The History of Rome Volume III Part 9

This was the fourth year since the declaration of war against Macedonia. The greater part of one year Sulpicius spent in seeking the king and his army; Villius, on the point of engaging the enemy, was recalled without any thing having been done. Quinctius was detained at Rome, for the greater part of his year, by business respecting religion; nevertheless, he had so conducted affairs, that had he come earlier into the province, or had the cold season been at a greater distance, he might have put an end to hostilities. He was then just going into winter quarters; but, it was stated that he had brought the war into such a state, that if he were not prevented by a intercessor, he seemed likely to complete it in the course of the ensuing summer."

By such arguments the tribunes so far prevailed, that the consuls declared that they would abide by the directions of the senate, if the tribunes would agree to do the same. Both parties having, accordingly, left the consultation perfectly free, a decree was pa.s.sed, appointing the two consuls to the government of the province of Italy. t.i.tus Quinctius was continued in command, until a successor should accede by a decree of the senate. To each, two legions were decreed; and they were ordered, with these, to carry on the war with the Cisalpine Gauls, who had revolted from the Romans. A reinforcement of five thousand foot and three hundred horse was ordered to be sent into Macedonia to Quinctius, together with three thousand seamen. Lucius Quinctius Flamininus was continued in the command of the fleet. To each of the praetors for the two Spains were granted eight thousand foot, of the allies and Latins, and four hundred horse; so that they might discharge the veteran troops in their provinces. They were further directed to fix the bounds which should divide the hither from the farther province. Two additional lieutenant-generals were sent to the army in Macedonia, Publius Sulpicius and Publius Villius, who had been consuls in that province.

29. It was thought necessary, that before the consuls and praetors went abroad, some prodigies should be expiated. For the temples of Vulcan and Summa.n.u.s,[1] at Rome, and a wall and a gate at Fregellae, had been struck by lightning. At Frusino, light had shone forth during the night. At Asculum, a lamb had been born with two heads and five feet. At Formiae, two wolves entering the town had torn several persons who fell in their way; and, at Rome, a wolf had made its way, not only into the city, but into the Capitol. Caius Acilius, plebeian tribune, caused an order to be pa.s.sed, that five colonies should be led out to the sea-coast; two to the mouths of the rivers Vulturnus and Liternus; one to Puteoli and one to the fort of Salernum. To these was added Buxentum. To each colony three hundred families were ordered to be sent. The commissioners appointed to conduct them thither, and who were to hold the office for three years, were Marcus Servilius Geminus, Quintus Minucius Thermus, and Tiberius Semp.r.o.nius Longus. As soon as the levies, and such other business, religious and civil, as required their personal attendance, was finished, both the consuls set out for Gaul. Cornelius took the direct road towards the Insubrians, who were then in arms, and had been joined by the Caenomanians.

Quintus Minucius turned his route to the left side of Italy, and leading away his army to the lower sea, to Genoa, opened the campaign with an invasion of Liguria. Two towns, Clastidium and Litubium, both belonging to the Ligurians, and two states of the same nation, Celela and Cerdicium, surrendered to him. And now, all the states on this side of the Po, except the Boians among the Gauls and the Ilvatians among the Ligurians, were reduced to submission: no less, it is said, than fifteen towns and twenty thousand men surrendered themselves. He then led his legions into the territory of the Boians.

[Footnote 1: Pluto, Summus Mamum.]

30. The Boian army had, not very long before, crossed the Po and joined the Insubrians and Caenomanians; for, having heard that the consuls intended to act with their forces united, they wished to increase their own strength by this junction. But when information reached them that one of the consuls was ravaging the country of the Boians, a dispute instantly arose. The Boians demanded, that all, in conjunction, should carry succour to those who were attacked; while the Insubrians positively refused to leave their country defenceless.

In consequence of this dissension, the armies separated; the Boians went to defend their own territory, and the Insubrians, with the Caenomanians, encamped on the banks of the river Mincius. About five miles below this spot, the consul Cornelius pitched his camp close to the same river. Sending emissaries hence into the villages of the Caenomanians, and to Brixia, the capital of their tribe, he learned with certainty that their young men had taken arms without the approbation of the elders; and that the Caenomanians had not joined in the revolt of the Insubrians by any public authority. On which he invited to him the princ.i.p.al of the natives, and endeavoured to contrive and concert with them that the Caenomanians should separate from the Insubrians; and either march away and return home, or come over to the side of the Romans. This he was not able to effect; but so far, he received solemn a.s.surances that, in case of a battle, they would either stand inactive, or, should any occasion offer, would even a.s.sist the Romans. The Insubrians knew not that such an agreement had been concluded, but they harboured in their minds some kind of suspicion, that the fidelity of their confederates was wavering.

Wherefore, in forming their troops for battle, not daring to intrust either wing to them, lest, if they should treacherously give ground, they might cause a total defeat, they placed them in reserve behind the line. At the beginning of the fight, the consul vowed a temple to Juno Sospita, provided the enemy should, on that day, be routed and driven from the field; on which the soldiers raised a shout, declaring, that they would insure to their commander the completion of his vow, and at the same time an attack was made on the enemy. The Insubrians did not stand even the first onset. Some writers affirm, that the Caenomanians, falling on their rear during the heat of the engagement, caused as much disorder there as prevailed in their front: and that, thus a.s.sailed on both sides, thirty-five thousand of them were slain, five thousand seven hundred taken prisoners, among whom was Hamilcar, a Carthaginian general, who had been the cause of the war; and that a hundred and thirty military standards and above two hundred waggons were taken. On this, the towns of the Gauls, which had joined in the revolt of the Insubrians, surrendered to the Romans.

31. The other consul, Minucius, had at first traversed the territories of the Boians, with wide-spread ravaging parties; but afterwards, when that people left the Insubrians, and came home to defend their own property, he kept his men within their camp, expecting to come to a regular engagement with the enemy. Nor would the Boians have declined a battle, if their spirits had not been depressed by hearing of the defeat of the Insubrians. Upon this, deserting their commander and their camp, they dispersed themselves through the several towns, each wishing to take care of his own effects. Thus they changed the enemy's method of carrying on the war: for, no longer hoping to decide the matter by a single battle, he began again to lay waste the lands, burn the houses, and storm the villages. At this time, Clastidium was burned, and the legions were led thence against the Ilvatian Ligurians, who alone refused to submit. That state, also, on learning that the Insubrians had been defeated in battle, and the Boians so terrified that they had not dared to try the fortune of an engagement, made a submission. Letters from the consuls, containing accounts of their successes, came from Gaul to Rome at the same time. Marcus Sergius, city praetor, read them in the senate, and afterwards, by direction of the fathers, in an a.s.sembly of the people; on which a supplication, of four days' continuance, was decreed.

