Publius Sulpicius, after making his vows in the Capitol, set out robed from the city with his lictors, and arrived at Brundusium; where, having formed into legions the veteran soldiers of the African army who were willing to follow him, and chosen his ships out of the fleet of the late consul, Cornelius, he crossed and arrived in Macedonia the day after he had set sail from Brundusium. There he was met by ambassadors from the Athenians, entreating him to relieve them from the siege. Immediately, Caius Claudius Centho was despatched to Athens, with twenty ships of war, and a thousand of land forces. For it was not the king himself who carried on the siege of Athens; he was at that time besieging Abydus, after having tried his strength in naval contests against Attalus, and against the Rhodians, without success in either engagement. But, besides the natural presumptuousness of his temper, he acquired confidence from a treaty which he had formed with Antiochus, king of Syria, in which they had divided the wealth of Egypt between them; on which, on hearing of the death of Ptolemy, they were both intent. The Athenians now had entangled themselves in a war with Philip on too trifling an occasion, and at a time when they retained nothing of their former condition but their pride. During the celebration of the mysteries, two young men of Acarnania, who were not initiated, unapprized of its being an offence against religion, entered the temple of Ceres along with the rest of the crowd: their discourse readily betrayed them, by their asking some absurd questions; whereupon, being carried before the presidents of the temple, although it was evident that they went in through mistake, yet they were put to death, as if for a heinous crime. The Acarnanian nation made complaint to Philip of this barbarous and hostile act, and prevailed on him to grant them some aid of Macedonian soldiers, and to allow them to make war on the Athenians. At first this army, after ravaging the lands of Attica with fire and sword, retired to Acarnania with booty of all kinds. This was the first provocation to hostilities. The Athenians afterwards, on their side, entered into a regular war, and proclaimed it by order of the state. For king Attalus and the Rhodians, having come to Aegina in pursuit of Philip, who was retiring to Macedonia, the king crossed over to Piraeus, for the purpose of renewing and confirming his alliance with the Athenians. On entering the city, the whole inhabitants received him, pouring forth with their wives and children to meet him; the priests, with their emblems of religion; and in a manner the gods themselves, called forth from their abodes.
15
Immediately the people were summoned to an assembly, that the king might treat with them in person on such subjects as he chose; but afterwards it was judged more suitable to his dignity to explain his sentiments in writing, than, being present, to be forced to blush, either at the recital of his favours to the state, or at the immoderate applause of the multitude, which would overwhelm his modesty with acclamations and other signs of approbation. In the letter which he sent, and which was read to the assembly, was contained first, a recapitulation of his acts of kindness to the state, as his ally; then, of the actions which he had performed against Philip; and lastly, an exhortation to "enter immediately on the war; while they had himself, the Rhodians, and the Romans also to assist them;" not omitting to warn them that "if they were backward now, they would hereafter wish in vain for the opportunity which they neglected." They then gave audience to the ambassadors of the Rhodians, to whom they were under a recent obligation for having retaken, and sent home, four of their ships of war, which had been lately seized by the Macedonians. War was determined upon against Philip with universal consent. Unbounded honours were conferred on king Attalus, and then on the Rhodians. At that time, mention was made of adding a tribe, which they were to call Attalus, to the ten ancient tribes; the Rhodian state was presented with a golden crown, as an acknowledgment of its bravery, and the freedom of the city was given to the inhabitants, in like manner as the Rhodians had formerly given it to the Athenians. After this, king Attalus returned to his fleet at Aegina. From Aegina, the Rhodians sailed to Cia, and thence to Rhodes, through the islands, all of which they brought to join in the alliance, except Andros, Paros, and Cythnus, which were held by Macedonian garrisons. Attalus, having sent messengers to Aetolia, and expecting ambassadors from thence, was detained at Aegina for some time in a state of inaction; failing also in his endeavours to excite the Aetolians to arms, for they were rejoiced at having made peace with Philip on any terms. Had Attalus and the Rhodians pressed Philip vigorously, they might have acquired the illustrious title of the deliverers of Greece, but by suffering him to pass over again into Hellespontus, and to strengthen himself by seizing the advantageous posts in Greece, they increased the difficulties of the war, and yielded up to the Romans the glory of having conducted and finished it.
16
Philip acted with a spirit more becoming a king; for, though he had found himself unequal to the forces of Attalus and the Rhodians, yet he was not dismayed, even by the Roman war with which he was threatened. Sending Philocles, one of his generals, with two thousand foot and two hundred horse, to ravage the lands of the Athenians, he gave the command of his fleet to Heraclides, to make for Maronea, and marched thither himself by land, with two thousand foot lightly equipped, and two hundred horse. Maronea he took at the first assault; and afterwards, with a good deal of trouble, got possession of Aenus, which was at last betrayed to him by Ganymede, the lieutenant of Ptolemy. He then seized on other forts, Cypselus, Doriscos, and Serrheus; and, advancing from thence to the Chersonesus, received Elaeus and Alopeconnesus, which were surrendered by the inhabitants. Callipolis also, and Madytos, were given up to him, with several forts of but little consequence. The people of Abydus shut their gates against him, not admitting the ambassadors. This siege detained Philip a long time; and it might have been relieved, had not Attalus and the Rhodians been dilatory. The king sent only three hundred men for a garrison, and the Rhodians one quadrireme from their fleet, although it was lying idle at Tenedos: and afterwards, when the besieged could with difficulty hold out any longer, Attalus, going over in person, did nothing more than show them some hope of relief being near, giving no assistance to these his allies either by land or sea.
17
At first the people of Abydus, by means of engines placed along the walls, not only prevented the approaches by land, but annoyed the enemy's ships in their station. Afterwards a part of the wall being thrown down, and the assailants having penetrated by mines to an inner wall, which had been hastily raised to oppose their entrance, they sent ambassadors to the king about the conditions of the surrender of the city. They demanded permission to send away the Rhodian quadrireme, with the crew, and the troops of Attalus in the garrison; and that they themselves might depart from the city, each with one suit of apparel. When Philip's answer afforded no hopes of accommodation, unless they surrendered at discretion, this repudiation of their embassy so exasperated them, at once through indignation and despair, that, seized with the same kind of fury which had possessed the Saguntines, they ordered all the matrons to be shut up in the temple of Diana, and the free-born youths and virgins, and even the infants with their nurses, in the place of exercise; the gold and silver to be carried into the forum; their valuable garments to be put on board the Rhodian ship, and another from Cyzicum, which lay in the harbour; the priests and victims to be brought, and altars to be erected in the midst. There they appointed a select number, who, as soon as they should see the army of their friends cut off in defending the breach, were instantly to slay their wives and children; to throw into the sea the gold, silver, and apparel that was on board the ships, and to set fire to the buildings, public and private: and to the performance of this deed they were bound by an oath, the priests repeating before them the verses of execration. Those who were of an age capable of fighting then swore that they would not leave their ranks alive unless victorious. These, regardful of the gods, (by whom they had sworn,) maintained their ground with such obstinacy, that although the night would soon have put a stop to the fight, yet the king, terrified by their fury, first desisted from the fight. The chief inhabitants, to whom the more shocking part of the plan had been given in charge, seeing that few survived the battle, and that these were exhausted by fatigue and wounds, sent the priests (having their heads bound with the fillets of suppliants) at the dawn of the next day to surrender the city to Philip.