28.5
It was in
the beginning of this summer that the proconsul P. Sulpicius and King
Attalus who, as already stated, had wintered at Aegina, sailed for Lemnos
with their combined fleets, the Roman vessels numbering twenty-five and the
king's ships, thirty-five. In order to be in readiness to meet his enemies by
land or sea, Philip went down to Demetrias on the coast and issued orders
for his army to assemble at Larissa by a given day. When they heard of the
king's arrival at Demetrias, deputations from all his allies visited him there.
The Aetolians, emboldened by their alliance with Rome and the arrival of
Attalus, were ravaging their neighbours' lands. Great alarm was created
amongst the Acarnanians, the Boeotians and the inhabitants of Euboea, and
the Achaeans had further cause for apprehension, for, in addition to their war
with the Aetolians, they were threatened by Machanidas the tyrant of
Lacedaemon, who had encamped not far from the Argive frontiers. The
deputations informed the king of the state of things, and one and all begged
him to render them assistance against the dangers which were threatening by
land and sea. The condition of his own kingdom was far from tranquil;
reports were brought to him announcing that Scerdilaedus and Pleuratus
were again active and that Thracian tribes, especially the Maedi, were
prepared to invade Macedonia as soon as the king was involved in a distant
war. The Boeotians and the States in the interior of Greece reported that the
Aetolians had closed the pass of Thermopylae at its narrowest part with a
fosse and rampart to prevent him from carrying succour to the cities of his
allies. Even a lethargic leader would have been roused to activity by all these
disturbances round him. He dismissed the deputations with a definite
promise that he would furnish assistance to them all as time and
circumstances allowed. For the moment the most pressing care was the city
of Peparethos, as King Attalus, who had sailed thither from Lemnos, was
reported to be plundering and destroying all the country round. Philip sent a
detachment to protect the place. He also sent Polyphantas with a small force
into Boeotia, and Menippus, one of his generals, with 1000 peltasts to
Chalcis. This force was supplemented by 500 Agrianians, in order that the
whole of the island might be protected. Philip himself proceeded to Scotusa
and ordered the Macedonian troops at Larissa to march there. Information
was brought to him here that the national council of the Aetolians had been
summoned to meet at Heraclea and that Attalus would be present to consult
with them as to the conduct of the war. Philip accordingly proceeded thither
by forced marches, but did not reach the place till the council was broken up.
He destroyed the crops, however, which were almost ripe, especially round
the gulf of the Aenianes, and then led his army back to Scotusa. Leaving the
bulk of his forces there he returned to Demetrias with his household troops.
With the view of meeting any movement on the part of the enemy, he sent
men into Phocis, Euboea and Peparethos to select elevated positions on
which beacon fires might be lighted, and himself fixed an observation post on
Tisaeos, a peak of immense height. In this way he hoped to receive instant
notice from the distant fires of any movement on the part of the enemy. The
Roman general and Attalus sailed from Peparethos to Nicaea, and from there
to the city of Oreus in Euboea. This is the first city in Euboea which you
pass on your left hand as you leave the Gulf of Demetrias for Chalcis and the
Euripus. It was arranged between Attalus and Sulpicius that the Romans
should attack by sea and the king's troops by land.