167 mount, the ways were so steep and impracticable, and had seized an eminence, by way of precaution, which favoured his passage. From hence the enemy's camp, which was not distant more than a thousand paces, and all the country about Dium and Phila, might be discovered; which very much animated the soldiers, who had before their eyes opulent lands, where they hoped to enrich themselves. Hippias, whom the king had posted to defend this pass with a body of twelve thousand men, seeing the eminence possessed by a detachment of the Romans, marched to meet the consul, who advanced with his whole army, harassed his troops for two days, and distressed them very much by frequent attacks. Marcius was in great trouble, not being able either to advance with safety, or retreat without shame, or even without danger. He had no other choice than to pursue an undertaking with vigour, formed, perhaps, with too much boldness and temerity, and which could not succeed without a determined perseverance, often crowned in the end with success. It is certain, that if the consul had to do with the ancient kings of Macedonia in the narrow defile, where his troops were pent up, he would infallibly have received a severe blow. But Perseus, instead of sending fresh troops to support Hippias, the cries of whose soldiers in battle he could hear in his camp, and of going in person to attack the enemy, amused himself with making useless excursions with his horse into the country about Dium, and by that neglect gave the Romans an opportunity of extricating themselves from the difficulties in which they were involved.

They however did not effect this without great trouble; the horses laden with the baggage sinking under their loads, on the declivity of the mountain, and falling down at almost every step they took. The elephants especially, gave them great trouble; it was necessary to find some new means for their descent in such extremely steep places. Having removed the snow on these descents, they drove two beams into the earth at the lower part of the way, at the distance from each other of something more than the breadth of an elephant. On those beams they laid planks thirty feet in length, and formed a kind of bridge, which they covered with earth. At the end of the first bridge, they erected a second, then a third, and so on, with sufficient intervals to as many of the same kind as were requisite. The elephant passed from the firm, ground to the bridge, and before he came to the end, they had contrived to lower the beams that supported it gradually, and let him gently down with the bridge: and so in succession to the last bridge or foot of the declivity. It is not easy to express the fatigues they underwent in this pass, the soldiers being often obliged to roll upon the ground, because it was imposible for them to stand. It was agreed, that with a handful of men, the enemy might have entirely defeated the Roman army. At length, after infinite difficulties and dangers, it arrived in a plain, and found itself out of danger.

As the consul seemed then to have entirely overcome the greatest difficulty of his enterprise, Polybius thought this a proper time for presenting Marcius with the decree of the Achæans, and to assure him of their resolution to join him with all their forces, and to share with him in all the labours and dangers of this war. Marcius, after having thanked the Achæans for their good will in the kindest terms, told them they might spare themselves the trouble and expense which that war would give them; that he would dispense with both; and that in the present posture of affairs, he had no occasion for the aid of the allies. After this discourse of the colleagues, Polybius returned into Achaia.* Polybius remained with the Roman army only till the consul, having received advice that Appius, surnamed Cento, had demanded of the Achæans a body of five thousand men to be sent to him in Epirus, despatched him home, with advice, not to suffer his republic to furnish those troops, or engage in expenses entirely unnecessary, as Appius had no reason to demand that aid.

*Polyb. Legat. Ixviii.

It is difficult, says the historian, to discover the real motives that induced Marcius to talk in this manner. Was it his wish to spare the Achæans, or lay a snare for them? or did he intend to put it out of the power of Appius to undertake any thing?

While the king was bathing, he was informed of the enemy's approach. The news alarmed him terribly. Uncertain what choice to make, and changing every moment his resolution, he cried out, and lamented his being conquered without fighting. He recalled the two officers, to whom he had confided the defence of the passes; sent the gilt statues at Dium* on board his fleet, lest they should fall into the hands of the Romans; gave orders that his treasures, laid up at Pella, should be thrown into the sea, and all his galleys at Thessalonica burned. For himself, he returned to Pydna.

