THE
HISTORY OF ROME.
BY
TITUS LIVIUS.
BOOKS THIRTY-SEVEN TO THE END,
WITH THE EPITOMES AND FRAGMENTS OF THE LOST BOOKS.
LITERALLY TRANSLATED
BY WILLIAM A. M‘DEVITTE, SEN. CLASS. MOD. EX. SCHOL. A. B. T. C. D.
LONDON: HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. MDCCCL.
JOHN CHILDS AND SON, BUNGAY.
THE
HISTORY OF ROME.
BOOK XXXVII.
_Lucius Cornelius Scipio the consul, having as lieutenant Publius
Scipio Africanus, (who had declared that he would be his brother’s
lieutenant if the province of Greece was decreed to him, when that
province appeared likely to be assigned to Caius Lælius, who had
great influence in the senate,) set out to wage war against
Antiochus, and was the first Roman general that ever passed over
into Asia. Æmilius Regillus, with the assistance of the Rhodians,
fought successfully against the royal fleet of Antiochus at
Myonnesus. The son of Africanus, having been taken by Antiochus,
was sent back to his father. Manius Acilius Glabrio triumphed over
Antiochus, whom he had driven out of Greece, and over the Ætolians.
Antiochus being subsequently conquered by Lucius Cornelius Scipio,
with the aid of Eumenes, son of Attalus, and king of Pergamus,
peace was granted to him on these terms—that he should evacuate all
the provinces on this side Mount Taurus. The kingdom of Eumenes,
through whose assistance Antiochus had been conquered, was
enlarged. Some states were granted to the Rhodians too, who also
had assisted them. The colony of Bononia was founded. Æmilius
Regillus, who had conquered the admirals of Antiochus in a naval
engagement, triumphed. Lucius Cornelius Scipio, who had brought the
war with Antiochus to a conclusion, was called Asiaticus, attaining
to an equality with his brother by this surname._
1. Lucius Cornelius Scipio and Caius Lælius being consuls, no business,
after the duties of religion, was transacted in the senate prior to that
of the Ætolians. Not only their ambassadors were urgent, because they
had a truce of a short period, but they were aided by Titus Quinctius
also, who had then returned to Rome from Greece. The Ætolians, as being
persons to whom there was more hope in the mercy of the senate than in
their cause, acted suppliantly, weighing their by-gone services against
their recent misconduct. But when present, they were importuned by
questions of the senators, wringing from them an acknowledgment of their
guilt rather than replies, and when ordered to depart from the senate,
they caused a great contest. Resentment had more power in their case
than compassion; for the senate were incensed against them not merely as
enemies, but as an uncivilized and unsocial race. After it had been
contested several days, it was at last resolved, that peace should
neither be granted nor refused. Two conditions were offered them, either
that they should yield to the senate unconditional power over them, or
pay one thousand talents,[1] and have the same friends and enemies. To
them, desirous to elicit in what things they should give to the senate
unconditional power over them, no positive answer is given; but being
thus dismissed, without having concluded a peace, they were ordered to
quit the city that very day, and Italy within fifteen days. They then
began to debate concerning the provinces for the consuls. Both of these
wished for Greece. Lælius had a powerful interest in the senate; and
when the senate had ordered that the consuls should either cast lots for
the provinces, or settle them between themselves, he observed, that they
would act with more propriety in leaving that matter to the wisdom of
the senators, than to the decision of lot. To this Scipio, an answer
being given that he would take advice how he ought to act, having spoken
to his brother alone, and having been desired by him to leave it
unhesitatingly to the senate, answered his colleague that he would do
what he recommended. When this plan, either original or supported by
precedents of a record now lost by antiquity, being referred to the
senate, had aroused them by the expectation of a contest, Publius Scipio
Africanus said, that “if they decreed that province to his brother,
Lucius Scipio, he would go along with him, as his lieutenant-general.”
This proposal being received with universal approbation, put an end to
all dispute. The senate were well pleased to make the trial, whether
king Antiochus should have more effectual aid in the vanquished
Hannibal, or the Roman consul and legions in his conqueror Africanus;
and they almost all voted Greece to Scipio, and Italy to Lælius. The
prætors then cast lots for their provinces: Lucius Aurunculeius
obtained the city jurisdiction; Cneius Fulvius, the foreign; Lucius
Æmilius Regillus, the fleet; Publius Junius Brutus, the Tuscans; Marcus
Tuccius, Apulia and Bruttium; and Caius Atinius, Sicily.
2. Then to the consul to whom the province of Greece had been decreed,
in addition to the army which he was about to receive from M. Acilius,
(but they were two legions,) three thousand Roman foot and one hundred
horse, and of the Latin confederates five thousand foot and two hundred
horse, are added as a reinforcement; and it was further ordered, that
if, when he arrived in his province, he would judge it conducive to the
public interest, he should be at liberty to carry over the army into
Asia. To the other consul was decreed an army entirely new; two Roman
legions, and of the Latin confederates fifteen thousand foot and six
hundred horse. Quintius Minucius was ordered to remove his forces out of
Liguria (for he had written, that the province was completely subdued,
and that the whole nation of the Ligurians had surrendered) into the
country of the Boians, and to give up the command to Publius Cornelius,
proconsul. The two city legions, enlisted the year before, about to be
brought home from the country in which Cornelius had fined the conquered
Boians, were assigned to Marcus Tuccius, prætor, together with fifteen
thousand foot and six hundred horse, of the Latin confederates, to
occupy Apulia and Bruttium. Orders were given to Aulus Cornelius, a
prætor of the preceding year, who occupied Bruttium with an army, that
if the consul judged it proper, he should transport his legions into.
Ætolia, and give them to Manius Acilius, provided the latter was
inclined to remain there; but if Acilius wished to come to Rome, that
then Aulus Cornelius should stay in Ætolia with that army. It was
resolved that Caius Atinius Labeo should receive from Marcus Æmilius the
province of Sicily, and the army there; and should, if he deemed it
proper, enlist in the province itself two thousand foot and one hundred
horse, for a reinforcement. Publius Junius Brutus was ordered to raise a
new army for Tuscany, consisting of one Roman legion, and ten thousand
foot of the allies and Latin nation, and four hundred horse. Lucius
Æmilius, whose province was the sea, was ordered to receive from Marcus
Junius, prætor of the former year, twenty ships of war, with their
crews, and himself to enlist one thousand marines and two thousand foot
soldiers, with which ships and soldiers he was to sail to Asia, and
receive the command of the fleet from Caius Livius. To the governors of
the two Spains and Sardinia, their command is prolonged for a year, and
the same armies were decreed them. Sicily and Sardinia were, this year,
assessed in two-tenths of their corn. All the corn from Sicily was
ordered to be carried into Ætolia, to the army there; of that to be
collected from Sardinia, one-half to Rome, and the other half into
Ætolia, for the same use as the corn from Sicily.
3. It was judged proper, that, previous to the departure of the consuls
for their provinces, the prodigies should be expiated under the
direction of the pontiffs. The temple of Juno Lucina, at Rome, was
struck by lightning in such a manner, that the summit and the
folding-doors were much damaged. At Puteoli, the wall and a gate were
struck by lightning in several parts, and two men killed. It was clearly
proved, that, at Nursia, in the midst of a calm, a tempest suddenly
burst forth; and there also two freemen were killed. The Tusculans
reported, that a shower of earth fell in their country; and the
Reatines, that a mule brought forth, young in theirs. These prodigies
were expiated, and the Latin festival was celebrated a second time,
because the flesh-meat, which ought to be given to the Laurentians, had
not been given them. There was also a supplication made on account of
those religious fears; the decemvirs gave directions from the books, to
which of the gods it should be performed. Ten free-born youths, and ten
virgins, all of whom had their fathers and mothers living, were employed
in that ceremony; and the decemvirs sacrificed sucklings by night.
Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, before he left the city, erected an
arch on the Capitol, facing the road by which we ascend to it, with
seven gilded statues and two horses, and placed two marble cisterns in
the front of the arch. During that period, forty-three of the principal
Ætolians, among whom were Damocritus and his brother, were brought to
Rome by two cohorts, sent by Manius Acilius, and were thrown into the
prison called Lautumiæ, or the quarry. Lucius Cornelius the consul
ordered the cohorts after that to return to the army. Ambassadors came
from Ptolemy and Cleopatra, king and queen of Egypt, congratulating the
Romans because the consul Manius Acilius had driven king Antiochus out
of Greece, and advising that they should carry over their army into
Asia. For “all places, not only in Asia, but also in Syria, were filled
with consternation; and the king and queen of Egypt would be prepared to
do those things which the senate should direct.” Thanks were returned to
the king and queen, and presents were ordered to be made to the
ambassadors, four thousand _asses_[2] to each.
4. The consul Lucius Cornelius, having finished what was necessary to be
done at Rome, gave public notice, in an assembly of the people, that the
soldiers, whom he himself had enlisted for a reinforcement, and those
who were in Bruttiurn with Aulus Cornelius, proprætor, should all meet
him at Brundusium on the ides of July. He likewise appointed three
lieutenants-general, Sextus Digitius, Lucius Apustius, and Caius
Fabricius Luscinus; who were to bring together ships from all parts of
the sea-coast to Brundusium; and now, every thing being ready, he set
out from the city in his military robe of state. About five thousand
volunteers of the Romans and allies, who had served out their campaigns,
under the command of Publius Africanus, attended the consul at his
departure, and gave in their names. At the time in which the consul set
out to the war during the celebration of the Apollinarian games, on the
fifth day before the ides of July, though the sky was serene, the light
was obscured in the middle of the day, when the moon passed beneath the
orb of the sun. L. Æmilius Regillus, to whom the sea had fallen as his
province, set out at the same time. To Lucius Aurunculeius this business
was assigned by the senate, that he should build thirty quinqueremes and
twenty triremes, because there was a report that Antiochus, since the
engagement at sea, was fitting out a much larger fleet. The Ætolians,
after the ambassadors brought back word from Rome that there was no hope
of peace, although their whole sea-coast, which was opposite to
Peloponnesus, was ravaged by the Achæans, regarding the danger more than
their losses, seized on Mount Corax, in order to shut up the pass
against the Romans; for they had no doubt that they would return in the
beginning of spring to the siege of Naupactum. It appeared better to
Acilius, who knew that this was expected, to attempt a thing that was
not anticipated, and to lay siege to Lamia; for the garrison had been
reduced by Philip almost to a state of desperation; and being then off
their guard, because they feared no such attempt, might be surprised by
himself. Marching from Elatia, he formed his first encampment in the
enemy’s country, on the banks of the river Sperchius, and decamping
thence in the night, he at break of day attacked the town with a line of
troops that encircled it.
5. As is usual in an unexpected affair, great consternation and tumult
ensued; yet the besieged, with greater resolution than any one could
suppose them capable of under such a sudden alarm, when the men fought,
and the women brought weapons of every kind, and stones, to the walls,
defended the city for that day, although the scaling ladders were raised
against the walls. About mid-day, Acilius, the signal for retreat being
given, drew off his men to their camp. After their bodies were refreshed
by food and rest, before he dismissed the meeting in the Prætorium, he
gave them notice, “to be ready and under arms before day; and that they
were not to return to their tents until the city should be taken.” Next
day, at the same hour as before, having began the assault in a greater
number of places, as not only the strength, but also the weapons, and
above all, the courage of the garrison began to fail, he took the town
in the space of a few hours. One half of the spoil found there was sold
in parcels; the other was divided among the soldiers; and a council was
held to determine what he should next undertake. No one approved of
going against Naupactum, while the pass at Corax was occupied by the
Ætolians. That, however, the summer campaign might not be an idle one,
and that the Ætolians might not through his supineness possess the peace
that they could not obtain from the senate, Acilius resolved to besiege
Amphissa; his army was led thither from Heraclea by Œta. Having encamped
under the walls, he proceeded to attack the town, not by general
assault, as at Lamia, but by regular approaches. The ram was brought up
to the walls in many places at once; and though these were shaken by it,
yet the townsmen never attempted to provide or contrive any sort of
defence against such a description of mechanism. All their hope was in
arms and courage. By frequent sallies they much annoyed not only the
advanced guards of the Romans, but even those who were employed at the
works and machines.
6. However, the wall was broken down in many places, when word was
brought, that his successor, having landed his army at Apollonia, was
coming through Epirus and Thessaly. The consul came with thirteen
thousand foot and five hundred horse. He had already arrived at the
Malian bay; and after that, to his messengers sent forward to Hypata, to
order a surrender of the city, this response was given, that they would
do nothing except by the common consent of the Ætolians: that the siege
of Hypata might not detain him while Amphissa was not yet recovered,
having sent forward his brother Africanus, he leads his forces to
Amphissa. A little before their arrival, the towns-people having
abandoned the city, for it was now, for the most part, stripped of its
walls; all, armed and unarmed, retired into the citadel, which they
deemed an impregnable fortress. The consul pitched his camp at the
distance of about six miles from the town; and thither came ambassadors
from the Athenians, addressing, first, Publius Scipio, who preceded the
main body as before mentioned, and afterwards the consul, with earnest
supplications in favour of the Ætolians. They received a milder answer
from Africanus, who, wishing for an honourable pretext for relinquishing
the Ætolian war, was directing his views towards Asia and king
Antiochus, and had recommended to the Athenians to persuade, not only
the Romans, but the Ætolians likewise, to prefer peace to war. By the
advice of the Athenians a numerous embassy of the Ætolians came speedily
from Hypata, and the discourse of Africanus, whom they addressed first,
augmented their hopes of peace; for he mentioned, that “many nations and
states, first in Spain, and afterwards in Africa, had thrown themselves
on his protection; and that, in all of them, he had left greater
monuments of clemency and kindness than of military prowess.” The
business seemed to be concluded, when the consul, on being applied to,
repeated the very same answer with which they had been driven off by the
senate. When the Ætolians were thunder-struck at this, as if they had
never heard it before, (for they now perceived that no progress was made
either from the Athenian embassy or the favourable reply of Africanus,)
they said that they wished to consult their countrymen on the affair.
7. They then returned to Hypata, nor were their plans cleared of
difficulties. For they had no means of paying the thousand talents;
and, in case of an unconditional submission, they dreaded lest cruelty
should be inflicted on their persons. They, therefore, ordered the same
ambassadors to return to the consul and Africanus, and to request, that
if they meant in reality to grant them peace, and not merely to amuse
them with a prospect of it, frustrating the hopes of the wretched, they
would either remit some part of the money required to be paid, or order
that the unconditional submission should not extend to their persons.
Nothing was accomplished whereby the consul might change his resolution;
and that embassy, also, was dismissed without effect. The Athenian
ambassadors accompanied them. And Echedemus, their principal in the
embassy, recalled to hope the Ætolians, dejected by so many repulses,
and deploring with unavailing lamentations the hard fate of their
nation—by advising them to request a suspension of arms for six months,
in order that they might send an embassy to Rome. He urged that “the
delay could add nothing to their present calamities, which were already
severe in the extreme; but that, if time intervened, their present
calamities might be alleviated by many chances.” Agreeably to this advice
of Echedemus, the same ambassadors were sent again; who, making their
first application to Publius Scipio, obtained, through him, from the
consul, a suspension of arms for the time they desired: and the siege of
Amphissa being raised, Manius Acilius, the army being delivered to the
consul, left the province; and the consul returned from Amphissa into
Thessaly, with intention of leading his troops into Asia through
Macedonia and Thrace. Here Africanus said to his brother, Lucius Scipio,
“I also, Lucius Scipio, approve of the route which you adopt. But the
whole matter rests on the inclinations of Philip; for if he be faithful
to our government, he will afford us a passage, and provisions and all
things which support and aid an army on a long march. But if he should
fail in this, you will find no safety in any part of Thrace. In my
opinion, therefore, the king’s disposition ought in the first place to
be discovered. He will be best tested if the person who shall be sent
will come suddenly upon him, doing nothing by a preconcerted plan.”
Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, a young man, the most active of all the
youths at that time, being selected for this purpose, by means of relays
of horses, and travelling with almost incredible expedition, made good
the journey from Amphissa, whence he had been despatched, to Pella, on
the third day. The king was sitting at a banquet, and was far gone in
his cups: that very relaxation of mind removed all suspicion of any
intention of changing his measures. His guest was kindly entertained for
the present; and next day he saw provisions in abundance already
prepared for the army, bridges made over rivers, and roads fortified
where the passage was difficult. As he was bringing back this
intelligence, with the same speed which he had used in coming, he met
the consul at Thaumaci. From this the army rejoicing, marched with more
certain and greater hopes into Macedon, where all things were prepared.
