History of Rome, Vol III
by
Titus Livius
Part 6 out of 11
observe and take proper measures against all sudden attempts of the
enemy. At first, the Gauls, bending their whole force to one point,
were in hopes of being able to overwhelm, and trample under foot,
the right brigade, which was in the van; but not succeeding, they
endeavoured to turn round the flanks, and to surround their enemy's
line, which, considering the multitude of their forces, and the small
number of the others, seemed easy to be done. On observing this, the
praetor, in order to extend his own line, brought up the two legions
from the reserve, and placed them on the right and left of the brigade
which was engaged in the van; vowing a temple to Jupiter, if he should
rout the enemy on that day. To Lucius Valerius he gave orders, to make
the horsemen of the two legions on one flank, and the cavalry of the
allies on the other, charge the wings of the enemy, and not suffer
them to come round to his rear. At the same time, observing that the
centre of the line of the Gauls was weakened, from having extended the
wings, he directed his men to make an attack there in close order, and
to break through their ranks. The wings were routed by the cavalry,
and, at the same time, the centre by the foot; and suddenly, being
worsted in all parts with great slaughter, the Gauls turned their
backs, and fled to their camp in hurry and confusion. The cavalry
pursued them as they fled; and the legions, coming up in a short time
after, assaulted the camp, from whence there did not escape so many
as six thousand men. There were slain and taken above thirty-five
thousand, with seventy standards, and above two hundred Gallic waggons
laden with much booty. Hamilcar, the Carthaginian general, fell
in that battle, and three distinguished generals of the Gauls. The
prisoners taken at Placentia, to the number of two thousand freemen,
were restored to the colony.
22. This was an important victory, and caused great joy at Rome. On
receipt of the praetor's letter, a supplication for three days was
decreed. In that battle, there fell of the Romans and allies two
thousand, most of them in the right brigade, against which, in the
first onset, the most violent efforts of the enemy had been directed.
Although the praetor had brought the war almost to a conclusion, yet
the consul, Cneius Aurelius, having finished the business which was
necessary to be done at Rome, set out for Gaul, and received the
victorious army from the praetor. The other consul, arriving in
his province towards the end of autumn, passed the winter in the
neighbourhood of Apollonia. Caius Claudius, and the Roman triremes
which had been sent to Athens from the fleet that was laid up at
Corcyra, as was mentioned above, arriving at Piraeeus, greatly revived
the hopes of their allies, who were beginning to give way to despair.
For not only did those inroads by land cease, which used to be
made from Corinth through Megara, but the ships of the pirates from
Chalcis, who had been accustomed to infest both the Athenian sea and
coast, were afraid not only to venture round the promontory of Sunium,
but even to trust themselves out of the straits of the Euripus. In
addition to these came three quadriremes from Rhodes, the Athenians
having three open ships, which they had equipped for the protection of
their lands on the coast. While Claudius thought, that if he were able
with his fleet to give security to the Athenians it was as much as
could be expected at present, a fortunate opportunity was thrown in
his way of accomplishing a much more important enterprise.
23. Some exiles driven from Chalcis, by ill treatment received from
the king's party, brought intelligence, that the place might be taken
without even a contest; for that both the Macedonians, being under
no immediate apprehension from an enemy, were straying idly about the
country; and that the townsmen, depending on the Macedonian garrison,
neglected the guard of the city. Claudius, on this authority, set out
and though he arrived at Sunium early enough to have sailed forward
to the entrance of the strait of Euboea, yet fearing that, on doubling
the promontory, he might be descried by the enemy, he lay by with
the fleet until night. As soon as it grew dark he began to move, and,
favoured by a calm, arrived at Chalcis a little before day; and then,
approaching the city, on a side where it was thinly inhabited, with
a small party of soldiers, and by means of scaling ladders, he got
possession of the nearest tower, and the wall on each side; the guards
being asleep in some places, and in others no one being on the watch.
Thence they advanced to the more populous parts of the town, and
having slain the sentinels, and broke open a gate, they gave an
entrance to the main body of the troops. These immediately spread
themselves throughout the whole city, and increased the tumult by
setting fire to the buildings round the forum, by which means both the
granaries belonging to the king, and his armoury, with a vast store of
machines and engines, were reduced to ashes. Then commenced a general
slaughter of those who fled, as well as of those who made resistance;
and after having either put to the sword or driven out every one who
was of an age fit to bear arms, (Sopater also, the Acarnanian, who
commanded the garrison, being slain,) they first collected all the
spoils in the forum, and then carried it on board the ships. The
prison, too, was forced open by the Rhodians, and those prisoners
whom Philip had shut up there, as in the safest custody, were set at
liberty. They next pulled down and mutilated the statues of the king;
and then, on a signal being given for a retreat, re-embarked and
returned to Piraeeus, from whence they had set out. If there had
been so large a force of Roman soldiers that Chalcis might have been
retained and the protection of Athens not neglected, Chalcis and
Euripus might have been taken from the king;--a most important
advantage at the commencement of the war. For as the pass of
Thermopylae is the principal barrier of Greece by land, so is the
strait of the Euripus by sea.
24. Philip was then at Demetrias, and as soon as the news arrived
there of the calamity which had befallen the city of his allies,
although it was too late to carry assistance to those who were
already ruined, yet anxious to accomplish what was next to assistance,
revenge, he set out instantly with five thousand foot lightly
equipped, and three hundred horse. With a speed almost equal to that
of racing, he hastened to Chalcis, not doubting but that he should be
able to surprise the Romans. Being disappointed in this expectation,
and having arrived, with no other result than a melancholy view of
the smoking ruins of that friendly city, (so few being left, that
they were scarcely sufficient to bury those who had fallen in the
conflict,) with the same rapid haste which he had used in coming, he
crossed the Euripus by the bridge, and led his troops through Boeotia
to Athens, in hopes that a similar issue would correspond to a similar
attempt. And it would have corresponded, had not a scout, (one of
those whom the Greeks call day-runners,[1] because they run through
a journey of great length in one day,) descrying from his post of
observation the king's army in its march, set out at midnight
and arrived before them at Athens. The same sleep, and the same
negligence, prevailed there which had proved the ruin of Chalcis a
few days before. Roused, however, by the alarming intelligence, the
praetor of the Athenians, and Dioxippus, commander of a cohort of
mercenary auxiliaries, called the soldiers together in the forum,
and ordered the trumpets to sound an alarm from the citadel, that all
might be informed of the approach of the enemy. On which the people
ran from all quarters to the gates, and afterwards to the walls. In a
few hours after, and still some time before day, Philip approached the
city, and observing a great number of lights, and hearing the noise of
the men hurrying to and fro, as usual on such an alarm, he halted his
troops, and ordered them to sit down and take some rest; resolving to
use open force, since his stratagem had not succeeded. Accordingly
he advanced on the side of Dipylos. This gate, being situated in the
principal approach of the city, is somewhat larger and wider than
the rest. Both within and without the streets are wide, so that the
townsmen could form their troops from the forum to the gate, while on
the outside a road of about a mile in length, leading to the school
of the academy, afforded open room to the foot and horse of the enemy.
The Athenians, who had formed their troops within the gate, marched
out with Attalus's garrison, and the cohort of Dioxippus, along that
road. Which, when Philip observed, thinking that he had the enemy in
his power, and was now about to sate himself with their long wished
for destruction, (being more incensed against them than any of the
Grecian states,) he exhorted his men to keep their eyes on him during
the fight, and to take notice, that wherever the king was, there
the standards and the army ought to be. He then spurred on his horse
against the enemy, animated not only with resentment, but with a
desire of gaining honour, for he reckoned it a glorious thing to be
beheld fighting from the walls, which were filled with an immense
multitude, for the purpose of witnessing the engagement. Advancing
far before the line, and with a small body of horse, rushing into the
midst of the enemy, he inspired his men with great ardour, and the
Athenians equally with terror. Having wounded many with his own hand,
both in close fight and with missive weapons, and driven them back
within the gate, he still pursued them closely; and having made
greater slaughter among them while embarrassed in the narrow pass,
rash as the attempt was, he yet had an unmolested retreat, because
those who were in the towers withheld their weapons lest they should
hit their friends, who were mingled in confusion among their enemies.
The Athenians, after this, confining their troops within the walls,
Philip sounded a retreat, and pitched his camp at Cynosarges, a temple
of Hercules, and a school surrounded by a grove. But Cynosarges, and
Lycaeum, and whatever was sacred or pleasant in the neighbourhood of
the city, he burned to the ground, and levelled not only the houses,
but sepulchres, nor was any thing either in divine or human possession
preserved amidst the violence of his rage.
