_Manius Acilius Glabrio, the consul, aided by king Philip,
defeats Antiochus at Thermopylae, and drives him out of
Greece; reduces the Aetolians to sue for peace. Publius
Cornelius Scipio Nasica reduces the Boian Gauls to submission.
Sea-fight between the Roman fleet and that of Antiochus, in
which the Romans are victorious_.
1. Publius Cornelius Scipio, son of Cneius, and Manius Acilius
Glabrio, the consuls, on their assuming the administration, were
ordered by the senate, before they settled any thing respecting their
provinces, to perform sacrifices, with victims of the greater kinds,
at all the shrines, where the Lectisternium was usually celebrated for
the greater part of the year; and to offer prayers, that the business
which the state had in contemplation, concerning a new war, might
terminate prosperously and happily for the senate and people of Rome.
At every one of those sacrifices, appearances were favourable, and
the propitious omens were found in the first victims. Accordingly, the
auspices gave this answer:--That, by this war, the boundaries of the
Roman empire would be enlarged; and that victory and triumph were
portended. When this answer was reported, the senate, having their
minds now freed from superstitious fears, ordered this question to be
proposed to the people; "Was it their will, and did they order, that
war should be undertaken against king Antiochus, and all who should
join his party?" And that if that order passed, then the consuls were,
if they thought proper, to lay the business entire before the senate.
Publius Cornelius got the order passed; and then the senate decreed,
that the consuls should cast lots for the provinces of Italy and
Greece; that he to whose lot Greece fell, should, in addition to the
number of soldiers enlisted and raised from the allies by Quinctius
for that province, pursuant to a decree of the senate, take under
his command that army, which, in the preceding year, Marcus Baebius,
praetor, had, by order of the senate, carried over to Macedonia.
Permission was also granted him, to receive succours from the allies,
out of Italy, if circumstances should so require, provided their
number did not exceed five thousand. It was resolved, that Lucius
Quinctius, consul of the former year, should be commissioned as a
lieutenant-general in that war. The other consul, to whom Italy fell,
was ordered to carry on the war with the Boians, with whichever he
should choose of the two armies commanded by the consuls of the last
year; and to send the other to Rome; and these were ordered to be the
city legions, and ready to march to whatever place the senate should
direct.
2. Things being thus adjusted in the senate, excepting the assignment
of his particular province to each of the magistrates, the consuls
were ordered to cast lots. Greece fell to Acilius, Italy to Cornelius.
The lot of each being now determined, the senate passed a decree, that
"inasmuch as the Roman people had, at that time, ordered war to
be declared against king Antiochus, and those who were under his
government, the consuls should command a supplication to be performed,
on account of that business; and that Manius Acilius, the consul,
should vow the great games to Jupiter, and offerings at all the
shrines." This vow was made by the consul in these words, which were
dictated by Publius Licinius, chief pontiff: "If the war, which the
people has ordered to be undertaken against king Antiochus, shall be
concluded agreeably to the wishes of the senate and people of Rome,
then, O Jupiter, the Roman people will, through ten successive days,
exhibit the great games in honour of thee, and offerings shall be
presented at all the shrines, of such value as the senate shall
direct. Whatever magistrate shall celebrate those games, and at
whatever time and place, let the celebration be deemed proper, and the
offerings rightly and duly made." The two consuls then proclaimed
a supplication for two days. When the consuls had determined their
provinces by lot, the praetors, likewise, immediately cast lots for
theirs. The two civil jurisdictions fell to Marcus Junius Brutus;
Bruttium, to Aulus Cornelius Mammula; Sicily, to Marcus Aemilius
Lepidus; Sardinia, to Lucius Oppius Salinator; the fleet, to Caius
Livius Salinator; and Farther Spain, to Lucius Aemilius Paullus. The
troops for these were settled thus:--to Aulus Cornelius were assigned
the new soldiers, raised last year by Lucius Quinctius, the consul,
pursuant to the senate's decree; and he was ordered to defend the
whole coast near Tarentum and Brundusium. Lucius Aemilius Paullus was
directed to take with him into Farther Spain, (to fill up the numbers
of the army, which he was to receive from Marcus Fulvius, propraetor,)
three thousand new-raised foot and three hundred horse, of whom
two-thirds should be Latin allies, and the other third Roman citizens.
An equal reinforcement was sent to Hither Spain to Caius Flaminius,
who was continued in command. Marcus Aemilius Lepidus was ordered to
receive both the province and army from Lucius Valerius, whom he was
to succeed; and, if he thought proper, to retain Lucius Valerius, as
propraetor, in the province, which he was to divide with him in such
a manner, that one division should reach from Agrigentum to Pachynum,
and the other from Pachynum to Tyndarium, and the sea-coasts whereof
Lucius Valerius was to protect with a fleet of twenty ships of war.
The same praetor received a charge to levy two-tenths of corn, and to
take care that it should be carried to the coast, and thence conveyed
into Greece. Lucius Oppius was likewise commanded to levy a second
tenth in Sardinia; but it was resolved that it should be transported,
not into Greece, but to Rome. Caius Livius, the praetor, whose lot was
the command of the fleet, was ordered to sail, at the earliest time
possible, to Greece with thirty ships, which were ready, and to
receive the other fleet from Atilius. The praetor, Marcus Junius,
was commissioned to refit and arm the old ships which were in the
dock-yards; and, for this fleet, to enlist the sons of freemen as
crews.
3. Commissaries were sent into Africa, three to Carthage, and a like
number to Numidia, to procure corn to be carried into Greece; for
which the Roman people were to pay the value. And so attentive was the
state to the making of every preparation and provision necessary
for the carrying on of this war, that the consul, Publius Cornelius,
published an edict, that "no senator, nor any who had the privilege of
giving an opinion in the senate, nor any of the inferior magistrates,
should go so far from the city of Rome as that they could not return
the same day; and that five senators should not be absent from the
city at the same time." A dispute which arose with the maritime
colonies, for some time retarded Caius Livius, the praetor, when
actively engaged in fitting out the fleet. For, when they were
impressed for manning the ships, they appealed to the tribunes of
the people, by whom the cause was referred to the senate. The senate,
without one dissenting voice, resolved, that those colonies were
not entitled to exemption from the sea-service. The colonies which
disputed with the praetor on the subject of exemption were, Ostia,
Fregenae, Castrumnovum, Pyrgi, Antium, Tarracina, Minturnae, and
Sinuessa. The consul, Manius Acilius, then, by direction of the
senate, consulted the college of heralds, "whether a declaration of
war should be made to Antiochus in person, or whether it would be
sufficient to declare it at some garrison town; whether they directed
a separate declaration against the Aetolians, and whether their
alliance and friendship ought not to be renounced before war was
declared." The heralds answered, that "they had given their judgment
before, when they were consulted respecting Philip, that it was of no
consequence whether the declaration were made to himself in person, or
at one of his garrisons. That, in their opinion, friendship had been
already renounced; because, after their ambassadors had so often
demanded restitution, the Aetolians had not thought proper to make
either restitution or apology. That these, by their own act, had made
a declaration of war against themselves, when they seized, by force,
Demetrias, a city in alliance with Rome; when they laid siege to
Chalcis by land and sea; and brought king Antiochus into Europe,
to make war on the Romans." Every preparatory measure being now
completed, the consul, Manius Acilius, issued an edict, that
the "soldiers enlisted, or raised from among the allies by Titus
Quinctius, and who were under orders to go with him to his province;
as, likewise, the military tribunes of the first and third legions,
should assemble at Brundusium, on the ides of May.[1]" He himself,
on the fifth before the nones of May,[2] set out from the city in his
military robe of command. At the same time the praetors, likewise,
departed for their respective provinces.
[Footnote 1: 15th May.]
[Footnote 2: 3rd May.]
4. A little before this time, ambassadors came to Rome from the two
kings, Philip of Macedonia and Ptolemy of Egypt, offering aid of
men, money, and corn towards the support of the war. From Ptolemy was
brought a thousand pounds' weight of gold, and twenty thousand pounds'
weight of silver. None of this was accepted. Thanks were returned to
the kings. Both of them offered to come, with their whole force,
into Aetolia. Ptolemy was excused from that trouble; and Philip's
ambassadors were answered, that the senate and people of Rome would
consider it as a kindness if he should lend his assistance to
the consul, Manius Acilius. Ambassadors came, likewise from the
Carthaginians, and from king Masinissa. The Carthaginians made an
offer of sending a thousand pecks[1] of wheat, and five hundred
thousand of barley to the army, and half that quantity to Rome; which
they requested the Romans to accept from them as a present. They
also offered to fit out a fleet at their own expense, and to give in,
immediately, the whole amount of the annual tribute-money which they
were bound to pay for many years to come. The ambassadors of Masinissa
promised, that their king should send five hundred thousand pecks of
wheat, and three hundred thousand of barley, to the army in Greece,
and three hundred thousand of wheat, and two hundred and fifty
thousand of barley, to Rome; also five hundred horse, and twenty
elephants, to the consul Acilius. The answer given to both, with
regard to the corn, was, that the Roman people would make use of it,
provided they would receive payment for the same. With regard to the
fleet offered by the Carthaginians, no more was accepted than such
ships as they owed by treaty; and, as to the money, they were told,
that none would be taken before the regular days of payment.
[Footnote 1: Here is, doubtless, some word dropped in the original;
so small a quantity could never have been deemed an object for one
powerful state to offer to another. Commentators suppose it to have
been _one hundred_ thousand.]
5. While these things were occurring at Rome, Antiochus, during the
winter season at Chalcis, endeavoured to bring over several of the
states by ambassadors sent among them; while many of their own accord
sent deputies to him; as the Epirots, by the general voice of the
nation, and the Eleans from Peloponnesus. The Eleans requested aid
against the Achaeans; for they supposed, that, since the war had been
declared against Antiochus contrary to their judgment, the Achaeans
would first turn their arms against them. One thousand foot were sent
to them, under the command of Euphanes, a Cretan. The embassy of the
Epirots showed no mark whatever of a liberal or candid disposition.
They wished to ingratiate themselves with the king; but, at the
same time, to avoid giving cause of displeasure to the Romans. They
requested him, "not hastily to make them a party in the dispute,
exposed, as they were, opposite to Italy, and in the front of Greece,
where they must necessarily undergo the first assaults of the Romans.
If he himself, with his land and sea forces, could take charge of
Epirus, the inhabitants would eagerly receive him in all their ports
and cities. But if circumstances allowed him not to do that, then they
earnestly entreated him not to subject them, naked and defenceless, to
the arms of the Romans." Their intention in sending him this message
evidently was, that if he declined going into Epirus, which they
rather supposed would be the case, they were not implicated with
relation to the Roman armies, while they sufficiently recommended
themselves to the king by their willingness to receive him on his
coming; and that, on the other hand, if he should come, even then they
would have hopes of being pardoned by the Romans, for having yielded
to the strength of a prince who was present among them, without
waiting for succour from them, who were so far distant. To this so
evasive embassy, as he did not readily think of a proper answer, he
replied, that he would send ambassadors to them to confer upon such
matters as were of common concernment both to him and them.
