to contribute, out of their own purses, to the expense of the war. Changing therefore immediately their resolutions, they gave the Roman general full liberty to act as he should think proper for the good of his republic, and the interest of the allies.

Upon which Quintius, admitting none into his council but the principal officers of the army, agreed in concert with them on the conditions of peace to be offered to the tyrant. The chief were, that, within ten days, Nabis should evacuate Argos, and all the rest of the cities of Argolis garrisoned by his troops; that he should restore to the maritime cities all the galleys he had taken from them; and that he himself should keep only two feluccas, with sixteen oars each; that he should surrender to the cities in alliance with the Romans, all their prisoners, deserters, and slaves; that he should restore to the Lacedæmonian exiles, such of their wives and children as were willing to follow them, but, without forcing them to do so; that he should give five hostages, to be chosen by the Roman general, of which his son should be one; that he should pay down one hundred talents of silver, and afterwards, fifty talents annually during eight years. A truce was granted for six months, that all parties might have time to send ambassadors to Rome, in order that the treaty might be ratified there.

The tyrant was not satisfied with any of these articles; but he was surprised, and thought himself happy, that no mention had been made of recalling the exiles. When the particulars of this treaty were known in the city, it raised a general sedition, from the necessity to which it reduced private persons, of restoring many things they were not willing to be deprived of. No farther mention was made of peace, and the war was renewed.

Quintius was now resolved to carry on the siege with great vigour, and began by examining very attentively the situation and condition of the city. Sparta had been a long time without walls; disdaining every other kind of fortification than the bravery of her citizens. Walls had been built in Sparta, only since the tyrants governed it; and, even then, only in places which lay open, and were easy of access; all the other parts were defended by their natural situation, and by bodies of troops posted in them. As the army of Quintius, was very numerous, consisting of about fifty thousand men, because he had sent for all the land, as well as naval forces, he resolved to make it extend quite round the city, and to attack it on all sides, in order to strike the inhabitants with terror, and render them incapable of knowing on which side to turn themselves. Accordingly, the city being attacked on all sides at the same instant, and the danger being every where equal, the tyrant did not know how to act, either in giving orders, or in sending succours, which quite distracted him.

The Lacedæmonians sustained the attacks of the besiegers, as long as they fought in defiles and narrow places. Their darts and javelins did little execution, because, pressing on one another, they could not stand firm on their feet, and had not their arms at liberty to discharge them with strength. The Romans, drawing near the city, found themselves on a sudden overwhelmed with stones and tiles, thrown at them from the tops of the houses. Wherefore, holding their shields over their heads, they came forward in the form of the Testudo or tortoise, by which they were entirely covered from the darts and tiles. The Romans advanced into the broader streets, when the Lacedæmonians, being no longer able to sustain their efforts, nor make head against them, fled to the most craggy and rugged eminences. Nabis, believing that the city was taken, was greatly perplexed how to make his escape. But one of his chief commanders saved the city, by setting fire to such edifices as were near the wall. The houses were soon in flames; the fire spread on all sides; and the smoke alone was capable of stopping the enemy. Such as were without the city, and attacked the wall, were forced to move at a distance from it; and those who were got into the city, fearing that the spreading of

the flames would cut off their communication, retired to their troops. Quintius then caused a retreat to be sounded; and after having almost taken the city, was obliged to march his troops back into the camp.

The three following days, he took advantage of the terror with which he had filled the inhabitants, sometimes by making new attacks, and at other times by stopping up different places with works; in order that the besieged might have no opportunity to escape, but be lost to all hopes. Nabis, seeing things desperate, deputed Pythagoras to Quintius, to treat of an accommodation. The Roman general refused at first to hear him, and commanded him to leave the camp. But the petitioner, throwing himself at his feet, after many entreaties, at last obtained a truce upon the same conditions as had been prescribed before. Accordingly, the money was paid, and the hostages delivered to Quintius.