On their arrival, the king received them with royal magnificence, and
accompanied them on their march. Much pleasantry and good humour
appeared in him, which recommended him much to Africanus, a man who, as
he was unparalleled in other respects, was not averse to courteousness
unaccompanied by luxury. Passing from this not only through Macedon, but
also through Thrace, they arrived at the Hellespont, Philip escorting
them and making every preparation.
8. Antiochus, after the sea-fight at Corycus, when he had the whole
winter disengaged to carry on his preparations by land and water, was
chiefly intent on the refitting of his ships, lest he should be entirely
excluded from the sea. It occurred to him that he had been defeated when
the Rhodian fleet was absent; if this fleet were present in an
engagement, (and the Rhodians would certainly not be guilty of being
late a second time,) he required a vast number of ships to equal the
fleet of the enemy, in the strength of their crews and size of their
vessels. For this reason, he sent Hannibal into Syria, to bring in the
Phœnician navy, and gave orders to Polyxenidas, that, the more
unsuccessfully affairs had been managed before, the more diligently he
should now repair the ships which he had, and procure others. He himself
passed the winter in Phrygia, calling in auxiliaries from every quarter.
He had even sent for that purpose to Gallogræcia. The people of that
country were then more warlike than at present, retaining the Gallic
spirit, as the generation which had emigrated thither was not yet
extinct. He had left his son Seleucus with an army in Æolia, to keep in
obedience the maritime cities, which on one side Eumenes from Pergamus,
on the other, the Romans from Phocæa and Erythræ, were soliciting to
revolt. The Roman fleet, as mentioned before, wintered at Canæ; thither,
about the middle of the season, came king Eumenes, with two thousand
foot and one hundred horse. He, when he affirmed that vast quantities of
spoil might be brought off from the enemy’s country round Thyatira; by
his persuasions, prevailed on Livius to send with him five thousand
soldiers. Those that were sent within a few days carried off an immense
booty.
9. Meanwhile a sedition broke out at Phocæa, in consequence of some
endeavouring to bring over the multitude to the party of Antiochus. The
winter quarters of the ships were burdensome: the tribute was
burdensome, because five hundred gowns with five hundred tunics were
exacted from them: the scarcity of corn was also galling, on account of
which the ships also and garrison of Rome evacuated the place. The
faction which laboured in their assemblies to draw the commonalty over
to Antiochus, was now freed from all apprehension: the senate, and
higher ranks, were of opinion that they should persevere in the alliance
with Rome. But the advisers of a revolt had greater influence with the
multitude. The Rhodians, the earlier in proportion to their having been
too late in the former summer, sent in the vernal equinox, as commander
of their fleet, with thirty-six ships, the same Pausistratus. At this
time Livius, with thirty ships and seven quadriremes, which king Eumenes
had brought with him, was on his passage from Canæ to the Hellespont, in
order to prepare every thing necessary for the transportation of the
army, which he expected to come by land. He first brought his fleet into
the harbour called the Achæan; whence he went up to Ilium, and having
offered sacrifice to Minerva, gave a kind reception to the embassies
from the states in the neighbourhood, from Elæus, Dardanum, and Rhetæum,
surrendering their respective states to him. Then he sailed to the
entrance of the Hellespont; and, leaving ten ships stationed opposite to
Abydos, he crossed over to Europe with the rest of the fleet, to attack
Sestos. As the troops were advancing up to the walls, first of all
inspired priests of Cybele,[3] in their solemn dress, met them before
the gate. These said, that, “by order of the mother of the gods, they,
the immediate servants of the goddess, were come to pray the Roman
commander to spare the walls and the city.” None of them was injured;
and, presently, the whole senate and the magistrates came out to
surrender the place. The fleet then sailed over to Abydos; where when,
their minds being sounded by conferences, no peaceable answer was given,
they prepared themselves for a siege.
10. While these transactions are carried on at the Hellespont,
Polyxenidas, the commander of the king’s fleet, (but he was an exile
from Rhodes,) having heard that the ships of his countrymen had sailed
from home, and that Pausistratus, who commanded them, had, in a public
speech, uttered several haughty and contemptuous expressions respecting
him, and having conceived a particular jealousy against him, considered
nothing else, night or day, than that by his acts he should refute his
boastful words. He sent a person, who was known to him, to say, that “if
it were allowed, he would be of great service to Pausistratus, and to
his native country; and that he might be restored by Pausistratus to his
country.” When Pausistratus, in surprise, asked by what means such
things could be effected; and pledged his faith to the other, at his
request, that he would either concur in the execution of the design, or
bury it in silence; the emissary then told him, that “Polyxenidas would
deliver into his hands, either the whole of the king’s fleet or the
greater part of it; and as a reward, he stipulated for nothing more,
than a return to his native country.” The importance of the business had
this effect, that he neither believed nor despised his proposition. He
sailed to Panormus, in the Samian territory, and stopped there in order
to examine thoroughly the business which was proposed to him. Messengers
passed rapidly from both parties, nor was confidence inspired into
Pausistratus until, in the presence of his messenger, Polyxenidas wrote,
with his own hand, an engagement that he would perform all that he had
promised, and sent the tablets sealed with his own seal. By such a
pledge as this, he thought that the traitor was completely engaged to
him. For, “that he who lived under a king would never act so absurdly as
to give evidence of guilt against himself, attested by his own
signature.” The method of conducting the pretended plot was then
settled: Polyxenidas said that “he would neglect every kind of
preparation; that he would not keep any considerable numbers on board,
either of rowers or mariners; that he would haul up on land some of the
ships, under pretence of refitting them; would send away others into the
neighbouring ports, and keep a few at sea before the harbour of Ephesus;
which, if circumstances made it necessary to come out, he would expose
to a battle.” The negligence which Pausistratus heard that Polyxenidas
was about to use in his fleet, he himself immediately practised. Part of
his ships he sent to Halicarnassus to bring provisions, another part to
the city of Samos, while he himself waited at Panormus, that he might be
ready when he should receive the signal of attack from the traitor.
Polyxenidas encouraged his mistake by counterfeiting neglect; hauled up
some ships, and, as if he intended to haul up others, put the docks in
repair; he did not call the rowers from their winter quarters to
Ephesus, but assembled them secretly at Magnesia.
11. By chance one of Antiochus’s soldiers, when he had come to Samos on
account of private business, being seized as a spy, is brought to
Panormus to the admiral. This man, it is uncertain whether through fear
or treachery towards his countrymen, disclosed all things to him,
inquiring what was going on at Ephesus: that the fleet lay in harbour,
fully equipped and ready for sea; that all the rowers had been sent to
Magnesia (at Sipylus); that very few of the ships had been hauled on
land; that the docks were shut, and that never was the business of the
fleet conducted with greater diligence. But the mind of Pausistratus,
prepossessed by misplaced confidence and vain hopes, caused these things
not to be attended to as true. Polyxenidas, having fully adjusted all
his measures, having called in the rowers from Magnesia, and launched
hastily the ships that were in dock, by night, after wasting the day not
so much in preparation as because he was unwilling that the fleet should
be seen going to sea, set sail after sun-set with seventy decked ships,
and, the wind being contrary, put into the harbour of Pygelia before
daylight. Where when he had rested during the day, for the same reason
as before, he passed over, in the night to the nearest part of the
Samian territory. From this place, having ordered a certain Nicander, a
chief pirate, to sail with five decked ships to Palinurus, and thence to
lead his armed men by the shortest road through the fields towards
Panormus, and so to come behind the enemy; he himself, in the mean
time, with his fleet in two divisions, in order that it might command
the mouth of the harbour on both sides, proceeded to Panormus.
Pausistratus was at first confused for a little, as the thing was
unexpected; but afterwards, being an old soldier, having quickly
regained his courage, and judging that the enemy would be more easily
repelled by land than by sea, he marched his armed forces in two bodies
to the promontories, which, by their heads projecting into the deep,
formed the harbour; under the impression that he could easily repel the
enemy by weapons on both sides, from the two promontories. When the
sight of Nicander on the land had disconcerted this undertaking, having
suddenly changed his design, he ordered all to go on board the ships.
