26.
This was not the only business which Perseus left [p. 2085]unfinished from motives of avarice, since for a small sum of money he might have procured, through Eumenes, a secure peace, well purchased even with half of his kingdom; while, if defrauded, he might have exposed him to public view, as an enemy laden with his pelf, and made the Romans deservedly his enemies.
[2]
Through this avaricious spirit the prompt alliance of king Gentius, with the assistance of a large army of Gauls, who had spread themselves through Illyria, and offered themselves to him, was lost.
[3]
There came ten thousand horsemen, and the same number of footmen, who themselves kept pace with the horses, and in place of the riders who had fallen, took on the horses to the fight.
[4]
They had stipulated that each horseman should receive in immediate payment, ten golden Philippics, each footman five, and their commander one thousand.
[5]
Perseus went from his camp on the Enipeus with half of his forces to meet them as they approached; and issued orders through the towns and villages near the road, to prepare provisions, so that they might have plenty of corn, wine, and cattle.
[6]
He brought with him some horses, trappings, and cloaks, for presents to the chiefs; and a small quantity of gold to be divided among a few; for the multitude, he supposed, might be amused with hopes.
[7]
He advanced as far as the city of Almana, and encamped on the bank of the river Axius, at which time the army of the Gauls lay near Desudaba, in Maedica, waiting for the promised hire.
[8]
Thither he sent Antigonus, one of his nobles, with directions, that the said army should remove their camp to Bylazor, a place in Paeonia, and that their chiefs should come to him in a body. They were at this time seventy-five miles distant from the river Axius and the king's camp.
[9]
Antigonus, in his message, told them what great plenty of every thing was provided on the road by the king's directions, and what presents of apparel, money, and horses he intended for them on their arrival. They answered, that they would judge of those things when they saw them;
[10]
at the same time asking him, whether, according to their stipulation for immediate payment, he had brought with him the gold which was to be distributed to each footman and horseman? When to this no direct answer was given, Clondicus, their prince, said, “Go back,
[11??]
then, and tell your king, that, unless they should have received the gold and the host- [p. 2086]ages, the Gauls would never move one step farther.”
[12]
When this message was brought to the king, he called a council: and, as it was very plain what advice all the members would give; he, being a better guardian of his money than of his kingdom, began to descant on the perfidy and savage behaviour of the Gauls.
[13]
“The disasters,” he said, “of many states demonstrated, that it would be dangerous to admit such a multitude into Macedonia, lest they might feel such allies more troublesome than their Roman enemies. Five thousand horsemen would be enough for them to employ in the war, and
[14??]
that number they need not be afraid to receive.”
Livy. History of Rome by Titus Livius, books thirty-seven to the end, with the epitomes and fragments of the lost books. literally translated, with notes and illustrations, by. William A. McDevitte. York Street, Covent Garden, London. Henry G. Bohn. John Child and son, printers, Bungay. 1850. 4.
The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.