Chapter XXII: Book XLIV (1)

_Quintus Marcius Philippus, the consul, penetrates into Macedonia
through the rugged passes, and takes several cities. The Rhodians
send an embassy to Rome, threatening to aid Perseus, unless the
Romans made peace with him. This act was received with general
indignation. Lucius Æmilius Paullus, the consul, sent against
Perseus, defeats him, and reduces all Macedonia to subjection.
Before the engagement, Caius Sulpicius Gallus, a military tribune,
foretells an eclipse of the moon, and warns the soldiers not to be
alarmed at that phenomenon. Gentius, king of Illyria, vanquished by
Anicius the prætor, and sent prisoner, together with his wife and
children, to Rome. Ambassadors from Ptolemy and Cleopatra, king and
queen of Egypt, complain of Antiochus making war upon them.
Perseus, not paying Eumenes, king of Pergamus, and Gentius, king of
Illyria, the money he had promised them for their assistance, is
deserted by them._

1. EARLY in the spring which succeeded the winter in which these transactions took place, the consul, Quintus Marcius Philippus, set out from Rome, with five thousand men, whom he was to carry over to reinforce his legions, and arrived at Brundusium. Marcus Popilius, of consular rank, and other young men of equal dignity, accompanied him, in the capacity of military tribunes for the legions in Macedonia. Nearly at the same time, Caius Marcius Figulus, the prætor, whose province was the fleet, came to Brundusium; and, both sailing from Italy, made Corcyra on the second day, and Actium, a port of Acarnania, on the third. The consul, then, disembarking at Ambracia, proceeded towards Thessaly by land. The prætor, doubling Cape Leucate, sailed into the gulf of Corinth; then, leaving his ships at Creusa, he went by land also through the middle of Bœotia, and, by a quick journey of one day, came to the fleet at Chalcis. Aulus Hostilius at that time lay encamped in Thessaly, near Palæpharsalus; and though he had performed no warlike act of any consequence, yet he had reformed his troops from a state of dissolute licentiousness, and brought them to exact military discipline; had faithfully consulted the interest of the allies, and defended them from every kind of injury. On hearing of his successor’s approach, he carefully inspected the arms, men, and horses; and then, with the army in complete order, he marched out to meet the consul. Their first meeting was such as became their own dignity and the Roman character; and in transacting business afterwards, _they preserved the greatest harmony and propriety_.[88] The proconsul, addressing himself to the troops, _exhorted them to behave with courage, and with due respect to the orders of their commander. He then recommended them, in warm terms, to the consul, and, as soon as he had despatched the necessary affairs, set off for Rome._[88] A few days after, the consul made a speech to his soldiers, which began with the unnatural murder which Perseus had perpetrated on his brother, and meditated against his father; he then mentioned “his acquisition of the kingdom by nefarious practices; his poisonings and murders; his abominable attempt to assassinate Eumenes; the injuries he had committed against the Roman people; and his plundering the cities of their allies, in violation of the treaty.” “How detestable such proceedings were in the sight of the gods, Perseus would feel,” he said, “in the issue of his affairs; for the gods always favoured righteous and honourable dealings; by means of which the Roman people had risen to so great an exaltation.” He next compared the strength of the Roman people, which now embraced the whole world, with that of Macedonia, and the armies of the one with those of the other; and then added, “How much more powerful armies of Philip and Antiochus had been conquered by forces not more numerous than the present!”

2. Having animated the minds of his soldiers by such exhortations, he began to consult on a general plan of operations for the campaign; being joined by the prætor, Caius Marcius, who, after receiving the command of the fleet, came thither from Chalcis. It was resolved not to waste time by delaying longer in Thessaly; but to decamp immediately, and advance thence into Macedonia; and that the prætor should exert himself to the utmost, that the fleet might appear, at the same time, on the enemy’s coasts. The prætor then having been sent away, the consul, having ordered the soldiers to carry with them a month’s provisions, struck his tents, on the tenth day after he received the command of the army, and proceeded one day’s march. He then called together his guides, and ordered them to explain, in the presence of the council, by what road each of them proposed to lead him; then, having dismissed them, he asked the opinion of the council, as to what route he should prefer. Some advised the road through Pythium; others, that over the Cambunian mountains, by which the consul Hostilius had marched the year before; while others, again, preferred that which passed by the side of the Lake Ascuris. There was yet before him a considerable length of road common to each of these routes; the further consideration of this matter was therefore postponed until they should encamp near the place where the roads diverged. He then marched into Perrhæbia, and posted himself between Azorus and Doliche, in order to consider again which was the preferable road. In the mean time, Perseus, understanding that the enemy was marching towards him, but unable to guess what route he might take, resolved to secure all the passes by guards. To the top of the Cambunian mountains, called by the natives Volustana, he sent ten thousand light infantry, under the command of Asclepiodotus; ordering Hippias, with a detachment of twelve thousand Macedonians, to guard the pass called Lapathus, near a fort which stood over the Lake Ascuris. He himself, with the rest of his forces, lay for some time in camp at Dium; but afterwards, as if he had lost the use of his judgment, and was incapable of forming any plan, he used to gallop along the coast, with a party of light horse, sometimes to Heracleum, sometimes to Phila, and then return with the same speed to Dium.

