Chapter XXV: Book XXXIV (2)

20. With that small force he took several towns. The Sidetonians, Ausetanians, and Suessetanians came over to his side. The Lacetanians, a remote and wild nation, still remained in arms; partly through their natural ferocity, and partly through consciousness of guilt, in having laid waste, by sudden incursions, the country of the allies, while the consul and his army were employed in the war with the Turditanians. He therefore marched to attack their capital, not only with the Roman cohorts, but also with the troops of the allies, who were justly incensed against them. The town was stretched out into considerable length, but had not proportionable breadth. At the distance of about four hundred paces from it he halted, and leaving there a party composed of chosen cohorts, he charged them not to stir from that spot until he himself should come to them; and then he led round the rest of the men to the farther side of the town. The greater part of his auxiliary troops were Suessetanians, and these he ordered to advance and assault the wall. The Lacetanians, knowing their arms and standards, and remembering how often they had themselves, with impunity, committed every kind of outrage and insult in their territory, how often defeated and routed them in pitched battles, hastily threw open a gate, and all, in one body, rushed out against them. The Suessetanians scarcely stood their shout, much less their onset; and the consul, on seeing this happen, just as he had foreseen, galloped back under the enemy's wall to his cohorts, brought them up quickly to that part of the city where all was silence and solitude, in consequence of the Lacetanians having sallied out on the Suessetanians, and took possession of every part of it before the Lacetanians returned; who, having nothing now left but their arms, soon surrendered themselves also.

21. The conqueror marched thence, without delay, to the fort of Vergium. This was, almost entirely, a receptacle of robbers and plunderers, and thence incursions were made on the peaceable parts of the province. One of the principal inhabitants deserted out of the place to the consul, and endeavoured to excuse himself and his countrymen; alleging, that "the management of affairs was not in their hands; for the robbers, having gained admittance, had reduced the fort entirely under their own power." The consul ordered him to return home, and pretend some plausible reason for having been absent; and then, "when he should see him advancing to the walls, and the robbers intent on defending the city, to seize the citadel with such men as favoured his party." This was executed according to his directions. The double alarm, from the Romans scaling the walls in front, and the citadel being seized on their rear, at once entirely confounded the barbarians. The consul, having taken possession of the place, ordered, that those who had secured the citadel should, with their relations, be set at liberty, and enjoy their property, the rest of the natives he commanded the quaestor to sell; and he put the robbers to death. Having restored quiet in the province, he settled the iron and silver mines on such a footing, that they produced a large revenue; and, in consequence of the regulations then made, the province daily increased in riches. On account of these services performed in Spain, the senate decreed a supplication for three days.

22. During this summer, the other consul, Lucius Valerius Flaccus, fought a pitched battle with a body of the Boians in Gaul, near the forest of Litanae, and gained a complete victory. Eight thousand of the Gauls are said to have been slain; the rest, desisting from further opposition, retired quietly to their several villages and lands. During the remainder of the summer, the consul kept his army near the Po, at Placentia and Cremona, and repaired the buildings in these cities which had been demolished in the war. While the affairs of Italy and Spain were in this posture, Titus Quinctius had spent the winter in Greece, in such a manner, that excepting the Aetolians, who neither had gained rewards of victory adequate to their hopes, nor were capable of being long contented with a state of quiet, all Greece, being in full enjoyment of the blessings of peace and liberty, were highly pleased with their present state; and they admired not more the Roman general's bravery in arms, than his temperance, justice, and moderation in victory. And now a decree of the senate was brought to him, containing a denunciation of war against Nabis the Lacedaemonian. On reading it, Quinctius summoned a convention of deputies from all the allied states, to be held, on a certain day, at Corinth. Whither when many persons of the first rank came together, from all quarters, forming a very full assembly, from which even the Aetolians were not absent, he addressed them in this manner:--"The Romans and Greeks, in the war which they waged against Philip, were united in affections and councils, and they had each no less their separate reasons for entering into it. For he had violated friendship with the Romans; first by aiding our enemies, the Carthaginians; and then by attacking our allies here: and, towards you, his conduct was such, that even if we had been willing to forget our own injuries, those offered by him to you would have constituted a sufficient occasion of war. But the business to be considered this day has relation wholly to yourselves: for the subject which I propose to your consideration is, whether you choose to suffer Argos, which, as you know, has been seized by Nabis, to remain under his dominion; or whether you judge it reasonable, that a city of such high reputation and antiquity, seated in the centre of Greece, should be restored to liberty, and placed in the same state with the rest of the cities of Peloponnesus and of Greece. This question, as you see, merely respects yourselves; it concerns not the Romans in any decree, excepting so far as the one city being left in subjection to tyranny hinders their glory, in having liberated Greece, from being full and complete. If, however, you are not moved by regard for that city, nor by the example, nor by the danger of the contagion of that evil spreading wider, we, for our parts, shall rest content. On this subject I desire your opinions, resolved to abide by whatever the majority of you shall determine."

