Livy's History of Rome: Book 42
The Third Macedonian War
42.1
The first business of
the new consuls was to consult the senate about their provinces and armies.
It was decreed that they should both have Liguria for their province and they
were each to raise two fresh legions for service in that province and also
10,000 infantry and 600 cavalry from the Latin allies. They were also
required to call up 3000 Roman infantry and 200 cavalry to reinforce the
army in Spain. A further force of 1500 infantry and 100 cavalry was to be
raised for the operations in Corsica. M. Atilius was to remain in charge of
Sardinia till his successor arrived. Then the praetors balloted for their
provinces. A. Atilius Serranus received the civic and C. Cluvius Saxula the
alien jurisdiction; Hither Spain fell to N. Fabius Buteo; Further Spain to C.
Matienus; Sicily to M. Furius Crassipes; Sardinia to C. Cicereius. Before the
magistrates left for their provinces the senate decided that L. Postumius
should go into Campania to fix the boundaries between the State land and
the land in private occupation. It was a matter of common knowledge that
persons had appropriated a large part of the State domain by gradually
advancing their boundaries. Postumius was angry with the Praenestines
because when he had gone there in a private capacity to offer a sacrifice in
the temple of Fortune, he had not received any marks of honour, either
publicly or privately. So before he left Rome he sent a despatch to Praeneste
ordering the chief magistrate to go out and meet him, to have a place
prepared by the municipality where he could stay, and to see that pack
animals were ready to carry his luggage when he left. No one before this
consul had ever been a burden or expense to the allies. The magistrates were
provided with mules and tents and all other requisites simply that they might
not requisition anything of the kind from the allies; they enjoyed the
hospitality of private citizens whom they treated with courtesy and
consideration; and their own houses in Rome were open to those with whom
they were accustomed to stay. When officials were despatched to some place
on a sudden emergency they only demanded one mule apiece from the towns
through which their journey lay. No other expense was incurred by the allies
in the case of Roman magistrates. The vindictiveness of the consul, even if
justifiable, ought not in any case to have appeared while he was in office.
The Praenestines unfortunately, whether through modesty or timidity,
allowed the matter to pass without protest, and this silence furnished the
magistrates with a legal colouring, as though following an unquestioned
precedent, to demands which became continuously more burdensome.
42.2
At the
beginning of the year, the commissioners who had visited Aetolia and
Macedonia brought back word that no opportunity had been afforded them
of meeting Perseus. Some made out that he was ill; others that he was away
from home; both stories being equally false. It was, however, quite clear that
warlike preparations were on foot, and that it would not be long before
Perseus resorted to arms. In Aetolia intestine quarrels were increasing in
violence day by day, and the leaders of the opposing factions refused to be
kept in check by their authority. As it was fully expected that there would be
war with Macedonia, it was decided that portents should be expiated and
prayers offered to win "the peace of the Gods," of those deities, namely, who
were mentioned in the Books of Fate. At Lanuvium the sight of a great fleet
had been witnessed in the heavens; at Privernum the earth had brought forth
dark-coloured wool; at Remens in the Veientine district there had been a
shower of stones; the whole of the Pomptine country had been covered with
clouds of locusts; in a field in Gaul where the plough was at work, fishes
emerged from the turned-up clods. In consequence of these portents the
Books of Fate were consulted, and the Keepers announced to what deities
and with what victims sacrifices were to be offered; they further ordered
special intercessions for the expiation of the portents, and also others in
fulfilment of the vow taken by the people the previous year on the occasion
of the pestilence. All was done as the Sacred Books ordered.
42.3
It was in
this year that the temple of Juno Lacinia was unroofed. Q. Fulvius Flaccus,
the censor, was building the temple of Fortuna Equestris and was quite
determined that there should be no larger or more magnificent temple in
Rome. He had vowed this temple during the Celtiberian war, whilst acting as
praetor in Spain. The beauty of the temple would be enhanced, he thought, if
it were roofed with marble tiles, and with this object he went down to
Bruttium and stripped off half the roof from the temple of Juno Lacinia, as
he considered this would furnish sufficient tiles to cover his temple. Ships
were in readiness to transport them, and the natives were deterred by the
authority of the censor from any attempt to prevent the sacrilege. On the
censor's return the tiles were unloaded and carried to the new temple.
Although no hint was dropped as to where they came from, concealment
was impossible. Protests were heard in the House, and there was a general
demand that the consuls should bring the matter before the senate. The
censor was summoned, and his appearance called forth still more bitter
reproaches from all sides. Not content, he was told, with violating the
noblest temple in that part of the world, a temple which neither Pyrrhus nor
Hannibal had violated, he did not rest till he had cruelly defaced it and almost
destroyed it. With its pediment gone and its roof stripped off, it lay open to
moulder and decay in the rain. The censor is appointed to regulate the public
morals; the man who had, following ancient usage, been charged to see that
the buildings for public worship are properly closed in and that they are kept
in repair -this very man is roaming about amongst the cities of our allies
ruining their temples and stripping off the roofs of their sacred edifices. Even
in the case of private buildings such conduct would be thought disgraceful,
but he is demolishing the temples of the immortal gods. By building and
beautifying one temple out of the ruins of another he is involving the people
of Rome in the guilt of impiety, as though the immortal gods are not the
same everywhere, but some must be honoured and adorned with the spoils
of others. It was quite clear what the feeling of the House was even before
the question was put, and when it was put they were unanimous in deciding
that those tiles should be carried back to the temple and that expiatory
sacrifices should be offered to Juno. The religious duty was carefully
discharged, but the contractors reported that as there was no one who
understood how to replace the tiles they had been left in the precinct of the
temple.
42.4
One of
the praetors, N. Fabius, whilst on his way to take charge of the province of
Hither Spain, died at Marseilles. On receiving the information of his death,
the senate decreed that P. Furius and Cn. Servilius, whose successors had
been already appointed, should decide by ballot which of them should have
his command extended and administer Hither Spain. It fell to P. Furius,
fortunately, who had been in the province, to retain it. There was a quantity
of land taken in the wars with the Ligurians and the Gauls which was lying
unappropriated, and the senate passed a resolution that it should be
distributed amongst individual holders. In pursuance of this resolution the
City praetor appointed ten commissioners to supervise the allotment, M.
Aemilius Lepidus, C. Cassius, T. Aebutus Carus, C. Tremellius, P. Cornelius
Cethegus, Quintus and Lucius Apuleius, M. Caecilius, C. Salonius, and C.
Menatius. Each Roman citizen received ten jugera, each of the Latin allies,
three. During this time a delegation from Aetolia went to Rome with an
account of their party factions and fights; others from Thessaly to report on
the state of things in Macedonia.
42.5
Perseus
was revolving in his mind the war which he had been meditating in his
father's life-time, and by promises more than by performance was trying
through his agents to enlist the sympathies not only of the Greek States as a
whole, but of the separate cities also. There was, however, a large party in
his favour and much more inclined to support him than Eumenes, though
Eumenes had by his munificent liberality laid all the cities of Greece and
most of their leaders under personal obligations to him. His kingly rule, too,
had been such that not one of the cities which owned his sway would have
changed their condition with that of any autonomous community. On the
other hand, there were rumours that Perseus had killed his wife with his own
hand, and had put Apelles to death. Apelles had been his instrument in
getting rid of his brother and had fled the country to escape the punishment
which Philip sought to inflict on him. After his father's death Perseus had by
lavish promises of rewards for his share in the murder enticed him back and
then had him assassinated. Although he was notorious for many other
murders, both of his own subjects and of foreigners, and although he did not
possess a single commendable quality, the cities generally preferred him to a
king who had shown such affection towards his kindred, such justice
towards his subjects and such bountiful generosity towards all men. Either
they were so impressed with the prestige and greatness of Macedonia as to
look with contempt on a newly-founded kingdom, or they were eager for a
revolutionary change, or else they did not wish to be at the mercy of Rome.
It was not in Aetolia only that disturbances had arisen through the
heavy pressure of debt; the Thessalians were in the same condition, and the
mischief had spread like an epidemic to Perrhaebia also. When news came
that the Thessalians were in arms, the senate at once sent Ap. Claudius to
examine the situation and allay the excitement. He severely censured the
leaders on both sides. The debt was swollen by illegal interest, and he
reduced the amount with the consent of those who had made it so heavy,
and then arranged that the amount legally owing should be paid off by equal
instalments in ten years. Affairs in Perrhaebia were settled in the same way.
Marcellus attended the session of the Aetolian council at Delphi and heard
the arguments of both sides, who carried on the dispute in the same temper
they had shown in the civil war. He saw that it was a competition in
recklessness and audacity, and not wishing to lighten or to aggravate the
grievances of either side, he made the same demand on both and asked them
to abstain from war and bury their old quarrels in oblivion. This
reconciliation was mutually guaranteed by the exchange of hostages, and
Corinth was agreed upon as the place where the hostages were to reside.
42.6
Leaving
Delphi and the Aetolian council Marcellus proceeded to the Peloponnese,
where he had called a meeting of the Achaean council. Here he commended
them for having firmly retained the old decree forbidding the Macedonian
kings any approach to their territories, and he made it quite clear that the
Romans regarded Perseus as an enemy. To precipitate hostilities Eumenes
went to Rome, taking with him the notes he had made during his enquiry
into the warlike preparations going on. Five commissioners were at the same
time sent to the king to see for themselves the state of things in Macedonia,
and were instructed to visit Alexandria as well and renew the friendly
relations between Ptolemy and Rome. The members of the mission were C.
Valerius, Cn. Lutatius Cerco, Q. Baebius Sulca, M. Cornelius Mammula,
and M. Caecilius Denter. Envoys from Antiochus arrived about the same
date. Their leader, Apollonius, when introduced to the senate, alleged many
valid reasons why the king was paying his tribute after the appointed day. He
had, however, brought the whole amount, so that no favour need be shown
to the king beyond excusing the delay. He had, in addition, brought a present
of golden vases weighing 500 pounds. The king asked that the friendship and
alliance which had been formed with his father might be renewed with him,
and that the people of Rome would look to him for all that a friendly
monarch could supply; he would never be lacking in any service he could
render them. During his stay in Rome, he reminded the House, it was due to
the kindness of the senate and the friendliness of the younger men that he
was treated as a prince more than as a hostage. The deputation received a
gracious reply and the City praetor, A. Atilius, was ordered to renew the
alliance with Antiochus which had existed with his father. The tribute was
given into the charge of the City quaestors, and the golden vases were
handed to the censors with instructions to deposit them in whatever temples
they thought fit. The leader of the deputation received a present of 100,000
ases, and free quarters and hospitality were decreed to him as long as he
remained in Italy. The commissioners who had been in Syria had reported
that he held the highest place of honour with the king and was a devoted
friend to Rome.
42.7
The
principal incidents in the provinces this year were the following: C. Cicereius
fought a regular engagement in Corsica; 7000 of the enemy were killed and
over 1700 made prisoners. During the battle the praetor vowed a temple to
Juno Moneta. After this the Corsicans begged for peace, which was granted
to them on condition of their paying a tribute of 200,000 pounds of wax.
After the subjugation of Corsica, Cicereius sailed across to Sardinia. There
was a battle also in Liguria at the town of Carystum in the Statellate country.
A large force of Ligurians had concentrated there. After the consul M.
Popilius reached the place they at first kept within their walls, but when they
saw the Romans preparing to attack, they formed their line of battle in front
of their gates. This had been the consul's object in threatening an attack and
he lost no time, therefore, in commencing the action. They fought for more
than three hours without any certain prospect of victory on either side. When
the consul found that in no part of the field were the Ligurians giving way,
he ordered the cavalry to mount and deliver as fierce a charge as possible on
the front and flanks of the enemy's line. A good many broke through the
enemy's centre and got behind the fighting line. This created a panic amongst
the Ligurians; they broke and fled in all directions, very few reached the
town, the cavalry mostly intercepting them. The obstinacy of the fighting
proved costly to the Ligurians; 10,000 men are said to have been killed and
more than 700 prisoners taken; 82 standards were carried off the field. The
victory was not a bloodless one for the Romans: they lost more than 3000
men; the loss fell mainly on the front ranks owing to both sides refusing to
give ground.
42.8
After the
battle the Ligurians rallied from their scattered flight and collected together.
When they became aware that the number of those lost was greater than that
of the survivors -there were not more than 10,000 men -they made their
surrender and made it unconditionally in the hope that the consul would not
treat them with greater severity than former generals had done. However, he
deprived them all of their arms, sacked their town and sold them and their
property. He forwarded a report of what he had done to the senate. As the
other consul, Postumius, was occupied with the survey of the fields in
Campania, the despatch was read in the House by A. Atilius. The senators
regarded it as an act of gross cruelty that the Statellati, who alone of all the
Ligurians had refused to take up arms against Rome, should actually have
been attacked without any provocation, and after trusting themselves to the
good faith of the Roman people have been tortured to death with every form
of cruelty. That so many thousands of freeborn persons, guiltless of any
crime, should have been sold into slavery, in spite of their appeals to the
honour of Rome, is a terrible example and warning against any one
henceforth making a surrender, and sharing the fate of those who have been
dragged off to various places to be the slaves of men who were formerly the
enemies of Rome and are hardly even now at peace with her. Moved by
these considerations the senate determined that M. Popilius should restore
the Ligurians to liberty and return the purchase-money, and see that as much
of their property as could be recovered should be given back to them; their
arms also were to be restored. All this was to be done as soon as possible;
the consul was not to leave his province till he had replaced the surrendered
Ligurians in their homes. He was reminded that the glory of victory was won
by overcoming the enemy in fair fight, not by cruelty to those who cannot
defend themselves.
42.9
The same
ungovernable temper which the consul had displayed towards the Ligurians
he now showed in refusing to obey the senate. He at once sent the legions
into winter quarters at Pisae and returned to Rome angry with the senate and
furious with the praetors. Immediately on his arrival he convened the senate
in the temple of Bellona, where he delivered a long an bitter harangue
against the praetor. He ought, he said, to have asked the senate to decree
honours to the immortal gods for the successes he had won, instead of which
he had induced the senate to pass a resolution in favour of the enemy by
which he transferred his (the speaker's) victory to the Ligurians and
practically ordered the consul to surrender to them. He therefore imposed a
fine on him and asked the senators to make an order rescinding the
resolution against him and also to do, now that he was in Rome, what they
ought to have done when he was away, immediately they received his
despatch, namely, to decree a solemn thanksgiving, first as honouring the
gods and then as showing at least some regard for him. Some of the senators
attacked him to his face quite as severely as they had done in his absence,
and he returned to his province without either of his demands being
conceded. The other consul, Postumius, spent the summer in surveying the
fields and returned to Rome for the elections without even having seen his
province. The new consuls were C. Popilius Laenas and P. Aelius Ligus. The
new praetors were C. Licinius Crassus, M. Junius Pennus, Sp. Lucretius, Sp.
Cluvius, Cn. Sicinius, and C. Memmius for the second time.
42.10
This
year the lustrum was closed. The censors were Q. Fulvius Flaccus and A.