Then truly a great confusion arose among soldiers and sailors alike, and
a sort of flight to the ships took place, when they perceived themselves
surrounded by land and sea at the same time. Pausistratus supposed that
the only way of safety was to force through the narrow entrance of the
port, and push out into the open sea; and after that he saw his men
embarked, ordering the rest to follow, he himself the first, with ship
urged vigorously by the oars, pressed to the mouth of the harbour. Just
as his ship was clearing the entrance, Polyxenidas, with three
quinqueremes, surrounded it. The vessel, shattered by their beaks, sunk;
the crew were overwhelmed with weapons, and, among them, Pausistratus,
fighting gallantly, was slain. Of the rest of the ships, some were taken
outside of the harbour, some within, and others by Nicander, while they
were putting off from the shore. Only five Rhodian and two Coan ships
effected an escape, a passage being made for them through the thick of
the enemy, by the terror of shining flames; for they carried before
them, on two poles projecting from their prows, a great quantity of fire
contained in iron vessels. The galleys of Erythræ, after meeting not far
from Samos the Rhodian ships, then flying, which they were coming to
succour, bore away to the Romans in the direction of the Hellespont.
About the same time, Seleucus got possession of Phocæa by treachery, one
gate being opened by the sentinels. Cyme, with the other cities on that
coast, revolted to him through fear.
12. Whilst these events are taking place in Æolis, after Abydos, which
was defended by a garrison of the king’s troops, had sustained a siege
of several days, all parties then grew weary of the struggle, and the
magistrates, with the permission of Philotas, the commander of the
garrison, began to treat with Livius, concerning the terms on which they
should surrender the city. Because they could not agree whether the
king’s troops should march out with their arms, or without them, this
question protracted the matter. When the intelligence of the destruction
of the Rhodians interrupted them, treating of these things, the matter
was dropped. For Livius, fearing lest Polyxenidas, elated by his recent
success in such an important enterprise, might surprise the fleet which
lay at Canæ, instantly abandoned the siege of Abydos and the guard of
the Hellespont, and drew out the ships that were in dock at Canæ, and
Eumenes came to Elæa. Livius, with the whole fleet, to which he had
joined two triremes of Mitylene, sailed to Phocæa; but, having learned
that this place was held, by a strong garrison of the king’s troops, and
that the camp of Seleucus was not far distant, he ravaged the sea-coast,
hastily conveying on board the booty, which consisted chiefly of men,
and waiting only until Eumenes, with his fleet, came up, he endeavours
to reach Samos. Among the Rhodians, the news of their misfortune
excited, at first, both consternation, and the greatest grief, at the
same time. For, besides the loss of their ships and soldiers, they had
lost the flower and strength of their youth; many young men of
distinction having been induced, among other motives, by the character
of Pausistratus, which was deservedly very high among his countrymen.
Afterwards, because they had been circumvented by treachery, and by a
countryman of their own, above all men, their grief was changed into
anger. They sent out ten ships immediately, and, in a few days, ten
more, Eudamus being commander of all; who, though far inferior to
Pausistratus in warlike qualifications, they supposed would be a more
cautious leader, as he was not of so high a spirit. The Romans, and king
Eumenes, put in their fleet, first, at Erythræ; and, having staid there
one night, they, on next day, reached Corycus, a promontory in Teios.
When they intended to pass over hence, to the nearest part of the Samian
territory; not waiting for the rising of the sun, from which the pilots
could learn the state of the weather, they exposed themselves to the
varying storm. About the middle of the passage, the wind changing from
north-east to north, they began to be tossed about on the sea, stormy
with billows.
13. Polyxenidas, taking it for granted that the enemy would go to Samos
to join the Rhodian fleet, set sail from Ephesus, and stopped first at
Myonnesus, from whence he crossed over to the island which they call
Macris; in order that, when the enemy’s fleet should sail by, he might
be able to attack, with advantage, either any ships that straggled from
the main body, or might attack the rear of the fleet itself. After that
he saw the fleet dispersed by the storm, first of all he thought this a
good opportunity to attack it; but, in a little time, the wind
increasing and raising a heavy sea, because he could not possibly come
up with them, he steered to the island of Æthalia, that, from thence, he
might next day fall on the ships, as they made for Samos, from the main
sea. A small number of Roman vessels, just as it grew dark, got into a
desert harbour on the Samian coast; the rest, after being tossed about
all night, ran into the same harbour. Then when it was learned from the
country people, that the enemy’s fleet lay at Æthalia, a consultation
was held whether they should attack them immediately, or wait for that
of the Rhodian fleet. The attack being deferred, for so they resolved,
they sailed away to Corycus, whence they had come. Polyxenidas also,
having kept his station for some time, without effecting any thing,
returned to Ephesus. On this the Roman ships, the sea being clear of the
enemy, sailed to Samos. The Rhodian fleet came to the same place after a
few days. And that it might appear that they were only waiting for this,
they immediately sailed away to Ephesus, that they should either decide
it in a naval contest, or, in case the enemy should decline a battle, to
extort from them a confession of fear, which would have the best effect
on the minds of the states of Asia. They lay opposite the entrance of
the harbour, with the fleet formed in a line abreast of it, but none
came out against them; the fleet being divided, one part lay at anchor
before the mouth of the harbour, the other landed a body of soldiers.
Andronicus, a Macedonian, who was in garrison at Ephesus, then made a
sally against them, driving off great booty from the widely-deserted
country; when they came near the walls, he stripped them of the greatest
part of their plunder, and drove them down to the shore and their
ships. On the day following, the Romans, having laid an ambuscade about
the middle of the way, marched in a body to the city, in order to entice
the Macedonians out of the gates. Then, when that same fear had deterred
any one from coming out, the Romans returned to their ships. And the
enemy avoiding a contest by land or sea, the fleet sailed back to Samos,
whence it came. The prætor then detached two Rhodian triremes, and two
belonging to the Italian allies, under the command of Epicrates, a
Rhodian, to guard the strait of Cephallenia. Hybristas, a Lacedæmonian,
at the head of a band of young Cephallenians, infested it with piracies;
and the passage was shut against the convoys from Italy.
14. Epicrates met, at Piræus, Lucius Æmilius Regillus, who was on his
way to take the command of the fleet. On hearing of the defeat of the
Rhodians, as he had only two quinqueremes, he carried back with him to
Asia Epicrates and his four ships. Some undecked vessels of the
Athenians followed him. He crossed the Ægean Sea to Chios. To which
place came, in the middle of the night, Timasicrates, a Rhodian, with
two quadriremes from Samos, and, being presented to Æmilius, he told him
that he was despatched for the purpose of convoying him in safety,
because the king’s ships, by frequent excursions from the Hellespont and
Abydos, rendered the sea on that coast dangerous to transports. Two
Rhodian quadriremes met Æmilius on his passage from Chios to Samos,
being sent by Livius to attend him, and king Eumenes with two
quinqueremes met him. Æmilius, after he arrived at Samos, as soon as he
had received the command of the fleet from Livius, and duly performed
the usual sacrifices, called a council. Here, Caius Livius, whose
opinion was first asked, said, that “no one could give advice with more
sincerity than he, who recommended to another what himself would do in
the same case. That he had intended to sail with the whole fleet to
Ephesus; to take with him ships of burden, heavily laden with ballast,
and to sink them in the entrance of the harbour. That the narrow passage
might be shut up with less difficulty on this account, because the mouth
of the port was like a river, long and narrow, and full of shoals. By
this expedient he was about to cut off the enemy’s communication with
the sea, and render their fleet useless.”
