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

When the assembly 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 assembly 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 passed by the suffrages of all the states of Boeotia. When the assembly 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.

Philip, on his part, as his ambassadors 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 assembly 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 passing 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.

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 passes 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 pass 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.

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.

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.

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 passed 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 principal support which saved them from being driven down in disorderly flight, was the Aetolian horsemen. The Aetolians were then by far the best cavalry in Greece; in infantry, they were surpassed by some of their neighbours.

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 passes 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 passage 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 embarrassed, 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.

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 circumstances 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.

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 Tempè, 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 asserts 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.

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 ambassadors. 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 assuming, 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 assume 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 passion 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 assuming 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.

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 passage 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."

Androsthenes, utterly ignorant of all these proceedings, set out from Corinth, and encamped on the Nemea, a river running between the confines of Corinth and Sicyon. Here, dismissing one half of his troops, he divided the remainder into three parts, and ordered all the cavalry of each part to march in separate divisions, and ravage, at the same time, the territories of Pellene, Sicyon, and Phlius. Accordingly, the three divisions set out by different roads. As soon as Nicostratus received intelligence of this at Cleone, he instantly sent forward a numerous detachment of mercenaries, to seize a pass at the entrance into the territory of Corinth; and he himself quickly followed, with his troops in two columns, the cavalry proceeding before the head of each, as advanced guards. In one column marched the mercenary soldiers and light infantry; in the other, the shield-bearers of the Achaeans and other states, who composed the principal strength of the army. Both infantry and cavalry were now within a small distance of the camp, and some of the Thracians had attacked parties of the enemy, who were straggling and scattered over the country, when the sudden alarm reached their tents. The commander was thrown into the utmost perplexity; for, having never had a sight of the Achaeans, except occasionally on the hills before Sicyon, when they did not venture to come down into the plains, he had never imagined that they would come so far as Cleone. He ordered the stragglers to be recalled by sound of trumpet; commanded the soldiers to take arms with all haste; and, marching out of the gate at the head of thin battalions, drew up his line on the bank of the river. His other troops, having scarcely had time to be collected and formed, did not withstand the enemy's first onset; the Macedonians had surrounded their standards in by far the greatest numbers, and now kept the prospect of victory a long time doubtful. At length, being left exposed by the flight of the rest, and pressed by two bodies of the enemy on different sides, by the light infantry on their flank, and by the shield-bearers and targeteers in front, and seeing victory declare against them, they at first gave ground; soon after, being vigorously pushed, they turned their backs; and most of them, throwing away their arms and having lost all hope of defending their camp, made the best of their way to Corinth. Nicostratus sent the mercenaries in pursuit of these; and the auxiliary Thracians against the party employed in ravaging the lands of Sicyon: occasioned great carnage in both instances, greater almost than occurred in the battle itself. Of those who had been ravaging Pellene and Phlius, some, returning to their camp, ignorant of all that had happened, and without any regular order, fell in with the advanced guards of the enemy, where they expected their own. Others, from the bustle which they perceived, suspecting what was really the case, fled and dispersed themselves in such a manner, that, as they wandered up and down, they were cut off by the very peasants. There fell, on that day, one thousand five hundred: three hundred were made prisoners. All Achaia was thus relieved from their great alarm.

Before the battle at Cynoscephalae, Lucius Quinctius had invited to Corcyra some chiefs of the Acarnanians, the only state in Greece which had continued to maintain its alliance with the Macedonians; and there made some kind of scheme for a change of measures. Two causes, principally, had retained them in friendship with the king: one was a principle of honour, natural to that nation; the other, their fear and hatred of the Aetolians. A general assembly was summoned to meet at Leucas; but neither did all the states of Acarnania come thither, nor were those who did attend agreed in opinion. However, the magistrates and leading men prevailed so far, as to get a decree passed, thus privately, for joining in alliance with the Romans. This gave great offence to those who had not been present; and, in this ferment of the nation, Androcles and Echedemus, two men of distinction among the Acarnanians, being commissioned by Philip, had influence enough in the assembly, not only to obtain the repeal of the decree for an alliance with Rome, but also the condemnation, on a charge of treason, of Archesilaus and Bianor, both men of the first rank in Acarnania, who had been the advisers of that measure; and to deprive Zeuxidas, the praetor, of his office, for having put it to the vote. The persons condemned took a course apparently desperate, but successful in the issue: for, while their friends advised them to yield to the necessity of the occasion, and withdraw to Corcyra, to the Romans, they resolved to present themselves to the multitude; and either, by that act, to mollify their resentment, or endure whatever might befall them. When they had introduced themselves into a full assembly, at first, a murmur arose, expressive of surprise; but presently silence took place, partly from respect to their former dignity, partly from commiseration of their present situation. Having been also permitted the liberty of speaking, at first they addressed the assembly in a suppliant manner; but, in the progress of their discourse, when they came to refute the charges made against them, they spoke with that degree of confidence which innocence inspires. At last, they even ventured to utter some complaints, and to charge the proceedings against them with injustice and cruelty; and this had such an effect on the minds of all present, that, with one consent, they annulled all the decrees passed against them. Nevertheless, they came to a resolution, to renounce the friendship of the Romans, and return to the alliance with Philip.

These decrees were passed at Leucas, the capital of Acarnania, the place where all the states usually met in council. As soon, therefore, as the news of this sudden change reached the lieutenant-general Flamininus, in Corcyra, he instantly set sail with the fleet for Leucas; and coming to an anchor at a place called Heraeus, advanced thence towards the walls with every kind of machine used in the attacking of cities; supposing that the first appearance of danger might bend the minds of the inhabitants to submission. But seeing no prospect of effecting any thing, except by force, he began to erect towers and sheds, and to bring up the battering-rams to the walls. The whole of Acarnania, being situated between Aetolia and Epirus, faces towards the west and the Sicilian sea. Leucadia, now an island, separated from Acarnania by a shallow strait which was dug by the hand, was then a peninsula, united on its eastern side to Acarnania by a narrow isthmus: this isthmus was about five hundred paces in length, and in breadth not above one hundred and twenty. At the entrance of this narrow neck stands Leucas, stretching up part of a hill which faces the east and Acarnania: the lower part of the town is level, lying along the sea, which divides Leucadia from Acarnania. Thus it lies open to attacks, both from the sea and from the land; for the channel is more like a marsh than a sea, and all the adjacent ground is solid enough to render the construction of works easy. In many places, therefore, at once the walls fell down, either undermined, or demolished by the ram. But the spirit of the besieged was as invincible as the town itself was favourably situated for the besiegers: night and day they employed themselves busily in repairing the shattered parts of the wall; and, stopping up the breaches that were made, fought the enemy with great spirit, and showed a wish to defend the walls by their arms rather than themselves by the walls. And they would certainly have protracted the siege to a length unexpected by the Romans, had not some exiles of Italian birth, who resided in Leucas, admitted a band of soldiers into the citadel: notwithstanding which, when those troops ran down from the higher ground with great tumult and uproar, the Leucadians, drawing up in a body in the forum, withstood them for a considerable time in regular fight. Meanwhile the walls were scaled in many places; and the besiegers, climbing over the rubbish, entered the town through the breaches. And now the lieutenant-general himself surrounded the combatants with a powerful force. Being thus hemmed in, many were slain, the rest laid down their arms and surrendered to the conqueror. In a few days after, on hearing of the battle at Cynoscephalae, all the states of Acarnania made their submission to the lieutenant-general.