Postumius Albinus; Postumius closed the lustrum. The number of Roman
citizens as shown by the census was 269,015, a somewhat smaller number
than the previous one. This was owing to the fact that, as the consul
explained to the Assembly, all those who had to return to their own cities in
compliance with the consul's edict were registered in their own places of
residence, none of them in Rome. The censors had discharged their functions
in perfect harmony and in the best interests of the commonwealth. All those
whom they struck off the senatorial roll, or degraded from the order of the
equites, they placed amongst the aerarii and expelled from the tribes, and
neither of them retained any name which the other censor had rejected.
Fulvius dedicated the temple of Fortuna Equestris, which he had vowed six
years previously when fighting with the Celtiberi. He also exhibited the
Scenic Games for four days and those in the Circus Maximus for one day. L.
Cornelius Lentulus, one of the Keepers of the Sacred Books, died this year,
and A. Postumius Albinus was appointed in his place. Such clouds of locusts
invaded Apulia from the sea that they covered the fields far and wide with
their swarms. To get rid of this destruction to the crops Cn. Sicinius was
sent with full powers into Apulia and spent a considerable time in getting
together an enormous number of men to collect them.
The following year in which C. Popilius and P. Aelius were the
consuls began with the dispute left over from the year before. The senators
wanted to discuss the question of the Ligurians and to reaffirm their
resolution. The consul Aelius brought the matter up for discussion; Popilius,
on his brother's behalf, tried to dissuade both his colleague and the senate
from taking any further action and publicly gave out that if they made any
decree he should oppose it. He deterred his colleague from going any
further; the senate were all the more incensed against both consuls and
insisted on carrying the matter through. So when the allocation of provinces
came up and the consuls were anxious to have Macedonia, as a war with
Perseus was now imminent, the senate decreed Liguria as the province for
both consuls. They refused to decree Macedonia unless the case of M.
Popilius was gone into. The consuls then demanded to be allowed to raise
fresh armies or else reinforcements for the old armies. Both requests were
refused. Two of the praetors asked for reinforcements: M. Junius for Hither
Spain and Sp. Lucretius for Further Spain. Their request was also refused.
C. Licinius Crassus had received the civic and Cn. Sicinius the alien
jurisdiction; C. Memmius had Sicily allotted to him, and Sp. Cluvius
Sardinia. The consuls were angry with the senate for the course they had
taken, and after fixing the Latin Festival at the earliest possible date, gave
notice that they should leave for their province and would transact no public
business beyond what was connected with the administration of the
provinces.
42.11
Valerius Antias writes that Attalus, the
brother of Eumenes, went to Rome at this time to lay charges against
Perseus and to describe his preparations for war. The majority of annalists,
and certainly those whom you would prefer to believe, state that Eumenes
came in person. When he arrived in Rome he was received with all the
honours which the people of Rome considered due to his own merits and
quite as much so to the kindnesses which they had heaped upon him in such
profusion. After being introduced to the senate he said that he was visiting
Rome for two reasons. One was his great desire to make acquaintance with
the gods and men to whose beneficence he owed his present prosperity,
which was such that he did not venture even to wish for anything beyond it.
The other reason was that he might warn the senate of the necessity of
thwarting the projects of Perseus. Beginning with a review of Philip's policy
he narrated the circumstances of the death of Demetrius, who was opposed
to war with Rome. "The Bastarnae," he continued, "were induced to leave
their homes that he might have their assistance in the invasion of Italy.
Whilst revolving these schemes in his mind he was surprised by death and
left the crown to one whom he knew to be Rome's greatest enemy. The war
had thus been left as a heritage to Perseus by his father, bequeathed to him
together with the crown, and from the first day of his rule all his plans were
laid to feed and foster it. He has abundant resources; the long years of peace
have produced a numerous progeny of men of military age; moreover he is in
the prime of life, in the full strength of manhood, and with a mind
strengthened and disciplined in the science and practice of war. From his
boyhood he has shared his father's tent and has thus gained experience not
only in border wars, but even in the wars with Rome in the various
expeditions on which he has been sent. From the day he ascended the throne
he has been marvellously successful in accomplishing many things which his
father, after trying every means, was unable to effect either by force or craft;
and his power is enhanced by a personal authority such as is only gained by
great and numerous merits in a long course of time.
42.12
"For
throughout the cities of Greece and Asia all stand in awe of his greatness. I
do not see for what merits or munificence such a tribute is paid him, nor can
I say for certain whether this is due to the good fortune which attends him or
whether, though I shrink from saying it, it is ill-feeling towards Rome that
places him so high in their favour. Even with monarchs he possesses great
influence; he married the daughter of Seleucus, and did not ask for her hand;
on the contrary, he was invited to make the match; he gave his sister to
Prusias in response to his earnest solicitations. At the celebration of both
these marriages congratulations and wedding presents were offered by
deputations from numberless States, and the proudest nations joined in the
processions to bring good luck to the brides. The Boeotians, in spite of all
Philip's persuasions, could never be brought to make a formal league of
friendship and commit it to writing; today the terms of a league with Perseus
are recorded in three inscriptions: one at Thebes, another in the venerable
world-famed shrine in Delos, and the third at Delphi. And, as a matter of
fact, unless a small section of the Achaean council had threatened the rest
with the power of Rome, matters would have gone so far that the way into
Achaia would have been open to him. After all the services I have rendered
to that nation -and it is difficult to say whether those to the nation or those
to individuals were the greater -the statues set up in my honour have either
fallen into decay through neglect, or else have been done away with through
hostile malice. Who does not know that in their party conflicts the Aetolians
appeal for help not to the Romans, but to Perseus? Though he had these
friendships and alliances to lean upon, he has made such ample preparations
for war at home that he has no need of outside help. He has stored corn for
30,000 infantry and 5000 cavalry which will last for ten years, so that he can
leave the harvests of his own and of the enemy's fields untouched. He is now
in possession of so much money that he has a reserve sufficient to pay
10,000 mercenary troops, in addition to his Macedonian force, for the same
period. This is irrespective of the revenue from the royal mines. In the
arsenals, arms have been accumulated for three armies each as large. Thrace
is open to him as a never-failing source from which he can draw fighting
men, supposing that the supply from Macedonia should fail."
42.13
He
closed with an earnest appeal. "I am not, senators, laying these facts before
you as bruited in vague rumours, or because I wished such charges against
an enemy to be true, and therefore was the more eager to credit them; I am
stating the results of my investigations and disclosures just as though you
had sent me on a mission of enquiry and I were reporting what I had actually
seen. I would not have left my kingdom, to which you have given such
extension and prestige, and undertaken so long a voyage merely to destroy
all faith in me by telling you idle tales. I saw the greatest cities in Greece and
Asia unveiling their designs day by day, and soon, were they allowed, they
will have gone so far that there will be no room left for repentance. I have
watched Perseus, not confining himself within his own borders, taking armed
possession of some places, and where others could not be seized by force,
winning them by a show of favour and goodwill. I observed how unequal the
conditions were; he preparing for war against you and you making peace
secure for him, though it seemed to me as if he were not so much preparing
for war as actually commencing it. Abrupolis, your friend and ally, he has
expelled from his kingdom. Arthetaurus, the Illyrian, also your friend and
ally, he caused to be put to death because he discovered that he had written
to you. Euersas and Callicritus, leading men in Thebes, he managed to get
put out of the way because they spoke too frankly against him in the council
of Boeotia and declared that they should inform you about what was going
on. He sent help to the Byzantines in violation of the treaty; he levied war on
Dolopia; he marched his army through Thessaly and Doris in order that,
should civil war break out, he might smash the more respectable party by the
means of the more disreputable one. He brought about universal confusion in
Thessaly and Perrhaebia by holding out the prospect of a cancellation of all
debts, so that he might crush the aristocracy by a body of debtors bound by
their obligations to him. As you have remained quiet and allowed him to do
all this, and as he sees that, as far as you are concerned, Greece has been
handed over to him, he takes it for granted that he will meet with no armed
opposition before he has landed in Italy. How far this is an honourable or
safe policy for you to pursue, it is for you to consider. I, at all events, felt
that it would be disgraceful on my part if Perseus came and carried war into
Italy before I, your ally, had warned you to be on your guard. I have
discharged the duty incumbent upon me and have relieved myself of what
was a burden on my loyalty. What can I do more, except to pray heaven that
you may consult the true interest of your commonwealth and of us, your
allies and friends, who depend on you?"
42.14
This
speech made a great impression on the House, but for the time no one
outside could learn anything beyond the fact of the king's presence in the
House, in such silence were the proceedings veiled. Only when the war was
over did what the king said and what the senate replied leak out. A few days
later the envoys of King Perseus were admitted to an audience. But the
minds, no less than the ears, of the senators had been captured by Eumenes,
and all that the Macedonian envoys alleged in justification or apology found
no hearing. The effrontery of Harpalus, the leader of the embassy, created
still more exasperation. He said that the king was anxious that when he
declared that he had neither said nor done anything of a hostile character, his
statement should be believed. If, however, he saw that they were obstinately
bent upon finding some excuse for war, he should depend upon himself with
resolution and courage; the chances of war were the same for both sides and
the issue was uncertain.
All the cities of Greece and Asia were much concerned about the
reception which Eumenes and the envoys of Perseus had met with in the
senate. Most of them on learning of the arrival in Rome of the man who, in
their opinion, would influence the Romans in the direction of war, sent
deputations, ostensibly to discuss other questions. One of these was from
Rhodes, and its leader had no doubt whatever that Eumenes had included his
city in the indictment against Perseus. Consequently he made every effort
through his friends and patrons to get an opportunity of meeting the king in
argument before the senate. As he did not succeed he denounced the king in
unmeasured invective, declaring that he had stirred up the Lycians against
the Rhodians and was much more oppressive to Asia than Antiochus had
ever been. This language pleased the populace whose sympathies were with
Perseus, but it was resented by the senate and did no good either to himself
or his fellow-countrymen The hostility shown towards Eumenes by the
different States made the Romans all the more determined to show him
favour; all honours were heaped upon him and most valuable gifts presented
to him, including a curule chair and an ivory sceptre.
42.15
After
the deputations were dismissed, Harpalus returned to Macedonia as speedily
as possible and informed the king that he had left the Romans not indeed
actually preparing for war, but so embittered against him that any one might
see they would not long delay. Perseus himself believed that events would
take this turn and now he even wished that they would, as he believed
himself to be at the height of his power. Eumenes was the man he hated most
of all, and he determined to begin the war by shedding his blood. He
suborned Euander of Crete, a leader of mercenaries, and three Macedonians
who were accustomed to lend their services for crimes of this nature, and
gave them a letter for Praxo, a friend of his, the wealthiest and most
influential woman in Delphi. It was generally understood that Eumenes
would go up to Delphi to sacrifice to Apollo. The only thing the assassins
needed for executing their project was a suitable spot, and they and Euander
traversed the neighbourhood to find one.
On the ascent to the temple from Cirrha, before reaching the part
covered with buildings, the path, which is so narrow that passengers can
only go in single file, has a wall running close to it on the left hand, and on
the right a landslip has left an abrupt descent of some depth. Behind this wall
the conspirators concealed themselves and built steps up against it, so that
they might hurl missiles on the king as he passed under it. As he came up
from the sea he was surrounded by a crowd of friends and by his bodyguard,
but as the road became narrower, fewer could walk side by side. When they
reached the place where they had to go in single file, Pantaleon, one of the
Aetolian leaders, was in front, and the king was engaged in conversation
with him. At this moment the assassins appeared above the wall and rolled
down two huge stones, one of which hit the king on the head and the other
fell on his shoulder. Stunned by the blow he fell down the steep descent,
after many stones had been flung upon him as he lay. All the friends and
guards fled except Pantaleon, who fearlessly remained to protect the king.
42.16
The
assassins could easily have run round the wall to finish off the wounded king,
but instead of this they fled up to the ridge of Parnassus as though they had
completed their task, and in such haste that one of them, not being able to
keep up with them, retarded their flight, and to prevent his being caught and
turning informer against them, they killed their comrade. The king's friends
ran to where his body lay, followed by the guards and slaves. They lifted
him, still stunned by the blow and unconscious, but they found from the
warmth of the body and the breath still remaining in the lungs, that he was
still alive, but they had little or no hope of his recovery. Some of the guards
followed in the track of the assassins and climbed as far as the top of
Parnassus, but their labour was in vain and they returned from their fruitless
search. The Macedonians had set about the crime with as much deliberation
as daring; they abandoned it with as much haste as cowardice. The next day
the king had recovered consciousness and was carried down to the ship.
They first made for Corinth, then the ships were drawn across the neck of
the Isthmus and the voyage was continued to Aegina. Here so much secrecy
was observed regarding his progress towards recovery, none being admitted
to his room, that a report of his death travelled through Asia. Even Attalus
believed it, somewhat more readily indeed than was consistent with harmony
between the brothers, for he talked to his brother's wife and to the
commandant of the citadel as if he were the undoubted heir to the crown.
Eumenes did not forget this, and though he had determined to dissemble his
resentment and preserve silence, he could not restrain himself the first time
they met from reproaching him for his premature haste in wooing his wife.
The rumour of his death even reached Rome.
42.17
Just
after this incident C. Valerius, who had been sent to Greece to examine the
state of the country and discover the designs of Perseus, returned with a
report which agreed in all points with the charges brought by Eumenes. He
had brought back with him from Delphi the woman Praxo, whose house had
been the meeting-place of the assassins, and also L. Rammius, a native of
Brundisium, who laid the following information before the senate. Rammius
was the chief person in Brundisium, and he used to entertain the Roman
generals and distinguished ambassadors from foreign nations, especially
those who represented monarchy. Through this he became known to
Perseus, though he was in a different part of the world, and when he
received a letter holding out the prospect of more intimate friendship, and
consequently of high fortune, he paid a visit to the king. In a short time he
found himself on very familiar terms with him, and drawn more often than he
could have wished into confidential talks. The king pressed a proposal upon
him and promised him a huge bribe if he would consent to it. As all the
Roman generals and ambassadors usually accepted his hospitality, Perseus
suggested that he should arrange for poison to be administered to those
whose names he should give him. He knew that the preparation of poison
was extremely difficult and dangerous, as so many must know of its
preparation and, besides that, there is uncertainty as to its working, whether
it will be strong enough to accomplish its task or safe as against any
discovery. He would therefore give him a poison which could not be
detected by any indication, either whilst being given or afterwards. Rammius
was afraid that, if he refused, he might be the first on whom the poison
would be tried, so he promised to do what the king asked, and started for
home. He did not, however, want to return to Brundisium before he saw C.
Valerius, who was reported to be in the neighbourhood of Chalcis. He laid
the facts before him, and acting on his instructions came with him to Rome.
Introduced into the senate he narrated what had taken place.
42.18
This
information added to that which Eumenes had given hastened their decision
to declare Perseus a public enemy; they recognised that he was not
meditating an honourable war in the spirit of a king, but was winding his way
through every criminal method of assassination and poisoning. The conduct
of the war was left to the new consuls. For the present, however, it was
decided that Cn. Sicinius should raise a force, which was to be taken to
Brundisium and sail across as soon as possible to Apollonia and Epirus and
occupy the cities on the coast, where the consul to whom Macedonia should
be allotted could find safe anchorage and disembark his men without trouble.