3. By this time the consul had determined to march through the pass near Octolophus, where, as we have mentioned, the camp of the king formerly stood. But he deemed it prudent to despatch before him four thousand men, to secure such places as might be useful: the command of this party was given to Marcus Claudius, and Quintus Marcius the consul’s son. The main body followed close after; but the road was so steep, rough, and craggy, that the advanced party of light troops, with great difficulty, effected in two days a march of fifteen miles; and then encamped. They call the place which they took, the tower of Eudicru. Next day they advanced seven miles; and, having seized on a hill at a small distance from the enemy’s camp, sent back a message to the consul, that “they had come up with the enemy; and had taken post in a place which was safe and convenient in every respect; urging him to join them with all possible speed.” This message came to the consul at the Lake Ascuris, at a time when he was full of anxiety, on account of the badness of the road on which he had entered, and for the fate of the small force he had sent forward into the midst of the posts of the enemy. His spirits were therefore greatly revived; and, soon effecting a junction of all his forces, he pitched his camp on the side of the hill that had been seized, where the ground was the most commodious. This hill was so high as to afford a wide-extended prospect presenting to their eyes, at one view, not only the enemy’s camp, which was little more than a mile distant, but the whole extent of territory to Dium and Phila, together with a large tract of the sea-coast; circumstances which greatly enlivened the courage of the soldiers, giving them so near a view of the grand theatre of the war, of all the king’s forces, and of the country of the enemy. So eager were they, that they pressed the consul to lead them on directly to the enemy’s camp; but, after the fatigue that they had suffered on the road, one day was set apart for repose. On the third day, the consul, leaving one half of his troops to guard the camp, drew out his forces against the enemy.

4. Hippias had been sent by the king, a short time before, to maintain that pass; and having employed himself, since he first saw the Roman camp on the hill, in preparing his men’s minds for a battle, he now went forth to meet the consul’s army as it advanced. The Romans came out to battle with light armour, as did the enemy; light troops being the fittest to commence the engagement. As soon as they met, therefore, they instantly discharged their javelins, and many wounds were given and received on both sides in a disorderly kind of conflict; but few of either party were killed. This only roused their courage for the following day, when they would have engaged with more numerous forces, and with greater animosity, had there been room to form a line; but the summit of the mountain was contracted into a ridge so narrow, as scarcely to allow space for three files in front; so that, while but few were fighting, the greater part, especially such as carried heavy arms, stood mere spectators of the fight. The light troops even ran through the hollows of the hill, and attacked the flanks of the light-armed troops of the enemy; and alike through even and uneven places, sought to come to action. That day, greater numbers were wounded than killed, and night put a stop to the dispute. The Roman general was greatly at a loss how to proceed on the third day; for to remain on that naked hill was impossible, and he could not return without disgrace, and even danger, if the enemy with the advantage of the ground, should press on his troops in their retreat: he had therefore no other plan left than to improve his bold attempt, by persevering resolution, which sometimes, in the issue, proves the wiser course. He had, in fact, brought himself into such a situation, that if he had had to deal with an enemy like the ancient kings of Macedon, he might have suffered a severe defeat. But while the king, with his horsemen, ran up and down the shore at Dium; and, though at a distance of twelve miles, he was almost within hearing of the shout and noise of his forces who were engaged, neither strengthened his forces by sending up fresh men to relieve the weary, nor, what was most material, appeared himself in the action; the Roman general, notwithstanding that he was above sixty years old, and unwieldy through corpulency, performed actively every duty of a commander. He persisted with extraordinary resolution in his bold undertaking; and, leaving Popilius to guard the summit, marched across, through trackless places, having sent forward a party to open a road. Attalus and Misagenes, with the auxiliary troops of their own nations, were ordered to protect them, while clearing the way through the forests. He himself, keeping the cavalry and baggage before him, closed the rear with the legions.

5. In descending the mountain, the men suffered inexpressible fatigue, besides the frequent falling of the cattle and their loads, so that, before they had advanced quite four miles, they began to think that their most eligible plan would be to return, if they could, by the way they had come. The elephants caused almost as much confusion among the troops as an enemy could; for, when they came to impassable steeps, they threw off their riders, and set up such a hideous roar, as spread terror through all, especially among the horses, until a method was contrived for bringing them down. They fastened in the earth, in the line of descent, some way from the top, two long, strong posts, distant from each other a little more than the breadth of the animal, on which were fastened beams thirty feet long, so as to form a kind of bridge, and covered it with earth; after a little intermediate space, a second and similar bridge was formed; then a third bridge, with several others one after another, where the rocks were precipitous. The elephant walked forward on solid footing upon the bridge; but before he came to the end, the posts underneath were cut, and the bridge falling, obliged him to slide down gently to the beginning of the next bridge, which some of them performed standing, others on their haunches. When they arrived at the level of another bridge, they were again carried down, by its falling in like manner; and so on until they came to more level ground. The Romans advanced that day scarcely more than seven miles; and even of this journey little was performed on foot. Their method of proceeding in general was rolling themselves down, together with their arms and other encumbrances, with every kind of discomfort; insomuch, that even their commander, who led them such a march, did not deny, but that tho whole army might have been cut off by a small party. During the night, they arrived at a small plain; but, as it was hemmed in on every side, there was no opportunity of discovering whether it was a position of danger or not. However, as they had, beyond their expectation, at length found good footing, they judged it necessary to wait, during the next day, in that deep valley for Popilius, and the forces left behind with him; who, though the enemy gave them no disturbance from any quarter, suffered severely from the difficulties of the ground,—as if they had been harassed by an enemy. These having joined the main body, the whole proceeded, on the third day, through a pass called by the natives Callipeuce. On the fourth day they marched down through places equally trackless, but more cleverly in consequence of their experience, and with more comfortable hopes, as they saw no enemy any where, and as they were coming nearer to the sea, into the plains, where they pitched their camp of infantry between Heracleum and Libethrus, the greater part being posted on hills, the rest occupying a valley and part of the plain where the cavalry encamped.