About this time, fortune, depressing the same party in every quarter at once, the Rhodians, in order to recover from Phillip the tract on the continent called Peraea, which had been in possession of their ancestors, sent thither their praetor, Pausistratus, with eight hundred Achaean foot, and about one thousand nine hundred men, made up of auxiliaries of various nations. These were Gauls, Nisuetans, Pisuetans, Tamians Areans from Africa, and Laodiceans from Asia. With this force Pausistratus seized by surprise Tendeba, in the territory of Stratonice, a place exceedingly convenient for his purpose, without the knowledge of the king's troops who had held it. A reinforcement of one thousand Achaean foot and one hundred horse, called out for the same expedition, came up at the very time, under a commander called Theoxenus. Dinocrates, the king's general, with design to recover the fort, marched his army first to Tendeba, and then to another fort called Astragon, which also stood in the territory of Stratonice. Then, calling in all the garrisons, which were scattered in many different places, and the Thessalian auxiliaries from Stratonice itself, he led them on to Alabanda, where the enemy lay. The Rhodians were no way averse from a battle, and the camps being pitched near each other both parties immediately came into the field. Dinocrates placed five hundred Macedonians on his right wing, and the Agrians on his left; the centre he formed of the troops which he had drawn together out of the garrisons of the forts; these were mostly Carians; and he covered the flanks with the cavalry, and the Cretan and Thracian auxiliaries. The Rhodians had on the right wing the Achaeans; on the left mercenary soldiers; and in the centre a chosen band of infantry, a body of auxiliaries composed of troops of various nations. The cavalry and what light infantry they had, were posted on the wings. During that day both armies remained on the banks of a rivulet, which ran between them, and, after discharging a few javelins, they retired into their camps. Next day, being drawn up in the same order, they fought a more important battle than could have been expected, considering the numbers engaged; for there were not more than three thousand infantry on each side, and about one hundred horse: but they were not only on an equality with respect to numbers, and the kind of arms which they used, but they also fought with equal spirit and equal hopes. First, the Achaeans crossing the rivulet, made an attack on the Agrians; then the whole line passed the river, almost at full speed. The fight continued doubtful a long time: the Achaeans, one thousand in number, drove back the four hundred from their position. Then the left wing giving way, all exerted themselves against the right. On the Macedonians no impression could be made, so long as their phalanx preserved its order, each man clinging as it were to another: but when, in consequence of their flank being left exposed, they endeavoured to turn their spears against the enemy, who were advancing upon that side, they immediately broke their ranks. This first caused disorder among themselves; they then turned their backs, and at last, throwing away their arms, and flying with precipitation, made the best of their way to Bargylii. To the same place Dinocrates also made his escape. The Rhodians continued the pursuit as long as the day lasted, and then retired to their camp. There is every reason to believe, that, if the victors had proceeded with speed to Stratonice, that city would have been gained without a contest; but the opportunity for effecting this was neglected, and the time wasted in taking possession of the forts and villages in Peraea. In the mean time, the courage of the troops in garrison at Stratonice revived; and shortly after, Dinocrates, with the troops which had escaped from the battle, came into the town, which, after that, was besieged and assaulted without effect; nor could it be reduced until a long time after that, when Antiochus took it. Such were the events that took place in Thessaly, in Achaia, and in Asia, all about the same time.

Philip was informed that the Dardanians, in contempt of the power of his kingdom, shaken as at that time it was, had passed the frontiers, and were spreading devastation through the upper parts of Macedonia: on which, though he was hard pressed in almost every quarter of the globe, fortune on all occasions defeating his measures and those of his friends, yet, thinking it more intolerable than death to be expelled from the possession of Macedonia, he made hasty levies through the cities of his dominions; and, with six thousand foot and five hundred horse, defeated the enemy by a surprise near Stobi in Paeonia. Great numbers were killed in the fight, and greater numbers of those who were scattered about in quest of plunder. As to such as found a road open for flight, without having even tried the chance of an engagement, they hastened back to their own country. After this enterprise executed with a degree of success beyond what he met in the rest of his attempts, and which raised the drooping courage of his people, he retired to Thessalonica. Seasonable as was the termination of the Punic war, in extricating the Romans from the danger of a quarrel with Philip, the recent triumph over Philip happened still more opportunely, when Antiochus, in Syria, was already making preparations for hostilities. For besides that it was easier to wage war against them separately than if both had combined their forces together, Spain had a little before this time, risen in arms in great commotion Antiochus, though he had in the preceding summer reduced under his power all the states in Coele-Syria belonging to Ptolemy, and retired into winter quarters at Antioch, yet allowed himself no relaxation from the exertions of the summer. For resolving to exert the whole strength of his kingdom, he collected a most powerful force, both naval and military; and in the beginning of spring, sending forward by land his two sons, Ardues and Mithridates, at the head of the army, with orders to wait for him at Sardis, he himself set out by sea with a fleet of one hundred decked ships, besides two hundred lighter vessels, barks and fly-boats, designing to attempt the reduction of all the cities under the dominion of Ptolemy along the whole coast of Caria and Cilicia; and, at the same time, to aid Philip with an army and ships, for as yet that war had not been brought to a conclusion.

