Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, BOOK XXII. THE PROPERTIES OF PLANTS AND FRUITS., CHAP. 5. (5.)—THE ONLY PERSONS THAT HAVE BEEN PRESENTED WITH THIS CROWN.

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CHAP. 5. (5.)—THE ONLY PERSONS THAT HAVE BEEN PRESENTED WITH THIS CROWN.

L. Siccius Dentatus¹ was presented with this crown but once, though he gained as many as fourteen civic crowns, and fought one hundred and twenty battles, in all of which he was victorious—so rarely is it that an army has to thank a single individual only for its preservation! Some generals, however, have been presented with more than one of these crowns, P. Decius Mus,² the military tribune, for example, who received one from his own army, and another from the troops which he had rescued³ when surrounded. He testified by an act of devoutness in what high esteem he held such an honour as this, for, adorned with these insignia, he sacrificed a white ox to Mars, together with one hundred red oxen, which had been presented to him by the beleaguered troops as the recompense of his valour: it was this same Decius, who afterwards, when consul, with Imperiosus⁴ for his colleague, devoted his life to secure victory to his fellow-citizens.

This crown was presented also by the senate and people of Rome—a distinction than which I know of nothing in existence more glorious—to that same Fabius⁵ who restored the fortunes of Rome by avoiding a battle; not, however, on the occasion when he preserved the master of the horse⁶ and his army; for then it was deemed preferable by those who were indebted to him for their preservation to present him with a crown under a new title, that of "father." The crown of grass was, however, awarded to him, with that unanimity which I have mentioned, after Hannibal had been expelled from Italy; being the only crown, in fact, that has hitherto been placed upon the head of a citizen by the hands of the state itself, and, another remarkable distinction, the only one that has ever been conferred by the whole of Italy united.

1 See B. vii. c. 29.

2 See B. xvi. c. 5.

3 In the Samnite war. He died B.C. 340.

4 Titus Manlins Torquatus Imperiosus, consul A.U.C. 414. It was he who put his own son to death for engaging the enemy against orders.

5 Q. Fabius Maximus, surnamed Cunctator, for his skill in avoiding an engagement with Hannibal, and so wearing out the Carthaginian troops.

6 Q. Minutius, the Magister Equitum.

The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.

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Pliny the Elder, The Natural History
John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.

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CHAP. 5. (5.)—THE ONLY PERSONS THAT HAVE BEEN PRESENTED WITH THIS CROWN.

Pliny the Elder, The Natural History John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.

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CHAP. 5. (5.)—THE ONLY PERSONS THAT HAVE BEEN PRESENTED WITH THIS CROWN.

Pliny the Elder, The Natural History
John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.