The History of Rome

Chapter 39

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50. During that year provisions were remarkably cheap. The curule aediles, Marcus Claudius Marcellus and s.e.xtus Aelius Paetus, distributed among the people a vast quant.i.ty of corn, brought from Africa, at the rate of two _a.s.ses_ a peck. They also celebrated the Roman games in a magnificent manner, repeating them a second day; and erected in the treasury five brazen statues out of the money paid as fines. The plebeian games were thrice repeated entire, by the aediles, Lucius Terentius Ma.s.sa, and Cneius Baebius Tamphilus, who was elected praetor. There were also funeral games exhibited that year in the forum, for the s.p.a.ce of four days, on occasion of the death of Marcus Valerius Laevinus, by his sons Publius and Marcus, who gave also a show of gladiators, in which twenty-five pairs fought. Marcus Aurelius Cotta, one of the decemviri of the sacred books, died, and Manius Acilius Glabrio was subst.i.tuted in his room. It happened that both the curule aediles, who had been created at the elections, were persons who could not immediately undertake the office: for Caius Cornelius Cethegus was elected in his absence, when he was occupying Spain as his province; and Caius Valerius Flaccus, who was present, being flamen Dialis, could not take the oath of observing the laws; and no person was allowed to hold any office longer than five days without taking the oath. Flaccus pet.i.tioned to be excused from complying with the law, on which the senate decreed, that if the aedile produced a person approved of by the consuls, who would take the oath for him, the consuls, if they thought proper, should make application to the tribunes, that it might be proposed to the people. Lucius Valerius Flaccus, praetor elect, was produced to swear for his brother. The tribunes proposed to the commons, and the commons ordered that this should be as if the aedile himself had sworn. With regard to the other aedile, likewise, an order of the commons was made. On the tribunes putting the question, what two persons they chose should go and take the command of the armies in Spain, in order that Caius Cornelius, curule aedile, might come home to execute his office, and that Lucius Manlius Acidinus might, after many years, retire from the province; the commons ordered Cneius Cornelius Lentulus and Lucius Stertinius, proconsuls, to command in Spain.

BOOK x.x.xII.

_Successes of t.i.tus Quinctius Flamininus against Philip; and of his brother Lucius with the fleet, a.s.sisted by Attalus and the Rhodians. Treaty of friendship with the Achaeans.

Conspiracy of the slaves discovered and suppressed. The number of the praetors augmented to six. Defeat of the Insubrian Gauls by Cornelius Cethegus. Treaty of friendship with Nabis, tyrant of Lacedaemon. Capture of several cities in Macedonia_.

1. The consuls and praetors, having entered upon office on the ides of March, cast lots for the provinces. Italy fell to Lucius Cornelius Lentulus, Macedonia to Publius Villius. Of the praetors, the city jurisdiction fell to Lucius Quinctius, Ariminum to Cneius Baebius, Sicily to Lucius Valerius, Sardinia to Lucius Villius. The consul Lentulus was ordered to levy new legions; Villius, to receive the army from Publius Sulpicius; and, to complete its number, power was given him to raise as many men as he thought proper. To the praetor Baebius were decreed the legions which Caius Aurelius, late consul, had commanded, with directions that he should keep them in their present situation, until the consul should come with the new army to supply their place; and that, on his arriving in Gaul, all the soldiers who had served out their time should be sent home, except five thousand of the allies, which would be sufficient to protect the province round Ariminum. The command was continued to the praetors of the former year; to Cneius Sergius, that he might superintend the distribution of land to the soldiers who had served for many years in Spain, Sicily, and Sardinia; to Quintus Minucius, that he might finish the inquiries concerning the conspiracies in Bruttium, which, while praetor, he had managed with care and fidelity. That he should also send to Locri, to suffer punishment, those who had been convicted of sacrilege, and who were then in chains at Rome; and that he should take care, that whatever had been carried away from the temple of Proserpine should be replaced with expiations. The Latin festival was repeated in pursuance of a decree of the pontiffs, because amba.s.sadors from Ardea had complained to the senate, that during the said solemnity they had not been supplied with meat as usual on the Alban mount. From Suessa an account was brought, that two of the gates, and the wall between them, had been struck with lightning. Messengers from Formiae related, that the temple of Jupiter had also been struck by lightning; from Ostia, likewise, news came of the like accident having happened to the temple of Jupiter there; it was said, too, that the temples of Apollo and Sancus, at Veliternum, were struck in like manner; and that in the temple of Hercules, hair had grown (on the statue). A letter was received from Quintus Minucius, propraetor, from Bruttium, that a foal had been born with five feet, and three chickens with three feet each. Afterwards a letter was brought from Macedonia, from Publius Sulpicius, proconsul, in which, among other matters, it was mentioned, that a laurel tree had sprung up on the p.o.o.p of a ship of war. On occasion of the former prodigies, the senate had voted, that the consuls should offer sacrifices with the greater victims to such G.o.ds as they thought proper. On account of the last prodigy, alone, the aruspices were called before the senate, and, in pursuance of their answer, the people were ordered by proclamation to perform a supplication for one day, and worship was solemnized at all the shrines.

2. This year, the Carthaginians brought to Rome the first payment of the silver imposed on them as a tribute; and the quaestors having reported, that it was not of the proper standard, and that, on the a.s.say, it wanted a fourth part, they made up the deficiency with money borrowed at Rome. On their requesting that the senate would be pleased to order their hostages to be restored to them, a hundred were given up, and hopes were held out with relation to the rest, if they remained in fidelity (to the treaty). They then further requested, that the remaining hostages might be removed from Norba, where they were ill accommodated, to some other place, and they were permitted to remove to Signia and Ferentinum. The request of the people of Gades was likewise complied with: that a governor should not be sent to their city; being contrary to what had been agreed with them by Lucius Marcius Septimus, when they came under the protection of the Roman people. Deputies from Narnia, complaining that they had not their due number of settlers, and that several who were not of their community, had crept in among them, and were conducting themselves as colonists, Lucius Cornelius, the consul, was ordered to appoint three commissioners to adjust those matters. The three appointed were, Publius and s.e.xtus Aelius, both surnamed Paetus, and Caius Cornelius Lentulus. The favour granted to the Narnians, of filling up their number of colonists, was refused to the people of Cossa, who applied for it.