32. It was by this time winter; and while t.i.tus Quinctius, after the reduction of Elatia, had his winter quarters distributed in Phocis and Locris, a violent dissension broke out at Opus. One faction invited to their a.s.sistance the Aetolians who were nearest at hand; the other, the Romans. The Aetolians arrived first; but the other party, which was the more powerful, refused them admittance, and, despatching a courier to the Roman general, held the city until his arrival. The citadel was possessed by a garrison belonging to the king, and they could not be prevailed on to retire from thence, either by the threats of the people of Opus, or by the authority of the Roman consul's commands. What prevented their being immediately attacked was, the arrival of an envoy from the king, to solicit the appointing of a time and place for a conference. This was granted to the king with great reluctance; not that Quinctius did not wish to see war concluded under his own auspices, partly by arms, and partly by negotiation: for he knew not, yet, whether one of the new consuls would be sent out as his successor, or whether he should be continued in the command; a point which he had charged his friends and relations to labour for with all their might. But he thought that a conference would answer this purpose; that it would put it in his power to give matters a turn towards war, in case he remained in the province, or towards peace, if he were to be removed. They chose for the meeting a part of the sea-sh.o.r.e, in the Malian gulf, near Nicaea. Thither Philip came from Demetrias, with five barks and one ship of war: he was accompanied by some princ.i.p.al Macedonians, and an Achaean exile, name Cycliades, a man of considerable note. With the Roman general, were king Amynander, Dionysidorus, amba.s.sador from king Attalus, Agesimbrotus, commander of the Rhodian fleet, Phaeneas, praetor of the Aetolians, and two Achaeans, Aristaenus and Xenophon. Attended by these, the Roman general advanced to the brink of the sh.o.r.e, when the king had come forward to the prow of his vessel, as it lay at anchor; and said, "If you will come on the sh.o.r.e, we shall mutually speak and hear with more convenience." This the king refused; and on Quinctius asking him, "Whom do you fear?" With the haughty spirit of royalty, he replied, "Fear I have none, but of the immortal G.o.ds; but I have no confidence in the faith of those whom I see about you, and least of all in the Aetolians." "That danger," said the Roman, "is equal to all in common who confer with an enemy, if no confidence subsists." "But, t.i.tus Quinctius," replied the king, "if treachery be intended, the prizes of perfidy are not equal, namely, Philip and Phaeneas. For it will not be so difficult for the Aetolians to find another praetor, as for the Macedonians to find another king in my place."--Silence then ensued.

33. The Roman expected that he who solicited the conference should open it; and the king thought that he who was to prescribe, not he who received, terms of peace, ought to begin the conference. At length the Roman said, that "his discourse should be very simple; for he would only mention those articles, without which there could be no conditions of peace. These were, that the king should withdraw his garrisons from all the cities of Greece. That he should deliver up to the allies of the Roman people the prisoners and deserters; should restore to the Romans those places in Illyric.u.m of which he had possessed himself by force, since the peace concluded in Epirus; and to Ptolemy, king of Egypt, the cities which he had seized since the death of Ptolemy Philopater." These were the terms which he required, on behalf of himself and the Roman people: but it was proper that the demands of the allies, also, should be heard. The amba.s.sador of king Attalus demanded "rest.i.tution of the ships and prisoners taken in the sea-fight at Cius; and that Nicephorium, and the temple of Venus, which Philip had pillaged and defaced, should be restored as though they had not been injured." The Rhodians laid claim to Peraea, a tract on the continent, lying opposite to their island, which from early times had been under their jurisdiction; and they required that "the garrisons should be withdrawn from Ta.s.sus, Bargylii, and Euroma, and from Sestus and Abydos on the h.e.l.lespont; that Perinthus should be restored to the Byzantians, in right of their ancient t.i.tle, and that all the sea-port towns and harbours of Asia should be free."

The Achaeans demanded the restoration of Corinth and Argos. Phaeneas nearly repeated the demands made by the Romans, that the troops should withdraw out of Greece, and the Aetolians be put in possession of the cities which had formerly been under their dominion. He was followed by Alexander, a man of eminence among the Aetolians, and, considering his country, not uneloquent. He said, that "he had long kept silence, not because he expected that any business would be effected in that conference, but because he was unwilling to interrupt any of the allies in their discourse." He a.s.serted, that "Philip was neither treating for peace with sincerity; and that he had never waged war with true courage, at any time: that in negotiating, he was insidious and fradulent; while in war he never fought on equal ground, nor engaged in regular battles; but, skulking about, burned and pillaged towns, and, when worsted, destroyed the prizes of victory. But not in that manner did the ancient kings of Macedon behave; they decided the fate of the war in the field, and spared the towns as far as they were able, in order to possess the more opulent empire. For what sort of conduct was it, to destroy the objects for the possession of which the contest was waged, and thereby leave nothing to himself but fighting?

Philip had, in the last year, desolated more cities of his allies in Thessaly, than all the enemies that Thessaly ever had. On the Aetolians themselves he had made greater depredations, when he was in alliance with them, than since he became their enemy. He had seized on Lysimachia, after dislodging the praetor and garrison of the Aetolians. Cius also, a city belonging to their government, he razed from the foundation. With the same injustice he held possession of Thebes in Phthiotis, of Echinus, Larissa, and Pharsalus."

34. Philip, provoked by this discourse of Alexander, pushed his ship nearer to the land, that he might be the better heard, and began to speak with much violence, particularly against the Aetolians. But Phaeneas, interrupting him, said that "the business depended not upon words; he must either conquer in war, or submit to his superiors."

"That, indeed, is evident," said Philip, "even to the blind,"

reflecting on Phaeneas, who had a disorder in his eyes: for he was naturally fonder of such pleasantries than became a king; and even in the midst of serious business, did not sufficiently restrain himself from ridicule. He then began to express great indignation at the "Aetolians a.s.suming as much importance as the Romans, and insisting on his evacuating Greece; people who could not even tell what were its boundaries. For, of Aetolia itself, a large proportion, consisting of the Agraeans, Apodeotians, and Amphilochians, was no part of Greece.

