History of Rome, Vol III by Titus Livius

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16. Before the battle at Cynoscephalae, Lucius Quinctius had invited
to Corcyra some chiefs of the Acarnanians, the only state in Greece
which had continued to maintain its alliance with the Macedonians; and
there made some kind of scheme for a change of measures. Two causes,
principally, had retained them in friendship with the king: one was a
principle of honour, natural to that nation; the other, their fear and
hatred of the Aetolians. A general assembly was summoned to meet at
Leucas; but neither did all the states of Acarnania come thither, nor
were those who did attend agreed in opinion. However, the magistrates
and leading men prevailed so far, as to get a decree passed, thus
privately, for joining in alliance with the Romans. This gave great
offence to those who had not been present; and, in this ferment of
the nation, Androcles and Echedemus, two men of distinction among the
Acarnanians, being commissioned by Philip, had influence enough in the
assembly, not only to obtain the repeal of the decree for an alliance
with Rome, but also the condemnation, on a charge of treason, of
Archesilaus and Bianor, both men of the first rank in Acarnania, who
had been the advisers of that measure; and to deprive Zeuxidas, the
praetor, of his office, for having put it to the vote. The persons
condemned took a course apparently desperate, but successful in the
issue: for, while their friends advised them to yield to the necessity
of the occasion, and withdraw to Corcyra, to the Romans, they resolved
to present themselves to the multitude; and either, by that act, to
mollify their resentment, or endure whatever might befall them. When
they had introduced themselves into a full assembly, at first, a
murmur arose, expressive of surprise; but presently silence took
place, partly from respect to their former dignity, partly from
commiseration of their present situation. Having been also permitted
the liberty of speaking, at first they addressed the assembly in a
suppliant manner; but, in the progress of their discourse, when they
came to refute the charges made against them, they spoke with that
degree of confidence which innocence inspires. At last, they even
ventured to utter some complaints, and to charge the proceedings
against them with injustice and cruelty; and this had such an effect
on the minds of all present, that, with one consent, they annulled
all the decrees passed against them. Nevertheless, they came to a
resolution, to renounce the friendship of the Romans, and return to
the alliance with Philip.

17. These decrees were passed at Leucas, the capital of Acarnania, the
place where all the states usually met in council. As soon, therefore,
as the news of this sudden change reached the lieutenant-general
Flamininus, in Corcyra, he instantly set sail with the fleet for
Leucas; and coming to an anchor at a place called Heraeus, advanced
thence towards the walls with every kind of machine used in the
attacking of cities; supposing that the first appearance of danger
might bend the minds of the inhabitants to submission. But seeing no
prospect of effecting any thing, except by force, he began to erect
towers and sheds, and to bring up the battering-rams to the walls. The
whole of Acarnania, being situated between Aetolia and Epirus, faces
towards the west and the Sicilian sea. Leucadia, now an island,
separated from Acarnania by a shallow strait which was dug by the
hand, was then a peninsula, united on its eastern side to Acarnania by
a narrow isthmus: this isthmus was about five hundred paces in length,
and in breadth not above one hundred and twenty. At the entrance of
this narrow neck stands Leucas, stretching up part of a hill which
faces the east and Acarnania: the lower part of the town is level,
lying along the sea, which divides Leucadia from Acarnania. Thus it
lies open to attacks, both from the sea and from the land; for the
channel is more like a marsh than a sea, and all the adjacent ground
is solid enough to render the construction of works easy. In many
places, therefore, at once the walls fell down, either undermined,
or demolished by the ram. But the spirit of the besieged was as
invincible as the town itself was favourably situated for the
besiegers: night and day they employed themselves busily in repairing
the shattered parts of the wall; and, stopping up the breaches that
were made, fought the enemy with great spirit, and showed a wish to
defend the walls by their arms rather than themselves by the walls.
And they would certainly have protracted the siege to a length
unexpected by the Romans, had not some exiles of Italian birth, who
resided in Leucas, admitted a band of soldiers into the citadel:
notwithstanding which, when those troops ran down from the higher
ground with great tumult and uproar, the Leucadians, drawing up in a
body in the forum, withstood them for a considerable time in regular
fight. Meanwhile the walls were scaled in many places; and the
besiegers, climbing over the rubbish, entered the town through the
breaches. And now the lieutenant-general himself surrounded the
combatants with a powerful force. Being thus hemmed in, many were
slain, the rest laid down their arms and surrendered to the conqueror.
In a few days after, on hearing of the battle at Cynoscephalae,
all the states of Acarnania made their submission to the
lieutenant-general.

