After
rejoining Nasica's force to his own, the consul led
his army to the place where Perseus had drawn up his
battle-lines. It was now midsummer, and the Romans had
marched a dusty road in searing heat to arrive around
noon. The men were eager to join battle, but Paullus
was apprehensive for the head was growing and the Macedonians
were fresh and rested. If they encamped now, however,
the troops would become mutinous; and even if his orders
were beyed, the army would be vulnerable to a Macedonian
attack as they constructed the camp. So the commander
ordered the army to draw up in battle order, and went
among the men exhorting them to fight bravely. As this
went on, however, no small number of them bega to feel
the heat and their own exhaustion, and their bravado
waned. Few could conceal their relief when, seeing the
army battle-ready, Paullus ordered the centurions to
unpack the baggage and mark out the camp. When the camp
had been marked out behind the standing soldiers, the
consul withdrew the rear line of troops and set them
to work building the camp. He then withdrew the next
line, and then the next, until only the cavalry and
light infantry remained facing the enemy. When at
last the outer rampart and ditch were complete, these
last men were pulled back behind it, so that the Macedonians
were astonished to see that a fortified camp had appeared
without warning behind the Roman army, into which it
now safely withdrew.
That
night an eclipse of the moon threw the Macedonians
into confusion and fear; but Paullus had
seen to it that his men had been warned of the eclipse
in advance, and thus were not only unperturbed but
impressed by their leader's foreknowledge. Paullus
himself offered the proper sacrifices, and awaited
the day. When it came, the Romans were once again
eager to engage the enemy; but their commander restrained
them still, waiting for the sun to enter the western
sky so that it would not dazzle his troops as they
advanced. It was not he, however, but Fortune herself
who gave the order for battle: for while men from
both sides were drawing water from a stream, a pack-horse
broke loose and ran from the Roman to the Macedonian
soldiers, who tried to capture it. The Romans went
after it, and a skirmish followed. Men nearby joined
the conflict, and soon Perseus ordered his whole
army to engage the enemy. |
|
In
later years Paullus often spoke of the fear that gripped
him when first the Macedonian line clashed with his.
The core of Perseus' army, the phalanx, bristled with
pikes so long that the Romans could not even reach their
enemies, as the weapons struck their shields and kept
them away. At first the Romans pushed bravely forward.
Some tried to parry the pikes with their swords, or
evade their points and enter striking distance; these,
however, were impaled or beaten back, and slowly the
Romans began to retreat.
But as the phalanx advanced, Paullus saw that the first
onrush of his men, though it had seemed to fail, had
in truth impacted on the enemy line enough to buckle
it in several places. Moving forward, these irregularities
grew in to openings, and Paullus rushed among his men
exhorting them to break their own line and force themselves
in bunches into these gaps. Once beyond the tips of
the enemy pikes, the first attackers made for the lightly-armoured
Macedonians and broke their line in to splinters, whereupon
the rest of the Roman force tore into them. The battle
had turned; those of the enemy who did not flee were
killed or made captive, and the Romans won the field.
Perseus,
it is said, escaped early in the battle with a body
of cavalry, and thus evaded capture in the pursuit.
Though the battle had lasted less than an hour, the
Romans pursued the enemy far and wide, and returned
late into the evening. Paullus was unable to enjoy his
victory, however, for wory over his young son, Publius
Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus, who was missing. When they
realized the cause of their leader's distress, the soldiers
rose from their food and began to scour the area, searching
among the dead and the living, and calling out across
the plain. None found any trace until, with a joyful
cry, someone greeted the young man who only now returned
from he pursuit with a few friends, covered in blood
but grinning broadly; and once again his father gave
thanks to Fortune.
Messengers
were despatched to bring news of the victory to Rome;
but, though they had travelled with all haste, they
arrived to find their tidings known to every citizen.
The rumour had arisen some days previously, at the Games,
that a great battle had been won in Macedonia and Perseus
had fled, though none could say how the rumour had started.
The news being confirmed, the Senate decreed a public
thanksgiving, and instructed the consul to return to
Rome.
While
this was happening, Perseus himself, deserted by
his followers, at last surrendered himself to Paullus
at the Roman camp. When he entered the camp there
was boundless rejoicing among the soldiers, but
he was solemnly received by the consul. After interviewing
him, Paullus turned to his officers and to his two
sons, and admonished them not to scorn or mistreat
the former king, but to see in him a reminder that
Fortune is fickle: for the man had once been wealthy
and
powerful and his kingdom had once been master of
the world in Alexander's time. Such now was the
position of Rome, but Fortune might once again change
her favourite. Against such reversals, he said,
the only protection is constancy of character; for
if one behaves wretchedly, then others will think
one's luck ill-deserved and one's misfortune just;
but if one is brave and upright, one's misfortune
will seem unjust and one's good fortune well-earned. |
|
When
he returned to Rome, Paullus was voted a triumph, and
his was the grandest that the city had ever seen. Moreover,
rather than distribute the vast wealth of the Macedonian
kingdom among himself and his men, he conserved it for
the state; and so great was it that citizens were made
exempt from taxation for a hundred and twenty years.
But his words were proved wise, for
five days before his triumph died Paullus' third son,
fourteen years of age; and on the third day after the
triumph, his fourth son, aged twelve, was also taken
from him. All the citizens grieved, knowing his devotion
to his family, and seeing that he now had no sons to
continue his name. For of his two elder sons, the first
had been adopted by the famous Q. Fabius Maximus, and
was thereafter named Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus,
and the second by the son of Scipio Africanus, becoming
Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus. Despite his grief,
however, he ppeared
before the people and addressed them, holding up himself
and Perseus as examples of Fortune's work: Perseus,
though vanquished, had has children still, while he,
the victor, had lost his sons.
Nevertheless, he said, he took comfort in this: that
jealous Fortune's revenge for his success had fallen
only upon his house, and not upon Rome.
FROM:
Plutarch: Aemilius Paulus;
Livy: xliv. 17 - xlvi. 41;
Polybius: xxix.- xxxii.
at
http://classics.mit.edu
SEE
ALSO PAULUS, LUCIUS AEMILIUS AT
http://85.1911encyclopedia.org/P/PA/PAULUS_LUCIUS_AEMILIUS.htm