While these things were doing, the Argives, who, from the repeated advices they had, imagined that Lacedæmon was taken, restored themselves to liberty, by driving out their garrison. Quintius, after granting Nabis a peace, and taking leave of Eumenes, the Rhodians, and his brother, who returned to their respective fleets, repaired to Argos, whose inhabitants he found in incredible transports of joy. The Nemean games, which could not be cele brated at the usual time because of the war, had been put off till the arrival of the Roman general and his army. He performed all the honours of it, and distributed the prizes in it; or rather, he himself was the show. The Argives, especially, could not take off their eyes from a man, who had undertaken that war merely in their defence, had freed them from a cruel and ignominious slavery, and restored them to their ancient liberty.

The Achæans were greatly pleased to see the city of Argos again in alliance with them, and restored to all their privileges: but Sparta being still enslaved, and a tyrant suffered in the midst of Greece, allayed their joy, and rendered it less perfect.

With regard to the Etolians, it may be affirmed, that the peace granted to Nabis was their triumph. From that shameful and inglorious treaty, for so they called it, they exclaimed in all places against the Romans. They observed, that in the war against Philip, the Romans had not laid down their arms, till after they had forced that prince to evacuate all the cities of Greece. That here, on the contrary, the usurper was maintained in the peaceable possession of Sparta; while the lawful king, Agesipolis, who had served under the proconsul, and so many illustrious citizens of Sparta, were condemned to pass the remainder of their days in banishment. In a word, that the Romans had made themselves the tyrant's guards and protectors. The Etolians, in these complaints, confined their views solely to the advantages of liberty; but in great affairs, men should have an eye to all things, should content themselves with what they can execute with success, and not attempt a thousand schemes at once. Such were the motives of Quintius, as his subsequent conduct will manifest.

Quintius returned from Argos to Elatea, from whence he had set out to carry on the war with Sparta. He spent the whole winter in administering justice to the people, in reconciling cities and private families, in regulating the government, and establishing order in all places; things which, properly speaking, are the real fruits of peace, the most glorious employment of a conqueror, and a certain proof of a war having been undertaken on just and reasonable motives. The ambassadors of Nabis, on their arrival at Rome, demanded and obtained the ratification of the treaty.

In the early spring, Quintius went to Corinth, where he had convened a general assembly of the deputies of all the cities. There he represented to them, the joy and ardour with which the Romans had complied with the entreaties of the Greeks when they implored their succour; and had made an alliance with them, which he hoped neither side would have occasion to re

pent. He gave an account, in few words, of the actions and enterprises of the Roman generals, his predecessors; and mentioned his own with a modesty of expression that heightened their merit. He was heard with universal applause, except when he began to speak of Nabis; on which occasion, the assembly, by a modest murmur, discovered their grief and surprise, that the deliverer of Greece should have left, in so renowned a city as Sparta, a tyrant, not only insupportable to his own country, but formidable to all the other cities.

Quintius, who was not ignorant of the disposition of people's minds, with regard to him, thought proper to give an account of his conduct in a few words. He confessed, that no accommodation ought to have been made with the tyrant, could this have been done without hazarding the entire destruction of Sparta. But, as there was reason to fear, that this considerable city would be involved in the same ruin with Nabis, he therefore had thought it more prudent to let the tyrant live, weak and abandoned as he was, than perhaps to run the hazard, should they employ too violent remedies, of destroying the city, and that by the very endeavours employed to deliver it.

He added, to what he had said of past transactions, that he was preparing to set out for Italy, and to send the whole army thither. That before the expiration of ten days, they should hear that the garrisons of Demetrias and Chalcis, were evacuated, and that he would surrender to the Achæans the citadel of Corinth. That this would show whether the Romans or Etolians were most worthy of belief; whether the latter had the least foundation for the report they had spread universally, that nothing could be of more dangerous consequence to a people, than to trust the Romans with their liberties; and that they only shifted the yoke, in accepting that republic for their master, instead of the Macedonians. He concluded with saying, that it was well known the Etolians were not over prudent and discreet, either in their words or actions.

