Livy's History of Rome: Book 36
War Against Antiochus -First Stage
36.1
On entering upon
their office the new consuls, P. Cornelius Scipio and Manius Acilius Glabrio,
were instructed by the senate to make it their first business before balloting
for their provinces to sacrifice adult victims in all the temples in which for
the greater part of the year there was a lectisternium and to offer up special
prayers that the intention of the senate to undertake a fresh war might bring
prosperity and happiness to the senate and people of Rome. All these
sacrifices were performed without anything untoward occurring, and in the
victims which were first offered the omens were entirely favourable. The
haruspices accordingly assured the consuls that the boundaries of Rome
would be extended by this war and that everything pointed to victory and
triumph. When this report was laid before the senate their minds were at rest
so far as the sanctions of religion were concerned and they ordered the
question to be submitted to the people, "Whether it was their will and
intention that war should be undertaken against Antiochus and those who
were of his party?" If this proposal were carried, the consuls, if they thought
fit, were to bring the matter afresh before the senate. P. Cornelius put the
question to the people, and it was carried; the senate then decreed that the
consuls should ballot for the provinces of Greece and Italy. The one to
whom Greece was allotted was to take over the army which by order of the
senate L. Quinctius had raised from Roman citizens and allies for service in
that province, and in addition the army which M. Baebius had with the
authority of the senate taken to Macedonia. He was also commissioned to
take up reinforcements of not more than 5000 men from the allies outside
Italy. It was further decided that L. Quinctius should be appointed second in
command for this war. The other consul to whom Italy was allotted was
instructed to conduct operations against the Boii with whichever army he
preferred of the two which the late consuls had, and to send the other to
Rome to form the City legions and be ready to go wherever the senate
thought fit.
36.2
Such
were the decrees made by the senate up to the actual allocation of the
provinces. Then at last the consuls balloted, and Greece fell to Acilius, Italy
to Cornelius. When this was settled a senatus consultum was passed in the
following terms: "Whereas the Roman people have at this time ordered that
there be war with Antiochus and with all who are under his rule, the consuls
shall on this behalf issue orders for a public intercession and M. Acilius shall
vow Great Games to Jupiter and gifts and offerings to all the shrines.'' This
vow was made by the consul in the following formula, as dictated by P.
Licinius the Pontifex Maximus: "If the war which the people has ordered to
be taken in hand against King Antiochus be brought to such a close as the
senate and people of Rome desire, then all the Roman people shall celebrate
in thy honour, Jupiter, Great Games for the space of ten days, and oblations
of money shall be made to all thy shrines in such wise as the senate shall
decree. Whatsoever magistrate shall hold these Games, whensoever and
wheresoever he shall celebrate them, may they be deemed to be duly and
rightly celebrated and the oblations duly and rightly offered!" Then the
consul proclaimed special intercessions to be offered for two days. After the
balloting for the consular provinces the praetors drew for theirs. M. Junius
Brutus obtained the two civil jurisdictions; Bruttium fell to A. Cornelius
Mammula; Sicily to M. Aemilius Lepidus; Sardinia to L. Oppius Salinator;
the command of the fleet to C. Livius Salinator; and Further Spain to L.
Aemilius Paullus.
The distribution of the armies amongst them was as follows: The
new levies which had been raised by L. Quinctius the preceding year were
assigned to A. Cornelius, and his duty was to protect the whole of the coast
round Tarentum and Brundisium. It was decreed that L. Aemilius Paullus
should take over the army which M. Fulvius had commanded as proconsul
the year before and also raise 3000 fresh infantry and 300 cavalry for service
in Further Spain, two-thirds to consist of allied troops, the remainder being
Romans. A reinforcement of the same strength was sent to C. Flaminius,
who was continued in his command in Hither Spain. M. Aemilius Lepidus
was ordered to take over the province and army of Sicily from L. Valerius,
whom he was to succeed, and if it seemed advisable he was to retain him as
propraetor and divide the province with him; one section was to extend from
Agrigentum to Pachynum, the other from Pachynum to Tyndareum. L.
Valerius was also to guard the latter coast with twenty ships of war. Lepidus
was further commissioned to requisition two-tenths of all the corn in the
island and have it conveyed to Greece. L. Oppius was ordered to make the
same requisition in Sardinia, the corn, however, was not to be sent to Greece
but to Rome. C. Livius, the praetor who was to command the fleet, received
instructions to sail to Greece with twenty vessels which had completed their
armament and take over the ships which Atilius had commanded. The
repairing and fitting out of the ships in the dockyards was placed in the
hands of M. Junius, and he was to select the crews of these vessels from
freedmen.
36.3
Six
commissioners were sent to Africa to procure corn for Greece, the cost to be
borne by Rome; three went to Carthage and three to Numidia. So
determined were the citizens to be in perfect readiness for the war that the
consul published an edict forbidding anyone who was a senator or had the
right of speaking in the senate, or held office as an inferior magistrate, from
leaving Rome for any place from which he could not return in a day. It was
also forbidden for five senators to be absent from the City at any one time.
Whilst C. Livius was doing his utmost to make the fleet ready for sea he was
for some time delayed by a dispute with the citizens of the maritime colonies.
When they were impressed for the fleet they appealed to the tribunes of the
plebs, who referred them to the senate. The senate unanimously decreed that
there was no exemption from service for the colonists. The colonies
concerned were Ostia, Fregenae, Castrum Novum, Pyrgi, Antium, Tarracina,
Minturnae and Sinuessa. The consul Acilius, in compliance with a resolution
of the senate, submitted two questions to the College of Fetials. One was
whether the declaration of war had to be made to Antiochus personally, or
whether it would be sufficient to announce it at one of his frontier garrisons.
The other was whether a separate declaration of war must be made to the
Aetolians and whether in that case the league of amity and alliance must first
be denounced. The Fetials replied that they had already on a previous
occasion, when they were consulted in the case of Philip, decided that it was
a matter of indifference whether the declaration were made personally or in
one of his garrison towns. As to the league of amity, they held that it was
obviously denounced, seeing that after the frequent demands put forward by
our ambassadors the king had neither surrendered the towns nor given any
satisfaction. In the case of the Aetolians, they had actually declared war on
Rome by taking forcible possession of Demetrias, a city belonging to the
allies of Rome, by going to attack Chalcis by land and sea, and by bringing
Antiochus into Europe to levy war on Rome. When all the preparations were
at last completed, Acilius issued an edict for a general muster at Brundisium
by the 15th of May of the Roman soldiers whom L. Quinctius had called up
and those who had been supplied to him by the Latins and allies, who were
under orders to go with him to his province as well as the military tribunes of
the first and third legions. He himself left the City wearing his paludamentum
on the 3rd of that month. The praetors left at the same time for their
respective provinces.
36.4
Just
before this a mission from the two sovereigns, Philip and Ptolemy, arrived in
Rome. Philip offered to furnish troops, money and corn for the war; Ptolemy
sent 1000 pounds of gold and 20,000 pounds of silver. The senate declined
to accept any of it and passed a vote of thanks to both the kings. On their
each offering to enter Aetolia with all their forces and take their part in the
war, Ptolemy was excused, but Philip's envoys were informed that the senate
and people of Rome would be grateful to him if he gave his support to
Acilius. Similar missions were despatched by the Carthaginians and by
Masinissa. The Carthaginians offered 100,000 modii of wheat and 50,000 of
barley for the use of the army; half the amount they would transport to
Rome, and they pressed the Romans to accept it as a free gift. They were
further prepared to fit out a fleet at their own expense and pay in one lump
sum the tribute of which many annual instalments had still to run. Masinissa's
envoys stated that he was prepared to supply 50,000 modii of wheat and
300,000 of barley for the army in Greece, and 300,000 modii of wheat and
250,000 of barley for consumption in Rome. He would also furnish Acilius
with 500 cavalry and 20 elephants. In the matter of corn both parties were
informed that the Roman people would make use of it on condition that they
paid for it; the Carthaginian offer of a fleet was declined, beyond the vessels
which they were bound to supply under the terms of the treaty, and in reply
to the offer of money the Romans refused to accept any before the dates at
which the instalments became due.
36.5
During
these proceedings in Rome Antiochus, who was at Chalcis, was not idle
during the winter. Some of the Greek communities he endeavoured to win
over by despatching embassies to them, others sent embassies spontaneously
to him, as for instance the Epirots, in accordance with the general
determination of their people, and also the Eleans from the Peloponnese. The
Eleans sought his assistance against the Achaeans, who having declared war
on Antiochus against their wish would, they expected, attack them first of
all. A detachment of infantry 1000 strong was sent to them under the
command of Euphanes, a Cretan. The deputation from Epirus showed a by
no means honest and straightforward spirit to either side; they wanted to
ingratiate themselves with Antiochus, but at the same time to give no offence
to the Romans. They asked the king not to involve them in the war hastily,
for from their position on the front of Greece facing Italy they would have to
meet the first onslaught of the Romans. But if he could protect Epirus with
his fleet and army all the Epirots would eagerly welcome him in their cities
and harbours; if he was unable to do so, they begged him not to expose them
unprotected and defenceless to the hostility of Rome. Their object was
perfectly clear. If, as they were inclined to believe, he kept clear of Epirus,
all would be safe so far as the Roman armies were concerned, whilst they
would have secured the king's good graces by expressing their readiness to
receive him, had he gone to them. If on the other hand he entered Epirus,
they hoped that the Romans would pardon them for yielding to the superior
strength of one who was on the spot, without waiting for succour from a
distance. As Antiochus was at a loss what reply to make to this ambiguous
plea, he said he would send envoys to them to discuss the matters which
concerned him and them alike.
36.6
He next
proceeded to Boeotia. The reasons which the Boeotians gave for their
animosity towards Rome I have already stated -the assassination of
Brachyllus and Quinctius' attack on Coronea in consequence of the massacre
of Roman soldiers. But as a matter of fact, that nation once so famous for its
discipline had been for many generations deteriorating both in its public and
private life, and many were in a condition which could not possibly long
continue without a revolutionary change. The leading Boeotians from all
parts of the country assembled at Thebes, and thither Antiochus went to
meet them. In spite of the fact that by his attack on the Roman detachments
at Delium and Chalcis he had committed hostile acts which were neither
trifling nor such as could be explained away, he took the same line in
addressing the Boeotian council that he had taken at his first conference at
Chalcis and had instructed his envoys to take in the council of the Achaeans.