Have they just ground of complaint against me for not refraining from war with their allies, when themselves, from the earliest period, follow, as an established rule, the practice of suffering their young men to carry arms against those allies, withholding only the public authority of the state; while very frequently contending armies have Aetolian auxiliaries on both sides? I did not seize on Cius by force, but a.s.sisted my friend and ally, Prusias, who was besieging it, and Lysimachia I rescued from the Thracians. But since necessity diverted my attention from the guarding of it to this present war, the Thracians have possession of it. So much for the Aetolians. To Attalus and the Rhodians I in justice owe nothing; for not to me, but to themselves, is the commencement of hostilities to be attributed.

However, out of respect to the Romans, I will restore Peraea to the Rhodians, and to Attalus his ships, and such prisoners as can be found. As to what concerns Nicephorium, and the temple of Venus, what other answer can I make to those who require their restoration, than that I will take on myself the trouble and expense of replanting them--the only way in which woods and groves which have been cut down can be restored,--since it is thought fit that, between kings, such kinds of demands should be made and answered." The last part of his speech was directed to the Achaeans, wherein he enumerated, first, the kindnesses of Antigonus; then, his own towards their nation, desiring them to consider the decrees themselves had pa.s.sed concerning him, which comprehended every kind of honour, divine and human; and to these he added their late decree, by which they had confirmed the resolution of deserting him. He inveighed bitterly against their perfidy, but told them, that nevertheless he would give them back Argos. "With regard to Corinth, he would consult with the Roman general; and would, at the same time, inquire from him, whether he thought it right, that he (Philip) should evacuate only those cities which, being captured by himself, were held by the right of war; or those, also, which he had received from his ancestors."

35. The Achaeans and Aetolians were preparing to answer, but, as the sun was near setting, the conference was adjourned to the next day; and Philip returned to his station whence he came, the Romans and allies to their camp. On the following day, Quinctius repaired to Nicaea, which was the place agreed on, at the appointed time; but neither Philip, nor any messenger from him, came for several hours. At length, when they began to despair of his coming, his ships suddenly appeared. He said, that "the terms enjoined were so severe and humiliating, that, not knowing what to determine, he had spent the day in deliberation." But the general opinion was, that he had purposely delayed the business until late, that the Achaeans and Aetolians might not have time to answer him: and this opinion he himself confirmed, by desiring that time might not be consumed in altercation, and, to bring the affair to some conclusion, that the others should retire, and leave him to converse with the Roman general. For some time this was not admitted, lest the allies should appear to be excluded from the conference. Afterwards, on his persisting in his desire, the Roman general, with the consent of all, taking with him Appius Claudius, a military tribune, advanced to the brink of the coast, and the rest retired. The king, with the two persons whom he had brought the day before, came on sh.o.r.e, where they conversed a considerable time in private. What account of their proceedings Philip gave to his people is not well known: what Quinctius told the allies was, that "Philip was willing to cede to the Romans the whole coast of Illyric.u.m, and to give up the deserters and prisoners, if there were any. That he consented to restore to Attalus his ships, and the seamen taken with them; and to the Rhodians the tract which they call Peraea. That he refused to evacuate Ia.s.sus and Bargylii. To the Aetolians he was ready to restore Pharsalus and Larissa; Thebes he would not restore: and that he would give back to the Achaeans the possession, not only of Argos, but of Corinth also." This arrangement pleased none of the parties; neither those to whom the concessions were to be made, nor those to whom they were refused; "for on that plan," they said, "more would be lost than gained; nor could the grounds of contention ever be removed, but by his withdrawing his forces from every part of Greece."

36. These expressions, delivered with eagerness and vehemence by every one in the a.s.sembly, reached the ears of Philip, though he stood at a distance. He therefore requested of Quinctius, that the whole business might be deferred until the next day; and then he would, positively, either prevail on the allies, or suffer himself to be prevailed on by them. The sh.o.r.e at Thronium was appointed for their meeting, and there they a.s.sembled early. Philip began with entreating Quinctius, and all who were present, not to harbour such sentiments as must embarra.s.s a negotiation of peace; and then desired time, while he could send amba.s.sadors to Rome, to the senate, declaring, that "he would either obtain a peace on the terms mentioned, or would accept whatever terms the senate should prescribe." None by any means approved of this; they said, he only sought a delay, and leisure to collect his strength.

But Quinctius observed, "that such an objection would have been well founded, if it were then summer and a season fit for action; as matters stood, and the winter being just at hand, nothing would be lost by allowing him time to send amba.s.sadors. For, without the authority of the senate, no agreement which they might conclude with the king would be valid; and besides, they would by this means have an opportunity, while the winter itself would necessarily cause a suspension of arms, to learn the authoritative decision of the senate." The other chiefs of the allies came over to this opinion: and a cessation of hostilities for two months being granted, they resolved that each of their states should send an amba.s.sador with the necessary information to the senate, and in order that it should not be deceived by the misrepresentations of Philip. To the above agreement for a truce, was added an article, that all the king's troops should be immediately withdrawn from Phocis and Locris. With the amba.s.sadors of the allies, Quinctius sent Amynander, king of Athamania; and, to add a degree of splendour to the emba.s.sy, a deputation from himself, composed of Quintus Fabius, the son of his wife's sister, Quintus Fulvius, and Appius Claudius.

37. On their arrival at Rome, the amba.s.sadors of the allies were admitted to audience before those of the king. Their discourse, in general, was filled up with invectives against Philip. What produced the greatest effect on the minds of the senate was, that, by pointing out the relative situations of the lands and seas in that part of the world, they made it manifest to every one, that if the king held Demetrias in Thessaly, Chalcis in Euboea, and Corinth in Achaia, Greece could not be free; and they added, that Philip himself, with not more insolence than truth, used to call these the fetters of Greece. The king's amba.s.sadors were then introduced, and when they were beginning a long harangue, a short question cut short their discourse:--Whether he was willing to yield up the three above-mentioned cities? They answered, that they had received no specific instructions on that head: on which they were dismissed, the negotiation being left unsettled. Full authority was given to Quinctius to determine every thing relative to war and peace. As this demonstrated clearly that the senate were not weary of the war, so he, who was more earnestly desirous of conquest than of peace, never afterwards consented to a conference with Philip; and even gave him notice that he would not admit any emba.s.sy from him, unless it came with information that he was retiring from the whole of Greece.