The Rhodians, out of a faithful attachment to the Roman people, and an affection for the whole race of the Greeks have performed many honourable exploits, both on land and sea: but never was their gallantry more eminently conspicuous than on this occasion, when, nowise dismayed at the formidable magnitude of the impending war, they sent ambassadors to tell the king, that he should not double the tribute of Cheledoniae, which is a promontory of Cilicia, rendered famous by an ancient treaty between the Athenians and the king of Persia; that if he did not confine his fleet and army to that boundary, they would meet him there and oppose not out of any ill will, but because they would not suffice to join Philip and obstruct the Romans, who were resisting liberty to Greece. At this time Antiochus was pushing the siege of Coracesium with his works; for, after he had possession of Zephyrium, Solae, Aphrodisias, and Corycus; and doubling Anemurium, another promontory of Cilicia, had taken Selinus; when all these, and the other fortresses on that coast, had, either through fear or inclination, submitted without resistance, Coracesium shut its gates, and gave him a delay which he did not expect. Here an audience was given to the ambassadors of the Rhodians, and although the purport of their embassy was such as might kindle passion in the breast of a king, yet he stifled his resentment, and answered, that "he would send ambassadors to Rhodes, and would give them instructions to renew the old treaties, made by him and his predecessors, with that state; and to assure them, that they need not be alarmed at his approach; that it would involve no injury or fraud either to them or their allies; for that he was not about to violate the friendship subsisting between himself and the Romans, both his own late embassy to that people, and the senate's answers and decrees, so honourable to him, were a sufficient evidence." Just at that time his ambassadors happened to have returned from Rome, where they had been heard and dismissed with courtesy, as the juncture required; the event of the war with Philip being yet uncertain. While the king's ambassadors were haranguing to the above purpose, in an assembly of the people at Rhodes, a courier arrived with an account of the battle at Cynoscephalae having finally decided the fate of the war. Having received this intelligence, the Rhodians, now freed from all apprehensions of danger from Philip, resolved to oppose Antiochus with their fleet. Nor did they neglect another object that required their attention; the protection of the freedom of the cities in alliance with Ptolemy, which were threatened with war by Antiochus. For, some they assisted with men, others by forewarning them of the enemy's designs; by which means they enabled the Cauneans, Mindians, Halicarnassians, and Samians to preserve their liberty. It were needless to attempt enumerating all the transactions as they occurred in that quarter, when I am scarcely equal to the task of recounting those which immediately concern the war in which Rome was engaged.

At this time king Attalus, having fallen sick at Thebes, had been carried thence to Pergamus, died at the age of seventy-one after he had reigned forty-four years. To this man fortune had given nothing which could inspire hopes of a throne except riches. By a prudent, and, at the same time, a splendid use of these, he begat, in himself first, and then in others, an opinion, that he was not undeserving of a crown. Afterwards, having in one battle utterly defeated the Gauls, which nation was then the more terrible to Asia, as having but lately made its appearance there, he assumed the title of king, and ever after exhibited a spirit equal to the dignity of that name. He governed his subjects with the most perfect justice, and observed an unvarying fidelity towards his allies; gentle and bountiful to his friends; affectionate to his wife and four sons, who survived him; and he left his government established on such solid and firm foundations, that the possession of it descended to the third generation. While this was the posture of affairs in Asia, Greece, and Macedonia, the war with Philip being scarcely ended, and the peace certainly not yet perfected, a desperate insurrection took place in the Farther Spain. Marcus Helvius was governor of that province. He informed the senate by letter, that "two chieftains, Colca and Luscinus, were in arms; that Colca was joined by seventeen towns, and Luscinus by the powerful cities of Carmo and Bardo; and that the people of the whole sea-coast, who had not yet manifested their disposition, were ready to rise on the first motion of their neighbours." On this letter being read by Marcus Sergius, city praetor, the senate decreed, that, as soon as the election of praetors should be finished, the one to whose lot the government of Spain fell should, without delay, consult the senate respecting the commotions in that province.

About the same time the consuls came home to Rome, and, on their holding a meeting of the senate in the temple of Bellona, and demanding a triumph, in consideration of their successes in the war, Caius Atinius Labeo, and Caius Ursanius, plebeian tribunes, insisted that "the consuls should propose their claims of a triumph separately, for they would not suffer the question to be put on both jointly, lest equal honours might be conferred where the merits were unequal." Minucius urged, that they had both been appointed to the government of one province, Italy; and that, through the course of their administration, his colleague and himself had been united in sentiments and in counsels; to which Cornelius added, that, when the Boians were passing the Po, to assist the Insubrians and Caenomanians against him, they were forced to return to defend their own country, from his colleague ravaging their towns and lands. In reply the tribunes acknowledged, that the services performed in the war by Cornelius were so great, that "no more doubt could be entertained respecting his triumph than respecting the ascribing of glory to the immortal gods." Nevertheless they insisted, that "neither he nor any other member of the community should possess such power and influence as to be able, after obtaining the honour that was due to himself, to bestow the same distinction on a colleague, who immodestly demanded what he had not deserved. The exploits of Quintus Minucius in Liguria were trifling skirmishes, scarcely deserving mention; and in Gaul he had lost great numbers of soldiers." They mentioned even military tribunes, Titus Juvencius and Cneius Labeo, of the fourth legion, the plebeian tribune's brother, who had fallen in unsuccessful conflict, together with many other brave men, both citizens and allies: and they asserted, that "pretended surrenders of a few towns and villages, fabricated for the occasion, had been made, without any pledge of fidelity being taken." These altercations between the consuls and tribunes lasted two days: at last the consuls, overcome by the obstinacy of the tribunes, proposed their claims separately.

After the triumph, the election of consuls came on. The persons chosen were Lucius Furius Purpureo and Marcus Claudius Marcellus. Next day, the following were elected praetors; Quintus Fabius Buteo, Tiberius Sempronius Longus, Quintus Minucius Thermus, Manius Acilius Glabrio, Lucius Apustius Fullo, and Caius Laelius. Toward the close of this year, a letter came from Titus Quinctius, with information that he had fought a pitched battle with Philip in Thessaly, and that the army of the enemy had been routed and put to flight. This letter was read by Sergius, the praetor, first in the senate, and then, by the direction of the fathers, in a general assembly; and supplications of five days' continuance were decreed on account of those successes. Soon after arrived the ambassadors, both from Titus Quinctius and from the king. The Macedonians were conducted out of the city to the Villa Publica, where lodgings and every other accommodation were provided for them, and an audience of the senate was given them in the temple of Bellona. Not many words passed; for the Macedonians declared, that whatever terms the senate should prescribe, the king was ready to comply with them. It was decreed, that, conformably to ancient practice, ten ambassadors should be appointed, and that, in council with them, the general, Titus Quinctius, should grant terms of peace to Philip; and a clause was added, that, in the number of these ambassadors, should be Publius Sulpicius and Publius Villius, who in their consulship had held the province of Macedonia. On the same day the inhabitants of Oossa having presented a petition, praying that the number of their colonists might be enlarged; an order was accordingly passed, that one thousand should be added to the list, with a provision, that no persons should be admitted into that number who, at any time since the consulate of Publius Cornelius and Tiberius Sempronius, had been partisans of the enemy.