Eumenes had been detained a considerable time at Aegina, as the dangerous
nature of his wounds made his recovery slow and difficult. As soon as it was
safe for him to move, he went on to Pergamum and began to make energetic
preparations for war. This fresh crime of Perseus intensified his old enmity
towards him and proved a powerful incentive. Delegates from Rome went to
congratulate him on his escape from such great peril to his life. The
Macedonian war was put off for the year, and nearly all the praetors left for
their provinces, with the exception of M. Junius and S. Lucretius. They had
received Spain as their province, and after repeated requests they at length
prevailed on the senate to allow their army to be reinforced. They were,
empowered to raise 3000 infantry and 150 cavalry for the Roman legions,
and for the allied contingent 5000 infantry and 300 cavalry. This force was
transported to Spain with the new praetors.
42.19
During
this year a large part of the Campanian district, which had been in many
places appropriated by private individuals, was by the survey of the consul
Postumius recovered for the State, and M. Lucretius, one of the tribunes of
the plebs, gave notice of a proposal that the censors should let out the
Campanian land for cultivation, a thing that had not been done through all
the years since the fall of Capua, and as a consequence, the greed of private
citizens took its course in the unoccupied land. War had now been
determined upon, though not yet declared; the senate were waiting to see
which of the monarchs would befriend Perseus and who would support
them. Just at this time a mission from Ariarathes arrived, bringing with them
the king's young son. They explained that the king had sent his son to be
brought up in Rome, so that he might from his boyhood become familiar
with Roman manners and Roman men. He asked that they would allow him
to be not only under the charge of personal friends but also under the care
and guardianship, so to speak, of the State. The senate were highly pleased
with the proposal, and made a decree that Cn. Sicinius should hire a
furnished house where the king's son and his suite could live. Envoys also
from Thrace, with the Maedi and Astii, came to ask for alliance and
friendship. Their request was granted and each received a present of 2000
ases. The Romans were especially glad that these peoples had been received
into alliance, because Thrace lay at the back of Macedonia. But that the
whole situation in Asia and the islands might be thoroughly investigated,
Tiberius Claudius Nero and M. Decimius were sent with instructions to visit
Crete and Rhodes, to renew friendly relations, and at the same time to find
out whether the allies of Rome had been tampered with by Perseus.
42.20
Whilst
the citizens were in a state of tense expectancy of a fresh war, the column
erected on the Capitol during the Punic war by the colleague of Ser. Fulvius
was shattered from top to bottom by a stroke of lightning. This accident was
regarded as a portent and reported to the senate. The Keepers of the Sacred
Books announced that the City must undergo a lustration; that intercessions
and special prayers must be offered; and that animals of the larger size must
be sacrificed both at Rome in the Capitol and in Campania at the Promontory
of Minerva. Games were also, as soon as possible, to be celebrated for ten
days in honour of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. The reply of the augurs was to
the effect that the portent would prove to be favourable, for it portended the
widening of frontiers and the destruction of enemies; those ships' beaks
which the storm had thrown down had been taken as spoils from the enemy.
Other incidents increased the religious terrors. It was reported that showers
of blood had been falling for three days at Saturnia; an ass was foaled with
three legs, and a bull with five cows had been destroyed by a single flash of
lightning at Calatia; at Auximium there had been a shower of earth. In
expiation of these portents, sacrifices were offered and special intercessions
for one day, which was observed as a solemn holiday.
42.21
Up to
this time the consuls had not left for their province. They did not comply
with the desire of the senate to bring up the question of Popilius, and the
senators were determined not to make any decrees till this was settled. The
feeling against Popilius was intensified by a despatch received from him in
which he stated that he had fought another battle with the Statellati and had
killed 6000 of them. This iniquitous proceeding of his drove the rest of the
Ligurians to arms. Now, however, it was not only the absent Popilius who
was attacked in the senate for having, in defiance of all law, human and
divine, commenced an aggressive war upon a people who had made their
submission; the consuls also were severely censured for not having gone to
their province. This attitude of the senate determined two of the tribunes of
the plebs -M. Marcius Sermo and Q. Marcius Scylla -to warn the consuls
that if they did not go to their province they should impose a fine on them.
They also read to the senate the terms of a proposal which they intended to
bring forward regarding the treatment of the Ligurians after they had made
their submission. It was to the effect that where any of the Statellati who had
made their surrender had not been restored to liberty by August 1, the senate
should on oath empower a magistrate to seek out and punish the persons
through whose criminal act they had passed into slavery. This order, thus
sanctioned by the senate, was announced to the Assembly. Before the
consuls left the City the senate gave an audience to C. Cicereius in the
temple of Bellona. He gave an account. of what he had done in Corsica, but
his request for a triumph was refused, and he celebrated his triumph on the
Alban Mount, without the sanction of the senate, a thing which had become
quite customary. Marcius's proposal about the Ligurians received the hearty
assent of the plebs, and was carried. Acting on this plebiscite, C. Licinius
consulted the senate as to whom they would choose to conduct the enquiry,
and the senators ordered him to conduct it himself.
42.22
Now
at last the consuls went to their province and took over the army from M.
Popilius. He did not venture to return to Rome, where the senate were
hostile, and the people still more so, for fear of having to stand his trial
before the praetor who had submitted to the senate the resolution against
him. His refusal to appear was met by the tribunes of the plebs with the
menace of a second resolution to be submitted to the effect that if he had not
entered the City of Rome by November 13, Licinius should judge and
determine his case in his absence. Dragged home by this chain he found
himself the object of universal odium in the senate. After many of the
senators had lashed him with bitter invectives, the House passed a resolution
that the praetors C. Licinius and Cn. Sicinius should make it their business to
restore to liberty all Ligurians who had not been in arms against Rome since
the consulship of Q. Fulvius and L. Manlius, and that the consul C. Popilius
should make them a grant of land on the other side of the Po. By this
resolution many thousands recovered their freedom and they were
transported across the Po where land was assigned to them. M. Popilius,
under the Marcian Decree, appeared on two occasions before C. Licinius.
On the third day of his trial the praetor, out of regard for his brother the
consul, and yielding to the entreaties of the Popilian family, ordered the
defendant to appear again on March 15, the day on which the new
magistrates would enter upon office, so that he might not have to adjudicate,
being no longer a magistrate. In this way the decree respecting the Ligurians
was evaded by a subterfuge.
42.23
A
deputation from Carthage was in Rome at that time, as was also Gulussa,
Masinissa's son. There was a hot dispute between them in the senate-house.
The grievance of the Carthaginians was that in addition to the territory which
had been adjudicated on the spot by the Roman commissioners, Masinissa
had during the last two years taken forcible possession of more than seventy
towns and forts standing on Carthaginian soil; an easy matter for a man who
had no scruples. As the Carthaginians were bound by their treaty they took
no action, for they were forbidden to carry their arms outside their frontiers,
though they knew quite well that if they were to drive the Numidians out,
they would be warring within their own frontiers. They were, however,
deterred by a clear clause in the treaty, which expressly forbade them to
engage in war with the allies of Rome. But the Carthaginians declared that
they could no longer endure his insolence and cruelty and avarice; and they
explained that they were sent to implore the senate to grant them one of
three things, either themselves to decide, as between a king and a people,
both of whom were their allies, what belonged to each; or to leave the
Carthaginians at liberty to defend themselves against unjust attacks in a just
and righteous war; or, finally, if personal bias rather than truth swayed the
senate, that they should settle once for all how much of other people's
property they wished to make a present of to Masinissa. The senate would at
all events make their gift a more moderate one if they were to know what
they had given, whereas Masinissa would fix no limits other than what his
greed and ambition might determine. If they were not to obtain any of these
requests, and if they had in any way given offence since Scipio granted them
peace, then let the Romans themselves punish them; they preferred the
security of servitude under Roman masters rather than a liberty exposed to
Masinissa's lawlessness. It would, in fact, be better for them to perish at once
than to draw their breath at the will of a tyrant and a butcher. At these words
they burst into tears and fell on their faces, and as they lay there prostrate
they aroused not more pity for themselves than displeasure against the king.
42.24
The
senate decided to ask Gulussa what answer he had to make to these charges,
or whether he preferred to state first his object in coming to Rome. Gulussa
said that he was in a difficulty in having to deal with matters about which he
had received no instructions from his father, nor would it have been easy for
his father to give him instructions, for the Carthaginians had given no
indication of the question they were going to raise or even of their intention
to visit Rome. For several nights their Inner Council had been meeting in
secret conclave in the temple of Aesculapius, and in addition to other steps
envoys were despatched to Rome with sealed instructions. This was his
father's reason for sending him to Rome, to ask the senate not to give any
credit to the charges which their common foe was bringing against him; the
only reason for their hatred was his unswerving loyalty to the people of
Rome. After giving both sides a hearing the senate debated the requests of
the Carthaginians and ordered the following reply to be given: "It is the
pleasure of the senate that Gulussa sets out at once for Numidia and
announces to his father that he must send envoys to the senate as soon as
possible to deal with the complaints of the Carthaginians; he must also warn
the Carthaginians to appear and state their case. The senate is prepared to
accord to Masinissa all possible honours in the future as they have done in
the past, but they cannot let personal regard take the place of justice. They
wish every man to remain in possession of his own land; it is not their
intention to fix new boundaries, but to preserve the old ones. When the
Carthaginians were vanquished they allowed them to retain their city and
their land; but this was not that they might rob them in a time of peace of
what they had not taken from them by the rights of war." So the young
prince and the Carthaginians were dismissed, the customary presents were
given to each party and in other ways they were hospitably and courteously
treated.
42.25
Just
about this time Cn. Servilius Caepio, Ap. Claudius Centho, and T. Annius
Luscus, the three commissioners who had been sent to Macedonia to
demand satisfaction and break off friendly relations with Perseus, returned
from their mission. The report of what they had seen and what they had
heard inflamed the minds of the senators still more against Perseus. They
reported that they had witnessed the most energetic preparations for war
being made throughout all the cities in Macedonia. When they went to see
the king there was no opportunity granted them of seeing him for many days;
at last, looking upon the prospect of an interview as hopeless, they started
for home; only then were they recalled and admitted to the king's presence.
The sum and substance of their address to him was that a treaty had been
concluded with Philip and, after his father's death, renewed with him; that in
it were clauses expressly forbidding him to carry his arms beyond his
frontiers or to make hostile aggression upon the allies of Rome. Then they
repeated to him what they had heard Eumenes stating to the senate, all of
which was found to be true. And in addition they reminded the king that he
had for several days been having secret interviews at Samothrace with
delegates from the cities in Asia. The senate thought it right that satisfaction
should be made for this wrongful act and that they and their allies should
have restored to them whatever the king was holding in defiance of treaty
rights.
The king was furious and his language intemperate. He accused the
Romans of greed and arrogance, and loudly protested against their sending
one mission after another to spy upon his words and actions, because they
thought it right that he should say and do everything in obedience to their
orders. At last, after a long and violent harangue, he told them to return on
the following day as he wished to give them a written reply. In this he is said
to have declared that the treaty concluded with his father had nothing to do
with him; he had consented to its renewal not because he approved of it, but
because having just come to the throne he had to submit to everything. If
they wanted to make a fresh treaty with him they must come to an
understanding as to its terms. If they could bring themselves to conclude a
treaty on equal terms for both parties, he would see what he had to do and
he was sure they would be acting in the best interests of their
commonwealth. With this he hurried off and they were all beginning to leave
the audience-chamber, but not before the commissioners replied that they
formally renounced his alliance and friendship. At these words he stopped
and in a towering rage shouted out a warning to them to leave his dominions
within three days. Under these circumstances they left the country without
having received any attention or hospitality during the whole of their stay.
The Thessalian and Aetolian envoys were the next to be admitted to
audience. In order that the senate might know as soon as possible what
generals the State would employ, they sent written instructions to the
consuls that whichever of them was able to do so should go to Rome to elect
the magistrates.
42.26
During
the year the consuls did nothing worth recording, the interests of the republic
seemed to be best served by quieting the exasperated Ligurians. Whilst war
with Macedonia was anticipated, Gentius, King of the Illyrians, also fell
under suspicion. Envoys from Issus laid complaints before the senate about
his ravaging their borders and asserted that he and Perseus were living on the
most perfect understanding with each other and were planning war with
Rome in close co-operation. Illyrian spies had been sent to Rome at the
instigation of Perseus, ostensibly as envoys, really to find out what was
going on. The Illyrians were summoned before the senate. They said, that
they had been sent by the king to clear him of any charges which the Issaeans
might bring against him. They were then asked why in that case they had not
reported themselves to the proper magistrates so that they might be assigned
furnished quarters and their arrival and the object of their coming might be
publicly known. As they were at a loss for a reply, they were told to leave
the senate-house, and it was agreed that no reply should be made to them as
envoys, since they had made no formal request to appear before the senate.
It was resolved that envoys should be sent to Gentius to inform him of the
complaints made against him and to make him understand that the senate
regarded him as acting wrongfully in not abstaining from injuring his
neighbours. The envoys were A. Terentius Varro, C. Plaetorius, and C.
Cicereius. The commissioners who had been sent to interview the friendly
monarchs returned from Asia and reported that they had visited Eumenes,
Antiochus in Syria, and Ptolemy at Alexandria; that they had all been
approached by Perseus, but were keeping perfectly true to their engagements
with Rome, and they pledged themselves to carry out all that the people of
Rome required. They had also visited the friendly cities and with one
exception they were satisfied as to their fidelity. The one exception was
Rhodes, where they found the citizens wavering and imbued by Perseus'
ideas. A deputation had arrived from Rhodes to clear the citizens from
charges which they knew were being generally made against them; the
senate, however, decided not to grant them an audience till the new consuls
had entered upon office.
42.27
They
felt that the preparations for war ought not to be delayed. The praetor C.
Licinius was instructed to select out of the old quinqueremes laid up in the
dockyards in Rome all that could be made use of, and to repair and fit out
fifty vessels. If he was unable to make up that number he was to write to his
colleague, C. Memmius, commanding in Sicily, and direct him to refit and
get ready for service the ships which were in Sicilian waters, so that they
could be sent as soon as possible to Brundisium. C. Licinius was to enlist
crews for twenty-five ships from Roman citizens of the freedman class, and
Cn. Sicinius was to requisition the same number from the allies, and also
obtain from them a force of 8000 infantry and 500 cavalry. A. Atilius
Serranus, who had been praetor the year before, was selected to take over
these soldiers at Brundisium and convey them to Macedonia. In order that
Cn. Sicinius might have an army ready to sail, C. Licinius was authorised by
the senate to write to the consul C. Popilius, requesting him to issue orders
for the second legion, most of whom had seen service in Liguria, and an
allied contingent of 4000 infantry and 200 cavalry, to be at Brundisium by
February 13. With this fleet and army Cn. Sicinius was ordered to hold the
province of Macedonia until his successor arrived, his command being
extended for a year. All the measures which the senate decided upon were
energetically carried out. Thirty-eight quinqueremes were launched from the
naval arsenal, and L. Porcius Licinius was placed in command to take them
to Brundisium; twelve were sent from Sicily. Sextius Digitius, T. Juventius,
and M. Caecilius were sent into Apulia and Calabria to purchase corn for the
fleet and army. When all the preparations were completed, Cn. Sicinius left
the City, wearing the paludamentum, en route for Brundisium.
