45.27
During
these proceedings in Illyria, Paulus, prior to the arrival of the ten
commissioners, sent his son Q. Maximus, who had now returned from
Rome, to sack the cities of Aeginium and Agassae, the latter because after
surrendering to the consul Marcius and voluntarily asking for an alliance it
had again revolted to Perseus. The offence of the people of Aeginium was of
a novel character. They did not attach any credence to the report of the
Roman victory, and killed some of the soldiers who had entered the town. L.
Postumius was also sent to sack the city of Aeniae because the inhabitants
had shown greater obstinacy than the surrounding cities. Autumn was
approaching and the consul decided to utilise this season for making a tour
through Greece and visiting objects to which the fame that reaches our ears
lends a grandeur which the eye fails to discern. He placed C. Sulpicius
Galbus in charge of the camp and set out with a small escort, his son Scipio
and Athenaeus, Eumenes' brother, riding on either side of him. Passing
through Thessaly he made his way to Delphi, the world-famed oracle. Here
he offered sacrifices to Apollo and some unfinished columns in the vestibule
on which it had been intended to place statues of Perseus he set apart for
statues of himself in commemoration of his victory. He also visited the
temple of Jupiter Trophonius at Lebadia and saw the mouth of the cavern
into which those who consult the oracle descended. There is a temple here
dedicated to Jupiter and Hercynna, and he offered sacrifices to these deities.
He then went on to Chalcis to see the Euripus and the bridge which connects
the large island of Euboea with the mainland. From there he crossed to
Aulis, a distance of three miles, and viewed the harbour, famous as the
anchorage of Agamemnon's thousand ships, and also the temple of Diana, at
whose altar the renowned "king of kings" sacrificed his daughter that his
fleet might have a favourable voyage to Troy. He then went on to Oropus,
where an ancient bard is worshipped as a god and his venerable temple is
delightfully situated amidst fountains and brooks. From there he proceeded
to Athens. This city is full of the traditions of its ancient glory, but it
nevertheless possesses many things worth seeing -the citadel, the harbour,
the walls connecting the city with the Piraeus and the dockyards; memorials
of great commanders, statues of gods and men, splendidly wrought in every
kind of material and every form of art.