This year the Roman games were exhibited in the circus, and on the stage, by the curule aediles, Publius Cornelius Scipio and Cneius Manlius Vulso, with an unusual degree of splendour, and were beheld with the greater delight, in consequence of the late successes in war. They were thrice repeated entire, and the plebeian games seven times. These were exhibited by Manius Acilius Glabrio and Caius Laelius, who also, out of the money arising from fines, erected three brazen statues, to Ceres, Liber, and Libera. Lucius Furius and Marcus Claudius Marcellus, having entered on the consulship, when the distribution of the provinces came to be agitated, and the senate appeared disposed to vote Italy the province of both, exerted themselves to get that of Macedonia put to the lot along with Italy. Marcellus, who of the two was the more eager for that province, by assertions that the peace was merely a feigned and delusive one, and that, if the army were withdrawn thence, the king would renew the war, caused some perplexity in the minds of the senate. The consuls would probably have carried the point, had not Quintus Marcius Rex and Caius Antinius Labeo, plebeian tribunes, declared, that they would enter their protest, unless they were allowed, before any further proceeding, to take the sense of the people, whether it was their will and order that peace be concluded with Philip. This question was put to the people in the Capitol, and every one of the thirty-five tribes voted on the affirmative side. The public found the greater reason to rejoice at the ratification of the peace with Macedonia, as melancholy news was brought from Spain; and a letter was made public, announcing that "the proconsul, Caius Sempronius Tuditanus, had been defeated in battle in the Hither Spain; that his army had been utterly routed and dispersed, and several men of distinction slain in the fight. That Tuditanus, having been grievously wounded, and carried out of the field, expired soon after." Italy was decreed the province of both consuls, in which they were to employ the same legions which the preceding consuls had; and they were to raise four new legions, two for the city, and two to be in readiness to be sent whithersoever the senate should direct. Titus Quinctius Flamininus was ordered to continue in the government of his province, with the army of two legions, then on the spot. The former prolongation of his command was deemed sufficient.

The praetors then cast lots for their provinces. Lucius Apustius Fullo obtained the city jurisdiction; Manius Acilius Glabrio, that between natives and foreigners; Quintus Fabius Buteo, Farther Spain; Quintus Minucius Thermus, Hither Spain; Caius Laelius, Sicily; Tiberius Sempronius Longus, Sardinia. To Quintus Fabius Buteo and Quintus Minucius, to whom the government of the two Spains had fallen, it was decreed, that the consuls, out of the four legions raised by them, should give one each whichever they thought fit, together with four thousand foot and three hundred horse of the allies and Latin confederates; and those praetors were ordered to repair to their provinces at the earliest possible time. This war in Spain broke out in the fifth year after the former had been ended, together with the Punic war. The Spaniards now, for the first time, had taken arms in their own name, unconnected with any Carthaginian army or general. Before the consuls stirred from the city, however, they were ordered, as usual, to expiate the reported prodigies. Publius Villius, a Roman knight, on the road to Sabinia, had been killed by lightning, together with his horse. The temple of Feronia, in the Capenatian district, had been struck by lightning. At the temple of Moneta, the shafts of two spears had taken fire and burned. A wolf, coming in through the Esquiline gate, and running through the most frequented part of the city, down into the forum, passed thence through the Tuscan and Maelian streets; and scarcely receiving a stroke, made its escape out of the Capenian gate. These prodigies were expiated with victims of the larger kinds.

It was resolved, while they had the Roman army near at hand, to take off Brachyllas, who was the principal leader of the faction which favoured the king; and they chose an opportunity for the deed, when, after having been at a public feast, he was returning to his house inebriated, and accompanied by some of his debauched companions, who, for the sake of merriment, had been admitted to the crowded entertainment. He was surrounded and assassinated by six men, of whom three were Italians and three Aetolians. His companions fled, crying out for help; and a great uproar ensued among the people, who ran up and down, through all parts of the city, with lights; but the assassins made their escape through the nearest gate. At the first dawn, a full assembly was called together in the theatre, by the voice of a crier, as if in consequence of a previous appointment. Many openly clamoured that Brachyllas was killed by those detestable wretches who accompanied him; but their private conjectures pointed to Zeuxippus, as author of the murder. It was resolved, however, that those who had been in company with him should be seized and examined in their presence. While they were under examination, Zeuxippus, with his usual composure, came into the assembly, for the purpose of averting the charge from himself; yet said, that people were mistaken in supposing that so daring a murder was the act of such effeminate wretches as those who were charged with it, urging many plausible arguments to the same purpose. By which behaviour he led several to believe, that, if he were conscious of guilt, he would never have presented himself before the multitude, or, without being challenged by any, have made any mention of the murder. Others were convinced that he intended, by thus unblushingly exposing himself to the charge, to throw off all suspicion from himself. Soon after, those men who were innocent were put to the torture; and, taking the universal opinion as having the effect of evidence, they named Zeuxippus and Pisistratus; but they produced no proof to show that they knew any thing of the matter. Zeuxippus, however, accompanied by a man named Stratonidas, fled by night to Tanagra; alarmed by his own conscience rather than by the assertion of men who were privy to no one circumstance of the affair. Pisistratus, despising the informers, remained at Thebes. A slave of Zeuxippus had carried messages backwards and forwards, and had been intrusted with the management of the whole business. From this man Pisistratus dreaded a discovery; and by that very dread forced him, against his will, to make one. He sent a letter to Zeuxippus, desiring him to "put out of the way the slave who was privy to their crime; for he did not believe him as well qualified for the concealment of the fact as he was for the perpetration of it." He ordered the bearer of this letter to deliver it to Zeuxippus as soon as possible; but he, not finding an opportunity of meeting him, put it into the hands of the very slave in question, whom he believed to be the most faithful to his master of any; and added, that it came from Pisistratus respecting a matter of the utmost consequence to Zeuxippus. Struck by consciousness of guilt, the slave after promising to deliver the letter, immediately opened it; and, on reading the contents, fled in a fright to Thebes and laid the information before the magistrate. Zeuxippus, alarmed by the flight of his slave, withdrew to Athens, where he thought he might live in exile with greater safety. Pisistratus, after being examined several times by torture, was put to death.

