War in Illyria
Wherefore the Senate, by way of preparing to undertake this business, and foreseeing that the war
note
would be severe and protracted, and at a long
distance from the mother country, determined
to make Illyria safe. For it happened that, just at this time,
Demetrius of Pharos was sacking and subduing to his authority
the cities of Illyria which were subject to Rome, and had
sailed beyond Lissus, in violation of the treaty, with fifty
galleys, and had ravaged many of the Cyclades. For he
had quite forgotten the former kindnesses done him by
Rome, and had conceived a contempt for its power, when
he saw it threatened first by the Gauls and then by Carthage;
and he now rested all his hopes on the royal family of
Macedonia, because he had fought on the side of Antigonus, and shared with him the dangers of the war against
Cleomenes. These transactions attracted the observation of
the Romans; who, seeing that the royal house of Macedonia
-- 180 --
was in a flourishing condition, were very anxious to secure the
country east of Italy; feeling convinced that they would have
ample time to correct the rash folly of the Illyrians, and rebuke
and chastise the ingratitude and temerity of Demetrius. But
they were deceived in their calculations. For Hannibal anticipated their measures by the capture of Saguntum: the result
of which was that the war took place not in Iberia, but close
to Rome itself, and in various parts throughout
all Italy. note However, with these ideas fixed in
their minds, the Romans despatched Lucius
Aemilius just before summer to conduct the
Illyrian campaign in the first year of the 140th Olympiad.
