26 Philip began his discourse also with complaints, that he might maintain the appearance of an accuser rather than of a defendant. He complained that “the Thessalians had taken by force of arms, Menelais in Dolopia, a town belonging to his dominions; likewise, Petra in Pieria was taken by the same Thessalians and the Perrhæbians; that they had reduced under their government Xyniæ, which unquestionably belonged to Ætolia; and that Parachelois, which was under Athamania, was, without any just claim, subjected to the jurisdiction of the Thessalians. As to the charges brought against him, concerning an ambush laid for ambassadors, and of sea-ports being frequented or deserted, the one was quite ridiculous, (as if he were to account for what harbours merchants or sailors should frequent,) and the other the constant tenor of his conduct rejected with scorn. During a number of years, ambassadors had never ceased carrying complaints against him, sometimes to the Roman generals, at others to Rome to the senate. Which of them had ever been injured, even in words? They said, indeed, that an ambush was once laid for some who were going to Quintius, but they are silent in regard to consequences. Such were the accusations of men searching for false imputations, because they had no truth on their side.” He said, that “the Thessalians, insolently and wantonly, abused the indulgence of the Roman people, too greedily drinking, as it were, strong draughts of liberty after a long thirst; and thus, in the manner of slaves lately set free, made trial of their voices and tongues, and prided themselves in invectives and railings against their masters.” Then, hurried on by passion, he added, that “his sun had not set yet;” which expression, not only the Thessalians, but the Romans also, took as a menace to themselves; and when a murmur of displeasure followed his words, and was at length hushed, he replied to the ambassadors of the Perrhæbians and Athamanians, “that the cases of the cities of which they had spoken were the same. The consul Acilius and the Romans gave them to him, when they were the property of enemies. If the donors chose to resume what they had given, he knew he must submit, but in that case they would, for the gratification of inconstant and unprofitable allies, do injury to a more useful and more faithful friend. For no favour produced less permanent gratitude than the gift of liberty, especially among people who were ready to corrupt it by using it badly.” After examining the merits of the cause, the ambassadors pronounced their judgment, that “the Macedonian garrisons should be withdrawn from the cities in question, and that the kingdom of Macedonia should be limited by its ancient boundaries. That with regard to the injuries which both parties complained of being done to them, it would be requisite to institute some compact for the attainment of justice, in order to decide the controversies between those states and the Macedonians.”
27 The king being grievously offended, the ambassadors proceeded thence to Thessalonica, to give a hearing to the business concerning the cities of Thrace. Here the ambassadors of Eumenes said, that “if the Romans wished that Ænus and Maronea should be independent, the king felt ashamed to say more, than to recommend it to them to leave those people free in fact, and not in words; nor to suffer their kindness to be intercepted by another. But if they had not so much concern for the states situated in Thrace, it was much more reasonable that Eumenes should possess, as the rewards of war, the places which had been under the dominion of Antiochus, than Philip; and that, either on account of his father Attalus’s deserts in the war, waged by the Roman people against Philip himself, or on account of his own, because he had shared all the toils and dangers on land and sea, during the war with Antiochus. Besides, he had the previous judgment of the ten ambassadors to that purpose; who, when they granted the Chersonesus and Lysimachia, surely yielded at the same time Ænus and Maronea; which, even from the proximity of situation, were but a sort of appendage to the larger gift. For, as to Philip, by what merits towards the Roman people, or what right of dominion, had he put garrisons into those places, which were at so great a distance from the borders of Macedonia? They then desired that the Romans would order the Maronites to be called, from whom they would receive more positive information of the condition of those cities.” The Maronite ambassadors being called in, declared, that “not in one spot of the city, as in other garrisoned towns, but in every quarter of it, there was a party of the king’s troops, and that Maronea was full of Macedonians; in consequence of which, the favourites of the king domineered over the rest; they alone had liberty of speaking, either in the senate or assemblies of the people. All posts of eminence they assumed to themselves, or conferred on whom they thought proper. That the most deserving persons, who had a regard for liberty and for the laws, were either expelled their country, and in exile, or remained in silence, dishonoured and subjected to men of the worst description.” They added also a few words respecting their right to the frontier places, affirming, that “Quintus Fabius Labeo, when he was in that country, had fixed as a boundary line to Philip, the old royal road leading to Paroreia, in Thrace, which in no place leads towards the sea; and that Philip afterwards drew a new one in another direction, in order to include the cities and lands of the Maronites.”