He simply asked that friendly relations might be established with him, not
that war should be declared against Rome. No one was deceived as to what
he really meant; however, a resolution veiled in inoffensive terms was passed
in support of the king and in opposition to Rome. Having thus secured the
nation he returned to Chalcis. Letters had been previously sent to the
Aetolian leaders requesting them to meet him at Demetrias that he might
discuss with them the general conduct of the war, and he arrived there by sea
on the day fixed for the meeting. Amynander, who had been invited from
Athamania to take part in the discussion, and Hannibal, who had not been
consulted for some time, were both present. A discussion arose regarding
the people of Thessaly; all present thought they ought to be won over, the
only divergence of opinion was as to when and how this ought to be done.
Some were of opinion that they ought to set about it at once; others were for
postponing action till the spring, it being now midwinter; some again thought
that it would be enough to send a deputation, others were in favour of going
there with the whole of their forces and frightening them into compliance if
they hesitated.
36.7
Whilst
the debate was revolving entirely round these details Hannibal was asked for
his opinion, and in what he said he turned the thoughts of the king and of all
present to the consideration of the war as a whole. He spoke as follows: "If I
had been taken into your counsels after we landed in Greece and you were
deliberating about Euboea and the Achaeans and Boeotia, I should have
expressed the same view which I am expressing now with regard to the
Thessalians. I consider that it is of the first importance that we should use
every possible means to bring Philip and the Macedonians into an armed
alliance with us. As to Euboea and the Boeotians and the Thessalians, who
can doubt that these people who have no strength of their own and always
cringe before a power which is present to their eyes will display the same
craven spirit which marks the proceedings of their councils in suing for
pardon, and as soon as they see a Roman army in Greece will turn to their
accustomed obedience? Nor will they be blamed for refusing to try
conclusions with your strength when you and your army are amongst them
and the Romans are far away. How much sooner ought we -how much
better would it be -to secure the adhesion of Philip than of these people! For
if he once takes up the cause he will have everything at stake, and he will
contribute an amount of strength which will not only be an accession to us in
a war with Rome, but was not long ago sufficient of itself to withstand the
Romans. I trust I shall not give offence in saying that with him as our ally I
cannot feel doubtful as to the issue, for I see that those through whose
assistance the Romans prevailed against Philip will now be the men by whom
the Romans themselves are opposed. The Aetolians, who as is universally
admitted defeated Philip, will now be fighting in company with him against
the Romans. Amynander and the Athamanians, who next to the Aetolians
rendered the greatest service in the war, will be on our side. While you,
Antiochus, had not yet moved, Philip sustained the whole weight of the war;
now you and he, the mightiest monarchs in Asia and Europe, will direct your
united strength against a single people who -to say nothing of my own
fortunes, good or bad -were at all events in the days of our fathers no match
for even one king of Epirus, and how can he possibly be compared with you?
"What considerations then give me ground for believing that Philip
can be made our ally? One is the identity of interests, which is the surest
bond of alliance. The other is your own assurance, Aetolians. For amongst
the reasons which your envoy Thoas gave for inducing Antiochus to come to
Greece, the strongest was his constant asseveration that Philip was
complaining and chafing under the servile conditions imposed upon him in
the guise of peace. He used to compare the king's rage to that of some
animal chained or shut up and longing to burst his prison bars. If that is his
state of mind, let us loose his chains and burst the bars that hold him in so
that he can vent his long-restrained rage on our common foe. But if our
delegates are unable to influence him, let us at all events see to it that if we
cannot get him on our side the enemy does not get him on his side. Your son
Seleucus is at Lysimachia; if with the army he has with him he traverses
Thrace and begins to lay waste the adjacent parts of Macedonia, he will
easily turn Philip aside from actively assisting the Romans to the defence of
his own dominions.
"You are in possession of my opinions about Philip. As regards the
general strategy of the war, you have known from the outset what my views
are. Had I been listened to then, it would not have been the capture of
Chalcis or the storming of a fort on the Euripus that the Romans would have
heard about; they would have learnt that Etruria and Liguria and the coastal
districts of Cisalpine Gaul were wrapped in the flames of war and, what
would have alarmed them most of all, that Hannibal was in Italy. I am of
opinion that even now you ought to bring up the whole of your military and
naval forces and let a fleet of transports accompany them laden with
supplies. We here are too few for the requirements of war and too many for
our scanty commissariat. When you have concentrated your entire strength,
Antiochus, you might divide your fleet and keep one division cruising off
Corcyra, that there may be no safe and easy passage for the Romans, the
other you would send across to the coast of Italy opposite Sardinia and
Africa. You yourself would advance with all your land forces into the
country round Byllis; from there you would protect Greece and give the
Romans the impression that you are going to sail to Italy, and should
circumstances render it necessary you will be in readiness to do so. This is
what I advise you to do, and though I may not be profoundly versed in every
phase of war, how to war with the Romans at all events I have learnt
through success and failure alike. In the measures which I have advised you
to take I promise to co-operate most loyally and energetically. I trust that
whatever course, Antiochus, seems best to you may receive the approval of
the gods."
36.8
Such was
the substance of Hannibal's speech, which was applauded at the time but led
to no practical results. Not one of the measures he advocated was carried
out beyond the despatch of Polyxenidas to bring up the fleet and the troops
from Asia. Delegates were sent to the council of the Thessalians which was
sitting at Larisa, and the Aetolians and Amynander fixed a day for the muster
of their armies at Pherae, whither the king proceeded with his troops at
once. Whilst waiting there for Amynander and the Aetolians he sent Philip
the Megalopolitan with 2000 men to collect the bones of the Macedonians
who had fallen in the final battle with Philip at Cynoscephalae. Either Philip
himself suggested this to Antiochus as a means of making himself popular
with the Macedonians and stirring up ill-will against their king for having left
his soldiers unburied, or else Antiochus, with the vanity natural to kings,
formed this in his own mind, a project apparently of importance but really
trivial. The bones which were scattered in all directions were collected into a
heap and buried under a tumulus, but the proceeding awoke no gratitude in
the Macedonians and aroused strong resentment in Philip. He had so far
been waiting on events, but now in consequence of this he at once sent to
the propraetor M. Baebius to tell him that Antiochus had invaded Thessaly,
and asking him, if he thought proper, to move out of his winter quarters; he
himself would go to meet him so that they might consult as to what steps
ought to be taken.
36.9
Antiochus was now encamped at Pherae,
where the Aetolians and Amynander had joined him, when a deputation
came from Larisa to ask him what the Thessalians had said or done to justify
his making war on them. They begged him to withdraw his army so that any
question which he thought necessary might be discussed with them through
his envoys. At the same time they sent a detachment of 500 men under
Hippolochus to protect Pherae. Finding all the routes closed by the king's
troops they fell back on Scotusa. The king gave the deputation a gracious
answer and explained that he had not entered Thessaly for the purpose of
aggression, but solely to establish and protect the freedom of the
Thessalians. A commissioner was despatched to Pherae to make a similar
statement, but without giving him any reply the Pheraeans sent their chief
magistrate to Antiochus. He spoke in pretty much the same strain as the
Chalcidians at the conference under similar circumstances on the Euripus,
though some things he said showed greater courage and resolution. The king
advised them to consider their position most carefully lest they should adopt
a policy which, whilst they were cautiously providing against future
contingencies, might give them immediate cause for regret, and with this
advice he dismissed their envoy. When the result of this mission was
reported at Pherae, the people did not hesitate for a moment; they were
determined to suffer everything which the chances of war might bring in
defence of their loyalty to Rome, and made every possible preparation for
the defence of their city. The king commenced a simultaneous attack on all
sides; he quite saw, what indeed was indisputable, that it depended upon the
fate of the first city which he attacked whether he would be held in contempt
or in dread throughout the whole of Thessaly, so he did his utmost to spread
terror everywhere. At first the beleaguered garrison offered a stout
resistance to his furious assaults, but when they saw many of the defenders
killed or wounded their courage began to sink and it was only by the
reproaches of their officers that they were recalled to the necessity of
holding to their purpose. Their numbers became so diminished that they
abandoned the outer circuit of their walls and retreated to the interior of the
city, which was surrounded by a shorter line of fortifications. At last their
position became hopeless and fearing, if the place were taken by storm, that
they would meet with no mercy, they surrendered. The king lost no time in
taking advantage of the alarm which this capture created and sent 4000 men
to Scotusa. Here the townsmen promptly surrendered in view of the recent
example of the Pheraeans, seeing that they had been compelled by stress of
circumstances to do what at first they were determined not to do.
Hippolochus and his garrison from Larisa were included in the capitulation.
These were all sent away unhurt as the king thought that this act would go
far to gain the sympathies of the Lariseans.
36.10
These
successes he accomplished within ten days of his appearance before Pherae.
Continuing his march with the whole of his army he reached Crannon, which
he took immediately on his arrival. He next secured Cierium and Metropolis
and the various forts in their neighbourhood, and by this time every part of
that district with the exception of Atrax and Gyrto was in his power. His
next objective was Larisa, where he expected that either the dread of
meeting the fate of the other towns taken by storm or gratitude for his free
dismissal of their garrison or the example of so many cities voluntarily
surrendering would dissuade them from an obstinate resistance. In order to
intimidate the defenders he had his elephants driven in front of the line, the
army following in order of battle up to the city. The sight made a great many
of the Lariseans waver between fear of the enemy at their gates and fear of
being false to their distant allies. During this time Amynander and his
Athamanians seized Pellinaeum, and Menippus advancing into Perrhaebia
with an Aetolian force of 3000 infantry and 200 cavalry took Malloea and
Cyretiae by storm and ravaged the territory of Tripolis. After these rapid
successes they returned to the king at Larisa and found him holding a council
of war to decide what should be done about the city. There was considerable
diversity of opinion. Some were in favour of an immediate assault as the city
was situated in a plain open on all sides to an approach over level ground,
and they urged that there should be no delay in constructing siege works and
bringing up artillery to attack the walls on all sides simultaneously. Others
reminded the council that there was no comparison between the strength of
this city and that of Pherae; besides, it was now winter, a season quite
unsuitable for warlike operations, most of all so for investing and assaulting
a city. While the king was uncertain as to whether there was most to be
hoped or feared from the attempt, delegates from Pharsalus arrived to tender
the submission of their city and this raised his spirits. M. Baebius had in the
meanwhile met Philip at Dassaretiae and they both agreed that Ap. Claudius
should be sent to protect Larisa. Claudius traversed Macedonia by forced
marches and gained the summit of the ridge which looks down on Gonni, a
place twenty miles distant from Larisa at the head of the Vale of Tempe.
Here he marked out a camp of greater extent than the force with him
required, and kindled more numerous fires than were needed in order to give
the enemy the impression that the entire Roman army was there together
with Philip. Antiochus withdrew from Larisa the very next day and returned
to Demetrias, alleging the approach of winter as the reason for his retreat.
