Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata

Titus Quintius, from the very first, was a man of such conspicuous talent that he was chosen consul without having been tribune, praetor, or aedile.[*](That is, without passing through the regular cursus honorum. Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Flamininus, chap. ii. (369 C).) He was sent in command of the army against Philip, and was prevailed upon to meet him in conference. Philip insisted that he ought to receive some Romans as a guarantee of his safety, since Quintius was accompanied by many of his countrymen and he all alone represented the Macedonians. The truth is, said Quintius, that it is you who have made yourself all alone by putting to death your friends and kindred. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Flamininus, chap. xvii. (378 D); Polybius, xviii. 7.)

Having vanquished Philip in battle, [*](At Cynoscephalae in 197 B.C.: see Plutarch’s Life of Flamininus, chap. viii. (372 F); Polybius, xviii. 20-27; Livy, xxxiii. 7-10.) he proclaimed at the Isthmian games that henceforth he left the Greeks free and independent. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Flamininus, chap. x. (374 D); Livy, xxxiii. 32.) Whereupon, all the Romans who had been taken captive in the days of Hannibal and were the slaves of Greek masters the Greeks purchased from their owners at twenty pounds for each man, and gave them as a present to Quintius; and these followed him in his triumphal procession wearing felt caps on their heads as is the custom for slaves that have been emancipated. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Flamininus, chap. xiii. (376 F); Livy, xxxiv. 52; Valerius Maximus, v. 2. 6.)

When the Achaeans were minded to send an army against the island of the Zacynthians, he bade them beware lest, if they extended their head, tortoise-like, outside of the Peloponnesus they should find themselves in danger. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Flamininus, chap. xvii. (378 D); Livy xxxvi. 32.)

When Antiochus the king, with a great force, arrived in Greece, and all were terror-stricken at the great numbers of the men and their armament, Flamininus told a story for the benefit of the Achaeans as follows: He said he was in Chalcis dining with a friend, and was amazed at the great number of the meats served. But his friend said that these were all pork, differing only in their seasoning and the way they were cooked. So then, he said, do not you, either, be amazed at the king’s forces when you hear the names: 4 pikemen, panoplied, foot-guards, archers with two horses. For all these are but Syrians differing from one another only in their paraphernalia. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Flamininus, chap. xvii. (378 E); Livy, xxxv. 49.)

He made a joke at the expense of Philopoemen, general of the Achaeans, who had plenty of horsemen and men-at-arms, but was not well off for money; Quintius said that Philopoemen had arms and legs but no belly. As a matter of fact, Philopoemen, in physical appearance, was something like this. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Philopoemen, chap. ii. (357 A).)