35.13
The
kings, however, took no action, or at all events their action was too late.
Nabis promptly sent emissaries to all the coast towns to foment a rising;
some of their leading citizens he won over by bribes, others who remained
steadfast to the cause of Rome he put to death. T. Quinctius had entrusted
the Achaeans with the defence of the coast towns and they lost no time in
sending envoys to the tyrant to remind him of his treaty with Rome and to
warn him against disturbing the peace which he had so ardently sought for.
They also sent succours to Gytheum, which the tyrant was already attacking,
and sent a report to Rome of what was happening. During the winter
Antiochus went to Raphia in Phenicia to be present at the marriage of his
daughter to Ptolemy, the king of Egypt, and at the close of the winter
returned through Cilicia to Ephesus. After sending his son Antiochus into
Syria to watch the more distant frontiers of his kingdom in case any
disturbance should take place in his rear, he left Ephesus and marched with
the whole of his land army against the Pisidians in the neighbourhood of
Sida. Whilst he was thus engaged the Roman commissioners, P. Sulpicius
and P. Villius, who, as I have already stated, had been sent to interview him,
received instructions to visit Eumenes first, and after landing at Elea they
went up to Pergamum, where the king's palace was situated. Eumenes
welcomed the prospect of a war with Antiochus, for he felt certain that if a
monarch so much more powerful than himself were left in peace he would
prove a troublesome neighbour, and if there was war Antiochus would be no
more a match for the Romans than Philip had been, and would either be
altogether got rid of or so completely defeated as to submit to terms of
peace. In this case much taken from Antiochus would be added to his
dominions, and then he would easily be able to defend himself without any
assistance from Rome. Even at the worst, Eumenes thought it better to meet
any misfortune with the Romans as his allies than, standing alone, have to
accept the supremacy of Antiochus, or if he refused, be compelled to do so
by force. For these reasons he did his utmost by personal influence and by
argument to urge the Romans to war.