[Sidenote: 149th Olympiad, B.C. 184-180.]
[Sidenote: Coss. P. Claudius Pulcher, L. Porcius Licinus, B.C. 184.]
+1.+ In the 149th Olympiad a greater number of embassies came to
Rome from Greece than were almost ever seen before. For as Philip
was compelled by treaty to submit disputes with his neighbours to
arbitration, and as it was known that the Romans were willing to
receive accusations against Philip, and would secure the safety of
those who had controversies with him, all who lived near the frontier
of Macedonia came to Rome, some in their private capacity, some from
cities, others from whole tribes, with complaints against Philip. At
the same time also came ambassadors from Eumenes, accompanied by his
brother Athenaeus, to accuse Philip in regard to the Thracian cities
and the aid sent to Prusias. Philip’s son, Demetrius, also came to
make answer to all these various envoys, accompanied by Apelles and
Philocles, who were at that time considered the king’s first friends.
Ambassadors also came from Sparta, representatives of each faction of
the citizens.
[Sidenote: B.C. 183, Coss. M. Claudius Marcellus, Q. Fabius Labeo.]
The first summoned to the Senate was Athenaeus, from whom the Senate
accepted the compliments of fifteen thousand gold pieces, and passed
a decree highly extolling Eumenes and his brothers for their answer,
and exhorting them to continue in the same mind. Next the praetors
called upon all the accusers of Philip, and brought them forward by one
embassy at a time. But as they were numerous, and their entry occupied
three days, the Senate became embarrassed as to the settlement to be
made in each case. For from Thessaly there were ambassadors from the
whole nation, and also from each city separately; so also from the
Perrhaebians, Athamanians, Epirotes, and Illyrians. And of these some
brought cases of dispute as to territory, slaves, or cattle; and some
about contracts or injuries sustained by themselves. Some alleged
that they could not get their rights in accordance with the treaty,
because Philip prevented the administration of justice; while others
impeached the justice of the decisions given, on the ground that Philip
had corrupted the arbitrators. And, in fact, there was an inextricable
confusion and multiplicity of charges.
[Sidenote: Demetrius in the Senate. Livy, 39, 47.]
+2.+ In such a state of things the Senate felt unable to come to a
clear decision itself, and did not think it fair that Demetrius should
have to answer each of the several indictments; for it regarded him
with great favour, and saw at the same time that his extreme youth
unfitted him to cope with business of such intricacy and complexity.
Besides, what it desired most was not to hear speeches of Demetrius,
but to ascertain with certainty the disposition of Philip. Excusing him
therefore from pleading his cause, the Senate asked the young man and
his friends whether they were the bearers of any written memoir from
the king; and upon Demetrius answering that he was, and holding out a
paper of no great size, the Senate bade him give a summary of what the
paper contained in answer to the accusations alleged. It amounted to
this, that on each point Philip asserted that he had carried out the
injunctions of the Senate, or, if he had not done so, laid the blame
upon his accusers; while to the greater number of his declarations he
had added the words, “though the commissioners with Caecilius were
unfair to me in this point,” or again, “though I am unjustly treated in
this respect.” Such being Philip’s mind, as expressed in the several
clauses of the paper, the Senate, after hearing the ambassadors who
were come to Rome, comprehended them all under one measure. By the
mouth of the praetor it offered an honourable and cordial reception to
Demetrius, expressed in ample and emphatic language, and answered his
speech by saying that “The Senate fully believe that on all the points
mentioned by Demetrius, or read by him from his paper of instructions,
full justice was already done or would be done. But, in order that
Philip might be made aware that the Senate paid this honour to
Demetrius, ambassadors would be sent to see that everything was being
done in accordance with the will of the Senate, and at the same time to
inform the king that he owed this grace to his son Demetrius.” Such was
the arrangement come to on this part of the business.
[Sidenote: The ambassadors of Eumenes complain that Philip has not
evacuated Thrace.]
