§36.5.1cum haec Romae agebantur, Chalcide Antiochus, ne cessaret per hibernorum tempus, partim ipse sollicitabat civitatium animos mittendis legatis, partim ultro ad eum veniebant, sicut Epirotae communi gentis consensu et Elei e Peloponneso venerunt.
While these things were being done at Rome, Antiochus, at Chalcis, lest he should be inactive during the winter season, was partly himself soliciting the minds of the cities by sending envoys, and partly they came to him of their own accord, just as the Epirotes came by the common consent of their nation, and the Eleans from the Peloponnese.
§36.5.2Elei auxilium adversus Achaeos petebant, quos post bellum non ex sua sententia indictum Antiocho primum civitati suae arma illaturos credebant.
The Eleans were asking for aid against the Achaeans, whom they believed would first bring war upon their state after the war declared against Antiochus, which had not been declared in accordance with their own wish.
§36.5.3mille iis pedites cum duce Cretensi Euphane sunt missi.
One thousand infantry were sent to them with Euphanes, a Cretan commander.
Epirotarum legatio erat minime in partem ullam liberi aut simplicis animi; apud regem gratiam initam volebant cum eo, ut caverent, ne quid offenderent Romanos.
The embassy of the Epirotes was by no means of a free or straightforward mind; they wished to establish favor with the king, but on the condition that they should take care not to offend the Romans in any way.
§36.5.4petebant enim, ne se temere in causam deduceret, expositos adversus Italiam pro omni Graecia et primos impetus Romanorum excepturos; §36.5.5sed si ipse posset terrestribus navalibusque copiis praesidere Epiro, cupide eum omnis Epirotas et urbibus et portibus suis accepturos; si id non posset, deprecari, ne se nudos atque inermes Romano bello obiceret.
For they requested him not to drag them rashly into the cause, since they, exposed as they were opposite Italy on behalf of all Greece, would be the first to receive the initial attacks of the Romans; but if he himself could protect Epirus with land and sea forces, all the Epirotes would eagerly receive him both into their cities and their harbors; if he could not do this, they begged him not to expose them, naked and unarmed, to the Roman war.
§36.5.6hac legatione id agi apparebat, ut sive, quod magis credebant, abstinuisset Epiro, integra sibi omnia apud exercitus Romanos essent, conciliata satis apud regem gratia, §36.5.7quod accepturi fuissent venientem, sive venisset, sic quoque spes veniae ab Romanis foret, quod non expectato longinquo ab se auxilio praesentis viribus succubuissent.
By this embassy it was clear that their aim was that, if—as they rather believed—he should abstain from Epirus, their position with the Roman armies might remain entirely unimpaired, while they had sufficiently secured the king's favor on the ground that they would have received him if he had come; or, if he did come, there would still be hope of pardon from the Romans, because, not waiting for a distant aid from themselves, they had succumbed to the forces close at hand.
§36.5.8huic tam perplexae legationi quia non satis in promptu erat, quid responderet, legatos se missurum ad eos dixit, qui de iis, quae ad illos seque communiter pertinerent, loquerentur.
Since it was not easy to decide what to reply to this so complicated embassy, he said that he would send envoys to them, who would speak concerning those matters which pertained to them and to himself in common.