18.
At the same time, when everything was going one way, the Rhodians also, with a view to reclaiming from Philip the district on the mainland —
[
2]
Peraea is its name —which their forefathers had held, dispatched Pausistratus the praetor with eight
[p. 325]hundred Achaean infantry and about one thousand
1 eight hundred auxiliaries collected from different states:
[
3]
these were Gauls and Pisuetae and Nisuetae and Tamiani and Arei from Africa and Laudiceni
2 from Asia.
[
4]
With these forces Pausistratus took Tendeba, a city in the territory of Stratonicea and well situated, without the knowledge of the king's forces who were on Thera.
[
5]
There reinforcements, summoned at this time and for this purpose, to wit, one thousand Achaean infantry with one hundred cavalry, met them; Theoxenus was their commander.
[
6]
Dinocrates, the king's prefect, first moved his camp towards Tendeba itself for the purpose of recovering the fortress, then to another fort, also in the country of Stratonicea —they call it Astragon —recalling all the garrisons which had been scattered far and wide and Thessalian auxiliaries from Stratonicea itself, and began to march towards Alabanda, where the enemy lay.
3
[
7]
The Rhodians did not decline the battle. So, placing their camp near by, they came down to the battle-field.
[
8]
Dinocrates placed five hundred Macedonians on his right flank and the Agrianes on the left;
[
9]
in the centre he posted the troops gathered up from the garrisons of the forts —they were mostly Carians —and he covered the flanks with the cavalry and the Cretan and Thracian auxiliaries.
[
10]
The Rhodians had in the centre the Achaeans, a picked force of infantry, and the auxiliaries, made up of men of different races,
[
11]
and the cavalry and what there was of light infantry placed outside the flanks.
4
[
12]
On that day both lines merely remained standing
[p. 327]on the banks of the river flowing between them, -
5 which was then a small stream, and after hurling a few missiles retired to their camps. The next day the two armies were similarly formed and a battle began, severer than might be expected from the numbers of the combatants.
[
13]
For there were not more than three thousand infantry and one hundred cavalry on either side, but they fought not only with equal numbers and similar weapons but with the same courage and equal hope as well.
[
14]
The Achaeans at first crossed the river and attacked the Agrianes, and then almost the whole line hastily crossed the stream on the run. The issue was long in doubt.
[
15]
By weight of numbers, the Achaeans, a thousand strong, dislodged the four hundred;
6
[
16]
then, as the left gave way, the whole effort was directed against the right flank.
[
17]
The Macedonians could not be moved as long as the line held and the phalanx was, so to speak, compact; when, after their left flank was exposed, they tried to change front so as to
[
18]
meet the enemy that was attacking them in flank, they first caused immediate disorder and confusion among themselves, then they began to fall back, and finally threw away their arms and fled at full speed. The fugitives made for Bargyliae, and Dinocrates sought refuge in the same place.
[
19]
The Rhodians followed as long as daylight lasted and then returned to camp. It is quite clear that if the victors had at once marched to Stratonicea, this city could have been recovered without a struggle.
[
20]
The opportunity for this was lost while they consumed time in occupying the forts and towns of Peraea.
[
21]
Meanwhile the courage of those who were holding Stratonicea with the garrison was renewed, and presently Dinocrates
[p. 329]entered the walls with the troops that had survived
7 the battle. In vain was the city then invested and besieged, nor was it recovered until some time later through the aid of Antiochus.
8
[
22]
Such were the events of this period, which took place during, we may almost say, the same days in Thessaly, Achaea, and Asia.