38. Philip now perceived that he must decide the matter in the field, and collect his strength about him from all quarters. Being particularly uneasy in respect to the cities of Achaia, a country so distant from him, and also of Argos, even more, indeed, than of Corinth, he resolved, as the most advisable method, to put the former into the hands of Nabis, tyrant of Lacedaemon, in trust, as it were, on the terms, that if he should prove successful in the war, Nabis should re-deliver it to him; if any misfortune should happen, he should keep it himself. Accordingly, he wrote to Philocles, who had the command in Corinth and Argos, to have a meeting with the tyrant.

Philocles, besides coming with a valuable present, added to that pledge of future friendship between the king and the tyrant, that it was Philip's wish to unite his daughters in marriage to the sons of Nabis. The tyrant, at first, refused to receive the city on any other conditions than that of being invited to its protection by a decree of the Argives themselves: but afterwards, hearing that in a full a.s.sembly they had treated the name of the tyrant not only with scorn, but even with abhorrence, he thought he had now a sufficient excuse for plundering them, and he accordingly desired Philocles to give him possession of the place as soon as he pleased. Nabis was admitted into the city in the night, without the privity of any of the inhabitants, and, at the first light, seized on the higher parts of it, and shut the gates. A few of the princ.i.p.al people having made their escape, during the first confusion, the properties of all who were absent were seized as booty: those who were present were stripped of their gold and silver, and loaded with exorbitant contributions. Such as paid these readily were discharged, without personal insult and laceration of their bodies; but such as were suspected of hiding or reserving any of their effects, were mangled and tortured like slaves. He then summoned an a.s.sembly, in which he promulgated two measures; one for an abolition of debts, the other for a distribution of the land, in shares, to each man--two fire-brands in the hands of those who were desirous of revolution, for inflaming the populace against the higher ranks.

39. The tyrant, when he had the city of Argos in his power, never considering from whom or on what conditions he had received it, sent amba.s.sadors to Elatia, to Quinctius, and to Attalus, in his winter quarters at Aegina, to tell them, that "he was in possession of Argos; and that if Quinctius would come hither, and consult with him, he had no doubt but that every thing might be adjusted between them."

Quinctius, in order that he might deprive Philip of that stronghold, along with the rest, consented to come; accordingly, sending a message to Attalus, to leave Aegina, and meet him at Sicyon, he set sail from Anticyra with ten quinqueremes, which his brother, Lucius Quinctius, happened to have brought a little before from his winter station at Corcyra, and pa.s.sed over to Sicyon. Attalus was there before him, who, representing that the tyrant ought to come to the Roman general, not the general to the tyrant, brought Quinctius over to his opinion, which was, that he should not enter the city of Argos. Not far from it, however, was a place called Mycenica; and there the parties agreed to meet. Quinctius came, with his brother and a few military tribunes; Attalus, with his royal retinue; and Nicostratus the praetor of the Achaeans, with a few of the auxiliary officers: and they there found Nabis waiting with his whole army. He advanced, armed, and attended by his armed guards, almost to the middle of the interjacent plain; Quinctius unarmed, with his brother and two military tribunes; the king was accompanied by one of his n.o.bles, and the praetor of the Achaeans, unarmed likewise. The tyrant, when he saw the king and the Roman general unarmed, opened the conference, with apologizing for having come to the meeting armed himself, and surrounded with armed men. "He had no apprehensions," he said, "from them; but only from the Argive exiles." When they then began to treat of the conditions of their friendship, the Roman made two demands: one, that the war with the Achaeans should be put an end to; the other, that he should send him aid against Philip. He promised the aid required; but, instead of a peace with the Achaeans, a cessation of hostilities was obtained, to last until the war with Philip should be concluded.

40. A debate concerning the Argives, also, was set on foot by king Attalus, who charged Nabis with holding their city by force, which was put into his hands by the treachery of Philocles; while Nabis insisted, that he had been invited by the Argives themselves to afford them protection. The king required a general a.s.sembly of the Argives to be convened, that the truth of that matter might be known. To this the tyrant did not object; but the king alleged, that the Lacedaemonian troops ought to be withdrawn from the city, in order to render the a.s.sembly free; and that the people should be left at liberty to declare their real sentiments. The tyrant refused to withdraw them, and the debate produced no effect. To the Roman general, six hundred Cretans were given by Nabis, who agreed with the praetor of the Achaeans to a cessation of arms for four months, and thus they departed from the conference. Quinctius proceeded to Corinth, advancing to the gates with the cohort of Cretans, in order that it might be evident to Philocles, the governor of the city, that the tyrant had deserted the cause of Philip. Philocles himself came out to confer with the Roman general; and, on the latter exhorting him to change sides immediately, and surrender the city he answered in such a manner as showed an inclination rather to defer than to refuse the matter. From Corinth, Quinctius sailed over to Anticyra, and sent his brother thence, to sound the disposition of the people of Acarnania. Attalus went from Argos to Sicyon. Here, on one side, the state added new honours to those formerly paid to the king; and, on the other, the king, besides having on a former occasion, redeemed for them, at a vast expense, a piece of land sacred to Apollo, unwilling to pa.s.s by the city of his friends and allies without a token of munificence, made them a present of ten talents of silver,[1] and ten thousand bushels of corn, and then returned to Cenchreae to his fleet.

Nabis, leaving a strong garrison at Argos, returned to Lacedaemon; and, as he himself had pillaged the men, he sent his wife to Argos to pillage the women. She invited the females to her house, sometimes singly, and sometimes several together, who were united by family connexion; and partly by fair speeches, partly by threats, stripped them, not only of their gold, but, at last, even of their garments, and every article of female attire.

[Footnote 1: 1937l. 10s.]

BOOK x.x.xIII.

_t.i.tus Quinctius Flamininus, proconsul, gains a decisive victory over Philip at Cynoscephalae. Caius Semp.r.o.nius Tudita.n.u.s, praetor, cut off by the Celtiberians. Death of Attalus, at Pergamus. Peace granted to Philip, and liberty to Greece. Lucius Furius Purpureo and Marcus Claudius Marcellus, consuls, subdue the Boian and Insubrian Gauls. Triumph of Marcellus. Hannibal, alarmed at an emba.s.sy from Rome concerning him, flies to Antiochus, king of Syria, who was preparing to make war on the Romans_.

