The History of Rome Volume III Part 16

16. With a very inferior portion of spirit, Antiochus now pitched his camp within the enclosures of this pa.s.s, the difficulties of which he increased by raising fortifications; and when he had completely strengthened every part with a double rampart and trench, and, wherever it seemed requisite, with a wall formed of the stones which lay scattered about in abundance, being very confident that the Roman army would never attempt to force a pa.s.sage there, he sent away one half of the four thousand Aetolians, the number that had joined him, to garrison Heraclea, which stood opposite the entrance of the defile, and the other half to Hypata; for he concluded, that the consul would undoubtedly attack Heraclea, and he received accounts from many hands, that all the districts round Hypata were being laid waste. The consul, after ravaging the lands of Hypata first, and then those of Heraclea, in both which places the Aetolian detachments proved useless, encamped opposite to the king, in the very entrance of the pa.s.s, near the warm springs; both parties of the Aetolians shutting themselves up in Heraclea. Antiochus, who, before he saw the enemy, thought every spot perfectly well fortified, and secured by guards, now began to apprehend, that the Romans might discover some paths among the hills above, through which they could make their way; for he had heard that the Lacedaemonians formerly had been surrounded in that manner by the Persians, and Philip, lately, by the Romans themselves. He therefore despatched a messenger to the Aetolians at Heraclea, desiring them to afford him so much a.s.sistance, at least in the war, as to seize and secure the tops of the hills, so that the Romans might not be able to pa.s.s them at any part. When this message was received, a dissension arose among the Aetolians: some insisted that they ought to obey the king's orders, and go; others, that they ought to lie still at Heraclea, and wait the issue, whatever it might be; for if the king should be defeated by the consul, their forces would be fresh, and in readiness to carry succour to their own states in the neighbourhood; and if he were victorious, they could pursue the Romans, while scattered in their flight. Each party not only adhered positively to its own plan, but even carried it into execution; two thousand lay still at Heraclea; and two thousand, divided into three parties, took possession of the summits called Callidromus, Rhoduntia, and Tichiuns.

17. When the consul saw that the heights were possessed by the Aetolians, he sent against those posts two men of consular rank, who acted as lieutenant-generals, with two thousand chosen troops;--Lucius Valerius Flaccus against Rhoduntia and Tichiuns, and Marcus Porcius Cato against Callidromus. Then, before he led on his forces against the enemy, he called them to an a.s.sembly, and thus briefly addressed them: "Soldiers, I see that the greater part of you who were present, of all ranks, are men who served in this same province, under the conduct and auspices of t.i.tus Quinctius. Now, in the Macedonian war, the pa.s.s at the river Aous was much more difficult than this before us. For this is only a gate, a single pa.s.sage, formed as it were by nature; every other in the whole tract, between the two seas, being impa.s.sable. In the former case, there were stronger fortifications, and placed in more advantageous situations. The enemy's army was both more numerous, and composed of very superior men; for they were Macedonians, Thracians, and Illyrians,--all nations of the fiercest spirit; your present opponents are Syrians, and Asiatic Greeks, the most unsteady of men, and born for slavery. The commander, there, was a king of extraordinary warlike abilities, improved by practice from his early youth, in wars against his neighbours, the Thracians and Illyrians, and all the adjoining nations. But this man is one who (to say nothing of his former life) after coming over from Asia into Europe to make war on the Roman people, has, during the whole length of the winter, accomplished no more memorable exploit, than the taking a wife, for pa.s.sion's sake, out of a private house, and a family obscure even among its neighbours; and now as a newly married man, surfeited as it were with nuptial feasts, comes out to fight. His chief reliance and strength was in the Aetolians,--a nation of all others the most faithless and ungrateful, as you have formerly experienced, and as Antiochus now experiences; for they neither joined him with numbers, nor could they be kept in the camp; and, besides, they are now in a state of dissension among themselves. Although they requested permission to defend Hypata and Heraclea, yet they defended neither; but one half of them fled to the tops of the mountains, while the others shut themselves up in Heraclea. The king himself, plainly confessing that, so far from daring to meet us in battle on the level plain, he durst not even encamp in open ground, has abandoned all that tract in front, which he boasted of having taken from us and Philip, and has hid himself behind the rocks; not even appearing in the opening of the pa.s.s, as it is said the Lacedaemonians did formerly, but drawing back his camp completely within it. What difference is there, as a demonstration of fear, between this and his shutting himself up within the walls of a city to stand a siege? But neither shall the straits protect Antiochus, nor the hills which they have seized, the Aetolians. Sufficient care and precaution have been used on every quarter, that you shall have nothing to contend with in the fight but the enemy himself. On your parts, you have to consider, that you are not fighting merely for the liberty of Greece; although, were that all, it would be an achievement highly meritorious to deliver that country now from Antiochus and the Aetolians, which you formerly delivered from Philip; and that the wealth in the king's camp will not be the whole prize of your labour; but that the great collection of stores, daily expected from Ephesus, will likewise become your prey; and also, that you will open a way for the Roman power into Asia and Syria, and all the most opulent realms to the extremity of the East.

What then must be the consequence, but that, from Gades to the Red Sea, we shall have no limit but the ocean, which encircles in its embrace the whole orb of the earth; and that all mankind shall regard the Roman name with a degree of veneration next to that which they pay to the divinities? For the attainment of prizes of such magnitude, prepare a spirit adequate to the occasion, that, to-morrow, with the aid of the G.o.ds, we may decide the matter in the field."

18. After this discourse he dismissed the soldiers, who, before they went to their repast, got ready their armour and weapons. At the first dawn, the signal of battle being displayed, the consul formed his troops with a narrow front, adapted to the nature and the straitness of the ground. When the king saw the enemy's standards in motion, he likewise drew out his forces. He placed in the van, before the rampart, a part of his light infantry; and behind them, as a support, close to the fortifications, the main strength of his Macedonians, whom they call Sarissophori. On the left wing of these, at the foot of the mountain, he posted a body of javelin-bearers, archers, and slingers; that from the higher ground they might annoy the naked flank of the enemy: and on the right of the Macedonians, to the extremity of the works, where the deep mora.s.ses and quicksands, stretching thence to the sea, render the place impa.s.sable, the elephants with their usual guard; in the rear of them, the cavalry; and then, with a moderate interval between, the rest of his forces as a second line.

