against the Romans, to be [u] Polyb. p. 329. [x] It was, in all probability, this talent, that led him into a fault which is blamable indeed in private persons, but far more dangerous in princes, and altogether unbecoming the dignity of a king: I mean the taking pleasure in raillery and jesting. Erat dicacior naturâ, quàm regem decet; &, ne inter seria quidem risu satis temperans. Liv. lib. xxxii. n. 34. | |