3. The consuls, having finished the business that was to be done at Rome, set out for their provinces. Publius Villius, on coming into Macedonia, found the soldiers in a violent mutiny, which had been previously excited, and not sufficiently repressed at the commencement. They were the two thousand who, after Hannibal had been vanquished, had been transported from Africa to Sicily, and then, in about a year after, into Macedonia, as volunteers; they denied, however, that this was done with their consent, affirming, that "they had been put on board the ships, by the tribunes, contrary to their remonstrances; but, in what manner soever they had become engaged in that service, whether it had been voluntarily undertaken or imposed on them, the time of it was now expired, and it was reasonable that some end should be put to their warfare. For many years they had not seen Italy, but had grown old under arms in Sicily, Africa, and Macedonia; they were now, in short, worn out with labour and fatigue, and were exhausted of their blood by the many wounds they had received." The consul told them, that "the grounds on which they demanded their discharge, appeared to him to be reasonable, if the demand had been made in a moderate manner; but that neither that, nor any other ground, was a justifying cause of mutiny. Wherefore, if they were contented to adhere to their standards, and obey orders, he would write to the senate concerning their release; and that what they desired would more easily be obtained by moderation than by turbulence."

4. At this time, Philip was pushing on the siege of Thaumaci, with the utmost vigour, by means of mounds and engines, and was ready to bring up the ram to the walls, when he was obliged to relinquish the undertaking by the sudden arrival of the Aetolians, who, under the command of Archidamus, having made their way into the town between the posts of the Macedonians, never ceased, day or night, making continual sallies, sometimes against the guards, sometimes against the works of the besiegers. They were at the same time favoured by the very nature of the place: for Thaumaci stands near the road from Thermopylae, and the Malian bay as you go through Lamia, on a lofty eminence, hanging immediately over the narrow pa.s.s which the Thessalians call Caela.[1]

After pa.s.sing through the craggy grounds of Thessaly, the roads are rendered intricate by the windings of the valleys, and on the near approach to the city, such an immense plain opens at once to view, like a vast sea, that the eye can scarcely reach the bounds of the expanse beneath From this surprising prospect it was called Thaumaci.[2] The city itself is secured, not only by the height of its situation, but by its standing on a rock, the stone of which had been cut away on all sides. These difficulties, and the prize not appearing sufficient to recompense so much toil and danger, caused Philip to desist from the attempt. The winter also was approaching; he therefore retired from thence, and led back his troops into winter quarters, in Macedonia.

[Footnote 1: Hollows]

[Footnote 2: From _thumazein_, to wonder.]

5. There, whilst others, glad of any interval of rest, consigned both body and mind to repose, Philip, in proportion as the season of the year had relieved him from the incessant fatigues of marching and fighting, found his care and anxiety increase the more, when he turned his thoughts towards the general issue of the war. He dreaded, not only his enemies, who pressed him hard by land and sea, but also the dispositions, sometimes of his allies, at others of his own subjects, lest the former might be induced, by hopes of friendship with the Romans, to revolt, and the Macedonians themselves be seized with a desire of innovation. Wherefore, he despatched amba.s.sadors to the Achaeans, both to require their oath, (for it had been made an article of their agreement that they should take an oath prescribed by Philip every year,) and at the same time to restore to them Orchomenes, Heraea, and Triphylia. To the Eleans he delivered up Aliphera; which city, they insisted, had never belonged to Triphylia, but ought to be restored to them, having been one of those that were incorporated by the council of the Arcadians for the founding of Megalopolis. These measures had the effect of strengthening his connexion with the Achaeans. The affections of the Macedonians he conciliated by his treatment of Heraclides: for, finding that his having countenanced this man had been the cause to him of the utmost unpopularity, he charged him with a number of crimes, and threw him into chains, to the great joy of the people. It was now, if at any time, that he made preparations for the war with especial energy. He exercised both the Macedonian and mercenary troops in arms, and in the beginning of spring sent Athenagoras, with all the foreign auxiliaries and what light-armed troops there were, through Epirus into Chaonia, to seize the pa.s.s at Antigonia, which the Greeks called Stena. He followed, in a few days, with the heavy troops: and having viewed every situation in the country, he judged that the most advantageous post for fortifying himself was on the river Aous. This river runs in a narrow vale, between two mountains, one of which the natives call Aeropus, and the other Asnaus, affording a pa.s.sage of very little breadth along the bank. He ordered Athenagoras, with the light infantry, to take possession of Asnaus, and to fortify it. His own camp he pitched on Aeropus. Those places where the rocks were steep, were defended by guards of a few soldiers only; the less secure he strengthened, some with trenches, some with ramparts, and others with towers. A great number of engines, also, were disposed in proper places, that, by means of weapons thrown from these, they might keep the enemy at a distance. The royal pavilion was pitched on the outside of the rampart, on the most conspicuous eminence, in order, by this show of confidence, to dishearten the foe, and raise the hopes of his own men.

6. The consul having received intelligence from Charopus of Epirus, on what pa.s.s the king had taken his position with his army, as soon as the spring began to open, left Corcyra, where he had pa.s.sed the winter, and, sailing over to the continent, led on his army against the enemy. When he came within about five miles of the king"s camp, leaving the legions in a strong post, he went forward in person with some light troops, to view the nature of the country; and, on the day following, held a council, in order to determine whether he should attempt a pa.s.sage through the defiles occupied by the enemy, notwithstanding the great labour and danger which the proposal involved, or lead round his forces by the same road through which Sulpicius had penetrated into Macedonia the year before. The deliberations on this question had lasted several days, when news arrived, that t.i.tus Quinctius had been elected consul; that he had obtained, by lot, Macedonia as his province; and that, hastening his journey, he had already come over to Corcyra. Valerius Antias says, that Villius marched into the defile, and that, as he could not proceed straight forward, because every pa.s.s was occupied by the king, he followed the course of a valley, through the middle of which the river Aous flows, and having hastily constructed a bridge, pa.s.sed over to the bank where the king"s camp was, and fought a battle with him; that the king was routed and driven out of his camp; that twelve thousand of the enemy were killed, and two thousand two hundred taken, together with a hundred and thirty-two military standards, and two hundred and thirty horses. He adds, that, during the battle, a temple was vowed to Jupiter in case of success. The other historians, both Greek and Latin, (all those at least whose accounts I have read,) affirm that nothing memorable was done by Villius, and that t.i.tus Quinctius, the consul who succeeded him, received from him a war which had yet to be commenced.

7. During the time of these transactions in Macedonia, the other consul, Lucius Lentulus, who had stayed at Rome, held an a.s.sembly for the election of censors. Out of many ill.u.s.trious men who stood candidates, were chosen Publius Cornelius Scipio Africa.n.u.s and Publius Aelius Paetus. These, acting together in perfect harmony, read the list of the senate, without pa.s.sing a censure on any one member; they also let to farm the port-duties at Capua, and at Puteoli, and of the fort situate were the city now stands; enrolling for this latter place three hundred colonists, that being the number fixed by the senate; they also sold the lands of Capua, which lie at the foot of Mount Tifata. About the same time, Lucius Manlius Acidinus, on his return from Spain, was hindered from entering the city in ovation by Marcus Portius Laeca, plebeian tribune, notwithstanding he had obtained permission of the senate: coming, then, into the city in a private character, he conveyed to the treasury one thousand two hundred pounds" weight of silver, and about thirty pounds" weight of gold.