1. Such were the occurrences of the winter. In the beginning of spring, Quinctius, having summoned Attalus to Elatia, and being anxious to bring under his authority the nation of the Boeotians, who had until then been wavering in their dispositions, marched through Phocis, and pitched his camp at the distance of five miles from Thebes, the capital of Boeotia. Next day, attended by one company of soldiers, and by Attalus, together with the amba.s.sadors, who had come to him in great numbers from all quarters, he proceeded towards the city, having ordered the spearmen of two legions, being two thousand men, to follow him at the distance of a mile. About midway, Antiphilus, praetor of the Boeotians, met him: the rest of the people stood on the walls, watching the arrival of the king and the Roman general. Few arms and few soldiers appeared around them--the hollow roads, and the valleys concealing from view the spearmen, who followed at a distance. When Quinctius drew near the city, he slackened his pace, as if with intention to salute the mult.i.tude, who came out to meet him; but the real motive of his delaying was, that the spearmen might come up. The townsmen pushed forward, in a crowd, before the lictors, not perceiving the band of soldiers who were following them close, until they arrived at the general's quarters. Then, supposing the city betrayed and taken, through the treachery of Antiphilus, their praetor, they were all struck with astonishment and dismay.

It was now evident that no room was left to the Boeotians for a free discussion of measures in the a.s.sembly, which was summoned for the following day. However, they concealed their grief, which it would have been both vain and unsafe to have discovered.

2. When the a.s.sembly met, Attalus first rose to speak, and he began his discourse with a recital of the kindnesses conferred by his ancestors and himself on the Greeks in general, and on the Boeotians in particular. But, being now too old and infirm to bear the exertion of speaking in public, he lost his voice and fell; and for some time, while they were carrying him to his apartments, (for he was deprived of the use of one half of his limbs,) the proceedings of the a.s.sembly were for a short time suspended. Then Aristaenus spoke on the part of the Achaeans, and was listened to with the greater attention, because he recommended to the Boeotians no other measures than those which he had recommended to the Achaeans. A few words were added by Quinctius, extolling the good faith rather than the arms and power of the Romans.

A resolution was then proposed, by Dicaearchus of Plataea, for forming a treaty of friendship with the Roman people, which was read; and no one daring to offer any opposition, it was received and pa.s.sed by the suffrages of all the states of Boeotia. When the a.s.sembly broke up, Quinctius made no longer stay at Thebes than the sudden accident to Attalus made necessary. When it appeared that the force of the disorder had not brought the king's life into any immediate danger, but had only occasioned a weakness in his limbs, he left him there, to use the necessary means for recovery, and returned to Elatia, from whence he had come. Having now brought the Boeotians, as formerly the Achaeans, to join in the confederacy, while all places were left behind him in a state of tranquillity and safety, he bent his whole attention towards Philip, and the remaining business of the war.

3. Philip, on his part, as his amba.s.sadors had brought no hopes of peace from Rome, resolved, as soon as spring began, to levy soldiers through every town in his dominions: but he found a great scarcity of young men; for successive wars, through several generations, had very much exhausted the Macedonians, and, even in the course of his own reign great numbers had fallen, in the naval engagements with the Rhodians and Attalus, and in those on land with the Romans. Mere youths, therefore, from the age of sixteen, were enlisted; and even those who had served out their time, provided they had any remains of strength, were recalled to their standards. Having, by these means, filled up the numbers of his army about the vernal equinox, he drew together all his forces to Dius: he encamped them there in a fixed post; and, exercising the soldiers every day, waited for the enemy.

About the same time Quinctius left Elatia, and came by Thronium and Scarphea to Thermopylae. There he held an a.s.sembly of the Aetolians, which had been summoned to meet at Heraclea, to determine with what number of auxiliaries they should follow the Roman general to the war.

On the third day, having learned the determination of the allies, he proceeded from Heraclea to Xyniae; and, pitching his camp on the confines between the Aenians and Thessalians, waited for the Aetolian auxiliaries. The Aetolians occasioned no delay. Six hundred foot and four hundred horse, under the command of Phaeneas, speedily joined him; and then Quinctius, to show plainly what he had waited for, immediately decamped. On pa.s.sing into the country of Phthiotis, he was joined by five hundred Cretans of Gortynium, whose commander was Cydantes, with three hundred Apollonians, armed nearly in the same manner; and not long after, by Amynander, with one thousand two hundred Athamanian foot.

4. Philip, being informed of the departure of the Romans from Elatia, and considering that, on the approaching contest, his kingdom was at hazard, thought it advisable to make an encouraging speech to his soldiers; in which, after he had expatiated on many topics often alluded to before, respecting the virtues of their ancestors, and the military fame of the Macedonians, he touched particularly on those considerations which at the time threw the greatest damp on their spirits, and on those by which they might be animated to some degree of confidence. To the defeat thrice suffered at the narrow pa.s.ses near the river Aous, by the phalanx of the Macedonians, he opposed the repulse given by main force to the Romans at Atrax: and even with respect to the former case, when they had not maintained possession of the pa.s.s leading into Epirus, he said, "the first fault was to be imputed to those who had been negligent in keeping the guards; and the second, to the light infantry and mercenaries in the time of the engagement; but that, as to the phalanx of the Macedonians, it had stood firm on that occasion; and would for ever remain invincible, on equal ground, and in regular fight." This body consisted of sixteen thousand men, the prime strength of the army, and of the kingdom.

Besides these, he had two thousand targeteers, called Peltastae; of Thracians, and Illyrians of the tribe called Trallians, the like number of two thousand; and of hired auxiliaries, collected out of various nations, about one thousand; and two thousand horse. With this force the king waited for the enemy. The Romans had nearly an equal number; in cavalry alone they had a superiority, by the addition of the Aetolians.

