rendered impassable by means of stone walls and palisades and buildings all the ground between Olympus and the sea, and was encouraged by the lack of water in the place.  Yet even so the consul sought to effect a passage and found a means of overcoming the prevailing drought.  By piercing the sand bed at the foot of Olympus he found water that was delicious as well as drinkable.—­Meanwhile envoys of the Rhodians reached him animated by the same insolence which they had displayed on their former embassy to Rome.  He would make no statement to them beyond saying that he would return an answer in a few days, and dismissed them.—­Since he could accomplish nothing by direct assault, but learned that the mountains were traversable here and there, he sent a portion of his army toward that pass across them which was the more difficult of approach, to seize opportune points along the route (on account of its difficulty of access it had an extremely small guard); and he himself with the remainder of his army attacked Perseus that the latter might not entertain any suspicion which might lead to his guarding the mountains with especial care.  After this, when the heights had been occupied, he set out by night for the mountains and by passing unnoticed at some points and employing force at others he crossed them.  Perseus on learning it became afraid that his enemy might assail him from the rear or even get control of Pydna before he could (for the Roman fleet was simultaneously sailing along the coast), and he abandoned his fortification near the river and hastening to Pydna encamped in front of the town.  Paulus, too, came there, but instead of immediately beginning an engagement they delayed for a number of days.  Paulus had found out prior to the event that the moon was about to suffer an eclipse, and after collecting his army on the evening when the eclipse was due to occur gave the men notice of what would happen and warned them not to let it disturb them at all.  So the Romans on beholding the eclipse looked for no evil to come from it, but it made an impression of terror upon the Macedonians and they thought that the prodigy had a bearing on the cause of Perseus.  While each side was in this frame of mind an entirely accidental occurrence the next day threw them into a fierce conflict and put an end to the war.  One of the Roman pack-animals had fallen into the water from which a supply was being drawn, and the Macedonians laid hold of him, while the water-carriers in turn tightened their grasp.  At first they fought by themselves; then the remainder of the forces gradually issued from the respective camps to the assistance of their own men and everybody on both sides became engaged.  A disordered but sharp conflict ensued in which the Romans were victorious and pursuing the Macedonians as far as the sea slaughtered numbers of them by their own efforts and allowed the fleet, which was drawing inshore, to slay numbers more.  Not one of them would have been left alive but for the timely succor of night (for the battle had raged during the late afternoon).