During this year, Cneius Baebius Tamphilus, who had succeeded to the government of the province of Gaul, in the room of Caius Aurelius, consul of the year preceding, having, without proper caution, entered the territories of the Insubrian Gauls, was surprised with almost the whole of his army. He lost above six thousand six hundred men,--so great a loss was received from a war which had now ceased to be an object of apprehension. This event called away the consul, Lucius Lentulus, from the city; who, arriving in the province, which was filled with confusion, and taking the command of the army, which he found dispirited by its defeat, severely reprimanded the praetor, and ordered him to quit the province and return to Rome. Neither did the consul himself perform any considerable service, being called home to preside at the elections, which were obstructed by Marcus Fulvius and Manius Curius, plebeian tribunes, who wished to hinder t.i.tus Quinctius Flamininus from standing candidate for the consulship, after pa.s.sing through the office of quaestor. They alleged, that "the aedileship and praetorship were now held in contempt, and that the n.o.bility did not make their way to the consulship through the regular gradations of offices, thus affording a trial of themselves; but, pa.s.sing over the intermediate steps, pushed at once from the lowest to the highest."

From a dispute in the Field of Mars, the affair was brought before the senate, where it was voted, "that when a person sued for any post, which by the laws he was permitted to hold, the people had the right of choosing whoever they thought proper." To this decision of the senate the tribunes submitted, and thereupon s.e.xtus Aelius Paetus and t.i.tus Quinctius Flamininus were elected consuls. Then was held the election of praetors. The persons chosen were, Lucius Cornelius Merula, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, Marcus Porcius Cato, and Caius Helvius, who had been plebeian aediles. By these the plebeian games were repeated, and, on occasion of the games, a feast of Jupiter was celebrated. The curule aediles, also, Caius Valerius Flaccus, who was flamen of Jupiter, and Caius Cornelius Cethegus, celebrated the Roman games with great magnificence. Servius and Caius Sulpicius Galba, pontiffs, died this year; in their room were subst.i.tuted Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and Cneius Cornelius Scipio, as pontiffs.

8. The new consuls, s.e.xtus Aelius Paetus and t.i.tus Quinctius Flamininus, on a.s.suming the administration, convened the senate in the Capitol, and the fathers decreed, that "the consuls should settle between themselves or cast lots for the provinces, Macedonia and Italy. That he to whom Macedonia fell should enlist, as a supplement to the legions, three thousand Roman footmen and three hundred horse, and also five thousand footmen and five hundred hors.e.m.e.n belonging to the Latin confederacy." The army a.s.signed to the other consul was to consist entirely of newly-raised men. Lucius Lentulus, consul of the preceding year, was continued in command, and was ordered not to depart from the province, nor to remove the old army, until the consul should arrive with the new legions. The consuls cast lots for the provinces, and Italy fell to Aelius, Macedonia to Quintius. Of the praetors, the lots gave to Lucius Cornelius Merula the city jurisdiction; to Marcus Claudius, Sicily; to Marcus Porcius, Sardinia; and to Caius Helvius, Gaul. The levying of troops was then begun, for besides the consular armies, the praetors had been ordered also to enlist men: for Marcellus, in Sicily, four thousand foot and three hundred horse of the Latin confederates; for Cato, in Sardinia, three thousand foot and two hundred horse of the same cla.s.s of soldiers; with directions, that both these praetors, on their arrival in their provinces, should disband the veterans, both foot and horse. The consuls then introduced to the senate amba.s.sadors from king Attalus.

These, after representing that their king gave every a.s.sistance to the Roman arms on land and sea, with his fleet and all his forces, and had up to that day executed with zeal and obedience every order of the consuls, added, that "they feared it would not be in his power to continue so to do by reason of king Antiochus, for that Antiochus had invaded the kingdom of Attalus, when dest.i.tute of protective forces by sea and land. That Attalus, therefore, entreated the conscript fathers, if they chose to employ his army and navy in the Macedonian war, then to send a body of forces to protect his territories; or if that were not agreeable, to allow him to go home to defend his own possessions, with his fleet and troops." The following answer was ordered to be given to the amba.s.sadors: that "it was a cause of grat.i.tude to the senate that Attalus had a.s.sisted the Roman commanders with his fleet and other forces. That they would neither send succours to Attalus, against Antiochus, the ally and friend of the Roman people; nor would they detain the auxiliary troops longer than would be convenient to the king. That it was ever a constant rule with the Roman people, to use the aid of others so far only as was agreeable to the will of those who gave it; and even to leave the commencement and the termination of that aid at the discretion of those who desired that the Romans should be benefited by their help. That they would send amba.s.sadors to Antiochus, to represent to him, that Attalus, with his fleet and army, were, at the present, employed by the Roman people against Philip, their common enemy; and that Antiochus would do that which was gratifying to the senate if he abstained from the kingdom of Attalus and desisted from the war; for that it was much to be wished, that kings who were allies and friends to the Roman people should maintain friendship between themselves also."

9. When the consul t.i.tus Quinctius had finished the levies, in making which he chose princ.i.p.ally such as had served in Spain or Africa, that is, soldiers of approved courage, and when hastening to set forward to his province, he was delayed by reports of prodigies, and the expiations of them. There had been struck by lightning the public road at Veii, a temple of Jupiter at Lanuvium, a temple of Hercules at Ardea, with a wall and towers at Capua, also the edifice which is called Alba. At Arretium, the sky appeared as on fire; at Velitrae, the earth, to the extent of three acres, sunk down so as to form a vast chasm. From Suessa Aurunca, an account was brought of a lamb born with two heads; from Sinuessa, of a swine with a human head. On occasion of these ill omens, a supplication of one day"s continuance was performed; the consuls gave their attention to divine services, and, as soon as the G.o.ds were appeased, set out for their provinces.

