Livy

“ Instead of this they began by recounting the services they had rendered to the Roman people and contrasting the courage they had themselves shown in fighting against Philip with that of the Romans. This insolence offended the ears of their audience, and their raking up old and forgotten incidents reminded the senators how much more they had done to injure Rome than to benefit her. Thus the men who needed compassion only evoked irritation and anger. ”

“ Nay, on the other hand, they will spend the summer in the peaceful enjoyment of a harbour perfectly safe and a city filled with wealth, with all the resources of Asia at their command, whilst the Romans, exposed to waves and storms on the open sea and deprived of all supplies, will have to maintain a constant watch and will be themselves more tied up and debarred from doing what ought to be done than the enemy, in spite of their barriers." Eudamus, the commandant of the Rhodian fleet, expressed his disapproval of the plan without saying what he thought ought to be done. ”

“ The Taurus range now forms a frontier of your empire, and all within that line ought not to appear distant to you. Wherever your arms have penetrated there should the laws of Rome also penetrate. Let barbarians, who have always the commands of their masters for laws, keep their kings to their joy; the Greeks submit to their fate, but they have the same love of freedom that you have. ”

“ As regards myself, I would rather be thought by anyone to have yielded within the limits of my rights, so far as other things are concerned, than to have shown excessive obstinacy in maintaining them; but when it is a question of being worthy of your friendship, of giving you every proof of affection and goodwill, of upholding the honour which comes from you - in such a contest I cannot resign myself to defeat. ”

“ Our self-control and moderation, which depend upon strength of mind, we have kept unchanged in every turn of fortune, and we keep them so today; prosperity has not elated them, adversity has not depressed them. To mention no other instance, I would offer you Hannibal as a proof of this if I could not adduce you yourselves as an example. After we had crossed the Hellespont, before we saw the king's camp, before we saw his army, whilst the contest was still undecided and the issue of the war uncertain, we laid before you when you came to treat of peace, conditions as between equal powers. ”

“ What reward or honour then do we seem in your eyes to deserve, we who have never been your enemies, but always your friends? Not only in Asia have my father, my brothers and myself taken up arms on your behalf, but far from home in the Peloponnesus, in Boeotia, in Aetolia, in the wars with Philip and Antiochus and the Aetolians, on sea as well as on land. Someone will say, 'What, then, do you ask for?' As you insist, senators, upon my speaking freely, I must comply. ”

“ The infantry, coming up in their ordered ranks, prepared for battle, attacked a foe carelessly scattered and almost half asleep. The whole plain was covered with the bodies of the slain, and men were everywhere fleeing for their lives. Diophanes kept up the pursuit as long as it was safe, and then retired to the shelter of the city walls, after winning great glory for the Achaeans, for the women as well as the men had watched the action from the walls of Pergamum. ”

“ Some fight to obtain territory, others villages, others fortified towns, others ports and a strip of sea-coast. You did not covet these things before you possessed them, nor can you possibly covet them now when the whole world is beneath your sway. You fought for the honour of your commonwealth and the renown which you enjoy throughout the whole race of man, who have long looked upon your sovereignty and your name as only second to the immortal gods. To gain and acquire these things has been an arduous task, I am inclined to think it is a harder task to defend them. ”

“ If, then, your intention in removing Antiochus beyond the Taurus range is that you may hold those lands yourselves, I would rather have you than any others as my neighbours, nor do I see how my kingdom could be more secure or less liable to disturbance under any other arrangement. But if you purpose to retire and withdraw your armies from those parts, I would venture to suggest that there is none of your allies more worthy to occupy the territories you have conquered than myself. ”

“ You have undertaken to protect from the tyranny of monarchs the liberties of an ancient people famous for their military reputation, and for all that is commendable in refinement and learning. Now that the nation has placed itself as a whole under your protection as clients, it is incumbent on you to show yourselves its patrons for all time. Those Greek cities which stand on their ancient soil are in no way more Greek than those colonies which have gone forth from them into Asia ”

“ When you have barred access to the sea with the sunken ships whilst your own fleet is free, are you going to sail away to assist your friends and spread alarm amongst your enemies, or are you going to continue your blockade of the harbour just the same? If you leave the place, who can have the slightest doubt that the enemy will raise the sunken obstacles and open the harbour with less trouble than it will take us to close it? ”

“ They will plead the cause of the city-states of Greece and will say that they ought to be declared free. If they gain their point, who can doubt that they will sever from us not only those cities which will be declared free, but also those which from ancient times have been tributary to us, and after placing them all under obligation for so great a kindness will hold them nominally as allies but really as subjects, wholly under their dominion? ”

