This struggle between the most powerful nations in the world was attracting the attention of all men, kings and peoples alike, and [2??] especially of Philip, the King of Macedon, as he was comparatively near to Italy, separated from it only by the Ionian Sea. [3] When he first heard the rumour of Hannibal's passage of the Alps, delighted as he was at the outbreak of war between Rome and Carthage, he was still undecided, till their relative strength had been tested, which of the two he would prefer to have the victory. [4] But after the third battle had been fought and the victory rested with the Carthaginians for the third time, he inclined to the side which Fortune favoured and sent ambassadors to Hannibal. Avoiding the ports of Brundisium and Tarentum which were guarded by Roman ships, they landed near the temple of Juno Lacinia. [5] Whilst traversing Apulia on their way to Capua they fell into the midst of the Roman troops who were defending the district, and were conducted to Valerius Laevinus, the praetor, who was encamped near Luceria. [6] Xenophanes, the head of the legation, explained, without the slightest fear or hesitation, that he had been sent by the king to form a league of friendship with Rome, and that he was conveying his instructions to the consuls and senate and people. [7] Amidst the defection of so many old allies, the praetor was delighted beyond measure at the prospect of a new alliance with so illustrious a monarch, and gave his enemies a most hospitable reception. [8] He assigned them an escort, and pointed out carefully what route they should take, what places and passes were held by the Romans and what by the enemy. [9] Xenophanes passed through the Roman troops into Campania and thence by the nearest route reached Hannibal's camp. He made a treaty of friendship with him on these terms: [10] King Philip was to sail to Italy with as large a fleet as possible-he was, it appears, intending to fit out two hundred ships-and ravage the coast, and carry on war by land and sea to the utmost of his power; [11] when the war was over the whole of Italy, including Rome itself, was to be the possession of the Carthaginians and Hannibal, and all the plunder was to go to Hannibal; [12] when the Carthaginians had thoroughly subdued Italy they were to sail to Greece and make war upon such nations as the king wished; the cities on the mainland and the islands lying off Macedonia were to form part of Philip's kingdom.
Livy. History of Rome. English Translation by. Rev. Canon Roberts. New York, New York. E. P. Dutton and Co. 1912. 1. Livy. History of Rome. English Translation. Rev. Canon Roberts. New York, New York. E. P. Dutton and Co. 1912. 2.
The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.