6. Antiochus went himself into Boeotia, holding out ostensibly
those causes of resentment against the Romans which I have already
mentioned,--the death of Brachyllas, and the attack made by Quinctius
on Coronea, on account of the massacre of the Roman soldiers; while
the real ones were, that the former excellent policy of that nation,
with respect both to public and private concerns, had, for several
generations, been on the decline; and that great numbers were in such
circumstances, that they could not long subsist without some change
in affairs. Through multitudes of the principal Boeotians, who
every where flocked out to meet him, he arrived at Thebes. There,
notwithstanding that he had (both at Delium, by the attack made on the
Roman troops, and also at Chalcis) already commenced hostilities, by
enterprises of neither a trifling nor of a dubious nature, yet, in
a general council of the nation, he delivered a speech of the same
import with that which he delivered in the first conference at
Chalcis, and that used by his ambassadors in the council of the
Achaeans; that "what he required of them was, to form a league of
friendship with him, not to declare war against the Romans." But not
a man among them was ignorant of his meaning. However, a decree,
disguised under a slight covering of words, was passed in his favour
against the Romans. After securing this nation also on his side, he
returned to Chalcis; and, having despatched letters, summoning the
chief Aetolians to meet him at Demetrias, that he might deliberate
with them on the general plan of operations, he came thither with his
ships on the day appointed for the council. Amynander, likewise,
was called from Athamania to the consultation; and Hannibal the
Carthaginian, who, for a long time before, had not been asked
to attend, was present at this assembly. The subject of their
deliberation was in reference to the Thessalian nation; and every one
present was of opinion, that their concurrence ought to be sought.
The only points on which opinions differed were, that some thought the
attempt ought to be made immediately; while others judged it better to
defer it for the winter season, which was then about half spent,
until the beginning of spring. Some advised to send ambassadors only;
others, that the king should go at the head of all his forces, and if
they hesitated, terrify them into compliance.
7. Although the present debate turned chiefly on these points,
Hannibal, being called on by name to give his opinion, led the king,
and those who were present, into the consideration of the general
conduct of the war, by a speech to this effect:--"If I had been
employed in your councils since we came first into Greece, when you
were consulting about Euboea, the Achaeans, and Boeotians, I would
have offered the same advice which I shall offer you this day, when
your thoughts are employed about the Thessalians. My opinion is, that,
above all things, Philip and the Macedonians should by some means or
other be brought into a participation in this war. For, as to Euboea,
as well as the Boeotians and Thessalians, who can doubt that, having
no strength of their own, they will ever court the power that is
present; and will make use of the same fear, which governs their
councils, as an argument for obtaining pardon? That, as soon as
they shall see a Roman army in Greece, they will turn away to that
government to which they have been accustomed? Nor are they to blame,
if, when the Romans were at so great a distance, they did not choose
to try your force, and that of your army, who were on the spot. How
much more advisable, therefore, and more advantageous would it be, to
unite Philip to us, than these; as, if he once embarks in the cause,
he will have no room for retreat, and as he will bring with him such
a force, as will not only be an accession to a power at war with Rome,
but was able, lately, of itself, to withstand the Romans! With such an
ally, (I wish to speak without offence,) how could I harbour a doubt
about the issue; when I should see the very persons through whom the
Romans prevailed against Philip, now ready to act against them?
The Aetolians, who, as all agree, conquered Philip, will fight
in conjunction with Philip against the Romans. Amynander and the
Athamanian nation, who, next to the Aetolians, performed the greatest
services in that war, will stand on our side. Philip, at the time when
you remained inactive, sustained the whole burden of the war. Now, you
and he, two of the greatest kings, will, with the force of Asia and
Europe, wage war against one state; which, to say nothing of my own
fortune with them, either prosperous or adverse, was certainly, in
the memory of our fathers, unequal to a dispute with a single king of
Epirus; what then, I say, must it be in competition with you two? But
it may be asked. What circumstances induce me to believe that Philip
may be brought to a union with us? First, common utility, which is the
strongest cement of union; and next, you, Aetolians, are yourselves
my informants. For Thoas, your ambassador, among the other arguments
which he used to urge, for the purpose of drawing Antiochus into
Greece, always above all things insisted upon this,--that Philip
expressed extreme indignation that the conditions of servitude had
been imposed on him under the appearance of conditions of peace:
comparing the king's anger to that of a wild beast chained, or shut
up, and wishing to break the bars that confined it. Now, if his temper
of mind is such, let us loose his chains; let us break these bars,
that he may vent, upon the common foe, this anger so long pent up. But
should our embassy fail of producing any effect on him, let us then
take care, that if we cannot unite him to ourselves, he may not be
united to our enemies. Your son, Seleucus, is at Lysimachia; and if,
with the army which he has there, he shall pass through Thrace, and
once begin to make depredations on the nearest parts of Macedonia, he
will effectually divert Philip from carrying aid to the Romans, to
the protection, in the first place, of his own dominions. Such is my
opinion respecting Philip. With regard to the general plan of the war,
you have, from the beginning, been acquainted with my sentiments: and
if my advice had been listened to, the Romans would not now hear that
Chalcis in Euboea was taken, and a fort on the Euripus reduced, but
that Etruria, and the whole coast of Liguria and Cisalpine Gaul, were
in a blaze of war; and, what is to them the greatest cause of alarm,
that Hannibal was in Italy. Even as matters stand at present, I
recommend it to you, to call home all your land and sea forces; let
storeships with provisions follow the fleet; for, as we are here too
few for the exigencies of the war, so are we too many for the scanty
supplies of necessaries. When you shall have collected together the
whole of your force, you will divide the fleet, and keep one division
stationed at Corcyra, that the Romans may not have a clear and safe
passage; and the other you will send to that part of the coast of
Italy which is opposite Sardinia and Africa; while you yourselves,
with all the land forces, will proceed to the territory of Bullium. In
this position you will hold the command of all Greece; you will give
the Romans reason to think, that you intend to sail over to Italy;
and you will be in readiness so to do, if occasion require. This is
my advice; and though I may not be the most skilful in every kind of
warfare, yet surely I must have learned, in a long series of both good
and bad fortune, how to wage war against the Romans. For the execution
of the measures which I have advised, I promise you my most faithful
and zealous endeavours. Whatever plan you shall consider the best, may
the gods grant it their approbation."
8. Such, nearly, was the counsel given by Hannibal, which the hearers
rather commended at the time, than actually executed. For not one
article of it was carried into effect, except the sending Polyxenidas
to bring over the fleet and army from Asia. Ambassadors were sent to
Larissa, to the diet of the Thessalians. The Aetolians and Amynander
appointed a day for the assembling of their troops at Pherae, and the
king with his forces came thither immediately. While he waited there
for Amynander and the Aetolians, he sent Philip, the Megalopolitan,
with two thousand men, to collect the bones of the Macedonians round
Cynoscephalae, where the final battle had been fought with king
Philip; being advised to this, either in order to gain favour with the
Macedonians and draw their displeasure on the king for having left
his soldiers unburied, or having of himself, through the spirit of
vain-glory incident to kings, conceived such a design,--splendid
indeed in appearance, but really insignificant. There is a mount there
formed of the bones which had been scattered about, and were then
collected into one heap. Although this step procured him no thanks
from the Macedonians, yet it excited the heaviest displeasure of
Philip; in consequence of which, he who had hitherto intended to
regulate his counsels by the fortune of events, now sent instantly a
message to the propraetor, Marcus Baebius, that "Antiochus had made
an irruption into Thessaly; that, if he thought proper, he should move
out of his winter quarters, and that he himself would advance to meet
him, that they might consider together what was proper to be done."
9. While Antiochus lay encamped near Pherae, where the Aetolians
and Amynander had joined him, ambassadors came to him from Larissa,
desiring to know on account of what acts or words of theirs he had
made war on the Thessalians; at the same time requesting him to
withdraw his army; and that if there seemed to him any necessity for
it he would discuss it with them by commissioners. In the mean time,
they sent five hundred soldiers, under the command of Hippolochus, to
Pherae, as a reinforcement; but these, being debarred of access by the
king's troops, who blocked up all the roads, retired to Scotussa. The
king answered the Larissan ambassadors in mild terms, that "he came
into their country, not with a design of making war, but of protecting
and establishing the liberty of the Thessalians." He sent a person
to make a similar declaration to the people of Pherae; who,
without giving him any answer, sent to the king, in the capacity of
ambassador, Pausanias, the first magistrate of their state. He offered
remonstrances of a similar kind with those which had been urged in
behalf of the people of Chalcis, at the first conference, on the
strait of the Euripus, as the cases were similar, and urged some with
a greater degree of boldness; on which the king desired that they
would consider seriously before they adopted a resolution, which,
while they were overcautious and provident of futurity, would give
them immediate cause of repentance, and then dismissed him. When the
Pheraeans were acquainted with the result of this embassy, without the
smallest hesitation they determined to endure whatever the fortune of
war might bring on them, rather than violate their engagements with
the Romans. They accordingly exerted their utmost efforts to provide
for the defence of their city; while the king, on his part, resolved
to assail the walls on every side at once; and considering, what was
evidently the case, that it depended on the fate of this city, the
first which he had besieged, whether he should for the future be
despised or dreaded by the whole nation of the Thessalians, he put in
practice every where all possible means of striking them with terror.
The first fury of the assault they supported with great firmness;
but in some time, great numbers of their men being either slain
or wounded, their resolution began to fail. Having soon been
so reanimated by the rebukes of their leaders, as to resolve on
persevering in their resistance, and having abandoned the exterior
circle of the wall, as their numbers now began to fail, they withdrew
to the interior part of the city, round which had been raised a
fortification of less extent. At last, being overcome by distress, and
fearing that if they were taken by storm they might meet no mercy from
the conqueror, they capitulated. The king then lost no time; but while
the alarm was fresh, sent four thousand men against Scotussa, which
surrendered without delay, observing the recent example of those in
Pherae; who, at length compelled by sufferings, had done that which
at first they had obstinately refused. Together with the town,
Hippolochus and the Larissan garrison were yielded to him, all of whom
were dismissed uninjured by the king; who hoped that such behaviour
would operate powerfully towards conciliating the esteem of the
Larissans.
10. Having accomplished all this within the space of ten days after
his arrival at Pherae, he marched with his whole force to Cranon,
which he took immediately on his arrival. He then took Cypaera and
Metropolis, and the forts which lay around them; and now every town
in all that tract was in his power, except Atrax and Gyrton. He next
resolved to lay siege to Larissa, for he thought that (either through
dread inspired by the storming of the other towns, or in consideration
of his kindness in dismissing the troops of their garrison, or being
led by the example of so many cities surrendering themselves) they
would not continue longer in their obstinacy. Having ordered the
elephants to advance in front of the battalions, for the purpose of
striking terror, he approached the city with his army in order of
battle, on which the minds of a great number of the Larissans became
irresolute and perplexed, between their fears of the enemy at
their gates, and their respect for their distant allies. Meantime,
Amynander, with the Athamanian troops, seized on Pellinaeus; while
Menippus, with three thousand Aetolian foot and two hundred horse,
marched into Perrhaebia, where he took Mallaea and Cyretiae by
assault, and ravaged the lands of Tripolis. After executing these
enterprises with despatch, they returned to the king at Larissa just
when he was holding a council on the method of proceeding with regard
to that place. On this occasion there were opposite opinions: for some
thought that force should be applied; that there was no time to be
lost, but that the walls should be immediately attacked with works
and machines on all sides at once; especially as the city stood in a
plain, the entrances open, and the approaches every where level.
While others represented at one time the strength of the city, greater
beyond comparison than that of Pherae; at another, the approach of
the winter season, unfit for any operation of war, much more so for
besieging and assaulting cities. While the king's judgment was in
suspense between hope and fear, his courage was raised by ambassadors
happening to arrive just at the time from Pharsalus, to make surrender
of their city. In the mean time Marcus Baebius had a meeting with
Philip in Dassaretia; and, in conformity to their joint opinion, sent
Appius Claudius to reinforce Larissa, who, making long marches through
Macedonia, arrived at that summit of the mountains which overhang
Gonni. The town of Gonni is twenty miles distant from Larissa,
standing at the opening of the valley called Tempe. Here, by laying
out his camp more widely than his numbers required, and kindling more
fires than were necessary, he imposed on the enemy the opinion which
he wished, that the whole Roman army was there, and king Philip along
with them. Antiochus, therefore, pretending the near approach of
winter as his motive, staid but one day longer, then withdrew from
Larissa, and returned to Demetrias. The Aetolians and Athamanians
retired to their respective countries. Appius, although he saw
that, by the siege being raised, the purpose of his commission was
fulfilled, yet resolved to go down to Larissa, to strengthen the
resolution of the allies against future contingencies. Thus the
Larissans enjoyed a twofold happiness, both because the enemy had
departed from their country, and because they saw a Roman garrison
within their city.