The Macedonians, posted before the rampart, for some time easily withstood the efforts which the Romans made every where to force a pa.s.sage; for they received great a.s.sistance from those who poured down from the higher ground a shower of leaden b.a.l.l.s from their slings, and of arrows, and javelins, all together. But afterwards, the enemy pressing on with greater and now irresistible force, they were obliged to give ground, and, filing off from the rear, retire within the fortification. Here, by extending their spears before them, they formed as it were a second rampart, for the rampart itself was of such a moderate height that, while it afforded to its defenders a higher situation, they at the same time, by the length of their spears, had the enemy within reach underneath. Many, inconsiderately approaching the work, were run through the body; and they must either have abandoned the attempt and retreated, or have lost very great numbers, had not Marcus Porcius come from the summit of Callidromus, whence he had dislodged the Aetolians, after killing the greater part of them.

These he had surprised, quite unprepared, and mostly asleep, and now he appeared on the hill which overlooked the camp.

19. Flaccus had not met the same good fortune at Tichiuns and Rhoduntia; having failed in his attempts to approach those fastnesses.

The Macedonians, and others, in the king's camp, as long as, on account of the distance, they could distinguish nothing more than a body of men in motion, thought they were the Aetolians, who, on seeing the fight, were coming to their aid. But when, on a nearer view, they knew the standards and arms, and thence discovered their mistake, they were all instantly seized with such a panic, that they threw down their arms and fled. Both the fortifications r.e.t.a.r.ded the pursuers, and the narrowness of the valley through which the troops had to pa.s.s; and, above all, the circ.u.mstance that the elephants were on the rear of the enemy. These the infantry could with difficulty pa.s.s, and the cavalry could by no means do so, their horses being so frightened, that they threw one another into greater confusion than when in battle. The plundering of the camp also caused a considerable delay.

But, notwithstanding all this, the Romans pursued the enemy that day as far as Scarphea, killing and taking on the way great numbers both of men and horses, and also killing such of the elephants as they could not capture; and then they returned to their camp. This had been attacked, during the time of the action, by the Aetolians who were occupying Heraclea as a garrison, but the enterprise, which certainly showed no want of boldness, was not attended with any success. The consul, at the third watch of the following night, sent forward his cavalry in pursuit of the enemy; and, as soon as day appeared, set out at the head of the legions. The king had got far before him, as he did not halt in his precipitate flight until he came to Elatia. There having collected the survivors of the battle and the retreat, he, with a very small body of half-armed men, betook himself to Chalcis. The Roman cavalry did not overtake the king himself at Elatia; but they cut off a great part of his soldiers, who either halted through weariness, or wandered out of the way through mistake, as they fled without guides through unknown roads; so that, out of the whole army, not one escaped except five hundred, who kept close about the king; and even of the ten thousand men, whom, on the authority of Polybius, we have mentioned as brought over by the king from Asia, a very trifling number got off. But what shall we say if we are to believe Valerius Antias, who records that there were in the king's army sixty thousand men, of whom forty thousand fell, and above five thousand were taken, with two hundred and thirty military standards? Of the Romans were slain in the action itself a hundred and fifty; and of the party that defended themselves against the a.s.sault of the Aetolians, not more than fifty.

20. As the consul was leading his army through Phocis and Boeotia, the revolted states, conscious of their defection, and dreading lest they should be exposed as enemies to the ravages of the soldiers, presented themselves at the gates of their cities, with the badges of suppliants; but the army proceeded, during the whole time, just as if they were in the country of friends, without offering violence of any sort, until they reached the territory of Coronea. Here a statue of king Antiochus, standing in the temple of Minerva Itonia, kindled their indignation, and permission was given to the soldiers to plunder the lands adjacent to the edifice. But the reflection quickly occurred, that, as the statue had been erected by a general vote of all the Boeotian states, it was unreasonable to resent it on the single district of Coronea. The soldiers were therefore immediately recalled, and the depredations stopped. The Boeotians were only reprimanded for their ungrateful behaviour to the Romans in return for such great obligations, so recently conferred. At the very time of the battle, ten s.h.i.+ps belonging to the king, with their commander Isidorus, lay at anchor near Thronium, in the Malian bay. To them Alexander of Acarnania, being grievously wounded, made his escape, and gave an account of the unfortunate issue of the battle; on which the fleet, alarmed at the immediate danger, sailed away in haste to Cenaeus in Euboea. There Alexander died, and was buried. Three other s.h.i.+ps, which came from Asia to the same port, on hearing the disaster which had befallen the army, returned to Ephesus. Isidorus sailed over from Cenaeus to Demetrias, supposing that the king might perhaps have directed his flight thither. About this time Aulus Atilius, commander of the Roman fleet, intercepted a large convoy of provisions going to the king, just as they had pa.s.sed the strait at the island of Andros: some of the s.h.i.+ps he sunk, and took many others. Those who were in the rear turned their course to Asia. Atilius, with the captured vessels in his train, sailed back to Piraeus, from whence he had set out, and distributed a vast quant.i.ty of corn among the Athenians and the other allies in that quarter.

21. Antiochus, quitting Chalcis before the arrival of the consul, sailed first to Tenus, and thence pa.s.sed over to Ephesus. When the consul came to Chalcis, the gates were open to receive him: for Aristoteles, who commanded for the king, on hearing of his approach, had withdrawn from the city. The rest of the cities of Euboea also submitted without opposition; and peace being restored all over the island within the s.p.a.ce of a few days, without inflicting punishment on any city, the army, which had acquired much higher praise for moderation after victory, than even for the victory itself, was led back to Thermopylae. From this place, the consul despatched Marcus Cato to Rome, that through him the senate and people might learn what had been achieved from unquestionable authority. He set sail from Creusa, a sea-port belonging to the Thespians, seated at the bottom of the Corinthian Gulf, and steered to Patrae, in Achaia. From Patrae, he coasted along the sh.o.r.es of Aetolia and Acarnania, as far as Corcyra, and thence he pa.s.sed over to Hydruntum, in Italy. Proceeding hence, with rapid expedition, by land, he arrived on the fifth day at Rome.

Having come into the city before day, he went on directly from the gate to Marcus Junius, the praetor, who, at the first dawn, a.s.sembled the senate. Here, Lucius Cornelius Scipio, who had been despatched by the consul several days before Cato, and on his arrival had heard that the latter had outstripped him, and was then in the senate, came in, just as he was giving a recital of the transactions. The two lieutenant-generals were then, by order of the senate, conducted to the a.s.sembly of the people, where they gave the same account, as in the senate, of the services performed in Aetolia. Hereupon a supplication of three days' continuance was decreed, and that the praetor should offer sacrifice to such of the G.o.ds as his judgment should direct, with forty victims of the larger kinds. About the same time, Marcus Fulvius n.o.bilior, who, two years before, had gone into Farther Spain, in the office of praetor, entered the city in ovation.

He carried in the procession a hundred and thirty thousand silver denarii,[1] and besides the coin, twelve thousand pounds' weight of silver, and a hundred and twenty-seven pounds' weight of gold.