The consul had brought the army to a place from whence it was impossible to disengage himself without the enemy's permission. There was no passage open for him but by two forests; by the one he might penetrate through the valleys of Tempe into Thessaly, and by the other, beyond Dium, enter farther into Macedonia; and both these important posts were possessed by strong garrisons for the king: so that if Perseus had maintained his ground for ten days it would have been impossible for the Romans to have entered Thessaly by Tempe, and the consul would have had no pass open for provisions. For the roads through Tempe are bordered by such vast precipices, that the eye could scarcely sustain the view of them. The king's troops guarded this pass at four several places, the last of which was so narrow, that ten men, well armed, could alone have defended the entrance. The Romans therefore, not being able either to receive provisions by the narrow passes of Tempe, nor to get through them, must have been obliged to regain the mountains, from whence they came down, which was become impracticable, the enemy having possessed themselves of the eminences. The only choice they had left, was to open their way through their enemies to Dium in Macedonia; which would have been no less difficult, if the gods, says Livy, had not deprived Perseus of prudence and counsel.† For in making a fosse with intrenchments in a very narrow defile, at the foot of Mount Olympus, he would have absolutely shut them out, and stopped them short. But in the blindness, into which his fear had thrown the king, he neither saw, nor did, any thing of all the means in his power to save himself, left all the passes of his kingdom open and unguarded, and took refuge at Pydna with precipitation.

The consul rightly perceived, that he owed his safety to the king's timidity and imprudence. He ordered the prætor Lucretius, who was at Larissa, to seize the posts bordering upon Tempe, which Perseus had abandoned, to secure a retreat in case of accident; and sent Popilius to take a view of the passes in the way to Dium. When he was informed that the ways were open and unguarded, he marched thither in two days, and encamped his army near the temple of Jupiter, in the neighbourhood, to prevent its being plundered. Having entered the city, which was full of magnificent buildings, and well fortified, he was exceedingly surprised that the king had abandoned it so easily. He continued his march, and made himself master of several places almost without any resistance. But the farther he advanced, the less provisions he found, and the more the dearth increased; which obliged him to return to Dium. He was also reduced to quit that city, and retire to Phila, where the prætor Lucretius had informed him he might find provisions in abundance. His quitting Dium, suggested to Perseus, that it was now time to recover by his courage, what he had lost by his fear. He repossessed himself, therefore, of that city, and soon repaired its ruins. Popilius, on his side, besieged and took Heraclea, which was only a quarter of a league distant from Phila.

These were the statues of the horse soldiers killed in passing the Granicus, which Alexander had caused to be made by Lysippus, and to be set up in Dium.

↑ Quod nisi dii mentem regi ademissent, ipsum ingentis difficultatis erat.-Liv.

Perseus, having recovered his fright, and resumed spirit, would have been very glad that his orders to throw his treasures at Pella into the sea, and burn all his ships in Thessalonica, had not been executed. Andronicus, to whom he had given the latter order, had delayed obeying it, to give time for the repentance which might soon follow that command, as it indeed happened; Nicias, less aware, had thrown all the money he found at Pella into the sea. But his fault was soon repaired by divers, who brought up almost all the money from the bottom of the sea. To reward their services, the king caused them all to be put to death secretly, and inflicted the same penalty on Andronicus and Nicias; so much was he ashamed of the abject terror to which he had abandoned himself, that he could not bear to have any witnesses or traces of it in being.

Several expeditions passed on both sides by sea and land, which were neither of much consequence nor importance.

When Polybius returned from his embassy into Peloponnesus, the letter of Appius, in which he demanded five thousand men, had been received there. Some time after, the council assembled at Sicyon, to deliberate on that affair, gave Polybius great perplexity. Not to execute the order he received from Marcius, had been an inexcusable fault. On the other side, it was dangerous to refuse the Romans the troops they might have occasion for, of which the Achæans were in no want. To extricate themselves in so delicate a conjuncture, they had recourse to the decree of the Roman senate, which prohibited their having any regard to the letters of the generals, unless an order of the senate was annexed to them, which Appius had not sent with his. It was his opinion, therefore, that before any thing was sent to Appius, it was necessary to inform the consul of his demand, and to wait for his decision upon it. By that means, Polybius saved the Achæans one talent at least.*