11. Antiochus went from Demetrias to Chalcis, where he became
captivated with a young woman, daughter of Cleoptolemus. When he
had plied her father, who was unwilling to connect himself with
a condition in life involving such serious consequences, first by
messages, and afterwards by personal importunities, and had at length
gained his consent; he celebrated his nuptials in the same manner
as if it were a time of profound peace. Forgetting the two important
undertakings in which he was at once engaged,--the war with Rome, and
the liberating of Greece,--he banished every thought of business
from his mind, and spent the remainder of winter in feasting and the
pleasures connected with wine; and then in sleep, produced rather
by fatigue than by satiety with these things. The same spirit of
dissipation seized all his officers who commanded in the several
winter quarters, particularly those stationed in Boeotia, and even the
common men abandoned themselves to the same indulgences; not one of
whom ever put on his armour, or kept watch or guard, or did any
part of the duty or business of a soldier. When, therefore, in the
beginning of spring, the king came through Phocis to Chaeronea, where
he had appointed the general assembly of all the troops, he perceived
at once that the soldiers had spent the winter under discipline no
more rigid than that of their commander. He ordered Alexander, an
Acarnanian and Menippus, a Macedonian, to lead his forces thence
to Stratum, in Aetolia; and he himself, after offering sacrifice to
Apollo at Delphi, proceeded to Naupactum. After holding a council of
the chiefs of Aetolia, he went by the road which leads by Chalcis and
Lysimachia to Stratum, to meet his army, which was coming along
the Malian bay. Here Mnasilochus, a man of distinction among the
Acarnanians, being bribed by many presents, not only laboured himself
to dispose that nation in favour of the king, but had brought to a
concurrence in the design their praetor, Clytus, who was at that time
invested with the highest authority. This latter, finding that the
people of Leucas, the capital of Acarnania, could not be easily
seduced to defection, because they were afraid of the Roman fleets,
one under Atilius, and another at Cephallenia, practised an artifice
against them. He observed in the council, that the inland parts of
Acarnania should be guarded from danger, and that all who were able
to bear arms ought to march out to Medio and Thurium, to prevent those
places from being seized by Antiochus, or the Aetolians; on which
there were some who said, that there were no necessity for all the
people to be called out in that hasty manner, for a body of five
hundred men would be sufficient for the purpose. Having got this
number of soldiers at his disposal, he placed three hundred in
garrison at Medio, and two hundred at Thurium, with the design that
they should fall into the hands of the king, and serve hereafter as
hostages.
12. At this time, ambassadors from the king came to Medio, whose
proposal being heard, the assembly began to consider what answer
should be returned to the king; when some advised to adhere to the
alliance with Rome, and others, not to reject the friendship of the
king; but Clitus offered an opinion, which seemed to take a middle
course between the other two, and which was therefore adopted. It
was, that ambassadors should be sent to the king, to request of him
to allow the people of Medio to deliberate on a subject of such great
importance in a general assembly of the Acarnanians. Mnasilochus, and
some others of his faction, were studiously included in this embassy;
who, sending private messengers to desire the king to bring up his
army, wasted time on purpose; so that the ambassadors had scarcely set
out, when Antiochus appeared in the territory, and presently at the
gates of the city; and, while those who were not concerned in the plot
were all in hurry and confusion, and hastily called the young men to
arms, he was conducted into the place by Clitus and Mnasilochus. One
party of the citizens now joined him through inclination, and those
who were of different sentiments were compelled by fear to attend him.
He then calmed their apprehensions by a discourse full of mildness;
and in the hope of experiencing his clemency, which was reported
abroad, several of the states of Acarnania went over to his side. From
Medio he went to Thurium, whither he had sent on before him the same
Mnasilochus, and his colleagues in the embassy. But the detection of
the treachery practised at Medio rendered the Thurians more cautious,
but not more timid. They answered him explicitly, that they would form
no new alliance without the approbation of the Romans: they then shut
their gates, and posted soldiers on the walls. Most seasonably for
confirming the resolution of the Acarnanians, Cneius Octavius, being
sent by Quinctius, and having received a party of men and a few ships
from Aulus Postumius, whom Atilius had appointed his lieutenant to
command at Cephallenia, arrived at Leucas, and filled the allies
with hope; assuring them, that the consul Manius Acilius had already
crossed the sea with his legions, and that the Roman camp was in
Thessaly. As the season of the year, which was by this time favourable
for sailing, strengthened the credibility of this report, the king,
after placing a garrison in Medio and borne other towns of Acarnania,
retired from Thurium and returned through the cities of Aetolia and
Phocis to Chalcis.
13. About the same time, Marcus Baebius and king Philip, after the
meeting which they had in the winter in Dassaretia, when they sent
Appius Claudius into Thessaly to raise the siege of Larissa, had
returned to winter quarters, the season not being sufficiently
advanced for entering on action; but now in the beginning of spring,
they united their forces, and marched into Thessaly. Antiochus was
then in Acarnania. As soon as they entered that country, Philip laid
siege to Mallaea, in the territory of Perrhaebia, and Baebius, to
Phacium. This town of Phacium he took almost at the first attempt, and
then reduced Phaestus with the same rapidity. After this, he retired
to Atrax; and from thence having seized on Cyretiae and Eritium, and
placed garrisons in the places which he had reduced, he again joined
Philip, who was carrying on the siege of Mallaea. On the arrival of
the Roman army, the garrison, either awed by its strength, or hoping
for pardon, surrendered themselves, and the combined forces marched,
in one body, to recover the towns which had been seized by the
Athamanians. These were Aeginium, Ericinum, Gomphi, Silana, Tricca,
Meliboea, and Phaloria. Then they invested Pellinaeum, where Philip of
Megalopolis was in garrison, with five hundred foot and forty horse;
but before they made an assault, they sent messengers to warn Philip
not to expose himself to the last extremities; to which he answered,
with much confidence, that he could intrust himself either to the
Romans or the Thessalians, but never would put himself in the power of
the Macedonian. When it appeared that recourse must be had to force,
and that Limnaea might be attacked at the same time; it was agreed,
that the king should go against Limnaea, while Baebius staid to carry
on the siege of Pellinaeum.
14. It happened that, just at this time, the consul, Manius Acilius,
having crossed the sea with twenty thousand foot, two thousand horse,
and fifteen elephants, ordered some military tribunes, chosen for
the purpose, to lead the infantry to Larissa, and he himself with
the cavalry came to Limnaea, to Philip. Immediately on the consul's
arrival a surrender was made without hesitation, and the king's
garrison, together with the Athamanians, were delivered up.
From Limnaea the consul went to Pellinaeum. Here the Athamanians
surrendered first, and afterwards Philip of Megalopolis. King Philip,
happening to meet the latter as he was coming out from the town,
ordered his attendants, in derision, to salute him with the title
of king; and he himself, coming up to him, with a sneer, highly
unbecoming his own exalted station, addressed him as Brother.
Having been brought before the consul he was ordered to be kept in
confinement, and soon after was sent to Rome in chains. All the rest
of the Athamanians, together with the soldiers of king Antiochus, who
had been in garrison in the towns which surrendered about that time,
were delivered over to Philip. They amounted to three thousand men.
The consul went thence to Larissa, in order to hold a consultation on
the general plan of operations; and on his way was met by ambassadors
from Pieria and Metropolis, with the surrender of those cities.
Philip treated the captured, particularly the Athamanians, with
great kindness, in order that through them he might conciliate their
countrymen; and having hence conceived hopes of getting Athamania
into his possession, he first sent forward the prisoners to their
respective states, and then marched his army thither. These also,
making mention of the king's clemency and generosity towards them,
exerted a powerful influence on the minds of their fellow-countrymen;
and Amynander, who, by his presence, had retained many in obedience,
through the respect paid to his dignity, began now to dread that
he might be delivered up to Philip, who had been long his professed
enemy, or to the Romans, who were justly incensed against him for his
late defection. He, therefore, with his wife and children, quitted the
kingdom, and retired to Ambracia. Thus all Athamania came under the
authority and dominion of Philip. The consul delayed a few days at
Larissa, for the purpose chiefly of refreshing the horses, which, by
the voyage first, and marching afterwards, had been much harassed and
fatigued; and when he had renewed the vigour of his army by a moderate
share of rest, he marched to Cranon. On his way, Pharsalus, Scotussa,
and Pherae were surrendered to him, together with the garrisons placed
in them by Antiochus. He asked these men whether any of them chose to
remain with him; and one thousand having declared themselves willing,
he gave them to Philip; the rest he sent back, unarmed, to Demetrias.
After this he took Proerna, and the forts adjacent; and then began to
march forwards toward the Malian bay. When he drew near to the pass
on which Thaumaci is situated, all the young men of that place, having
taken arms and quitted the town, placed themselves in ambush in the
woods and roads, and thence, from the higher grounds, made attacks on
the Roman troops as they marched. The consul first sent people to
talk with them from a short distance, and deter them from such a mad
proceeding; but, finding that they persisted in their undertaking, he
sent round a tribune, with two companies of soldiers, to cut off the
retreat of the men in arms, and took possession of the defenceless
city. The shouting on the capture of the city having been heard from
behind, a great slaughter was made of those who had been in ambuscade,
and who fled homewards from all parts of the woods. From Thaumaci the
consul came, on the second day, to the river Spercheus; and, sending
out parties, laid waste the country of the Hypataeans.
15. During these transactions, Antiochus was at Chalcis; and now,
perceiving that he had gained nothing from Greece agreeable, except
winter quarters and a disgraceful marriage at Chalcis, he warmly
blamed Thoas, and the fallacious promises of the Aetolians; while he
admired Hannibal, not only as a prudent man, but as the predicter of
all those events which were then transpiring. However, that he might
not still further defeat his inconsiderate enterprise by his own
inactivity, he sent requisitions to the Aetolians, to arm all
their young men, and assemble in a body at Lamia. He himself also
immediately led thither about ten thousand foot (the number having
been filled up out of the troops which had come after him from Asia)
and five hundred horse. Their assembly on this occasion was far less
numerous than ever before, none attending but the chiefs with a few
of their vassals. These affirmed that they had, with the utmost
diligence, tried every method to bring into the field as great a
number as possible out of their respective states, but that they had
not prevailed either by argument, persuasion, or authority, against
those who declined the service. Being disappointed thus on all sides,
both by his own people, who delayed in Asia, and by his allies, who
did not fulfil those engagements by which they had prevailed on him
to comply with their invitation, the king retired beyond the pass
of Thermopylae. A range of mountains here divides Greece in the same
manner as Italy is divided by the ridge of the Apennines. Outside
the strait of Thermopylae, towards the north, lie Epirus, Perrhaebia,
Magnesia, Thessaly, the Achaean Phthiotis, and the Malian bay; on the
inside, towards the south, the greater part of Aetolia, Acarnania,
Phocis, Locris, Boeotia, and the adjacent island of Euboea, the
territory of Attica, which stretches out like a promontory into the
sea, and, behind that, the Peloponnesus. This range of mountains,
which extends from Leucas and the sea on the west, through Aetolia to
the opposite sea on the east, is so closely covered with thickets
and craggy rocks, that, not to speak of an army, even persons lightly
equipped for travelling can with difficulty find paths through which
they can pass. The hills at the eastern extremity are called Oeta, and
the highest of them Callidromus; in a valley, at the foot of which,
reaching to the Malian bay, is a passage not broader than sixty paces.