[Footnote 1: 4097l. 16s. 4d.]

22. The consul Manius Acilius sent on, from Thermopylae, a message to the Aetolians in Heraclea, admonis.h.i.+ng them, "then at least, after the experience which they had of the emptiness of the king's professions, to return to their senses; and, by surrendering Heraclea, to endeavour to procure from the senate a pardon for their past madness, or error: that other Grecian states also had, during the present war, revolted from the Romans, to whom they were under the highest obligations; but that, inasmuch as, after the flight of the king, in reliance upon whom they had departed from their duty, they had not added obstinacy to their misbehaviour, they were re-admitted into friends.h.i.+p. In like manner, although the Aetolians had not followed in the steps of the king, but had invited him, and had been princ.i.p.als in the war, not auxiliaries; nevertheless, if they could bring themselves to repentance they might still insure their safety." As their answer to these suggestions showed nothing like a pacific disposition, and it was evident that the business must be determined by force of arms, and that, notwithstanding the defeat of the king, the war of Aetolia was as far from a conclusion as ever, Acilius removed his camp from Thermopylae to Heraclea; and on the same day rode on horseback entirely round the walls, in order to acquaint himself with the localities of the city. Heraclea is situated at the foot of Mount Oeta; the town itself is in the plain, but has a citadel overlooking it, which stands on an eminence of considerable height, terminated on all sides by precipices. Having examined every part which he wished to see, the consul determined to make the attack in four places at once.

On the side next the river Asopus, where is also the Gymnasium, he gave the direction of the works and the a.s.sault to Lucius Valerius.

He a.s.signed to Tiberius Semp.r.o.nius Longus the attack of a part of the suburbs, which was as thickly inhabited as the city itself. He appointed Marcus Baebius to act on the side opposite the Malian bay, a part where the access was far from easy; and Appius Claudius on the side next to another rivulet, called Melas; opposite to the temple of Diana. By the vigorous emulation of these the towers, rams, and other machines used in the besieging of towns, were all completed within a few days. The lands round Heraclea, naturally marshy, and abounding with tall trees, furnished timber in abundance for every kind of work; and then, as the Aetolians had fled into the city, the deserted suburbs supplied not only beams and boards, but also bricks and mortar, and stones of every size for all their various occasions.

23. The Romans carried on the a.s.sault upon this city by means of works more than by their arms; the Aetolians, on the contrary, maintained their defence by dint of arms. For when the walls were shaken by the ram they did not, as is usual, intercept and turn aside the strokes by the help of nooses formed on ropes, but sallied out in large armed bodies, with parties carrying fire, which they threw into the works.

They had likewise arched pa.s.sages through the parapet, for the purpose of making sallies; and when they built up the wall anew, in the room of any part that was demolished, they left a great number of these, that they might rush out upon the enemy from many places at once. In several days at the beginning, while their strength was unimpaired, they carried on this practice in numerous parties, and with much spirit, but afterwards in smaller numbers and more languidly. For though they had a multiplicity of difficulties to struggle with, what above all things utterly consumed their vigour was the want of sleep, as the Romans, having plenty of men, relieved each other regularly in their posts; while among the Aetolians, their numbers being small, the same persons had their strength consumed by unremitting labour night and day. During a s.p.a.ce of twenty-four days, without any time being unemployed in the conflict, their toil was kept up against the attacks carried on by the enemy in four different quarters at once. When the consul, from computing the time, and from the reports of deserters, judged that the Aetolians were thoroughly fatigued, he adopted the following plan:--At midnight he gave the signal of retreat, and drawing off all his men at once from the a.s.sault, kept them quiet in the camp until the third hour of the next day. The attacks were then renewed, and continued until midnight, when they ceased, until the third hour of the day following. The Aetolians imagined that the Romans suspended the attack from the same cause by which they felt themselves distressed,--excessive fatigue. As soon, therefore, as the signal of retreat was given to the Romans, as if themselves were thereby recalled from duty, every one gladly retired from his post, nor did they again appear in arms on the walls before the third hour of the day.

24. The consul having put a stop to the a.s.sault at midnight, renewed it on three of the sides, at the fourth watch, with the utmost vigour; ordering Tiberius Semp.r.o.nius, on the fourth, to keep his party alert, and ready to obey his signal; for he concluded a.s.suredly, that in the tumult by night the enemy would all run to those quarters whence the shouting was heard. Of the Aetolians, such as had gone to rest, with difficulty roused their bodies from sleep, exhausted as they were with fatigue and watching; and such as were still awake, ran in the dark to the places where they heard the noise of fighting. Meanwhile the Romans endeavoured some to climb over the ruins of the walls, through the breaches; others, to scale the walls with ladders; while the Aetolians hastened in all directions to defend the parts attacked.

In one quarter, where the buildings stood outside the city, there was neither attack nor defence. A party stood ready, waiting for the signal to make an attack, but there was none within to oppose them.

The day now began to dawn, and the consul gave the signal; on which the party, without any opposition, made their way into the town; some through parts that had been battered, others scaling the walls where they were entire. As soon as the Aetolians heard them raise the shout, which denoted the place being taken, they every where forsook their posts, and fled into the citadel. The victors sacked the city; the consul having given permission, not for the sake of gratifying resentment or animosity, but that the soldiers, after having been restrained from plunder in so many cities captured from the enemy, might at last, in some one place, enjoy the fruits of victory. About mid-day he recalled the troops, and dividing them into two parts, ordered one to be led round by the foot of the mountain to a rock, which was of equal height with the citadel, and seemed as if it had been broken off from it, leaving a hollow between; but the summits of these eminences are so nearly contiguous that weapons may be thrown into the citadel from the top of the other. With the other half of the troops the consul intended to march, up from the city to the citadel, and waited to receive a signal from those who were to mount the rock on the farther side. The Aetolians in the citadel could not support the shout of the party which had seized the rock, and the consequent attack of the Romans from the city; for their courage was now broken, and the place was by no means in a condition to hold out a siege of any continuance; the women, children, and great numbers of other helpless people, being crowded together in a fort, which was scarce capable of containing, much less of affording protection to such a mult.i.tude. On the first a.s.sault, therefore, they laid down their arms and submitted. Among the rest was delivered up Damocritus, chief magistrate of the Aetolians, who at the beginning of the war, when t.i.tus Quinctius asked for a copy of the decree pa.s.sed by the Aetolians for inviting Antiochus, told him, that, "in Italy, when the Aetolians were encamped there, it should be delivered to him." On account of this presumptuous insolence of his, his surrender was a matter of greater satisfaction to the victors.