18. About this time, fortune, depressing the same party in every
quarter at once, the Rhodians, in order to recover from Phillip the
tract on the continent called Peraea, which had been in possession of
their ancestors, sent thither their praetor, Pausistratus, with eight
hundred Achaean foot, and about one thousand nine hundred men, made
up of auxiliaries of various nations. These were Gauls, Nisuetans,
Pisuetans, Tamians Areans from Africa, and Laodiceans from Asia. With
this force Pausistratus seized by surprise Tendeba, in the territory
of Stratonice, a place exceedingly convenient for his purpose, without
the knowledge of the king's troops who had held it. A reinforcement
of one thousand Achaean foot and one hundred horse, called out for the
same expedition, came up at the very time, under a commander called
Theoxenus. Dinocrates, the king's general, with design to recover
the fort, marched his army first to Tendeba, and then to another fort
called Astragon, which also stood in the territory of Stratonice.
Then, calling in all the garrisons, which were scattered in many
different places, and the Thessalian auxiliaries from Stratonice
itself, he led them on to Alabanda, where the enemy lay. The Rhodians
were no way averse from a battle, and the camps being pitched near
each other both parties immediately came into the field. Dinocrates
placed five hundred Macedonians on his right wing, and the Agrians
on his left; the centre he formed of the troops which he had drawn
together out of the garrisons of the forts; these were mostly Carians;
and he covered the flanks with the cavalry, and the Cretan and
Thracian auxiliaries. The Rhodians had on the right wing the Achaeans;
on the left mercenary soldiers; and in the centre a chosen band of
infantry, a body of auxiliaries composed of troops of various nations.
The cavalry and what light infantry they had, were posted on the
wings. During that day both armies remained on the banks of a rivulet,
which ran between them, and, after discharging a few javelins, they
retired into their camps. Next day, being drawn up in the same order,
they fought a more important battle than could have been expected,
considering the numbers engaged; for there were not more than three
thousand infantry on each side, and about one hundred horse: but they
were not only on an equality with respect to numbers, and the kind of
arms which they used, but they also fought with equal spirit and equal
hopes. First, the Achaeans crossing the rivulet, made an attack on the
Agrians; then the whole line passed the river, almost at full speed.
The fight continued doubtful a long time: the Achaeans, one thousand
in number, drove back the four hundred from their position. Then the
left wing giving way, all exerted themselves against the right. On
the Macedonians no impression could be made, so long as their phalanx
preserved its order, each man clinging as it were to another:
but when, in consequence of their flank being left exposed, they
endeavoured to turn their spears against the enemy, who were advancing
upon that side, they immediately broke their ranks. This first caused
disorder among themselves; they then turned their backs, and at last,
throwing away their arms, and flying with precipitation, made the best
of their way to Bargylii. To the same place Dinocrates also made his
escape. The Rhodians continued the pursuit as long as the day lasted,
and then retired to their camp. There is every reason to believe,
that, if the victors had proceeded with speed to Stratonice, that
city would have been gained without a contest; but the opportunity for
effecting this was neglected, and the time wasted in taking possession
of the forts and villages in Peraea. In the mean time, the courage
of the troops in garrison at Stratonice revived; and shortly after,
Dinocrates, with the troops which had escaped from the battle, came
into the town, which, after that, was besieged and assaulted without
effect; nor could it be reduced until a long time after that, when
Antiochus took it. Such were the events that took place in Thessaly,
in Achaia, and in Asia, all about the same time.