+3.+ The next to enter the Senate were the ambassadors of king Eumenes,
who denounced Philip on account of the assistance sent to Prusias, and
concerning his actions in Thrace, alleging that even at that moment he
had not withdrawn his garrisons from the cities. But upon Philocles
showing his wish to offer a defence on these points, as having been
formerly charged with a mission to Prusias, and being now sent to
the Senate to represent Philip on this business, the Senate, without
listening very long to his speech, answered that “With regard to
Thrace, unless the legates found everything there settled in accordance
with its will, and all the cities restored to the entire control of
Eumenes, the Senate would be unable any longer to allow it to pass, or
to submit to being continually disobeyed.”
[Sidenote: The high honour paid to Demetrius at Rome, and its fatal
result.]
Though the ill-feeling between the Romans and Philip was becoming
serious, a check was put to it for the time by the presence of
Demetrius. And yet this young prince’s mission to Rome proved
eventually no slight link in the chain of events which led to the final
ruin of his house. For the Senate, by thus making much of Demetrius,
somewhat turned the young man’s head, and at the same time gravely
annoyed Perseus and the king, by making them feel that the kindness
they received from the Romans was not for their own sakes, but for
that of Demetrius. And T. Quintius Flamininus contributed not a little
to the same result by taking the young prince aside and communicating
with him in confidence. For he flattered him by suggesting that the
Romans meant before long to invest him with the kingdom; while he
irritated Philip and Perseus by sending a letter ordering the king
to send Demetrius to Rome again, with as many friends of the highest
character as possible. It was, in fact, by taking advantage of these
circumstances that Perseus shortly afterwards induced his father to
consent to the death of Demetrius. But I shall relate that event in
detail later on.
[Sidenote: The four Spartan embassies. 1. Lysis, for the men banished
by Nabis. 2. Areus and Alcibiades.]
[Sidenote: 3. Serippus.]
[Sidenote: 4. Chaeron, for the recent exiles.]
[Sidenote: Decision of the IIIviri.]
+4.+ The next ambassadors called in were the Lacedaemonians. Of these
there were four distinct factions. Lysis and his colleagues represented
the old exiles, and their contention was that they ought to have back
the possessions from which they had originally been driven. Areus
and Alcibiades, on the contrary, contended that they should receive
the value of a talent from their original property, and divide the
rest among deserving citizens. Serippus pleaded that things should
be left in exactly the state in which they were when they formerly
belonged to the Achaean league. Lastly, Chaeron and his colleagues
represented those who had been condemned to death or exile by the
votes of the Achaean league, and demanded their own recall and the
restoration of the constitution. These all delivered speeches against
the Achaeans in conformity with their several objects. The Senate,
finding itself unable to come to a clear decision on these particular
controversies, appointed a committee of investigation, consisting
of the three who had already been on a mission to the Peloponnese
on these matters, namely Titus Flamininus, Q. Caecilius, and Appius
Claudius Pulcher.[124] After long discussions before this committee
it was unanimously decided that the exiles and the condemned were to
be recalled, and that the city should remain a member of the Achaean
league. But as to the property, whether the exiles were each to select
a talent’s worth from what had been theirs [or to receive it all back],
on this point they continued to dispute. That they might not, however,
have to begin the whole controversy afresh [the committee] caused the
points agreed upon to be reduced to writing, to which all affixed
their seals. But the committee, also wishing to include the Achaeans
in the agreement, called in Xenarchus and his colleagues, who were at
that time on a mission from the Achaeans, to renew their alliance with
Rome, and at the same time to give an eye to their controversy with
the Lacedaemonians. These men, being unexpectedly asked whether they
consented to the terms contained in the written document, were somewhat
at a loss what to answer. For they did not approve of the restoration
of the exiles and the condemned persons, as being contrary to the
decree of the league, and the contents of the tablet on which that
decree was engraved; and yet they approved of the document as a whole,
because it contained the clause providing that Sparta should remain a
member of the league. Finally, however, partly from this difficulty,
and partly from awe of the Roman commissioners, they affixed their
seal. The Senate, therefore, selected Quintus Marcius to go as legate
to settle the affairs of Macedonia and the Peloponnese....
[Sidenote: Deinocrates of Messene.]