25. At the same time, while the Romans were employed in the reduction of Heraclea, Philip, by concert, besieged Lamia. He had an interview with the consul, as he was returning from Boeotia, at Thermopylae, whither he came to congratulate him and the Roman people on their successes, and to apologize for his not having taken an active part in the war, being prevented by sickness; and then they went from thence, by different routes, to lay siege to the two cities at once. The distance between these places is about seven miles; and as Lamia stands on high ground, and has an open prospect, particularly towards the region of Mount Oeta, the distance seems very short, and every thing that pa.s.ses can be seen from thence. The Romans and Macedonians, with all the emulation of compet.i.tors for a prize, employed the utmost exertions, both night and day, either in the works or in fighting; but the Macedonians encountered greater difficulty on this account, that the Romans made their approaches by mounds, covered galleries, and other works, which were all above ground; whereas the Macedonians worked under ground by mines, and, in that stony soil, often met a flinty rock, which iron could not penetrate. The king, seeing that his undertaking succeeded but ill, endeavoured, by conversations with the princ.i.p.al inhabitants, to prevail on the townspeople to surrender the place; for he was fully persuaded, that if Heraclea should be taken first, the Lamians would then choose to surrender to the Romans rather than to him; and that the consul would take to himself the merit of relieving them from a siege. Nor was he mistaken in that opinion; for no sooner was Heraclea reduced, than a message came to him to desist from the a.s.sault; because "it was more reasonable that the Roman soldiers, who had fought the Aetolians in the field, should reap the fruits of the victory." Thus was Lamia relieved, and the misfortune of a neighbouring city proved the means of its escaping a like disaster.

26. A few days before the capture of Heraclea, the Aetolians, having a.s.sembled a council at Hypata, sent amba.s.sadors to Antiochus, among whom was Thoas, the same who had been sent on the former occasion.

Their instructions were in the first place, to request the king again to a.s.semble his land and marine forces and cross over into Greece; and, in the next place, if any circ.u.mstance should detain him, then to send them supplies of men and money. They were to remind him, that "it concerned his dignity and his honour, not to abandon his allies; and it likewise concerned the safety of his kingdom, not to leave the Romans at full leisure, after ruining the nation of the Aetolians, to carry their whole force into Asia." What they said was true, and therefore made the deeper impression on the king; in consequence of which, he immediately supplied the amba.s.sadors with the money requisite for the exigencies of the war, and a.s.sured them, that he would send them succours both of troops and s.h.i.+ps. One of the amba.s.sadors, namely, Thoas, he kept with him, by no means against his will, as he hoped that, being present, he might induce the performance of the king's promises.

27. But the loss of Heraclea entirely broke the spirits of the Aetolians; insomuch that, within a few days after they had sent amba.s.sadors into Asia for the purpose of renewing the war, and inviting the king, they threw aside all warlike designs, and despatched deputies to the consul to sue for peace. When these began to speak, the consul, interrupting them, said, that he had other business to attend to at present; and, ordering them to return to Hypata, granted them a truce for ten days, sending with them Lucius Valerius Flaccus, to whom, he desired, whatever business they intended to have proposed to himself might be communicated, with any other that they thought proper. On their arrival at Hypata, the chiefs of the Aetolians held a consultation, at which Flaccus was present, on the method to be used in treating with the consul. They showed an inclination to begin with addressing themselves wholly to the ancient treaties, and the services which they had performed to the Roman people; on which Flaccus desired them to "speak no more of treaties, which they themselves had violated and annulled." He told them, that "they might expect more advantage from an acknowledgment of their fault, and entreaty. For their hopes of safety rested not on the merits of their cause, but on the clemency of the Roman people. That, if they acted in a suppliant manner, he would himself be a solicitor in their favour, both with the consul and with the senate at Rome; for thither also they must send amba.s.sadors." This appeared to all the only way to safety: "to submit themselves entirely to the faith of the Romans. For, in that case, the latter would be ashamed to do injury to suppliants; while themselves would, nevertheless, retain the power of consulting their own interest, should fortune offer any thing more advantageous."

28. When they came into the consul's presence, Phaeneas, who was at the head of the emba.s.sy, made a long speech, designed to mitigate the wrath of the conqueror by various considerations; and he concluded with saying, that "the Aetolians surrendered themselves, and all belonging to them, to the faith of the Roman people." The consul, on hearing this, said, "Aetolians, consider well whether you will yield on these terms:" and then Phaeneas produced the decree, in which the conditions were expressly mentioned. "Since then," said the consul, "you submit in this manner, I demand that, without delay, you deliver up to me Dicaearchus your countryman, Menetas the Epirot," who had, with an armed force, entered Naupactum, and compelled the inhabitants to defection; "and also Amynander, with the Athamanian chiefs, by whose advice you revolted from us." Phaeneas, almost interrupting the Roman while he was speaking, answered,--"We surrendered ourselves, not into slavery, but to your faith; and I take it for granted, that, from not being sufficiently acquainted with us, you fall into the mistake of commanding what is inconsistent with the practice of the Greeks."

"Nor in truth," replied the consul, "do I much concern myself, at present, what the Aetolians may think conformable to the practice of the Greeks; while I, conformably to the practice of the Romans, exercise authority over men, who just now surrendered themselves by a decree of their own, and were, before that, conquered by my arms.

Wherefore, unless my commands are quickly complied with, I order that you be put in chains." At the same time he ordered chains to be brought forth, and the lictors to surround the amba.s.sadors. This effectually subdued the arrogance of Phaeneas and the other Aetolians; and, at length, they became sensible of their situation. Phaeneas then said, that "as to himself and his countrymen there present, they knew that his commands must be obeyed: but it was necessary that a council of the Aetolians should meet, to pa.s.s decrees accordingly; and that, for that purpose, he requested a suspension of arms for ten days."

At the intercession of Flaccus on behalf of the Aetolians, this was granted, and they returned to Hypata. When Phaeneas related here, in the select council, called Apocleti, the orders which they had received, and the treatment which they had narrowly escaped; although the chiefs bemoaned their condition, nevertheless they were of opinion, that the conqueror must be obeyed, and that the Aetolians should be summoned, from all their towns, to a general a.s.sembly.

29. But when the a.s.sembled mult.i.tude heard the same account, their minds were so highly exasperated, both by the harshness of the order and the indignity offered, that, even if they had been in a pacific temper before, the violent impulse of anger which they then felt would have been sufficient to rouse them to war. Their rage was increased also by the difficulty of executing what was enjoined on them; for, "how was it possible for them, for instance, to deliver up king Amynander?" It happened, also, that a favourable prospect seemed to open to them; for Nicander, returning from king Antiochus at that juncture, filled the minds of the people with unfounded a.s.surances, that immense preparations for war were going on both by land and sea.