42.28
Towards the end of the year the consul
C. Popilius returned to Rome much later than the senate considered he ought
to have done, in view of the urgency of electing fresh magistrates and the
imminence of such a serious war. He did not receive a very favourable
hearing when, in the temple of Bellona, he gave an account of his doings in
Liguria. There were frequent interruptions and questions as to why he had
not restored the Ligurians to liberty after his brother's iniquitous treatment of
them. Notice of the consular elections was duly given, and they were held
February 18. The new consuls were P. Licinius Crassus and C. Cassius
Longinus. The praetors elected on the following day were C. Sulpicius
Galba, L. Furius Philus, L. Canuleius Dives, C. Lucretius Gallus, C. Caninius
Rebilus, and L. Villius Annalis. The provinces assigned to these praetors
were the two jurisdictions in Rome, civic and alien, Spain, Sicily and
Sardinia, and one praetor was exempted from the ballot, to be employed as
the senate should decide. The senate ordered the consuls elect to offer due
sacrifices of the larger victims, with prayers that the war, which it was in the
mind of the Roman people to wage, should have a prosperous issue. At the
same sitting the senate decreed that the consul C. Popilius should make a
vow pledging the republic that if it should remain without loss or change for
ten years, Games should be held in honour of Jupiter Optimus Maximus for
ten days and offerings made at all the shrines. In accordance with this decree
the consul made a vow in the Capitol that the Games should take place and
the offerings be made at all the shrines, at such a cost as the senate should
determine in a session at which not less than 150 were present. Lepidus, the
Pontifex Maximus, dictated the words of the vow. Two members of the
State priesthood died this year -L. Aemilius Papus, a Keeper of the Sacred
Books, and the pontiff Q. Fulvius Flaccus, who had been censor the year
before. He met with a tragic death. His two sons were serving in Illyria, and
he received intelligence that one had died and that the other was dangerously
ill. Between grief and anxiety his mind gave way; the slaves, on entering his
room in the morning, found that he had hanged himself. He was considered
to be out of his mind at the close of his censorship, and there was a general
belief that he had been driven mad by Juno Lacinia, in her anger at his
spoliation of her temple. M. Valerius Messala was appointed Keeper of the
Sacred Books in place of Aemilius, and C. Domitius Ahenobarbus, a young
man, was chosen to succeed Fulvius as pontiff.
42.29
When
P. Licinius and C. Cassius began their consulship, not only the City of Rome,
but all kings and commonwealths throughout Europe and Asia, were
preoccupied by the approaching war between Rome and Macedonia.
Eumenes had long regarded Macedonia as his enemy, and now he had a
fresh incentive to his hostility in his narrow escape from being slaughtered
like a victim at Delphi, through the king's foul treachery. Prusias, the king of
Bithynia, had decided to take no part in the conflict, but quietly to wait on
events. He felt sure that the Romans could not possibly think it right for him
to bear arms against his brother-in-law, and if Perseus were victorious he
knew that he could secure his favour through his sister. Ariarathes, king of
Cappadocia, had already promised to assist the Romans on his own account,
and now that he was connected by marriage with Eumenes, he associated
himself with all their policy, both in peace and war. Antiochus was
threatening Egypt, and in his contempt for the boy-king and his
unenterprising guardians he thought that, by raising the question of
Coelo-Syria, he would have a good pretext for war, and be able to prosecute
it without hindrance while the Romans were occupied with the Macedonian
war. He had, however, made all sorts of promises to the senate in view of
the war both by his own legations to Rome and personally to the envoys
whom the senate had sent to him. Owing to his age. Ptolemy was under
tutelage; his guardians were preparing for war with Antiochus to keep their
hold on Coelo-Syria, and were at the same time promising to give the
Romans all assistance in their war with Macedonia. Masinissa gave
assistance by supplying corn, and was preparing to send a force with
elephants and also his son, Misagenes, to the war. He had, however, laid his
plans to meet any turn of fortune; if victory fell to the Romans, matters
would remain as they were, nor could he make any further advance since the
Romans would not allow any aggression on the Carthaginians. If the power
of Rome -the sole protection of the Carthaginians -was broken, all Africa
would be his. Gentius, king of the Illyrians, had brought himself under
suspicion, but had not gone so far as to decide for certain which side he
should support; it seemed as though whichever he supported, it would be
more from impulse than policy. The Thracian Cotys, king of the Odrysae,
had already declared for Macedonia.
42.30
Such
were the views which monarchs took of the war. Amongst the free nations
and communities the common people were, as usual, almost to a man in
favour of the worse side, and supported the king and the Macedonians. You
would see great diversity amongst the views and sympathies of the ruling
classes. One party went so far in their admiration of the Romans that they
impaired their influence by their excessive partiality; some, attracted by the
justice of Roman rule, a more numerous body, by the prospect of gaining
power in their own cities if they rendered conspicuous service. The other
side were sycophants and flatterers of the king; the pressure of debt and the
hopelessness of their condition, if things remained as they were, drove many
in sheer desperation into revolutionary projects; others supported Perseus
from sheer caprice because he was popular. A third party, comprising the
most respectable and sensible men, if they had in any case to choose a
master, would have preferred the Romans to Perseus. If they had been free
to choose their condition, they would have had neither side made more
powerful through the overthrow of the other, but would have preferred that
the strength of both being equally balanced, a lasting peace on equal terms
might be established. In this way the cities, placed between the two, would
be under the best conditions, for one would always protect the helpless from
injury at the hands of the other. Holding these sentiments they watched in
safety and in silence the rivalries of those who supported the two parties.
On the day they entered office the consuls, in pursuance of the
senate's resolution, visited all the shrines in which there was usually a
lectisternium for the greater part of the year, offered sacrifices of the larger
victims and learned from the omens given by them that their prayers were
accepted by the gods. They then reported to the senate that the prayers and
sacrifices had been duly offered. The augurs made the announcement that if
any fresh enterprise was undertaken it ought to be begun without delay; all
the portents pointed to victory, triumph and the widening of frontiers. Good
fortune and success being thus promised to Rome, the senate ordered the
consuls to summon a meeting of the Assembly in their centuries and submit
the following order of the day: "Whereas Perseus, the son of Philip and King
of Macedonia, has broken the treaty made with his father and renewed with
him, by bearing arms against the allies of Rome, devastating fields and
occupying their cities; and whereas he has formed plans for levying war on
the people of Rome, and has to this end got together arms, soldiers and
ships; be it resolved that war be made upon him unless he gives satisfaction
for all these things." This resolution was put to the Assembly.
42.31
Then
the senate decided that the consuls should come to a mutual arrangement
about their provinces of Italy and Macedonia; failing that, to have recourse
to the ballot. The one to whom Macedonia fell was to seek redress by force
of arms from Perseus, and those of his party, unless they gave satisfaction to
Rome. Four fresh legions were to be called up, two for each consul. A
special provision was made for Macedonia. For the other consul each of the
two legions consisted, according to ancient precedent, of 5200 infantry;
those for Macedonia were each raised to 6000 infantry, and the four legions
had each the same complement of 300 cavalry. The numbers of the allied
contingent were also raised for this consul; he was to transport to
Macedonia 16,000 infantry and 800 cavalry, in addition to the 600 cavalry
whom Sicinius had commanded. A force of 12,000 allied infantry and 600
cavalry was considered sufficient for Italy. The consul who was to command
in Macedonia was specially empowered to enrol as many veteran centurions
and private soldiers as he desired up to fifty years of age. In view of the
Macedonian war, an innovation was made this year in the case of the military
tribunes. The consuls received instructions from the senate to propose to the
Assembly that they should for that year forgo their claim to elect the military
tribunes and leave the consuls and praetors free to appoint them. The
commands were allocated to the praetors as follows: The praetor to whose
lot it fell to be at the senate's disposal without an assigned province was to
inspect the crews in the fleet at Brundisium, and after removing all who were
unfit for service, to select freedmen to take their place, with the proviso that
two-thirds should consist of Roman citizens, the remainder to be drawn from
the allies. Supplies for the fleet and the legions were to be furnished by Sicily
and Sardinia, and the praetors in charge of those islands were charged to
requisition a second tenth from the natives, the corn to be carried to the
army in Macedonia. Sicily fell to C. Caninius Rebilus; Sardinia to L. Furius
Philus; Spain to L. Canuleius; the civic jurisdiction to C. Sulpicius Galba; the
alien to L. Villius Annalis. The praetor who remained at the disposal of the
senate was C. Lucretius Gallus.
42.32
The
consuls had a disagreement -not a serious dispute -about their province.
Cassius said that he was ready to choose Macedonia without a ballot, as his
colleague could not ballot with him without violating his oath. When he was
made praetor he took an oath before the Assembly that he could not go to
his province as he had sacrifices to perform at an appointed place and on
stated days, and they could not be duly offered in his absence, when he was
consul, any more than when he was praetor. Even should the senate not
consider P. Licinius' wishes now that he was consul more deserving of
censure than the oath which he had taken as praetor, he would bow to their
authority. When the matter was put to the vote, the senators thought it
would be a high-handed proceeding to refuse a province to the man to whom
the people of Rome had not refused the consulship, and ordered the consuls
to proceed to ballot. P. Licinius obtained Macedonia, and C. Cassius, Italy.
They then drew lots for the legions; the first and third were to be taken to
Macedonia; the second and fourth to remain in Italy. The consuls carried out
the mobilisation with much more care than at other times. Licinius called up
the old soldiers and centurions, and many volunteers gave in their names
because they saw that those who had served in the former Macedonian war
or against Antiochus were rich men. The military tribunes were choosing the
centurions, not in order of precedence, but picking out the best men, and
twenty-three centurions of the front rank appealed to the tribunes of the
plebs. Two members of the tribunitian college were for referring the matter
to the consuls, on the ground that the decision ought to rest with those to
whom the mobilisation had been entrusted. The rest said they would go into
the reasons of the appeal, and if an injustice had been done, they would come
to the aid of their fellow-citizens.
42.33
The
case was argued before the tribunes in their chairs; M. Popilius and the
consul were present with the centurions. The consul demanded that the
matter should be tried before the Assembly, and the Assembly was
accordingly convened. M. Popilius, who had been consul two years
previously, spoke on behalf of the centurions. He reminded the Assembly
that these men had completed their term of military service, and were worn
out by age and incessant toil. Still, they in no way objected to give their
services to the State, only they protested against being assigned a position
inferior to the one they held when on active service. The consul P. Licinius
ordered the resolutions passed by the senate to be read, first the one in which
the senate decided upon war with Perseus, then the one in which it was
determined that as many of the veteran centurions as possible should be
called up for the war, and that there should be no exemption for any man
who was not over fifty years of age. He strongly deprecated any step being
taken which would hamper the military tribunes in their task of raising troops
for a fresh war, so close to Italy and against an extremely powerful monarch,
or which would prevent the consul from assigning to each man the rank
which, in the best interests of the commonwealth, ought to be assigned to
him. If any doubt was still felt in the matter, let it be referred to the senate.
42.34
After
the consul had said what he wanted to say, one of those who were appealing
to the tribunes -Sp. Ligustinus -begged the consul and the tribunes to allow
him to say a few words to the Assembly. They all gave him permission, and
he is recorded to have spoken to the following effect: "Quirites, I am Spurius
Ligustinus, a Sabine by birth, a member of the Crustuminian tribe. My father
left me a jugerum of land and a small cottage in which I was born and bred,
and I am living there today. As soon as I came of age my father gave me to
wife his brother's daughter. She brought nothing with her but her personal
freedom and her modesty, and together with these a fruitfulness which
would have been enough even in a wealthy house. We have six sons and two
daughters. Four of our sons wear the toga virilis, two the praetexta, and both
the daughters are married. I became a soldier in the consulship of P.
Sulpicius and C. Aurelius. For two years I was a common soldier in the
army, fighting against Philip in Macedonia; in the third year T. Quinctius
Flamininus gave me in consideration of my courage the command of the
tenth company of the hastati. After Philip and the Macedonians were
vanquished and we were brought back to Italy and disbanded, I at once
volunteered to go with the consul M. Porcius to Spain. Men who during a
long service have had experience of him and of other generals know that of
all living commanders not one has shown himself a keener observer or more
accurate judge of military valour. It was this commander who thought me
worthy of being appointed first centurion in the hastati. Again I served, for
the third time, as a volunteer in the army which was sent against Antiochus
and the Aetolians. I was made first centurion of the principes by Manius
Acilius. After Antiochus was expelled and the Aetolians subjugated we were
brought back to Italy. After that I twice took service for a year at home.
Then I served in Spain, once under Q. Fulvius Flaccus and again under Ti.
Sempronius Gracchus. I was brought home by Flaccus amongst those whom,
as a reward for their courage, he was bringing home to grace his triumph. I
joined Tiberius Gracchus at his request. Four times, within a few years, have
I been first centurion in the triarii; four-and-thirty times have I been
rewarded for my courage by my commanders; I have received six civic
crowns. I have served for twenty-two years in the army and I am more than
fifty years old. But even if I had not served my full time and my age did not
give me exemption, still, P. Licinius, as I was able to give you four soldiers
for one, namely, myself, it would have been a right and proper thing that I
should be discharged. But I want you to take what I have said simply as a
statement of my case. So far as anyone who is raising troops judges me to be
an efficient soldier, I am not going to plead excuses. What rank the military
tribunes think that I deserve is for them to decide; I will take care that no
man shall surpass me in courage; that I always have done so, my
commanders and fellow-campaigners bear witness. And as for you, my
comrades, though you are only exercising your right of appeal, it is but just
and proper that as in your early days you never did anything against the
authority of the magistrates and the senate, so now, too, you should place
yourselves at the disposal of the senate and the consuls and count any
position in which you are to defend your country as an honourable one."
42.35
When
he had finished speaking, the consul commended him most warmly and took
him from the Assembly to the senate. There, too, he was thanked by the
senate, and the military tribunes made him leading centurion in the first
legion in recognition of his bravery. The other centurions abandoned their
appeal and answered to the roll-call without demur. To enable the
magistrates to start for their provinces at an earlier date, the Latin Festival
was celebrated on June 1. When that function was over, C. Lucretius sent all
that was required for the fleet on in advance and then left for Brundisium. In
addition to the armies which the consuls were forming, C. Sulpicius Galba
was commissioned to raise four City legions with the full complement of
horse and foot, and to select from amongst the senators four military
tribunes to command them. He was further to require the Latins and allies to
furnish 15,000 infantry and 1200 cavalry, so that this army might be ready
for service wherever the senate should decide. In addition to the force of
Roman citizens and allied troops, the consul P. Licinius was supplied on his
request with the following: 2000 Ligurian mercenaries, a body of Cretan
archers -the number not specified -also Numidian cavalry and elephants. L.
Postumius Albinus, Q. Terentius Culleo, and C. Aburius were sent to
Masinissa and the Carthaginians to arrange this. A. Postumius Albinus, C.
Decimius, and Aulus Licinius Nerva were also sent to Crete for the same
purpose.
