condition, that this
assumption of power on his part seemed to be justified by the
necessity of the case. The inhabitants, as is often the fact with men
when their affairs are in an extreme and desperate condition, had
become reckless. Every where throughout the city disorder and idleness
reigned supreme. The men spent their time in strolling about from
place to place, or sitting idly at home, or gathering in crowds at
places of public diversion. They had abandoned all care or concern
about public affairs, trusting to Pyrrhus to save them from the
impending danger. Pyrrhus perceived, accordingly, that an entire
revolution in the internal condition of the city was indispensably
required, and he immediately took most efficient measures for
effecting it. He shut up all the places of public amusement, and even
the public walks and promenades, and put an end to all feastings,
revels, and entertainments. Every man capable of bearing arms was
enrolled in the army, and the troops thus formed were brought out
daily for severe and long-protracted drillings and reviews. The people
complained loudly of these exactions; but Pyrrhus had the power in his
hands, and they were compelled to submit. Many of the inhabitants,
however, were so dissatisfied with these proceedings, that they went
away and left the city altogether. Of course it was those who were the
most hopelessly idle, dissolute, and reckless that thus withdrew,
while the more hardy and resolute remained. While these changes were
going on, Pyrrhus set up and repaired the defenses of the city. He
secured the walls, and strengthened the gates, and organized a
complete system of guards and sentries. In a word, the condition of
Tarentum was soon entirely changed. From being an exposed and
defenseless town, filled with devotees of idleness and pleasure, it
became a fortress, well secured at all points with material defenses,
and occupied by a well-disciplined and resolute garrison.

The inhabitants of the southeastern part of Italy, where Tarentum was
situated, were of Greek origin, the country having been settled, as it
would seem, by emigrants from the opposite shores of the Adriatic Sea.
Their language, therefore, as well as their customs and usages of
life, were different from those of the Roman communities that occupied
the western parts of the peninsula. Now the Greeks at this period
regarded themselves as the only truly civilized people in the world;
all other nations the