19. Philip was informed that the Dardanians, in contempt of the
power of his kingdom, shaken as at that time it was, had passed the
frontiers, and were spreading devastation through the upper parts
of Macedonia: on which, though he was hard pressed in almost every
quarter of the globe, fortune on all occasions defeating his measures
and those of his friends, yet, thinking it more intolerable than death
to be expelled from the possession of Macedonia, he made hasty levies
through the cities of his dominions; and, with six thousand foot and
five hundred horse, defeated the enemy by a surprise near Stobi in
Paeonia. Great numbers were killed in the fight, and greater numbers
of those who were scattered about in quest of plunder. As to such as
found a road open for flight, without having even tried the chance
of an engagement, they hastened back to their own country. After this
enterprise executed with a degree of success beyond what he met in
the rest of his attempts, and which raised the drooping courage of his
people, he retired to Thessalonica. Seasonable as was the termination
of the Punic war, in extricating the Romans from the danger of a
quarrel with Philip, the recent triumph over Philip happened still
more opportunely, when Antiochus, in Syria, was already making
preparations for hostilities. For besides that it was easier to wage
war against them separately than if both had combined their forces
together, Spain had a little before this time, risen in arms in great
commotion Antiochus, though he had in the preceding summer reduced
under his power all the states in Coele-Syria belonging to Ptolemy,
and retired into winter quarters at Antioch, yet allowed himself no
relaxation from the exertions of the summer. For resolving to exert
the whole strength of his kingdom, he collected a most powerful force,
both naval and military; and in the beginning of spring, sending
forward by land his two sons, Ardues and Mithridates, at the head of
the army, with orders to wait for him at Sardis, he himself set out
by sea with a fleet of one hundred decked ships, besides two hundred
lighter vessels, barks and fly-boats, designing to attempt the
reduction of all the cities under the dominion of Ptolemy along the
whole coast of Caria and Cilicia; and, at the same time, to aid Philip
with an army and ships, for as yet that war had not been brought to a
conclusion.

20. The Rhodians, out of a faithful attachment to the Roman people,
and an affection for the whole race of the Greeks have performed
many honourable exploits, both on land and sea: but never was their
gallantry more eminently conspicuous than on this occasion, when,
nowise dismayed at the formidable magnitude of the impending war,
they sent ambassadors to tell the king, that he should not double the
tribute of Cheledoniae, which is a promontory of Cilicia, rendered
famous by an ancient treaty between the Athenians and the king
of Persia; that if he did not confine his fleet and army to that
boundary, they would meet him there and oppose not out of any ill
will, but because they would not suffice to join Philip and obstruct
the Romans, who were resisting liberty to Greece. At this time
Antiochus was pushing the siege of Coracesium with his works; for,
after he had possession of Zephyrium, Solae, Aphrodisias, and Corycus;
and doubling Anemurium, another promontory of Cilicia, had taken
Selinus; when all these, and the other fortresses on that coast, had,
either through fear or inclination, submitted without resistance,
Coracesium shut its gates, and gave him a delay which he did not
expect. Here an audience was given to the ambassadors of the Rhodians,
and although the purport of their embassy was such as might kindle
passion in the breast of a king, yet he stifled his resentment, and
answered, that "he would send ambassadors to Rhodes, and would give
them instructions to renew the old treaties, made by him and his
predecessors, with that state; and to assure them, that they need not
be alarmed at his approach; that it would involve no injury or fraud
either to them or their allies; for that he was not about to violate
the friendship subsisting between himself and the Romans, both his own
late embassy to that people, and the senate's answers and decrees, so
honourable to him, were a sufficient evidence." Just at that time his
ambassadors happened to have returned from Rome, where they had been
heard and dismissed with courtesy, as the juncture required; the
event of the war with Philip being yet uncertain. While the king's
ambassadors were haranguing to the above purpose, in an assembly of
the people at Rhodes, a courier arrived with an account of the battle
at Cynoscephalae having finally decided the fate of the war.
Having received this intelligence, the Rhodians, now freed from all
apprehensions of danger from Philip, resolved to oppose Antiochus with
their fleet. Nor did they neglect another object that required their
attention; the protection of the freedom of the cities in alliance
with Ptolemy, which were threatened with war by Antiochus. For, some
they assisted with men, others by forewarning them of the enemy's
designs; by which means they enabled the Cauneans, Mindians,
Halicarnassians, and Samians to preserve their liberty. It were
needless to attempt enumerating all the transactions as they occurred
in that quarter, when I am scarcely equal to the task of recounting
those which immediately concern the war in which Rome was engaged.

