36 The ambassador, after he came to the conclusion that he could obtain no reasonable terms in the council, tried to influence the mind of Publius Scipio in private (for such were his orders). First of all he told him that the king would restore him his son without a ransom; and then, as ignorant of the disposition of Scipio as he was of the Roman manners, he promised an immense weight of gold, and, excepting the title of king, an absolute partnership in the sovereignty, if through his means he should obtain a peace. To which Scipio answered, “I am the less surprised that you are ignorant of the Romans in general, and of me, to whom you have been sent, when I see that you are unacquainted with the situation even of the person from whom you come. You ought to have kept Lysimachia to prevent our entering the Chersonese, or to have opposed us at the Hellespont to hinder our passing into Asia, if you meant to ask peace from us as from people solicitous about the issue of war. But after leaving the passage into Asia open, and receiving not only a bridle, but also a yoke, what negotiation on an equality has been left you, when you must submit to orders? I shall consider my son as a very great gift from the munificence of the king; I pray to the gods that my circumstances may never require others, my mind certainly never will require any. For such an act of generosity to me he shall find me grateful, if for a personal favour he will accept a personal return of gratitude. In my public capacity, I will neither accept from him nor give him any thing. All that I can give at present is sincere advice. Go then, and desire him in my name, to cease hostilities, and to refuse no terms of peace.” These words had no effect on the king, who thought that the chance of war would be comparatively safe, since terms were dictated to him already as if he were totally vanquished. Laying aside, therefore, for the present, all farther mention of peace, he turned his whole attention to the preparations for war.

37 The consul having made every preparation for the execution of his designs, when he had quitted the post where he lay, marched first to Dardanus, and then to Rhœteum; from both states the people came out in crowds to meet him. He then advanced to Troy, and having pitched his camp in the plain which is under the walls, when he had gone up to the city and into the citadel, he offered sacrifices to Minerva, the guardian of the citadel; the Trojans, by every act and expression of respect, showing themselves proud of the Romans being descended from them, and the Romans expressing their delight in their origin. The army marching thence, arrived, on the sixth encampment, at the source of the Caicus. To this place also king Eumenes came. He at first endeavoured to bring back his fleet from the Hellespont to Elæa, for the winter; subsequently, when by adverse winds he could not, for several days, pass the promontory of Lectos, that he might not be absent at the commencement of operations, he landed and came, with a small body of men, by the shortest road to the Roman camp. From the camp he was sent home to Pergamus, to hasten supplies of provisions; and when the corn was delivered to the persons whom the consul had ordered to receive it, he returned to the same camp. The plan was, provisions for several days being prepared, to march hence against the enemy, before the winter should prevent them. The king’s camp was near Thyatira; and Antiochus, hearing there that Publius Scipio had fallen sick and was conveyed to Elæa, sent ambassadors to conduct his son to him. As this present was highly grateful to the mind of the father, so was the satisfaction which it gave no less salutary to his body. At length, being sated with the embraces of his son, he said to the ambassadors, “Tell the king that I return him thanks; that at present I can make him no other requital than my advice; which is, not to come to an engagement, until he shall have heard that I have rejoined the army.” Although sixty-two thousand foot, and more than twelve thousand horse, inspired the king at times with hopes in the result of a battle; yet, moved by the advice of so great a man as Scipio, in whom, when he considered the uncertainty of the events of war, he placed safety in any reverse of fortune, he retired, and having crossed the Phrygian river, pitched his camp near Magnesia, which is at Sipylus. And lest, if he wished to prolong the time, the Romans might attack his works, he drew round it a fosse six cubits deep and twelve broad, and on the outside surrounded the fosse with a double rampart: on the inside bank, he raised a wall flanked with towers at small distances, by which the enemy could easily be prevented from crossing the fosse.

38 The consul, thinking that the king was still in the neighbourhood of Thyatira, came down by continued marches on the fifth day into the Hyrcanian plains. Then when he heard that the other had departed, he followed his track, and pitched his camp on the hither side of the Phrygian river, at the distance of four miles from the enemy. Here, a body of about one thousand horse, (the greatest part of whom were Gallogræcians, the rest Dahans, and archers on horseback, of other nations intermixed,) passing the river with great tumult, made an attack on the advanced Roman guards. First of all they threw into confusion those unprepared; then, when the contest continued longer, and the number of the Romans increased, as succours were easily sent from the neighbouring camp, the king’s troops, becoming weary and unable to withstand superior numbers, endeavoured to retreat; but, before they could reach the river, very many were killed on the bank, by the enemy pressing on their rear. For two days after there was quiet, neither party passing the river. On the third, the Romans passed it with their whole force, and encamped at the distance of about two miles and a half from the enemy. While they were employed in measuring and fortifying the camp, a body of the king’s troops, consisting of three thousand chosen horse and foot, approached with great rapidity and violence. The party on guard, though much inferior in number, (being only two thousand,) without calling off any of the soldiers from the fortifying of the camp, sustained the combat with equal success at first, and, in the progress of the contest, repulsed the enemy, killing a hundred, and taking about the same number. During the four ensuing days, both armies stood in order of battle, before their respective camps. On the fifth, the Romans advanced into the middle of the plain, but Antiochus did not stir; so that his rear was not so far as a thousand feet from his rampart.

39 The consul, after perceiving that he declined the contest, called a council next day, and asked their opinion, “how he ought to act if Antiochus would not give him an opportunity of engaging. For the winter was at hand, and he must either keep the soldiers in camp; or, if they chose to retire to winter quarters, defer the business of the war until summer.” The Romans never despised any enemy so much. The assembly on every side called on him to lead on immediately, and make use of the present ardour of the troops; who, as if the business were not to fight against so many thousands, but to slaughter an equal number of cattle, were ready to force their way, through trenches and ramparts, into the camp, if the enemy would not come out to battle. Cneius Domitius was sent to discover the nature of the ground, and on what side the enemies’ rampart could be approached; after he returned with a full account of every particular, it was resolved that the camp should next day be moved nearer to the enemy. On the third day, the standards were carried forward into the middle of the plain, and the soldiers began to form line. Antiochus, thinking that he could hesitate no longer, lest, by declining a battle, he should damp the courage of his men, and add to the confidence of the enemy, drew out his forces in person, advancing only so far from the enemy’s camp as to make it apparent that he was willing to come to an engagement. The Roman line was nearly uniform throughout with respect to both men and armour. There were two Roman legions, and two brigades of allies and Latins, each containing five thousand four hundred men. The Romans formed the centre, the Latins the wings. The spearmen composed the first line, the first-rank men the second, and the veterans closed the rear. Beyond this, which formed as it were the regular line of battle, the consul formed on the right of it, and in one continued line, the auxiliary troops of Eumenes, intermixed with Achæan targeteers, making about three thousand foot; beyond these he posted somewhat less than three thousand horse, of which, eight hundred belonged to Eumenes; all the rest of the cavalry were Roman: and in the extremity of the line he placed bodies of Trallians and Cretans, equal in number, who were composed of five hundred men each. His left wing did not appear to require such supports, because a river and steep banks flanked it. However, four troops of horse were posted there. This was the whole amount of the Roman force, besides two thousand Macedonians and Thracians, who had, as volunteers, accompanied the army. These were left to guard the camp. They placed sixteen elephants behind the veterans, in reserve. For besides that they were not supposed capable of withstanding the great number of the king’s elephants, which were no less than fifty-four, the African elephants are not able to cope with an equal number of Indians, either because they are inferior to them in size, (in which the Indian have much the advantage,) or in unyielding courage.