This man, after finis.h.i.+ng the business of his emba.s.sy, set out on his return to Aetolia; and on the twelfth day after he embarked, reached Phalara, on the Malian bay. Having conveyed thence to Lamia the money that he had brought, he, with a few light troops, directed, in the evening, his course toward Hypata, by known paths, through the country which lay between the Roman and Macedonian camps. Here he fell in with an advanced guard of the Macedonians, and was conducted to the king, whose dinner guests had not yet separated. Philip, being told of his coming, received him as a guest, not an enemy; desired him to take a seat, and join the entertainment; and afterwards, when he dismissed the rest, detained him alone, and told him, that he had nothing to fear for himself. He censured severely the conduct of the Aetolians, in bringing, first the Romans, and afterwards Antiochus, into Greece; designs which originated in a want of judgment, and always recoiled on their own heads. But "he would forget," he said, "all past transactions, which it was easier to blame than to amend; nor would he act in such a manner as to appear to insult their misfortunes. On the other hand, it would become the Aetolians to lay aside, at length, their animosity towards him; and it would become Nicander himself, in his private capacity, to remember that day, on which he had been preserved by him." Having then appointed persons to escort him to a place of safety, Nicander arrived at Hypata, while his countrymen were consulting about the peace with Rome.

30. Manius Acilius having sold, or given to the soldiers, the booty found near Heraclea, and having learned that the counsels adopted at Hypata were not of a pacific nature, but that the Aetolians had hastily a.s.sembled at Naupactum, with intention to make a stand there against the whole brunt of the war, sent forward Appius Claudius, with four thousand men, to seize the heights of the mountains, where the pa.s.ses were difficult; and he himself, ascending Mount Oeta, offered sacrifices to Hercules, in the spot called Pyra,[1] because there the mortal part of the demi-G.o.d was burned. He then set out with the main body of the army, and marched all the rest of the way with tolerable ease and expedition. But when they came to Corax, a very high mountain between Callipolis and Naupactum, great numbers of the beasts of burden, together with their loads, tumbled down the precipices, and many of the men were hurt. This clearly showed with how negligent an enemy they had to do, who had not secured so difficult a pa.s.s by a guard, and so blocked up the pa.s.sage; for, even as the case was, the army suffered considerably. Hence he marched down to Naupactum; and having erected a fort against the citadel, he invested the other parts of the city, dividing his forces according to the situation of the walls. Nor was the siege likely to prove less difficult and laborious than that of Heraclea.

[Footnote 1: The funeral pile.]

31. At the same time, the Achaeans laid siege to Messene, in Peloponnesus, because it refused to become a member of their body: for the two states of Messene and Elis were unconnected with the Achaean confederacy, and sympathized with the Aetolians. However, the Eleans, after Antiochus had been driven out of Greece, answered the deputies, sent by the Achaeans, with more moderation: that "when the king's troops were removed, they would consider what part they should take."

But the Messenians had dismissed the deputies without an answer, and prepared for war. Alarmed, afterwards, at their own situation, when they saw the enemy ravaging their country without control, and pitching their camp close to their city, they sent deputies to Chalcis, to t.i.tus Quinctius, the author of their liberty, to acquaint him, that "the Messenians were willing, both to open their gates, and surrender their city, to the Romans, but not to the Achaeans."

On hearing this Quinctius immediately set out, and despatched from Megalopolis a messenger to Diophanes, praetor of the Achaeans, requiring him to draw off his army instantly from Messene, and to come to him. Diophanes obeyed the order; raising the siege, he hastened forward himself before the army, and met Quinctius near Andania, a small town between Megalopolis and Messene. When he began to explain the reasons for commencing the siege, Quinctius, gently reproving him for undertaking a business of that importance without consulting him, ordered him to disband his forces, and not to disturb a peace which had been established advantageously to all. He commanded the Messenians to recall the exiles, and to unite themselves to the confederacy of the Achaeans; and if there were any particulars to which they chose to object, or any precautions which they judged requisite for the future, they might apply to him at Corinth. He then gave directions to Diophanes, to convene immediately a general council of the Achaeans, that he might settle some business with them.

32. In this a.s.sembly he complained of their having acquired possession of the island of Zacynthus by unfair means, and demanded that it should be restored to the Romans. Zacynthus had formerly belonged to Philip, king of Macedonia, and he had made it over to Amynander, on condition of his giving him leave to march an army through Athamania, into the upper part of Aetolia, on that expedition wherein he compelled the Aetolians with dejected spirits to sue for peace.

Amynander gave the government of the island to Philip, the Megalopolitan; and afterwards, during the war in which he united himself with Antiochus against the Romans, having called out Philip to the duties of the campaign, he sent, as his successor, Hierocles, of Agrigentum. This man, after the flight of Antiochus from Thermopylae, and the expulsion of Amynander from Athamania by Philip, sent emissaries of his own accord to Diophanes, praetor of the Achaeans; and having bargained for a sum of money, delivered over the island to the Achaeans. This acquisition, made during the war, the Romans claimed as their own; for they said, that "it was not for Diophanes and the Achaeans that the consul Manius Acilius, and the Roman legions, fought at Thermopylae." Diophanes, in answer, sometimes apologized for himself and his nation; sometimes insisted on the justice of the proceeding. But several of the Achaeans testified that they had, from the beginning, disapproved of that business, and they now blamed the obstinacy of the praetor. Pursuant to their advice, a decree was made, that the affair should be left entirely to the disposal of t.i.tus Quinctius. As Quinctius was severe to such as made opposition, so, when complied with, he was easily appeased. Laying aside, therefore, every thing stern in his voice and looks, he said,--"If, Achaeans, I thought the possession of that island advantageous to you, I would be the first to advise the senate and people of Rome to permit you to hold it. But as I see that a tortoise, when collected within its natural covering, is safe against blows of any kind, and whenever it thrusts out any of its limbs, it feels whatever it has thus uncovered, weak and liable to every injury: so you, in like manner, Achaeans, being enclosed on all sides by the sea, can easily unite among yourselves, and maintain by that union all that is comprehended within the limits of Peloponnesus; but whenever, through ambition of enlarging your possessions, you overstep these limits, then all that you hold beyond them is naked, and exposed to every attack." The whole a.s.sembly declaring their a.s.sent, and Diophanes not daring to give further opposition, Zacynthus was ceded to the Romans.