15. This plan was not approved by any of the council. King Eumenes
asked, “What then? when, by sinking the ships, they should have barred
the pass to the sea, their own fleet being at liberty, would they depart
from the place to bear aid to the allies, and strike terror into their
enemies? or whether, with no less ardour, they would block up the port
with their whole force? For, if they should withdraw, who could doubt
that the enemy would weigh up the masses that were sunk, and open the
port with less labour than it had cost to shut it? But if, after all,
they were to remain there, what advantage would accrue from the harbour
being closed? Nay, on the contrary, the enemy enjoying a safe haven, and
an opulent city, furnished, at the same time, with every thing from
Asia, would pass the summer at their ease, while the Romans, exposed in
the open sea to winds and waves, and in want of every accommodation,
must continue on guard, without intermission; and would be themselves
tied down, and hindered from doing any thing that ought to be done,
rather than to keep the enemy shut up.” Eudamus, commander of the
Rhodian fleet, rather showed his disapprobation of the plan proposed,
than proposed himself what he thought should be done. Epicrates, the
Rhodian, advised, “not to think of Ephesus for the present, but that a
part of the fleet should be sent to Lycia, and that Patara, the
metropolis of that nation, should be brought into a treaty of alliance.
This would conduce to two important purposes: first, the Rhodians, owing
to peace being established in the countries opposite to their island,
could apply the whole of their strength to the care of the war against
Antiochus; and then the fleet which the enemy were fitting out in Lycia,
would be blocked up, and prevented from joining Polyxenidas.” This plan
influenced the most. Nevertheless, it was determined that Regillus
should sail, with the entire fleet, to the harbour of Ephesus, to strike
terror into the enemy.
16. Caius Livius was sent to Lycia, with two Roman quinqueremes, four
Rhodian quadriremes, and two open vessels of Smyrna; being ordered to
proceed, first, to Rhodes, and to communicate all his designs to the
government there. The states which he passed in his way, Miletus,
Myndus, Halicarnassus, Cnidus, and Cous, diligently executed his orders.
When he came to Rhodes, he explained, to the persons in authority, the
business on which he was sent, and, at the same time, desired their
opinion. All approving his design, and three quadriremes being added to
that fleet which he had, he set sail for Patara. The wind being
favourable at first, carried them very near the city, and they were in
hopes of effecting something by surprise. After that, the wind veering,
the sea had begun to roll in heavy waves, they persevered at their oars
until they reached the land; but there was no safe anchorage there, nor
could they ride in the road, as the sea was rough, and night was coming
on. They, therefore, sailed past the city, to the port of Phœnicus,
which was not quite two miles distant, and which afforded shelter from
the violence of the waves, but high cliffs overlooked it, which the
towns-people, joined by the king’s troops which were in garrison,
immediately seized. Livius, though the landing-places were rugged and
difficult, sent against them a party of the auxiliaries, composed of
Issæans, and light infantry of Smyrna. These (whilst they were
skirmishing with missile weapons, and in slight attacks on the few who
were there at first, rather than engaging in battle) supported the
contest sufficiently well. After that greater numbers flocked thither
from the city, and at length, the whole multitude pouring out, fear
seized Livius, not only that the auxiliaries might be cut off, but that
the ships would be in danger from the land. In consequence he led out to
the engagement, not only the soldiers, but the marines, and even the
crowd of rowers, armed with such weapons as each could find. After all,
however, the fight was doubtful; and, besides a considerable number of
soldiers, Lucius Apustius fell in this disorderly combat. At last, the
Lycians were routed, and driven within their gates; and the Romans, with
a bloody victory, returned to their ships. They then proceeded to the
gulf of Telmissus, which washes Caria on one side, and Lycia on the
other, where all thoughts of any further attempt on Patara were laid
aside, the Rhodians were sent home, and Livius, sailing along the coast
of Asia, crossed over to Greece, that he might have a meeting with the
Scipios, who were at that time in Thessaly, and then take his passage to
Italy.
17. Æmilius, although he himself had been driven off from Ephesus by a
storm, and had returned to Samos without effecting any thing, after he
knew that the expedition to Lycia was dropped, and that Livius had gone
to Italy, having thought it disgraceful that Patara should be attacked
in vain, resolved to go thither and attack the city with his utmost
force. Having sailed past Miletus, and the rest of the coast of the
allies, he made a descent in the bay of Bargyllæ, with the design of
reducing Jassus. A garrison of the king’s troops held the city, and the
Romans made hostile depredations on all the country round. He then sent
persons to confer with the magistrates and principal inhabitants, and
sound their dispositions. After they answered that nothing was in their
power, he advanced to lay siege to the city. There were, with the
Romans, some exiles from Jassus, who, in a body, earnestly importuned
the Rhodians “not to suffer an unoffending city, which was as well a
neighbouring one as also connected with them in consanguinity, to be
ruined. They themselves were banished for no other cause than their
faithful attachment to the Romans; and those who remained in the place
were held in subjection by the same force by which they had been
expelled. The wish of the people of Jassus was one, to escape from a
state of slavery under the king.” The Rhodians, moved by their
entreaties, and calling in the assistance of king Eumenes, by
representing, at the same time, their own connexions with them, and also
the unfortunate condition of the city, which was kept in bondage by the
king’s garrison, prevailed on Æmilius to drop the siege. Departing
hence, and coasting along the shore of Asia, the other places being at
peace, they arrived at Loryma, a port opposite to Rhodes. Here, at
head-quarters, a private conversation arises first among the tribunes of
the soldiers, and afterwards reached the ears of Æmilius, that the fleet
was going off to a distance from Ephesus, from the war which concerned
themselves; so that the enemy, being left behind, without control, might
safely make whatever attempts they pleased against so many states of the
allies, in their neighbourhood. These remarks moved Æmilius; and calling
the Rhodians to him, he asked them, whether the whole fleet could lie in
the harbour of Patara: when they answered that it could not, furnished
with an excuse for laying aside the design, he sailed back to Samos.
18. In the mean time Seleucus, son of Antiochus, who had kept his army
in Ætolia, through the whole of the winter employed, partly, in
succouring his allies, partly, in ravaging the lands of those whom he
could not seduce to his side, resolved to make an incursion on the
territory of king Eumenes, while he, at a great distance from home, was
assisting the Romans and Rhodians, in attacks on the maritime parts of
Lycia. He advanced with hostile standards, first, to Elæa; afterwards,
the design of besieging it being given up, having wasted the country in
a hostile manner, he led his army to lay siege to Pergamus, the capital
and principal fortress of the kingdom. Attalus, at first, posting
advanced guards outside the city, and sending out parties of cavalry and
light infantry, harassed rather than withstood the enemy. But, after
some time, having discovered, in slight skirmishes, that he was not a
match for the enemy in any respect, he drew back his men within the
fortifications, and then the city began to be besieged. About this time,
Antiochus, leaving Apamea with a vast army compounded of various
nations, encamped first at Sardis, and afterwards took post at a small
distance from the camp of Seleucus, at the head of the river Caicus. The
most formidable part of his force was a body of four thousand Gauls,
procured for hire: these, with a few others intermixed, he detached,
with orders to waste utterly the country about Pergamus. When news of
these transactions arrived at Samos, Eumenes being thus recalled by a
war in his own dominions, sailed with his fleet to Elæa; and finding
there, in readiness, some light troops of horse and foot, he took them
for an escort, and proceeded directly to Pergamus, before the enemy
could be apprized of his arrival, or could put themselves in motion.
Then again skirmishes began to take place in the sallies, Eumenes
undoubtedly shrinking from the risk of a decisive engagement. In a few
days after the combined fleet of the Romans and Rhodians came from Samos
to Elæa, to support the king. When information was brought to Antiochus
that these had landed troops at Elæa, and that so many fleets were
assembled in one harbour, and at the same time heard that the consul,
with his army, was already in Macedonia, and that the things that were
necessary for the passage of the Hellespont were being prepared, he
judged that now was the time for negotiation, before he should be
pressed on sea and land at once; and with this view he chose for his
camp a rising ground opposite to Elæa. Leaving there all the infantry,
with his cavalry, amounting to six thousand, he went down into the
plains, which lay under the walls of the town, having despatched a
herald to Æmilius, to acquaint him that he wished to treat of peace.
19. Æmilius sent to Pergamus for Eumenes, and desiring the Rhodians to
be present, held a council on the message. The Rhodians were not averse
to a pacification; but Eumenes affirmed that “it was not honourable to
treat of peace at that time, nor could an end be put to the thing.”