In the mean time, ambassadors arrived at Rome, from Prusias, king of Bithynia, and also from the Rhodians, in favour of Perseus. The former expressed themselves very modestly, declaring that Prusias had constantly adhered to the Roman party, and should continue to do so during the war; but that, having promised Perseus to employ his good offices for him with the Romans, in order to obtain a peace, he desired, if it were possible, that they would grant him that favour, and make such use of his mediation as they should think convenient. The language of the Rhodians was very different. After having set forth, in a lofty style, the services they had done the Roman people, and ascribed to themselves the greatest share in the victories they had obtained, and especially in that over Antiochus, they added, that while the peace subsisted between the Macedonians and Romans, they had negotiated a treaty of alliance with Perseus: that they had suspended it against their will, and without any subject of complaint on the king's part, because it had pleased the Romans to engage them on their side: that for three years, which this war had continued, they had suffered many inconveniences from it: that their trade by sea being interrupted, the island found itself in great straits, from the reduction of its revenues, and other advantages arising from commerce: that being no longer able to support such considerable losses, they had sent ambassadors into Macedonia to king Perseus, to inform him that the Rhodians thought it necessary that he should make peace with the Romans, and that they had also sent to Rome to make the same declaration: that if either of the parties refused to assent to so reasonable a proposal, the Rhodians should know what they had to do.t

It is easy to judge in what manner so vain and presumptuous a discourse was received. Some historians tell us, that the answer given to it was, to order a decree of the senate, whereby the Carians and Lycians were declared free, to be read in their presence. This was touching them to the quick, and mortifying them in the most sensible part; for they pretended to an authority over both those people. Others say that the senate answered in few words, that

* Polyb. Legat. lxxviii.

† Liv. 1. xliv. n. 14, 15, 16.

the disposition of the Rhodians, and their secret intrigues with Perseus, had been long known at Rome. That when the Roman people should have conquered him, of which they expected advice every day, they should know in their turn what they had to do, and should then treat their allies according to their respective merits. They made the ambassadors, however, the usual presents.

The letter of Q. Marius, the consul, was then read, giving an account of the manner in which he had entered Macedonia, after having suffered incredible difficulties in passing a very narrow defile. He added, that by the wise precaution of the prætor, he had sufficient provisions for the whole winter; having received from the Epirots twenty thousand measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley, for which it was necessary to pay their ambassadors then at Rome: that it was also necessary to send him clothes for the soldiers: that he wanted two hundred horses, especially from Numidia, because there were none of that kind in the country where he was. All these articles were fully and immediately executed.

After this, they gave audience to Onesimus, a Macedonian nobleman. He had always advised the king to observe the peace; and putting him in mind that his father Philip, to the last day of his life, had caused his treaty with the Romans to be constantly read to him twice every day, he admonished him to do the same, if not with the same regularity, at least from time to time. Not being able to dissuade him from the war, he had begun by withdrawing himself from his councils, under different pretexts, that he might not be witness to the resolutions taken in them, which he could not approve. At length, finding himself suspected, and tacitly considered as a traitor, he had taken refuge among the Romans, and had been of great service to the consul. Having made this relation to the senate, they gave him a very favourable reception, and provided magnificently for his subsistence.

SECTION IV.-CELEBRATED VICTORY OF EMILIUS NEAR THE CITY OF PYDNA. PERSEUS TAKEN PRISONER, WITH ALL HIS CHILDREN.

THE time for the comitia, or the assemblies, to elect consuls at Rome, approaching, all the world were anxious to know upon whom so important a choice would fall, and nothing else was spoken of in all conversations. They were not satisfied with the consuls who had been employed for three years against Perseus, and had very ill sustained the honour of the Roman name. They called to mind the famous victories formerly obtained against his father Philip, who had been obliged to sue for peace; against Antiochus, who was driven beyond Mount Taurus, and forced to pay a great tribute; and what was still more considerable, against Hannibal, the greatest general that had ever appeared as their enemy, or perhaps in the world, whom they had reduced to quit Italy, after a war of more than sixteen years continuance, and conquered in his own country, almost under the very walls of Carthage. The formidable preparations of Perseus, and some advantages gained by him in the former campaigns, augmented the apprehension of the Romans. They plainly distinguished, that it was no time to confer the command of the armies by faction or favour, and that it was necessary to choose a general for his wisdom, valour, and experience; in a word, one capable of presiding in so important a war as that in which they were now engaged.*