This is the only military road by which an army can be led, even if it
should not be opposed. The place is therefore called Pylae, the gate;
and by some, on account of a warm spring, rising just at the entrance
of it, Thermopylae. It is rendered famous by the memorable battle
of the Lacedaemonians against the Persians, and by their still more
glorious death.
16. With a very inferior portion of spirit, Antiochus now pitched his
camp within the enclosures of this pass, the difficulties of which
he increased by raising fortifications; and when he had completely
strengthened every part with a double rampart and trench, and,
wherever it seemed requisite, with a wall formed of the stones which
lay scattered about in abundance, being very confident that the Roman
army would never attempt to force a passage there, he sent away one
half of the four thousand Aetolians, the number that had joined him,
to garrison Heraclea, which stood opposite the entrance of the defile,
and the other half to Hypata; for he concluded, that the consul would
undoubtedly attack Heraclea, and he received accounts from many hands,
that all the districts round Hypata were being laid waste. The consul,
after ravaging the lands of Hypata first, and then those of Heraclea,
in both which places the Aetolian detachments proved useless, encamped
opposite to the king, in the very entrance of the pass, near the
warm springs; both parties of the Aetolians shutting themselves up in
Heraclea. Antiochus, who, before he saw the enemy, thought every
spot perfectly well fortified, and secured by guards, now began to
apprehend, that the Romans might discover some paths among the hills
above, through which they could make their way; for he had heard that
the Lacedaemonians formerly had been surrounded in that manner by the
Persians, and Philip, lately, by the Romans themselves. He therefore
despatched a messenger to the Aetolians at Heraclea, desiring them to
afford him so much assistance, at least in the war, as to seize and
secure the tops of the hills, so that the Romans might not be able to
pass them at any part. When this message was received, a dissension
arose among the Aetolians: some insisted that they ought to obey
the king's orders, and go; others, that they ought to lie still at
Heraclea, and wait the issue, whatever it might be; for if the king
should be defeated by the consul, their forces would be fresh, and in
readiness to carry succour to their own states in the neighbourhood;
and if he were victorious, they could pursue the Romans, while
scattered in their flight. Each party not only adhered positively to
its own plan, but even carried it into execution; two thousand lay
still at Heraclea; and two thousand, divided into three parties, took
possession of the summits called Callidromus, Rhoduntia, and Tichiuns.
17. When the consul saw that the heights were possessed by the
Aetolians, he sent against those posts two men of consular rank, who
acted as lieutenant-generals, with two thousand chosen troops;--Lucius
Valerius Flaccus against Rhoduntia and Tichiuns, and Marcus Porcius
Cato against Callidromus. Then, before he led on his forces against
the enemy, he called them to an assembly, and thus briefly addressed
them: "Soldiers, I see that the greater part of you who were present,
of all ranks, are men who served in this same province, under the
conduct and auspices of Titus Quinctius. Now, in the Macedonian war,
the pass at the river Aous was much more difficult than this before
us. For this is only a gate, a single passage, formed as it were by
nature; every other in the whole tract, between the two seas, being
impassable. In the former case, there were stronger fortifications,
and placed in more advantageous situations. The enemy's army was
both more numerous, and composed of very superior men; for they were
Macedonians, Thracians, and Illyrians,--all nations of the fiercest
spirit; your present opponents are Syrians, and Asiatic Greeks, the
most unsteady of men, and born for slavery. The commander, there, was
a king of extraordinary warlike abilities, improved by practice from
his early youth, in wars against his neighbours, the Thracians and
Illyrians, and all the adjoining nations. But this man is one who
(to say nothing of his former life) after coming over from Asia into
Europe to make war on the Roman people, has, during the whole length
of the winter, accomplished no more memorable exploit, than the taking
a wife, for passion's sake, out of a private house, and a family
obscure even among its neighbours; and now as a newly married man,
surfeited as it were with nuptial feasts, comes out to fight. His
chief reliance and strength was in the Aetolians,--a nation of
all others the most faithless and ungrateful, as you have formerly
experienced, and as Antiochus now experiences; for they neither joined
him with numbers, nor could they be kept in the camp; and, besides,
they are now in a state of dissension among themselves. Although they
requested permission to defend Hypata and Heraclea, yet they defended
neither; but one half of them fled to the tops of the mountains, while
the others shut themselves up in Heraclea. The king himself, plainly
confessing that, so far from daring to meet us in battle on the level
plain, he durst not even encamp in open ground, has abandoned all that
tract in front, which he boasted of having taken from us and Philip,
and has hid himself behind the rocks; not even appearing in the
opening of the pass, as it is said the Lacedaemonians did formerly,
but drawing back his camp completely within it. What difference is
there, as a demonstration of fear, between this and his shutting
himself up within the walls of a city to stand a siege? But neither
shall the straits protect Antiochus, nor the hills which they have
seized, the Aetolians. Sufficient care and precaution have been used
on every quarter, that you shall have nothing to contend with in the
fight but the enemy himself. On your parts, you have to consider, that
you are not fighting merely for the liberty of Greece; although, were
that all, it would be an achievement highly meritorious to deliver
that country now from Antiochus and the Aetolians, which you formerly
delivered from Philip; and that the wealth in the king's camp will not
be the whole prize of your labour; but that the great collection of
stores, daily expected from Ephesus, will likewise become your prey;
and also, that you will open a way for the Roman power into Asia and
Syria, and all the most opulent realms to the extremity of the East.
What then must be the consequence, but that, from Gades to the Red
Sea, we shall have no limit but the ocean, which encircles in its
embrace the whole orb of the earth; and that all mankind shall regard
the Roman name with a degree of veneration next to that which they
pay to the divinities? For the attainment of prizes of such magnitude,
prepare a spirit adequate to the occasion, that, to-morrow, with the
aid of the gods, we may decide the matter in the field."
18. After this discourse he dismissed the soldiers, who, before they
went to their repast, got ready their armour and weapons. At the first
dawn, the signal of battle being displayed, the consul formed his
troops with a narrow front, adapted to the nature and the straitness
of the ground. When the king saw the enemy's standards in motion,
he likewise drew out his forces. He placed in the van, before the
rampart, a part of his light infantry; and behind them, as a support,
close to the fortifications, the main strength of his Macedonians,
whom they call Sarissophori. On the left wing of these, at the foot
of the mountain, he posted a body of javelin-bearers, archers, and
slingers; that from the higher ground they might annoy the naked flank
of the enemy: and on the right of the Macedonians, to the extremity of
the works, where the deep morasses and quicksands, stretching thence
to the sea, render the place impassable, the elephants with their
usual guard; in the rear of them, the cavalry; and then, with a
moderate interval between, the rest of his forces as a second line.
The Macedonians, posted before the rampart, for some time easily
withstood the efforts which the Romans made every where to force a
passage; for they received great assistance from those who poured down
from the higher ground a shower of leaden balls from their slings,
and of arrows, and javelins, all together. But afterwards, the enemy
pressing on with greater and now irresistible force, they were obliged
to give ground, and, filing off from the rear, retire within the
fortification. Here, by extending their spears before them, they
formed as it were a second rampart, for the rampart itself was of such
a moderate height that, while it afforded to its defenders a higher
situation, they at the same time, by the length of their spears, had
the enemy within reach underneath. Many, inconsiderately approaching
the work, were run through the body; and they must either have
abandoned the attempt and retreated, or have lost very great numbers,
had not Marcus Porcius come from the summit of Callidromus, whence he
had dislodged the Aetolians, after killing the greater part of them.
These he had surprised, quite unprepared, and mostly asleep, and now
he appeared on the hill which overlooked the camp.
19. Flaccus had not met the same good fortune at Tichiuns and
Rhoduntia; having failed in his attempts to approach those fastnesses.
The Macedonians, and others, in the king's camp, as long as, on
account of the distance, they could distinguish nothing more than a
body of men in motion, thought they were the Aetolians, who, on seeing
the fight, were coming to their aid. But when, on a nearer view, they
knew the standards and arms, and thence discovered their mistake,
they were all instantly seized with such a panic, that they threw down
their arms and fled. Both the fortifications retarded the pursuers,
and the narrowness of the valley through which the troops had to pass;
and, above all, the circumstance that the elephants were on the rear
of the enemy. These the infantry could with difficulty pass, and the
cavalry could by no means do so, their horses being so frightened,
that they threw one another into greater confusion than when in
battle. The plundering of the camp also caused a considerable delay.
But, notwithstanding all this, the Romans pursued the enemy that day
as far as Scarphea, killing and taking on the way great numbers both
of men and horses, and also killing such of the elephants as they
could not capture; and then they returned to their camp. This had been
attacked, during the time of the action, by the Aetolians who were
occupying Heraclea as a garrison, but the enterprise, which certainly
showed no want of boldness, was not attended with any success. The
consul, at the third watch of the following night, sent forward his
cavalry in pursuit of the enemy; and, as soon as day appeared, set out
at the head of the legions. The king had got far before him, as he
did not halt in his precipitate flight until he came to Elatia. There
having collected the survivors of the battle and the retreat, he, with
a very small body of half-armed men, betook himself to Chalcis. The
Roman cavalry did not overtake the king himself at Elatia; but they
cut off a great part of his soldiers, who either halted through
weariness, or wandered out of the way through mistake, as they fled
without guides through unknown roads; so that, out of the whole army,
not one escaped except five hundred, who kept close about the king;
and even of the ten thousand men, whom, on the authority of Polybius,
we have mentioned as brought over by the king from Asia, a very
trifling number got off. But what shall we say if we are to believe
Valerius Antias, who records that there were in the king's army sixty
thousand men, of whom forty thousand fell, and above five thousand
were taken, with two hundred and thirty military standards? Of the
Romans were slain in the action itself a hundred and fifty; and of the
party that defended themselves against the assault of the Aetolians,
not more than fifty.
20. As the consul was leading his army through Phocis and Boeotia, the
revolted states, conscious of their defection, and dreading lest they
should be exposed as enemies to the ravages of the soldiers,
presented themselves at the gates of their cities, with the badges of
suppliants; but the army proceeded, during the whole time, just as if
they were in the country of friends, without offering violence of any
sort, until they reached the territory of Coronea. Here a statue of
king Antiochus, standing in the temple of Minerva Itonia, kindled
their indignation, and permission was given to the soldiers to
plunder the lands adjacent to the edifice. But the reflection quickly
occurred, that, as the statue had been erected by a general vote
of all the Boeotian states, it was unreasonable to resent it on the
single district of Coronea. The soldiers were therefore immediately
recalled, and the depredations stopped. The Boeotians were only
reprimanded for their ungrateful behaviour to the Romans in return for
such great obligations, so recently conferred. At the very time of
the battle, ten ships belonging to the king, with their commander
Isidorus, lay at anchor near Thronium, in the Malian bay. To them
Alexander of Acarnania, being grievously wounded, made his escape, and
gave an account of the unfortunate issue of the battle; on which
the fleet, alarmed at the immediate danger, sailed away in haste to
Cenaeus in Euboea. There Alexander died, and was buried. Three other
ships, which came from Asia to the same port, on hearing the disaster
which had befallen the army, returned to Ephesus. Isidorus sailed over
from Cenaeus to Demetrias, supposing that the king might perhaps have
directed his flight thither. About this time Aulus Atilius, commander
of the Roman fleet, intercepted a large convoy of provisions going to
the king, just as they had passed the strait at the island of Andros:
some of the ships he sunk, and took many others. Those who were in the
rear turned their course to Asia. Atilius, with the captured vessels
in his train, sailed back to Piraeus, from whence he had set out, and
distributed a vast quantity of corn among the Athenians and the other
allies in that quarter.