23. After the address of the Roman general, the several deputies proceeded to give their opinions. The ambassador of the Athenians extolled, to the utmost of his power, and expressed the greatest gratitude for the kindness of the Romans towards Greece, "in having, when applied to for assistance, brought them succours against Philip; and now, without being applied to, voluntarily offering assistance against the tyrant Nabis." He at the same time severely censured the conduct of some, who, in their discourses, "depreciated those kindnesses, and propagated evil surmises of the future, when it would better become them rather to return thanks for the past." It was evident that this was pointed at the Aetolians: wherefore Alexander, deputy of that nation, having first inveighed against the Athenians, who, having formerly been the most strenuous supporters of liberty, now betrayed the general cause, for the sake of recommending themselves by flattery. He then complained that "the Achaeans, formerly soldiers of Philip, and lately, on the decline of his fortune, deserters from him, had regained possession of Corinth, and were so acting as that they might acquire Argos; while the Aetolians, who had first opposed their arms to Philip, who had always been allies of the Romans, and who had stipulated by treaty, that, on the Macedonian being conquered, the lands and cities should be theirs, were defrauded of Echinus and Pharsalus." He charged the Romans with insincerity, because, "while they put forth empty professions of establishing liberty, they held possession of Demetrias and Chalcis by their garrisons; though, when Philip hesitated to withdraw his garrisons from those places, they always urged against him that the Grecians would never be free while Demetrias, Chalcis, and Corinth were in the hands of the others. And, lastly, that they named Argos and Nabis merely as a pretext for remaining in Greece, and keeping their armies there. Let them carry away their legions to Italy; and the Aetolians were ready to undertake, either that Nabis should voluntarily withdraw his forces from Argos, on terms; or they would compel him by force of arms to comply with the unanimous judgment of Greece."

24. This arrogant speech called up, first, Aristaenus, praetor of the Achaeans, who said:--"Forbid it, Jupiter, supremely good and great, and imperial Juno, the tutelar deity of Argos, that that city should be staked as a prize between the Lacedaemonian tyrant and the Aetolian plunderers, under such unhappy circumstances, that its being retaken by you should be productive of more calamitous consequences than its capture by him. Titus Quinctius, the sea lying between us, does not secure us from those robbers; what then will become of us, should they procure themselves a stronghold in the centre of Peloponnesus? They have nothing Grecian but the language, as they have nothing human but the shape. They live under customs and rites more brutally savage than any barbarians, nay, than wild beasts themselves. Wherefore, Romans, we beseech you, not only to recover Argos from Nabis, but also to establish the affairs of Greece on such a footing, as to leave these countries adequately secured from the robberies of the Aetolians." The rest concurring in these censures on the Aetolians, the Roman general said, that "he had himself intended to have answered them, but that he perceived all so highly incensed against those people, that the general resentment required rather to be appeased than irritated. Satisfied, therefore, with the sentiments entertained of the Romans, and of the Aetolians, he would simply put this question: What was the general opinion concerning war with Nabis, in case of his refusing to restore Argos to the Achaeans?" When all had pronounced for war, he recommended to them, to send in their shares of auxiliary troops, each state in proportion to its ability. He even sent an ambassador to the Aetolians; rather to make them disclose their sentiments, which was the actual result, than with any hope of obtaining their concurrence. He gave orders to the military tribunes, to bring up the army from Elatia. To the ambassadors of Antiochus, who, at this time, proposed to treat of an alliance, he answered, that "he could say nothing on the subject in the absence of the ten ambassadors. They must go to Rome, and apply to the senate."

25. As soon as the troops arrived from Elatia, Quinctius set out to lead them towards Argos. When near Cleonae he was met by the praetor, Aristaenus, with ten thousand Achaean foot and one thousand horse; and having joined forces, they pitched their camp at a small distance from thence. Next day they marched down into the plains of Argos, and fixed their post about four miles from that city. The commander of the Lacedaemonian garrison was Pythagoras, the tyrant's son-in-law, and his wife's brother; who, on the approach of the Romans, posted strong guards in both the citadels, for Argos has two, and in every other place that was commodious for defence, or exposed to danger. But, while thus employed, he could by no means dissemble the dread inspired by the approach of the Romans; and, to the alarm from abroad, was added an insurrection within. There was an Argive, named Damocles, a youth of more spirit than prudence, who held conversations, with proper persons, on a design of expelling the garrison; at first, with the precaution of imposing an oath, but afterwards, through his eager desire to add strength to the conspiracy, he estimated people's sincerity with too little caution. While he was in conference with his accomplices, an officer, sent by the commander of the garrison, summoned him to appear before him, and he perceived that his design was betrayed; on which, exhorting the conspirators, who were present, to take arms with him, rather than be tortured to death, he went on with a few companions towards the forum, crying out to all who wished the preservation of the state, to follow him as the vindicator and author of their liberty. He could prevail on none to join him; for they saw no prospect of any attainable advantage, and much less any sufficiently powerful support. While he exclaimed in this manner, the Lacedaemonians surrounded him and his party, and put them to death. Many others were afterwards seized, the greater part of whom were executed, and the remaining few thrown into prison. During the following night, great numbers, letting themselves down from the walls by ropes, came over to the Romans.

