"only of your own, but the liberty of all Greece, "the more zeal and ardor you have for fo great a "good, the more ought you to be upon your guard "against whom foever thould attempt to infpire you "with different fentiments. You cannot but know, " that the certain means * to reduce Greece into flavery, is to make it dependent upon one people on"ly, without leaving it any other to have recourfe to." The ambaffadors were received with great refpect; but were answered, that in cafe of war, the King was defired not to rely upon the Rhodians, nor to demand any thing of them in prejndice to the alliance they had made with the Romans. The fame ambaffadors went also into Bocotia, where they had almost as little reason to be fatisfied; only a few fmall cities (1) feparating from the Thebans to embrace the King's party.

Marcius and Atilius at their return to Rome reported to the fenate the fuccefs of their commiffion. They dwelt particularly upon the addrefs of their ftratagem to deceive Perfeus by granting him a truce, which prevented him from beginning the war immediately with advantage, as he might have done, and gave the Romans time to complete their preparations, and to take the field. They did not forget their fuccess in diffolving the general affembly of the Baotians, to prevent their uniting with Macedonia by common confent.

The greatest part of the fenate expreffed great fatisfaction in fo wife a conduct, which argued profound policy, and uncommon dexterity in negotiation. But the old fenators, who had inbibed other principles, and perfevered in their ancient maxims, faid they did not fee the Roman character fuftained in fuch dealing: That their ancestors, relying more upon true valour than fraud, used to make war openly, and not in difguife

Cum cæterorum id intereffe, tum precipue Rhodiorum, quo plus inter alias civitates dignitate atque opibus excellant, quæ ferva atque obnoxia fore, fi nullus alio fit quam ad Romanos refpectus. Liv.

(1) Coronæa and Haliartus.

guife and under cover: That fuch unworthy artifices became the Carthaginians and Grecians, with whom it was more glorious to deceive an enemy, than conquer him with open force: That indeed ftratagem fometimes, in the moment of action, feemed to fucceed better than valour; but that a victory, obtained vigorously in a battle, where the force of the troops on each fide was tried as near as poffible, and which the enemy could not ascribe either to chance or cunning,' was of a much more lafting effect, because it left a strong conviction of the victor's fuperior force and bravery.

Notwithstanding thefe remonftrances of the ancient fenators, who could not relish these new maxims of policy, that part of the fenate which preferred the ufeful to the honourable were much the majority upon this occafion, and the conduct of the two commiffioners was approved. Marcius was fent again with fome galleys into Greece, to regulate affairs as he fhould think most confiftent with the fervice of the public; and Atilius into Theffaly, to take poffeflion of Lariffa; left, upon the expiration of the truce, Perfeus fhould make himself mafter of that important place, the capital of the country. Lentulus was alfo fent to Thebes, to have an eye upon Boeotia.

Though the war with Perfeus was refolved at Rome, the fenate gave audience to his ambafiadors. They repeated the fame things which had been faid in the interview with Marcius, and endeavoured to justify their mafter principally upon the attempt he was açcufed of having made on the perfon of Eumenes. They were heard with little or no attention; and the fenate ordered them, and all the Macedonians at Rome, to quit the city immediately, and Italy in thirty days. The conful Licinius, who was to command in Macedonia, had orders to march as foon as poffible with his army. The prætor Lucretius, who had the command of the fleet, fet out with five and forty galleys from Cephalonia, and arrived in five days at Naples, where he was to wait for the land-forces.

SECT.

SECT. II. The conful Licinius and King Perfeus take the field. They both encamp near the river Penous, at fome distance from each other. Fight of the horse, in which Perfeus has confiderably the advantage, and makes an ill use of it. He endeavours to make a peace, but ineffectually. The armies on both fides go into winter quarters.

