Many of the Boeotians defended their alienation from the Romans by
alleging the assassination of Brachylles,[93] and the expedition
made by Flamininus upon Coronea owing to the murders of Romans on
the roads.[94] But the real reason was their moral degeneracy,
brought about by the causes I have mentioned. For as soon as the king
approached, the Boeotian magistrates went out to meet him, and after
holding a friendly conversation with him conducted him into Thebes....
[Sidenote: Antiochus wintering in Chalcis, B.C. 192-191.]
+8.+ Antiochus the Great came to Chalcis in Euboea, and there completed
his marriage, when he was fifty years old, and had already undertaken
his two most important labours, the liberation of Greece—as he called
it—and the war with Rome. However, having fallen in love with a young
lady of Chalcis, he was bent on marrying her, though the war was
still going on; for he was much addicted to wine and delighted in
excesses. The lady was a daughter of Cleoptolemus, a man of rank, and
was possessed of extraordinary beauty. He remained in Chalcis all the
winter occupied in marriage festivities, utterly regardless of the
pressing business of the time. He gave the girl the name of Euboea, and
after his defeat[95] fled with his bride to Ephesus....
[Sidenote: Heracleia Trachinia taken by Acilius after the battle of
Thermopylae, B.C. 191.]
[Sidenote: Embassy of the Aetolians.]
+9.+ When the Romans took Heracleia, Phaeneas the Aetolian Strategus,
in view of the danger threatening Aetolia, and seeing what would happen
to the other towns, determined to send an embassy to Manius Acilius to
demand a truce and treaty of peace. With this purpose he despatched
Archidamus, Pantaleon and Chalesus, who on meeting the Roman consul
were intending to enter upon a long argument, but were interrupted in
the middle of their speech and prevented from finishing it. For Acilius
remarked that “For the present he had no leisure to attend to them,
being much engaged with the distribution of the spoils of Heracleia:
he would, however, grant a ten days’ truce and send Lucius Valerius
Flaccus with them, with instructions as to what he was to say.” The
truce being thus made, and Valerius having come to Hypata, a lengthened
discussion took place on the state of affairs. The Aetolians sought
to establish their case by referring to their previous services to
Rome. But Valerius cut this line of argument short by saying that
“Such justification did not apply to the present circumstances; for
as these old friendly relations had been broken off by them, and the
existing hostility was owing entirely to the Aetolians themselves,
the services of the past could be of no assistance to them in the
present. They must therefore abandon all idea of justification, and
adopt a tone of supplication, and beseech the consul’s pardon for
their transgressions.” After a long discussion on various details, the
Aetolians eventually decided to leave the whole matter to Acilius, and
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