28 Philip, in his reply to these charges, took quite another course than when lately answering the Thessalians and Perrhæbians, and said:—“My dispute is not now with the Maronites, or with Eumenes, but with you yourselves, Romans, from whom I have long ago seen that I can obtain no justice. The cities of Macedonia, which had revolted from me during a suspension of arms, I thought should in justice be restored to me; not that they would have made any great accession to my dominions, because the towns are small in themselves, and besides, are situated on the extremities of the frontiers; but because the example was of great consequence towards retaining the rest of the Macedonians in their allegiance. This was refused me. In the Ætolian war, I was ordered by the consul, Manius Acilius, to lay siege to Lamia, and when I had there undergone a long course of fatigue in fighting and constructing works, and was on the point of mounting the walls, the consul recalled me from the city when almost in my possession, and compelled me to draw off my troops from it. As some consolation for this hard treatment, I received permission to seize on some forts, rather than cities, of Thessaly, Perrhæbia, and Athamania. These also you yourselves, Quintus Cæcilius, have taken from me a few days ago. The ambassadors of Eumenes, just now, took for granted, it seems, that Eumenes would with more justice than I possess whatever belonged to Antiochus. I judge the matter to be widely different. For Eumenes could not have remained on his throne, unless the Romans had engaged in the war, and not unless they had conquered. Therefore he has received a favour from you, not you from him; whereas, so far were any part of my dominions from being in danger, that, when Antiochus voluntarily offered to purchase my alliance, with three thousand talents and fifty decked ships, guaranteeing to me all the cities of Greece of which I had heretofore been in possession, I rejected that offer. I avowed myself his enemy, even before Manius Acilius brought over an army into Greece. In conjunction with that consul, I supported whatever share of the war he gave me in charge. To the succeeding consul, Lucius Scipio, when he proposed leading his army by land to the Hellespont, I not only gave a passage through my dominions, but also made roads for him, built bridges, supplied him with provisions, and escorted him, not only through Macedon, but likewise through Thrace; where, besides other business, I had to procure peace from the barbarians. In requital of this zeal, not to call it merit, towards you, whether would it be proper in you, Romans, to enlarge and increase my dominions by acts of generosity, or to ravish from me what I possessed, either in my own right or through your kindness. The cities of Macedon, which you acknowledge to have belonged to my kingdom, are not restored. Eumenes comes to plunder me as he would Antiochus, and, if you choose to believe him, covers his most shameless chicanery under the decree of the ten ambassadors, by which principally he can be refuted and convicted. For is it not expressly and plainly set down in that writing, that the Chersonese and Lysimachia are granted to Eumenes; and where are Ænus, Maronea, and the cities of Thrace annexed to it in writing? That which he did not dare even to ask from them, shall he obtain from you, as if under their grant? It is a matter of importance in what light you choose to consider me. If you are resolved to persecute me as an enemy and foe, proceed to act as you have begun: but, if you have any consideration for me as a king in friendship and alliance with you, I must entreat you not to judge me deserving of such injurious treatment.”
29 The king’s discourse made a considerable impression on the ambassadors; they therefore left the matter in suspense, by this indecisive resolution, that “if the cities in question were granted to Eumenes by the decree of the ten ambassadors, they would make no alteration. If Philip subdued them in war, he should, by the laws of war, hold them as the prize of victory. If neither were the case, then their judgment was, that the decision should be referred to the senate; and in order that all things might remain in their original state, the garrisons in those cities should be withdrawn.” These causes, principally, alienated the regard of Philip from the Romans, so that the war naturally seems not set on foot by his son Perseus for any fresh causes, but rather for these causes, bequeathed by the father to the son. At Rome there was hitherto no suspicion of a war with Macedonia. Lucius Manlius, the proconsul, had by this time come home from Spain. On his demanding a triumph from the senate assembled in the temple of Bellona, the greatness of his exploits justified the demand, but precedent opposed it; for it was a rule, established by ancient practice, that no commander, who had not brought home his troops, should triumph, unless he had delivered up the province to his successor, in a state of thorough subjection and tranquillity. An honour of a middling grade was conferred on Manlius, namely, that he should enter the city in ovation. He carried in the procession fifty-two golden crowns, one hundred and twenty-two pounds’ weight of gold, with sixteen thousand three hundred pounds of silver; and announced in the senate, that his quæstor, Quintus Fabius, was bringing ten thousand pounds’ weight of silver, and eighty of gold, and that he would carry it likewise to the treasury. During that year there was a formidable insurrection of the slaves in Apulia. Lucius Postumius, prætor, governed the province of Tarentum, and conducted with much severity inquiries into a conspiracy of peasants, who had infested the roads and public pastures with robberies. Of these, he passed sentence on no less than seven thousand; many of whom made their escape, and on many punishment was inflicted. The consuls, after being long detained in the city by the levies, set out at length for their provinces.