“For,” said he, “how can we, shut up as we are, within our walls, and
besieged, with honour accept terms of peace? Or to whom shall that
treaty be valid, which we shall conclude, without the presence of the
consul, without a vote of the senate, and without an order of the Roman
people? For, let me ask, supposing the matter concluded by you, would
you immediately go home to Italy, and carry away your fleet and army, or
would you wait to know the consul’s determination on the case; what the
senate should decree, or the people order? It remains therefore that you
must stay in Asia, that your troops being led back again into winter
quarters, the war being given over, must exhaust the allies in
furnishing provisions; and then, if it seem fit to those who have the
power of determining, we must begin the whole war anew, which we are
able, with the aid of the gods, to finish before winter, if no
relaxation from our present vigorous movements is made by delay.” This
opinion prevailed; and the answer given to Antiochus was, that they
could not treat of peace before the arrival of the consul. Antiochus,
peace being tried for in vain, ravaged, first, the territory of Elæa,
then that of Pergamus; and, leaving there his son Seleucus, marched in a
hostile manner to Adramyttium, whence he proceeded to a rich tract of
country called the Plain of Thebes, a city celebrated in one of Homer’s
poems; and in no other place in Asia did the king’s soldiers find such a
plenty of booty. At the same time, Æmilius and Eumenes also, sailing
round with the fleet, came to Adramyttium, to protect the city.
20. By chance, at this time, one thousand foot with one hundred horse
came to Elæa from Achaia, Diophanes being commander of all these forces;
whom, on their landing, persons, sent by Eumenes to meet them, conducted
by night to Pergamus. Veterans they all were, well skilled in war; and
their commander was a disciple of Philopœmen, the most consummate
general among the Greeks in that age. They set apart two days to give
rest to the men and horses, and, at the same time, to view the posts of
the enemy, and to learn at what places, and what times, they advanced
and retired. The king’s troops generally approached to the foot of the
hill on which the town stands; so that the plundering in the rear was
unimpeded, as not a man ever sallied out, even to throw darts from a
distance, against their guards. After that they were once driven in, and
with fear confined themselves within the walls, a contempt for them
arises among the king’s troops, and consequently negligence. The greater
number did not keep their horses either saddled or bridled; while few
remained under arms, and in the ranks; the rest, slipping away, had
scattered themselves every where over the entire plain, some diverting
themselves with youthful sports and amusements, others eating in the
shade, and some even stretched on the ground asleep. Diophanes, having
observed all these particulars from the lofty city of Pergamus, ordered
his men to take arms, and to be ready at a particular gate. He himself
went to Attalus, and told him that he intended to attack the out-posts of
the enemy. Attalus giving his consent with reluctance, as he saw that
one hundred horse must fight against six hundred, one thousand foot
against four thousand, Diophanes then marched out of the gate, and took
post at a small distance from the enemy’s guard, waiting his
opportunity. Both the people in Pergamus thought that it was madness
rather than daring, and the enemy, after observing his party for a short
time, as soon as they saw no movement among them, did not change their
usual negligence, ridiculing moreover the smallness of their number.
Diophanes for a long time kept his men quiet, as if they had been
brought out merely for the purpose of looking about them; but as soon as
he perceived that the enemy had quitted their ranks, ordering the
infantry to follow as fast as they could, he himself, with his own
troop, led the way at the head of the cavalry, and pushing on, with all
possible speed, made a sudden charge on the enemy’s party, while a shout
was raised by every horseman and footman at once. Not only were the men
so attacked terrified, but the horses also; and when they broke their
collars, they caused great confusion and tumult throughout. A few of the
horses, indeed, stood unaffrighted; but even these the troopers could
not easily saddle, or bridle, or mount; for the Achæans struck much
greater terror than would be supposed from so small a party of horse.
But now the infantry, in due order and preparation, assailed the enemy,
dispersed through their own negligence, and almost half asleep; and
slaughter and flight ensued in every part of the plain. Diophanes
pursued the runaways as far as he could with safety, and then returned
into garrison, after acquiring very great honour for the Achæan nation;
for not only the men, but also the women, had been spectators from the
walls of Pergamus.
21. Next day the enemy’s guard, in more regular and orderly condition,
pitched their camp five hundred paces farther from the city, and the
Achæans marched out at nearly the same time as before, and to the same
place. During many hours, both parties intently awaited the assault, as
if it were about to take place immediately. When it was not far from
sun-set, the usual time of their returning to the main camp, the king’s
troops, forming in close order, began to retire in a body, arranged for
a march rather than for a battle. Diophanes did not stir until they were
out of sight; and then he rushed on their rear-guard with the same
vehemence as before, and again excited such dismay and confusion, that,
though the hindmost were put to the sword, not one of them halted to
fight; they were driven into their camp in confusion, and scarcely
observing any order in their march. These daring exertions of the
Achæans obliged Seleucus to decamp, and quit the territory of Pergamus.
Antiochus, having learned that the Romans and Eumenes were come to
protect Adramyttium, made no attempt on that city, but ravaged the
country adjoining. He afterwards reduced Peræa, a colony of Mityleneans;
Cotton, Corylenus, Aphrodisias, and Crene, were all taken at the first
assault. He then returned through Thyatira to Sardis. Seleucus,
remaining on the sea-coast, was a terror to one party, a protection to
the other. The Roman fleet, with Eumenes and the Rhodians, retired,
first to Mitylene, and then to Elæa, whence they had set out. On their
way to Phocæa, they put in at an island called Bachius; it is near the
city of Phocæa; and when they had plundered the temples and statues,
which they had before spared, (for the island was surpassingly adorned
with them,) they then passed over to the city. When they, having divided
the quarters among themselves, assaulted it, and saw that it could not
be taken by arms and scaling-ladders, without regular works; after that
a reinforcement of three thousand soldiers, sent by Antiochus, had got
into the city, they immediately broke up the siege, and the fleet
retired to the island, without having effected any thing more than the
devastation of the enemy’s country in the neighbourhood.
22. It was then resolved that Eumenes should return home, and make every
necessary preparation for the passage of the consul and his army over
the Hellespont; and that the Roman and Rhodian fleets should sail back
to Samos, and remain stationed there, that Polyxenidas might not make
any movement from Ephesus. The king returned to Elæa, the Romans and
Rhodians to Samos. There, Marcus Æmilius, brother of the prætor, died.
After his obsequies were performed, the Rhodians sailed, with thirteen
of their own ships, one Coan, and one Cnidian quinquereme, to Rhodes, in
order that they might take up a position there, against a fleet which
was reported to be coming from Syria. Two days before the arrival of
Eudamus and the fleet from Samos, another fleet of thirteen ships, under
the command of Pamphilidas, had been sent out against the same Syrian
fleet; and taking with them four ships, which had been left to protect
Caria, they relieved from blockade Dædala, and several other fortresses
of Peræa, which the king’s troops were besieging. It was determined that
Eudamus should put to sea directly, and an addition of six undecked
ships was made to his fleet. He accordingly set sail; and using all
possible expedition, overtook the first squadron at a port called
Magiste, from whence they proceeded in one body to Phaselis, resolving
to wait there for the enemy.
23. Phaselis stands on the confines of Lycia and Pamphylia; it projects
far into the sea, and is the first land seen by persons coming from
Cilicia to Rhodes, and from hence ships can be seen at a great distance.
For this reason, chiefly, this place was made choice of, that they may
lie in the way of the enemy’s fleet. But in consequence of the
unwholesomeness of the place, and of the season of the year, (for it was
now the middle of summer,) and of the unusual stench, diseases began to
spread with violence, particularly among the rowers, an event which they
did not foresee. And having left the place from fear of this
pestilence, when they were sailing by the Pamphylian bay, their fleet
putting into port at the river Eurymedon, they hear from the people of
Aspendus, that the enemy are now at Sida. The king’s fleet had been the
slower in its passage, the season of the Etesiæ being opposed to them,
for this is the periodical time for the north-west winds. The Rhodians
had thirty-two quadriremes and four triremes. In the king’s fleet were
thirty-seven ships of the larger rates; among which were three of seven,
and four of six banks of oars; and besides these, ten triremes. They
discovered too, from some watch-tower, that the Rhodians were at hand.
