Greece -- Biography -- Early works to 1800; Rome -- Biography -- Early works to 1800
V. A headlong flight now took place, but the enemy lost only two
thousand men, for the difficulties of the ground made it hard to
pursue. The Romans, however, made themselves masters of their baggage,
tents, and slaves, and marched through Epirus in such an orderly and
well-disciplined fashion that, although the soldiers were far from
their ships, had not had their monthly allowance of provisions served
out to them, and were not often near a market, they nevertheless
abstained from plundering a country which was abounding in riches.
Indeed Titus had learned that Philip passed through Thessaly like a
fugitive, driving the inhabitants of the city to fly to the mountains
for refuge, burning the cities and giving all the property which could
not be carried away to his soldiers as plunder.
As Philip therefore had given up the country to the Romans, Titus
besought his soldiers to march through it taking as much care of it as
if it were their own. This good discipline was not long in bearing
fruit; for as soon as the Romans entered Thessaly the cities
surrendered themselves to Titus, while the Greeks beyond Thermopylæ
were excited and eager for him to come to them, and in Peloponnesus
the Achæan league threw off allegiance to Philip, and agreed to wage
war against him in conjunction with the Romans. The Opuntian Lokrians
also sent for Titus and delivered themselves up to him, although they
had been pressed by the Ætolians, who were allies of the Romans, to
allow them to take charge of their city. It is said that king Pyrrhus,
when from a mountain watch-tower he first saw the Roman army drawn up
in regular order, said:--"These barbarians have nothing barbarous in
their military discipline." And in truth all those who met Titus were
compelled to echo these words. They heard from the Macedonians that
the leader of a barbarian army was coming to destroy everything and to
reduce everyone to slavery: and then meeting a young and pleasant
looking man, who was a thorough Greek in language and address, and a
man of really noble character, they were marvellously fascinated by
him, and on leaving him filled their cities with his praises, saying
that at length they had found a champion for the liberties of Greece.
After he had proposed to Philip, as terms of peace, that he should
withdraw his garrisons and leave Greece independent, which Philip
refused to do, then even those who had previously been on the side of
Philip admitted that the Romans had not come to fight against the
Greeks, but to fight with the Greeks against the Macedonians.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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