All eyes were cast upon Paulus Æmilius. There are times when distinguished merit unites the voices of the public; and nothing is more affecting than such a judgment, founded upon the knowledge of a man's past services, the army's opinion of his capacity, and the state's pressing occasion for his valour and conduct. Paulus Emilius was nearly sixty years old; but age, without impairing his faculties in the least, had rather improved them with maturity of wisdom and judgment, more necessary in a general than even

A. M. 3836. Ant. J. C. 163. Liv. 1. xliv. n. 17. Plut. in Paul. Emil. p. 259, 260.

valour and bravery. He had been consul thirteen years before, and had acquired general esteem during his administration. But the people repaid his services with ingratitude, having refused to raise him again to the same dignity, though he had solicited it with sufficient ardour. For several years he had led a private and retired life, solely employed in the education of his children, in which no father ever succeeded better, nor was more gloriously rewarded for his care. All his relations, all his friends, urged him to comply with the people's wishes, in taking upon him the consulship; but believing himself no longer capable of commanding, he avoided appearing in public, kept himself at home, and shunned honours with as much solicitude as others generally pursue them. But, when he saw the people assemble every morning in crowds before his door; that they summoned him to the forum, and exclaimed highly against his obstinate refusal to serve his country, he yielded at last to their remonstrances, and appearing among those who aspired to that dignity, he seemed less to receive the command of the army, than to give the people the assurance of an approaching and complete victory. The consulship was conferred upon him unanimously, and, according to Plutarch, the command of the army in Macedonia was decreed to him in preference to his colleague, though Livy says it fell to him by lot.

It is said, that the day he was elected general in the war against Perseus, at his return home, attended by all his people, who followed to do him honour, he found his daughter Tertia, at that time a little infant, who, on seeing him, began to cry bitterly. He embraced her, and asked the cause of her tears. Tertia, pressing him with her little arms, "You do not know then, father," said she, that our Perseus is dead." She spoke of a little dog she had brought up, called Perseus. “And at a very good time, my dear child,” said Paulus Æmilius, struck with the word, "I accept this omen with joy." The ancients carried their superstition in this kind of fortuitous circumstances very high.

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The manner in which Paulus Æmilius prepared for the war he was charged with, gave room to judge of the success to be expected from it. He demanded, first, that commissioners should be sent into Macedonia to inspect the army and fleet, and to make their report, after an exact inquiry, of the number of troops which were necessary to be added both by sea and land. They were also to inform themselves, as correctly as possible, of the number of the king's forces; where they and the Romans actually lay; if the latter were actually encamped in the forests, or had entirely passed them, and were arrived in the plain; upon which of the allies they might rely with certainty; which of them were dubious and wavering; and who they might regard as declared enemies; for how long time they had provisions, and from whence they might be supplied with them either by land or water; what had passed during the last campaign, either in the army by land, or in the fleet. As an able and experienced general, he thought it necessary to be fully apprized of all these circumstances; convinced that the plan of the campaign, upon which he was about to enter, could not be formed, nor its operations concerted, without a perfect knowledge of them. The senate approved of these wise measures very much, and appointed commissioners, with the approbation of Paulus Æmilius, who set out two days after.*

During their absence, audience was given to the ambassadors from Ptolemy and Cleopatra, king and queen of Egypt, who brought complaints to Rome of the unjust enterprises of Antiochus, king of Syria; which have been before related.

The commissioners had made good use of their time. On their return they reported, that Marcius had forced the passes of Macedonia, to secure an entrance into the country, but with more danger than utility: that the king had advanced into Pieria, and was in actual possession of it: that the two camps

* Liv. 1. xliv. n. 18, 22. Plut. in Paul. Æmil. p. 260.