6. The king, it is said, was bathing, when he was informed of the enemy’s approach; on hearing which, he started up from his seat, and rushed out in a fright, crying out, that he was conquered without a battle; and afterwards, in a state of great perturbation, amidst plans and orders dictated by fear, he recalled two most intimate friends from his garrisons, and sent one to Pella, where his treasure was lodged, and the other to Parthus, and opened all the passes to the invasion of the enemy. He himself, having suddenly removed from Dium all the gilded statues, that they might not fall a prey to the enemy, ordered all the inhabitants to remove to Pydna; and thus made the conduct of the consul, in venturing into a situation out of which he could not retreat without the enemy’s permission, although it might have been deemed rash and inconsiderate, to wear the appearance of judicious boldness. For there were only two passes through which the Romans could remove from their present situation; one through Tempe into Thessaly, the other by Dium into Macedonia; and both these were occupied by parties of the king’s troops. So that if an intrepid commander had, only for ten days, maintained his ground, without yielding to the first appearance of an approaching terror, the Romans could neither have retreated by Tempe into Thessaly, nor have had any road open for the conveyance of provisions to their position. For Tempe is a pass of such a nature, that even supposing no obstruction was given by an enemy, it is difficult to get through it; being so narrow for the distance of five miles, that there is barely room for a loaded horse to pass: the precipices, also, on both sides, are so abrupt, that it is scarcely possible to look down from them, without a dizziness alike of the eyes and the mind; while the roaring and depth of the river Peneus, flowing through the middle of the glen, increases the terrific effect. This defile, in its nature so dangerous, was guarded by parties of the king’s troops, stationed in four different places: one near Gonnus, at the first entrance; another in an impregnable fortress at Condylos; a third near Lapathus, in a place called Charax; and the fourth on the road itself about midway, where the valley is narrowest, and might have been easily defended even by half a score men. All possibility either of retreating, or of receiving provisions through Tempe, being cut off, the Romans, in order to return, must have crossed over the same mountains from which they came down; but even though they might have been able to effect this by passing unobserved, they never could have accomplished it openly, and while the enemy kept possession of the heights; and besides, the difficulties which they had already experienced would have precluded every hope of the kind. In this rash enterprise they would have no other plan left than to force their way into Macedonia, through the midst of the enemy posted at Dium; and if the gods had not deprived the king of his understanding, this would have been extremely difficult For the space between the foot of Mount Olympus and the sea is not much more than a mile in breadth; one half of which is taken up by the mouth of the river Baphirus, which forms a large morass, and, of the remaining plain, a great share is occupied by the town and the temple of Jupiter: the rest, being a very small space, might have been shut up with a trench and rampart of no great length; or, so great was the plenty of stones and timber on the spot, that a wall might have been drawn across, and towers erected. But the king’s judgment was so entirely blinded by the sudden fright, that he reflected not upon any one of these circumstances; on the contrary, he evacuated all his strong posts, and leaving them open to the enemy, fled back to Pydna.

7. The consul, perceiving in the folly and sloth of the enemy a most favourable prospect, not only of safety, but of success, sent back a messenger to Larissa, with orders to Spurius Lucretius to seize on the deserted forts about Tempe; then, sending forward Popilius, to examine all the passes round Dium, and learning that all was clear, he marched in two days to that town, ordering the camp to be fixed under the walls of the temple, that no violation might be offered to that sacred place. He went himself into the city; and seeing it, though not large, yet highly ornamented with public buildings and abundance of statues, and remarkably well fortified, he could scarcely believe that there was not some stratagem concealed in the abandonment of such important advantages without cause. He waited therefore one day to examine all the country round; then he decamped; and supposing that he should find plenty of corn in Pieria, advanced to a river called the Mytis. On the day following, continuing his march, he received the voluntary surrender of the city of Agassæ; whereupon, in order to gain the good opinion of the rest of the Macedonians, he contented himself with receiving hostages, assuring the inhabitants, that he would leave them their city without a garrison, and that they should live free from taxes, and under their own laws. Proceeding thence one day’s march, he encamped at the river Ascordus; but, finding that the farther he removed from Thessaly, the greater was the scarcity of every thing, he returned to Dium; which clearly demonstrated how much he must have suffered if he had been cut off from Thessaly, since he found it unsafe to go to any great distance from it. Perseus, having drawn all his forces into one body, and assembled all his generals, reprimanded severely the commanders of the garrisons, and particularly Hippias, and Asclepiodotus; asserting that they had betrayed to the Romans the keys of Macedonia; of which charge no one was more truly guilty than himself. The consul, on seeing the fleet at sea, conceived hopes that they were coming with provisions, for every article had now become very dear and very scarce; but when the ships came into harbour, he was informed that the transports had been left behind at Magnesia. He was then under great perplexity to determine what measures to take; so hard did he find it to struggle with the difficulties of his situation, though not aggravated by any effort of the enemy; when, very seasonably, a letter arrived from Lucretius, acquainting him that he was in possession of all the forts about Tempe and Phila, and had found in them great plenty of corn and other necessaries.