[Footnote 1: Hemerodromoi.]
25. Next day, the gates having at first been shut, and afterwards
suddenly thrown open, in consequence of a body of Attalus's troops
from Aegina, and the Romans from Piraeeus, having entered the city,
the king removed his camp to the distance of about three miles. From
thence he proceeded to Eleusis, in hopes of surprising the temple, and
a fort which overlooks and surrounds it; but, finding that the watches
had not been neglected, and that the fleet was coming from Piraeeus to
support them, he laid aside the design, and led his troops, first to
Megara, and then to Corinth; where, on hearing that the council of the
Achaeans was then sitting at Argos, he went and joined the assembly,
unexpected by the Achaeans. They were at the time consulting about a
war against Nabis, tyrant of the Lacedaemonians; who, on the command
being transferred from Philopoemen to Cycliades, a general by no
means his equal, perceiving that the confederates of the Achaeans were
falling off, had renewed the war, was ravaging the territories of his
neighbours, and had become formidable even to the cities. While they
were deliberating what number of men should be raised out of each of
the states to oppose this enemy, Philip promised that he would relieve
them of that care, as far as concerned Nabis and the Lacedaemonians;
and that he would not only secure the lands of their allies from
devastation, but transfer the whole terror of the war on Laconia
itself, by leading his army thither instantly. This discourse being
received with general approbation, he added,--"It is but reasonable,
however, that while I am employed in protecting your property by my
arms, my own should not be deprived of protection; therefore, if you
think proper, provide such a number of troops as will be sufficient to
secure Orcus, Chalcis, and Corinth; that my affairs being in a state
of safety behind me, I may without anxiety make war on Nabis and the
Lacedaemonians." The Achaeans were not ignorant of the tendency of
this so kind promise, and of his proffered assistance against the
Lacedaemonians; that his purpose was to draw the Achaean youth out of
Peloponnesus as hostages, in order to implicate the nation in a war
with the Romans. Cycliades, the Achaean praetor, thinking that it was
irrelevant to develope the matter by argument, said nothing more than
that it was not allowable, according to the laws of the Achaeans, to
take any matters into consideration except those on which they had
been called together: and the decree for levying an army against Nabis
being passed, he dismissed the assembly, after having presided in it
with much resolution and public spirit, and until that day having been
reckoned among the partisans of the king. Philip, disappointed in a
high expectation, after having collected a few voluntary soldiers,
returned to Corinth, and from thence into the territories of Athens.
26. In those days in which Philip was in Achaia, Philocles, one of the
king's generals, marching from Euboea with two thousand Thracians and
Macedonians, in order to lay waste the territories of the Athenians,
crossed the forest of Cithaeron opposite to Eleusis. Despatching
half of his troops, make depredations in all parts of the country, he
himself lay concealed with the remainder in a place convenient for an
ambush; in order that, if any attack should be made from the fort at
Eleusis on his men employed in plundering, he might suddenly fall upon
the enemy unawares, and while they were in disorder. His stratagem
did not escape discovery: wherefore calling back the soldiers, who had
gone different ways in pursuit of booty, and drawing them up in order,
he advanced to assault the fort at Eleusis; but being repulsed from
thence with many wounds, he formed a junction with Philip on his
return from Achaia. The storming of this fort was also attempted by
the king in person: but the Roman ships coming from Piraeeus, and a
body of forces thrown into the fort, compelled him to relinquish the
design. On this the king, dividing his army, sent Philocles with one
part to Athens, and went himself with the other to Piraeeus; that,
while his general, by advancing to the walls and threatening an
assault, might keep the Athenians within the city, he might be able
to make himself master of the harbour, when left with only a slight
garrison. But he found the attack of Piraeeus no less difficult than
that of Eleusis, the same persons for the most part acting in its
defence. He therefore hastily led his troops to Athens, and being
repulsed by a sudden sally of both foot and horse, who engaged him in
the narrow ground, enclosed by the half-ruined wall, which, with two
arms, joins Piraeus to Athens, he desisted from the assault of the
city, and, dividing his forces again with Philocles, set out to
complete the devastation of the country. As, in his former ravages,
he had employed himself in levelling the sepulchres round the city, so
now, not to leave any thing unviolated, he ordered the temples of
the gods, of which they had one consecrated in every village, to be
demolished and burned. The country of Attica afforded ample matter
for the exercise of this barbarous rage: being highly embellished with
works of that kind, having plenty of indigenous marble, and abounding
with artists of exquisite ingenuity. Nor was he satisfied with merely
destroying the temples themselves, and overthrowing the images, but
he ordered even the stones to be broken, lest, remaining whole, they
should give stateliness to the ruins; and then, his rage not being
satiated, but no object remaining on which it could be exercised, he
retired from the country of the enemy into Boeotia, without having
performed in Greece any thing else worth mention.
27. The consul, Sulpicius, who was at that time encamped; on the
river Apsus, between Apollonia and Dyrrachium, having ordered Lucius
Apustius, lieutenant-general, thither, sent him with part of the
forces to lay waste the enemy's territory. Apustius, after ravaging
the frontiers of Macedonia, and having, at the first assault, taken
the forts of Corragos, Gerrunios, and Orgessos, came to Antipatria, a
city situated in a narrow gorge; where, at first inviting the
leading men to a conference, he endeavoured to entice them to commit
themselves to the good faith of the Romans; but finding that from
confidence in the size, fortifications, and situation of their city,
they paid no regard to his discourse, he attacked the place by force
of arms, and took it by assault: then, putting all the young men to
death, and giving up the entire spoil to his soldiers, he razed the
walls and burned the city. This proceeding spread such terror, that
Codrion, a strong and well-fortified town, surrendered to the Romans
without a struggle. Leaving a garrison there, he took Ilion by force,
a name better known than the town, on account of that of the same name
in Asia. As the lieutenant-general was returning to the consul with
a great quantity of spoil, Athenagoras, one of the king's generals,
falling on his extreme rear, in its passage over a river, threw the
hindmost into disorder. On hearing the shouting and tumult, Apustius
rode back in full speed, ordered the troops to face about, and drew
them up in order, arranging the baggage in the centre. The king's
troops could not support the onset of the Roman soldiers, many of them
were slain, and more made prisoners. The lieutenant-general, having
brought back the army without loss to the consul, was despatched
immediately to the fleet.
28. The war commencing thus brilliantly with this successful
expedition, several petty kings and princes, neighbours of the
Macedonians, came to the Roman camp: Pleuratus, son of Scerdilaedus,
and Amynander, king of the Athamanians; and from the Dardanians, Bato,
son of Longarus. This Longarus had, in his own quarrel, supported a
war against Demetrius, father of Philip. To their offers of aid,
the consul answered, that he would make use of the assistance of the
Dardanians, and of Pleuratus, when he should lead his troops into
Macedonia. To Amynander he allotted the part of exciting the Aetolians
to war. To the ambassadors of Attalus, (for they also had come at the
same time,) he gave directions that the king should wait at Aegina,
where he wintered, for the arrival of the Roman fleet; and when joined
by that, he should, as before, harass Philip with attacks by sea. To
the Rhodians, also, an embassy was sent, to engage them to contribute
their share towards carrying on the war. Nor was Philip, who had by
this time arrived in Macedonia, remiss in his preparations for the
campaign. He sent his son Perseus, then very young, with part of his
forces to block up the pass near Pelagonia, appointing persons out of
the number of his friends to direct his inexperienced age. Sciathus
and Peparethus, no inconsiderable cities, he demolished, lest they
should become a prey and prize to the enemy's fleet; despatching at
the same time ambassadors to the Aetolians, lest that restless nation
might change sides on the arrival of the Romans.