26. As these men affirmed, that if the Roman army had been at the gates, this commotion would not have ended without effect; and that, if the camp was brought nearer, the Argives would not remain inactive; Quinctius sent some horsemen and infantry, lightly accoutred, who, meeting at the Cylarabis, a place of exercise, less than three hundred paces from the city, a party of Lacedaemonians, who sallied out of a gate, engaged them, and, without much difficulty, drove them back into the town; and the Roman general encamped on the very spot where the battle had been fought. There he passed one day, on the look-out if any new commotion might arise; but perceiving that the inhabitants were quite depressed by fear, he called a council concerning the besieging of Argos. All the deputies of Greece, except Aristaenus, were of one opinion, that, as that city was the sole object of the war, with it the war should commence. This was by no means agreeable to Quinctius; but he listened, with evident marks of approbation, to Aristaenus, arguing in opposition to the joint opinion of all the rest; while he himself added, that "as the war was undertaken in favour of the Argives, against the tyrant, what could be less proper than to leave the enemy in quiet, and lay siege to Argos? For his part, he was resolved to point his arms against the main object of the war, Lacedaemon and the tyrant." He then dismissed the meeting, and sent out light-armed cohorts to collect forage. Whatever was ripe in the adjacent country, they reaped, and brought together; and what was green they trod down and destroyed, that the enemy might not subsequently get it. He then proceeded over Mount Parthenius, and, passing by Tegaea, encamped on the third day at Caryae; where he waited for the auxiliary troops of the allies, before he entered the enemy's territory. Fifteen hundred Macedonians came from Philip, and four hundred horsemen of the Thessalians; and now the Roman general had no occasion to wait for more auxiliaries, having abundance; but he was obliged to stop for supplies of provisions, which he had ordered the neighbouring cities to furnish. He was joined also by a powerful naval force; Lucius Quinctius had already come from Leucas, with forty ships; eighteen ships of war had arrived from the Rhodians; and king Eumenes was cruising among the Cyclades, with ten decked ships, thirty barks, and smaller vessels of various sorts. Of the Lacedaemonians themselves, also, a great many, who had been driven from home by the cruelty of the tyrants, came into the Roman camp, in hopes of being reinstated in their country; for the number was very great of those who had been banished by the several despots, during many generations since they first got Lacedaemon into their power. The principal person among the exiles was Agesipolis, to whom the sovereignty of Lacedaemon belonged in right of his birth; but who had been driven out when an infant by Lycurgus, after the death of Cleomenes, who was the first tyrant of Lacedaemon.

27. Although Nabis was enclosed between such powerful armaments on land and sea, and, on a comparative view of his own and his enemy's strength, could scarcely conceive any degree of hope; yet he did not desist from the war, but brought, from Crete, a thousand chosen young men of that country in addition to a thousand whom he had before; he had, besides, under arms, three thousand mercenary soldiers, and ten thousand of his countrymen, with the peasants, who belonged to the fortresses. He fortified the city with a ditch and rampart; and lest any intestine commotion should arise, curbed the people's spirits by fear, punishing them with extreme severity, as he could not hope for good wishes towards a tyrant. As he had his suspicions respecting some of the citizens, he drew out all his forces to a field called Dromos, (the course,) and ordered the Lacedaemonians to be called to an assembly without their arms. He then formed a line of armed men round the place where they were assembled, observing briefly, "that he ought to be excused, if, at such a juncture, he feared and guarded against every thing that might happen; and that, if the present state of affairs subjected any to suspicion, it was their advantage to be prevented from attempting any design, rather than to be punished for attempting it: he therefore intended," he said, "to keep certain persons in custody, until the storm, which then threatened, should have passed over; and would discharge them as soon as the enemy should have been driven away, from whom the danger would be less, when proper precaution was taken against internal treachery." He then ordered the names of about eighty of the principal young men to be called over, and as each answered to his name, he put them in custody. On the night following, they were all put to death. Some of the Helotes, a race of rustics, who have been feudal vassals even from the earliest times, being charged with an intention to desert, they were driven with stripes through all the streets, and put to death. The terror which this excited so confounded the multitude, as to deter them from all attempts to effect a revolution. He kept his forces within the fortifications, knowing that he was not a match for the enemy in the field; and, besides, he was afraid to leave the city, while all men's minds were in a state of such suspense and uncertainty.