While all the other states of Greece expressed their approbation of these terms of peace, the Aetolians alone, in private murmurs, made severe strictures on the determination of the ten ambassadors. They said, "it consisted merely of an empty piece of writing varnished over with a fallacious appearance of liberty. For why should some cities be put into the hands of the Romans without being named, while others were particularized, and ordered to be enfranchised without such consignment; unless the intent was, that those in Asia, which, from their distant situation, were more secure from danger, should be free; but those in Greece, not being even mentioned by name, should be made their property: Corinth, Chalcis, and Oreum; with Eretria, and Demetrias." Nor was this charge entirely without foundation: for there was some hesitation with respect to Corinth, Chalcis, and Demetrias; because, in the decree of the senate in pursuance of which the ten ambassadors had been sent from Rome, all Greece and Asia, except these three, were expressly ordered to be set at liberty; but, with regard to these, ambassadors were instructed, that, whatever measures the exigencies of the state might render expedient, they should determine to pursue in conformity to the public good and their own honour. King Antiochus was one of whom they did not doubt that, so soon as he was satisfied that his forces were adequate, he would cross over into Europe; and they were unwilling to let these cities, the possession of which would be so advantageous to him, lie open to his occupation. Quinctius, with the ten ambassadors, sailed from Elatia to Anticyra, and thence to Corinth. Here the plans they had laid down respecting the liberation of Greece were discussed for about three days in a council of the ten ambassadors. Quinctius frequently urged, that "every part of Greece ought to be set at liberty, if they wished to refute the cavils of the Aetolians; if they wished, that sincere affection and respect for the Roman nation should be universally entertained; or if they wished to convince the world that they had crossed the sea with the design of liberating Greece, and not of transferring the sovereignty of it from Philip to themselves." The Macedonians alleged nothing in opposition to the arguments made use of in favour of the freedom of the cities; but "they thought it safer for those cities themselves that they should remain, for a time, under the protection of Roman garrisons, than be obliged to receive Antiochus for a master in the room of Philip." Their final determination was, that "Corinth be restored to the Achaeans, but that a Roman garrison should continue in the citadel; and that Chalcis and Demetrias be retained, until their apprehensions respecting Antiochus should cease."

The stated solemnity of the Isthmian games was at hand. These have ever been attended by very numerous meetings, as well on account of the universal fondness entertained by this nation for exhibitions of skill in arts of every kind, as well as of contests in strength and swiftness of foot; as also, because of the convenience of the locality, which furnishes commercial advantages of all kinds by its two opposite seas, and by which it had obtained the character of a rendezvous for all the population of Asia and Greece. But on this occasion, all were led thither not only for their ordinary purposes, but by an eager curiosity to learn what was thenceforward to be the state of Greece, and what their own condition; while many at the same time not only formed opinions within themselves but uttered their conjectures in conversation. Scarcely any supposed that the Romans, victorious as they were, would withdraw from the whole of Greece. They took their seats, as spectators; and a herald, preceded by a trumpeter, according to custom, advanced into the centre of the theatre, where notice of the commencement of the games is usually made, in a solemn form of words. Silence being commanded by sound of trumpet, he uttered aloud the following proclamation: THE SENATE AND PEOPLE OF ROME, AND TITUS QUINCTIUS, THEIR GENERAL, HAVING SUBDUED KING PHILIP AND THE MACEDONIANS, DO HEREBY ORDER, THAT THE FOLLOWING STATES BE FREE, INDEPENDENT, AND RULED BY THEIR OWN LAWS: THE CORINTHIANS, PHOCIANS, AND ALL THE LOCRIANS; THE ISLAND OF EUBOEA, AND THE MAGNESIANS; THE THESSALIANS, PERRHAEBIANS, AND THE ACHAEANS OF PHTHIOTIS. He then read a list of all the states which had been under subjection to king Philip. The joy occasioned by hearing these words of the herald was so great, that the people's minds were unable to conceive the matter at once. Scarcely could they believe that they had heard them; and they looked at each other, marvelling as at the empty illusion of a dream. Each inquired of his neighbours about what immediately concerned himself, altogether distrusting the evidence of his own ears. As everyone desired not only to hear, but to see the messenger of liberty, the herald was called out again; and he again repeated the proclamation. When they were thus assured of the reality of the joyful tidings, they raised such a shout, and clapping of hands, and repeated them so often, as clearly to show that of all blessings none is more grateful to the multitude than liberty. The games were then proceeded through with hurry; for neither the thoughts nor eyes of any attended to the exhibitions, so entirely had the single passion of joy pre-occupied their minds, as to exclude the sense of all other pleasures.

But, when the games were finished, every one eagerly passed towards the Roman general; so that by the crowd rushing to one spot, all wishing to come near him, and to touch his right hand, and throwing garlands and ribands, he was in some degree of danger. He was then about thirty-three years of age; and besides the vigour of youth, the grateful sensations excited by so eminent a harvest of glory, increased his strength. Nor was the general exultation exhausted in the presence of all the assembly, but, through the space of many days, was continually revived by sentiments and expressions of gratitude. "There was a nation in the world," they said, "which, at its own expense, with its own labour, and at its own risk, waged wars for the liberty of others. And this was performed, not merely for contiguous states, or near neighbours, or for countries that made parts of the same continent; but they even crossed the seas for the purpose, that no unlawful power should subsist on the face of the whole earth; but that justice, right, and law should every where have sovereign sway. By one sentence, pronounced by a herald all the cities of Greece and Asia had been set at liberty. To have conceived hopes of this, argued a daring spirit; to have carried it into effect, was a proof of the most consummate bravery and good fortune."

Quinctius and the ten ambassadors then gave audience to the embassies of the several kings, nations, and states. First of all, the ambassadors of king Antiochus were called. Their proceedings, here, were nearly the same as at Rome; a mere display of words unsupported by facts. But the answer given them was not ambiguous as formerly, during the uncertainty of affairs, and while Philip was unsubdued; for the king was required in express terms to evacuate the cities of Asia, which had been in possession either of Philip or Ptolemy; not to meddle with the free cities, or ever take arms against them, and to be in a state of peace and equality with all the cities of Greece wherever they might be. Above all it was insisted on, that he should neither come himself into Europe, nor transport an army thither. The king's ambassadors being dismissed, a general convention of the nations and states was immediately held; and the business was despatched with the greater expedition, because the resolutions of the ten ambassadors mentioned the several states by name. To the people of Orestis, a district of Macedonia, in consideration of their having been the first who came over from the side of the king, their own laws were granted. The Magnesians, Perrhaebians, and Dolopians were likewise declared free. To the nation of the Thessalians, besides the enjoyment of liberty, the Achaean part of Phthiotis was granted, excepting Phthiotian Thebes and Pharsalus. The Aetolians, demanding that Pharsalus and Leucas should be restored to them in conformity to the treaty, were referred to the senate: but the council united to these, by authority of a decree, Phocis and Locris, places which had formerly been annexed to them. Corinth, Triphylia, and Heraea, another city of Peloponnesus, were restored to the Achaeans. The ten ambassadors were inclined to give Oreum and Eretria to king Eumenes, son of Attalus; but Quinctius dissenting, the matter came under the determination of the senate, and the senate declared those cities free; adding to them Carystus. Lycus and Parthinia, Illyrian states, each of which had been under subjection to Philip, were given to Pleuratus. Amynander was ordered to retain possession of the forts, which he had taken from Philip during the war.