29. The assembly of the Aetolians, which they call Panaetolium, was
to meet on a certain day. In order to be present at this, the king's
ambassadors hastened their journey, and Lucius Furius Purpureo also
arrived, deputed by the consul. Ambassadors from the Athenians,
likewise, came to this assembly. The Macedonians were first heard, as
with them the latest treaty had been made; and they declared, that
as no change of circumstances had occurred, they had nothing new to
introduce: for the same reasons which had induced them to make peace
with Philip, after experiencing the unprofitableness of an alliance
with the Romans, should engage them to preserve it now that it was
established. "Do you rather choose," said one of the ambassadors, "to
imitate the inconsistency, or levity, shall I call it, of the Romans,
who ordered this answer to be given to your ambassadors at Rome: 'Why,
Aetolians, do you apply to us, when, without our approbation, you have
made peace with Philip?' Yet these same people now require that you
should, in conjunction with them, wage war against Philip. Formerly,
too, they pretended that they took arms on your account, and in your
defence against Philip: now they do not allow you to continue at peace
with him. To assist Messana, they first embarked for Sicily; and a
second time, that they might redeem Syracuse to freedom when oppressed
by the Carthaginians. Both Messana and Syracuse, and all Sicily, they
hold in their own possession, and have reduced it into a tributary
province under their axes and rods. You imagine, perhaps, that in the
same manner as you hold an assembly at Naupactus, according to your
own laws, under magistrates created by yourselves, at liberty to
choose allies and enemies, and to have peace or war at your own
option, so the assembly of the states of Sicily is summoned, to
Syracuse, or Messana, or Lilybaeum. No, a Roman praetor presides at
the meeting; summoned by his command they assemble; they behold him,
attended by his lictors seated on a lofty throne, issuing his haughty
edicts. His rods are ready for their backs, his axes for their necks,
and every year they are allotted a different master. Neither ought
they nor can they, wonder at this, when they see all the cities of
Italy bending under the same yoke,--Rhegium, Tarentum Capua, not to
mention those in their own neighbourhood, out of the ruins of which
their city of Rome grew into power. Capua indeed subsists, the grave
and monument of the Campanian people, that entire people having been
either cut off or driven into banishment; the mutilated carcass of a
city, without senate, without commons, without magistrates; a sort of
prodigy, the leaving which to be inhabited, showed more cruelty than
if it had been utterly destroyed. If foreigners who are separated from
us to a greater distance by their language, manners, and laws, than by
the distance by sea and land, are allowed to get footing here, it is
madness to hope that any thing will continue in its present state.
Does the sovereignty of Philip seem in any degree incompatible with
your freedom, who, at a time when he was justly incensed against you,
demanded nothing more of you than peace; and at present requires no
more than the observance of the peace which he agreed to? Accustom
foreign legions to these countries, and receive the yoke; too late,
and in vain, will you look for Philip as an ally, when you shall have
the Roman as a master. Trifling causes occasionally unite and disunite
the Aetolians, Acarnanians, and Macedonians, men speaking the same
language. With foreigners, with barbarians, all Greeks have, and ever
will have, eternal war: because they are enemies by nature, which is
always the same, and not from causes which change with the times. My
discourse shall conclude with the same argument with which it began.
Three years since, the same persons, assembled in this same place,
determined on peace with the same Philip, contrary to the inclinations
of the same Romans, who now wish that the peace should be broken,
after it has been adjusted and ratified. In the subject of your
deliberation, fortune has made no change; why you should make any, I
do not see."
30. Next, after the Macedonians, with the consent and at the desire
of the Romans, the Athenians were introduced; who, having suffered
grievously, could, with the greater justice, inveigh against the
cruelty and inhumanity of the king. They represented, in a deplorable
light, the miserable devastation and spoliation of their fields;
adding, that "they did not complain on account of having, from an
enemy, suffered hostile treatment; for there were certain rights of
war, according to which, as it was just to act, so it was just to
endure. Their crops being burned, their houses demolished, their
men and cattle carried off as spoil, were to be considered rather as
misfortunes to the sufferer than as ill-treatment. But of this they
had good reason to complain, that he who called the Romans foreigners
and barbarians, had himself so atrociously violated all rights, both
divine and human, as, in his former inroad, to have waged an impious
war against the infernal gods, in the latter, against those above.
That the sepulchres and monuments of all within their country had been
demolished, the graves laid open, and the bones left unprotected by
the soil. There had been several temples, which, in former times, when
their ancestors dwelt in the country in their separate districts,
had been consecrated in each of their little forts and villages, and
which, even after they were incorporated into one city, they did not
neglect or forsake. That around all these temples Philip had scattered
his destructive flames, and left the images of the gods lying scorched
and mutilated among the prostrated pillars of their fanes. Such as
he had rendered the country of Attica, formerly opulent and adorned,
such, if he were suffered, would he render Aetolia and the whole of
Greece. That the mutilation of their own city, also, would have been
similar, if the Romans had not come to its relief: for he had shown
the same wicked rage against the gods who are the guardians of the
city, and Minerva who presides over the citadel; the same against the
temple of Ceres at Eleusis; the same against Jupiter and Minerva at
Piraeeus. In a word, having been repelled by force of arms not only
from their temples, but even from their walls, he had vented his fury
on those sacred edifices which were protected by religion alone. They
therefore entreated and besought the Aetolians, that, compassionating
the Athenians, and with the immortal gods for their leaders, and,
under them, the Romans, who, next to the gods, possessed the greatest
power they would take part in the war."
31. The Roman ambassador then replied: "The Macedonians first, and
afterwards the Athenians, have obliged me to change entirely the
method of my discourse. For, on the one hand, the Macedonians, by
aggressively introducing charges against the Romans, when I had come
prepared to make complaint of the injuries committed by Philip against
so many cities in alliance with us, have obliged me to think of
defence rather than accusation; and, on the other hand, what have the
Athenians, after relating his inhuman and impious crimes against the
gods both celestial and infernal, left for me, or any one else, which
I can further urge against him. You are to suppose, that the same
complaints are made by the Cianians, Abydenians, Aeneans, Maronites,
Thasians, Parians, Samians, Larissenians, Messenians, on the side of
Achaia; and complaints, still heavier and more grievous, by those whom
he had it more in his power to injure. For as to those proceedings
which he censures in us, if they are not deserving of honour, I will
admit that they cannot be defended at all. He has objected to us,
Rhegium, and Capua, and Syracuse. As to Rhegium, during the war
with Pyrrhus, a legion which, at the earnest request of the Rhegians
themselves, we had sent thither as a garrison, wickedly possessed
themselves of the city which they had been sent to defend. Did we then
approve of that deed? or did we exert the force of our arms against
that guilty legion, until we reduced them under our power; and then,
after making them give satisfaction to the allies, by their stripes
and the loss of their heads, restore to the Rhegians their city, their
lands, and all their effects, together with their liberty and laws? To
the Syracusans, when oppressed, and that by foreign tyrants, which
was a still greater indignity, we lent assistance; and after enduring
great fatigues in carrying on the siege of so strong a city, both
by land and sea, for almost three years, (although the Syracusans
themselves chose to continue in slavery to the tyrants rather than be
taken to us,) yet, becoming masters of the place, and by exertion
of the same force setting it at liberty, we restored it to the
inhabitants. At the same time, we do not deny that Sicily is our
province, and that the states which sided with the Carthaginians, and,
in conjunction with them, waged war against us, pay us tribute and
taxes; on the contrary, we wish that you and all nations should know,
that the condition of each is such as it has deserved at our hands:
and ought we to repent of the punishment inflicted on the Campanians,
of which even they themselves cannot complain? These men, after we had
on their account carried on war against the Samnites for near seventy
years, with great loss on our side; had united them to ourselves,
first by treaty, and then by intermarriages, and the relationships
arising thence; and lastly, by the right of citizenship; yet, in the
time of our adversity, were the first of all the states of Italy which
revolted to Hannibal, after basely putting our garrison to death, and
afterwards, through resentment at being besieged by us, sent Hannibal
to attack Rome. If neither their city nor one man of them had been
left remaining, who could take offence, or consider them as treated
with more severity than they had deserved? From consciousness of
guilt, greater numbers of them perished by their own hands, than by
the punishments inflicted by us. And while from the rest we took away
the town and the lands, still we left them a place to dwell in, we
suffered the city which partook not of the guilt to stand uninjured;
so that he who should see it this day would find no trace of its
having been besieged or taken. But why do I speak of Capua, when even
to vanquished Carthage we granted peace and liberty? The greatest
danger is, that, by our too great readiness to pardon the conquered,
we may encourage others to try the fortune of war against us. Let
so much suffice in our defence, and against Philip, whose domestic
crimes, whose parricides and murders of his relations and friends, and
whose lust, more disgraceful to human nature, if possible, than his
cruelty, you, as being nearer to Macedonia, are better acquainted
with. As to what concerns yourselves, Aetolians, we entered into a
war with Philip on your account: you made peace with him without
consulting us. Perhaps you will say, that while we were occupied
in the Punic war, you were constrained by fear to accept terms of
pacification, from him who at that time possessed superior power;
and that on our side, pressed by more urgent affairs we suspended
our operations in a war which you had laid aside. At present, as
we, having, by the favour of the gods brought the Punic war to a
conclusion, have fallen on Macedonia with the whole weight of our
power, so you have an opportunity offered you of regaining a place in
our friendship and alliance, unless you choose to perish with Philip,
rather than to conquer with the Romans."