Aelius, accompanied by Caius Helvius, praetor, went into Gaul, where he put under the command of the praetor the army which he received from Lucius Lentulus, and which he ought to have disbanded, intending to carry on his own operations with the new troops, which he had brought with him; but he effected nothing worth recording. The other consul, t.i.tus Quinctius, setting sail from Brundusium earlier than had been usual with former consuls, reached Corcyra, with, eight thousand foot and eight hundred horse. From this place, he pa.s.sed over, in a quinquereme, to the nearest part of Epirus, and proceeded, by long journeys, to the Roman camp. Here, having dismissed Villius, and waiting a few days, until the forces from Corcyra should come up and join him, he held a council, to determine whether he should endeavour to force his way straight forward through the camp of the enemy; or whether, without attempting an enterprise of so great difficulty and danger, he should not rather take a circuitous and safe road, so as to penetrate into Macedonia by the country of the Da.s.saretians and Lycus.

The latter plan would have been adopted, had he not feared that, in removing to a greater distance from the sea, the enemy might slip out of his hands; and that if the king should resolve to secure himself in the woods and wilds, as he had done before, the summer might be spun out without any thing being effected. It was therefore determined, be the event what it might, to attack the enemy in their present post, disadvantageous as it was. But they more easily resolved on this measure, than devised any safe or certain method of accomplishing it.

10. Forty days were pa.s.sed in view of the enemy, without making any kind of effort. Hence Philip conceived hopes of bringing about a treaty of peace, through the mediation of the people of Epirus; and a council, which was held for the purpose, having appointed Pausanias, the praetor, and Alexander, the master of the horse, as negotiators, they brought the consul and the king to a conference, on the banks of the river Aous, where the channel was narrowest. The sum of the consul"s demands was, that the king should withdraw his troops from the territories of the several states; that, to those whose lands and cities he had plundered, he should restore such of their effects as could be found; and that the value of the rest should be estimated by a fair arbitration. Philip answered, that "the cases of the several states differed widely from each other. That such as he himself had seized on, he would set at liberty; but he would not divest himself of the hereditary and just possessions which had been conveyed down to him from his ancestors. If those states, with whom hostilities had been carried on, complained of any losses in the war, he was ready to submit the matter to the arbitration of any state with whom both parties were at peace." To this the consul replied, that "the business required neither judge nor arbitrator: for to whom was it not evident that every injurious consequence of the war was to be imputed to him who first took up arms. And in this case Philip, unprovoked by any, had first commenced hostilities against all." When they next began to treat of those nations which were to be set at liberty, the consul named, first, the Thessalians: on which the king, fired with indignation, exclaimed, "What harsher terms, t.i.tus Quinctius, could you impose on me if I were vanquished?" With these words he retired hastily from the conference, and they were with difficulty restrained by the river which separated them from a.s.saulting each other with missile weapons. On the following day many skirmishes took place between parties sallying from the outposts, in a plain sufficiently wide for the purpose. Afterwards the king"s troops drew back into narrow and rocky places, whither the Romans, keenly eager for fighting, penetrated also. These had in their favour order and military discipline, while their arms were of a kind well calculated for protecting their persons. In favour of the enemy were the advantage of ground, and their balistas and catapultas disposed on almost every rock as on walls. After many wounds given and received on both sides, and numbers being slain, as in a regular engagement, darkness put an end to the fight.

11. While matters were in this state, a herdsman, sent by Charopus, prince of the Epirots, was brought to the consul. He said, that "being accustomed to feed his herd in the forest, then occupied by the king"s camp, he knew every winding and path in the neighbouring mountains; and that if the consul thought proper to send some troops with him, he would lead them by a road, neither dangerous nor difficult, to a spot over the enemy"s head." When the consul heard these things, he sent to Charopus to inquire if he considered that confidence might be placed in the rustic in so important a matter. Charopus ordered an answer to be returned, that he should give just so much credit to this man"s account, as should still leave every thing rather in his own power than in that of the other. Though the consul rather wished than dared to give the intelligence full belief, and though his mind was possessed by mingled emotions of joy and fear, yet being moved by the confidence due to Charopus, he resolved to put to trial the prospect that was held out to him. In order to prevent all suspicion of the matter, during the two following days he carried on attacks against the enemy without intermission, drawing out troops against them in every quarter, and sending up fresh men to relieve the wearied. Then, selecting four thousand foot and three hundred horse, he put them under the command of a military tribune, with directions to advance the horse as far as the nature of the ground allowed; and when they came to places impa.s.sable to cavalry, then to post them in some plain; that the infantry should proceed by the road which the guide would show, and that when, according to his promise, they arrived on the height over the enemy"s head, then they should give a signal by smoke, but raise no shout, until the tribune should have reason to think that, in consequence of the signal received from him, the battle was begun. He ordered that the march should take place by night, (the moon shining through the whole of it,) and employ the day in taking food and rest. The most liberal promises were made to the guide, provided he fulfilled his engagement; he bound him, nevertheless, and delivered him to the tribune. Having thus sent off this detachment, the Roman general exerted himself only the more vigorously in every part to make himself master of the posts of the enemy.

12. On the third day, the Roman party made the signal by smoke, to notify that they had gained possession of the eminence to which they had been directed; and then the consul, dividing his forces into three parts, marched up with the main strength of his army, through a valley in the middle, and made the wings on right and left advance to the camp of the enemy. Nor did these advance to meet him with less alacrity. The Roman soldiers, in the ardour of their courage, long maintained the fight on the outside of their works, for they had no small superiority in bravery, in skill, and in the nature of their arms; but when the king"s troops, after many of them were wounded and slain, retreated into places secured either by intrenchments or situation, the danger reverted on the Romans, who pushed forward, inconsiderately, into disadvantageous grounds and defiles, out of which a retreat was difficult. Nor would they have extricated themselves without suffering for their rashness, had not the Macedonians, first, by a shout heard in their rear, and then by an attack begun on that quarter, been utterly dismayed and confounded at the unforeseen danger. Some betook themselves to a hasty flight: some, keeping their stand, rather because they could find no way for flight than that they possessed spirit to support the engagement, were cut off by the Romans, who pressed them hard both on front and rear. Their whole army might have been destroyed, had the victors continued their pursuit of the fugitives; but the cavalry were obstructed by the narrowness of the pa.s.ses and the ruggedness of the ground; and the infantry, by the weight of their armour. The king at first fled with precipitation, and without looking behind him; but afterwards, when he had proceeded as far as five miles, he began, from recollecting the unevenness of the road, to suspect, (what was really the case,) that the enemy could not follow him; and halting, he despatched his attendants through all the hills and valleys to collect the stragglers together. His loss was not more than two thousand men. The rest of his army, coming to one spot, as if they had followed some signal, marched off, in a compact body, towards Thessaly. The Romans, after having pursued the enemy as far as they could with safety, killing such as they overtook, and despoiling the slain, seized and plundered the king"s camp; which, even when it had no defenders, was difficult of access. The following night they were lodged within their own trenches.