5. Quinctius, having decamped to Thebes in Phthiotis, and having received encouragement to hope that the city would be betrayed to him by Timon, a leading man in the state, came up close to the walls with only a small number of cavalry and some light infantry. So entirely were his expectations disappointed, that he was not only obliged to maintain a fight with the enemy who sallied out against him, but would have incurred a fearful conflict had not both infantry and cavalry been called out hastily from the camp, and come up in time. Not meeting with that success which he had too inconsiderately expected, he desisted from any further attempt to take the city at present. He had received certain information of the king being in Thessaly; but as he had not yet discovered into what part of it he had come, he sent his soldiers round the country, with orders to cut timber and prepare palisades. Both Macedonians and Greeks had palisades; but the latter had not adopted the most convenient mode of using them, either with respect to carriage, or for the purpose of strengthening their fortifications. They cut trees both too large and too full of branches for a soldier to carry easily along with his arms: and after they had fenced their camp with a line of these, the demolition of their palisade was no difficult matter; for the trunks of large trees appearing to view, with great intervals between them, and the numerous and strong shoots affording the hand a good hold, two, or at most three young men, uniting their efforts, used to pull out one tree, which, being removed, a breach was opened as wide as a gate, and there was nothing at hand with which it could be stopped up. But the Romans cut light stakes, mostly of one fork, with three, or at the most four branches; so that a soldier, with his arms slung at his back, can conveniently carry several of them together; and then they stick them down so closely, and interweave the branches in such a manner, that it cannot be seen to what main stem any branch belongs; besides which, the boughs are so sharp, and wrought so intimately with each other, as to leave no room for a hand to be thrust between; consequently an enemy cannot lay hold of any thing capable of being dragged out, or, if that could be done, could he draw out the branches thus intertwined, and which mutually bind each other. And even if, by accident, one should be pulled out, it leaves but a small opening, which is very easily filled up.

6. Next day Quinctius, causing his men to carry palisades with them, that they might be ready to encamp on any spot, marched forward a short way, and took post about six miles from Pherae; whence he sent scouts to discover in what part of Thessaly the king was, and what appeared to be his intention. Philip was then near Larissa, and as soon as he learnt that the Roman general had removed from Thebes, being equally impatient for a decisive engagement, he proceeded towards the enemy, and pitched his camp about four miles from Pherae.

On the day following, some light troops went out from both camps, to seize on certain hills, which over looked the city. When, nearly at equal distance from summit which was intended to be seized, they came within sight of each other, they halted; and sending messengers to their respective camps for directions, how they were to proceed on this unexpected meeting with the enemy, waited their return in quiet.

For that day, they were recalled to their camps, without having commenced any engagement. On the following day, there was a battle between the cavalry, near the same hills, in which the Aetolians bore no small part; and in which the king's troops were defeated, and driven into their camp. Both parties were greatly impeded in the action, by the ground being thickly planted with trees; by the gardens, of which there were many in a place so near the city; and by the roads being enclosed between walls, and in some places shut up.

The commanders, therefore, were equally desirous of removing out of that quarter; and, as if by a preconcerted scheme, they both directed their route to Scotussa: Philip with the hope of getting a supply of corn there; the Roman intending to get before the enemy and destroy the crops. The armies marched the whole day without having sight of each other in any place, the view being intercepted by a continued range of hills between them. The Romans encamped at Eretria, in Phthiotis; Philip, on the river Onchestus. But though Philip lay at Melambius, in the territory of Scotussa, and Quinctius near Thetidium, in Pharsalia, neither party knew with any certainty where his antagonist was. On the third day, there first fell a violent rain, which was succeeded by darkness equal to that of night, and this confined the Romans to their camp, through fear of an ambuscade.

7. Philip, intent on hastening his march, and in no degree deterred by the clouds, which after the rain lowered over the face of the country, ordered his troops to march: and yet so thick a fog had obscured the day, that neither the standard-bearers could see the road, nor the soldiers the standards; so that all, led blindly by the shouts of uncertain guides, fell into disorder, like men wandering by night.

When they had pa.s.sed over the hills called Cynoscephalae, where they set a strong guard of foot and horse, they pitched their camp.

Although the Roman general staid at Thetidium, yet he detatched troops of horse and one thousand foot, to find out where the enemy lay; warning them, however, to beware of ambuscades, which the darkness of the day would cover, even in an open country. When these arrived at the hills, where the enemy's guard was posted, struck with mutual fear, both parties stood, as if deprived of the power of motion. They then sent back messengers to their respective commanders; and when the first surprise subsided, they proceeded to action without more delay.

The fight was begun by small advanced parties; and afterwards the numbers of the combatants were increased by reinforcements of men, who supported those who gave way. In this contest the Romans, being far inferior to their adversaries, sent message after message to the general, that they were being overpowered; on which he hastily sent five hundred horse and two thousand foot, mostly Aetolians, under the command of two military tribunes, who relieved them, and restored the fight. The Macedonians, distressed in turn by this change of fortune, sent to beg succour from their king; but as, on account of the general darkness from the fog, he had expected nothing less, on that day, than a battle, and had therefore sent a great number of men, of every kind, to forage, he was, for a considerable time, in great perplexity, and unable to form a resolution. Subsequently, as the messengers still continued to urge him, and the covering of clouds was now removed from the tops of the mountains, and the Macedonian party was in view, having been driven up to the highest summit, and trusting for safety rather to the nature of the ground than to their arms, he thought it necessary, at all events, to hazard the whole, in order to prevent the loss of a part, for want of support; and, accordingly, he sent up Athenagoras, general of the mercenary soldiers, with all the auxiliaries, except the Thracians, joined by the Macedonian and Thessalian cavalry. On their arrival, the Romans were forced from the top of the hill, and did not face about until they came to the level plain. The princ.i.p.al support which saved them from being driven down in disorderly flight, was the Aetolian hors.e.m.e.n. The Aetolians were then by far the best cavalry in Greece; in infantry, they were surpa.s.sed by some of their neighbours.

8. This affair was represented as more successful than the advantage gained in the battle could warrant; for people came, one after another, and calling out that the Romans were flying in a panic; so that, though reluctant and hesitating declaring it a rash proceeding, and that he liked not either place or the time, yet he was prevailed upon to draw out his whole force to battle. The Roman general did the same, induced by necessity, rather than by the favourableness of the occasion. Leaving the right wing as a reserve, having the elephants posted in front, he, with the left, and all the right infantry, advanced against the enemy; at the same time reminding his men, that "they were going to fight the same Macedonians whom they had fought in the pa.s.ses of Epirus, fenced, as they were, with mountains and rivers, and whom, after conquering the natural difficulties of the ground, they had dislodged and vanquished; the same, whom they had before defeated under the command of Publius Sulpicius, when they opposed their pa.s.sage to Eordaea. That the kingdom of Macedonia had been hitherto supported by its reputation, not by real strength; and that even that reputation had, at length, vanished." Quinctius soon reached his troops, who stood in the bottom of the valley; and they, on the arrival of their general and the army, renewed the fight, and, making a vigorous onset, compelled the enemy again to turn their backs.

