BOOK IV

1. After the Punic war had ended, the Macedonian war against King Philip followed in the five hundred and fifty-first year after the founding of the city.

2. Titus Quintius Flamininus conducted the war successfully against Philip. Philip was granted peace under these conditions: he was not to attack those cities of Greece that the Romans had defended against him, he was to return the Roman prisoners and fugitives, he could keep only fifty ships and had to surrender the rest to the Romans, he was to pay four thousand pounds of silver per year for ten years, and he was to give his son Demetrius as a hostage. Titus Quintius also waged war against the Lacedaemonians. He defeated their general, Nabis, and received him into allegiance after imposing his own terms. In his triumph, he led with great glory before his chariot the most noble hostages, Demetrius, the son of Philip, and Armenes, the son of Nabis.

3. After the Macedonian war had ended, in the consulship of Publius Cornelius Scipio and Manius Acilius Glabrio, the Syrian war against King Antiochus began. Hannibal had joined Antiochus after fleeing his native Carthage out of fear that he would be handed over to the Romans. Manius Acilius Glabrio fought successfully in Achaia. The camp of King Antiochus was taken in a night battle, and the king himself was forced to flee. Since Philip had assisted the Romans against Antiochus, his son Demetrius was returned to him.

4. In the consulship of Lucius Cornelius Scipio and Caius Laelius, Scipio Africanus set out against Antiochus as a lieutenant of his brother, Lucius Cornelius Scipio, the consul. Hannibal, who was with Antiochus, was defeated in a naval battle. Antiochus himself was routed by the consul Lucius Cornelius Scipio in a great battle at Magnesia, a city of Asia near Mt Sipylus. The Romans were assisted in this battle by Eumenes (who founded the city of Eumenia in Phrygia), the brother of King Attalus. Fifty thousand infantry and three thousand cavalry of King Antiochus were slain in this battle. The king then sought peace. Although he was now defeated, the same terms were offered by the Senate as before: he was to leave from Europe and Asia and stay near Mt. Taurus, he would pay ten thousand talents and provide twenty hostages, and he was to hand over Hannibal, the instigator of the war. All the cities of Asia that Antiochus had lost in the war were given by the Senate to King Eumenes. To the Rhodians, who had assisted the Romans against King Antiochus, many cities were granted. Lucius Cornelius Scipio returned to Rome and celebrated a triumph with great glory. He also received the name of “Asiaticus” in the same manner as his brother because he had conquered Asia, just as his brother was called “Africanus” on account of his having conquered Africa.

5. Marcus Fulvius held a triumph over the Aetolians during the consulship of Spurius Postumius Albinus and Quintus Marcius Philippus. Hannibal, in order not to be surrendered to the Romans after the defeat of Antiochus, fled to Prusias, the king of Bithynia. Titus Quintius Flamininus sought Hannibal from Prusias, and as Hannibal was about to be handed over to the Romans, he drank poison and was buried at Libyssa in the lands of the Nicomedians.

6. After Philip (the king of Macedonia who had waged war against the Romans and later assisted them against Antiochus) died, his son Perseus rebelled after preparing large forces for war. He had as allies Cotys, the king of Thrace, and Gentius, king of the Illyrians. The Romans had as allies Kings Eumenes of Asia, Ariaratus of Cappadocia, Antiochus of Syria, Ptolemy of Egypt, and Masinissa of Numidia. Although Prusias of Bithynia was married to Perseus’ sister, he remained neutral. The consul Publius Licinius was sent against him as the Roman general and was defeated by the king in a fierce battle. Although the Romans had been defeated, they refused to grant peace to the king seeking it except under the following condition: he was to surrender himself and his people to the Roman Senate and people. The consul Lucius Aemilius Paulus was sent against him, and the praetor Caius Anicius was sent against Gentius in Illyricum. Gentius was easily defeated in one battle, and soon after, surrendered himself. His mother, wife, two sons, and brother fell into the power of the Romans at the same time. Thus, the war was ended within thirty days, and it was learned that Gentius was defeated before it was announced that the war had begun.

7. The consul Aemilius Paulus fought Perseus and defeated him on September 3rd, killing twenty thousand of his infantry. The cavalry fled unharmed with the king, and the Romans lost one hundred soldiers. All the cities of Macedonia under the king’s control surrendered themselves to the Romans. The king himself, having been deserted by his friends, fell into the power of the consul Aemilius Paulus, but Paulus did not treat him at all as if he had been defeated. He did not allow Perseus to grovel at his feet, and he placed him on a seat beside himself. The Romans gave the Macedonians and Illyrians the following terms: they would remain free, and they would only pay half the amount of tribute that they had paid to the kings, in order for it to be seen that the Romans fight more out of a sense of justice than out of greed. Paulus announced these terms to a vast assembly of people and then, in a magnificent feast, fed the delegates who had come to him from many nations, saying that “a man should be able to both conquer in war and be elegant in laying out a feast.”