40 The king’s line was more chequered with troops of many nations, dissimilar both in their persons and armour. There was a body of sixteen thousand men armed after the manner of the Macedonians, which were called a phalanx. This formed the centre, and was divided in front into ten parts. These parts were separated by two elephants placed between each two; the line of soldiers was thirty-two ranks deep from point to rear. This was the main strength of the king’s army, and it exhibited a formidable sight, both in the other particulars of its appearance, and in the elephants towering so high among the soldiers. They were of huge bulk, and the caparisons of their foreheads and crests, and the towers fixed on their backs, with four armed men standing on each tower, besides the managers of the beasts, gave them a terrific appearance. On the right side of the phalanx, he placed five hundred Gallogræcian horsemen. To these he joined three thousand horsemen clad in complete armour, whom they call Cataphracti, or mailed. To these were added a brigade of near a thousand horse, which they called Agema. They were Medes, all picked men, with a mixture of horsemen from many other nations in that part of the world. Adjoining these, a body of sixteen elephants was placed in reserve. On the same side, a little farther on towards the wing, was the royal cohort; these were called Argyraspides4], from the kind of armour which they wore. Next to these stood one thousand two hundred Dahan bowmen on horseback; then, three thousand light infantry, part Cretans and part Trallians, the number of each being equal; adjoining these, were two thousand five hundred Mysian archers. Four thousand Cyrtæan slingers and Elymæan archers mixed together covered the flank of the wing. Next to the left flank of the phalanx, stood one thousand five hundred Gallogræcian horse, and two thousand Cappadocians, (which were sent by king Ariarathes,) wearing the same kind of armour; then, auxiliaries of all kinds mixed together, two thousand seven hundred; then, three thousand mailed horsemen; then, one thousand other horsemen, being a royal cohort, equipped with lighter coverings for themselves and their horses, but, in other respects, not unlike the rest; they were mostly Syrians, with a mixture of Phrygians and Lydians. In the front of this body of cavalry were the chariots armed with scythes, and a kind of camels called dromedaries. These were ridden by Arabian archers, who carried thin swords four cubits long, that they might be able to reach the enemy from so great a height. Then followed another multitude, like that in the right wing,—first, Tarentines; then, two thousand five hundred Gallogræcian horsemen; then, one thousand new Cretans, and one thousand five hundred Carians and Cilicians, armed in the same manner; then, an equal number of Trallians, with three thousand targeteers (these were Pisidians, Pamphylians, and Lycians); then came brigades of Cyrtæans and Elymæans, equal to the auxiliaries placed on the right wing, and sixteen elephants, separated by a small interval. The king himself was in the right wing; the command of the left he gave to his son Seleucus, and Antipater, the son of his brother; the centre was intrusted to three, Minio, Zeuxis, and Philip, the master of the elephants.

41 A morning mist, which as the day advanced rose up in clouds, spread a general darkness; and the moisture issuing from it, and coming from the southward, wetted every thing, This circumstance, which was scarcely any inconvenience to the Romans, was very disadvantageous to the king’s troops. For the indistinctness of the light did not take away from the Romans the view of all parts of their line, since it was of moderate length; and the moisture tended but little to blunt their swords and javelins, as they were almost all heavy-armed troops. The king’s soldiers, as the line was so extensive, could not even see their wings from the centre, much less could those at the extremities see one another; and then, the moisture relaxed the strings of their bows, their slings, and the thongs of their javelins. Besides, the armed chariots, by means of which Antiochus had trusted utterly to disorder the enemy’s line, turned the terror of their operations on their owners. The manner in which they were armed was this: from the yoke, on both sides of the pole, they had lances5 ten cubits long, projecting like horns, to transfix any thing that came in their way. At each extremity of the yoke, two scythe-blades projected, one on a line with the yoke, the other on its lower side, pointing to the ground; the former to cut through any thing that might come within its reach on the side, the other to catch such as fell, or endeavoured to go under it. At each extremity of the axle of the wheels, two scythe-blades were fastened in the same manner. The king, as we mentioned before, had placed the chariots so armed in the front, because if they were placed in the rear, or between the ranks, they must be driven through their own soldiers. Which when Eumenes saw, not being ignorant of the method of opposing them, and knowing that aid of that sort might be rendered as dangerous to one side as the other, if an opponent should cast terror into the horses, rather than attack them in a regular battle, ordered the Cretan bowmen, and slingers, and javelin-bearers, with some troops of horse, not in a body, but scattering themselves as widely as possible, to rush forwards, and pour weapons on them from all sides at once. This storm, as it were, partly by the wounds made by the missile weapons thrown from every quarter, and partly by the discordant shouts raised, so terrified the horses, that immediately, as if unbridled, they galloped about at random. The light infantry, the lightly-accoutred slingers, and the active Cretans, quickly evaded their encounter. The horsemen, following them, increased the tumult and the terror of the horses and camels, which were likewise affrighted, the clamour being multiplied and increased by the rest of the crowd of bystanders. By these means, the chariots were driven out of the ground between the two lines. When this fruitless mimicry of war was over, both parties gave the signal, and advanced to a regular engagement.

42 But that futile affair was soon the cause of real loss. For the auxiliaries in reserve, which were posted next, being terrified at the turn and disorder of the chariots, betook themselves to flight, leaving all exposed as far as the post of the mailed horsemen; to whom when the Roman cavalry, after dispersing the reserves, approached, they did not sustain their first onset. Some fled, and others, being delayed by the weight of their coverings and armour, were put to the sword. The whole left wing then gave way, and the auxiliaries, posted between the cavalry and the phalanx, being thrown into confusion, the terror spread even to the centre. Here the ranks were broken, and by the flying soldiers rushing in between them, the use of their long spears, called by the Macedonians sarissas, was hindered. The Roman legions advanced and discharged their javelins among them in disorder. Even the elephants, standing in the way, did not deter the Roman soldiers, who had learned by experience in the African wars, both to evade the onset of the animal, and, getting at one side of it, either to ply it with darts, or, if they could come near enough, to wound its sinews with their swords. The front of the centre was now almost crushed, and the reserve, being surrounded, was attacked on the rear, when the Romans perceived their troops in another quarter flying, and heard shouts of dismay almost close to their camp. For Antiochus, who commanded the right wing, having observed that the enemy, through confidence in the river, had placed no reserve there, except four troops of horse, and that these, keeping close to the infantry, left an open space on the bank of the river, made a charge on them, with a body of auxiliaries and mailed horsemen. He not only attacked them in front, but having surrounded the wing in the direction of the river, pressed them in flank also; until the routed cavalry first, and then the infantry that were next them, fled with precipitation to the camp.