+5.+ When Deinocrates of Messene arrived on a mission at Rome, he was
delighted to find that Titus Flamininus had been appointed by the
Senate to go as ambassador to Prusias and Seleucus. For having been
very intimate with Titus during the Lacedaemonian war, he thought that
this friendship, combined with his disagreements with Philopoemen,
would induce him on his arrival in Greece to settle the affairs
of Messene in accordance with his own views. He therefore gave up
everything else to attach himself exclusively to Titus, on whom he
rested all his hopes....
This same Deinocrates was a courtier and a soldier by nature as well
as habit, but he assumed the air of consummate statesmanship. His
parts, however, were showy rather than solid. In war his fertility
of resource and boldness were beyond the common run; and he shone in
feats of personal bravery. Nor were these his only accomplishments: he
was attractive and ready in conversation, versatile and courteous in
society. But at the same time he was devoted to licentious intrigue,
and in public affairs and questions of policy was quite incapable of
sustained attention or far-sighted views, of fortifying himself with
well-considered arguments, or putting them before the public. On this
occasion, for instance, though he had really given the initiative to
grave misfortunes, he did not think that he was doing anything of
importance; but followed his usual manner of life, quite regardless
of the future, indulging day after day in amours, wine, and song.
Flamininus, however, did once force him to catch a glimpse of the
seriousness of his position. For seeing him on a certain occasion in
a party of revellers dancing in long robes, he said nothing at the
time; but next morning, being visited by him with some request in
behalf of his country, he said: “I will do my best, Deinocrates; but
it does astonish me that you can drink and dance after having given
the start to such serious troubles for Greece.” He appears, indeed,
at that to have a little recovered his soberer senses, and to have
understood what an improper display he had been making of his tastes
and habits. However, he arrived at this period in Greece in company
with Flamininus, fully persuaded that the affairs of Messene would
be settled at a blow in accordance with his views. But Philopoemen
and his party were fully aware that Flamininus had no commission from
the Senate in regard to affairs in Greece; they therefore awaited
his arrival without taking any step of any sort. Having landed at
Naupactus, Flamininus addressed a despatch to the Strategus and
Demiurgi[125] bidding them summon the Achaeans to an assembly; to
which they wrote back that “they would do so, if he would write them
word what the subjects were on which he wished to confer with the
Achaeans; for the laws enjoined that limitation on the magistrates.”
As Flamininus did not venture to write this, the hopes of Deinocrates
and the so-called “old exiles,” but who had at that time been recently
banished from Sparta, came to nothing, as in fact did the visit of
Flamininus and the plans which he had formed....
[Sidenote: See 4, 35.]
+6.+ About the same period some ambassadors were sent by the exiled
citizens of Sparta to Rome, among whom was Arcesilaus and Agesipolis
who, when quite a boy, had been made king in Sparta. These two men
were fallen upon and killed by pirates on the high seas; but their
colleagues arrived safely at Rome....
[Sidenote: The popularity of Demetrius in Macedonia. His father’s anger
and his brother’s jealousy.]
+7.+ On the return of Demetrius from Rome, bringing with him the formal
reply, in which the Romans referred all the favour and confidence
which they avowed to their regard for Demetrius, saying that all they
had done or would do was for his sake,—the Macedonians gave Demetrius
a cordial reception, believing that they were relieved from all fear
and danger: for they had looked upon war with Rome as all but at their
doors, owing to the provocations given by Philip. But Philip and
Perseus were far from pleased, and were much offended at the idea of
the Romans taking no account of them, and referring all their favour
to Demetrius. Philip however concealed his displeasure; but Perseus,
who was not only behind his brother in good feelings to Rome, but much
his inferior in other respects, both in natural ability and acquired
accomplishments, made no secret of his anger: and was beginning to be
thoroughly alarmed as to his succession to the crown, and lest, in
spite of being the elder, he should be excluded. Therefore he commenced
by bribing the friends of Demetrius....
_The end of this fraternal jealousy is described in Livy, 40, 5-24.
By a forged letter purporting to come from Flamininus, Philip is
persuaded that his son played the traitor at Rome and gives an order
or a permission for his being put to death; which is accordingly done,
partly by poison and partly by violence, at Heracleia_, B.C. 181.
[Sidenote: Philip feigns submission to Rome, B.C. 183.]
