Livy

“ Their fleet had been for some time cruising off Malea, and he understood that fresh ships and a fresh commander had come from Italy to take part in the war. He begged Antiochus therefore to give up all hopes of being left in peace. Asia would be the scene of conflict, for Asia itself he would have to fight by sea and by land, and either he must wrest the supreme power from those who were aiming at world-wide dominion or else he must lose his own throne. The king realised that Hannibal was the only one who saw what was coming and told him the honest truth. ”

“ When you have concentrated your entire strength, Antiochus, you might divide your fleet and keep one division cruising off Corcyra, that there may be no safe and easy passage for the Romans, the other you would send across to the coast of Italy opposite Sardinia and Africa. You yourself would advance with all your land forces into the country round Byllis; from there you would protect Greece and give the Romans the impression that you are going to sail to Italy, and should circumstances render it necessary you will be in readiness to do so. ”

“ When the result of this mission was reported at Pherae, the people did not hesitate for a moment; they were determined to suffer everything which the chances of war might bring in defence of their loyalty to Rome, and made every possible preparation for the defence of their city. The king commenced a simultaneous attack on all sides; he quite saw, what indeed was indisputable, that it depended upon the fate of the first city which he attacked whether he would be held in contempt or in dread throughout the whole of Thessaly, so he did his utmost to spread terror everywhere. ”

“ What I told you beforehand would come to pass has actually happened, and you have not even the comfort left you of believing that you do not deserve your fate. Since, however, I have been somehow destined to be the nursing father of Greece, I shall not desist from showing kindness even to those who have shown themselves ungrateful. Send a deputation to the consul and ask him for an armistice to allow you time to send envoys to Rome with instructions to place yourselves entirely at the mercy of the senate. ”

“ The deputation from Epirus showed a by no means honest and straightforward spirit to either side; they wanted to ingratiate themselves with Antiochus, but at the same time to give no offence to the Romans. They asked the king not to involve them in the war hastily, for from their position on the front of Greece facing Italy they would have to meet the first onslaught of the Romans. But if he could protect Epirus with his fleet and army all the Epirots would eagerly welcome him in their cities and harbours ”

“ What will then prevent us from extending our dominion from Gades to the Red Sea with no limit but the Ocean which enfolds the world, and making the whole human race look up to Rome with a reverence only second to that which they pay to the gods? ”

“ On receiving the consul's consent he marched his army to Demetrias, as he was fully aware of the confusion which prevailed there. The citizens were in despair, they saw themselves deserted by Antiochus, with no prospect of help from the Aetolians, and were daily expecting the arrival of their enemy Philip, or of a more relentless enemy still, the Romans, who had more reason to be angry with them. ”

“ Out of the whole army not a single man escaped beyond the 500 who formed the king's bodyguard, an insignificant number even if we accept Polybius' statement which I have mentioned above that the force the king brought with him out of Asia did not exceed 10,000 men. What proportion would it be if we are to believe Valerius Antias, that there were 60,000 men in the king's army, of whom 40,000 fell and over 5000 made prisoners, and 230 standards captured? In the battle itself the Roman losses amounted to 150, and in the defence of the camp against the Aetolians not more than 50 were killed. ”

“ Out of 50,000 men more than half had fallen, many thousands had been made prisoners, only old men and boys were left among the Boii. Could then anyone wonder why the victorious army after leaving not a single active enemy in the province had come to Rome to grace the consul's triumph? ”

“ As long as you are shut in on all sides by the sea, you have no difficulty in incorporating in your league and protecting all the States within the frontiers of the Peloponnese, but if through a passion for aggrandisement you go beyond those frontiers all that you possess outside is defenceless and lies at the mercy of every assailant. ”

“ On learning that the decision come to at Heraclea did not make for peace and that the Aetolians had concentrated at Naupactus, where they intended to meet the whole brunt of the war, the consul sent Appius Claudius with 4000 men to occupy the heights which commanded the difficult mountain passes while he himself ascended Mount Oeta. Here he offered sacrifice to Hercules at a place called Pyra, because it was there that the mortal body of the god was cremated. From there he continued his march with the whole of his army and made fairly satisfactory progress till he came to Corax. ”

