session of their estates; and others opposing it, Scipio, at the request of Polybius, had solicited Cato in favour of the exiles. That grave senator rising up to speak in his turn, “to see us,' said he, " dispute a whole day, whether some poor old men of Greece shall be interred by our grave-diggers, or those of their own country, would not one believe that we had nothing at all to do?" That pleasantry was all that was wanting to make the senate ashamed of so long a contest, and to determine, at last, to send back the exiles into Peloponnesus. Polybius was for desiring that they might be reinstated in all the honours and dignities they possessed before their banishment; but before he presented that request to the senate, he thought proper to Sound Cato upon it, who told him, smiling, "Polybius, you do not imitate the wisdom of Ulysses. You are for returning into the cave of the Cyclops, for some miserable tatters you have left there." *The exiles accordingly returned into their own country; but of the 1000 that left it, only about 300 remained. Polybius made no use of this permission, or, if he did, he soon rejoined Scipio, seeing three years after he was with him at the siege of Carthage.

SECTION II.

ARIARATHES DIES, AND IS SUCCEEDED BY HIS SON.DEATH OF EUMFNES. WAR BETWEEN ATTALUS AND PRUSIAS.

AFTER the defeat of Perseus, new embassies came every day to Rome, either to congratulate the Romans upon their victory, or to justify or excuse themselves for the attachment they seemed to have to that prince; and some came to lay complaints before the senate, in regard to some allies. We have seen hitherto what relates to the Rhodians and Achæans. In this section, I shall collect what concerns Eumenes, king of Pergamus, Prusias, king of Bithynia, and some other particular affairs.

† Prusias being come to Rome, to make the senate and Roman people his compliments of congratulation upon the good success of the war against Perseus, dishonoured the royal dignity by abject flattery. At his reception, by the deputies appointed by the senate for that purpose, he appeared with his head shaved, and with the cap, habit, shoes, and stockings of a slave made free; and saluting the deputies," you see," said

A. M. 3844. Ant. J. C. 150.

A. M. 3838, Ant. J. C. 166, Polyb. Legat. xcvi. Liv. 1. xlv. n. 447

he, "one of your freedmen ready to fulfil whatsoever you shall please to command, and to conform entirely to all your cus toms. When he entered the senate, he stood at the door, facing the senators, who sat, and prostrating himself, kissed the threshold. Afterwards, addressing himself to the assembly, “I salute you, gods, preservers," cried he; and went on with a discourse suitable to that prelude. Polybius says, that he should be ashamed to repeat it. He concluded with demanding, that the Roman people would renew the alliance with him, and grant him certain lands, taken from Antiochus, of which the Gauls had possessed themselves, without any right or pretension. He then recommended his son, Nicomedes, to them. All he asked was granted him; only commissioners were appointed, to examine into the condition of the lands in question Livy, in his account of this audience, omits the abject submissions of Prusias, of which he pretends the Roman historians say nothing he contents himself with mentioning in the conclusion, part of what Polybius had said before, and with some reason; for that base deportment at least dishonoured the senate as much, who suffered, as the prince who acted it.

**Prusias had scarce left Rome, when advice came that Eumenes was upon the point of entering it. That news gave the senate some trouble. Eumenes, in the war against Perseus, had behaved in such a manner, that they could neither continue him as a friend nor an enemy. There was reason for violent suspicions, but no certain proofs against him. To admit him to an audience, was to declare him innocent: to condemn him as guilty, was to lay themselves under the necessity of a war with him, and to proclaim to all the world, that they had failed in point of prudence, by loading a prince with fortunes and honours, whose character they were little acquainted with. To avoid these inconveniences, the senate made a decree, by which, under the pretext that the reception of kings was too great a charge to the republic, they forbade all kings in general to enter that city, and caused that ordinance to be signified to the king of Pergamus, who was at no loss to comprehend its meaning. He returned, therefore, into his own dominions.

†This affront encouraged his enemies, and cooled the affection of his allies. Prusias sent an ambassador to Rome, to complain of the irruptions he made into Bithynia. He added, that Eumenes had secret intelligence with Antiochus; that he *Polyb. Legat. xcvii:

†A. M. 3839. Ant. J. C. 165. Polyb. Legat. xcvii. cii. civ. cv. Cvi, cxix, cxxi.

treated all those injuriously who seemed to favour the Romans, and particularly the Gallo Grecians, his neighbours, in contradiction to the senate's decrees in their behalf. That people had also sent deputies to Rome with their complaints; which they afterwards repeated several times, as well as Prusias. The senate did not yet declare themselves. They contented themselves with aiding and supporting the Gallo Grecians underhand to the utmost of their power, without doing any manifest injustice to Eumenes.

The king of Pergamus, who had been forbidden entrance into Rome, sent his brothers Attalus and Athenæus thither, to answer the accusations he was charged with. The apology they made seemed finally to confute all complaints against the king, and the senate were so well satisfied with it, that they sent them back into Asia, laden with honours and presents. They did not, however, entirely efface the prejudices conceived against their brother. The senate despatched Sulpicius Gallus and Manius Sergius, with orders to inform themselves secretly whether Antiochus and Eumenes were not concerting some design against the Romans.

