§7.15.1Ῥωμαῖοι δὲ παρά τε τῶν ἀνδρῶν διδαχθέντες οὓς ἐς τὴν Ἑλλάδα ἀπέστειλαν καὶ ἐκ τῶν γραμμάτων ἃ Μέτελλος ἐπέστελλεν, ἀδικεῖν Ἀχαιῶν κατέγνωσαν· καὶ ἦν γὰρ Μόμμιός σφισιν ὕπατος τότε ᾑρημένος, τοῦτον ναῦς τε καὶ στρατιὰν πεζὴν ἐκέλευον ἐπʼ Ἀχαιοὺς ἄγειν.
The Romans, informed both by the men they had sent to Greece and by the letters which Metellus sent, judged that the Achaeans had acted unjustly; and since Mummius had been chosen by them as consul at that time, they ordered him to lead a fleet and a land army against the Achaeans.
Μέτελλος δὲ παραυτίκα ἐπέπυστο ὡς Μόμμιος καὶ ὁ σὺν αὐτῷ στρατὸς ἐπὶ Ἀχαιοὺς ἀφίκοιτο· καὶ ἐποιεῖτο σπουδήν, εἰ ἐπιθεὶς αὐτὸς πέρας τῷ πολέμῳ φανῇ πρὶν ἢ Μόμμιον ἐς τὴν Ἑλλάδα ἀφῖχθαι.
Meanwhile Metellus immediately learned that Mummius and his army had set out against the Achaeans; and he made haste, hoping that he himself might appear to have put an end to the war before Mummius arrived in Greece.
§7.15.2ἀγγέλους οὖν παρὰ τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς ἀπέστελλεν, ἀφιέναι κελεύων σφᾶς συντελείας Λακεδαιμονίους καὶ πόλεις ἄλλας ὁπόσας εἴρητο ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων, τῆς τε ἐκ τοῦ χρόνου τοῦ προτέρου σφίσιν ἀπειθείας οὐδεμίαν παρὰ Ῥωμαίων ὑπισχνεῖτο ὀργὴν γενήσεσθαι.
Therefore he sent messengers to the Achaeans, ordering them to release the Lacedaemonians and all the other cities mentioned by the Romans from the contribution, and he promised that no anger from the Romans would come upon them for their previous disobedience.
ἅμα τε δὴ ταῦτα ἐπεκηρυκεύετο καὶ ἤλαυνεν ἐκ Μακεδονίας τὸν στρατόν, διὰ Θεσσαλίας τὴν πορείαν καὶ παρὰ τὸν Λαμιακὸν ποιούμενος κόλπον.
At the same time that he was making these proposals, he also marched his army from Macedonia, making his journey through Thessaly and along the Lamian Gulf.
Κριτόλαος δὲ καὶ Ἀχαιοὶ λόγον μὲν φέροντα ἐς σύμβασιν προσίεντο οὐδένα, Ἡράκλειαν δὲ προσεκάθηντο πολιορκοῦντες οὐ βουλομένους ἐς τὸ Ἀχαϊκὸν συντελεῖν.
But Critolaus and the Achaeans accepted no proposal leading to an agreement, and they sat down to besiege Heracleia, which did not wish to contribute to the Achaean League.
§7.15.3τότε δὲ ὡς παρὰ τῶν κατασκόπων ἐπυνθάνετο ὁ Κριτόλαος Μέτελλον καὶ Ῥωμαίους διαβεβηκέναι τὸν Σπερχειόν, ἀπέφευγεν ἐς Σκάρφειαν τὴν Λοκρῶν, οὐδὲ κατὰ τὸ στενὸν τὸ Ἡρακλείας τε μεταξὺ καὶ Θερμοπυλῶν τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς τάξας ἐτόλμησεν ὑπομεῖναι Μέτελλον· ἀλλὰ ἐς τοσοῦτο ἀφίκετο δείματος ὡς μηδὲ αὐτὸ ποιήσασθαι τὸ χωρίον πρὸς ἀμείνονος ἐλπίδος, ἔνθα ἦν μὲν Λακεδαιμονίοις ὑπὲρ τῶν Ἑλλήνων τὰ ἐς Μήδους, ἦν δὲ καὶ Ἀθηναίοις τὰ ἐς Γαλάτας οὐδὲν ἀφανέστερα ἐκείνων τολμήματα.
But then, when Critolaus learned from his scouts that Metellus and the Romans had crossed the Spercheius, he fled to Scarpheia in Locris, not even daring to draw up the Achaeans in the pass between Heracleia and Thermopylae to await Metellus; but he arrived at such a pitch of fear that he could not even make the place a ground for better hope, where the Lacedaemonians had performed deeds against the Medes for the sake of the Greeks, and the Athenians against the Gauls, deeds no less famous than those.