32. When these things had been said by the ambassador the minds of
all leaning towards the Romans, Damocritus, praetor of the Aetolians,
(who, it was reported, had received money from the king,) assenting in
no degree to one party or the other, said,--that "in consultations of
great and critical importance, nothing was so injurious as haste. That
repentance, indeed, generally followed, and that quickly but yet too
late and unavailing; because designs carried on with precipitation
could not be recalled, nor matters brought back to their original
state. The time, however, for determining the point under
consideration, which, for his part, he thought should not be too
early, might yet immediately be fixed in this manner. As it had been
provided by the laws, that no determination should be made concerning
peace or war, except in the Panaetolic or Pylaic councils; let them
immediately pass a decree, that the praetor, when he chooses to treat
respecting war and peace, may have full authority to summon a council,
and that whatever shall be then debated and decreed, shall be, to all
intents and purposes, legal and valid, as if it had been transacted
in the Panaetolic or Pylaic assembly." And thus dismissing the
ambassadors, with the matter undetermined, he said, that therein
he had acted most prudently for the interest of the state; for the
Aetolians would have it in their power to join in alliance with
whichever of the parties should be more successful in the war. Such
were the proceedings in the council of the Aetolians.
33. Meanwhile Philip was making vigorous preparations for carrying
on the war both by sea and land. His naval forces he drew together at
Demetrias in Thessaly; supposing that Attalus, and the Roman fleet,
would move from Aegina in the beginning of the spring. He gave the
command of the fleet and of the sea-coast to Heraclides, to whom he
had formerly intrusted it. The equipment of the land forces he took
care of in person; considering that he had deprived the Romans of two
powerful auxiliaries, the Aetolians on the one side and the Dardanians
on the other, by making his son Perseus block up the pass at
Pelagonia. The consul was employed, not in preparations, but in
the operations of war. He led his army through the country of the
Dassaretians, conveying the corn untouched which he had brought from
his winter quarters, for the fields afforded supplies sufficient for
the consumption of the troops. The towns and villages surrendered to
him, some through inclination, others through fear; some were taken
by assault, others were found deserted, the barbarians flying to the
neighbouring mountains. He fixed a standing camp at Lycus near the
river Bevus, and from thence sent to bring in corn from the magazines
of the Dassaretians. Philip saw the whole country filled with
consternation, and not knowing the designs of the consul, he sent a
party of horse to discover whither he was directing his course. The
same state of uncertainty possessed the consul; he knew that the
king had moved from his winter quarters, but in what direction he had
proceeded he knew not: he also had sent horsemen to gain intelligence.
These two parties, having set out from opposite quarters, after
wandering a long time among the Dassaretians, through unknown roads,
fell at length into the same track. Neither doubted, as soon as the
noise of men and horses was heard at a distance, that the enemy was
approaching, therefore, before they came within sight of each other,
they got their arms in readiness, nor, when they saw their foe, was
there any delay in engaging. As they happened to be nearly equal in
number and valour, being picked men on both sides, they fought during
several hours with vigour, until fatigue, both of men and horses, put
an end to the fight, without deciding the victory. Of the Macedonians
there fell forty horsemen; of the Romans thirty-five. Still, however,
neither did the one party carry back to the king, nor the other to the
consul, any certain information in what quarter the camp of his enemy
lay. But this was soon made known to them by deserters, whom their
recklessness of disposition supplies in all wars in sufficient number
to discover the affairs of the contending parties.
34. Philip, judging that he should make some progress towards
conciliating the affections of his men, and induce them to face danger
more readily on his account, if he bestowed some pains on the burial
of the horsemen who fell in that expedition, ordered them to be
conveyed into the camp, in order that all might be spectators of the
honours paid them at their funeral. Nothing is so uncertain, or so
difficult to form a judgment of, as the minds of the multitude. That
which seems calculated to increase their alacrity, in exertions of
every sort, often creates in them fear and inactivity. Accordingly,
those who, being always accustomed to fight with Greeks and Illyrians,
had only seen wounds made with javelins and arrows, seldom even by
lances, came to behold bodies dismembered by the Spanish sword, some
with their arms lopped off, with the shoulder or the neck entirely cut
through, heads severed from the trunk, and the bowels laid open, with
other frightful exhibitions of wounds: they therefore perceived, with
horror, against what weapons and what men they were to fight. Even the
king himself was seized with apprehensions, having never yet engaged
the Romans in a regular battle. Wherefore, recalling his son, and the
guard posted at the pass of Pelagonia, in order to strengthen his
army by the addition of those troops, he thereby opened a passage into
Macedonia for Pleuratus and the Dardanians. Then, taking deserters
for guides, he marched towards the enemy with twenty thousand foot
and four thousand horse, and at the distance of somewhat more than a
thousand paces from the Roman camp, and near Ithacus, he fortified a
hill with a trench and rampart. From this place, taking a view of the
Roman station in the valley beneath, he is said to have been struck
with admiration, both at the general appearance of the camp, and the
regular disposition of each particular part; then with the disposition
of the tents, and the intervals of the passages; and to have declared,
that, certainly, that could not be regarded by any as the camp of
barbarians. For two days, the consul and the king, each waiting
for the other's making some attempt, kept their troops within the
ramparts. On the third day, the Roman led out all his forces, and
offered battle.
35. But the king, not daring to risk so hastily a general engagement,
sent four hundred Trallians, who are a tribe of the Illyrians, as we
have said in another place, and three hundred Cretans; adding to
this body of infantry an equal number of horse, under the command of
Athenagoras, one of his nobles honoured with the purple, to make an
attack on the enemy's cavalry. When these troops arrived within a
little more than five hundred paces, the Romans sent out the light
infantry, and two cohorts of horse, that both cavalry and infantry
might be equal in number to the Macedonians. The king's troops
expected that the method of fighting would be such as they had been
accustomed to; that the horsemen, pursuing and retreating alternately,
would at one time use their weapons, at another time turn their backs;
that the agility of the Illyrians would be serviceable for excursions
and sudden attacks, and that the Cretans might discharge their arrows
against the enemy, as they advanced eagerly to the charge. But the
onset of the Romans, which was not more vigorous than persevering,
entirely disconcerted this method of fighting: for the light infantry,
as if they were fighting with their whole line of battle, after
discharging their javelins, carried on a close fight with their
swords; and the horsemen, when they had once made a charge, stopping
their horses, fought, some on horseback, while others dismounted and
intermixed themselves with the foot. By this means neither were the
king's cavalry, who were unaccustomed to a steady fight, a match
for the others; nor were the infantry, who were only skirmishing and
irregular troops, and were besides but half covered with the kind
of harness which they used, at all equal to the Roman infantry, who
carried a sword and buckler, and were furnished with proper armour,
both to defend themselves and to annoy the enemy: nor did they sustain
the combat, but fled to their camp, trusting entirely to their speed
for safety.
36. After an interval of one day, the king, resolving to make an
attack with all his forces of cavalry and light-armed infantry, had,
during the night, placed in ambush, in a convenient place between the
two camps, a body of targeteers, whom they call Peltastae, and given
orders to Athenagoras and the cavalry, if they found they had the
advantage in the open fight, to pursue their success; if otherwise,
that they should retreat leisurely, and by that means draw on the
enemy to the place where the ambush lay. The cavalry accordingly
did retreat; but the officers of the body of targeteers, by bringing
forward their men before the time, and not waiting for the signal, as
they ought, lost an opportunity of performing considerable service.