* Sulpicius acted in this commission with very great imprudence. He was a vain man, and aimed at appearing important, by declaring against Eumenes. When he arrived in Asia, he caused all the cities to be informed, that such as had any complaints to make in regard to that prince, might repair to him at Sardis. And there for ten days he hearkened quietly to all the accusations people thought fit to form against Eumenes: a liberty that set all malcontents at work, and opened a door for all manner of calumnies!

†Tiberius Gracchus, whom the senate sent the following year into Asia, upon the same account, was received by Eumenes and Antiochus in a manner which convinced him there was nothing to fear from those two kings, and induced him to make his report to the senate accordingly. He gave as favourable an account of the conduct of Ariarathes, king of Cappadocia, who had married the sister of Eumenes. That prince died some time after. His son, Ariarathes, ‡surnamed Philopater, succeeded him. He had him by Antiochis, the daughter of Antiochus the Great, and intended, when he came of age, to resign his kingdom to him, to which his son would never consent; from whence he was called Philopater, that is, love of Polyb. in Excerpt. Vales. p. 145. †A. M. 3840. Ant. J. C. 164. A. M. 3842. Ant. J. C. 162.

VOL. IX.

Diod. Eleg. p. 895.

12

his father. An action highly laudable, in an age wherein it was no uncommon thing to acquire kingdoms by parricide.

* As soon as the young king ascended the throne, he sent deputies to Rome, to demand that the treaty his father had made with the Romans should be renewed, which was granted him with praises.

† Some time after, notwithstanding Eumenes aided him with all his forces, he was dethroned by Demetrius, king of Syria, and one of his elder brothers set in his place, who was a supposed son, named Holofernes. Ariarathes took refuge at Rome. The usurper and Demetrius sent their ambassadors also thither. The senate decreed, that the two brothers should reign jointly. It was a policy sufficiently frequent with the Romans, to divide kingdoms between brothers, in order to weaken them by that partition, and sow the seeds of eternal division between them. Attalus, in the first year of his reign, re-established him in the sole possession of the throne, having conquered and expelled his competitor.

Eumenes was always suspected by the Romans, and almost continually at war with Prusias, or the Gallo Grecians. He died at length, after having reigned 38 ||years. He left for his successor in the kingdom, his son Attalus, surnamed Philometer, then an infant, whom he had by Stratonice, sister of Ariarathes, and appointed guardian of his son, and regent of his kingdom, his brother Attalus Philadelphus, who governed the kingdom 21 years. T

Polybius bestows great praise on Eumenes. The body of that prince, says he, was weak and delicate, his soul great, and abounding with the most noble sentiments. He gave place to none of the kings, **his contemporaries, in many other quali ties, and excelled them in all the nobleness of his inclinations, The kingdom of Pergamus, when he received it from his fa-ther, consisted only of a very small number of cities, which scarce deserved that name. He rendered it so powerful, that it might have disputed pre-eminence with almost all the greatest kingdoms. He owed nothing either to chance or fortune, still using the words of Polybius. Every thing was the result of his prudence, labour, and activity. From his fondness for

*Polyb. Legat. cxxi.

†A. M. 3845. Ant. J. C. 159. Polyb. Legat. cxxvi.

+ A. M. 3847. Ant. J. C. 157.

Strabo says he reigned 43 years, but that is presumed to be an

error.

¶ Strab. 1. xiii. p. 624.

** Polyb. Exemp. Virt, et Vit. p. 166.

true glory, he did more good to Greece, and enriched more private persons, than any prince. To finish his character, he

possessed so fully the art of engaging the respect of his three brothers, and of keeping them within bounds by his authority, without letting them perceive it, that though they were all of age and capacity to undertake for themselves, and shared with him in the functions of the sovereignty, they never failed in point of submission, but continued always in perfect union, and with equal zeal for his service, assisted him in defending and aggrandizing the kingdom. It would be difficult to find such an example of authority over brothers, joined with unalterable concord and union.

I ought not to omit one thing in this place, which does great honour to the memory of Eumenes; that is, his having founded the famous library of Pergamus, or, at least, considerably augmented it but I shall speak of that elsewhere.

The division which had almost perpetually subsisted between Prusias and Eumenes, continued under Attalus, who succeeded the latter. Prusias, having been victorious in a battle, entered Pergamus, and violently enraged and afflicted that he had failed of seizing Attalus, let fall the weight of his revenge upon the statues and temples of the gods; burning and destroying all before him in his march. Attalus sent his brother Athenæus to Rome, to implore the aid of the senate, who sent several embassies, at different times, to forbid Prusias to continue the war against Attalus; but he eluded these orders, either by delays or even treachery, having once attempted, under pretence of an interview, to seize the Roman ambassador and Attalus. His design was discovered, and the execution of it prevented; but his crime was not the less upon that account. Rome, at other times, would have punished it with the destruction of his kingdom. At this, she was contented with sending ten commissioners, with instructions to put an end to this war, and to oblige Prusias to make Attalus satisfaction for the damages he had done him. Attalus, however, with the aid of his allies, had assembled numerous armies, both by sea and land. All things were prepared for opening the campaign, when news came that the commissioners were arrived. Attalus joined them. After some conferences upon the present affair, they set out for Bithynia, where they declared to Prusias the orders they were charged with from the senate. That prince was willing to

* A. M. 3848. Ant. J. C. 165. Polyb. Legat. cxxviii, cxxix, cxxxiii, CXXXV, CXXxvi.

†A. M. 3849. Ant. J. C. 155.