28. Quinctius, when all his preparations were now sufficiently made, decamped; and, on the second day, came to Sellasia, on the river Oenus, on the spot where it is said Antigonus, king of Macedonia, fought a pitched battle with Cleomenes, tyrant of Lacedaemon. Being told that the ascent from thence was difficult, and the passes narrow, he made a short circuit by the mountains, sending forward a party to make a road, and came, by a tolerably broad and open passage, to the river Eurotas, where it flows almost immediately under the walls of the city. Here, the tyrant's auxiliary troops attacked the Romans, while they were forming their camp, together with Quinctius himself, (who, with a division of cavalry and light troops, had advanced beyond the rest,) and threw them into a state of alarm and confusion; not expecting any thing of the kind, as no one had opposed them throughout their whole march, and they had passed, as it were, through a friendly territory. The disorder lasted a considerable time, the infantry calling for aid on the cavalry, and the cavalry on the infantry, each having but little confidence in himself. At length, the foremost ranks of the legions came up; and no sooner had the cohorts of the vanguard taken part in the fight, than those who had lately been an object of dread were driven back in terror into the city. The Romans, retiring so far from the wall as to be out of the reach of weapons, stood there for some time in battle-array; and then, none of the enemy coming out against them, retired to their camp. Next day Quinctius led on his army in regular order along the bank of the river, passed the city, to the foot of the mountain of Menelaus, the legionary cohorts marching in front, and the cavalry and light infantry bringing up the rear. Nabis kept his mercenary troops, on whom he placed his whole reliance, in readiness, and drawn up in a body, within the walls, intending to attack the rear of the enemy; and, as soon as the last of their troops passed by, these rushed out of the town, from several places at once, with as great fury as the day before. The rear was commanded by Appius Claudius, who having beforehand prepared his men to expect such an event, that it might not come upon them unawares, instantly made his troops face about, and presented an entire front to the enemy. A regular engagement, therefore, took place, as if two complete lines had encountered, and it lasted a considerable time; but at length Nabis's troops betook themselves to flight, which would have been attended with less dismay and danger, if they had not been closely pressed by the Achaeans, who were well acquainted with the ground. These made dreadful havoc, and dispersing them entirely, obliged the greater part to throw away their arms. Quinctius encamped near Amyclae; and afterwards, when he had utterly laid waste all the pleasant and thickly inhabited country round the city, not one of the enemy venturing out of the gates, he removed his camp to the river Eurotas. From thence he ravaged the valley lying under Taygetus, and the country reaching as far as the sea.

29. About the same time, Lucius Quinctius got possession of the towns on the sea-coast; of some, by their voluntary surrender; of others, by fear or force. Then, learning that the Lacedaemonians made Gythium the repository of all their naval stores, and that the Roman camp was at no great distance from the sea, he resolved to attack that town with his whole force. It was, at that time, a place of considerable strength; well furnished with great numbers of native inhabitants and settlers from other parts, and with every kind of warlike stores. Very seasonably for Quinctius, when commencing an enterprise of no easy nature, king Eumenes and the Rhodian fleet came to his assistance. The vast multitude of seamen, collected out of the three fleets, finished in a few days all the works requisite for the siege of a city so strongly fortified, both on the land side and on that next the sea. Covered galleries were soon brought up; the wall was undermined, and, at the same time, shaken with battering rams. By the frequent shocks given with these, one of the towers was thrown down, and, by its fall, the adjoining wall on each side was laid flat. The Romans, on this, attempted to force in, both on the side next the port, to which the approach was more level than to the rest, hoping to divert the enemy's attention from the more open passage, and, at the same time, to enter the breach caused by the falling of the wall. They were near effecting their design of penetrating into the town, when the assault was suspended by the prospect which was held out of the surrender of the city. This however, was subsequently dissipated. Dexagoridas and Gorgopas commanded there, with equal authority. Dexagoridas had sent to the Roman general a message that he would give up the city; and, after the time and the mode of proceeding had been agreed on, he was slain as a traitor by Gorgopas, and the defence of the city was maintained with redoubled vigour by this single commander. The further prosecution of the siege would have been much more difficult, had not Titus Quinctius arrived with a body of four thousand chosen men. He showed his army in order of battle, on the brow of a hill at a small distance from the city; and, on the other side, Lucius Quinctius plied the enemy hard with his engines, both on the quarter of the sea, and of the land; on which Gorgopas was compelled to adopt that proceeding, which, in the case of another, he had punished with death. After stipulating for liberty to carry away the soldiers whom he had there as a garrison, he surrendered the city to Quinctius. Previous to the surrender of Gythium, Pythagoras, who had been left as commander at Argos, having intrusted the defence of the city to Timocrates of Pellene, with a thousand mercenary soldiers, and two thousand Argives, came to Lacedaemon and joined Nabis.

30. Although Nabis had been greatly alarmed at the first arrival of the Roman fleet, and the surrender of the towns on the sea-coast, yet, as long as Gythium was held by his troops he had quieted his apprehensions with that scanty hope; but when he heard that Gythium, too, was given up to the Romans, and saw that he had no room for any kind of hope on the land, where every place round was in the hands of the enemy, and that he was totally excluded from the sea, he considered that he must yield to fortune. He first sent a messenger into the Roman camp, to learn whether permission would be given to send ambassadors. This being consented to, Pythagoras came to the general, with no other commission than to propose a conference between that commander and the tyrant. A council was summoned on the proposal, and every one present agreeing in opinion that a conference should be granted, a time and place were appointed. They came, with moderate escorts, to some hills in the interjacent ground; and leaving their cohorts there, in posts open to the view of both parties, they went down to the place of meeting; Nabis attended by a select party of his body-guards; Quinctius by his brother, king Eumenes, Sosilaus, the Rhodian, Aristaenus, praetor of the Achaeans, and a few military tribunes.

