§35.23.1ceterum eo tempore minus ea bella, quae gerebantur, curae patribus erant quam expectatio nondum coepti cum Antiocho belli.
However, at that time, those wars which were being waged were of less concern to the senators than the expectation of the war with Antiochus, which had not yet begun.
§35.23.2nam etsi per legatos identidem omnia explorabantur, tamen rumores temere sine ullis auctoribus orti multa falsa veris miscebant.
For although everything was being repeatedly investigated through ambassadors, nevertheless rumors, arising randomly without any authors, mixed many falsehoods with the truth.
§35.23.3inter quae adlatum erat, cum in Aetoliam venisset Antiochus, extemplo classem eum in Siciliam missurum.
Among these, it had been reported that when Antiochus arrived in Aetolia, he would immediately send a fleet to Sicily.
§35.23.4itaque senatus, etsi praetorem Atilium cum classe miserat in Graeciam, §35.23.5tamen, quia non copiis modo sed etiam auctoritate opus erat ad tenendos sociorum animos, T. Quinctium et Cn. Octavium et Cn. Servilium et P. Villium legatos in Graeciam misit et, §35.23.6ut M. Baebius ex Bruttis ad Tarentum et Brundisium promoveret legiones, decrevit, inde, si res posceret, in Macedoniam traiceret, et ut M. Fulvius praetor classem navium viginti mitteret ad tuendam Siciliae oram, et ut cum imperio esset, qui classem eam duceret — §35.23.7duxit L. Oppius Salinator, qui priore anno aedilis plebei fuerat — §35.23.8, et ut idem praetor L. Valerio collegae scriberet periculum esse, ne classis regis Antiochi ex Aetolia in Siciliam traiceret: itaque placere senatui ad eum exercitum, quem haberet, tumultuariorum militum ad duodecim milia et quadringentos equites scriberet, quibus oram maritimam provinciae, qua vergeret in Graeciam, tueri posset.
Therefore the senate, although they had already sent the praetor Atilius with a fleet to Greece, nevertheless, because there was need not only of military forces but also of authority to hold the minds of the allies, sent Titus Quinctius, Gnaeus Octavius, Gnaeus Servilius, and Publius Villius as ambassadors to Greece, and decreed that Marcus Baebius should advance his legions from the territory of the Bruttii to Tarentum and Brundisium, and from there, if circumstances required, cross over into Macedonia; and that the praetor Marcus Fulvius should send a fleet of twenty ships to protect the coast of Sicily, and that the one who was to command that fleet should hold imperium — Lucius Oppius Salinator, who had been a plebeian aedile the previous year, commanded it —, and that the same praetor should write to his colleague Lucius Valerius that there was a danger of King Antiochus' fleet crossing from Aetolia to Sicily: and that therefore it was the pleasure of the senate that, in addition to the army he had, he should enlist up to twelve thousand emergency soldiers and four hundred cavalry, with which he could protect the maritime coast of the province where it faced Greece.
§35.23.9eum dilectum praetor non ex Sicilia ipsa tantum sed ex circumiacentibus insulis habuit, oppidaque omnia maritima, quae in Graeciam versa erant, praesidiis firmavit.
The praetor held this levy not only from Sicily itself but also from the surrounding islands, and strengthened all the maritime towns which faced Greece with garrisons.
§35.23.10addidit alimenta rumoribus adventus Attali, Eumenis fratris, qui nuntiavit Antiochum regem Hellespontum cum exercitu transisse, et Aetolos ita se parare, ut sub adventum eius in armis essent.
Fuel was added to the rumors by the arrival of Attalus, the brother of Eumenes, who reported that King Antiochus had crossed the Hellespont with his army, and that the Aetolians were preparing themselves to be in arms upon his arrival.
§35.23.11et Eumeni absenti et praesenti Attalo gratiae actae, et aedes liberae locus lautia decreta, et munera data, equi duo, bina equestria arma et vasa argentea centum pondo et aurea viginti pondo.
Thanks were returned both to the absent Eumenes and to Attalus who was present, and free lodgings, a place, and hospitality were decreed to them, and gifts were given: two horses, two sets of equestrian armor, silver vessels weighing one hundred pounds, and gold vessels weighing twenty pounds.