33. When the consul was on his march to Naupactum, king Philip proposed, that, if it was agreeable to him, he would, in the mean time, retake those cities that had revolted from their alliance with Rome. Having obtained permission so to do, he, about this time, marched his army to Demetrias, being well aware that great distraction prevailed there; for the garrison, being dest.i.tute of all hope of succour since they were abandoned by Antiochus, and having no reliance on the Aetolians, daily and nightly expected the arrival of Philip or the Romans, whom they had most reason to dread, as these were most justly incensed against them. There was, in the place, an irregular mult.i.tude of the king's soldiers, a few of whom had been at first left there as a garrison, but the greater part had fled thither after the defeat of his army, most of them without arms, and without either strength or courage sufficient to sustain a siege. Wherefore on Philip's sending on messengers, to offer them hopes of pardon being obtainable, they answered, that their gates were open for the king.

On his first entrance, several of the chiefs left the city; Eurylochus killed himself. The soldiers of Antiochus, in conformity to a stipulation, were escorted, through Macedonia and Thrace, by a body of Macedonians, and conducted to Lysimachia. There were, also, a few s.h.i.+ps at Demetrias, under the command of Isidorus, which, together with their commander, were dismissed. Philip then reduced Dolopia, Aperantia, and several cities of Perrhaebia.

34. While Philip was thus employed, t.i.tus Quinctius, after receiving from the Achaean council the cession of Zacynthus, crossed over to Naupactum, which had stood a siege of near two months, but was now reduced to a desperate condition; and it was supposed, that if it should be taken by storm, the whole nation of the Aetolians would be sunk thereby in utter destruction. But, although he was deservedly incensed against the Aetolians, from the recollection that they alone had attempted to depreciate his merits, when he was giving liberty to Greece; and had been in no degree influenced by his advice, when he endeavoured, by forewarning them of the events, which had since occurred, to deter them from their mad undertaking: nevertheless, thinking it particularly his business to take care that none of the states of Greece which had been liberated by himself should be entirely subverted, he first walked about near the walls, that he might be easily known by the Aetolians. He was quickly distinguished by the first advanced guards, and the news spread from rank to rank that Quinctius was there. On this, the people from all sides ran to the walls, and eagerly stretching out their hands, all in one joint cry besought Quinctius by name, to a.s.sist and save them. Although he was much affected by these entreaties, yet for that time he made signs with his hands, that they were to expect no a.s.sistance from him. However, when he met the consul he accosted him thus:--"Manius Acilius, are you unapprized of what is pa.s.sing; or do you know it, and think it immaterial to the interest of the commonwealth?" This inflamed the consul with curiosity, and he replied, "But explain what is your meaning." Quinctius then said,--"Do you not see that, since the defeat of Antiochus, you have been wasting time in besieging two cities, though the year of your command is near expiring; but that Philip, who never faced the enemy, or even saw their standards, has annexed to his dominions such a number, not only of cities, but of nations,--Athamania, Perrhaebia, Aperantia, Dolopia? But, surely, we are not so deeply interested in diminis.h.i.+ng the strength and resources of the Aetolians, as in hindering those of Philip from being augmented beyond measure; and in you, and your soldiers, not having yet gained, to reward your victory, as many towns as Philip has gained Grecian states."

35. The consul a.s.sented to these remarks, but a feeling of shame suggested itself to him--if he should abandon the siege with his purpose unaccomplished. At length the matter was left entirely to the management of Quinctius. He went again to that part of the wall whence the Aetolians had called to him a little before; and on their entreating him now, with still greater earnestness, to take compa.s.sion on the nation of the Aetolians, he desired that some of them might come out to him. Accordingly, Phaeneas himself, with some others of the princ.i.p.al men, instantly came and threw themselves at his feet. He then said,--"Your condition causes me to restrain my resentment and my reproofs. The events which I foretold have come to pa.s.s, and you have not even this reflection left you, that they have fallen upon you undeservedly. Nevertheless, since fate has, in some manner, destined me to the office of cheris.h.i.+ng the interests of Greece, I will not cease to show kindness even to the unthankful. Send intercessors to the consul, and let them pet.i.tion him for a suspension of hostilities, for so long a time as will allow you to send amba.s.sadors to Rome, to surrender yourselves to the will of the senate. I will intercede, and plead in your favour with the consul." They did as Quinctius directed; nor did the consul reject their application. He granted them a truce for a certain time, until the emba.s.sy might bring a reply from Rome; and then, raising the siege, he sent his army into Phocis. The consul, with t.i.tus Quinctius, crossed over thence to Aegium, to confer with the council of the Achaeans about the Eleans, and also the restoration of the Lacedaemonian exiles. But neither was carried into execution, because the Achaeans chose to reserve to themselves the merit of effecting the latter; and the Eleans preferred being united to the Achaean confederacy by a voluntary act of their own, rather than through the mediation of the Romans. Amba.s.sadors came hither to the consul from the Epirots, who, it was well known, had not with honest fidelity maintained the alliance. Although they had not furnished Antiochus with any soldiers, yet they were charged with having a.s.sisted him with money; and they themselves did not disavow having sent amba.s.sadors to him. They requested that they might be permitted to continue on the former footing of friends.h.i.+p. To which the consul answered, that "he did not yet know whether he was to consider them as friends or foes. The senate must be the judge of that matter. He would therefore take no step in the business, but leave it to be determined at Rome; and for that purpose he granted them a truce of ninety days."

When the Epirots, who were sent to Rome, addressed the senate, they rather enumerated hostile acts which they had not committed, than cleared themselves of those laid to their charge; and they received such an answer that they seemed rather to have obtained pardon than proved their innocence. About the same time amba.s.sadors from king Philip were introduced to the senate, and presented his congratulations on their late successes. They asked leave to sacrifice in the Capitol, and to deposit an offering of gold in the temple of Jupiter supremely good and great. This was granted by the senate, and they presented a golden crown of a hundred pounds' weight. The senate not only answered the amba.s.sadors with kindness, but gave them Demetrius, Philip's son, who was at Rome as an hostage, to be conducted home to his father.--Such was the conclusion of the war waged in Greece by the consul Manius Acilius against Antiochus.

36. The other consul, Publius Cornelius Scipio, who had obtained by lot the province of Gaul, before he set out to the war which was to be waged against the Boians, demanded of the senate, by a decree, to order him money for the exhibition of games, which, when acting as propraetor in Spain, he had vowed at a critical time of a battle. His demand was deemed unprecedented and unreasonable, and they therefore voted, that "whatever games he had vowed, on his own single judgment, without consulting the senate, he should celebrate out of the spoils, if he had reserved any for the purpose; otherwise, at his own expense." Accordingly, Publius Cornelius exhibited those games through the s.p.a.ce of ten days. About this time the temple of the great Idaean Mother was dedicated; which deity, on her being brought from Asia, in the consulate of Publius Cornelius Scipio, afterwards surnamed Africa.n.u.s, and Publius Lucinius, the above-mentioned Publius Cornelius had conducted from the sea-side to the Palatine. In pursuance of a decree of the senate, Marcus Livius and Caius Claudius, censors, in the consulate of Marcus Cornelius and Publius Semp.r.o.nius, had contracted for the erection of the G.o.ddess's temple; and thirteen years after it had been so contracted for, it was dedicated by Marcus Junius Brutus, and games were celebrated on occasion of its dedication: in which, according to the account of Valerius Antias, dramatic entertainments were, for the first time, introduced into the Megalesian games. Likewise, Caius Licinius Lucullus, being appointed duumvir, dedicated the temple of Youth in the great circus. This temple had been vowed sixteen years before by Marcus Livius, consul, on the day wherein he cut off Hasdrubal and his army; and the same person, when censor, in the consulate of Marcus Cornelius and Publius Semp.r.o.nius, had contracted for the building of it. Games were also exhibited on occasion of this consecration, and every thing was performed with the greater degree of religious zeal, on account of the impending war with Antiochus.