The Aetolians and the Athamanians also retired within their own frontiers.
Although Appius saw that the purpose of his march, the raising of the siege,
was effected he nevertheless went on to Larisa to reassure his allies as to the
future. They were doubly delighted, first at the withdrawal of the enemy
from their soil and then at the sight of Roman troops within their walls.
36.11
The
king left Demetrias for Chalcis. Here he fell in love with a daughter of
Cleoptolemus, a Chalcidian magnate, and after numerous communications to
her father followed by personal interviews (for he was reluctant to be
entangled in an alliance so far above his own rank) Antiochus married the
girl. The wedding was celebrated as though it were a time of peace, and
forgetting the two vast enterprises in which he had embarked -war with
Rome and the liberation of Greece -he dismissed all his cares and spent the
rest of the winter in banquets and the pleasures attendant on wine, sleeping
off his debauches, wearied rather than satisfied. All the king's officers who
were in command of the different winter stations, especially those in
Boeotia, fell into the same dissolute mode of life; even the common soldiers
were completely sunk in it, not a man amongst them ever put on his armour
or went on duty as guard or sentry, or discharged any military duty
whatever. When, therefore, at the commencement of spring Antiochus
passed through Phocis on his way to Chaeronea, where he had given orders
for the whole of his army to muster, it was easy for him to see that the men
had passed the winter under no stricter discipline than their leader. From
Chaeronea he ordered Alexander the Acarnanian and the Macedonian
Menippus to take the troops to Stratus in Aetolia. He himself, after
sacrificing to Apollo at Delphi, went to Naupactus. Here he had an interview
with the Aetolian leaders, and then taking the road which runs past Calydon
and Lysimachia he arrived at Stratum, where he met his army who were
coming by the Maliac Gulf. Mnasilochus, one of the leading men in
Acarnania, who had received many presents from Antiochus, was trying to
persuade his people to take the king's side. He had succeeded in bringing
Clytus, in whom the supreme power was vested at the time, over to his
views, but he saw that there would be difficulty in inducing Leucas, the
capital, to revolt from Rome, owing to their fear of the Roman fleet under
Atilius, a portion of which was cruising off Cephalania. He therefore decided
to adopt a ruse. At a meeting of the council he told them that the ports of
Acarnania ought to be protected and that all who could bear arms ought to
go to Medione and Tyrrheum to prevent their being seized by Antiochus and
the Aetolians. Some of those present protested against this indiscriminate
calling out of their fighting strength as quite unnecessary and said that a
force of 500 men would be adequate for this purpose. When he had got this
force he placed 300 men in Medione and 200 in Tyrrheum, his intention
being that they should fall into the king's hands and be practically hostages.
36.12
Meanwhile the king's agents arrived in
Medione. They were received in audience by the council and in the
subsequent discussion on the reply that they were to receive some speakers
thought they ought to stand by the alliance with Rome, others urged that
they ought not to reject the proffered friendship of the king; Clytus urged a
middle course which the council decided to adopt, viz., to send to the king
and ask him to allow them to consult the National Council of Acarnania on
such an important matter. Mnasilochus and his supporters managed to get
themselves put on this commission, and they despatched a secret message to
Antiochus urging him to bring up his army while they wasted time by delay.
The consequence was that the commission had hardly started when
Antiochus appeared within their frontiers and in a short time at their gates.
Whilst those who were not privy to the plot were hurrying in confusion
through the streets and calling their fighting men to arms, Antiochus was
introduced into the city by Mnasilochus and Clytus. Many came round him
of their own accord and even his opponents were constrained by their fears
to meet him. He quieted their apprehensions by a gracious speech, and when
his clemency became generally known several of the communities in
Acarnania went over to him. From Medione he marched to Tyrrheum,
having sent Mnasilochus and his agents on in advance. The Tyrrheans,
however' saw through the treachery at Medione, and instead of intimidating
them it only put them more on their guard. They returned a perfectly
unambiguous answer to his summons and told him that they would not enter
into any fresh alliance unless the Roman commanders authorised them to do
so, at the same time they closed their gates and manned their walls. Cn.
Octavius had been supplied with a body of troops and a few ships by A.
Postumius, whom Atilius had placed in command at Cephalania, and his
timely arrival in Leucas gave the Acarnanians fresh heart, as he reported that
the consul Manius Acilius had crossed the sea with his legions and the
Romans were encamped in Thessaly. His report was the more readily
believed because the season of the year was favourable for navigation, and
the king, after placing garrisons in Medione and in one or two other towns in
Acarnania, withdrew from Tyrrheum and passing through the cities of
Aetolia and Phocis returned to Chalcis.
36.13
M.
Baebius and Philip, after their meeting at Dassaretiae, when they sent Ap.
Claudius to relieve Larisa had returned to their respective winter quarters as
it was too early in the year for active operations. At the beginning of spring
they went down with their united forces into Thessaly; Antiochus was in
Acarnania at the time. Philip laid siege to Malloea in Perrhaebia and Baebius
attacked Phacium. He took the place at the first assault and captured
Phaestum with equal rapidity. Marching back to Atrax he advanced from
there against Cyretiae and Eritium both of which places he gained possession
of, and after placing garrisons in the captured towns he rejoined Philip, who
was still besieging Malloea. On the arrival of the Roman army the garrison,
either cowed by the strength of the besieging force or hoping to obtain more
favourable terms, made their surrender. The two commanders then went on
with their combined forces to recover those towns which the Athamanians
were holding, namely Aeginium, Ericinium, Gomphi, Silana, Tricca,
Meliboea and Phaloria. They next invested Pellinaeum, where Philip of
Megalopolis was stationed with 500 infantry and 40 cavalry, and before they
delivered the assault they sent to Philip to warn him against forcing them to
take extreme measures. He sent back a defiant answer and said that he
would have trusted himself in the hands of Romans or Thessalians, but he
would not place himself at the mercy of Philip. As it was evident that force
must be employed, and that while the siege was going on Limnaea could be
attacked, it was decided that the king should go there whilst Baebius
remained to conduct the siege of Pellinaeum.
36.14
Meantime the consul Manius Atilius had
landed with 10,000 infantry, 2000 cavalry and 15 elephants. He ordered the
military tribunes to take the infantry to Larisa, whilst he went with the
cavalry to join Philip at Limnaea. On the consul's arrival the place at once
surrendered and the garrison of Antiochus, together with the Athamanians,
were delivered up. From Limnaea the consul went on to Pellinaeum. Here
the Athamanians were the first to surrender, they were followed by the
Megalopolitan Philip. As he was leaving the fort, Philip of Macedon
happened to meet him, and ordered his men to salute him in mockery as
king, and, in a spirit of scorn quite unworthy of his own rank, addressed him
as "brother." When he was brought before the consul, he was ordered to be
kept a close prisoner, and not long afterwards was sent in chains to Rome.
All the Athamanian garrisons, as well as those of Antiochus, which had been
surrendered were handed over to Philip. They amounted to 4000 men. The
consul went on to Larisa to hold a council of war to decide as to future
operations, and on his route he was met by delegates from Cierium and
Metropolis, who offered the surrender of their cities. Philip was in hopes of
gaining possession of Athamania, and he treated his Athamanian prisoners
with special indulgence, with the design of winning their countrymen
through them. After sending them home he led his army into the country.
The account which the returned prisoners brought of the king's clemency and
generosity towards them produced a great effect upon their countrymen.
Had Amynander remained in his kingdom he might have kept some of his
subjects loyal by his personal authority, but the fear of being betrayed to his
old enemy Philip made him flee, together with his wife and children, to
Ambracia. The whole of Athamania in consequence submitted to Philip.
The consul remained a few days at Larisa, mainly in order to recruit
the horses and draught cattle, which owing to the voyage and the subsequent
marching had got out of condition. When his army was, so to speak,
renewed by the short rest, he marched to Crannon, and on his way he
received the surrender of Pharsalus, Scotusa and Pherae, together with the
garrisons which Antiochus had placed in them. These troops were asked
whether they would be willing to remain with him. A thousand volunteered,
and these he handed over to Philip; the rest he disarmed and sent back to
Demetrias. He next captured Proerna and the fortified posts in the
neighbourhood, and continued his march towards the Maliac Gulf. As he
approached the pass above which Thaumaci is situated, all the men who
could bear arms armed themselves, left the city and occupied the woods and
roads, and from their higher ground made attacks upon the Roman column
of march. The consul sent parties to approach them within speaking distance
and warn them against such madness, but when he saw that they persisted he
ordered a military tribune to work round them with two maniples and cut off
their retreat to the city, which in the absence of its defenders the consul
occupied. When they heard the shouts from the captured city behind them,
they fled back from all sides and were cut to pieces. The next day the consul
reached the Spercheus, and from there ravaged the fields of the Hypataeans.
36.15
Antiochus was all this time at Chalcis,
having at last discovered that he had gained nothing from Greece beyond a
pleasant winter at Chalcis and a disreputable marriage. He now accused the
Aetolians of having made empty promises and admired Hannibal, not only as
a man of prudence and foresight, but also as little short of a prophet, seeing
how he had foretold everything which was happening. In order that his
reckless adventure might not be ruined through his own inactivity, he sent a
message to the Aetolians requesting them to concentrate all their fighting
strength at Lamia, where he himself joined them with about 10,000 infantry,
made up largely of troops which had come from Asia, and 500 cavalry. The
Aetolians mustered in considerably smaller numbers than on any previous
occasion, only the leading men with a few of their dependents were present.
They said that they had done their utmost to call up as many as possible from
their respective cities, but their personal influence, their appeals, their official
authority, were alike powerless against those who declined to serve. Finding
himself deserted on all sides by his own troops, who were hanging back in
Asia, and by his allies, who were not doing what they undertook to do when
they invited him, he withdrew into the pass of Thermopylae. This mountain
range cuts Greece in two, just as Italy is intersected by the Apennines. To
the north of the pass are situated Epirus, Perrhaebia, Magnesia, Thessaly, the
Achaeans of Phthiotis, and the Maliac Gulf. South of it lie the greater part of
Aetolia, Acarnania, Locris, Phocis, Boeotia, the adjoining island of Euboea,
and Attica, which projects into the sea like a promontory; beyond these is
the Peloponnese. This range extends from Leucas on the western sea
through Aetolia to the eastern sea, and is so rugged and precipitous that
even light infantry -let alone an army -would have great difficulty in finding
any paths by which to cross it. The eastern end of the range is called Oeta,
and its highest peak bears the name of Callidromus. The road running
through the lower ground between its base and the Maliac Gulf is not more
than sixty paces broad and is the only military road which can be traversed
by an army, and then only if it meets with no opposition. For this reason the
place is called Pylae, and also Thermopylae, from the hot springs there, and
is famous for the battle against the Persians, but still more so for the glorious
death of the Lacedaemonians who fought there.
