At this time the Achaeans were quarrelling with Sparta. Metellus
warned them to desist, and when the Achaeans advanced against him, he
easily defeated them near SCARPHEIA.

Metellus was a moderate reformer and a model man. He belonged to an
illustrious plebeian _gens_, the Caecilian. Before his death in
115 three of his sons had been consuls, one censor, and the fourth was
a candidate for the consulship.

Metellus was succeeded in Greece by LUCIUS MUMMIUS, a cruel and harsh
leader. The remnant of the Achaean army had taken refuge in CORINTH.
The Senate directed Mummius to attack the city. Its capture in 146 was
marked by special cruelties. The city was burned to the ground;
beautiful pictures and costly statuary were ruthlessly destroyed. Gold
in abundance was carried to Rome. The last vestige of Greek liberty
vanished. The country became a Roman province under the name of
ACHAIA.

Corinth, the "eye of all Greece," remained in ruins for a century,
when it was rebuilt in 46 by Julius Caesar, who planted on its site a
colony of veterans and freedmen.




CHAPTER XIX.

THE THIRD PUNIC WAR, AND FALL OF CARTHAGE.