42.46
On his
return to Macedonia, Perseus sent envoys to Rome to carry on the peace
negotiations which he had begun with Marcius, and he gave them letters to
take to Byzantium and Rhodes. The purport of the letters was the same for
all, he had had an interview with the Roman commissioners. What he had
heard and said was put in such a way as to make it appear that he had the
best of the argument. In their address to the Rhodians, his envoys said that
they were confident that there would be peace, for it was on the advice of
Marcius and Atilius that they were sent to Rome. If the Romans in violation
of the treaty proceeded to war, then the Rhodians must use all their influence
and all their power to restore peace, but if their appeals proved fruitless, then
they must make it their business to prevent the power and authority over the
whole world from passing into the hands of one single nation. That was the
concern of all the nations, but especially of the Rhodians, by how much the
more they surpassed other nations in greatness and prosperity, but they
would be enslaved and helpless if they paid no regard to any but the Romans.
The letter and the address of the envoys received a favourable hearing, but
they did not avail to make the Rhodians change their minds; the influence
and authority of the better citizens prevailed. The answer which they decided
to give was to the effect that the Rhodians wanted peace; if there was war,
the king need not expect or ask for anything from them, since he was trying
to break up the long-standing friendship between them and the Romans, a
friendship which was the fruit of many valuable services rendered in both
peace and war.
On their way back from Rhodes they visited some of the cities of
Boeotia -Thebes, Coronea and Haliartus -which it was supposed had been
forced against their will to abandon their alliance with Perseus and join the
Romans. They made no impression on the Thebans, although there was a
strong feeling amongst them against the Romans owing to the severe
sentences passed on their leaders and the restoration of the exiles. But at
Coronea and at Haliartus there was a kind of inborn affection for the
dynasty, and they sent to Macedonia to ask for a garrison that they might
protect themselves against the wanton aggression of Thebes. The king told
them in reply that as there was an armistice between him and the Romans, he
could not send any troops to them; still, he advised them to revenge any
wrongs that the Thebans might inflict on them, but in such a way as not to
give the Romans any pretext for venting their wrath on him.