31. Then the tyrant, having the choice given him either to speak first or to listen, began thus: "Titus Quinctius, and you who are present, if I could collect from my own reflections the reason of your having either declared or actually made war against me, I should have waited in silence the issue of my destiny. But in the present state of things, I could not repress my desire of knowing, before I am ruined, the cause for which my ruin is resolved on. And in truth, if you were such men as the Carthaginians are represented to be,--men who considered the obligation of faith, pledged in alliances, as in no degree sacred, I should not wonder if you were the less scrupulous with respect to your conduct towards me. But, instead of that, when I look at you, I perceive that you are Romans: men who allow treaties to be the most solemn of religious acts, and faith, pledged therein, the strongest of human ties. Then, when I look back at myself, I am confident I am one who, as a member of the community, am, in common with the rest of the Lacedaemonians, included in a treaty subsisting with you, of very ancient date; and likewise have, lately, during the war with Philip, concluded anew, in my own name, a personal friendship and alliance with you. But it appears I have violated and cancelled that treaty, by holding possession of the city of Argos. In what manner shall I defend this? By the consideration of the fact, or of the time. The consideration of the fact furnishes me with a twofold defence: for, in the first place, in consequence of an invitation from the inhabitants themselves, and of their voluntary act of surrender, I accepted the possession of that city, and did not seize it by force. In the next place, I accepted it, when the city was in league with Philip, not in alliance with you. Then the consideration of the time acquits me, inasmuch as when I was in actual possession of Argos, the alliance was entered into between you and me, and you stipulated that I should send you aid against Philip, not that I should withdraw my garrison from that city. In this dispute, therefore, so far as it relates to Argos, I have unquestionably the advantage, both from the equity of the proceeding, as I gained possession of a city which belonged not to you, but to your enemy; and as I gained it by its own voluntary act, and not by forcible compulsion; and also from your own acknowledgment; since, in the articles of our alliance, you left Argos to me. But then, the name of tyrant, and my conduct, are strong objections against me: that I call forth slaves to a state of freedom; that I carry out the indigent part of the populace, and give them settlements in lands. With respect to the title by which I am styled, I can answer thus: That, let me be what I may, I am the same now that I was at the time when you yourself, Titus Quinctius, concluded an alliance with me. I remember, that I was then styled king by you; now, I see, I am called tyrant. If, therefore, I had since altered the style of my office, I might have an account to render of my fickleness: as you choose to alter it, that account should be rendered by you. As to what relates to the augmenting the number of the populace, by giving liberty to slaves, and the distribution of lands to the needy; on this head, too, I might defend myself by a reference to time: These measures, of what complexion soever they are, I had practised before you formed friendship with me, and received my aid in the war against Philip. But, if I did these same things, at this moment, I would not say to you, how did I thereby injure you, or violate the friendship subsisting between us? but that, in so doing, I acted agreeably to the practice and institutions of my ancestors. Do not estimate what is done at Lacedaemon by the standard of your own laws and constitution. There is no necessity for comparing particular institutions: you are guided in your choice of a horseman, by the quantity of his property; in your choice of a foot soldier, by the quantity of his property; and your plan is, that a few should abound in wealth, and that the body of the people should be in subjection to them. Our lawgiver did not choose that the administration of government should be in the hands of a few, such as you call a senate; or that this or that order of citizens should have a superiority over the rest: but he considered that, by equalizing the property and dignity of all, he should multiply the number of those who were to bear arms for their country. I acknowledge that I have enlarged on these matters, beyond what consists with the conciseness customary with my countrymen, and that the sum of the whole might be comprised in few words: that, since I first commenced a friendship with you, I have given you no just cause to repent it."

