35.42
Whilst
the Romans were devoting attention to preparations for a fresh war,
Antiochus for his part was by no means idle. He was, however, detained in
Asia by three cities, Smyrna, Alexandria Troas and Lampsacus, none of
which he had been able to become master of either by force or by
persuasion, and he did not wish to leave them in his rear during his invasion
of Europe. A further cause of delay was his uncertainty about Hannibal. The
undecked ships with which he had intended to send Hannibal to Africa were
not ready, and then the question was raised, mainly by Thoas, whether he
ought to be sent at all. Thoas asserted that the whole of Greece was in a
state of unrest and that Demetrias had passed into his hands. The lies about
the king and the wild exaggerations as to the forces which Antiochus
possessed with which he had excited many minds in Greece he now
employed to feed the king's hopes. He told him that all were praying for him
to come; there would be a universal rush to the shore from which they had
caught the first glimpse of the royal fleet. He actually ventured to disturb the
judgment which the king had now without a shadow of doubt formed of
Hannibal and gave it as his opinion that no ships ought to be detached from
the king's fleet, or if any were sent Hannibal was the very last person who
ought to be in command of them. He was a banished man and a Carthaginian
to whom his fortunes or his imagination suggested a thousand fresh
prospects every day. Then, again, the military reputation which led to
Hannibal's being sought after like a woman with a rich dowry was too great
for any who was only officer in the king's service; the king ought to be the
central figure, the sole leader the sole commander. If Hannibal were to lose a
fleet or an army the loss would be just as great as if they were lost under any
other leader, but if any success were gained the glory of it would go to
Hannibal and not to Antiochus. Supposing that they were fortunate enough
to inflict a decisive defeat on the Romans and win the war, how could they
hope that Hannibal would live quietly under a monarch, under one man's
rule, after he had been unable to bear the restraints imposed by the laws of
his own country? His youthful aspirations and his hopes of winning
world-wide dominion had not fitted him to endure a master in his old age.
There was no necessity for the king to give Hannibal a command, he might
find him employment as a member of his suite and an adviser on matters
concerning the war. A moderate demand upon such abilities as his would be
neither dangerous nor useless; but if the highest services he could render
were called for, they would prove too burdensome both for him who
rendered them and him who accepted them. Such were the arguments which
Thoas used.
