58. The Bastarnians commenced their march in a peaceable array, relying on the word of Cotto and Antigonus. But, not long after the report of Philip’s death, neither the Thracians were easily dealt with, nor would the Bastarnians be content with what they could purchase; nor could they be kept in a body, so as not to go out of the road. In consequence, injuries were committed on both sides; and, from the daily multiplication of these, war at last burst forth. When at last the Thracians were unable to withstand the great strength and numbers of the enemy, having deserted their towns in the plains, they betook themselves to a high mountain (they call it Donuca). When the Bastarnians wished to come up, such a tempest there discomfited them, when in vain approaching the summit of the mountain, as, we are told, destroyed the Gauls, when plundering Delphi. They were not only overwhelmed with a deluge of rain, followed by prodigious thick showers of hail, accompanied by tremendous noises in the sky, thunder, and lightning which dazzled their sight; but the thunderbolts, also, fell so frequently on all sides, that their bodies seemed to be aimed at: and not only the soldiers, but their officers also, being struck by them, fell. When therefore, in hasty flight, they, rushing on blindly, were scattered, and tumbling over very high rocks, and the Thracians also attacked them when already in dismay, they themselves then said, that the gods were the cause of the flight, and that the sky was falling on them. When, being dispersed by the storm, as by a shipwreck, they had returned (most of them half armed) to the camp whence they had set out, they then began to consider what they should do; on which a disagreement ensued, some advising to return home, and others to advance to Dardania. About thirty thousand men, under the command of Clondicus, arrived at that place; the rest marched back, by the same road through which they came, to the country beyond the Danube. Perseus, having got possession of the kingdom, ordered Antigonus to be put to death; and, until he could settle his affairs on a firm foundation, sent ambassadors to Rome, to renew the treaty concluded by his father, and to request the senate to give him the title of king. These were the transactions of that year in Macedon.