[Sidenote: The plain of the Hebrus.]
+8.+ Upon Quintus Marcius arriving on his mission in Macedonia,
Philip evacuated the Greek cities in Thrace entirely and withdrew his
garrisons, though in deep anger and heaviness of spirit; and he put
on a right footing everything else to which the Roman injunctions
referred, wishing to give them no indication of his estrangement, but
to secure time for making his preparations for war. In pursuance of
this design he led out an army against the barbarians, and marching
through the centre of Thrace he invaded the Odrysae, Bessi, and
Dentheleti. Coming to Philippopolis, the inhabitants flying for
safety to the heights, he took it without a blow. And thence, after
traversing the plain, and sacking some of the villages, and exacting a
pledge of submission from others, he returned home, leaving a garrison
in Philippopolis, which was after a time expelled by the Odrysae in
defiance of their pledge of fidelity to Philip....
[Sidenote: After midsummer of B. C. 183.]
[Sidenote: February, B.C. 182.]
+9.+ In the second year of this Olympiad, on the arrival of ambassadors
from Eumenes, Pharnaces, and the Achaean league, and also from the
Lacedaemonians who had been banished from Sparta,[126] and from those
who were in actual possession of it, the Senate despatched their
business. But there came after them a mission from Rhodes in regard to
the disaster at Sinope; to whom the Senate replied that it would send
legates to investigate the case of the Sinopeans and their grievances
against those kings. And Quintus Marcius having recently arrived from
Greece and made his report on the state of affairs in Macedonia and
the Peloponnese, the Senate did not require to hear much more; but
having called in the envoys from the Peloponnese and Macedonia they
listened indeed to what they had to say, but founded its reply, without
any reference to their speeches, wholly on the report of Marcius, in
which he had stated, in reference to king Philip, that he had indeed
done all that was enjoined on him, but with great reluctance; and
that, if he got an opportunity, he would go all lengths against the
Romans. The Senate accordingly composed a reply to the king’s envoys
in which, while praising Philip for what he had done, they warned him
for the future to be careful not to be found acting in opposition to
the Romans. As to the Peloponnese, Marcius had reported that, as the
Achaeans were unwilling to refer any matter whatever to the Senate,
but were haughtily inclined and desirous of managing all their affairs
themselves, if the Senate would only reject their present application
and give ever so slight an indication of displeasure, Sparta would
promptly come to an understanding with Messene; and then the Achaeans
would be glad enough to appeal to the protection of Rome. In
consequence of this report they answered the Lacedaemonian Serippus and
his colleagues, wishing to leave this city in a state of suspense, that
they had done their best for them, but that for the present they did
not think this matter concerned them. But when the Achaeans besought
for help against the Messenians[127] in virtue of their alliance with
Rome, or at least that they would take precautions to prevent any
arms or corn from being brought from Italy into Messene, the Senate
refused compliance with either request and answered that the Achaeans
ought not to be surprised if Sparta or Corinth or Argos renounced
their league, if they would not conduct their hegemony in accordance
with the Senate’s views. This answer the Senate made public, as a
kind of proclamation that any people who chose might break off from
the Achaeans for all the Romans cared; and they further retained the
ambassadors in Rome, waiting to see the issue of the quarrel between
the Achaeans and Messenians....
[Sidenote: The conflict of feelings in Philip’s mind.]
[Sidenote: See 5, 9.]
+10.+ In this period a certain dreadful foreshadowing of misfortune
fell upon king Philip and the whole of Macedonia, of a kind well worthy
of close attention and record. As though Fortune had resolved to exact
from him at once the penalties for all the impieties and crimes which
he had committed in the whole course of his life, she now visited
him with furies, those deities of retribution, those powers that had
listened to the prayers of the victims of his cruelties, who, haunting
him day and night, so plagued him to the last day of his life, that
all the world was forced to acknowledge the truth of the proverb, that
“Justice has an eye” which mere men should never despise. The first
idea suggested to him by this evil power was that, as he was about
to go to war with Rome, he had better remove from the most important
cities, and those along the sea-coast, the leading citizens, with
their wives and children, and place them in Emathia, formerly called
Paeonia, and fill up the cities with Thracians and other barbarians,
as likely to be more securely loyal to him in the coming hour of
danger. The actual carrying out of this measure, and the uprooting of
these men and their families, caused such an outburst of grief, and so
violent an outcry, that one might have supposed the whole district to
have been taken by the sword. Curses and appeals to heaven were rained
upon the head of the king without any further attempt at concealment.