§7.15.4ὑποφεύγοντας δὲ Κριτόλαον καὶ Ἀχαιοὺς αἱροῦσιν ὀλίγον πρὸ τῆς Σκαρφείας οἱ ὁμοῦ τῷ Μετέλλῳ, καὶ ἀπέκτεινάν τε πλήθει πολλοὺς καὶ ἔλαβον ζῶντας ὅσον χιλίους.
The men with Metellus caught up with the fleeing Critolaus and the Achaeans a little before Scarpheia, and they killed many in number and took about a thousand alive.
Κριτόλαος δὲ οὔτε ὤφθη ζῶν μετὰ τὴν μάχην οὔτε ἐν τοῖς νεκροῖς εὑρέθη· εἰ δὲ ἐτόλμησε τῆς πρὸς τῇ Οἴτῃ θαλάσσης ἐς ταύτης καταδῦναι τὸ τέλμα, παντάπασιν ἔμελλεν ἄγνωστός τε καὶ ἄπυστος οἰχήσεσθαι κατὰ τοῦ βυθοῦ.
Critolaus was neither seen alive after the battle nor found among the dead; but if he dared to plunge into the swamp of the sea near Oeta, he was bound to perish completely unknown and unheard of in the deep.
§7.15.5ἐς μὲν οὖν τὴν Κριτολάου τελευτὴν καὶ ἄλλα πάρεστιν εἰκάζειν· Ἀρκάδων δὲ ἐξεστρατευμένοι λογάδες χίλιοι, οἳ Κριτολάῳ τοῦ ἔργου μετέσχον, προῆλθον μὲν ἄχρι Ἐλατείας τῆς Φωκέων καὶ ἐς τὴν πόλιν ὑπʼ αὐτῶν κατὰ συγγένειαν δή τινα παλαιὰν ἐδέχθησαν· ὡς δὲ τοῖς Φωκεῦσιν ἡ Κριτολάου συμφορὰ καὶ Ἀχαιῶν ἀπηγγέλλετο, ἀπελθεῖν ἐκ τῆς Ἐλατείας κελεύουσι τοὺς Ἀρκάδας.
Concerning the death of Critolaus, indeed, there are other things to conjecture; but a thousand chosen men of the Arcadians, who had shared in the work with Critolaus, advanced as far as Elateia in Phocis and were received into the city by them on account of some ancient kinship; but when the disaster of Critolaus and the Achaeans was reported to the Phocians, they ordered the Arcadians to depart from Elateia.
§7.15.6ἀπιοῦσι δὲ ὀπίσω σφίσιν ἐς τὴν Πελοπόννησον Μέτελλος καὶ Ῥωμαῖοι περὶ Χαιρώνειαν ἐπιφαίνονται· ἔνθα δὴ ἐπελάμβανε τοὺς Ἀρκάδας ἐκ θεῶν δίκη τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν, οἳ ἐν Χαιρωνείᾳ Φιλίππου καὶ Μακεδόνων ἐναντία ἀγωνιζομένους ἐγκαταλιπόντες Ἕλληνας τότε ἐν χωρίῳ τῷ αὐτῷ ἐκτείνοντο ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων.
As they were returning back to the Peloponnese, Metellus and the Romans appeared near Chaeroneia; there indeed a divine justice from the Greeks overtook the Arcadians, who, having abandoned the Greeks fighting against Philip and the Macedonians at Chaeroneia, were then slaughtered by the Romans in that very same place.
§7.15.7Ἀχαιοῖς δὲ αὖθις ἐπὶ τὴν ἡγεμονίαν τοῦ στρατεύματος παρῄει Δίαιος· καὶ δούλους τε ἐς ἐλευθερίαν ἠφίει, τὸ Μιλτιάδου καὶ Ἀθηναίων βούλευμα τὸ πρὸ τοῦ ἔργου τοῦ ἐν Μαραθῶνι μιμούμενος, καὶ Ἀχαιῶν συνέλεγε καὶ Ἀρκάδων ἀπὸ τῶν πόλεων τοὺς ἐν ἡλικίᾳ· ἐγένετο δέ, ἀναμεμιγμένων ὁμοῦ καὶ οἰκετῶν, τὸ ἀθροισθὲν ἐς ἑξακοσίους μὲν μάλιστα ἀριθμὸν ἱππεῖς, τὸ δὲ ὁπλιτεῦον τετρακισχίλιοί τε καὶ μύριοι.
The leadership of the army came again to Diaeus for the Achaeans; and he released slaves to freedom, imitating the plan of Miltiades and the Athenians before the action at Marathon, and he assembled those of age from the cities of the Achaeans and Arcadians; and the force assembled, with slaves mixed in together, amounted to about six hundred cavalry, and fourteen thousand hoplites.