13. Next day, the consul pursued the enemy through the same defiles through which the river winds its way among the valleys. The king came on the first day to the camp of Pyrrhus, a place so called in Triphylia, a district of Melotis; and on the following day he reached Mount Lingos, an immense march for his army, but his fear impelled him. This ridge of mountains belongs to Epirus, and stretches along between Macedonia and Thessaly; the side next to Thessaly faces the east, that next to Macedonia the north. These hills are thickly clad with woods, and on their summits have open plains and perennial streams. Here Philip remained encamped for several days, being unable to determine whether he should continue his retreat until he arrived in his own dominions, or whether he might venture back into Thessaly.

At length, his decision leaned to leading down his army into Thessaly; and, going by the shortest roads to Tricca, he made hasty excursions from thence to all the cities within his reach. The inhabitants who were able to accompany him he summoned from their habitations, and burned the towns, allowing the owners to take with them such of their effects as they were able to carry; the rest became the prey of the soldiers; nor was there any kind of cruelty which they could have suffered from an enemy, that they did not suffer from these their confederates. These acts were painful to Philip even while he executed them; but as the country was soon to become the property of the foe, he wished to rescue out of it at least the persons of his allies. In this manner were ravaged the towns of Phacium, Iresiae, Euhydrium, Eretria, and Palaepharsalus. On his coming to Pherae, the gates were shut against him, and as it would necessarily occasion a considerable delay if he attempted to take it by force, and as he could not spare time, he dropped the design, and crossed over the mountains into Macedonia; for he had received intelligence, that the Aetolians too were marching towards him. These, on hearing of the battle fought on the banks of the river of Aous, first laid waste the nearest tracts round Sperchia, and Long Come, as they call it, and then, pa.s.sing over into Thessaly, got possession of Cymine and Angeae at the first a.s.sault. From Metropolis they were repulsed by the inhabitants, who, while a part of their army was plundering the country, a.s.sembled in a body to defend the city. Afterwards, making an attempt on Callithera, they were attacked by the townsmen in a like manner; but withstood their onset with more steadiness, drove back into the town the party which had sallied, and content with that success, as they had no prospect whatever of taking the place by storm, retired. They then took by a.s.sault and sacked the towns of Theuma and Calathas. Acharrae they gained by surrender. Xyniae, through similar apprehensions, was abandoned by the inhabitants. These having forsaken their homes, and going together in a body, fell in with a party which was being marched to Thaumacus for the purpose of protecting their foragers; all of whom, an irregular and unarmed mult.i.tude, incapable of any resistance, were put to the sword by the troops. The deserted town of Xyniae was plundered. The Aetolians then took Cyphara, a fort conveniently situated on the confines of Dolopia. All this the Aetolians performed within the s.p.a.ce of a few days.

14. Nor did Amynander and the Athamanians, when they heard of the victory obtained by the Romans, continue inactive. Amynander, having little confidence in his own troops, requested a slight auxiliary force from the consul; and then advancing towards Gomphi, he stormed on his march a place called Pheca, situate between that town and the narrow pa.s.s which separates Thessaly from Athamania. He then attacked Gomphi, and though the inhabitants defended it for several days with the utmost vigour, yet, as soon as he had raised the scaling ladders to the walls, the same apprehension (which had operated on others) at length compelled them to surrender. This capture of Gomphi spread the greatest consternation among the Thessalians: their fortresses of Argenta, Pherinus, Thimarus, Lisinae, Stimon, and Lampsus surrendered, one after another, with several other garrisons equally inconsiderable. While the Athamanians and Aetolians, delivered from fear of the Macedonians, converted to their own profit the fruits of another"s victory; and Thessaly, ravaged by three armies at once, knew not which to believe its foe or its friend; the consul marched on, through the pa.s.s which the enemy"s flight had left open, into the country of Epirus. Though he well knew which party the Epirots, excepting their prince Charopus, were disposed to favour, yet as he saw that, even from the motive of atoning for past behaviour, they obeyed his orders with diligence, he regulated his treatment of them by the standard of their present rather than of their former temper, and by this readiness to pardon conciliated their affection for the future. Then, sending orders to Corcyra for the transport ships to come into the Ambrician bay, he advanced by moderate marches, and on the fourth day pitched his camp on Mount Cercetius. Hither he ordered Amynander to come with his auxiliary troops; not so much as being in want of his forces, as that he might avail himself of them as his guides into Thessaly. With the same purpose, many volunteers of the Epirots also were admitted into the corps of auxiliaries.

15. Of the cities of Thessaly, the first which he attacked was Phaloria. The garrison here consisted of two thousand Macedonians, who at first resisted with the utmost vigour so far as their arms and fortifications could protect them. The a.s.sault was carried on without intermission or relaxation either by day or by night, because the consul thought that it would have a powerful effect on the spirits of the rest of the Thessalians, if the first who made trial of the Roman strength were unable to withstand it; and this at the same time subdued the obstinacy of the Macedonians. On the reduction of Phaloria, deputies came from Metropolis and Piera, surrendering those cities. To them, on their pet.i.tion, pardon was granted: Phaloria was sacked, and burned. He then proceeded to Aeginium; but finding this place so circ.u.mstanced, that, even with a moderate garrison, it was safe, after discharging a few weapons against the nearest advanced guard he directed his march towards the territory of Gomphi; and thence descended into the plains of Thessaly. His army was now in want of every thing, because he had spared the lands of the Epirots; he therefore despatched messengers to learn whether the transports had reached Leucas and the Ambracian bay; sending the cohorts, in turn, to Ambracia for corn. Now, the road from Gomphi to Ambracia, although difficult and embarra.s.sed, is very short; so that in a few days, provisions having been conveyed from the sea, his camp was filled with an abundant supply of all necessaries. He then marched to Atrax, which is about ten miles from Larissa, on the river Peneus. The inhabitants came originally from Perrhaebia. The Thessalians, here, were not in the least alarmed at the first coming of the Romans; and Philip, although he durst not himself advance into Thessaly, yet, keeping his stationary camp in the vale of Tempe, whenever any place was attempted by the enemy, he sent up reinforcements as occasion required.

16. About the time that Quinctius first pitched his camp opposite to Philip"s, at the entrance of Epirus, Lucius, the consul"s brother, whom the senate had commissioned both to the naval command and to the government of the coast, sailed over with two quinqueremes to Corcyra; and when he learned that the fleet had departed thence, thinking that no delay ought to be incurred, he followed, and overtook it at the island of Zama. Here he dismissed Lucius Apustius, in whose room he had been appointed, and then proceeded to Malea, but at a slow rate, being obliged, for the most part, to tow the vessels which accompanied him with provisions. From Malea, after ordering the rest to follow with all possible expedition, himself, with three light quinqueremes, hastened forward to the Piraeus, and took under his command the ships left there by Lucius Apustius, lieutenant-general, for the protection of Athens. At the same time, two fleets set sail from Asia; one of twenty-four quinqueremes, under king Attalus; the other belonging to the Rhodians, consisting of twenty decked ships, and commanded by Agesimbrotus. These fleets, joining near the island of Andros, sailed for Euboea, which was separated from them only by a narrow strait.