He hinted to the other cities, that they ought to judge of their friends, not from words, but actions; to be cautious whom they trusted, and against whom it was proper for them to guard. He exhorted them to use their liberty with moderation; that with this wise precaution, it was of the greatest advantage to individuals, as well as to cities; but that without moderation, it became a burden to others, and even pernicious to those who abused it. That the chief men in cities, the different orders that compose them, and the citizens themselves in general, should endeavour to preserve a perfect harmony; that so long as they should be united, neither kings nor tyrants would be able to distress them; that discord and sedition opened a door to dangers and evils of every kind, because the party which finds itself weakest within, seeks for support without; and chooses rather to call in a foreign power to its aid, than submit to its fellow-citizens. He concluded his speech with conjuring them, in the mildest and most gentle terms, to preserve and maintain, by their prudent conduct, the liberty which they owed to foreign arms; and to make the Romans sensible, that in restoring them to their freedom, they had not afforded their protection and beneficence to persons unworthy of it.

This counsel was received as from a father to his children. While he spoke in this manner, the whole assembly wept for joy, and Quintius himself could not refrain from tears. A gentle murmur expressed the sentiments of all who were present. They gazed upon one another with admiration; and every one exhorted his neighbour to receive, with gratitude and respect, the words of the Roman general, as so many oracles, and preserve the remembrance of them in their hearts for ever.

After this, Quintius, causing silence to be made, desired that they would inquire strictly after such Roman citizens as were in slavery in Greece, and

* A. M. 3810. Ant. J. C. 194.

send them to him in Thessaly in two months; adding, that it would ill become them to leave those in captivity to whom they were indebted for their freedom. All the people replied with the highest applauses, and thanked Quintius for hinting to them so just and indispensable a duty. The number of these slaves was very considerable. They were taken by Hannibal in the Punic war; but the Romans refusing to redeem them, they had been sold. It cost the Achæans only one hundred talents, to reimburse the masters the price they had paid for the slaves, at the rate of five hundred demarii each; consequently, the number amounted to twelve hundred. The reader may form a judgment, in proportion, of all the rest of Greece. Before the assembly broke up, the garrison was seen marching down from the citadel, and afterwards out of the city. Quintius followed it soon after, and withdrew in the midst of the acclamations of the people, who called him their saviour and deliverer, and implored heaven to bestow on him all possible blessings.

He also withdrew the garrison from Chalcis and Demetrias, and was received in those cities with the like acclamations. From thence he went into Thessaly, where he found all things in the utmost disorder and confusion.

At last he embarked for Italy, and upon his arrival at Rome, entered it in triumph. The ceremony lasted three days, during which he exhibited to the people, amidst the other pomp, the precious spoils he had taken in the wars against Philip and Nabis. Demetrius, son of the former, and Armenes, of the latter, were among the hostages, and graced the victor's triumph. But the noblest ornament of it was, the Roman citizens delivered from slavery, who followed the victor's car with their heads shaved, as a mark of the liberty to which they had been restored.

SECTION V.-ANTIOCHUS AND THE ROMANS PREPARE FOR WAR. THE LATTER SEND TROOPS AGAINST NABIS. HE IS KILLED.

ANTIOCHUS and the Romans were preparing for war.* Ambassadors had arrived at Rome, in the name of all the Greeks, from a great part of Asia Minor, and from several kings. They were favourably received by the senate; but as the affairs of king Antiochus required a minute examination, it was referred to Quintius and the commissioners who were returned from Asia. The debates were carried on with great warmth on both sides. The ambassadors of the king were surprised, as their sovereign had sent them merely to conclude an alliance and friendship with the Romans, that the latter should pretend to prescribe laws to him as to a conquered monarch; and nominate those cities which he might keep, and such as he was to abandon. Quintius, in concert with his colleagues, after a great many speeches and replies, declared to the king's ambassadors, that the Romans persisted in the resolution they had taken, to deliver the Grecian cities of Asia, as they had done those of Europe; and should see whether Antiochus would approve of that condition. They answered, that they could not enter into any engagement that tended to lessen the dominions of their sovereign. On the morrow, all the rest of the ambassadors were again introduced into the senate. Quintius reported what had been spoken and transacted in the conference; and entreated each of them in particular, to inform their respective cities, that the Romans were determined to defend their liberties against Antiochus, with the same ardour and courage as they had done against Philip. The ambassadors of Antiochus conjured the senate not to form any rash resolution in an affair of so much importance; to allow the king time to reflect on matters; and to weigh and consider things maturely on their side, before they passed a decree in which the public tranquillity would be involved. They did not yet come to a decision, but deputed to the king, Sulpitius, Villius, and Ælius, the same ambassadors who had already conferred with him at Lysimachia.