30 This year, Caius Calpurnius and Lucius Quintius, the two prætors in Spain, drew their troops out of winter quarters, at the commencement of spring, and making a junction of them in Bæturia, for they were resolved to proceed in the operations of the campaign with united zeal and harmony, advanced into Carpetania, where the enemy’s camp lay. At a small distance from the towns of Hippo and Toletum, a fight began between the foraging parties, to whom when reinforcements came from both armies from the camps, the entire armies were by degrees drawn out into the field. In this irregular kind of battle, the advantage of the ground and the manner of fighting were in favour of the enemy. The two Roman armies were routed, and driven into their camp; but the enemy did not pursue the dismayed Romans. The Roman prætors, lest their camp should be attacked next day, giving the signal in silence, led away their army in the dead of the following night. At the first dawn, the Spaniards came up to the rampart in battle array, and entered the camp which, beyond their expectation, was deserted, and made prey of whatever had in the hurry and confusion been first left behind; and then, returning to their own station, remained, for a few days, at rest within their camp. Of the Romans and allies, there were killed in the battle and the pursuit, five thousand men, out of whose spoils the enemy furnished themselves with arms. They then advanced to the river Tagus. All the intermediate time the Roman prætors employed in collecting aid from the allied Spanish states, and reviving the spirits of their men after the dismay occasioned by their defeat. When their strength appeared adequate, and the soldiers too called for their enemy, to blot out in vengeance their former disgrace, they pitched their camp at the distance of twelve miles from the river Tagus; but decamping thence at the third watch, and marching with their army in a square, reached the bank of the river at break of day. The enemy’s camp was on a hill at the other side of the river. They immediately led their army across the river where it was fordable in two places, Calpurnius having the command of the right, Quintius of the left. The enemy continued motionless, since they were surprised at the sudden arrival of the Romans, and busy in consultations, when they might have excited confusion among the troops during their hurry in passing the river. In the mean time the Romans brought over all their baggage, and threw it together in a heap, and seeing the enemy, at length, begin to move, and having no time for fortifying a camp, they formed their line of battle. In the centre were placed the fifth legion, serving under Calpurnius, and the eighth, under Quintius, which composed the principal strength of their army. All the way to the enemy’s camp they had an open plain, free from all danger of ambush.