His next step, prompted by the wish to leave no element of hostility
or disaffection in the kingdom, was to write to the governors of the
several cities ordering them to search out the sons and daughters of
such Macedonians as had been put to death by him, and place them in
ward; in which he referred especially to Admetus, Pyrrhicus, and Samus,
and those who had perished with them: but he also included all others
whosoever that had been put to death by order of the king, quoting this
verse, we are told:—[128]
“Oh fool! to slay the sire and leave the sons.”
Most of these men being persons of distinguished families, their fate
made a great noise and excited universal pity. But Fortune had a third
act in this bloody drama in reserve for Philip, in which the young
princes plotted against each other; and their quarrels being referred
to him, he was forced to choose between becoming the murderer of
his sons and living the rest of his life in dread of being murdered
by them in his old age; and to decide which of the two he had the
greater reason to fear. Tortured day and night by these anxieties,
the miseries and perturbations of his spirit lead to the inevitable
reflection that the wrath of heaven fell upon his old age for the sins
of his previous life: which will be rendered still more evident by what
remains to be told.... Just when his soul was stung to madness by these
circumstances, the quarrel between his sons blazed out: Fortune, as it
were of set purpose, bringing their misfortunes upon the scene all at
one time....
[Sidenote: Fragment referring to the military sham fight in which
Perseus and Demetrius quarrelled, B. C. 182. See Livy, 40, 6.] The
Macedonians make offerings to Xanthus as a hero, and perform a
purification of the army with horses fully equipped....
[Sidenote: Part of a speech of Philip to his two sons after the quarrel
at the manœuvres. See Livy, 40, 8.]
+11.+ “One should not merely read tragedies, tales, and histories, but
should understand and ponder over them. In all of them one may learn
that whenever brothers fall out and allow their quarrel to go any
great length, they invariably end not only by destroying themselves
but in the utter ruin of their property, children, and cities; while
those who keep their self-love within reasonable bounds, and put up
with each other’s weaknesses, are the preservers of these, and live in
the fairest reputation and fame. I have often directed your attention
to the kings in Sparta, telling you that they preserved the hegemony
in Greece for their country just so long as they obeyed the ephors,
as though they were their parents, and were content to reign jointly.
But directly they in their folly tried to change the government to
a monarchy, they caused Sparta to experience every misery possible.
Finally, I have pointed out to you as an example the case of Eumenes
and Attalus; showing you that, though they succeeded to but a small
and insignificant realm, they have raised it to a level with the best,
simply by the harmony and unity of sentiment, and mutual respect which
they maintained towards each other. But so far from taking my words to
heart, you are, as it seems to me, whetting your angry passions against
each other....”
THE FALL OF PHILOPOEMEN
[Sidenote: The death of Philopoemen, B. C. 183, or perhaps early in B.
C. 182.]
+12.+ Philopoemen rose[129] and proceeded on his way, though he was
oppressed at once by illness and the weight of years, being now in the
seventieth year of his age. Conquering his weakness, however, by the
force of his previous habits he reached Megalopolis, from Argos, in one
day’s journey....
[Sidenote: Philopoemen was murdered by the Messenians, who had
abandoned the league and were at war with it. See Livy, 39, 49-50.]
He was captured, when Achaean Strategus, by the Messenians and
poisoned. Thus, though second to none that ever lived before him in
excellence, his fortune was less happy; yet in his previous life he
seemed ever to have enjoyed her favour and assistance. But it was,
I suppose, a case of the common proverb, “a man may have a stroke
of luck, but no man can be lucky always.” We must, therefore, call
our predecessors fortunate, without pretending that they were so
invariably—for what need is there to flatter Fortune by a meaningless
and false compliment? It is those who have enjoyed Fortune’s smiles in
their life for the longest time, and who, when she changes her mind,
meet with only moderate mishaps, that we must speak of as fortunate....