8. The consul, highly delighted with this intelligence, removed his quarters from Dium to Phila, in order to strengthen that post, and, at the same time, to distribute corn to the soldiers, on the spot, as the carriage of it thence would be tedious. That march gave rise to opinions not at all favourable to his reputation: some said that he retired from the enemy through fear; because if he had staid in Pieria he must have risked a battle: others, that, not considering the daily changes produced by fortune in the affairs of war, he had let slip out of his hands advantages which threw themselves in his way, and which, in all probability, he could never regain. For, by giving up the possession of Dium, he at once roused the enemy to action; who at length saw the necessity of endeavouring to recover what he had lost before, through his own fault. On hearing of the consul’s departure, therefore, Perseus marched back to Dium, repaired whatever had been destroyed and laid waste by the Romans, rebuilt the battlements which they had thrown down, strengthened the fortifications all round, and then pitched his camp within five miles of the city, on the hither bank of the Enipeus, in order to have the river itself, the passage of which was extremely difficult, as a defence to his post. The Enipeus, which rises in a valley of Mount Olympus, is a small stream during the summer, but is raised by the winter rains to a violent torrent, when, as it runs over the rocks, it forms furious eddies, and, by sweeping away the earth at the bottom into the sea, makes very deep gulfs, while the sinking of the middle of the channel renders the banks both high and steep. Perseus, thinking that the advance of the enemy was sufficiently obstructed by this river, contemplated spending there the remainder of the summer. In the mean time, the consul sent Popilius, with two thousand men, from Phila to Heracleum. It is distant about five miles from Phila, midway between Dium and Tempe, and stands on a steep rock hanging over the river.

9. Popilius, before he brought his troops up to the walls, sent to recommend to the magistrates and principal men, rather to try the honour and clemency of the Romans than their power; but this advice produced no effect, the fires in the king’s camp on the Enipeus being now within their sight. The attack was then commenced by assaults, and with works and machines, as well on the side facing the sea, (for the ships had been brought up close to the shore,) as on land. A party of Roman youths actually gained possession of the lowest part of the wall, by turning to the purposes of war a kind of sport which they were accustomed to practise in the circus. In those times, when the present extravagant fashion of filling the area with beasts of every kind was yet unknown, it was customary to contrive various kinds of amusements; for when one chariot race and one equestrian performer were exhibited, both the performances scarcely filled up the space of an hour. Among other diversions, in the more elaborate games, about sixty young men in arms, sometimes more, used to be introduced, whose performances were partly a representation of troops going through the military exercise, and partly a display of more accurate skill than appeared in the practice of soldiers, and which approached nearer to the mode of fighting used by gladiators. After performing various evolutions, they formed in a square body with their shields raised over their heads, and closed together, the foremost standing upright, the next stooping a little, the third and fourth lines more and more, and so on, until the hindmost rested on their knees, thus composing a covering in the shape of a tortoise-shell, and sloping, like the roof of a house. Then two armed men, who stood at the distance of about fifty feet, ran forward, and after some menacing flourishes of their arms, mounted over the closed shields, from the bottom to the top of this roof; and, treading as steadily as if on solid ground, sometimes paraded along the extreme edges of it, as if repelling an enemy, and sometimes encountered each other on the middle of it. A body similar to this was brought up against the lowest part of the wall, and the soldiers, standing thereon, mounted until they were as high as the defendants on the battlements; and these having been beaten off, the soldiers of two companies climbed over into the town. The only difference was, that here the outside men in the front and in the two flanks alone did not raise their shields over their heads, lest they should expose their bodies, but held them before them, as in battle; so that the weapons thrown at them from the walls, as they advanced, did them no injury, while those that were poured like a shower on the roof glided down the smooth slope to the bottom, without doing any mischief. When Heracleum was taken, the consul removed his quarters thither, as if he intended to besiege Dium; and, after driving the king thence, to advance to Pieria. But as he was now preparing his quarters for the winter, he ordered roads to be made for the conveyance of provisions from Thessaly, and proper places to be chosen for store-houses; also huts to be built, where the people employed in bringing the provisions might lodge.