37. At the beginning of the year in which those transactions pa.s.sed, after Manius Acilius had gone to open the campaign, and while the other consul, Publius Cornelius, yet remained in Rome, two tame oxen, it is said, climbed up by ladders on the tiles of a house in the Carina. The aruspices ordered them to be burned alive, and their ashes to be thrown into the Tiber. It was reported, that several showers of stones had fallen at Tarracina and Amiternum; that, at Minturnae, the temple of Jupiter, and the shops round the forum, were struck by lightning; that, at Vulturnum, in the mouth of the river, two s.h.i.+ps were struck by lightning, and burnt to ashes. On occasion of these prodigies, the decemvirs, being ordered by a decree of the senate to consult the Sibylline books, declared, that "a fast ought to be inst.i.tuted in honour of Ceres, and the same observed every fifth year; that the nine days' wors.h.i.+p ought to be solemnized, and a supplication for one day; and that they should observe the supplication, with garlands on their heads; also that the consul Publius Cornelius should sacrifice to such deities, and with such victims, as the decemvirs should direct." When he had used every means to avert the wrath of the G.o.ds, by duly fulfilling vows and expiating prodigies, the consul went to his province; and, ordering the proconsul Cneius Domitius to disband his army, and go home to Rome, he marched his own legions into the territory of the Boians.

38. Nearly at the same time, the Ligurians, having collected an army under the sanction of their devoting law, made an unexpected attack, in the night, on the camp of the proconsul Quintus Minucius. Minucius kept his troops, until daylight, drawn up within the rampart, and watchful to prevent the enemy from scaling any part of the fortifications At the first light, he made a sally by two gates at once: but the Ligurians did not, as he had expected, give way to his first onset; on the contrary, they maintained a dubious contest for more than two hours. At last, as other and still other troops came out from the camp, and fresh men took the place of those who were wearied in the fight, the Ligurians, who besides other hards.h.i.+ps, felt a great loss of strength from the want of sleep, betook themselves to flight.

Above four thousand of the enemy were killed; the Romans and allies lost not quite three hundred. About two months after this, the consul Publius Cornelius fought a pitched battle with the army of the Boians with extraordinary success. Valerius Antias affirms, that twenty-eight thousand of the enemy were slain, and three thousand four hundred taken, with a hundred and twenty-four military standards, one thousand two hundred and thirty horses, and two hundred and forty-seven waggons; and that of the conquerors there fell one thousand four hundred and eighty-four. Though we may not entirely credit this writer with respect to the numbers, as in such exaggeration no writer is more extravagant, yet it is certain that the victory on this occasion was very complete; because the enemy's camp was taken, while, immediately after the battle, the Boians surrendered themselves; and because a supplication was decreed by the senate on account of it, and victims of the greater kinds were sacrificed. About the same time Marcus Fulvius n.o.bilior entered the city in ovation, returning from Farther Spain. He carried with him twelve thousand pounds of silver, one hundred and thirty thousand silver denarii, and one hundred and twenty-seven pounds of gold.[1]

[Footnote 1: This statement has been made before at the close of chapter 21, and is probably repeated here through inadvertence.]

39. The consul, Publius Cornelius, having received hostages from the Boians, punished them so far as to appropriate almost one-half of their lands for the use of the Roman people, and into which they might afterwards, if they chose, send colonies. Then returning home in full confidence of a triumph, he dismissed his troops, and ordered them to attend on the day of his triumph at Rome. The next day after his arrival, he held a meeting of the senate, in the temple of Bellona, when he detailed to them the services he had performed, and demanded to ride through the city in triumph. Publius Semp.r.o.nius Blaesus, tribune of the people, advised, that "the honour of a triumph should not be refused to Scipio, but postponed. Wars of the Ligurians," he said, "were always united with wars of the Gauls; for these nations, lying so near, sent mutual a.s.sistance to each other. If Publius Scipio, after subduing the Boians in battle, had either gone himself, with his victorious army, into the country of the Ligurians, or sent a part of his forces to Quintus Minucius, who was detained there, now the third year, by a war which was still undecided, that with the Ligurians might have been brought to an end: instead of which, he had, in order to procure a full attendance on his triumph, brought home the troops, who might have performed most material services to the state; and might do so still, if the senate thought proper, by deferring this token of victory, to redeem that which had been omitted through eager haste for a triumph. If they would order the consul to return with his legions into his province, and to give his a.s.sistance towards subduing the Ligurians, (for, unless these were reduced under the dominion and jurisdiction of the Roman people, neither would the Boians ever remain quiet,) there must be either peace or war with both. When the Ligurians should be subdued, Publius Cornelius, in quality of proconsul, might triumph, a few months later, after the precedent of many, who did not attain that honour until the expiration of their office."