The Romans, having gained the victory in open fight, and also escaped
the danger of the ambuscade, retired to their camp. Next day the
consul marched out with all his forces, and offered battle, placing
his elephants in the front of the foremost battalions. Of this
resource the Romans then for the first time availed themselves; having
a number of them which had been taken in the Punic war. Finding that
the enemy kept himself quiet behind his intrenchments, he
advanced close up to them, upbraiding him with cowardice; and as,
notwithstanding, no opportunity of an engagement was afforded, the
consul, considering how dangerous foraging must be while the camps
lay so near each other, where the cavalry were ready at any moment to
attack the soldiers, when dispersed through the country, removed his
camp to a place called Ortholophus, distant about eight miles, where
by reason of the intervening distance he could forage with more
safety. While the Romans were collecting corn in the adjacent fields,
the king kept his men within the trenches, in order to increase both
the negligence and confidence of the enemy. But, when he saw them
scattered, he set out with all his cavalry, and the auxiliary Cretans,
and marching with such speed that the swiftest footmen could, by
running, but just keep up with the horse, he planted his standards
between the camp of the Romans and their foragers. Then, dividing
the forces, he sent one part of them in quest of the marauders, with
orders to leave not one alive; with the other, he himself halted, and
placed guards on the roads through which the enemy seemed likely to
fly back to their camp. And now carnage and flight prevailed in all
directions, and no intelligence of the misfortune had yet reached the
Roman camp, because those who fled towards the camp fell in with the
guards, which the king had stationed to intercept them, and greater
numbers were slain by those who were placed in the roads, than by
those who had been sent out to attack them. At length, a few effected
their escape, through the midst of the enemy's posts, but were so
filled with terror, that they excited a general consternation in the
camp, rather than brought intelligible information.
37. The consul, ordering the cavalry to carry aid to those who were in
danger, in the best manner they could, drew out the legions from
the camp, and led them drawn up in a square towards the enemy. The
cavalry, taking different ways through the fields, missed the road,
being deceived by the various shouts raised in several quarters. Some
of them met with the enemy, and battles began in many places at once.
The hottest part of the action was at the station where the king
commanded; for the guard there was, in numbers both of horse and foot,
almost a complete army; and, as they were posted on the middle road,
the greatest number of the Romans fell in with them. The Macedonians
had also the advantage in this, that the king himself was present to
encourage them; and the Cretan auxiliaries, fighting in good
order, and in a state of preparation, against troops disordered
and irregular, wounded many at a distance, where no such danger was
apprehended. If they had acted with prudence in the pursuit, they
would have secured an advantage of great importance, not only in
regard to the glory of the present contest, but to the general
interest of the war; but, greedy of slaughter, and following with too
much eagerness, they fell in with the advanced cohorts of the Romans
under the military tribunes. The horsemen who were flying, as soon as
they saw the ensigns of their friends, faced about against the enemy,
now in disorder; so that in a moment's time the fortune of the battle
was changed, those now turning their backs who had lately been the
pursuers. Many were slain in close fight, many in the pursuit; nor was
it by the sword alone that they perished; several, being driven into
morasses, were, together with their horses, swallowed up in the
deep mud. The king himself was in danger; for his horse falling, in
consequence of a wound, threw him headlong to the ground, and he very
narrowly escaped being overpowered while prostrate. He owed his safety
to a trooper, who instantly leaped down and mounted the affrighted
king on his horse; himself, as he could not on foot keep up with the
flying horsemen, was slain by the enemy, who had collected about the
place where Philip fell. The king, in his desperate flight, rode about
among the morasses, some of which were easily passed, and others not;
at length, when most men despaired of his ever escaping in safety,
he arrived in safety at his camp. Two hundred Macedonian horsemen
perished in that action; about one hundred were taken: eighty horses,
richly caparisoned, were led off the field; at the same time the
spoils of arms were also carried off.
38. There were some who found fault with the king, as guilty of
rashness on that day; and with the consul, for want of energy. For
Philip, they say, on his part, ought to have avoided coming to
action, knowing that in a few days the enemy, having exhausted all the
adjacent country, must be reduced to the extremity of want; and that
the consul, after having routed the Macedonian cavalry and light
infantry, and nearly taken the king himself, ought to have led on his
troops directly to the enemy's camp, where, dismayed as they were,
they would have made no stand, and that he might have finished the war
in a moment's time. This, like most other matters, was easier to be
talked about than to be done. For, if the king had brought the whole
of his infantry into the engagement, then, indeed, during the tumult,
and while, vanquished and struck with dismay, they fled from the field
into their intrenchments, (and even continued their flight from thence
on seeing the victorious enemy mounting the ramparts,) the king might
have been deprived of his camp. But as some forces of infantry had
remained in the camp, fresh and free from fatigue, with outposts
before the gates, and guard properly disposed, what would he have done
but imitated the rashness of which the king had just now been guilty,
by pursuing the routed horse? On the other side, the king's first
plan of an attack on the foragers, while dispersed through the fields,
would not have been a subject of censure, could he have satisfied
himself with a moderate degree of success: and it is the less
surprising that he should have made a trial of fortune, as there was
a report, that Pleuratus and the Dardanians had set out from home with
very numerous forces, and had already passed into Macedonia; so that
if he should be surrounded on all sides by these forces, there was
reason to think that the Roman might put an end to the war without
stirring from his seat. Philip, however, considered, that after his
cavalry had been defeated in two engagements, he could with much less
safety continue in the same post; accordingly, wishing to remove from
thence, and, at the same time, to keep the enemy in ignorance of his
design, he sent a herald to the consul a little before sun-set, to
demand a truce for the purpose of burying the horsemen; and thus
imposing on him, he began his march in silence, about the second
watch, leaving a number of fires in all parts of his camp.
39. The consul was now taking refreshment, when he was told that the
herald had arrived, and on what business; he gave him no other answer,
than that he should be admitted to an audience early the next morning:
by which means Philip gained what he wanted--the length of that night,
and part of the following day, during which he might get the start on
his march. He directed his route towards the mountains, a road which
he knew the Romans with their heavy baggage would not attempt. The
consul, having, at the first light, dismissed the herald with a grant
of a truce, in a short time after discovered that the enemy had
gone off; but not knowing what course to take in pursuit of them,
he remained in the same camp for several days, which he employed in
collecting forage. He then marched to Stubera, and brought thither,
from Pelagonia, the corn that was in the fields. From thence he
advanced to Pluvina, not having yet discovered to what quarter the
Macedonian had bent his course. Philip, having at first fixed his camp
at Bryanium, marched thence through cross-roads, and gave a sudden
alarm to the enemy. The Romans, on this, removed from Pluvina, and
pitched their camp near the river Osphagus. The king also sat down
at a small distance, forming his intrenchment on the bank of a river
which the inhabitants call Erigonus. Having there received certain
information that the Romans intended to proceed to Eordaea, he marched
away before them, in order to take possession of the defiles, and
prevent the enemy from making their way, where the roads are confined
in narrow straits. There, with great haste, he fortified some places
with a rampart, others with a trench, others with stones heaped up
instead of walls, others with trees laid across, according as the
situation required, or as materials lay convenient; and thus a road,
in its own nature difficult, he rendered, as he imagined, impregnable
by the works which he drew across every pass. The adjoining ground,
being mostly covered with woods, was exceedingly incommodious to the
phalanx of the Macedonians, which is of no manner of use, except when
they extend their very long spears before their shields, forming as
it were a palisade; to perform which, they require an open plain. The
Thracians, too, were embarrassed by their lances, which also are of
a great length, and were entangled among the branches that stood
in their way on every side. The body of Cretans alone was not
unserviceable; and yet even these, though, in case of an attack made
on them, they could to good purpose discharge their arrows against
the horses or riders, where they were open to a wound, yet against the
Roman shields they could do nothing, because they had neither strength
sufficient to pierce through them, nor was there any part exposed at
which they could aim. Perceiving, therefore, that kind of weapon to
be useless, they annoyed the enemy with stones, which lay in plenty in
all parts of the valley: the strokes made by these on their shields,
with greater noise than injury, for a short time retarded the advance
of the Romans; but quickly disregarding these missiles also, some,
closing their shields in form of a tortoise, forced their way through
the enemy in front; others having, by a short circuit, gained the
summit of the hill, dislodged the dismayed Macedonians from their
guards and posts, and even slew the greater part of them, their
retreat being embarrassed by the difficulties of the ground.
40. Thus, with less opposition than they had expected to meet, the
defiles were passed, and they came to Eordaea; then, having laid waste
the whole country, the consul withdrew into Elimea. From thence
he made an irruption into Orestis, and attacked the city Celetrum,
situated in a peninsula: a lake surrounds the walls; and there is but
one entrance from the main land along a narrow isthmus. Relying on
their situation, the townsmen at first shut the gates, and refused
to submit; but afterwards, when they saw the troops in motion, and
advancing in the tortoise method, and the isthmus covered by the enemy
marching in, they surrendered in terror rather than hazard a struggle.