When the convention broke up, the ten ambassadors, dividing the business among them, set out by different routes to give liberty to the several cities within their respective districts. Publius Lentulus went to Bargylii; Lucius Stertinius, to Hephaestia, Thasus, and the cities of Thrace; Publius Villius and Lucius Terentius to king Antiochus; and Cneius Cornelius to Philip. The last of these, after executing his commission with respect to smaller matters, asked Philip, whether he was disposed to listen to advice, not only useful but highly salutary. To which the king answered that he was, and would give him thanks besides, if he mentioned any thing conducive to his advantage. He then earnestly recommended to him, since he had obtained peace with the Romans, to send ambassadors to Rome to solicit their alliance and friendship; lest, in case of Antiochus pursuing any hostile measure, he might be suspected of having lain in wait and seized the opportunity of the times for reviving hostilities. This meeting with Philip was at Tempè in Thessaly; and on his answering that he would send ambassadors without delay, Cornelius proceeded to Thermopylae, where all the states of Greece are accustomed to meet in general assembly on certain stated days. This is called the Pylaic assembly. Here he admonished the Aetolians, in particular, constantly and firmly to cultivate the friendship of the Roman people; but some of the principal of these interrupted him with complaints, that the disposition of the Romans towards their nation was not the same since the victory, that it had been during the war; while others censured them with greater boldness, and in a reproachful manner asserted, that "without the aid of the Aetolians, the Romans could neither have conquered Philip, nor even have made good their passage into Greece." To such discourses the Roman forbore giving an answer, lest the matter might end in an altercation, and only said, that if they sent ambassadors to Rome, every thing that was reasonable would be granted to them. Accordingly, they passed a decree for such mission, agreeably to his direction.--In this manner was the war with Philip concluded.

While these transactions passed in Greece, Macedonia, and Asia, a conspiracy among the slaves had well nigh made Etruria an hostile province. To examine into and suppress this, Manius Acilius the praetor, whose province was the administration of justice between natives and foreigners, was sent at the head of one of the two city legions. A number of them, who were by this time formed in a body, he reduced by force of arms, killing and taking many. Some, who had been the ringleaders of the conspiracy, he scourged with rods and then crucified; some he returned to their masters. The consuls repaired to their provinces. Just as Marcellus entered the frontiers of the Boians, and while his men were fatigued with marching the whole length of the day, and as he was pitching his camp on a rising ground, Corolam, a chieftain of the Boians, attacked him with a very numerous force, and slew three thousand of his men: several persons of distinction fell in that tumultuary engagement; amongst others, Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus and Marcus Junius Silanus, praefects of the allies; and Aulus Ogulnius and Publius Claudius, military tribunes in the second legion. The Romans, not withstanding, had courage enough to finish the fortification of their camp, and to defend it, in spite of an assault made on it by the enemy, elated by their success in the field. Marcellus remained for some time in the same post, until he could tend the wounded, and revive the spirits of his men after such a disheartening blow. The Boians, a nation remarkably impatient of delay, and quickly disgusted at a state of inaction, separated, and withdrew to their several forts and villages. Marcellus then, suddenly crossing the Po, led his legions into the territory of Comum, where the Insubrians, after rousing the people of the country to arms, lay encamped. The fierce Boian Gauls attacked him on his march, and they first onset was so vigorous, as to make a considerable impression on his van. On perceiving which, and fearing lest, if his men once gave way, they would be dislodged, he brought up a cohort of Marsians against the enemy, and ordered every troop of the Latin cavalry to charge them. The first and second charges of these having checked the enemy in their furious attack, the other troops in the Roman line, resuming courage, advanced briskly on the foe. The Gauls no longer maintained the contest, but turned their backs and fled in confusion. Valerius Antias relates, that in that battle above forty thousand men were killed, five hundred and seven military standards taken, with four hundred and thirty-two chariots, and a great number of gold chains, one of which, of great weight, Claudius says, was deposited as an offering to Jupiter, in his temple in the Capitol. The camp of the Gauls was taken and plundered the same day; and the town of Comum was reduced in a few days after. In a little time, twenty-eight forts came over to the consul. There is a doubt among writers, whether the consul led his legions first against the Boians, or against the Insubrians; so as to determine, whether the successful battle obliterated the disgrace of the defeat, or whether the victory obtained at Comum was tarnished by the disaster incurred among the Boii.

During that year, king Antiochus, after having spent the winter at Ephesus, took measures for reducing, under his dominion, all the cities of Asia, which had formerly been members of the empire. As to the rest, being either situated in plains, or having neither walls, arms, nor men in whom they could confide, he supposed they would, without difficulty, receive the yoke. But Smyrna and Lampsacus openly asserted their independence: yet there was a danger that if what they claimed were conceded to these, the rest of the cities in Aetolia and Ionia would follow the example of Smyrna; and those on the Hellespont that of Lampsacus. Wherefore he sent an army from Ephesus to invest Smyrna; and ordered the troops, which were at Abydos, to leave there only a small garrison, and to go and lay siege to Lampsacus. Nor did he only alarm them by an exhibition of force. By sending ambassadors, to make gentle remonstrances, and reprove the rashness and obstinacy of their conduct, he endeavoured to give them hopes that they might soon obtain the object of their wishes; but not until it should appear clearly, both to themselves and to all the world, that they had gained their liberty through the kindness of the king, and not by any violent efforts of their own. In answer to which, they said, that "Antiochus ought neither to be surprised nor displeased, if they did not very patiently suffer the establishment of their liberty to be deferred to a distant period." He himself, with his fleet, set sail from Ephesus in the beginning of spring, and steered towards the Hellespont. His army he transported to Madytus, a city in the Chersonese, and there joined his land and sea forces together. The inhabitants having shut their gates, he surrounded the walls with his troops; and when he was just bringing up his machines to the walls, a capitulation was entered into. This diffused such fear through the inhabitants of Sestus and the other cities of the Chersonese, as induced them to submit. He then came, with the whole of his united forces, by land and sea, to Lysimachia; which finding deserted, and almost buried in ruins, (for the Thracians had, a few years before, taken, sacked, and burned it,) he conceived a wish to rebuild a city so celebrated, and so commodiously situated. Accordingly, extending his care to every object at once, he set about repairing the walls and houses, ransomed some of the Lysimachians who were in captivity, sought out and brought home others, who had fled and dispersed themselves through the Chersonese and Hellespontus, enrolled new colonists, whom he invited by prospects of advantages, and used every means to repeople it fully. At the same time, that all fear of the Thracians might be removed, he went, in person, with one half of the land forces, to lay waste the nearest provinces of Thrace; leaving the other half, and all the crews of the ships, employed in the repairs of the city.