Philip, with the targeteers, and the right wing of infantry, (the main strength of the Macedonian army, called by them the phalanx,) advanced at a quick pace, having ordered Nicanor, one of his courtiers, to bring up the rest of his forces with all speed. At first, on reaching the top of the hill, from a few arms and bodies lying there, he perceived that there had been an engagement on the spot, and that the Romans had been repulsed from it. When he likewise saw the fight now going on close to the enemy's works, he was elated with excessive delight; but presently, observing his men flying back, and that the panic was on the other side, he was much embarra.s.sed, and hesitated for some time, whether he should cause his troops to retire into the camp. Then, as the enemy approached, he was sensible that his party, besides the losses which they suffered as they fled, must be entirely lost, if not speedily succoured; and as, by this time, even a retreat would be unsafe, he found himself compelled to put all to hazard, before he was joined by the other division of his forces. He placed the cavalry and light infantry that had been engaged, on the right wing; and ordered the targeteers, and the phalanx of Macedonians, to lay aside their spears, which their great length rendered unserviceable, and to manage the business with their swords: at the same time, that his line might not be easily broken, he lessened the extent of the front one half, and doubled the files within so that it might be deeper than it was broad. He ordered them also to close their files, so that man might join with man and arms with arms.

9. Quinctius, having received among the standards and ranks those who had been engaged with the enemy, gave the signal by sound of trumpet.

It is said, that such a shout was raised, as was seldom heard at the beginning of any battle; for it happened, that both armies shouted at once; not only the troops then engaged, but also the reserves, and those who were just then coming into the field. The king, fighting from the higher ground, had the better on the right wing, by means chiefly of the advantage of situation. On the left, all was disorder and confusion; particularly when that division of the phalanx, which had marched in the rear, was coming up. The centre stood intent on the fight as on a spectacle which in no way concerned them. The phalanx, just arrived (a column rather than a line of battle, and fitter for a march than for a fight,) had scarcely mounted the top of the hill: before these could form, Quinctius, though he saw his men in the left wing giving way, charged the enemy furiously, first driving on the elephants against them, for he judged that one part being routed would draw the rest after. The affair was no longer doubtful. The Macedonians, repelled by the first shock of the elephants, instantly turned their backs; and the rest, as had been foreseen, followed them in their retreat. Then, one of the military tribunes, forming his design in the instant, took with him twenty companies of men; left that part of the army which was evidently victorious; and making a small circuit, fell on the rear of the enemy's right wing. Any army whatever, thus charged from the rear, must have been thrown into confusion. But to that confusion which under such circ.u.mstances would be common to all armies, there was in this case an additional cause.

The phalanx of the Macedonians, being heavy, could not readily face about; nor would they have been suffered to do it by their adversaries in front, who, although they gave way to them a little before, on this new occasion pressed them vigorously. Besides, they lay under another inconvenience in respect of the ground; for, by pursuing the retreating enemy down the face of the hill, they had left the top to the party who came round on their rear. Thus attacked on both sides, they were exposed for some time to great slaughter, and then betook themselves to flight, most of them throwing away their arms.

10. Philip, with a small party of horse and foot, ascended a hill somewhat higher than the rest, to take a view of the situation of his troops on the left. Then, when he saw them flying in confusion, and all the hills around glittering with Roman standards and arms, he withdrew from the field. Ouinctius, as he was pressing on the retreating enemy, observed the Macedonians suddenly raising up their spears, and not knowing what they meant thereby, he ordered the troops to halt. Then, on being told that this was the practice of the Macedonians when surrendering themselves prisoners, he was disposed to spare the vanquished; but the troops, not being apprized, either of the enemy having ceased fighting, or of the general's intention, made a charge on them, and the foremost having been cut down, the rest dispersed themselves and fled. Philip hastened in disorderly flight to Tempe, and there halted one day at Gonni, to pick up any who might have survived the battle. The victorious Romans rushed into the Macedonian camp with hopes of spoil, but found it, for the most part, plundered already by the Aetolians. Eight thousand of the enemy were killed on that day, five thousand taken. Of the victors, about seven hundred fell. If any credit is to be attached to Valerius Antias, who on every occasion exaggerates numbers enormously, the killed of the enemy on that day amounted to forty thousand; the prisoners taken, (in which article the deviation from truth is less extravagant,) to five thousand seven hundred, with two hundred and forty-nine military standards. Claudius also a.s.serts that thirty-two thousand of the enemy were slain, and four thousand three hundred taken. We have not given entire credit, even to the smallest of those numbers, but have followed Polybius, a safe authority with respect to all the Roman affairs, but especially those which were transacted in Greece.

11. Philip having collected, after the flight, such as, having been scattered by the various chances of the battle, had followed his steps, and having sent people to Larissa to burn the records of the kingdom, lest they should fall into the hands of the enemy, retired into Macedonia. Quinctius set up to sale a part of the prisoners and booty, and part he bestowed on the soldiers; and then proceeded to Larissa, without having yet received any certain intelligence to what quarter Philip had betaken himself, or what were his designs. To this place came a herald from the king, apparently to obtain a truce, until those who had fallen in battle should be removed and buried, but in reality to request permission to send amba.s.sadors. Both were obtained from the Roman general; who, besides, added this message to the king, "not to be too much dejected." This expression gave much offence, particularly to the Aetolians, who were become very a.s.suming, and who complained, that "the general was quite altered by success. Before the battle, he was accustomed to transact all business, whether great or small, in concert with the allies; but they had, now, no share in any of his counsels; he conducted all affairs entirely by his own judgment; and was even seeking an occasion of ingratiating himself personally with Philip, in order that, after the Aetolians had laboured through all hardships and difficulties of the war, the Roman might a.s.sume to himself all the merit and all the fruits of a peace."

Certain it is, that he had treated them with less respect than formerly, but they did not know why they were thus slighted. They imagined that he was actuated by an expectation of presents from the king, though he was of a spirit incapable of yielding to any such pa.s.sion of the mind; but he was, with good reason, displeased at the Aetolians, on account of their insatiable greediness for plunder, and of their arrogance in a.s.suming to themselves the honour of the victory--a claim so ill founded, as to offend the ears of all.