10. Perseus, having at length recovered his spirits, after the panic with which he had been seized, began to wish that obedience had not been paid to the orders which he had given in his fright, to throw the treasures at Pella into the sea, and to burn the naval arsenals at Thessalonica. Andronicus, indeed, whom he had sent to Thessalonica, had spun out the time, leaving him time for repentance, which actually took place; but Nicias, less provident, threw into the sea what money he found at Pella. He seems, however, to have fallen into a mistake which was not without remedy, inasmuch as the greatest part of that treasure was brought up again by divers. Nevertheless, such shame did the king feel for his terror on the occasion, that he caused the divers to be privately put to death, together with Andronicus and Nicias, that there might be no living witnesses of so preposterous an order. In the mean time, Caius Marcius, with the fleet, sailed from Heracleum to Thessalonica. Landing his men, he made wide depredations on the country; and when the troops from the city came out against him, he defeated them in several actions, and drove them back in dismay within their walls. He even alarmed the city itself; but the townsmen, erecting engines of every kind, wounded, with stones thrown from them, not only such as straggled carelessly near the walls, but even those who were on board the ships. He therefore re-embarked his troops; and giving up the design of besieging Thessalonica, proceeded thence to Ænia, fifteen miles distant, situated opposite to Pydna, in a fertile country. After ravaging the lands in that quarter, he coasted along the shore until he arrived at Antigonea. Here his troops landed, and for some time carried their depredations through all the country round, putting a great deal of booty on board the ships; but afterwards a party of Macedonians, consisting of foot and horse intermixed, fell upon them as they straggled, and, pursuing them as they fled to the shore, killed near five hundred, and took as many prisoners. Extreme necessity, on finding themselves hindered from safely regaining their vessels, roused the courage of the Roman soldiers, at once with despair of any other means of safety, (than by resistance,) and also with indignation. They renewed the fight on the shore, and those who were on board assisted them; and here about two hundred Macedonians were killed, and a like number taken. From Antigonea the fleet sailed on to the district of Pallene, where a descent was made for the purpose of plundering. This district belonged to the territory of Cassandrea, and was by far the most plentiful of any at which they had yet touched on the coast. There they were met by king Eumenes, who came from Elea with twenty decked ships; and king Prusias also sent thither five ships of war.

11. By this accession of strength the prætor was encouraged to lay siege to Cassandrea. This city was built by king Cassander, in the pass which connects the territory of Pallene with the rest of Macedonia. It is bounded on one side by the Toronæan, on another by the Macedonian Sea; for it stands on a neck of land which stretches into the ocean, and rises in the part opposite Magnesia to a height equal to that of Mount Athos, forming two unequal promontories, the larger called Posideum, the smaller Canastræum. The besiegers formed their attacks on two different sides; the Roman general, at a place called Clitæ, drew a trench from the Macedonian to the Toronæan Sea, to which he added pointed palisades, to cut off the communication; while on the other side is the Euripus, where Eumenes carried on his attack. The Romans underwent a vast deal of labour in filling up a trench, which Perseus had recently dug in the way; and on the prætor inquiring where the earth that had been taken out of it was thrown, as he saw no heaps of it any where, some arches were shown him that were closed up with it, not of equal thickness with the old wall, but with a single row of brick. On this, he formed the design of opening a way into the city, by breaking through that wall; and he hoped to be able to escape observation, if, by assaulting another part by scalade, and raising a tumult there, he could divert the attention of the besieged to the defence of the place attacked. There were in garrison at Cassandrea, besides the younger inhabitants, who formed no contemptible body, eight hundred Agrians and two thousand Illyrians from Penestia, sent thither by Pleuratus, each being a warlike race. While these were busy in defending the walls, and the Romans using their utmost efforts to scale them, in an instant of time the arches were broken through, and the city laid open; and if those who made this irruption had been armed, they must have immediately become masters of the town. When the soldiers were told that this work was accomplished, they were so elated with joy, that they raised a sudden shout, expecting to force their way in, some in one part, and others in another.

12. At first the enemy was seized with wonder at to what this sudden shout could mean; but when Pytho and Philip, the commanders of the garrison, were told that the city was laid open, they concluded that every advantage resulting from that event would be in favour of whichever party should make the first charge; and, therefore, they sallied out, with a strong body of Agrians and Illyrians, who, while the Romans were coming together and being congregated from various parts that they might march in order into the city, routed them while thus disordered and irregular, and drove them to the trench, into which they tumbled them, in heaps, one over another. About six hundred were killed in this action, and almost every one that was found between the wall and the trench was wounded. The blow meditated by the prætor having thus recoiled on himself, made him slower to form any other attempts; and as Eumenes made little or no progress though he carried on his operations both by land and sea, they concurred in a resolution to strengthen their guards, in order to prevent the introduction of any reinforcement from Macedonia: and, since they had not succeeded by assault, to carry on the siege by regular approaches. While they were making preparations for this, ten barks, belonging to the king, sent from Thessalonica, with a chosen body of Gallic auxiliaries, observing the enemy’s ships lying at anchor in the road, and keeping as close to the shore as possible, amidst the darkness of the night, in a single line, effected their entrance to the city. Intelligence of this new addition of force obliged both the Romans and Eumenes to raise the siege. They then sailed round the promontory, and brought the fleet into the harbour of Torone. This town also they attempted to besiege; but, perceiving that it was defended, by a strong garrison, they dropped the design, and proceeded to Demetrias. When they approached this place, they saw the walls fully manned with armed troops; they therefore sailed on, and brought the fleet into harbour at Iolcos, intending, after ravaging the country there, to proceed to the siege of Demetrias.