21. Antiochus, quitting Chalcis before the arrival of the consul,
sailed first to Tenus, and thence passed over to Ephesus. When the
consul came to Chalcis, the gates were open to receive him: for
Aristoteles, who commanded for the king, on hearing of his approach,
had withdrawn from the city. The rest of the cities of Euboea also
submitted without opposition; and peace being restored all over the
island within the space of a few days, without inflicting punishment
on any city, the army, which had acquired much higher praise for
moderation after victory, than even for the victory itself, was led
back to Thermopylae. From this place, the consul despatched Marcus
Cato to Rome, that through him the senate and people might learn what
had been achieved from unquestionable authority. He set sail from
Creusa, a sea-port belonging to the Thespians, seated at the bottom of
the Corinthian Gulf, and steered to Patrae, in Achaia. From Patrae, he
coasted along the shores of Aetolia and Acarnania, as far as Corcyra,
and thence he passed over to Hydruntum, in Italy. Proceeding hence,
with rapid expedition, by land, he arrived on the fifth day at Rome.
Having come into the city before day, he went on directly from the
gate to Marcus Junius, the praetor, who, at the first dawn, assembled
the senate. Here, Lucius Cornelius Scipio, who had been despatched by
the consul several days before Cato, and on his arrival had heard that
the latter had outstripped him, and was then in the senate, came
in, just as he was giving a recital of the transactions. The two
lieutenant-generals were then, by order of the senate, conducted to
the assembly of the people, where they gave the same account, as
in the senate, of the services performed in Aetolia. Hereupon a
supplication of three days' continuance was decreed, and that the
praetor should offer sacrifice to such of the gods as his judgment
should direct, with forty victims of the larger kinds. About the same
time, Marcus Fulvius Nobilior, who, two years before, had gone into
Farther Spain, in the office of praetor, entered the city in ovation.
He carried in the procession a hundred and thirty thousand silver
denarii,[1] and besides the coin, twelve thousand pounds' weight of
silver, and a hundred and twenty-seven pounds' weight of gold.
[Footnote 1: 4097l. 16s. 4d.]
22. The consul Manius Acilius sent on, from Thermopylae, a message to
the Aetolians in Heraclea, admonishing them, "then at least, after the
experience which they had of the emptiness of the king's professions,
to return to their senses; and, by surrendering Heraclea, to endeavour
to procure from the senate a pardon for their past madness, or error:
that other Grecian states also had, during the present war, revolted
from the Romans, to whom they were under the highest obligations; but
that, inasmuch as, after the flight of the king, in reliance upon whom
they had departed from their duty, they had not added obstinacy to
their misbehaviour, they were re-admitted into friendship. In like
manner, although the Aetolians had not followed in the steps of the
king, but had invited him, and had been principals in the war,
not auxiliaries; nevertheless, if they could bring themselves to
repentance they might still insure their safety." As their answer to
these suggestions showed nothing like a pacific disposition, and it
was evident that the business must be determined by force of arms, and
that, notwithstanding the defeat of the king, the war of Aetolia
was as far from a conclusion as ever, Acilius removed his camp
from Thermopylae to Heraclea; and on the same day rode on horseback
entirely round the walls, in order to acquaint himself with the
localities of the city. Heraclea is situated at the foot of Mount
Oeta; the town itself is in the plain, but has a citadel overlooking
it, which stands on an eminence of considerable height, terminated on
all sides by precipices. Having examined every part which he wished to
see, the consul determined to make the attack in four places at once.
On the side next the river Asopus, where is also the Gymnasium, he
gave the direction of the works and the assault to Lucius Valerius.
He assigned to Tiberius Sempronius Longus the attack of a part of
the suburbs, which was as thickly inhabited as the city itself. He
appointed Marcus Baebius to act on the side opposite the Malian bay,
a part where the access was far from easy; and Appius Claudius on the
side next to another rivulet, called Melas; opposite to the temple of
Diana. By the vigorous emulation of these the towers, rams, and other
machines used in the besieging of towns, were all completed within a
few days. The lands round Heraclea, naturally marshy, and abounding
with tall trees, furnished timber in abundance for every kind of
work; and then, as the Aetolians had fled into the city, the deserted
suburbs supplied not only beams and boards, but also bricks and
mortar, and stones of every size for all their various occasions.
23. The Romans carried on the assault upon this city by means of works
more than by their arms; the Aetolians, on the contrary, maintained
their defence by dint of arms. For when the walls were shaken by the
ram they did not, as is usual, intercept and turn aside the strokes
by the help of nooses formed on ropes, but sallied out in large armed
bodies, with parties carrying fire, which they threw into the works.
They had likewise arched passages through the parapet, for the purpose
of making sallies; and when they built up the wall anew, in the room
of any part that was demolished, they left a great number of these,
that they might rush out upon the enemy from many places at once. In
several days at the beginning, while their strength was unimpaired,
they carried on this practice in numerous parties, and with much
spirit, but afterwards in smaller numbers and more languidly. For
though they had a multiplicity of difficulties to struggle with, what
above all things utterly consumed their vigour was the want of sleep,
as the Romans, having plenty of men, relieved each other regularly in
their posts; while among the Aetolians, their numbers being small, the
same persons had their strength consumed by unremitting labour night
and day. During a space of twenty-four days, without any time being
unemployed in the conflict, their toil was kept up against the attacks
carried on by the enemy in four different quarters at once. When the
consul, from computing the time, and from the reports of deserters,
judged that the Aetolians were thoroughly fatigued, he adopted the
following plan:--At midnight he gave the signal of retreat, and
drawing off all his men at once from the assault, kept them quiet in
the camp until the third hour of the next day. The attacks were then
renewed, and continued until midnight, when they ceased, until the
third hour of the day following. The Aetolians imagined that the
Romans suspended the attack from the same cause by which they felt
themselves distressed,--excessive fatigue. As soon, therefore, as
the signal of retreat was given to the Romans, as if themselves were
thereby recalled from duty, every one gladly retired from his post,
nor did they again appear in arms on the walls before the third hour
of the day.
24. The consul having put a stop to the assault at midnight, renewed
it on three of the sides, at the fourth watch, with the utmost vigour;
ordering Tiberius Sempronius, on the fourth, to keep his party alert,
and ready to obey his signal; for he concluded assuredly, that in the
tumult by night the enemy would all run to those quarters whence the
shouting was heard. Of the Aetolians, such as had gone to rest, with
difficulty roused their bodies from sleep, exhausted as they were with
fatigue and watching; and such as were still awake, ran in the dark
to the places where they heard the noise of fighting. Meanwhile the
Romans endeavoured some to climb over the ruins of the walls, through
the breaches; others, to scale the walls with ladders; while the
Aetolians hastened in all directions to defend the parts attacked.
In one quarter, where the buildings stood outside the city, there
was neither attack nor defence. A party stood ready, waiting for the
signal to make an attack, but there was none within to oppose them.
The day now began to dawn, and the consul gave the signal; on which
the party, without any opposition, made their way into the town; some
through parts that had been battered, others scaling the walls where
they were entire. As soon as the Aetolians heard them raise the shout,
which denoted the place being taken, they every where forsook their
posts, and fled into the citadel. The victors sacked the city;
the consul having given permission, not for the sake of gratifying
resentment or animosity, but that the soldiers, after having been
restrained from plunder in so many cities captured from the enemy,
might at last, in some one place, enjoy the fruits of victory. About
mid-day he recalled the troops, and dividing them into two parts,
ordered one to be led round by the foot of the mountain to a rock,
which was of equal height with the citadel, and seemed as if it had
been broken off from it, leaving a hollow between; but the summits of
these eminences are so nearly contiguous that weapons may be thrown
into the citadel from the top of the other. With the other half of the
troops the consul intended to march, up from the city to the citadel,
and waited to receive a signal from those who were to mount the rock
on the farther side. The Aetolians in the citadel could not support
the shout of the party which had seized the rock, and the consequent
attack of the Romans from the city; for their courage was now broken,
and the place was by no means in a condition to hold out a siege
of any continuance; the women, children, and great numbers of other
helpless people, being crowded together in a fort, which was scarce
capable of containing, much less of affording protection to such a
multitude. On the first assault, therefore, they laid down their
arms and submitted. Among the rest was delivered up Damocritus, chief
magistrate of the Aetolians, who at the beginning of the war, when
Titus Quinctius asked for a copy of the decree passed by the Aetolians
for inviting Antiochus, told him, that, "in Italy, when the Aetolians
were encamped there, it should be delivered to him." On account of
this presumptuous insolence of his, his surrender was a matter of
greater satisfaction to the victors.
25. At the same time, while the Romans were employed in the reduction
of Heraclea, Philip, by concert, besieged Lamia. He had an interview
with the consul, as he was returning from Boeotia, at Thermopylae,
whither he came to congratulate him and the Roman people on their
successes, and to apologize for his not having taken an active part in
the war, being prevented by sickness; and then they went from thence,
by different routes, to lay siege to the two cities at once. The
distance between these places is about seven miles; and as Lamia
stands on high ground, and has an open prospect, particularly towards
the region of Mount Oeta, the distance seems very short, and every
thing that passes can be seen from thence. The Romans and Macedonians,
with all the emulation of competitors for a prize, employed the utmost
exertions, both night and day, either in the works or in fighting; but
the Macedonians encountered greater difficulty on this account, that
the Romans made their approaches by mounds, covered galleries, and
other works, which were all above ground; whereas the Macedonians
worked under ground by mines, and, in that stony soil, often met a
flinty rock, which iron could not penetrate. The king, seeing that his
undertaking succeeded but ill, endeavoured, by conversations with the
principal inhabitants, to prevail on the townspeople to surrender the
place; for he was fully persuaded, that if Heraclea should be taken
first, the Lamians would then choose to surrender to the Romans rather
than to him; and that the consul would take to himself the merit of
relieving them from a siege. Nor was he mistaken in that opinion; for
no sooner was Heraclea reduced, than a message came to him to desist
from the assault; because "it was more reasonable that the Roman
soldiers, who had fought the Aetolians in the field, should reap the
fruits of the victory." Thus was Lamia relieved, and the misfortune of
a neighbouring city proved the means of its escaping a like disaster.
26. A few days before the capture of Heraclea, the Aetolians, having
assembled a council at Hypata, sent ambassadors to Antiochus, among
whom was Thoas, the same who had been sent on the former occasion.
Their instructions were in the first place, to request the king again
to assemble his land and marine forces and cross over into Greece;
and, in the next place, if any circumstance should detain him, then to
send them supplies of men and money. They were to remind him, that "it
concerned his dignity and his honour, not to abandon his allies; and
it likewise concerned the safety of his kingdom, not to leave the
Romans at full leisure, after ruining the nation of the Aetolians,
to carry their whole force into Asia." What they said was true, and
therefore made the deeper impression on the king; in consequence
of which, he immediately supplied the ambassadors with the money
requisite for the exigencies of the war, and assured them, that
he would send them succours both of troops and ships. One of the
ambassadors, namely, Thoas, he kept with him, by no means against his
will, as he hoped that, being present, he might induce the performance
of the king's promises.