43 Marcus Æmilius, a military tribune, son of Marcus Lepidus, who, in a few years after, became chief pontiff, had the charge of the camp. He, when he saw the troops flying, went out, with his whole guard, to meet them. He ordered them, first, to halt, and then to return to the fight; at the same time upbraiding them with cowardice and disgraceful flight. He then proceeded to threats,—that if they did not obey his orders, they would rush blindly on their own destruction. At last he gave orders to his own men to kill the foremost of the runaways, and with sword-wounds to drive the crowd of fugitives back against the enemy. The greater fear now overcame the less. Compelled by the danger on either side, they first halted, and then returned to the encounter, and Æmilius, with his guard, consisting of two thousand men of distinguished valour, gave a vigorous check to the furious pursuit of Antiochus. At the same time, Attalus, the brother of Eumenes, came up in good time with two hundred horse from the right wing, by which the left of the enemy had been routed, at the beginning of the engagement, as soon as he observed the flight of his friends on the left, and the tumult near the camp. When Antiochus saw those men renewing the fight, whom, but just before, he had seen running away, and another large body advancing from the camp, with a third from the line, he turned his horse to flight. The Romans, thus victorious in both wings, advanced over heaps of slain, (which had been raised principally in the centre, where the strength of the bravest men and the armour by its weight had prevented flight,) to plunder the camp. The horsemen of Eumenes first, and then the rest of the cavalry, pursued the enemy through all parts of the plain, and killed the hindmost as they overtook them. But the fugitives suffered more severe loss by the chariots, elephants, and camels intermixed, and by their own disorderly crowd; for, after they once broke their ranks, they rushed, as if blind, one upon another, and were trodden to death by the trampling of the beasts. In the camp also there was great slaughter committed, rather greater than even in the field; for the flight of the first generally tended to the camp. The guard, through confidence in the great number of these, defended their works with the more obstinacy. The Romans having been stopped at the gates and rampart, which they had expected to take at the first rush, when they did at length break through, actuated by rage, made the more dreadful carnage.

44 Up to fifty thousand foot and three thousand horse are said to have been killed that day; one thousand four hundred taken, with fifteen elephants and their drivers. Of the Romans, many were wounded, but no more than three hundred foot and twenty-four horsemen killed; and of the troops of Eumenes, twenty-five. That day the victors, after plundering the enemy’s camp, returned with great store of booty to their own. On the day following, they stripped the bodies of the slain, and collected the prisoners. Ambassadors came from Thyatira and Magnesia, near Sipylus, with a surrender of those cities. Antiochus fled, with very few attendants; but greater numbers collecting about him on the road, he arrived at Sardis, with a tolerable body of soldiers, about the middle of the night. Then when he heard that his son Seleucus and several of his friends had gone on to Apamea, he likewise at the fourth watch set out for Apamea with his wife and daughter, having committed to Zeno the command of the city, and having placed Timon over Lydia; which being disregarded, ambassadors are sent to the consul, by the unanimous voice of the citizens and soldiers who were in the garrison.

45 About this time deputies came from Tralles, from Magnesia on the Masander, and from Ephesus, to surrender those cities. Polyxenidas had quitted Ephesus, as soon as he heard or the battle; and, sailing with the fleet as far as Patara, in Lycia, where, through fear of the Rhodian fleet stationed at Megiste, he landed, and, with a small retinue, pursued his journey, by land, into Syria. The several states of Asia placed themselves under the protection of the consul and the dominion of the Roman people. He was now at Sardis, whither Publius Scipio came from Elæa, as soon as he was able to endure the fatigue of travelling. Shortly after, a herald from Antiochus solicited through Publius Scipio, and obtained from the consul, permission for the king to send ambassadors. In a few days’ time, Zeuxis, who had been governor of Lydia, and Antipater, the king’s nephew, arrived. These, having first had a meeting with Eumenes, whom they expected to find most averse to peace, on account of old disputes, and seeing him better disposed than they or the king could have hoped, addressed themselves then to Publius Scipio, and through him to the consul: and a numerously attended council being granted to them at their request to declare their commission, Zeuxis said, “we have not any thing to propose ourselves, but rather to inquire from you, Romans, by what atonements we can expiate the error of our king, and obtain pardon and peace from our conquerors. You have ever pardoned, with the greatest magnanimity, vanquished kings and nations. With how much greater and more placable spirit ought you to act now, after your late victory, which has made you masters of the whole world! You ought now, like deities laying aside all disputes with mortal beings, to protect and spare the human race.” It had been determined, before the ambassadors came, what answer should be given them; and it was agreed that Africanus should deliver it. He is said to have spoken thus: “Of those things that are in the gift of the immortal gods, we, Romans, possess as much as the gods have been pleased to bestow. In every state of fortune we have had, and have, the same spirit for this, under the sway of our reason: prosperity has never elated, nor adversity depressed it. Of the truth of this, (to omit other instances,) I might produce your friend Hannibal as a convincing proof: but I can appeal to yourselves. We now conquerors offer to you conquered the same conditions which we offered to you when on an equal footing, at the time that you made proposals of peace, after we crossed the Hellespont, before we beheld the king’s camp or army, when the chance of war was equal and the issue uncertain. Resign all pretensions in Europe, and cede that part of Asia which lies on this side of Mount Taurus. Then, towards the expenses of the war, ye shall pay fifteen thousand talents of Eubœa;6 five hundred immediately, two thousand five hundred when the senate and people of Rome shall have ratified the peace, and one thousand annually for twelve years after. It likewise pleases us, that four hundred talents be paid to Eumenes, and the quantity of corn remaining unpaid, of what was due to his father. When we shall have settled these articles, it will be a sort of pledge, that we may consider it certain that you will perform them, if you give twenty hostages such as we shall choose. But it never will be clear to us that the Roman people will enjoy peace where Hannibal shall be. Him, therefore, we demand, above all. Ye shall also deliver up Thoas, the Ætolian, the fomenter of the Ætolian war, who armed you against us by the assurances of their support, and them by assurances of yours; and, together with him, Mnesilochus, the Acarnanian, and Philo, and Eubulidas, of Chalcis. The king will now make peace under worse circumstances on his side, because he makes it later than he might have done. If he now causes any delay, let him consider, that it is more difficult to pull down the majesty of kings from the highest to the middle stage, than it is to precipitate it from the middle to the lowest.” The ambassadors were sent by the king with these instructions, that they should accede to any terms of peace. It was resolved, therefore, that ambassadors should be sent to Rome. The consul distributed his army in winter quarters at Magnesia, on the Mæander, Tralles, and Ephesus. A few days after, the king brought the hostages to Ephesus to the consul; the ambassadors also, who were to go to Rome, arrived. Eumenes set out for Rome at the same time with the king’s ambassadors, and they were followed by embassies from all the states of Asia.