[Sidenote: Character of Philopoemen. He is succeeded by Lycortas as
Strategus.]
Philopoemen was succeeded by Lycortas,[130] ... and though he had
spent forty years of an active career in a state at once democratic
and composed of many various elements, he had entirely avoided giving
rise to the jealousy of the citizens in any direction: and yet he had
not flattered their inclinations, but for the most part had used great
freedom of speech, which is a case of very rare occurrence....
[Sidenote: Character of Hannibal, who poisoned himself at the court of
Prusias, B. C. 183. See Livy, 39, 1.]
+13.+ An admirable feature in Hannibal’s character, and the strongest
proof of his having been a born ruler of men, and having possessed
statesmanlike qualities of an unusual kind, is that, though he was for
seventeen years engaged in actual warfare, and though he had to make
his way through numerous barbaric tribes, and to employ innumerable men
of different nationalities in what appeared desperate and hazardous
enterprises, he was never made the object of a conspiracy by any
of them, nor deserted by any of those who had joined him and put
themselves under his command....
[Sidenote: Character of P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus, whose death
Polybius places in this year, but according to Livy wrongly, who
assigns it to the previous year (39, 52.)]
+14.+ Publius Scipio, in the course of an active career in an
aristocratic state, secured such popularity with the multitude and
such credit with the Senate, that when some one took upon himself to
bring him to trial before the people in the manner usual at Rome, and
produced many bitter accusations against him, he came forward and
said nothing but that “It ill became the Roman people to listen to
accusations against P. Cornelius Scipio, to whom his accusers owed
it that they had the power of speech at all.” At this the populace
dispersed, and quitting the assembly, left the accuser alone.... Once
when there was a sum of money required in the Senate for some pressing
business, and the quaestor, on the ground of a legal difficulty,
refused to open the treasury on that particular day, Scipio said that
“he would take the keys himself and open it; for he was the cause of
the treasury being locked at all.” And again, when some one in the
Senate demanded an account of the money which he had received from
Antiochus before the treaty for the pay of his army, he said that
he had the ledger, but that he ought not to be called to account by
any one. But on his questioner persisting, and urging him to produce
it, he bade his brother bring it. When the schedule was brought, he
held it out in front of him, and tearing it to pieces in the sight of
everybody bade the man who asked for it seek it out of these fragments,
and he demanded of the rest “How they could ask for the items of the
expenditure of these three thousand talents, and yet no longer ask for
an account of how and by whose agency the fifteen thousand talents
which they received from Antiochus came into the treasury, nor how it
is that they have become masters of Asia, Libya, and Iberia?” This
speech not only made a strong impression on the rest, but also reduced
the man who demanded the account to silence.
These anecdotes have been related by me for the double purpose
of enhancing the fame of the departed, and of encouraging future
generations in the paths of honour....
+15.+ For my part, I never concur with those who indulge their anger
against men of their own blood to the length of not only depriving
them of the year’s harvest when at war with them, but even of cutting
down their trees and destroying their buildings, and of leaving them
no opportunity for repentance. Such proceedings seem to me to be rank
folly. For, while they imagine that they are dismaying the enemy by the
devastation of their territory, and the deprivation of their future as
well as their present means of getting the necessaries of life, they
are all the while exasperating the men, and converting an isolated
ebullition of anger into a lasting hatred....
[Sidenote: Lycortas, the successor of Philopoemen, compels the
Messenians to sue for peace, B.C. 183-182.]
[Sidenote: Summer B.C. 182.]
+16.+ Lycortas the Achaean Strategus crushed the spirits of the
Messenians in the war. Up to this time the populace at Messene had
been afraid of their magistrates; but now at length, relying on the
protection of the enemy, some of them plucked up courage to break
silence and to say that the time was come to send an embassy to
negotiate a peace. Deinocrates and his colleagues, being no longer
able to face the people under this storm of popular odium, yielded to
circumstances and retired to their own houses. Thereupon the people,
acting under the advice of the older men, and especially under that
of Epaenetus and Apollodorus, the ambassadors from Boeotia,—who,
having arrived some time before to negotiate a peace, happened
fortunately to be at that time at Messene,—appointed and despatched
envoys, begging forgiveness for their transgressions. The Achaean
Strategus, having summoned his colleagues[131] to council, and given
the envoys a hearing, answered that “There was but one way in which
the Messenians could reconcile themselves to the league, and that
was by at once surrendering to him the authors of the revolt and of
the murder of Philopoemen, leave the rest to the authority of the
league assembly, and at once receive a garrison into their citadel.”
