28.
When they came before the consul, Phaeneas, the leader of the embassy, spoke at length and with manifold devices with which to soften the heart of the conqueror and concluded by saying that the Aetolians entrusted themselves and all their possessions to the good faith of the Roman people.
[2]
When the consul heard this he replied, “Consider again and again, Aetolians, whether you are submitting on these conditions.” Then Phaeneas displayed the decree in which this was explicitly stated in writing.1
[3]
“Since, then,” the consul said, “you are submitting on these terms, I demand that Dicaearchus your fellow-citizen and Menestas of Epirus” —he had entered Naupactus with a garrison and compelled it to revolt —“and Amynander with the chiefs of the Athamanes, by whose advice you revolted from us,2 be delivered to me without delay.”
[4]
He interrupted while the Roman was still speaking: “We have not delivered ourselves into slavery but have entrusted ourselves to your good faith,3 and I [p. 241]feel sure that you err from ignorance in giving us4 orders which are inconsistent with the customs of the Greeks.”
[5]
To this the consul replied: “Nor, by Hercules, do I care very much what the Aetolians regard as properly consistent with the customs of the Greeks, since I, in the Roman way, am delivering an order to men who a moment ago surrendered5 by their own decree and had previously been conquered by armed force; therefore, unless my order is immediately executed I shall at once order you to be put in chains.”
[6]
He directed the chains to be brought and the lictors to stand by. Then the haughty spirit of Phaeneas was broken and that of the other Aetolians, and they finally perceived in what condition they were, and Phaeneas said that he and those of the Aetolians
[7??]
who were present knew that they would have to do what was commanded, but that to confirm the decree a council of the Aetolians was necessary; for that purpose he requested that a truce for ten days be granted them.
[8]
When Flaccus supported the request on behalf of the Aetolians the truce was granted and they returned to Hypata. There, when in the select council which they call the apocletes Phaeneas explained both what they were ordered to do and what they had almost experienced, the chiefs indeed groaned at their situation, yet recognized that
[9??]
they must obey their conqueror and that the Aetolians from all the towns must be summoned to a council.
1 There was then a mental reservation in the submission of the Aetolians which was consistent enough with Greek institutions: it bound the Romans to show them the consideration due to suppliants, but left the Aetolians free to break off the relations when an opportunity presented itself. One wonders how much of this Flaccus understood and accepted as part of the proposal. On the other hand, as Polybius (XX. ix) shows, the Aetolians did not understand that to the Romans in fidem se permittere meant complete and unconditional surrender. In consequence the two parties are at cross purposes in the following debate until the national definitions are made clear.
2 From XXXV. xlvii. 5-8 it appears that Acilius is misinformed about the conduct of the Athamanes. In any case Amynander himself was beyond the reach of the Aetolians (xiv. 9 above).
3 This is the Aetolian interpretation of the phrase, which put the Romans on their honour to treat them as suppliants, but bound the Aetolians by no obligation.
4 B.C. 191
5 This is the Roman interpretation of the same phrase.
Livy. Books XXXV-XXXVII With An English Translation. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1935: published without copyright notice.
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