27. But the loss of Heraclea entirely broke the spirits of the
Aetolians; insomuch that, within a few days after they had sent
ambassadors into Asia for the purpose of renewing the war, and
inviting the king, they threw aside all warlike designs, and
despatched deputies to the consul to sue for peace. When these began
to speak, the consul, interrupting them, said, that he had other
business to attend to at present; and, ordering them to return to
Hypata, granted them a truce for ten days, sending with them Lucius
Valerius Flaccus, to whom, he desired, whatever business they intended
to have proposed to himself might be communicated, with any other that
they thought proper. On their arrival at Hypata, the chiefs of the
Aetolians held a consultation, at which Flaccus was present, on
the method to be used in treating with the consul. They showed an
inclination to begin with addressing themselves wholly to the ancient
treaties, and the services which they had performed to the Roman
people; on which Flaccus desired them to "speak no more of treaties,
which they themselves had violated and annulled." He told them, that
"they might expect more advantage from an acknowledgment of their
fault, and entreaty. For their hopes of safety rested not on the
merits of their cause, but on the clemency of the Roman people. That,
if they acted in a suppliant manner, he would himself be a solicitor
in their favour, both with the consul and with the senate at Rome;
for thither also they must send ambassadors." This appeared to all the
only way to safety: "to submit themselves entirely to the faith of the
Romans. For, in that case, the latter would be ashamed to do injury to
suppliants; while themselves would, nevertheless, retain the power
of consulting their own interest, should fortune offer any thing more
advantageous."
28. When they came into the consul's presence, Phaeneas, who was at
the head of the embassy, made a long speech, designed to mitigate the
wrath of the conqueror by various considerations; and he concluded
with saying, that "the Aetolians surrendered themselves, and all
belonging to them, to the faith of the Roman people." The consul, on
hearing this, said, "Aetolians, consider well whether you will yield
on these terms:" and then Phaeneas produced the decree, in which the
conditions were expressly mentioned. "Since then," said the consul,
"you submit in this manner, I demand that, without delay, you deliver
up to me Dicaearchus your countryman, Menetas the Epirot," who had,
with an armed force, entered Naupactum, and compelled the inhabitants
to defection; "and also Amynander, with the Athamanian chiefs, by
whose advice you revolted from us." Phaeneas, almost interrupting the
Roman while he was speaking, answered,--"We surrendered ourselves, not
into slavery, but to your faith; and I take it for granted, that, from
not being sufficiently acquainted with us, you fall into the mistake
of commanding what is inconsistent with the practice of the Greeks."
"Nor in truth," replied the consul, "do I much concern myself, at
present, what the Aetolians may think conformable to the practice
of the Greeks; while I, conformably to the practice of the Romans,
exercise authority over men, who just now surrendered themselves by
a decree of their own, and were, before that, conquered by my arms.
Wherefore, unless my commands are quickly complied with, I order
that you be put in chains." At the same time he ordered chains to
be brought forth, and the lictors to surround the ambassadors. This
effectually subdued the arrogance of Phaeneas and the other Aetolians;
and, at length, they became sensible of their situation. Phaeneas then
said, that "as to himself and his countrymen there present, they knew
that his commands must be obeyed: but it was necessary that a council
of the Aetolians should meet, to pass decrees accordingly; and that,
for that purpose, he requested a suspension of arms for ten days."
At the intercession of Flaccus on behalf of the Aetolians, this was
granted, and they returned to Hypata. When Phaeneas related here,
in the select council, called Apocleti, the orders which they had
received, and the treatment which they had narrowly escaped; although
the chiefs bemoaned their condition, nevertheless they were of
opinion, that the conqueror must be obeyed, and that the Aetolians
should be summoned, from all their towns, to a general assembly.
29. But when the assembled multitude heard the same account, their
minds were so highly exasperated, both by the harshness of the order
and the indignity offered, that, even if they had been in a pacific
temper before, the violent impulse of anger which they then felt would
have been sufficient to rouse them to war. Their rage was increased
also by the difficulty of executing what was enjoined on them; for,
"how was it possible for them, for instance, to deliver up king
Amynander?" It happened, also, that a favourable prospect seemed to
open to them; for Nicander, returning from king Antiochus at that
juncture, filled the minds of the people with unfounded assurances,
that immense preparations for war were going on both by land and sea.
This man, after finishing the business of his embassy, set out on his
return to Aetolia; and on the twelfth day after he embarked, reached
Phalara, on the Malian bay. Having conveyed thence to Lamia the money
that he had brought, he, with a few light troops, directed, in the
evening, his course toward Hypata, by known paths, through the country
which lay between the Roman and Macedonian camps. Here he fell in with
an advanced guard of the Macedonians, and was conducted to the king,
whose dinner guests had not yet separated. Philip, being told of his
coming, received him as a guest, not an enemy; desired him to take a
seat, and join the entertainment; and afterwards, when he dismissed
the rest, detained him alone, and told him, that he had nothing to
fear for himself. He censured severely the conduct of the Aetolians,
in bringing, first the Romans, and afterwards Antiochus, into Greece;
designs which originated in a want of judgment, and always recoiled
on their own heads. But "he would forget," he said, "all past
transactions, which it was easier to blame than to amend; nor would he
act in such a manner as to appear to insult their misfortunes. On the
other hand, it would become the Aetolians to lay aside, at length,
their animosity towards him; and it would become Nicander himself,
in his private capacity, to remember that day, on which he had been
preserved by him." Having then appointed persons to escort him to a
place of safety, Nicander arrived at Hypata, while his countrymen were
consulting about the peace with Rome.
30. Manius Acilius having sold, or given to the soldiers, the booty
found near Heraclea, and having learned that the counsels adopted
at Hypata were not of a pacific nature, but that the Aetolians had
hastily assembled at Naupactum, with intention to make a stand there
against the whole brunt of the war, sent forward Appius Claudius, with
four thousand men, to seize the heights of the mountains, where the
passes were difficult; and he himself, ascending Mount Oeta, offered
sacrifices to Hercules, in the spot called Pyra,[1] because there the
mortal part of the demi-god was burned. He then set out with the main
body of the army, and marched all the rest of the way with tolerable
ease and expedition. But when they came to Corax, a very high mountain
between Callipolis and Naupactum, great numbers of the beasts of
burden, together with their loads, tumbled down the precipices, and
many of the men were hurt. This clearly showed with how negligent an
enemy they had to do, who had not secured so difficult a pass by a
guard, and so blocked up the passage; for, even as the case was, the
army suffered considerably. Hence he marched down to Naupactum; and
having erected a fort against the citadel, he invested the other parts
of the city, dividing his forces according to the situation of the
walls. Nor was the siege likely to prove less difficult and laborious
than that of Heraclea.
[Footnote 1: The funeral pile.]
31. At the same time, the Achaeans laid siege to Messene, in
Peloponnesus, because it refused to become a member of their body: for
the two states of Messene and Elis were unconnected with the Achaean
confederacy, and sympathized with the Aetolians. However, the Eleans,
after Antiochus had been driven out of Greece, answered the deputies,
sent by the Achaeans, with more moderation: that "when the king's
troops were removed, they would consider what part they should take."
But the Messenians had dismissed the deputies without an answer, and
prepared for war. Alarmed, afterwards, at their own situation,
when they saw the enemy ravaging their country without control,
and pitching their camp close to their city, they sent deputies to
Chalcis, to Titus Quinctius, the author of their liberty, to acquaint
him, that "the Messenians were willing, both to open their gates,
and surrender their city, to the Romans, but not to the Achaeans."
On hearing this Quinctius immediately set out, and despatched from
Megalopolis a messenger to Diophanes, praetor of the Achaeans,
requiring him to draw off his army instantly from Messene, and to come
to him. Diophanes obeyed the order; raising the siege, he hastened
forward himself before the army, and met Quinctius near Andania, a
small town between Megalopolis and Messene. When he began to explain
the reasons for commencing the siege, Quinctius, gently reproving him
for undertaking a business of that importance without consulting him,
ordered him to disband his forces, and not to disturb a peace
which had been established advantageously to all. He commanded the
Messenians to recall the exiles, and to unite themselves to the
confederacy of the Achaeans; and if there were any particulars to
which they chose to object, or any precautions which they judged
requisite for the future, they might apply to him at Corinth. He then
gave directions to Diophanes, to convene immediately a general council
of the Achaeans, that he might settle some business with them.
32. In this assembly he complained of their having acquired possession
of the island of Zacynthus by unfair means, and demanded that it
should be restored to the Romans. Zacynthus had formerly belonged to
Philip, king of Macedonia, and he had made it over to Amynander, on
condition of his giving him leave to march an army through Athamania,
into the upper part of Aetolia, on that expedition wherein he
compelled the Aetolians with dejected spirits to sue for peace.
Amynander gave the government of the island to Philip, the
Megalopolitan; and afterwards, during the war in which he united
himself with Antiochus against the Romans, having called out Philip to
the duties of the campaign, he sent, as his successor, Hierocles, of
Agrigentum. This man, after the flight of Antiochus from Thermopylae,
and the expulsion of Amynander from Athamania by Philip, sent
emissaries of his own accord to Diophanes, praetor of the Achaeans;
and having bargained for a sum of money, delivered over the island
to the Achaeans. This acquisition, made during the war, the Romans
claimed as their own; for they said, that "it was not for Diophanes
and the Achaeans that the consul Manius Acilius, and the Roman
legions, fought at Thermopylae." Diophanes, in answer, sometimes
apologized for himself and his nation; sometimes insisted on the
justice of the proceeding. But several of the Achaeans testified that
they had, from the beginning, disapproved of that business, and they
now blamed the obstinacy of the praetor. Pursuant to their advice,
a decree was made, that the affair should be left entirely to the
disposal of Titus Quinctius. As Quinctius was severe to such as made
opposition, so, when complied with, he was easily appeased. Laying
aside, therefore, every thing stern in his voice and looks, he
said,--"If, Achaeans, I thought the possession of that island
advantageous to you, I would be the first to advise the senate and
people of Rome to permit you to hold it. But as I see that a tortoise,
when collected within its natural covering, is safe against blows
of any kind, and whenever it thrusts out any of its limbs, it feels
whatever it has thus uncovered, weak and liable to every injury: so
you, in like manner, Achaeans, being enclosed on all sides by the sea,
can easily unite among yourselves, and maintain by that union all
that is comprehended within the limits of Peloponnesus; but whenever,
through ambition of enlarging your possessions, you overstep these
limits, then all that you hold beyond them is naked, and exposed
to every attack." The whole assembly declaring their assent, and
Diophanes not daring to give further opposition, Zacynthus was ceded
to the Romans.
33. When the consul was on his march to Naupactum, king Philip
proposed, that, if it was agreeable to him, he would, in the mean
time, retake those cities that had revolted from their alliance
with Rome. Having obtained permission so to do, he, about this time,
marched his army to Demetrias, being well aware that great distraction
prevailed there; for the garrison, being destitute of all hope of
succour since they were abandoned by Antiochus, and having no reliance
on the Aetolians, daily and nightly expected the arrival of Philip
or the Romans, whom they had most reason to dread, as these were most
justly incensed against them. There was, in the place, an irregular
multitude of the king's soldiers, a few of whom had been at first left
there as a garrison, but the greater part had fled thither after the
defeat of his army, most of them without arms, and without either
strength or courage sufficient to sustain a siege. Wherefore on
Philip's sending on messengers, to offer them hopes of pardon being
obtainable, they answered, that their gates were open for the king.
On his first entrance, several of the chiefs left the city; Eurylochus
killed himself. The soldiers of Antiochus, in conformity to a
stipulation, were escorted, through Macedonia and Thrace, by a body
of Macedonians, and conducted to Lysimachia. There were, also, a few
ships at Demetrias, under the command of Isidorus, which, together
with their commander, were dismissed. Philip then reduced Dolopia,
Aperantia, and several cities of Perrhaebia.