From Celetrum he advanced into the country of the Dassaretians, took
the city Pelium by storm, carried off the slaves with the rest of the
spoil, and discharging the freemen without ransom, restored the
city to them, after placing a strong garrison in it, for it was very
conveniently situated for making inroads into Macedonia. Having thus
traversed the enemy's country, the consul led back his forces into
those parts which were already reduced to obedience near Apollonia,
from whence the campaign had commenced. Philip's attention had been
drawn to other quarters by the Aetolians, Athamanians, and Dardanians:
so many were the wars that started up on different sides of him.
Against the Dardanians, who were now retiring out of Macedonia, he
sent Athenagoras with the light infantry and the greater part of the
cavalry, and ordered him to hang on their rear as they retreated; and,
by cutting off their hindmost troops, make them more cautious for the
future of leading out their armies from home. As to the Aetolians,
Damocritus, their praetor, the same who at Naupactum had persuaded
them to defer passing a decree concerning the war, had in the next
meeting roused them to arms, after the report of the battle between
the cavalry at Ortholophus; the irruption of the Dardanians and of
Pleuratus, with the Illyrians, into Macedonia; of the arrival of the
Roman fleet, too, at Oreus; and that Macedonia, besides being beset on
all sides by so many nations, was in danger of being invested by sea
also.
41. These reasons had brought back Damocritus and the Aetolians to the
interest of the Romans. Marching out, therefore, in conjunction with
Amynander, king of the Athamanians, they laid siege to Cercinium. The
inhabitants here had shut their gates, whether of their own choice or
by compulsion is unknown, as they had a garrison of the king's troops.
However, in a few days Cercinium was taken and burned; and after great
slaughter had been made, those who survived, both freemen and slaves,
were carried off amongst other spoil. This caused such terror, as made
all those who dwelt round the lake Baebius abandon their cities and
fly to the mountains: and the Aetolians, in the absence of booty,
turned away from thence, and proceeded into Perrhaebia. There they
took Cyretiae by storm and sacked it unmercifully. The inhabitants of
Mallaea, making a voluntary submission, were received into alliance.
From Perrhaebia, Amynander advised to march to Gomphi, because that
city lies close to Athamania, and there was reason to think that it
might be reduced without any great difficulty. But the Aetolians,
for the sake of plunder, directed their march to the rich plains of
Thessaly. Amynander following, though he did not approve either of
their careless method of carrying on their depredations, or of their
pitching their camp in any place which chance presented, without
choice, and without taking any care to fortify it. Therefore, lest
their rashness and negligence might be the cause of some misfortune
to himself and his troops, when he saw them forming their camp in low
grounds, under the city Phecadus, he took possession, with his own
troops, of an eminence about five hundred paces distant, which could
be rendered secure by a slight fortification. The Aetolians seemed to
have forgotten that they were in an enemy's country, excepting that
they continued to plunder, some straggling about half-armed, others
spending whole days and nights alike in drinking and sleeping in the
camp, neglecting even to fix guards, when Philip unexpectedly came
upon them. His approach being announced by those who had fled out of
the fields in a fright, Damocritus and the rest of the officers were
thrown into great confusion. It happened to be mid-day, and when most
of the men after a hearty meal lay fast asleep. Their officers
roused them, however, as fast as possible; ordered them to take arms;
despatched some to recall those who were straggling through the fields
in search of plunder; and so violent was their hurry, that many of
the horsemen went out without their swords, and but few of them put
on their corslets. After marching out in this precipitate manner, (the
whole horse and foot scarcely making up six hundred,) they met the
king's cavalry, superior in number, in spirit, and in arms. They were,
therefore, routed at the first charge; and having scarcely attempted
resistance, returned to the camp in shameful flight. Several were
slain; and some taken, having been cut off from the main body of the
fugitives.
42. Philip, when his troops had advanced almost to the rampart,
ordered a retreat to be sounded, because both men and horses were
fatigued, not so much by the action, as at once by the length of their
march, and the extraordinary celerity with which they had made it.
He therefore despatched the horsemen by troops, and the companies of
light infantry in turn, to procure water and take refreshment. The
rest he kept on guard, under arms, waiting for the main body of the
infantry, which had marched with less expedition, on account of the
weight of their armour. As soon as these arrived, they also were
ordered to fix their standards, and, laying down their arms before
them, to take food in haste; sending two, or at most three, out of
each company, to provide water. In the mean time the cavalry and light
infantry stood in order, and ready, in case the enemy should make
any movement. The Aetolians, as if resolved to defend their
fortifications, (the multitude which had been scattered about the
fields having, by this time, returned to the camp,) posted bodies
of armed men at the gates, and on the rampart, and from this safe
situation looked with a degree of confidence on the enemy, as long as
they continued quiet. But, as soon as the troops of the Macedonians
began to move, and to advance to the rampart, in order of battle, and
ready for an assault, they all quickly abandoned their posts, and
fled through the opposite part of the camp, to the eminence where the
Athamanians were stationed. During their flight in this confusion,
many of the Aetolians were slain, and many made prisoners. Philip
doubted not that, had there been daylight enough remaining, he should
have been able to make himself master of the camp of the Athamanians
also; but the day having been spent in the fight, and in plundering
the camp afterwards, he sat down under the eminence, in the adjacent
plain, determined to attack the enemy at the first dawn of the
following day. But the Aetolians, under the same apprehensions which
had made them desert their camp, dispersed, and fled during the
following night. Amynander was of the greatest service; for, by his
directions, the Athamanians, who were acquainted with the roads,
conducted them into Aetolia, whilst the Macedonians pursued them
over the highest mountains, through unknown paths. In this disorderly
flight, a few, missing their way, fell into the hands of the
Macedonian horsemen, whom Philip, at the earliest dawn, on seeing the
eminence abandoned, had sent to harass the marching body of the enemy.
43. About the same time also Athenagoras, one of the king's generals,
overtaking the Dardanians in their retreat homeward, at first threw
their rear into disorder; but these unexpectedly facing about, and
forming their line, the fight became like a regular engagement. When
the Dardanians began again to advance, the Macedonian cavalry and
light infantry harassed those who had no troops of that kind to aid
them, and were, besides, burdened with unwieldy arms. The ground, too,
favoured the assailants: very few were slain, but many wounded; none
were taken, because they rarely quit their ranks, but both fight and
retreat in a close body. Thus Philip, having checked the proceedings
of those two nations by these well-timed expeditions, gained
reparation for the damages sustained from the operations of the
Romans; the enterprise being as spirited as the issue was successful.
An occurrence which accidentally happened to him lessened the number
of his enemies on the side of Aetolia. Scopas, a man of considerable
influence in his own country, having been sent from Alexandria by king
Ptolemy, with a great sum of gold, hired and carried away to Egypt six
thousand foot and four hundred horse; nor would he have suffered one
of the young Aetolians to remain at home, had not Damocritus, (it is
not easy to say, whether out of zeal for the good of the nation, or
out of opposition to Scopas, for not having secured his interest by
presents,) by sometimes reminding them of the war which threatened
them, at other times, of the solitary condition in which they would
be, detained some of them at home by severe reproaches. Such were the
actions of the Romans, and of Philip, during that summer.
44. In the beginning of the same summer, the fleet under Lucius
Apustius, lieutenant-general, setting sail from Corcyra, and passing
by Malea, formed a junction with king Attalus, off Scyllaeum, which
lies in the district of Hermione. The Athenian state, which had for
a long time, through fear, restrained their animosity against Philip
within some bounds, in the expectation of approaching aid afforded
them, gave full scope to it all. There are never wanting in that city
orators, who are ready on every occasion to inflame the people; a
kind of men, who, in all free states, and more particularly in that
of Athens, where eloquence flourishes in the highest degree, are
maintained by the favour of the multitude. These immediately proposed
a decree, and the commons passed it, that "all the statues and images
of Philip, with their inscriptions, and likewise those of all his
ancestors, male and female, should be taken down and destroyed; that
the festal days, solemnities, and priests, which had been instituted
in honour of him or of his predecessors, should all be abolished;
and that even the ground where any such statue had been set up,
and inscribed to his honour, should be held abominable." And it was
resolved, that, "for the future, nothing which ought to be erected or
dedicated in a place of purity should be there erected; and that the
public priests, as often as they should pray for the people of Athens,
for their allies, armies, and fleets, so often should they utter
curses and execrations against Philip, his offspring, his kingdom,
his forces by sea and land, and the whole race and name of the
Macedonians." It was added to the decree, that, "if any person in
future should make any proposal tending to throw disgrace and ignominy
on Philip, the people of Athens would ratify it in its fullest extent:
if, on the contrary, any one should, by word or deed, endeavour to
lessen his ignominy, or to do him honour, that whoever slew him who
should have so said or done, should be justified in so doing." Lastly,
a clause was annexed, that "all the decrees, formerly passed against
the Pisistratidae, should be in full force against Philip." Thus the
Athenians waged war against Philip with writings and with words, in
which alone their power consisted.
