as giving the countenance of the Roman people to his ill-acquired authority, and that he would quickly spirit up many in other states to plot against the liberty of their countrymen.”  The wishes of the general himself tended rather to peace; for he saw that, as the enemy was shut up in the town, nothing remained but a siege, and that must be very tedious.  For it was not Gythium that they must besiege, though even that place had been gained by capitulation, not by assault; but Lacedaemon, a city most powerful in men and arms.  The only hope which they could have formed was, that, on the first approach of their army, dissensions and insurrections might have been raised within:  but, though the standards had been seen to advance almost to the gates, not one person had stirred.  To this he added, that “Villius the ambassador, returning from Antiochus, brought intelligence, that the peace was an unsound one; and that the king had come over into Europe with a much more powerful armament by sea and land than before.  Now, if the army should be engaged in the siege of Lacedaemon, with what other forces could the war be maintained against a king of his great power and strength?” These arguments he urged openly; but beneath all this there lay a concealed anxiety lest one of the new consuls should be appointed to the province of Greece; and then the honour of terminating the war, in which he had proceeded so far, must be yielded to a successor.

34.  Finding that he could not, by opposition, make any alteration in the sentiments of the allies, by pretending to go over to their opinion, he led them all into a concurrence in his plan.  “Be it so,” said he, “and may success attend us:  let us lay siege to Lacedaemon, since that is your choice.  However, as a business so slow in its progress, as you know the besieging of cities to be, very often wears out the patience of the besiegers sooner than that of the besieged, you ought at once to make up your minds to this, that we must pass the winter under the walls of Lacedaemon.  If this delay involved only toil and danger, I would recommend to you to prepare your minds and bodies to support these.  But, in the present case, vast expenses also will be requisite for the construction of works, for machines and engines, sufficient for the siege of so great a city, and for procuring stores of provisions for the winter to serve you and us:  therefore, to prevent your being suddenly disconcerted, or shamefully deserting an enterprise which you had engaged in, I think it will be necessary for you to write home to your respective states, and learn what degree of spirit and of strength each possesses.  Of auxiliary troops I have a sufficient number, and to spare; but the more numerous we are, the more numerous will be our wants.  The country of the enemy has nothing left but the naked soil.  Besides, the winter is at hand, which will render it difficult to convey what we may stand in need of from distant places.”