About this time Lucius Cornelius, who had been commissioned by the senate to accommodate the differences between the kings Antiochus and Ptolemy, stopped at Selymbria; and, of the ten ambassadors, Publius Lentulus from Bargylii, and Publius Villius and Lucius Terentius from Thasus, came to Lysimachia. Hither came, likewise, Lucius Cornelius from Selymbria, and a few days after Antiochus from Thrace. His first meeting with the ambassadors, and an invitation which he afterwards gave them, were friendly and hospitable; but when the business intrusted to them and the present state of Asia, came to be treated of, the minds of both parties were exasperated. The Romans did not scruple to declare, that every one of his proceedings, from the time when he set sail from Syria, was displeasing to the senate; and they required restitution to be made, to Ptolemy, of all the cities which had been under his dominion. "For, as to what related to the cities which had been in the possession of Philip, and which Antiochus, taking advantage of a season when Philip's attention was turned to the war with Rome, had seized into his own hands, it would surely be an intolerable hardship, if the Romans were to have undergone such toils and dangers, on land and sea, for so many years, and Antiochus to appropriate to himself the prizes of the war. But, though his coming into Asia might be passed over unnoticed by the Romans, as a matter not pertaining to them, yet when he proceeded so far as to pass over into Europe with all his land and naval forces, how much was this short of open war with the Romans? Doubtless, had he even passed into Italy, he would deny that intention. But the Romans would not wait to give him an opportunity of doing so."

These disputes had been carried on for several days, when a rumour reached them, but without any sufficiently certain authority, that Ptolemy was dead; which prevented the conferences coming to any issue: for both parties made a secret of their having heard it; and Lucius Cornelius, who was charged with the embassy to the two kings, Antiochus and Ptolemy, requested to be allowed a short space of time, in which he could have a meeting with the latter; because he wished to arrive in Egypt before any change of measures should take place in consequence of the new succession to the crown: while Antiochus believed that Egypt would be his own, if at that time he should take possession of it. Wherefore, having dismissed the Romans, and left his son Seleucus, with the land forces, to finish the rebuilding of Lysimachia, as he had intended to do, he sailed, with his whole fleet, to Ephesus; sent ambassadors to Quinctius to treat with him about an alliance, assuring him that the king would attempt no innovations, and then, coasting along the shore of Asia, proceeded to Lycia. Having learned at Patarae that Ptolemy was living, he dropped the design of sailing to Egypt, but nevertheless steered towards Cyprus; and, when he had passed the promontory of Chelidonium, was detained some little time in Pamphylia, near the river Eurymedon, by a mutiny among his rowers. When he had sailed thence as far as the headlands, as they are called, of Sarus, such a dreadful storm arose as almost buried him and his whole fleet in the deep. Many ships were broken to pieces, and many cast on shore; many swallowed so entirely in the sea, that not one man of their crews escaped to land. Great numbers of his men perished on this occasion; not only persons of mean rank, rowers and soldiers, but even of his particular friends in high stations. When he had collected the relics of the general wreck, being in no capacity of making an attempt on Cyprus, he returned to Seleucia, with a far less numerous force than he had set out with. Here he ordered the ships to be hauled ashore, for the winter was now at hand, and proceeded to Antioch, where he intended to pass the winter.--In this posture stood the affairs of the kings.

Lucius Valerius Flaccus and Marcus Porcius, on the ides of March, the day of their entering into office, consulted the senate respecting the provinces; who resolved, that "whereas the war in Spain was grown so formidable, as to require a consular army and commander; it was their opinion, therefore, that the consuls should either settle between themselves, or cast lots, for Hither Spain and Italy as their provinces. That he to whom Spain fell should carry with him two legions, five thousand of the Latin confederates, and five hundred horse; together with a fleet of twenty ships of war. That the other consul should raise two legions; for these would be sufficient to maintain tranquillity in the province of Gaul, as the spirits of the Insubrians and Boians had been broken the year before." The lots gave Spain to Cato, and Italy to Valerius. The praetors then cast lots for their provinces: to Caius Fabricius Luscinus fell the city jurisdiction; Caius Atinius Labeo obtained the foreign; Cneius Manlius Vulso, Sicily; Appius Claudius Nero, Farther Spain; Publius Porcius Laeca, Pisa, in order that he might be at the back of the Ligurians; and Publius Manlius was sent into Hither Spain, as an assistant to the consul. Quinctius was continued in command for the year, as apprehensions were entertained, not only of Antiochus and the Aetolians, but likewise of Nabis, tyrant of Lacedaemon; and it was ordered that he should have two legions, for which, if there was any necessity for a further supply, the consuls were ordered to raise recruits, and send them into Macedonia. Appius Claudius was permitted to raise, in addition to the legion which Quintius Fabius had commanded, two thousand foot and two hundred horse. The like number of new-raised foot and horse was assigned to Publius Manlius for Hither Spain; and the legion was given to him which had been under the command of Minucius, the praetor. To Publius Porcius Laeca, for Etruria, near Pisa, were decreed two thousand foot and five hundred horse, out of the army in Gaul. Sempronius Longus was continued in command in Sardinia.

The provinces being thus distributed, the consuls, before their departure from the city, were ordered, in accordance with a decree of the pontiffs, to proclaim a sacred spring, which Aulus Cornelius Mammula, praetor, had vowed in pursuance of a vote of the senate, and an order of the people, in the consulate of Cneius Servilius and Caius Flaminius. It was celebrated twenty-one years after the vow had been made. About the same time, Caius Claudius Pulcher, son of Appius, was chosen and inaugurated into the office of augur, in the room of Quintus Fabius Maximus, who died the year before. While people, in general, wondered that, though Spain had arisen in arms, they were neglecting the war, a letter was brought from Quintus Minucius, announcing "that he had fought a pitched battle with the Spanish generals, Budar and Besasis, near the town of Tura, and had gained the victory: that twelve thousand of the enemy were slain; their general, Budar, taken; and the rest routed and dispersed." After the reading of this letter less alarm prevailed with respect to Spain, where a very formidable war had been apprehended. The whole anxiety of the public was directed towards king Antiochus, especially after the arrival of the ten ambassadors. These, after relating the proceedings with Philip, and the conditions on which peace had been granted him, gave information, that "there still subsisted a war of no less magnitude to be waged with Antiochus; that he had come over into Europe with a very numerous fleet and a powerful army; that, had not a delusive prospect of an opportunity of invading Egypt, raised by a more delusive rumour, diverted him to another quarter, all Greece would have quickly been involved in the flames of war. Nor would even the Aetolians remain quiet, a race as well restless by nature as full of anger against the Romans. That, besides, there was another evil, of a most dangerous nature, lurking in the bowels of Greece: Nabis, tyrant at present of Lacedaemon, but who would soon if suffered, become tyrant of all Greece, equalling in avarice and cruelty all the tyrants most remarkable in history. For, if he were allowed to keep possession of Argos, which served as a citadel commanding the Peloponnesus, when the Roman armies should be brought home to Italy, Greece would have been in vain delivered out of bondage to Philip; because, instead of that king, who, supposing no other difference, resided at a distance, she would have for a master, a tyrant, close to her side."