36.16
In a
state of mind very unlike theirs Antiochus pitched his camp inside the
narrowest part of the pass and barricaded it with defensive works, protecting
every part of it with a double line of fosse and rampart and where it seemed
necessary with a wall built up from the stones which were lying about
everywhere. He felt pretty confident that the Roman army would never force
a passage there, and so he sent two detachments out of the 4000 Aetolians
who had joined him, one to hold Heraclea, a place just in front of the pass,
the other to Hypata. He quite expected that the consul would attack
Heraclea; and from Hypata numerous messages had come stating that the
whole of the surrounding country was being laid waste. The consul ravaged
the territory of Hypata first and then that of Heraclea; in neither place did the
Aetolians prove of the slightest use, and finally encamped opposite the king
in the mouth of the pass at the hot springs. Both the Aetolian detachments
shut themselves up in Heraclea. Before the actual appearance of his enemy
Antiochus thought that the whole of the pass was fortified and blocked by
his troops, but now he felt anxious lest the Romans might find some paths on
the surrounding heights by which they could turn his defences, for the
Lacedaemonians were stated to have been similarly taken in the rear by the
Persians, and Philip quite recently by the Romans. Accordingly he sent a
message to the Aetolians at Heraclea asking them to do him this service at
least in the war, namely, to seize and hold the crests of the surrounding
mountains and prevent the Romans from crossing them anywhere. On the
receipt of this message there was a sharp difference of opinion among the
Aetolians. Some thought that they ought to comply with the king's request
and go; others were in favour of remaining in their quarters at Heraclea,
prepared for either eventuality. If the king were defeated they would then
have their forces intact and be able to assist in the defence of the cities round
them, if on the other hand he were victorious they would then be in a
position to take up the pursuit of the fugitive Romans. Each party held to its
opinion, and not only held to it but acted upon it; 2000 remained in
Heraclea, and the others, formed into three divisions, occupied the three
heights of Callidromus, Rhoduntia and Tichius.
36.17
When
the consul saw that the heights were occupied by the Aetolians he sent M.
Porcius Cato and L. Valerius Flaccus, men of consular rank commanding
under him, to attack their fortified positions, Flaccus against Rhoduntia and
Tichius, and Cato against Callidromus. They each took a picked force of
2000 infantry. Before making his general advance against the enemy, the
consul called his men on parade and addressed a few words to them.
"Soldiers," he said, "I see that there are very many amongst you, men of all
ranks, who have campaigned in this very province under the leadership and
auspices of T. Quinctius. In the Macedonian war the pass at the Aous was
more difficult to force than this one, for here we have gates and this passage
as though provided by nature is the only one available, every other route
between the two seas being closed to us. On that occasion, too, the enemy
defences were stronger and constructed on more advantageous ground; the
hostile army was more numerous and made up of far better soldiery; there
were in that army Macedonians, Thracians and Illyrians, all very warlike
tribes; here there are Syrians and Asiatic Greeks, the meanest of mankind,
and born only for slavery. The monarch who was opposed to us then was a
true soldier, trained from his youth in wars with the Thracians and the
Illyrians and all the nations round him; this man -to say nothing of his
previous life -has done nothing during the whole of the winter months more
memorable than marrying a girl for love out of a private family and, even
when compared with their fellow-townsmen, of obscure origin, and now the
newly-wedded bridegroom, fattened up as it were with marriage feasts, has
come out to fight. His main hope was in the Aetolians, they were his chief
strength, and you have already learnt by experience as Antiochus is learning
now what an untrustworthy and ungrateful race they are. They have not
come in any considerable number, it was impossible to keep them in camp,
they are at loggerheads among themselves, and after insisting that Hypata
and Heraclea must be defended they refused to defend either place and took
refuge on the mountain heights, some shutting themselves up in Heraclea.
The king himself has shown clearly that he durst not venture to meet us on
fair ground, he is not even fixing his camp in open country; he has
abandoned the whole of the district in front of him which he boasts of having
taken from us and from Philip, and has hidden himself amongst the rocks.
His camp is not even placed at the entrance to the path, as we are told the
Lacedaemonians placed theirs, but is withdrawn far within it. What
difference is there, as a visible proof of fear, between his shutting himself up
here or behind the walls of a besieged city? The pass, however, will not
protect Antiochus, nor will the heights which the Aetolians have seized
protect them. Sufficient caution and foresight have been exercised to prevent
your having anything to fight against but the actual enemy. You must bear in
mind that you are not fighting only for the freedom of Greece, though it will
be a splendid record to deliver out of the hands of the Aetolians and
Antiochus the country which you formerly rescued from Philip. Nor will it be
only the spoil in the enemy's camp that will fall to you as a prize; all the
stores and material which he is daily looking for from Ephesus will be your
booty; you will open up Asia and Syria and all the wealthiest realms to the
furthest East to the supremacy of Rome. What will then prevent us from
extending our dominion from Gades to the Red Sea with no limit but the
Ocean which enfolds the world, and making the whole human race look up
to Rome with a reverence only second to that which they pay to the gods?
Show yourselves worthy in heart and mind of such vast rewards so that we
may take the field tomorrow assured that the gods will help us."
36.18
After
this address the soldiers were dismissed and got their armour and weapons
ready before they took food and rest. As soon as it began to grow light the
consul hung out the signal for battle and formed his line on a narrow front to
suit the confined limits of the ground. When the king saw the standards of
the enemy he also led out his men. Part of his light infantry he stationed in
front of their rampart to form the first line. Behind them in support he posted
the Macedonians, the main strength of his arm, known as the "sarisophori";
they extended across the whole length of the rampart. To the left of them
were posted a body of javelin men, bowmen and slingers immediately under
the foot of the mountains, so that they might from their higher ground harass
the unprotected flank of the enemy. On the right of the Macedonians,
towards the end of his lines, where the ground beyond down to the sea is
impassable owing to bogs and quicksands, he posted the elephants with their
usual guard, and behind them the cavalry, and a short distance behind them
again the rest of his troops. The Macedonians in front of the rampart had no
difficulty at first in resisting the Romans, who were trying at all points to
break through, and they received considerable assistance from those on the
higher ground, who discharged bullets from their slings, arrows and javelins
all at once, a perfect cloud of missiles. But as the enemy's pressure increased
and the attack was made in greater force they gradually fell back to their
rampart, and standing upon it made practically a second rampart with their
levelled spears. The rampart, owing to its moderate height, not only offered
a higher position from which to fight, but also enabled them to reach the
enemy below with their long spears. Many in their reckless attempts to
mount the rampart were run through, and they would have had either to
retire baffled or sustain serious losses had not M. Porcius appeared on a hill
which commanded the camp. He had dislodged the Aetolians from the crest
of Callidromus and killed the greater part of them, attacking them when they
were off their guard and most of them asleep.
36.19
Flaccus was not so fortunate, his attempt
to reach the fortified posts on Tichius and Rhoduntia was a failure. The
Macedonians and the other troops in the king's camp could at first only make
out a moving mass of men in the distance, and were under the impression
that the Aetolians had seen the fighting from afar and were coming to their
assistance. When, however, they recognised the approaching standards and
arms and discovered their mistake, they were so panic-struck that they flung
away their weapons and fled. The pursuit was impeded by the entrenchments
of the camp and the confined space through which the pursuers had to pass,
but the elephants were the greatest hindrance, for it was difficult for the
infantry to get past them, and impossible for the cavalry; the frightened
horses created more confusion than in the actual battle. The plunder of the
camp still further delayed the pursuit. However, they followed up the enemy
as far as Scarphea, after which they returned to camp. Large numbers of men
and horses had been either killed or captured on the way, and even the
elephants, which they were unable to secure, had been killed. While the
battle was going on the Aetolians who had been holding Heraclea made an
attempt on the Roman camp, but they gained nothing from their enterprise,
which was certainly not lacking in audacity. At the third watch of the
following night the consul sent the cavalry to continue the pursuit, and at
daybreak he put the legions in motion. The king had gained a considerable
start, as he did not stop in his headlong ride till he reached Elatia. Here he
collected what was left of his army out of the battle and the flight and
retreated with a very small body of half-armed soldiers to Chalcis. The
Roman cavalry did not succeed in overtaking the king himself at Elatia, but
they cut off a large part of his army, who were unable to go any further
through sheer fatigue, or else had lost their way in an unknown country, with
none to guide them. Out of the whole army not a single man escaped beyond
the 500 who formed the king's bodyguard, an insignificant number even if we
accept Polybius' statement which I have mentioned above that the force the
king brought with him out of Asia did not exceed 10,000 men. What
proportion would it be if we are to believe Valerius Antias, that there were
60,000 men in the king's army, of whom 40,000 fell and over 5000 made
prisoners, and 230 standards captured? In the battle itself the Roman losses
amounted to 150, and in the defence of the camp against the Aetolians not
more than 50 were killed.
36.20
Whilst
the consul was taking his army through Phocis and Boeotia the citizens of
the revolted towns, conscious of their guilt and fearing lest they should be
treated as enemies, stood outside their gates in suppliant garb. The army,
however, marched past all their cities one after the other, without doing any
damage, just as though they were in friendly territory, till they came to
Coronea. Here great indignation was aroused by the sight of a statue of
Antiochus set up in the temple of Minerva Itonia, and the soldiers were
allowed to plunder the temple domain. It occurred, however, to the consul
that as the statue had been placed there by a decree of the national council of
Boeotia it was unfair to take vengeance on the territory of Coronea alone.
He at once recalled the soldiers and stopped the pillaging, and contented
himself with sternly rebuking the Boeotians for their ingratitude to Rome
after the many benefits she had so lately conferred upon them. At the time of
the battle ten of the king's ships, with Isidorus in command, were standing
off Thronium in the Maliac Gulf. Alexander the Acarnanian, who had been
severely wounded, fled thither with tidings of the defeat, and the ships sailed
hurriedly away to Cenaeus in Euboea. Here Alexander died and was buried.
Three vessels, which had come from Asia and were making for the same
port, on hearing of the disaster which had overtaken the army, returned to
Ephesus. Isidorus left Cenaeus for Demetrias, in case the king's flight should
have carried him there. During this time A. Atilius, who was in command of
the Roman fleet, intercepted a large convoy of supplies for the king which
had passed through the strait between Andros and Euboea. Some of the
vessels he sank, others he captured; those in the rearmost line turned their
course towards Asia. Atilius sailed back with his train of captured ships and
distributed the large stock of corn on board to the Athenians and the other
friendly cities in that quarter.