They first ravaged the lands belonging to Carystus; but, judging that city too strong, in consequence of a reinforcement hastily sent from Chalcis, they bent their course to Eretria. Lucius Quinctius also, on hearing of the arrival of king Attalus, came thither with the ships which had lain at the Piraeus; having left orders, that his own ships should, as they arrived, follow him to Euboea. The siege of Eretria was now pushed forward with the utmost vigour; for the three combined fleets carried machines and engines, of all sorts, for the demolition of towns, and the adjacent country offered abundance of timber for the construction of new works. At the beginning the townsmen defended their walls with a good degree of spirit; afterwards, when they felt the effects of fatigue, a great many being likewise wounded, and a part of the wall demolished by the enemy"s works, they became disposed to capitulate. But they had a garrison of Macedonians, of whom they stood in no less dread than of the Romans; and Philocles, the king"s general, sent frequent messages from Chalcis, that he would bring them succour in due time, if they could hold out the siege. The hope of this, in conjunction with their fears, obliged them to protract the time longer than was consistent either with their wishes or their strength. However, having learned soon after that Philocles had been repulsed in the attempt, and forced to fly back, in disorder, to Chalcis, they instantly sent deputies to Attalus, to beg pardon and protection. While intent on the prospect of peace, they executed with less energy the duties of war, and kept armed guards in that quarter only where the breach had been made in the wall, neglecting all the rest; Quinctius made an a.s.sault by night on the side where it was least apprehended, and carried the town by scalade. The whole mult.i.tude of the townsmen, with their wives and children, fled into the citadel, but soon after surrendered themselves prisoners. The quant.i.ty of money, of gold and silver, taken was not great. Of statues and pictures, the works of ancient artists, and other ornaments of that kind, a greater number was found than was proportionate either to the size of the city, or its opulence in other particulars.

17. The design on Carystus was then resumed, and the fleets sailed thither; on which the whole body of the inhabitants, before the troops were disembarked, deserted the city and fled into the citadel, whence they sent deputies to beg protection from the Roman general. To the townspeople life and liberty were immediately granted; and it was ordered, that the Macedonians should pay a ransom of three hundred drachmas[1] a head, deliver up their arms, and quit the country. After being ransomed for the said amount, they were transported, unarmed, to Boeotia. The combined fleets having, in the s.p.a.ce of a few days, taken these two important cities of Euboea, sailed round Sunium, a promontory of Attica, and steered their course to Cenchreae, the grand mart of the Corinthians. In the mean time, the consul found the siege of Atrax more tedious and severe than had been universally expected, and the enemy resisted in the way which they had least antic.i.p.ated. He had supposed that the whole of the trouble would be in demolishing the wall, and that if he could once open a pa.s.sage for his soldiers into the city, the consequence would then be, the flight and slaughter of the enemy, as usually happens on the capture of towns. But when, on a breach being made in the wall by the rams, and when the soldiers, by mounting over the ruins, had entered the place, this proved only the beginning, as it were, of an unusual and fresh labour. For the Macedonians in garrison, who were both chosen men and many in number, supposing that they would be ent.i.tled to extraordinary honour if they should maintain the defence of the city by means of arms and courage, rather than by the help of walls, formed themselves in a compact body, strengthening their line by an uncommon number of files in depth.

These, when they saw the Romans entering by the breaches, drove them back, so that they were entangled among the rubbish, and with difficulty could effect a retreat. This gave the consul great uneasiness; for he considered such a disgrace, not merely as it r.e.t.a.r.ded the reduction of a single city, but as likely to affect materially the whole process of the war, which in general depends much on the influence of events in themselves unimportant. Having therefore cleared the ground, which was heaped up with the rubbish of the half-ruined wall, he brought up a tower of extraordinary height, consisting of many stories, and which carried a great number of soldiers. He likewise sent up the cohorts in strong bodies one after another, to force their way, if possible, through the wedge of the Macedonians, which is called a phalanx. But in such a confined s.p.a.ce, (for the wall was thrown down to no great extent,) the enemy had the advantage, both in the kind of weapons which they used, and in the manner of fighting. When the Macedonians, in close array, stretched out before them their long spears against the target fence which was formed by the close position of their antagonists" shields, and when the Romans, after discharging their javelins without effect, drew their swords, these could neither press on to a closer combat, nor cut off the heads of the spears; and if they did cut or break off any, the shaft, being sharp at the part where it was broken, filled up its place among the points of those which were unbroken, in a kind of palisade. Besides this, the parts of the wall still standing rendered both the flanks of the Macedonians secure, who were not obliged, either in retreating or in advancing to an attack, to pa.s.s through a long s.p.a.ce, which generally occasions disorder in the ranks. An accidental circ.u.mstance also helped to confirm their courage: for as the tower was moved along a bank of not sufficiently solid soil, one of the wheels sinking into a rut, made the tower lean in such a manner that it appeared to the enemy as if falling, and threw the soldiers posted on it into consternation and affright.

[Footnote 1: 9l. 13s. 9d.]

18. As none of his attempts met any success, the consul was very unwilling to allow such a comparison to be exhibited between the two cla.s.ses of soldiery and their respective weapons; at the same time, he could neither see any prospect of reducing the place speedily, nor any means of subsisting in winter, at such a distance from the sea, and in regions desolated by the calamities of war. He therefore raised the siege; and as, along the whole coast of Acarnania and Aetolia, there was no port capable of containing all the transports that brought supplies to the army, nor any place which afforded lodgings to the legions, he pitched on Anticyra, in Phocis on the Corinthian gulf, as most commodiously situated for his purpose. There the legions would be at no great distance from Thessaly, and the places belonging to the enemy; while they would have in front Peloponnesus, separated from them by a narrow sea; on their rear, Aetolia and Acarnania; and on their sides, Locris and Boeotia. Phanotea in Phocis he took without resistance at the first a.s.sault. The siege of Anticyra gave him not much delay. Then Ambrysus and Hyampolis were taken. Daulis, being situated on a lofty eminence, could not be reduced either by scalade or works: he therefore provoked the garrison, by missile weapons, to make sallies from out the town. Then by flying at one time, pursuing at another, and engaging in slight skirmishes, he led them into such a degree of carelessness, and such a contempt of him, that at length the Romans, mixing with them as they ran back, entered by the gates, and stormed the town. Six other fortresses in Phocis, of little consequence, came into his hands, through fear rather than by force of arms. Elatia shut its gates, and the inhabitants seemed determined not to admit within their walls either the army or the general of the Romans, unless compelled by force.

