42.55
During
this time the Roman consul was on his way with his army to Thessaly. Whilst
marching through Epirus he found the country clear and open, but when he
had crossed the frontiers of Athamania he had to advance over rough and
almost impassable ground. It was with the utmost difficulty and by short
marches that he struggled through to Gomphi. If with horses and men
knocked up and an army of recruits he had been met by the king with a
couple of hundred men in order of battle, at a time and place of his own
choosing, the Romans themselves do not deny that they would have suffered
a terrible defeat. After Gomphi was reached without any fighting, there was
not only rejoicing at having surmounted a dangerous pass, but also a feeling
of contempt for an enemy who was so blind to his advantages. After duly
performing the sacrifices and giving out corn to the soldiers, the consul
stayed there a few days to rest both man and beast. On learning that the
Macedonians were dispersed far and wide devastating the fields of his allies,
he led his soldiers, who were now sufficiently refreshed, towards Larisa.
When about three miles from the place he fixed his camp at Tripolis -the
natives call it Scaea -on the Peneus. Eumenes arrived at this time with his
ships at Chalcis. He was accompanied by his brothers Attalus and
Athenaeus, the other brother, Philetaerus, being left at Pergamum to protect
the kingdom. From Chalcis he went with Attalus and a force of 4000 infantry
and 1000 cavalry to join the consul, 2000 infantry being left in Chalcis under
the command of Athenaeus. Other contingents came in from all the Greek
States, most of them so small that they have passed into oblivion. Apollonia
sent 300 cavalry and 100 infantry; the cavalry from the whole of Aetolia
made up one division, and the Thessalians, who it was hoped would send
their entire force, had not more than 300 cavalry in the Roman camp. The
Achaeans furnished 1500 fighting men, mostly armed in the Cretan fashion.