31 When the Spaniards saw the two bodies of Romans, on their side of the river, they rushed suddenly out of the camp, and advanced to battle at full speed, that they might fall upon them before they should unite and put themselves in order. The fight, in the beginning, was urged with great fury; the Spaniards being elated by their late success, and the Roman soldiery inflamed to rage, by a discomfiture to which they were unaccustomed. The centre, consisting of two legions of the greatest bravery, fought with the utmost vigour. The enemy, seeing that they could not be forced from their ground by any other means, resolved to make their attack in form of a wedge; and this body, becoming continually more numerous and more compact, pressed hard on them. When the prætor, Calpurnius, perceived that his line was distressed in this part, he hastily despatched two lieutenants-general, Titus Quintilius Varus and Lucius Juventius Thalna, to animate the courage of the two legions, who were ordered to say, that “all hopes of victory, and of retaining possession of Spain, depended entirely on them. If they should give ground, not a man in that whole army would ever see Italy, no, nor even the farther bank of the Tagus.” He himself, at the head of the cavalry of the two legions, making a small circuit, charged the flank of the wedge, which was pressing upon his centre. Quintius, likewise, with his cavalry, charged the enemy on the other flank; but the horsemen of Calpurnius fought with far greater spirit, while the prætor himself exceeded all others. He was the first that struck down one of the enemy, and he pushed in among the troops in the centre, in such a manner that it was hard to distinguish to which side he belonged. Thus the horse were animated by the extraordinary valour of the prætor, and the infantry by that of the horse. Shame, because they saw the prætor in the midst of the enemy’s weapons, inspired the foremost centurions. They all, therefore, earnestly pressed the standard-bearers, urging them to carry forward the ensigns, and the soldiers to follow with speed. All set up the shout anew, and made an attack as violent as if it were made from the higher ground. Like a flood, therefore, they broke and bore down the enemy in dismay, nor could they be resisted, pouring in one after another, The cavalry pursued the fugitives to their camp, and mixing with the crowd of the runaways, penetrated within the rampart. Here the fight was renewed by the troops left to guard the camp, and the Roman horsemen were obliged to dismount. While they were engaged, the fifth legion came up, and afterwards the rest of the troops joined them with all the speed they could. The Spaniards were cut to pieces in all parts of the camp; not more than four thousand men made their escape. Of these about three thousand, who kept their arms, took possession of a mountain in the neighbourhood, and one thousand, who were in general but half armed, dispersed through the country. This army of the enemy had contained thirty-five thousand men, of whom that very small number survived the battle. One hundred and thirty-three standards were taken. Of the Romans and allies, a few more than six hundred fell; and of the provincial auxiliaries, about one hundred and fifty. The loss of five military tribunes, and a few Roman horsemen, served principally to give the victory the appearance of being a bloody one. The army lodged in the enemy’s camp, as they had not had time to fortify one of their own. Next day the cavalry was praised by Calpurnius in an assembly, and presented with trappings; and he declared publicly, that through their bravery, principally, the enemy had been defeated, and their camp stormed and taken. Quinctius, the other prætor, presented his cavalry also with chains and clasps. A great many centurions also, of both the armies, received gratuities, especially those who were in the centre.
32 The consuls, as soon as they had finished the levies, and other business which required to be done at Rome, led the army into their province, Liguria. Sempronius marched from Pisæ against the Apuan Ligurians, and by ravaging their lands, and by burning their villages and forts, he opened that difficult country, as far as the river Macra and the harbour of Luna. The enemy took possession of a mountain which had been the ancient retreat of their forefathers; but the difficulty of access being overcome, they were dislodged by force. Appius Claudius, against the Ingaunian tribe, rivalled in several successful battles the good fortune and bravery of his colleague. He also stormed six of their towns, in which he made many thousand prisoners, beheading forty-three of the chief promoters of the war. The time of the elections now drew near; but Claudius came home to Rome sooner than Sempronius, to whom the business of presiding at the elections had been allotted, because his brother, Publius Claudius, stood candidate for the consulship. His competitors, of patrician rank, were Lucius Æmilius, Quintus Fabius Labeo, and Servius Sulpicius Galba, who had been candidates before, and now renewed their suit, for an honour which was the more justly due to them, owing to their repulses, as it had been refused before. Besides, as it was not lawful that more than one patrician should be appointed, there was a closer contest between the four candidates. The plebeian candidates likewise were men in high esteem. Lucius Porcius, Quintus Terentius Culleo, and Cneius Bæbius Tamphilus; these two had been disappointed, but had cherished hopes of attaining the honour at some future time. Claudius was the only new candidate. Quintus Fabius Labeo and Lucius Porcius Licinus were marked out by public opinion as the successful persons; but Claudius, the consul, unattended by his lictors, canvassed with his brother through all parts of the forum, notwithstanding the loud remonstrances of his opponents and the greater part of the senate, who insisted that “he ought to remember that he was consul of the Roman people, rather than the brother of Publius Claudius. Why should he not rather sit on his tribunal, content himself with presiding, and remain a silent spectator of the business.” Yet he could not be restrained from a display of his immoderate zeal. The election was, also, several times interrupted by contentions between the plebeian tribunes; some of whom struggled hard in opposition to the consul, and others in support of the cause which he favoured. At last, Appius conquered all opposition, so as to set aside Fabius, and bring in his brother. Thus was Publius Claudius Pulcher elected consul, beyond his own, and indeed the general expectation. Lucius Porcius Licinus carried his election also, because the contest among the plebeian candidates was conducted with a decent degree of warmth, and not with the violence of Claudius. Then was held the election of prætors. Caius Decimius Flavus, Publius Sempronius Longus, Publius Cornelius Cethegus, Quintus Nævius Matho, Caius Sempronius Blæsus, and Aulus Terentius Varro, were made prætors. Such were the occurrences at home and abroad of this year, during the consulate of Appius Claudius and Marcus Sempronius.