32. The Roman general answered: "We never contracted any friendship or alliance with you, but with Pelops, the right and lawful king of Lacedaemon: whose authority, while the Carthaginian, Gallic, and other wars, succeeding one another, kept us constantly employed, the tyrants, who after him held Lacedaemon under forced subjection, usurped into their own hands, as did you also during the late war with Macedonia. For what could be less fitting, than that we, who were waging war against Philip, in favour of the liberty of Greece, should contract friendship with a tyrant, and a tyrant the most cruel and violent towards his subjects that ever existed? But, even supposing that you had not either seized or held Argos by iniquitous means, it would be incumbent on us, when we are giving liberty to all Greece, to reinstate Lacedaemon also in its ancient freedom, and the enjoyment of its own laws, which you just now spoke of, as if you were a rival of Lycurgus. Shall we take pains to make Philip's garrisons evacuate Tassus and Bargylii; and shall we leave Lacedaemon and Argos, those two most illustrious cities, formerly the lights of Greece, under your feet, that their continuance in bondage may tarnish our title of deliverers of Greece? But the Argives took part with Philip: we excuse you from taking any concern in that cause, so that you need not be angry with them on our behalf. We have received sufficient proof, that the guilt of that proceeding is chargeable on two only, or, at most, three persons, and not on the state; just, indeed, as in the case of the invitation given to you and to your army, and your reception into the citadel, not one step was taken by public authority. We know, that the Thessalians, Phocians, and Locrians, with unanimous consent, joined in espousing the cause of Philip; yet we have given liberty to them in common with the rest of Greece. How then can you suppose we shall conduct ourselves towards the Argives, who are acquitted of having publicly authorized misconduct? You said, that your inviting slaves to liberty, and the distribution of lands among the indigent, were objected to you as crimes; and crimes, surely, they are, of no small magnitude. But what are they in comparison with those atrocious deeds, that are daily perpetrated by you and your adherents, in continual succession? Show us a free assembly of the people, either at Argos or Lacedaemon, if you wish to hear a true recital of the crimes of the most abandoned tyranny. To omit all other instances of older date, what a massacre did your son-in-law, Pythagoras, make at Argos almost before my eyes! What another did you yourself perpetrate, when I was nearly within the confines of the Lacedaemonians! Now, give orders, that the persons whom you took out of the midst of an assembly, and committed to prison, after declaring, in the hearing of all your countrymen, that you would keep them in custody, be produced in their chains, that their wretched parents may know that those are alive, for whom, under a false impression, they are mourning. Well, but you say, though all these things were so, Romans, how do they concern you? Can you say this to the deliverers of Greece; to people who crossed the sea, and have maintained a war on sea and land, to effect its deliverance? Still you tell us, you have not directly violated the alliance, or the friendship established between us. How many instances must I produce of your having done so? But I will not go into long detail; I will bring the matter to a short issue. By what acts is friendship violated? Most effectually by these two: by treating our friends as foes; and by uniting yourself with our enemies. Each of these has been done by you. For Messene, which had been united to us in friendship, by one and the same bond of alliance with Lacedaemon, you, while professing yourself our ally, reduced to subjection by force of arms, though you knew it was in alliance with us; and you contracted with Philip, our professed enemy, not only an alliance, but even an affinity, through the intervention of his general, Philocles: and waging actual war against us, with your piratical ships, you made the sea round Malea unsafe, and you captured and slew more Roman citizens almost than Philip himself; and to our ships conveying provisions to our armies the coast of Macedonia itself was less dangerous, than the promontory of Malea. Cease, therefore, to vaunt your good faith, and the obligations of treaties; and, dropping a popular style of discourse, speak as a tyrant, and as an enemy."

33. Aristaenus then began, at first to advise, and afterwards even to beseech Nabis, while it was yet in his power, and he had the opportunity, to consider what was best for himself and his interests. He then mentioned the names of several tyrants in the neighbouring states who had resigned their authority, and restored liberty to their people, and afterwards spent among their fellow citizens not only a secure but an honoured old age. These observations having been reciprocally made and listened to, the approach of night broke up the conference. Next day Nabis said, that he was willing to cede Argos, and withdraw his garrison, since such was the desire of the Romans, and to deliver up the prisoners and deserters; and if they demanded any thing further, he requested that they would set it down in writing, that he might deliberate on it with his friends. Thus the tyrant gained time for consultation; and Quinctius also, on his part, called a council, to which he summoned the chiefs of the allies. The greatest part were of opinion, that "they ought to persevere in the war, and that the tyrant should be altogether got rid of; otherwise the liberty of Greece would never be secure. That it would have been much better never to have entered on the war than to drop it after it was begun; for this would be a kind of approbation of his tyrannical usurpation, and which would establish him more firmly, as giving the countenance of the Roman people to his ill-acquired authority, and that he would quickly spirit up many in other states to plot against the liberty of their countrymen." The wishes of the general himself tended rather to peace; for he saw that, as the enemy was shut up in the town, nothing remained but a siege, and that must be very tedious. For it was not Gythium that they must besiege, though even that place had been gained by capitulation, not by assault; but Lacedaemon, a city most powerful in men and arms. The only hope which they could have formed was, that, on the first approach of their army, dissensions and insurrections might have been raised within: but, though the standards had been seen to advance almost to the gates, not one person had stirred. To this he added, that "Villius the ambassador, returning from Antiochus, brought intelligence, that the peace was an unsound one; and that the king had come over into Europe with a much more powerful armament by sea and land than before. Now, if the army should be engaged in the siege of Lacedaemon, with what other forces could the war be maintained against a king of his great power and strength?" These arguments he urged openly; but beneath all this there lay a concealed anxiety lest one of the new consuls should be appointed to the province of Greece; and then the honour of terminating the war, in which he had proceeded so far, must be yielded to a successor.