A. M. 3811. Ant. J. C. 193. Liv. 1. xxxiv. n. 57–62.

They had but just departed, when ambassadors from Carthage arrived at Rome, and acquainted the senate, that Antiochus, at the instigation of Hannibal, was certainly preparing to carry on the war against the Romans. I have observed before, that Hannibal had fled for refuge to this prince, and arrived at his court at the very instant the king was deliberating whether he should embark in this war. The presence and counsels of such a general contributed very much to determine him to it. His opinion at that time, and he always persisted in it, was, that he ought to carry his arms into Italy: That by this means the enemy's country would furnish them with troops and provisions; that otherwise, no prince nor people could be superior to the Romans, and that Italy could never be conquered but in Italy. He demanded but one hundred galleys, ten thousand foot, and one thousand horse. He declared, that with this fleet he would first go into Africa, where he was persuaded the Carthaginians would join him; but that, should he not succeed in the latter, he would sail directly for Italy, and there find effectual means to distress the Romans; that it was necessary that the king should go over into Europe with the rest of his forces, and halt in some part of Greece, and not go immediately into Italy, though he should always seem upon the point of doing it. The king approved this project at first: Hannibal sent a Tyrian, in whom he could confide, to Carthage, to sound the citizens; for he did not care to venture letters, lest they should be intercepted; not to mention that business is transacted much better by personal interview than by writing. But the Tyrian was discovered, and escaped with great difficulty. The Carthaginian senate sent immediate advice of this to the Romans, who apprehended being engaged at the same time in a war with Antiochus and the Carthaginians.

No people, at this time, hated the Romans more than the Etolians. Thoas, their general, was for ever incensing them; representing, in the most aggravating terms, the contempt the Romans had for them from their last victory, though chiefly owing to them. His remonstrance had the intended effect; and Damocritus was sent ambassador to Nabis, Nicander to Philip, and Dicæarchus, Thoas's brother to Antiochus, charged with particular instructions in regard to each of those princes.*

The first represented to the tyrant of Sparta, that the Romans had entirely enervated his power, by dispossessing him of his maritime towns, as they furnished him with galleys, soldiers, and sailors: that, confined within his own walls, he had the mortification to see the Achæans reign over Peloponnesus: that he would never have so favourable an opportunity for recovering his ancient power, as that which then presented itself: that the Romans had no army in Greece: that he might easily seize upon Gythium, which was situated very commodiously for him: and that the Romans would not think it worth while to send their legions again into Greece, to take a city of so little consequence.

Nicander employed still stronger motives to rouse Philip, who had been thrown down from a much superior height of greatness, and deprived of abundantly more than the tyrant. Besides which he enlarged on the ancient glory of the kings of Macedonia, and in what manner the whole world had been subdued by their arms: that the proposal he made him would not expose him to any danger: that he did not desire him to declare war, till Antiochus should have passed into Greece with his army; and that if he, Philip, unassisted by Antiochus, had, with only his own forces, sustained so long a war against the Romans and the Etolians united; how would it be possible for the Romans to resist him, when he should have concluded an alliance with Antiochus and the Etolians? He did not forget to mention Hannibal, the sworn enemy to the Romans, of whose generals more had been defeated by him, than were living at that time.

A. M. 3810. Ant. J. C. 192. Liv. 1. xxxv. n. 12.