33 In the beginning of the following year, Publius Claudius and Lucius Porcius, the consuls, when Quintus Cæcilius, Marcus Bæebius, and Tiberius Sempronius, who had been sent to adjust the matters in dispute between the kings, Philip and Eumenes, and the states of the Thessalians, had given an account of their embassy, introduced to the senate ambassadors from those kings and states. On this occasion, the same arguments were repeated by all parties, which had been urged before the ambassadors in Greece. The senate then decreed that a new embassy, the principal man of which was Appius Claudius, should be sent into Macedonia and Greece, to know whether the several states had been restored to the Rhodians, Thessalians, and Perrhæbians. Instructions were given to the same, that the garrisons should be withdrawn, from Ænus and Maronea, and that all the sea-coast of Thrace should be made free and independent of Philip and the Macedonians. They were ordered also to go to Peloponnesus, from which the former ambassadors had departed, leaving affairs in a more unsettled state than they would have been if they had not come thither. For besides other matters, they were even sent away without an answer by the Achæan council, nor was an audience of that body granted to them at their request. When Quintus Cæcilius made a heavy complaint on this subject, and at the same time the Lacedæmonians deplored the demolition of their walls, the carrying off their poor people into Achaia, the selling of them there, and the depriving them of the laws of Lycurgus, by which the nation had been supported unto that time, the Achaians laboured principally to excuse their having refused a meeting of the council by quoting a law which enacted, that a council should not be summoned, except on business of peace or war, or when ambassadors should come from the senate with letters or written instructions. That this kind of excuse should not be made in future, the senate observed to them, that they ought to take care that Roman ambassadors should at all times have an opportunity of applying to their council, in like manner as an audience of the senate was always given to them, at any time when they wished it.
34 After those embassies were dismissed, Philip, being informed that he must yield up the states, and evacuate the towns in question, was highly enraged against all, yet vented his fury on the Maronites in particular. He gave a charge to Onomastus, who had the command of the sea-coast, to put to death the leaders of the opposite party. This man, through the agency of a person called Cassander, a partisan of the king’s, who had resided a long time in Maronea, having introduced Thracians by night, put the inhabitants to the sword, as if the city had been taken by storm. When the Roman ambassadors complained of his acting with such cruelty towards the innocent Maronites, and with such presumption towards the Roman people, in killing, as enemies, those very persons to whom the senate had adjudged the restoration of liberty, he denied that “any of those matters concerned him, or any one belonging to him; that they had quarrelled among themselves, and fought, because some wished to bring over their state to his side, others to that of Eumenes. That they might easily ascertain this; and they had only to ask the Maronites themselves.” For he was confident, that while they were all under the impression of terror, since the late massacre, not one of them would dare to utter a word against him. Appius said, that “a case so clear ought not to be examined into as if it were doubtful. But if he wished to remove the guilt from himself, let him send Onomastus and Cassander, the actors in that business, to Rome, that the senate might examine them.” At first, these words so entirely disconcerted the king, that neither his colour nor his looks remained unchanged; then, after some time, having collected his thoughts, he replied, that “he would send Cassander, who had been in Maronea, if it was their desire: but as to Onomastus, how could that matter affect him, who, so far from being in Maronea, was not even near it?” He was more careful of Onomastus, as a more valued friend, yet he dreaded him much more lest he might make discoveries; because he had, in person, conversed with him on the subject, and he had made him an agent and accomplice in many similar acts. Cassander is supposed to have been taken off, that the truth might not be divulged, by poison administered by persons sent to escort him through Epirus to the sea-coast.