Besides, he foresaw that, if Philip were removed out of the way, and the strength of the kingdom of Macedonia entirely broken, the Aetolians would necessarily be regarded as the masters of Greece.

For these reasons, he intentionally did many things to lessen their importance and reputation in the judgment of the other states.

12. A truce for fifteen days was granted to the Macedonians, and a conference with the king himself appointed. Before the day arrived on which this was to be held, the Roman general called a council of the allies, and desired their opinions respecting the terms of peace, proper to be prescribed. Amynander, king of Athamania, delivered his opinion in a few words; that "the conditions of peace ought to be adjusted in such a manner, as that Greece might have sufficient power, even without the interference of the Romans, to maintain the peace, and also its own liberty." The address of the Aetolians was more harsh; for after a few introductory observations on the justice and propriety of the Roman general's conduct, in communicating his plans of peace to those who had acted with him as allies in the war, they insisted, "that he was utterly mistaken, if he supposed that he could leave the peace with the Romans, or the liberty of Greece, on a permanent footing, unless Philip was either put to death or banished from his kingdom; both which he could easily accomplish, if he chose to pursue his present success." Quinctius, in reply, said, that "the Aetolians, in giving such advice, attended not either to the maxims of the Roman policy, or to the consistency of their own conduct. For, in all the former councils and conferences, wherein the conditions of peace were discussed, they never once urged the pushing of the war to the utter ruin of the Macedonian: and, as to the Romans, besides that they had, from the earliest periods, observed the maxim of sparing the vanquished, they had lately given a signal proof of their clemency in the peace granted to Hannibal and the Carthaginians. But, not to insist on the case of the Carthaginians, how often had the confederates met Philip himself in conference, yet that it had never been urged that he should resign his kingdom: and, because he had been defeated in battle, was that a reason that their animosity should become implacable? Against an armed foe, men ought to engage with hostile resentment; towards the vanquished, the loftiest spirit was ever the most merciful. The kings of Macedonia were thought to be dangerous to the liberty of Greece. Suppose that kingdom and nation extirpated, the Thracians, Illyrians, and in time the Gauls, (nations unsubjugated and savage,) would pour themselves into Macedonia first, and then into Greece. That they should not, by removing inconveniences which lay nearest, open a pa.s.sage to others greater and more grievous." Here he was interrupted by Phaeneas, praetor of the Aetolians, who solemnly declared, that "if Philip escaped now, he would soon raise a new and more dangerous war." On which Quinctius said,--"Cease wrangling, when you ought to deliberate. The king shall be bound down by such conditions as will not leave it in his power to raise a war."

13. The convention was then adjourned; and next day, the king came to the pa.s.s at the entrance of Tempe, the place appointed for a conference; and the third day following was fixed for introducing him to a full a.s.sembly of the Romans and allies. On this occasion Philip, with great prudence, intentionally avoided the mention of any of those conditions, without which peace could not be obtained, rather than suffer them to be extorted after discussion; and declared, that he was ready to comply with all the articles which, in the former conference, were either prescribed by the Romans or demanded by the allies; and to leave all other matters to the determination of the senate. Although he seemed to have hereby precluded every objection, even from the most inveterate of his enemies, yet, all the rest remaining silent, Phaeneas, the Aetolian, said to him,--"What! Philip, do you at last restore to us Pharsalus and Larissa, with Cremaste, Echinus, and Thebes in Phthiotis?" On Philip answering, that "he would give no obstruction to their retaking the possession of them," a dispute arose between the Roman general and the Aetolians about Thebes; for Quinctius affirmed, that it became the property of the Roman people by the laws of war; because when, before the commencement of hostilities, he marched his army thither, and invited the inhabitants to friendship, they, although at full liberty to renounce the king's party, yet preferred an alliance with Philip to one with Rome.

Phaeneas alleged, that, in consideration of their being confederates in the war, it was reasonable, that whatever the Aetolians possessed before it began, should be restored; and that, besides, there was, in the first treaty, a provisional clause of that purport, by which the spoils of war, of every kind that could be carried or driven, were to belong to the Romans; and that the lands and captured cities should fall to the Aetolians. "Yourselves," replied Quinctius, "annulled the conditions of that treaty, at the time when ye deserted us, and made peace with Philip; but supposing it still remained in force, yet that clause could affect only captured cities. Now, the states of Thessaly submitted to us by a voluntary act of their own."--These words were heard by their allies with universal approbation; but to the Aetolians they were both highly displeasing at the present, and proved afterwards the cause of a war, and of many great disasters attending it. The terms settled with Philip were, that he should give his son Demetrius, and some of his friends, as hostages; should pay two hundred talents[1] and send amba.s.sadors to Rome, respecting the other articles: for which purpose there should be a cessation of arms for four months. An engagement was entered into, that, in case the senate should refuse to conclude a treaty, his money and hostages should be returned to Philip. It is said, that one of the princ.i.p.al reasons which made the Roman general wish to expedite the conclusion of a peace, was, that he had received certain information of Antiochus intending to commence hostilities, and to pa.s.s over into Europe.

[Footnote 1: 38,750l.]

14. About the same time, and, as some writers say, on the same day, the Achaeans defeated Androsthenes, the king's commander, in a general engagement near Corinth. Philip, intending to use this city as a citadel, to awe the states of Greece, had invited the princ.i.p.al inhabitants to a conference, under pretence of agreeing with them as to the number of hors.e.m.e.n which the Corinthians could supply towards the war, and these he detained as hostages. Besides the force already there, consisting of five hundred Macedonians and eight hundred auxiliaries of various kinds, he had sent thither one thousand Macedonians, one thousand two hundred Illyrians, and of Thracians and Cretans (for these served in both the opposite armies) eight hundred.

To these were added Botians, Thessalians, and Acarnanians, to the amount of one thousand, all carrying bucklers; with as many of the young Corinthians themselves, as filled up the number of six thousand men under arms,--a force which inspired Androsthenes with a confident wish to decide the matter in the field. Nicostratus, praetor of the Achaeans, was at Sicyon, with two thousand foot and one hundred horse; but seeing himself so inferior, both in the number and kind of troops, he did not go outside the walls: the king's forces, in various excursions, were ravaging the lands of Pellene, Phliasus, and Cleone.