46 Whilst these things are being transacted in Asia, two proconsuls arrived almost together at Rome, from their provinces, with hopes of triumphing: Quintus Minucius, from Liguria, and Manius Acilius, from Ætolia. After hearing their services, the senate refused a triumph to Minucius, but, with great unanimity, decreed one to Acilius, and he rode through the city in triumph over king Antiochus and the Ætolians. In the procession were carried, two hundred and thirty military ensigns; of unwrought silver, three thousand pounds’ weight; of coin, one hundred and thirteen thousand Attic tetradrachms;7 and two hundred and forty-eight thousand8 cistophoruses;9 of chased silver vessels, a great number, and of great weight. He bore, also, the king’s silver, furniture, and splendid wardrobe; golden crowns, presents from the allied states, forty-five; with spoils of all kinds. He led thirty-six prisoners of distinction, generals of the Ætolian and royal armies. Damocritus, the Ætolian general, a few days before, when he had escaped out of prison in the night, being overtaken by the guards on the bank of the Tiber, stabbed himself with a sword before he was seized. Nothing was wanted but the soldiers, to follow the general’s chariot; in every other respect the triumph was magnificent, both in the grandeur of the procession and the fame of his achievements. Sad intelligence from Spain diminished the joy of this triumph, viz. that in an unsuccessful battle in the territory of the Bastitani, under the command of Lucius Æmilius, the proconsul, at the town of Lycon, there fell six thousand of the Roman army against the Lusitanians; and that the rest, being driven in a panic within their rampart, found it difficult to defend the camp, and had retreated, by forced marches, as if flying, into a friendly country. Such were the accounts from Spain. Lucius Aurunculeius, the prætor, introduced to the senate the deputies of Placentia and Cremona, in Cisalpine Gaul. When they complained of the want of colonists, some having been carried off by the casualties of war, others by sickness, and several having left the colonies, through disgust at the vicinity of the Gauls; on this, the senate decreed, that “Caius Lælius, the consul, if he thought proper, should enrol six thousand families, to be distributed among these colonies, and that Lucius Aurunculeius, the prætor, should appoint commissioners to conduct the colonists.” Accordingly, Marcus Atilius Serranus, Lucius Valerius Flaccus, son of Publius, and Lucius Valerius Tappo, son of Caius, were nominated to that office.

47 Not long after, as the time of the consular elections drew nigh, the consul, Caius Lælius, came home to Rome from Gaul. He not only enrolled the colonists, according to a decree of the senate, passed in his absence, as a supplement to Cremona and Placentia, but proposed,—and, on his recommendation, the senate voted,—that two new colonies should be established in the lands which had belonged to the Boians. At the same time arrived a letter from the prætor, Lucius Æmilius, containing intelligence of the sea-fight that took place at Myonesus, and of Lucius Scipio the consul having transported his army into Asia. A supplication for one day was decreed, on account of the naval victory, and another, for the second day, in order that, as the Roman army had then for the first time pitched a camp in Asia, this circumstance might turn out prosperous and happy. The consul was ordered to sacrifice twenty of the greater victims on occasion of each supplication. The election of consuls was then held with a warm contest. Marcus Æmilius Lepidus sought the office under general censure, for having, in order to sue for the office, left his province of Sicily without having asked the senate for permission to do so. Marcus Fulvius Nobilior, Cneius Manlius Vulso, and Marcus Valerius Messala, were his competitors for the office. Fulvius alone was elected consul, since the rest could not make up the number of centuries; and the next day, rejecting Lepidus, (for Messala had declined,) he declared Cneius Manlius his colleague. Then were chosen prætors, two of the name of Quintus Fabius, Labeo and Pictor, (the latter of whom had in that year been inaugurated flamen quirinalis,) Marcus Sempronius Tuditanus, Spurius Posthumius Albinus, Lucius Plautius Hypsæus, and Lucius Bæbius Dives.

48 Valerius Antias says, that at the time when Marcus Fulvius Nobilior and Cneius Manlius Vulso were consuls, a rumour prevailed strongly at Rome, and was received as almost certain, that the consul, Lucius Scipio, and with him Publius Africanus, had been invited by the king to a conference, under pretence of restoring young Scipio, and were both seized, and that when the leaders were thus made prisoners, the enemy’s army was immediately led up to the Roman camp, that this was stormed, and the forces entirely cut off; that in consequence of this, the Ætolians had taken courage and refused to obey orders; and that several of their principal men had gone into Macedonia, Dardania, and Thrace, to hire auxiliaries; that Aulus Tarentius Varro, and Marcus Claudius Lepidus, had been sent by Aulus Cornelius, proprætor, from Ætolia, to carry this intelligence to Rome. To this story Valerius annexed that the Ætolian ambassadors were asked in the senate this question among others, from whom they had heard that the Roman generals were made prisoners by king Antiochus in Asia, and the army cut off; and that the Ætolians answered, that they had been informed of it by their own ambassadors, who were with the consul. As I have no other authority for this report, it has neither been confirmed in my opinion, nor has it been overlooked as groundless.

49 When the Ætolian ambassadors were brought to an audience of the senate, although their cause and their circumstances required, that they, by an ample confession, should suppliantly seek pardon for what was either their misfortune or their fault, yet having begun with enumerating their services to the Roman people, and talking reproachfully of their own valour in the war with Philip, they offended the ears of the senators by the insolence of their discourse. By calling up old and forgotten matters, they brought the affair to this, that the memory of many more injuries than services done by that nation occurred to the minds of the senate; and that they, who needed compassion, provoked anger and hatred. They were asked by one senator whether they yielded the disposal of themselves to the Roman people; then, by another, whether they would have the same allies and enemies as the Roman people: when they gave no answer, they were ordered to withdraw from the senate-house. The whole senate then, almost with one voice, cried out, that “the Ætolians were still entirely devoted to Antiochus; and that on that solitary hope their spirits depended. Wherefore the war ought to be carried on against such decided enemies, and their haughty spirits tamed.” Another circumstance inflamed the resentment of the senate, because that, in the very moment in which they were soliciting peace from the Romans, they were making war on Dolopia and Athamania. A decree of the senate was passed, on the motion of Manius Acilius, who had defeated Antiochus and the Ætolians, that “the Ætolian ambassadors should be ordered to leave the city that day, and quit Italy within fifteen days.” Aulius Terentius Varro was appointed to escort them on the road; and a threatening notice was given to them, that, “if any embassy from the Ætolians should thenceforth come to Rome, unless with the permission of the general who might be in command of that province, and with a Roman deputy, all such would be treated as enemies.”—In this manner were the Ætolians dismissed.