42.36
During
this time envoys from Perseus arrived. It was decided that they should not be
allowed to enter the town, as the senate and people had already determined
on war with their king and the Macedonians. They were admitted to an
audience in the temple of Bellona, and told the senate that Perseus was
wondering why the armies had been sent to Macedonia. If he could induce
the senate to recall them, he would give such satisfaction as the senate
thought fit for any wrongs of which the allies of Rome complained. Spurius
Carvilius had been sent back from Greece by Cnaeus Sicinius on this same
business and was present at this session. He informed the senate how
Perrhaebia had been taken by storm and other cities of Thessaly captured,
and also what the king was actually doing and what preparations he was
making. The envoys were told to answer these charges; they hesitated and
said they had not received any further instructions. On thus they were
ordered to carry back to their king the announcement that in a short time the
consul P. Licinius would be in Macedonia with his army; if the king really
meant to give satisfaction, he might send envoys to him. It was useless for
him to send any to Rome, as none of them would be allowed to pass through
Italy. With this reply they were sent away, and P. Licinius was instructed to
order them to quit Italy within ten days and send Sp. Carvilius to watch them
till they went on board. Cnaeus Sicinius, who before quitting office had been
sent to the fleet and army at Brundisium, had landed 5000 infantry and 300
cavalry in Epirus and was now encamped at Nymphaeum in the Apollonian
district. From there he sent tribunes with 2000 men to occupy the forts of
the Dassaretii and the Illyrians, as the people themselves were asking for
troops to hold them so that they might be more secure against any attack
from their Macedonian neighbours.
42.37
A few
days later Q. Marcius, A. Atilius, the two Lentuli, Publius and Servius, and
also L. Decimius were sent to Greece, and took with them 2000 men as far
as Corcyra. There they arranged what districts to visit and what force each
was to take with him. Decimius was sent to Gentius, the king of the Illyrians,
to find out whether he still had any regard for his former friendship with
Rome, and if so to induce him to take an active part in the war as an ally.
The two Lentuli were sent to Cephallania that they might sail across to the
Peloponnese and round the western coast before winter. The visitation of
Epirus, Aetolia and Thessaly was assigned to Marcius and Atilius, after
which they were ordered to survey the state of Boeotia and Euboea and then
sail to the Peloponnese. There they arranged to meet the Lentuli. Before they
separated at Corcyra, a despatch was received from Perseus in which he
requested to know the reason for the Romans landing an army in Greece and
occupying the cities. It was decided that no written reply should be sent, but
that the bearer of the despatch should be told that the Romans were doing it
for the protection of the cities themselves. The Lentuli in their visits to the
different towns urged upon them all without distinction the duty of giving
the Romans the same cordial and loyal assistance against Perseus which they
had given in the war with Philip and then afterwards with Antiochus. During
their meetings they heard murmurs of dissatisfaction amongst the Achaeans.
They complained that while they had from the very beginning of the
Macedonian war rendered every assistance to the Romans and in the war
with Philip had been the declared enemies of the Macedonians, they were
now put upon the same footing as the people of Messene and Elea who had
fought for Antiochus against Rome, and after being incorporated into the
Achaean council were handed over to their Achaean conquerors as the prize
of war.
42.38
When
Marcius and Atilius went up to Gitana in Epirus, about ten miles from the
sea, where the national council of Epirus was being held, they received a
most favourable hearing, and 400 of the younger men were sent as a
protection to those Macedonians who had been freed by the senate. From
there they went into Aetolia and stayed there a few days until a chief
magistrate was elected in the place of the one who had died. Lyciscus, who
was known to be a supporter of the Romans, was elected, and after his
election they crossed over into Thessaly. Here they were visited by envoys
from Acarnania and refugees from Boeotia. The envoys were told to
announce to the Acarnanians that an opportunity was now offered of atoning
for any faults which in reliance on the false promises of the king they had
committed against Rome in the war with Philip and then in the war with
Antiochus. If their bad behaviour had met with the forbearance, their good
behaviour would win the generosity, of Rome. The Boeotians were severely
censured for having formed an alliance with Perseus. They threw the blame
on Ismenias, the leader of the opposite faction, and declared that some cities
had been brought over against the majority of the citizens. Marcius replied
that this would be cleared up as they would give every city the opportunity
of deciding for itself.
There was a meeting of the national council of Thessaly at Larisa.
The Thessalians had abundant material for thanking the Romans for the boon
of liberty, and the Roman envoys for expressing their thanks for the
whole-hearted assistance they had received from the Thessalians in the wars
against Philip and Antiochus. This mutual recognition of services rendered
made the assembled council eager to adopt every measure which the Romans
wished for. Close on this meeting came a deputation from Perseus. Their
hopes of success rested mainly on the personal tie of hospitality which
Marcius had inherited from his father. After alluding to this the delegates
asked that the king might be admitted to a personal interview. Marcius said
that he heard from his father that friendly relations had existed with Philip,
and bearing that fact in mind he had undertaken this mission. He would not
have put off a conference so long had he been well enough; now, as soon as
he could manage it, they would go to the Peneus where the road crosses
from Homolium to Dium and send to the king to announce their arrival.
42.39
On
this Perseus left Dium and went back into Macedonia, cheered by a faint
breath of hope because he had heard that Marcius had said it was for his
sake that he had undertaken the mission. They met at the appointed place.
The king was attended by a large suite consisting of his personal friends and
his bodyguard, and the Romans appeared with quite as numerous an escort,
many accompanying them from Larisa, as well as the delegations from the
various cities who wanted to take trustworthy reports of what they heard.
Men were naturally anxious to witness the meeting of a famous monarch
with the representatives of the foremost people in the whole world. When
they stood to view with only the river between them, there was a slight delay
while it was being settled which party should cross the river. The one party
thought that precedence ought to be given to royalty, the other considered
that something was due to the great name of Rome, especially as it was
Perseus who had sought the interview. While they were hesitating Marcius
quickened their movements by a jest: "Let the younger come to the elder
and" -his own cognomen was "Philippus" -"the son to the father." The king
fell in with this at once. Then a fresh difficulty arose as to the number that
should accompany him. The king thought that he ought to cross with the
whole of his suite, but the Romans said he must cross with three attendants,
or if all that number did cross he must give securities against any treachery
during the conference. He gave as hostages Hippias and Pantauchus, chief
among his friends whom he had formerly sent as envoys. The hostages were
not so much needed to guarantee the king's good faith as to make the allies
see that the king was by no means meeting the Romans on equal teems. They
greeted one another not as foes but in a friendly and genial tone, and then sat
down on the seats placed for them.
42.40
After a
few moments' silence Marcius said: "I suppose you are expecting me to give
you a reply to the letter which you sent to Corcyra in which you ask us why
we who are envoys have come with soldiers and are distributing garrisons in
the various cities. Not to give you any reply would, I fear, be thought
arrogant, whilst a truthful reply would pain you whilst you listened to it. As,
however, he who breaks a treaty must be chastised either by word of mouth
or by force of arms, and much as I could have wished that war against you
had been entrusted to another rather than to me, I will discharge my task of
telling my guest-friend some unpleasant truths, however matters stand, like
physicians who administer disagreeable remedies to restore a patient's health.
"As soon as you ascended the throne you did one thing which in the
opinion of the senate you were right in doing, you sent an embassy to Rome
to renew the treaty, but they hold that it would have been better not to
renew it than to violate it after it was renewed. You drove Abrupolis, an ally
and friend of Rome, out of his kingdom. You sheltered the assassins of
Arthetaurus, showing that you were glad -I will not say more -that he was
murdered. The man whom they killed was of all the Illyrian princes the most
loyal to the cause of Rome. You marched with an army through Thessaly
and the district of Malis up to Delphi, against the provisions of the treaty,
and you also sent assistance to the Byzantines. You made a secret and
separate treaty, ratified by an oath, with the Boeotians, our allies, which was
forbidden. As for the Theban envoys, Euersas and Callicritus, who were
murdered on their way to Rome, I prefer to enquire who killed them rather
than to charge anyone with it. Who could possibly be considered responsible
for the civil war in Aetolia, and the deaths of the leaders, unless it were your
party? The devastation of Dolopia was your own doing. When Eumenes was
returning from Rome to his kingdom he narrowly escaped being butchered at
Delphi, like a victim on consecrated ground before the altar. I shrink from
saying whom he accuses of this. I have certain proof that the secret crimes of
which your friend at Brundisium gave us information were all communicated
to you in writing by your friends in Rome and reported to you by your
envoys. My saying all this might have been avoided by you, had you taken a
different course and not asked us why the armies were coming into
Macedonia and why we are stationing garrisons in the different cities. Had
we kept silent, we should have shown you less consideration than we have
done by a statement of facts. Out of regard for the friendship which we have
inherited from our fathers I shall give you a favourable hearing, and I only
wish that you may furnish me with some grounds for my pleading your cause
before the senate."
42.41
The
king replied: "A defence which before impartial judges would be a good one,
I have now to make before judges who are also accusers. As to the charges
brought up against me, some of them I rather think I ought to be proud of,
others I am not ashamed to admit, others again, which are simply assertions,
it is enough for me simply to deny. If I were standing my trial under your
laws, what evidence could either the Brundisian informer or Eumenes bring
against me which would make their accusations appear true rather than false
and malicious? Eumenes, who oppresses so many of his subjects both in his
public and private life, has had, I suppose, no other enemy but me, and I
have, it seems, been unable to discover a more capable agent for criminal
deeds than Rammius, a man whom I had never seen before, and was never to
see again. I have also to account for the deaths of the Thebans, who
everybody knows were drowned at sea, and for the death of Arthetaurus;
here, however, no charge is brought against me beyond the fact that his
murderers found refuge in my dominions. I will not protest against the
unfairness of this argument, if you in your turn allow that if any refugees
have escaped to Italy or to Rome you were the authors of the crimes of
which they have been found guilty. If you, in common with all other nations,
refuse to admit this, then I shall be with the rest of the world. Good heavens!
what boots it for a man to be free to go into exile, if there is nowhere a place
where an exile can go? Nevertheless, as soon as I was advised by you and
ascertained that these men were in Macedonia, I ordered that search should
be made for them, and that they should quit the kingdom, and I forbade them
ever to cross my frontiers.
"These charges have been brought against me as though I were a
defendant in a criminal trial, but those others touch my conduct as king, and
depend upon the interpretation of the treaty which is in force between us. If
that treaty expressly says that not even if anyone levies war against me am I
allowed to defend myself and my realm, then I must admit that I have
violated the treaty by defending myself in arms against Abrupolis, an ally of
Rome. If, however, it is allowed by treaty and established as a rule of
international law that arms may be repelled by arms, what ought I to have
done after Abrupolis had devastated the frontiers of my kingdom right up to
Amphipolis, and carried off many freeborn persons, a large body of slaves,
and many thousand head of cattle? Was I to keep quiet and let him go on till
he had carried his arms into Pella and taken possession of my palace? Yes,
but granting that I was justified in opposing him by force, it is said that he
ought not to have been vanquished or suffer all the evils which befall the
vanquished. Since it was I who was attacked and ran the risk of all these
evils, how can he complain of their happening to him who was the cause of
the war? I am not going to defend my coercion of the Dolopians on the same
grounds, Romans, because whatever they may have deserved, I exercised my
sovereign rights; they were my subjects, a part of my dominions, assigned by
your own decree to my father. Seeing that they put to death Euphranor,
whom I had appointed governor, with such cruelty that death was the
lightest of his sufferings, I cannot possibly be thought to have exercised
undue or unjust severity -I do not say by you and your federal allies, but -by those who disapprove of cruelty and injustice even towards slaves.
42.42
"But
when I left Dolopia to visit the cities of Larisa, Antron and Pteleon, as I was
in the neighbourhood of Delphi I went up there for the purpose of offering
sacrifice in discharge of vows taken long before. And to make this charge
still more serious it is asserted that I went with an army to do, of course,
what I now complain of your doing, to occupy the cities and station
garrisons in the citadels. Summon those Greek cities through which I
marched, and should anyone, I do not care who complain of any ill-treatment
from my soldiery, I will allow it to be said that under the presence of offering
sacrifice I had another object in view. We sent troops to assist the Aetolians
and the Byzantines, and we established friendly relations with the Boeotians.
In whatever light these measures are regarded, they were not only made
known to you through my envoys, but were even on several occasions
defended in your senate, where I had some critics not so fair or just as you,
Q. Marcius, my hereditary friend and guest. But my accuser, Eumenes, had
not yet arrived.
"This man, by misrepresenting and distorting all my actions, has
made them appear suspicious and treacherous, and he tried to persuade you
that Greece could not be really free or enjoy the boon of liberty which you
have conferred as long as the kingdom of Macedonia remained intact. Well,
the wheel will come round full turn: somebody will soon be saying that it
was to no purpose that Antiochus had been removed beyond the Taurus.
Eumenes is a much greater oppressor of Asia than Antiochus ever was, your
allies can have no rest as long as the kingdom of Pergamum exists, it stands
like a citadel to command all the States round it. I am quite aware that the
charges which you, Q. Marcius and A. Atilius, have brought against me, and
the replies which I have made to them, are just what the minds and ears of
those present choose to make of them, and that it is not my conduct or my
motives that are important, but the light in which you view them. I am not
conscious of having committed any fault knowingly: whatever lapse I may
have been guilty of through imprudence can, I am sure, be corrected and
amended through these stern admonitions of yours. At all events I have done
nothing which cannot be remedied, nothing for which you should think it
necessary to seek redress by force of arms. Otherwise the fame of your
clemency and magnanimity has been carried through the world in vain, if for
reasons which are hardly worth discussion you take up arms and levy war
upon monarchs who are your allies."
42.43
Marcius listened to his speech
approvingly and advised him to send an embassy to Rome. The friends of
Perseus thought that every possible means should be tried and that nothing
that promised hope should be left undone. The only thing left for discussion
was how to secure the envoys a safe journey. It was deemed necessary to
ask for an armistice; this was what Marcius particularly wished for, it had
been his main object in granting the interview, but he raised difficulties and
made a great favour of consenting to it. The fact was the Romans were at
the moment quite unready for war -no army, no general -whilst Perseus had
made all his preparations and was completely equipped for war and, had he
not been blinded by hopes of peace, would have commenced hostilities at the
best time for himself and the worst for his enemies. After the armistice was
declared the Roman commissioners decided to go to Boeotia. There was
much unrest there owing to the action of certain communities. On learning
what the Roman commissioners had said, "that it would soon appear which
States disapproved of the secret league with the king," they seceded from the
national council of Boeotia. First delegates from Chaeronea, and then some
from Thebes, met the commissioners while they were still on their journey,
and assured them that they were not present at the meeting of the council
when that league was formed. The commissioners gave them no reply at the
time and told them to follow them to Chalcis.
There had been a violent quarrel at Thebes about another matter.
The election of the magistrates for Boeotia had taken place, and the defeated
party in revenge got the population together and passed a decree that the
Boeotarchs should not be admitted into any of the cities. They went in a
body to Thespiae where they were admitted without any hesitation. The
Thebans changed their minds and recalled them; a decree was then made that
the twelve who had without any authority convened the assembly and held a
council should be sent into exile. Then the new magistrate, Ismenias, a man
of noble family and great influence, issued a decree condemning them to
death. They had fled to Chalcis, and from that city they went to the Roman
commissioners at Larisa and threw the whole responsibility for the secret
understanding with Perseus upon Ismenias. This led to a party war, delegates
from both sides came to the Romans -the exiles, the accusers of Ismenias
and Ismenias himself.