34. Finding that he could not, by opposition, make any alteration in the sentiments of the allies, by pretending to go over to their opinion, he led them all into a concurrence in his plan. "Be it so," said he, "and may success attend us: let us lay siege to Lacedaemon, since that is your choice. However, as a business so slow in its progress, as you know the besieging of cities to be, very often wears out the patience of the besiegers sooner than that of the besieged, you ought at once to make up your minds to this, that we must pass the winter under the walls of Lacedaemon. If this delay involved only toil and danger, I would recommend to you to prepare your minds and bodies to support these. But, in the present case, vast expenses also will be requisite for the construction of works, for machines and engines, sufficient for the siege of so great a city, and for procuring stores of provisions for the winter to serve you and us: therefore, to prevent your being suddenly disconcerted, or shamefully deserting an enterprise which you had engaged in, I think it will be necessary for you to write home to your respective states, and learn what degree of spirit and of strength each possesses. Of auxiliary troops I have a sufficient number, and to spare; but the more numerous we are, the more numerous will be our wants. The country of the enemy has nothing left but the naked soil. Besides, the winter is at hand, which will render it difficult to convey what we may stand in need of from distant places." This speech first turned their thoughts to the domestic evils prevailing in their several states; the indolence of those who remained at home; the envy and misrepresentations to which those who were serving abroad were liable; that a state of freedom was a difficult one in which to procure unanimity; the want of public funds, and people's backwardness to contribute out of their private property. Their inclinations being thus suddenly changed, they gave full power to the general, to do whatever he judged conducive to the general interest of the Roman people and their allies.

35. Then Quinctius, consulting only his lieutenant-generals and military tribunes, drew up the following conditions on which peace should be made with the tyrant: "That there should be a suspension of arms for six months, between Nabis on one part, and the Romans, king Eumenes, and the Rhodians on the other. That Titus Quinctius and Nabis should immediately send ambassadors to Rome, in order that the peace might be ratified by authority of the senate. That, whatever day a written copy of these conditions should be delivered to Nabis, on that day should the armistice commence; and, within ten days after, his garrisons should be withdrawn from Argos, and all other towns in the territory of the Argives; all which towns should be entirely evacuated, restored to freedom, and delivered to the Romans. That no slave, whether belonging to the king, the public, or a private person, be removed out of any of them; and if any had been removed before, that they be faithfully restored to their owners. That he should return the ships, which he had taken from the maritime states; and should not have any other than two barks; and these to be navigated with no more than sixteen oars. That he should restore to all the states in alliance with the Roman people, the prisoners and deserters in his hands; and to the Messenians, all the effects that could be discovered, and which their possessors could own. That he should, likewise, restore to the exiled Lacedaemonians their children, and their wives, who chose to follow their husbands; provided that no woman should be obliged, against her will, to go with her husband into exile. That such of the mercenary soldiers of Nabis as had deserted him, and gone either to their own countries or to the Romans, should have all their effects faithfully returned to them. That he should hold possession of no city in the island of Crete; and that such as were then in his possession should be given up to the Romans. That he should not form any alliance, or wage war, with any of the Cretan states, or with any other. That he should withdraw all his garrisons from those cities, which he should give up, and which had put themselves, and their country, under the dominion and protection of the Roman people; and should take care that, in future, he should restrain both himself and his subjects from molesting them. That he should not build any town or fort in his own, or any other territory. That, to secure the performance of these conditions, he should give five hostages, such as the Roman general should choose, and among them his own son: and should pay, at present, one hundred talents of silver; and fifty talents, annually, for eight years."

36. These articles were put into writing, and sent into Lacedaemon, the camp having been removed, and brought nearer to the town. The tyrant saw nothing in them that gave him much satisfaction, excepting that, beyond his hopes, no mention had been made of bringing back the exiles. But what mortified him most of all, was, the depriving him of his shipping, and of the maritime towns: for the sea had been a source of great profit to him; his piratical vessels having continually infested the whole coast from the promontory of Malea. Besides, he found in the young men of those towns recruits for his army, who made by far the best of his soldiers. Though he discussed those conditions in private with his confidential friends, yet, as the ministers in the courts of kings, faithless in other respects, are particularly so with respect to the concealing of secrets, rumour soon made them all public. The public, in general, expressed not so great a disapprobation of the whole of the terms, as did individuals, of the articles particularly affecting themselves. Those who had the wives of the exiles in marriage, or had possessed themselves of any of their property, were provoked, as if they were to lose what was their own, and not to make restitution of what belonged to others. The slaves, who had been set at liberty by the tyrant, perceived plainly, not only that their enfranchisement would be annulled, but that their servitude would be much more severe than it had been before, when they should be again put under the power of their incensed masters. The mercenary soldiers were dissatisfied, because, in consequence of a peace, their pay would cease; and they knew also, that they could not return among their own countrymen, who detested not tyrants more than they did their abettors.