50 The consuls then consulted the senate concerning the provinces; and it was resolved that they should cast lots for Ætolia and Asia. To him who should obtain by lot Asia, was assigned the army which Lucius Scipio then had; and, as a reinforcement, four thousand Roman foot and two hundred horse, and of the allies and Latins eight thousand foot and four hundred horse: with which force he was to carry on the war with Antiochus. To the other consul was decreed the army in Ætolia; and he was allowed to raise, for a reinforcement, the same number of natives and allies as his colleague. The same consul was likewise ordered to equip and take with him the ships that had been fitted out the year before; and not only to wage war with the Ætolians, but also to pass over into the island of Cephallenia. Instructions were given to the same consul, that if he could do it to the advantage of the republic, he should come home to Rome to hold the elections; for, besides that the annual magistrates were to be replaced, it was resolved that censors also should be created; and if any particular business should detain him, he was then to acquaint the senate, that he could not attend at the time of the elections. Ætolia fell by lot to Marcus Fulvius; Asia, to Cneius Manlius. The prætors then cast lots, and Spurius Postumius Albinus obtained the city and foreign jurisdiction; Marcus Sempronius Tuditanus, Sicily; Quintus Fabius Pictor, the priest of Romulus, Sardinia; Quintus Fabius Labeo, the fleet; Lucius Plautius Hypsæus, Hither Spain; Lucius Bæbius Dives, Farther Spain. One legion, and the squadron which was then in Sicily, were decreed for that province; and it was ordered that the new prætor should levy on the Sicilians two tenths of the corn; one of which he was to send into Asia, the other into Ætolia. It was also ordered, that the same impost should be collected in Sardinia, and the corn sent to the same armies as the Sicilian corn. A reinforcement was given to Lucius Bæbius, for Spain, one thousand Roman foot and fifty horse, with six thousand Latin foot and two hundred horse. To Plautius Hypsæus, for the Hither Spain, were assigned one thousand Roman foot, and two thousand Latins, with two hundred horse; so that with these supplies the two Spains should have each a legion. In the case of the magistrates of the preceding year, the command was prolonged to Caius Lælius for a year, with his present army, and to Publius Junius, the proprætor in Etruria, with the army which, was then in the province, and Marcus Tuccius, the proprætor in Bruttium and Apulia.

51 Before the prætors went into their provinces, a dispute arose between Publius Licinius, chief pontiff, and Quintus Fabius Pictor, priest of Romulus; such as had happened in the recollection of their fathers, between Lucius Metellus and Postumius Albinus. Metellus, who was chief pontiff at the time, had detained, for the performance of the business of religion, Albinus, the consul, who was setting out with his colleague, Caius Lutatius, to the fleet at Sicily; and now Publius Licinius detained the prætor Fabius from going to Sardinia. The matter was agitated in stormy debates, both in the senate and before the commons: authoritative commands were issued on both sides, pledges were seized, fines imposed, the tribunes applied to, and appeals made to the people. At last religion prevailed, so that the flamen obeyed the order of the pontiff; and the fines were remitted by order of the people. The senate by their authority prevented the prætor when attempting to abdicate the magistracy through anger at the loss of his province, and decreed that he should dispense justice among foreigners. The levies being finished in a few days, (for the soldiers to be enlisted were not many,) the consuls and prætors repaired to their provinces. Then a report of the transactions in Asia spread vaguely without an author; and in a few days after, certain information, and a letter from the general, arrived at Rome; which occasioned joy, not so much from recent fear, (for they had ceased to fear him who was conquered in Ætolia,) as from former fame; because by them commencing this war he was considered as a very formidable enemy, both on account of his own strength and because he had Hannibal to direct the business of the war. The senate determined that no change should be made in their sending the consul into Asia, and that no diminution of his forces should take place through apprehension of a war with the Gauls.

52 In a short time after, Marcus Aurelius Cotta, deputy from Lucius Scipio, with ambassadors from king Antiochus and king Eumenes, and the Rhodian delegates, arrived at Rome. Cotta, first in the senate, and then by their order in the assembly of the people, stated the services which were performed in Asia. Then a supplication for three days was decreed, and forty victims of the greater kinds ordered to be sacrificed. Then audience was given first to Eumenes. He, when he had briefly returned thanks to the senate, “because they had relieved him and his brother from a siege, and protected his kingdom from the unjust attacks of Antiochus” and had congratulated them “because they had carried on affairs successfully by sea and land, and because they had utterly routed, driven out of his camp, and expelled king Antiochus, first from Europe, and then from all Asia on this side of Mount Taurus;” then said “he preferred that they should learn his own deserts from their generals and deputies, rather than from his mouth.” All being pleased with his discourse, and desiring him to tell frankly, bashfulness being for the present laid aside, “what recompence he thought proper to be given by the senate and people of Rome;” assuring him that “the senate were inclined to act with greater zeal and more abundant liberality, if possible, according to his deserts.” To this the king answered, “if the choice of rewards were offered him by others, if only permission to consult the Roman senate were given to him, he would have availed himself of the advice of that most noble body, lest he might appear to have been either immoderate in his desires or shameless in his requests. But now, when they themselves were the donors, it was much more proper that their munificence towards him and his brothers should be regulated by their own judgment.” The senate were not discouraged by this answer from desiring him to speak; and when there had been a long contest of kindness on one side, and reserve on the other, whilst they deferred to one another with a politeness not more mutual than insuperable, Eumenes departed from the senate-house. The senate persisted in their resolution so far as to say, “that it was absurd that the king should not know with what hopes or request he came. That he himself best knew what would be suitable to his own dominions. He was much better acquainted with Asia than were the senate. That he ought to be called back and compelled to state what were his wishes and sentiments.”