34. While Philip was thus employed, Titus Quinctius, after receiving
from the Achaean council the cession of Zacynthus, crossed over to
Naupactum, which had stood a siege of near two months, but was now
reduced to a desperate condition; and it was supposed, that if it
should be taken by storm, the whole nation of the Aetolians would be
sunk thereby in utter destruction. But, although he was deservedly
incensed against the Aetolians, from the recollection that they alone
had attempted to depreciate his merits, when he was giving liberty to
Greece; and had been in no degree influenced by his advice, when
he endeavoured, by forewarning them of the events, which had since
occurred, to deter them from their mad undertaking: nevertheless,
thinking it particularly his business to take care that none of
the states of Greece which had been liberated by himself should be
entirely subverted, he first walked about near the walls, that he
might be easily known by the Aetolians. He was quickly distinguished
by the first advanced guards, and the news spread from rank to rank
that Quinctius was there. On this, the people from all sides ran to
the walls, and eagerly stretching out their hands, all in one joint
cry besought Quinctius by name, to assist and save them. Although he
was much affected by these entreaties, yet for that time he made
signs with his hands, that they were to expect no assistance from
him. However, when he met the consul he accosted him thus:--"Manius
Acilius, are you unapprized of what is passing; or do you know it,
and think it immaterial to the interest of the commonwealth?" This
inflamed the consul with curiosity, and he replied, "But explain what
is your meaning." Quinctius then said,--"Do you not see that, since
the defeat of Antiochus, you have been wasting time in besieging two
cities, though the year of your command is near expiring; but that
Philip, who never faced the enemy, or even saw their standards, has
annexed to his dominions such a number, not only of cities, but of
nations,--Athamania, Perrhaebia, Aperantia, Dolopia? But, surely, we
are not so deeply interested in diminishing the strength and resources
of the Aetolians, as in hindering those of Philip from being augmented
beyond measure; and in you, and your soldiers, not having yet gained,
to reward your victory, as many towns as Philip has gained Grecian
states."
35. The consul assented to these remarks, but a feeling of shame
suggested itself to him--if he should abandon the siege with his
purpose unaccomplished. At length the matter was left entirely to the
management of Quinctius. He went again to that part of the wall
whence the Aetolians had called to him a little before; and on their
entreating him now, with still greater earnestness, to take compassion
on the nation of the Aetolians, he desired that some of them might
come out to him. Accordingly, Phaeneas himself, with some others of
the principal men, instantly came and threw themselves at his feet. He
then said,--"Your condition causes me to restrain my resentment and my
reproofs. The events which I foretold have come to pass, and you have
not even this reflection left you, that they have fallen upon you
undeservedly. Nevertheless, since fate has, in some manner, destined
me to the office of cherishing the interests of Greece, I will not
cease to show kindness even to the unthankful. Send intercessors to
the consul, and let them petition him for a suspension of hostilities,
for so long a time as will allow you to send ambassadors to Rome, to
surrender yourselves to the will of the senate. I will intercede, and
plead in your favour with the consul." They did as Quinctius directed;
nor did the consul reject their application. He granted them a truce
for a certain time, until the embassy might bring a reply from Rome;
and then, raising the siege, he sent his army into Phocis. The consul,
with Titus Quinctius, crossed over thence to Aegium, to confer with
the council of the Achaeans about the Eleans, and also the restoration
of the Lacedaemonian exiles. But neither was carried into execution,
because the Achaeans chose to reserve to themselves the merit of
effecting the latter; and the Eleans preferred being united to the
Achaean confederacy by a voluntary act of their own, rather than
through the mediation of the Romans. Ambassadors came hither to the
consul from the Epirots, who, it was well known, had not with honest
fidelity maintained the alliance. Although they had not furnished
Antiochus with any soldiers, yet they were charged with having
assisted him with money; and they themselves did not disavow having
sent ambassadors to him. They requested that they might be permitted
to continue on the former footing of friendship. To which the consul
answered, that "he did not yet know whether he was to consider them as
friends or foes. The senate must be the judge of that matter. He would
therefore take no step in the business, but leave it to be determined
at Rome; and for that purpose he granted them a truce of ninety days."
When the Epirots, who were sent to Rome, addressed the senate, they
rather enumerated hostile acts which they had not committed, than
cleared themselves of those laid to their charge; and they received
such an answer that they seemed rather to have obtained pardon than
proved their innocence. About the same time ambassadors from
king Philip were introduced to the senate, and presented his
congratulations on their late successes. They asked leave to sacrifice
in the Capitol, and to deposit an offering of gold in the temple of
Jupiter supremely good and great. This was granted by the senate, and
they presented a golden crown of a hundred pounds' weight. The
senate not only answered the ambassadors with kindness, but gave
them Demetrius, Philip's son, who was at Rome as an hostage, to be
conducted home to his father.--Such was the conclusion of the war
waged in Greece by the consul Manius Acilius against Antiochus.
36. The other consul, Publius Cornelius Scipio, who had obtained by
lot the province of Gaul, before he set out to the war which was to
be waged against the Boians, demanded of the senate, by a decree, to
order him money for the exhibition of games, which, when acting as
propraetor in Spain, he had vowed at a critical time of a battle. His
demand was deemed unprecedented and unreasonable, and they therefore
voted, that "whatever games he had vowed, on his own single judgment,
without consulting the senate, he should celebrate out of the
spoils, if he had reserved any for the purpose; otherwise, at his own
expense." Accordingly, Publius Cornelius exhibited those games through
the space of ten days. About this time the temple of the great Idaean
Mother was dedicated; which deity, on her being brought from Asia,
in the consulate of Publius Cornelius Scipio, afterwards surnamed
Africanus, and Publius Lucinius, the above-mentioned Publius Cornelius
had conducted from the sea-side to the Palatine. In pursuance of a
decree of the senate, Marcus Livius and Caius Claudius, censors,
in the consulate of Marcus Cornelius and Publius Sempronius, had
contracted for the erection of the goddess's temple; and thirteen
years after it had been so contracted for, it was dedicated by
Marcus Junius Brutus, and games were celebrated on occasion of its
dedication: in which, according to the account of Valerius Antias,
dramatic entertainments were, for the first time, introduced into the
Megalesian games. Likewise, Caius Licinius Lucullus, being appointed
duumvir, dedicated the temple of Youth in the great circus. This
temple had been vowed sixteen years before by Marcus Livius, consul,
on the day wherein he cut off Hasdrubal and his army; and the same
person, when censor, in the consulate of Marcus Cornelius and Publius
Sempronius, had contracted for the building of it. Games were also
exhibited on occasion of this consecration, and every thing was
performed with the greater degree of religious zeal, on account of the
impending war with Antiochus.
37. At the beginning of the year in which those transactions passed,
after Manius Acilius had gone to open the campaign, and while the
other consul, Publius Cornelius, yet remained in Rome, two tame oxen,
it is said, climbed up by ladders on the tiles of a house in the
Carina. The aruspices ordered them to be burned alive, and their ashes
to be thrown into the Tiber. It was reported, that several showers of
stones had fallen at Tarracina and Amiternum; that, at Minturnae,
the temple of Jupiter, and the shops round the forum, were struck by
lightning; that, at Vulturnum, in the mouth of the river, two ships
were struck by lightning, and burnt to ashes. On occasion of these
prodigies, the decemvirs, being ordered by a decree of the senate
to consult the Sibylline books, declared, that "a fast ought to be
instituted in honour of Ceres, and the same observed every fifth year;
that the nine days' worship ought to be solemnized, and a supplication
for one day; and that they should observe the supplication, with
garlands on their heads; also that the consul Publius Cornelius should
sacrifice to such deities, and with such victims, as the decemvirs
should direct." When he had used every means to avert the wrath of the
gods, by duly fulfilling vows and expiating prodigies, the consul
went to his province; and, ordering the proconsul Cneius Domitius to
disband his army, and go home to Rome, he marched his own legions into
the territory of the Boians.
38. Nearly at the same time, the Ligurians, having collected an army
under the sanction of their devoting law, made an unexpected attack,
in the night, on the camp of the proconsul Quintus Minucius. Minucius
kept his troops, until daylight, drawn up within the rampart,
and watchful to prevent the enemy from scaling any part of the
fortifications At the first light, he made a sally by two gates at
once: but the Ligurians did not, as he had expected, give way to his
first onset; on the contrary, they maintained a dubious contest for
more than two hours. At last, as other and still other troops came out
from the camp, and fresh men took the place of those who were wearied
in the fight, the Ligurians, who besides other hardships, felt a great
loss of strength from the want of sleep, betook themselves to flight.
Above four thousand of the enemy were killed; the Romans and allies
lost not quite three hundred. About two months after this, the consul
Publius Cornelius fought a pitched battle with the army of the Boians
with extraordinary success. Valerius Antias affirms, that twenty-eight
thousand of the enemy were slain, and three thousand four hundred
taken, with a hundred and twenty-four military standards, one thousand
two hundred and thirty horses, and two hundred and forty-seven
waggons; and that of the conquerors there fell one thousand four
hundred and eighty-four. Though we may not entirely credit this writer
with respect to the numbers, as in such exaggeration no writer is more
extravagant, yet it is certain that the victory on this occasion was
very complete; because the enemy's camp was taken, while, immediately
after the battle, the Boians surrendered themselves; and because a
supplication was decreed by the senate on account of it, and victims
of the greater kinds were sacrificed. About the same time Marcus
Fulvius Nobilior entered the city in ovation, returning from Farther
Spain. He carried with him twelve thousand pounds of silver, one
hundred and thirty thousand silver denarii, and one hundred and
twenty-seven pounds of gold.[1]
[Footnote 1: This statement has been made before at the close of
chapter 21, and is probably repeated here through inadvertence.]
39. The consul, Publius Cornelius, having received hostages from the
Boians, punished them so far as to appropriate almost one-half of
their lands for the use of the Roman people, and into which they might
afterwards, if they chose, send colonies. Then returning home in full
confidence of a triumph, he dismissed his troops, and ordered them
to attend on the day of his triumph at Rome. The next day after his
arrival, he held a meeting of the senate, in the temple of Bellona,
when he detailed to them the services he had performed, and demanded
to ride through the city in triumph. Publius Sempronius Blaesus,
tribune of the people, advised, that "the honour of a triumph should
not be refused to Scipio, but postponed. Wars of the Ligurians," he
said, "were always united with wars of the Gauls; for these nations,
lying so near, sent mutual assistance to each other. If Publius
Scipio, after subduing the Boians in battle, had either gone himself,
with his victorious army, into the country of the Ligurians, or sent
a part of his forces to Quintus Minucius, who was detained there,
now the third year, by a war which was still undecided, that with the
Ligurians might have been brought to an end: instead of which, he had,
in order to procure a full attendance on his triumph, brought home the
troops, who might have performed most material services to the state;
and might do so still, if the senate thought proper, by deferring this
token of victory, to redeem that which had been omitted through eager
haste for a triumph. If they would order the consul to return with his
legions into his province, and to give his assistance towards subduing
the Ligurians, (for, unless these were reduced under the dominion and
jurisdiction of the Roman people, neither would the Boians ever
remain quiet,) there must be either peace or war with both. When
the Ligurians should be subdued, Publius Cornelius, in quality of
proconsul, might triumph, a few months later, after the precedent of
many, who did not attain that honour until the expiration of their
office."