8. Soon, Paulus captured seventy cities of Epirus which were rebelling and distributed the booty to his soldiers. He returned to Rome with great pomp in Perseus’ ship, which was said to be of such extraordinary size that it was reported to have had sixteen rows of oars. He celebrated a magnificent triumph in a gold chariot with his two sons standing on either side. King Perseus himself, aged forty-five, was led before the chariot with his two sons. After Paulus, Anicius celebrated a triumph over the Illyrians. Gentius was led with his brother and sons before the chariot. The kings of many nations came to Rome to see this spectacle, including Attalus and Eumenes, kings of Asia, among others, and Prusias of Bithynia. They were welcomed with great honor, and with the permission of the Senate, they placed gifts that they had brought with them in the Capitol. Additionally, Prusias entrusted his son Nicomedes to the Senate.

9. In the following year, Lucius Memmius fought well in Lusitania. Marcellus, the succeeding consul, managed affairs successfully in the same country.

10. A third war against Carthage was then undertaken in the six hundred and second year since the founding of the city, during the consulship of Lucius Manlius Censorinus and Manius Manilius, in the fifty-first year after the second Punic war had ended. After setting out, the consuls attacked Carthage. Hasdrubal, the Carthaginian general, fought against them. Another general, Famea, was in charge of the Carthaginian cavalry. At this time, Scipio, the grandson of Scipio Africanus, was serving as a tribune. Everyone had great fear and respect for him, for he was considered the most skilled and experienced in warfare. The consuls had much success through Scipio, and there was nothing that either Hasdrubal or Famea feared more than to join in battle against the Romans where Scipio was fighting.

11. Around the same time, Masinissa, king of the Numidians and ally of the Roman people for almost sixty years, died at ninety-seven years of age, leaving behind forty-four sons. He designated Scipio as the one to divide his kingdom amongst his sons.

12. Therefore, since the name of Scipio was already famous, he was made consul, although still a young man, and was sent against Carthage. Scipio captured and demolished the city. Plunder, which the Africans had collected from the destruction of various cities, was found there. Scipio returned ornaments to the cities of Sicily, Italy, and Africa which they recognized as belonging to them. Thus, Carthage was destroyed in the seven hundredth year after it was founded. Scipio earned the name that his grandfather had received, and indeed, on account of his valor, was called “Africanus the Younger.”

13. Meanwhile, in Macedonia, a certain Pseudophilippus took up arms and defeated Publius Iuventius, the Roman praetor who had been sent against him, in a great massacre. Next, Quintus Caecilius Metellus was sent as general by the Romans against Pseudophilippus. After slaying twenty-five thousand of his men, Metellus recovered Macedonia and brought Pseudophilippus under his control.

14. War was declared against Corinth, the noblest city of Greece, because of injuries to some Roman ambassadors. The consul Mummius captured the city and destroyed it. Therefore, three great triumphs were held simultaneously in Rome: the triumph of Africanus for Africa, in which Hasdrubal was led before his chariot; the triumph of Metellus for Macedonia, whose chariot Andriscus, also known as Pseudophilippus, preceded; and the triumph of Mummius for Corinth, before whom bronze statues, painted tablets, and other ornaments of that most famous city were carried.

15. In another revolt in Macedonia, Pseudoperses, who claimed to be the son of Perseus, gathered a group of slaves and rebelled. When he had sixteen thousand of them under arms, he was defeated by Tremellius, the quaestor.

16. At the same time, Metellus achieved great success in Celtiberia among the Spaniards. Quintus Pompeius succeeded him. Quintus Caepio was sent to the same war, which a certain Viriathus was conducting in Lusitania. Fearing this, Viriathus’ own men killed him. He had stirred up Spain against the Romans for fourteen years. Viriathus had started out as a shepherd, then he was the leader of a group of thieves, and finally, he incited so many people to war that he was regarded as the protector of Spain against the Romans. When his assassins went to the consul Caepio to seek a reward, they received a reply that it was never pleasing to the Romans to have a general slain by his own soldiers.

17. Afterwards, Quintus Pompeius, the consul, was defeated and arranged a contemptible peace with the Numantians, who possessed the most powerful city in Spain. The consul Caius Hostilius Mancinus also arranged a disgraceful peace with the Numantians after him. The Roman people and Senate ordered this treaty to be broken and Mancinus to be handed over to the enemy in order for him, as the author of the treaty, to be the one that the Numantians punished for violating it. Therefore, after the great embarrassment of the Roman army being beaten twice by the Numantians, Publius Scipio Africanus was made consul for the second time and was sent to Numantia. Scipio first reformed the disorderly and idle soldiers through training rather than by punishment, and without resorting to severity; then he took many Spanish cities, capturing some and accepting the surrender of others. Finally, he starved Numantia itself into submission after a long siege and leveled it to the ground. He then received the allegiance of the rest of the province.