T

THE conful Licinius, after having offered vows to the gods in the capitol, fet out from Rome *, covered with a coat of arms, according to the custom. The departure of the confuls, fays Livy, was always attended with great folemnity, and an incredible concourse of the people, efpecially upon an important war, and against a powerful enemy. Befides the interest every particular might have in the glory of the conful, the citizens were induced to throng about him, out of a curiofity to see the general to whofe prudence and valour the fate of the republic was confided. A thoufand anxious thoughts prefented themselves at that time to their minds upon the events of the war, which are always precarious and uncertain. They remembered the defeats which had happened through the bad conduct and temerity, and the victories for which they were indebted to the wifdom and courage, of their generals. "What mortal (faid they) can know "the fate of a conful at his departure; whether we "fhall fee him with his victorious army return in tri"umph to the capitol, from whence he fets out, af❝ter having offered up his prayers to the gods; or "whether the enemy may not rejoice in his over"throw?" The ancient glory of the Macedonians; that of Philip, who had made himself famous by his. wars, and particularly by that against the Romans, added very much to the reputation of Perfeus; and every body knew, that from his fucceffion to the crown a war had been expected from him. Full of fuch thoughts,

* A. M. 3833. Ant. J. C. 171.

thoughts, the citizens conducted the conful out of the city. C. Claudius and Q. Mutius, who had both been confuls, did not think it below them to serve in his army in quality of military tribunes, (or as colonels or brigadiers), and went with him; as did P. Lentulus and the two Manlii Acidini. The conful repaired in their company to Brundufium, which was the rendezvous of the army, and paffing the fea with all his troops, arrived at Nymphæum in the country of the Apollonians.

Perfeus, fome days before, upon the return of his ambaffadors from Rome, and their affuring him that there remained no hope of peace, held a great council, in which opinions were different. Some thought it neceflary for him either to pay tribute, if required; or give up a part of his dominions, if the Romans infifted upon it; in a word, to fuffer every thing supportable for the fake of peace, rather than expefe his perfon and kingdom to the danger of entire deftruction: That if a part of his kingdom was left him, time and chance might produce favourable conjunctures, to put him in a condition not only to recover all he had loft, but to render him formidable to those who at present made Macedonia tremble.

The greater number were of a quite different opinion. They infifted, that by making ceffion of a part, he muft determine to lofe all his kingdom: That it was neither money nor lands that incited the ambition of the Romans, but univerfal empire: That they knew the greatest kingdoms and moft powerful empires were fubje&t to frequent revolutions: That they had humbled, or rather ruined, Carthage, without taking poffeffion of its territories; contenting themfelves with keeping it in awe by the neighbourhood of Mafiniffa: That they had driven Anticchus and his fon beyond mount Taurus: That there was no kingdom. but Macedonia to give umbrage to, or make head against the Romans: That prudence required Perfeus, whilft he was ftill mafter of it, feriously to confider

with himself, whether by making the Romans fometimes one conceffion, and fometimes another, he was refolved to fee himself deprived of all power, expelled from his dominions, and obliged to afk, as a favour of the Romans, permiffion to retire and confine himfelf in Samothracia, or fome other ifland, there to pass the reft of his days in contempt and mifery, with the mortification of furviving his glory and empire: or whether he would chufe to hazard, in arms, all the dangers of the war in defence of his fortunes and dignity, as became a man of courage; and, in cafe of being victorious, have the glory of delivering the univerfe from the Roman yoke: That it would be no more a wonder to drive the Romans out of Greece, than it had been to drive Hannibal out of Italy. Befides, was it confiftent for Perfeus, after having oppofed his brother with all his efforts when he atrempted to ufurp his crown, to refign it meanly to ftrangers that endeavoured to wreft it out of his hands? That, in fine, all the world agreed, that there was nothing more inglorious than to give up empire without refiftance, nor more laudable than to have ufed all poffible endeavours to preserve it.

This council was held at Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia. Since you think it so neceffary, faid the King, let us make war then with the help of the gods. He gave orders at the fame time to his generals to affemble all their troops at Citium, whither he went foon after himself, with all the lords of his court, and his regiments of guards, after having offered a facrifice of an hecatomb, or an hundred oxen, to Minerva Alcidema. He found the whole army affembled there. It amounted, including the foreign troops, to thirtynine thoufand foot, of whom almoft half compofed the phalanx, and four thousand horfe. It was agreed, that lince the army Alexander the Great led into Afia, no king of Macedonia had commanded one fo nume

rous.

VOL. IX.

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