40. To this the consul answered, that "neither had the province of
Liguria fallen to his lot, nor had he waged war with the Ligurians,
nor did he demand a triumph over them. He confidently hoped, that in
a short time Quintus Minucius, after completing their reduction, would
demand and obtain a well-deserved triumph. For his part, he demanded a
triumph over the Boian Gauls, whom he had conquered in battle and had
driven out of their camp; of whose whole nation he had received an
absolute submission within two days after the fight; and from whom
he had brought home hostages to secure peace in future. But there
was another circumstance, of much greater magnitude: he had slain in
battle so great a number of Gauls, that no commander, before him, ever
met in the field so many thousands, at least of the Boians. Out of
fifty thousand men, more than one-half were killed, and many thousands
made prisoners; so that the Boians had now remaining only old men
and boys. Could it, then, be a matter of surprise to any one, that a
victorious army, which had not left one enemy in the province, should
come to Rome to attend the triumph of their consul? And if the senate
should choose to employ the services of these troops in another
province also, which of the two kinds of treatment could it be
supposed would make them enter on a new course of danger and another
laborious enterprise with the greater alacrity; the paying them the
reward of their former toils and dangers without defalcation; or, the
sending them away, with the prospect, instead of the reality, when
they had once been disappointed in their first expectation? As to
what concerned himself personally, he had acquired a stock of glory
sufficient for his whole life, on that day, when the senate adjudged
him to be the best man (in the state), and commissioned him to give a
reception to the Idaean Mother. With this inscription (though neither
consulship nor triumph were added) the statue of Publius Scipio Nasica
would be sufficiently honoured and dignified." The unanimous senate
not only gave their vote for the triumph, but by their influence
prevailed on the tribune to desist from his protest. Publius
Cornelius, the consul, triumphed over the Boians. In this procession
he carried, on Gallic waggons, arms, standards, and spoils of all
sorts; the brazen utensils of the Gauls; and, together with the
prisoners of distinction, he led a train of captured horses. He
deposited in the treasury a thousand four hundred and seventy golden
chains; and besides these, two hundred and forty-five pounds' weight
of gold; two thousand three hundred and forty pounds' weight of
silver, some unwrought, and some formed in vessels of the Gallic
fashion, not without beauty; and two hundred and thirty-four thousand
denarii.[1] To the soldiers who followed his chariot, he distributed
three hundred and twenty-five _asses_[2] each, double to a centurion,
triple to a horseman. Next day, he summoned an assembly, and after
expatiating on his own services, and the ill-treatment shown him by
the tribune who wanted to entangle him in a way which did not belong
to him, in order to defraud him of the fruits of his success, he
absolved the soldiers of their oath and discharged them.
[Footnote 1: 7,523l. 16s. 2d.]
[Footnote 2: 1l. 4s. 2-1/2d.]
41. While this passed in Italy, Antiochus was at Ephesus divested of
all concern respecting the war with Rome, as supposing that the Romans
had no intention of coming into Asia; which state of security was
occasioned by the erroneous opinions or the flattering representations
of the greater part of his friends. Hannibal alone, whose judgment
was, at that time, the most highly respected by the king, declared,
that "he rather wondered the Romans were not already in Asia than
entertained a doubt of their coming. The passage was easier from
Greece to Asia, than from Italy to Greece, and Antiochus constituted a
much more important object than the Aetolians. For the Roman arms were
not less powerful on sea than on land. Their fleet had long been
at Malea, and he had heard that a reinforcement of ships and a new
commander had lately come from Italy, with intent to enter on action.
He therefore advised Antiochus not to form to himself vain hopes of
peace. He must necessarily in a short time maintain a contest with the
Romans both by sea and land, in Asia, and for Asia itself; and must
either wrest the power from those who grasped at the empire of the
world, or lose his own dominions." He seemed to be the only person who
could foresee, and honestly foretell, what was to happen. The king,
therefore, with the ships which were equipped and in readiness, sailed
to the Chersonesus, in order to strengthen the places there with
garrisons, lest the Romans should happen to come by land. He left
orders with Polyxenidas to fit out the rest of the fleet, and put
to sea; and sent out advice-boats among the islands to procure
intelligence of every thing that was passing.
42. When Caius Livius, commander of the Roman fleet, sailed with fifty
decked ships from Rome, he went to Neapolis, where he had appointed
the rendezvous of the undecked ships, which were due by treaty from
the allies on that coast; and thence he proceeded to Sicily, where,
as he sailed through the strait beyond Messana, he was joined by six
Carthaginian ships, sent to his assistance; and then, having collected
the vessels due from the Rhegians, Locrians, and other allies, who
were bound by the same conditions, he purified the fleet at Lacinium,
and put forth into the open sea. On his arrival at Corcyra, which was
the first Grecian country where he touched, inquiring about the state
of the war, (for all matters in Greece were not yet entirely settled,)
and about the Roman fleet, he was told, that the consul and the king
were posted at the pass of Thermopylae, and that the fleet lay at
Piraeus: on which, judging expedition necessary on every account, he
sailed directly forward to Peloponnesus. Having on his passage ravaged
Samos and Zacynthus, because they favoured the party of the Aetolians,
he bent his course to Malea; and, meeting very favourable weather,
arrived in a few days at Piraeus, where he joined the old fleet. At
Scyllaeum he was met by king Eumenes, with three ships, who had
long hesitated at Aegina whether he should go home to defend his own
kingdom, on hearing that Antiochus was preparing both marine and land
forces at Ephesus; or whether he should unite himself inseparably to
the Romans, on whose destiny his own depended. Aulus Atilius, having
delivered to his successor twenty-five decked ships, sailed from
Piraeus for Rome. Livius, with eighty-one beaked ships, besides many
others of inferior rates, some of which were open and furnished with
beaks, others without beaks, fit for advice-boats, crossed over to
Delos.
43. At this time, the consul Acilius was engaged in the siege of
Naupactum. Livius was detained several days at Delos by contrary
winds, for that tract among the Cyclades, which are separated in some
places by larger straits, in others by smaller, is extremely subject
to storms. Polyxenidas, receiving intelligence from his scout-ships,
which were stationed in various places, that the Roman fleet lay at
Delos, sent off an express to the king, who, quitting the business
in which he was employed in Hellespontus, and taking with him all
the ships of war, returned to Ephesus with all possible speed, and
instantly called a council to determine whether he should risk an
engagement at sea. Polyxenidas affirmed, that no delay should be
incurred; "it was particularly requisite so to do, before the fleet of
Eumenes and the Rhodian ships should join the Romans; in which case,
even, they would scarcely be inferior in number, and in every other
particular would have a great superiority, by reason of the agility of
their vessels, and a variety of auxiliary circumstances. For the Roman
ships, being unskilfully constructed, were slow in their motions; and,
besides that, as they were coming to an enemy's coast, they would be
heavily laden with provisions; whereas their own, leaving none but
friends in all the countries round, would have nothing on board
but men and arms. Moreover that their knowledge of the sea, of the
adjacent lands, and of the winds, would be greatly in their favour;
of all which the Romans being ignorant, would find themselves much
distressed." In advising this plan he influenced all, especially
as the same person who gave the advice was also to carry it into
execution. Two days only were passed in making preparations; and on
the third, setting sail with a hundred ships, of which seventy had
decks, and the rest were open, but all of the smaller rates, they
steered their course to Phocaea. The king, as he did not intend to
be present in the naval combat, on hearing that the Roman fleet was
approaching, withdrew to Magnesia, near Sipylus, to collect his land
forces, while his ships proceeded to Cyssus, a port of Erythraea,
where it was supposed they might with more convenience wait for the
enemy. The Romans, as soon as the north wind, which had held for
several days, ceased, sailed from Delos to Phanae, a port in Chios,
opposite the Aegaean sea. They afterwards brought round the fleet to
the city of Chios, and having taken in provisions there, sailed over
to Phocaea. Eumenes, who had gone to join his fleet at Elaea, returned
a few days after, with twenty-four decked ships, and a greater number
of open ones, to Phocaea, where were the Romans, who were fitting and
preparing themselves for a sea-fight. Then setting sail with a hundred
and five decked ships, and about fifty open ones, they were for some
time driven forcibly towards the land, by a north wind blowing across
its course. The ships were thereby obliged to go, for the most part,
singly, one after another, in a thin line; afterwards, when the
violence of the wind abated, they endeavoured to stretch over to the
harbour of Corycus, beyond Cyssus.
44. When intelligence was brought to Polyxenidas that the enemy were
approaching, he rejoiced at an opportunity of engaging them, and drew
out the left squadron towards the open sea, at the same time ordering
the commanders of the ships to extend the right division towards the
land; and then advanced to the fight, with his fleet in a regular
line of battle. The Roman commander, on seeing this, furled his sails,
lowered his masts, and, at the same time adjusting his rigging, waited
for the ships which were coming up. There were now about thirty in the
line; and in order that his left squadron might form a front in like
direction, he hoisted his top-sails, and stretched out into the deep,
ordering the others to push forward, between him and the land, against
the right squadron of the enemy. Eumenes brought up the rear; who, as
soon as he saw the bustle of taking down the rigging begin, likewise
brought up his ships with all possible speed. All their ships were by
this time in sight; two Carthaginian vessels, however, which advanced
before the Romans, came across three belonging to the king. As the
numbers were unequal, two of the king's ships fell upon one, and, in
the first place, swept away the oars from both its sides; the armed
mariners then boarded, and killing some of its defenders and throwing
others into the sea, took the ship. The one which had engaged in an
equal contest, on seeing her companion taken, before she could be
surrounded by the three, fled back to the fleet. Livius, fired with
indignation, bore down with the praetorian ship against the enemy. The
two which had overpowered the Carthaginian ship, in hopes of the same
success against this one, advanced to the attack, on which he ordered
the rowers on both sides to plunge their oars in the water, in order
to hold the ship steady, and to throw grappling-irons into the enemy's
vessels as they came up. Having, by these means, rendered the business
something like a fight on land, he desired his men to bear in mind
the courage of Romans, and not to regard the slaves of a king as men.
Accordingly, this single ship now defeated and captured the two, with
more ease than the two had before taken one. By this time the entire
fleets were engaged and intermixed with each other. Eumenes, who had
come up last, and after the battle was begun, when he saw the left
squadron of the enemy thrown into disorder by Livius, directed his own
attack against their right, where the contest was yet equal.
45. In a short time a flight commenced, in the first instance, with
the left squadron: for Polyxenidas, perceiving that he was evidently
overmatched with respect to the bravery of the men, hoisted his
top-sails, and betook himself to flight; and, quickly after, those who
had engaged with Eumenes near the land did the same. The Romans and
Eumenes pursued with much perseverance, as long as the rowers were
able to hold out, and they had any prospect of annoying the rear of
the enemy; but finding that the latter, by reason of the lightness and
fleetness of their ships, baffled every effort that could be made by
theirs, loaded as they were with provisions, they at length desisted,
having taken thirteen ships together with the soldiers and rowers, and
sunk ten. Of the Roman fleet, only the one Carthaginian ship, which,
at the beginning of the action, had been attacked by two, was lost.
Polyxenidas continued his flight, until he got into the harbour of
Ephesus. The Romans staid, during the remainder of that day, in
the port from which the king's fleet had sailed out, and on the day
following proceeded in the pursuit. In the midst of their course they
were met by twenty-five Rhodian decked ships, under Pausistratus, the
commander of the fleet, and in conjunction with these followed the
runaways to Ephesus, where they stood for some time, in order of
battle, before the mouth of the harbour. Having thus extorted from the
enemy a full confession of their being defeated, and having sent home
the Rhodians and Eumenes, the Romans steered their course to Chios.
When they had passed Phaenicus, a port of Erythraea, they cast anchor
for the night; and proceeding next day to the island, came up to the
city itself. After halting here a few days for the purpose chiefly
of refreshing the rowers, they sailed over to Phocaea. Here they
left four quinque remes for the defence of the city, and proceeded to
Cannae, where, as the winter now approached, the ships were hauled on
shore, and surrounded with a trench and rampart. At the close of the
year, the elections were held at Rome, in which were chosen consuls,
Lucius Cornelius Scipio and Caius Laelius, from whom all men expected
the conclusion of the war with Antiochus. Next day were elected
praetors, Marcus Tuccius, Lucius Aurunculeius, Cneius Fulvius, Lucius
Aemilius, Publius Junius, and Caius Atinius Labeo.
END OF VOL. III.
End of Project Gutenberg's History of Rome, Vol III, by Titus Livius