A source-book of ancient history - The Search For Mecca

a
War with the Pirates 437
on his feet, and others would throw over him a toga, pretending
it v/as done that there might be no mistake about
him again. When they had for some time mocked the
man in this way, and had their fill of amusement, they
and bid him step
would put a ladder down into the sea,
out and go away with their best wishes for a good journey;
and if the man would not go, they pushed him into the
water.
Pompey directed his efforts against Cilicia, the source Pompey
and origin of the war. Neither did the enemy shrink from them,
an engagement with him nor lose confidence in their ^
Florusm. 6.
strength; hard pressed, they were willing to dare. They
did no more than meet the first onset, however, for im-
J^^^7;„/7^=
mediately afterward when they saw the beaks of our ships World, 430 f.
encircling them, they threw down their weapons and oars,
and with a great clapping of hands, which with them was
a sign of supplication, begged for quarter.
Never did we obtain a victory with so little bloodshed.
Nor was any nation afterward found so faithful to us,—
state of things secured by the remarkable prudence of the
general, who removed this
maritime people far from the
sight of the sea, and tied them down, as it were, to the inland
parts of the country. Thus he recovered the free use
of the sea for ships, and at the same time restored to the
land its own inhabitants.
In this victory what shall we most admire?
Its speed,
as it was gained in forty days? Its good fortune, as not a
single ship was lost? Or its durable effect, as the Cilicians
in consequence were never afterward pirates?
II.
Cicero and Catiline
At this time Lucius Catiline was a person of importance,
of great celebrity, and high birth, but a madman. It was