53 The king, being brought back by the prætor into the senate-house, and desired to speak freely, began thus: “Conscript fathers. I should have persevered in being silent, but that I knew you would presently call in the Rhodian ambassadors, and that when they had been heard, the necessity of speaking would be imposed on me. And this my speech will be the more difficult on this account, because their demands will be of such a nature, that they will appear not only to make no demands which may be contrary to my interests, but not even to request any thing which may be intimately connected with themselves. For they will plead the cause of the Grecian states, and allege that they ought to be set free; which point being gained, to whom is it doubtful that they will alienate from us not only those states which shall be liberated, but likewise our ancient tributaries; and that after having bound them under so great an obligation, they will keep them under the denomination of allies, in reality subject to their government and entirely at their disposal? And, if it pleases the gods, while they will aspire to this so great power, they will pretend that this is no way connected with them; they will only say, that it is becoming you and conformable to your past conduct. You must be cautious, therefore, lest this speech deceive you; and lest by an unfair distribution, you not only depress some of your allies too much, while you exalt others beyond measure, but also put those who bore arms against you in a better state than your allies and friends. As to what regards myself in other cases, I should prefer to appear to any one to have yielded within the limit of my right, rather than to have struggled too obstinately in maintaining it; but in a contest of friendship and good-will towards you, and of the respect to be paid to you, I cannot with any patience bear to be outdone. This was the principal inheritance that I received from my father; who, of all the inhabitants of Asia and Greece, was the first who embraced your friendship; and this he maintained with constant and invariable fidelity to the last hour of his life. Nor did he display merely a faithful and kind inclination towards you, but was actively engaged in all the wars which you waged in Greece, whether on land or sea; he aided you with all kinds of provisions in such a manner, that not one of your allies could vie with him in any respect; and finally, while he was exhorting the Bœotians to an alliance with you, having fainted in the middle of his discourse, he shortly expired. In his steps have I trodden; and though I could not surpass the warmth of his wishes, and his zeal in courting your friendship—for these could not be exceeded—yet fortune, the times, Antiochus, and the war waged in Asia, afforded me occasions of surpassing him in real acts and merits, and valuable services. Antiochus, king of Asia, and of a part of Europe, offered me his daughter in marriage; offered to restore immediately the states that had revolted from us, and gave great hopes of enlarging my dominions, if I would have carried on war in conjunction with him against you. I will not boast on this account, because I was guilty of no trespass against you; but I will rather mention those instances of conduct which are worthy of the very early friendship between our house and you. I assisted your commanders with forces by land and sea, so that not one of your allies can stand in competition with me. I supplied them with provisions by land and sea. I was present in all the naval engagements which are fought in many places; and I never was sparing of my labour and danger. I underwent a siege, the most dreadful suffering that can occur in war, being shut up in Pergamus, in the utmost danger both of my kingdom and of my life. Afterwards when liberated from the siege, although in one part Antiochus, in another Seleucus, were encamped about the citadel of my kingdom, having deserted my own affairs, I went with my whole fleet to the Hellespont, to meet your consul Lucius Scipio, to assist in transporting his army. From the time that the army came over into Asia, I never quitted the consul; no Roman soldier was more regular in his attendance in your camp, than I and my brothers. No expedition, no cavalry action, was undertaken without me. In the field I took that post, and I maintained that ground, in which the consul wished me to be. I do not intend, conscript fathers, to say who in that war can be compared to me in services towards you. I would not hesitate to compare myself to any of those nations or kings whom you hold in great honour. Masinissa was your enemy before he became your ally; nor did he repair to you with his auxiliaries when his kingdom was safe; but dethroned, exiled, and stripped of all his forces, he fled for refuge to your camp with one troop of horse. Nevertheless, because he faithfully and diligently adhered to your cause in Africa, against Syphax and the Carthaginians, you not only restored him to the throne of his father, but by adding to his domain the most opulent part of the kingdom of Syphax, rendered him the most potent of all the kings in Africa. What reward then, and what honour are we worthy of at your hands, who have never been foes, but always allies? My father, myself, my brothers, have carried arms in your cause by sea and land, not only in Asia, but in countries remote from our home; in Peloponnesus, in Bœotia, in Ætolia, during the wars with Philip, and Antiochus, and the Ætolians. Some one may say, what therefore do you demand? Conscript fathers, since I must obey you when you desire me to explain my wishes: if you have removed Antiochus beyond the mountains of Taurus with the intention of holding those countries yourselves, I wish for no other people to settle near me, no other neighbours than you; nor could I hope that my kingdom would be rendered safer or firmer by any other event. But if your purpose is to retire hence, and withdraw your armies, I may venture to affirm, that not one of your allies is more deserving than I am of possessing what you have acquired. But then it will be a glorious act to liberate states that are in slavery. I agree that it will, provided they have committed nothing hostile against you. But if they took part with Antiochus, is it not much more becoming your wisdom and equity, to consult the interest of your well-deserving friends than that of your enemies?”

