31.45
When
Attalus and the Romans arrived at the Piraeus they stayed there a few days
and then left for Andros with a heavy cargo of decrees quite as extravagant
in their praises of their friends as in their expressions of wrath against their
enemy. They brought up in the harbour of Gaurelum, and a party was sent
ashore to test the feelings of the citizens and find out whether they preferred
to surrender voluntarily or to await an assault. They replied that they were
not their own masters, as the place was held by Philip's troops. Thereupon
the forces were landed and all the usual preparations for an assault were
made, Attalus approached the city on one side and the Roman commander
on the other. The novel sight of the Roman arms and standards and the spirit
with which the soldiers without the slightest hesitation mounted the walls
utterly appalled the Greeks, who promptly fled to the citadel, leaving the
enemy in possession of the city. There they held out for two days, trusting
more to the strength of the place than to their own arms; on the third they,
together with the garrison, surrendered the town and citadel on condition of
being allowed to retire with one garment apiece to Delium in Boeotia. The
city itself was made over by the Romans to Attalus; they themselves carried
off the plunder and all that adorned the city. Anxious not to have the island a
solitude, Attalus persuaded nearly all the Macedonians, as well as some of
the Andrians, to remain there. Subsequently those who had, in accordance
with the terms of surrender, migrated to Delium were induced by the king's
promises to return, for the love of country made them more ready to trust
his word.
From Andros the fleets sailed to Cythnos. Here they spent some
days in a fruitless attack on the city, and as it seemed hardly worth while to
continue their efforts, they sailed away. At Prasiae, a place on the mainland
of Attica, the Issaeans joined the Roman fleet with twenty fast
sailing-vessels. They were sent off to ravage the Carystian country; pending
their return the rest of the fleet lay at Geraestus, a well-known port in
Euboea. Then they all set sail for the open sea, and leaving Scyros on their
right, reached Icus. Here a violent gale from the north detained them for a
few days, and as soon as the weather moderated they sailed across to
Sciathos, a city which had been devastated and plundered by Philip. The
soldiers dispersed through the fields and brought back to the ships a supply
of corn and whatever other food they could find. There was no plunder, nor
had the Greeks done anything to deserve being plundered. From there they
directed their course to Cassandrea, and touched at Mendae, a village on the
coast. Rounding the cape they were purposing to bring their ships right up to
the walls when they were caught and scattered by a violent storm in which
the vessels almost foundered. It was with difficulty that they gained the land
after losing most of their tackle. This storm was also a presage of their land
operations, for after they had collected their vessels and landed their troops
they were repulsed in their attack on the city with heavy loss, owing to the
strength of the garrison which held the place for Philip. After this failure they
withdrew to Canaestrum in Pallene, and from there sailing round the
promontory of Torone they headed for Acanthus. After ravaging the
territory they took the city by assault and sacked it. As their ships were by
this time heavily laden with booty they did not go any further, and retracing
their course they reached Sciathus, and from Sciathus they sailed to Euboea.