Both fleets, at the dawn of the next day, moved out of port, as if
resolved to come to an immediate engagement; and, as soon as the
Rhodians passed the promontory that stretches into the deep from Sida,
they descried the enemy, and were observed by them. On the king’s side,
Hannibal had the command of the left squadron, which stretched away
seaward; Apollonius, one of the nobles, had the command of the right,
and they had their ships already formed in a line a-head. The Rhodians
approached in a long line. First was the admiral’s ship, with Eudamus in
it; Chariclitus brought up the rear; and Pamphilidas commanded the
centre division. When Eudamus saw the enemy’s line formed and ready for
battle, he pushed out towards the main, ordering the ships that followed
to form, regularly, as they came up, in line of battle. This caused
confusion at first; for he had not stretched out to the main far enough
for the line of all the ships to form in the direction of the land, and
he himself hurrying on with precipitation, with only five ships, engaged
with Hannibal; the rest, having received orders to form their line, did
not come up. The rear division had no room left for it next to the land;
and, while they were in disorder, the fight was already begun on the
right against Hannibal.
24. But the goodness of their ships, and the expertness of their men in
nautical business, quickly freed the Rhodians from all embarrassment.
They pushed out hastily towards the main, and each made room next the
land for the one immediately behind; and when any made a stroke with its
beak against a ship of the enemy, it either shattered its prow, or swept
off its oars; or passing by it in the clear space between the vessels,
made an attack on its stern. One of the king’s seven-banked ships being
sunk with one stroke, by a Rhodian vessel of much smaller size,
discouraged them very much. Therefore the right wing of the enemy was
now undoubtedly verging to flight. Hannibal, in the open sea, by means
chiefly of his superior number of ships, pressed hard on Eudamus, who
surpassed him in every other respect: and he would have surrounded him
were it not that, on the signal being given from the admiral’s fleet,
(by which it is usual to collect together the fleet when dispersed,) all
the ships which had conquered on the right wing came speedily to bear
aid to their own party. This made Hannibal himself, with all his
division, betake themselves to flight; while the Rhodians could not
pursue, because their rowers being most of them sick, were therefore the
sooner wearied. When they were recruiting their strength with food on
the sea where they brought to, Eudamus, observing the enemy towing, by
means of their open vessels, several damaged and crippled ships, and
seeing little more than twenty that were going off uninjured, commanded
silence from the castle of the commander’s ship, and then called out,
“Arise, and feast your eyes with an extraordinary sight.” They all
started up, and perceiving the disorderly flight of the enemy, cried
out, almost with one voice, that they ought to pursue. Eudamus’s ship
was bulged in many places; he therefore ordered Pamphilidas and
Chariclitus to pursue as far as they should think it safe. They,
accordingly, pursued for a considerable time: but after that Hannibal
make-in close to the land, fearing to be wind-bound on an enemy’s coast,
they steered back to Eudamus, and with difficulty towed to Phaselis a
captured seven-banked ship, which had been damaged in the beginning of
the engagement. They then sailed home to Rhodes, not so much exulting in
their victory as blaming one another because the entire fleet had not
been taken or sunk, when it could have been done. Hannibal, disheartened
by the loss of this one battle, did not even then dare to sail past the
coast of Lycia, though he wished to join the king’s main fleet as soon
as possible. And that this action might not be unimpeded, the Rhodians
sent Chariclitus with twenty ships of war to Patara and the harbour of
Megiste. They then ordered Eudamus, with seven of the largest vessels
belonging to the fleet which he had commanded, to rejoin the Romans at
Samos, and to endeavour by every argument, and by all his influence, to
prevail on the Romans to besiege Patara.
25. Now first of all the intelligence of the victory, and subsequently
the arrival of the Rhodians, caused great joy to the Romans, and it
appeared to them that if that anxiety was taken away from the Rhodians,
they would when at leisure render the seas of that country safe. But the
march of Antiochus from Sardis did not allow them to quit the guard of
Ionia and Æolia, lest the maritime cities should be crushed by his arms.
However, they sent Pamphilidas, with four decked ships, to join the
fleet which was at Patara. Antiochus not only collected aids from the
states that lay around, but also sent to Prusias, king of Bithynia,
ambassadors and letters, in which he inveighed against the pressing of
the Romans into Asia. “They were coming,” he said, “to abolish all
kingly governments; so that there should be no empire in any part of the
world, save that of Rome. Philip and Nabis were subdued: he was the
third object of attack. Thus the conflagration would spread, without
interruption, from one to another, as each lay nearest to the one last
ruined, until it enveloped them all. From him there was but one step to
Bithynia, now that Eumenes had submitted to voluntary servitude.” Though
Prusias was greatly affected by these observations, his mind was
relieved from all such doubts by a letter from Scipio, the consul, and
still more so by one from his brother Africanus, who, besides urging the
invariable practice of the Roman people of augmenting, by every
honourable addition, the grandeur of kings in alliance with them, by
instances taken from his own family, induced Prusias to earn their
friendship. “The petty chieftains in Spain,” he said, “who had been
received into alliance, he had left kings. Masinissa he had not only
re-established in his father’s kingdom, but had put him in possession of
that of Syphax, by whom he had been formerly dethroned: so that he was,
at the present, not only by far the most powerful of all the kings in
Africa, but equal, both in dignity and strength, to any monarch in any
part of the world. Philip and Nabis, avowed enemies, were conquered in
war by Titus Quintius; nevertheless, they were left in possession of
their kingdoms. Philip even had the tributes remitted to him last year,
and his son, who was a hostage, restored. Through the indulgence of the
Roman commanders, he had also got possession of several states beyond
the boundaries of Macedonia. As to Nabis, he might have remained in the
same honourable rank, had not first his own madness, and afterwards the
treachery of the Ætolians, brought him to ruin.” The king’s resolution
was especially confirmed after that Caius Livius, who had commanded the
fleet as prætor, came to him as ambassador from Rome, and informed him
how much better hope the Romans had of success than Antiochus; and how
much more sacred and lasting an alliance with them would be.
26. Antiochus, after he lost the hope of an alliance with Prusias, went
from Sardis to Ephesus, to review the fleet which was fitted out, and
lay there ready, for several months; rather because he saw it
impossible, with his land forces, to make any stand against the Roman
army and its commanders, the two Scipios, than that his naval force by
itself had ever been tried by him successfully, or afforded at this
juncture any great or well-grounded confidence. Yet there was an
incentive to hope on the present occasion; for he had heard that a large
portion of the Rhodian fleet was at Patara, and that king Eumenes had
gone to the Hellespont, with all his ships, to meet the consul. Besides,
the destruction of the Rhodian fleet at Samos, on an opportunity
prepared by treachery, inspired some degree of confidence. Relying on
these things, he sent Polyxenidas with orders to try, at all events, the
fortune of a naval engagement; while he himself marched his land forces
to Notium. This town, which belongs to Colophon, stands close to the
sea, and is distant about two miles from Old Colophon. He wished to get
this city into his power, because it was so near to Ephesus that nothing
could be done there, on sea or land, that was not open to the view of
the Colophonians, and, through them, instantly made known to the Romans;
and he had no doubt that the latter, having heard of the siege, would
bring their fleet from Samos to the relief of an ally, which would give
Polyxenidas an opportunity of coming to action. He therefore began to
lay regular siege to the city, making his approaches at the same time on
the two sides next the sea; in both places he joined his engines and
mounds to the wall, and brought up the rams under covered galleries. By
which dangers the Colophonians being terrified, sent envoys to Lucius
Æmilius, at Samos, imploring the protection of the prætor and people of
Rome. His lying so long inactive at Samos offended Æmilius, thinking
nothing more improbable than that Polyxenidas, whom he had twice
challenged in vain to fight, should ever offer him battle; and he
considered it as dishonourable, that the fleet of Eumenes should assist
the consul in conveying the legions into Asia, that he should be
fettered by bearing to the besieged Colophon an assistance destined to
have an uncertain end. Eudamus, the Rhodian, (who had before prevailed
upon him to stay at Samos, when he wished to go to the Hellespont,) with
all the other officers, pressed him to comply, representing “how much
more eligible it would be, either to relieve confederates from a siege,
or to vanquish that fleet which he had vanquished before, and to take
from the enemy the entire possession of the sea, than, deserting his
allies, and delivering Asia to Antiochus by land and sea, to depart from
his own part of the war to the Hellespont, when the fleet of Eumenes was
sufficient for that station.”
