inst and
sinking their enemies.

22. The naval tactics of the ancients were very simple; the ships
closed very early, and the battle became a contest between single
vessels. It was on this account that the personal valour of the Romans
proved more than a match for the naval skill of the
Carthaginians, and enabled them to, add the empire of the sea to that
of the land.

23. Before concluding this chapter, we must notice the triumphal
processions granted to victorious commanders. Of these there are two
kinds; the lesser triumph, called an ovation,[2] and the greater,
called, emphatically, the triumph. In the former, the victorious
general entered the city on foot, wearing a crown of myrtle; in the
latter, he was borne in a chariot, and wore a crown of laurel. The
ovation was granted to such generals as had averted a threatened war,
or gained some great advantage without inflicting great loss on the
enemy. The triumph was allowed only to those who had gained some
signal victory, which decided the fate of a protracted war. The
following description, extracted from Plutarch, of the great triumph
granted to Paulus AEmilius, for his glorious termination of the
Macedonian war, will give the reader an adequate idea of the splendour
displayed by the Romans on these festive occasions.

The people erected scaffolds in the forum and circus, and all other
parts of the city where they could best behold the pomp. The
spectators were clad in white garments; all the temples were open, and
full of garlands and perfumes; and the ways cleared and cleansed by a
great many officers, who drove away such as thronged the passage, or
straggled up and down.

The triumph lasted three days; on the first, which was scarce long
enough for the sight, were to be seen the statues, pictures, and
images of an extraordinary size, which were taken from the enemy,
drawn upon seven hundred and fifty chariots. On the second was
carried, in a great many _wains_, the fairest and richest armour of
the Macedonians, both of brass and steel, all newly furbished and
glittering: which, although piled up with the greatest art and order,
yet seemed to be tumbled on heaps carelessly and by chance; helmets
were thrown on shields, coats of mail upon greaves; Cretan targets and
Thracian bucklers, and quivers of arrows, lay huddled among the
horses' bits; and through these appeared the points of naked swords,
intermixed with long spears. All these arms were tied togethe