13. In the mean time, the consul, not to lie inactive in the enemies’ country, sent Marcus Popilius, with five thousand men, to reduce the city of Melibœa. This city stands at the foot of the Mount Ossa, where it stretches out into Thessaly, and is very advantageously situated for commanding Demetrias. The first approach of the enemy struck terror into the inhabitants of the place; but soon recovering from the fright occasioned by the unexpectedness of the event, they ran hastily in arms to the gates and walls, where an entrance was apprehended, and at once put a stop to all hope of taking the place by the first assault. Preparations were therefore made for a siege, and the works commenced for making the approaches. When Perseus was informed that both Melibœa was being besieged by the consul’s army, and that the fleet at the same time was lying at Iolcos, intending to proceed thence to attack Demetrias, he sent Euphranor, one of his generals, with two thousand chosen men, to Melibœa. His orders were, that, if he could compel the Romans to retire from before Melibœa, he should then march secretly into Demetrias, before the enemy should bring up their troops from Iolcos to that city. As soon as he suddenly became visible on the high grounds to the besiegers of Melibœa, they abandoned their numerous works in great consternation, and set them on fire. Thus they withdrew from Melibœa, and Euphranor, having raised the siege of one city, marched instantly to Demetrias. Then the townsmen felt confident that they should be able, not only to defend their walls, but to protect their lands also from depredations; and they made several irruptions on the straggling parties of the plunderers, not without injury to the enemy. However, the prætor and the king rode round the walls to view the situation of the city, and try whether they might attempt it on any side, either by storm or works. It was reported, that some overtures of friendship between Eumenes and Perseus were here agitated, through Cydas, a Cretan, and Antimachus, governor of Demetrias. It is certain, that the armies retired from Demetrias. Eumenes sailed to the consul; and, after congratulating him on his success in penetrating into Macedonia, went home to Pergamus. Marcius Figulus, the prætor, having sent part of his fleet to winter at Sciathus, with the remainder repaired to Oreum in Eubœa; judging that the most convenient city from which he could send supplies to the armies in Macedonia and Thessaly. There are very different accounts given respecting king Eumenes: if Valerius Antias is to be believed, he neither gave any assistance with his fleet to the prætor, though often solicited by letters; nor did he depart from the consul for Asia in good humour, being offended at not being permitted to lie in the same camp with him; he says too, that he could not be prevailed on even to leave the Gallic horsemen that he had brought with him. But his brother Attalus remained with the consul, and in the constant tenor of his conduct evinced a sincere attachment, and an extraordinary degree of zeal and activity in the service.

14. While the war was being carried on in Macedonia, ambassadors came to Rome, from a chieftain of the Gauls beyond the Alps, whose name is said to have been Balanos, but of what tribe is not mentioned. They brought an offer of assistance towards the war in Macedonia. The senate returned him thanks, and sent him presents,—a golden chain of two pounds weight, golden bowls to the amount of four pounds, a horse completely caparisoned, and a suit of horseman’s armour. After the Gauls, ambassadors from Pamphylia, brought into the senate-house a golden crown, of the value of twenty thousand Philippeans, and requested permission to deposit it, as an offering, in the shrine of Jupiter supremely good and great, and to offer sacrifice in the Capitol, which was granted. The said ambassadors having expressed a wish to renew the treaty of friendship, a gracious answer was given, and a present was made to each of two thousand _asses_.[89] Then audience was given to the ambassadors of king Prusias; and, a little after, to those of the Rhodians, who discoursed on the same subject, but in a widely different manner. The purpose of both embassies was, to effect a peace with king Perseus. The address of Prusias consisted of entreaties rather than demands; for he declared, that “he had hitherto supported the cause of the Romans, and would continue to support it as long as the war should continue. But, on Perseus sending ambassadors to him, on the subject of putting an end to the war with Rome, he had promised them to become a mediator with the senate:” and he requested that, “if they could prevail on themselves to lay aside their resentment, they would place him in the favourable position of mediator of the peace.” Such was the discourse of the king’s ambassadors. The Rhodians, after ostentatiously recounting their many services to the Roman people, and arrogating to themselves rather the greater share of its successes, particularly in the case of king Antiochus, proceeded in this manner; that, “at a time when peace subsisted between the Macedonians and Romans, they likewise commenced a friendship with king Perseus, which they had, since, unwillingly broken, without having any reason to complain of him, but merely because it was the desire of the Romans to draw them into a confederacy in the war, that for three years past they had felt many inconveniences from that war. In consequence of the interruption of commerce, and the loss of their port duties and provisions, their island was distressed by a general scarcity. When their countrymen could no longer suffer this, they had sent other ambassadors into Macedonia, to Perseus, to announce to him that it was the wish of the Rhodians that he should conclude a peace with the Romans, and had sent them to Rome with the same message. The Rhodians would afterwards consider what measures they should judge proper to be taken against either party that should prevent an end being put to the war.” I am convinced that no person, even at the present time, can hear or read such expressions without indignation; we may, then, easily judge what was the state of mind of the senators when they listened to them.