18. At that same time, Attalus, king of Asia and brother of Eumenes, died and left the Roman people as his heir. Thus, Asia was added to the Roman Empire by a will.

19. Shortly afterwards, Decimus Junius Brutus celebrated a triumph with great glory over the Callaeci and Lusitanians, and Publius Scipio Africanus celebrated his second triumph, over the Numantians, fourteen years after he had celebrated one for Africa.

20. In the meantime, Aristonicus, the son of Eumenes from a concubine, started a war in Asia. This Eumenes was the brother of Attalus. Publius Licinius Crassus was sent against Aristonicus. He received great assistance from several kings. Kings Nicomedes of Bithynia, Mithridates of Pontus (with whom afterwards the Romans fought a very serious war), Ariarathes of Cappadocia, and Pylaemenes of Paphlagonia all aided the Romans. Nevertheless, Crassus was defeated and slain in battle. His head was brought to Aristonicus, and his body was buried at Smyrna. Perperna, the Roman consul who was coming to succeed Crassus, hurried into Asia upon hearing of the outcome of the battle. He defeated Aristonicus near Stratonice, the city where Aristonicus had fled to, and compelled him to surrender from hunger. Aristonicus was strangled in prison in Rome by order of the Senate, for a triumph could not be held concerning him because Perperna had died near Pergamum while returning to Rome.

21. In the consulship of Lucius Caecilius Metellus and Titus Quintius Flamininus, Carthage was rebuilt in Africa by order of the Senate, twenty-two years after it had been demolished by Scipio, and Roman citizens were brought there as colonists. This city still exists today.

22. In the six hundred and twenty-seventh year since the founding of the city, the consuls Caius Cassius Longinus and Sextus Domitius Calvinus waged war against the transalpine Gauls, the city of the Arverni (which was quite renowned at that time), and the Arvernian leader, Bituitus. The consuls killed great numbers of them near the river Rhone and carried a vast amount of plunder from the torques of the Gauls back to Rome. Bituitus surrendered to Domitius and was brought by him to Rome. Both consuls triumphed with great glory.

23. During the consulship of Marcus Porcius Cato and Quintus Marcius Rex, in the six hundred and thirty-third year since the founding of the city, a colony was established at Narbo in Gaul. A year later, a triumph was celebrated by the consuls Lucius Caecilius Metellus and Quintus Mucius Scaevola over Dalmatia.

24. In the six hundred and thirty-fifth year after the city was founded, the consul Caius Cato went to war against the Scordisci and fought disgracefully.

25. In the consulship of Caius Caecilius Metellus and Cnaeus Carbo, the two Metellus brothers celebrated triumphs, one for Sardinia and the other for Thrace, on the same day, and it was announced in Rome that the Cimbri had entered Italy from Gaul.

26. During the consulship of Publius Scipio Nasica and Lucius Calpurnius Bestia, war was waged against Jugurtha, king of the Numidians, because he had killed his brothers, Adherbal and Hiempsal, who were the sons of Micipsa as well as kings and friends of the Roman people. The consul Calpurnius Bestia was sent out against him, but he was corrupted by the money of the king and arranged a disgraceful peace with him. This was rejected by the Senate. The next year, Spurius Postumius Albinus set out against Jugurtha. He also, through the agency of his brother, fought dishonorably against the Numidians.

27. A third consul, Quintus Caecilius Metellus, was sent against Jugurtha. He restored Roman discipline to the army by using harsh measures and strict guidance, while not resorting to cruelty. He defeated Jugurtha in various battles, killed or captured his elephants, and took many of his cities. When he was about to end the war, he was succeeded by Caius Marius. Marius defeated both Jugurtha and Bocchus, a king of Mauritania who had begun to assist Jugurtha. He also took several cities of Numidia and put an end to the war by capturing Jugurtha by means of his quaestor, Cornelius Sulla, a remarkable man. Jugurtha was betrayed by Bocchus, who had earlier fought on his behalf. Marcus Junius Silanus, the colleague of Quintus Metellus, defeated the Cimbri in Gaul, Minucius Rufus defeated the Scordisci and Triballi in Macedonia, and Servilius Caepio defeated the Lusitani in Spain. Two triumphs were celebrated in regards to Jugurtha; the first by Metellus and the second by Marius. However, it was before the chariot of Marius that Jugurtha was led in chains with his two sons, and soon afterwards, he was strangled in prison by order of the consul.

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