36.21
Just
before the consul's arrival Antiochus left Chalcis and directed his course first
to Tenos and from there to Ephesus. As the consul drew near to Chalcis the
king's commandant, Aristoteles, left the city and the gates were thrown open
to the consul. All the other cities in Euboea were delivered up without any
fighting, and in a few days peace was established everywhere in the island
and the army returned to Thermopylae without injuring a single city. This
moderation displayed after the victory was much more deserving of praise
than even the victory itself. In order that the senate and people might receive
an authoritative report of the operations the consul sent M. Cato to Rome.
He set sail from Creusa, the emporium of Thespia, situated in the innermost
part of the Gulf of Corinth, and made for Patrae in Achaia; from Patrae he
went on to Corcyra, skirting the shores of Aetolia and Acarnania, and so
made his passage to Hydruntum in Italy. From there he journeyed by land,
and by rapid travelling reached Rome in five days. Entering the City before it
was light he went straight to the praetor, M. Junius, who summoned a
meeting of the senate at daybreak. L. Cornelius Scipio had been sent on by
the consul some days previously, and on his arrival found that Cato had
outstripped him. He went into the senate house while Cato was making his
report and the two generals were conducted by order of the senate to the
Assembly, where they gave the same details of the Aetolian campaign as had
been given to the senate. A decree was made that there should be
thanksgivings for three days, and the praetor was to sacrifice forty
full-grown victims to such of the gods as he thought fit. M. Fulvius Nobilior,
who had gone to Spain as praetor two years previously, entered the City
about this time in ovation. He had carried before him 130,000 silver denarii
and 12,000 pounds of other silver, as well as 127 pounds of gold.
36.22
While
Acilius was at Thermopylae he sent a message to the Aetolians, advising
them, now that they had found out how empty the king's promises were, to
return to a right mind and think about delivering up Heraclea and begging
pardon of the senate for their madness and delusion. Other cities in Greece,
he reminded them, had been faithless to their best friends, the Romans, in
that war, but after the flight of the king, whose assurances had seduced them
from their duty, they did not aggravate their fault by willful obstinacy, and
had once more been received as allies. Even in the case of the Aetolians,
though they had not followed the king, but had actually invited him, and
were not his associates but his leaders in the war -even for them there was
still the possibility, if they showed true repentance, of remaining unharmed.
To this message they returned a defiant answer; the question would evidently
have to be decided by arms, and though the king was overcome, the war
with the Aetolians was clearly only just beginning. The consul accordingly
moved his army from Thermopylae to Heraclea, and on the very same day he
rode round the entire circuit of the walls to ascertain the situation of the city.
Heraclea lies at the foot of Mount Oeta; the city itself is situated in a plain,
and it has a citadel which commands it from a position of considerable
elevation and precipitous on all sides. After carefully considering all there
was to be learnt he decided to deliver a simultaneous attack from four
different points. In the direction of the Asopus, where the Gymnasium stood,
he placed L. Valerius in charge of the operations. Towards the citadel
outside the walls, where the houses were almost closer together than in the
city itself, he gave the direction of the assault to Tiberius Sempronius
Longus. On the side facing the Maliac Gulf, where the approach presented
considerable difficulty, M. Baebius was in command. Towards the stream
which they call the Melana, opposite the temple of Diana, he posted Appius
Claudius. Through the strenuous exertions of these commanders, each trying
to outdo the other, the towers and battering rams and all the other
preparations for an assault were completed in a few days. The land round
Heraclea is marshy and covered with tall trees, which furnished a liberal
supply of timber for siege works of every kind, and as the Aetolians living in
the suburb had taken refuge in the city the deserted houses afforded useful
materials for various purposes, including not only beams and planks, but also
bricks and building stones of all shapes and sizes.
36.23
The
Romans made more use of machines than of arms in their attack on the city,
the Aetolians on the other hand trusted more to their arms for their defence.
When the walls were battered by the rams they did not, as is usual, turn aside
the blows by using looped ropes, but they made sorties in considerable
strength and some carried firebrands to throw on the siege works. There
were also arched sally-ports in the walls, and when they built up the wall
where it had been destroyed they left more of these openings to allow of
more numerous sorties. In the early days of the siege while their strength
was unimpaired these sallies were frequent and powerful, but as time went
on they became fewer and feebler. Amidst the many difficulties they had to
contend with nothing wore them down so much as want of sleep. The
Romans owing to their numbers were able to arrange regular reliefs for their
men, but the Aetolians were comparatively few, and the same men having to
be on duty night and day they were completely exhausted by the incessant
strain. For four-and-twenty days, without a moment's respite day or night,
they had to sustain the attack of the enemy, who were delivering their
assaults from four different quarters at once. Considering the time during
which the attack had been going on, and in view of the information brought
by deserters, the consul felt pretty sure that the Aetolians were at last worn
out, and he formed the following plan. When it was midnight he gave the
signal to retire and called off all the soldiers from the assault. He kept them
quiet in the camp till the third hour of the following day, when he
recommenced the attack and carried it on until midnight, when it was again
suspended till the third hour of the following day. The Aetolians supposed
that the cause of the assault not being kept up was the same as that which
was acting upon them, namely excessive fatigue, and when the signal for
retiring was given to the Romans, they too, as though it recalled them also,
quitted their posts and did not resume duty on the walls till the third hour of
the following day.
36.24
After
suspending the operations at midnight the consul recommenced the assault at
the fourth watch with extreme violence on three sides. On the fourth side he
ordered Tiberius Sempronius to keep his soldiers on the alert and ready for
the signal, as he felt no doubt that the Aetolians would in the nocturnal
confusion rush to the places from which the battle-shout arose. Some of the
Aetolians were asleep, worn out by toil and want of rest, and only roused
themselves with great difficulty; those who were still awake, hearing the
noise of battle, ran towards it through the darkness. The assailants were
trying to climb over the fallen parts of the wall into the city, others were
endeavouring to mount the walls by scaling ladders, and the Aetolians were
hurrying up from all parts to meet the attack. The one quarter where the
suburban buildings stood was so far neither attacked nor guarded, but those
who were to attack it were eagerly awaiting the signal and none were there
to defend it. It was already dawn when the consul gave the signal and they
penetrated into the city without any opposition, some over the ruined walls,
others, where the walls were intact, by means of scaling ladders. As soon as
the shouting was heard which announced that the city was captured the
Aetolians left their posts and fled to the citadel.
The consul gave his victorious troops leave to sack the city, not as
an act of vengeance, but in order that the soldiery who had been forbidden
this in so many captured cities might in one place at least taste the fruits of
victory. About midday he recalled his men and formed them into two
divisions. One he ordered to march round the foot of the mountain to a peak
which was the same height as that on which the citadel stood and separated
from it by a ravine as though torn away from it. The twin peaks were so near
one another that missiles could be thrown from the rock on to the citadel.
With the other division the consul intended to mount up to the citadel, and
he waited in the city for the signal from those who were to surmount the
peak. Their cheers on occupying the height and the attack of the other
division from the city were too much for the Aetolians, utterly broken as
their courage was and with no preparation for standing a siege in the citadel,
which could hardly contain, much less protect, the women and children and
the other non-combatants who had crowded there. So at the first assault they
laid down their arms and surrendered. Amongst them was Damocritus, the
first magistrate of Aetolia. At the beginning of the war he had told T.
Quinctius, on his request for a copy of the decree inviting Antiochus, that be
would give it him in Italy when the Aetolians were encamped there. This
piece of arrogance made his surrender all the more pleasing to the victors.
36.25
Whilst
the Romans were laying siege to Heraclea, Philip, as arranged with the
consul, was attacking Lamia. He had gone to Thermopylae to offer the
consul and the people of Rome his congratulations on the victory and at the
same time to excuse himself on the ground of illness for not having taken
part in the operations against Antiochus. Then the two commanders
separated to carry on the siege of the two places simultaneously. These are
about seven miles distant from each other, and as Lamia stands on rising
ground and looks towards Mount Oeta the distance between them seems
very short and all that goes on in the one place can be seen from the other.
The Romans and the Macedonians were strenuously engaged as though in
mutual rivalry in siege operations or in actual fighting night and day. But the
Macedonians had the more difficult task owing to the fact that the Roman
galleries and vineae and all their siege engines were above ground while the
Macedonians conducted the attack by means of subterranean mines, and in
difficult places they often came to rock upon which iron tools could make no
impression. Finding that he was making little progress, the king held
conferences with the leading men of the place in the hope that the townsmen
might be induced to surrender. He felt quite certain that if Heraclea were
taken first they would surrender to the Romans sooner than to him and that
the consul would win their gratitude for having raised the siege. His surmise
proved correct, for no sooner was Heraclea taken than a message reached
him requesting him to abandon the siege, for as it was the Romans who had
fought the engagement with the Aetolians it was but fair that they should
have the prize of victory. So Lamia was relieved and through the fall of a
neighbouring city escaped a similar fate.
36.26
Shortly before the fall of Heraclea the
Aetolians, assembled in council at Hypata, sent a deputation to Antiochus
including Thoas, who had been sent before. They were instructed to ask the
king to call up his land and sea forces once more and cross over into Greece;
if anything prevented him from doing this, then they were to ask him to send
money and troops and to point out to him that it concerned his regal dignity
and his personal honour not to betray his allies, and if he allowed the
Romans after destroying the Aetolians to have a perfectly free hand and land
in Asia with all their forces the very safety of his kingdom would be
imperilled. What they said was true and therefore made all the deeper
impression on the king. He gave them money for their immediate
requirements and pledged himself to send military and naval assistance.
Thoas he kept with him, and the man was very glad to remain behind, as
being on the spot he might make the king fulfil his promises.
36.27
The
fall of Heraclea, however, broke the spirit of the Aetolians. Within a few
days of their asking Antiochus to resume hostilities and return to Greece
they laid aside all thoughts of war and sent envoys to the consul to sue for
peace. When they began to speak, the consul cut them short by saying that
there were other matters which had to be attended to first. He then granted
them a ten days' armistice and directed them to return to Hypata
accompanied by L. Valerius Flaccus, to whom they were to refer the
questions they had intended to discuss with him, and any other matters
which they wished to discuss. On his arrival at Hypata, Flaccus found the
Aetolian leaders assembled in council and deliberating as to what line they
should take in negotiating with the consul. They were preparing to begin by
alleging the old-standing treaty-rights and their service to Rome, when
Flaccus bade them desist from appealing to treaties which they had
themselves violated and broken. They would gain much more, he told them,
by confessing their misdoings and simply asking for mercy. Their only hope
of safety lay not in the strength of their case but in the clemency of the
Roman people, and if they adopted a suppliant attitude he would stand by
them before the consul and in the senate at Rome, for they would have to
send their delegates there also. All those present saw that only one path led
to safety, namely their formal submission to Rome. They believed that their
appearance as suppliants would give them an inviolable character in Roman
eyes, and they would still preserve their independence should Fortune hold
out any better prospect.