“ The leading Boeotians from all parts of the country assembled at Thebes, and thither Antiochus went to meet them. In spite of the fact that by his attack on the Roman detachments at Delium and Chalcis he had committed hostile acts which were neither trifling nor such as could be explained away, he took the same line in addressing the Boeotian council that he had taken at his first conference at Chalcis and had instructed his envoys to take in the council of the Achaeans. He simply asked that friendly relations might be established with him, not that war should be declared against Rome. ”

“ At a meeting of the council he told them that the ports of Acarnania ought to be protected and that all who could bear arms ought to go to Medione and Tyrrheum to prevent their being seized by Antiochus and the Aetolians. Some of those present protested against this indiscriminate calling out of their fighting strength as quite unnecessary and said that a force of 500 men would be adequate for this purpose. When he had got this force he placed 300 men in Medione and 200 in Tyrrheum, his intention being that they should fall into the king's hands and be practically hostages. ”

“ On that occasion, too, the enemy defences were stronger and constructed on more advantageous ground; the hostile army was more numerous and made up of far better soldiery; there were in that army Macedonians, Thracians and Illyrians, all very warlike tribes; here there are Syrians and Asiatic Greeks, the meanest of mankind, and born only for slavery. ”

“ Here the Athamanians were the first to surrender, they were followed by the Megalopolitan Philip. As he was leaving the fort, Philip of Macedon happened to meet him, and ordered his men to salute him in mockery as king, and, in a spirit of scorn quite unworthy of his own rank, addressed him as "brother." When he was brought before the consul, he was ordered to be kept a close prisoner, and not long afterwards was sent in chains to Rome. All the Athamanian garrisons, as well as those of Antiochus, which had been surrendered were handed over to Philip. They amounted to 4000 men. ”

“ Polyxenidas was opposed to any delay, and said that they certainly ought to engage before Eumenes and the Rhodians joined the Roman fleet. In that case they would not be so very unequally matched in point of numbers and in everything else they would have the advantage, in the speed of their vessels and in various other respects, for the Roman ships were awkwardly built and slow, and as they were going to a hostile country they would be heavily laden with stores, whilst the king's ships, having none but friends all round them, would carry nothing but soldiers and their equipment. ”

“ The pass, however, will not protect Antiochus, nor will the heights which the Aetolians have seized protect them. Sufficient caution and foresight have been exercised to prevent your having anything to fight against but the actual enemy. You must bear in mind that you are not fighting only for the freedom of Greece, though it will be a splendid record to deliver out of the hands of the Aetolians and Antiochus the country which you formerly rescued from Philip. Nor will it be only the spoil in the enemy's camp that will fall to you as a prize ”

“ The monarch who was opposed to us then was a true soldier, trained from his youth in wars with the Thracians and the Illyrians and all the nations round him; this man - to say nothing of his previous life - has done nothing during the whole of the winter months more memorable than marrying a girl for love out of a private family and, even when compared with their fellow-townsmen, of obscure origin, and now the newly-wedded bridegroom, fattened up as it were with marriage feasts, has come out to fight. ”

“ Finding himself deserted on all sides by his own troops, who were hanging back in Asia, and by his allies, who were not doing what they undertook to do when they invited him, he withdrew into the pass of Thermopylae. This mountain range cuts Greece in two, just as Italy is intersected by the Apennines. To the north of the pass are situated Epirus, Perrhaebia, Magnesia, Thessaly, the Achaeans of Phthiotis, and the Maliac Gulf. South of it lie the greater part of Aetolia, Acarnania, Locris, Phocis, Boeotia, the adjoining island of Euboea, and Attica, which projects into the sea like a promontory ”

“ Polyxenidas did not stop his flight till he was in the harbour of Ephesus. The Romans remained for that day at Cissus, from which place the king's fleet had gone out to battle; the next day they continued to follow up the enemy. Midway on their course they were met by twenty-five decked ships from Rhodes under the command of Pausistratus. With their united fleets they still followed up the enemy and appeared in line of battle before the entrance of the harbour. After they had thus forced the enemy to admit his defeat, the Rhodians and Eumenes were sent home and the Romans started for Chios. ”

“ I am of opinion that even now you ought to bring up the whole of your military and naval forces and let a fleet of transports accompany them laden with supplies. We here are too few for the requirements of war and too many for our scanty commissariat. ”