When this message was announced to the Messenian populace, those who
had long been bitterly opposed to the authors of the war were ready
enough to surrender them and to arrest them; while the rest, being
persuaded that they would not be severely dealt with by the Achaeans,
readily consented to submit the general question to the decision of
the assembly. But what chiefly induced them to unanimously accept
the proposal was, that they in fact had no choice in the matter. The
Strategus accordingly at once took over the citadel and marched his
peltasts into it; and then, taking some picked troops with him, entered
the city; and having summoned a meeting of the people, addressed them
in terms befitting the occasion, promising that “they would never have
reason to repent having committed themselves to the honour of the
Achaeans.” The general question of what was to be done he thus referred
to the league,—for it happened conveniently that the Achaeans were just
then reassembling at Megalopolis for the second Congress,[132]—but of
those who were guilty of the disturbances, he ordered all such as were
actually implicated in the summary execution of Philopoemen to put an
end to their own lives....
[Sidenote: Abia, Thuria, and Pharae make a separate league.]
+17.+ The Messenians were reduced by their own folly to the brink of
ruin, but were restored to their former position in the league by
the magnanimity of Lycortas and the Achaeans. But the towns of Abia,
Thuria, and Pharae during these transactions abandoned their connection
with Messene, and, setting up a pillar engraved with a treaty of
alliance between themselves, formed a separate league. When the Romans
were informed that the Messenian war had turned out successfully for
the Achaeans, without taking any account of their previous declaration
they gave a different answer to the same ambassadors, asserting that
they had taken measures to prevent any one from conveying arms or
corn from Italy into Messene. By this they showed clearly that, so
far from avoiding or disregarding the affairs of foreign nations not
directly concerning themselves, they were, on the contrary, annoyed at
everything not being referred to them and carried out in accordance
with their opinion.
[Sidenote: Achaean meeting at Sicyon.]
When the ambassadors arrived in Sparta with their answer, the Achaean
Strategus as soon as he had settled the Messenian business, summoned a
congress at Sicyon, and on its assembling, proposed a resolution for
the reception of Sparta into the league, alleging that “The Romans had
declined the arbitration which had previously been offered to them in
regard to this city,—for they had answered that they had now no concern
with any of the affairs of Sparta. Those, however, at present in power
at Sparta were desirous of being admitted to the privileges of the
league. Therefore he advised that they should admit the town; for this
would be advantageous in two ways: first, because they would be thus
admitting men who had remained unshaken in their loyalty to the league;
and secondly, because they would not be admitting those of the old
exiles, who had behaved with ingratitude and impiety towards them, to
any share of their privileges; but by confirming the measures of those
who had excluded them, would at the same time be showing, with God’s
help, due gratitude to the latter.” With these words Lycortas exhorted
the Achaeans to receive the city of Sparta into the league. But
Diophanes and some others attempted to put in a word for the exiles,
and urged the Achaeans “Not to join in pressing heavily upon these
banished men; and not to be influenced by a mere handful of men to
strengthen the hands of those who had impiously and lawlessly expelled
them from their country.”
[Sidenote: Sparta admitted to the league.]
+18.+ Such were the arguments employed on either side. The Achaeans,
after listening to both, decided to admit the city, and accordingly the
agreement was engraved on a tablet, and Sparta became a member of the
Achaean league: the existing citizens having agreed to admit such of
the old exiles as were not considered to have acted in a hostile spirit
against the Achaeans. After confirming this arrangement the Achaeans
sent Bippus of Argos and others as ambassadors to Rome, to explain to
the Senate what had been done in the matter. The Lacedaemonians also
sent Chaeron and others; while the exiles too sent a mission led by
Cletis Diactorius[133] to oppose the Achaean ambassadors in the Senate.