36.28
When
they appeared before the consul, Phaeneas, the head of the deputation, made
a long speech, adapted in various ways to mitigate the victor's wrath, and
concluded by saying that the Aetolians committed themselves and all that
they had to the honour and good faith of the people of Rome. When the
consul heard that he said, "Be quite sure that these are the terms on which
you surrender." Phaeneas showed him the decree in which they were
expressly stated. "Since then," he replied, "you do make this complete
surrender, I require you to give up at once Dicaearchus, your fellow-citizen,
and Menestus the Epirote" -he was the man who introduced a body of
troops into Naupactus and drove the citizens into revolt -"and Amynander
and the Athamanian leaders who persuaded you to revolt from us." Phaeneas
hardly allowed the Roman to finish his sentence before he replied: "We have
not surrendered ourselves into slavery, but to your protection and good
faith, and I am quite sure that it is because you do not know us that you lay
upon us commands which are opposed to the usage of the Greeks." To this
the consul retorted: "No, I do not trouble myself much as to what the
Aetolians consider the usage of the Greeks as long as I follow the usage of
the Romans and impose my commands on those who, after being vanquished
by force of arms, have just surrendered by their own formal decree. If, then,
my command is not promptly obeyed, I shall at once order you to be thrown
into irons." He then ordered fetters to be brought and the lictors to close
round Phaeneas. Phaeneas and the other Aetolians were now thoroughly
cowed, they at last realised their position, and he said that he and the
Aetolians with him quite saw that they must carry out the consul's
commands, but it was necessary that a decree to that effect should be made
at a meeting of the national council. In order that this might be done he
asked for a ten days' armistice. Flaccus supported the request, which was
granted, and they returned to Hypata. Here Phaeneas reported to the inner
council -known as the Apokleti -the commands laid upon them and the fate
which had all but overtaken him and his colleagues. The magnates deplored
the situation to which they were reduced, but they decided that their
conqueror must be obeyed and that the Aetolians from every town should be
summoned to a general council.
36.29
The
whole population of Aetolia was thus assembled, and when they heard the
report they were so exasperated by what they considered as the harshness
and insulting tone of the order that even had they been at peace the angry
outburst would have driven them into war. Besides the anger thus aroused,
there were difficulties in the way of carrying out the command. How, they
asked, could they possibly surrender Amynander? Their hopes, too, had been
raised by the presence of Nicander, who had just returned from his mission
to Antiochus and had filled the minds of the populace with the illusory
prospect of huge forces being massed both by land and sea. After a voyage
of twelve days from Ephesus he landed at Phalara on the Maliac Gulf, on his
way to Aetolia. From there he went to Lamia, where he left the money which
the king had given them, and then started early in the evening for Hypata,
with an escort of light troops, through by-paths with which he was familiar.
Whilst traversing the country between the Roman and Macedonian camps,
he came upon a Macedonian outpost and was taken to the king. Philip had
not finished dinner, and when he was informed of the arrest he treated him,
not as an enemy but as a guest, and bade him sit down and partake of the
banquet. Then after the other guests had left he detained him, telling him at
the same time that he had nothing to fear. He proceeded to blame the
Aetolians severely for their crooked policy, which had always recoiled on
their own heads, for it was they who first brought the Romans and
afterwards Antiochus into Greece. He went on to say that he should forget
the past, which it was easier to censure than to amend, and he would not do
anything to insult the Aetolians amidst their misfortunes; they in return ought
to put an end to their ill-will towards him, and Nicander in particular ought
never to forget that day in which he had saved his life. He then assigned him
an escort to conduct him to a place of safety, and Nicander arrived at Hypata
whilst the Aetolians were debating the question of making peace with Rome.
36.30
The
booty secured round Heraclea was either sold by Manius Acilius or given to
the soldiers. On learning that the decision come to at Heraclea did not make
for peace and that the Aetolians had concentrated at Naupactus, where they
intended to meet the whole brunt of the war, the consul sent Appius
Claudius with 4000 men to occupy the heights which commanded the
difficult mountain passes while he himself ascended Mount Oeta. Here he
offered sacrifice to Hercules at a place called Pyra, because it was there that
the mortal body of the god was cremated. From there he continued his
march with the whole of his army and made fairly satisfactory progress till he
came to Corax. This is the highest peak between Callipolis and Naupactus,
and whilst crossing it many of the draught animals fell with their packs down
the precipices, and there were casualties among the troops. It was easy to
see with what an inactive enemy he had to deal, for no attempt had been
made to post troops so as to close the pass, which was so difficult and
dangerous. As it was, the army had sustained casualties before the consul got
down to Naupactus. Opposite the citadel he established a fortified post, the
other quarters of the city he invested, the troops being distributed according
to the situation of the walls. This siege involved quite as much labour and
effort as that of Heraclea.
36.31
Messene, in the Peloponnese, had refused
to join the Achaean league, and the Achaeans now laid siege to it. Neither of
the two cities, Messene and Elis, were members of the league; their
sympathies were with the Aetolians. The Eleans, however, after Antiochus'
flight from Greece, returned a more conciliatory reply to the Achaean envoy
and said that when the king's garrison was withdrawn they would consider
what they ought to do. The Messenians, on the other hand, dismissed the
envoys without vouchsafing any reply whatever and commenced hostilities.
But the devastation of their land in all directions by fire and sword and the
sight of the Achaean camp near their city made them tremble for their safety,
and they sent a message to T. Quinctius at Chalcis to the effect that as he
was the author of their liberty the men of Messene were prepared to open
their gates to the Romans and surrender their city to them, but not to the
Achaeans. On receipt of this message Quinctius at once left Chalcis and sent
word to Diophanes, the captain-general of the Achaeans, to withdraw his
army at once from Messene and go to him. Diophanes obeyed and raised the
siege, and then hurrying on in advance of his army met Quinctius near
Andania, a town lying between Megalopolis and Messene. When he began to
explain his reasons for attacking the place Quinctius gently rebuked him for
taking such an important step without his sanction and ordered him to
disband his army and not to disturb the peace which had been established for
the good of all. He commanded the Messenians to recall their banished
citizens and join the Achaean league; if there were any conditions they
objected to, or any safeguards for the future which they wanted, they were
to go to him at Corinth. At the same time he ordered Diophanes to convene
a meeting of the Achaean league forthwith, at which he would be present. In
his address to the council he pointed out how the island of Zacynthus had
been treacherously seized, and he now demanded its restoration to the
Romans. The island, he explained, had at one time formed part of Philip's
dominions and he had given it to Amynander as the price of being allowed to
march through Athamania into the north of Aetolia, the result of his
expedition being that the Aetolians abandoned all further resistance and sued
for peace. Amynander made Philip of Megalopolis governor of the island.
Subsequently when Amynander joined Antiochus in war against Rome he
recalled Philip to take up active service and sent Hierocles of Agrigentum to
succeed him.
36.32
After
Antiochus' flight from Thermopylae and the expulsion of Amynander from
Athamania at the hands of Philip, Hierocles entered into negotiations with
Diophanes and sold the island to the Achaeans. The Romans considered it
their lawful prize of war; it was not for the benefit of Diophanes and the
Achaeans that the legions of Rome fought at Thermopylae. In his reply
Diophanes sought to exculpate himself and his nation and brought forward
arguments to justify their action. Some of those present protested that they
had from the beginning discountenanced that action, and they now
remonstrated against the pertinacious attitude of their chief magistrate. They
succeeded in getting a decree made referring the whole question to Quinctius
for him to deal with. To those who opposed him Quinctius was stern and
uncompromising, but if you gave way he was just as placable. Laying aside
every trace of anger in look and voice, he said: "If I thought that the
possession of that island would be an advantage to the Achaeans I should
advise the senate and people of Rome to allow you to keep it. When,
however, I look at a tortoise which has completely shrunk into its shell I see
that it is safe against every blow, but when it puts forth any portion of its
body, the part put forth is exposed and defenceless. Just so with you,
Achaeans. As long as you are shut in on all sides by the sea, you have no
difficulty in incorporating in your league and protecting all the States within
the frontiers of the Peloponnese, but if through a passion for aggrandisement
you go beyond those frontiers all that you possess outside is defenceless and
lies at the mercy of every assailant." With the unanimous assent of the
council -not even Diophanes venturing to raise any opposition -Zacynthus
was ceded to the Romans.
36.33
As the
consul was starting for Naupactus, Philip asked him if he wished him to
recover the cities which had renounced their alliance with Rome. On
receiving the consul's consent he marched his army to Demetrias, as he was
fully aware of the confusion which prevailed there. The citizens were in
despair, they saw themselves deserted by Antiochus, with no prospect of
help from the Aetolians, and were daily expecting the arrival of their enemy
Philip, or of a more relentless enemy still, the Romans, who had more reason
to be angry with them. There was in the city a disorganised body of
Antiochus' soldiers, the small force which had been left to hold the city,
joined afterwards by the fugitives from the battle, who came in, most of
them, without arms. They had neither the strength nor the resolution to stand
a siege, and when emissaries from Philip held out to them hopes of obtaining
pardon they sent to him to say that the gates were open to the king. Some of
the principal men left the city as he entered it; Eurylochus committed suicide.
In accordance with the stipulation, the soldiers of Antiochus were sent
through Macedonia and Thrace to Lysimachia under the protection of a
Macedonian escort. There were also at Demetrias a few ships under the
command of Isodorus, they too were allowed to depart with their
commander. Philip then went on to reduce Dolopia, Aperantia, and some
cities in Perrhaebia.
36.34
While
Philip was thus engaged T. Quinctius, after taking over Zacynthus from the
Achaean council, sailed to Naupactus, which had been standing a siege for
two months, but was now nearing its fall. Its forcible capture would probably
have brought ruin on the Aetolians as a nation. Quinctius had every reason
for being embittered against them; he had not forgotten that they were the
only people that had spoken slightingly of him when he was winning the
glory of liberating Greece and had refused to be guided by him when he
sought to dissuade them from their mad project by forewarning them as to
what would happen to them, a forewarning which events had just now
proved to be true. As, however, he looked upon himself as especially bound
to see that no State in the Greece which he had freed was utterly destroyed,
he decided to walk up to the walls so that the Aetolians could easily see who
he was. He was at once recognised by the advanced posts, and the news
rapidly spread throughout the city and troops that Quinctius was there.
