35.34
Quinctius and the other legates returned
to Corinth. The Aetolians, who were continually receiving intelligence about
Antiochus' movements, wished to make it appear that they were doing
nothing themselves and simply waiting for his arrival; consequently they did
not hold a council of the whole league after the Romans had left. Through
their "Apokleti," however -the designation they give to their inner council -they were discussing the best means of effecting a revolution in Greece. It
was everywhere understood that the leading men and the aristocracy in the
various States were partisans of Rome and perfectly contented with things as
they were, whilst the mass of the populations and all whose circumstances
were not what they wished them to be were eager for change. On the day of
their meeting the Aetolians decided upon a project alike audacious and
impudent, namely the occupation of Demetrias, Chalcis and Lacedaemon.
One of their leaders was sent to each of these cities: Thoas went to Chalcis,
Alexamenus to Lacedaemon, Diocles to Demetrias. Eurylochus, whose flight
and the reason for it have been already described, came to the assistance of
Diocles, as in no other way did he see any prospect of returning home. He
wrote to his friends and relatives and the members of his party, and they
brought his wife and children dressed in mourning and carrying suppliant
emblems into the assembly, which was crowded. They appealed to those
present individually and implored the assembly as a whole not to allow a man
innocent and uncondemned to waste his life in exile. The simple and
unsuspecting were moved by pity, the evil-minded and seditious by the
prospect of profiting by the confusion which the Aetolian agitation would
cause. Everyone voted for his recall. This preparatory step having been
taken, Diocles, who was at that time in command of the cavalry, started with
the whole of his force, ostensibly to escort the exile home. He covered an
immense distance, marching through the day and the night, and when he was
six miles from the city he went on in advance at daybreak with three picked
troops, the rest being under orders to follow. As they approached the gate he
bade his men dismount and lead their horses as though they were
accompanying their commander on his journey instead of acting as a military
force. Leaving one troop at the gate to prevent the cavalry who were coming
up from being shut out, he took Eurylochus, holding him by the hand,
through the heart of the city and the forum to his house amidst the
congratulations of many who came to meet them. In a short time the city
was filled with cavalry -and the commanding positions were seized. Then
parties were told off to go to the houses of the leaders of the opposition and
put them to death. In this way Demetrias was gained by the Aetolians.