37. They at first spoke of these matters, in their circles, with murmurs of discontent; and afterwards, suddenly ran to arms. From which tumultuous proceeding, the tyrant perceived that the passions of the multitude were of themselves sufficiently inflamed, and immediately ordered a general assembly to be summoned. Here he explained to them the terms which the Romans strove to impose, to which he falsely added others, more severe and humiliating. While, on the mention of each particular, sometimes the whole assembly, sometimes different parties, raised a shout of disapprobation, he asked them, "What answer they wished him to give; or what they would have him do?" On which all, as it were with one voice, cried out, "To give no answer, to continue the war;" and they began, as is common with a multitude, every one to encourage the rest, to keep up their spirits, and cherish good hopes, observing, that "fortune favours the brave." Animated by these expressions, the tyrant assured them, that Antiochus, and the Aetolians, would come to their assistance; and that he had, in the mean time, resources abundantly sufficient for the maintenance of a siege. The very mention of peace had vanished from the minds of all, and unable to contain themselves longer in quiet, they ran out in parties against the advanced guards of the enemy. The sally of these few skirmishers, and the weapons which they threw, immediately removed all doubt from the Romans that the war was to continue. During the four following days, several slight encounters took place, at first without any decisive result; but, on the fifth day after, in a kind of regular engagement, the Lacedaemonians were beaten back into the town, in such a panic, that several Roman soldiers, pressing close on the rear of the fugitives, entered the city through open spaces, not secured with a wall, of which, at that time, there were several.

38. Then Quinctius, having, by this repulse, effectually checked the sallies of the enemy, and being fully convinced that he had now no alternative, but must besiege the city, sent persons to bring up all the marine forces from Gythium; and, in the mean time, rode himself, with some military tribunes, round the walls, to take a view of the situation of the place. In former times, Sparta had no wall; of late, the tyrants had built walls in the places where the ground Was open and level; but the higher places, and those more difficult of access, they secured by placing guards of soldiers instead of fortifications. When he had sufficiently examined every circumstance, having resolved on making a general assault, he surrounded the city with all his forces, the number of which, Romans and allies, horse and foot, naval and land forces, all together, amounted to fifty thousand men. Some brought scaling-ladders, some fire-brands, some other matters, wherewith they might not only assail the enemy, but strike terror. The orders were, that on raising the shout, all should advance at once, in order that the Lacedaemonians, being alarmed at the same time in every quarter, might be at a loss where, first, to make head, or whither to bring aid. The main force of his army he formed in three divisions, and ordered one to attack on the side of the Phoebeum, another on that of the Dictynneum, and the third near a place called Heptagoniae, all which are open places without walls. Though surrounded on all sides by such a violent alarm, the tyrant, at first, attentive to every sudden shout and hasty message, either ran up himself, or sent others, wherever the greatest danger pressed; but, afterwards, he was so stunned by the horror and confusion that prevailed all around, as to become incapable either of giving proper directions, or of hearing what was said, and to lose, not only his judgment, but almost his reason.

39. For some time the Lacedaemonians maintained their ground against the Romans, in the narrow passes; and three armies, on each side, fought, at one time, in different places. Afterwards, when the heat of the contest increased, the contest was, by no means, an equal one: for the Lacedaemonians fought with missile arms, against which the Roman soldiers, by means of their large shields, easily defended themselves, and many of their blows either missed, or were very weak; for, the narrowness of the place causing them to be closely crowded together, they neither had room to discharge their weapons with a previous run, which gives great force to them, nor clear and steady footing while they made their throw Of those, therefore, discharged against the front of the Romans, none pierced their bodies, few even their shields; but several were wounded by those who surrounded them from higher places. And presently, when they advanced a little, they were hurt unawares, both with javelins, and tiles also thrown from the tops of the houses. On this they raised their shields over their heads; and joining them so close together as to leave no room for injury from such random casts, or even for the insertion of a javelin, by a hand within reach, they pressed forward under cover of this tortoise fence. For some time the narrow streets, being thronged with a multitude of their own soldiers, and also of the enemy, considerably retarded the progress of the Romans; but when once, by gradually pushing back the enemy, they gained the wider streets of the city, the impetuosity of their attack could no longer be withstood. While the Lacedaemonians, having turned their backs, fled precipitately to the higher places, Nabis, being utterly confounded, as if the town were already taken, began to look about for a way to make his escape. Pythagoras, while in other respects he displayed the spirit and conduct of a general, was now the sole means of saving the city from being taken. For he ordered the buildings nearest to the wall to be set on fire; and these being instantly in a blaze, those who, on another occasion, would have brought help to extinguish the fire, now helping to increase it, the roofs tumbled on the Romans; and not only fragments of the tiles, but also the half-burned timber, reached the soldiers: the flames spread wide, and the smoke caused a degree of terror even greater than the danger. In consequence, the Romans who were without the city, and were just then making the principal attack, retired from the wall; and those who were within, fearing lest the fire, rising behind them, should put it out of their power to rejoin the rest of the army, began to retreat. Whereupon Quinctius, seeing how matters stood, ordered a general retreat to be sounded.--Thus, being at length recalled from a city which they had nearly taken, they returned to their camp.