19. While the consul was employed in the siege of Elatia, a prospect opened to him of effecting a business of much more importance; namely, of drawing away the Achaeans from their alliance with Philip to that of the Romans. Cycliades, the head of the faction that favoured the interest of Philip, they had now banished; and Aristaenus, who wished for a union between his countrymen and the Romans, was praetor. The Roman fleet, with Attalus and the Rhodians, lay at Cenchreae, and were preparing to lay siege to Corinth with their whole combined force. The consul therefore judged it prudent, that, before they entered on that affair, amba.s.sadors should be sent to the Achaean state, with a.s.surances, that if they came over from the king to the side of the Romans, the latter would consign Corinth to them, and annex it to the old confederacy of their nation. Accordingly, by the consul"s direction, amba.s.sadors were sent to the Achaeans, by his brother Lucius Quinctius, by Attalus, and by the Rhodians and Athenians--a general a.s.sembly being summoned to meet at Sicyon to give them audience. Now, the state of feeling of the Achaeans was by no means uniform. Nabis the Lacedaemonian, their constant and inveterate enemy, was the object of their dread; they dreaded the arms of the Romans; they were under obligations to the Macedonians, for services both of ancient and recent date; but the king himself, on account of his perfidy and cruelty, they looked upon with jealous fear, and not judging from the behaviour which he then a.s.sumed for the time, they knew that, on the conclusion of the war, they should find him a more tyrannical master. So that every one of them was not only at a loss what opinion he should support in the senate of his own particular state, or in the general diets of the nation; but, even when they deliberated within themselves, they could not, with any certainty, determine what they ought to wish, or what to prefer. Such was the unsettled state of mind of the members of the a.s.sembly, when the amba.s.sadors were introduced and liberty of speaking afforded them. The Roman amba.s.sador, Lucius Calpurnius, spoke first; next the amba.s.sadors of king Attalus; after them those of the Rhodians; and then Philip"s.

The Athenians were heard the last, that they might refute the discourses of the Macedonians. These inveighed against the king with the greatest acrimony of any, for no others had suffered from him so many and so severe hardships. So great a number of speeches of the amba.s.sadors succeeding each other took up the whole of the day; and about sun-set the council was adjourned.

20. Next day the council was convened again; and when the magistrates, according to the custom of the Greeks, gave leave, by their herald, to any person who chose to offer advice, not one stood forth; but they sat a long time, looking on each other in silence. It was no wonder that men, revolving in their minds matters of such contradictory natures, and who found themselves puzzled and confounded, should be involved in additional perplexity by the speeches continued through the whole preceding day; in which the difficulties, on all sides, were brought into view, and stated in their full force. At length Aristaenus, the praetor of the Achaeans, not to dismiss the council without any business being introduced, said:--"Achaeans, where are now those violent disputes, in which, at your feasts and meetings, whenever mention was made of Philip and the Romans, you scarcely refrained from blows? Now, in a general a.s.sembly, summoned on that single business, when you have heard the arguments of the amba.s.sadors on both sides, when the magistrates demand your opinions, when the herald calls you to declare your sentiments, you are struck dumb.

Although your concern for the common safety be insufficient for determining the matter, cannot the party zeal which has attached you to one side or the other extort a word from any one of you? especially when none is so obtuse as not to perceive, that the time for declaring and recommending what each either wishes or thinks most advisable, must be at the present moment; that is, before we make any decree.

When a decree shall have been once pa.s.sed, every man even such as previously may have disapproved the measure, must then support it as good and salutary." These persuasions of the praetor, so far from prevailing on any one person to declare his opinion, did not excite, in all that numerous a.s.sembly, collected out of so many states, so much as a murmur or a whisper.

21. Then the praetor, Aristaenus, again spoke as follows:--"Chiefs of Achaea, you are not more at a loss for advice, than you are for words; but every one is unwilling to promote the interest of the public at a risk of danger to himself. Were I in a private character, perhaps I too should be silent; but, as praetor, it is my duty to declare, that I see evidently, either that an audience of the council ought not to have been accorded to the amba.s.sadors, or that they ought not to be dismissed from it without an answer. Yet how can I give them an answer, unless by a decree of yours? And, since not one of you who have been called to this a.s.sembly either chooses or dares to make known his sentiments, let us examine (as if they were opinions proposed to our consideration) the speeches of the amba.s.sadors delivered yesterday; supposing the speakers not to have required what was useful to themselves, but to have recommended what they thought most conducive to our advantage. The Romans, the Rhodians and Attalus, request an alliance and friendship with us; and they demand to be a.s.sisted by us in the war in which they are now engaged against Philip. Philip reminds us of our league with him, and of the obligation of our oath; he requires only, that we declare ourselves on his side; and says, he will be satisfied if we do not intermeddle in the operations of the war. Does not the reason occur to the mind of any one of you why those, who are not yet our allies, require more than he who is? This arises not from modesty in Philip, nor from the want of it in the Romans. It is fortune, which, while it bestows confidence to requisitions on one side, precludes it on the other. We see nothing belonging to Philip but his amba.s.sador: the Roman fleet lies at Cenchreae, exhibiting to our view the spoils of the cities of Euboea. We behold the consul and his legions, at the distance of a small tract of sea, overrunning Phocis and Locris. You were surprised at Philip"s amba.s.sador, Cleomedon, showing such diffidence yesterday in his application to us to take arms on the side of the king against the Romans. But if we, in pursuance of the same treaty and oath, the sacredness of which he inculcated on us, were to ask of him, that Philip should protect us, both from Nabis and his Lacedaemonians, and also from the Romans, he would be utterly unable to find, not only a force with which to protect us, but even an answer to return. As much so in truth as was Philip himself, who endeavoured, by promises of waging war against Nabis, to draw away our youth into Euboea; but finding that we would neither decree such a.s.sistance to him, nor choose to be embroiled in a war with Rome, forgot that alliance on which he now lays such stress, and left us to Nabis and the Lacedaemonians to be spoiled and plundered. Besides, to me the arguments of Cleomedon appeared utterly inconsistent. He made light of the war with the Romans; and a.s.serted, that the issue of it would be similar to that of the former, which they waged against Philip. If such the case, why does he, at a distance, solicit our a.s.sistance; rather than come hither in person, and defend us, his old allies, both from Nabis and from the Romans? Us, do I say? Why, on this showing, has he suffered Eretria and Carystus to be taken? Why so many cities of Thessaly? Why Locris and Phocis? Why does he at present suffer Elatia to be besieged? Did he, either through compulsion, or fear, or choice, quit the straits of Epirus, and those impregnable fastnesses on the river Aous; and why, abandoning the pa.s.s which he was occupying, did he retire altogether into his own kingdom? If of his own will he gave up so many allies to the ravages of the enemy, what objection can he make to these allies consulting for their own safety?

