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).)

Gnaeus Domitius, whom Scipio the Great appointed in his stead as a colleague for his brother Lucius in the war against Antiochus, when he had inspected the battle-line of the enemy, and the officers of his

Publius Licinius, consul in command of the army, was defeated by Perseus, king of the Macedonians, in a cavalry battle, with the loss of two thousand eight hundred men killed or captured. After the battle, when Perseus sent envoys regarding a treaty of peace, the vanquished bade the victor submit his case to the Romans. [*](Cf. Polybius, xxvii. 8; Livy, xlii. 62.)

Paulus Aemilius, when he was a candidate for a second term as consul, failed of election. But when the war against Perseus and the Macedonians dragged on because of the inexperience and effeminacy of the generals, the people appointed him consul. But he said he owed no thanks to them; for it was not because he wanted office, but because they wanted an officer, that he was chosen general. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Aemilius Paulus, chap. vi. (258 B), chap. ix. (259 C), chap. xi. (260 C).)

Coming home from the Forum and finding Tertia, his little daughter, in tears, he asked the reason. And she said, Our Perseus is dead. (It

Finding at camp much boldness and talk on the part of would-be generals and meddlers, he told them to keep quiet, and only sharpen their swords, and he would attend to everything else.[*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Aemilius Paulus, chap. xiii. (261 F), and chap. xi. (260 C); Livy, xliv. 22 and 34.)