42.44
After
their arrival in Chalcis the first magistrates of the different cities, in
accordance with the decrees of their respective councils, denounced the
league with Perseus, to the great gratification of the Romans, and declared
themselves on the side of Rome. Ismenias thought that the right course to
adopt would be for the Boeotian nation as a whole to place itself under the
suzerainty of Rome. This led to a quarrel, and if he had not taken refuge at
the commissioners' tribunal he would have had a narrow escape from being
killed by the exiles and their supporters. Thebes, the capital of Boeotia, was
itself in a state of great excitement, one faction trying to bring the city over
to the king, the other to the Romans. People from Coronea and Haliartus
had flocked in crowds to Thebes to defend the decree for alliance with the
king. But the magistrates were firm, they pointed to the final defeats of
Philip and Antiochus as proving the power and good fortune of the Roman
government, and the citizens were at last convinced. They decreed that the
alliance with the king should be put an end to, and sent those who had
advocated friendship with Perseus to make their peace with the
commissioners, and ordered the citizens to place themselves at the disposal
of the commissioners. Marcius and Atilius were glad to hear this decision of
the Thebans, and advised them and the other cities to send each their own
envoys to renew friendly relations with Rome. They insisted on the
restoration of the exiles as the first thing, and issued a decree condemning
the authors of the alliance with Perseus. Thus, what they wanted most of all,
the dissolution of the Boeotian League, was effected. They then left for the
Peloponnese and sent for Ser. Cornelius to Chalcis. A council was
summoned to meet them at Argos. They only asked the Achaeans to furnish
them with 1000 soldiers. These were sent to garrison Chalcis until the
Roman army landed in Greece. Having thus completed their business in
Greece, Marcius and Atilius returned to Rome at the commencement of
winter.
42.45
A
commission was sent about the same time to visit Asia and the islands
adjoining. The commissioners were Tiberius Claudius, Sp. Postumius and M.
Junius. As they went about amongst the allies they urged them to join the
Romans in the war against Perseus, and the wealthier and more powerful the
state the greater attention they paid to it, since the smaller ones would be led
by the greater. The Rhodians were regarded as the most important of all,
because they were in a position to give not only moral support but material
assistance. They had, acting on the advice of Hegesilochus, got forty ships
ready for service. When he was acting as supreme magistrate -"prytanis"
they call him -he had, after many speeches, induced the Rhodians to
abandon all those hoses of support from monarchs, which had so often
proved vain, and hold to the alliance with Rome, the only one in the whole
world which they could depend on for strength and fidelity. A war with
Perseus was imminent, the Romans would look for the same naval armament
that they had seen lately in the war with Antiochus and in the previous war
with Philip. Unless they began at once to refit their ships and provide them
with crews, they would be in all the hurry and confusion of making their fleet
ready for sea when it was to be actually sent off. It was all the more
important that this should be done that they might give a practical proof of
the falseness of the charges which Eumenes had brought against them. These
arguments had their effect and when the Roman commissioners arrived they
were shown a fleet of forty vessels quite ready for sea, a clear proof that
they had not waited for the Romans to spur them on. The work of these
commissioners in securing the support of the cities in Asia was of the utmost
importance. Decimius alone returned without any success; he was widely
suspected of having received bribes from Gentius and the Illyrian princes.
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.
42.47
On
their return to Rome, Marcius and Atilius reported the results of their
mission to the senate in the Capitol. The thing for which they took most
credit to themselves was the way in which they had hoodwinked the king by
holding out hopes of peace. He was so fully provided with all the means of
war, whilst they themselves had nothing ready, that all the strategic positions
could have been occupied by him before their armies had landed in Greece.
The interval of the armistice, however, would place them on equal terms, he
would no longer have the advantage of preparation, the Romans would
begin the war better equipped in every way. They had also succeeded by a
clever stroke in breaking up the national council of Boeotia, they could never
again be united in support of the Macedonians. A good many of the senators
approved of these proceedings as showing very skilful management. The
elder senators, however, and others who had not forgotten the moral
standards of earlier days, said that they failed to recognise anything of the
Roman character in these negotiations. "Our ancestors," they said, "did not
conduct their wars by lurking in ambush and making attacks at night, nor by
feigning flight and then turning back upon the enemy when he was off his
guard. They did not pride themselves on cunning more than on true courage,
it was their custom to declare war before commencing it, sometimes even to
give the enemy notice of the time and place where they would fight. This
sense of honour made them warn Pyrrhus against his physician, who was
plotting against his life, it made them hand over to the Faliscans as a prisoner
the betrayer of their children. This is the true Roman spirit, there is nothing
here of the cunning of the Carthaginians or the cleverness of the Greeks,
who pride themselves more in deceiving an enemy than in overcoming him in
fair fight. Occasionally more can be gained for the time being by craft than
by courage, but it is only when you have forced your enemy to confess that
he has been overcome not by cleverness nor by accident, but after a fair trial
of strength where the rules of war are properly observed -it is only then that
his spirit is broken and his defeat a lasting one." Such were the views of the
older senators, who regarded the new policy with disfavour, but the majority
preferred expediency to honour and signified their approval of what Marcius
had done. It was decided that he should be sent back to Greece with the fifty
quinqueremes, and should be at full liberty to act as he thought best in the
interest of the republic. A. Atilius was also sent to occupy Larisa in Thessaly,
as there was the danger of Perseus sending a garrison there on the expiration
of the armistice, and so keeping the capital of Thessaly under his power.
Atilius sent for 2000 infantry from the army of Cnaeus Sicinius to hold the
city. P. Lentulus, who had returned from Achaia, was supplied with 300
Italian troops to look after Thebes and overawe Boeotia.
42.48
These
preliminary measures carried out, it was agreed that the senate should give
audience to the king's envoys, although war was now definitely resolved
upon. The envoys repeated almost the same arguments which the king had
used in his conference with Marcius. Their answer to the charge of plotting
against the life of Eumenes was the most laboured part of their speech and
the one which made the least impression, for the facts were beyond dispute.
The rest of their speech was apologetic and deprecatory, but their hearers
refused to be either convinced or persuaded. They were warned to leave
Rome at once and Italy within thirty days. The consul, P. Licinius, who was
to command in Macedonia, was warned to fix as early a day as possible for
the assembling of his army. C. Lucretius, who had been put in command of
the fleet, sailed from Rome with only forty quinqueremes, as it was decided
that some of the refitted ships should be kept at the City for different
purposes. He sent his brother Marcus with one quinquereme to take up the
ships which the allies were bound by treaty to furnish and join the main fleet
at Cephallania. One trireme was provided by Rhegium, two by Locri, and
four came from the Sallentines of Uria. Sailing along the coast of Italy and
round the furthest headland of Calabria, he crossed the Ionian Sea to
Dyrrhachium. Here he obtained ten vessels from Dyrrhachium itself, twelve
from Issa and fifty-four light vessels which belonged to Gentius and which
M. Lucretius affected to believe had been got together for the use of the
Romans. Carrying them all off, he reached Corcyra after a three days'
voyage, and then went direct to Cephallania. C. Lucretius sailed from Naples
and reached Cephallania in five days. Here the fleet anchored, waiting till the
land army had crossed and the transports which had fallen out had rejoined.
42.49
It was
now that the consul, P. Licinius, after offering up the prayers in the Capitol,
rode out of the City wearing the paludamentum. This departure of the
commander-in-chief was always invested with dignity and grandeur, but now
especially all eyes and hearts were turned to the consul as they escorted him
on his way to meet a powerful enemy whose reputation for courage and
success was spread far and wide. It was not only to honour their chief
magistrate that the citizens had collected together, but also to see the leader
to whose wisdom and authority they had entrusted the supreme defence of
the commonwealth. They thought of the chances of war, the caprice of
Fortune, the risks and uncertainty of battle the defeats and successes of the
past -defeats often incurred by the ignorance and rashness of commanders,
successes again won by skill and courage. Who of mortal men could know
the capability of the consul whom they were sending to war or the fortune
which would attend him? Would they presently see him with his victorious
army going up to the Capitol in triumphal procession to do homage to those
deities from whom he is now departing, or are those deities going to allow
that happiness to the enemy? The enemy, again, whom he was going to meet
was the far-famed Perseus, the king of the Macedonians, a nation
distinguished in war, and the son of Philip, who amongst his many victories
had even in the war with Rome added to his reputation. Ever since he
ascended the throne, the name of Perseus was continually on men's lips as
they spoke of the coming war. With these thoughts in their minds men of all
sorts and conditions attended the departure of the consul. C. Claudius and
Q. Mucius, ex-consuls and now military tribunes, were sent with him, and
three young nobles, P. Lentulus, and the two Acidini, one the son of Marcus
and the other the son of Lucius Manlius. The consul joined his army at
Brundisium and sailing with his whole force to Nymphaeum fixed his camp
in the neighbourhood of Apollonia.
42.50
A few
days before this, after the return of his envoys had dashed his hopes of
peace, Perseus held a council of war. Opposing views led to considerable
discussion. Some thought that they ought to consent to pay an indemnity if it
was imposed upon them, or cede a portion of their territory if this were
insisted on; in fact, whatever sacrifice was necessary for the sake of peace
ought to be made, and no step taken which would expose the king and his
subjects to the hazard of fortune where such vital issues were involved. If he
were left in the certain possession of the crown, many things might happen in
the future which would enable him not only to recover what he had lost, but
even to become formidable to those of whom he now stood in fear. The
majority, however, were much more defiant. Any concessions made, they
declared, would involve the loss of the kingdom. The Romans were not in
need of money or territory, but this they knew, that while all human affairs
were liable to many accidents, kingdoms and empires were especially so.
They had shattered the power of the Carthaginians and saddled them with a
very powerful monarch to keep them down. They had sent Antiochus and his
posterity into banishment beyond the Taurus mountains. The kingdom of
Macedonia alone remained, a near neighbour and ready, whenever Rome lost
the good fortune she once enjoyed, to animate the kings of Macedonia with
their ancient courage. Whilst, therefore, his realm was still intact, Perseus
must decide between two alternatives. Either he must be prepared to strip
himself of all his power, by making one concession after another, and, driven
from his kingdom into exile, must beg the Romans to allow him Samothrace
or some other island, where, having outlived his kingship, he might grow old
in privacy, disgrace and poverty; or else vindicate his fortunes and his dignity
in arms, and confront as a brave man ought to do all that the chances of war
can bring, and if victorious, deliver the world from its subjection to Rome.
The expulsion of the Romans from Greece would not be a more wonderful
thing than the expulsion of Hannibal from Italy. They could not see how he
who had resisted his brother to the uttermost in his unlawful attempt to seize
the crown could with any consistency resign it to men of alien blood. The
question between peace and war can only arise so far as all are agreed that as
there is nothing more disgraceful than to surrender the throne without
striking a blow, so there is nothing more glorious than for a king to face all
risks in defence of his sovereign dignity and majesty.
42.51
This
council was held at Pella, the capital of Macedonia. "Let us then," said
Perseus, "wage war with the help of the gods, since thus you decide."
Written orders were despatched to all his generals and he assembled the
whole of his forces at Citium, a town in Macedonia. After sacrificing in regal
style one hundred victims to Minerva, whom they call Alcidemos, he set out
for Citium, accompanied by a number of court nobles and his bodyguard.
The whole of the army, both Macedonians and auxiliaries, were assembled
there. The camp was fixed in front of the city and he drew up all his soldiers
in the plain. The total number of those who bore arms was 43,000, nearly
half of whom formed the phalanx; Hippias of Beroea was in command. Out
of the whole force of caetrati, 2000 men in the prime of strength and
manhood were selected to form a body known as the "agema," their
commanders were Leonnatus and Thrasippus. Antiphilus of Edessa was in
command of the rest of the caetrati, numbering about 3000 men. The
Paeonians and the contingents from Paroria and Parstrymonia, places in the
lowlands of Thrace, and the Agrianes, including some Thracian immigrants,
made up a force of about 3000. They had been armed and mustered by Didas
the Paeonian, the murderer of the young Demetrius. There were also 2000
Gauls under Asclepiodotus, a native of Heraclea in Sintice. Three thousand
"free" Thracians had their own leader, and about the same number of
Cretans followed their own generals, Susus of Phalasarna and Syllus of
Gnossus. Leonides the Lacedaemonian was at the head of a mixed force of
Greeks. He was said to be of royal blood, and after his letter to Perseus had
been seized, had been sentenced to banishment in a full council of the
Achaeans. The Aetolians and Boeotians, who, all told, did not amount to
more than 500 men, were under the command of Lyco, an Achaean. Out of
these contingents drawn from so many people and tribes, a force of about
12,000 men was formed. Perseus had collected 3000 cavalry out of the
whole of Macedonia. Cotys, the son of Suthis and king of the Odrysae, had
come in with a picked force of 1000 horse and about the same number of
infantry. Thus the total number of the army was 39,000 infantry and 4000
cavalry. It was generally admitted that, next to the army which Alexander the
Great had led into Asia, no Macedonian king had ever possessed so large a
force.
42.52
It was
six-and-twenty years since the peace which Philip sought had been
vouchsafed to him. During all that time Macedonia had been undisturbed and
a new generation had grown up, ripe for military service, and in the small
wars with their Thracian neighbours, which exercised rather than exhausted
them, they had been constantly trained and disciplined. The prospect of a
war with Rome, which had during the whole period been cherished by Philip
and then by Perseus, had led to everything being in a state of readiness and
efficiency. The army performed a few movements, not as regular maneuvers,
but simply in order to avoid the appearance of only standing under arms.
Perseus then called them, armed as they were, to stand round on parade, and
ascended the tribunal with his two sons by his side; the elder one, Philip, his
brother by birth, his son by adoption, the younger one, Alexander, his son by
birth. He exhorted his soldiers to show their courage in the war, and
enumerated the injuries which the Romans had inflicted on his father and on
himself. His father had been compelled by all the indignities he had suffered
to resume hostilities; in the midst of his preparations he had been struck
down by fate. The Romans sent envoys to him (Perseus) to open
negotiations and at the same time sent soldiers to occupy the cities of
Greece. Then the winter was wasted over a conference, ostensibly to bring
about a peaceful settlement, but really to give them time to make their
preparations. Now the consul was coming with two Roman legions, each
with its complement of 300 cavalry and contingents furnished by the allies of
about the same strength. Even if the troops sent by Eumenes and Masinissa
were counted in, there would not be more than 7000 infantry and 2000
cavalry. The king proceeded: "You have heard what the strength of the
enemy is; now look at your own army, its superiority in numbers and in the
quality of the soldiers as compared with the raw conscripts hastily embodied
for this war, soldiers who have from their boyhood been trained in the school
of war, disciplined and hardened by so many campaigns. Lydians, Phrygians
and Numidians are furnishing troops for the Romans; we have on our side
the Thracians, and the most warlike of all nations the Gauls. Their arms are
just what each poverty-stricken soldier has provided himself with; you
Macedonians are supplied from the royal arsenal with arms manufactured
through all those years under my father's direction and at his cost. Their
supplies will have to be brought from a distance and will be exposed to all
the chances and accidents of the sea; we have for ten years been storing up
money and corn in addition to the revenue from the mines. Everything which
has been provided by the kindness of heaven or by the care and forethought
of their king, the Macedonians have in full and overflowing measure. You
must have the courage which your ancestors had when after subjugating the
whole of Europe they crossed over to Asia and opened up by their arms an
unknown world, and never ceased to conquer until they were hemmed in by
the purple ocean and there was nothing more to conquer. Ay, but now it is
not for the remotest shores of India but for the possession of Macedonia that
Fortune has called us to this contest. When the Romans were at war with my
father they put forward the specious pretext that they were liberating
Greece, now they are openly aiming at the enslavement of Macedonia in
order that Rome may have no monarch on its borders, no nation glorious in
war retaining possession of its arms. These must be surrendered to your
haughty and domineering masters, and your king and kingdom as well, if you
are willing to lay aside all thoughts of war and execute their commands."