On this intelligence being received from men of such respectable authority, and who had, besides, examined into all the matters which were reported, the senate, although they deemed the business relating to Antiochus the more important, yet, as the king had, for some reason or other, gone home into Syria, they thought that the affair respecting the tyrant ought to be more promptly attended to. After debating, for a long time, whether they should judge the grounds which they had at present sufficient whereon a declaration of war should be decreed, or whether they should empower Titus Quinctius to act, in the case respecting Nabis the Lacedaemonian, in such manner as he should judge conducive to the public interest; they left it in his hands. For they thought the business of such a nature, that whether expedited or delayed, it could not very materially affect the general interest of the Roman people. It was deemed more important to endeavour to discover what line of conduct Hannibal and the Carthaginians would pursue, in case of a war breaking out with Antiochus. Persons of the faction which opposed Hannibal wrote continually to their several friends, among the principal men in Rome, that "messages and letters were sent by Hannibal to Antiochus, and that envoys came secretly from the king to him. That, as some wild beasts can never be tamed, so the disposition of this man was irreclaimable and implacable. That he sometimes complained, that the state was debilitated by ease and indolence, and lulled by sloth into a lethargy, from which nothing could rouse it but the sound of arms." These accounts were deemed probable, when people recollected the former war, which had not more been carried on than at first set on foot by the efforts of that single man. Besides, he had by a recent act provoked the resentment of many men in power.

The order of judges possessed, at that time, absolute power in Carthage; and this was owing chiefly to their holding the office during life. The property, character, and life of every man was in their disposal. He who incurred the displeasure of one of that order, found an enemy in every one of them; nor were accusers wanting in a court where the justices were disposed to condemn. While they were in possession of this despotism, (for they did not exercise their exorbitant power constitutionally,) Hannibal was elected praetor and he summoned the quaestor before him. The quaestor disregarded the summons, for he was of the opposite faction; and besides, as the practice was that, after the quaestorship men were advanced into the order of judges, the most powerful of all, he already assumed a spirit suited to the powers which he was shortly to possess. Hannibal, highly offended Hereat, sent an officer to apprehend the quaestor; and, bringing him forth into an assembly of the people, he made heavy charges not against him alone, but on the whole order of judges; in consequence of whose arrogance and power neither the magistracy nor the laws availed any thing. Then perceiving that his discourse was with willing ears attended to, and that the conduct of those men was incompatible with the freedom of the lowest classes, he proposed a law, and procured it to be enacted, that the "judges should be elected annually; and that no person should hold the office two years successively." But, whatever degree of favour he acquired among the commons by this proceeding, he roused, in a great part of the nobility, an equal degree of resentment. To this he added another act, which, while it was for the advantage of the people, provoked personal enmity against himself. The public revenues were partly wasted through neglect, partly embezzled, and divided among some leading men and magistrates; insomuch, that there was not money sufficient for the regular annual payment of the tribute to the Romans, so that private persons seemed to be threatened with a heavy tax.

Finding horses in readiness at a spot where he had ordered, he traversed by night a district which the Africans denominated Byzacium, and arrived, in the morning of the following day, at a castle of his own between Acholla and Thapsus. There a ship, ready fitted out and furnished with rowers, took him on board. In this manner did Hannibal leave Africa, lamenting the misfortunes of his country oftener than his own. He sailed over, the same day, to the island of Cercina, where he found in the port a number of merchant ships, belonging to the Phoenicians, with their cargoes; and on landing was surrounded by a concourse of people, who came to pay their respects to him; on which he gave orders that, in answer to any inquiries, it should be said that he had been sent as ambassador to Tyre. Fearing, however, lest some of these ships might sail in the night to Thapsus or Adrumetum, and carry information of his having been seen at Cercina, he ordered a sacrifice to be prepared, and the masters of the ships, with the merchants, to be invited to the entertainment, and that the sails and yards should be collected out of the ships to form a shade on shore for the company at supper, as it happened to be the middle of summer. The feast of the day was as sumptuous, and well attended, as the time and circumstances allowed; and the entertainment was prolonged, with plenty of wine, until late in the night. As soon as Hannibal saw an opportunity of escaping the notice of those who were in the harbour, he set sail. The rest were fast asleep, nor was it early, next day, when they arose from their sleep, full of the illness of intoxication; and then, when it was too late, they set about replacing the sails in the ships, and fitting up the rigging, which employed several hours. At Carthage, those who were accustomed to visit Hannibal met in a crowd, at the porch of his house; and when it was publicly known that he was not to be found, the whole multitude assembled in the forum, eager to gain intelligence of the man who was considered as the first in the state. Some surmised that he had fled, as the case was; others, that he had been put to death through the treachery of the Romans; and there was visible in the expression of their countenances, that variety which might naturally be expected in a state divided into factions, whereof each supported a different interest. At length intelligence was brought, that he had been seen at Cercina.

The Roman ambassadors represented to the council, that "proof had been laid before the senate at Rome, that formerly king Philip had been moved, principally by the instigation of Hannibal, to make war on the Roman people; and that lately, Hannibal had, besides, sent letters and messages to king Antiochus, that he had entered into plans for driving Carthage to revolt, and that he had now gone no whither but to king Antiochus. That he was a man who would never be content, until he had excited war in every part of the globe. That such conduct ought not to be suffered to pass with impunity, if the Carthaginians wished to convince the Roman people that none of those things were done with their consent, or with the approbation of the state." The Carthaginians answered, that they were ready to do whatever the Romans required them.

Hannibal, after a prosperous voyage, arrived at Tyre; where, as a man illustrated by every description of honours, he was received by those founders of Carthage, as if in a second native country, and here he staid a few days. He then sailed to Antioch; where, hearing that the king had already left the place, he procured an interview with his son, who was celebrating the solemnity of the games at Daphne, and who treated him with much kindness; after which, he set sail without delay. At Ephesus, he overtook the king, who was still hesitating in his mind, and undetermined respecting a war with Rome: but the arrival of Hannibal proved an incentive of no small efficacy to the prosecution of that design. At the same time, the inclinations of the Aetolians also were alienated from the Roman alliance in consequence of the senate having referred to Quinctius their ambassadors, who demanded Pharsalus and Leucas, and some other cities, in conformity with the first treaty.