21. At this time king Attalus, having fallen sick at Thebes, had been
carried thence to Pergamus, died at the age of seventy-one after he
had reigned forty-four years. To this man fortune had given nothing
which could inspire hopes of a throne except riches. By a prudent,
and, at the same time, a splendid use of these, he begat, in himself
first, and then in others, an opinion, that he was not undeserving of
a crown. Afterwards, having in one battle utterly defeated the Gauls,
which nation was then the more terrible to Asia, as having but lately
made its appearance there, he assumed the title of king, and ever
after exhibited a spirit equal to the dignity of that name. He
governed his subjects with the most perfect justice, and observed an
unvarying fidelity towards his allies; gentle and bountiful to his
friends; affectionate to his wife and four sons, who survived him; and
he left his government established on such solid and firm foundations,
that the possession of it descended to the third generation. While
this was the posture of affairs in Asia, Greece, and Macedonia, the
war with Philip being scarcely ended, and the peace certainly not yet
perfected, a desperate insurrection took place in the Farther Spain.
Marcus Helvius was governor of that province. He informed the senate
by letter, that "two chieftains, Colca and Luscinus, were in arms;
that Colca was joined by seventeen towns, and Luscinus by the powerful
cities of Carmo and Bardo; and that the people of the whole sea-coast,
who had not yet manifested their disposition, were ready to rise on
the first motion of their neighbours." On this letter being read by
Marcus Sergius, city praetor, the senate decreed, that, as soon as
the election of praetors should be finished, the one to whose lot the
government of Spain fell should, without delay, consult the senate
respecting the commotions in that province.

22. About the same time the consuls came home to Rome, and, on
their holding a meeting of the senate in the temple of Bellona, and
demanding a triumph, in consideration of their successes in the war,
Caius Atinius Labeo, and Caius Ursanius, plebeian tribunes, insisted
that "the consuls should propose their claims of a triumph separately,
for they would not suffer the question to be put on both jointly,
lest equal honours might be conferred where the merits were unequal."
Minucius urged, that they had both been appointed to the government
of one province, Italy; and that, through the course of their
administration, his colleague and himself had been united in
sentiments and in counsels; to which Cornelius added, that, when the
Boians were passing the Po, to assist the Insubrians and Caenomanians
against him, they were forced to return to defend their own country,
from his colleague ravaging their towns and lands. In reply the
tribunes acknowledged, that the services performed in the war by
Cornelius were so great, that "no more doubt could be entertained
respecting his triumph than respecting the ascribing of glory to the
immortal gods." Nevertheless they insisted, that "neither he nor any
other member of the community should possess such power and influence
as to be able, after obtaining the honour that was due to himself, to
bestow the same distinction on a colleague, who immodestly demanded
what he had not deserved. The exploits of Quintus Minucius in Liguria
were trifling skirmishes, scarcely deserving mention; and in Gaul
he had lost great numbers of soldiers." They mentioned even military
tribunes, Titus Juvencius and Cneius Labeo, of the fourth legion, the
plebeian tribune's brother, who had fallen in unsuccessful conflict,
together with many other brave men, both citizens and allies: and
they asserted, that "pretended surrenders of a few towns and villages,
fabricated for the occasion, had been made, without any pledge of
fidelity being taken." These altercations between the consuls and
tribunes lasted two days: at last the consuls, overcome by the
obstinacy of the tribunes, proposed their claims separately.

23. To Cneius Cornelius a triumph was unanimously decreed: and the
inhabitants of Placentia and Cremona added to the applause bestowed
on the consul, by returning him thanks, and mentioning, to his honour,
that they had been delivered by him from a siege; and that very
many of them, when in the hands of the enemy, had been rescued from
captivity. Quintus Minucius just tried how the proposal of his claim
would be received, and finding the whole senate averse from it,
declared, that by the authority of his office of consul, and pursuant
to the example of many illustrious men, he would triumph on the
Alban mount. Caius Cornelius, being yet in office, triumphed over
the Insubrian and Caenomanian Gauls. He produced a great number of
military standards, and earned in the procession abundance of Gallic
spoils in captured chariots. Many Gauls of distinction were led before
his chariot, and along with them, some writers say, Hamilcar, the
Carthaginian general. But what, more than all, attracted the eyes of
the public, was a crowd of Cremonian and Placentian colonists, with
caps of liberty on their heads, following his chariot. He carried
in his triumph two hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred
_asses_,[1] and of silver denarii, stamped with a chariot,
seventy-nine thousand.[2] He distributed to each of his soldiers
seventy _asses_,[3] to a horseman and a centurion double that sum.
Quintus Minucius, consul, triumphed on the Alban mount, over the
Ligurian and Boian Gauls. Although this triumph was less respectable,
in regard to the place and the fame of his exploits, and because all
knew the expense was not issued from the treasury; yet, in regard of
the number of standards, chariots, and spoils, it was nearly equal to
the other. The amount of the money also was nearly equal. Two hundred
and fifty-four thousand _asses_[4] were conveyed to the treasury, and
of silver denarii, stamped with a chariot, fifty-three thousand
two hundred.[5] He likewise gave to the soldiers, horsemen, and
centurions, severally, the same sums that his colleague had given.