42.53
There
had been frequent bursts of applause all through the speech, but at this point
such a shout of indignation and defiance arose, and encouraging cheers for
the king, that he brought his speech to a close, only adding that they must be
prepared to march, as there was a report that the Romans were already
advancing from Nymphaeum. When the troops were dismissed he proceeded
to give audience to the deputations from the Macedonian cities who had
made offers of money and corn, each according to their ability. He thanked
them all, and excused them from making any contribution as the royal stores
were sufficient for all requirements. He only requested them to furnish
wagons to carry the artillery, the enormous quantity of missiles that had been
got ready, and other apparatus of war. He now set forward with the whole
of his army in the direction of Eordaea, and encamped by Lake Begorritis.
The next day he reached the Haliacmon in Elimea. From there he crossed the
Cambunian Mountains through a narrow pass and came down to Azorus,
Pythoum and Doliche; the natives call these three towns the Tripolis. Here
he met with a short delay because they had given hostages to the Larisaeans;
in face, however, of the danger threatening them, they made their surrender.
He accepted their submission graciously, feeling quite sure that Perrhaebia
would do the same. The inhabitants made no show of resistance and he
captured the city as soon as he arrived there. Cyretia he was forced to
attack, and was actually repulsed in the first day's assault by a vigorous
charge of armed men from the gates. The next day he attacked in full
strength, and before night received the submission of the entire population.
42.54
Mylae,
the next town he came to, was so strongly fortified that confidence in the
impregnability of their walls made the townsmen defiant; they were not
content to close their gates to the king, they even hurled taunts and insults
upon him and the Macedonians. This made their enemy all the more furious
in the assault, and the citizens, despairing of pardon, were all the more
resolute in their defence. So for three days the city was attacked, with the
utmost determination on both sides. The vast numbers of the Macedonians
made it easy for them to take their turn in the fighting; the same defenders
had to guard the walls night and day, and were becoming exhausted not only
by their many wounds, but also by want of sleep and incessant exertion. On
the fourth day, while the scaling-ladders were being raised against the walls
and the gate was being attacked with greater violence than usual, the
townsmen, after driving the danger from the walls, ran down to defend the
gate and made a sudden sortie. This was due more to impetuosity and rage
than to any well-grounded confidence in their strength and, reduced as they
were in numbers and with weary and worn-out bodies, they were repulsed by
the enemy who was fresh and vigorous. They turned and fled, and in their
flight through the open gate let in the enemy. In this way the city was taken
and sacked; even the free population, as many as survived, were sold as
slaves.
After wrecking and burning most of the city, Perseus marched on to
Phalanna, and on the following day arrived at Gyrto. On learning that T.
Minucius Rufus and the Thessalian captain-general Hippias had entered this
place with a body of troops he did not even attempt an assault, but marched
past it and captured Elatia and Gonnus, the inhabitants being utterly
dismayed by his unlooked-for appearance. Both towns are situated at the
entrance to the Vale of Tempe, Gonnus lying further within. He garrisoned it
with a strong force of infantry and cavalry, and in addition left it defended
with a triple moat and rampart. Marching on to Sycurium he decided to
await the enemy there and ordered the army to collect corn in all parts of the
hostile territory. Sycurium is at the foot of Mount Ossa on the south side, it
overlooks the plains of Thessaly; behind it lie Macedonia and Magnesia. In
addition to these advantages it possesses a perfectly healthy climate and a
perennial supply of water which flows in abundance from the many springs
round.
42.55
During
this time the Roman consul was on his way with his army to Thessaly. Whilst
marching through Epirus he found the country clear and open, but when he
had crossed the frontiers of Athamania he had to advance over rough and
almost impassable ground. It was with the utmost difficulty and by short
marches that he struggled through to Gomphi. If with horses and men
knocked up and an army of recruits he had been met by the king with a
couple of hundred men in order of battle, at a time and place of his own
choosing, the Romans themselves do not deny that they would have suffered
a terrible defeat. After Gomphi was reached without any fighting, there was
not only rejoicing at having surmounted a dangerous pass, but also a feeling
of contempt for an enemy who was so blind to his advantages. After duly
performing the sacrifices and giving out corn to the soldiers, the consul
stayed there a few days to rest both man and beast. On learning that the
Macedonians were dispersed far and wide devastating the fields of his allies,
he led his soldiers, who were now sufficiently refreshed, towards Larisa.
When about three miles from the place he fixed his camp at Tripolis -the
natives call it Scaea -on the Peneus. Eumenes arrived at this time with his
ships at Chalcis. He was accompanied by his brothers Attalus and
Athenaeus, the other brother, Philetaerus, being left at Pergamum to protect
the kingdom. From Chalcis he went with Attalus and a force of 4000 infantry
and 1000 cavalry to join the consul, 2000 infantry being left in Chalcis under
the command of Athenaeus. Other contingents came in from all the Greek
States, most of them so small that they have passed into oblivion. Apollonia
sent 300 cavalry and 100 infantry; the cavalry from the whole of Aetolia
made up one division, and the Thessalians, who it was hoped would send
their entire force, had not more than 300 cavalry in the Roman camp. The
Achaeans furnished 1500 fighting men, mostly armed in the Cretan fashion.
42.56
C.
Lucretius, commanding the fleet at Cephallania, sent instructions to his
brother Marcus to take his ships past the Malean promontory to Chalcis. He
himself went on board a trireme and made for the Gulf of Corinth with the
view of controlling the position in Boeotia. His progress was somewhat slow
owing to the state of his health. When M. Lucretius brought up at Chalcis he
learnt that Haliartus was being attacked by P. Lentulus, and he sent a
message ordering him in the praetor's name to raise the siege. He had
commenced operations with those Boeotian troops who were on the side of
the Romans, and now he retired from the walls. The abandonment of this
attack left the ground free for another; M. Lucretius at once invested the
place with a force of 10,000 marines and 2000 of the troops under
Athenaeus. Whilst they were getting ready for the assault the praetor
appeared on the scene from Creusa. The ships furnished by the allies were
now assembled at Chalcis -two Punic quinqueremes, two triremes from the
Pontic Heraclea, four from Chalcedon, the same number from Samos and
also five Rhodian quadriremes. As there was no naval war, the praetor sent
the vessels back to the various allies. Q. Marcius also arrived at Chalcis with
his fleet, after capturing Alope and storming Larisa Cremaste. While this was
the position of affairs in Boeotia, Perseus, as stated above, was encamped at
Sycurium. After he had collected corn from all the country round he sent a
detachment to ravage the fields of Pherae, in the hope that as the Romans
were drawn further from their base to help the cities of their allies he might
be able to surprise them. As, however, he found that they were in no way
disturbed by his sudden movements, he distributed the plunder, including
some prisoners, amongst the soldiers; as it consisted mainly of cattle it
provided them with a feast.
42.57
The
consul and the king both held councils of war at the same time, to decide
where to commence operations. The Macedonians had grown bolder after
they found that the enemy allowed them to ravage the Pheraean country
without offering any resistance, and they thought they ought to go straight
up to the Roman camp and give their enemy no room for further delay. The
Romans, on the other hand, felt that their inactivity was damaging their
prestige with their allies, and they were particularly disgusted at no help
having been given to the Pheraeans. Whilst they were deliberating what steps
to take -Eumenes and Attalus were both present -a messenger came in hot
haste to say that the enemy were approaching in great force. The council at
once broke up and the signal was given for the soldiers to arm. A hundred
cavalry and the same number of slingers were in the meanwhile sent forward
to reconnoitre. It was about the fourth hour of the day, and when he was
little more than a mile distant from the Roman camp, Perseus ordered the
infantry to halt whilst he himself rode forward with the cavalry and light
infantry; Cotys also and the commanders of the other auxiliaries rode
forward with him. They were within half a mile of the camp when they
caught sight of the enemy cavalry. There were two troops, largely made up
of Gauls, under Cassignatus, and about 150 light infantry, partly Mysian,
partly Cretan. The king halted, uncertain as to the enemy's strength. Then he
sent on from the main body two squadrons of Thracian and two of
Macedonian horse, together with two Cretan and two Thracian cohorts. As
the two sides were equal in point of numbers, and no fresh troops came up
on either side, the engagement ended in a drawn battle. About thirty of
Eumenes' men were killed, amongst them Cassignatus, the Gaulish
commander. Perseus then took his force back to Sycurium. The next day the
king marched them to the same spot, and at the same hour. This time they
were followed by water carts, for on their twelve miles' march they were
without water and smothered in dust; it was quite clear that if they had to
fight as soon as they came in view of the enemy, they would do so whilst
suffering from thirst. The Romans retired their outposts within their lines and
remained quiet, whereupon the king's troops returned to camp. They did this
for several days, hoping that the Roman cavalry would attack their rear
during their withdrawal, whilst they were at a considerable distance from
their own camp) then the king's troops, who were superior in cavalry and
light infantry, would turn and face the enemy wherever they were.
42.58
As he
had not succeeded in his attempt to draw the Romans, the king moved his
camp to within a distance of five miles from the enemy. At dawn the infantry
were drawn up on the same ground as before and the whole of the cavalry
and light infantry marched towards the Roman camp. The sight of a cloud of
dust, larger and nearer than usual, created some excitement amongst the
Romans. At first the news was hardly credited because on all previous
occasions the enemy had never appeared before the fourth hour of the day,
and now it was sunrise. When all doubt was dispelled by the many shouts
and men running from the gates there was great confusion. The military
tribunes, the officers of the allied troops and the centurions hurried to the
headquarters tent; the soldiers ran to their own tents. Perseus had drawn up
his men less than a mile and a half from the Roman lines round a hill called
Callinicus. Cotys commanded the left wing with the whole of his native
troops, the light infantry being disposed between the ranks of the cavalry. On
the right were the Macedonian cavalry, the Cretans being intermixed with
them in the same way. This body was under the command of Midon of
Beroea; the supreme command of the whole cavalry force was in the hands
of Meno of Antigonea. Flanking the two wings were the king's cavalry and a
mixed body of auxiliaries drawn from different nationalities. Patrocles and
Didas were in charge of these troops. In the centre of the whole line was the
king surrounded by the "agema" and the troops of the "sacred" cavalry. In
front of these he posted the slingers and javelin men, 400 in all, under the
command of Ion and Neoptolemus. The consul formed his infantry into line
inside the rampart, and sent out the whole of the cavalry and light infantry;
they were drawn up in front of the rampart. The right wing was commanded
by the consul's brother Caius, and comprised the whole of the Italian cavalry
with the velites interspersed among them. On the left M. Valerius Laevinus
had the cavalry and light infantry from the various cities in Greece. The
centre was held by Quintus Mucius with a picked body of volunteer cavalry.
On their front were posted 200 Gaulish troopers and 300 Cyrtians from the
auxiliary troops brought by Eumenes; 400 Thessalian cavalry were drawn up
a short distance beyond the Roman left. Attalus and Eumenes took ground
with the whole of their force in the rear between the hindmost rank and the
rampart.
42.59
In this
formation the two armies, almost equally matched in the numbers of their
cavalry and light infantry, engaged. The battle was begun by the slingers and
javelin men, who were in front of the whole line. First of all the Thracians,
like wild beasts kept in cages and suddenly released, set up a deafening roar
and charged the Italian cavalry on the right wing with such fury that, in spite
of their experience of war and their native fearlessness, they threw them into
disorder. The infantry on both sides snapped the lances of the cavalry with
their swords, cut at the legs of the horses and stabbed them in the flanks.
Perseus, charging the centre, dislodged the Greeks at the first onslaught, and
pressed heavily upon them as they fell back. The Thessalian cavalry had been
in reserve, a little distance from the extreme left, outside the fighting and
simply watching it, but when the day began to go against them they were of
the greatest use. For by slowly retiring, and keeping their ranks unbroken,
they formed a junction with Eumenes' troops, and so afforded a safe retreat
within their united ranks to the allied cavalry as they fled in disorder. As the
enemy slackened in the pursuit they even ventured to advance and protected
many of the fugitives whom they met. The king's troops, separated by the
pursuit in all directions, did not venture to come to close quarters with men
who were keeping their formation and advancing in a steady line. The king,
victorious in this cavalry action, shouted to his men that if they gave him a
little more help the war would be over, and very opportunely for his own
encouragement and that of his men, the phalanx appeared on the scene.
Hippias and Leonnatus, hearing of the success of the cavalry, had hastily
brought it up on their own initiative, that they might take their part in an
action so daringly begun. The king was hovering between hope and fear at
attempting so great a task, when Euander the Cretan, who had been his
instrument in the attempt upon Eumenes' life at Delphi, ran up to him. He
had seen the massed infantry advancing with their standards, and he solemnly
warned the king not to be so elated by his good fortune as to stake
everything upon a chance which there was no necessity for him to risk. If he
would be contented with what he had gained and kept quiet for the day he
would have peace with honour, or if he preferred war, he would have very
many allies who would follow his fortunes. The king was more inclined to
this course, so after thanking Euander for his advice, he ordered the
standards to be reversed, the infantry to march back to camp and the "retire"
to be sounded for the cavalry.
42.60
On
that day there fell on the side of the Romans 200 cavalry and not less than
2000 infantry; about 600 were made prisoners. Out of the king's army 20
cavalry and 40 infantry were killed. On their return to camp the victors were
all in high spirits, but the Thracians surpassed all in the insolence of their joy.
They returned to camp singing and carrying the heads of their enemies fixed
on their spears. Amongst the Romans there was not only grief at their defeat,
but a fear lest the enemy should make a sudden attack on the camp.
Eumenes urged the consul to transfer the camp to the opposite bank of the
Peneus, that they might have the protection of the river until the shaken
soldiers could recover their morale. The consul felt bitterly the disgrace of
admitting that he was afraid, but yielding to reason, he took the troops
across in the dead of night and entrenched himself on the further bank. The
next day the king marched up to provoke his enemy to battle. When he
noticed their camp safely fixed across the river he owned that he was wrong
in not pressing upon his foe the day before, but still more so in remaining
inactive through the night, for had he sent only his light infantry against the
enemy during the confusion caused by the passage of the river, their force
would to a large extent have been wiped out. Now that their camp was in a
safe position the Romans were relieved from the danger of an immediate
attack, but they were much depressed, especially at their loss of prestige. In
the council at the headquarters tent, each in turn threw the blame on the
Aetolians, it was with them that the panic and flight began, and the rest of
the Greek contingents followed the example of the Aetolians. Five Aetolian
officers, said to have been the first who were seen to turn their backs on the
enemy, were sent to Rome. The Thessalians were commended before the
whole army and their leaders were rewarded for their bravery.