54 The king’s speech was pleasing to the senate, and it was very evident that they would do all things liberally, and with a desire to serve him. As one of the Rhodian ambassadors was absent, an embassy from Smyrna was next introduced, which was briefly disposed of. When the Smyrnæans were highly complimented because they had resolved to endure the last extremities rather than surrender to the king, the Rhodians were next introduced. The chief of their embassy, after stating the commencement of their friendship with the Roman people and merits of the Rhodians, first in the war with Philip, and afterwards in that with Antiochus, said: “Conscript fathers, there is nothing in the whole course of our affairs that gives us more trouble and uneasiness than that we should have a debate with Eumenes; with whom alone, of all the kings in the world, each of us as individuals has a private tie of hospitality, and, what weighs more with us, our state has a public one. But, conscript fathers, it is not our own inclinations that disunite us, but the nature of circumstances which exercise an all-powerful influence, so that we, being free ourselves, plead the cause of other men’s freedom; while kings wish to have all things subservient and subject to their command. Yet, be that as it may, our respect towards the king is an obstacle to us, rather than that the debate is intricate, or likely to give you perplexity in your deliberations. For if no honour could be otherwise paid to the king, your friend and ally, who has merited highly in this very war, and concerning whose reward the consideration is, unless you should deliver free states into his power, the deliberation would be a difficult one, lest you should either send away a king, your friend, without due honour, or depart from your own institutions, and sully now, by the servitude of so many states, the glory which you have acquired in the war with Philip. But from this necessity of diminishing either your gratitude towards your friend, or your own glory, fortune completely frees you. For, through the bounty of the gods, your victory is not more glorious than it is rich, so that it can easily acquit you of that just as a debt. Lycaonia, both the Phrygias, with Pisidia, the Chersonese, and the adjoining parts of Europe, are all in your power; and any one of these, given to the king, can double his dominions; but if they were all conferred upon him, they would set him on a level with the greatest of kings. You have it, therefore, in your power to enrich your allies with the prizes of the war; and, not to depart from your usual line of policy, and to remember what motive you assigned as your cause of war, formerly against Philip, latterly against Antiochus; what you performed on the conquest of Philip; what is now desired and expected from you, not so much because you have done it before, as because it becomes you to do it. For different persons look on different circumstances as specious and plausible motives for taking up arms. Some go to war to get possession of land, some of villages, some of towns, some of ports, and some of the sea-coast. Such things you never coveted, when you had them not; and you cannot covet them now, when the whole world is under your dominion. You ever fought for your dignity and glory, in the sight of the whole human race, which long since has learned to respect your name and empire next to that of the immortal gods. And to procure and acquire these was an arduous task. I know not whether it may be more difficult to retain them. You have undertaken to defend from the slavery of kings the liberty of a nation the most ancient and most highly distinguished, both by the fame of its exploits, and by universal praise for politeness and learning; it becomes you to make this patronage of an entire nation, received under your care and protection, perpetual. The cities standing on the original soil, are not more Grecian than their colonies, which formerly migrated thence into Asia; nor has change of country changed either their race or manners. Every state among us has ventured to contend in a respectful contest, in every good quality and virtue, with its parents and founders. Most of you have visited the cities in Greece, and those in Asia. We are surpassed in no other circumstance than that we are too far distant from you. We hear that the inhabitants of Marseilles (who, if nature, implanted, as it were, in their bosoms, could be overcome by the genus of the soil, would ere this have been rendered savage, by the many barbarous tribes surrounding them) are deservedly held in as high honour and esteem by you as if they were inhabitants of the very centre of Greece. For they have preserved, not only the sound of the language, the mode of dress, and the habit; but, above all, the manners, the laws, and a mind pure and untainted by contagion from their neighbours. The boundary of your empire, at present, is Mount Taurus. Nothing within that line ought to be thought remote. To whatever extent your arms have reached, let justice, emanating from Rome, spread. Let barbarians, with whom the commands of masters have always served instead of laws, have kings, in which government they delight; the Greeks endure their own fortune; they have a spirit like your own. They too, in former times, grasped at empire by their internal strength. They now pray that empire may remain to eternity where it is at present. They consider it sufficient that their liberty should be defended by your arms, since they are unable to protect it by their own. But it is objected, that some of their states sided with Antiochus. So did others, before, with Philip; so did the Tarentines with Pyrrhus. Not to enumerate other nations, Carthage enjoys liberty and its own laws. Consider, conscript fathers, how much you owe to this example, set by yourselves. You will surely make up your mind to refuse to the ambition of Eumenes, what you refused to your own most just resentment. With what brave and faithful exertions we, Rhodians, have assisted you, both in this late war, and in all the wars that you have waged in that part of the world, we leave to your own judgment. We now, in peace, offer you such advice, that if you conform to it, all the world will judge that you used your victory with more honour to yourselves, than that with which you gained it.” Their arguments seemed well adapted to the Roman grandeur.

55 After the Rhodians, the ambassadors of Antiochus were called. These, after the common practice of petitioners for pardon, acknowledged the king’s error, and besought the conscript fathers to deliberate, mindful rather of their own mercy than of the misconduct of the king, who had suffered enough and more than enough of punishment; in fine, to ratify, by their authority, the peace granted by their general, Lucius Scipio, with the conditions on which he had given it. The senate voted, that the peace should be observed; and the people, a few days after, ordered it. The treaty was concluded in the Capitol with Antipater, chief of the embassy, and son of the brother of king Antiochus. Then the other embassies from Asia were heard, to all of whom was returned the same answer, that “the senate, in conformity with the usage of their ancestors, would send ten ambassadors to examine and adjust the affairs of Asia. That the general plan was to be this: that the places on this side of Mount Taurus, which had been within the limits of the realm of Antiochus, should be assigned to Eumenes, excepting Lycia and Caria, as far as the river Mæander; and that these last-mentioned should become the property of the Rhodians. That the other states of Asia, which had been tributary to Attalus, should likewise pay tribute to Eumenes; and such as had been tributary to Antiochus, should be free and independent.” They appointed ten ambassadors, Quintus Minucius Rufus, Lucius Furius Purpureo, Quintus Minucius Thermus, Appius Claudius Nero, Cneius Cornelius Merula, Marcus Junius Brutus, Lucius Aurunculeius, Lucius Æmilius Paulus, Publius Cornelius Lentulus, and Publius Ælius Tubero.

56 To these full instructions were given to decide whatever required an examination of the place. Concerning the general plan the senate voted: that “all Lycaonia, both the Phrygias, and Mysia, the royal forests, and Lydia, and Ionia, excepting those towns which had been free on the day whereon the battle was fought with Antiochus, and excepting by name Magnesia at Sipylus; then the city of Caria, called also Hydrela, and the territory of Hydrela, stretching towards Phrygia, and the forts and villages on the river Mæander, and likewise the towns, excepting such as had been free before the war, and excepting by name, Telmissus, and the fort of Telmissium, and the lands which had belonged to Ptolemy of Telmissus; all these which are written above, were ordered to be given to king Eumenes. Lycia was given to the Rhodians, excepting the same Telmissus, and the fort of Telmissium, with the lands which had belonged to Ptolemy of Telmissus; these were withheld both from Eumenes and the Rhodians. To the latter was given also that part of Caria which lies beyond the river Mæander nearest to the island of Rhodes, with its towns, villages, forts, and lands, extending to Pisidia, excepting those towns which had been in a state of freedom on the day before that of the battle with Antiochus.” The Rhodians, after returning thanks for these favours, mentioned the city of Soli in Cilicia, “the inhabitants of which,” they said, “as well as themselves, derived their origin from Argos; and, in consequence of this relation, a brotherly affection subsisted between the two states. They, therefore, requested the senate, as an extraordinary favour, to exempt that city from subjection to the king.” The ambassadors of Antiochus were called in, and the matter was proposed to them, but their consent could not be obtained; Antipater appealing to the treaty, in opposition to which, not only Soli, but Cilicia was sought by the Rhodians, and they were passing the summits of Taurus. The Rhodians being summoned again before the senate, the fathers, after they had stated how earnestly the king’s ambassador opposed the measure, added that “if the Rhodians were of opinion that the affair particularly affected the dignity of their state, the senate would try by all means to overcome the obstinacy of the ambassadors.” Hereupon the Rhodians, with greater warmth than before, returned thanks, and declared, that they would rather give way to the arrogance of Antipater, than afford any reason for disturbing the peace. So no change was made with respect to Soli.

