§44.24.1eodem tempore et ad Eumenen et ad Antiochum communia mandata, quae subicere condicio rerum poterat: natura inimica inter se esse liberam civitatem et regem, singulos populum Romanum adgredi et, quod indignum sit, regum viribus reges oppugnare. §44.24.3Attalo adiutore patrem suum oppressum; Eumene adiuvante et quadam ex parte etiam Philippo, patre suo, Antiochum oppugnatum; in se nunc et Eumenen et Prusian armatos esse. §44.24.4si Macedoniae regnum sublatum foret, proxumam Asiam esse, quam iam ex parte sub specie liberandi civitates suam fecerint, deinde Syriam. §44.24.5iam Prusiam Eumeni honore praeferri, iam Antiochum victorem ab Aegypto, praemio belli, arceri. §44.24.6haec cogitantem providere iubebat, ut aut ad pacem secum faciendam conpelleret Romanos aut perseverantes in bello iniusto communes duceret omnium regum hostes. §44.24.7ad Antiochum aperta mandata erant; ad Eumenen per speciem captivorum redimendorum missus legatus erat; re vera occultiora quaedam agebantur, quae in praesentia invisum quidem et suspectum Romanis Eumenen falsis gravioribusque criminibus onerarunt; proditor enim ac prope hostis habitus, §44.24.8dum inter se duo reges captantes fraude et avaritia certant. §44.24.9Cydas erat Cretensis, ex intimis Eumenis.
At the same time, common messages, such as the condition of affairs might suggest, were sent both to Eumenes and to Antiochus: that a free state and a king are by nature hostile to one another; that the Roman people attack kings individually and, what is shameful, fight against kings with the strength of kings. That by the assistance of Attalus his own father had been oppressed; that with the help of Eumenes, and to some extent also of his own father Philip, Antiochus had been attacked; and that now both Eumenes and Prusias were in arms against himself. If the kingdom of Macedonia should be destroyed, Asia would be the next—which they had already in part made their own under the guise of liberating the cities—and then Syria. Now Prusias was preferred in honor to Eumenes; now Antiochus, though victorious, was barred from Egypt, the prize of war. He urged them, reflecting on these things, to take precautions, either to compel the Romans to make peace with him, or, if they persisted in an unjust war, to regard them as the common enemies of all kings. To Antiochus the messages were open; to Eumenes an envoy was sent under the pretense of ransoming prisoners; in reality, more secret matters were being transacted, which for the present loaded Eumenes—who was already hated and suspected by the Romans—with false and heavier charges; for he was regarded as a traitor and almost an enemy, while the two kings, striving to catch each other, competed with deceit and avarice. There was a Cretan named Cydas, one of the intimates of Eumenes.
hic prius ad Amphipolim cum Chimaro quodam populari suo, militante apud Persea, inde postea ad Demetriadem semel cum Menecrate quodam, iterum cum Antimacho, regiis ducibus, sub ipsis moenibus urbis conlocutus fuerat. §44.24.10Herophon quoque, qui tum missus est, duabus ad eundem Eumenen iam ante legationibus functus erat. §44.24.11quae conloquia occulta et legationes infames quidem erant, sed, quid actum esset quidve inter reges convenisset, ignorabatur.
He had previously conversed at Amphipolis with a certain Chimarus, his fellow-countryman serving under Perseus, and afterwards at Demetrias, once with a certain Menecrates, and a second time with Antimachus, royal commanders, right under the very walls of the city. Herophon also, who was sent on this occasion, had already before performed two embassies to the same Eumenes. These secret conferences and embassies were indeed scandalous, but what had been done or what had been agreed upon between the kings was unknown.
res autem ita sese habuit.
The matter, however, stood thus.