33.29
This
murder roused Thebes and the whole of Boeotia to an intensely bitter hatred
against the Romans; they were quite convinced that Zeuxippus, the foremost
man amongst them, would not have been a party to such a crime if he had
not been countenanced by the Roman general. To go to war was impossible;
they had neither forces nor a leader, but they did the next thing to it, they
took to brigandage and assassination. They made away with soldiers who
were billeted on them, and others on furlough who were going about on
various errands in their winter quarters. Some were caught in the high roads
by men who lay in wait for them, others were led on false pretences to lonely
inns and then seized and murdered. These crimes were committed from
greed quite as much as from hatred, because the men carried silver in their
belts for making purchases. As more and more men were amongst the
missing every day, the whole of Boeotia acquired an evil reputation, and the
men were more afraid to go outside their camp than if they had been in an
enemy's country. On this, Quinctius sent officers to the different cities to
investigate the murders. Most of them were found to have been committed
round Lake Copais; here bodies were dug out of the mud and recovered
from the shallows with stones or amphorae fastened to them, to sink them
deeper by their weight. Many murders also took place at Acraephia and
Coronea. Quinctius issued orders for those who were guilty to be given up
to him, and he levied a fine of 500 talents upon the Boeotians for the 500
soldiers who had been murdered.
Neither of these orders was complied with. The cities simply
excused themselves by saying that their government had not sanctioned any
of these deeds. Quinctius thereupon sent a deputation to visit Athens and
Achaia and explain to them that it was in a just and holy cause that he was
going to punish the Boeotians by arms. Appius Claudius received orders to
march to Acraephia with half the force, and he himself with the other half
invested Coronea after laving waste the country round. All the country
through which the two divisions advanced from Elatia was devastated. The
Boeotians, completely cowed by the losses they were sustaining and seeing
fear and flight everywhere, sent envoys, but as they were not admitted into
the camp, the Athenian and Achaean envoys came to their support. The
mediation of the Achaeans was the more effectual of the two, because in
case they failed to obtain peace for the Boeotians they were resolved to fight
by the side of the Romans. Through their representations, the Boeotians
were allowed to approach the Roman general and lay their case before him.
Peace was granted them on condition that they surrendered the guilty parties
and paid a fine of 30 talents, and the siege was raised.
