University of Virginia Library

37.49

Upon the appearance of the Aetolians before the senate, their own interest and the situation in which they were placed demanded that they should make a full admission of guilt and a humble request for pardon, whether for their error or their crime. Instead of this they began by recounting the services they had rendered to the Roman people and contrasting the courage they had themselves shown in fighting against Philip with that of the Romans. This insolence offended the ears of their audience, and their raking up old and forgotten incidents reminded the senators how much more they had done to injure Rome than to benefit her. Thus the men who needed compassion only evoked irritation and anger. They were asked by one senator whether they would place themselves at the disposal of the Roman people, by another whether they would have the same friends and enemies as Rome, and on their making no reply they were ordered to leave the House. The senate were unanimous in insisting that as the Aetolians were still entirely on the side of Antiochus and their aggressive temper depended solely on their hopes of him, they were unmistakably enemies to Rome, and, as such, war must be waged against them and their defiant spirit crushed. What made them still more angry was the duplicity of the Aetolians in suing for peace whilst they were actually carrying war into Dolopia and Athamania. Manius Acilius, the conqueror of Antiochus and the Aetolians, proposed a resolution which the senate adopted, namely that the envoys should be ordered to quit the City that day and to leave Italy within a fortnight. A. Terentius Varro was sent to escort them on the road, and they were warned that if any Aetolian delegates went to Rome except with the permission of the Roman commander and accompanied by a Roman officer, they would be treated as enemies. With this warning they were dismissed.