[Footnote 1: 766l. 18s. 6-1/2d]

[Footnote 2: 2551l. 0s. 10d]

[Footnote 3: 4s. 6-1/2d]

[Footnote 4: 820l. 4s. 2d]

[Footnote 5: 1717l. 18s. 4d]

24. After the triumph, the election of consuls came on. The persons
chosen were Lucius Furius Purpureo and Marcus Claudius Marcellus.
Next day, the following were elected praetors; Quintus Fabius Buteo,
Tiberius Sempronius Longus, Quintus Minucius Thermus, Manius Acilius
Glabrio, Lucius Apustius Fullo, and Caius Laelius. Toward the close of
this year, a letter came from Titus Quinctius, with information that
he had fought a pitched battle with Philip in Thessaly, and that the
army of the enemy had been routed and put to flight. This letter was
read by Sergius, the praetor, first in the senate, and then, by the
direction of the fathers, in a general assembly; and supplications
of five days' continuance were decreed on account of those successes.
Soon after arrived the ambassadors, both from Titus Quinctius and from
the king. The Macedonians were conducted out of the city to the Villa
Publica, where lodgings and every other accommodation were provided
for them, and an audience of the senate was given them in the temple
of Bellona. Not many words passed; for the Macedonians declared, that
whatever terms the senate should prescribe, the king was ready
to comply with them. It was decreed, that, conformably to ancient
practice, ten ambassadors should be appointed, and that, in council
with them, the general, Titus Quinctius, should grant terms of peace
to Philip; and a clause was added, that, in the number of these
ambassadors, should be Publius Sulpicius and Publius Villius, who in
their consulship had held the province of Macedonia. On the same day
the inhabitants of Oossa having presented a petition, praying that the
number of their colonists might be enlarged; an order was accordingly
passed, that one thousand should be added to the list, with a
provision, that no persons should be admitted into that number who,
at any time since the consulate of Publius Cornelius and Tiberius
Sempronius, had been partisans of the enemy.

25. This year the Roman games were exhibited in the circus, and on
the stage, by the curule aediles, Publius Cornelius Scipio and Cneius
Manlius Vulso, with an unusual degree of splendour, and were beheld
with the greater delight, in consequence of the late successes in war.
They were thrice repeated entire, and the plebeian games seven times.
These were exhibited by Manius Acilius Glabrio and Caius Laelius,
who also, out of the money arising from fines, erected three brazen
statues, to Ceres, Liber, and Libera. Lucius Furius and Marcus
Claudius Marcellus, having entered on the consulship, when the
distribution of the provinces came to be agitated, and the senate
appeared disposed to vote Italy the province of both, exerted
themselves to get that of Macedonia put to the lot along with Italy.
Marcellus, who of the two was the more eager for that province, by
assertions that the peace was merely a feigned and delusive one, and
that, if the army were withdrawn thence, the king would renew the war,
caused some perplexity in the minds of the senate. The consuls would
probably have carried the point, had not Quintus Marcius Rex and Caius
Antinius Labeo, plebeian tribunes, declared, that they would
enter their protest, unless they were allowed, before any further
proceeding, to take the sense of the people, whether it was their will
and order that peace be concluded with Philip. This question was put
to the people in the Capitol, and every one of the thirty-five tribes
voted on the affirmative side. The public found the greater reason to
rejoice at the ratification of the peace with Macedonia, as melancholy
news was brought from Spain; and a letter was made public, announcing
that "the proconsul, Caius Sempronius Tuditanus, had been defeated in
battle in the Hither Spain; that his army had been utterly routed and
dispersed, and several men of distinction slain in the fight. That
Tuditanus, having been grievously wounded, and carried out of the
field, expired soon after." Italy was decreed the province of both
consuls, in which they were to employ the same legions which the
preceding consuls had; and they were to raise four new legions, two
for the city, and two to be in readiness to be sent whithersoever
the senate should direct. Titus Quinctius Flamininus was ordered
to continue in the government of his province, with the army of two
legions, then on the spot. The former prolongation of his command was
deemed sufficient.