§7.15.8ἐνταῦθα ὁ Δίαιος ἐς ἅπαν ἀφίκετο ἀνοίας, ὃς Κριτόλαον καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν Ἀχαιῶν ἐπιστάμενος παρασκευὴν κακῶς οὕτως ἀγωνισαμένην πρὸς Μέτελλον ἀπέλεξεν αὐτὸς ὅσον τετρακισχιλίους·
Then Diaeus arrived at the height of folly, who, knowing that Critolaus and the whole preparation of the Achaeans had fought so badly against Metellus, himself selected about four thousand men; and he appointed Alcamenes as commander over them.
καὶ ἄρχοντα ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς ἔταξεν Ἀλκαμένην. ἀπεστέλλοντο δὲ ἐς Μέγαρα φρουρά τε εἶναι Μεγαρεῦσι τοῦ ἄστεως καί, ἢν Μέτελλος ἐπίῃ καὶ οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι, τοῦ πρόσω σφᾶς κωλύειν.
And they were sent to Megara to be a garrison for the Megarians of the city, and, if Metellus and the Romans should attack, to prevent them from advancing further.
§7.15.9Μέτελλος δὲ ὡς οἱ περὶ Χαιρώνειαν λογάδες κατέστρωντο οἱ Ἀρκάδων, ἀναστήσας τὸ στράτευμα ἤλαυνεν ἐπὶ τὰς Θήβας· Ἡράκλειάν τε γὰρ ἐπολιόρκησαν οἱ Θηβαῖοι μετὰ Ἀχαιῶν καὶ ἀγῶνος τοῦ πρὸς Σκάρφειαν μετεσχήκεσαν.
But Metellus, when the chosen men of the Arcadians had been cut down near Chaeroneia, moved his army and marched against Thebes; for the Thebans had besieged Heracleia with the Achaeans and had shared in the battle near Scarpheia.
τότε δὲ αὐτοί τε καὶ γυναῖκες ἐκλελοιπότες πᾶσα ἡλικία τὴν πόλιν ἐπλανῶντο ἀνὰ τὴν Βοιωτίαν καὶ ἐς τῶν ὀρῶν τὰ ἄκρα ἀνέφευγον.
At that time they themselves and the women, people of every age, having abandoned the city, wandered through Boeotia and fled to the summits of the mountains.
§7.15.10Μέτελλος δὲ οὔτε ἱερὰ ἐμπιπράναι θεῶν οὔτε οἰκοδομήματα καθαιρεῖν εἴα, Θηβαίων τε τῶν ἄλλων μήτε ἀποκτεῖναι μηδένα μήτε αἱρεῖν φεύγοντα ἀπηγόρευε· Πυθέαν δὲ ἢν ἕλωσιν, ἀνάγειν ἐκέλευσεν ὡς αὐτόν· ἐξεύρητό τε δὴ αὐτίκα ὁ Πυθέας καὶ ἀναχθεὶς δίκην εἶχεν.
But Metellus allowed them neither to burn the temples of the gods nor to throw down the buildings, and he forbade killing any of the other Thebans or capturing them as they fled; but if they caught Pytheas, he ordered them to bring him to him; and Pytheas was indeed found immediately, and being brought up, he was executed.
ὡς δὲ πλησίον Μεγάρων ἐγίνετο ὁ στρατός, οὔτε ὑπέμειναν οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἀλκαμένην καὶ αὐτίκα ἐς Κόρινθον παρὰ τὸ στρατόπεδον τὸ Ἀχαιῶν ᾤχοντο φεύγοντες.
And when the army came near Megara, those with Alcamenes did not hold their ground and immediately went fleeing to Corinth to the camp of the Achaeans.
§7.15.11καὶ Μεγαρεῖς μὲν παραδιδόασιν ἀμαχεὶ Ῥωμαίοις τὴν πόλιν, Μέτελλος δὲ ὡς ἀφίκετο παρὰ τὸν ἰσθμόν, ἐπεκηρυκεύετο καὶ τότε Ἀχαιοῖς ἐς εἰρήνην καὶ ὁμολογίας προκαλούμενος· ἰσχυρὸς γάρ τις ἐνέκειτο αὐτῷ πόθος τὰ ἐν Μακεδονίᾳ τε ὁμοῦ καὶ τὰ Ἀχαιῶν κατεργασθῆναι διʼ αὐτοῦ.
And the Megarians surrendered the city to the Romans without a fight, and Metellus, when he arrived near the Isthmus, made proposals even then to the Achaeans, inviting them to peace and agreement; for a strong desire lay upon him that both the affairs in Macedonia and those of the Achaeans should be settled by himself.
τούτῳ μὲν ταῦτα ἐσπευκότι Δίαιος ἠναντιοῦτο ὑπὸ ἀγνωμοσύνης·
While he was eager for these things, Diaeus opposed him because of his senselessness.