42.61
The
spoils taken from the fallen were brought to the king. These he gave to his
soldiers; to some splendid armour, to others horses, and to some prisoners.
There were over 1500 shields, the cuirasses and coats of mail numbered
more than 1000, the helmets, swords, and missiles of all kinds were much
more numerous. The value of these gifts, ample and welcome as they were,
was enhanced by the speech which the king made to his army. "You have
pronounced," he said, "upon the issue of the war. The best part of the
Roman army, their cavalry, who used to boast that they were invincible, have
been routed by you. Their cavalry are the flower of their youth, the nursery
of their senate, the men whose fathers are chosen as consuls, from whom
their commanders are selected; these are the men whose spoils we have now
distributed amongst you. And no less a victory have you won over their
infantry, those legions who, withdrawn from your reach in a nocturnal flight,
filled the river with confusion and disorder like shipwrecked men swimming
for their lives. The passage of the Peneus will be easier for us, the pursuers,
than it was for them in their haste to get away, and as soon as we have
crossed we shall attack their camp, which we should have taken today if they
had not fled. Or if they are willing to fight in the open field, look for the
same result in an infantry battle which you have seen in the cavalry action."
Those who had taken part in the victory and were carrying the enemy's spoils
on their shoulders listened eagerly to the recital of their exploits and formed
their hopes of the future from what had already happened. The infantry, too,
especially the men of the phalanx, were fired by the glory which their
comrades had won, and looked forward to the opportunity of doing their
king signal service and winning equal glory from their vanquished foe. The
soldiers were dismissed, and the next day he marched away and fixed his
camp at Mopselus. This is a hill situated at the entrance of the Vale of
Tempe and commands a wide view of the plain of Larisa.
42.62
The
Romans without quitting the river moved their camp into a safer position.
Whilst they were there Misagenes the Numidian came in with 1000 cavalry,
the same number of infantry and 22 elephants. The king was holding a
council to decide upon the future conduct of the war, and as his exultation
over his victory had cooled down, some of his friends ventured to give him
advice. They argued that it would be better for him to take advantage of his
good fortune by securing an honourable peace than to buoy himself up with
idle hopes and so expose himself to chances that might be irrevocable. To set
a measure to one's prosperity and not to place too much confidence in the
smiling fortune of the hour is the part of a wise man who has achieved a
deserved success. Let him send men to the consul with powers to make fresh
proposals for peace on the same terms on which his father Philip had
accepted peace from the victorious T. Quinctius. There could be no grander
close to the war than the late memorable battle and no surer grounds for
hopes of a lasting peace than those which would make the Romans,
disheartened as they were by their defeat, ready to come to terms. If the
Romans should then, with their inbred stubbornness, reject fair terms, gods
and men would alike bear witness to the moderation of Perseus and the
invincible arrogance of the Romans.
The king never disliked advice of this character, and this policy was
approved by the majority of the council. The deputation to the consul were
received in audience in a full council. They asked for peace, and promised
that Perseus would give the Romans the amount of tribute which had been
agreed upon with his father. Such were their instructions. In the discussion
which followed on their withdrawal Roman firmness won the day. It was the
custom in those days to wear the look of prosperity in adverse
circumstances, and to curb and restrain the feelings in a time of prosperity.
The reply decided upon was that peace would be granted only on the
condition that the king placed himself entirely in the hands of the senate and
allowed it the unrestricted right of determining his future and that of
Macedonia. When the report of the deputation became known, those who
were unacquainted with the Roman character regarded it as an astounding
exhibition of obstinacy and any further allusion to peace was generally
forbidden. Those, they said, who spurn the peace now offered will soon
come to ask for it. It was this very obstinacy that Perseus was afraid of; he
looked upon it as due to a confidence in their strength, and on the chance of
being able to purchase peace at a price, persisted in his attempts to bribe the
consul by constantly increasing the sum offered. As the consul adhered to his
first reply Perseus despaired of peace and returned to Sycurium, prepared to
face the hazards of war once more.
42.63
The
news of the battle spread through Greece, and in the way it was received the
hopes and sympathies of men were disclosed. Not only the open supporters
of Macedonia, but most of those who were under the greatest obligations to
Rome, some having experienced the violence and tyranny of Perseus, were
delighted at hearing it for no other reason than that morbid eagerness which
a mob watching gymnastic contests displays in favour of the weaker and
more disreputable competitor. In Boeotia meanwhile Lucretius was pressing
the siege of Haliartus with the utmost vigour. Although the besieged neither
had nor hoped for any outside help beyond the troops from Coronea who
had entered the walls at the beginning of the siege, they kept up their
resistance more by courage and resolution than by actual strength. They
frequently made sorties against the siege works and when a battering-ram
was brought up they at one time . . . at another they forced it to the ground
by lowering a mass of lead upon it. If they were unable to divert the blows
they replaced the old wall by a new one which they hastily built up with the
stones of the fallen wall. As the progress of the siege works was too slow,
the praetor ordered the scaling-ladders to be distributed among the maniples
as he intended to deliver a simultaneous assault all round the walls. His
numbers, he considered, would suffice for this, as there would be no
advantage in attacking that side of the city which was surrounded by a
swamp, nor would it be possible to do so. At a point where two towers and
the wall between them had been battered down he brought up a picked force
of 2000 men in order that while he was forcing his way through the breach,
and the defenders were massing together to oppose him, some portion of the
walls might be left unmanned and so successfully scaled. The townsmen
were not slow in preparing to meet him. On the ground covered by the ruins
of the wall they heaped up faggots of brushwood, and standing on these with
burning torches in their hands they were preparing to set the mass on fire in
order that, shut off from the enemy by the conflagration, they might have
time to throw up another wall inside. They were accidentally prevented from
executing this plan. Such a heavy shower of rain suddenly fell that it was
hardly possible to kindle the brushwood, and when it was alight the fire was
extinguished. A passage was effected by dragging the smoking faggots out
of the way, and as all had turned their attention to defending this one spot,
the walls were scaled in many places. In the first confusion of the captured
city the old men and boys whom they chanced to meet were killed. The
combatants took shelter in the citadel, and as all hope was now lost they
surrendered, and were sold as slaves. There were about 2500 of them. The
adornments of the city, the statues and paintings and all the valuable plunder
were placed on shipboard and the place was razed to its foundations. From
there the army marched to Thebes, which was captured without any fighting,
and the consul handed the city over to the refugees and the Roman party.
The households and property of the other party, who had worked in the
interests of the king and were Macedonian sympathisers, were sold.
42.64
During
these incidents in Boeotia, Perseus remained for several days in camp at
Sycurium. Here he heard that the Romans were busy cutting and carrying off
the corn from the fields and that the men were all in front of their tents
cutting off the ears with their sickles that they might rub the corn cleaner,
and littering all the camp with great heaps of straw. This seemed to him a
good opportunity for firing the camp, and he gave orders for torches of
pinewood and bundles of tow covered with pitch to be got ready. He started
at midnight, intending to take the enemy unawares at daybreak. All to no
purpose. The advanced posts were surprised and their shouts and tumult
gave the alarm to the rest. The signal was given to arm instantly for battle
and the soldiers were immediately formed up at the gates and on the
rampart. His design on the camp having failed, Perseus countermarched his
army and directed the baggage to lead the way, and the standards of the
infantry to follow. He himself waited with his cavalry and light infantry to
close the column, expecting, as proved to be the case, that the enemy would
follow and harass his rear. There was some desultory fighting on the part of
the light infantry, mainly with the skirmishers; the cavalry and infantry
returned to camp without disorder.
When the standing corn was cut all round their camp, the Romans
moved on to Crannon, where the fields were yet untouched. Here they
remained encamped for some time as they were secure against attack, owing
partly to the distance from Sycurium and partly to the difficulty of obtaining
water on the road from that place. Suddenly, one morning at daybreak, they
were greatly excited at seeing the king's cavalry and light infantry on a range
of hills overlooking the camp. These had started from Sycurium at noon the
day before, and just before dawn left the infantry behind on the nearest level
ground. Perseus halted for some time on the hills, thinking that the Romans
might be drawn into a cavalry action. As they made no movement, he sent a
trooper with orders to the infantry to march back to Sycurium, and in a short
time rode after them. The Roman cavalry followed at a moderate interval to
pick up stragglers. When they saw the massed infantry marching off in
unbroken ranks, they too returned to camp.
42.65
The
distance he had to march annoyed the king and he advanced his camp to
Mopselus. The Romans, having cut all the standing corn round Crannon,
moved into the district of Phalanna. The king learnt from a deserter that the
Romans were dispersed over the country, cutting the corn, without any
remaining on guard. He started off with 1000 cavalry and 2000 Thracian and
Cretan light infantry. Marching with the utmost possible speed he attacked
the Romans when they were least expecting it. Nearly 1000 carts most of
them loaded, were captured with their teams, and also 600 prisoners taken.
He gave the plunder to the Cretans to escort back to their camp. Then he
recalled the cavalry and the rest of the infantry, who were everywhere
slaughtering the enemy, and led them against the nearest detachment who
were on guard, thinking to overwhelm them without much trouble. A
military tribune, L. Pomponius, was in command of the detachment and
withdrew his men, who were dismayed by the sudden appearance of the
enemy, to a hill near by, to serve as a defensive position since he was inferior
in numbers and strength. Here he made his soldiers close up in a circular
formation, with their shields touching one another, so that they might be
protected from the arrows and javelins.
Perseus surrounded the hill with his troops and ordered one body to
attempt the ascent of the hill and come to close quarters with the enemy,
whilst the others discharged their missiles from a distance. The Romans were
in very great danger, for they could not fight in close order against those
who were struggling up the hill, and if they left their ranks and ran forward
they were exposed to the javelins and arrows. They suffered mainly from the
cestrosphendons, a novel kind of weapon invented during the war. It
consisted of a pointed iron head two palms long, fastened to a shaft made of
pinewood, nine inches long and as thick as a man's finger. Round the shaft
three feathers were fastened as in the case of arrows, and the sling was held
by two thongs, one shorter than the other. When the missile was poised in
the centre of the sling, the slinger whirled it round with great force and it
flew out like a leaden bullet. Many of the soldiers were wounded by these
and by missiles of all kinds, and they were becoming so exhausted that they
were hardly capable of holding their weapons. Seeing this, the king urged
them to surrender and pledged his word for their safety and promised to
reward them. Not a single man had any thought of surrender. They had made
up their minds to die, when an unlooked-for gleam of hope appeared. Some
of the foragers, who had fled to the camp, informed the consul that the
detachment on guard was surrounded. Alarmed for the safety of so many
fellow-citizens -there were about 800, all Romans -he sallied forth from the
camp with a force of cavalry and infantry, including the new reinforcement
of Numidian horse and foot, as well as the elephants. The order was given to
the military tribunes to follow with the legionaries. Bringing up the velites to
stiffen the auxiliary light infantry, he went forward to the hill. Eumenes,
Attalus and Misagenes, the Numidian leader, rode by his side.
42.66
As
soon as they caught sight of the leading files of their comrades, the spirits of
the Romans revived from the depths of despair. Perseus should have made
up his mind after capturing and killing several of the foragers to content
himself with this chance success, and not wasted time in beleaguering the
detachment. Or if he did attempt that he ought to have left the field while he
could do so safely, as he knew he had no heavy infantry with him. Elated
with his success he waited till the enemy appeared, and then sent a hurried
message to bring up the phalanx. It was too late to do this now. The
phalanx, hastily brought into action and disarranged by the speed of its
advance, had to meet troops in proper formation and ready for battle. The
consul, who was first on the ground, at once engaged the enemy. For a short
time the Macedonians held their own, but they were completely outmatched,
and with a loss of 300 infantry and 24 of the select cavalry of the "sacred
cohort," including their commander Antimachus, they attempted to leave the
field. But there was almost more turmoil on their return march than in the
battle itself. The phalanx, called up so hurriedly, marched off with equal
haste, but where the road narrowed they met the troop of prisoners and the
carts loaded with corn, and were brought to a standstill. There was great
excitement and uproar; no one would wait until the troops of the phalanx
could make their way through; the soldiers threw the carts over the cliff, the
only way of clearing the road, and the animals were lashed till they charged
madly among the crowd. Hardly had they got clear of the column of
prisoners when they met the king and his discomfited cavalry, who shouted
to them to face about and march back. This created a commotion almost as
great as the crash of a falling house; if the enemy had continued the pursuit
and ventured into the pass, there might have been a terrible disaster. The
consul, satisfied with this slight success, recalled the detachment from the hill
and returned to camp. According to some authorities, a great battle was
fought that day, 8000 of the enemy slain, amongst them two of the king's
generals, Sopater and Antipater, 2800 made prisoners, and 27 military
standards captured. Nor was the victory a bloodless one. Above 4300 fell in
the consul's army, and 5 standards belonging to the left wing lost.
42.67
This
day revived the spirits of the Romans and depressed Perseus, so much so
that after staying a few days longer at Mopselus, mainly to see to the burial
of the men he had lost, he placed a sufficiently strong garrison in Gonnus and
withdrew his troops into Macedonia. One of the royal governors, Timotheus,
was left with a small force at Phila with instructions to try and win over the
Magnetes whilst he was in their neighbourhood. On reaching Pella, Perseus
sent his army into winter quarters and then went with Cotys to Thessalonica.
News reached him there that Autlebis, a Thracian chief, and Corragus, an
officer of Eumenes, had invaded the dominions of Cotys and occupied a
district called Marene. He felt that he ought to release Cotys and let him go
and defend his kingdom. On his departure he bestowed valuable presents on
him. To his cavalry he only doled out 200 talents, half a year's pay, though at
first he had agreed to give them a year's stipend.
When the consul heard that Perseus had gone he marched up to
Gonnus on the chance of getting possession of the town. This place lies at
the entrance to the Vale of Tempe, and forms a secure barrier against the
invasion of Macedonia from that side, while it affords a convenient descent
for the Macedonians into Thessaly. As the citadel, owing to its position and
the strength of its garrison, was impregnable, the consul abandoned the
attempt. Turning his route towards Perrhaebia he took Malloea at the first
assault and sacked the town. After securing Tripolis and the other places in
Perrhaebia he returned to Larisa. Eumenes and Attalus went home, and the
consul settled Misagenes and his Numidians in the nearest cities of Thessaly.
Part of his army he distributed amongst all the cities of Thessaly, that they
might have comfortable winter quarters and serve as garrisons for the cities.
Q. Mucius was sent with 2000 men to hold Ambracia, and the consul
disbanded all the troops from the friendly States of Greece, except the
Achaeans. Advancing with a part of his army into Achaean Phthiotis he
razed to its foundations the city of Pteleum, from which the inhabitants had
fled, and accepted the voluntary surrender of Antronae. Then he brought his
army up to Larisa. The city was empty; all the population had taken refuge in
the citadel, and he commenced an attack upon it. The king's garrison of
Macedonians had first left the place through fear, and the townsmen, thus
deserted, at once surrendered. He now hesitated whether to attack
Demetrias or examine the position in Boeotia. The Thebans, owing to the
trouble given them by the Coronaeans, were asking hum to come to their
assistance. In compliance with their request and also because it was more
suitable for winter quarters than Magnesia, he led his army into
Boeotia.
End of Book 42