45. Attalus and the Romans, having, from Hermione, proceeded first to
Piraeus, and staid there a few days, after being loaded with decrees
of the Athenians, (in which the honours paid to their allies were as
extravagant as the expressions of their resentment against their enemy
had been,) sailed from Piraeus to Andros, and, coming to an anchor in
the harbour called Gaureleos, sent persons to sound the inclinations
of the townsmen, whether they chose voluntarily to surrender their
city, rather than run the hazard of an assault. On their answering,
that they were not at their own disposal, but that the citadel
was occupied by the king's troops, Attalus and the Roman
lieutenant-general, landing their forces, with every thing requisite
for attacking towns, made their approaches to the city on different
sides. The Roman standards and arms, which they had never seen before,
together with the spirit of the soldiers, so briskly approaching
the walls, were particularly terrifying to the Greeks. A retreat was
immediately made into the citadel, and the enemy took possession of
the city. After holding out for two days in the citadel, relying more
on the strength of the place than on their arms, on the third both
they and the garrison surrendered the city and citadel, on condition
of their being transported to Delium in Boeotia, and being each of
them allowed a single suit of apparel. The island was yielded up by
the Romans to king Attalus; the spoil, and the ornaments of the city,
they themselves carried off. Attalus, desirous that the island, of
which he had got possession, might not be quite deserted, persuaded
almost all the Macedonians, and several of the Andrians, to
remain there: and, in some time after, those who, according to the
capitulation, had been transported to Delium, were induced to return
from thence by the promises made them by the king, in which they were
disposed the more readily to confide, by the ardent affection which
they felt for their native country. From Andros they passed over to
Cythnus; there they spent several days, to no purpose, in assaulting
the city; when, at length, finding it scarcely worth the trouble, they
departed. At Prasiae, a place on the main land of Attica, twenty barks
of the Issaeans joined the Roman fleet. These were sent to ravage the
lands of the Carystians, the rest of the fleet lying at Geraestus, a
noted harbour in Euboea, until the Issaeans returned from Carystus:
on which, setting sail all together, and steering their course through
the open sea, until they passed by Scyrus, they arrived at the island
of Icus. Being detained there for a few days by a violent northerly
wind, as soon as the weather was fair, they passed over to Sciathus,
a city which had been lately plundered and desolated by Philip. The
soldiers, spreading themselves over the country, brought back to the
ships corn and what other kinds of provisions could be of use to them.
Plunder there was none, nor had the Greeks deserved to be plundered.
Directing their course thence to Cassandrea, they first came to
Mendis, a village on the coast of that state; and, intending from
thence to double the promontory, and bring round the fleet to the very
walls of the city, a violent tempest arising, they were near being
buried in the waves. However, after being dispersed, and a great part
of the ships having lost their rigging, they escaped on shore. This
storm at sea was an omen of the kind of success which they were
to meet on land; for, after collecting their vessels together, and
landing their forces, having made an assault on the city, they were
repulsed with many wounds, there being a strong garrison of the
king's troops in the place. Being thus obliged to retreat without
accomplishing their design, they passed over to Canastrum in Pallene,
and from thence, doubling the promontory of Torona, conducted the
fleet to Acanthus. There they first laid waste the country, then
stormed the city itself, and plundered it. They proceeded no farther,
for their ships were now heavily laden with booty, but went back to
Sciathus, and from Sciathus to Euboea, whence they had first set out.
46. Leaving the fleet there, they entered the Malian bay with ten
light ships, in order to confer with the Aetolians on the method of
conducting the war. Sipyrrhicas, the Aetolian, was at the head of the
embassy that came to Heraclea, to hold a consultation with the king
and the Roman lieutenant-general. They demanded of Attalus, that,
in pursuance of the treaty, he should supply them with one thousand
soldiers, which number he had engaged for on condition of their taking
part in the war against Philip. This was refused to the Aetolians,
because on their part they had formerly showed themselves unwilling to
march out to ravage Macedonia, at a time when Philip, being employed
near Pergamus in destroying by fire every thing sacred and profane,
they might have compelled him to retire from thence, in order to
preserve his own territories. Thus, instead of aid, the Aetolians were
dismissed with hopes, the Romans making them large promises. Apustius
with Attalus returned to the ships, where they began to concert
measures for the siege of Oreus. This city was well secured by
fortifications; and also, as an attempt had formerly been made on
it, by a strong garrison. After the taking of Andros, twenty Rhodian
ships, all decked vessels, had formed a junction with them, under the
command of Agesimbrotus. This squadron they sent to the station off
Zelasium, a promontory of Isthmia, very conveniently situate beyond
Demetrias, in order that, if the ships of the Macedonians should
attempt any movement, they might act as a defensive force. Heraclides,
the king's admiral, kept his fleet there, rather with a view of laying
hold of any advantage which the negligence of the enemy might afford
him, than with a design of attempting any thing by open force. The
Romans and king Attalus carried on their attacks against Oreus on
different sides; the Romans against the citadel next to the sea, the
king's troops against the lower part of the town, lying between the
two citadels, where the city is also divided by a wall. As their posts
were different, so were their methods of attack: the Romans made their
approaches by means of covered galleries, applying also the ram to
the walls; the king's troops, by throwing in weapons with the balista,
catapulta, and every other kind of engine, and stones also of immense
weight. They formed mines, too, and made use of every expedient,
which, on trial, had been found useful in the former siege. On the
other side, not only did more Macedonians protect the town and the
citadels, than on the former occasion, but they exerted themselves
with greater spirit, in consequence of the reprimands which they had
received from the king for the misconduct they had committed, and also
from remembrance both of his threats and promises with regard to the
future. Thus, when time was being consumed there, contrary to their
expectation, and there was more hope from a siege and works than from
a sudden assault, the lieutenant-general thought that in the mean time
some other business might be accomplished; wherefore, leaving such a
number of men as seemed sufficient to finish the works, he passed over
to the nearest part of the continent, and, arriving unexpectedly, made
himself master of Larissa, except the citadel,--not that celebrated
city in Thessaly, but another, which they call Cremaste. Attalus also
surprised Aegeleos, where nothing was less apprehended than such an
enterprise during the siege of another city. The works at Oreus had
now begun to take effect, while the garrison within were almost spent
with unremitted toil, (keeping watch both by day and night,) and also
with wounds. Part of the wall, being loosened by the strokes of the
ram, had fallen down in many places; and the Romans, during the night,
broke into the citadel through the breach which lay over the harbour.
Attalus, likewise, at the first light, on a signal given from the
citadel by the Romans, himself also assaulted the city, where great
part of the walls had been levelled; on which the garrison and
townsmen fled into the other citadel, and a surrender was made two
days after. The city fell to the king, the prisoners to the Romans.
47. The autumnal equinox now approached, and the Euboean gulf, called
Coela, is reckoned dangerous by mariners. Choosing, therefore, to
remove thence before the winter storms came on, they returned to
Piraeus, from whence they had set out for the campaign. Apustius,
leaving there thirty ships, sailed by Malea to Corcyra. The king was
delayed during the celebration of the mysteries of Ceres, that he
might assist at the solemnities, immediately after which he also
retired into Asia, sending home Agesimbrotus and the Rhodians. Such,
during that summer, were the proceedings, by sea and land, of
the Roman consul and lieutenant-general, aided by Attalus and the
Rhodians, against Philip and his allies. The other consul, Caius
Aurelius, on coming into his province and finding the war there
already brought to a conclusion, did not dissemble his resentment
against the praetor, for having proceeded to action in his absence;
wherefore, sending him away to Etruria, he led on the legions into the
enemy's country, and, by laying it waste, carried on the war with more
spoil than glory. Lucius Furius, finding nothing in Etruria that
could give him employment, and at the same time intent on obtaining a
triumph for his success against the Gauls, which he considered would
be more easily accomplished in the absence of the consul, who envied
and was enraged against him, came to Rome unexpectedly, and called a
meeting of the senate in the temple of Bellona; where, after making
a recital of the services which he had performed, he demanded to be
allowed to enter the city in triumph.
