41.19
. . .
On this side the Apennines there had been the Garuli, the Lapicini and the
Hergates; on the other side the Briniates. P. Mucius made war on those who
had ravaged Luna and Pisae, and after completely subjugating them deprived
them of their arms. For these successes in Gaul and Liguria under the
leadership and auspices of the two consuls, the senate decreed a three days'
thanksgiving and sacrifices of forty victims. The disturbances in Gaul and
Liguria which had broken out at the beginning of the year had been quelled
without any great difficulty, and now the public anxiety was directed to the
danger of a war with Macedonia, as Perseus was trying to involve the
Dardani and the Bastarnae in a conflict. The commissioners who had been
sent to Macedonia to investigate the position there had now returned and
reported that there was a state of war in Dardania. Envoys from Perseus
arrived at the same time and they declared, on his behalf, that the Bastarnae
had not been approached by him nor had they done anything at his
instigation. The senate did not clear him from the charges brought against
him, nor did they press them; they only ordered a warning to be given him
that he must be very careful to hold sacred the treaty which he could regard
as existing between him and Rome.
When the Dardani found that the Bastarnae were not evacuating
their territory as they had hoped, but were becoming every day more
aggressive and were receiving assistance from their Thracian neighbours and
from the Scordisci, they thought that they ought to attempt some active
measures, however hazardous. The whole of their armed force assembled at
a town near the camp of the Bastarnae. It was winter and they chose that
season on the chance of the Thracians and the Scordisci going back to their
own country. It fell out as they expected, and when they learnt that the
Bastarnae were left to themselves they divided their forces; one division was
to make a frontal attack, the other fetching a circuit was to take the enemy in
the rear. The fighting began, however, before they could get round the
enemy, and the Dardani were defeated and driven into a city some twelve
miles distant from the camp of the Bastarnae. The victors followed them
closely and invested the place, feeling pretty confident that they would
capture the place the next day either by surrender or by storm. Meanwhile
the other division, unaware of the disaster which had overtaken their
comrades, seized the camp of the Bastarnae which had been left unguarded.
. . . . . . . .