There was a general rush to the walls; the people all held out their hands in
supplication, and with one voice appealed to him by name and implored him
to come to their succour and save them. He was deeply moved by this
appeal, but at the same time he made signs to them that it was not in his
power to help them. When he saw the consul he said to him, "M. Acilius, do
you fail to see what is going on, or if you are quite aware of it do you
consider that it in no way touches the supreme interest of the Republic?" The
consul's attention was aroused and he replied, "Why are you not explicit?
What do you mean?" Quinctius continued, "Do you not see, now that
Antiochus is crushed, how you are wasting time in laying siege to a couple
of cities when your year of office has almost expired, while Philip, who has
never seen the standards or the battle-line of the enemy, has been annexing
not cities only, but all those States, Athamania, Perrhaebia, Aperantia,
Dolopia? And yet it is not so important to us that the strength and resources
of the Aetolians should be weakened as it is that Philip should not be
allowed to extend his dominions indefinitely and hold all those States as the
prize of victory while you and your soldiers cannot pride yourselves on the
conquest of two cities."
36.35
The
consul quite agreed, but he felt it somewhat humiliating to abandon the siege
without accomplishing anything. Finally the matter was left for Quinctius to
settle. He went back to that section of the walls from which the Aetolians
had been calling out to him. They were still there and began to implore him
still more earnestly to take pity on the nation of the Aetolians. On this he
told some of them to come out to him; Phaeneas and others of their leaders
at once went out. As they prostrated themselves at his feet, he said, "Your
unhappy plight makes me check the expression of my angry feelings. What I
told you beforehand would come to pass has actually happened, and you
have not even the comfort left you of believing that you do not deserve your
fate. Since, however, I have been somehow destined to be the nursing father
of Greece, I shall not desist from showing kindness even to those who have
shown themselves ungrateful. Send a deputation to the consul and ask him
for an armistice to allow you time to send envoys to Rome with instructions
to place yourselves entirely at the mercy of the senate. I will support you
before the consul as your advocate and intercessor." They followed his
advice and the consul was not deaf to their appeal; an armistice was granted
until the result of the mission to Rome was known; the siege was raised and
the army sent into Phocis. The consul accompanied by T. Quinctius went to
Aegium to attend a meeting of the Achaean council. The subjects of
discussion were the entrance of the Eleans into the league and the restoration
of the Lacedaemonian exiles. Neither question was settled; the Achaeans
preferred that the latter should be left to them to carry out as an act of grace,
and the Eleans wished their incorporation into the league to be spontaneous
on their part rather than that it should be effected through the Romans.
A deputation from the Epirots visited the consul. It was pretty
generally understood that their professions of friendship were insincere, for
though they had not furnished Antiochus with troops it was alleged that they
had given him pecuniary assistance and they made no attempt to deny that
they had opened negotiations with him. Their request to be allowed to
continue on the old friendly footing was met by the consul with the remark
that he did not know whether he was to regard them as friends or as foes.
The senate would decide that; he referred their whole cause to Rome, and
for that purpose he granted them an armistice for ninety days. When they
appeared before the senate they were more concerned to mention acts of
hostility which they had not committed than to clear themselves from the
actual charges made against them. The reply they received was such as to
make them understand that they had obtained pardon rather than proved
their innocence. Just before this a deputation from Philip was introduced into
the senate to present his congratulations upon the recent victory and to
request to be allowed to offer sacrifices in the Capitol and place an offering
of gold in the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. On receiving the senate's
permission they deposited a golden crown weighing 100 pounds. Not only
was this gracious reception accorded to them, but Philip's son Demetrius,
who was living in Rome as a hostage, was placed in their hands to be taken
back to his father. Such was the close of the campaign which Manius Acilius
the consul conducted against Antiochus in Greece.
36.36
The
other consul, Publius Cornelius Scipio, had in the ballot drawn Gaul as his
province. Before leaving for the coming war with the Boii he asked the
senate to vote a sum of money for the Games which he had vowed in the
crisis of battle during his praetorship in Spain. They looked upon his request
as unprecedented and unjustifiable and passed a resolution to the effect that
as he had vowed Games on his own initiative without consulting the senate
he should meet the cost of them from the proceeds of the spoils taken from
the enemy, if he had any money reserved for the purpose, otherwise he must
bear the expense himself. He celebrated the Games for ten days. The temple
of Mater Magna Idaea was dedicated about this time. It was during the
consulship of P. C. Scipio -afterwards called Africanus -and P. Licinius that
the goddess was brought from Asia; the above-named P. Cornelius
conducted her from the harbour to the Palatine. The censors, M. Livius and
C. Claudius, had signed the contract for the building in accordance with
instructions from the senate during the consulship of M. Cornelius and P.
Sempronius. After the lapse of thirteen years M. Junius Brutus dedicated it,
and the Games which were exhibited on the occasion of its dedication were,
according to Valerius Antias, the first scenic Games ever given and were
called the Megalesia. Another dedication was that of the temple of Juventas
in the Circus Maximus, which was carried out by C. Licinius Lucullus. M.
Livius had vowed it on the day when he destroyed Hasdrubal and his army,
and when he was censor he signed the contract for its construction in the
consulship of M. Cornelius and P. Sempronius. Games were celebrated in
connection with this dedication also and everything was done with greater
solemnity in view of the fresh war which was impending with Antiochus.
36.37
At the
beginning of the year in which the above events took place, before M.
Acilius had left for the war and whilst P. Cornelius was still in Rome, various
portents were announced. There is a tradition that two tame oxen in the
Carinae climbed up the stairs on to the flat roof of a building. The haruspices
ordered them to be burnt alive and the ashes thrown into the Tiber. At
Terracina and Amiternum several showers of stones were said to have fallen.
At Menturnae the temple of Jupiter and the booths round the forum were
reported to have been struck by lightning, and at Volturnus two ships in the
mouth of the river which had been similarly struck were burnt out. In
consequence of these portents the senate gave directions for the decemviri to
consult the Sibylline Books, and they ordained that a fast day must be
instituted in honour of Ceres to be observed every five years; that the
sacrifices should be offered for nine days and solemn intercessions for one
day, the suppliants to wear wreaths of laurel leaves, and that the consul
should offer sacrifice to such deities and with such victims as the decemvirs
should name. After the gods had been appeased and the portents duly
expiated the consul left for his province. On his arrival he ordered the
proconsul Cneius Domitius to disband his army and depart for Rome; he
himself led his army into the country of the Boii.
36.38
Shortly before this the Ligurians had
assembled an army under the "Lex Sacrata" and made a sudden attack upon
the camp where the proconsul Q. Minucius was in command. He kept his
men drawn up within the rampart until daybreak to prevent the enemy from
getting over his lines at any point. As soon as it was light he made a sortie
from two of the camp gates simultaneously. But the Ligurians were not, as
he had expected, repulsed at the first attempt; for more than two hours they
maintained the struggle without either side gaining any advantage. At length,
as detachment after detachment issued from the camp, and fresh troops
relieved those who were exhausted with fighting, the Ligurians, worn out
and suffering especially from want of sleep, turned and fled. Over 4000 of
the enemy were killed, the Romans and allied troops lost less than 300.
About two months later, P. Cornelius fought a most successful action with
the army of the Boii. Valerius Antias states that 28,000 of the enemy were
slain and 3400 made prisoners, and that the spoils included 124 standards,
1230 horses and 247 wagons, whilst in the victorious army 1484 men fell.
Though we can place little confidence in this writer so far as numbers are
concerned, for no one is more reckless in exaggerating them, it was evidently
a great victory, for the camp of the Boii was captured and they made their
surrender immediately after the battle. Moreover, special thanksgivings were
ordered by the senate for the victory and full-grown victims sacrificed.
36.39
It was
about this time that M. Fulvius Nobilior entered the City in ovation after his
return from Further Spain. He brought over 10,000 pounds of silver, 13,000
silver denarii and 127 pounds of gold. After receiving the hostages from the
Boii, P. C. Scipio by way of punishment mulcted them of nearly half their
territory in order that the Roman people might if they chose settle colonists
on it. When on the point of departure to celebrate, as he confidently
expected, his triumph, he disbanded his army with orders to be in Rome by
the day of triumph. The day following his arrival the senate met in the temple
of Bellona and after he had given a full account of his campaign he requested
to be allowed to make a triumphal entry into the City. One of the tribunes of
the plebs, P. Sempronius Blaesus, was of opinion that though the honour of
a triumph ought not to be refused altogether it ought to be delayed. The
wars with the Ligurians, he said, were always closely connected with those
against the Gauls, for these nations being neighbours rendered each other
mutual help. If after his decisive defeat of the Boii Scipio had either crossed
the Ligurian frontiers with his army or sent a part of his force to the
assistance of Q. Minucius, who had now been detained there three years by
an indecisive war, the Ligurian resistance might have been completely
broken. In order to swell his triumph he had now brought back soldiers who
could have rendered invaluable service to the commonwealth and could do
so still if the senate would agree to make good what he in his haste to enjoy
a triumph had left undone by delaying that triumph. He should be ordered to
return with his legions to his province and see that the Ligurians were
thoroughly subdued; unless they were brought under the dominion of Rome
the Boii would be in a constant state of unrest; whether it be peace or war it
must be with both of them together. When he has reduced the Boii to
submission P. Cornelius will enjoy his triumph a few months hence like many
before him who did not celebrate their triumph during their year of office.
36.40
The
consul in his reply reminded the tribune that he did not receive Liguria as his
province nor was it with the Ligurians that he had been at war, nor was it
over the Ligurians that he asked for a triumph. Q. Minucius would, he felt
quite sure, soon subjugate them, and then he would ask for a triumph and it
would be granted him because it would be well deserved. He (the speaker)
was asking for a triumph over the Boii after defeating them in battle,
depriving them of their camp, receiving the submission of the entire nation
two days after the battle, and bringing away a number of hostages as a
guarantee of peace for the future. But a much stronger reason for his request
being granted was the fact that the number of Gauls killed amounted to more
than all the thousands of Boii, to say the least, with which any Roman
general before his time had ever fought. Out of 50,000 men more than half
had fallen, many thousands had been made prisoners, only old men and boys
were left among the Boii. Could then anyone wonder why the victorious
army after leaving not a single active enemy in the province had come to
Rome to grace the consul's triumph? "If," he continued, "the senate wishes
to employ these soldiers in another field, in what way do you think they will
be made more ready to face fresh toils and dangers? By recompensing them
in full for the perils and labours they have already undergone, or by sending
them off with expectations instead of rewards after they have been cheated
of the hopes already formed? As for myself, I had glory enough to last my
lifetime on the day when the senate judged me to be the best and worthiest in
the commonwealth and sent me to receive Mater Idaea. The bust of P.