48. With a great part of the senate he prevailed, owing to private
interest and the importance of his services. The elder part refused
him a triumph, both "because the army, with which he had acted,
belonged to another; and because he had left his province through
an ambitious desire of snatching that opportunity of procuring a
triumph,--but that he had taken this course without any precedent."
The senators of consular rank particularly insisted, that "he ought
to have waited for the consul; for that he might, by pitching his camp
near the city, and thereby securing the colony without coming to an
engagement, have protracted the affair until his arrival; and that,
what the praetor had not done, the senate ought to do; they should
wait for the consul. After hearing the business discussed by the
consul and praetor in their presence, they would be able, more
correctly, to form judgment on the case." Great part were of opinion,
that the senate ought to consider nothing but the service performed,
and whether he had performed it while in office, and under his own
auspices. For, "when of two colonies, which had been opposed, as
barriers, to restrain the tumultuous inroads of the Gauls, one had
been already sacked and burned, the flames being ready to spread (as
if from an adjoining house) to the other colony, which lay so near,
what ought the praetor to have done? For if it was improper to enter
on any action without the consul, then the senate had acted wrong
in giving the army to the praetor; because, if they chose that the
business should be performed, not under the praetor's auspices, but
the consul's, they might have limited the decree in such a manner,
that not the praetor, but the consul, should manage it; or else the
consul had acted wrong, who, after ordering the army to remove from
Etruria into Gaul, did not meet it at Ariminum, in order to be present
at operations, which were not allowed to be performed without him. But
the exigencies of war do not wait for the delays and procrastinations
of commanders; and battles must be sometimes fought, not because
commanders choose it, but because the enemy compels it. The fight
itself, and the issue of the fight, is what ought to be regarded now.
The enemy were routed and slain, their camp taken and plundered,
the colony relieved from a siege, the prisoners taken from the other
colony recovered and restored to their friends, and an end put to the
war in one battle. And not only men rejoiced at this victory, but the
immortal gods also had supplications paid to them, for the space of
three days, on account of the business of the state having been wisely
and successfully, not rashly and unfortunately, conducted by Lucius
Furius, praetor. Besides, the Gallic wars were, by some fatality,
destined to the Furian family."
49. By means of discourses of this kind, made by him and his friends,
the interest of the praetor, who was present, prevailed over the
dignity of the absent consul, and the majority decreed a triumph to
Lucius Furius. Lucius Furius, praetor, during his office, triumphed
over the Gauls. He carried into the treasury three hundred and twenty
thousand _asses_,[1] and one hundred and seventy thousand pounds'
weight of silver. There were neither any prisoners led before his
chariot, nor spoils carried before him, nor did any soldiers follow
him. It appeared that every thing, except the victory, belonged to
the consul. The games which Publius Scipio had vowed when consul in
Africa, were then celebrated, in a magnificent manner and with respect
to the lands for his soldiers, it was decreed, that whatever number
of years each of them had served in Spain or in Africa, he should,
for every year, receive two acres; and that ten commissioners should
distribute that land. Three commissioners were then appointed to fill
up the number of colonists at Venusia, because the strength of that
colony had been reduced in the war with Hannibal: Caius Terentius
Varro, Titus Quintius Flamininus, Publius Cornelius, son of Cneius
Scipio, enrolled the colonists for Venusia. During the same year,
Caius Cornelius Cethegus, who in the capacity of proconsul commanded
in Spain, routed a numerous army of the enemy in the territory of
Sedeta; in which battle, it is said, that fifteen thousand Spaniards
were slain, and seventy-eight military standards taken. The consul
Caius Aurelius, on returning from his province to Rome to hold the
elections, made heavy complaints, not on the subject on which they had
supposed he would, that the senate had not waited for his coming, nor
allowed him an opportunity of arguing the matter with the praetor;
but, that "the senate had decreed a triumph in such a manner, without
hearing the report of any one of those who had taken part in the war,
except the person who was to enjoy the triumph: that their ancestors
had made it a rule that the lieutenant-generals, the military
tribunes, the centurions, and even the soldiers, should be present
at the triumph, in order that the Roman people might ascertain the
reality of his exploits, to whom so high an honour was paid." Now, of
that army which fought with the Gauls, had any one soldier, or even a
soldier's servant, been present, of whom the senate could inquire how
much of truth or falsehood was in the praetor's narrative? He then
appointed a day for the elections, at which were chosen consuls,
Lucius Cornelius Lentulus and Publius Villius Tappulus. The praetors
were then appointed, Lucius Quintius Flamininus, Lucius Valerius
Flaccus, Lucius Villius Tappulus, and Cneius Baebius Tamphilus.
[Footnote 1: 1033l. 6s. 8d.]
50. During that year provisions were remarkably cheap. The curule
aediles, Marcus Claudius Marcellus and Sextus Aelius Paetus,
distributed among the people a vast quantity of corn, brought from
Africa, at the rate of two _asses_ 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 Massa, and Cneius Baebius Tamphilus, who was elected
praetor. There were also funeral games exhibited that year in the
forum, for the space 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 substituted 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 petitioned 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 XXXII.
_Successes of Titus Quinctius Flamininus against Philip; and
of his brother Lucius with the fleet, assisted 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 ambassadors 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 poop 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 gods
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
assay, 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 Sextus 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 pass which the Thessalians call Caela.[1]
After passing 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 ambassadors 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 pass 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 passage 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 pass the king had taken his position with his army, as soon
as the spring began to open, left Corcyra, where he had passed 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 passage 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 Titus 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 pass 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, passed 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 Titus
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 assembly
for the election of censors. Out of many illustrious men who stood
candidates, were chosen Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus and Publius
Aelius Paetus. These, acting together in perfect harmony, read the
list of the senate, without passing 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 Titus Quinctius
Flamininus from standing candidate for the consulship, after passing
through the office of quaestor. They alleged, that "the aedileship and
praetorship were now held in contempt, and that the nobility did not
make their way to the consulship through the regular gradations of
offices, thus affording a trial of themselves; but, passing 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 Sextus Aelius Paetus and
Titus 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 substituted Marcus
Aemilius Lepidus and Cneius Cornelius Scipio, as pontiffs.
8. The new consuls, Sextus Aelius Paetus and Titus Quinctius
Flamininus, on assuming 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 horsemen belonging to
the Latin confederacy." The army assigned 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 class 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 ambassadors from king Attalus.
These, after representing that their king gave every assistance 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 destitute 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 ambassadors: that "it was a cause of
gratitude to the senate that Attalus had assisted 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 ambassadors 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 Titus Quinctius had finished the levies, in making
which he chose principally 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 gods 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, Titus 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 passed 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 Dassaretians 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 passed 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, Titus 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 assaulting 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 impassable 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 passes 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, passing
over into Thessaly, got possession of Cymine and Angeae at the first
assault. From Metropolis they were repulsed by the inhabitants, who,
while a part of their army was plundering the country, assembled 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 assault 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 multitude, 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 space 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 pass 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 pass 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 assault 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 petition, pardon was granted: Phaloria was
sacked, and burned. He then proceeded to Aeginium; but finding this
place so circumstanced, 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 embarrassed, 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 assault by night on the side where it
was least apprehended, and carried the town by scalade. The whole
multitude of the townsmen, with their wives and children, fled into
the citadel, but soon after surrendered themselves prisoners. The
quantity 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 space 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 anticipated. He
had supposed that the whole of the trouble would be in demolishing the
wall, and that if he could once open a passage 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 entitled 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
retarded 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 space,
(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 pass through
a long space, which generally occasions disorder in the ranks. An
accidental circumstance 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
classes 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 assault. 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, ambassadors should be sent to the Achaean state, with
assurances, 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, ambassadors were sent to the Achaeans, by his brother
Lucius Quinctius, by Attalus, and by the Rhodians and Athenians--a
general assembly 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 assumed 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 assembly, when the
ambassadors were introduced and liberty of speaking afforded them. The
Roman ambassador, Lucius Calpurnius, spoke first; next the ambassadors
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
ambassadors succeeding each other took up the whole of the day; and
about sun-set the council was adjourned.
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