“ At the time of the battle ten of the king's ships, with Isidorus in command, were standing off Thronium in the Maliac Gulf. Alexander the Acarnanian, who had been severely wounded, fled thither with tidings of the defeat, and the ships sailed hurriedly away to Cenaeus in Euboea. Here Alexander died and was buried. Three vessels, which had come from Asia and were making for the same port, on hearing of the disaster which had overtaken the army, returned to Ephesus. Isidorus left Cenaeus for Demetrias, in case the king's flight should have carried him there. ”

“ The land round Heraclea is marshy and covered with tall trees, which furnished a liberal supply of timber for siege works of every kind, and as the Aetolians living in the suburb had taken refuge in the city the deserted houses afforded useful materials for various purposes, including not only beams and planks, but also bricks and building stones of all shapes and sizes.
23 The Romans made more use of machines than of arms in their attack on the city, the Aetolians on the other hand trusted more to their arms for their defence. ”

“ To this message they returned a defiant answer; the question would evidently have to be decided by arms, and though the king was overcome, the war with the Aetolians was clearly only just beginning. The consul accordingly moved his army from Thermopylae to Heraclea, and on the very same day he rode round the entire circuit of the walls to ascertain the situation of the city. Heraclea lies at the foot of Mount Oeta; the city itself is situated in a plain, and it has a citadel which commands it from a position of considerable elevation and precipitous on all sides. ”

“ From Chaeronea he ordered Alexander the Acarnanian and the Macedonian Menippus to take the troops to Stratus in Aetolia. He himself, after sacrificing to Apollo at Delphi, went to Naupactus. Here he had an interview with the Aetolian leaders, and then taking the road which runs past Calydon and Lysimachia he arrived at Stratum, where he met his army who were coming by the Maliac Gulf. Mnasilochus, one of the leading men in Acarnania, who had received many presents from Antiochus, was trying to persuade his people to take the king's side. ”

“ Not one of the measures he advocated was carried out beyond the despatch of Polyxenidas to bring up the fleet and the troops from Asia. Delegates were sent to the council of the Thessalians which was sitting at Larisa, and the Aetolians and Amynander fixed a day for the muster of their armies at Pherae, whither the king proceeded with his troops at once. Whilst waiting there for Amynander and the Aetolians he sent Philip the Megalopolitan with 2000 men to collect the bones of the Macedonians who had fallen in the final battle with Philip at Cynoscephalae. ”

“ They returned a perfectly unambiguous answer to his summons and told him that they would not enter into any fresh alliance unless the Roman commanders authorised them to do so, at the same time they closed their gates and manned their walls. Cn. Octavius had been supplied with a body of troops and a few ships by A. Postumius, whom Atilius had placed in command at Cephalania, and his timely arrival in Leucas gave the Acarnanians fresh heart, as he reported that the consul Manius Acilius had crossed the sea with his legions and the Romans were encamped in Thessaly. ”

“ When the consul heard that he said, "Be quite sure that these are the terms on which you surrender." Phaeneas showed him the decree in which they were expressly stated. "Since then," he replied, "you do make this complete surrender, I require you to give up at once Dicaearchus, your fellow-citizen, and Menestus the Epirote" - he was the man who introduced a body of troops into Naupactus and drove the citizens into revolt - "and Amynander and the Athamanian leaders who persuaded you to revolt from us." ”

“ Livius sailed to Delos with eighty-one decked vessels and many smaller, some undecked and beaked, others without beaks, to be used as scouts.
43 The consul was laying siege to Naupactus at the time. Livius was detained at Delos by contrary winds for several days; the seas round the Cyclades are liable to violent storms, owing to the numerous channels, some narrower, some wider, which separate the islands. Polyxenidas received intelligence through the scouting vessels which were patrolling those waters that the Roman fleet was lying at Delos, and he sent on the information to the king. ”

“ He should be ordered to return with his legions to his province and see that the Ligurians were thoroughly subdued; unless they were brought under the dominion of Rome the Boii would be in a constant state of unrest; whether it be peace or war it must be with both of them together. When he has reduced the Boii to submission P. Cornelius will enjoy his triumph a few months hence like many before him who did not celebrate their triumph during their year of office. ”