Scipio Nasica will be sufficiently honoured by bearing that record inscribed
upon it though neither consulship nor triumph were added."
Not only were the senate unanimous in decreeing a triumph, but the
tribune bowed to their authority and withdrew his opposition. So the consul
P. Cornelius triumphed over the Boii. In the triumphal procession armour,
weapons, standards and booty of all descriptions, including bronze vases,
were carried in Gaulish wagons. There were also borne in the procession
1471 golden torques, 247 pounds of gold, 2340 pounds of silver, partly in
bars, partly wrought, not inartistically, into native vessels, and 23,400 silver
denarii. To each of the soldiers who marched behind his chariot he gave as
largesse 125 ases, twice as much to each centurion, and three times as much
to each of the horsemen. The next day the Assembly met, and in his speech
he gave an account of his campaign and dwelt on the injustice of their
tribune in trying to involve him in a war which was outside his province, and
so rob him of the fruits of the victory which he had won. At the close of his
speech he released his men from their military oath and discharged them.
36.41
All
this time Antiochus was stopping in Ephesus quite unconcerned about the
war with Rome as though the Romans had no intention of landing in Asia.
This apathy was due either to the blindness or the flattery of most of his
councillors. Hannibal, who at that time had great influence with the king,
was the only one who told him the truth. He said that so far from feeling any
doubt about the Romans going, his only wonder was that they were not
there already. The voyage, he pointed out, from Greece to Asia was shorter
than from Italy to Greece, and Antiochus was a more dangerous foe than the
Aetolians, nor were the arms of Rome less potent on sea than on land. Their
fleet had been for some time cruising off Malea, and he understood that fresh
ships and a fresh commander had come from Italy to take part in the war. He
begged Antiochus therefore to give up all hopes of being left in peace. Asia
would be the scene of conflict, for Asia itself he would have to fight by sea
and by land, and either he must wrest the supreme power from those who
were aiming at world-wide dominion or else he must lose his own throne.
The king realised that Hannibal was the only one who saw what was coming
and told him the honest truth. Following his advice, he took all the ships that
were ready for war to the Chersonese in order to strengthen the places there
with garrisons in case the Romans came by land. Polyxenidas received
instructions to fit out the rest of the fleet and put to sea, and a number of
scouting vessels were sent to patrol the waters round the islands.
36.42
C.
Livius was in command of the Roman fleet. He proceeded with fifty decked
ships to Neapolis, where the open vessels which the cities on that coast were
bound by treaty to furnish had received orders to assemble. From there he
steered for Sicily and sailed through the strait past Messana. When he had
picked up the six vessels which had been sent by Carthage and the ships
which Regium and Locris and the other cities under the same treaty
obligation had contributed he performed the lustration of the fleet and put
out to sea. On reaching Corcyra, which was the first Greek city he came to,
he made inquiries as to the state of the war -for peace did not prevail
throughout Greece -and the whereabouts of the Roman fleet. When he
learnt that the consul and the king were encamped near the Pass of
Thermopylae, and that the Roman fleet was lying in the Piraeus, he felt that
for every reason he ought to lose no time and at once set sail for the
Peloponnese. As Same and Zacynthus had taken the side of the Aetolians he
devastated those islands and then shaped his course to Malea, and as the
weather was favourable he reached the Piraeus in a few days and here he
found the fleet. Whilst off Scyllaeum he was joined by Eumenes with three
ships. Eumenes had remained for some time at Aegina, unable to make up
his mind what to do, whether to return home and defend his kingdom, as he
was constantly being told that Antiochus was concentrating naval and
military forces at Ephesus. or whether to remain in close touch with the
Romans, on whom he knew that his fate depended. A. Atilius handed over to
his successor the twenty-four decked ships in the Piraeus, and then left for
Rome. Livius sailed to Delos with eighty-one decked vessels and many
smaller, some undecked and beaked, others without beaks, to be used as
scouts.
36.43
The
consul was laying siege to Naupactus at the time. Livius was detained at
Delos by contrary winds for several days; the seas round the Cyclades are
liable to violent storms, owing to the numerous channels, some narrower,
some wider, which separate the islands. Polyxenidas received intelligence
through the scouting vessels which were patrolling those waters that the
Roman fleet was lying at Delos, and he sent on the information to the king.
Antiochus abandoned his designs in the Hellespont and returned to Ephesus
with all possible speed, taking his warships with him. He at once called a
council of war to decide whether he ought to risk an engagement.
Polyxenidas was opposed to any delay, and said that they certainly ought to
engage before Eumenes and the Rhodians joined the Roman fleet. In that
case they would not be so very unequally matched in point of numbers and in
everything else they would have the advantage, in the speed of their vessels
and in various other respects, for the Roman ships were awkwardly built and
slow, and as they were going to a hostile country they would be heavily
laden with stores, whilst the king's ships, having none but friends all round
them, would carry nothing but soldiers and their equipment. They would be
greatly assisted, too, by their familiarity with the sea and the coasts and their
knowledge of the winds; the enemy on the other hand, who was ignorant of
all this, would be thrown into confusion by them. The council unanimously
approved of his proposal, since the man who made it was also the one who
was to carry it out.
Two days were spent in preparations, on the third day they set sail
for Phocaea with a fleet of a hundred ships, seventy decked, the rest open
ships, but all smaller than the corresponding vessels of the enemy fleet. On
hearing that the Roman fleet was approaching, the king, who had no
intention of taking part in a naval battle, withdrew to Magnesia ad Sipylum
to assemble his land forces, the fleet sailing on to Cissus, the port of
Erythrae, as that appeared a more suitable place in which to await the
enemy. The Romans had been detained at Delos for some days by northerly
winds; when these subsided they put out from Delos and steered for the
harbour of Phanae, at the southern end of Chios, facing the Aegean. They
then brought their ships up to the city, and after taking in supplies sailed to
Phocaea. Eumenes, who had gone to his fleet at Elea, returned in a few days
with twenty-four decked ships and a larger number of open ones, and sailed
on to Phocaea, where he found the Romans getting their ships ready and
making every preparation for the coming naval contest. From Phocaea they
put to sea with one hundred and five decked ships and about fifty open ones.
At first they were driven towards the land by the northerly winds which blew
across their course and were forced to sail in almost a single line; when the
wind became less violent they endeavoured to make the harbour of Corycus,
which lies beyond Cissus.
36.44
When
news was brought to Polyxenidas of the approach of the Roman fleet he was
delighted at the prospect of a fight. Extending his left towards the open sea
he ordered the captains of the right division to align their ships towards the
land, and in this way he advanced to battle with a straight front. On seeing
this the Roman commander took in sail, lowered his masts, and stowing
away the tackle waited for the ships in the rear to come up. His front line
now consisted of thirty ships, and in order to make it extend as far as the
enemy's left he directed these vessels to set up their foresails and steer for
the open sea; those behind, as they came up, were ordered to direct their
course landward against the enemy's right. Eumenes was bringing up the
rear, but as soon as he saw the hurried removal of the masts and rigging he
urged his ships on with all possible speed. Full in view of both fleets were
two Carthaginian vessels which outstripped the Roman fleet and three of the
king's ships went to meet them. The inequality of numbers enabled two of
these to close on one of the Carthaginian vessels, and after shearing off both
banks of oars they boarded it and flinging overboard or killing the defenders
captured the ship. The other Carthaginian ship which had only one opponent,
seeing its sister-ship captured, fled back to the Roman fleet before the three
could make a simultaneous attack upon it. Livius was furious and made
straight in his flagship for the enemy, and as the two vessels which had
overpowered the single Carthaginian ship bore down upon him, expecting
the same success, he ordered the rowers to back water on both sides so that
the way of the ship might be stopped. Then he ordered them to hook their
grappling irons on to the enemy ships and when they had made a soldiers'
battle of it to remember that they were Romans and not to look upon the
slaves of Antiochus as men. This one ship now defeated and captured the
two much more easily than the two had captured the single one previously.
By this time the fleets were engaged along the whole line and as the fighting
went on the ships became everywhere intermixed. Eumenes, who had come
up after the battle had commenced seeing that Livius had thrown the enemy's
left into confusion, attacked the right division where the struggle was still an
equal one.
36.45
It was
not long before the enemy's left division took to flight, for when Polyxenidas
saw that he was clearly worsted as far as the courage of his soldiers was
concerned he lowered his foresails and fled away in disorder, and those who
had been engaged with Eumenes near the land very soon did the same. As
long as the rowers could hold out and there was any chance of harassing the
hindmost ships Eumenes and the Romans kept up a vigorous pursuit. But
when they found that owing to the speed of the enemy's ships, which were
light as compared with theirs, loaded as they were with supplies, their
attempt to overtake them was baffled, they desisted from the pursuit, after
capturing thirteen vessels with their troops and crews and sinking ten. The
only vessel lost in the Roman fleet was the Carthaginian vessel, overpowered
by the two assailants at the beginning of the battle. Polyxenidas did not stop
his flight till he was in the harbour of Ephesus. The Romans remained for
that day at Cissus, from which place the king's fleet had gone out to battle;
the next day they continued to follow up the enemy. Midway on their course
they were met by twenty-five decked ships from Rhodes under the command
of Pausistratus. With their united fleets they still followed up the enemy and
appeared in line of battle before the entrance of the harbour. After they had
thus forced the enemy to admit his defeat, the Rhodians and Eumenes were
sent home and the Romans started for Chios. They sailed past Phocaea, one
of the Erythraean ports, and then anchored for the night. The next day they
sailed up to the city itself. Here they stayed for a few days mainly to recruit
the crews and then they proceeded to Phocaea. Here four quinqueremes
were left to guard the city and the fleet went on to Canae, where as the
winter was approaching the ships were drawn up on land and protected by a
ring of entrenchments. At the close of the year the elections were held. The
new consuls were L. Cornelius Scipio and C. Laelius, and all were looking
upon Africanus to end the war with Antiochus. The praetors elected on the
following day were M. Tuccius, L. Aurunculeius, Cn. Fulvius, L. Aemilius,
P. Junius and C. Atinius Labeo.
End of Book 36