40. To this the consul answered, that "neither had the province of Liguria fallen to his lot, nor had he waged war with the Ligurians, nor did he demand a triumph over them. He confidently hoped, that in a short time Quintus Minucius, after completing their reduction, would demand and obtain a well-deserved triumph. For his part, he demanded a triumph over the Boian Gauls, whom he had conquered in battle and had driven out of their camp; of whose whole nation he had received an absolute submission within two days after the fight; and from whom he had brought home hostages to secure peace in future. But there was another circ.u.mstance, of much greater magnitude: he had slain in battle so great a number of Gauls, that no commander, before him, ever met in the field so many thousands, at least of the Boians. Out of fifty thousand men, more than one-half were killed, and many thousands made prisoners; so that the Boians had now remaining only old men and boys. Could it, then, be a matter of surprise to any one, that a victorious army, which had not left one enemy in the province, should come to Rome to attend the triumph of their consul? And if the senate should choose to employ the services of these troops in another province also, which of the two kinds of treatment could it be supposed would make them enter on a new course of danger and another laborious enterprise with the greater alacrity; the paying them the reward of their former toils and dangers without defalcation; or, the sending them away, with the prospect, instead of the reality, when they had once been disappointed in their first expectation? As to what concerned himself personally, he had acquired a stock of glory sufficient for his whole life, on that day, when the senate adjudged him to be the best man (in the state), and commissioned him to give a reception to the Idaean Mother. With this inscription (though neither consuls.h.i.+p nor triumph were added) the statue of Publius Scipio Nasica would be sufficiently honoured and dignified." The unanimous senate not only gave their vote for the triumph, but by their influence prevailed on the tribune to desist from his protest. Publius Cornelius, the consul, triumphed over the Boians. In this procession he carried, on Gallic waggons, arms, standards, and spoils of all sorts; the brazen utensils of the Gauls; and, together with the prisoners of distinction, he led a train of captured horses. He deposited in the treasury a thousand four hundred and seventy golden chains; and besides these, two hundred and forty-five pounds' weight of gold; two thousand three hundred and forty pounds' weight of silver, some unwrought, and some formed in vessels of the Gallic fas.h.i.+on, not without beauty; and two hundred and thirty-four thousand denarii.[1] To the soldiers who followed his chariot, he distributed three hundred and twenty-five _a.s.ses_[2] each, double to a centurion, triple to a horseman. Next day, he summoned an a.s.sembly, and after expatiating on his own services, and the ill-treatment shown him by the tribune who wanted to entangle him in a way which did not belong to him, in order to defraud him of the fruits of his success, he absolved the soldiers of their oath and discharged them.

[Footnote 1: 7,523l. 16s. 2d.]

[Footnote 2: 1l. 4s. 2-1/2d.]

41. While this pa.s.sed in Italy, Antiochus was at Ephesus divested of all concern respecting the war with Rome, as supposing that the Romans had no intention of coming into Asia; which state of security was occasioned by the erroneous opinions or the flattering representations of the greater part of his friends. Hannibal alone, whose judgment was, at that time, the most highly respected by the king, declared, that "he rather wondered the Romans were not already in Asia than entertained a doubt of their coming. The pa.s.sage was easier from Greece to Asia, than from Italy to Greece, and Antiochus const.i.tuted a much more important object than the Aetolians. For the Roman arms were not less powerful on sea than on land. Their fleet had long been at Malea, and he had heard that a reinforcement of s.h.i.+ps and a new commander had lately come from Italy, with intent to enter on action.

He therefore advised Antiochus not to form to himself vain hopes of peace. He must necessarily in a short time maintain a contest with the Romans both by sea and land, in Asia, and for Asia itself; and must either wrest the power from those who grasped at the empire of the world, or lose his own dominions." He seemed to be the only person who could foresee, and honestly foretell, what was to happen. The king, therefore, with the s.h.i.+ps which were equipped and in readiness, sailed to the Chersonesus, in order to strengthen the places there with garrisons, lest the Romans should happen to come by land. He left orders with Polyxenidas to fit out the rest of the fleet, and put to sea; and sent out advice-boats among the islands to procure intelligence of every thing that was pa.s.sing.

42. When Caius Livius, commander of the Roman fleet, sailed with fifty decked s.h.i.+ps from Rome, he went to Neapolis, where he had appointed the rendezvous of the undecked s.h.i.+ps, which were due by treaty from the allies on that coast; and thence he proceeded to Sicily, where, as he sailed through the strait beyond Messana, he was joined by six Carthaginian s.h.i.+ps, sent to his a.s.sistance; and then, having collected the vessels due from the Rhegians, Locrians, and other allies, who were bound by the same conditions, he purified the fleet at Lacinium, and put forth into the open sea. On his arrival at Corcyra, which was the first Grecian country where he touched, inquiring about the state of the war, (for all matters in Greece were not yet entirely settled,) and about the Roman fleet, he was told, that the consul and the king were posted at the pa.s.s of Thermopylae, and that the fleet lay at Piraeus: on which, judging expedition necessary on every account, he sailed directly forward to Peloponnesus. Having on his pa.s.sage ravaged Samos and Zacynthus, because they favoured the party of the Aetolians, he bent his course to Malea; and, meeting very favourable weather, arrived in a few days at Piraeus, where he joined the old fleet. At Scyllaeum he was met by king Eumenes, with three s.h.i.+ps, who had long hesitated at Aegina whether he should go home to defend his own kingdom, on hearing that Antiochus was preparing both marine and land forces at Ephesus; or whether he should unite himself inseparably to the Romans, on whose destiny his own depended. Aulus Atilius, having delivered to his successor twenty-five decked s.h.i.+ps, sailed from Piraeus for Rome. Livius, with eighty-one beaked s.h.i.+ps, besides many others of inferior rates, some of which were open and furnished with beaks, others without beaks, fit for advice-boats, crossed over to Delos.

43. At this time, the consul Acilius was engaged in the siege of Naupactum. Livius was detained several days at Delos by contrary winds, for that tract among the Cyclades, which are separated in some places by larger straits, in others by smaller, is extremely subject to storms. Polyxenidas, receiving intelligence from his scout-s.h.i.+ps, which were stationed in various places, that the Roman fleet lay at Delos, sent off an express to the king, who, quitting the business in which he was employed in h.e.l.lespontus, and taking with him all the s.h.i.+ps of war, returned to Ephesus with all possible speed, and instantly called a council to determine whether he should risk an engagement at sea. Polyxenidas affirmed, that no delay should be incurred; "it was particularly requisite so to do, before the fleet of Eumenes and the Rhodian s.h.i.+ps should join the Romans; in which case, even, they would scarcely be inferior in number, and in every other particular would have a great superiority, by reason of the agility of their vessels, and a variety of auxiliary circ.u.mstances. For the Roman s.h.i.+ps, being unskilfully constructed, were slow in their motions; and, besides that, as they were coming to an enemy's coast, they would be heavily laden with provisions; whereas their own, leaving none but friends in all the countries round, would have nothing on board but men and arms. Moreover that their knowledge of the sea, of the adjacent lands, and of the winds, would be greatly in their favour; of all which the Romans being ignorant, would find themselves much distressed." In advising this plan he influenced all, especially as the same person who gave the advice was also to carry it into execution. Two days only were pa.s.sed in making preparations; and on the third, setting sail with a hundred s.h.i.+ps, of which seventy had decks, and the rest were open, but all of the smaller rates, they steered their course to Phocaea. The king, as he did not intend to be present in the naval combat, on hearing that the Roman fleet was approaching, withdrew to Magnesia, near Sipylus, to collect his land forces, while his s.h.i.+ps proceeded to Cyssus, a port of Erythraea, where it was supposed they might with more convenience wait for the enemy. The Romans, as soon as the north wind, which had held for