Everybody else made the most of the short rest allowed in seeking relaxation for mind [2??] and body, but the respite which Philip gained from the ceaseless strain of marches and battles only left him the more free for anxious thought as he contemplated the issues of the war as a whole. [3] He viewed with alarm the enemy who was pressing on him by land and sea, and he felt grave misgivings as to the intentions of his allies and even of his own subjects, lest the former should prove false to him in the hope of gaining the friendship of Rome and the latter break out in insurrection against his rule. [4] To make sure of the Achaeans he sent envoys to require them to renew the oath of fidelity which they had undertaken to renew annually, and also to announce his intention of restoring to the Achaeans the [5??] cities of Orchomenos and Heraea and the district of Triphylia and to the Megalopolitans the city of Aliphera, as they maintained that it had never belonged to Triphylia, but was one of the places from which by direction of the council of the Arcadians the population had been drawn [6??] to found Megalopolis, and therefore it ought to be restored to them. [7] By adopting this course he sought to consolidate his alliance with the Achaeans. His hold upon his own subjects was strengthened by the action he took in the case of Heraclides. [8] He had made a friend of this man, but when he saw that he was making himself intensely disliked, and that many charges had been brought against him, he threw him into prison to the great joy of the Macedonians. [9] His preparations for war were as carefully and thoroughly made as any he had ever made before. He constantly exercised the Macedonians and mercenary troops and at the commencement of the spring he sent Athenagoras with all the foreign auxiliaries and light infantry through Epirus into Chaonia to seize the pass at Antigonea, which the Greeks call Stena. [10] A few days later he followed with the heavy troops, and after surveying all the positions in the country he considered that the most suitable place for an entrenched camp was one before the river Aous. [11] This runs through a narrow ravine between two mountains which bear the local names of Meropus and Asnaus, and affords a very narrow path along its bank. He gave orders to Athenagoras to occupy Asnaus with his light infantry and intrench himself; and he himself fixed his camp on Meropus. [12] Where there were precipitous cliffs, small outposts mounted guard, the more accessible parts he fortified with fosse or rampart or towers. [13] A large quantity of artillery was disposed in suitable places to keep the enemy at a distance by missiles. The king's tent was pitched on a most conspicuous height in front of the lines to overawe the enemy and to give his own men confidence.
Livy. History of Rome. English Translation by. Rev. Canon Roberts. New York, New York. E. P. Dutton and Co. 1912. 1. Livy. History of Rome. English Translation. Rev. Canon Roberts. New York, New York. E. P. Dutton and Co. 1912. 2.
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