If through fear, he ought to pardon the like fear in us. If he retired defeated by force of arms, let me ask you, Cleomedon, shall we, Achaeans, be able to withstand the Roman arms, which you, Macedonians, have not withstood? Are we to give credit to your a.s.sertion, that the Romans do not employ, in the present war, greater forces or greater strength than they did in the former, rather than regard the facts themselves? In the first instance, they aided the Aetolians with a fleet; they sent not to the war either a consul as commander, or a consular army. The maritime cities of Philip"s allies were in terror and confusion; but the inland places were so secure against the Roman arms, that Philip ravaged the country of the Aetolians, while they in vain implored succour from those arms. Whereas, in the present case, the Romans, after bringing to a final conclusion the Punic war, which they had supported for sixteen years in the bowels, as it were, of Italy, sent not auxiliaries to the Aetolians in their quarrels, but, being themselves princ.i.p.als, made a hostile invasion on Macedonia with land and sea forces at once. Their third consul is now pushing forward the war with the utmost vigour. Sulpicius, engaging the king within the territory of Macedonia itself, has overthrown and put him to flight; and afterwards despoiled the most opulent part of his kingdom.

Then, again, when he was in possession of the strait of Epirus, where, from the nature of the ground, his fortifications, and the strength of his army, he thought himself secure, Quinctius drove him out of his camp; pursued him, as he fled into Thessaly; and, almost in the view of Philip himself, stormed the royal garrisons and the cities of his allies. Supposing that there were no truth in what the Athenian amba.s.sadors mentioned yesterday, respecting the cruelty, avarice, and l.u.s.t of the king; supposing the crimes committed, in the country of Attica, against the G.o.ds, celestial and infernal, concerned us not all; that we had less to complain of than what the people of Cius and Abydos, who are far distant from us, have endured: let us then, if you please, forget even our own wounds; let the murders and ravages committed at Messana, and in the heart of Peloponnesus, the killing of his host Garitenes at Cyparissia, almost in the very midst of a feast, in contempt of laws divine and human; the murder of the two Aratuses of Sicyon, father and son, though he was wont to call the unfortunate old man his parent; his carrying away the son"s wife into Macedonia for the gratification of his vicious appet.i.tes, and all his violations of virgins and matrons;--let all these, I say, be consigned to oblivion. Let us suppose our business were not with Philip, through dread of whose cruelty you are all thus struck dumb; for what other cause could keep you silent, when you have been summoned to a council?

Let us imagine that we are treating with Antigonus, a prince of the greatest mildness and equity, to whose kindness we have all been highly indebted; would he require us to perform what at the time was impossible? Peloponnesus is a peninsula, united to the continent by the narrow pa.s.sage of an isthmus particularly exposed and open to the attacks of naval armaments. Now, if a hundred decked ships, and fifty lighter open ones, and thirty Issean barks, shall begin to lay waste our coasts, and attack the cities which stand exposed, almost on the very sh.o.r.e, shall we then retreat into the inland towns, as if we were not afflicted with an intestine war, though in truth it is rankling in our very bowels? When Nabis and the Lacedaemonians by land, and the Roman fleet by sea, shall press us, whence must I implore the support due from the king"s alliance, whence the succours of the Macedonians?

Shall we ourselves, with our own arms, defend, against the Roman forces, the cities that will be attacked? Truly, in the former war, we defended Dymae excellently well! The calamities of others afford us abundant examples; let us not seek how we may render ourselves an example to others. Do not, because the Romans voluntarily desire your friendship, contemn that which you ought to have prayed for, nay, laboured with all your might to obtain. But, it is insinuated, that they are impelled by fear, in a country to which they are strangers; and that, wishing to shelter themselves under your a.s.sistance, they have recourse to your alliance in the hope of being admitted into your harbours, and of there finding supplies of provisions. Now, at sea they are absolute masters; and instantly reduce to subjection every place at which they land. What they request, they have power to enforce. Because they wish to treat you with tenderness they do not allow you to take steps that must lead you to ruin. Cleomedon lately pointed out, as the middle and safest way, to remain inactive, and abstain from taking up arms But that is not a middle way; it is no way at all. For, besides the necessity of either embracing or rejecting the Roman alliance, what other consequence can ensue from such conduct, than that, while we show no steady attachment to either side, as if we waited the event with design to adapt our counsels to fortune, we shall become the prey of the conqueror? Contemn not then, when it is spontaneously offered to your acceptance, what you ought to have solicited with your warmest prayers. The free option between the two, which you have this day, you will not always have. The same opportunity will not last long, nor will it frequently recur. You have long wished to deliver yourselves out of the hands of Philip, although you have not dared to make the attempt. Those have now crossed the sea, with large fleets and armies, who are able to rescue you to a state of freedom, without any trouble or danger to yourselves. If you reject such persons as allies, you can scarcely be of sane mind; but you must unavoidably have to deal with them, either as allies or as enemies."

22. This speech of the praetor was followed by a general murmur; some declaring their approbation, and others vehemently rebuking those who did so. And now, not only individuals, but whole states were engaged in altercation among themselves; and at length among the magistrates, called Demiurgi, who are ten in number, the dispute was taken up with as much warmth as among the mult.i.tude. Five of them declared, that they would propose the question concerning an alliance with Rome, and would take the votes on it; while five insisted, that it had been provided by law that neither the magistrates should have power to propose nor the council to pa.s.s any decree injurious to the alliance with Philip. This day, also, was spent in contention, and there remained now but one day more of the regular time of sitting; for, according to the rule, the decree must be pa.s.sed on the third day: and as that approached, the zeal of the parties was kindled into such a flame, that scarcely did parents refrain from offering violence to their own sons. There was present a man of Pallene, named Rhisiasus, whose son, Memnon, was a demiurgus, and was of that party which opposed the reading of the decree and taking the votes. This man, for a long time, entreated his son to allow the Achaeans to take proper measures for their common safety, and not, by his obstinacy, to bring ruin on the whole nation; but, finding that his entreaties had no effect, he swore that he would treat him, not as a son, but as an enemy, and would put him to death with his own hand. By these

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