15. According to the account of Claudius, no answer was given; and a decree of the senate only was read, by which the Roman people ordered, that the Carians and Lycians should enjoy independence; and that a letter should be sent immediately to each of those nations, acquainting them therewith. On hearing which the principal ambassador, whose arrogant demeanour, just before, the senate could scarce contain, fell down insensible. Other writers say, that an answer was given to this effect: “That, at the commencement of the present war, the Roman people had learned, from unquestionable authority, that the Rhodians, in concert with king Perseus, had formed secret machinations against their commonwealth; and that, if that matter had been doubtful hitherto, the words of their ambassadors, just now, had reduced it to a certainty; as, in general, treachery, though at first sufficiently cautious, yet, in the end, betrays itself. Were the Rhodians now to act the part of arbiters of war and peace throughout the world? were the Romans at their nod to take up arms and lay them down? and henceforth to appeal, not to the gods, but to the Rhodians, for their sanction of treaties? And was this indeed the case, that, unless their orders were obeyed, and the armies withdrawn from Macedonia, they would consider what measures they should take? What the Rhodians might determine, they themselves knew best; but the Roman people, as soon as the conquest of Perseus should be completed, an event which they hoped was at no great distance, would most certainly consider how to make due retribution to each state, according to its deserts in the course of the war.” Nevertheless the usual presents of two thousand _asses_ each were sent to the ambassadors, which they did not accept.

16. Then was read a letter from the consul, Quintus Marcius, informing the senate, that “he had passed the mountains, and penetrated into Macedonia; that the prætor had collected there, and procured from other places, stores of provisions for the approaching winter; and that he had brought from the Epirots twenty thousand measures of wheat, ten thousand of barley, the price of which he desired might be paid to their ambassadors in Rome: that clothing for the troops must be sent from Rome; and that he wanted about two hundred horses, above all Numidian horses; where he was, he could procure none.” The senate decreed, that every thing should be done in accordance with the consul’s letter. The prætor, Caius Sulpicius, agreed with contractors for conveying into Macedonia six thousand gowns, thirty thousand tunics, and the horses, all to be left to the approbation of the consul; and he paid the Epirot ambassadors the price of the corn. He then introduced to the senate, Onesimus, son of Pytho, a Macedonian of distinction. He had always advised the king to peaceable measures, and recommended to him, that, as his father Philip had, to the last day of his life, made it an established rule to read over twice every day the treaty concluded with the Romans, so he should, if not daily, yet frequently, observe the same practice. When he could not dissuade him from war, he at first began to absent himself on various pretences, that he might not be present at proceedings which he could not approve. But at last, having discovered that suspicions were harboured against him, and that he was tacitly accused of the crime of treason, he went over to the Romans, and was of great service to the consul. When he was introduced into the senate-house, he mentioned these circumstances, and the senate thereupon decreed that he should be enrolled in the number of their allies; that a house and accommodations should be provided for him; also a grant of two hundred acres of land, in that part of the Tarentine territory which was the public property of the Roman people; and a house in Tarentum to be bought for him; the charge of executing all which was committed to Caius Decimius, the prætor. On the ides of December, the censors performed the general survey with more severity than formerly. A great many were deprived of their horses, among whom was Publius Rutilius, who, when tribune of the people, had carried on a violent prosecution against them; he was, besides, degraded from his tribe, and disfranchised. In pursuance of a decree of the senate, one-half of the taxes of that year was paid by the quæstors into the hands of the censors, to defray the expenses of public works. Tiberius Sempronius, out of the money assigned to him, purchased for the public the house of Publius Africanus, behind the old house, near the statue of Vertumnus, with the butchers’ stalls and shops adjoining; where he built the public court-house, afterwards called the Sempronian.

17. The end of the year was now approaching, and people chiefly canvassed in their conversation, through their concern about the war in Macedonia, what consuls they should choose, to bring that war, at length, to a conclusion. The senate therefore passed an order, that Cneius Servilius should come home, at the very first opportunity, to hold the elections. Sulpicius, the prætor, sent the order of the senate to the consul; and, in a few days after, read his answer in public, wherein he promised to be in the city before the * * day of * * *. The consul came in due time, and the election was finished on the day appointed. The consuls chosen were, Lucius Æmilius Paullus, a second time, fourteen years after his first consulship, and Caius Licinius Crassus. Next day, the following were appointed prætors: Cneius Bæbius Tamphilus, Lucius Anicius Gallus, Cneius Octavius, Publius Fonteius Balbus, Marcus Æbutius Elva, and Caius Papirius Corbo. The senate’s anxiety about the Macedonian war stimulated them to more than ordinary expedition in all their proceedings; they therefore ordered, that the magistrates elect should immediately cast lots for their provinces, that it might be known which consul was to have the command in Macedonia, and which prætor that of the fleet; in order that they might, without loss of time, consider and prepare whatever was requisite for the service, and consult the senate on any point where their direction was necessary, they voted, that, “on the magistrates coming into office, the Latin festival should be celebrated as early as the rules of religion permitted; and that the consul who was to go into Macedonia should not be detained on account of it.” When these orders were passed, Italy and Macedonia were named as the provinces for the consuls; and for the prætors, besides the two jurisdictions in the city, the fleet, Spain, Sicily, and Sardinia. As to the consuls, Macedonia fell to Æmilius, Italy to Licinius. Of the prætors, Cneius Bæbius got the city jurisdiction; Lucius Anicius the foreign, under a rule to go wherever the senate should direct; Cneius Octavius, the fleet; Publius Fonteius, Spain; Marcus Æbutius, Sicily; and Caius Papirius, Sardinia.