“ It remains, then, that you must stay in Asia and, all active operations suspended, your troops must be sent into winter quarters to drain the resources of your allies by the requisitions of your commissariat. And then, if the supreme powers so decide, we must begin the war all over again, whereas, if our strong offensive were in no way slackened or hampered by delay, we could have brought it to a close, if the gods so willed it, before winter sets in." This argument prevailed, and Antiochus was told that, till the consul arrived, there could be no discussion of the terms of peace. ”

“ But your good fortune entirely releases you from the necessity of either stinting your gratitude to a friend or tarnishing your glory. Through the favour of the gods your triumphal success is not more glorious than it is rich in results, sufficient to clear you from what I might call your debt to him. Lycaonia, Pisidia, the Chersonese, and all the adjacent portions of Europe are at your disposal, and the addition of any one of these countries would enlarge the king's dominions to many times their present size; if all were given him they would put him on a level with the greatest of monarchs. ”

“ Thus the Romans were victorious on both wings. Making their way through the heaps of dead which were lying most thickly in the centre, where the courage of the enemy's finest troops and the weight of their armour alike prevented flight, they went on to plunder the camp. The cavalry of Eumenes led the way, followed by the rest of the mounted troops, in pursuing the enemy over the whole plain and killing the hindmost as they came up to them. Still more havoc was wrought among the fugitives by the chariots and elephants and camels which were mixed up with them ”

“ Those on the right, as yet intact, were more alarmed at the defeat of their comrades than at any danger which threatened them. But when they saw their other vessels in the midst of the enemy ships and Polyxenidas deserting his fleet and fleeing with all sails set, they promptly hoisted their topsails, as the wind was favourable for those making for Ephesus, and took to flight, after losing forty-two ships in the battle, thirteen of which fell into the enemy's hands, the rest being either burnt or sunk. ”

“ You have, most of you, visited the cities of Greece and Asia: we are at no disadvantage compared with them, except that we are at a greater distance from you. If the native temperament of the Massilians could have yielded to the influence of their soil they would have been long ago barbarised by the wild untamed tribes all round them, but we are given to understand that they are held in as much honour as though they were living in the heart of Greece. ”

“ Of these Lysimachia has already been evacuated by the king, so that you cannot say that he holds anything in Europe. He is prepared to give up those which are in Asia, and any others in his dominions which the Romans wish to claim on the ground that they are on the side of Rome. He is also prepared to pay half the cost of the war." These were the proposed conditions of peace. In the rest of his speech he advised the council to remember the uncertainty of human affairs, to make a moderate use of their own good fortune, and not treat the misfortunes of others oppressively. ”

“ The king will make peace when his fortunes are at a lower ebb, because he is making it later than he should have done. If he hesitates now, let him know that it is not so easy for the pride of monarchs to be brought down from the summit of greatness to a moderate position as it is for it to be hurled from that stage to the lowest depths." The envoys had been instructed by the king to accept any terms. Arrangements were accordingly made for the despatch of delegates to Rome. The consul distributed his army in winter quarters at Magnesia on the Maeander, at Tralles and at Ephesus. ”

“ He reflected that his defeat occurred during the absence of the Rhodian fleet, and if they took part in the next battle - and he was sure they would not commit the fault of being too late again - he would need a large number of ships so as to be equal to the enemy in ships and men. He accordingly sent Hannibal to Syria to bring the Phoenician vessels, and he gave Polyxenidas orders to refit what ships there were and to construct fresh ones. The less his success in the past, the greater must be his energy in preparing for the future. ”

“ The king's troops made it a practice to advance up to the foot of the hill on which the city stands. In this way they acted as a screen, and the plundering parties behind them were not interfered with, as none came out of the city, not even to attack the advanced posts with missiles at long range. After the citizens had been once cowed by defeat they shut themselves within their wall, and the king's troops looked upon them with contempt and became careless. A great many did not keep their horses either saddled or bridled ”

“ Not a single man was aware of the proximity of Polyxenidas. Towards midday a countryman was brought before the praetor, and reported that a fleet had been lying in front of the island of Macris for two days, and that a few hours ago some of the vessels looked as if they were preparing to sail. The praetor was considerably alarmed at this unexpected intelligence, and ordered the trumpeters to sound the assembly, so that those who were dispersed over the fields might come back, whilst the military tribunes were sent into the city to hurry the soldiers and sailors on board. ”