27. They accordingly, having set sail from Samos in quest of provisions,
their stock being consumed, were preparing to pass over to Chios. Samos
served as a granary to the Romans, and thither all the store-ships sent
from Rome directed their course. When they had sailed round from the
city to the back of the island, which looks northward towards Chios and
Erythræ, and were preparing to cross over, the prætor is informed by a
letter, that a vast quantity of corn had arrived at Chios, from Italy;
but that the vessels laden with wine were detained by storms. At the
same time accounts were received, that the people of Teos had furnished
large supplies of provisions to the king’s fleet, and had promised five
thousand vessels of wine. On this the prætor immediately changed his
course, and steered away to Teos, resolved either to make use of the
provisions prepared for the enemy, with the consent of the inhabitants,
or to treat them as foes. When they had turned their prows to the land,
about fifteen vessels appeared in sight near Myonnesus, which the prætor
at first supposed to belong to the king’s fleet, and hastened to pursue.
It appeared afterwards, that they were piratical cutters and galleys.
They, having ravaged the sea-coast of Chios, returning with booty of
every kind, betook themselves to flight when they saw the fleet on the
open sea. They had much the advantage in swiftness, their galleys being
lighter and constructed for the purpose, and were nearer the land;
therefore before the fleet could overtake them, they made their escape
to Myonnesus. And the prætor, unacquainted with the place, followed in
expectation of forcing their ships from it out of the harbour. Myonnesus
is a promontory between Teos and Samos. It consists of a hill rising
from a pretty large base to a sharp top, in the shape of an obelisk.
From the land it has access by a narrow path towards the sea, cliffs
undermined by the waves terminate it, so that in some places the
superimpending rocks project beyond the vessels that lie at anchor. The
ships not daring to approach lest they should be exposed to the weapons
of the pirates, who stood above on the cliffs, wasted the day to no
purpose. At length, after they had desisted from this useless
undertaking a little before night, they the next day reached Teos. Here
the prætor, after mooring in the port at the back of the city, which the
inhabitants call Geræsticum, sent out the soldiers to ravage the land
about the city.
28. The Teians, as these ravages passed under their eyes, sent deputies
to the Roman commander, carrying fillets, and other badges of
suppliants. And when they were exculpating their state from every
hostile act or word against the Romans, he strongly charged them with
“having assisted the enemy’s fleet with provisions, and with having
promised a quantity of wine to Polyxenidas.” He further told them, that
“if they would furnish the same supplies to the Roman fleet, he would
recall his troops from plundering; otherwise, he would treat them as
enemies.” When the deputies carried back this distressing answer, the
people were summoned to an assembly by the magistrates, to consult on
what they should do. It happened that Polyxenidas, who had sailed with
the king’s fleet from Colophon, after he heard that the Romans had left
Samos and pursued the pirates to Myonnesus, and that they were laying
waste the lands of the Teians, and that their fleet lay in the harbour
of Geræsticus, cast anchor, in a retired harbour of an island called by
the sailors Macris, opposite to Myonnesus. Then from his neighbouring
position, exploring what his enemies were doing, at first he was in
great hopes of vanquishing the Roman fleet here, in like manner as he
had vanquished the Rhodian at Samos, by besetting the narrow entrance at
the mouth of the port. Nor is the nature of the place unlike: by the
promontories advancing towards each other, the harbour is enclosed in
such a manner, that two ships can scarcely go out together. Polyxenidas
intended to seize this narrow pass in the night; and, while ten ships
stood at each of the promontories, to attack, from the right and left,
both sides of the enemy’s fleet sailing out, having landed his armed men
from the fleet, as he had done at Panormus, to overpower the Romans on
land and sea at once. And this design would not have been formed by him
in vain, had it not appeared to the Romans better for receiving the
provisions, when the Teians had promised to execute their commands, that
the fleet should pass into that harbour, which is before the city. It is
said, also, that Eudamus, the Rhodian, had pointed out the fault of the
outer harbour, when two ships broke their oars locked together in the
narrow entrance. Among other motives, this too induced the prætor to
remove his fleet, because there was danger from the land, as Antiochus
kept his camp not far from it.
29. When the fleet was brought round to the city, all being ignorant of
the approach of the enemy, both soldiers and sailors went on shore to
divide the provisions, and the wine particularly, among the ships; when,
about mid-day, a peasant happened to be brought before the prætor, who
told him, that the enemy’s fleet was lying at the island of Macris these
two days; and that, a little while ago, some of them were observed to be
in motion, as if preparing to sail. Greatly alarmed at this unexpected
event, the prætor ordered the trumpets to sound, to call in such as
might have straggled into the country, and sent the tribunes into the
city, to hasten the soldiers and sailors on board. The confusion was not
less than if the place were on fire, or taken by an enemy; some running
to call out the men; others hurrying to the ships, while the orders of
the officers were confounded by irregular shouts, amid which the
trumpets raised their din, until at length the crowd collected at the
ships. Here scarcely could each know his own ship, or make his way
through the tumult; and the disorder would probably have been productive
of much mischief, on land and sea had not Æmilius, in the commander’s
ship, sailed out first into the main; where, receiving those following,
he put each into its own place, so as to form a line abreast: and
Eudamus, with the Rhodian fleet, waited at the shore, that the men might
be embarked without confusion, and that every ship might leave the
harbour as soon as it was ready. By these means, the foremost division
formed under the eye of the prætor, while the rear was brought up by the
Rhodians; and then the whole line, in as regular order as if within
sight of the foe, advanced into the open sea. They were between
Myonnesus and the promontory of Corycus, when they first got sight of
the enemy. The king’s fleet, which was coming in a long line, with only
two vessels abreast, then formed themselves in order of battle,
stretching out their left division so far, as that it might enclose the
right of the Romans. When Eudamus, who commanded in the rear, perceived
that the Romans could not form an equal front, but were just on the
point of being surrounded, he pushed up his ships. They were Rhodians,
by far the fastest sailers of any of the fleet; and having filled up the
deficiency in the extent of the line, he opposed his own ship to the
commander’s, on board of which was Polyxenidas.
30. Now the entire fleets in every part were engaged in action. On the
side of the Romans eighty ships were fighting, of which twenty-two were
Rhodian. The enemy’s fleet consisted of eighty-nine ships, and they had
of the largest rates, three of six, and two of seven banks. In the
strength of the vessels, and valour of the soldiers, the Romans had
greatly the advantage of the king’s party, as had the Rhodians in the
activity of their vessels, the skill of the pilots, and the dexterity of
the rowers. However, those which carried fire before them were the
greatest terror to the enemy: and what was the sole cause of their
preservation when they were surrounded at Panormus, proved here the
principal means of victory. For when the king’s ships, through fear of
the fire, had turned aside, in order to avoid at the same time
encountering the enemy’s prow with their own, they could not strike
their antagonist with the beaks, but exposed the side of their ships to
his strokes; and if any did venture an encounter, it was immediately
overspread with the fire that was poured in; while the men were more
alarmed at the fire than the battle. However, the bravery of the
soldiers, as is generally the case, chiefly availed in deciding the
battle. For the Romans, having broke through the centre of the enemy’s
line, tacked about and fell upon the rear of the division which was
engaged with the Rhodians; and, in an instant of time, both Antiochus’s
centre division, and the ships on the left, were surrounded and sunk.
The squadron on the right, which was still entire, was terrified rather
by the disaster of their friends, than by any immediate danger
threatening themselves; but, when they saw the others surrounded, and
Polyxenidas’s ship deserting its associates, and sailing away, having
quickly hoisted their topsails, they betook themselves to flight, (and
they steering for Ephesus had a favourable wind,) having lost forty-two
ships in that battle; of which thirteen struck, and fell into the hands
of the Romans; the rest were burned or sunk. Two Roman ships were
shattered, and several were much damaged. One Rhodian vessel was taken
by an extraordinary casualty; for, on its striking a Sidonian ship with
its beak, its anchor, thrown out by the force of the shock, caught fast
hold of the other’s prow with its fluke, as if it were a grappling-iron
thrown in. Great confusion ensuing thereon, when the Rhodians, who
wished to disengage themselves from the enemy, pulled back, its cable
being dragged forcibly, and at the same time entangled with the oars,
swept off one side of them. The very ship, which, when struck, had
grappled with it, took the Rhodian galley in its weakened state. The
naval battle at Myonnesus was fought principally in this manner.