CHAPTER VIII. ARGUMENT. The Quæstor Manlius. - Why distinguished by the Friendship of Sertorius. A Quæstor's Connexion with his Prætor signifies the same as a Treasurer's with his General. The comparative Pomp of a Roman Patrician and of a Barbarian King. - Manlius as a Senator. His Reception by Orcilis. - His Colloquy with Myrtilis and Vergilia. — His Justification of Sertorius. His Character of Perpenna. His Account of the recent Battles and Victories. The Arrival of Sertorius in his Camp. ROME at this period of her history, even in repose, retained the helmet on her head. Civil employments were necessary qualifications for the military, Her empire was a camp which enclosed or overlooked the three known divisions of mankind. Hitherto the gates of Janus had been closed but twice in more than six hundred years, and both times by a bloody hand eager to draw back the bolt. Departing for the province allotted to him, every proconsul, prætor, or proprætor, was accompanied by his quæstor. This quæstor, combining the duties of treasurer and chancellor, regulated the customs, exacted the tribute, proportioned the taxes, and superintended the public disbursements whether civil or military. It seems strange that responsibilities like these should have been entrusted to the young. Yet no other office of equal dignity might be assumed so early as the quæstorship. A confidential understanding between the general and his treasurer was expedient on both sides. Their relationship has been compared to that of father and son. All the republican forms of election were as superstitiously observed by the senate and people at Osca in the camp, as by the senate and people at Rome, in the forum. Because there was less of authority from law and usage—as their equivalents, there was far more of decency in the process, and wisdom in the choice. During three years, Manlius had sustained this subordinate authority with consummate prudence. Sertorius more willingly conferred the command at Setabis and Lucentum on his quæstor, because political as well as military difficulties were involved in it. Success which no man expected, would be recompensed by proportionable honor; and failure in an enterprise so distant and hazardous, must be excused by the universal confession that it had been foreseen. Manlius experienced fortune of : both kinds he was hardly less happy in the apologies for his defeat, than in the rewards of victory. After having skilfully contended against twice his own numbers, commanded first by Muræna, and afterwards by Pompeius, he brought back his legions in time for a new triumph. Sertorius never manifested distrust in his subordinate commanders: when he employed them he confided in them, or he appeared to do so. But it was to Manlius the quæstor alone that he disclosed his designs and opinions, his wishes and solicitudes. Friendship may sometimes be irreconcilable with higher obligations, yet no good man can stand so remote, through the superiority of his position or his genius, from other men, as to despise it. The temperament of Manlius was cheerful, and yet sedate; earnest and sometimes vehement, but never precipitate. Carrying the nobility of his birth into his daily habits, he merited that confidence which so many men older and greater would have been proud to gain. For the friendship of Sertorius could be conferred only on the deserving. It impressed, as its signature, the attestation of virtue. He who earned it must be honorable; he who retained it must be discreet. Its radiance was so luminous, that if it had fallen by chance on the darker or baser qualities of our nature, it would have exposed them and have been withdrawn. That half of the cavalry which precedes the legions, is now marching through the camp to its accustomed station in the valley beyond. Swarms of irregular infantry too have arrived, which disperse among the tents. From such a distance and such an elevation as the walls of Osca, whole cohorts, while they deposit their arms upon the rivulet's margin and plunge into the stream, are seen without offence. Tables are shaded by branches newly cut, or other awnings fancifully decorated. A sacrifice and a feast signify the same thing. With flowers twisted about their horns, and fillets descending from their flanks and necks, bulls devoted to Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, the three tutelar deities of Rome, approach their altars. Mars and Romulus also have their appropriate victims. Uninvited guests following the priests and axe-bearers, are always punctual there with sharp knives, strong teeth, and healthy digestions. Carrying huge wide-mouthed clarions, and horns curved like those of Amalthea - Cornicines, and Buccinatores, as well as other pious lovers of deeptoned melody, march in long procession, accommodating their gravity to a banquet which they will partake with the Gods. Orcilis the king had sent, as his contribution, three hundred well-fed beeves, and two hundred casks of sweet wine. His nobles were proportionably munificent. Manlius the quæstor, too, had preceded his general by four or five hours, that he might unlock the public stores liberally, yet, as became his trust, temperately and methodically. He had found time for the bath, and was already on his way from the camp to Osca. It must be confessed that these republican nobles indemnified themselves for their abnegation of royalty, by no very sparing equivalents. They had some such state of their own on ordinary occasions, as princes have reserved for national solemnities. King Orcilis, attended only by his daughter and his niece, was seated on a long bench beneath the portico of his palace, two or three steps higher than the crowd before him. He had more room than his subjects, who occupied the walls and terraces, with little else. Perhaps some few of his nobles were near enough for attendance if they had been called; but in the portico there was no guard, and yet no trespasser. All eyes were suddenly averted from the camp, and directed towards the city gates. A stir among the spectators informed the king that he was approached by some visitor of higher than Oscan |