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 asses[10] 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 denariuses[16] 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.