57 During the time in which these things were transacted, deputies from Marseilles announced that Lucius Bæbius, the prætor, on his way into his province of Spain, had been surrounded by the Ligurians; that a great part of his retinue being slain, he himself, wounded, had made his escape, without his lictors, and with but few attendants, to Marseilles, and in three days after expired. The senate, on hearing of this misfortune, decreed, that Publius Junius Brutus, who was the proprætor in Etruria, having delivered the province and army to whichsoever of the lieutenants he should think proper, should go himself into Farther Spain, which was to be his province. This decree of the senate and a letter was sent by the prætor, Spurius Posthumius, into Etruria; and Publius Junius, the proprætor, set out for Spain, in which province, long before a successor could arrive, Lucius Æmilius Paulus, who afterwards with great glory conquered king Perseus, though he had carried on matters unsuccessfully the year before, having raised an army by a hasty levy, fought a pitched battle with the Lusitanians. The enemy were routed, and put to flight; eighteen thousand were killed, three thousand three hundred taken, and their camp stormed. The fame of this victory made matters more tranquil in Spain. In the same year, on the third day before the calends of January, Lucius Valerius Flaccus, Marcus Atilius Serranus, and Lucius Valerius Tappo, triumvirs, settled a Latin colony at Bononia, according to a decree of the senate. Three thousand men were led to that place. Seventy acres were given to each horseman, fifty to each of the other colonists. The land had been taken from the Boian Gauls, who had formerly expelled the Tuscans.

58 In the same year, many distinguished men strove for the censorship; and this business, as if it furnished in itself insufficient grounds for dispute, gave rise to another contest of a much more violent nature. The candidates were, Titus Quintius Flamininus, Publius Cornelius Scipio, son of Cneius, Lucius Valerius Flaccus, Marcus Porcius Cato, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, and Manius Acilius Glabrio, who had defeated Antiochus and the Ætolians at Thermopylæ. The favour of the people inclined to the last in particular, because he had given many largesses, by which he had bound a great number of men to him. When so many nobles could ill brook that a man of no family should be so much preferred to them, Publius Sempronius Gracchus and Caius Sempronius Rutilus, tribunes of the people, commenced a prosecution against him, on a charge, that he had neither exhibited in his triumph, nor lodged in the treasury, a large part of the royal treasure, and of the booty taken in the camp of Antiochus. The depositions of the lieutenants-general and military tribunes were at variance. Beyond all the other witnesses, Marcus Cato was remarkable, whose authority, acquired by the uniform tenor of his life, the fact of his being a candidate diminished. He, when a witness, affirmed, that he had not observed, in the triumph, the gold and silver vessels which, on the taking of the camp, he had seen among the other spoils of the king. At last Glabrio declared, that he declined the election, chiefly to throw odium on Cato; since he, a candidate of an origin as humble as his own, by an abominable perjury, attacked that which men of noble birth bore with silent indignation. A fine of one hundred thousand asses10 was proposed to the people against him. Twice there was a contest on the subject. On the third hearing, as the accused had declined the election, and the people were unwilling to vote about the fine, the tribunes also dropped the business. The censors elected were, Titus Quintius Flamininus and Marcus Claudius Marcellus.

59 At the same time, when an audience of the senate, in the temple of Apollo outside the city, was granted to Lucius Æmilius Regillus, who, with the fleet, had defeated the admiral of king Antiochus; after hearing the recital of his services, with what great fleets of the enemy he had engaged, how many of their ships he had sunk or taken, a naval triumph was voted him by the unanimous consent of the fathers. He triumphed on the calends of February. In this procession were carried forty-nine golden crowns; the quantity of money was by no means so great considering the appearance of the triumph over the king, being only thirty-four thousand seven hundred Attic tetradrachms,11 and one hundred and thirty-two thousand three hundred cistophoruses.12 Supplications were then performed, by order of the senate, in consideration of the successful services to the state, achieved in Spain by Lucius Æmilius Paulus. Not long after, Lucius Scipio arrived in the city; and, that he might not be inferior to his brother in point of a surname, he chose to be called Asiaticus. He spoke largely of his services both before the senate and a general assembly. There were some who judged that the war was greater by fame than by real difficulty; for it was terminated entirely by one memorable engagement; and that the glory of that victory had been stripped of its bloom at Thermopylæ. But, to any person judging impartially, it must appear, that the light at Thermopylæ was with the Ætolians, rather than with the king. For with how small a portion of his own strength did Antiochus engage in that battle! whereas, in the other, in Asia, the strength of the whole Asiatic continent stood combined; for he had collected auxiliaries of all nations from the most remote quarters of the east. Justly, therefore, were the greatest possible honours paid to the immortal gods, for having rendered a most important victory easy in the acquisition; and a triumph was decreed to the commander. He triumphed in the intercalary month, the day before the calends of March; which triumph was greater in the display to the eye than that of Africanus his brother, yet if we recall to our memory the circumstances, and estimate the dangers and difficulty, it was no more to be compared to it, than if you would contrast one general with the other, Antiochus with Hannibal. He carried, in his triumph, military standards, two hundred and thirty-four; models of towns, one hundred and thirty-four; elephants’ teeth, one thousand two hundred and thirty; crowns of gold, two hundred and twenty-four: pounds-weight of silver, one hundred and thirty-seven thousand four hundred and twenty; Attic tetradrachms, two hundred and twenty-four thousand;13 cistophoruses, three hundred and thirty-one thousand and seventy;14 gold pieces, called Philippians, one hundred and forty thousand;15 silver vases, all engraved, to the amount of one thousand four hundred and twenty-four pounds’ weight; of golden vases, one thousand and twenty-four pounds’ weight; and of the king’s generals, governors, and officers at court, thirty-two were led before his chariot. Twenty-five denariuses16 were given to each of his soldiers, double that sum to a centurion, triple it to a horseman; and after the triumph, their pay and allowance of corn were doubled. He had already doubled them after the battle in Asia. He triumphed about a year after the expiration of his consulship.

60 Cneius Manlius, the consul, arrived in Asia, and Quintus Fabius Labeo, the prætor, reached the fleet, nearly at the same time. The consul did not want reasons for war against the Gauls; the sea was subjected to the Romans since the conquest of Antiochus. It appeared best to Quintus Fabius, considering to what thing in particular he should apply himself, lest he might seem to have had a province in which there was no employment, to sail over to the island of Crete. The Cydonians were engaged in war against the Gortynians and Gnossians; and a great number of Roman and Italian captives were said to be in slavery in different parts of the island. Having sailed with the fleet from Ephesus, as soon as he touched the shore of Crete, he despatched orders to all the states to cease from hostilities, and to search each of them for the captives in its own cities and territory, and bring them to him; also, to send ambassadors to him, to treat of matters belonging alike to the Romans and Cretans. These orders had little influence on the Cretans. Excepting the Gortynians, none of them restored the captives. Valerius Antias relates, that as many as four thousand captives were restored out of the whole island, because the Cretans feared his threats of war; and that this was deemed a sufficient reason for Fabius obtaining from the senate a naval triumph, although he performed no other exploit. From Crete Fabius returned to Ephesus: having despatched three ships from the latter place to the coast of Thrace, he ordered the garrisons of Antiochus to be withdrawn from Ænos and Maronea, that these cities might be left at liberty.