The Romans next sent out Gnaeus Sicinius, a praetor, with a small force (they had not yet made ready their greater armament) and Perseus made a tentative invasion of Thessaly in which he won over the greater part of that country. [Sidenote: B.C. 171 (_a.u._ 583)] When spring opened they sent Licinius Crassus against him as well as a praetor, Gaius Lucretius, in charge of the fleet. The latter first encountered Perseus near Larissa and was worsted in a cavalry skirmish: later, though, he got the best of him and Perseus accordingly retreated into Macedonia. As for Crassus, he assailed the Greek cities which were held in subjection by Philip and was repulsed from the majority of them, although he did get possession of a few. Some he razed to the ground and sold the captives. When the inhabitants of Rome learned these details, they became indignant and later they imposed a money fine on Crassus, liberated the captured cities, and bought back from the purchasers such of their inhabitants as had been sold and were then found in Italy. So fared the Romans in these undertakings, but in the war against Perseus as a whole they suffered many great reverses and their fortunes at many points were at a low ebb. Perseus occupied the greater part of Epirus and Thessaly, having gathered a large body of troops. As a measure of defence against the Romans' elephants he had trained a phalanx of heavy-armed warriors whose shields and helmets he had taken care should be studded with sharp iron nails. Also, in order to make sure that the beasts should not prove a source of terror to the horses he constructed images of elephants that were smeared with some kind of ointment to give them a fearful odor and were frightful both to see and to hear (for a mechanical device enabled them to emit a roar resembling thunder); and he kept continually leading the horses up to these representations until they took courage. Perseus, then, as a result of all this had acquired great confidence and entertained hope that he might surpass Alexander in glory and in the size of his domain; the people of Rome [Sidenote: B.C. 169 (_a.u._ 585)] when they learned this sent out with speed Marcius Philippus, who was consul. He, on reaching the camp in Thessaly, drilled the Romans and the allies so that Perseus, becoming afraid, remained quietly in Dium of Macedonia and close to Tempe, and continued to keep watch of the pass. Philippus, encouraged by this behavior of his, crossed the mountain range in the center and occupied some possessions of Perseus. But as he was progressing toward Pydna he fell short of provisions and turned back to Thessaly. Perseus gained boldness anew, recovered the places that Philippus had occupied, and with his fleet damaged the Romans at numerous points. He also secured allies [Sidenote: FRAG. 65^1] AND HOPED TO EJECT THE ROMANS FROM GREECE ALTOGETHER, BUT THROUGH HIS EXCESSIVE AND INOPPORTUNE PARSIMONY AND THE CONSEQUENT CONTEMPT OF HIS