Acts of Hostility Against Macedonia, Epirus, and Acarnania.
By sea they immediately sent out privateers, who, falling in with a royal vessel of
Macedonia near
Cythera, brought it with all its crew to
Aetolia,
and sold ship-owners, sailors, and marines, and
finally the ship itself. Then they began sacking the seaboard
of
Epirus, employing the aid of some Cephallenian ships for carrying out this act of violence.
They tried also to capture Thyrium in
Acarnania. At the same time they secretly-sent some men to
seize a strong place called
Clarium, in the centre of the territory of
Megalopolis; which they used thenceforth as a place of
sale for their spoils, and a starting-place for their marauding
expeditions. However Timoxenus, the Achaean Strategus,
with the assistance of Taurion, who had been left by Antigonus in charge of the Macedonian
interests in the
Peloponnese, took the place after a siege of a very few days. For
Antigonus retained
Corinth, in accordance with his convention
with the Achaeans, made at the time of the Cleomenic war;
1
and had never restored
Orchomenus to the Achaeans after he
had taken it by force, but claimed and retained it in his own
hands; with the view, as I suppose, not only of commanding
the entrance of the
Peloponnese, but of guarding also its interior by means of his garrison and warlike apparatus in
Orchomenus.
Dorimachus and Scopas waited until Timoxenus had a
very short time of office left, and when Aratus, though elected
by the Achaeans for the coming year, would not yet be in
office;
2 and then collecting a general levy of Aetolians at
Rhium, and preparing means of transport, with some Cephallenian ships ready to convoy them,
they got
Before midsummer B. C. 220. Invasion of Messenia by Dorimachus and Scopas. |
their men across to the
Peloponnese, and led
them against
Messenia. While marching through
the territories of
Patrae, Pharae, and Tritaea
they pretended that they did not wish to do any
injury to the Achaeans; but their forces, from
their inveterate passion for plunder, could not be restrained
from robbing the country; and consequently they committed
outrages and acts of violence all along their line of march, till
they arrived at Phigalea. Thence, by a bold and sudden
movement, they entered
Messenia; and without any regard
for their ancient friendship and alliance with the Messenians, or
for the principles of international justice common to all mankind, subordinating every consideration to their selfish greed,
they set about plundering the country without resistance, the
Messenians being absolutely afraid to come out to attack them.