18. It immediately became evident to all, that Lucius Æmilius would prosecute the war with vigour; for, besides that he was a different kind of man (from his predecessors), his thoughts were intently employed night and day solely on the business relative to that war. In the first place, he requested the senate to send commissioners into Macedonia, to review the armies and the fleet, and to bring authentic information as to what might be necessary both for the land and sea forces; to make what discoveries they could respecting the state of the king’s forces; and to learn how much of the country was in our power, how much in that of the enemy; whether the Romans were still encamped among the woods and mountains, or had got clear of all the difficult passes, and were come down into the plains; who appeared to be faithful allies to us, who were doubtful and suspended their fidelity on fortune, and who avowed enemies; what store of provisions was prepared, and whence new supplies might be brought by land-carriage, whence by the fleet; and what had been achieved during the last campaign, either on land or sea. For he thought that, by gaining a thorough knowledge of all these particulars, decisive plans might be taken for future proceedings. The senate directed the consul Cneius Servilius to send as commissioners, into Macedonia, such persons as should be approved of by Luciua Æmilius. Cneius Domitius Ahenobarbus, Aulus Licinius Nerva, and Lucius Bæbius, accordingly, began their journey two days after. Towards the close of this year it was reported that two showers of stones had fallen, one in the territory of Rome, the other in that of Veii; and the nine days’ solemnity was performed. Of the priests, died this year, Publius Quintilius Varus, flamen of Mars, and Marcus Claudius Marcellus, decemvir, in whose room was substituted Cneius Octavius. It has been remarked as an instance of the increasing munificence of the times, that in the Circensian games, exhibited by Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica and Publius Lentulus, curule ædiles, sixty-three panthers, with forty bears and elephants, made a part of the show.

19. At the beginning of the following year, Lucius Æmilius Paullus and Caius Licinius, the consuls, having commenced their administration on the ides of March, the senators were impatient to hear what propositions were to be laid before them, particularly with respect to Macedonia, by the consul to whose lot that province had fallen; but Paullus said, that he had as yet nothing to propose to them, the commissioners not being returned: that “they were then at Brundusium, after having been twice driven back to Dyrrachium in attempting the passage: that he intended, shortly, to propose something to their consideration, when he should have obtained the information which was previously necessary, and which he expected within very few days.” He added, that, “in order that nothing should delay his setting out, the day before the ides of April had been fixed for the Latin festival; after finishing which solemnity, he and Cneius Octavius would begin their journey as soon as the senate should direct: that, in his absence, his colleague Caius Licinius would take care that every thing necessary to be provided, or sent for the war, should be provided and sent; and that, in the mean time, audience might be given to the embassies of foreign nations.” The first introduced were ambassadors from Alexandria, sent by king Ptolemy and queen Cleopatra. They came into the senate-house dressed in mourning, with their hair and beard neglected, holding in their hands branches of olive; there they prostrated themselves, and their discourse was even more piteous than their dress. Antiochus, king of Syria, who had formerly been a hostage at Rome, had lately, under the honourable pretext of restoring the elder Ptolemy to the throne, made war on his younger brother, who was then in possession of Alexandria; and having gained the victory in a sea-fight off Pelusium, and thrown a temporary bridge across the Nile, he led over his army, and was terrifying Alexandria itself, by laying siege to it; so that he seemed almost on the point of taking possession of that very opulent kingdom. The ambassadors, after complaining of these proceedings, besought the senate to succour those princes, the faithful friends of their empire. They said, that “such had been the kindness of the Roman people to Antiochus, such its influence over all kings and nations, that if they only sent ambassadors, to give him notice that the senate were displeased at war being made with princes in alliance with them, he would instantly retire from the walls of Alexandria, and lead his army home into Syria. But if they hesitated to do this Ptolemy and Cleopatra would soon come to Rome as exiles from their kingdom, which must excite some degree of shame in the Roman people, for not having brought them assistance in their extreme distress.” The senate, affected by the supplications of the Alexandrians, immediately sent Caius Popilius Lænas, Caius Decimius, and Caius Hostilius, ambassadors, to put an end to the dispute between those kings. Their instructions were, to go first to Antiochus, then to Ptolemy; and to acquaint them, that, unless hostilities were stopped, whichever party persisted, must expect to be considered by the senate as neither a friend nor an ally.